Editing City Series:Volume5b Chapter14 (section)

===Rosetta’s Journal===

A lot happened today unexpectedly. I was playing with the Fantasmé Renard children in the yard during the morning when Lady Beretta arrived. She started by opening a bag in front of me. She pulled out a document with lots of As and Bs on it.

“No problem with my grades. That means we can go on a trip tomorrow so let’s go. I’m taking you with me.”

This was news to me. She had apparently made a secret pact – an agreement – with the master. Yes. This was a surprise but I will be joining her on a trip to Bourgogne in southern France to visit the home of someone she knows.

<“A lot has happened. Rosetta. There is a lot I need to tell you on the way. And I will teach you even more once we’re there. So for today…”

“For today? Do you have some other dangerous news for me?”

“No I don’t. Um. For today let’s go buy you some clothes.”>

I apparently needed clothes to go on a trip. This was my first time going out to buy clothes. I could order underwear and such to be delivered. Same for the usual clothes and apron I wore. I used the same tailor the mansion had always used.

But I went into town to buy clothes today. I picked them out myself and I bought them myself.

We used Lady Beretta’s ''bicyclette'' to ride into town. I removed my apron and we rode it together. We rode down a street with the Arc de Triomphe visible in the distance and we arrived at Saint-Lazare Station. The station was being run by the Germans so we stopped the ''bicyclette'' in front of the station and Lady Beretta refueled herself.

Then we began shopping. I entered a shop known as a boutique for the first time ever. It was a surprise. It was nothing like my bedroom closet. There were clothes in all sorts of styles and colors.

The shop was about half the size of the mansion and it was almost entirely filled with clothing.

The elderly woman in the store – her name was Mannequin – apparently knew Lady Beretta and she came out with a long and narrow white wooden box.

The box contained the red dress Lady Beretta had borrowed from Sir Phillip. She said it had been somewhat damaged so she said had left it here for mending and washing.

We discussed a lot of things while choosing my clothes. I ended up choosing clothes the same design and color as the ones I already had.

Unlike me Lady Beretta chose her clothes on her own. She chose clothes in different designs and colors than the ones she already had.

I had never before seen myself wearing anything but my normal clothes and pajamas. But worrying over what to choose was pointless. I tried on a lot of different things. I looked into the mirror in the boutique’s changing room and I saw a version of me I had never seen.

I did not understand.

Why did clothes change the person wearing them?

I tried on a standalone skirt unlike my usual apron skirt. The chest area felt lacking. The whiteness of my blouse looked terribly conspicuous in the reflection.

I tried on a tight skirt that showed off the lines of my hips. It was harder to move my legs and I was much more aware of my body. It was strange how my reflection looked somehow taller than normal.

I tried on a blouse without puffy shoulders. It felt lacking and chilly but it was easier to move around in. I thought it looked like men’s clothing.

I tried on a lot of other things too. I became many other versions of myself. The old woman tied my hair back or chose an appropriate coat depending on the clothing I chose. That helped time pass in the blink of an eye.

While I continued choosing clothing I made a request I thought was asking too much.

“Are there any clothes like the ones Lady Beretta is wearing?”

Lady Beretta looked a little surprised. But the old woman took a look at Lady Beretta’s outfit and quickly prepared something for me. She even chose a similar hat.

I took those behind the dressing room curtain and put them on. Then I looked in the mirror. I do not know how to describe the emotion I felt then. I lack the vocabulary.

That could not be Lady Beretta in the mirror. It was only a Belle de Marionnette wearing similar clothing. Clothing could turn you into a different version of yourself. But it could not turn you into a different person.

But. Why did I think being different was a good thing? And why did I still want the same hat as Lady Beretta?

I removed that outfit without opening the dressing room’s curtain. I could tell I would never wear them again so I neatly folded them up on the hangars and handed them back. I was led to a small room next to the dressing room.

It was a white-walled room with a single gray partition. There was a pure white ''robe'' in the center of the room. A mannequin was wearing it. The old woman and Lady Beretta smiled.

“Fancy clothing has been banned during the occupation of Paris. But the ''couturier''s have still been giving shape to their thoughts. This dress is of course contraband. No one can buy it.”

They had me wear it. Putting on a dress was difficult.

While doing so I realized that my legs were becoming human due to the Coppelia Effect.

The cushioning at the base of my thighs remained as something like a dark birthmark.

“I can introduce you to a good healer to get that healed up once the war is over. It would be a shame to leave it.”

I smiled when the old woman said that. The similar marks on my shoulders had already disappeared. The ones on my thighs would likely be gone in less than a month. So I simply told her not to worry about it.

I think it took around 20 minutes to get the dress on. Then it was Lady Beretta’s turn to wear a dress. Putting it on her was harder than with me. The corset was too tight for some reason.

Yes. Her stomach…no. I will not Signe that.

After more time passed we were dressed in contrasting red and white dresses.

The old woman had a camera so she took a photograph of Lady Beretta and me. The photograph would apparently be delivered to the mansion. I expect it will arrive after our trip. Surely.

After that I removed the dress and chose the clothing I wanted.

We loaded the boxes on the front of the ''bicyclette''. We stopped by another shop to buy me a travel bag – one I could wear on my back. Once our preparations were complete we pushed the ''bicyclette'' back to the mansion.

A lot happened on the way back as well. But I doubt I have time to write about that.

I need to prepare for tomorrow. And I need to make sure I do not stay up too late.

I am looking forward to tomorrow. This excitement is not a part of my job.