Julietta’s Dressup

Chapter 131. Preparation, Part XVI

Translator: Khan

Editor: Aelryinth

“Me? Oh, the princess, this is Count Ronald Julio Martin Adam. I brought him here because he was curious about the dressing shop.”

“Welcome, Mr. Count. I heard you went to Vicern, but you must have come back. So, do I discuss finance with Count Adam from now on?”

Oswald shook his hand at Julietta’s question.

“No, His Highness was going to leave it to Count Adam, but he deferred to me. Since I am in charge of the new jewelry business and the two stores are related, he thought it would be more appropriate for me to manage them together. You can speak to me now.”

Adam could not help but admire the unique decor inside of the dressing shop, as well as the appearance of Julietta.

Oswald whispered as he kept poking around, wondering if there was anything to find fault with,

“What is it? Isn’t it amazing? Did you see the glass door on the way in? The jewelry stores we’re opening in the future will be decorated with glass on one side.”

It was annoying to be proud of this, but he had to admit it. As Adam nodded reluctantly, Oswald headed in with an excited step.

Julietta frowned at Oswald, who naturally headed to the cafe, and Adam who followed him without speaking. She had to ask Sophie to take out tea again, because she had not hired an employee yet.

At this point, she had to think about whether she had formed a wrong habit for the guests. It was because of Oswald, who ordered only one suit of clothes, yet drank tea every time he came to the shop, making frequent visits, too!

“Sophie, I’m sorry, but please prepare some tea. I’ll hire someone as soon as possible, so please endure hardships until then.”

“Is the Prince here again?”

Julietta laughed at Sophie, taking off her work apron as if it were nothing. “His Highness is not here, but the Marquis of Oswald, and an aide of His Highness are here.”

“Yes, let’s go. You can’t let them wait.”

Julieta stopped Sophie, who was about to head to the annex. “Fortunately, they didn’t go to the annex, they are at the cafe.”

So, while she asked Sophie for tea, Oswald introduced the cafe to Adam. Adam who was listening to the explanation looked around the cafe and said, “Clearly from the glass doors, the stage to show off the costumes, and the cafe inside for the convenience of the customers. I can understand why you have praised her wit so much.”

“I’m looking forward to seeing the time when the princess become the Empress. Having different perspectives and thoughts from others, she will be a great help to the Empire. Don’t you think about an Austern Empire ruled by His Highness Killian and Princess Kiellini?”

Adam realized that Oswald never called her ‘Julietta.’ Adam laughed as if he had lost, knowing that he was deliberately using the title of princess.

“I admire your enthusiasm. I’ll treat her as Princess Kiellini courteously from now on.”

When the two were smiling at each other like that, Julietta came back with Sophie. “I’m sorry. I’ll have tea ready soon. This is Mrs. Sophie Malfido, who manages the dressing shop on my behalf.”

“Hello, Your Excellency. Just call me Sophie.”

Sophie, who disliked her husband’s last name of Malfido, gathered her courage and asked them to call her Sophie, and went into the kitchen. Oswald waited for the tea to come out, pointing to the annex visible across the terrace to Adam.

“Do you see the annex over there? That’s the separate house where Mrs. Sophie who just greeted us, and Mrs. Amelie lived. It’s also the place for the secret meetings with His Highness. Ah, Mrs. Amelie is the other one who manages the dressing shop, along with Sophie.”

Julietta looked at Oswald pointing to the annex over the wide-open terrace, and Adam, who was absorbed in the explanation. At this point, she was wondering if she should ask the Prince to buy her a new mansion where Amelie and Sophie would stay.

Julietta put out the notes she had brought with her to Oswald. “Mr. Marquis, this is the interior design of the jewelry store that’s due to open.”

Oswald looked through the drawings and sketches that Julietta gave him and asked, “Are you going to decorate three sides with glass, not just one side?”

“Yes. I don’t think the place you told me about would be good. I’d like to recommend a corner building facing the Eileen Theater.”

Along the boulevard, the Eileen Theater had a semi-circular façade in the front, at the very beginning of Eloz Street. With the front of the theater as the starting point, there was a row of buildings with different kinds of shops along the divided streets.

Oswald was surprised by Julietta recommending a building facing the center of the front of the Eileen Theater among them. There was a wide street in front of the theater to pass along via a carriage, not a place to relax and enjoy shopping.

“Why is that? Does it depend on location?”

“It’s to encourage consumer sentiment. We will take advantage of competitive psychology; after seeing the beautiful actresses in the theater, the noble ladies want to be as beautiful as they are.”

Adam asked at Julietta’s words, “What do you mean by competitive psychology? There’s no way noble ladies will have compete with actresses, who they think are cheap.”

“There’s no class difference in psychology that they don’t want to be inferior to. If beggars on the streets are beautiful or handsome, people tend to regard them as enemies, rather than being generous, or attack or seducing them. The same is true. The actress on stage is a potential contender against the ladies. They are flowers blooming on the side of the road, not knowing when their husbands will turn their eyes.”

Julietta drew a circle on a map of the Eloz Street where she wanted the jewelry shop to open.

Only

“This is currently a men’s club. It’s been around since the beginning of the theater, but it’s a place where free entry is permitted for women who are not owned by anyone, such as actresses and hookers, but common women are not allowed to enter. I don’t think it’s a good thing to see such a place on the boulevard this way. So, I’d like to get rid of this place and have a jewelry store here.”

Oswald, who visited the theater frequently, didn’t know what the store was. That was because he had never been interested. It seemed that it was a promiscuous place doing an amorous business with middle-class and wealthy commoners rather than aristocrats, because he had never heard about it in passing terms.

“Wouldn’t it be worse to open a jewelry store in such a bad place?” Oswald said as if he were worried.

“It would not be a matter if it looks so different that they can’t remember what it was like before. I think it’s the best place for the people who visit the theater to buy jewelry to please their favorite actresses or girlfriends. It’s also the perfect place to open it for ladies who are moved by opera to the fullest and want to compete against beautiful actresses. Getting out of the theater and waiting for the carriage, or getting into the carriage and looking casually out the window, they’ll see the beautiful jewels seducing them.”

Oswald and Adam were fascinated by her explanation. Julietta added, looking at them as they dared not miss a word of hers, “Not only that, but this location will be a dream spot for girls who are working hard to become famous actresses in the theater, and young ladies who come out of the theater after the opera. It makes them dream that someday they’ll buy a jewel that suits them there. I think it’s the perfect place to secure current and future customers.”

Adam recalled the time when Julietta said something similar in the past. Back then, she was just an ugly, humble maid talking about her dreams. But in just a few months, she appeared to be completely different, making a confident claim, as if she did not intend to end her wishes with just a dream.

It crossed his mind that he was too narrow-minded. It was foolish of him not to put a single effort forth, yet ask His Highness to throw away the treasure he found, bound by his lucky birth status.

He looked at the map Julietta showed him and recalled the place he had bought in Vicern this time. Vicern was a place where entertainment culture had not developed like Austern, so Leicesant Street was literally an ordinary shopping street.