"Is that something a business owner should say to a customer?" Duke Avington snorted back at her, unfazed at her attitude.
"My business is booming; I do not have to entertain the likes of you at all. Every single time you come here; it is always impossible tasks one after another." The lady scoffs but stops short as she caught sight of the young child beside Duke Avington.
She crossed her arms and seized up Adelaide before asking, "so this is her?"
Duke Avington nodded to her question. Adelaide glanced between them both, curious about who exactly is this lady.
Duke Avington is one of the most fearsome people among the nobles of high prestige and yet, this lady dared to utter such rude words and the Duke did not even get offended.
"Is this lady your friend, Daddy?" Adelaide glanced at her father. Before he could reply, the lady in question cuts in with a squeal.
"How precious. She calls you Daddy?"
The Duke glared at her before returning his gaze back to Adelaide. "This is Madame Bleu, the owner of this place."
Adelaide widened her eyes at the careless introduction as though he was introducing someone unimportant.
This is Madame Bleu, standing before her in flesh.
Adelaide quickly got up from her seat and bowed towards her. "I apologize for my rudeness, I am Adelaide Avington. It is my honor and a pleasure to meet you."
"Oh my, how well-mannered this child is. Unlike someone I know," Madame Bleu glanced at Duke Avington with her hand covering her mouth, hiding a smirk.
Duke Avington rolled his eyes at her behavior before he corrected Adelaide.
"It should be her honor to meet you."
"Oh, shut up. Stop teaching her the wrong things," Madame Bleu snapped at him before helping Adelaide back to her seat. She then spread out the stack of papers she bought with her and laid them neatly on the table before the Duke and Adelaide.
"These are the rough sketches that are currently in progress. Although they are designed for adults, I can come up with a simpler version for Adelaide. But how many dresses are you planning to purchase and for what purpose?"
Duke Avington pondered for a moment before answering.
"Everything."
Adelaide, who was sipping her warm milk from the teacup prepared for her by the staff, almost dropped her cup in shock.
Madame Bleu however was not fazed at all.
"Right. I take it that she needs something to wear immediately as well?" Madame Bleu nodded to herself before snapping her fingers at her staff.
Immediately, the staff moved and ushered Adelaide to the private changing room in the VIP room. They measured her while others bought in ready-made dresses for children that are similar to her build. After putting on a light blue dress with a sash around her waist and a ribbon behind her back, they guided her out of the changing room to show her outfit to the Duke.
When Adelaide came out, she saw that the Duke and Madame Bleu are discussing dresses for parties and balls. She could almost feel a headache aching in her head. How many dresses is the Duke intending to buy when he said everything?
Sensing her approach, the adults raised their heads towards the child and frowned after looking at her. Adelaide flinched under their harsh glare.
Was it because she looked bad in the dress? She thinks it is pretty though.
"This is too plain, don't you have something better?" The Duke said in a dissatisfied tone and crossed his arms.
Madame Bleu, the designer of the dress, nodded her head in agreement instead of defending her own work. Glaring at her staff, she scolded them for having no fashion sense before going to pick some dresses for Adelaide personally.
"But you are the one who designed the dress," the poor staff wanted to cry out but could only bitterly nodded at their boss.
Adelaide shrunk under the heavy scrutiny as she wore dress after dress. She had never felt so tired mentally before in her life. This is already the seventh dress she has tried, and they are still not done. This wasn't how it worked before in her previous life. Her mother would just pick out what she wanted Adelaide to wear, and Adelaide would wear it. There is no trying of dresses to see which one suits her better. Walking towards her father, she put on her best puppy eyes and pleaded with him.
"Daddy, I think this is enough dresses. Can we just buy these and go home?"
Duke Avington looked at his daughter, saw how haggard her face was, and nodded. Adelaide broke out into a wide smile at the thought that her torture is over, but her smile dropped immediately after hearing what her father said to Madame Bleu.
"We will get all of these as well as all of those in the catalog and the upcoming ones that you are working on. Once you are done with them, send them to the Avington residence."
"Daddy?" Adelaide could not help but exclaim in shock at the huge amount of money her father just spent.
"I thought someone said those dresses aren't good enough?" Madame Bleu raised her eyebrows at the Duke.
"They aren't good enough for parties but they are good enough for everyday usage." The Duke answered her without even looking at her. He was holding his daughter's hand and leading her back to the carriage to wait while the maids settle the packages.
Madame Bleu rolled her eyes at the Duke before organizing the papers and heading back to her office. She has a lot of work to do since the Duke just placed a large order and she had a sudden motivation to finish up certain design sketches after seeing Adelaide. It was a sudden inspiration that hit her when she saw Adelaide in her dresses, a nagging thought on how to design or modify her designs to make the child happier in her dresses.
Adelaide was the first customer that has tried her dresses with a forced smile on her face. When had a customer of Madame Bleu ever left the shop unsatisfied?
She had chosen the best dresses personally in order to see a genuine smile on the child's face but to no avail. She wasn't sure what her dresses are lacking but this makes her more excited to design dresses that would make Adelaide happy when she wears them.
This might be a good thing, Madame Bleu decided and started work enthusiastically.
Meanwhile, Adelaide who was still shell-shocked at how much money the Duke just spent, did not realize that she had become Madame Bleu's muse, inspiring the designs for children's wear that became extremely popular even among the commoners.
Currently, she is standing beside the carriage staring at all the boxes that are being loaded onto the maid's carriage. All of them contain dresses that she had worn and all the dresses that fit her current size. The Duke literally ordered the staff to pack up anything that can fit his daughter to be bought back to the residence and Adelaide just stood there numbly, unable to comprehend how did things ended up this way.
"I am never going shopping with Daddy again…" Adelaide sighed to herself helplessly.
"You said something?" Duke Avington asked her with his arms crossed, seemly very satisfied at the number of boxes being loaded onto their carriages.
Adelaide immediately shook her head and smiled at her father. "Adelaide worn a lot of dresses today, Adelaide is super happy. Thank you, Daddy."
"That's what I thought I heard." Duke Avington gave her a knowing smirk and Adelaide withered a little.
He definitely heard me, what a meanie...