The junior had merely put on his clothes, quite literally. He had just thrown on the received clothes in the proper order without any care. There was no trace of the tailor’s touch. He had gone in after him, but it seemed he had only handed over the clothes. There must have been various complaints along with it.
Oddly enough, the man’s appearance didn’t seem unsightly. It was thanks to his handsome face and body.
Amun didn’t look like a playboy who had spent the night drinking and woke up late, but rather like a young man who had suffered all night in philosophical agony. Even though he wore his clothes in such a manner.
It was impressive. Even Raina, who normally had little interest in others’ appearances, inwardly admired the Helio man. She thought it would be quite rewarding to tailor clothes for someone like him.
Tailor Miloa also couldn’t take her eyes off the customer who had finished changing. Since it wasn’t custom-made for just one person, she had deliberately made it with a generous length. It was easier to shorten something long than to lengthen something short.
In the past year working at the clothing shop, Raina had never seen a case where clothes were packaged and handed over to a customer without altering the hem. But today, it seemed neither she nor the tailor would have any work to do. The clothes fit that Helio man too well. Although the shirt, which had to accommodate those arms and chest first, looked like it might… burst.
“It suits you well. Even more so in the light,” Miloa said, approaching the man.
“I knew it would,” the man nodded confidently without even looking in the mirror.
“There doesn’t seem to be anything to fix.”
“Good that we won’t waste time,” the man responded lightly without even giving Miloa a glance.
Miloa thought the young man would immediately walk over to his companion. But contrary to Miloa’s expectation, the man took his eyes off his senior. After leaving a pleasant smile for the man embracing the clothes.
The Helio man looked down at Miloa. He was still smiling. But unlike when looking at his senior, it felt somewhat artificial.
And, lowering his voice more than before, the man asked Miloa a question.
“Do you have any debts?”
Miloa was momentarily confused by what she had heard. But before she could ask what he meant, a few more questions came flying.
“Any romantic entanglements?”
“…”
“Simple grudges?”
It felt like she was hearing all sorts of strange things.
“No debts. My wife or lover died of illness long ago. Except for some minor grievances my apprentice might have against me, I haven’t earned anyone’s resentment.”
“I see. Thank you for answering.”
“What’s the intent behind asking such things?”
Miloa frowned and spoke again.
Unlike his bright, shadowless beautiful face, the Helio man gave off a strangely dark impression. The opposite of his senior, whose face alone seemed cold. Miloa felt uneasy, thinking the young man before her hadn’t asked such questions without reason.
“I apologize if I offended you.”
“I tend to view customers who spend money at my clothing shop in the best light possible. Just tell me why you did it, and it’s fine.”
“There’s a… bug circling around the clothing shop that’s bothering me.”
“A bug?”
Miloa asked back, receiving an unexpected story.
“I was curious whether the bug was attached to my senior and me, or to this clothing shop. So I took the liberty of asking a few questions.”
The man answered lightly with a pleasant smile.
A bug, huh. Miloa, with a sour face, tried to recall once more. She understood well enough that the bug the man spoke of wasn’t a real bug. But no matter how much she thought about it, there was nothing suspicious.
Neither she nor Raina had any debts, romantic entanglements, or grudges. Still, she thought she shouldn’t leave Raina alone for a while, just in case. And give her a well-sharpened pair of scissors too. There was a possibility that a stalker might have attached himself to Raina.
“Then I should ask too. Do you think that bug is attached to this clothing shop, or do you think it’s attached to you? Answer me.”
“Ah. It’s not attached to me, but to my senior.”
The man answered lightly as before. However, unlike before, he couldn’t quite hide the irritation that bulged out in one corner of that lightness.
Miloa briefly glanced at the person referred to as this young man’s senior. He had a shadow cast over his handsome face, giving the impression that he had been through quite a lot, and it seemed her guess was correct.
“That must be worrying.”
“No. As for such bugs, I just need to catch them as I see them. Once caught, they’ll open their mouths on their own. Well, first I’ll have to set fire to the cradle of bugs.”
The man smiled once more.
He speaks so refreshingly about catching and torturing someone. It seemed her guess was right about this strange customer being involved in dark affairs. Though she still wasn’t sure whether the young alpha was protecting or dragging around an omega or beta older than himself.
Miloa gave a nod of affirmation to the man instead of replying. With that nod, the brief conversation between Miloa and the man came to an end.
The man immediately turned and headed towards his senior. He stopped right in front of the other man, who was standing quietly with his hands folded.
“How is it?” he asked, spreading his arms to show off his formal attire to his senior.
“…It suits you well. Really beautiful.”
The two spoke in the imperial language among themselves, not even knowing if she understood their language.
The man referred to as the senior could barely make eye contact with his brazen junior as he mumbled his words. But the smile softly spread across his lips didn’t make him seem like someone trapped in fear. The man looked happy.
“You’re not looking at my face.”
“…I’ll look.”
“Now, can you see this?”
As soon as his companion met his eyes directly, the Helio man tapped below his shirt collar. In his hand was a cravat cloth. It was what Miloa had handed over in the changing room. Though he ended up not using it.
“I know it goes around the neck. But I’ve never worn clothes like this before. I think my senior needs to help me.”
It was Raina, the clothing shop employee, who should have stepped in rather than his senior. But Raina seemed to have no intention of stepping in. Even though she could understand the imperial language. She pretended to be busy though she had already packed the other man’s clothes in a box.
Miloa also chose to keep her mouth shut and blur her eyes. The moment she stepped in, it was obvious that young one would make a face. There was no need to go against the mood of a customer who would pay money.
“I haven’t worn it much either… Really. Just a few times.”
The man who received the cravat had a visibly nervous face.
“I’ve never worn one.”
Miloa, watching the Helio man, clicked her tongue inwardly. He looked too much like a con artist.
After hesitating, the senior finally approached his junior carefully. The man extended his hand to the neck of his junior, who was taller than him.
Under the two hands moving slowly, the collar that had been carelessly open came together neatly, and the cloth was wrapped over it. The sound of straight hands brushing against the collar echoed through the quiet clothing shop.
“All done.”
The man, who had been fiddling with the cravat for a long time with a serious expression, became quick when it was time to finish. He hurriedly distanced himself from the Helio man again.
The man who had completed the task given by his junior gave an awkward smile. He did glance at the other man, but he seemed satisfied with his own work.
Miloa, who had inadvertently turned her gaze towards the impressive junior, laughed softly. It was because that junior was making an excessively cute appearance. Raina also looked at the cravat around the man’s collar with her mouth open. In astonishment.
The senior seemed to see the man with the striking impression literally as a child. He had tied the cravat in a cute ribbon shape that would only suit young gentlemen who hadn’t yet had their coming-of-age ceremony.
Of course, there was still a bit of youthfulness remaining on one side of the man’s face. Didn’t she also see him as younger than his senior? Despite his large build.
But anyway, the Helio man was a tall and big adult. It seemed remarkable that the person referred to as his senior would gift such a ribbon knot to such a man.
‘So it wasn’t a case of one guy unilaterally dragging the other around. Then, are they… lovers?’
Miloa thought inwardly. If they weren’t lovers, that would be strange in its own way.
The man who ended up with a cute ribbon on his neck briefly examined his reflection in the mirror. Ironically, he hadn’t even glanced in that direction when he first came out wearing the clothes.
Surprisingly, the man seemed satisfied with the peculiar aesthetic sense of his senior or lover. He even smiled happily.
“You’ll help me tomorrow too? Before the wedding.”
“Yes. I’ll tie it for you.”
The man who received another request from his junior answered readily. He seemed to have gained strange confidence after completing the cute ribbon knot. His face, which had been dark when entering the clothing shop, had brightened considerably.
Raina conveyed a silent message to Miloa with her eyes. She seemed to be asking if it was appropriate to attend someone else’s wedding looking like that. To such a Raina, Miloa simply shrugged in response.
As long as the clothes were sold, that was enough. There was no need to worry about the Helio man’s appearance in the first place. Who would pay attention to a cravat knot visible beneath that face? It would be completely buried by the man’s magnificent beauty and his overpoweringly hot atmosphere.
‘I should add one more cravat embroidered with gold thread.’
Haha. Miloa laughed out loud and moved towards the lined-up fabrics.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
