OHNIR – Chapter 88
Chapter 88: The Fitting
Although the System found Kelusta’s latest attempt at flirting disastrous, the favorability monitoring system—a product of the same origin—had its own ideas. It insisted on offering a very convincing counterpoint.
—“Ding, Gloria’s favorability +2.”
“…”
The next second, the endless stream of complaints and roasts in Kelusta’s mind came to an abrupt halt the moment the notification sound rang.
It asked blankly, “Wait, did I hear that right?… Why would such a terrible confession tactic increase favorability?”
Was the monitoring system broken, or had Gloria gone mad?
“Sigh, stop deceiving yourself, Old Sy,” the brown-haired girl said, letting out a fake sigh. Yet, she couldn’t hide her smugness over a mere two points of favorability. “Let me give you a free lesson: sweet-talking isn’t about timing. The key is whether the person saying those sweet things to you is the one you want to hear them from.”
“…”
Such a profound theory.
Not only could the System not refute it, but it also found itself utterly speechless.
So it decided that in a little while, it would delete all the romance guides from its database, like A Step-by-Step Guide to Winning Over Your Crush, Rooftop, Restaurant, or Ferris Wheel: How to Choose the Best Confession Scene?, and The Complete Collection of 365 Love Phrases—
Useless textbooks, ruining my youth.
But regardless of whether the self-doubting AI replied, Kelusta had no time to bother with it. She was busy studying Gloria’s slightly changed expression with great interest, her heart filled with a kind of secret excitement.
She saw Gloria blush.
The silver-haired girl also seemed caught off guard by the sudden “proposal.” Although she didn’t get the joke in the first half, the second half was easy to understand. Every word was distinct, and she had heard it with perfect clarity.
“…”
Under Kelusta’s gaze, which was brimming with amusement, the noble ducal lady gave a light cough. While pressing the cool back of her hand to her cheek, she bent her knuckles and gently tapped the other girl’s head twice.
“You’re being mischievous again,” Gloria said. “Are those the kind of words you can just say carelessly?”
“How was I being careless?” Kelusta raised an eyebrow, moving closer and giving her a coquettish yet ambiguous wink. “Every single letter of that sentence was filled with sincerity! How could I dare lie to Lady Gloria?”
Warm breath lingered on her lips with the words, the hazy sensation as light and soft as a kiss. Gloria’s long eyelashes lowered slightly, the diamond-colored tips of her hair gently brushing against the girl’s upturned cheek. Under Kelusta’s gaze, the color of those sapphire-like eyes deepened, an undercurrent seeming to stir like in the unfathomable depths of the sea. At that moment, they were completely and intently reflecting the other’s face, while also holding some complex, irresolvable emotions.
Her entire demeanor changed somewhat. She lifted her eyes and looked directly at the proactive and bold Kelusta.
The latter had clearly noticed this subtle shift. She tried to suppress her rapidly beating heart, struggling to maintain a calm expression while secretly swallowing.
Although it was just playful teasing, she couldn’t help but secretly hope in her heart, anticipating that Gloria might give her even a word or two in response…
Only a precarious layer of window paper remained between them. Kelusta didn’t dare pierce it due to her many concerns and could only hint frequently, but the other girl was different.
—Gloria, unlike Kelusta, didn’t know for certain that the other was the game’s hidden villain, nor did she know that Kelusta was the world’s core, shouldering the mission of salvation… Furthermore, under the current circumstances, the duke’s eldest daughter, whose fate had already been largely altered, had every reason to no longer bear her original shackles.
As long as Gloria could determine her own stance, she could do all the things that Kelusta hesitated over and didn’t dare to do.
The brown-haired girl stared at the other’s beautiful face, which was filled with complex and hard-to-read emotions, and prayed silently in her heart.
I only ask for a response… even the worst kind of rejection would be fine.
She secretly held her breath, doing her best to hide the anxiety in her eyes. She stared at Gloria without wavering, trying not to miss the slightest change in her expression.
Under her gaze, Gloria’s expression was somewhat complicated. Her pale cherry lips pressed together lightly, then parted slightly as if she were about to say something—
Kelusta’s heart began to race—
“…Report cards are being handed out tomorrow,” the silver-haired girl said, her face still flushed as she averted her eyes. She changed the subject stiffly, as if to hide something. “How did you do on your exams? You didn’t mess up on potions, did you?”
“…”
That’s it?
Kelusta lowered her eyes, her expression blank. She dropped back down from her tiptoes, her tone dry and sulky with obvious disappointment. “I did terribly. I’ll be lucky to get a D.”
Gloria revealed a helpless and conflicted expression. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but ultimately remained hesitant.
Kelusta pouted, feeling dejected, but on second thought, there seemed to be a hint of relief as well.
And the System, as if on the same wavelength, not only completely regained its confidence but also offered precise comfort by touching on a sore spot: “Alright, relax. After all, not being rejected is half the battle—”
Kelusta was a little flattered and was about to say something, but the System clicked its tongue first. After a few seconds of silence, it mercilessly hit her with another cold blow.
“But I still have to say, your confession method just now was far too flippant… Thinking about it that way, it’s easy to understand Gloria’s mindset. Anyway, if someone proposed to me so casually, I wouldn’t agree either.”
“…Stop dreaming. I would never confess to you, so give up!” Kelusta puffed out her cheeks and said irritably.
The System was taken aback by her retort and, knowing it had misspoken, fell silent out of guilt.
Gloria, however, seemed to have finally calmed down. The blush faded from her face, returning to a serene white that signified her tranquil state of mind. She let out a breath and looked up with a smile. “Whether you did well or bombed the exam, we’ll let tomorrow’s report card do the talking. But for now, if you’re willing to go somewhere with me, I’ll allow you to not touch a single homework problem this holiday, even if you get a zero on your potions exam tomorrow.”
Hmm? No homework even if I get a zero?
The listless Kelusta immediately perked up a bit, but she still looked back with a strange expression in her eyes.
What treasured place could possibly have such power as to make the grade-obsessed demon willingly relent?
Gloria received the question in her gaze but didn’t answer, deliberately keeping her in suspense. “First, tell me if you’ll go with me or not. In any case, you know I would never harm you.”
Since she’d put it that way, the place they were about to go must be very important.
“Alright, I’ll go with you. Of course I don’t doubt that,” Kelusta said helplessly.
Satisfied, Gloria took her hand, folded the cooperation proposal Kelusta had given her, and put it in her pocket. She expertly took the lead, walking half a step ahead toward the magnificent-looking mansion.
Kelusta followed closely behind her through corridors and grand doors, up an antique, spiraling wooden staircase, and past numerous servants who bowed respectfully to them… After some time, bathed in the sunlight pouring in from a window, the two finally stopped before a certain room.
“What are we doing here?” Kelusta turned her head to glance at the bright sun high in the sky and said lightly, “It’s broad daylight. It’s not exactly convenient for a nap, is it?”
Gloria gave her a meaningful glance and didn’t take the bait, only saying, “You’ll understand once you go inside.”
The brown-haired girl said, “Oh,” while inwardly grumbling about where Gloria had picked up this habit of being so mysterious. She shrugged and placed her hand on the cool, silver doorknob before her.
She pushed open the door.
All sorts of fabrics and silks hung throughout the room. Tools like scissors and fine needles were polished to a brilliant shine, arranged neatly on a worktable with an almost obsessive precision. Countless dress forms were draped with finished or half-finished dresses, their styles exquisite and unique. Both their design and material looked extraordinary.
It was obvious that this was a dedicated workshop, set up specifically for making clothes for a certain person.
Kelusta froze for a moment, then slowly blinked. In that instant, she seemed to realize something and whipped her head around to stare at Gloria.
The latter smiled, calmly basking in the brown-haired girl’s astonished gaze. “Since you’ll be attending as my dance partner, it’s only proper that you wear a gown I designed myself, isn’t it?”
“…”
Kelusta said in disbelief, “Besides drinking, is there anything you can’t do?”
She’s capable in public and skilled in private, shrewd in the outside world and virtuous at home. Aside from that bit of villain-exclusive ruthlessness, she was practically flawless—
“See my taste in people? It’s excellent,” Kelusta remarked to the System with emotion. “How could a divine beauty like her not be worth more than the four male capture targets from the original story?”
Because it had displeased her earlier, the System was tactful enough to swallow the words “But you haven’t won her over yet.” Instead, it played along and declared, “As expected of you! You’ve had such foresight since you were young, capturing her heart so early on!”
Although the flattery was obvious, and Kelusta certainly heard it, she didn’t say anything in the end. With just a light snort, she allowed herself to be obediently pulled into the workshop by the force on her hand.
Gloria had her stand on a short, cylindrical platform, then let go of Kelusta’s fingertips. She looked her up and down once before reaching to the side and picking up a long, soft measuring tape.
“Don’t move,” the silver-haired girl said, turning to look at her with a smile in her voice. “I’m going to start taking your measurements now.”
Kelusta: “…”
Just take them, what’s the point of announcing it— Now she was already starting to feel a little itchy all over!
As if noticing her somewhat helpless expression, Gloria, who was in a good mood, let out a low chuckle. She held the measuring tape like a long feather and gently looped it around Kelusta’s neck.
A high-end custom gown must fit every part of the wearer’s body, so it requires careful measurement to avoid errors and achieve perfection.
The reason for this is to allow the designer to maximize the wearer’s comfort while also considering the aesthetic.
Everyone’s measurements are unique, so the greatest feature and selling point of a custom gown is its “exclusivity”—it is a garment created exclusively for a specific client. This was also one of the reasons Kelusta had refused Gloria on Queen Street.
Because once the order was placed, the gown could not be returned, nor could it be given to anyone else, as it could only belong to Kelusta.
But now, the brown-haired girl who held the sole inheritance rights to the Amirium family was no longer who she used to be. Although the price of a gown was steep, for her, it was indeed, as Lewis had said at the time, more than affordable.
…The only fly in the ointment was that the measuring process was a bit hard to endure.
The measuring tape slid from Kelusta’s neck to her shoulders, encircling her tightly like a lover’s arms. Gloria stood before her, pinching the mark on the tape with one hand while murmuring the numbers and recording them in a notebook to the side.
The distance between them was very close, so close that Kelusta only had to lower her eyes slightly to see the ducal lady’s serious and focused expression. The taut muscles of her face made her already exquisitely beautiful features even more stunning. Combined with the unique charm she exuded at that moment, it made the brown-haired girl’s entire heart fixate on her.
While the girl on the platform was in a daze, Gloria’s movements shifted downward. As if tying a ribbon on a gift, she slowly and methodically wrapped the tape around Kelusta’s chest.
As she looped the measuring tape around, the back of the silver-haired designer’s hand intentionally or unintentionally brushed against the other girl’s back, instantly pulling her out of her thoughts.
“…” Kelusta, “!!!”
Her cheeks instantly flushed with blood, turning a deep red as if she were wearing too much makeup. They even began to feel faintly hot, making her head spin.
“You… you, you, you…”
Kelusta’s lips opened and closed for a long while, but she couldn’t even get half a sentence out.
But it didn’t matter that she was speechless, because Gloria had already narrowed her eyes and started to smile.
“Feeling shy?” she teased, her eyes curving as she recorded the number on the tape. “But I have to say—Ruth, you have a really nice figure.”
“…”
Kelusta exhaled a hot breath, pressed her lips together, and abruptly raised a hand to cover her cheeks.
What goes around comes around…
She never expected that right after teasing the other girl with a half-sincere confession, before she even had time to be happy about it, retribution would come so swiftly, and the tables would be so completely turned on her.
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