Secret Wardrobe Of The Duchess

“Do nymphs… like to wear pretty dresses?”

“Pretty dresses?”

Hue, who was now temporarily residing in Iber, had to try hard not to burst into laughter. However, Rubica looked deadly serious.

“Clothes do not matter to nymphs.”

To Hue’s nymphs, clothes were rather bothering. Therefore, Rubica couldn’t hide her disappointment.

She had opened shops to lure in Iber’s underlings, but she truly enjoyed the work. Even thinking hard to make even more comfortable and prettier clothes was delightful.

Hue was the god of love and the god of beauty. He knew well about her interests, and he wanted to understand the essence of the woman’s love for beauty and passion. He even wished she had been born as one of his nymphs.

“Nymphs are the very incarnations of beauty. You will be the most beautiful creature in the world and keep your youth for eternity.”

Any other human would have been tempted. However, Rubica wasn’t interested in becoming the most beautiful creature. She found happiness in her journey to reaching beauty. That was why she found the perfect beauty rather boring.

Being the very incarnation of beauty meant there would be no chance of adding more to it. The moment she found the most delightful and thrilling beauty was the moment she found the critically lacking last piece and see it bloom altogether.

“You don’t want to be a nymph.”

Edgar could see she was hesitating, and he could clearly read her mind. Others would have found her strange, but he didn’t. She sometimes did the least expected of things, but she had this center aspect that never changed.

“But… you don’t have to give up eternal life because of me. If you want us to become nymphs, that’s what we’ll do.”

“Rubica.” Edgar looked at her and said, “After I met you, I learned that even if a rose withers after a season, it can be more valuable than a gem that will keep its luster forever.”

When Sesar came to him to convince him to invest in his work, he had decided beauty that faded so soon wasn’t worth investing his money on.

But that beauty had changed the world. It had been able to make even more changes as it was a life that didn’t last forever like gems from the mines.

“But… you will have to give up eternal youth.”

“I want to grow old with you, and I want to see you become an old lady. You looked so pretty as an old lady.”

“What do you mean? You never got to see me like that!”

“I did. I asked the god to let me see you just before I died.”

How was she when she died? Not pretty at all, she was sure of it. If she had known, she would have used her last bit of strength on wiping the dirt off her face. She blushed in embarrassment.

“You are pretty now, but you were pretty even back then. Or what? Are you going to stop loving me if I age and grow old?”

“No! Of course not!” Rubica passionately denied it, and it looked so lovely that it made Edgar want to hug her tightly.

“We’ll stay as humans.”

Edgar declared their decision, but Ios yelled as if he just couldn’t understand.

“How could you be so foolish? It doesn’t make any sense! Nymphs are much more powerful than humans, and they live long!”

Although he was never going to admit it, he knew that Edgar was smart, smart enough to replace Minos as his brain. But now, he was making a decision even Ios himself wouldn’t make, and the dragon couldn’t understand it. And having a human sister… that was enough to hurt his dragon pride.

“I object! I want a nymph sister! I say no to you staying as humans!”

Edgar wanted to rebuke him angrily, but Rubica stopped him.

“Ios, the god has said that if we become nymphs, we must go to the gods’ world. It means… if we become nymphs, we will never see you again.”

Ios had just determined to lie on the ground and throw a tantrum, but he blinked at that. He hadn’t thought of it.

“Do you have to go to that gods’ world now? Can’t you go later?”

However, Iber slowly shook her head and said, “They must go now.”

“Then, I can come to visit you sometimes.”

“No, that is not allowed.”

“Huh? But that’s unfair!”

Hue just decided to ignore Ios’s protests and didn’t even glance at him. He spoke to Rubica, “You have chosen to live as a human. I will give you a blessing to let you live the rest of your life in happiness.”

As soon as he said that, Rubica felt pain in her eyes. She would have collapsed if Edgar didn’t catch her, but the pain lasted only for a short second.

“Your eyes are red.”

“Red?”

“Yes, they’re not auburn now, they’re as red as a ruby.”

Was it the god’s blessing… she smiled and thought of her late mother. When she was born, her mother had been delighted more than anyone to see her baby having red eyes, which was considered as Hue’s blessing.

Her interest in beauty started with her mother and was nourished by her merchant father. She couldn’t wait to tell Edgar about them.

“I don’t understand.”

After the god left, Iber looked at them with mixed feelings.

“Why did you not choose to become nymphs? You could have been happy together for eternity…”

“Well, I don’t know.”

But, why had she made such a decision? In a way, she thought her choice had been a spontaneous one. Eternal life was charming enough. Anyone would have wanted to live forever in the gods’ world with one’s loved one.

Nevertheless… when she thought about actually leaving for the gods’ world, she remembered Angela and Ann. She worried Ios might cause even more havoc, and she pitied Minos who would have to take care of it all alone.

She also thought of the girl she had planned to invite in secret and transform. Her, Elise, Gabriel, and Jennie had worked so hard on the plan.

All of it would be gone like foam if she became a nymph.

“I have many loved ones here, and Hue’s Holy Book teaches us about various kinds of love. Of course, I love Edgar more than anyone in the world. Still… the love between lovers isn’t the only love. There is also the love of parents and children, love among siblings, love among friends.”

“You’re making me jealous,” Edgar protested. He wanted to have all of her love, but there were so many others who liked her and were liked by her. It sometimes made him really mad.

“Various kinds of love…”

Iber smiled bitterly, but it cleared her head. Rubica was right. The world was full of many kinds of love.

“I guess you are right.”

Iber looked at her underlings and Ios, who was now sitting on the ground, puffing with his arms crossed. She smiled. Those were her loved ones she had forgotten, blinded by passion.

“Thank you for awakening me. I guess you should go home now. I will carry you on the wind.”

Iber offered them a hand, but Edgar shook his head.

“No.”

The yellow sun had come up between red clouds above the far horizon.

“We will walk. Just lead us to our carriage.”

His legs were not numb anymore, and he could feel the land with his feet.

“Rubica, let us go home.”

She gladly took his hand. Now that he could walk under the sun, he no longer had to suffer when seeing the sun come up. He no longer had to worry about others seeing him in his wheelchair.

Now he could have breakfast with her, and they could walk in the garden at noon.

“Yes, let’s go home.”

For the first time, they walked together under the sunlight. They had enjoyed walks at night, but it couldn’t be compared to the joy of seeing each other’s smile under the bright sunlight. Just like that, they walked a long way home.

***

Many days passed by after they came back from Iber’s territory.

“And where should I put this bag?”

“On this carriage.”

Claymore was always busy and noisy because of all its work, but today, the mansion was even more bustling.

There were workers loading the mana stone carriages and drivers doing the last check on them.

Madam Khanna, who had just arrived with documents about designs she would present in the next season, was quite confused to see the scene. The duke and the duchess had been working hard for the last year and they hadn’t been going anywhere, even to balls and social gatherings. Had they suddenly changed their minds?

“Khanna!”

Rubica saw her first and smiled brightly. Khanna also smiled at seeing her. To her, the duchess was her savior, a genius and the creator of the remarkable inventions Claymore had presented in the last year. Although the duke had been the one to make them come true, only a few including Khanna knew who had come up with those ideas.