Why the Northern Duke Wanders the Snowfields - Chapter 54

“So, this young lady is….”

“She’s a distant niece of mine, so please take good care of her.”

At Agnes’s words, the owner of the dress shop smiled broadly and greeted Aubrianna, whose measurements were being taken.

“My name is Marina. You’re so beautiful that I think anything would look good on you.”

The friendly proprietress led Aubrianna toward the back and continued speaking.

“You said you needed something to wear urgently, so I’ve prepared a few simple outfits for now. We’ll make the rest as quickly as possible and send them to your residence.”

Then, as though something had just occurred to her, she asked, “Ah! Is there any particular style you prefer?”

Aubrianna shook her head vigorously.

A style she preferred? She could barely remember ever seeing many beautiful clothes in the first place.

The maids all wore the same uniform, and the ladies-in-waiting also dressed more modestly than their mistress. There were no young noblewomen at the ducal castle, and the duchess favored such extravagant clothing and excessive amounts of jewelry that Aubrianna never once thought she looked beautiful.

“Please don’t hesitate to tell us. We’ll prepare anything you want.”

Then the proprietress asked whether she wanted one large jewel set into her shoes or several smaller ones, leaving Aubrianna flustered.

“L-Lady Agnes.”

“Do whatever you prefer.”

The tip of Aubrianna’s nose turned red with embarrassment as she whispered into Agnes’s ear.

“Even one must be terribly expensive….”

Agnes smiled and whispered back, “Kaeloc has already paid this establishment a considerable sum, so you can have clothes made here for the next several years without worrying about money.”

“Wh-When did he….”

Aubrianna was startled because he hadn’t said a word about it.

“He said it was payment for teaching him.”

Saying there were still many things to choose, including undergarments, hats, and shoes, Agnes began hurrying the proprietress along.

“They said the jewelry was sent to the villa, so let’s try it on with the dresses later.”

Already changing into her third dress, Aubrianna nodded blankly.

“Ah! Please do her makeup as well.”

The proprietress rolled up her sleeves and stepped forward.

“Shall we see which colors suit you first?”

Saying she would come to the villa early tomorrow morning, she immediately took out her makeup tools.

Whatever Agnes told her, even the proprietress was now brimming with enthusiasm as she began brushing makeup onto Aubrianna’s face.

“I’ll turn you into a striking beauty.”

Saying that Aubrianna was beautiful but her features lacked definition, she darkened her eyebrows and curled her hair with a heated iron that seemed to scorch it.

The sight of herself in the mirror felt so unfamiliar that Aubrianna repeatedly clenched and released the fabric of her skirt.

“Is this really all right?”

Aubrianna spoke anxiously as she watched the servants carrying large boxes from the carriage.

“I told you, money isn’t a problem. Even when I’m not here, if you need anything, go to Marina’s dress shop whenever you like.”

“No, that’s not what I mean….”

She lingered by the entrance, unable to bring herself to go inside.

“I meant, do I really look all right?”

It was her first time wearing makeup like this, so she couldn’t have felt more awkward.

“I told you, you’re truly beautiful. Tomorrow, let’s knock Aileen down a peg or two.”

“What? That’s not what….”

Agnes began shouting at the servants carrying the boxes.

“Be especially careful with the hatboxes! You there! Carry them one at a time, not several at once! They won’t look pretty if they’re crushed!”

Then she disappeared into the dressing room after them.

Standing in the wide corridor leading to the drawing room, Aubrianna slowly removed her cape and turned this way and that, examining her unfamiliar reflection in a transparent glass bottle.

“Who’s there?”

At that moment, Kaeloc approached from behind her. She already felt terribly awkward, and the thought that even Kaeloc hadn’t recognized her made her dizzy.

‘I must look very strange after all.’

It was strange. In the cabin, she wore no makeup or beautiful clothes, yet she was far more confident. But after returning to the ducal castle, she became timid and hesitant again, just as she was when she worked as a maid.

“Where did that daring Aubrianna from the cabin go? You spread your legs and told me to come inside you without caring who saw.”

She recalled what Kaeloc said that morning when they had sex in a bright corner of the garden without any sense of shame.

‘Kaeloc without his memories definitely seemed weak to bold and seductive behavior.’

But that wasn’t Aubrianna’s true personality.

In the cabin, she acted that way only after summoning tremendous courage and steeling herself again and again. Once they returned to the ducal castle, Aubrianna found it difficult to continue the act.

Moreover, the discomfort of feeling as though she were wearing someone else’s clothes made her even more awkward.

She wore a stiff lace hat adorned with extravagant feathers and jewels unlike anything she’d ever seen before, while her long, curled hair fell softly over her bare shoulders and back.

The clothes currently fashionable in the capital were said to have cuts just above the breasts, creating an even more seductive appearance.

Afraid her breasts might be exposed if she moved, Aubrianna had to keep pressing a gloved hand against her chest throughout the carriage ride.

And then there was the makeup. Her eyebrows and eyes were heavily defined, making her red eyes stand out more vividly, and her lips were painted not a subtle rose but a brilliant red that made her pale skin appear even whiter.

It all felt so awkward and uncomfortable that she was about to remove her gloves and wipe the red color from her lips.

“Aubrianna?”

Kaeloc approached from behind and picked up a lock of her hair.

Covering her lips with one hand, she turned around, and her heart dropped.

‘I really must look strange.’

Kaeloc was frowning deeply, as though he were in a foul mood.

“You went out looking like this?”

When she nodded, Kaeloc grabbed her wrist.

“Why are you covering your face?”

Then he rubbed a finger around her eye. Seeing the black makeup come off on his finger, Kaeloc muttered, “You look like a whore.”

Aubrianna’s face burned with embarrassment, but her foundation was so thick that it barely showed.

“But this is what’s fashionable in the capital right now….”

“It seems whores dictate fashion in the capital.”

That was both true and untrue. Brothels were the quickest to follow the latest fashions in high society, while high society also imitated the most popular high-class courtesans in those brothels.

“That’s too harsh.”

Aubrianna was gradually becoming angry. She was the one who spent hours having her makeup done and changing clothes merely because Kaeloc’s prospective fiancée was coming.

‘Who am I supposed to impress? Who am I supposed to get the better of?’

Would Kaeloc love her more if she defeated Aileen? She had no chance of winning in the first place. Aileen was born a noble lady and spent half a day surrounded by maids and ladies-in-waiting, having herself dressed and adorned just to take a brief stroll through the park in front of her mansion.

‘You chose Aileen in my previous life anyway.’

The reason Aubrianna could be here now instead of in the underground prison had nothing to do with dresses or makeup. It was because she used her knowledge of his body to give him pleasure.

She found herself wondering.

‘If I stop pretending to be bold and seductive, will Kaeloc abandon me and choose Aileen again?’

Kaeloc’s eyes flashed coldly as they clashed sharply with Aubrianna’s gaze.

“Harsh?”

He scoffed. Then he stepped back and crossed his arms.

“Can you still say that after seeing the state you’re in?”

When Aubrianna lowered her hand and turned around, the sound of him grinding his molars rang out.

The sight of half her back exposed seemed to offend him yet again.

Aubrianna was about to walk toward the room, but a sudden streak of defiance rose within her.

‘Who was it that asked whether I was a whore in the cabin?’

Aubrianna deliberately turned her head only halfway and lowered her gaze. The smeared makeup made her look dangerously seductive instead.

The brilliant red lips beneath her shapely nose, looking as though they were stained with blood, parted slightly. Her scarlet tongue slipped out and moistened them.

“Do you dislike it that much?”

Kaeloc was furious. He wanted to seek out every man who saw the smooth white skin known only to him and gouge out their eyes one by one.

The thought of her walking through the streets looking like that and seducing people sent sparks climbing up his throat, heating his eyes and making his scalp tingle.

He admitted it. Before losing his memories, he would never have allowed Aubrianna the opportunity to look like this in the first place.

‘I would’ve simply reprimanded her more coldly, then turned away.’

Then Aubrianna would retreat to her own space with tears welling in those gentle eyes and wait for his forgiveness.

Afterward, he would give her jewels and embrace her once she resigned herself to it, and she would return to being his eternally obedient and beautiful possession.

But something changed in Aubrianna after he lost his memories.

She became precarious, sensual, and sultry. He wondered whether she always had this side to her, yet his body heated up helplessly at the sight of it.

Their messy sex that morning came to mind. The moment he imagined Aubrianna dressed like this and panting on the garden table, his cock hardened instantly.

No. His already hard cock was swelling even larger.

And as sly as she was, Aubrianna’s lowered gaze flicked toward his lower body to check.

Was he really this weak to temptation?

The initiative in his relationship with Aubrianna belonged to him. She had no choice.

But it seemed his cock was the one without a choice.

His cold reason and still-angry mind began pathetically rationalizing the signal from his lower body.

‘Wasn’t she dressed like that for me in the first place?’