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Carlo, the Chief Designer, flinched for a moment but quickly hid his feelings and spoke casually.

“Of course. You can try it on.”

Viola accepted the dress.

Then something strange happened.

“The color of the dress changed?”

The color of the dress in Viola’s hands turned a pale lavender.

As if it absorbed the color of her hair.

The size of the dress shrank slightly, making the hem a bit shorter.

It felt comfortable as if it had been tailor-made from the beginning.

“Wow, this is super comfortable.”

Most dresses in this world were uncomfortable.

But right now, this dress felt light and easy, like she wasn’t wearing anything at all.

She even felt refreshed.

“What’s going on?”

But what was even stranger was that Hela and Carlo looked at Viola with completely unfazed eyes.

The dress changed on its own, not just a little but completely, and yet why was there no reaction?

“Are they pretending not to know, or do they really not know?”

No matter how she looked at it, they really seemed oblivious.

She decided to test the waters.

“It’s my first time seeing a dress that matches the color of my eyes; it’s fascinating.”

“Color of your eyes… you say?”

Carlo looked at Viola’s eyes again.

They were lavender.

An awkward silence followed for a moment.

“Does this dress look lavender to you?”

“Yes.”

Viola felt a bit anxious.

Could it be…?

“Really, it looks lavender to you?”

While Viola tried to hide her panic and gather her thoughts, Hela chimed in.

“It looks red to me.”

“It looks red to me, too. However… this dress is my master’s masterpiece. Some people might belittle its artistic or practical value, but my master wouldn’t leave me anything that wasn’t a true masterpiece.”

Carlo’s master.

He was a dwarf who had imparted much knowledge to the young Carlo before returning to the dwarven forest.

“This dress is said to recognize its owner. I had no idea that meant this.”

Carlo had no choice but to acknowledge it.

The owner of this dress was Princess Viola.

Just a moment ago, he had felt nothing but sadness.

He felt like he was losing everything trying to clean up after a reckless brat’s mess.

But now, the situation had changed.

“Genuine luxury shines when worn by someone worthy.”

Carlo’s heart began to race.

It felt as though his master’s work recognized its owner.

Surely, his master would be delighted!

“Oh! The color is changing! Now it looks lavender to me, too. It seems the dress has found its true owner.”

Carlo clapped joyfully.

“Indeed, Princess Viola is no ordinary person.”

“……”

Viola was left speechless.

Even though just a fantastical occurrence happened in a fantasy world, she still wasn’t used to it.

“Princess Viola, the one who chose this dress at a glance, has an astonishing eye for fashion.”

Carlo continued to express his sincere admiration.

“It’s said that those with special qualifications can recognize this dress. And the ones with those special qualifications…”

Carlo stopped speaking for a moment.

He organized his thoughts.

“You’ve mentioned that you were born with the fate of a ruler.”

Viola wanted to shout.

Damn that master!

What kind of nonsensical prophecy is that?

I just saw it as Hela’s dress!

That dress is supposed to block just about any weapon!

Hela further added, “I understand that the dwarves are a race exceptionally talented in art, but I also believe they have a knack for prophecy and astrology. Am I right, Chief Designer?”

In a world where magical engineering had developed to this extent, what was the point of prophecies and astrology!

Is that even relevant?!

“Yes. I heard my master was quite famous among the dwarves for his outstanding astrology.”

He was left speechless.

He’d only mentioned the change in color of the dress, and suddenly she became ‘the girl fated to be a ruler.’

She wanted to cry a little.

Viola concealed her urge to cry and smiled composedly on the outside.

“I love it. Let’s go with this one.”

Not a single bit of it appealed to her.

*

Viola and her companions were granted a guest room at the home of Louis Varten.

Viola asked, “I feel like we’ve bought everything we need. Why are we still here?”

“The social circle is another kind of war, and you’re the general in this battle.”

Bellatu was an outsider in the social world.

So she decided to take this approach from the start.

“You’re spending time as a guest of Louis Varten. Soon Prince Serfon will come to visit us to apologize, right? We will naturally not forgive him at once.”

Outsiders wouldn’t know the hidden details.

To the onlookers, it would appear that Prince Serfon repeatedly visits the guest room to build rapport.

“An esteemed guest from the prestigious Louis Varten. A direct descendant visiting every day. Doesn’t it sound like the ultimate buzz?”

Hela’s tendency to seek the best in everything shone through.

“Well, the beginning of anything is what matters. Don’t you think so?”

Viola felt cold sweat running down her back again.

‘Just how much does she see?’

She realized again how truly difficult it would be if she had made an enemy.

As Hela said, rumors regarding Viola Bellatu began to stir across the continent.

The buzz was at its peak.

A few days later,

Viola and her group decided to leave the Parah Viscountcy.

Chief Designer Carlo seemed reluctant.

“Are you leaving already?”

They had nearly finished their farewells.

But Viola decided to finally ask the question she had been holding back.

“Chief Designer, may I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

“It’s about the blue uniforms worn by the people of Louis Varten.”

While staying in the guest room, Viola had encountered the people of Louis Varten several times.

Most of them wore blue uniforms emblazoned with the emblem of Louis Varten.

They looked largely similar to the blue uniforms Prince Serfon had worn when she first met him.

“I heard they’re items blessed by spirits. Is that true?”

“Yes. Although they are still prototypes, that’s the direction we’re heading.”

Louis Varten was conducting research in collaboration with spirit magicians to embed spiritual power into all the products they produce.

“Why is that?”

Until now, she had only considered the linkage with artifacts and magical engineering, but she thought that in the distant future, integration with spirit science would be much more beneficial than magical engineering.

Carlo tried to respond in that vein.

But Viola spoke up first.

“You don’t actually think that the connection with spirit science is better than with magical engineering, do you? Like, it’s more efficient, or it’s possible to mass-produce at the same price, or has higher durability because it doesn’t consume mana?”

If one were to argue it, magical engineering was the major science of this world, while spirit science was a minor discipline.

Magical engineering, based on magic, was deeply involved in daily life and mages had even established their communal magic towers to solidify their influence.

In contrast, spirit magicians were incredibly rare, and there were hardly any who could properly handle spiritual power.

There were no large-scale organizations like the magic towers of the mages.

That remained the case even towards the end of the novel.

“Oh! I remember!”

Viola recalled something buried somewhere in her memory from novels.

“There was certainly a part where Louis Varten staggered in the middle.”

Details regarding Louis Varten began to flood back to her, one after another.

Additions she hadn’t remembered because she had no interest while reading the novel.

“Scammed by the infamous trickster Hertown.”

Hertown was an exceedingly eloquent fraudster who boldly scammed influential families by visiting them.

Countless prestigious families had fallen victim to Hertown, some to the extent of going bankrupt.

“There was also a part about the victim sitting on a mountain of debt, killing his own son, and then taking his own life after being scammed by Hertown, right?”

That was not elaborately covered in the novel.

It was simply a brief additional explanation finished with a few lines of dialogue between side characters.

“Wow, did I actually remember that? Am I a genius?”

Viola chuckled softly.

“Did I mention that I’ve made a contract with the Water Spirit that has the emblem of Kel?”

“Ah, no. I hadn’t heard.”

“I have a very high spirit affinity.”

“Is that so?”

“I don’t feel any spirit’s blessing from the blue uniforms. They might smell a bit spirit-like, though.”

Carlo was momentarily at a loss for words.

“I suspect someone manipulated it artificially.”

Answering that was tricky.

It would have been inappropriate to say thank you, and I’ll get right on the investigation.

That would harm the reputation of Louis Varten.

“Yet, it was also difficult to outright deny Princess Viola’s words.”

No matter what he said, he found it challenging to respond.

Viola calmly continued.

“I understand your position, Chief Designer. You don’t have to answer.”

“…Thank you.”

“So just listen to what I say.”

Hela looked at Viola with a pleased expression.

‘Does this mean she wants me to shut up and just listen?’

But even Carlo, the one being spoken to, seemed completely unaware of it.

He rather thanked Viola.

‘The timing is impeccable.’

This was the power Viola possessed.

Skillfully utilizing situations and timing to yield the best possible outcomes.

“Truly my sister.”

Her eyes narrowed.

‘The child destined to become the ruler of Bellatu.’

Unintentionally, Viola began repaying a great favor to Louis Varten.