UNABLE TO TAKE the growing heat that was bubbling in her cheeks, Alice quickly backed off. She dipped under Spade's arms, taking an extra step away from him just for good measure. His hands continued to hover in the air as he watched with wide eyes, shocked that she had slipped out and backed away so quickly.
"You know what, on second thought, I can measure myself just fine," she slurred in her hurry to get the words out.
Grabbing the measuring tape from Spade's hands, she quickly measured her sizes before jotting them down on an empty parchment on the table. All the while, the rest of the people in the room just watched, a little stunned by everything that had transpired in the last few minutes.
"There," Alice said once she was done. Handing the parchment over to Daryl, she continued, "What's next?"
"Uh…" Stuttering and stumbling, Daryl took a moment to collect himself before he regained his momentum. He slowly looked down at the parchment, his eyes lingering for a second. "Right," he muttered under his breath. Clearing his throat, he announced, "Luckily for you, you seem to be around the same size as the dresses. I'll need to tweak a few things here and there to make sure it sits snugly but… all should be fine. Why don't you pick one and try?"
"No," Spade immediately cut in, "Take all of them and try them all."
"That's madness!" Alice exclaimed. "These dresses take forever to put on."
"And we have the entire day," Spade smoothly countered. "Your caretaker won't have the time to rush over with how busy Brother is keeping him. You'll have plenty of time."
Naming Alice's 'caretaker' was unnecessary. After all, they were supposed to keep their real identities a secret. There wasn't a need for Daryl nor Deacon to know that the noble and distinguished Wyatt Ragan was hounding their backs constantly due to his avid dislike of the second prince. Besides, Alice wasn't one to be so big-mouthed. It was better to keep things under wraps. That way, there was someplace, at least, where Spade could be whoever he wished to be.
Grumbling inaudibly under her breath, Alice took one of the dresses from Daryl's hands before heading in the direction Deacon was gesturing towards. She quickly found the changing room, shutting the curtains behind her as she began the long and painful process of putting on the heavy dress.
"Do you need any help?" She could hear Deacon ask from outside. "I could―"
He was promptly cut off by a grunt, most likely having been hit by either Daryl or Spade. Or both.
"What he means to say is that if you need, we can get the ladies managing the storefront to come and help you out. It's part of their job, anyway, and you are our valued customer."
In the beginning, Alice wanted to say that she was fine and that she didn't need the extra set of hands. After all, she was fully capable of dressing herself most of the time in the Ragan's Estate. However, she soon realized that she had severely overestimated her own capabilities, as well as underestimated the complexity of the elaborate ballgowns.
The beautiful dress she had chosen was not only heavy but it was also highly intricate. There were layers and layers of fabric and if left to her own devices, Alice grew worried that she might accidentally rip a role through the material. In the end, she still needed a more professional outlook and that required the women outside to step in.
"Yes, please," she answered sheepishly. "I can't make heads or tails of this thing."
Within moments, two women were ushered in to join Alice in the small room behind the curtain. They were, after all, still within the twins' personal workspace. Hence, the dressing area wasn't nearly as lavish and well-decorated as the one that could be found in the main store. Nevertheless, a beautiful interior design wasn't needed. As long as it could fit everyone in, that was all that mattered.
"How do I look?"
The curtains were drawn. In the studio, Deacon, Daryl, and Spade had taken a seat, all of them patiently waiting to see the end result. For the twins, it was to see if their masterpiece shone as brilliantly as it had in their heads. For Spade, he was more interested in the one wearing the piece of clothing. After all, he had only seen Alice properly dolled up just once. At that time, they hadn't been acquainted yet.
At Alice's voice, the three men looked up. While different things ran across their heads, their reactions were, however, nearly identical― jaws slacked and eyes wide, gaping in awe and wonder.
"Alice…" Deacon murmured under his breath. If Alice wasn't mistaken, she thought she had even caught a tear shimmering in the corner of his eye. "You look… you look…"
"Breathtaking," Daryl supplied.
"It's the dress," Alice humbly said. "But thank you."
She wasn't wrong. The dress was indeed a magnificent piece of work. It reminded Alice greatly of how Cinderella's dress looked like in the films, just much more extravagant. The main fabric used was a frosty pale blue and was layered with lace. Small beads of pearls were handsewn into the bodice, catching the light when she turned. The material sparkled and shone whenever she moved, shimmering like a thousand stars in the night sky.
Truth be told, Alice hadn't seen a dress so immaculate before. Wearing it felt like a dream come true.
"I feel like Cinderella," she joked, carefully spinning around once so that the dress would fly a little. When met with the confused gazes of the three men, she cleared her throat awkwardly under her breath, shaking her head. "Nevermind."
"Her beauty is no match for you," Spade replied after a short moment of silence. "Her dress disappears after midnight, and along with it, her regality. Yours will remain forevermore."
"Who is Cinderella?" Deacon asked.
"Never heard of," Daryl answered.
"It's a fairytale." Frowning, Spade's eyebrows furrowed. Creases appeared on his forehead as he finally turned his attention away from Alice and towards the twins. "Have you not heard of it?"
"My friend, we are too busy to indulge ourselves in children's tales," Daryl swiftly countered. "If I had the free time, I would rather spend it at Lily's. Nothing like a good mug of beer to wash away a day's stress."
"Furthermore," Deacon added, nodding in agreement. "There is no such thing as magic. Not for a long time. It's best for people to realize that hard work is what gets things done. Not wishing and praying upon stars at night."
"And I didn't know that you were so attached to silly stories, Jo," Daryl joked, chuckling. "Aren't you a little too old for fairytales? It isn't even a popular story, I'm sure, since I've never heard of this tale before."
"This is coming from the man that needed bedtime stories to fall asleep up until he came of age," Deacon added. His comment earned himself a jab from his brother.
"It's a popular tale, though," Spade muttered.
All of a sudden, he was unsure of himself. He thought he knew the story of the poor orphan girl that grew up with kindness. He remembered pumpkins, magic, glass slippers, and a fairy godmother that made all her wishes come true. Yet, after Deacon and Daryl's words, he could no longer picture the scene in his head as clearly as when he had first seen Alice in that blue dress.
"It is." Alice stepped up, confirming Spade's words after watching the conversation in silence. A funny feeling of familiarity fluttered in her chest. Unfortunately, it didn't linger and disappeared before she could get a proper hold of it. "Cinderella's tale is something all children know where I'm from."
"Maybe that explains it," Daryl exclaimed. "Jo is a well-read man, after all. He's always going on and on about the books in his collection."
"Stories of grandeur and valor," Deacon chimed.
Just like that, the fairytale about Cinderella was long forgotten. However, even as Alice was ushered back into the dressing room with more gowns to try on, she was unable to wipe the image from her mind; The image of Spade sitting on the couch, lost in his thoughts, wondering if his memory was as twisted as he was.