The Duty | Marie, Lesbologie

Chapter Three : Becoming A True Lady

Garance woke up from a night full of nightmares. She saw the crossdressed woman again in her dream, she ran after her, but suddenly, this woman disappeared and she was left all alone. Suddenly, the place where she was, that used to be the street where they saw each other for the first time, transformed into a ceremonial hall, a Church, all decorated, with her family and other people she knew sitting behind her. She looked next to her, and there was a man, smiling, a priest in front of them, everyone was pushing Garance to say a word, the word "Yes", to this stranger standing next to her. This made her woke up, out of breath, her face was sweaty and it took her a minute to realize that fortunately, she was just in her room, she was safe here. Someone knocked on the door, she invited them to open, it was her mom. She was smiling, Garance gave her a smile back.

- Good morning my dear. Today is a big day, we need to prepare you for the ball. Ah, how long have I been waiting for this moment to happen! My sweet daughter, finally, you are growing up, I can see that you are a woman now, or at least you'll be soon if everything goes well. 

The Countess looked very moved, and also very proud. Garance was still not so sure about everything but thought that she was doing the right thing. She got out of bed, and started dressing up, today is the start of it all, but it will still be somehow, fun. The ball is a week, she needs to get ready for it ; getting a new dress, practicing dancing, and also basic ladies knowledge such as knowing how to talk politely in a conversation, how to make a man interested in you, and how to survive in front of a hundred - at least - women and men analysing every single ones of your moves. Garance was not used of these kinds of balls anymore, last time she went to one, she was so young, the kind of young which made that no one would have blamed her if she said something impolite. But she was not that young anymore, and she would be the center of attention, first of, she was expecting people to be confused about her and her family's presence at the ball, showing themselves here after everything that happened is very bold and could probably be considered shocking, but secondly, she'd be one of the woman looking for a husband, every mothers will be analysing her to know wether she is good or not for their son.  

After a loud sight, thinking about the ball already made her nervous, she went to see her family, her mom, as happy as usual since she heard about Garance's idea, invited her to sit at the family table like everyday to get breakfast together. Léon was not here, he was never really here in general but the death of his brother made these absences even more frequent ; he did not really like family gatherings, he feels better when he is by himself only. Sarah was talking about the things that her friend Sophie told her about that apparently she should keep as a secret, but she said it anyway - thankfully for Sophie, this is not a big secret. Sarah was really missing Sophie, they are the bestest of friends but since the latest scandal, they are not allowed to see each other anymore, they still do see each other in secret though. Garance was lost in her thoughts when the Countess stopped Sarah in her storytelling, to talk about the ball, informing her on where they will go in the morning after the breakfast is over. Garance was actually excited about it, trying on dressed and buying them was one of her favorite activity, but because of the latest financial crisis, she was only allowed to get one dress, which was already a lot, and she was thankful for that.

As promised, when the breakfast was over, they, the three of them, because Sarah wanted to join, headed to the coach to go to the boutique. In the coach, Sarah and the Countess were discussing about Garance's own wedding, while the concerned just was looking through the window and was thinking again about her dream, thinking about running away on these streets. She could, who would stop her? Her consciousness probably, the fear of giving up on her family, the ones that need her so badly. 

Arrived at the boutique, a woman invited them to enter, and she probably recognized them, because she was mean to them compared to her behaviour with the other customers, they have been to this boutique in the past and she has never acted like this before. The Countess had probably noticed her reaction so she mentioned the fact that Garance was looking for a husband, instantly, the lady smiled, like relieved, the Countess turned her head to Garance and smiled at her, as if she was telling her "it is working". The woman took Garance with her to take her measurements, she was a little bit taller than most women, she was thin, because of the constant diet that was being put on her, she had every ladies' dream body, but at what coast? She was lost in her thoughts again, the woman finished measuring her and it was now time for the fun part; trying on dresses to see which one would be the best. Garance was blonde, and had brown eyes, she wanted to pick a colour that would go well with her tones, but she also wanted something that would distinct from other ladies, so everyone could give their attention to her. To be honest, this idea was given by the Coutness and she was not going to change her mind about this, so her daughter had no other choices other than getting along with the idea.