Julietta's Dressup

Chapter 109. Chartreu, Part VII

Translator: Khan

Editor: Aelryinth

"You know that nobles are naturally self-respecting and closed-minded. They’ll need time."

At Julietta’s words, Amelie and Sophie nodded.

The nobles enjoyed opera or play and loved the actors who starred in them, but they were very disdainful of dressing and imitating their actions. So, the dresses that actresses wore when attending parties or social gatherings had to be measured against the aristocrats’. The strict rules were applied to all the actors or aristocrats’ common-born lovers.

The neckline of the dress had to be cut to the aureole to reveal all the curves above the chest, so that they could see at a glance that they were completely different from the nobility, and the hem of the skirt had to be kept from dragging the floor, showing the shoes they wore.

It was the same for male actors. Shortening the trouser legs required the socks to be seen between the shoes and the trouser legs, and the cravat had to be thin, with a thickness of no more than two fingers. The rich cravat and high shirt collar were a unique look of the aristocratic gentlemen. In other words, those who were not nobles were forced to reveal by their attire that their identities were not noble-born.

They also had to pay close attention to the costumes they were using on the stage. Of course, the costumes of the nobility were allowed when playing a role as an aristocrat who was a social hot figure that year, but they were limited to the stage.

Amelie and Sophie nodded as if they understood Julietta’s words, thinking of the demanding habits of aristocrats. "Yes, you’re right. The nobles are the cruelest of all about something different from themselves."

"Yes. I’m a stranger to them, too. So even if my dress looks pretty and coveted, they are not going to change their favorite dressing shop easily."

No matter how great Princess Kielini was, it was still too much to get inside their own fences yet, which had been formed since childhood. Because her identity, beauty, and amazing clothes brought both admiration and envy, they might be hesitant to dress up after Princess Kiellini wore such things, considering that it would hurt their self-esteem.

There had to be something revolutionary enough to defeat the hesitation. There were so many things she wanted to do as long as she had enough money, but she knew she would have to make plans, one by one.

Julietta kept speaking while bringing a green swathe from a piece of cloth she had stashed in a corner.

"I’m thinking of a way to make the Chartreu’s wardrobe fashionable all over the world, so that the clogged aristocrats can order their clothes in our dressing shop."

"Is that relevant to selling dolls?"

Julietta nodded as she cut cloth for the hat of the doll. She had once heard that a doll was dressed in the same clothes in a medieval costume shop, and sent to a different area to show a new design.

The world in which Julietta lived now was similar to the Middle Ages and the old days, differing only by the fact that magic was deeply embedded in people’s lives. Unlike the era when travel between one country and another took as long as half a year, this was a place where they could cross the border in minutes through a Magic Square. Of course, there were some places where the Magic Square was not connected.

Julietta planned to show her dolls to all the kingdoms of the continent which could not easily be reached by the Magic Square so that people could find her dressing shop.

"I think it’s okay to have no customers now. I can come and go naturally. After the social season ends in a month, I will be able to return to my status and continue working in earnest. Don’t worry about it too much, because I’ll try many different ways to attract customers by then."

The first of the attempts was a doll in the same costume as the real one. Julietta quickly completed a hat with the sewing skills she had been grinding and polishing in the theater supply room for years.

"It’s done."

Julietta dressed the small sun cap which she had just completed, a hat with no cap or perforations, which she had worn at the tea party the day before, on top of the doll’s head.

No matter how useful artifacts were in real life, they did not use such magical items on dresses or hats. Julietta didn’t want to wear a heavy, hot hat, just like she didn’t want to wear a full-length dress in a much hotter August, so she had made a ruffled hat with a stone sun cap.

First, she wrapped a bright green cloth around hard-wired leather and made a wide-brimmed suit at the base of the band. The ends of the strap were threaded with long lace. A band made of the same color as tea party dresses was worn around the forehead, and the lace at both ends was tied behind the head with colorful ribbons.

A hat without a crown, looking like an ornament, and matching her long, blonde hair. Also, it was light and cool. At the tea party that day, the hat that Princess Kiellini had worn spread from the lips of those who had attended the meeting to the ears of others, and became the subject of many rumors.

When she got up after putting a green hat over the doll’s head, which had golden threaded hair hanging over its back like herself of the day, the magic bell on the dresser’s glass door rang.

"I think our guest is here."

Many people asked Julietta about the location of the dressing shop at her debut party and tea party, but no one had visited the shop yet. Julietta, who was sewing comfortably in the studio, got up in a hurry and headed for the mirror.

Watching Julietta get her hair and clothes together, Amelie took off her apron to go out alone. She panicked when she opened the workroom door, brushing off the stitches. A shiny black-haired man stood in the doorway.

"Sir, sir, this is the workroom. If you go over there, I’ll show you what design you want."

Amelie was embarrassed, blocking the man from entering the studio. However, there stood a really handsome man, hard to find even in the theater, which had a collection of handsome characters. It would be fit to say he was beautiful, and he had no intention of stepping aside.

"I’m not here to buy clothes, I’m here to see Princess Kiellini." The man’s cold silver eyes looked over Amelie’s shoulders, making clear his purpose in a charming low voice. "She is over there."

The eyes of Julietta, surprised by hearing the Prince’s voice in the wrong place. Killian pushed Amelie aside and strode into the studio, making eye contact. A cold blade was pointed at her neck as the embarrassed Amelie reached her hand unknowingly to restrain his action.

"You presume. Who do you dare to touch?"

The captain of the knights escorting Killian stopped her right away. Amelie was stunned, seeing the sword pulled out as if to threaten her, and him entering without permission. Sophie, feeling threatened, tried to defend her, but Julietta dissuaded her.

"Your Highness, how did you get here?"

Faced with the gruesome look she had seen when she was working as his maid, Julietta greeted him with deep disdain and a bad premonition.

’Why did you come here? What does it mean for me to come to this studio on one side of the hall without a moment of hesitation?’

Watching Julietta’s surprise, Killian smiled as he approached her. He reached out to Julietta as she showed her courtesy, and help her stand up. "I just heard that there are so many unusual things here, and I stopped by, but I didn’t expect to see the princess."

"It’s an honor to see you like this. I’m here for the fitting of the next party dress, so please understand that I am in a comfortable outfit."

"That’s right. Stop bowing, but get up. I don’t want you to fall down again like before. And I’m ashamed of my hand, waiting for the princess."

Killian pushed his hand in, and commanded Julietta, who was pretending not to see his hand in front of her, as if he were asking for her hand.

The Prince looked arrogant even with his hand. Julietta wanted to ignore it to the end, but she rose reluctantly because she could not refuse the order. She laid her hand slowly over the hand of the urging Prince.