Designing Dresses For Ruby

The next day, when the sun hadn't even risen, Dena had woken Ruby and helped her get ready to go to the fashion designer.

Discussing clothing models will usually take a long time. Because of that, Ruby wanted to see the fashion designer early in the morning to make time for lunch with Matthew.

"Milady, nice to meet you." A middle-aged woman greeted Ruby as soon as she entered the dressing room. She has an eccentric appearance by wearing clothes that combine three flashy colors.

However, her appearance didn't hurt other people's eyes because she had a pretty face.

"My name is Giselle Rouri. However, you can call me Madam Giselle," introduced Giselle.

Ruby then handed her notebook to Giselle with a smile. "Thank you for taking the time to see me, Madam."

Giselle giggled and shook her head. "You don't need to thank me, Milady. I'm happy to be able to make clothes for the future queen of this kingdom."

Giselle then pushed aside the curtains in the room. Behind the curtain, Ruby could see another room filled with rows of dresses and men's clothes. On the walls, there are large mirrors placed in all directions.

"Come here, Milady. I want to measure your body before designing dresses that fit you."

Giselle took a measuring tape from the table and asked Ruby to stand in the middle of the room. "Perhaps it would be best if you took off your outer garment so I could measure your body more accurately."

Upon hearing Giselle's request, Ruby's entire face immediately turned red. She bit her lower lip and lowered her head, looking embarrassed to go along with Giselle's wish.

"You have nothing to be ashamed of, Milady." Giselle tried to convince Ruby. "We are both women."

After thinking for a while, Ruby finally nodded her head. With Dena's help, she removed the outer layers of her dress until only the corset remained.

From the mirror reflection, Ruby's neck and shoulders were visible. There were many red marks on the woman's body—none other than Matthew's love marks from two days ago.

Ruby covered her face in embarrassment. Dena used to help Ruby get dressed, so she wasn't surprised. However, Giselle was dumbfounded for a few seconds after seeing the masterpiece left by her king on the lady's body.

Beast.

It was the only word that described Matthew in Giselle's mind.

"Cough … can I start measuring your body now?" Giselle tried to break the awkwardness by not focusing her eyes on the red marks on Ruby's body.

Ruby nodded quickly because she was too embarrassed to show so many love marks on her body. If she and Matthew wanted to make love again, Ruby would ensure he didn't leave any love marks out of sight.

"You're so skinny, Milady." Giselle wrapped a tape measure around Ruby's stomach, then noted her measurements. "Do you rarely eat?"

Giselle's question sounded presumptuous, primarily when it was directed at the future queen.

However, Giselle couldn't keep her mouth from speaking when she saw Ruby's skinny body size; even Giselle thought that Ruby's weight was underweight.

"I didn't eat much before I came to Veritas," Ruby wrote.

All the servants in the Barnette mansion knew that Ruby was just a child whom Marquess Barnette didn't consider. So they also often treat Ruby with disrespect.

The servants at the Barnette family mansion often cut down on Ruby's food portions, with the excuse of wanting to save on groceries for the servants.

However, Ruby always saw that the other servants' food portioned more than hers, so she assumed that the servants had taken half of her food.

Because there is not much food that she can eat, Ruby lacks nutrition and has a skinny body.

"You have to eat more, Milady. One day, you must carry the king's seed in your womb. Conceiving a lycan child is not easy, Milady."

"Lycans tend to be larger than werewolves, and Lycan babies also need much nutrition in their mother's womb."

"Therefore, if you don't have a strong body, the safety of your life and the baby in your womb will be threatened."

Or in other words, Ruby could have died from childbirth.

An instant chill ran through her body when she thought about it. The experience of being pregnant and giving birth seemed to be the thing Ruby was most afraid of right now, but she couldn't avoid it because she was already tied contract with Matthew.

Inevitably, one day Ruby had to bear Matthew's baby in return for her mother's recovery.

"I promise to eat a lot from today to have a healthier body," Ruby wrote.

Giselle smiled when she heard that. "You should ask your healer to determine what nutritious foods you should consume. That way, your body won't be deprived of nutrients."

When Giselle finished noted the size of Ruby's entire body. Giselle showed Ruby her drawing book. "For the time being, I'm going to make clothes that are slightly larger than your body so that if you gain weight, the clothes can still fit you."

"Besides, I also have several dress designs. If you think the designs are beautiful, you can choose them."

Ruby took Giselle's drawing book and looked at each of the dresses the woman had drawn.

The dresses designed by Giselle look beautiful and seem to have been adapted to Ruby's charm. From the drawing, Ruby could imagine she would become more attractive after wearing those dresses.

"All the dresses that Madam made are gorgeous. I'm confused about which one to choose," Ruby wrote.

She even thought about choosing all the dresses.

"If you like all my designs, I can make them all for you." Giselle's voice sounded happy after Ruby complimented all of her designs.

On the other hand, Ruby felt uncomfortable. A dress is costly because sewing a dress requires special skills and diligence.

If Ruby chose all those designs, then Matthew would have to spend much money on them.

Ruby wrote, "May I know how much one dress costs?"

Instead of answering, Giselle laughed loudly. The woman laughed until her tears fell. "Milady, why do you have to think about that? The person who will pay is His Majesty, so you don't have to worry about the price!"

[Since His Majesty paid, I have to know the price!]

Because Ruby's expression looked serious, Giselle finally corrected her attitude. "You don't have to worry about the cost. His Majesty had asked me to make all the clothes you like, so as many dresses as you want, His Majesty won't mind."

"If you're in doubt, we can talk to His Majesty now," Giselle offered.

Ruby immediately shook her head and wrote. "His Majesty is very busy; it's better not to bother him."

Giselle, "So you want all the dresses in this book?"

Ruby was hesitant initially, but because Giselle looked as if she would keep pushing Ruby if she refused, Ruby finally nodded.

"Yes, please," Ruby wrote.

"All right! I will make these dresses for you as soon as possible. However, since there are many of them, I may make them gradually. Is it okay?"

Ruby shook her head. "Of course, it doesn't matter. Thank you for wanting to work hard for me."

Giselle waved her hand in the air. "Anything for you, Milady. However, since your coronation will take place next week, I will make the coronation gown first."

Ruby tilted her head. It seemed she didn't see any gown design that reflected the coronation gown.

Before Ruby asked, Giselle explained, "Because the coronation gown is very formal, the design is similar to the previous coronation gowns, so I don't need to show it to you."

"But I can assure you if I have made a design for a coronation gown that matches your charms."

Ruby smiled in response. Even though she didn't see the design, Ruby believed that Giselle's design wouldn't fail to make her look beautiful at the coronation.

After Giselle made sure that Ruby liked all her designs, she helped Ruby choose the dresses in the room.

"Since this dress wasn't made especially for you, the sizes are different. But I can turn it down for you today. You can wait and drink tea while I sew it."

When Giselle ushered Ruby over to the sofa and poured tea, Ruby suddenly put a few rolls of paper on the table. The pieces looked shabby and had yellowed, indicating that they had been stored for so long.

"What is this, Milady?"

Hesitantly, Ruby wrote, "I've been drawing many dress designs since I was little. After sifting through many drawings, there are three designs that I think are good, but they might not be good according to a professional like Madam."

"According to Madam, can these designs I've drawn be sewn into real dresses?"

Giselle immediately took the scrolls and opened them. For a moment, her eyelids widened as she looked at Ruby's design.

She didn't say anything nor take her eyes off the paper. Giselle's behavior made Ruby feel anxious; she was afraid that Giselle would hate the designs of her dream dresses.

"Milady, Are you the one who made these dresses?" asked Giselle in a trembling voice.

Ruby immediately wrote her reply with a worried expression, "Yes, does it look that bad?"

"No! Not bad at all!" Giselle smiled widely and exclaimed enthusiastically. "Milady, this is a masterpiece! Oh god, your dress designs are gorgeous and unique! Are you sure you've never taken a sewing class before?"

Ruby blinked a few times, not expecting such a response from Giselle.

"I never studied formally."

Ruby only often paid attention to every dress worn by the noble ladies around her.

Since she couldn't afford to wear dresses like them, Ruby decided to draw her dream dresses so she could imagine herself looking beautiful like the women.

"Milady, you seem to have a skill for fashion designing!"

Giselle immediately pasted Ruby's design next to hers.

"You can even design dresses that are equivalent to a professional one!"

Giselle's words were not wrong. The design made by Ruby can't be underestimated.

Ruby gave Giselle three dress designs. The first dress is a type of trumpet dress, where the skirt expands from the knee down. While the bodice is sleeveless, there is a blazer with the buttons on the neck, so there is a gap at the top of the chest.

The second and third dresses were both ballgowns whose skirts had multiple layers. The bodice in the second design is off-shoulder style, while the third dress has bell sleeves.

The dresses have detailed motifs and color gradations in each fabric, making the design complex.

"Milady!" Giselle suddenly grabbed Ruby's hands. "Your talent is amazing! If you continue, you might become a great fashion designer!"

Ruby tilted her head back as Giselle's face was in front of hers. Ruby didn't even understand why Giselle would think that Ruby had great talent.

"I have no knowledge of fashion," Ruby wrote.

Giselle, "No problem! As long as Milady intends to pursue this field, I will teach you from the start! Milady, I hope you will consider my offer."

"Let me think about it first," Ruby replied.

Ruby didn't have the confidence to do that. After living under the humiliation of her family for years, Ruby comes to think she has no talent.

She had also thought Giselle said that because she wanted to please her.

However, Ruby could see the color of Giselle's emotions was bright white, indicating that the woman was honest.

Giselle wasn't lying about Ruby's talent at all.

[Perhaps … I do have talent. Should I try it?]