“……By the way, what is Rouge doing over there?”
I spotted Rouge peeking out from the door, staring at us, and asked Lily, who probably knew what was going on. She had said earlier that someone was waiting, was it Rouge?
“I was thinking of having Hugh see Rouge’s outfit too. Sorry for making you wait, you can come in now.”
Lily called out to her, and Rouge appeared before me, looking somewhat fidgety.
“…………!”
I was speechless at the sight of Rouge.
Her petite figure was enveloped in an emerald green dress with a softly flared hem. The design emphasized her loveliness and charm, and it suited Rouge perfectly. The silver thread embroidery was a perfect match for Rouge’s silver hair.
Cute. I love it. I want to get married right now. Those words almost came out, but I stopped myself just in time. That’s not what I should be saying.
“Precious… no, that’s not it! Why is Rouge wearing a dress…?”
I looked at Lily, who I suspected was behind this, with a questioning gaze, wondering if it was okay. There were servants from the Puridi family in the reception room, and the merchants and maids must have helped with the changing.
Well, the Puridi family has switched to Prince Lucas’s faction, and if they don’t know Lucretia’s face, her existence shouldn’t be revealed…
“I was surprised when Rouge asked me if she could try on a dress. I never thought Rouge had a thing for cross-dressing.”
“Ah, ah…”
I see, so she’s planning to get through this by cross-dressing. …Can she pull it off?
“I wanted to surprise Hugh, so I asked Lily to do something unreasonable. How is it? Does it look good on me…?”
“Yeah, it looks amazing on you.”
It suits her so well that she looks like a girl from every angle. Or rather, she is a girl to begin with.
It’s different from the dress Lucretia wore at the Royal Castle before. The emerald green dress looks even more stunning because of her current silver hair. It doesn’t have the elegance or grace of a princess, but it’s full of the charm of a cute girl.
“R-really? Ehehe~”
Rouge smiled and giggled, her cheeks flushed from my praise.
Ah, she’s too cute. If everything goes well and I can marry Rouge, I’ll have her wear this dress at the wedding reception.
“Looks like the real deal can’t be beat…”
“I’m so jealous of Rouge-san…”
My ears, enhanced by my «Ninja» Skill, picked up every word Lily and Lecty muttered as they watched me cover my face with my hands in agony. Crap, I forgot they were here for a second. They saw me at my most embarrassing…
I cleared my throat to cover it up, tightened my slackened cheeks, and asked Lily.
“Don’t tell me, you’re not planning to go to the Night Soiree like this…?”
“Of course not? This is just a little fun for this occasion. Rouge’s tailcoat wasn’t the right size, so we just took measurements for now. They should have it ready by the day.”
The Night Soiree is the night after tomorrow, so it will be a very rushed job. I’m grateful to Lily for arranging it and to the merchants who will be making it.
After that, the three of them changed out of their dresses and back into their uniforms, and the four of us studied for the exam until Alissa-san came to pick us up. I was prepared to spend the whole day choosing a dress, so I was a little disappointed.
Since the weather was nice, we decided to spread out our textbooks in the gazebo in the garden of Marquis Puridi’s Mansion. In the magnificent garden, the sweet scent of flowers wafted in on the breeze from time to time.
“Lecty, you’ve gotten much better at solving problems than before,”
Rouge smiled admiringly as she watched Lecty solve the problem set that Lily had made. Lecty was now smoothly answering the calculation problems that she had struggled with when she first entered the school.
“Thank you, Rouge-san. It’s all thanks to Lily-chan, who has been teaching me every day.”
“It’s all thanks to Lecty’s hard work. It seems that she just didn’t have the opportunity to study before, but she’s actually very smart. She absorbs everything like a sponge, so it’s rewarding for me to teach her.”
“Hee, that’s nice~”
Rouge said, while giving me a glare. Should I spend an hour or so asking her about that “nice” while ignoring my studies?
I went to university in my previous life. It’s not like I’m completely incapable of studying. It’s just that I’m a little bad at remembering historical dates…
“Even so, it’s crazy. The Inter-Class Tournament is just a few days after the midterms. Shouldn’t there be a bit more of an interval?”
Unable to withstand Rouge’s gaze, I changed the subject with a complaint that had suddenly come to mind. The midterms are next weekend, and the Inter-Class Tournament is the following week. It’s quite a tight schedule.
“Apparently, last year’s Inter-Class Tournament was in the second semester, but this year it was moved forward because of the 30th anniversary of the victory.”
“Anniversary ceremony?”
“Wasn’t it mentioned at the briefing after the acceptance announcement? This year, to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the victory, there will be a period of exchange with academies from friendly countries.”
“Ah… I think I remember something like that.”
“Honestly. There’s also the off-campus training next month, and for various reasons, it had to be moved to this timing. It’s tough for the upperclassmen, not to mention us who just entered the school. The test range is wide, and it would be a great shame to lose to the lowerclassmen in the Inter-Class Tournament.”
“So, what you’re saying is that Hugh should stop complaining and study,”
“That’s a bit of a forceful conclusion…”