"As promised," the handsome designer said, bowing about thirty degrees with a gloved hand on his chest, "we delivered within a week. Most of the simpler indoor garments are finished, as are five more elaborate outdoor gowns."

Rowena looked at the new dress racks brought into her salon and cracked a smile. "Congratulations, you passed," she said, not caring how his face changed when he heard that, "you can take your time with the rest, I won't need them too soon."

While what she said made the man's assistants sigh in relief, he himself was still hung up on how she had said he had "passed".

"Does that mean my lady will need my help whenever she needs a dress from now on?"

Since Rowena had just blurted out what she thought sounded right, she had to admit it now. "Yes. I will expect you to be ready whenever I call for you."

He looked at her wide-eyed, his upper body still leaning forward.

'Was that too much?' she wondered, not showing it on her face though.

Fortunately, he managed to snap out of his stupor just then. "I'll always find time for you, even if the only princess in the Empire asks for a birthday dress."

'Wait, isn't that a bit too much?' His answer shocked her, even though she knew he must have been joking.

She quickly cleared her throat. "You don't have to go that far. Just know that I won't wait long when I call for you."

"Certainly, I won't forget." Little did she know that the "artist" before her meant every word.

'Something as inspiring as her isn't easy to come by. Even Princess Isobel can't hold a candle to her, and after only a week, her brilliance has grown even stronger.'

He couldn't tell how she had changed so much in a matter of days, but now even those slightly hollow cheeks looked smooth and healthy. Her eyes sparkled like pearls with molten silver embedded in them.

She was truly a gem he had to hold on to.

Rowena, on the other hand, felt her back sting as she turned to get rid of the awkward feeling she got from his reaction. Was he really mocking her? It didn't feel that way to her.

'What a weirdo.' She flipped through the clothes he had made, especially the five outdoor ones. 'But he's really good at what he does, not gonna lie.'

They were five beautiful dresses. Even though she had seen them a week ago among the prepared work, he had made slight alterations here and there after seeing Rowena up close.

They all had the color scheme she had chosen – mostly white, ivory, lavender, silver and black in some details. They were neither too simple nor too fancy. They were simply beautiful, and she had never seen anything like it.

'If I wear this, will people even still see my face or will they just see a tomato hovering on top of a ball gown?' The thought kind of scared her, but then again, she wanted them to be amazed; she wanted to make a lasting impression.

As they moved the new arrivals into her dressing room, she scrunched up her nose. 'Again, I'm not exactly a fashionista either, but the dresses in here... Uh...' she had to think of a word that fit what she was seeing, "They stink."

Alarmed, Norina whipped her head around and scanned the room. "What stinks? Is something wrong?"

Flinching, she looked around the dressing room as if she had been caught stealing. "No, nothing, I just feel like cleaning up a bit," was her way of covering her blunder. 'How do I say 'most of this shit makes me cringe', but more nicely?'

The first time she went in there, she began to appreciate that her maids had only given her indoor clothes, even when she went out into the garden. Technically, she didn't have to change for the garden, but she could have.

While her indoor clothes all lacked character, the outdoor ones had decidedly too much of it. 'Rowena randomly wore dresses all black, I guess that was to show how her funky ass was sad sometimes.'

Celia couldn't really understand her. Even after she had resolved to live her life as Rowena, at least until someone said otherwise, she didn't really calm down to see who "Rowena" actually was.

'Why did she have to dress herself like a fully grown parrot?' The real Rowena would wear dresses in combinations like pink and red that Celia would have worn when she was maybe seven?

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Not that she would know, but she did remember wearing a pink shirt with a red jacket when she was found by VAULT. A child would be forgiven, but Rowena was someone who should have been making her debut as a young adult, and the daughter of a Grand Duke to boot!

'When you can have everything and choose to live like a clown, there's definitely something wrong, right?' she found herself thinking, 'I'd say her wardrobe was chosen by a Barbie doll, but even a Barbie doll has some sort of sense.'

And nobles weren't as forgiving as the parents in Celia's original world. Lost in thought, her hand traveled to the space above her collarbone, only to stop there and withdraw to fiddle with the ends of her sleeves instead.

The real Rowena should have known that her behavior left a bad impression on others, which in turn reflected on her family and her name.

'Wouldn't that also fall back on her beloved mother?' At the very least, it was to be expected that her behavior had something to do with her mother's death and the Duke's remarriage. Nothing else had happened, that's why she was so disliked as a character. No agenda and no motivation from the past, just a girl who refused to fit in.

At the same time... 'She did choose to end her life. What was going on in her mind?' She had judged her, though she didn't want to judge her without knowing what she was all about.

Shaking her head and noting her maid's questioning look, she let out a fake cough. "Could you get rid of all the old clothes for me? Keep only the pajamas."

She realized how huge of a request this was and was about to feel bad, when she saw Norina's face light up. Looking at Ava, who usually wore a more emotionless expression, she saw some astonishment, but no anger or annoyance.

'I thought so when she chose the new dresses, but did she really grow up? Isn't it a phase?' Ava thought confused.

She and the other servants had discussed it so much that some had even placed bets. Was she just trying to appear more calm and mature to lessen her punishment tomorrow?

The lady had unexpectedly lost consciousness once, shortly after Duchess Beatrice had entered the manor. Before that, they hadn't been on bad terms, but they hadn't been on good terms either.

However, the moment the lady woke up, she threw a tantrum. Some of the newer maids, who weren't there to witness it, even say that she probably faked it, and when the Grand Duke still didn't give her extra attention, she snapped.

She had no special talents, unlike her outstanding brothers, so what else could she do? Just being beautiful wouldn't create a wave high enough for her father to see on the battlefield.

Meanwhile, Rowena, who had Norina's reassurance that someone would take care of everything, went to take a bath and get ready for bed.

The Grand Duke would arrive late that night, she knew, since the book had said that he had found out what had happened to his daughter that night.

She let herself fall onto her bedding, not caring what the young servant next to her might say.

"What do you think will happen tomorrow?" she asked without thinking. "No, you don't have to answer."

Norina, who had quietly followed her mistress in case she needed anything before going to bed, smiled warmly. It was reasonable to worry about such things.

"I'm sure everything will turn out just fine." Her words might turn out to be a lie, for she was aware that the temple wanted her to apologize and atone for what she had done to the Saint. But she couldn't bring herself to say anything that would make her afraid after doing so much to lift herself up. Perhaps she realized that she had not done herself any favors with her actions?

Tears of pride welled up in her eyes, even though she had barely known her for a month. She was the one who had been around her the most. Despite the fact that she hadn't seen her train with her own eyes, the speed of her recovery was more than remarkable.

She had seen the sweat and stains after she came out of the basement facility, helped her wash off the accumulated dirt, and watched her eat the food she had brought for her with glee.

The annex chef had even watched her, though Rowena was none the wiser as she tended to lose sight of her surroundings while eating. There was no one in the building who wasn't happy.

Of course, they were also curious. Why the sudden change? And if tomorrow's trial was the reason, would she just go back to the way she was before?

Since the blonde girl had no idea what her lady had been like, she couldn't say, but she liked the lady she had now, even if she was still a bit eccentric, she wouldn't want her to change.

Rowena couldn't tell what her maid was thinking, so she just ignored her stupid grin and turned to a large terrace door.

"I'm fine now, so you can go to bed, Norina."

"Understood, my lady," she said as she left the room, closing the door quietly behind her.

As Rowena looked out through the large terrace doors, she felt a strange sense of nostalgia. Had it really been three weeks? At the same time, she couldn't believe that it was only three weeks ago that she had stumbled into this bedroom and seen this unfamiliar landscape behind those window panes.

Compared to that, she felt almost at home now. Still, she hadn't even thought about what would happen if she had to go to the temple when she woke up in the morning.

Maybe they would send her to Lodden right away? If so, there was nothing she could do about it. She certainly wasn't strong enough to simply overpower them all, and even if she did, where would she run to?

Just like when she was Celia, she had nowhere to hide, so why bother running? It was different for Rowena, though. She didn't have to run.

'If only tomorrow didn't seem so far away now.' She was ready and couldn't wait to see her hard work pay off.

As Rowena went to bed and drifted off to sleep, she didn't notice that about an hour later someone stealthily opened the door to her chambers. He squeezed through the crack, not wanting her to be woken by the light coming in from the hallway.

He hadn't seen his daughter for a long time, but the sight of her lavender hair from behind and the slow movement of her breath comforted him. He wouldn't let the Emperor decide what to do with her all by himself.

As he withdrew from the scene and thought about what he had heard about her slowly changing, he had hope. 'If only tomorrow didn't seem so far away now,' he thought.