“Come on, Sain, don’t you have any comments to offer?”
Alicia slapped him on the back and he lurched forward a few steps, putting him face to face with Melia. Her eyes darted around, trying to avoid contact with his. She’d been fidgeting, but his sudden approach caused her to freeze. The confident nonchalance that had come to define her was nowhere to be found, replaced by a stiffness to her expression that bespoke an underlying nervousness as she awaited his verdict. He crossed his arms and carefully examined her from head to toe, as though evaluating every aspect of her appearance. Then, he nodded with satisfaction.
“Mmm. I like it. You look good.”
Alicia and Marni traded frowns.
“Does that... count as a positive reaction? I mean, it’s technically a compliment, but it sort of sounds like he’s just being polite.”
“...It’s him, so he probably means it. He’d probably say the same thing no matter what she wore. And he’d probably always mean it.”
They whispered their thoughts to one another before handing Melia another set of clothes.
“Here, Melia. Try some other ones on too.”
“...Do I have to? I’m fine with these.”
“Come on, just humor me, okay?”
Alicia pushed Melia into the changeroom again, and she reappeared a minute later in a new outfit. A white t-shirt peeked through the front of a long, elegant jacket made from a reddish brown fabric. It fell over a miniskirt, which further gave way to black tights. Compared to her first getup, this one had a calmer air and made her look more mature. Sensing she might have struck gold, Alicia whipped her head toward Sain and stared at him.
“Well?! What do you think?”
He crossed his arms and nodded with satisfaction.
“Mmm. I like it. It looks good.”
She frowned, apparently unimpressed with his response, and pushed Melia back into the changeroom with yet another set of clothing. Another minute passed, and the maid-turned-dress-up-doll stepped back out wearing a white striped top over a green gathered skirt. With every pulling back of the curtain, she and her outfit grew more classy. Her new skirt was clearly unfamiliar to her, and she played with it a little, holding up the hem and shaking it.
“Well?! How’s this?!” asked Alicia, her tone growing increasingly desperate.
Again, Sain nodded with satisfaction.
“Mmm. I like it. It looks good.”
She stifled a frustrated scream and repeated the same process. Yet another minute later, Melia appeared sporting a white long-sleeved shirt that fanned out at the wrist and a short, aquamarine apron dress. In contrast to her usual tidy image, this had the relaxed look of a girl out for some fun on her day off, which was further contrasted with the rosy blush of embarrassment on her cheeks. The way she kept looking away from him, coupled with the appeal of the outfit itself, finally struck a chord that was buried deep within his heart, and he fumbled his delivery of the cross-arms-nod-head routine.
“And?! How’s this?!”
“U-Uh well, it, um... It looks very good on her,” he stammered nervously.
“All right, looks like we got ourselves a winner,” declared Alicia.
“...His reactions are way too easy to read,” muttered Marni.
At Alicia’s behest, Melia purchased this set of attire and wore it out of the boutique. As they left, Marni gave Sain a flat, admonishing look. He held his hands up, miming bewilderment. She rolled her eyes and ran a few steps to join the other two girls, leaving him feeling rather misunderstood. He wasn’t, in fact, just being polite with those compliments; he honestly thought Melia looked good in everything she tried on. She just happened to look even better in one particular outfit, which caught him off guard.
“I’m really not used to wearing this...” said Melia.
Her maid uniform had been folded up and placed in a bag. Currently, she was wandering through the lanes of festival stalls in her newly purchased clothes. The shorter length of the dress revealed more of her legs, leaving her feeling rather antsy, and she couldn’t help but glance at her exposed knees as she walked.
“Um... Are you really sure I look good in this?” she asked Sain in an apprehensive tone.
“Absolutely,” he replied with a firm nod. “Why don’t you start dressing like this more often from now on? Between after school and holidays, there should be plenty of chances for you to have some fun with fashion.”
“...If you say so. I’ll think about it.”
She turned her face down and looked away, but it didn’t hide the smile on her lips.
“Granted, this also seems like the kind of outfit that’s going to attract unwanted attention. I hope no one tries to hit on you,” he said as he looked around.
Many people near them stole furtive glances at her, blushing as they walked by. Melia had always looked mature for her age, and it was entirely possible that her onlookers didn’t realize she was still a student in the intermediate division.
“Don’t worry.” Alicia chimed in. “Not many people from the capital city are crazy enough to hit on Jenifa students.”
“...I guess you have a point.”
Jenifa Royal Magic Academy was famous for valuing competence above all else. Its students were known to be highly skilled, and unwelcome advances on them could have painful consequences.
“...Mostly due to Alicia,” Marni said in a low voice.
“Hm? Miss Grim, what do you mean by that?”
“...A while back, Alicia got hit on in Raskas, and she gave the guy one hell of a slap. It turned into a whole incident and made some headlines. Ever since then, people stopped hitting on Jenifa students.”
“Hey, Marni! You promised not to tell anyone about that...” said Alicia with an embarrassed look on her face.