Secret Wardrobe of the Duchess

Chapter 2

“Rubica?”

Angela called Rubica who had stopped combing and was in a daze.

“Oh, sorry, sorry. I must be a little tired.”

Angela’s calling brought Rubica to her senses. Thinking about it again, it felt so strange. She was combing Angela’s hair here, without a single wrinkle on her face…

However, the Rubica of the present didn’t even have the luxury of doing nothing and being lost in thoughts. For now, she started to comb Angela’s hair.

‘I cannot remember yesterday’s hairstyle…’

Nevertheless, the moment she touched Angela’s soft hair, her anxiety and confusion melted away. That softness calmed her down.

Oh, when she sometimes thought about her, she would recall Angela’s hair rather than her eyes and nose.
She started combing the hair and sprinkled rose water on it to enhance its softness and elasticity. Soon its scent filled the air.

‘I’m happy.’

Rubica enjoyed working on Angela’s hair. Her hair was fancy top-grade that was worth taking care of. Rubica could even endure her uncle and aunt using her as a housekeeper as long as she could do Angela’s hair.

Her hands started to move busily. Although she couldn’t remember, her hands knew what to do. All the Berners had soft but thick hair. So, the style had to show its richness. Rubica started to use the comb to skillfully pump up the hair and braid it.

“Huh?”

“I think it isn’t yesterday’s…”

“Shhh!”

The maids on both sides were about to point out the style wasn’t yesterday’s, but Angela stopped them. The style was definitely not yesterday’s.

‘… pretty. I like it.’

Angela was once again impressed by Rubica’s skill. She wasn’t just braiding the hair. She was making Angela’s somewhat round face look cuter and more attractive.

Not anyone could do that.
While Angela was satisfied with her new hair, Rubica was going back on her memory as she did her hair.

‘Was it a dream?’

She could still remember every part of it as if it had been only yesterday. The wounded recovering with Rubica’s warm, caring aid, and the priest who insisted they couldn’t forget the god’s teachings in any suffering.

And Arman, who was always there when Rubica looked. She felt pain in her heart at recalling him. She was most certainly standing there, doing Angela’s hair, but that reality felt far away just like a dream. It was so strange that her fingers, doing Angela’s hair, didn’t have any wrinkle.

What had happened? She might have lost her senses while looking at her mirror and had a long trip of daydreaming, but what she had felt was so real.

Arman… Arman… was just dream? No way.

Rubica finished doing Angela’s hair. She then opened the accessory box to give it the final touch. Her head was full of thoughts about Arman and her new reality, so she couldn’t decide on a pin for a long time. No hairpin in the box caught her eyes.

‘They aren’t right.’

In the Kingdom of Seritos, Rubica’s homeland, frugality was a virtue. However, as the Berner Family had been in the trading business for generations, the accessory box was full of hairpins that were way too fancy for Angela’s status.