Siffia woke up bright and early, barely able to get a wink of sleep the night before from how excited and anxious she was. She couldn’t remember a single second of the carriage ride into the capital, her mind only able to think of how happy she was to be meeting with Eris again, and how worried she was that she might show more bad sides of herself.
And when she stepped out of the carriage and caught sight of Eris in her simple outing clothes, Siffia almost believed that she was still dreaming.
“L-… Lady Eris…!”
Somehow, seeing Eris in the elegant yet subdued mauve outing-dress seemed just as dazzling as seeing her in the overwhelmingly fancy banquet dress from yesterday. She’d heard that truly beautiful people looked equally as stunning no matter what they were wearing, and Eris seemed to prove this saying unequivocally true. Siffia truly believed that even a burlap sack would be transformed into a fashionable dress when worn by the unforgettably gorgeous Eris.
Surely this must be the irrefutable beauty that an omega was expected to have!
“Oh, you’re finally here... I was beginning to think that perhaps you might have gotten lost. Come, the seamstress is waiting for us.”
Not seeming to register the absolutely dazzled look on Siffia’s face, Eris elegantly folded the fan that she’d been flapping at herself and began to make her way into the boutique. When she realized that Siffia hadn’t taken a single step afterwards, however, she sighed and looked back at her, finally noticing the odd expression that Siffia was making.
“...Is something wrong, Lady Siffia?”
“Hmm? N-no... I’m, just… just thinking! Um…”
Eris frowned at the faint, dazed reply. Though she didn’t quite understand what had caused Siffia to act this way, she merely sighed and took hold of the woman’s hand, pulling her after her into the store, eliciting a small squeak of surprise from Siffia’s lips.
~~~
“Well, what do you think? I believe these fashions suit her greatly, My Lady!”
“Hmm… I believe you’re right.”
Eris’s piercing eyes studied over Siffia and the many mannequins that stood next to her for a moment, until she finally gave an approving nod.
“They do indeed look much better on her. We’ll take them. Have them prepared and sent to Viscount Heston’s estate within the next three days.”
The youthful seamstress squeezed her hands together and squealed in delight, only catching herself a moment later before properly bowing and dashing off to handle the paperwork.
Once they were finally alone, Siffia frowned down at where Eris was sitting, feeling greatly uncomfortable.
“...Are you sure you want to do this, Lady Eris? Buying this many dresses… Surely even just one would be-”
“How many times are you planning to bring this up, Lady Siffia? I’ve already told you multiple times that I would be buying you these dresses.”
“But eight of them?! Eight dresses?! Perhaps one dress I could bite my lip and accept, but how could I possibly let you buy me-”
“Could it be that you don’t like the dresses?”
“What? No-”
Siffia looked down at the dress she was currently wearing, as well as the seven others that adorned the mannequins. Although the sheer amount of them made her feel queasy, she had to admit that she absolutely loved the look of each and every one of them. Seeing herself wearing the fancy dresses almost made her gasp each time. Though she knew it might have just been the effects of the hair styling and makeup that had been done on her, for the first time in her life she finally felt that she might just be a bit pretty. Never had she imagined that she would get to wear such beautiful clothes, and never had she imagined that they might look like they even vaguely suited her. From the colors to the styles to how they hugged her body, there wasn’t a single thing that Siffia could possibly complain about.
-But if only they weren’t so expensive. And if only she wasn’t forcing someone else to buy them for her.
“...Of course I like these dresses… I’d have to be blind not to.”
“Then I don’t see what the problem is. If someone is willing to buy them for you, then why not simply accept them? It’s not as if I’m asking you for anything in return but to wear them.”
Eris’s disgruntled frown made Siffia almost forget what the problem was and feel like she’d been acting silly, until her mind abruptly returned to her.
“But even if it’s a simple gesture of good will, this is far too much money to simply just accept from someone! Can’t you see that?!”
Siffia was fully aware that Eris’s family, the Mescals, were among the wealthiest of the noble families; One didn’t so easily make it to the rank of Margrave without accruing a good bit of money along the way. Still, even a wealthy family such as Eris’s must have their own line to draw on acceptable and unacceptable amounts of frivolous spending.
“It’s not too late, we can still call back that seamstress and-”
“Fine then... What if it’s not out of ‘good will’ as you said, and for an entirely separate reason?”
“Huh..?”
Siffia thought for a moment, her mind trying to desperately understand what Eris was getting at, before her eyebrows rose up in disbelief.
“You can’t be talking about what I did at the banquet, right? We both know that you could have easily handled that man if he’d tried anything-”
“No, of course that’s not what I meant. I’ve already repaid you for that by giving you those two dresses of mine yesterday.”
Hearing the sharpness behind Eris’s tone, Siffia swiftly shut her mouth, hesitating before finally letting herself speak again.
“...Then why are you doing it?”
“Obviously it’s because I can’t let someone who was once under my command be seen running around looking a mess at the banquets like that. It reflects poorly not only on you and I, but on the dignity of our entire platoon. When His Majesty the King decides to call us up and award us our medals, you’ll be put on full display for everyone to see. Do you really want the awfully unmatching image you made from yesterday to be what everyone remembers of us? Do you want to make us all look like fools? Do you?”
The way Eris tilted her chin up and looked down her nose at Siffia was absolutely intimidating. With that look pinning her down, saying anything back but an affirmation was all but impossible. Though she wanted to argue the obvious fact that eight dresses was still way more than the amount of banquets left, Siffia could only bow her head, clasp her hands, and agree.
“...Yes. You’re right, Lady Eris.”
“Good.”
Eris’s heavy gaze finally fell from Siffia, unpinning her. She gracefully reached for the cup of tea that had sat mostly untouched in front of her all this time, elegantly taking a sip of it before lightly gesturing the cup towards Siffia.
“Really, I can’t understand how you could ever turn this offer down in the first place. Anyone else would have been jumping at the chance to receive such nice adornments, especially with how perfectly beautiful they look on you.”
“...What...?”
Siffia lifted her head in confusion and surprise. Every fiber of her being doubted what she’d just heard.
“Did you just… say they looked beautiful on me…?”
Such a thing was absolutely unthinkable. Someone telling her, an ugly duckling omega with a completely bland coloration, that she looked beautiful? Let alone Lady Eris herself, who she admired as the perfect omega.
But despite how confused Siffia was, Eris simply cocked an eyebrow as if she didn’t understand what was wrong.
“Yes? What is it? …Did you not understand me? Do you need me to say it differently?”
She put the teacup down and pointed, rudely gesturing between Siffia and the many dresses surrounding her.
“Those look beautiful on you. I don’t see what’s so hard to understand.”