"Welcome! Are you two also here to buy bridesmaid dresses?" Ultear and Kagura, who had just arrived, were considered regular customers here.
They rarely ordered custom-made clothes but would occasionally buy some affordable luxury garments off the rack, mainly because they looked nice and held up well in a fight.
"No, no need to attend to us. We're just here to help her take a look," Ultear smiled, shaking her head.
"No problem. If you need anything, please feel free to contact our staff at any time," Louis replied with a polite smile.
...
"Raizel-sama! Welcome back," Louis greeted Raizel warmly.
Raizel had followed Ultear and Kagura here, casually strolling in with his hands in his pockets.
Raizel looked at Ultear and Kagura and sighed. "I saw you two rushing down the street earlier and thought a dark guild had attacked. Turns out you're just buying clothes."
"Not us, it's her," Ultear pointed a thumb at Erza.
"Alright, enough chatting. Take me to see the dresses!" Erza urged from the side, practically vibrating with excitement.
The four of them followed Louis to the formal wedding attire section.
Erza immediately felt like she had entered a white ocean.
Various intricate wedding dresses dazzled her eyes like blooming flowers.
"This one is beautiful!"
"I like this one!"
"This dress has such a long train! I love it!"
"That... wait a moment, Miss Erza..." Louis stood by with one hand gesturing vaguely while continuously wiping sweat with the other.
Finally having no other choice, he looked at Ultear and Kagura with pleading eyes.
"Wait a moment, Erza... These are wedding dresses!" Ultear stepped forward to physically restrain the nearly frenzied knight.
"Eh??? These are for the bride?" Erza blinked in confusion, holding up a veil.
After giving Ultear a deeply grateful look, Louis said, "That's right. You nearly made me break out in a cold sweat. These are wedding dresses. The bridesmaid dresses are in the back section."
Louis slightly bowed and gestured forward with his arm to indicate the way.
When doing business with Erza Belserion, you didn't need to worry about her spending money—you just had to worry about being unable to physically restrain her.
Passing through silk-textured partitions, they entered the bridesmaid dress section.
"Eh..." Erza's enthusiasm noticeably diminished.
The bridesmaid dresses clearly seemed a grade lower than the wedding dresses.
Even if the materials might be similar, the design and details were far inferior and much simpler.
"How could this be...?" Erza looked like she was about to cry, holding up a plain pink gown.
"Well... that's just how it is. After all, bridesmaids shouldn't steal the bride's spotlight on her big day," Louis explained gently.
He indicated this question wasn't beyond his usual customer service preparation.
"No problem, we still have many elegant styles here. You can choose freely."
An hour passed...
Erza had tried on over a dozen outfits back and forth, but wasn't satisfied with any of them.
"All these dresses feel too plain." Erza sighed, adjusting her corset.
She still preferred wearing more vibrant, eye-catching clothes.
"Ultear, Kagura, Raizel, what do you think of this one?" Erza spin around in a lilac dress.
"Not bad."
"Pretty good."
"There's a room for improvement."
The three sat slouched on plush chairs drinking tea, giving only brief glances before answering robotically.
At first, the three had offered some genuine fashion opinions, but now they had given up entirely.
They had seen too many dresses already!
"If all else fails, you could always get a custom set made, Erza. There's still plenty of time anyway," Ultear gave Erza an out, and she could tell Erza had been waiting for someone to say exactly that.
"You're right! Custom it is!" Erza nodded vigorously, quite pleased with Ultear's suggestion.
"Of course, that is highly possible. You can tell us your design concept, any specific requirements, and what design elements you dislike. We can accommodate all your requests," Louis smiled.
Having become the store manager thanks to his professional competence, he maintained a cheerful smile throughout Erza's grueling back-and-forth outfit trials.
Erza began listing her requirements.
Well, an extensive list... down to the minute, millimeter details of the sleeve designs.
Louis's hand flew across his notepad as he wrote, his pen practically smoking from the speed.
"Can you have the draft ready by tomorrow?" Erza batted her eyes expectantly.
"Um... well, we need to send your requirements to headquarters in Crocus first, and then the design team there will work on it. Tomorrow... might not be feasible," Louis stuttered.
Watching Erza's expression darken by the second, Louis began sweating profusely again.
"This... well..."
"Think about your previous armor design drafts, Erza—those took several days too. Three days would actually be quite fast for a custom gown," Kagura came to his rescue.
"Then give me a definite deadline!" Erza demanded, slamming her hands on the counter.
"Three days! Three days will be enough!" Louis gritted his teeth and held up three trembling fingers.
'Sorry, headquarters designers!' Louis thought.
The pressure she's putting on is just too much!
'Three days...' Erza furrowed her brow, resting her chin in her hand as she calculated the timeline.
Complete silence filled the boutique.
Louis watched nervously, terrified Erza wouldn't agree.
After careful consideration, Erza finally nodded. "Fine! Make it quick. Notify me as soon as the draft is ready. She's getting married on February 14th."
"February 14th? Don't worry, there's enough time!" Louis breathed a massive sigh of relief.
Two weeks was more than sufficient for production.
"I'll send your requirements to headquarters right away."
Louis immediately used the Long-range Communication Lacrima on site to transmit Erza's specifications to headquarters, marking the order as VIP Urgent.
Erza was indeed a VIP—she had spent no small amount of reward money at this store over the years on custom armor.
Once headquarters provided the design draft and Erza approved it, the tailoring team in Magnolia could begin production immediately.
"Excellent, you guys are very efficient!" Erza was quite satisfied with Louis's service attitude.
"I'll have someone take your measurements now." Although Erza had previously left her size records here, they always retook measurements during custom orders when time permitted to ensure a perfect fit.
"Thanks for your hard work, mate," Raizel chuckled, patting Louis on the shoulder before leaving the counter.
"Not at all, not at all. We're here to make money—its not hard at all," Louis smiled, actually in rather good spirits.
He received high commissions on these custom VIP orders, which were much higher than those for ready-made items.
"Aren't you going to buy anything? Since you're already here," Ultear asked, glancing at Raizel while waiting for Erza's measurements.
She had originally thought Raizel was waiting for Erza to finish before making his own selection.
Raizel shook his head. "No need. I'll just wear a black suit when the time comes."
Raizel owned over a dozen suits, with three black ones alone hanging in his closet.
In reality, he had only purchased two or three himself—the rest were gifts from various people over the years, all from those who couldn't think of anything else to give a guy besides formal wear.
Though some no longer fit properly.
When Raizel came of age, Makarov had given him his first suit.
Now Raizel had grown much taller and broader in the shoulders compared to back then, and that old suit no longer fit him.
"Speaking of which, do we still need to prepare gifts for them?" Kagura suddenly asked.
This was everyone's first time attending a guild wedding, so they weren't quite sure of the social protocol.
Raizel wasn't very clear about it either. "Probably yes. No rush, let's go back and ask Grandpa first. If needed, we can pool our money and pick something out. If all else fails, we can just give a big red envelope of cash."