Chapter 377 The Women' Battle Preparations
The journey from the snow-filled Grandchester territory to the beautifully decorated royal capital, as the year-end approached, was going smoothly.
As the journey progressed, golems resembling three gods were setting up communication relays in suitable spots along the way. Often, during breaks, they would take a short rest on a small hill near the main road. No one found this odd because the golems appeared just like ordinary humans, strolling around. People thought, "Oh, the Sophia Merchant Guild employees are just doing their work," even if the golems were holding shovels. They assumed, "Are they going to dig a hole and fill it back in? How responsible!"
This way, a solid network was created from Grandchester territory to the royal capital. Since the golems were magical devices, they made sure everything was precise and sensitive.
The relays were secretly equipped to gather information, and Rihito added more functions to them. The most important addition, requested by Sara, was a feature to collect terrain data. Sara believed an accurate map was essential for the merchant guild�s logistics network. She wanted to create golems that acted like drones, but she couldn't do it yet because she was busy with other tasks.
Magi reacted strongly to Sara's idea. They began to model and examine phenomena such as exchanging information, animals circulating blood in their bodies, merchants moving goods, and nations or organizations moving troops...
The Three Wise Scholars of the Magi understood logistics as moving goods quickly, safely, and steadily. They realized that simply having terrain data wasn�t enough to make accurate decisions. "We need to look at weather conditions and listen to local conversations to be sure our routes are safe," they agreed. "To keep our routes stable, we must maintain the roads, which means discussing plans with the local lords." They noted that if there are several routes, the best one could change depending on the situation. "When we are in a hurry, we may have to take riskier paths, so we need to know how many guards to bring," they said. "To figure out the extra costs of using these dangerous paths quickly, we need information from knight orders and adventurer guilds." They began considering many factors.
During this discussion, Kaspar, one of the Three Wise Scholars, voiced a concern: "If we tell Sara we�re modeling troop movement, she might stop us because she dislikes war." Melchior countered, "It�s hard to believe Sara would oppose gathering information that ensures our logistics are safe." To solve the issue, Balthazar suggested, "If we focus on collecting terrain data, we can adjust our magic circle slightly.� This approach was accepted because all three Scholars were keen on gathering information, and it was unlikely they would give up on it.
Without realizing the Magi's intentions, Sara and her group arrived at the mansion in the royal capital 4 nights after leaving Grandchester Castle. It was almost according to Edward's schedule, but since Edward thought the children would usually start being difficult along the way, he felt uneasy about how smoothly everything had gone.
'This time, she didn't complain about wanting to take a bath or how bad the food was. I guess Chloe has grown up.'
Edward felt that Chloe's value had suddenly increased in his eyes. Of course, he was also deeply grateful to Sara, who had likely been the reason for Chloe's change.
However, the reason Chloe didn't complain about the bath was that she had been bathing every night with Sara at Maiden's Tower. As for the food, Chloe usually complained because their meals during travel consisted mostly of meat. But this time, the Sophia Merchant Guild took care of everything from sourcing to transporting the ingredients. Thanks to that, they enjoyed a variety of foods on the way, like sweet and juicy new types of Elma, long-lasting baked goods, and herbal tea blended by Amelia.
For the Sophia Merchant Guild, transporting large amounts of wheat, Elma, and alcohol was necessary, so the food for the journey was just a bonus. It seemed like they had packed many other items like Spieluhr, herbal tea, and cosmetics, but most of it was actually thrown into spatial storage by Sara. It would look strange if they didn't seem to be carrying anything, so they had a lot of wagons, but in reality, they didn't have that much weight. This was also one of the reasons why the journey was going smoothly.
During the journey, Chloe decided to stop wearing her trademark vertical rolls because she thought, "The rug is getting in the way of my bath." Keeping the vertical rolls while traveling was quite a hassle, so this made the maids happy. However, even after returning to the royal capital, Chloe didn't mention wanting to style her hair in vertical rolls again.
'Just because it's trendy doesn't mean I have to wear that hairstyle. I should wear the dress design I like and style my hair to match it. I'm done copying others.'
After returning to her room and changing into her loungewear, Chloe looked at herself in the mirror again. The dress she thought was the latest fashion in the royal capital now seemed less impressive compared to the designs she saw from Lucas in Grandchester. Every time she discussed fashion ideas with Lucas, Chloe couldn't help but notice that many dresses didn't suit her with vertical rolls.
Just because Chloe stopped wearing vertical rolls doesn't mean she's slacking off on her fashion. She started trying on various dresses made in Grandchester and experimenting with hairstyles that would match. Sometimes, she included Sara, and they would become like matching dolls with their intricately styled golden and silver hair.
The maids in the beauty department were more than happy to help Chloe with her fashion. After all, it was like having 2 living dolls to dress up. They were very interested in the new dress designs made in Grandchester, and it was a lot of fun to dress up the two beautiful girls like dolls.
Again, as Sophia started to prepare her outfit for the tea party happening in 3 days, the maids' excitement shot up even more. There was no way they wouldn't be thrilled in front of a beauty who looked just like Sara. As expected, it was Sara who was the golem in Sophia's outfit fitting.
By the way, the Sophia Merchant Guild still didn't have a store in the royal capital, and Sophia herself didn't have a residence there, so she was staying as a guest at the Grandchester family's villa.
"What dress will Sophia wear to the tea party?"
"Since there was no dress code mentioned in the invitation, I was thinking of this dark blue dress."
"Huh, that dress that covers you all the way up like a widow!?"
"Since I'm just an escort, I think a more modest outfit would be better. Besides, it's a daytime tea party, so skin shouldn't be exposed."
Chloe let out a deep sigh. The maids around them also looked disappointed all at once.
"Listen, Sophia. Being an escort is just a title. You're the face of the Sophia Merchant Guild, and to put it simply, the Jasmine dress is the biggest rival for the clothing department of the Sophia Merchant Guild."
"Of course, I plan to wear a dress from the Sophia Merchant Guild, but the face of our merchant guild is Lady Chloe."
Chloe buried her head in her hands and sat down on a nearby stool, taking a sip of her slightly cold tea.
"Sophia... you do realize you're beautiful, right?"
"Well, I won't deny that."
"Beauty comes in many forms, but in your case, it's a mysterious and almost magical kind of beauty. Since Sara, who is similar to you, is called a fairy princess and the goddess of the moon, you are the same. Being a young adult woman, I guess you could say you're like the fairy queen."
The lady-in-waiting and maids standing behind Chloe nodded in agreement.
"I think that's a bit too much to say."
"We know the truth about you, so it doesn't really apply to us, but I believe that unknown men... and maybe even women could be overwhelmed by your beauty."
"Is that really how it is?"
"You're smart and perceptive, yet you're unaware of the strange things about yourself. You're not being modest, but don't you have a low self-evaluation of your looks?"
"I understand that I have better looks than most, but when I'm with Lady Chloe and Miss Rebecca, I can't help but think my beauty isn't that special."
Sara, in her Sophia form, stood next to Chloe and looked into the mirror together. Chloe maintained her noble demeanor but slightly raised the corners of her mouth to create a smile.
"I think it's wrong to rank different types of beauty. Miss Rebecca has a pure, saintly beauty. There's a pretty big gap between her looks and her personality, but it's not as bad as Sophia's. Because of past troubles, she's called a 'beauty that brings a nation to ruin,' but if you just look at her appearance, she doesn't give off that kind of decadent image. She feels like a well-bred young lady."
"That's certainly true."
"I think... um, it might be a bit strange to say this myself, but I believe I'm a classic beautiful girl. It's the result of the Grandchester family bloodline. I might have a slightly tough vibe, but I think I can grow into a glamorous and luxurious beauty in the future. As long as I don't get fat, I should definitely become more beautiful than my mother or my grandmother, who is painted in portraits."
Chloe understood her appearance from a calm, objective perspective, without boasting.
"Of course, I'm happy to be a figurehead, but if you're aware of your position as the guildmaster of the Sophia Merchant Guild, I think you should promote yourself too. The dress I wear will attract the gaze of many young ladies, but the dress you wear will draw the attention of the women at the center of high society."
"Lady Chloe, you're really amazing."
"Of course. I'm a young lady from a high-ranking noble family raised in the royal capital. I've been exposed to this kind of competition since I was little."
"Just being the daughter of a Marquis family gives you enough influence, doesn't it?"
"Titles are important, but it's not that easy to have influence just because of that."
After Chloe pointed this out, Sara, who looked like Sophia, remembered Rebecca's lesson.
'Noble women's positions are determined by their family's title. However, power isn't decided solely by position. Even if your title is high, if your etiquette and conversation skills aren't refined, other women from different families will keep their distance. Also, women who contribute to society through charity or create trends are respected. It's very important to become someone who is acknowledged by others.'
"So, you're saying I should be on the side that creates trends, right?"
"Just for this time, that's true. We want to make a splash in the social scene with Lucas's dress."
"But Lady Chloe, isn't it a problem since it's a jasmine dress tea party?"
"There's no doubt it will attract attention. Jasmine dresses have been in style for the past few years, so other young ladies will probably wear dresses designed by Jasmine or something similar."
Chloe smiled even more deeply.
"That's why I plan to go with this taffeta dress made by Lucas."
Chloe showed off a day dress based on a deep green color. It didn't use a bustle or crinoline; it just had a stiff fabric petticoat layered underneath, so from the front, the skirt's volume was much more modest than the recent trends. However, the back had a large bow made of the same fabric sewn at the waist, and from there, a voluminous skirt spread out. The design had a slightly longer hem at the back.
"It's a beautiful dress that has a calm design but also a touch of elegance."
"Sophia, stop acting like it's someone else's problem and decide on your dress too."
"Well... if I'm matching Lady Chloe, I'll keep the skirt's volume down as well."
"But I don't think a mermaid style like the one you wore at the hunting competition suits a day dress."
"I won't show off my body line. It has a bustle style, but I'll just add a small hip pad under the overskirt. Just like Lady Chloe, the skirt underneath will only be a petticoat."
"It seems like you have a dress in mind."
Chloe instructed to bring in Sophia's dress, and she gasped when she saw the burgundy dress hanging on the mannequin.
"This is amazing!"
"This dress was made by Lucas himself. I was planning to wear it when I meet the Lady of Duke Arbal, but it seems this tea party is the perfect occasion to show off Lucas's masterpiece."
With that, Chloe and Sophia decided on the dress, and they quickly settled on hairstyles and accessories. Meanwhile, the golem Sara quietly nodded at Chloe, and to keep the dress from being too heavy, she would wear a rose-colored dress made of shiny satin layered lightly with organza and tulle. The bolero was also satin, and a corsage inspired by pale pink roses was pinned at the chest, lighter than the dress.
'Hmm... It's kind of refreshing to dress up Sara from Sophia's perspective.'
"It seems better to keep Miss Sara's hair simple, just with a ribbon."
"That's right. Sara's silver hair is really beautiful, so how about braiding the side hair and tying it with a ribbon in the back?"
"That sounds cute."
And so, the women's preparations for battle were steadily progressing.
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