Second Arc: Twenty-Eighth Chapter

Under a clear, open sky, the trees wore leaves of red and yellow, and, tossed by the wind sweeping across the grassland, they fluttered down one after another, lending color to the scene.

Autumn was nearly over, and you could feel winter creeping near; the faintly cold wind felt good against my flushed cheeks.

Today was the royal family's hunt. This broad hunting ground belonging to the crown had trees standing here and there across the grassland where we now were, with dense little woods dotted throughout.

Just then an especially strong gust whistled past, and as the cloth serving as my screen billowed, my chestnut hair fanned out softly.

I think I can smell autumn… The smell of dead leaves, of flowers………… the smell of roasted sweet potato.

Hmm? Is someone roasting sweet potatoes? I'm hungry…

With a faraway look, I muttered to myself: roasted sweet potato…

Under Sissi's watch, I'd carried out a ferocious diet in time for the hunt, and my belly was now flat as a board, as if the past month had been a lie. The corset, cinched with all Sissi's might, gripped my waist like an iron plate, and to the onlooker's eye the result was a young lady so slender she looked ready to snap.

They say some young ladies are so delicate they faint easily, and I felt about ready to pass out myself. This thing called a corset must be out to kill me.

Just you wait. I will, without fail, wipe the corset from the face of this world. Mark me — without fail!

As I let His Majesty the King's opening address wash over me and steeled my resolve alone, the Queen's voice rang out from beyond the cloth I hid behind.

"…Everyone! Today, two young ladies, friends of Leonhardt's, will be joining us, each in a splendid costume she is proud of. Do all enjoy the contest of their two outfits!"

The Queen's voice carried to every corner of the grounds where the many nobles had gathered. Without even a megaphone — impressive. Her Majesty's voice is always elegant, but this time it had a somewhat burly quality to it — which, I suppose, couldn't be helped.

"Oh my! How exciting that sounds!"

"And which young ladies might these be, I wonder?"

"You haven't heard? The other day, at the school…"

"Oh my…"

In the wake of the Queen's announcement, I could hear the nobles whispering among themselves, and my heart began to pound.

It's fine, calm down, me! Isn't this the outfit I put together after endless wrangling with Madam Zamus and Sissi, all for today? From putting our heads together day after day, by the end I was very nearly saying "zamasu" myself, zamasu.

Oops — mustn't.

Whether this outfit we'd made would be accepted, I couldn't say. But it would surely spark a revolution in the fashion world to come — or so Madam Zamus had prophesied.

"Now then, allow me to present the two of them to you all. Lady Isabella, Lady Cosette — this way."

I heard the Queen's summons. I drew one deep breath, braced myself, and stepped forward.