I Reject the villain’s ending.

****

As the sun set, the mansion was visited by a steady stream of laborers and employees from the top of Elota.

‘Please move your luggage inside first, furniture over there, food this way!’

I came up to the room with the staff while Mei skilfully used her maid experience to organize the household and serve the people.

As soon as I sat on the couch, the staff moved in unison without missing a beat and lined up the items I had asked the branch manager to bring.

‘Ho ho. You’re going to be dazzled.’

‘It’s all to your taste. The branch manager must have quite the eye.’

Iros let out a rare exclamation of admiration, his eyes darting here and there.

The staff had laid out dresses and shoes, jewelry, and cosmetics.

‘But why do you suddenly need these? You don’t seem interested in dressing up at all these days.’

‘Hoo hoo hoo. I need these. I need them to get into the social scene.’

‘The social scene?’

‘Yeah. No matter what you do, it’s always better to have a little clout in the world. Especially in a situation like this.’

‘Situations like this,’ Iros said, his face darkening as he realized what I meant.

‘It can be a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it can put you in danger if you don’t know exactly who you’re dealing with.’

‘I know, and that’s why I’ll always carry you and Dian with me. With the best knight in each hand, our enemies won’t be able to get close enough.’

‘You mean you’re going to hold hands with Diane, too, now?’

Iros said in a low, rumbling voice like a beast taking a long, lingering look at its prey before killing it.

I quickly caught Iros’s eyes narrowing with jealousy and smirked in a cute way.

‘That’s what I’m saying, who else would I want to hold your hand but you, you’ll always be my little puppy.’

With that out of the way, Iros reverted to his gentle puppy self.

His eyes flicked back and forth, wondering if he’d become more exclusive since he’d confessed, or if he’d decided not to hide what he’d been suppressing.

He clung to me all the time, asking for a pat on the head, a pat on the back, I want to sit at your feet, and even Mei, who was used to it, would stay away from me.

Mei didn’t arouse Iros’s jealousy or strike me as if life were precious.

‘Life is precious, after all.

I snapped out of my thoughts and surveyed the items the staff had brought.

‘Thank the perfect for me, and I assume you still have one more thing for me?’

‘Yes. Here. It’s an invitation to a banquet that, as you said, is currently attracting many of the capital’s most influential dignitaries.’

‘Thank you.’

I finally got it. An invitation to the most coveted socialite banquet in town!

I tore open the envelope and saw that it was an invitation to a banquet at the Duchy of Melixia, one of the four major duchies of the Cyanine Empire.

‘She must have a very wide footprint.’

‘Apparently, running the capital’s branch means she often meets with clients, so she asked me to write the invitation.’

‘Please tell him thank you for thinking of him so quickly.’

‘Yes, Your Excellency.’

I like this guy at the top of Elotta, the branch manager.

The fact that they call me an honored guest instead of a saint makes me think they’re deliberately keeping my identity a secret, but they’re pretty savvy.

I was able to browse the dresses and jewelry in peace and put them all away in the dressing room.

The staff and laborers at the top of Elotta had returned and the mansion sparkled with an almost new look.

It looked less like a birdhouse and more like an inhabited house.

‘Wow. What is this all about?’

Leo, been sleeping half-stunned in an empty room, came stumbling down the stairs, his hair in a magpie bun.

‘What do you think? It’s quite homely, isn’t it?’

‘Uh… well. It’s not quite as glittering as the palace, but it’s luxurious and opulent. Is that your taste?’

‘It’s not entirely my taste, but this is what it looks like to others, and I didn’t choose it.’

Still, it wasn’t bad.

‘I’m not going to feed you, so you’ll have to take care of yourself, but can you be my secret escort for a while?’

‘Secret escort? Where are you going?’

‘I’m going to a banquet, and the date is tomorrow. Can you escort me without people seeing me?’

‘Of course. You’re a Knight of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, after all. I’m sure you’ve got some mana, no problem.’

‘Thank you, Sir Leo. Sincerely.’

Originally, I was only going to take Dian and Iros with me, but the more people who can protect me, the better.

He says he owes me a favor, but it must be a hassle, and I’m grateful that he’s willing to do it.

Leo scratched his cheek as he glared at me while I looked at him warmly.

‘But why do you think Lord Iros and the Saint’s eyes are so bloodshot……?’

I take back my thanks.

* * *

For the first time in a very long time, I stripped off my comfortable clothes and tightened my stiff corset.

‘Breathe, Saint, breathe, breathe more!’

‘Hmph, hmph, hmph, I’m dying, I’m dying, stop……!’

‘Stop, holy saint……. Mei, if you keep this up, the real saint will die.’

Iros stomped his foot as he watched Mei tug on the whale tendons of her corset with such force that her face turned red and I groaned, my eyes rolling back in my head.

‘Can’t you just wear another dress? Since when does the Saint wear a corset or something? What if you break your back and choke to death in this?’

‘Ew, why is it that all the fashionable clothes these days are ant-waisted? Ew.’

The clothes the branch manager picked out and sent me were all very thin at the waist.

Somehow, when the dresses came, they also sent various corsets. I didn’t think they would mess with me like this.

‘Ew, saint, isn’t that why I told you to go on a diet? I told you it would poison you when you put on those pretty dresses one day.’

‘But the delicious food in front of me, how can I give it up, poof, I’ll give it up.’

‘It’s bad enough that your waist is four inches bigger than when we first met!’

‘Pfft!’

Now I could see white angels flying in front of my eyes and a rainbow beckoning me in the distance.

‘Heh, heh, heh. That’s heaven…….’

‘Saint? You’re in a very strange state.’

‘Mei, get out of the way!’

‘Yeah, yeah, boom!’

I reached out in the air and let out a giggle, and Iros freaked out and drew his sword and cut all the strings on my corset.

As soon as the laces snapped in unison, my back arched like a bow as my pent-up breath was sucked frantically into my mouth.

This is the feeling of a fish dying outside the water and flapping back into the comfort of the water.

‘Hmph!’

‘Sierra, wake up!’

‘Ugh. I, I’m not dead…….’

I can breathe now. Sniff, this crisp air.

‘Hmph, hmph……. I don’t think the corset will work, because I’m trying to get into a dress, not die from corset tightening.’

‘Saint, black. Now you can’t even wear that pretty dress because of your waist.’

‘Sierra, I can’t even tell if I’ve gained any more weight, it’s just the corset’s fault.’

‘Go, thank you.’

With Iros’s consolation and Mei’s pleading, Sierra took off the corset, her face a mask of exhaustion.

‘Mei, is there anything you can wear that doesn’t require a corset?’

‘Well, high-waisted dresses are all the rage in the capital right now, so if you look around the shops, they’re all like this.’

‘I see. How does everyone get by in that stuff?’

‘Well, there are saint’s robes, but if you wear one, you’ll look like…….’

‘Oh, you washed those last night, so they’re probably still dry.’

The mood in the room fell somber at Mei’s words.

Do I have to wear that dress with the mandatory corset……?

Just as I was about to give in to despair, Iros sighed and picked up the dress from the floor.

‘It can’t be helped, Mei, how much time do we have before we leave?’

‘We still have three hours!’

‘Then let’s mend your clothes as best we can until then.’

Mend what?

I asked, wide-eyed and breathless.

‘Do you know how to sew?’

‘Someone in my neighborhood rips my perfectly good clothes every day, so I have basic skills.’

‘Hmph. And who was that puppy at someone’s feet crying so sweetly?’

‘That……!’

Iros blushed bright red and hung his head in shame, unable to find the words.

She must have been very embarrassed because a few tears pooled in the corners of her heated eyes.

Awww, cute.

‘Anyway, I should be able to mend my clothes in a couple of hours, so Mei can get the rest ready, and I’ll be off.’

Iros scampered off, hugging her dress to her.

I giggled at how cute she looked as she scurried away, her pink hair fluttering behind her.

And two hours after Iros had told me. I couldn’t help but gape.

‘Have you been taking lessons somewhere without me knowing?’

‘Wow. You’re making me ashamed of my years as a maid.’

‘How do you make a dress like this without being an expert?’

All I could say was that I was amazed.

He would take one of the beautiful dresses and leave, only to take off the necessary fabrics and embellishments to make a completely different dress.

‘I know it’s not what’s in fashion in the capital, but this one is much prettier. Plus, it’s more active.’

I couldn’t believe she had such a knack for this, and it’s not just aesthetics and sewing.

Blushing from the constant praise, Iros was unable to make eye contact and murmured in a low voice that only I could hear.

‘I thought it would be pretty for you to wear, so I made it, even though I’m not very good at it-’

‘I love it, it’s my outfit for today!’

I jumped up and down and grinned broadly, hating uncomfortable clothes, not pretty ones.

‘Did I do a good job?’

‘Huh? Of course, you did. Oh, woo-woo. Good job, my pinkie.’

I slapped Iros’s plump bum, but he grabbed me by the wrist.

‘Ugh, huh?’

‘For a job well done, you deserve a prize. A real prize, not this one.’

‘A real prize?’

What,

Well, this. I hadn’t seen this coming.

Drawing a clean-shaven smile, Iros lifted my flustered wrist and bit the delicate flesh inside.

‘I want you to go to the banquet tonight and dance the first dance with me.’