Chapter 120 - Dressed to Impress

“Here, try this on.” Char Char passed Yuzu an intricate looking silver necklace. The pendant was shaped like a rose, its layered petals inset with a number of white gems.

“Do I need to?” Yuzu made a face as she slumped down on her chair. This caused the servant sitting behind her to protest gently.

“Ah, miss Yuzu… Please sit up straight, I’m almost finished with your hair.”

Yuzu reluctantly obliged as Char Char shook her head patronizingly, “Of course you need to. Don’t you know, accessories are the most important part of the outfit. If you show up wearing only a dress you might as well be naked.”

“People aren’t going to be paying any attention to me.” Yuzu grumbled, “What’s the point?”

“They’ll pay less attention to you if you’re dressed properly, than if you show up looking out of place.” Char Char said.

Yuzu huffed, not replying. If she knew that Char Char was going to dress her up like a doll she seriously would have considered not coming. She’d assumed she could just wear one of her comfortable dresses and sit around in the refreshments room for the entire night, but somehow Char Char convinced her that such a plan was unreasonable.

Yuzu sat in front of a full length mirror while she was attended to by the manor’s servants. Char Char had called on them to help pretty up Yuzu for the ball. She was wearing an extravagant layered dress with ribbing that caused it to poof out below her waist. It was lemon yellow, with white satin ribbons that shone when the light hit it in particular ways. The upper portion of the dress followed the same layering motif, with a wide collar that showed off Yuzu’s neck and collar bone. The satin sleeves were tight and went up to her elbows.

A seamstress was kneeling beside Yuzu, making finishing touches on the waist band. She had spent the last hour working furiously to modify one of Char Char’s new and yet unworn dresses to suit Yuzu’s taller, thinner frame.

In addition to the dress Yuzu wore a pair of crystal earrings, slender white gloves and white satin shoes. All of them necessary, the seamstress insisted.

“As a personal guest of the host’s granddaughter, it behooves you to dress up to standard.” The woman said snappily each time Yuzu had protested.

“These dresses are ridiculous.” Yuzu complained, “They’re hard to sit in and they’re too tight everywhere.”

“That’s the price of beauty.” The stylist sighed, smiling.

Yuzu rolled her eyes, sighing as well. She thought she looked like a ridiculous bean pole carrying around a tent. She glanced over to Char Char, who was just putting on the last touches to her outfit and looking herself over in the mirror.

“What do you think?” Char Char posed, looking somewhat satisfied.

This above-average looking kumin girl had transformed into a stunning beauty. Her long black hair was silky and slightly curled, perfectly framing her face. She wore a layered dress as well. The bottom layers were white, while the other layers were red and embroidered with delicate golden flowers. She wore a golden circlet with the same flower motif, flower stud earrings and elegant white gloves that reached up to her forearms.

“Isn’t it a bit gaudy?” Yuzu said bluntly.

“Is it?” Char Char frowned, turning from side to side as she observed herself in the mirror, “It does seem a bit much I guess.”

“Young miss, these dresses are both the popular style of this year. They are neither too plain, nor too ‘gaudy’. Don’t worry.” The seamstress showed her knowledge as she finally stood up, satisfied with her adjustments to Yuzu’s dress, “The two of you are young and beautiful, you will certainly attract the attention of many admirers tonight.”

“Excellent.” Char Char smiled, she glanced over to a brass clock in the corner of the room and then took on an authoritative attitude towards the servants, “You three can leave for now, thank you for helping us.”

“As you wish, young miss.”

As soon as the attendants had left, Char Char turned her chair to face Yuzu, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

Yuzu pretended to be absorbed with examining the stitching on her gloves. After a short moment Char Char finally spoke up.

“Yuzu, I have something to tell you. But I don’t know how to say it.”

“You’re leaving the city?” Yuzu asked nonchalantly without looking up.

“No.” Char Char shook her head.

“You’re leaving the country.” Yuzu stated.

“I’m not going anywhere.” Char Char said firmly.

“Oh.” Yuzu thought for a moment, “You’re in love?”

“No!”

Yuzu finally looked at Char Char as she said seriously, “Then you must be constipated.”

“Yuzu!” Char Char blurted out, “If you’re going to be like that I’m not going to tell you anything.”

She pouted for a moment as Yuzu returned her gaze to her reflection in the mirror, seemingly unperturbed.

After a short silence Char Char said softly, “I met the white maiden of the forest shrine.”

“What does she look like?” Yuzu kept a blank expression, not giving away her thoughts on the matter.

In fact, Yuzu had already expected Char Char to blurt it out. She already read the conversation on the strings, after all. It was an awkward, drawn out conversation as Char Char explained the details of her past few days which she had already divulged to the White Maiden.

Yuzu just wanted to avoid the whole mess, but making Char Char flustered was simply a shallow attempt to delay the inevitable.

“I don’t know…” Char Char said, “But that doesn’t matter! I heard her voice. Did you hear about all the people she saved in Tye-An Market?”

“I heard about it.” Yuzu said.

“Well… She saved me too.” Char Char said. “I visited her shrine after and she told me to bring people to her to pray, and that she’d heal them if they had Devileyes.”

“So you’re going to help her?” Yuzu asked.

“Of course!” Char Char nodded, “Yuzu, you should go see her shrine too. Maybe she’ll talk to you, too. After all, we were both- I mean, we both took care of her shrine when we were younger.”

“Isn’t it dangerous to go into the woods?” Yuzu asked.

“It is… but I think it should be fine. We’ve arranged for guards to protect the carriages, and it seemed safe enough.”

“I’ll think about it.” Yuzu shrugged.

If I go, does that mean I’d have to pray to myself? Yuzu mused.

“Anyways, on the way here I told you that I’m working for a security company now, so one of the things I have to do is find customers for them. But my other goal for tonight is to get support to improve the shrine and bring more people there.”

“Improve the shrine?”

“You know… Build some steps up to the plateau, put a proper offering table, maybe even build a proper building for it.” Char Char said, “Kind of like in Huan, where there are all sorts of shrines and temples scattered in the countryside. They aren’t common here in Kumin, but maybe that’s because we’ve lost touch with the spirits… We’ve stopped believing in them. But people definitely believe in the White Maiden, and she’s definitely helping people.”

Yuzu’s blank expression finally cleared as she offered a small smile at Char Char’s words, “That sounds nice. I hope you can find people to support your idea.”

Char Char nodded, but contrary to Yuzu’s expectations she seemed to deflate a bit at Yuzu’s words of encouragement. Her eyes dropped as she began idly smoothing out the pleats in her dress.

Char Char still hadn’t told Yuzu that she was an Exalted. There had been many times in their conversations today where she would suddenly fall silent, as if she were building herself up to telling Yuzu something important. Yuzu pretended not to notice each time, neither encouraging or discouraging Char Char to disclose what was on her mind.

Yuzu had expected Char Char to just blurt out the news, perhaps even showing off her cool new skills. To be so reluctant to share this extraordinary development felt uncharacteristic of her friend.

After a moment Char Char shook her head and looked up at Yuzu with a smile, “Are you hungry? Let’s go see what they’re serving in the refreshments room.”

“Alright.” Yuzu nodded.

They left the dressing room, stepping out into a brightly lit corridor. They were in the west wing of the mansion, which was where the living quarters were and where Yuzu had spent most of her time when visiting Char Char in the past. The soft din of conversation and laughter could be heard coming from down the hall and around the corner.

When the pair had made it halfway down the hallway Char Char suddenly leaned over and hugged Yuzu’s arm tightly, “I’m really glad you came tonight. You look great, by the way.”

Yuzu stiffened up instinctively, but didn’t push Char Char away, “I only came for the food. And to get away from Xiang.”

“I know.” Char Char smiled, releasing the embrace.

They turned the corner and passed by a velvet rope that had been strung across the hall to prevent guests from proceeding into the private area of the mansion. The sharply dressed attendant who was watching over the blocked off section bowed to them as they passed.

“Young miss, your grandfather is looking for you. He is out by the main doors.”

“Thank you.” Char Char said politely. She turned to Yuzu with an apologetic smile, “I think I have to find him right away. Is it alright if I leave you alone for a bit?”

“I’ll be fine, go ahead.” Yuzu said.

“The refreshments are in that room over there.” Char Char gestured down the hall. “I’ll come looking for you as soon as I’m free. Promise.”

The pretty Kumin girl smiled brightly, then turned and headed the opposite way.

Yuzu watched Char Char go for a moment, then began walking towards the refreshments room. As she did she let her eyes relax, allowing the golden threads to glitter into view around her. There was a lively, joyful atmosphere in the halls tonight, far different than the tension and fear that Yuzu had been immersed in recently.

She passed through a set of doors which led out onto the interior balcony that overlooked the dance floor. The ball had yet to officially start, so no one was dancing yet, but there was a sea of people mingling below. The men were dressed in sharp black suits with either black or white vests. They wore silk ties and white gloves. The women were dressed in colourful, multi-layered dresses and showed a lot more variation in style and accessories.

They all conducted themselves in a strictly proper manner that felt extremely fake to Yuzu. She leaned against the railing for a while, amusing herself by observing the people below.

She saw two groups of ladies approach each other and spend a few minutes exchanging greetings and numerous compliments, then as soon as they’d broken up each side clearly began gossiping amongst themselves and ridiculing the other group. She watched several instances of men acting boastful and proud one moment with their friends, but then immediately turning submissive when a senior approached them.

She saw a man standing by himself in the corner of the room leaning against a pillar while idly holding a glass of wine in his hand. He looked like a normal person, but had a white string. Examining his string she saw that he was keeping a close watch over the individuals who entered and exited the room. Every so often he would send subtle signals to other white or silver stringed individuals. Yuzu identified at least half a dozen of them over the course of ten minutes.

These were obviously the guards hired to keep peace and watch out for danger. To a casual bystander they just appeared to be regular party-goers and staff, but the colour of their string made it obvious that they were something special.

There were also Exalted in the crowd that were invited guests. Many of them seemed to be higher level officials and people of status. This surprised Yuzu, who hadn’t considered that the rich and important people in society would actually be the ones with the most access to such opportunities. On reflection, it did make sense, but the number of Exalted guests in the room was actually quite low. There were only maybe a dozen white or silver strings belonging to guests. She also spotted two black strings. One belonged to Char Char, the other to the one man in the ball that didn’t adhere to the strict dress code. It was an old man dressed in white robes with blue embroidery resembling clouds.

Yuzu could tell from the strings that Char Char wasn’t going to be looking for her for a while. After twenty minutes Yuzu became bored of watching the people below and decided to make her way to the refreshments room.

As she walked across the balcony her spiritual intuition triggered. Her eyes narrowed as she looked back down at the dance floor below.

“What was that?” She muttered, looking with concern over the threads below, however she didn’t see anything amiss.