True Love Fades Away When the Contract Ends - The Secret of the Rose by Kosuzu Kobato

Author:Kosuzu Kobato [Kobato, Kosuzu]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: light novel
Publisher: Seven Seas Entertainment
Published: 2025-12-01T00:00:00+00:00

They ought to have had plenty of time to get ready, but by the time Olga and Cecelia finished doing Fiona’s hair, it was nearly time to depart.

It’s over, Fiona thought, calming herself with a few deliberate breaths. Thank goodness she hadn’t done what she’d been tempted to do and ask Mrs. Bennett if they could start later. The cosmetics drape was removed from her neck, and as she stood from her seat, she received an adoring cry: “Oh, Sister, you’re so beautiful!”

“You look lovely, Fiona,” Olga agreed. Her eyes were lit up just like Cecilia’s. Mrs. Bennett gave a satisfied nod and thanked her assistant for making all the detailed adjustments.

“Thank you all so much,” Fiona said, feeling bashful from the praise. “This dress and the makeup are really doing all the work.”

“The dress is nothing without the lovely person wearing it,” Mrs. Bennett insisted. “You look a treat in it—better than I even imagined you would.”

Mrs. Bennett’s masterpiece from Maison de Michele was too gorgeous for words. It was a ball gown with a bodice that contoured perfectly to Fiona’s body and a full-length skirt that billowed down into a wide puff. It was a perfect dress for a royal ball. The decollete was quite open—it was meant for a nighttime function, after all—but the short sleeves, which lay just off the shoulders, kept it from exposing too much skin, so Fiona felt safe moving in it. The most notable element of the dress, however, had to be gradation of color. The light gold at the bust melted gradually into a smoky blue as the fabric traveled down Fiona’s body, evoking the image of a pool of water under a sunset.

Mrs. Bennett and the dress’s designer had both insisted upon that special bolt of fabric, and the deal had been sealed when Giles and Fiona visited Maison and Giles liked the fabric at first sight. The lustrous pale gold silk matched the tone of Fiona’s hair and eyes and brought out the color in her complexion, and the golden embroidery adorning the skirt’s hem beautifully accentuated the yellow diamond in Fiona’s ring.

The beautiful dress was, in design and composition, flawless—or it should have been. It’s beautiful, but now that I’m wearing it, I can’t ignore it, Fiona thought, looking down at the hem of her skirt in bewilderment.

Marianne returned to the room with Flora in her arms and a suggestive glimmer in her smile. “You know, Fiona, while I embroidered that skirt, I thought to myself, my, this blue does resemble Lord Lowell’s eyes.”

“Marianne, don’t remind me.”

“Aww, there’s no need to be shy!”

“Olga, please…”

That was the problem. The beautiful grayish-blue of the dress, which so resembled the twilit sky, made her think of Giles’s eyes. She knew that dressing to match her partner was the correct move for their charade, but it filled her with an inexplicable anxiety. How could it not? They were not lovers, nor were they promised to one another. Their relationship was a sham. She couldn’t help but feel wretched, wearing that beautiful gown.

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