Rubica was quite nervous as she waited for Gabriel. The girl’s pride was as high as her cleverness. Maybe, after she went home, she had thought about it and decided to ignore what Rubica put her up to, thinking it was all useless.

‘Did she understand what I meant by it?’

Gabriel could have done as promised, but it wouldn’t guarantee that she learned something from it, just as Rubica had aimed for. This had been more of a half gamble.

When the maid, who carried messages came into the room, Rubica jumped to her feet without noticing it.

“Has Miss Tangt arrived?”

The maid replied by saying she had come to deliver a letter from Jackal Bank, but Rubica didn’t have the time to be disappointed. She was worried and had hopes about Minos as much as she wanted to meet Gabriel. Therefore, she quickly opened the letter.

Minos wrote that he couldn’t come right away as he was looking for something and said he wished to meet the duke later. He was asking for her understanding.

Well, Rubica had wanted to meet Minos tomorrow, but it wasn’t like she could be mad at him. She had no choice but to write back to him and ask him to write to her when he got time.

“Madam, Lady Tangt has arrived.”

“I will meet her in the sewing room, and I do not want anyone else to be there.”

“Yes, madam.”

Ann had gone to meet the butler to discuss the delivery of rose candies to the queen. Rubica was worried that having anyone else in the room might make Gabriel say something she didn’t mean out of embarrassment, so she went to meet the girl.

“Good morning, Your Grace. The weather is as clear as your heart today.”

Gabriel spoke with her wits as usual. When she raised her head, Rubica could see what she had asked for had brought more than she had expected.

“You have done as I said.”

“Well, it was a bit embarrassing, but it wasn’t that hard.”

Gabriel lifted her chin high and boasted even though she had cried looking in the mirror every night. That exaggerated attitude combined with her freckles made her look cuter and lovelier. That was a charm that couldn’t be seen when she covered her face with thick makeup.

“Still, it must have been hard to come here bare faced.”

“True. When my parents saw me like this, my father stopped the carriage and my mother burst into tears.”

“He stopped your carriage? But what’s wrong with not wearing makeup…”

Rubica was trying to compliment Gabriel’s courage, but then she was shocked to hear her answer. It was normal for a girl to not wear any makeup before her debutante. Gabriel scratched her head, a little embarrassed.

“I never came out without wearing makeup since I was 12.”

“What? But that can’t be good for your skin.”

“I know.”

She shrugged. It looked quite foolish now but, at the time, she hadn’t been able to take even a step outside without makeup.

Her parents scolded her at first, but they eventually gave up and bought her a bunch of cosmetics, just as she wanted.

“We cannot always follow what we know. Everyone knows that getting up early in the morning is good, but only a few actually do that.”

It was one of Gabriel’s old habits to prepare an excuse that sounded good in case she got scolded.

“Why have you come barefaced even when your parents were so shocked?”

“Because you promised to teach me how to be pretty. So… I thought it would be better to show who I really am, without any makeup. It’s a quite a reasonable choice.”

Even Gabriel herself though she was going too far with the last sentence. However, Rubica didn’t point it out. She smiled and agreed with her.

“Yes. Wearing makeup makes the colors of your face and lips look different, so I cannot tell you which cream you should use and which style is right for you.”

Gabriel hadn’t expected such a reaction, so she was slightly embarrassed. Those who are strong against criticism are weak to compliments. While she was stammering, not knowing what to say, Rubica called Jennie.

“What is it, Your Grace?”

Jennie was a little afraid that Rubica was calling her instead of one of her ladies-in-waiting since she was only a maid. Now she knew Rubica didn’t punish her maids easily, but it still wasn’t easy to get rid of an old habit.

“We’re going to transform Miss Tangt.”

“What? Lady Tangt? I heard she would be coming today, but… where is she?”

Jennie looked around the room even when Gabriel was standing right in front of her. In the end, Gabriel blushed really hard and raised her hand.

“Here.”

“Excuse me?”

“I’m Gabriel de Tangt.”

“Oh, oh. I am so sorry, my lady.”

Jennie was really surprised and kept apologizing while Gabriel waved her hands.

“No, it’s fine.”

Gabriel forgave Jennie who thanked her. And the next moment, she brought a chair. Then, she made the girl sit down on it and started to check her thoroughly, from the hair down to her feet.

Was she the person who transformed Elise? Gabriel’s brown eyes sparkled with curiosity and hopes.

“And which cream do you use?”

“I use Clara Cream from Coco Shop.”

Gabriel was quite glad at being asked the question. Coco shop was where they made the most expensive cosmetics in the kingdom. Gabriel’s mother had ordered from there the moment she heard the queen used its products. However, Jennie looked a little troubled at hearing her answer.

“Coco Shop? But its cream is a little heavy for you…”

Rubica brought Jennie’s cosmetics box and spoke as she opened it, “That must be why her makeup did not look right.”

“Yes, the basic is the start of makeup. Hmm, this is a selection of cosmetics for you, so there isn’t anything right for our young lady.”

Then, she ran out of the room, not waiting for answers.

Before Gabriel could ask if the maid had been the one who transformed Elise, Rubica took out a bottle of hair oil from the box.

“You would look prettier without the fringe, but I don’t know how to get rid of already existing fringes.”

Then, she started to put Gabriel’s fringe behind.

“You should grow your fringe and put them back like this.”

Rubica started to take out hairpins and put them on the girl’s fringe. Gabriel, in the meantime, glanced at the duchess’s hair accessory box and exclaimed. It was full of wonderful and pretty things. One hair accessory that had been made with thin ribbons looked like a daisy flower.

Gabriel picked it up to take a closer look at it, but it hadn’t been sewed.

“Oh, this fabric is so amazing!”

“Yes, right? Edgar made it.”

“The duke?”

Gabriel exclaimed in great shock, and Rubica had to quickly correct her imagination.

“No, not by doing the needlework himself. He made a machine that can substitute sewing by applying heat to the edge.”

“What? He invented such a machine? Wow, that’s shocking.”

Gabriel took a closer look at it. Unlike ordinary ribbons, it was made of one layer instead of two. She rubbed its edges, but not even a single thread came out.

She was so impressed by it that it made Rubica proud. No other husband would make such a brilliant machine just because his wife wanted it.

She started to explain excitedly.

“As it doesn’t require any needlework, it can be made with thinner fabric and can be made into more varied accessories.”

Rubica brought her sewing basket and took out the ribbons she had been working on. There were some in shapes of flowers like rose and camellia, and butterflies made of more than one layer of ribbons.

“You cannot make these with thick ribbons.”

“You made all of these?”

“Of course.”

Gabriel narrowed her eyes. She looked at Rubica and the ribbons again. Rubica’s ribbons were more delicate than the ribbons in Khanna’s shop which her mother had ordered.

Each time Khanna was asked about the ribbons, she always said it had been Madam Berry’s idea. Moreover, she had just announced Madam Berry was about to come up with more varied ribbon decorations, and everyone was so excited about it.

‘Then maybe… she is Madam Berry.’

However, Jennie came back before she could talk about it. Then, she started to apply the cream on the girl’s face without giving her a chance to speak. Rubica’s maids were as fast as their mistress when it came to their work.