kscans

Chapter 141 - A First Dress for You

I had thought I had satisfied my desires in a way that deceived Ariel. It was at a level where if Adrian found out, I couldn’t have complained if he punched me.

But, the fact that she was also skilled at purification magic meant that she could have purified my aphrodisiac, but chose not to.

"Darius and I were good friends," Ariel said, looking satisfied.

"That’s why I wanted to make the charming bedding." The Ariel who had forgotten her past was honest and straightforward about her desires. The way she hugged me, held my hand, and even spoke of our physical acts. It felt as if the past Ariel was confessing to me over and over, a feeling so happy yet so painful and heart-wrenching it washed over me.

"Now that that’s settled, I’m off to climb Sacred Peak Mountain," Ariel announced, telling me she was going to climb the mountain with Leonhard.

"To Sacred Peak Mountain?"

"Yep. Phoenixes are in the crater. Enchanting Butterflies and Seductive Butterflies are at the foot of Sacred Peak Mountain."

"Why Leonhard?" In the flow of our conversation up to this point, shouldn’t it be me? Going with her.

"Leonhard asked me. He wants me to help him find a jewel to give to Mireille as a present."

"For their wedding?"

"That’s right. He’s giving her a present." I see. Darius felt a lump in his throat. He had felt a sense of guilt for dragging them into all this, but he was glad the two of them were finally together.

But... that too made him realize something. Such an idea had not occurred to him in the slightest. In high society, he would normally have his butler arrange to send various things so as not to be rude to the other party, yet he had never sent anything to the Ariel of the past. The things he chose were all necessities like candy, food, or toys for Mireille.

"I want to go too!"

"I’ll be sure to bring back magic cores."

"No, I want to give Ariel a jewel too...." As he said it, he thought, wouldn’t Ariel just get one herself if she wanted it? What was I trying to say? he regretted.

And yet.

"Really!!" She gave him an incredibly happy look.

Did she like jewels? Come to think of it, she had seemed happy about the gold coins she got from Adrian, saying they were shiny. No, it was more that I was the strange one for never having given Ariel a single jewel. Even if she was mostly in the Tree Sea, there were plenty of gifts for a woman, like dresses, jewels, books, or cosmetics.

When I untangled the past like this, it was no wonder I had made Ariel lose her confidence.

"I want to give you your first jewel. Would it be alright if I searched for it with you?"

"That’s fine. I’m going to put it on a dress and tiara later." Putting jewels on a dress? For high society?

"That’s right. Jewels are needed on the battlefield. But if Darius is there, I’ll be safe." Ariel became so cheerful she looked like she might start whistling.

"Is the dress decided? Would it be alright if I gave you that as a gift too?"

"Adrian is giving me the dress."

"I see. I’ll talk to Adrian, then."

I want to be the one to give her a proper dress. I loved her so much, I was crazy about her, what on earth have I been doing all this time?

From there, I immediately took action. When I spoke to Adrian, he already had a design sketch for a haute couture dress ready.

But, what was this?

"Adrian, this dress is... not for high society, is it?"

"Of course I’ll have one made for society. But this is the main event."

It was a one-of-a-kind piece by a top-tier tailor, but it was too plain to be worn in high society. It was more the type one would wear to a formal ceremony. Of course, she was twenty-eight, so she wouldn’t be wearing the same kind of clothes as a young girl.

Moreover, leather boots? And a mantle? A rather long one. This was...

"This is..."

"Make sure you propose to Ariel before she makes her debut." Adrian smiled with an air of confidence.

"Never mind proposing, she just found her old diary and cried because she couldn’t remember anything." Adrian sighed as if to say, what are you doing?

But then his expression suddenly turned serious.

"I haven’t told Eleonora the full details of the day I first met her. Please smooth things over with Ariel for me."

He said it with a serious face. He was talking about how he tried to approach her, got blown away, suffered a near-fatal injury, and received a mouth-to-mouth potion. That was certainly hard to bring up, and it would be a problem if it created a rift between Ariel and Eleonora-fujin.

I promised to cover for him, and in return, I arranged for the dress to be my expense and had Adrian give me the details of how he planned to use it.

I see. It was indeed a plan that Father Cedric would have no choice but to accept.

I decided to go along with Adrian’s plan.