Chapter 39 – The Noble Lady in a Simple Frock (2)

With Lunia’s guidance, she explored the streets and shops, and her eyes roved over every single thing. Just like the luxurious city, the people in it were just as fancy. She spotted a pretty dress in the display of a boutique and decided to pay it a visit. Just by the look of the dress, it looked like a luxury collection shop. The pale coral pink dress on display had sparkling jewels that decorated the dress’ neckline and waist.

“Lunia, let’s look here.” Amethyst’s eyes glistened brightly as she went inside without a minute of hesitation.

As she had expected it was full of young noble ladies, clearly from the richer end of the population. A boutique clerk haughtily glanced at Amethyst and Lunia as they entered, her eyes falling to their plain clothes.

“Welcome. May I help you?”

“Yes. I want to take a look at that dress on the display.” Amethyst gestured towards the dress.

“That dress is a unique piece, so it is quite expensive.” The clerk looked Amethyst up and down as if she was measuring her worth. Even though she spoke in an overly sweet tone, it was obvious that she was looking down on Amethyst.

“Really? How much is it?”

At the word ‘expensive’, Amethyst felt disheartened. She had been the kind of person who couldn’t afford to buy a single dress even when she was at an outlet sale that happened once or twice a year, let alone a department store sale. But even with the heavily applied discounts she couldn’t even dream of buying something so expensive. She was used to putting down outfits that she liked.

“Well, it’s definitely a price you can’t afford to pay. But we do have other dresses besides that one. So please do take a look.”

“Excuse me! Who do you think—”

Amethyst finally understood that the clerk was serving them with a smile but definitely mocking them. Lunia tried to step in, but Amethyst stopped her. “It’s okay, Lunia. Let’s just have a look around.”

“But ma’am—”

Amethyst took a hold of Lunia’s arm and dragged her away to look at the other dresses.

“Oh Lunia, look at this! Don’t you think this yellow dress is so pretty? Look at these adorable small flower details, and the sleeves are decorated with lace! It looks like it is made for a romantic evening.”

“Indeed Ma’am. I think you will look beautiful in this as well. Why don’t you try it on?”

“I don’t know, should I?” Amethyst looked around then approached the clerk from before and asked.

“Can I try on this dress?”

“Sorry dear, in our boutique you can’t try on the dresses.”

Now Amethyst was starting to feel annoyed with the clerk as well. She could clearly see a fitting room in the corner. The clerk was just being petty by not letting her try on the beautiful dress, which was surely expensive, given all the small details on it.

She felt like saying ‘Give me everything in this shop! I will buy it all!’, but she couldn’t. So, she just turned her back on the clerk and thought about what she could do. After a moment, she came to a conclusion and turned to Lunia.

“Between the pastel pink dress and this pale yellow one, I would like to buy one. Lunia which one do you think would suit me more?”

“Both of them will Ma’am. Why don’t you buy both of them?”

“How can I? The clerk said that they are very expensive.”

Lunia was puzzled by her mistress. Did she really believe them to be out of her reach? She now knew for sure that the lady of the house had no interest in her husband’s wealth. If that wasn’t true, then why would she possibly be contemplating between two dresses because of their price. To Lunia, her simplistic mistress, was praise-worthy.

Suddenly, there was a commotion outside which made both of them turn around; a noble household’s young lady was coming towards them. The clerk quickly rushed towards them and greeted them.

“Oh my, if it isn’t the young Lady Keaton of the Granovia household? Welcome Milady.”

“You have a good memory if you remember me, for I have only been here once.”

“Of course! How could I forget a beautiful lady like you? How is the marchioness? Please send her my regards, I would love to see her here again.”

“I will. Anyways, I found the dress in the display very pretty and I came to take a closer look.”

“As expected of a fair lady, you have good taste.”

“Do I?” She asked in a tone that showed she very well knew she had good taste.

“Yes! But I must inform you that this is a unique piece. So, the price of that dress is quite high.”

“Oh, is that so?”

Amethyst noticed that the lady became a little tense. And she didn’t blame her, because she was tense too. If the clerk could not readily recommend it to a noble lady then it was certainly an amount that she would not be able to afford. The wedding dress she had bought with Alec’s money was a once in a lifetime experience. She had bought it after seeking Alec’s permission as she wanted it to be grand. But she couldn’t bring herself to splurge on a luxury dress that she would only wear a few times. After listening to their conversation Amethyst was just about to let go of the hem of the pink dress when the clerk spoke again.

“Yes. Which is why we don’t recommend it to just anyone.” The clerk let out a nauseating chuckle. “But for you it is perfect! Would you like to try it on? It’s a beautiful dress definitely worth its price.”

After hearing the clerk’s words, the last bit of Amethyst’s patience snapped. The difference in her attitude with the lady and with her, made her feel enraged.

She just said that I couldn’t try it on! No matter where you go there are always these kinds of people that judge people by their appearances!

“Excuse me but I was looking at this first. I believe I have the right to buy it first as well?”

The clerk seemed taken aback by Amethyst’s unexpected sharp tone.