This second outfit was quite plain compared to the first one.
It was also one which Elli had picked out from the shelves in the previous room.
I quickly removed the traditional dokkalfar winter clothes and folded them into a pile on the bench in the back. Putting on the new clothes took almost no time, as it was merely a single one piece dress.
This one, unlike the layered black outfit, was pure white. The overall shape was virtually a single tube with an opening that ran along half of one side, closed shut by being buttoned up. Presumably that was the back as it ran down quite far. The only frills being the lace which ran along all of the top and edges of the dress as well as how one side flared out a little with a wavy pattern.
The material itself was a bit stretchy, but even then there were built in curves taking the wearer's body shape into consideration.
(Or rather, these curves completely match my own body.)
There were three obvious bulges in the dress, all on one side making a triangle. Past the opening, the dress flared out in the same fashion as a skirt. It was clear what these bulges were supposed to accommodate, but looking at them on an outfit so clearly made me shiver a bit.
Not only did it look like they perfectly match my own body shape, but they were quite big once I saw them from a third person's perspective.
(Am I really this big?)
I've always had a certain degree of awareness, but considering that I live with these curves all the time, it was easy to forget how much they pushed out from my body. Even my belly which have only grown this big the last few months, didn't feel nearly as big as this dress made it seem.
Giving up on everything for the meantime, I step into the dress and pull it up.
"Scarlet, do you need me to help you secure that dress?"
Along with a knock, Elli's voice rang through the closed door.
"No! I'm fine! It's okay!"
I cringed as my voice broke for a moment like some awkward teen. Technically I wasn't even a teenager yet, being less than five years old physically. But mentally I was already close to my forties, so that did add to my embarrassment count.
"If you say so. Call if you need any help, however minor."
"Thanks, I'll do that if I need it."
I didn't need it. Definitely didn't need it whatsoever.
Going back to the dress, there were no shoulders on this outfit, so my bra straps were completely showing. After a moment of thought, I ended up taking them off, but looking at myself in the mirror made me second guess that decision.
Even while I was only holding the dress in place with my hands, now that was bra-less, I could see a pair of distinct bullets poking their way through the dress material. If I put my bra back on, they should be better concealed, but then I'd be effectively showing off part of my bra.
Which was the lesser of two evils, I really had no idea, but in the end, this dress showed off my body shape to the point that this little bit extra might have been less of an issue than the alternative.
With a suppressed sigh, I went to finish things off.
"Claret, can you close the back for me?"
"Yes Master."
I could've done it myself using magic, but since it wasn't like I had eyes on the back of my head, it would have been difficult to make sure everything went on right.
"What about me?! I wanna do something!"
"Umm, you can hold up my hair so Claret can get a proper view."
"Yay!"
Orphne grabbed my hair by the bow.
(Please be careful with that.)
That bow was originally weaved by my half assed ability in addition to being years old now after being worn every day. Even if it was made with the incredibly tough hunter spider silk, the thing was wearing out in addition to the poor weave.
I really hoped that it would last long enough until Alicia grew big enough to make me a new one. It would really suck if I had to retire the ribbon before then. Maybe I'd even go without anything to tie my hair until Alicia was able to make me something new.
But my expectations aside, thankfully Orphne was being reasonably careful with the ribbon.
My hair on the other hand, there didn't seem to be much of an indication that she was being careful with it at all as she started to braid part of the end.
Claret on the other hand methodically tugged the dress closed and buttoned the back up a bit at a time. After a minute of this, I could feel the dress taught against my skin, but not so tight that I would be worried for Alicia.
With one last pull a bit stronger than the rest, my favourite familiar secured the buttons and backed off.
"There. It's done Master."
"Oh? Let's see."
I turned to take a look in the mirror.
The first thing I ended up noting was how Orphne was entirely engrossed with playing with my hair. The end had turned into a while series of braided spikes. The braids weren't even all the same, as each one was done a bit differently.
As for the dress, I had quite the mixed feeling regarding it.
As expected, most of it was a form fitting tube dress, practically made to show off everything about my body. Though the bottom half was a loose, wavy skirt cut short in the front but tapered in length in the back. The front ended at mid-thigh length while the back reached my ankles.
But while the dress itself was an exemplary example of craftsmanship, I couldn't feel happy about wearing it. The white colouration was probably trying to imbue the feeling of purity or something, but against my extremely pale skin, rather than contrast with it, instead it blended together. The small difference in shade did nothing to separate itself from my own body, and the thinness of the material did no favours either.
(As I thought. Black is way better for me.)
I kinda didn't want to show this one off, to be honest. The way it conformed with my body made me feel a bit naked, though aside form the colour it was probably no different from wearing a one piece swimsuit along with a skirt.
"Oh, you are done."
"Huh?!"
"If you had already finished changing, then you should have answered the first time. Come! Let everyone see!"
"W, wait!"
Perhaps I was too engrossed in my thoughts, but I didn't notice Elli had knocked or anything. But as it was too late now, I could only allow myself to be pulled by the elder out into the open.
The room was quiet aside from a few gasps as I tried to cover myself with my one free hand.
"Hmm. I suppose white is not the colour for you."
Elli noted the same thing I had. White simply blended in with both my skin and hair. There was too little contrast and made me look like a ghost or something.
(No, even ghosts had more colour than me when I wear white.)
"But it still looks good on you. You look wonderful."
"You think so?"
It made me a bit happy to hear that, though it did little to diminish the embarrassment.
My eyes scanned across the room. Almost everyone's eyes were sparkling as they stared at me, further emphasizing Elli's point.
A smile threatened to erupt from my lips. That was, until I noticed that the few men in the room had their heads turned away.
Their cheeks were red as they kept stealing glances towards me.
It took me a moment to realize why they were doing that, but when I did, my cheeks burned with the fury of a thousand suns.
"I...I..."
Ripping my hand from Elli's grip, I slammed shut the changing room's door behind me.
"Hmm. I suppose that was a little too much for her this early. That means this one is definitely out."
(What was she going to make me wear next?!)
I simply dreaded what outfit it was she had rejected at this point in the game as I sat down on the bench, my hands on my cheeks as I tried to cool myself down.
"Try this one next Scarlet."
The door opened a crack and a new outfit was thrust through.
At least there was a decent amount of material this time, so I accepted the new clothes before Elli closed the door.
"Wah!"
Unfolding the new outfit, I was surprised and amazed at the sheer sight of it.
It was some sort of layered full sized gown. The outer layer was a bright red like fresh blood, and the inner layer pitch black like the night sky. Unlike the previous dress, this one seemed to try to accentuate my features by contrasting my skin and hair while simultaneously matching my eye colour.
"Wow! So pretty!"
I couldn't help but nod to Orphne's comment. Even she was enraptured by it.
Claret was...mostly uninterested. She never did pay much attention to this sort of thing. At least she was honest with her feelings.
Despite that, she promptly unbuttoned my current dress when I asked her to.
Carefully folding the white dress, I placed it on the bench in the back of the change room. Then placed the previous outfit on top of it and put the bundle to the side.
Since the new outfit covered the shoulders properly, I put my bra back on. It felt good to have proper support. Frankly speaking, I remembered hearing that some women went without a bra, but after becoming a woman myself, I could only imagine that it worked for people of more modest proportions. For women like myself, it wasn't possible. Even more so if you didn't have the stats to keep yourself both strong and durable.
This new dress was much more complicated looking than the previous one, but after taking a little bit of time examining it, it became clear that while there were a lot of details involved in making it, putting it on was quite simple.
The dress was actually composed of a single piece, opening at the side on the front.
I stepped into the dress and lifted it up all the way to my shoulders. There were quite a few drawstrings built into the dress, and I tied them all along the way up the side of the front panel, tucking the ends inside the folds to conceal them.
There were a few adjustments to make, but overall, it was quite easy to get into, and it accommodated my proportions quite easily.
Or rather, it was obviously made to suit my proportions, especially my large belly.
Feeling a bit comfortable, I turned to the full length mirror and had a look at myself. And caught my breath in my throat.
"Wow! You're so pretty in this dress!"
"...Yea..."
I couldn't help but agree with Orphne. I've long been forced to admit that I was quite the beauty, but it felt like this dress pushed that ten up to an eleven.
(Is this even legal?)
My thoughts couldn't help but go to consider that this outfit might cause trouble if I was seen in it.
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(But still, it's so amazing...)
The dress was primarily a bright red like fresh blood, yet it had a metallic sheen in the light, similar to the scales of a butterfly's wings. The shoulders were puffed and a lacy ribbon decorated my biceps. The sleeves slowly flared out until the mouths were wide enough to stick my head inside of. They were lined with black lace and the inside had a layer of black as well.
The collar was made up of wavy folds which opened up at the front with more black lace which ran across my collarbone. The dress's front was made from a single panel with a ribbon crisscrossing over it like it was laced up, ending in a loose bow on top of my chest. Black lace ran down both sides all the way to the front open skirt and continued around the whole length to the back. There was also a large lacy ribbon tied into a bow on the to of my belly as if to emphasize the fact that there was a present gift wrapped inside.
The red skirt was lifted up and tied in place with a bow on regular intervals revealing the black skirt underneath. As the red part of the dress opened up on the front, layers of a black skirt flowed out in a wavy pattern, each layer being topped off with more black lace.
Turning around, I saw an extra large ribbon forming a bow in the small of my back with the rear of the skirt flaring out due to extra layers of padding hidden underneath.
(This makes my rear look pretty big.)
If I had to mention any faults, it was definitely that. My butt was already pretty big, and this dress's skirt made it look even more so.
But aside from that single fault, I couldn't help but be enamoured by this dress as I turned back to look at profile.
(Hmm...there's something missing.)
If anything, the dress was so amazing, for once I was the one who was being overshadowed by my outfit. With such a nice dress, it felt like a shame for me to be the one to wear it. Though when I thought about it for a second, if I wasn't worthy of this dress, then whoever made it would be quite hard pressed to find someone who was.
I couldn't say I was entirely happy with my excessive beauty, but I was confident in it.
After thinking about it for a few moments, I realized exactly what was missing.
I bit my thumb with my fang, then spread the leaking blood along my lips. I would have used some of the blood stored away, but if I did, I would have had trouble stopping myself from licking it all away. My own blood didn't tempt me in The slightest.
After the careful application, I healed my thumb back up and took a second look.
Now, with the extra bit of colour added to my face, my breath was taken away.
Such a small addition, yet it made all the difference.
"I almost look like a doll."
Rather than a person wearing a dress, I looked more like some perfectly sculpted porcelain doll made to be displayed somewhere.
It was a bit overwhelming actually.
"Hey Scarlet! You dropped something!"
"Hmm?"
Orphne handed a piece of something over. It was a wide strip of red cloth with black lace and a pair of fake black roses sewn into it. The ends had a string to presumably tie onto or around something.
The design matched the outfit, but I wasn't sure how it was supposed to be put on or where.
"Isn't it supposed to be put on your head? I think I saw some humans wear something similar before!"
(Wait, this isn't...)
I hesitated for a moment, but after taking a deep breath, I placed the accessory on my head and tied it on like some sort of fancy headband and turned to look at myself in the mirror.
"Now I really look like a doll."
Now complete with the frilly headband, I looked like a life-sized Gothic Lolita doll.
It looked real good, but it was still embarrassing. Just in a different way from the last dress.
(No, the last one was just plain embarrassing. This one's just...a little embarrassing.)
I actually wanted to show myself off with this dress, though maybe just without the headband. But if I went without it, I'd probably be forced to go back and put it on, so at best it would only delay the inevitable.
(Again?)
My brow twitched as pain pulsed from my giant belly.
It was my contractions.
They've been happening for about two weeks already, coming and going. After the first time, I talked to one of the experienced midwives, and she explained that it just meant that my body was just getting ready for giving birth. Though she did give me a checkup at the time, since it wasn't any sign of anything besides simply becoming close to birth, I ended up having to mostly disregard it.
And they've come and gone since as well, and will again this time too most likely.
I leaned against the wall to let my body do its work so I could get back to my life.
It wasn't like I couldn't do anything while my contractions were going on, but they were distracting.
"Scarlet? Are you alright in there? Do you need help?"
"I, I'm fine. Just give me a minute."
"Is that so? You can call me if you need anything. Anything at all."
"Thanks, but I'm fine. Just need a sec."
Elli sure was sensitive to this sort of thing. It was probably evidence to all her experience, both in dealing with pregnancies herself, as well as helping others over the years.
Frankly speaking, despite the ulterior motives, I was glad that she made me move in with her. Her advice these few months had been invaluable, and just her presence, to hold me and stroke my hair when things got really difficult really helped me get through it all.
I really owed her a lot for all the things she's helped me out with.
(If only she didn't push this hobby of hers on me.)
Though to be honest, it wasn't so bad. She generally chose outfits which actually looked good on me, and I liked how I looked in them. Both the first one and this dress were very nice. The second one, if it was someone who looked more normal, it would have looked amazing on as well. It just...didn't work for me specifically.
It would have been great on Elli though.
Pretty soon, the contractions stopped, and I was feeling better.
Mustering myself up, I opened the door and stepped out.
What greeted me was...silence.
Nobody talked or anything.
The stares made me nervous and I started to fidget a bit, turning my head to Elli for help. But rather than say or do anything, she stared as well.
(Did I mess up? I'm not exposing myself somewhere weird, am I?)
I was pretty sure that I had put the outfit on properly, but at the same time, it wasn't really something I was used to wearing, so it was possible I got something really wrong.
"Umm, Elli?"
The fellow elder's body shook, like electricity ran through her body when I called to her.
Before I knew it, she had grabbed my hand and started pulling me out of the room.
"Wa, wait! What's going on?!"
"We need to show you to everybody!"
"Wait! Why? How come?"
Elli let go of my hand and grabbed my shoulders and she looked at me straight. There was fire in her eyes, the likes of which I had never seen before.
"It is a waste to allow you to remove this dress without showing it to as many people as possible!"
"What do you mean it's a waste? It's just an outfit."
"Scarlet, my dear, it is not just an outfit. It is your image we are talking. The beauty you truly posses."
I stood there, a bit conflicted.
On one hand, sure. It felt good to look pretty. Being told so as well. But another, being made into some sort of show piece wasn't really something I was comfortable with. I had spent practically my entire previous life as more of a background character than anything. Being inconspicuous was something I did well.
At least I thought so.
Being thrust into the spotlight wasn't really something I was comfortable with.
I didn't need fame or glory or any of that sort of thing most others craved to some degree. Spending time with the people I loved was far more important to me. Being told I looked pretty by a person I cared about was infinity better than being told by hundreds of strangers or people I barely knew.
Perhaps seeing my hesitation, Elli pulled my head into her chest and stroked my hair.
"If you really do not want to, then I will not say more. But I do believe that beauty is something to be shared, and you have quite the abundance of it."
I nodded slowly.
It wasn't like I didn't understand what she meant. People liked to look pretty, and liked to show it off. There were plenty of TV and streaming shows that emphasized that point. It wasn't just in those shallow beauty pageants and stuff, but all over the place.
It was nicer to be called beautiful than ugly of course. But even beyond that, even I liked showing off when I felt I looked pretty.
Just...not to so many people.
I didn't need or want validation from strangers. Only those I cared deeply about.
Having Elli tell me I looked beautiful was better than everyone in the city telling me that.
"!"
"Are you feeling unwell?"
"It...it's just some contractions."
I answered this dear dokkalfar through clenched teeth.
The contractions were painful, and came faster than usual, but it wasn't anything I couldn't handle.
"I believe you deserve some rest. You have done well today, dear. Everyone, back to work. We will continue this some other time."
My cheeks twitched hearing that Elli fully intended on continuing this fashion show after it being interrupted. It seemed like her generosity of letting me rest didn't go far enough that she would let me off the hook in regards to this.
Elli sat me down and took a seat beside me as I leaned fully into her chest as the pain of my contractions continued.
While one part of me hoped that Alicia would be born soon, another couldn't help but wonder what other outfits Elli had prepared for me to try.