***
Despite getting sidetracked, we managed to make it to the dress shop. It was a normal shop, catering to regular citizens not some kind of exclusive boutique meant for the imperial family, as one might hope from a recommendation from the m imperial princess. Still, Philine had clearly recommended it for good reasons. The storefront alone was stylish, a carefully balanced mix of opulence and charm.
“Shall we enter?” Claire asked.
Lana, Eve, and I were quite frankly too daunted to do anything. Only Claire stepped forward and pushed open the door like it was nothing. That was a villainess for you. Even something like this wouldn’t faze her.
“You’re amazing, Miss Claire,” I said.
“Sorry?”
The way she didn’t even know why I was complimenting her was just so darling. Mwah.
We entered the shop and were promptly greeted by an employee.
“Welcome. Are you here to buy a dress?”
“My name is Claire François. Lady Philine referred us.”
“Indeed, Miss François. Right this way, if you will.”
The moment Claire mentioned Philine’s name, the employee smiled brightly and led us farther into the shop. All manner and color of beautiful dresses were on display. Just looking at them gave me a pleasant, uplifting feeling or at least, it would have if I actually liked dresses.
“May we attend to you?” the employee asked.
“Please,” Claire said.
I’d thought we’d just pick out whatever dresses we liked and be on our way, but it seemed it wouldn’t be that simple, as an absurd amount of employees had appeared, all smiling from ear to ear.
“You needn’t be so overly courteous with us, you know?” Claire said.
“Oh, but we must. Miss François is a very important person who accomplished something grand with naught but the help of other women.
There’s also Lady Philine’s word to consider.”
They seemed to hold Claire in high esteem.
“So you know about us? Then you must also know we were enemies of the empire,” Claire said.
“Certainly, we haven’t forgotten that. But as fellow women, we still respect you, Miss François. Please allow us to attend to you.”
“If you insist…” Claire said, a little ill at ease. Being treated as the hero of the Bauer Revolution always made her slightly uncomfortable.
Each of us wound up with two employees attending to us, helping with dress selection and changing.
“I understand you are here to pick a dress for the ball?” an employee asked.
“Yes,” Claire answered.
“Might I inquire if you’ve picked a dress before?”
YOU ARE READING
I'm In Love With The Villainess Volume 4
Historical FictionSame as the volume 3 reason I'm doing this is so that people can read it offline and doesn't need internet.
