"No, no, no, no, I really need to have a talk with your maid. Would Ladyship allow me to do so?" 

 

In the corner of a room, Sofia could hear her maid talking to Lady Siri while straightening out the creeks in the fabric of her very long dress. She wasn't sure if her maid was allowed to talk in such a direct manner to someone about Lady Siri's status but the alabaster girl never raised any objections.

 

The upper floor of the tailoring house they found themselves in was clearly made for the purpose of catering to noble women with many garments put out on mannequins for their eyes' delight, sharing this duty was the vast collection of sketches pinned to the various separators dividing the floor into the smaller sections. It wasn't hard to notice that the sketches were made with steady strokes a clear and already visualised image whispering its creative summoning right into the master craftsman's heart.

 

Fortunately for Lady Siri, the bell had yet to strike the third bell meaning no one except them was present allowing a sufficient level of privacy for the high noble. She wouldn't dare to think about helping the noble, her pride and the dignity of nobility proving too much for her even though in her fief, she had helped with situations that would at least equal the humiliation the girl must have experienced. Her southern maid on the other hand seemed to have no shame in barging in, seemingly at random and without a cause Sofia could easily notice, and help Lady Siri with one thing or another.

 

Again, the strange customs of House Blackworm seemed to have saved the House of Junker as the ungroomed noble looked to have been well accustomed to the presence of a maid.

 

This shocked Sofia as in her mind, at roughly the age of six years old, maybe stretching to the tenth year of a noble's life, the need for a maid to perform basic tasks seemed rather inappropriate. Not only were nobles like them meant to shine as beacons of virtue for the masses to emulate but also be their protectors from the Archenemies of Humanity. Therefore, having a maid do everything for you after ceasing to be a complete child was counterintuitive and reeked of the decadency which was causing the once glorious and safe realm of Humanity to slowly crumble to the many threats waiting in the dark forests. In the sea-green eyes of the heroic successor, it was one thing to not be able to tighten a corset and another never buttoning down one's own shirt.

 

One thing sparing the frontier noble from the feeling of disgust toward the girl for her dereliction of duty toward the Ones sitting on dove thrones was twofold. For one the pale girl didn't particularly strike Sofia as a paragon of vitality and it seemed reasonable that she would have additional help. The second reason why Sofia couldn't fault Lady Siri for her clumsiness was the fact that the girl didn't know a world outside of what her House allowed her to experience.

 

"Mistress, her Ladyship Siri is ready." Annette appeared from behind a table as she stood up.

 

"Lady Siri is the dress to your liking?"

 

Sofia turned to look at Lady Siri, finding her appearing like a proper member of the noble class. A white shirt neatly tucked in inside a black dress suspended on a pair of embroidered braces. The black monocolour dress began on the girl's stomach and loosely dangled down never reaching her ankles but stopping shortly after her knee with the rest of her slender porcelain legs being shielded with thigh-high socks reminiscent of the tall boots the girl wore.

 

"Why is this so short?" Lady Siri looked down, balancing her body on each leg as she inspected her legs.

 

"Today, we are attending a class about protective spells and the class is meant to happen outside."

 

"Why?" 

 

"I would assume that the lecturer saw it fit to see his ward's progress." Sofia responded causing the northerner to first furrow her eyebrows into a small thoughtful frown before a spark of unexplainable excitement illuminated her eyes. One would assume a two-bell period of casting spells and being hit by them would be a nightmare and as someone who experienced it once Sofia could only resist that Lady Siri's excitement came from never having experienced the hellish class herself.

 

"..." The naive yet bewitching light inside the two differently coloured eyes quickly dimmed to their normal colour as the Blackworm glanced back at her lower body. "I need to have a longer dress." She demanded.

 

The fair maiden almost if not the same size as Sofia seemed to have a strange sense of fashion and modesty. Black seemed to be a required colour for the girl to even think about putting something on, most likely as helpful advice regarding the colour contrasting nicely with her snow-white skin which turned into a habit. Thinking about it and how Lady Siri glanced at the two southern women in front of her the frontier noble couldn't tell if Lady Siri clung to this habit as a response to being surrounded by strangers in a faraway land.

 

Another oddity surrounding the girl in front of Sofia was the arbitrary verdicts she gave about modesty. The dress she wore wasn't the first dress Annette put on the Blackworm. The blond noble had to admit that Annette's first selection of garments was quite forthright with its short skirt and exposed collar bones, held together only by the tightness of the fabric which clung to the slender body. Finding out that the girl walking around with exposed shoulders found wearing the dress completely degenerate was a shock but her maid quickly recovered from it.

 

By all accounts, the second dress was fit for any pious woman to wear with its modest design and the hem of the dress whispering on the floor not allowing even a glimpse of an ankle for any perverted soul to find. Yet by all accounts seemed to not fit the high noble as she also refused the ultra-conservative attire for the same reasons.

 

After a long time of both Annette and Sofia trying to pry open the secret to Lady Siri's true motive for rejecting their gift and turning a bright pink hue, they learned that the girl saw it as utterly immodest for the neck to be exposed, finding it particularly lewd.

 

Sofia couldn't understand how the girl managed to sound the most conservative out of all women she had heard in the Academy and at the same time look rather forthright. Regardless if she understood the reason why or not the clothes the estimated noble was wearing now had been adjusted for her specific liking. The tailor added stiff fabric around the collar causing Lady Siri's neck to be hidden from view.

 

"Your Ladyship I had already ordered the tailor to make you a copy of this exact dress but longer." Annette said while at the same time making sure the noble presented herself as best as she could.

 

"..."

 

"Lady Siri is something the matter?"

 

"Nothing... I was wondering about something." The statue of the girl moved sheepishly away from the woman in maid uniform.

 

"Well then, I humbly suggest that we should pay for these beautiful garments." Annette gave a gentle bow to the two nobles, causing one to start murmuring quietly, sounding more like a long annoyed purr.

 

Once the trio went downstairs, the owner of the tailor shop a man in his elder days began to quickly calculate the price of the clothes coming up with a price the frontier noble wasn't entirely willing to give up.

 

Sofia looked at the girl who was examining her new clothes as if they were made out of gold, running the fabric between her fingers with child-like wonder.

 

*Sigh*

 

For the House of Junker. I just hope Solan doesn't get angry at me."

 

"Your Ladyship, once I talk to your maid, I will be more than happy to help you in buying more outfits. No proper noble of your profile can be seen wearing the same pair of clothes in the same week."

 

"Nevermore." A voice sharper than a knife's edge cut Annette's voice. "I really like this." Lady Siri tugged on the white fabric of her shirt, looking content with it.

 

"I'm glad we could help." Sofia added as they exited the building, her pouch feeling much lighter than before.