What she was wearing was a yellow dress with puff sleeves. The lace decorations from the neck to the waist were very delicate and beautiful. It was a length that came down to the middle of the calf, and thanks to the petticoat, the skirt swelled up and was pretty and cute. This was an old, tacky dress. From her point of view, it was a high-end product that lived and breathed from the fabric to the details.
“Hmm. I don’t really like it, but Miss Bella looks beautiful in it, so it doesn’t look too old-fashioned.”
“It would be nice to put a bonnet on the lace gloves. A large emerald brooch instead of a necklace.”
“Okay, I was thinking of braiding her hair down to one side… If you’re going to put on a bonnet, the bun-”
She was not sure what it was, but she knew for sure that they were very quick. An hour had passed as they were frantically moving from here to there, from there to here again, as instructed.
“Whoa, it’s done now.”
The eldest servant wiped the sweat from his brow.
“Thank you.”
The feeling of the clothes touching her body was very awkward, so she waddled up from my seat. Precisely fastened bonnet hats, pretty little pearl earrings, very thick emerald brooches, rings worn over lace gloves, pretty handbags, and soft sheepskin shoes.
‘This must be an experience that Trixie, a commoner and an employee, will never have… Bella, thank you for doing something good.’
She could be sure that the things she wore would cost more than her ransom. Aside from the dress, the accessories were too much. Even if she had lived in the Giuseppe family, she would not have been able to wear such high-end items.
“You are so pretty!”
Praise and fuss followed. She had never decorated herself, so she had no idea what she would look like. She took a step or two in front of the full-length mirror prepared by the attendant.
“Omg.”
She had no choice but to admit it. That these people were bound to be bored in this mansion. How boring and tiring must it have been since these golden hands were rotting. Instead of being a commoner hit by poverty and unstable reality in the mirror, a cute and elegant lady who seemed to have grown up receiving only love since childhood vas visible there. Her hair was elaborately braided back, with makeup that brightened her complexion and slightly sharpened her eyes.
“Makeup is good… It’s great.”
“Miss Bella is pretty! I see you brighten up your face. How can you be so lovely? It’s like a forsythia flower.”
“Yes? What are you talking about? Is it forsythia for wearing yellow clothes? Miss Bella is definitely a lily of the valley.”
An embarrassing battle of words took place in front of the person concerned. She slowly backed away and headed towards Leone. How bored was he after waiting for an hour?
“Leone, uh…”
Surprisingly, Leone was wearing something other than a shirt. The appearance of Leone, who was wearing a cravat over his thin shirt and tightened his waist with a vest, was too unfamiliar.
“Trixie.”
Leone reached out to her. That moment was like a video playing very slowly.
“Come on-.”
A friendly voice was heard while she was pushed to Leone.
“Leone’s clothes…”
She asked in a dull voice. Leone tilted his head slightly and looked at her face.
“Anyway, one-go?”
“No!?”
What a strange thing! Unknowingly, she was furious at the absurd question.
“Then.”
“I was really surprised. Leone, did you wear it alone? I never taught you…”
“No. That- person.”
Leone nodded and pointed behind her. A small woman walked out from behind the large Leone.
“Since he was holding a cravat, I wonder if he wanted to wear it. I thought that Miss Bella had told him not to go near her, but somehow I thought it would be okay… I helped. Sorry.”
She was a cute and lovely looking woman. Leone got help? To someone he was seeing for the first time?
“That one… She said she helped you?”
Was that the same person who put on Leone’s vest, fastened and buttoned his waist, and tied the cravat? For a moment, a scene of a woman helping Leone groom himself came to mind.
‘He gave permission so easily?’
Of course, he was aggressive towards men, and he tended to be okay with women, but… Really, he let a stranger help him grooming.
‘This child… Was he such an unrestrained puppy?’
Leone looked down at her with a face that couldn’t read her emotions and asked.
“How is it, Trixie?”
“Huh?”
“Me-.”
How was he? Of course, he was really cool. He was handsome, and she thought her own transformation was nothing in comparison. He was just wearing a cravat and a vest, but it was amazing that the atmosphere could change like this. That woman did this, and she was the first to see it. It’s not her who took care of him for a long time, it’s him…!
“Stylish! Uh! Good job, yes!”
Unbeknownst to her, a heartbreaking sound came out. It’s a good thing if Leone wasn’t wary of others. but… It was like watching a puppy lying on its stomach after she worked hard to raise it. She was sorry for feeling like that but… she was very sad.
“Are you mad, Trixie?”
Leone took a step closer.
“No. Why would I be mad?”
A very angry tone came out. She could see herself being too childish. What was she doing with her child… Besides, now, she had to congratulate him.
“Eyes, look-.”
She was going to have some time to reflect on her own, but a handsome creature pushed her in front of her face. Leone was on his knees, staring at her. Since she was small and he was tall, the height of her eyes when he was kneeling was quite appropriate.
Leone tickled the ends of her hair with his big hand. The purple eyes were the same as always. Unknowingly, she took a step back.
“…Trixie?”
Leone made a visibly embarrassed face. She raised an eyebrow at him and smiled.
“No. I’m not really mad.”
“Why…”
“Leone, good job. You are nice and pretty! Wearing Cravat? Our puppy is all grown up.”
She reached out her hand and stroked Leone’s hair. Because of the wide distance, it became a hesitant posture.
“Let’s go.”
She checked to see if the leash Adler had brought with him was in good condition, and moved to the wagon with Leone. Unlike usual, with a distance of about one step apart, Leone followed her without a word.
* * *
Leone learned a lot about humans. He wanted to talk to Trixie. It was frustrating that he couldn’t speak like Benjamin.
At one point he hated himself. He felt ashamed at the thought that he was worse than a creature that would not survive even a day if he was as thin as Benjamin and thrown into the middle of the forest. His greed grew rapidly. Leone wanted to appear in front of Trixie in his true form, so he ran away from her.
He pretended not to know when he encountered her, averted his eyes and returned his words, trying to buy time and become the human he hated so much. Of course, because of the jealousy and thirst inside Leone, that effort quickly collapsed and he stood by Trixie’s side again. An insatiable thirst came upon him. Even if Trixie gets farther away or gets closer.
His frustration with his own ugliness and inadequacies, his swollen heart toward her, naturally created a burning thirst. How nice it would be if he could approach Trixie more skillfully. Leone looked at Trixie every day and imagined standing on her equal footing and sharing their story.
Leone just liked Trixie. He was happy that he could remember all her faces and do them with his body and mind, not yet knowing what she was feeling. He was fine even when she put her weird-looking string around his neck and stuffed his mouth. Even… He was fine with other people. Leone was fine even as he walked around the building, smelling of many people and making his ears hurt from the buzz. Even Leone was surprised.
With Trixie, the world seemed clear. He was not afraid of other humans by her side. No, he wanted to protect Trixie from other humans.
“I might not be there.”
But from some point on, Trixie acted as if she would leave. The way she taught him how to get along with other ‘humans’, the way she said ‘you should get along without me,’ all of this sounded strange to Leone.
“Trixie. Where.”
“Huh?”
“No, are you going to lose?”
Trixie’s eyes widened at Leone’s question. That face was the face he saw when she was surprised, when she was hiding something.
“My, why am I disappearing?! It can’t be. Leone, let’s go back.”
Trixie couldn’t hide her true feelings. Most of the people Leone has seen hide their true feelings, including Leone himself, but Trixie was not good at hiding her feelings. Anxiety grew in Leone’s heart.
“If I want to stay with Leone all the time, I have to leave for a while before going to the capital.”
“Leave.”
“But don’t worry. Close your eyes and sleep for ten nights. Then I will come.”
He was anxious and strange, but…
“Bet, do it.”
“What bet?”
“See you again. It’s coming.”
He made a bet and told Trixie that he was coming. So Leone decided to wait. The next day, Leone was sedated and left the mansion locked in a cage. He had been dreaming for a long time but it’s not the dream he had always had.
Trixie was in the dream. A dream she’s getting farther and farther away.
At dawn, Leone opened his eyes. It didn’t smell like Trixie.
Trixie was not there.
She said he would come in ten nights, so it was only natural. But Leone realized it intuitively. Was it because of the anxiety he had suppressed all this time, or because he saw Trixie walking away from him in his dreams?
That intuition was correct.
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