Chapter 25: You and Your Gentleman
"Do you have all these clothes here?"
"Yes, that’s right. These are all my own designs. It’s just… I can’t really display them out in the open. You know, clothes like these..."
As the shop assistant spoke, her face turned redder and redder. But her eyes still sparkled with excitement, like behind that shy expression was a heart ready to take on something bold.
"I see. In that case, I’ll take all of them."
"Ah, okay—wait, what?!"
The assistant had thought Evelia had found a few favorites after staring at the catalog for so long. But to her surprise, Evelia boldly said she wanted to buy every single design in the book, over a hundred styles.
"You want all of them?!"
"Yes, all of them. Don’t worry about the price, I still have some money."
As for the money, she planned to apply for some mission funds from the Second Prince.
Although it might seem odd to ask her boss for money to buy a huge batch of lingerie, Evelia didn’t care. She saw it as part of completing the Second Prince’s mission. So, she was confident he’d approve the funds.
And if not... well, she could just describe it a different way.
"It’s not really about the money! I mean, you’re buying so many, can you even wear all of them?"
"One set a day should be fine, right?"
"What are you saying?!" the assistant said, now truly worked up. She slapped the catalog in her hand and said loudly, "If it’s just for wearing underneath your clothes, then normal underwear is enough! These designs aren’t meant to be hidden under layers…!"
“……”
Evelia paused, like she was seriously thinking about it.
"You mean… wear them on the outside?"
"Of course! These kinds of eye-catching, seductive designs are meant to be seen!"
In that moment, Evelia pictured herself wearing a different set of revealing lingerie every day, almost like walking around half-naked, in front of Armand.
“…That could work.”
It seemed she completely misunderstood the meaning.
"Yes! These kinds of alluring outfits should be shown off! You can’t let such beautiful lingerie be trapped under boring clothes, never seeing the light of day!"
"Hmm… that makes sense."
Even though Evelia didn’t fully understand what the sense was, the assistant’s cute face and passion moved her.
"Alright then, miss, why don’t you tell me more about the gentleman you like? I can recommend styles based on what kind of person he is."
"Hmm…"
Evelia let out a small hum as she pictured Armand in her mind. She took a long time, carefully choosing words to properly describe this man.
Finally, she settled on one phrase. She looked up at the assistant and said with a completely serious face.
"He’s an idiot… but not a total idiot."
“…?”
The assistant smiled politely, but her mind filled with question marks.
"But also kind of brainless."
This was Evelia’s highest praise for Armand. Honestly, not calling him a complete fool was already being kind.
"By ‘idiot’... do you mean like… in a cute way?"
The assistant tried her best to make sense of the word “idiot,” assuming maybe it was one of those sweet insults couples use, like calling someone a “silly goose” or “dummy.”
"Yeah. Stupid... but not too stupid...?"
Evelia, of course, had no idea that “stupid” could ever be used affectionately. To her, “stupid” and “idiot” were just different words for the same thing.
As for her pause at the end. It was because, deep down, Evelia still wasn’t sure what kind of person Armand really was.
"I see. No wonder you chose the cute styles. Silly couples usually like this kind of thing the most."
"I’m not silly."
"Ah—no, I didn’t mean you’re silly—"
"And we’re not a couple, either."
"Mm-hmm, I got it, I got it..."
The shop assistant wiped away some nervous sweat. She realized that Evelia seemed like a very serious and stubborn person. But if she was really that serious, why would she be doing something like "trying to seduce a man she doesn't even like"?
Was this some kind of role-play between husband and wife? That seemed a bit too much…
"Anyway, would you say the gentleman you're dealing with is the honest and innocent type?"
"...No."
Evelia had no idea why the shop assistant would use words like "honest" and "innocent" to describe Armand. She had never felt those qualities in him, not even a little.
"Then... hmm... okay, it sounds like he has a complicated personality. Let’s approach this from another angle. How old is he?"
"Twenty-six." Evelia answered immediately, she had memorized all of Armand’s personal information.
"Twenty-six, huh? That’s a great age, young and full of energy. For a man like that, you don’t need to act all cute. Just focus on showing off your good figure."
By looking at Evelia's outfit and body shape, the shop assistant had already figured out her general size. Even though Evelia had long pink hair that might make people think of “cute,” her appearance gave off more of a soft, alluring feeling than simple cuteness.
Her body was also excellent. After all, it was a "reconstructed" body. With certain alchemy techniques, reshaping someone into a perfectly beautiful appearance wasn’t hard. And with the Second Prince’s connections, of course they could hire an alchemist skilled enough to do that.
As for what happened to that alchemist… well, Evelia’s “recovery training” took care of it.
Her mission was clear. The first thing she had to do after waking up in her new body was to get rid of the alchemist who knew her secret. As the best assassin, Evelia completed the task perfectly.
Now, only the Second Prince and Evelia herself knew what she originally looked like.
"So, what does this gentleman do for work?"
"He's a knight."
"And what about his family background?"
Evelia thought back to that ridiculously huge estate.
"His family is doing well."
"And what do you do for work?"
"I'm a maid."
"A maid?"
In that moment, the shop assistant imagined an entire love story, at least 5,000 words long, between a maid and her master. Some parts were so spicy that they'd need to be censored.
"Ahem, I see. I’ll prepare a few lingerie sets for you."
Noticing that Evelia was still waiting, the assistant wiped her mouth and stopped daydreaming. She pulled out five small wooden boxes used for storing clothes.
"Even though lingerie shouldn't be hidden under thick clothes, it’s still underwear, so it needs to serve its basic purpose. Miss, try this one."
She opened one of the boxes and showed Evelia a set of pure white lingerie.
It was completely white, like fresh snow, with no decorations at all. The soft material felt silky smooth, like milk candy.
Compared to normal underwear, it used a bit less fabric, but it wasn’t revealing. In fact, it had a clean, almost innocent look.
"This one...?"
"Yes, this is it. White means purity. It matches the knight’s sense of justice. Men like that are often drawn to pure, graceful girls. White lingerie is like a sacred item, it makes people long for purity."
How did she manage to link sacred items with underwear?
Evelia listened to the assistant and couldn't help but feel a little strange.
"So, this lingerie is meant to be seen 'by accident', as if your knight happened to catch a glimpse. That way, he'll be drawn to your pure image. Sure, some people like bold and sexy outfits, but others believe that pure white, something untouched, is the most attractive. Only white can bring out a person's desire to ruin that innocence."
Evelia looked at the underwear. She didn’t have any opinion on it herself, she didn’t understand this stuff, so she was fine with letting the assistant decide. But the things the assistant was saying… sounded weirder and weirder.
"Alright, wrap it up."
"Right away, miss." After confirming Evelia would buy it, the shop assistant handed her the lingerie set, along with a white dress. "Why don’t you put it on now?"
"......"
Evelia stared at the lingerie for a moment, then silently took it.