The day her request was granted, a couple of maids whose faces were drenched with reluctance had her readied for the meeting with the Duke.
Perhaps surprised by how obedient she was being, one of them couldn't help but ask,
"Anything else, young lady?"
'Young lady?'
Verity stared at her with a curious expression, leaving the young maid worried.
"We were told to address you as such," another, more confident maid explained. "You are the new lady of the Castellans."
Verity's expression was unreadable, leaving the maid nervous, but then she nodded and motioned for them to continue with the preparation.
While pulling up her list, she couldn't help but grumble, It seems like leaving the Castellans is impossible for now.
***
On arriving at the Duke's office, Verity made a polite curtsy and greeted him before raising her writing sheet.
[Verity greets the Grand Duke.]
The servants flinched as the room's temperature chilled along with the Duke's gaze.
Unperturbed, Verity clicked the knob at the edge of the inkless feather pen, quickly erasing her words to write new ones.
[Would the Duke please grant me a helper—for speaking, that is.]
This pen was a gift from the young Rosanna to her on her birthday during the three years they spent making music together.
It was a magical inkless feather pen that wrote boldly like chalk and had a knob at its edge which, when clicked, could change from a writing to an erasing function, and vice versa.
Its writing design had a sleek tip that allowed for speedy yet bold writing, whilst its erasing design had a thicker tip which made cleaning swift and convenient.
It was an excellent idea that the young Rosa had furnished with the help of Marvis, and Verity couldn't have been happier when she received such a perfect gift.
"Do you understand what you're doing?"
The Duke's sharp voice pulled her away from the beautiful memories.
Verity nodded.
[I cannot speak, sir.]
The Duke's eyes twitched. "You take me for a fool, child? You were speaking to Marvis just fine."
[It's psychological, sir.]
"…"
How shameless could one be?
The Duke never knew he had a temper until he met this child whose only purpose seemed to bait his rage.
Even the servants were driven speechless.
He took a deep breath to calm down.
"Then, do you need a doctor?"
[No, sir. Just a couple of other things.]
"…"
The Duke sighed, then motioned with his right hand to have the child settle down.
Soon, Verity was seated at a mini table, holding a selection of desserts and a cup of tea served before her.
She raised her brows in suspicion.
So… nice?
"Continue, child—and make it brief. Tolerating this is nauseating enough."
Verity rolled her eyes internally. Well, there goes her minor goodwill.
However, they both held the exact same sentiment, and without further ado, Verity gave a jotter to the guard hovering beside her to present to the Duke.
Without a change in expression, the Duke accepted the book, looking through it while Verity ate her pastries with leisurely grace.
"I see," he finally responded, startling Verity, who had been far too engrossed in her eating, into choking.
Having been fed a glass of water to settle her over, Verity could have sworn the Duke's voice became lighter as he spoke next.
"Your requests are not outlandish. In fact, I already had some of them in progress for whenever your… disease settled over."
He smiled gently, leaving Verity secretly glaring with resentment.
He was happy at her choking. How fucking pathetic.
"However, some of this has to be a joke. Or do you not understand what and who you are?" The Duke turned the book to face Verity while pointing to a particular place.
"Male clothes? Swordsmanship classes? Did you perhaps read the wrong book, child?" The Duke continued, his voice filled with derisive pity.
"That's all right—you've never really been taught anything, have you? I'll have a teacher over."
Verity smiled sweetly, and suddenly, even the Duke couldn't savor his joy any longer.
[Sir, I'm serious.]
"No, your disease must be acting up again, child."
[Sir, I'm very serious.]
"…"
The Duke laughed heartily while the surroundings chilled to an uncanny degree, leaving the servants trembling.
Verity remained all smiles.
"Take her away!"
Safe to say, her visit to the Duke didn't end on a good note.
But Verity was determined to get what she wanted.
Thus, that same day, after "borrowing" a maid's sewing kit, she pulled down three gowns from her wardrobe and decided to start with them.
***
In her past life, after college graduation and while working, Evelyn had tried her hand at a few hobbies—one of them being cosplaying.
Though she would have preferred to stay at home reading novels and hanging out with people at fun places, once she befriended a hardcore weeb, she was dragged into a whole new world of anime, manga, manhwa, and manhua.
That was how she also stumbled into light novels and web novels.
She was no genius, however, and most of her sewing endeavors hinged on 70% YouTube, 20% her friend, and 10% her.
However, even she—with her zero talent with clothes—didn't fail to pick up a few things, and after a lot of trial and error, borrowed books from the library, and the sacrifice of five gowns, she eventually made a good enough combo of shirt and trousers with a belt made of cloth.
The day she stepped out in them was spectacular.
It wasn't exactly terrible—just a bit too simple for her status, and apparently not made for girls.
But her next action while wearing them was even more bizarre.
She walked right into the place where the Castellan sons were being taught swordsmanship and did nothing but observe them for the entire duration of their lesson.
The boys' gazes at her were strange—more a mix of confusion than hate, and a tinge of discomfort.
It seemed that, without knowing it, their opinion of her had changed.
'Interesting,' she thought, 'Seems like things are changing'