The discomfort of receiving help from someone unrelated to her personal revenge, and the potential complications that could arise from the revenge itself.
If she had to choose which was more unpleasant, it was obviously the latter, and thus Ariella decided to take Nobert’s offered hand.
At least for today, as he said.
“However, I hope your help doesn’t become known to others. I tend to keep my cards very close to my chest.”
Did I treat him too much like a tool? Ariella thought, feeling a twinge of regret as she looked at Nobert’s face.
And then she witnessed something astonishing.
His lips, which had always been tightly shut or twisted in a scowl, were now forming the faintest hint of a smile.
For a moment, she doubted her own eyes. Nobert Ashbon, who was being treated like a tool, was smiling ever so slightly. It seemed utterly absurd.
“You need not worry about that. I will handle it well on my end.”
When she opened her eyes again, she saw Nobert’s face had returned to its cold demeanor.
The stiff expression and chilling voice were so far removed from the person who had just smiled that Ariella concluded she must have imagined it.
“I will also ensure that the fainted tailor’s shop owner cannot speak your name or mine to anyone. So please rest assured and follow me.”
After glancing at Amira and Adam once each, Ariella nodded.
At this point, she was curious. What kind of help was he talking about? What kind of privileges would she enjoy by standing alongside the Duke of Ashbon?
So she followed his lead and left the tailor’s shop.
Since they couldn’t appear to be moving together, she decided to set off separately from Nobert.
Nobert left first, leaving behind only a couple of knights, while Ariella properly transported the bound intruders and the knights of Bedford before returning to the carriage to relay the address he had given her to the coachman.
She met Nobert again about thirty minutes later at a townhouse located not far from the city center.
‘I thought the Duke of Ashbon had a different townhouse. I guess he has a few more.’
I had heard that wealthy people with overflowing money or those with secrets to hide often did this. Considering the scale of the Duke’s assets, it wasn’t too surprising.
When Ariella, who had arrived at the townhouse with a time difference, knocked on the door, an elderly maid greeted her.
“Your lordship is on the second floor with another guest. I will guide you.”
I wondered who they were keeping waiting like this. Curiosity arose, but I didn’t have high expectations. I knew today’s meeting had been too sudden to have called in someone significant.
Even the famous Duke Ashbon couldn’t possibly bring the best tailor in the capital in just thirty minutes.
Thinking this, he realized the moment he arrived in the reception room, guided by the maid, that he had underestimated the duke’s abilities.
“It’s been a while, Lady Ariella.”
A woman with a familiar appearance stood next to Nobert and greeted him.
Her chestnut hair, adorned with a long and ornate hairpin, and her neat yet distinctive dress. A face that looked younger than her age and beautiful silver-gray eyes.
Having confirmed all this, Ariella muttered blankly.
“Madam Corcos?”
The head seamstress of Corcos Atelier. The trendsetter who had made a name for herself beyond Bingham and into foreign lands, Pobi Corcos was indeed standing before her.
“How did you come to be here…?”
“I received a message from His Grace the Duke and hurried over. Fortunately, I wasn’t too late.”
“Don’t you have a lot of appointments lined up?”
It was a given. Nobles from both the domestic and overseas had reserved her dresses for years.
There was even a joke that one had to make a reservation the moment they were born if they wanted to entrust their debutante dress to Corcos.
Before Lizzy was truly made, Ariella had only managed to secure an appointment with Madam Corcos once during her time as the sole princess.
She had never been particularly interested in fashion, and the one lucky reservation she had secured ended poorly due to Lizzy, which led her to not attempt it again afterward.
The dresses Ariella had worn until now had been made by other seamstresses affiliated with Corcos Atelier. Even that was a reservation that was hard to secure for other nobles.
However, it seemed that all these circumstances were unrelated to Nobert.
“I’ve canceled all my appointments for today. I owe a favor to His Grace the Duke.”
Ariella cast a sidelong glance at him, who stood there with a blank expression.
‘Is it a hobby of his to put others in debt?’
