Meliora looked at herself in the mirror.

  Still inside the crystal pod.

  Where the boutique’s customers changed clothes.

  An attendant guided her.

  — What would the young lady like to take?

  Meliora, undecided:

  — Hmmm… I don’t know yet.

  The assistant suggested:

  — You have good options here.

  — This pink dress, cute.

  — Or this wine-colored dress, bolder.

  — Both would suit you.

  — You are very beautiful.

  — I confess, when you arrived, I doubted.

  — Your state was terrible: torn clothes, messy hair.

  — But now I see… your skin is so smooth.

  — Your hair, silky and soft.

  — Clearly you belong to nobility.

  — Your face looks familiar… from which family are you?

  Meliora looked away.

  A bitter smile.

  — I am just a common noble.

  — My mother is a minister, that’s all.

  The assistant swallowed hard.

  — Oh… forgive me. How intrusive I am.

  — Please feel free to think about what you’ll choose.

  Meliora observed her body in underwear.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  She thought:

  *Damn… my bust isn’t that big.

  I must be below average.*

  *I accept losing to sister Stingara.

  She really is provocative, even if it hurts to admit.*

  *But I even lose to Melisara.

  Weren’t we supposed to be twins?

  Why did I turn out like this…

  And she with extra proportions on the upper body?*

  She looked at herself a bit more.

  Blushed.

  *Would Lord Spoon, if he saw me naked, be aroused… or embarrassed?*

  She blushed even more.

  Struggled with herself.

  *What am I saying?!

  No… I need to stop running from these thoughts.

  Or he’ll never see me as a woman.*

  *Not all eroticism is perversion, right?

  I need to be bolder.

  More extravagant.*

  *The way he looks at me is so gentle.

  Innocent.

  Pure.*

  *Lord Kihara doesn’t even imagine me as a woman.

  He sees me as a girl.*

  *It’s frustrating.

  And then there’s that arrogant dragonoid…

  Always hitting on him.*

  *What if he ends up giving in…

  The worst part is she’s very beautiful.

  She has more proportions than me.*

  *I’ve already decided.

  I’ll show off.*

  She blushed again.

  *What am I saying?!

  That way Lord Kihara will see me as cheap.

  I don’t want that!*

  *But… what if it looks like an accident?

  Then he’d have no choice.

  And he wouldn’t think badly of me.*

  *People, when surprised, react sincerely.

  I’ll use that to my advantage.*

  — Lord Kihara! — she called, from behind the crystal pod.

  Souta noticed.

  Meliora, still behind the changing crystal:

  — Lord Kihara… I’m in doubt.

  — I can’t decide what to wear.

  — Could you evaluate me?

  Souta raised his head.

  — Of course, princess. — his voice calm and steady.

  Meliora, biting her lips, thought:

  *How annoying… he came without hesitation.

  He really sees me as a child.*

  The tone was melancholic.

  Childlike.

  Souta walked toward the crystal pods.

  Meliora pushed the crystal covering the door.

  The crystal fell.

  — I simulated it as an accident… Lord Kihara, forgive me.

  — Hm?

  — He’s not here?

  Something was different.

  Souta was lost in a field of crystal inside the boutique.

  The corridor seemed endless.

  — What’s going on here?

  > Where did Souta end up?

  > If you enjoyed this chapter, leave your rating ? and comment: is the crystal field a trap from the boutique… or something deeper?

  > Every bit of support helps Spoon dig deeper toward the throne!”*