When Yui was finally released, she came out of the changing room. Layce, Cecil, and Carlo were waiting for her, having already changed into their outfits. Her brothers already had a fan club at the academy, so with the fine clothes that they were wearing, their good looks were even more striking than usual. When they stood next to Layce—who, while having a few personality flaws, looked pleasantly attractive—the three of them caught the eye. Nearby noblewomen, young and old alike, were all intently staring at them.
“I’m back...” Yui said.
“Are you all right?” Cecil asked.
“Somehow.” She looked so exhausted. Before praising her for how pretty she looked, Cecil had first felt the need to express his concern about her condition.
“Lydia, you overdid it,” Layce remarked.
Paying no heed to Layce’s warning, Lydia smiled, satisfied. “Tee hee, I’m sorry. Yui was just so cute—the girls who helped me out also got a bit too into it.”
“That’s why I didn’t want to let her meet you,” Layce mumbled.
“All right, next up is what Layce asked me to procure. Should I put it on now? I chose clothes that would match,” Lydia said.
“Indeed.” Layce turned to Yui. “Is that okay?”
Yui nodded. “Yeah.”
Lydia called several employees over and told them to bring what was on display. For some reason, as they left, they looked so happy that they seemed like they might cry.
Ever since those precious pieces of jewelry had been put on display, the employees had handled them with great care and much nervousness—after all, they would fetch an exorbitant price if sold normally. The employees didn’t want to know what would happen if there were even a single scratch on the merchandise. On top of that, they had spent the days timidly dealing with persistent, high-status customers demanding that they sell the jewelry to them, all while having to make sure not to anger their clientele. Now that they were finally about to be released from all of that, they were filled with joy from the bottom of their hearts.
The employees told the customers swarming the display case to move away. They looked displeased, but they were members of the upper class and knew their decorum, so they all followed the directions. A few made annoyed comments to the employees, but since they were in public, they couldn’t very well make too much of a fuss, so they reluctantly complied.
One of the employees opened up the glass case and emptied it, taking out several pieces of jewelry from inside. However, just as she was about to return to Lydia, a woman accompanied by a girl around Yui’s age approached her.
“Excuse me, do you have a moment?” the woman asked.
“Yes, how can I help you?” asked the employee.
“That jewelry—my daughter really likes it, so would you mind selling it to me?”
“My apologies. These pieces have already been sold.”
“Huh?! Mother, I want it...” the girl whined.
Cecil and Carlo watched this exchange from afar, frowning grimly. That expression was so uncharacteristic for them that Yui was about to ask what was wrong. But before she could, the mother and daughter looked at Cecil and Carlo. Surprise flashed across their faces.
“Oh, Cecil, Carlo!” the girl said to them. “Mother, my brothers are here.”
For a second, Yui didn’t know what the girl was saying—she watched it all as if it were happening to someone else entirely. But she quickly realized that the girl was talking to Cecil and Carlo, and she felt her face stiffen. Brothers... Does she mean...?
The mother and daughter came up to them. Carlo stood in front of Yui and blocked her from view, seemingly trying to shield her. The girl approached Cecil and entwined her arm around his. Cecil reacted with an even more stern look before matter-of-factly disentangling her arm. He put some distance between them. There was a clear loathing visible on his face, but the girl didn’t notice, or she was just unconcerned. Regardless, she didn’t pay it any mind.
“Gosh, Cecil, you’re so shy,” she said.
Yui couldn’t help but feel impressed by how little Cecil’s and Carlo’s hostile gazes seemed to affect her.
“Adele, you know better. A lady shouldn’t so frivolously cling to a man in public like that,” the mother chided. She was gentle and understated—the exact opposite of the glamorous Lydia.
“We’re siblings, so isn’t it all right?”
“It isn’t. I’m sorry, Cecil,” the woman said. “By the way, who is that young lady there?”
When the woman abruptly called upon her, Yui reacted with a start. She sensed traces of someone she knew very well in the well-defined facial features of the girl named Adele, and she felt confident she knew who the girl was.
Carlo clicked his tongue, frustrated that the woman had spotted Yui even though he’d been trying to block her. The noise had been quiet enough that only Yui could hear him.
“She’s not of any concern to you,” he said flatly.
“O-Okay, I’m sorry,” the woman replied. She hung her head, a sad expression on her face.
It seemed like Cecil was one-sidedly reproaching her. He didn’t seem to care if this was how others perceived his actions, and he continued to stare coldly at her.
Layce, who had been spectating all of this, called out to Yui. “It looks like they’re ready, so please come here.”
Yui wanted to get out of her current situation, so she did as he said and walked over to Layce. There, the jewelry that had been on display a short while ago was neatly arranged on a table.
“I’ll put them on you now, so stand still for a bit, okay?” Lydia said.
Yui did as she was told, and Lydia put a hair ornament, earrings, and a necklace on her. Yui had been wearing her communicator and the pendant that matched Filiel’s, but she had taken them off before changing.