My Sister Took My Fiance And I Was Married To An Ugly Prince

13 - A New Look

Ever since Lucrezia had moved to Lord Ugly's estate, she had spent her days in a hurry to buy everything she needed, but after a while, it all settled down.

As soon as she had some free time, her curiosity got the better of him.

I wondered what kind of books were in the Pastore residence.

When I asked if I could look in his study, Ramilio agreed.

"You can read whatever you want in my house," he said. "But it's all in our language."

"It's all right, I've learned it before."

Lucrezia inspected the books in her study one by one.

When she realized that many of the books seemed to have been published about a hundred years ago, she found the diary of the person who had been collecting them. It was Ramilio's ancestor.

As I was happily reading through it, Ramilio wandered over to check on me.

"What are you reading?"

"It seems to be a memoir written by the head of the family a hundred years ago. It was a turbulent year back then, and cults took advantage of the people's anxiety."

Ramilio also looked down at the book he had spread out.

"If you're interested, I can extract the interesting parts and make a digestible notes of it for you later."

"Really? That would be great."

"I'm glad to hear you're not bored, though, because I'm sure it's boring to be stuck at home. Why don't we go on a weekend getaway? We can take the horses to the mountains or the river, or we can go to the Comedy Opera House and do some shopping. If you don't have a preference, I'll see what I can do."

Lucrezia was a little taken aback.

It's moments like this that make me think that he might be a good person.

"What do you usually do on weekends, Mr. Ramilio?"

"Me? I never leave the house. I don't like crowds."

"Well, let's go to the mountains or the river."

"...No, you don't have to worry about me. The mountains must be boring for a young girl."

"Oh, I like camping," she said. "I bring a tent and go to the mountains for the night. I like to go camping with my tent and spend the night in the mountains, where I can look at the stars and nibble on hot river fish and bacon over the fire."

Lucrezia said, and Ramilio smiled at her.

"Then we should go to the mountains. It's a little difficult to stay overnight, but we can catch some ducks in the daytime."

"You're a good hunter, aren't you?"

Lucrezia was very pleased with her conversation with Ramilio that day, as she had a lot of detailed discussions with him.

--He is very friendly and easy to talk to.

I wonder if I'm being too hasty in wishing that we could get engaged soon.

--I hope we can get along on the mountain.

Lucrezia couldn't wait for the weekend.

The next day, the butler appeared in Lucrezia's room with a large box.

"Miss, your dress has arrived."

"Oh, really? I'm so happy."

Smiling, Lucrezia unwrapped the package and pulled out a softly colored silk. It was made of a fabric with a clever gradation from pale blue to pale pink, and the shade seemed to change infinitely with the light.

Lucrezia briefly admired the beautiful sheen of the fabric.

It was like a dream come true for Lucrezia, who only owned plain black, brown and gray clothes.

--If Rosa finds it, she'll take it right away.

She giggled, thinking of her sister who was not here. I'm sure this dress would have looked great on her.

"Would you like to start wearing it this evening? I'll have one of my female servants join you in the evening."

"Thank you, please."

Lucrezia started to get ready for the evening.

"What is your name?"

"My lady, call me Anne."

"Well, Anne, it's nice to meet you."

First, Lucrezia had her hair neatly curled with an iron and was about to tie it up, but Anne stopped her.

"It's a trend these days not to tie your hair up," she said. "Why, don't you think you've been tricked and wear your hair half up like this?"

Lucrezia was puzzled.

Her sister, Rosa, always wore her hair down naturally, and she often touched her hair while eating.

In addition to that, Lucrezia had another concern.

"...My hair looks gray, doesn't it?"

"What do you mean? In Pastore, white hair is highly respected as a sign of intelligence, and since your silver hair is so shiny, it will surely look great with your light-colored dress."

Lucrezia looked at the mirror in front of her, thinking. It's hard to tell what I'm thinking with those dark eyes. My silver hair was pulled down haphazardly.

I wondered if it would really look good on me.

"Please try it on for yourself."

Anne enthusiastically recommended, and I reconsidered.

"...Okay, please."

"I'm sure you'll look beautiful."

Anne slicked back all the hair around her face with hairpins so I wouldn't have to touch it, and let the rest hang naturally.

"You have very beautiful skin. Do you take any special care of it?"

"Not much, just ...washing my face morning and night."

"Your eyes have a beautiful shape, so you don't need any makeup around them. You have a great base, so just a little bit of face powder will give you a polished look. As a maid of honor, I can't help but be excited."

"Thank you."

I put on a skirt-flattening corrective device and put on the dress.

Hoping that Ramilio would like it as well, I thought when decided to head to the dining room.

***