New clothes

The elections for the Greatest Voice and the Greatest Shadow of the Dahlia quickly came to an end. Lord Ellen won the title of Greatest Voice this year, while Miss Flora won the title of Greatest Shadow. Rumors circulated that Queen Angelus had decided on this year's Greatest Voice winner, and King Derek III had arranged for Flora to be chosen as Greatest Shadow. In short, the results were almost entirely expected. On the last day of May, the Royal Theatre, the Derek Theatre, reopened to the public, and tickets for the Dahlia Night performance were in high demand.

Mi missed Fried again; if he were here, he would surely have managed to get her a good ticket. Without a ticket, Mi transformed back into her witch form and went to see the performance. The opening act was the stunning Flora. Many well-known performers were invited to perform at the Derek Theatre, but Lord Ellen, Lord Doris, and Princess Denise, who had won the title "Dahlia's Melody," did not participate in any performances. The grand finale was Kara from the Snow Theatre. The Adventurers' Guild brought the entire "Snowfield Wanderer's Tale" to the Derek Theatre. This time, the plot was more complex and the choreography more tightly packed. Many people threw the bright red dahlias they had originally intended as offerings at the Yeti. The curtain fell, leaving only a vast expanse of white snow and scattered dahlias like drops of blood on the stage.

When Mi returned to the Flower Fate Inn, Sheila was changing the cushions. The weather was getting hotter, and Sheila's nose was slightly sweaty. She threw a bunch of wool cushions into the wicker basket, looked up and saw Mi, and smiled, saying, "You're back?"

Mi noticed a few more rattan rocking chairs in the lobby: "Are they getting ready for seasonal cleaning?"

Sheila pulled Mi to sit down in the rocking chair. "Hmm, let's try it out. It just arrived today." The rattan was slightly cool to the touch, with a soft curve, and it swayed gently as soon as someone sat down. Mi relaxed her body and swayed gently with the rocking chair. "Hmm, not bad."

“It’s Dahlia Night at the Royal Theatre tonight,” Sheila said, pouring Mi a cup of tea. “It’s a shame that Fred isn’t here; he can get anything.”

"What?" Mi took a sip of tea. "Are these people no longer going to perform?" Tonight, Mi saw quite a few performances that interested her, and she was thinking of going to see them again.

“Those actors belong to different theaters, so it’s impossible to see all of them with one ticket.” Sheila also likes to watch performances, but she can’t bear to spend money to buy a ticket for just one actor. She only has one dress suitable for going to the theater, and apart from the Derek Theatre, no other theater is worthy of her beautiful dress.

"There are dress requirements for going to the theater?" Mi had only been to the Snow Theater, where there were quite a few women wearing shirts.

“Of course, you should wear a dress.” Mi was an adventurer and always wore a shirt; all the women in Sun City, except for adventurers, wore skirts. Sheila said to Mi, “You should make two skirts too, at least one dancing skirt, so you can wear it for June Festival.”

"What is June Festival?" The dahlia crown competition just ended, and now there's June Festival again? Does Suncity have so many festivals?

“That’s the biggest wedding ball in Sun City!” Sheila exclaimed, waving her arms. “Newlyweds in Sun City love to get married on Juneteenth because the King is the officiant.” It turns out that Juneteenth is a mass wedding in Sun City. Those who marry on this day not only receive gifts from the royal family, but the King also acts as the officiant, offering his blessings to the newlyweds. The Derek royal family really goes to great lengths to encourage young people to get married.

The next day, Mi got up early and asked her boss to hire two tailors to make her clothes before setting off for the Doug Tor Restaurant. It was just dawn, the air was still dewy, and the streets were deserted except for pedestrians hurrying to their jobs. Most of the shops were still closed. Mi started jogging along the street, running faster and faster, from jewelry shops to spice shops, each one luxurious and grand. She ran from the south of the city to the east, from the first light of dawn to high sunrise. It had been a long time since she had stretched her legs like that; Mi felt an indescribable sense of comfort and exhilaration.

Two days later, the tailor delivered the clothes Mi had ordered: a black lace cheongsam and a blue velvet cheongsam. Shila had never seen such dresses before, and worried that the tailor had made a mistake, so she kept the tailor waiting for Mi to return.

"Is this a dress you ordered?" Sheila asked incredulously, holding the two pieces of fabric.

Mi changed into a black lace cheongsam for Shila to see. Not to mention Shila, even the two tailors couldn't help but surround Mi: "Isn't there a petticoat inside?" Mi was rather thin, and one of the tailors pinched the loose part at the waist and said, "It would be better if it were a little more fitted here." Shila found it strange that a row of buttons could fasten a dress. Ever since the corset became popular, using ropes to tie a skirt tightly to outline a full bust and a slender waist, the dress made from these two pieces of fabric had achieved the same effect. Shila looked at it twice, then pulled the tailor aside and whispered, asking him to make her one in the same style.

The two tailors exchanged a glance and immediately purchased the copyright from Mi. Two days later, Shila also wore the cheongsam. Shila was tall and slender, and in the cheongsam, she was simply a sex symbol. Shila's features became more defined, her nose higher, her neck longer, her shoulders broader, and her bust appeared even more rounded and full. Seeing Shila in the cheongsam, Mi realized for the first time—that the cheongsam was more suitable for Westerners. She warmly invited Shila to see Flora's performance.

Mi wore a black lace sleeveless cheongsam, wrapped in a white linen shawl. Her long black hair was styled into a bun secured with a silver hairpin, with loose strands falling casually around her temples, making her both mysterious and captivating. Shila's thick, brown hair was piled high on her head, held in place by a string of delicate bellflowers, their subtle fragrance wafting from her hair. Shila loved red, and she wore a bright red cheongsam, making her resemble the most vibrant dahlia. Shila was tall and striking, while Mi was petite and mysterious; the two of them walking together on the theater path attracted everyone's attention.

The Red Leaf Theater was two streets past the restaurant street, a bit of a distance from the Flower Inn. Sheila had specifically booked a carriage. The two women got off at the flower shop in front of the theater road, each bought a bouquet of flowers, and walked to the Red Leaf Theater. The two women, dressed in their finest attire, attracted a lot of attention as they walked along the theater road. A carriage bearing a noble's coat of arms followed them, but this carriage deterred many from approaching them to strike up a conversation.

Mi felt the carriage slowly following behind them and pulled over to the side of the road. The carriage stopped beside them, the window opened, and a chubby, slightly fierce face appeared. A pair of triangular eyes sized Mi and Sheila up and down. She noticed Mi and Sheila's faces furrow slightly, but couldn't help staring at them. The coachman also raised his whip, scrutinizing Mi and Sheila. The woman's gaze was blatant and unabashed. Mi felt disgusted by this stare. She took Sheila's arm and turned to walk forward.

Mi and Sheila were seated slightly to the right of the center, a distance from the stage, but with a decent view. Sheila had just sat down behind Mi when the noblewoman who had followed them all the way entered the theater. Dressed like a pheasant, the lady was attended to by four exceptionally beautiful young maids; she even had a pretty maid feed her water. Mi frowned slightly, uncomfortably averting her gaze. Sheila couldn't help but rub her arms; if Mi hadn't been so kind as to invite her, she wouldn't have come to a theater where she might encounter such a distinguished person. The noblewoman casually took off her jeweled ring and placed it on a maid's finger, then kissed her on the cheek. Throughout the performance, the noblewoman's maids giggled and talked incessantly about the lady's generosity and kindness; even Flora's superb performance couldn't silence them.

Flora was even more beautiful than described in the gossip news. Her fair skin shone like pearls under the lights, her golden hair cascaded down her back like winding waves, and her emerald eyes were slightly narrowed into slits. She looked like a lazy cat humming a lingering melody.

During intermission, the noblewoman stopped Mi, who was about to present flowers to Flora. She took the bouquet from Mi's hand, untied a pearl necklace from her neck, and placed it in Mi's hand, saying, "Flowers are useless; you need this." The noblewoman closed Mi's hand, stroking the back of her hand, and continued meaningfully, "There are no doors in this world that money can't open. If you can't open a door, it's simply because you don't have enough money, or you don't have enough power."

Mi had no idea what was wrong with this noblewoman. She looked at the woman in front of her. Her fat chin had three layers, and her body was like a barrel. Even with a corset, her two huge breasts were only pushed up to her neck. She looked like a greasy piece of pork. The pungent smell of perfume filled the entire space. She wore huge gemstone earrings. A golden crown caught Mi's attention. Only members of the royal family could use gold for a crown. Mi took a step back. The shadow that Derek's sedative had cast on her had not yet dissipated.

The noblewoman said no more, stood up and left, leaving two maids waiting quietly to the side. Mi, holding the pearl necklace, wondered what the noblewoman was up to. The two maids were dressed in luxurious velvet; this was a very wealthy noblewoman. Their pink velvet dresses were soft and lustrous, the young girls perfectly suited to the vibrant pink. The girl on the right blocked Mi's path as she tried to catch up with the noblewoman: "This necklace is a gift from the Countess. If you stay with the Countess, she can have Flora perform for you alone."

"Which lady is the Countess?" Mi looked at the two exceptionally beautiful maids in front of her. Their small faces had bright, sparkling eyes, and their delicate features were like those of porcelain dolls.

"You don't even recognize Mrs. Aldrich?" a maid asked with a disdainful look.

Mi turned abruptly to the plump figure already at the exit—it was Mrs. Aldrich. She asked, enunciating each word clearly, "What do you mean by following the Countess?"

Another maid looked Mi up and down, and said critically, "Why are you so old? I don't know what the madam sees in you. Following the madam, you should do whatever she tells you to do. How can you be so picky?" The maid then turned to look at Sheila, who was particularly dazzling in her red dress under the lamplight: "And you, at least you have a good figure. You two can come together."

Mi opened her palm, and a marigold coin lay quietly in it. She looked at the two young girls before her, no more than twenty years old, very pretty, but with a sharp tongue. Mi asked softly, "You recognize this, right?"

The two girls exchanged a glance and immediately curtsied to Mi, saying, "Sir."

Mi placed the pearl necklace back into the little girl's hand on the left: "Go back and tell Mrs. Aldrich that if I hear such words again, the Adventurers' Guild will personally confirm with His Majesty the King whether to cancel the distribution of merit coins to adventurers."

The two little girls put away the necklace and ran out quickly. They never expected that the four little maids were all so beautiful. Where did Mrs. Aldrich find these beautiful girls?