CHAPTER SEVEN #2
“Do you want help getting rid of him?” Araceli asked.
“I’ve had to live with him for a year, and I can’t stand him.
He tried to have me executed for accidentally mispronouncing his ‘noble elven name,’ which sounds like a food.
I’m only alive because he didn’t recognize me later. He never remembers servants’ faces.”
“That sounds like him. I’m sorry, and I could use help, thanks. What did you have in mind?”
“I’ll pretend to be your lover at the coronation to make him give up.”
“That’s not a bad idea. But I wonder if he would truly let go so easily? It might just make him more persistent. He’s the type who wants whatever he can’t have.” I toed the flowers.
“I see you’re familiar with that perverse personality of his.” Araceli grinned. “We’d need to deeply humiliate him. You should bring more than one lover. Say the word, and I’ll find the most handsome male prostitute in the city.”
Bringing a prostitute to the new queen’s coronation? Objectively, this sounded like a terrible idea. But my temper had been hanging by a thread for the past day.
Everyone kept telling me I wasn’t enough like the Blood Duchess. Well, I bet I knew what the Blood Duchess would do.
I met Araceli’s eyes. “If we’re doing this … let’s go all out.”
A smile tugged at her lips. “I excel at that, Your Grace.”
I sat across the table from my prospective employee with my arms folded. Araceli stood guarding the door. The prostitute leaned back in the chair with his hands behind his head.
Steepling my fingers, I attempted to look stern. “I hope I’ve been clear about the terms of the job. You must be willing to immediately flee the country of Arahasnor.” I couldn’t let some innocent soul get mixed up in this in case the Blood Duchess took back her body from me later.
The young man nodded. “That’s why I volunteered. I already have tickets for a carriage out of town this evening. I’m here to earn some travel funds.”
“You aren’t involved in anything criminal, are you?
Uh, I mean besides your actual profession …
” I looked him over for any signs of connections with organized crime.
Muscles bulged from every part of his body.
A tattoo of a dragon curved down his neck.
His left cheek had another tattoo with a character I didn’t recognize, but it looked like the language of Faan, where he probably came from.
His jet-black hair had been cropped short.
He had deep-set monolid eyes, long eyelashes, and a smile a tad too brightly red to be natural.
I usually had a thing for the pretty-boy type—he had too many muscles for my taste.
But purely objectively, he was a very handsome man.
He’d need to be, in order to succeed in his line of work.
He rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s not like that. I haven’t done anything wrong. I simply ran into some trouble with two clients. Naturally, most see me anonymously. How was I supposed to know two of them were mother and daughter?”
I winced. “Rough luck. So hideously awkward that I can see why none of you would ever want to see each other again … but why do you need to flee to another country?”
“The woman had a husband, who also found out, and now they’re getting divorced. Their son sent me a threatening letter saying that he’s the lover of a powerful and homicidal noblewoman, and he’s going to have me murdered for homewrecking his family, so I—”
“Hold up.” I raised my hand. “Is this son’s name Falael?”
“Whoa, was that a lucky guess or are you a Seer?”
“Do you mean to tell me that sitting before me is the man who fucked both Falael’s mom and his sister?”
He winced. “Do you know the guy? Please tell me he isn’t a friend of yours.”
I giggled. It turned into a laugh. I clasped my hands together, turned my gaze up to the ceiling, and prayed.
“Sun God, I know I’ve never been a particularly attentive follower.
After recent events in my life, I started to feel lost and alone, like no one was up there looking after me.
But now, my faith has been restored! Everything happens for a reason! ”
“Uhh …” My guest stared at me as if he feared I’d lost my mind. He glanced at Araceli. “Is she okay?”
“I increasingly doubt it,” Araceli said.
I reached across the table and grabbed his hand. “What’s your name?”
“Lao.” He sounded uncertain.
“My dear, wonderful, miracle-from-god Lao, remember how I told you that I needed you to pretend to be my lover so I could ditch an ex who wouldn’t accept we were over? My ex is Falael.”
Lao’s eyes lit up. “You mean you’re going to pay me to humiliate the guy who tried to murder me? I’ll give you a discount!”
My grin felt like it would split open my face. “No, I’ll give you a raise.”
While Lao ran off to fetch his outfit, Araceli rummaged through my closet. “We need the perfect weapon for your grand revenge.”
“But we already picked a dress …” And I didn’t want to even think about undoing all that lace.
“Not sexy enough. How about this one? The duchess got banned from her last church for wearing it, but since the Head Cardinal is now on our side, he can’t throw you out.
” She held up a red silk dress with a scandalously low bodice.
Holes between the laces would bare part of my stomach.
Small rubies had been interwoven into the fabric.
A slit ran down the side to reveal my leg from the thigh down.
It would also expose a fair bit of my back.
I flinched. It was a lovely dress, and I knew it didn’t suit me at all.
Araceli beamed. “This is the perfect make-your-ex-regret-being-dumped-by-you dress. I’ll find the matching ruby necklace and—” She stopped. “What’s wrong? Does it show a little too much skin? I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”
“It’s the type of dress the Blood Duchess wears,” I mumbled. I ought to get used to it. Switching to a permanently modest dress style would make me look suspicious. If I couldn’t act the part, I could at least dress it.
But the notion of wearing that lovely, scandalous outfit filled me with a strange mixture of longing and humiliation.
I could picture what people back at the village would say: That fattie thinks she’s pretty.
How embarrassing. My own mother would have gently told me that such clothing didn’t suit me.
It would suit my beautiful Holy Maiden older sister, but not me.
Araceli set down the dress and met my eyes. “But?”
“I don’t have the confidence to wear that,” I blurted out. Immediately, I regretted my candor. I looked down to hide my blush.
Araceli bit her lip. “If it makes you uncomfortable, then we’ll go back to the old dress for today.
Tomorrow we could come up with an excuse for why you changed styles to something that covers more, such as the duchess injuring her shoulder.
I could slap on some fake bandages. But if you like the dress and it’s about what other people think—why do you care?
Let them think what they want. Wear what you like. ”
I’d never been able to do that. I’d never been comfortable in my own body. But this was the Blood Duchess’s body. That thought felt oddly freeing. “Do you think it would look good on me?” The question came out weak and pathetic. Desperate for approval.
“You’d be stunning.” Araceli sauntered over and held the dress up to my body. She turned me to face the mirror, then smiled. “Mmm, yes, this will show off all the right assets. You have a great rack.”
I looked away. “They’re just lumps of fat.”
Araceli snorted. “Everyone’s breasts are lumps of fat.
That’s what makes them so wonderfully soft.
Skinny people’s breasts are also made of fat and tend to be smaller for that reason.
Nothing wrong either way. Some like them small, some like them big, and I like them big.
You happen to possess some particularly fine ones. Embrace your assets.”
My face felt hot. “I’ll try on the dress and see if I like it. Could you let me do it alone?” I asked in a small voice.
“Of course. This dress isn’t too complicated. You should be able to fasten it yourself.” Araceli took out a golden necklace with a sizeable ruby surrounded by white diamonds. “Wear this. It will draw everyone’s eyes to the right places.”
She winked at me, and I flushed scarlet.
* * *
Before Araceli left, she helped me undo the lacing on my first dress.
The second one was less complicated, on account of having a lot less fabric.
After putting it on, I didn’t dare look in the mirror.
If I did, I’d change my mind. While waiting for Araceli and Lao to get ready for our grand show, I had entirely too much time to doubt myself.
What had I been thinking? I’d make a fool of myself!
Everyone would laugh at me! I clutched at the front of my dress and tried to yank it up to cover a bit more. Alas, that only bared more of my navel.
“We’re ready.” Speaking in a deeper voice this time, Araceli threw open the door.
I squeaked and hid behind a dresser. I wasn’t ready! I hadn’t mentally braced myself!
Lao sauntered into the room first. He wore tight black pants and black boots.
His white shirt had been left open, revealing the tiger tattoo curled around his belly button and an impressive set of pectoral muscles.
His longish hair had a windswept look. He’d added a touch of blue makeup around his eyes.
Overall, he looked like a man who could have strutted off the cover of a romance novel.
Devastatingly handsome but definitely not appropriate for a noble ceremony.
I hissed, “Araceli, maybe this is a little too far—”
“Call me Ari. For today, switch to thinking of me as a man.”
I laid eyes on the transformed Ari and lost all ability to speak.
He wore a gleaming black vest—and nothing underneath it.
His bare, lightly muscled arms ended in black gloves.
The scaley pants left very little to the imagination.
Red locks puffed out around his head like a crown.
A splash of purple gave his eyes a sharpness like those of a hawk.
He’d acquired a cane with a silver orb that he twirled between his dexterous fingers.
“Gah,” I said.
“Yes, that was precisely the effect I was going for.” Ari glanced sideways at his reflection. “Hmm, I think I like how I look as a man, too. Now I’m even more confused.”
“You’ll find yourself someday,” Lao said with a sympathetic look. “You’re young! You have plenty of time.”
“Your clothes,” I said weakly. “They look great on you. I truly mean it.” Ari was exactly my type. It was all my brain could do to function.
“Thank you.” Ari gestured at me. “Come out and let me see if I picked the right dress for you.”
Forcing my hands to stop covering myself up, I stepped out from behind the dresser. I looked anywhere but at Ari.
“Oh my.” Ari whistled. “You look every bit as stunning as I expected. Please, wear that. It looks so much better on you than it did on the real duchess.”
“But we have the same body,” I protested. “And she had more dignity. More confidence.”
Ari snorted. “She had overconfidence. And she wore too much jewelry. She didn’t have your pleasant aura. With your sweet smile, you’ll be conquering hearts.”
Lao winked at me. “Hot damn. If you change your mind about wanting to keep this strictly a show, then let me know.”
I blushed as red as my dress and told myself that he couldn’t mean it. He must flatter his clients all the time. Besides, this wasn’t even my body. My current body was even heavier than my original one, which made me think confused thoughts about the heated gazes from these two.
“The terms of the deal were clear,” Ari growled, stepping in front of me.
“I do threesomes for extra,” Lao said hopefully.
I hadn’t realized it was possible to turn even redder. “M-maybe I should get a coat.”
Ari immediately whirled around. “You are forbidden to cover up that masterpiece of a dress.”
“But … it’s cold …”
“The duchess’s carriage has a heating relic.”
I looked at the floor. “I’m not sure I can do this.”
Ari’s gaze softened. He tilted up my chin and looked me in the eye. “Right now, you’re not Bora. You can be whoever you want.”
Ari was right.
Right now, I was the notorious Blood Duchess. I could do what I would never have dared if I’d been in my own body. Who cared if people looked down on me? The duchess would take the blame for everything I did. It gave me exuberance and a newfound freedom. “Thank you,” I whispered.
Ari smiled. “You’re not supposed to thank me, Your Grace,” he said, but his tone was teasing.
“Are we doing this?” Lao asked.
I straightened my shoulders. “We’re doing this.”