LLTEEFM 31

#031. Purple. The Color of His Majesty

“So, Lady Martina said she would help me choose an outfit.”

It was a picturesque scene. In a garden full of lisianthus, a girl with silver hair like moonlight and eyes as black as night sat across from a boy with blazing red hair and ocean-blue eyes.

“She always dresses so beautifully, doesn’t she? That’s why I asked her. I thought it would be nice to look pretty that day.”

As the girl chattered away while flipping through a catalogue, the boy who had been silently listening suddenly spoke.

“My sister-in-law might be sad to hear that.”

The girl was Blanche Loa Vandalouin, a six-year-old peace envoy from the Kingdom of Lamore, and the boy was Melchizedek George Pendleton, the eight-year-old Crown Prince of the Retaile Empire. In other words, the “sister-in-law” he mentioned referred to the Empress of the Empire, Liana.

Melchizedek and his playmate Blanche were discussing none other than the upcoming birthday celebration of Liana, which was now just three months away.

“I can’t exactly ask the guest of honor to help me choose an outfit.”

After that disastrous tea party, the only one who had officially apologized to Blanche was Fania Saint Martina. As a result, Blanche naturally came to associate only with Fania—excluding those staying in the imperial palace.

It was understandable for Blanche, who had limited interaction partners, but surprisingly, Fania, who had many friends, often visited Blanche’s palace or invited her to her home. Perhaps there was something about Blanche that Fania liked.

That friendship led Blanche to ask Fania for help in choosing a dress to wear to Liana’s birthday celebration.

“My mother is taking care of all the preparations anyway. My sister-in-law is practically bored out of her mind these days.”

Of course, as the birthday drew closer, Liana would get busy choosing her own outfit and such, but for now, she had time to spare. After all, she couldn’t spend three full months on a party that happened every year.

Blanche was understandably nervous—it was her first time attending. Melchizedek, on the other hand, hadn’t even picked out a dress code yet, let alone an outfit.

Normally, Blanche should match the dress code of the Grand Duke, but at this point, it might be better if Melchizedek matched whatever outfit Blanche chose. As he considered that, Blanche gave a shy smile.

“I wanted to surprise her that day.”

Ah, right. The gift was supposed to be a secret from Liana too. Melchizedek chuckled.

“So, when are you meeting her?”

“I’m going to the ducal estate today.”

In other words, she’d be going once Melchizedek got up from his seat. It was the kind of comment that could irritate a real friend, but their relationship was based on a contract, not friendship—so Melchizedek didn’t mind.

“Oh yeah? Then should I take you there myself?”

Since Blanche was still establishing her position in the imperial family, she hadn’t yet been assigned a carriage or coachman.

Normally, she’d have to request a royal carriage whenever she went out, but Melchizedek thought using his own would both serve that need and publicly display their closeness.

However, contrary to his expectations, Blanche shook her head.

“Then Lady Martina will tease me. I don’t like that.”

“She teases you?”

Blanche pursed her lips, looking uncomfortable, and murmured in a small voice.

“She keeps saying things like, ‘His Highness treats you so well,’ and stuff like that…”

“Ah.”

Melchizedek laughed quietly. Lady Martina, Fania, was nine years old—one year older than him. It was the age when kids became curious about those things.

And it wasn’t entirely baseless. There were indeed some movements within the royal family to pair Melchizedek and Blanche. Perhaps it was because his older brother and sister-in-law, the current emperor and empress, had gotten engaged at the age of five and turned out well.

Naturally, a future emperor’s spouse should come from a powerful and supportive noble family. But Melchizedek already had two powerful maternal relatives: the Hallaim family from the Empress Dowager’s side, and the Kaivrahane family from the current Empress.

In that sense, Blanche was a rather ideal match. She was of royal blood, but from a small kingdom, so she wouldn’t be competing with the power of the other two factions.

Both the Empress Dowager and Empress liked Blanche. She was smart, communicated well with Melchizedek, and her appearance was outstanding. Considering how little information had leaked from the Jasper Palace over the past three years, she seemed to know how to manage people too.

From what Melchizedek had seen, even her nanny seemed competent. So she’d likely serve well in a support role.

Melchizedek valued talent over lineage, and Blanche, in many ways, suited his preferences.

“Haha, is that so? Then I’ll refrain. Go on now—I’m sure the young lady has been waiting since dawn.”

“Thank you for your consideration.”

Without help, Blanche hopped down from her seat and gave a polite bow.

*

When she entered the room, Lady Martina was reading a fashion catalogue. Her lemon-colored hair, tied in pigtails, swayed each time she turned her head to follow her gaze.

“Princess Blanche has arrived, Lady Fania,” a maid announced.

As soon as she heard that, Lady Martina’s head shot up.

“You’re here!”

Her lime-colored eyes sparkled with delight. Blanche tried her best to smile brightly in return and nodded.

“I missed you, my lady… So I came as fast as I could.”

The words were a little embarrassing, but thanks to three years of practice in flattery, they came out smoothly.

“Oh dear, Blanche, you really adore me, don’t you?”

With a proud grin, Lady Martina beamed at her. Seeing her so happy, Blanche smiled gently and took the seat in front of her.

“What were you looking at?”

“This season’s catalogue. I think sky blue would suit you best. What do you think? Here, take a look.”

What Lady Martina showed her were fashion sketches—concept drawings likely made by tailors to visualize the design.

But Blanche had little to say. Whenever she looked at clothing, the only thing she ever checked was whether it followed etiquette.

Here, it seemed everyone followed trends and often wore similar things, but in her previous life, rules about color and embroidery were strictly tied to one’s status.

Dragons were for the emperor, phoenixes for the empress. Blanche herself had worn black silk embroidered with silver thread in the shape of the Black Tortoise. No wonder His Majesty had bestowed her daughter with the character for “black” in her name.

“I don’t know much about these things. I’ll follow your opinion, my lady.”

“You can’t do that! This is your debut in the Empire’s social world, so your opinion matters too. Come here. I gathered catalogues from all the most popular boutiques, so let’s pick one that suits your taste.”

…Maybe it would’ve been better to flatter her and say she was trustworthy? Blanche was already overwhelmed just by the thickness of the catalogues.

She really didn’t know anything about clothes—even in her past life. While others complained about stiff etiquette, she had welcomed it.

“Look here. Muslin is the trend this season. But since we’re kids, we just have to follow the vibe, you know? Even someone as rigid as you should be able to pick something you like.”

Just listening to that gave Blanche anxiety—she felt like she wouldn’t like anything. But she couldn’t resist Lady Martina’s hand pulling her along.

And so, for the next two hours, Blanche looked at hundreds of outfits that all looked more or less the same. At first, she could still tell the differences, but soon, they all looked identical—only the colors changed.

Among the clothes that all looked the same to her, she finally picked one based on the only distinguishable feature: the color.

“…I think I like this one the best.”

Purple. The color of His Majesty.

“This one? Huh, it’s more floaty than I expected. I thought you’d choose something old-fashioned, since you always wear stuff that covers your whole neck.”

Lady Martina was right. On closer inspection, the dress she chose had a low neckline and short sleeves. The skirt barely reached the knees.

Had she really picked that? Blanche was about to take it back in shock, but Lady Martina spoke first.

“But it’s perfect for summer. Honestly, I always thought your clothes were too stuffy for the season.”

Perfect for summer? When it showed so much skin? In the past, she wouldn’t have worn something that short even as an outer layer!

Stunned, Blanche looked at Lady Martina’s own outfit—and understood. Her elbows, the nape of her neck, and her knees were all visible, but it didn’t look vulgar. Just cute.

Ah… so it’s okay for children’s clothes to show a bit more skin?

With that in mind, the design made more sense. And looking back at the other catalogues, they all had similar designs—some with longer skirts, more sleeve decorations, or extra embellishments around the neck.

Should she agonize over the choice again, or just accept that this was how kids dressed these days?

Just as she was hesitating, Lady Martina stood up before Blanche could reach a decision.