NOVEL NEXT Chapter 1: Spider’s Weave
"Your highness, are you really sure about this?"
The concerned voice of my hand maiden reverberated the empty halls as we walked towards my room. She fidgeted her hands worryingly as she followed behind me.
"I've told you countless times, Tilma." I replied as I waved my right hand.
"I want to visit the commoner's area"
"But.. but your highness!"
Tilma had always been with me, ever since she was rescued by my father way back during the war with Ferahim, she was taken in and trained to become my personal handmaiden.
Although she was four years older than I, we were still relatively close. We spent most of our days stuck to each other, I could even say that we were closer together than my actual elder sister.
She had just turned 19 this year, so father was adamant on finding her a suitable husband. Tilma unfortunately refused.
"Apologies, my king! But my place is with her highness princess Claudia!" She vehemently cried out.
If you asked me, I think that it would be a waste. Tilma was actually quite pretty in my opinion.
She had shoulder length light blonde hair that she tied to a bun, her brown eyes were wide and cute, like those of a small animal. Most importantly, her slender body, that was usually clothed by the standard royal maid's garments was nothing to scoff at.
I think that there would be no shortage of man who would want to make Tilma as their wife. Of course, I'll first make sure that they're worthy of her.
"Your highness, I really think that you should reconsider!" She cried out once again.
The reason for her concern was because of my sudden idea to visit the common area of the capital.
It's been almost a month now since I last went there. Being cooped up in this castle is not good for me, the tea parties that I was frequently invited to were also too boorish, young lords and ladies would continuously pester me to garner favour.
Truth be told, I far liked being with the commoners as opposed to being stuck here. The commoners were not burdened with political responsibilities and duties like the royals and nobles are.
"But princess, I still think that we should bring at least a couple of guards, just to be safe."
The gripes of my maid were valid, the common areas were far from being perfect, if there were good sides, there were of course, bad sides.
"We can't, Tilma. We're going incognito, bringing in guards would be too conspicuous."
Having her request rejected, Tilma hung her head down.
"You worry too much, Tilma. We're only taking a look, you know? We'll be in and out in no time" I tried reassuring her, but she still looked worried.
"But.. Princess--"
"And please stop calling me princess, I told you already, we're going incognito"
Tilma shook her head furiously.
"There is no other way for me to address your highness! anything other than that would be too impertinent!"
Tilma panicked as she rebuked my words. She waved her hands in front of her as if chasing away something, truth be told, she was quite amusing to watch.
"Uuuu.. Princess enjoying my troubles is just too harsh!"
"Haha I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Hmm.. how about you just call me young mistress, for the time being."
"Young mistress?" Tilma tilted her head as she asked me.
"Yeah, we can go with the daughter of a wealthy merchant disguise, don't ya think?"
I winked at her as I said those words.
"Uuuuuh, Princess talking in such an unrefined manner is so uncomfortable!"
Tilma groaned as she complained, in response, I only smiled at her wryly.
[I wonder what kind of peculiar things I'll see today"
I thought to myself as we continued walking.
+++
"Spider's Weave" was one of the most renowned tailors in the capital. Their works and designs were well sought after by various young ladies of varying statures, and today was no different.
The gates of the tailor shop were lined with young ladies hoping to acquire one of their world renowned works. Unfortunately for them, today was reserved for the fitting of the only daughter of one of the four great houses, the young lady of House Carmine.
The loud bustling of gossiping young ladies was stopped by the arrival of a carriage bearing the golden dove over a rose, the symbol of House Carmine.
"Hey, isn't that.."
"Yeah, that's the carriage of House Carmine"
"That means she's here?"
"You mean Lady Juliette?"
"I heard from father that there were talks in the court about her being engaged to Prince Claude"
"We'll that could be expected, she is from one of the top noble houses in the Kingdom"
"Aww, there goes my chance at getting the dress I wanted for the Prince's party, Lady Juliette's gonna take forever to finish her fitting"
Whispers just like these floated around the area.
+++
"There's an awful lot of people around here no?"
Lady Juliette muttered as she peeked outside of the carriage, her silky silver blonde hair fluttering in the wind as she rested her hand on her chin.
"It can't be helped, my lady." I answered the young lady's question as I prepared her belongings.
"With the Prince's birthday coming soon, many young ladies are rushing to get the most exquisite dresses they can find."
[Come to think of it, there have been a lot of people bearing the symbol of the royal family coming and going in the estate. Coupled with the fact that the Duke's visit to the royal palace have been increasing as of late.] I thought to myself as I made the final preparations for lady Juliette to exit the carriage.
[I wonder whether it has something to do with the Prince's birthday?]
The first thing I did when I exited the carriage was to survey the surroundings for any potential threats.
As Lady Juliette's personal combat butler, it was my duty to ensure that I was always there to serve her at all times and to protect her from any threat.
I looked around and saw the various ladies from different houses gazing upon our carriage. They were lined up at the gates of the tailor, along with their personal helps.
"I'm here to announce the arrival of Lady Juliette of House Carmine, please give way immediately, as we have the day reserved."
Various groans and sighs of disappointment could be heard from the crowd, but I paid them no heed. As the crowd opened up a path, I similarly opened the carriage door and offered my hand to Lady Juliette. She happily took my hand as she got down from the carriage, followed by Milin.
"Look, there she is"
"So it's true that her eyes are as blue as the ocean"
"I still think I'm better looking than her"
"Her butler is quite a looker no?"
Various whispers like that could be heard from the crowd, but the young lady was too preoccupied humming and almost skipping in joy as we walked towards the tailor.
It was a given that my lady would garner attention anywhere she went, she was indeed, a beauty. Though it was strange that she kept clinging to me as we walked, much to the displeasure of Milin.
"Do you see now, Larc? Why I wanted you to come with me? Are you not enjoying yourself?"
The young lady asked me with eyes that gleamed, as if it were saying "Ohohoho". She was the very picture of a stereotypical, beautiful, spoiled OJou-sama from the light novels I used to read in one of my past lives.
"..indeed, my lady. It does bring me joy to accompany you like this"
"Of course it does! it's only right that it does you know?"
Lady Juliette responded enthusiastically to me. The radiant sun only made her hair shine even more, giving off a sense of calmness, and gracefulness. It wouldn't even be far fetched to say that she was an angel.
"Welcome Lady Juliette, we've been waiting for you"
We were met at the entrance by a middle aged lady wearing an exquisite blue dress embroidered with flowers that properly highlighted her curves, her light brown hair was kept in a ponytail, while her glasses complimented her slightly slanted eyes.
"Thank you, miss Brenda. Although I must apologize for my tardiness today, I'm usually on time with arrangements like this, it's just that.. My pet was acting up today, so I was caught up. I hope you can forgive me"
Lady Juliette did a small curtsey as she said so. Wait, was the pet supposed to be me?
As I gave her a glance Lady Juliette met my eyes with her sapphire blue eyes, as if saying "it's your fault, you know".
"Do not fret, My lady. It is nothing to apologize for, we are here to serve you and to make you the best dress we can."
"Thank you for your kind consideration, please take care of me today"
As Brenda returned a curtsey to Lady Juliette, I sent a sidelong glance to Milin whom only shook her head in resignation.
+++
"I see that your business is as prosperous as ever, miss Brenda, as can be seen by the line of young ladies outside?"
Lady Juliette made small talk with miss Hilda as we walked inside the tailor.
Mannequins of all shape and sizes littered the inside of the shop, various beautiful, silky fabrics could also be seen neatly stacked on the walls.
"It is as my lady says, with the approaching birthday of Prince Claude, numerous young ladies have been frequenting our shop. As of now, we are knee deep in order dresses"
Miss Brenda looked slightly troubled for an instant.
"I see, then it seems that we'll be imposing on you, please do forgive us"
"Nonsense, my lady. You are imposing on no one, your father, Duke Carmine is our partner and benefactor, it is only right that we give you special treatment"
She assured Lady Juliette.
"Then, I guess I'll take you up on that offer, miss Brenda."
"Indeed, my lady. Anything you need we will provide"
With that we continued our walk.
We passed by a number of seamstress and sewing machines as we walked towards the far end of the shop. From what I've seen, the weaving tools used in this world were still primitive, in fact, most of the machineries used in various industries here were outdated.
I had thought that the advancement of technology in this world had been hindered due to the people's ability to use magic, but that was just a hypothesis.
All the dresses here were hand woven by two or more people. Of course with that kind of system, one can assure the uniqueness and quality of the dress, but it drastically reduces the output and quantity. I could think of a few items from my past life that I think could revolutionize the weaving industry, but now was not the time for that.
We arrived at a luxurious looking door that was adorned by gold plated figures, insinuating that it was owned by a high class noble.
Entering the room, we noticed how the interior was quite spacious. Two sofas were placed in an oval shape at the center of the room while a large mirror stood on one side.
There was another space separated by an ornate slider, probably the place to change clothes into. The sides were flanked by mannequins sporting different design dresses and embroidery patterns.
There were already sweets and tea prepared on the table top when we arrived, so all that was left was to sit down and watch Lady Juliette's fitting.
"Now lady Juliette, please make yourselves comfortable while you wait for the seamstress that will take your measurements"
Miss Brenda gestured towards the sofas that were symmetrically aligned on the room, it appears that Lady Juliette had ordered for a custom made dress as opposed to picking an already made one.
She faced miss Brenda and performed another small curtsey, before speaking words of gratitude.
"Thank you, miss Brenda."
Lady Juliette slowly sat down on the sofa and partook in the tea and sweets served just as the mistress of the shop exited the room. She then took a look at me.
"I like the sweets you make better, Larc"
Having my sweets praised made my heart skip a beat, just a little.
"Thank you for your kind words, my lady."
Then she pat the sofa opposite to her direction.
"Come sit here while we wait, let's have tea together! You too, Milin!"
Milin and I looked at each other and smiled wryly.
"There's no use arguing with the young lady when she's like this, let's just go along with her"
"Agreed"
Milin and I conversed with our eyes, this is something we've learned to do over the years of the young lady pestering us with her, usually, unreasonable requests.
""As you wish, my lady.""
Milin and I answered simultaneously while walking towards the sofa.