IMCG 11

Chapter 11

Rüdiger clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction as he looked at the clothes that had been laid out.
“It’s unfortunate that we have no time and have to buy ready-made pieces. No matter how much you alter them, they’ll never compare to custom-made clothes…”

Rüdiger’s standards were incredibly high, and countless garments had failed to meet his approval.
Even the luxurious clothes I was seeing for the first time in my life couldn’t ease the frown between his brows. The pieces he deemed acceptable gave off the impression of being selected only after numerous compromises—not truly his preference.

Of course. Rüdiger was from a wealthy noble family, so it was natural for him to have seen and experienced so much.
But Luka, what about you? Haven’t you ever seen dresses like this, yet you’re calmly asserting your taste…? And it’s a women’s dress…?

Luka, flipping through the catalog with an air of complete familiarity, asked Rüdiger:
“How about this one?”

“Bring this one here, shopkeeper,” Rüdiger said, apparently liking it.

The shopkeeper promptly handed the garment to the clerk attending to me.
It was a deep green velvet coat trimmed with white sable fur. Gold thread formed a diamond-shaped lattice across the velvet, with tiny pearl buttons adorning the intersections.

It was rare for a shopkeeper to roll up their sleeves and get involved like this—but Rüdiger was a distinguished figure, so perhaps it couldn’t be helped.

Well, when would I ever be treated like this again? I let out a small sigh, smiled awkwardly, and asked,
“Is it okay?”

“Hmm. It suits you well,” he replied.

I had no idea how much this coat could cost, so I just laughed nervously.

Rubbing his hands together, the shopkeeper approached Rüdiger. With a friendly smile and deferential attitude, he spoke softly:
“Master, you have excellent taste. The young lady’s beauty also makes the clothes stand out. Ah, we have matching hats and gloves for the coat—would you like to see them?”

“Bring them out,” Rüdiger ordered without even looking at the shopkeeper. He was too busy browsing the catalog.

“How about this one?”
“Bring that one too. Hmm, Luka, what do you think of this one?”
“This ivory one? I think it’s nice. And the navy blue one?”
“Good. Not bad at all.”

They nodded at each other, acknowledging each other’s taste. Earlier, Rüdiger had at least asked me, but now they were entirely in their own world.

As soon as Rüdiger spoke, two more garments were presented before me: a white coat trimmed with dark weasel fur and a navy coat trimmed with black otter fur.
The navy coat could have looked a bit dark, but gold-threaded lace along the sleeves and edges made it bright and elegant.

I stared at the growing pile of clothes with dismay. Just choosing from these alone would take ages.

I clapped my hands to draw their attention:
“Excuse me, gentlemen. Isn’t this enough already? The clothes are piled like a mountain. Surely picking from these would be enough.”

“Pick?”
Rüdiger repeated my words as if puzzled.

“Of course, we’re buying them all.”

“Huh?”

I looked at the stack again. There must have been at least ten garments. Even if you wore one per day, it would last more than a week. It seemed like far too many.

“Isn’t this… a bit too much?”

“Ah, madam, here they are,” the shopkeeper interrupted, bringing the matching hat and gloves for the dark green coat.

Rüdiger stood up immediately without even looking at them. Pointing at the mountain of clothes, he said:
“Please deliver all of these to Grosel Hotel, room 303.”

“Yes, yes! And what about the gloves and hats? Shall I send only these now, or with the rest…”
“All together,” Rüdiger replied curtly, cutting off the shopkeeper.

Despite his abruptness, the shopkeeper’s smile stretched from ear to ear—surely calculating the sudden surge in sales in his head.

I watched in awe. The way he paid and left was like an art form—so fast that I couldn’t even speak.

Having thrown a coat over his officer’s uniform, Rüdiger held the shop door open, motioning for me to follow.

I hurried to catch up, calling out:
“Excuse me, Colonel.”

“Colonel? Isn’t that a bit stiff for family?”
“Then… young master?”

Rüdiger chuckled at my hesitant reply. Come to think of it, had I ever seen him smile before?

Caught off-guard by Rüdiger’s sudden smile, I felt dizzy.
“Rüdiger?”
“Rüdiger?”
“Yes, that’s fine.”

With that, he strode ahead again. His legs were so long that it seemed like he wasn’t moving fast, yet he was already far ahead.

While we bickered over titles, we drifted far from the shop.

“We must hurry. There’s a lot to buy today. First, we’ll buy all of Maibaum’s items, then Luka’s,” Rüdiger said.

“My things? Isn’t this enough?”

“What do you mean? We’re far from done.”

“I’ve already bought plenty. I don’t need anything else.”

“You need new boots, and new hats too. How can you say you don’t need anything else?”

“Wait, I need boots, fine, but we already bought hats, right?”

“Yes, we bought them as a set… but the hat shop probably has better ones than here.”

“Are you seriously saying that now?”

I couldn’t help but raise my voice.
No, there’s no time! Do we really need to go to a hat shop in this precious little time? And we already have hats!

I could never understand the spending habits of nobles.
Sure, Winterwald had money, but was it normal to buy expensive clothes even for the younger sister of your older brother’s lover?
It made sense for Luka, being family and a child, but for me—a complete stranger—it was overwhelming.
We weren’t even truly related; not married, not even acquainted.

Having received such an expensive gift for the first time, I didn’t know how to react.
I awkwardly fiddled with my fingers. Seeing this, Rüdiger suddenly looked at me intently and asked:
“Do you dislike receiving gifts from me to this extent?”

“Huh? No. It’s not that I dislike it…”

His straightforward gaze silenced me.
Do you know how destructive it is when a handsome face stares at you expressionlessly? I suddenly felt like a criminal.

While I hesitated, he continued as if nothing were wrong:
“Or does it not matter? It’s fine, isn’t it?”

Where was he going with this? I stammered:
“No, it’s just… a bit too much for me.”

“Oh… this. It’s not too much for me at all. Don’t feel burdened.”

Rüdiger added this with a pitying expression. His boldness was so unexpected that at first, I couldn’t even grasp what he was saying.
Since the story is from Luka’s point of view, I only thought he was a mature, serious adult… but glimpses of this side of him left me flustered.

Finally, we also stopped by the hat shop and the shoemaker.

A delicate ivory cloche adorned with a large peony in soft pink fabric.
A neat cake-shaped boater with a ribbon.
A small cocktail cap decorated with ostrich feathers and black netting.

I hadn’t realized there were so many types of hats. No wonder the ones at the clothing shop hadn’t been enough for me.

I sighed at the sight of the stacked hat boxes, piled like Russian dolls.