Chapter 23: Dressing Up
“B-Become a beautiful girl…?”
The store manager tried his best to stay calm under Evelia’s intense presence, nervously looking her up and down.
Wasn’t the girl standing in front of him already a rare beauty? Why would she need a book on how to become a beautiful girl?
Sweet and cute girls weren’t that rare in this era, but someone like Evelia, who had a bold, sharp look and didn’t hide her strength, was truly one of a kind. As a man with good taste, the store manager actually felt it would be a shame if Evelia gave up her cool style to become the “cute type.”
“Yes, a beautiful girl. Do you have any books like that?”
“Ah… maybe in the women’s section? Turn left, there should be some books on fashion and styling. You can take a look.”
But since this was the request of a customer who clearly wasn’t someone to mess with, the store manager had no choice but to point her toward the women’s section. Sure, looking at pretty women was good for one’s mood, but what good was that if you didn’t live to enjoy it?
“Thanks.”
Evelia gave a short nod and walked straight toward the section the manager mentioned. The people around her were very curious about her, but no one wanted to get her attention, so they just quietly sneaked peeks to see what this unique girl was up to.
But come on, Evelia wasn’t the kind of person who wouldn’t notice people staring at her. She was trained as an assassin. As soon as she felt their gazes, she casually glanced around the store, but her sharp eyes sent shivers down everyone’s spines. Just a second ago they were watching her, and the next second they were putting their books back and hurrying away.
The poor store manager could only sigh, he was just trying to run a normal bookstore, and now Evelia had scared off all his customers.
As for Evelia, she didn’t feel the least bit sorry. In fact, she enjoyed the peace and quiet that followed.
She stood silently in front of the women’s bookshelf, her long fingers running over book spines filled with titles that looked like they belonged to cheesy feel-good literature. Among them, she spotted “The Maid’s Knight”. A book the maid had lent her before. It seemed really popular, the sample copy had been flipped through so much its corners were falling apart.
Was the story of a girl and her knight really that dreamy?
Even though Evelia was using that story as a model for her own plan, she was still thinking about why knights had such strong appeal.
Was it because they were polite gentlemen?
She thought of Armand, and shook her head.
That guy didn’t look like a gentleman at all.
Then… was it because knights were strong and handsome?
Again, she pictured Armand. Evelia had to admit, he was strong and good-looking. But that kind of strength came from stepping over piles of corpses. Did women really fall for someone like that… a killer?
Then… was it because knights were gentle and caring?
Evelia paused.
Armand… maybe that word did fit him.
But still, "gentle" didn’t really feel right when talking about a warrior.
She picked up the worn copy of the novel and skimmed through a few pages. Honestly, she hadn’t finished reading it. She only read up to the part where the two leads finally got along. As for what happened after their feelings deepened, Evelia didn’t bother. She only wanted to know how to win Armand over. What came after that… was for another time.
【Goleya walked up the church steps with her beloved knight. Under the joyful and hopeful gazes of the people, the flower children led them to the priest.
Standing beside the holy statue of the Goddess of Love, they spoke their vows to love each other forever.
As the veil in front of her face was gently lifted, even though they already knew each other’s feelings, the knight’s hands still trembled slightly from nervousness.
Even when facing life and death, the knight had never been this nervous. But now, seeing the happy smile of his beloved, he couldn’t help but take a deep breath.
Amid cheers and applause, the knight and the maid stood in the light shining through stained glass windows, placing a symbol of eternity upon each other.】
“…Hah.”
Evelia closed the book after reading that part.
She didn’t like happy endings like this one. It just felt way too far from her own life.
How could someone like her enjoy something she could never have?
Evelia put the girly novel back on the shelf, placing it between a bunch of unknown books. The soft pink cover of “The Maid's Knight” stood out, but its soft pink cover was conspicuous, making it look out of place among the dark-colored books.
She glanced over the shelf and ended up picking a book called “Secret Battle Outfits”. As soon as she pulled it out, the phrase on the first page immediately caught her attention.
【Do you want to be the center of attention? Do you want to be the girl every man desires? Do you want more people to be drawn to you? A hundred outfit styles, ready for you to try!】
Wasn’t this exactly what Evelia wanted? She didn’t care about attracting everyone, just Armand.
But then she noticed two small words on the bottom left corner, “Volume Two.”
She looked around but couldn’t find Volume One on the shelf. So she leaned out a bit and waved the book at the store manager.
“Do you still have Volume One of this book?”
The store manager squinted at the book in her hand, pulled out a small booklet to check his stock, and shook his head.
“Sorry, it’s sold out. This set was really popular a while ago. The one you have is from a reprint, and the first volume’s already been sold out for some time.”
“Ah, I see.”
Evelia didn’t ask more. She pulled back and began flipping through the once-popular book in her hands.
From the intro, she learned the book was divided into Volume One: Preparation Phase and Volume Two: Final Battle. The first few pages of Volume Two included a quick summary of Volume One. From the looks of it, the first part focused on proper, everyday clothing, lots of sweet and cute outfit styles that could give someone a toothache just from reading.
But the actual content of Volume Two… was not as proper as the summary made it seem.
Volume One was called the “Preparation Phase” because it helped catch people’s eyes in public. Volume Two, the “Final Battle”… well, that was about winning in a one-on-one situation where you “completely defeat the opponent.”
To put it simply, this volume was entirely about battle underwear.
Classic, youthful, pure white, frilly, feathered, cosplay-themed, lacy, triangle-cut, one-piece, three-piece camisole sets, sheer, ribboned, body-hugging, printed, hole-revealing, skin-tight. There were even “just-open-the-cap-and-drink” types. This book went over dozens of lingerie styles like listing dishes from a menu, and Evelia’s eyes nearly spun from all the info.
She was still a guy deep down, how would she know about any of this?
【True beauty comes from the inside. With a hundred lingerie styles, there’s sure to be one that fits you and your loved one!】
“……”
For the first time, Evelia swallowed hard from information overload. She had always thought underwear was just… some cloth. Who knew there were so many types?
Wasn’t it enough to just take it all off? Why did the underwear itself matter?
Was this some kind of important step? Were you supposed to draw the curtains, light some candles, and watch?
Evelia stared at the styling examples in the book, completely confused and overwhelmed. But she forced herself to finish the entire book. This was for her mission, after all.
“…Hoo…”
Maybe other men would enjoy seeing page after page of models wearing sexy lingerie, but Evelia just felt… suffocated.
There are so many choices… how would she ever figure out which one Armand liked?
She couldn’t exactly go ask him, right?
Evelia let out a sigh and hugged the book to her chest.
Forget it…
She made up her mind.
Might as well buy them all.