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| ← Ch.224 | Ch.226 → |
Minos watched Rubica with interest as she thought hard.
"Minos, could you make me a secret account at Jackal Bank?"
"A secret account?"
Minos's eyes widened to hear the unexpected.
"Yes, I think it would be better not to use my name."
"I agree, they will not approach anything that has the name Claymore on it. Are you thinking of opening a fabrics shop? Now that my kind and humans are on better terms, we can hire goblins as shop workers."
"No, I'm not thinking of a fabrics shop."
"Then..."
"I'm going to open a clothes shop."
Was she saying she was planning a clothes shop run by goblins? But they were not exactly known for their sense of beauty...
Moreover, their heights could be compared to human children, so they couldn't even measure their customers' sizes.
Then, was she thinking of opening a boutique just for Iber's underlings? Of course, that was impossible as well.
Most designers preferred to go to their customers' homes personally, and most human designers were going to run away when asked to go to Iber's territory.
"Is Madam Khanna very brave?"
"Brave?"
Rubica understood Minos's question a second later and laughed, but the goblin was just confused by her reaction.
"Minos, Khanna is already busy, I can't force her to make time to go there. Plus, she has children to take care of. I will never have her go anywhere dangerous."
"Then, do you have any other designer with guts?"
"I'm going to open a clothes shop from where they can buy without the need of maintaining their human form for long."
"Umm, I don't think I'm following you."
"It's simple. I'm going to open a shop near Iber's territory, and they will come and buy ready-made clothes."
"Ready-made... clothes? Is that possible?"
Minos couldn't understand the idea of selling clothes that had been made in advance.
"Oh, it's possible. Right, Edgar?"
She looked at him with a smile. He looked down at the blueprint that now had Ios's peanut skins all over it and took out a pen.
"If it is impossible, I must make it possible."
He had been working on a machine for that, and he just finished the design that did the sewing. Rubica had said she would make profits enough to replace the weapons business, but actually, he had been doubtful.
However, a completely different kind of motive had been given to him. When two coincidences happen at once, it is fate. The circumstances were all falling into one piece, and it gave him hope.
***
As Gabriel had assured, Grace showed up at Claymore's capital mansion at the promised time.
She hesitated for a long time in front of the heavy and thick bronze back door.
She was only a baron's daughter. Would the duchess really bother to meet her? What if Tatiana had lied to her? She was so worried and nervous that she couldn't breathe properly.
'Should I just go home?'
But the opportunity was too good to throw away. Since her childhood, she had always dreamed of someone transforming her like the fairy godmother. Moreover, she wasn't the only one who had that dream. Many girls dreamt of such a miracle.
But for some reason, when the chance of achieving that dream comes, one gets to hesitate, probably because they think it is a dream that can never come true.
'Yes, Tatiana isn't the kind of person who mocks people just for fun's sake. '
It had been a great decision to have Tatiana talk to her. If it had been Gabriel, Grace would have thought she was on a prank and ignored her.
"Please keep your promise."
She said the code and the door opened. She yelled in joy at seeing a familiar face of blue eyes and blond hair.
"Elise!"
She was a serious friend who confirmed she made the right choice. However, she soon turned pale at seeing the fiery red hair behind Elise.
"Gabriel..."
Even the mere sight of her destroyed the bubble of hope in less than a second. But before Grace could run away, Gabriel pulled her in.
"There's no time to waste."
Then, she pushed her into a small and narrow passage. Grace followed them, without a single clue on what was happening.
It was a secret passage that led to the duchess's room, and even maids didn't know about it. Of course, Grace didn't know she was now in the duchess's chamber.
"I came because Tatiana promised to let me meet Madam Berry."
"Yes, she's already watching you."
Gabriel made a short reply as Jennie come in. She had already checked on the girl from far away with Rubica's help and had already found out what would be right for her.
She took out cosmetics she had brought and started to apply them on her face.
"Are you Madam Berry?"
Jennie smiled at Grace's question.
"Of course not."
"Then where is she now?"
Jennie smiled awkwardly. Actually, what they were doing right now was quite dangerous. At first, she even tried to stop Rubica.
She was the duchess, so she had no reason to pretend to be a boutique's designer. If Claymore's enemies ever found out about it, they were going to come after her.
Jennie eventually decided to help her mistress, but she still wasn't sure if she was doing the right thing.
"You agreed not to ask."
Gabriel muttered. Could they really trust Grace? She was a girl who knew how to keep secrets, but that could change once she started to gain attention.
Even Gabriel sometimes felt the urge to talk about the advice Rubica had given her. If she hadn't been running The Little Bird's News with Tatiana, she would have told everyone who Madam Berry really was by now.
"This won't work. The makeup can wait. We should cover her eyes first."
"You're going to cover my eyes?"
Grace yelled, terrified. She hadn't told anyone where she was heading, not even to her nurse, as she had promised. No one knew where she was, so if anything happened to her...
"I want to go home."
"Grace!"
Gabriel quickly grabbed her arm. They couldn't leave her now, or Claymore could get all kinds of rumors about it. And even Tatiana could be dragged into it... no, it just couldn't happen.
"Look at me, do you think I'm the same girl as I was a few months ago?"
Grace shook her head. She had been shocked more than anyone else to see the transformed Gabriel. She hadn't even imagined Gabriel's face could be so pretty.
Looking at her made Grace realize makeup didn't always make girls pretty, but she couldn't find the courage to imitate her and wear thin makeup.
"But then... you were transformed by Madam Berry too?"
Gabriel shrugged as if saying, 'Then who else could it have been?' Grace looked at her with admiration.
She had heard rumors on how she had changed after visiting Madam Berry's secret boutique, but she hadn't fully believed it. She knew Gabriel would have babbled about it herself before the rumor could even spread.
"Then, um, is it also true Madam Berry made the duchess pretty?"
Now, what was that about? Gabriel's eyes widened at the unexpected question.
"I heard the duchess funds Madam Khanna's shop because of Madam Berry. They say the duke fell in love with her thanks to Madam Berry."
"Well, that's, um..."
Elise became quite mad and wanted to say something about it, but Gabriel managed to stop her.
"Not entirely wrong."
As Madam Berry was the duchess herself, it wasn't entirely wrong. Gabriel's answer worked and Grace's eyes started to sparkle.
"Oh, that must be why you called me here, because the duchess is Madam Berry's supporter..."
Gabriel decided her misunderstanding wasn't all bad. Making people think the duchess was Madam Berry's supporter would make them never think the duchess was Madam Berry herself.
Considering Rubica's relationship with Khanna and her shop, it wasn't strange for her to support Madam Berry as well. Moreover, it also explained why they were meeting Grace at Claymore Mansion.
"So just trust me now and close your eyes."
"No."
However, Grace was stubborn. Well, it was only right to never lower one's guard in the unsafe world, so they couldn't blame her for that.
Moreover, although noble girls were easy to be exposed to danger, their honor was unfairly valued. If Gabriel had called Grace to Khanna's shop instead, she wouldn't have shown up at all.
"I'll hold your hands, okay?"
In the end, Gabriel proposed a compromise. It gave her the creeps to hold hands with another mature girl, but Grace accepted it and closed her eyes.
Jennie covered the tricky girl's eyes with paper and opened the door of the room in which Rubica was hiding.
| ← Ch. 224 | Ch. 226 → |