Oh! My Empress

For the meeting in the evening, Anna chose a pastel blue gown for her miss. It was just a meeting between the father and the daughter, so her miss did not need to dress lavishly. The duchess was the only one who would put on jewels and accessories even if she was going out of her room.

The second miss, Cecilia, had also inherited some habits from her mother. She would put on bejeweled earrings and necklaces, sometimes even gaudy. Her dresses were chosen by their mother and they were not always the best. Audrey, despite being the duchess for so many years, was still lacking in the fashion sense of Kingdom of Krislabet.

But Anna had to make sure that her miss did not follow in their footsteps. She had made sure that her miss kept simplest of the gowns from the hands-me-downs of Miss Cecilia. Of course, why would they buy new clothes for the second female child in the family despite swimming in money?

So, for today, the gown was a pastel blue with white lace on the neck forming a collar and the helm of the frock. It had one white colored button with golden rim on the chest but it looked so hideous and mismatched that Anna had just removed it.

Kim Su Won had yet to go through her wardrobe but she was not looking the look of this old worn out gown. She was a nerd in her past life but that did not mean she did not have an eye for good clothes. These clothes might have been amazing as new but right now, they were definitely past their life.

"Anna, do we not have something better to wear?" she inquired, wanting to get into the big wooden closet in her room. It was not surprising that Emmeline Whittemore did not have a separate walk-in closet of her own. Even in the name of dressing room, this room had bare minimum supplies. A small white colored wooden vanity table with one set of eye shadow palette, face powder, a few half filled bottles of perfume, most probably discarded from Cecilia. The design was also very plan, nothing intricate like her bed. Her bed in the bedroom was, perhaps, the most detailed work she had seen in all the rooms in her wing till now. There was the small wooden closet behind her, a small white chair matching the table and just enough space to accommodate five people. Even her bedroom that she was sharing with her roommate looked bigger than this space.

From Emmeline's memory, Kim Su Won remembered her mother always lamented about lack of money when it came to buying things for her. At this point, she had really given up on her mother. But the resemblance of her original mother and Audrey was just too uncanny, even in temperament.

She suddenly remembered that her mother used to do the same thing with her sister. She, herself being the eldest used to get new things but her sister usually used to her get hand-me-downs. Which was why she made sure to buy her sister as many gifts as she could when she used to visit. That was the only way she could lessen her guilt towards her sister.

"I am sorry miss. The only other good dress is this dark green colored full gown. This is more for formal occasions, that's why I did not take it out," Anna pointed out to the other gown that reached her ankles hanging on the door of the closet on a hanger.

Kim Su Won looked at it and immediately dismissed it. The gown was really pretty, the color was deep green and had an emerald colored gem in the middle of the collar. But it was indeed something she would wear at a banquet.

She sighed to herself. Perhaps, this was a good way to show her father how ill-equipped his third legitimate kid was. She really was living a life of Cinderella among her relatives, except that she did not need to work.

However, Kim Su Won also had to wear all the layers including the corset. Unfortunately, the miss had gained some weight since she had been holed up in her part of the wing without much exercise for the past week. Plus, the delicious food was just irresistible. She had wanted to meet the chef, he or she had the magic to make the simplest of meals, especially the ones served to her, in the most relishing delicacies. Just thinking about that amazing porridge, Kim Su Won salivated.

Anyway, no matter how much Anna tried, they could not tighten the corset beyond a certain point.

"Miss, you need to go on a diet starting tomorrow," Anna hissed strictly. She had never felt this tired in just tightening the corset of her miss. Even now, it did not sit great on her miss's plump body.

For a moment, Kim Su Won felt ashamed. She had been wanting to go out but what could she do with this weirdly weak body? She needed rest, so it was not her fault that she had gained some weight. Moreover, this skeleton kind of body could really use some meat.

"Anna, I am just twelve years old. I do not think I need to worry that much. Let's do away with the corset," she replied. It was a sudden realization but yes, she was not the twenty four year old anymore, she did not need to sit in the society and she did not need to 'show' her 'figure' to anyone. She was just a kid right now.

"B-But…," Anna wanted to retaliate but she shut up when Kim Su Won glared at her maid. A gown without a corset? How was that possible? How would the frock look like, all drooped down, no fluff? Would it even be called a frock then? And what about accentuating her miss's upper body? If Audrey Lazarus were to see her daughter like this, she would definitely flip.

"Do you trust me?" Kim Su Won said, with a lot of confidence in her eyes. She probably understood her maid's predicament. In this era, there were no padded bras just yet, or if they existed, only rich could afford it for she had never seen Anna wear one. The other maids she had been gazing at from her room's window also did not seem to have one.

Anna nodded, she had absolute trust in her miss, although she was missing a screw in her head or two right now.