Billy Anderson was confident in his own taste. However, this concerned men's clothing - he had little understanding of women's clothing. A dress, of course. If he had made a request to the Palesa Palace, it would have been quite possible to get a dress, but finding a dress to put on a man was not an easy task.
In addition, clothing is an individual thing: everyone has their own. Much depends on your body type, skin tone—all of this influences your choice. And now he is also being told to overcome the boundaries of gender. He had never received such an order. But an order is an order.
Arriving at the Duke's bedroom in the residence, Billy looked at the knight, whose height was about the same as his own. He knew that Adrian Grimaldi had a rather pretty face, and yet, thinking that dressing a knight in a woman's clothes was not an easy task, Billy took Adi by the forearm.
-......
The muscles were there, but the arm was thinner than he expected. No, it really couldn't be called a man's forearm. With such a volume, wide sleeves are not needed. Breasts... There aren't any, so you should put something inside. Or choose an outfit that does not accentuate the chest... No, the best thing is clothing that covers all the way to the throat.
This is not common in summer outfits, but there were ways to sew and add one or the other.
The hair was too long to simply hide under the wig. You will probably have to gather it and pin it at the top, and only then put it on top. Adi has fair skin, so brown hair would look good. If you wear a wig over your hair, it will be noticeable, so it is better to choose one with it down, and wear gloves on your hands to hide calluses.
If you're tall, that means low-heeled shoes.
Having mentally drawn up a rough plan of how Adi should be transformed, Billy took out a corset. When he was told to get women's clothing and a wig, this was the first thing he took. The rest had to be selected based on the figure, but any corset was suitable.
—Have you ever worn a corset?
- ...No.
No one in the family ever dressed up Adi. She didn't need to wear a corset. Looking at the torment of those who put it on, she herself did not feel the slightest desire. She could not even imagine that she would encounter a corset for the first time under such circumstances.
- It hurts terribly.
-...
- They tighten it so much that it is impossible to breathe normally. Presses on the ribs. Since you, sir, are a man, the corset will have to be tightened even further to form the line of the body. They say it feels like the internal organs are being squeezed from above and below. Those who wear this every day should be truly respected. Do you have any chest muscles? The fact is that if a man has developed muscles, then when compressed by a corset, the muscles bulge and can look like breasts.
-...
For a moment, Adi suspected that Billy was trying on the corset himself. Otherwise, where would such a detailed review come from? Billy in a corset is a picture that she did not want to imagine, but imagined against her will.
- If there are no muscles, we will cover it and put something like cotton wool inside.
Billy said. The rest - cover up, apply makeup - somehow they'll sort it out.
- In the meantime, I'll go get some suitable clothes. You can put on the corset in advance, and I—
- Give it here.
Jules said. Anderson stared at him in amazement. Give away - what, a corset?
“I’ll put it on her myself.” Come here.
- His Grace?..
- Is something wrong?
- N-no, but still...
No, really - the Duke personally puts a corset on his bodyguard? It was strange. Very strange. So it means that it was not in vain that Joel insisted that there was something suspicious between them, that they were sticking to each other - it turns out, right?
Of course, all the vassals would only be glad if the Duke met a worthy person, but still...
- Bring the clothes quickly, Billy.
Well, in any case, the main thing now is to get out of Palesa. Billy nodded and quickly walked out. Juls turned to Adi.
- Adi, go to the waiting room.
* * *In the side room, where no fire was lit, only dim moonlight seeped in. It was not so dark that it was impossible to distinguish objects, but it seemed impossible to read the facial expression.
Jules did not close the door.
Adi turned her back and took off her cloak and shirt. Underneath they were a chemiz and leather armor. Apparently, she used it to hide her breasts. The belt of armor that was tightening the chest came unfastened and fell down with a dull thud. It turned out to be quite heavy - the sound came out loud.
Moonlight seeped through the thin fabric of the shemiz. The line of the body appeared so clearly that Yuls involuntarily looked away.
- Your Mightiness?
Adi called out to him, turning around. Juls automatically looked at the call and immediately turned away again. Without looking, he handed her the corset, and Adi accepted it, placing it on her stomach.
“It’s impossible to put this on alone.”
He knew. Juls said, turning to Adi: “Turn your back.” Adi turned around, pressing the corset to her stomach so that it would not slide down. Not a single lace has been threaded yet.
-......
Perhaps this is what they meant when they said that women's clothing takes a lot of time to put on. Jules took the lace fastened at the top, crossed it and threaded it through the loops on the back. The end inserted from top to bottom and the end inserted from bottom to top met at the narrowest point - at the thin waist.
Jules pulled the laces with effort.
- Is that enough?
It’s not like he had ever put on or even taken off someone’s corset, so he had no idea. With an expression of doubt on his face - whether he had overdone it - he asked: “Can you breathe?” Adi turned her head with a calm expression and answered:
- I can breathe quite freely.
-......
Need more tightening? Juls made another effort.
- Everything is fine?
- Yes, no problem.
-...Doesn’t it compress the internal organs?
- Yes. Everything is fine with the internal organs.
“What should we do about it?” It's scary that it will break if you tighten it any further.
Even if she is a woman, how can her waist be so thin? Are the internal organs inside absolutely in order? How can maids or maids tighten their waists so ruthlessly?
Of course, he didn’t see this himself, he only heard from the stories that they were tightening it so much that a scream was breaking out, but Yuls couldn’t do that. Even now it was quite thin, and he was afraid that something might happen.
It seemed like he was scared of something for the first time. Thoughts that he could harm her. Despite the fact that when people died, or he killed, or gave orders, it did not evoke any feelings in him.
- Are you sure everything is all right?
- Yes, everything is fine.
-...Let's finish this. It seems that the waist has become quite thin.
- Yes.
Adi answered. Her chest felt a little tight, but she was used to it - leather armor always felt just as tight, so there was no difference. Rather, it even helped to keep my back straight. Perhaps also because Jules did not delay things too much.
- Which knot should I tie?
- Fishermen, please.
“This is a military way of tying knots, isn’t it?”
-...I think the main thing is not to get untied.
And that's true. Jules agreed. The purpose of a corset is to make the waist look thin, and if it suddenly comes undone in the middle of an activity, it will be bad. Although, it’s interesting - do maids also use the military method of tying knots? Or they have their own secrets of mastery.
Adi, having finished putting on the corset, turned around. Since he was wearing a chemise underneath, only his thin waist stood out—nothing else was visible.
- Your Mightiness.
Billy returned soon after. Having just got hold of the dress, Billy looked at the corset worn over the chemise and thought: “Doesn’t it look good?”
“First of all, sir, put on this crinoline and petticoat.” Oh yeah, you'll have to take off your pants. You can't wear a knight's uniform under all this.
With these words, Billy held out a strange object. Adi stared at him with a confused face. She had no idea where or how to put it on. Figuring that there were ties here, which meant it was probably the waist, Adi stepped inside the crinoline.
- This is the only dress that we managed to get right now. The neck remains open, but since you are wearing a chemiz, you can unbutton the buttons and tuck the shirt inside the dress. I need to take care that my breasts are not visible, and to distract attention I plan to wear pearls around my neck. ...Uh, how did you tie the crinoline?
- So that it doesn’t get untied.
- In my opinion, he will never untie himself?
Billy said. Standing nearby, Joel said quietly, “This is the military way of tying knots.” Billy's face expressed complete shock.
- Is it really a corset too?
- Most likely, tied in the same way.
He didn’t tie it himself, so he wasn’t completely sure. Jules nodded.
- And how are you going to untie this?
- Soldiers, squires, knights - everyone knows how to untie such knots.
-...
The maids won't be able to untie it. As are the servants. Yuls picked up the dress that Billy had brought.
- Blue dress.
— It was summer, so the choice was limited. But this option is dark enough in color so that the fabric does not show through.
- It will look good.
“I also brought lace to cover my shoulders.” Ah, the shoes are exactly the same as regular ones. Also, let's see...
Billy fussed about. Adi silently took her petticoat and dress and went to the reception room.