The Kind Older Sister Is No More

Where is this noble even from?

To visit a shop alone without a single guard with her, nor with any fancy ornaments. Irene came with just her own plain appearance. Not to mention, she was looking to buy a mid-range priced dress, that was not too expensive, of course the owner, who was a businessman, would carry out prejudgement.

But I cannot just kick her out.

The owner thought the customer herself deserved it, but doing such a thing in front of other guests could damage the upright image they had built up.

The owner smiled kindly and, a while later, finally guided Irene to a seat.

“Please sit here. I will give you a book of our designs. Do take a look and decide on the dress you would like to purchase. And... the accessory book...well I suppose you would not need it, do you?”

The owner asked with confidence. Irene nodded in agreement. She knew with the money she had brought; it was insufficient to be able to afford accessories.

“Yes. I will just pick a dress.”

“Of course. Call me when you are done choosing.”

The owner, nodding as if it was understandable, went on to greet the new guests who had come into the shop. Irene could not help but think that his attitude was rather cold for some reason. Sighing, she opened the design book. Each page was filled with designs that were gorgeous and glamorous, eye catching in their own right.

However, the price of the gowns on the front pages were astronomical, so she had to flip through more than half of the pages to see the dresses that were suitable for Irene’s budget.

To Irene, who wore only a few gowns, the variety of colourful dresses were like a brand-new world. She did not know that there would be so many kinds of attire possible to wear.

There was no need to be in a hurry, so she took her time turning the pages one by one, engraving them all on her memory, when she suddenly heard voices of the people around her.

“She must have come alone.”

“Looking at the pages endlessly, she must be from some local aristocracy.”

“Did you not see that she came by herself? Without any guards?”

“Yes, that is true. Ho-ho.”

At first, she paid no heed to the random chatter, but the more she heard, the more she realised that the whispers were mocking her.

Irene raised her head and looked around. The nobles, gathered in groups, were looking at her with faces full of ridicule. The Chase family was powerful enough to produce the nanny of the former Empress, but they mistook her for a poor local aristocrat. Of course, in such a superficial society where face and pretence superseded one’s moral character, judging Irene’s appearance without knowing her background was only natural.

In the design shop, the books with fashionable references were not just for selecting designs. The more pages one flipped, the lower-priced the dress one tended to choose, which meant that the said person’s financial resources were inferior.

It was an unspoken rule, but Irene, who knew nothing about the social world, had no idea why they were staring at her with that kind of expression.

Irene tried to ignore it. It was because she did not want to care about each and every one of them. If she received a penny every time she could have cared, she would be able to afford the dress on the first page. This certainly was not the first or second time she had seen people trying to hurt her…

Just then, a dress she liked caught her attention. It was just the right dress, neither too flashy nor too monotonous. Irene, who had chosen a dress, was about to call the owner…

“Oh, I am sorry. I think my foot must have been tripped.”

Juice dripped at the end of Irene’s milky brown hair. The woman who poured the juice out of the blue was laughing alongside the man accompanying her. She showed no regret at all.

Of course, she did not stumble over Irene’s foot. Irene was sure it was not a mistake, but she decided not to point that out and turned to the nearby staff, who was watching on the side.

“Could you give me something to clean?”