Jeanne looked at the garment before her. Though she couldn't recognize the brand, the design alone made it clear this was a high-end designer piece. If Talulah were to wear this...
She had to stop those thoughts; if she kept dwelling on it, she might actually try to force Talulah into it. How could a person who refused to even wear a skirt be willing to put on an evening gown?
"I have to say, Talulah, your taste in clothes is actually quite good! I misjudged you before—I thought you were the type who planned to wear one set of military fatigues until the day you died, never intending to change."
As she spoke, Jeanne picked up the black gown, examining it repeatedly while holding it up against Talulah to gauge the fit. But where did Talulah get the money to buy something like this? It certainly wasn't cheap!
"I'm so sorry my 'taste' isn't up to par, but I didn't buy either of these. Kashchey sent them over, saying they were for me to wear at the meeting. Now do you understand?"
Talulah spoke with a hand to her forehead, feeling utterly helpless. If she were forced to attend a meeting in this outfit, she'd rather call out an Emperor's Inner Guard and have a life-or-death duel instead.
On the other side, Jeanne's eyes turned into simple dots as she stared at the clothes. Why on earth was this a gown? This didn't seem suitable for the kind of meeting Talulah was attending.
If Talulah wore this, she wouldn't look like a fighter struggling for the oppressed; she would look more like the daughter of a noble family. Jeanne couldn't understand what that guy was scheming at all.
"So... do you plan to wear this black gown or this swimsuit? Your 'domesticated evil god' wouldn't give you useless clothes for no reason, right? Why don't you try them on first?"
Jeanne held both items in her hands. By comparison, this gown used less fabric than a single one of Talulah's shirts; it was no wonder she was so furious. However, Jeanne turned her head and imagined Talulah wearing it... she was curious to see what this Dragon with supposedly poor fashion sense would look like in such an outfit.
"If you like it so much, why don't I give it to you? I bet you'd look great in it. We could turn it into a poster and sell it to Laterano—we'd make a fortune!"
Talulah looked at the dress expressionlessly before it finally ended up in Jeanne's hands. She had originally intended to find a quiet place to burn it to ashes, but now that plan was ruined.
With the clothes in the hands of someone like Jeanne, if Talulah didn't hide them immediately, Jeanne would surely try to dress her up while she was sleeping. Did Talulah not know exactly what kind of person Jeanne was by now?
"The chest area is way too narrow; if I tried to wear it, it would probably burst. No, with my build, I couldn't even get it on in the first place."
This response left Talulah with no room for rebuttal. Looking at the girl in front of her—who seemingly hadn't caught the underlying implication of her own answer—Talulah couldn't tell if she was genuinely dense or just pretending.
"No wonder you wanted to bathe with me; you're probably planning to just purify Kashchey directly, aren't you? But what exactly did he say?"
Based on Jeanne's understanding of Kashchey, he shouldn't be making such a ridiculous mistake. Otherwise, it would be a total embarrassment for an evil god. Could it be that he did this on purpose to bully Talulah?
While the two were lost in thought, Talulah received a communication request from Kashchey. It seemed the snake intended to explain himself.
Thus, Talulah and Jeanne once again faced their "insane" domesticated evil god to see what kind of excuse he would conjure up this time.
When Jeanne arrived at Kashchey's side, the bookstore-like space they had seen several times before now looked like a fire scene, with scorch marks from flames everywhere.
Good grief, Talulah really was beyond furious—she had even vented her Originium Arts here. Jeanne remembered that Talulah had still been learning how to create fireballs just a while ago.
"Well then, Mr. Kashchey. Do you have anything else to say? If not, I'm going back to prepare an exorcism ritual."
Jeanne's tone lately hadn't been particularly aggressive, but to Kashchey, it carried a heavy sense of threat. Hearing this made a bit of cold sweat break out on him.
If he couldn't convince these two "ancestors," Kashchey figured his life as a Black Snake would come to an end. He wondered if the person who followed his orders to handle this was trying to get him killed on purpose.
"I believe I can explain. There has indeed been a misunderstanding! This dress was absolutely not intended for Talulah to wear to a meeting—I am not that stupid!"
Kashchey hurriedly tried to distance himself from the matter. He desperately needed to convince the Dragon he had raised; otherwise, by the time the sun rose tomorrow, his old enemies could come over and hold a funeral feast in his honor.
"I delegated this task to a subordinate; I wasn't controlling his every move. It's possible my subordinate grabbed the wrong clothes. What I prepared for you was indeed a set of military attire."
Kashchey also couldn't understand how his subordinate could mess up such a simple task. This time, he really hadn't intended to cause trouble; he just wanted to give his "child" a new outfit.
Look at what the child was wearing—that outfit that had been 'sewn for three years, patched for three years, and mended for three more.' What a mess it had become. It made it look like he used to abuse her.
"Is it really that simple? Then how do you explain this gown? Don't tell me you bought it for yourself."
Talulah believed about fifty or sixty percent of what Kashchey was saying, but she still couldn't understand why he possessed such a garment. Had he become a total pervert?
"You could understand it that way—those were the clothes I originally prepared for myself after I took over your body. Since you won't have any money to buy clothes at that time, it was better for me to prepare some in advance."
Kashchey was quite frank about his plan to possess Talulah. However, Jeanne hadn't expected him to have even prepared the wardrobe. What does this old man do all day?
"Are you insane?! I knew you started planning to take over my body long ago, but you even prepared the clothes yourself? How many outfits have you prepared over the years? Hand them all over!"
Talulah looked at the undying old thing before her with disgust. Right now, she had the urge to spark a flame and burn him to ash immediately; unfortunately, this was a mental world, and she couldn't do it.
However, Talulah was determined to dispose of all the clothes he had prepared over the years. She had to ensure that every piece of 'her' clothing in Kashchey's possession left this world.
"Actually, there aren't that many... I only prepared a few outfits... Fine, when I have time, I'll send all the clothes over. I'll leave them in Miss Jeanne's custody then."
Kashchey looked at his "bristling" Dragon and knew he couldn't tease her anymore. He could only choose a roundabout way to preserve these things.
After all, those garments were items he had painstakingly hand-selected; he certainly couldn't bear to see them turned into a pile of ash. He might as well find a "manager" who could protect them.
"No! Hand them all over to me!"