21st Day of the Light month. The Six Kings Festival was drawing near,
and today, I'm going shopping with Lilia-san.
Thinking about it, I've gone out with Lilia-san many times before, but
this is the first time we've gone out alone on a date.
Also, when we stayed at the summer resort before, it felt more like we
were set up…
[…I- I'm sorry to keep you waiting.]
[Ah, no… Your clothes look great on you.]
[Y- Yes, thank you.]
Instead of the easy-to-move-in clothing Lilia-san usually wore, she was
currently wearing a long skirt that barely showed her feet.
However, it wasn't a fluffy dress, but a loose-fitting design, making it
look more like stylish casual wear than a dress. Its cream color also
matched Lilia-san's blonde hair and it looked great on her.
[Well then, shall we go?]
[Y- Yes!]
[…Would you like to hold hands?]
[H- H- Hold hands!? N- No, t- t- t- that's a bit too difficult for me… If you
could wait a bit longer…]
…Lilia-san was too nervous.
She was so flustered that she was red up to her ears. It might be rude of
me to say this, but this looks a bit amusing.
Well, to be honest, I was also a bit nervous… But people normally calm
down when they see other people who are more nervous than they are,
so the more nervous Lilia-san was, the more I feel comfortable enough
to smile at her.
[Lilia-san, could you relax for a bit… Let's just take this easy and have
fun.]
[Uuuu… Y- Yes. I'm so embarrassed…]
[No, it's fine if we get used to it at our own pace. Now then, shall we
go?]
[Yes.]
After making a follow up with a wry smile on my face, I went out
shopping with Lilia-san.
Even so, she's this flustered just by going out shopping huh… I feel like
it's going to be a long time before we could hold hands on our date…
No, I think we've held hands before at a summer resort… Would it be
wrong if I made her conscious of that time? Well, I'll just let her
gradually get used to it.
Even though I said we're going to go shopping for clothes, it doesn't
really mean that we're going around to too many stores. Lilia-san was a
Duchess, so the clothes she would wear for the Six Kings Festival
naturally had to be of a certain quality.
This naturally narrows down the number of stores that sell clothes
suitable for the Head of a Duchess' family.
The first store we visited today was the same one I went to buy my
clothes when I first came to this world… According to Lilia-san, this was
where she often bought her clothes.
[Welcome… If it isn't Duchess Albert-sama. Welcome to our
establishment.]
[I'd like to have some formal wear… No, something a bit more casual.]
[Understood. Please wait for a moment.]
The clothes we were buying today are the clothes we were going to
wear during the Six Kings Festival.
We would certainly be attending a party on the last day of the festival,
but it would be uncomfortable to spend the other six days in formal
wear. On the other hand, if we were to wear clothes that were too
casual, it wouldn't be good when we met other nobles.
So, we came here to buy clothes that were somewhere between casual
and formal wear.
When Lilia-san expressed her request, the clerk politely thanked her
and moved to the back of the store and returned with several pieces of
clothing.
[This one is the latest design we have and it also has a luxurious feel. Its
white color is very beautiful, so it's easy to match it with accessories…]
[Hmmm. However, it looks like it would be difficult to "swing a sword
around" in this.]
That's your criteria for choosing!? No, no, why are you assuming you'll
be swinging a sword at the Six Kings Festival, Lilia-san?
[For ease of movement, how about this one? It's very light and stretches
well, so I can confidently recommend this if you want nimbleness in
your gait.]
[…However, I don't really like pink…]
[I see. Then, how about trying on…]
Unnn. This is troubling… I couldn't keep up with what they were talking
about at all.
I didn't know much about women's clothing, and even less about what a
noble would wear.
As I looked at the scene, wondering what to do, Lilia-san turned to me
with a smile.
[This will take a little while, so if Kaito-san doesn't mind, why don't you
take a look at the clothes? They have men's clothing here, too.]
[I guess so… I guess I'll do that.]
Nodding at Lilia-san's suggestion, I moved my gaze to choose my own
clothes, but at that moment, the sales clerk asked Lilia-san.
[Duchess Alber-sama, if you don't mind me asking… May I ask who this
gentleman is?]
[A- Ahh, errr… He's… m- my lover.]
[Oh my! Please excuse my rudeness… It seems like I'm not very
knowledgeable or thoughtful enough. But, I see. Looking closely, he
certainly has the face of a high-class person, so he must be a very
famous person.]
…High-class? Who is?
[My apologies. I don't often have the opportunity to see "noble-sama's"
face, so please forgive me for not recognizing you.]
[...]
…Noble? A- Ahhh, I see… She thought that since I'm the lover of Liliasan, a Duchess, I would naturally be a noble… I was tempted to ask her
what exactly noble-like did she see in me, but telling her that I'm not a
noble would only prolong this topic, so I just said a few words to her
and started to choose my outfit.
A different clerk came and explained the clothes to me but… To be
honest, I haven't found any clothes that I like.
In a way, that might be something that's obvious… The clothes I was
wearing now were made by Alice. To be honest, Alice's taste and skills
are top-notch, and since the clothing I bought from her were tailored to
my tastes, it would be hard for me to find something better than that.
In fact, ever since I started buying clothes at Alice's miscellaneous
goods store, I can't remember buying clothes at any other store.
As I was thinking about this… out of nowhere, a familiar masked girl…
Alice appeared in front of me.
Alice has a big smile on her face and a small, 30x30cm wooden board in
her hand. And written on it was "Alice-chan's special handmade clothes
~~ Six Kings Festival Specifications ~~ Set of 3, one white gold coin".
In Japanese yen, that's 10 million yen… This f*cking b*stard… She
wanted to earn more even after getting a lot of money from me
yesterday at her food stall. She had completely set her eyes at me.
Instead of opening her store and waiting for the customers to come to
her, she went with the method of offering what I need at the right time
at high prices… Frustrating it may be, but it was very effective.
A white gold coin… However, knowing her, I'm sure that the goods she
made are worth more than their cost… Taking that into consideration,
doesn't that mean that they should be cheap?
After some thought, I silently handed Alice a white gold coin.
Thereupon, Alice brightly smiled and disappeared as if nothing
happened… With this, I'll have three outfits delivered by the day of the
Six Kings Festival. I knew Alice had good taste, so I could count on her.
I feel like I've really lost though…
[…Ummm, as I thought, I'm fine with the clothes I have.]
[Yes, I have heard from Phantasmal King-sama. I've prepared some tea
here, so please make yourself comfortable.]
…She's also one of Alice's subordinates huh… From the flow of things…
Could it be that it was all according to Alice's calculations?
Dear Mom, Dad—— My shopping date with Lilia-san finally started, but
I guess it's already standard for men to be left behind when women
choose their clothes. Well, that's fine and all, seriously, this b*stard Alice
——— She really came up with a good way to make money huh.