Just as I was about to ask them for suggestions, Mrs. Molière clapped her hands and said, “If it’s to represent connections, what about decorative pearls? We could buy some and thread them together.”
“Each pearl would represent an individual person, right?”
“Exactly! What do you think?”
“It’s a wonderful idea!”
“I like it too,” my mother-in-law agreed.
“Great,” said Mrs. Molière.
“I’m impressed, Julietta.”
“Oh? Did you forget, my dear sister? We’ve talked about making pearl dresses before.”
“We...have! You’re right!”
Apparently, when they were children, they had wanted to make matching pearl dresses for their weddings. But in the end, they had become estranged when Mrs. Molière left their homeland.
“I got engaged first, so we never got to make a single pearl dress,” Mrs. Molière lamented. “I still regret it to this day.”
“Yes,” said my mother-in-law. “I was looking forward to it so much. I can’t believe I forgot about it until now.”
“When I moved out, I brought the design we drew together with me.”
“You did?”
“Yes, I was desperate to not let it get thrown out. But when it came time to prepare for the wedding, I was so busy that I forgot all about it.”
My mother-in-law and Mrs. Molière still remembered what the design looked like, so they cheerfully recreated it on a piece of paper.
“It goes with a pearl shoulder necklace, like this,” said Mrs. Molière.
“Weren’t there pearls on the tiara too?” my mother-in-law asked.
“Yes, and they were also scattered on the veil, like a starry sky.”
“Oh, that’s right.”
The illustration was completed in no time at all. The design was unbelievably beautiful.
“Miss Francette, do you have any preferences?” Mrs. Molière asked.
“Feel free to ask for anything,” my mother-in-law added.
“No, I want to wear this dress for my wedding,” I replied.
The sisters smiled, relieved. Now that we had a solid idea to work with, it was time to discuss what kind of pearls to use.
“Perhaps the aurora pearls from the ogre territory,” my mother-in-law suggested. “Everyone knows of them.”
“I was thinking the same thing,” said Mrs. Molière. “They’re world-famous.”
Come to think of it, the ogre duke, Emilie, had been wearing a pearl hair ornament when I met her previously, and her dress had been decorated with pearls as well. I recalled that they had shone brilliantly, iridescent with rich colors reminiscent of peacock feathers. Those must’ve been aurora pearls.
“Those would be nice,” I said.
“Unfortunately, rumor has it that they’re harder to obtain than they used to be,” said my mother-in-law.
“I’ve heard the same,” said Mrs. Molière.
Apparently, these pearls in particular were not naturally occurring but had been cultivated with a special technique. Even so, they were lauded for being more beautiful than natural pearls and fetched a high price on the market. However, there hadn’t been many in circulation in recent years.
“I’ve been in correspondence with the ogre duke, Lady Emilie,” I said. “I’ll try asking her if she would be willing to sell us some aurora pearls. I’m concerned about the cost, though. If they’ve become rarer, they must be quite expensive now.”
“You don’t have to worry about the price, Miss Francette,” said my mother-in-law.
“This is for your special day, after all,” said Mrs. Molière. “If it’s over your budget, I’ll ask my husband to help out.”
“Thank you both so much,” I said.
And so, I decided to send a letter to Emilie right away.
That night, I told Gabriel that I’d decided on how to decorate my dress.
“A pearl-themed dress representing our connection to the people... What a wonderful idea,” he said.
“Yes, it’s going to be the greatest dress in the world thanks to mother and Mrs. Molière. The only issue is the aurora pearls. There haven’t been many in circulation lately, so we don’t know if we’ll be able to buy them.”
“The aurora pearls from the ogre duke’s domain?” Gabriel queried. “I do recall that issue being raised at a monster duke meeting a few years ago, before Lady Emilie became ogre duke. The number entering the market had suddenly decreased, and the other dukes were discussing what could have happened. But with no ogre duke at the time, an explanation was impossible. Since the seat was only filled this year, everyone had completely forgotten about it by the time we last held our meeting. In other words, practically no one knows what happened to the aurora pearls. It seems they still aren’t in circulation, so we might not be able to obtain any.”
“I’ll prepare for that outcome.” Even if we couldn’t get aurora pearls, we could just use other ones. It wasn’t a major problem.
The topic shifted to Gabriel’s discussion with the mayor of Chagrin.
“I told him about our wedding theme, and he suggested holding a festival of sorts on that day, with stalls and whatnot,” he explained.
“Oh, that’s a lovely idea. It’s so nice of him to plan a fun event to celebrate with us.” Everyone, even the children, would be able to enjoy such a festival. It was looking like our wedding day would be very lively. “I’m really excited for the ceremony.”
“Me too.”
A natural break in conversation fell between us. I smiled at Gabriel, and he hugged me. We used to have a rule where we embraced like this once a day. Some days, he’d been too embarrassed to do it, but now, it came naturally to him. Though there had been a few awkward exchanges early on in our engagement, these moments of intimacy were now filled with joy—and the thought of finally being able to have our wedding made me even happier.
“Gabriel, let’s make this an unforgettable wedding ceremony,” I said.
“That was always my intention.”
With determination in our hearts, we continued spending a fulfilling time together.