Volume 1 Chapter 95

Volume 1 + Chapter 95: Just A Coincidence

“Miss Eve must have been entangled with her as well, right?”

Roland spoke with certainty. Looking at Eve’s slightly hesitant expression, she felt sure she had guessed correctly.

“But Miss Eve is kind by nature. Feeling pity when encountering such a child is perfectly normal. Still, you must be careful.”

“Her mother seems to be a murderer.”

Hearing Roland’s words, Eve was completely stunned.

The hand holding the teacup froze stiffly in midair, at a total loss.

“Eh? Shr-… shrimp fried rice?”

Eve was so startled her tone changed. Aside from her shocked look, Roland only thought this side of Miss Eve was adorable as well.

Vanilla…

“Don’t worry, she has already been restrained. Perhaps because of this incident, the little girl might be a bit…”

Roland didn’t finish her sentence. She only gestured by pointing to her own head.

“How does a mother become a murderer?”

Eve was very curious. To be honest, her understanding of Pipim wasn’t deep. She only knew that she had once helped Pipim’s mother…

But the person she had helped ended up becoming a murderer, and was restrained… Honestly, it was quite a shock.

“Who knows? I only heard rumors. Some said it was for love, some said it was for revenge. Such a pity, for such a small child. Before doing such things, didn’t that mother ever think about her child still being so little?”

Roland shook her head lightly. Though she was a fashion designer, she was used to dealing with the powerful and influential on a daily basis.

Naturally, tidbits of gossip were easy for her to pick up.

But Roland never took them too seriously—at most, she considered them a kind of flavorful diversion.

In truth, constantly dealing with the nobility, her ability to collect and organize gossip only grew sharper.

After all, those noblewomen loved nothing more than all sorts of gossip.

Sometimes, if she kept them entertained in conversation, she might even make enough to cover the clothing shop’s entire annual expenses.

“If Miss Eve is interested, next time when Princess Luojia comes, I can ask her for you.”

Roland glanced at Eve. For her, using gossip to shorten the distance between them was also a good choice.

After all, with such a promise, if Miss Eve wanted to know the result, she would naturally have to come again next time.

Once there were enough meetings, then naturally, everything else could fall into place, no?

“Princess Luojia…”

“Yes, the imperial sovereign’s cousin. Her daughter and Princess Alice are cousins as well.”

“Precisely because of her close relationship with the imperial family, she oversees the empire’s punishments and penal matters.”

Roland briefly introduced Princess Luojia to Eve.

While they were chatting idly, Pipim had already been cleaned up neatly and changed into a beautiful white dress. Somewhat shyly, she walked out of the fitting room.

Back when she was still a dirty little child, Eve had already noticed Pipim must be very pretty.

Now, all clean and proper, wearing a real dress, Pipim looked even more endearing.

“So beautiful. This dress truly suits her.”

Looking at Pipim in the dress, Roland too felt a faint surprise.

Who would have thought the dress designed for Princess Luojia would fit this little girl so well?

What a surprise—it was practically as though it had been tailored for her.

“Do you like it?”

Eve squatted gently before Pipim, lightly holding her shoulders, looking her over from head to toe.

Seeing her in the dress, Eve could detect no sense of mismatch at all.

It was as if Roland had somehow known Pipim’s measurements in advance and tailored it just for her.

“Mm…”

Pipim nodded gravely.

“Pretty. I like it.”

“If you like it, then we’ll buy it…”

“Too expensive.”

Pipim grabbed Eve’s wrist, shaking her head lightly.

Children were simple, naturally unaware that the cost alone of this dress was already a sky-high ten gold coins.

Whatever Roland said, she believed.

For her, no matter how pretty a dress was, the price of one silver coin sounded outrageous.

After all, for so long, her stomach had only been filled once, pitifully.

“It’s fine, Miss Roland. Whatever the price is, it’s fine, but please don’t—”

“One silver coin. A flat price. Miss Eve, we’ll just charge a cost. Please don’t press the price further.”

“No, I mean… that’s too little.”

“Someone, escort Miss Eve to checkout. Miss Eve, this way please.”

“Ah? Oh… wait—”

Before Eve could finish speaking, just like the first time she came here, she was again inexplicably and respectfully sent out by Roland.

By the time she left, not only was Pipim wearing a brand new dress, but Eve also inexplicably had several bolts of fine fabric in her arms.

And without having spent a single coin…

Eve really had wanted to buy a batch of fabric, after all she still needed to make the imperial consort’s gown.

But before she could even speak, Roland, as though reading her mind, insisted the shop had just received some imported fabrics, and she should take them home, try making something, and give feedback.

Yet when Eve looked at the fabric in her arms, she could tell at a glance—it wasn’t cheap.

The quality and quantity were both top-notch, and she hadn’t paid a single coin.

This made Eve feel somewhat embarrassed…

She even subconsciously thought—since Roland wasn’t after her money, nor her dressmaking skills, could it be she was after something else?

For example… a hook?

Thinking of this, Eve’s heart subconsciously tightened. And so did… somewhere else.

“Where are we going next?”

Pipim looked at the dress on her body. Children, after all—though she had said it was too expensive, now that it was hers, she was so happy she wanted to spin around on the spot.

“You must not have a place to stay, right? I’ll take you home first. As for your mother’s situation, I’ll investigate it for you as soon as possible.”

Eve spoke softly. At the same time, as if remembering something, she subconsciously reached into her pocket and pulled out a slip of paper.

It was the empire’s most absolute secret… the measurement chart of the imperial consort’s figure.

To make the gown, this chart was essential.

Now that she has the materials, why not begin tonight? Better to finish early than risk trouble for missing the deadline.

But…

Looking at the chart in her hand, Eve suddenly felt a bit flustered.

It seemed she had sweated a lot under her sweater—why was it that, of all places, the bust column was precisely smudged by a drop of sweat?

The numbers were blurred, completely unreadable.

This left Eve troubled…

“What was the imperial consort’s bust measurement again? Ah, just my luck—why fail at the most critical moment?”

Looking at the glaring smudge, Eve had no idea what to do.

She couldn’t possibly go back and measure again, could she?

At the same time, she found it strange… How had this spot ended up like this?

So strange…

But since she had always kept the chart close to her chest, it shouldn’t be related to anyone else, right?

After all, who would be so bored as to deliberately blur out the bust measurement on the imperial consort’s figure chart?

For what? Surely not to earn themselves another “reward”—to go back and gro—no, to measure… measure the imperial consort again, right?