After staying in the Imperial Nation for several years, Rutile had returned to the Nation of the Dragon King. Many women had wept in delight at the news, but despite boasting overwhelming support from the ladies of the land, Rutile had a fiancé named Finn.
Various rumors were floating around about their relationship. Some said Finn, a straitlaced and extremely earnest man, fell in love with Rutile’s valor and wooed her. Others said that Rutile fell in love with Finn at first sight and went after him herself. Some said that Quartz had orchestrated the meeting behind the scenes, and some said that the two were merely pretending to be engaged because they were mutually fed up with people asking them for their hands in marriage.
Both Rutile and Finn understood that the rumor mill was turning because of their extended engagement, but they had no plans of getting married just yet. They had a fine relationship, though, contrary to what the rumors insisted.
“Hold on just a moment. You’re not going on a date dressed like that, are you?” Euclase called with a look of disbelief.
Although they worked in different departments, Rutile and Euclase were close friends, having started working for the kingdom at the same time. At a glance, Rutile’s candid personality and Euclase’s more reserved feminine mindset seemed like polar opposites, but they got along surprisingly well. Despite seemingly having nothing in common aside from the fact that they started their jobs at the same time, the two would often go out drinking together.
Because of that, Euclase knew that Rutile had date plans with Finn today for the first time in years, but Euclase looked at Rutile’s choice in outfit with extreme displeasure.
“Is it bad?” Rutile asked.
“Of course it is! Your first date in years and you’re not dressed with some style?!” Euclase spat back.
Rutile looked down at her own outfit. She was in slacks, something she was comfortable in from wearing her uniform on a daily basis, and a striped shirt. The maids had said it was a good fit for Rutile’s tall, slender body, so she’d worn it in hopes that it would be okay, but it seemed as though it wasn’t. Honestly, being “stylish” was not something that Rutile excelled at.
“It’s Finn. He doesn’t pay attention to things like that,” Rutile noted.
“What are you talking about? No man would be unhappy to see their fiancée all dressed up. I was right to come here to assess the situation. Bring yourself over here for a second!”
“Wait a second. It’s almost time for my date and...”
Euclase then flagged down a nearby soldier. “Hey, you there. Go tell Finn that she is going to be late!”
“R-Right away!” yelped the soldier, intimidated by Euclase so much that he fled as fast as he could. Did he even know where Finn was in the first place?
Assuming that the soldier would figure it out, Euclase took Rutile by the hand. She went along quietly; having known Euclase for a long time, Rutile knew that it was best to follow Euclase’s orders when they were in this mood.
After Euclase dragged her to their quarters, Rutile took a seat and quietly waited as Euclase carefully selected outfits for her.
“Perhaps this one? No, this one.”
“Chancellor Euclase, we will be doing Lady Rutile’s hair, yes?” asked a maid.
“Indeed,” Euclase confirmed.
“Eek! No, I’ll do it!” interjected one maid.
“No fair. I want to!” another chimed in.
Rutile debated telling the growing pack of maids, who had slipped away from their scheduled tasks, to get back to work, but she decided against it. After all, even if she ordered them to leave, they seemed far too enamored with the goings-on to do so.
“Euclase, could you please make sure the clothes are at least comfortable to wear?” requested Rutile.
“You sometimes have to sacrifice comfort for style,” Euclase declared, pulling out a pair of hard-to-run-in high heels.
At that point, Rutile gave up on being comfortable on this date.
“And to match these shoes, you’ll need this one-piece dress,” Euclase said, holding the dress up to show it off to the maids as well. The dress’s design was rare in the Nation of the Dragon King. It was a clean and graceful-looking number—definitely something worth showing off with confidence as Euclase did.
“Oh my, that dress is simply divine. Your taste is superb, Chancellor Euclase.”
“Yes, indeed. It would be a perfect fit on Lady Rutile’s tall frame.”
The maids’ eyes were glued to the outfit. Euclase snickered in delight at all of their praise.
“It would, wouldn’t it? I had it custom-made by Lady Riccia. This time we’ll hit him with the clean and pretty look.”
“That sounds fine, but Lady Riccia is Ruri’s mother, isn’t she?” asked Rutile.
“That’s right,” Euclase replied. “She apparently worked in the fashion industry in her world. She designs new, never-before-seen outfits, so I’ve been frequenting her boutique. The only problem is that we wind up losing track of time during our clothing chats. Perhaps I should foist the job of chancellor on someone else and have Lady Riccia hire me at her establishment.”
“I’m sure that Claus and the others would have something to say against that,” Rutile said with an awkward smile.
Euclase was so capable as a chancellor that Jade and the entire court viewed them as an invaluable asset. They would most likely combine their forces to stop Euclase from quitting.
“Anyhow, now that I’ve picked an outfit, try it on,” Euclase suggested.
“Do I have to? Right now?”
“Silence! Just wear it!”
Realizing that there was no escape, Rutile reluctantly borrowed the room next door and put on the outfit.
“Okay, I have it on,” she said, stepping back into the room.
“Oh my, it looks fantastic on you. It looks good size-wise as well,” Euclase commented.
“Yes. But these shoes seem hard to run in.”
Thanks to her and Euclase having similar shoe sizes, the heels slipped right on. There was a slight discrepancy in size, but the ever-sturdy dragonkin weren’t subject to blisters from ill-fitting footwear like humans were.
“Oh, come now. You’re always putting too much emphasis on comfort. You’re hardly going to be running on a date. I swear, your mind is stuck in the military! Bring it back to being dainty every once in a while. Like yours truly.”
“I don’t think I can be like you, Euclase... I have a feeling Finn would hate it.”
“What do you mean by that, pray tell?” Euclase asked, giving her a death glare.
Rutile swept it under the rug with a slight chuckle. “Okay, now that I’m done prepping, it’s time to go.”
Just as she tried to exit the room, the maids grabbed her by the arms.
“Not yet, Lady Rutile.”
“Yes! There’s still the matter of your hair.”
“Don’t be difficult and let us play with your locks.”
Euclase watched the eager maids hold down Rutile, then let out a smug chuckle and ordered the mob, “Do it.”
“Right away!”
“Very well, Chancellor Euclase!”
The maids all happily inched toward Rutile with combs. Rutile mentally apologized to Finn, knowing that this would be a very time-consuming process.
After they thoroughly primed and prepped Rutile, the maids looked content, and Rutile’s hair was nicely and elegantly set.
“What do you think, Chancellor Euclase?” one of them asked.
“Looking nice. This will knock Finn dead,” Euclase remarked.
Rutile looked at all of the faces, brimming with a sense of accomplishment, and gave them a wry grin as she prepared to leave the room—and actually leave it this time.
“Thank you. I’ll be going now,” she said.
Euclase nodded. “Yes, tell me about your date later over drinks.”
“Of course.”
Rutile then parted ways and hurried to the meeting spot. The unscheduled makeover had eaten up a ton of time, so when she spotted Finn, she ran up to him as fast as she could in the uncomfortable heels and apologized the second she opened her mouth.
“I’m sorry, Finn. I didn’t mean to make you wait so long.”
“No, that’s fine. I heard Euclase nabbed you. You were bound to be indisposed, right?”
“Well, yes. More or less,” Rutile said with an ambiguous smile, and Finn sighed in exasperation.
Rutile knew that Euclase had sent someone to inform Finn, and Finn wasn’t the type to get mad over someone being late in the first place, but she was relieved to see that this hadn’t ruined his mood.
“You seem quite different today,” Finn said, intrigued by her aura. He had expected Rutile to be gussied up since he’d experienced Euclase’s strange enthusiasm when it came to dates on more than one occasion.
“They said they would hit you with the ‘clean and pretty look.’”
“I see. Yes, quite clean and pretty, indeed,” Finn said, nodding in agreement.
“Doesn’t really suit me, though,” Rutile shot back.
“No, I think it looks great on you,” Finn insisted as his face relaxed. He gave a tender smile, and Rutile’s lips curled into a smile as well. “Now, let’s be off,” he said, holding out his hand.
“Yes, let’s,” Rutile urged, taking it without a second’s hesitation.