“That’s it. Good work.”
“Take it off, I’ll change. Please hurry up.”
“Yes, all right… haa, some of our clients even stop moving in front of the mirror.”
This moment is the most painful. The frustration reaches its maximum as the release date approaches, after enduring it for so long.
The clerk slowly leads the way, and I move to rush from behind. I need to go back to my usual one-piece dress. That was the limit, even for a noble. No one says anything, but it is exquisite enough to make a classy lady look at me dubiously.
While walking through the store, I suddenly saw a large mirror. After trying on the dress, I was suggested to move in front of the mirror, but I refused.
I’m in a hurry and want to take this thing off immediately, but somehow I stop.
It is just an ordinary mirror. It’s quite expensive because the value of things differs from that in Japan, but other than that, it’s the same. It reflects light and reflects what is in front of it. No mirror spirit is appearing, no bloody fallen warrior behind me, just my whole body reflected in the mirror. That’s it.
The see-through lace shoulders to arms. The waist part is so tight that anyone but me would be strangled to death. The skirt is softly spread from the waist down, and the lace is decorated with graceful floral motifs.
The overall silhouette, which precise calculations must have created, and the elaborately crafted details are not so… captivating. They look amazing, but they don’t move me that much. Being me, I don’t think a wedding dress is wonderful.
However, let’s examine it further. The frustration was all gone.
By trial and error, I found a position for my hand that felt right, bringing it down or in front of my chest. In the process, I talked to myself in a way that made no sense.
“Heh, hmm, I see what you mean.”
I tried walking in front of the mirror. Slowly and carefully, like sliding my feet, my skirt dances softly.
Turning the other way, I look back and check the mirror. The exact opposite colour peeks out through the black hair covering my back.
“I get it, that’s how it works.”
Trying to look at it from different angles, I spin around in front of the mirror.
Will I wear this to my wedding? Will I walk down the aisle in front of everyone wearing this? Will I wear this and stand next to Patrick?
When I look up at the face beside me, at this angle and out of the mirror, I notice a smirking Eleanora.
“…Yes?”
“No, don’t worry about me. You can look at it as long as you like.”
Since I don’t even like looking at the type of glass that reflects all light, I don’t need to be told such a thing. All I did was stop for a moment and glance in the mirror.
When I looked around, I noticed that Eleanora’s suspiciously smiling face, Boss Auntie, and the ladies all bore a striking resemblance. It’s a smile like looking at something amusing. It’s as if I had been looking in the mirror. No, I wasn’t.
“I just looked in the mirror for a moment. I want to take off this thing right now.”
“You’ve been looking at it for quite a while.”
“Time is relative. Eleanora has unconsciously stretched her sense of time.”
“I’m sure you’re right, that’s fine! Don’t mind us, please continue.”
Eleanora urges me to continue, but I just want to change my clothes as soon as possible.
Let’s move out of the way, avert your eyes, and walk away from the mirror.
“You are mistaken. I’ll change quickly.”
“Oh, you should try to put on your veil.”
“Okay.”
I responded immediately and then realised. It made me look like someone who enjoyed trying on wedding dresses. Eleanora tried to hold back her laughter, but couldn’t.
“………No, don’t misunderstand. The veil is something you wear on your head, isn’t it? I need to know how much it will block my vision, and I don’t want to have to try it on again later if I don’t wear it today.”
“Yes, yes, I understand.”
There was no time to protest to Eleanora, who didn’t understand, but the desired object came out immediately.
A white veil descends over her lowered head. Although I can see beyond the thin cloth, the resolution is significantly reduced. Even with the low resolution, I still look like a different person in the mirror….
It feels uncomfortable for me to try to lift the veil and expose my face by myself. I wonder if I need someone else to do it for me to practice.
“Eleanora-sama, try to lift this.”
“Patrick is the only one who can do that.”
“It’s not like that. I just want to make sure it doesn’t get stuck somewhere.”
“…If that’s how you want to put it.”
I have no awareness of him at all; I just want this veil in front of my face to be lifted.
Eleanora walks up to me, seemingly not too keen on the idea. My vision is obstructed by white, but I see her standing slightly shorter, reaching out to me.
“Wait a minute. We might need a footstool.”
“Can you reach it?”
“I can’t. Eleanora-sama is too short.”
Immediately, the staff brought a footstool from the corner of the room.
Elanora climbed up on the platform, carefully keeping the hem of her skirt… This is different.
“It’s a little high.”
“Um, you know Patrick-sama’s height, aren’t you?
“It just feels a little too high.”
She bends her knees and lowers her posture slightly.
I think this is about right. Not that I’m the same height as anyone else, but it’s about the right height.
“Do you want me to lift it now?”
“Go ahead.”
I closed my eyes. I could feel the vibration of the veil’s edge as it was grasped, the fabric rubbing against my skin, and the air caressing my cheeks. Even with my eyes closed, I could feel the veil being lifted.
Slowly, I opened my eyelids and saw Eleanora’s face very close to me… What is it, Eleanora?
“Are you that disappointed?”
“Did it show on my face?”
“Your face has turned cold all at once.”
I always have a cold look, but I’m a clever and cool character, so it was no surprise when she pointed it out to me.
As I was convinced of my reasoning, Eleanora, who was still lifting the veil with both hands, continued to speak.
“……you had the face of a young lady until you opened your eyes.”
“Young lady? Who are you talking about?”
“It’s Yumiela-san.”
“Tailoring it or not… you’re clearly happy about it, aren’t you?”
This kid is trying to falsify facts!
Falsifying history is unforgivable, but it is easier than you think. Digital data lasts for tens of years, while paper media can last for hundreds of years. If it degrades that much over time, the information becomes unreadable. But a stone slab has a lifespan of 30.000 years.
In other words, even if I keep a record of today’s events in my diary, if Elenora carved a false stone slab 30.000 years from now, humankind will believe that Yumiela was happy in her wedding dress.
Stone slabs are the strongest. Paper books and e-books are small fry. We should move to stone slabs for the future.
I must do my best to convince my good friend before she becomes a historical revisionist.
“It’s a misunderstanding. How could I possibly look at a wedding dress and think it’s nice or beautiful? There’s no way I would close my eyes and fantasize about Patrick being there when the veil is lifted, and I’m not looking forward to how he’ll react when he sees this. Nor do I think it’s a waste that the only time I get to wear this is to weddings.”
“I wouldn’t go that far….”
“I won’t let you carve it on a stone slab.”
“Stone slab? Um, stone? What?”
Eleanora tilted her head and looked puzzled, but she might be trying to fool me by pretending to be a fool.
The thin white fabric softly stroked my face when I tried to tell her I wouldn’t allow clay tablets either. The veil had slipped away from Eleanora’s hands and obscured my face.
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
“It’s all right. It’s see-through, so I can see more than I thought possible.”
“How much can you see? I can’t even see your face from where I’m standing.”
“I certainly can’t make out the detailed facial expressions. Since the light is brighter on the outside of the veil, I think I can see more. Yes, let’s get off the platform.”
Eleanora, who was on the footstool, reached out my hand. In my white field of vision, I ensured she had both feet firmly on the floor before releasing her hand.
“Thank you.”
“I’m going to change now. It’s hard to move, my vision is restricted, and my fighting ability is severely impaired.”
“You’re still not going to admit it, are you?”
Before I give up on trying to change her misperceptions, I would like to ask her something now while my face is veiled.
I take a few steps back so that my entire body is in Eleanora’s field of vision.
“Um… how does it look from Eleanora-sama’s point of view?”
“It’s lovely. I’m sure Patrick would be smitten as well.”
“Patrick is irrelevant, but what do you think? I don’t know much about dresses or anything like that, so I’m curious to see what it looks like from someone who knows better.”
“That is true.”
She looked at me thoughtfully from the top of my head to my toes.
The silence was so long that I pulled back my veil to better look at Eleanora’s eyes, not through the fabric. Her sparkling red eyes seemed to be a mirror reflecting my reflection, and I let go of the veil to hide.
“Yumiela’s slender upper body showed off her lines beautifully. The skirt is gorgeously spread out like a lily, and the lace on the shoulders looks so grown-up! And most of all, you look wonderful, and I could tell that a wedding dress is something that makes a bride stand out. I’m sure Patrick-sama will fall in love with it.”
Hmmm. It’s nice to hear, but I don’t think anything of it, so I reply curtly.
“Heh, I see.”
What kind of expression did I have at that moment? No one saw it covered by the white fabric.
Hidden behind a veil of mystery, history was buried in darkness.
At least Eleanora is having fun