Third Arc: Thirteenth Chapter

I took a sip of the coffee that had been brought over and managed to pull myself together.

Ah, coffee really is good. Turning my attention away from the white object that seemed to slice through the space in front of me, I let out a deep sigh.

"What a soothing smell. This bitterness is irresistible. ...By the way, doesn't it make you want cake?"

"It does!" said Lady Julia. "It's lovely, but it is bitter! Cake would go well with this!"

What Lady Julia was drinking was café au lait with plenty of milk and sugar, but for someone used to tea, the bitterness might take some getting used to. I, on the other hand, had black coffee, no milk and no sugar. I wanted to properly savor the taste of coffee after so long.

"Right? I think a fragrant apple pie with plenty of cinnamon would suit it beautifully too!"

"Oh my! How delicious that sounds!"

Just then, Michael let slip, with a surprised look,

"...You're quite used to coffee, Lady Cosette. Does your coffee house serve it too? No sugar, no milk, and it isn't bitter to you?"

"Huh...? R-really?"

"Ha ha! Everyone loads it with milk and sugar until they get used to it! Drinking it black, now that's the mark of a connoisseur!"

For Michael, of all people, it was a sharp bit of needling.

"Come to think of it... Signora's coffee house doesn't serve it, does it. Are you going to offer it as a new item? Is that why you've been tasting it!"

From beside me, as I stumbled over my words, Lady Julia clapped her hands and threw me a lifeline. Well, Lady Julia doesn't know about my past life, so she did it without meaning to, but it saved me.

"Y-yes! I've been thinking of offering it as a new item soon. Yes, I thought it would be nice to make some connections in Lumelica and import it... oh-ho-ho."

Inwardly dripping cold sweat, I papered it over. Careful, careful.

"Nice! In that case, you should talk to Lord Elliot! He's the best merchant in all Lumelica, after all!"

"That's our Lady Cosette. Quite the go-getter! You miss nothing!"

"What?! No, oh dear me. Oh-ho-ho..."

Lord Elliot was Lady Remie's husband-to-be, but so he was a merchant. The name on the invitation had been Elliot something-something Lumelica, so I had assumed he was Lumelican royalty, but it seemed he was a merchant as well.

It looked like my business was going to expand before I knew it. Well, I want to drink coffee in Altria too, so that's fine. Still, I had the feeling Lady Julia rather overrated me. Or was that just my imagination?

"Now then, young ladies! Shall we head out into the city?"

Michael's words snapped me to attention, but I gathered myself and gripped his shoulder firmly. Before heading out into the city, there was something I had to do first.

"Michael. First, would you take me to a clothing store? A men's one."

"Huh."

"Quickly."

"Huh."

Grabbing hold of Michael, who took a step back at my intensity, we set off out of the inn.

---

"Here, put on this and this and this. Oh, this one's nice too."

"Lady Cosette, this one's lovely as well!"

"Oh! Lovely! That's Lady Julia for you!"

At present we were in a high-end clothing shop not far from the inn. We were having Michael try on every piece of clothing that caught our eye, one after another. He had already changed through some ten outfits, and, well built as he was, Michael wore almost all of them splendidly. Though his face was thoroughly worn out.

"...Hey, do I have to keep changing? I'm worn out already..."

"Oh dear..."

Michael was pleading with teary eyes, so I supposed it was a bit cruel of me.

"Well, all right. Then let's go with this one. Oh, I'll pay."

"Lady Cosette! I'll pay for myself!"

"...It's fine. It's for the health of my eyes and my heart. And besides, I do earn quite a lot, you know?"

"Lady Cosette..."

I gave a wink to Michael, who lowered his brows, troubled, and looked him over once more from head to toe.

From the hat that crowned his glossy black hair on down, the whole outfit was pulled together in dark blue, its colors held right back. A long-coated dress jacket that made the most of his height, and slim slacks in the same color, with no ornament but a silver-white trim.

"...Yes, this is definitely better. It brings out your charm even more. Very handsome. You don't need to wear loud clothes at all. You're plenty handsome just as you are, Michael."

To keep him from ever reaching for those garish clothes again, I would praise him a little more warmly than he deserved. I turned the best smile I could manage on him and sang his praises.

"Lady... Cosette..."

"There we go! Handsome! ...Wait, huh? Oh, your face is a little red. Do you have a fever?"

"No... it's nothing..."

Michael, transformed into a fine-looking young man, covered his reddened face with his hand for some reason and hurried out of the shop.