BELLRAM

"Huh?"

~It doesn't fit.~

The dress was a little too long, but that was still acceptable. The real problem was that the bust area was cut too generously. And it was visible. You could see it clearly. If the dress was not so tight everywhere else, it would not hold at all. Meia did not understand how this could be. She had tried on all the dresses that had been handed to her several times. Of course, this one was among them. On the other hand, there had been a lot of dresses. The time she had invested in each piece had perhaps been too short? She had only tried this one on once because she was sure she would take it with her. Still, it was strange. Both dresses had originally belonged to her mother. Why did only this one not fit? Should she change back into the other dress? But the other dress was not for the evening. Any woman would recognise that immediately.

"Um, the dress-"

"Yes, it really suits you," Lijeux replied immediately.

"Oh, um... Yes. Thank you?"

~Does she not see that?~

Maybe it was the direction of her gaze?

Meia turned in front of the mirror to see herself sideways.

~How does she not see that? It looks like popped balloons.

"Oh, it's already half past. I have to go home now."

"Wh-What? No. I'm not done yet."

"You want to stay longer?"

"No. My-my dress doesn't fit."

"Huh? That's a perfect fit, isn't it?" Lijeux looked up at her once. "Ahhh..." For a second she pondered, while glancing at the ceiling and again with her index finger touching her cheek, then she stretched it up as if she suddenly had an idea. "Just stuff it. Rujell does the same."

"She stuffs it? With what?"

"With socks."

"S-socks?" asked Meia doubtfully.

Meia considered, but it did sound a little implausible.

"Do you want me to do it for you?"

"N-! No, you don't have to. I can do it myself."

"Then I have to go home now. My sisters are waiting for me. See you around."

Lijeux headed off to the door, while waving her goodbye.

"Wait a bit. How do I get back?"

"You just have to follow the curve, down the stairs, and you'll be at the door to the courtyard. It's easy."

"It's easy, isn't it?

~Says the right one.~

"If you do want to come, I can guide you?" offered Lijeux questioningly.

Meia shook her head vehemently.

"No. It's all right. I'll find my way."

She could do without another of her guides. She could not go yet anyway. The problem had to be solved first.

"If you don't want to." Lijeux opened the door and looked back again. "As a farewell, I'll give you one last tip for today. I don't like people who don't laugh. Laugh a little more." As she walked out, she commented, "Nice underwear, by the way. I prefer it breezy too. Ahaha-" then the door closed.

~Can't she just shut up?~

Meia had realised she was going to say something like that, even if it hadn't been quite what she had expected. At least she was gone now.

~Socks then...~ Meia actually had socks, but she still needed them. She considered with a roving gaze. On the dressing table were brushes, combs, hair bands and more, but nothing useful. One of the drawers was slightly open. In the drawer she then discovered something that could serve as an alternative.

The drawer mainly contained make-up utensils, but her interest was in the tissues next to them. Since she still could not think of anything better, she probably had no other option than to use them.

Meia had always been very agile and with some physical contortions she managed to unzip the zip of her dress a bit herself. If she could not do that, she would have had to do it with the maid, so at least she was spared that. Hastily she took some of the cloth and stuffed it into the dress from above. Fortunately, the décolleté didn't have a low neckline, so the cheating wouldn't be visible later.

After only a few swift moves, it was already done.

In the mirror, Meia marvelled at her improved breast area.

It really did look as if a voluptuous bosom was hidden under the dress.... Perhaps it was even a bit too voluptuous? Could her mother really fill out that bust? Or maybe the sight was just unfamiliar because she knew what it really looked like?

After a lengthy contemplation, she was not happy anymore with the result. The tissues had not done their job properly. Her breasts were large but looked too uneven through the dress. She might as well have stuffed anything in.

Meia took everything out again and started from the beginning. This time she shaped the cloths a little more precisely.

~Can you tell it's stuffed? Or do I only see it because I know?~

After final corrections, it was satisfactory. Maybe it was even good.

She could not resist a slow pirouette.

The momentum of the turn lifted the red fabric, like a curtain on an open window.

The dress was still quite long, but it looked really enchanting.

Meia was satisfied. Finally she could go out into the courtyard.

On her way to the door, she noticed a notepad lying on the floor near the dresser. It was undoubtedly Lijeux's. It was a light green notepad on a dark parquet floor. ~How could she have missed it?~ It was not even completely under the dresser. In fact, it was almost impossible to miss it.

Meia picked it up and looked at it.

When she flipped through the first few pages, there was nothing there. There was nothing written in the notepad at all.

~Did she make up the text earlier?~ Apparently it had all been improvised.

Meia let the pages flip through over her thumb. But still found nothing. The pad was completely blank. But in a way, it suited her not to keep any records.

On her way back to the door, she flipped through the pad from the other side too and while doing so found a single written page in the middle of it.

'p̵o̵w̵d̵e̵r̵e̵d̵ ̵m̵i̵l̵k̵ i̵n̵s̵t̵a̵n̵t̵ ̵m̵i̵l̵k̵ milk with rabbits?
socks si?
distilled water
Mistletoe extract
Sage
Luck Herb
Dye?
Doll (Red wings)'

Apparently it was a shopping list. A doll was a doll. The dye was probably for the hair. Sage was used for almost everything, for tea, as a spice, as a medicine.

Meia felt she learned nothing significant from the note. Deciphering the maid's private life was certainly useless. It was also rude.

Probably the best thing to do was to take the pad and give it to one of the servants.

Meia stopped in the tunnel.

The gas candles of the lamps in the room were still burning.

She turned the regulator to the left.

A click was audible.

Meia turned it as far as it would go and waited a moment. The light would go out as soon as enough gas had burned.

As with the cigar room earlier, there was more than one control for the light in this room.

Now perhaps one wondered, if one turned on a gas line via this regulator, how could one then turn off this line via another regulator on the other side of the room? Meia had also asked someone this question before. The answer she got was amazingly simple. The answer was not at all. You could not.

You could have put the line over both controllers, but then you would always have to operate both controllers to turn the light on or off. The controllers would not serve their purpose and one of them would be superfluous. However, the solution of making the light controllable on both regulators was not complicated.

Meia had closed a line on this regulator. When it clicked, there was a latching position, the line was completely closed. When she turned it further, she opened another line. From both regulators, two lines went through the wall, up into the ceiling and above the lamp. Two lines always ran together in before it. At the end of each of the connected lines was a valve that only opened when there was enough pressure. If two lines did not press together with their pressure against the valve, there was no gas flow and the light remained off as it was now. The gas candles went out because the change in one of the regulators meant that two independent lines were now open. Meia was thus left in the dark.

However, this house exceeded her knowledge. The cigar room had more than two regulators. The pipes were surely connected hydraulically in some way.

Meia closed the door.

.../ End Part