12 — Mr. Fisalis the Romantic

And so... the day of our first evening party in a long time finally arrived.

I’d gone to a few official events while Mr. Fisalis was away, but this’d be the first private party I’d been to since that one at the Argenteia’s where I’d gotten that intense first impression of Ms. Verbena. Wait, the Argenteias again? They must really love their parties. ...No, that’s just how true aristocrats act! Socializing is like breathing to them! I don’t think I’ll follow their example, though.

Today, I’d be wearing the beautiful dress that Madame Fleur made for me, as well as the jewelry made from the Viola Sapphires (...still can’t get used to calling them that). I was all ready to go! The chest was a fair bit more open than I was used to, but it was all to accentuate the Viola Sapphires. You just have to endure it, self! “Don’t worry—Viola Sapphires will make even the flattest chest attractive!” Oh, what a good slogan!

My outfit was perfect and my makeup was great. They’d put my hair up to show off the necklace—that way, you could see the jewelry from every side! I turned in front of the mirror, checking out my Battle Mode self from a bunch of different angles.

“I’ll become the billboard!” I said, clenching my fist to pump myself up.

“Billboard...? Ah, you mean for the sapphires! Don’t worry, just the fact that you’re the one wearing them will be advertisement enough.” Stellaria, who had been helping me get ready, stared blankly at me while I did my weird little self-confirmation before breaking out into giggles.

I side-eyed her as I touched the sapphire accessories that the jeweler had poured his heart into. Not only was it covered in Viola Sapphires, it was also lavishly decorated with diamonds. It was heavy to wear, both literally and figuratively. My shoulders are gonna get so stiff...

“The sapphires are the real stars tonight, so I’m gonna do my best to show them off! Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to handle this low-cut neckline...” I said, glaring at the expanse of visible chest and trying to subtly pull up the dress a bit out of embarrassment. But Stellaria noticed, pulling it back down to its proper place. Fine, fine. It’s low cut, but it’s not like there’s anything to see there anyway.

Stellaria noticed my bitter glare towards my boobs and tried to comfort me, saying, “A big pair of knockers would only get in the way.”

“Knockers!?” I couldn’t help but burst out laughing at what she called them.

“Now, time for the finishing touch.” Once we’d all had a good laugh, Stellaria took my left hand and slid a ring onto my finger. It was covered in tiny sapphires and rubies.

We had a ring made too? When? But...

“Wow... It’s beautiful!” Seeing the gorgeous ombré effect made from so many dazzling gems, I cried out in wonder.

“It looks so wonderful!” Stellaria was spellbound, too.

“But... when was this made?”

“Ah~ I guess there were stones left over. That’s all I know...”

“Huh. Okay.”

She was avoiding my gaze and mumbling, but that must’ve meant she actually didn’t know. I didn’t pry, instead holding up my hand to look at the perfectly-fitted ring. How’d they manage that?

It looked as if there were three different types of stones: diamonds, rubies, and sapphires. They were pavé set, clustered so tightly together that they formed a single rounded line, which looked solid despite its simplicity. How many stones did it take to make this ring? It looks three... four stones high? And then the stones go all the way around the width. Wow! I can’t even count them all.

Whatever the case, it was sparkly. It looked so striking, but the multiple colors they used made it a little bit cute too. And then, while I was enamored with the beautiful ring...

“There still haven’t been any ‘Viola Eye’ sapphires unearthed, so this ring was made using ordinary sapphires, pigeon blood rubies, and diamonds. All of the highest quality from the duchy, of course. Though the same kinds of stone were used, each one has a slightly different color, so they used that to make a ombré pattern—” Dahlia gave me an explanation, but I lost interest halfway through... I mean, she began to use big words and it just went in one ear and out the other. Sorry, Dahlia. Anyway, the jewels were all super expensive and delicately chosen.

But they were all from our duchy... And of the highest quality, too. I’d heard earlier that everything mined in the duchy was of the highest quality. Eugh, just thinking of the price of these is making me dizzy. Oh, wait. The necklace and earrings I was wearing were very obviously worth even more than the ring.

O-Oh no. I’m a walking jewelry box! There’s gotta be some bunch of hooligans lurking around, just waiting to come at me for all these jewels! So that’s why I was learning self-defense!

The moment I realized, my pure-bred commoner hands started shaking. What happened to my Battle Mode? In the mirror, I could see myself shaking like a leaf from just the thought of actually wearing so much valuable jewelry.

I managed to finish getting ready somehow and headed down the hall to the entrance, where Mr. Fisalis was already waiting. “Are you re—” He started asking the moment he saw me, but stopped halfway through, staring at me with his mouth wide-open.

“Hm?” Huh? Do I look weird or something?

Worried, I looked down at myself, but everything there seemed pretty normal to me. Well, not normal—a lot more gorgeous than usual, actually. I stared back at him, confused, but he must have come back down to earth, because his blank look was gone and replaced with a sparkling smile.

“You look stunning tonight! I don’t want to share your beauty with everyone at the party!” he said, dashing over to me. It seemed as though he was just shocked by my transformation. Geez, don’t scare me like that!

“Really? Then why don’t we stay home tonight?”

“Yes, let’s stay home!”

“...What are the two of you saying? You can’t do that—leave your jokes as jokes. The former duke and duchess are already waiting in the carriage.”

“Okaaaaay...”

Rohtas’s ice-cold reality check brought the two of us back down from orbit. Grr, just when Mr. Fisalis said we didn’t have to go... Rohtas is so mean.

Mr. Fisalis, coming straight over to me and grabbing my hands, gave me one of his sweeeeeet smiles and some of his sweeeeeetest words. He was decked out in blue today. He’d said that we wouldn’t be matching tonight, but here we were, subtly connected. You did it, Mr. Fisalis!

He took my hand and threaded our fingers together. This was how we were going to escort each other. We’d decided that back in Le Pied after I made one throw-away comment.

In Flür, the usual escort style was having the man put his arm around the woman’s waist, but I really didn’t like that.

“I hate how close together we get when you hold my waist. It’s hard to walk. It feels like you’re pushing me,” I’d said, back at our villa.

“I’m really not, but... How about we link arms instead?” he countered.

“It’s still too close and hard to walk,” I refused. Sorry for being selfish. But either way, I can’t stand getting that close to you.

After I explained my issue with it, he came up with a third option: “How about we just hold hands? That way, we can be as close or far away as we want.” He took my hand and showed me as an example.

Ooh, that works! I was super happy with the distance between us.

And so, it was decided he’d escort me by holding my hand. The whole hand-on-waist deal was just the norm, not a rule set in stone. Mr. Fisalis said something about it being “just for us”, but I ignored him.

But today, something felt off when we held hands. I noticed something cold and hard against my finger. I’d held hands with him many times, but I’d never felt anything like that. Curious, I looked down, only to see a ring of the same design as mine—on the same exact finger!

Thinking back, he’d said something about matching rings when we were settling details about the jewelry, but I was under the impression I’d vetoed it. Just when I thought we’d only got one ring, he snuck in one for himself, too!

My ring was tri-colored, with rubies, sapphires, and diamonds, but his was just a diamond and sapphire gradient in an elegant design that didn’t seem out of place on a man. It was also pavé set, of course.

I pulled his left hand up in front of my eyes to get a better look.

“Ah, you noticed! It turned out wonderfully, didn’t it? They’d dug up some good sapphires, but they were so small I wasn’t sure what we could do with them. Then, the jeweler suggested using normal ones to make rings. They came out better than expected. You liked yours too, didn’t you?” he said with a bashful smile.

“...”

I stood there frozen while he continued. “It’s too bad we didn’t get any ‘Viola Eyes,’ but I’m glad we found a use for the smaller gems. ...Hm? Do you not like the ring?” Noticing that I was silently staring back and forth between our rings, he looked a bit worried.

“Ah, no—I do. It’s cute.”

“Thank goodness!”

It wasn’t that I didn’t like it—I was just thinking about how he’d managed to sneak in yet another matching element. I glanced back at Stellaria, who looked away. So, she was mumbling because she knew the whole time. I get it now.

Mr. Fisalis was obviously relieved that I liked the ring. “Since it’s so simple, it shouldn’t be a bother to wear everyday.”

“No, no, look at all the rocks on this thing! I’d be terrified of having a single stone fall out!”

What did he mean, “simple”!? It was packed with pricey gems all the way around—and in multiple rows, too! How the heck could you call that simple!? When I tried to object to wearing something so expensive in my daily life...

“Oh, no need to worry. Everything about it was perfectly calculated by highly skilled people, so there’s no way they’ll fall out. Wear the ring all you want.”

He shot me down. If I argued anymore, it’d seem like I had no faith in the jeweler’s skills... Ghh.

“And I’ll wear mine all the time, too.”

“Huh? Yours too? With that many stones, even if they’re perfectly set, wouldn’t it be a bother to wear at work?”

I’d think it’d get in the way of using a sword. Hm? Or... did he hold his sword in his right hand? I can’t remember.

“I’m planning on having it on a chain around my neck while I work.”

“Oh! I’ll do that too—”

“Oh, no, no, no. You MUST wear it on that finger specifically.”

He put a lot of emphasis on “that finger”. Why?

“Does it mean something on that finger?”

“In a country far from ours, they say that rings mean different things depending on where they are worn. The left ring finger means ‘progress in love’ or ‘deepening the bonds of love.’”

“...”

“So you absolutely MUST keep it there!”

Damn, he’s so cute when he blushes and smiles bashfully like that... I couldn’t say no when I could almost see the little tail wagging behind him. I kinda thought this before, but he’s really a romantic, huh...