Dresses.

Morning dresses, evening dresses, wedding dresses, funeral dresses, ballroom dresses. As far as the eye could see, dresses of every shape, size, and color decorated the interior of the building we were standing in.

“Lord Ciedrich, this is not quite what I was expecting,” I remarked with as much poise as I could muster.

He took my comment in stride. “My apologies, Lady Beryl. As a woman of high society, you must be used to custom-tailored finery. Although these dresses may be from rejected orders or surplus, I can assure you that their quality is exceptional.”

That’s definitely not the issue here! More to the point, this city even has an outlet store for noblewomen’s dresses? Just what the hell kind of fantasy world is this?!

I did my best to conceal my displeasure at this unfavorable turn of events. “Very well. I’ll just need a minute…”

I started browsing some of the dresses on display to buy time for my next move. These are all beyond useless for an aspiring adventurer, and it’s going to be difficult to convince Ciedrich to bring me to another store now that he’s brought me here without tipping him off to my plan. I should probably ditch this guy and try to work the next noble I meet. I just need to downplay the whole ‘noblewoman’ thing and emphasize that I’m here to slay the Demon King, and then—dear God, these dresses are expensive as hell. I could probably afford a decent set of gear with all the gold from selling even one of these! I might as well play along for now.

“You’re right, these do look remarkably well-made upon closer inspection,” I said with a flip of my hair. “I suppose I can make an exception just this once.”

I started checking every dress one by one. I just have to find the most expensive dress in the store, come back later to sell it, and I’ll make out like a bandit! I can handle that much! Eighty gold, ninety gold, a hundred…

“Excuse me, my lady. That won’t work.”

Every muscle in body instantly tensed up. The cold, emotionless voice came from none other than Ciedrich’s creepy maid Helga who was standing awkwardly close to me.

“I-Is there a problem, Miss Helga?” I stammered.

“Yes, there is. Those dresses will not fit you.” She cast a glance at my bust.

Now this is really awkward.

“Would you like me to take your measurements?” she offered, apparently reading my unease.

Welp, I knew some sacrifices would be necessary on the highway to paradise. This is definitely more of a ‘hands on’ character customization experience than I’m used to, but if I can just pull through this…

I relented with a sigh. “With haste, please.”

Helga led me over to what must pass for a changing room here before she produced the equivalent of a tape measure that wasn’t marked in any measuring system I recognized. So much for getting to find out my ‘three sizes’ this way. To my relief, she didn’t ask me to remove my tunic, but that relief was short-lived. Helga began the process, first wrapping the tape above my breasts, then under my breasts, and then… right on top of them.

Christ, was she supposed to be measuring directly over my nipples like this?! I felt my body tense up again at the unfamiliarly stimulating sensation. My head began to swim, my breathing sped up, and my heart beat faster and faster as a new wave of emotions swept over me. Not good, I need to hold it together. I might have been a bit too ambitious on my first day in this world! What’s worse, with the way Helga hummed to herself in satisfaction, it almost seemed like she was enjoying this.

“Is everything alright, my lady?” Helga asked me with the faintest hint of a grin upon her lips.

She was enjoying this!

“Y-Yes, of course! Rather, this is taking too long. May we please hurry this up?”

She nodded with another hum. I tried to get my breathing back under control while she finished measuring around my waist and hips. Satisfied, she stored the tape measure.

“Regrettably, your selection may be rather limited; there are not many young women with your measurements. Though as my lady wills it, I will attempt to find a dress in your size. Would you care to accompany me?”

I had heard about well-endowed girls back on Earth having trouble finding clothes that fit properly. Why did I have to run into such a depressingly realistic problem here of all places? I might have taken the ease of buying clothes as a guy for granted.

I was still feeling slightly dizzy and lightheaded from that ‘experience’ earlier. As much as I didn’t trust her, I really needed a minute alone to compose myself.

“Miss Helga, I will trust your judgment to choose wisely,” I said.

She nodded again and left. The changing room I now had to myself was equipped with a tall mirror on the wall. As I stared at myself again, I realized that this was the first time in this world that I’ve actually been by myself in privacy. I never did get a proper chance to… familiarize myself with my new body.

The minutes ticked by until I finally decided that 'it' had to be done. I raised my hands up to my bust and gently cupped my heavy breasts over my tunic. That same euphoric sensation coursed through my body making my heart race all over again. I just… I just had to give them a little squeeze together.

I stopped when I felt my breasts pushing into that silver coin.

Fuck, this is too much! What the hell was I thinking? I need to get rid of that damn thing!

I held my breath, reached a hand down my tunic, and snatched the coin from my cleavage. I completed my objective not a moment too soon, just in time before Helga returned with a dress in her arms.

We stared at each other for a few seconds of awkward silence. If she had noticed my sudden movement, she made no mention of it.

Eventually, she raised the garment in front of her and spoke up. “I was able to find a suitable dress that even matches your hair. Does this one please my lady?”

Why were there so many frills on this thing? And that large, floor-length skirt looked absolutely intimidating! Maybe this was a bad idea. Would I really be any better off with any alternative, though?

“Very well, I suppose that dress will suffice for the time being,” I said.

Helga stared at me again as if expecting something. “I’ll have to ask you to remove your tunic now, my lady.”

We just freaking met! This was getting way too intimate! However… this was only inevitable given the circumstances, right? I took a few more deep breaths; it was too late to bail now, and Helga was still standing right in front of me, waiting. I might as well continue playing along for now…

“Alright then. Would you mind looking the other way?” I asked, gesturing for her to turn around.

She blinked at me. Ultimately, she nodded and did turn to face the other way. That better not have been the start of a shit-eating grin I just saw on that creepy maid’s face!

I sighed and set myself to the task at hand, pulling my tunic up and off my body before casting it aside. Now that I had a clear view, at the very least I was wearing a pair of black panties around my crotch, although a strange pang of emotion struck me as I confirmed my lack of manhood. My chest on the other hand laid completely bare.

I couldn’t help staring at my busty, topless chest in the mirror. This is… this is what I look like now? Are my nipples always going to be this big, or had they just gotten erect from all the earlier attention?

Wait, what the hell was I thinking?! This was all a really, really fucking bad idea!

Helga cleared her throat. “Now then, I’ll need you to lift your arms over your head,” she stated coolly.

Deep breaths, deep breaths... There was definitely no turning back now. “Yes, of course…”

With my arms raised, Helga slipped the dress down over me skirt-first. I shuddered again and stifled a yelp as the fabric slid across the bare skin of my exposed breasts. Eventually my head and arms came out the top of the strapless, sleeveless dress, its large skirt tugging down at my hips. When I tried to fit the fabric into place, the front of the dress hung too loosely over me.

“Miss Helga, there must be some mistake. This doesn’t feel right at all,” I said.

“A moment, if you please; I have yet to tie the corset in the back.”

This thing had a corset?! I never did get a good chance to look at the back of it. This ordeal had better be goddamn worth it!

Her fingers moved with practiced skill as she began lacing up the back of the dress, not tying the corset too tightly or loosely. I started to wonder how many times she had done this before. My train of thought was interrupted by the sensation of the dress tightening against my skin, my breasts quickly filling out the top.

My breath caught in my throat as I realized she was either tying up the back too tightly after all, or the top was a bit too small for my bust. Even worse, the neckline of this dress sat daringly low on my chest, exposing the top of my cleavage. A fresh wave of dizzying emotion made my head swim once more. I was used to dressing up my online avatar Lady Beryl in the kind of sexy, skin-tight outfits female characters usually ended up wearing in games, but actually wearing one for real now was turning out to be a mind-numbing trial in and of itself.

This had to be worth it. “I am not used to wearing dresses such as these. Merely for the sake of curiosity, how much does this one cost?” I asked the maid when she had finished tying the corset.

“The dress you are wearing is marked at twenty gold,” she said flatly.

“Tw-Twenty gold?!” I damn near passed out on the spot. After everything I just endured, it sounded like she had picked out the cheapest one in the store—and that’s supposed to be a good thing from a consumer’s standpoint! I’ll need to tread carefully here. “Does that mean this one is particularly defective?”

Helga nodded. “The neckline is considered damaged; it’s sewn lower than is customary and with excess material around the top. Coincidentally, this happens to make the dress a decent fit given your size, does it not?”

She must be talking about how this dress was so revealingly low-cut. How the hell did this happen?

It was getting harder and harder for me to think straight. It was all falling apart; my profits from this plan were getting slashed to pieces right in front of my eyes. There must be some upside to this development. Twenty gold was still a decent haul for my first day if I managed to resell this, and after a quick inspection of the dress with my hands, I discovered a tiny pocket stitched into the side that fit the silver coin I was holding. Hey, this actually had a pocket! Clearly that made this a functional upgrade from my starter tunic! …Right?

Oh, who the hell am I kidding? This is completely ridiculous! This is wrong, it’s all wrong! I did not come to this world to play dress up! Moreover, I was starting to feel so exposed and vulnerable in this revealing dress, like I would always be one wardrobe malfunction away from public humiliation. How was I supposed to walk around in this thing?!

My vision blurred as my head swam even harder than before. I had to steady myself with a hand on the wall.

Helga shifted on her feet. “If this dress is unsatisfactory, would my lady rather try another?”

God, no! I could hardly stand this anymore!

“I just… Just give me a minute, please,” I muttered.

I tried to catch my breath as I contemplated my next move, yet I only felt my chest rising and falling faster with each breath. The walls of the changing room seemed to close in on me as I gasped for air. I could still try to find a way out of this. There were any number of excuses I could make up for my retreat. I had to admit that the girl in the mirror I was staring at was undeniably gorgeous, but—

The girl in the mirror? I thought that was supposed to be me now? But I didn't look anything like that! I was a guy; just up until a few hours ago, I looked like…

Huh? My head wouldn’t stop spinning and my mind kept doing somersaults. I can’t… I don’t remember what I used to look like. I kept staring at the girl in the mirror; she was the only thing I could think about right now. Her long, beautiful hair gracefully flowed down her back with just the right amount falling forward over her shoulders. That dress, the way it tightly wrapped around her curvy figure all the way from her hips to her chest, that dress looked absolutely incredible on her. Who was she?

My heart skipped a beat. I felt like I’d known her for years, and yet we’d never even met. I reached a hand toward the girl in the mirror, and she reached a hand toward me. Our hands met, pressing against each other. I didn’t know what was happening to me anymore, and I didn’t care. I smiled at her, and she smiled back. My heart threatened to pound right out of my chest. Is this… is this what falling in love feels like? I think I’m in love with her.

What was her name again?

What was… my name?

“…Lady Beryl? Are you well, Lady Beryl?” Helga asked.

Yes, that’s right! I finally caught my breath as it all came rushing back to me: I reincarnated into this world as the one and only Lady Beryl, beauty personified! What had I been so anxious about? There was no reason to be ashamed of wearing a flattering dress like this—it’s only natural that a noblewoman would strive to look her best!

I covered a long, haughty laugh with my hand. “Miss Helga, you have truly outdone yourself. I was right to trust your judgment finding me this dress; you nearly rendered me speechless!”

It was Helga’s turn to remain speechless as she quietly regarded me before continuing. “I was going to suggest some accessories, but perhaps my lady would prefer to stop?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” I said with a snap of my fingers. “We’re just getting started!”