A Dress, A Date, and a Dense Knight

The next morning, someone shook me awake at the crack of dawn.

"Doctor!! Wake up!"

"……Lily? What is it, at this hour……"

"It's the Duke's orders. He says to bring you to him right away."

Had some critical patient turned up? I hurriedly grabbed my bag.

"Where am I going? Who's sick?"

"We'll be receiving you in the central hall."

And so I strode briskly down the corridor, still dark as night. But when I pushed open the doors to the central hall, I froze dead at the utterly unexpected sight before me.

"What…… is all this?"

"Welcome, Lady Frencia. I am Bridget Barton, proprietress of the Saint-Tiez Salon."

A flamboyantly dressed middle-aged woman bowed to me.

Saint-Tiez Salon…… isn't that the famous dress shop in the capital?

I returned the bow in a daze, still failing to grasp the situation.

"Ho ho ho! I've come today by the command of Duke Carseido himself. He instructed me to prepare a gown befitting Lady Frencia."

The elegant Bridget flounced theatrically.

"The Duke…… wants clothes for me?"

"Yes. He told me not to spare any expense, so I've brought only the finest, loveliest pieces."

Even Lily, standing beside her, was bubbling over with excitement.

"Doctor, I've been specially ordered to assist with the fitting as well. I'll take wonderful care of you!"

"Uh…… yeah? Yeah, sure……"

What on earth? I don't remember the employee benefits package including a clothing allowance……?

One way or another, I found myself swept along by the two of them into trying on dress after dress after dress.

Each time I slipped into a new gown, Lily assessed me with a razor-sharp eye and delivered her verdict with icy professionalism.

……In truth, she just showered me with unreserved praise.

"Doctor, with your fair skin and dark hair, honestly every color looks stunning on you."

"Huh? Oh. Thank you."

"Our lady certainly has a good eye. She's absolutely right, my lady — you look so lovely I couldn't possibly choose just one."

"Haha, now you're embarrassing me……"

Truthfully, though, it felt good.

Back at the Frencia estate, I'd worn maid's clothes until I recovered my past-life memories. After that, I'd found anything frilly too much of a hassle and stuck to trousers.

But to be able to try on luxurious gowns of such fine material to my heart's content? This was nothing short of indulgence.

After about ten dresses, I settled on a peach-colored one that shimmered with a soft, understated luster.

"I'll take this one. Though I still have no idea why I need a dress in the first place."

"Ho ho ho! Exquisite taste, my lady! Now, shall we move on to your styling?"

This time Lily stepped forward. She lined up a mirror and her cosmetic kit in front of me with a clatter and rolled up her sleeves.

"Doctor, you do remember the clause in the Carseido ducal benefits package about an in-house beautician on permanent standby? That beautician is me."

"Really? That was you, Lily?"

"With three older sisters, I was around cosmetics and hairdressing from the time I could walk, so I picked up the skills early."

Lily's hands were already busy working through my hair.

"Just sit still, Doctor. Oh — feel free to nap if you're tired. I'll do a lovely job."

True to her word, I sat in the chair drifting off and snapping awake, over and over. At last, with everything perfectly arranged, Lily woke me.

"Shall we be off, then? Everyone's waiting for you."

"Who? Who's waiting for me?"

"You'll see when you get there, won't you?"

With that, Lily produced a pair of shoes and set them before me — ornate heels in a shade matched precisely to the peach dress.

Clad in unfamiliar footwear, I walked down the corridor. Lily led me to the Duke's office.

"Your Grace, Doctor Frencia is ready."

"Show her in."

The door creaked open, and I stepped inside with a slightly faltering stride.

There stood the familiar faces.

Duke Blasion, aide Kaylen, and escort knight Everlein.

All three men looked at me as they always did, and then……

"……"

"……"

"……"

Every last one of them, as if by prior agreement, froze solid.

Not knowing how to react myself, I simply stood there too.

A long while passed like that.

With the atmosphere threatening to embalm us all for eternity, I was the one to break the silence.

"Should I go change?"

"No, no no no!! You absolutely must not!"

Kaylen rushed to stop me. Face flushed, he seized my hand and shook it up and down.

"Wow, Doctor. What is this? I know it's you, but you look like a completely different person! It suits you so incredibly well!!"

"Thank you. Lily's handiwork was excellent. The Carseido ducal benefits really are the best."

While I fired off double thumbs-up with both hands, Everlein quietly drew near. Startled by the sight of him, I asked:

"Sir Everlein, you're in full formal dress today? It looks wonderful on you."

He was so naturally handsome that anything suited him, but today's crisp black formal attire was especially striking.

At my compliment, Everlein bowed with an awkward, almost bashful air.

"Yes. You too, Doctor…… look very beautiful."

"Doctor. Everlein. You have somewhere to be."

The Duke cut in abruptly, and Everlein and I both turned to him. He held out an envelope to his knight.

"The grand opening ceremony of the royal botanical garden."

"It's an imperial event, and I have other commitments. So you will attend in my stead."

Huh?

I know this one. In the original story, this was where the heroine and male lead had their date.

Come to think of it, the dress the heroine wore back then was peach-colored too, wasn't it?

"If it's an imperial event, I am perfectly capable of attending alone. There seems no need to bring our busy Doctor along."

In response to Everlein, the Duke laid out the reason I had to accompany him with surprising firmness.

"Entry is limited to couples. And it's better for you to bring a woman than for me to do so."

"……I suppose that's true, but……"

"So go. Visit the botanical garden, buy yourselves something delicious, take a stroll along the river, and come back late."

This, too, matched the original story exactly. The heroine and male lead's date course. And at the end, what was it…… the Duke…… no, the male lead carried the heroine, whose feet hurt, on his back……

Everlein deliberated for a good long while, then asked another question.

"Is this also part of my official duties?"

"Haaah……"

A sigh escaped Kaylen. He rounded on his comrade at full volume.

"Oh, just GO already! Go get some fresh air up your nostrils!!"

"Why are you the one getting angry? I was merely confirming whether this constituted work or not."

The Duke cleanly cut through the two men's bickering.

"It is work. Very important work. So see the Doctor there safely — and give it everything you have."

I had no idea why he'd need to give it "everything he had," but that seemed to steel Everlein's resolve.

He straightened his posture at once and extended his arm toward me. A flawless escort stance.

"Doctor. Then allow me to escort you to the botanical garden. Shall we make our way to the carriage?"

"Ah, yes…… I'm in your care."

Though it was a bit late to mention it — the Duke had never once asked whether I actually wanted to go to the botanical garden.

Still, I said nothing.

After all, dressing up so prettily had refreshed my spirits, and a day out alone with Everlein meant I could dig into all sorts of things.

"Then, we'll be off."

I took Everlein's arm.

It is simply a truth of womanhood that a well-dressed woman shines.

A beautiful gown, delicate makeup, artfully arranged hair — and anyone transforms from an ugly duckling into a swan.

But Lionel had been lovely to begin with, and Blasion knew that better than anyone.

And yet it suited her far, far better than I'd imagined…… that was the problem.

Blasion recalled the moment Lionel had cracked open the door and peeked her head through.

No — "recalled" was too weak a word. Burned into his eyes was the more accurate description.

The dress falling in perfect silhouette against the curves of her body. The graceful line of her neck laid bare by her elegantly pinned-up hair. Those wide, dark eyes, those red lips.

The sight was so radiant that Blasion had briefly lost consciousness — right up until she opened her mouth.

"Should I go change?"

"No, no no no!! You absolutely must not!"

While Kaylen flailed about, Blasion quietly checked on his own heart.

Fortunately — or unfortunately — it beat on as placid as ever. The immortal released a sigh no one noticed.

He had come within a hair's breadth of having his hypothesis instantly disproven.

Hiding that flustered feeling, the immortal calmly issued his orders.

"So go. Visit the botanical garden, buy yourselves something delicious, take a stroll along the river, and come back late."

He'd called it "duty," but in practice it was nothing less than an instruction to take a beautiful lady on a date.

"Good grief, that man…… How can he be so utterly oblivious? What if the Doctor gives up on him at this rate?"

To Kaylen, pacing anxiously as he watched the two depart, Blasion replied flatly:

"She will."

"I'm sorry — but why? She's beautiful and brilliant. What exactly does she lack?"

"It's not a question of lacking or having too much……"

Blasion said no more and fell silent. Kaylen pressed him for an answer.

"Your Grace? Are you unaware of the ways a man can drive a person mad? You say one thing and leave it half-finished, and then the other……"

"……"

"I mean, that's exactly why you need to tell me too!"

Blasion ignored his subordinate's outburst.

He couldn't tell him.

Because his ever-loyal escort knight……

has eyes for no one but his own little sister.