**Chapter 2**
**Episode 41: Even a Horseman Needs a Costume**
(≈1000 words – full cute aggression)
The mansion had become loud in the best way.
Children laughed in every hallway.
Someone was always singing off-key.
The kitchen never stopped smelling like bread.
Eve, for the first time in her life, was part of the noise.
She still spoke softly.
Still flinched when someone touched her without warning.
But the other kids had stopped being afraid.
And Tiz had decided Eve was her new life project.
"Eve-chi! Next outfit! Next! Next!"
Tiz (twelve, freckles, energy level: illegal) spun Eve like a top.
Dress after dress.
Ribbons.
Frills.
Hair clips shaped like stars.
Eve stood in the middle of Tiz's room, arms out, expression blank.
"…This is enough."
"No way! Teacher Ray is waiting outside! We have to make his jaw drop!"
Tiz held up a pale-blue sundress with tiny white flowers.
"Look at this! It's perfect for you! He'll faint!"
Eve stared at the dress.
Then at the mirror.
Then at Tiz's sparkling eyes.
She sighed.
"…Fine."
Thirty minutes later the door burst open.
Ray leaned in, helmet tilted.
"I've been waiting three hours.
Are we shopping or opening a boutique?"
Tiz shoved Eve forward like a proud parent.
"Tadaaa! Isn't she adorable?!"
Ray's visor scanned her up and down.
Eve stood stiffly in the sundress, hair half-braided with ribbons, cheeks dusted with the faintest pink on her cheeks.
Ray put a hand to his helmet chin, thinking pose.
"Hm."
One second.
Two seconds.
"Even a horseman needs a costume."
Tiz's jaw hit the floor.
Eve blinked.
"…What?"
Ray shrugged.
"Old saying.
Put a horse driver looks respectable in nice clothes.
Same principle.
You dressed up, you look respectable.
Good job."
He turned to leave.
Tiz recovered first.
"THAT'S IT?!
She's cute! Super cute! Say she's cute!"
Ray paused at the door.
"Didn't say she wasn't."
Then walked out.
Tiz wailed.
Eve stared at the empty doorway.
Her ears were burning.
Tiz flopped dramatically on the bed.
"He's hopeless!
Eve-chi, we're launching Operation Make Teacher Ray Explode From Cuteness!
Phase two starts tomorrow!"
Eve-chi, we're launching Operation Make Teacher Ray Explode From Cuteness!
Phase two starts tomorrow!"
Eve touched her cheek.
Still hot.
She looked at the mirror again.
The girl in the sundress looked… different.
Softer.
Almost pretty.
She whispered to her reflection:
"…I'll make him say it properly next time."
Tiz shot up.
"That's the spirit!!
I have magazines!
We're studying all night!"
Hours blurred.
Magazines piled to the ceiling.
Tiz pointed at pictures like a general.
"This neckline!
This skirt length!
This color makes your eyes pop!"
Eve absorbed it all with the same focus she used on healing spells.
By midnight Ray found them passed out on the floor surrounded by fashion carnage.
He stared at the disaster.
Picked up a stray ribbon.
Muttered:
"…I've created a monster."
Then draped blankets over both sleeping girls and left.
Outside, the moon was high.
Ray sat on the roof, helmet finally off, red hair catching moonlight.
He looked at the ribbon in his hand.
Grinned like an idiot.
"Even a horseman needs a costume, huh…"
He flicked the ribbon into the night.
"…She was cute, though."
The confession to the darkness.
No one heard.
Good.
Because if anyone had, he'd never live it down.
Downstairs, Eve dreamed of blue dresses and clumsy compliments.
And woke up determined to hear the real one tomorrow.