“Surprise!”

As the rows of rolling clothing racks were pushed forward, Ariel instantly felt her eyes flooded by blocks of color. Those colors blended into complex, dizzying patterns that soon began to pollute her mind and assault her thoughts.

Too many.

There were simply too many.

One rack after another, all packed with clothes. For the first time in her life, Ariel cursed the sharpness of her dynamic vision—because with a single glance she had already counted more than a hundred pieces.

Over a hundred might not seem like that many in some sense.

But she had never seen so many clothes gathered together at once.

It wasn’t because she lacked experience. Whenever she entered a clothing shop, she would simply circle the section that matched her size, grab something suitable, and leave.

After all, in a certain sense, there weren’t many options in her size to begin with. Every time she shopped, there were only a few things she could choose from anyway.

For Ariel personally, fewer choices were better.

In her view, wandering around just to pick out some useless piece of clothing was a complete waste of time.

If it were magitech armor that could actually resist damage, she would gladly spend more time choosing. But these were just colorful pieces of fabric.

What were they even for?

To look pretty?

What a joke.

Pretty things couldn’t be eaten.

So the clothes Ariel usually wore amounted to only three or four sets.

One academy uniform.

One simple everyday outfit.

One male disguise used when she went out to rob criminals.

And one spare set for after battles.

Aside from those, the best clothing she had ever worn in her life was probably the custom-made formal dress she had commissioned when she went to the Holy City to see Liya.

Of course, the only thing that dress left her with was a certain painful memory.

So, completely opposite to the maids’ excitement, Ariel felt no sense of surprise whatsoever.

What she felt was pure terror.

“Take them away! Hurry up and take them away!”

Ariel scrambled backward with the chair, her small face tense as if she were facing a powerful enemy—even though the threat in front of her was nothing more than rows of beautiful dresses.

“Why?” Noah tilted her head in confusion. She picked a dark purple dress from one of the racks and held it up. “It’s so pretty.”

“What does pretty have to do with me? Take it away! Hurry up and take it away! Where are the clothes you people confiscated earlier? Give them back to me!”

Ariel took a deep breath and then held it.

She didn’t even want to smell the faint floral fragrance that had already been sprayed on those dresses.

What a joke.

Who was she?

She was Ariel Bugaard.

A hero who had engraved two things deep into her bones: becoming stronger... and building a massive crystal palace! 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

A roguish smile was her calling card.

Swift, carefree movements were her blade.

And those androgynous men’s formal suits—which somehow brought out a striking charm when she wore them—were her strongest armor.

Someone like that...

Someone like that...

How could she possibly wear such soft, fragile little dresses?

Impossible!

In this world, the only ones who wore dresses were the women within the hunting grounds of her crystal palace—or the pretty little crossdressing boys within the hunting grounds of perverts.

A true hero would never touch one!

That’s right!

Even if she, Ariel Bugaard, starved to death or froze to death naked, she would absolutely never wear a dress!

“I’ll say it again—take those things away! Or don’t blame me for being rude!”

Ariel bared her teeth like a little wildcat as she threatened them.

“Nope.”

But Noah wasn’t intimidated in the slightest. In fact, seeing Ariel’s current expression /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ and posture made a strange sparkle burst into her eyes—as if she had just discovered a fascinating toy worth playing with.

Most of the other maids looked the same.

Their daily lives were dull, their work was easy, and because the young master rarely stayed at home, they didn’t even have gossip to entertain themselves with.

How could they possibly let such a wonderful opportunity slip away?

“Please don’t worry, Miss Ariel. We’ll definitely dress you up beautifully—very beautifully, in fact. After all, we’re professionals when it comes to this!”

The maids approached with smiles, each holding the little dress she believed suited Ariel best. Soon they had completely surrounded her.

Once again, Ariel had nowhere left to retreat.

“Wait—wait a moment!”

Realizing she still had no strength to resist, Ariel panicked again.

“There’s no point bringing so many! I—I don’t have many sizes that fit me! That’s right, very few! Whenever I go to clothing stores I barely have any choices! Most of those loose dresses won’t fit me at all!”

For the first time in her life, Ariel felt grateful for her flat chest.

Surely that would make these maids give up.

Surely they would realize she simply wasn’t suited to wearing dresses at all.

“Miss Ariel, what are you talking about?”

But Noah once again showed a puzzled expression.

“How could they not fit? These dresses were all tailored specifically for you.”

“Huh?”

Ariel froze.

She blinked rapidly and peered through the gap between the maids toward those overwhelming blocks of color.

“Tailored... all of them?”

“Mhm!”

Noah nodded vigorously, her face full of pride.

“We invited dozens of the finest tailors in Belrand. It took them three full days and nights to finish sewing these hundred-plus outfits.”

“Every single one here is the masterpiece of a master tailor. Each piece was designed with the core principle of suiting you perfectly and showcasing your beauty.”

“And every design in this collection is completely unique in the entire world.”

“They were made exclusively for you—Miss Ariel Bugaard.”

“...”

After listening to Noah’s enthusiastic explanation, Ariel opened her mouth—but no words came out.

The first thing she realized was that she had apparently been asleep for three whole days and nights.

The second thing she felt was overwhelming shock.

To make dozens of Belrand’s top tailors work without sleep to produce clothes overnight... and using only the finest materials...

How much money would that cost?

How many loaves of black bread could that buy?

The third thing she felt...

was fear.

Even the body hidden beneath the bath towel began trembling slightly.

More than a hundred...

A full hundred...

“Do I have to wear them all?”

“Not all of them. After all, time won’t allow it—we have to prepare everything for you before noon.”

Noah bowed politely, her smile sweet.

“But before that... the necessary fittings are absolutely indispensable.”

“....”

Ariel’s breath caught.

At this moment, those colorful patches spun wildly in her mind like a kaleidoscope.

Once again she realized how powerless she truly was.

The strength she relied on for survival meant absolutely nothing in the face of such a tragic fate.

And finally, the maids closed in on her—like a pack of demons from hell ready to devour her completely.

“No—!”

A miserable cry echoed through the room.

Outside the window, the birds continued chirping happily.

Some of them even tilted their heads, curiously observing the events unfolding inside the room.