episode_0013

“Cinderella lost her parents when she was young. I was mistreated by my stepmother and step-sister.”

Shaba Shaba Hi Shaba. How lonely was it?

Shaba Shaba Hi Shaba. How hard was it?

A girl was humming a song and washing clothes in the river.

Now that winter was slowly approaching, the river water was quite cold and my hands were cold, but I couldn’t help it.

‘I heard that nobles use a tool called a washing machine to wash their clothes… .’

However, there was no way something like that would exist in his uncle’s house where he, an orphan, was staying. Many families are in a situation where they have to do all their own laundry.

If the clothes were damaged or washed poorly, it was clear that my aunt would hit me, so I had to concentrate and wash them carefully but cleanly.

Still, compared to before, it was a little less difficult these days.

‘Cinderella lost her parents like me, but she became happy.’

It was something from a ‘children’s book’ that I came across a while ago.

Children’s books, which have become popular recently, are said to be rare items and not even nobles can easily obtain them, so a merchant has been selling them at a low price for some time now.

Of course, it was expensive for the girl, so she couldn’t buy it, but she was able to see it by begging her neighbor’s child.

Since I couldn’t read myself, I had to have a neighbor’s child read it to me to understand the contents, but it was an amazing book where you could get the general story just by looking at the pictures.

The book, which contained pictures and stories, depicted a main character like himself being happy.

Cinderella wears glass slippers made by a fairy and marries the prince.

Snow White fell into danger due to the queen’s evil plan, but a prince on a white horse appeared and saved her.

When you imagine that a fairy or a prince on a white horse will appear to you at any moment, scold your wicked uncle and aunt, and marry you.

Even difficult household chores became worth doing.

The girl started humming a song again and doing the laundry.

‘They say the books the nobles read have much more beautiful pictures.’

The girl suddenly thought of the fairy tales of nobles that had prettier pictures in them, and she thought she would never wish she could see them.

“Xenia! Haven’t you done the laundry yet? What a lazy bastard! You don’t even have dinner tonight!!”

“No! Almost done. Aunt.”

The red-haired girl named Xenia hurriedly touched the laundry she was doing.

Then, as if the river was alive, it came up through the laundry and started rinsing the clothes on its own.

‘I was tired after doing this so I didn’t want to do it.’

It is your own secret that no one else knows. A special ability that allows one to somehow control things like wind, water, and fire by concentrating one’s mind.

Xenia thought that she too might have been chosen by a fairy like Cinderella.

***

The problem of forgery was also resolved, and both Cinderella and Snow White were decided to be published additionally.

Originally, I thought there would be no more unrest, but that was my mistake.

There is a shortage of children’s books among nobles, and a problem of counterfeiting has arisen.

So, after discussing with the merchant, we decided to publish an additional quantity. Of course, only in the entry-level version.

If you were to republish limited editions and custom editions, you would get a lot of immediate benefit.

The current value of our children’s books will drop significantly.

‘There’s nothing more frustrating than releasing an original game as a limited edition and then releasing it again later.’

There is nothing more foolish than lowering the value of something you create because you are blinded by current profits.

Of course, there were minor complaints from craftsmen who had to produce additional publications, but these could be alleviated with money.

Moreover, it was something I didn’t even understand.

‘Master, when you make a book, can we purchase it too?’

It is said that the maids and craftsmen in the mansion who all had children wanted to give children’s books as a gift, but were unable to say anything.

So, when I made this this time, I decided to make an extra copy so that everyone who works in our family has a child can get one copy.

It was a good idea to make a generous amount and give it as gifts to people who visited our family, as it would save operating costs.

“The real end is in sight. Perhaps if the next project is successful, the family debt may be resolved.”

I judged the current phenomenon to be some kind of fad. And I’m the only one lucky enough to catch this trend.

Then there was no reason not to take advantage of this situation to the extreme.

It was right to release the sequel as quickly as possible before the excitement generated by and disappeared.

“As expected, a Disney-style fairy tale would be good for the next work as well.”

It’s not that I wasn’t already thinking about a sequel, but there were several works that were nominated.

I thought of famous fairy tales I knew, such as Boots and Red Lotus, Thumbelina, and Hansel and Gretel, but I felt like they were all lacking something.

Unlike Cinderella or Snow White, the fairy tales above had something stimulating for young children.

The reason I created the children’s book in the first place was to show it to my younger sister, Ada, so I excluded fairy tales with cruel scenes.

“Ah… Is that really the only thing?”

The ending is sad, but it would also be a shame if this work was left out. Wouldn’t it be okay if the ending was dramatized in a way that children wouldn’t be shocked?

I decided to make as my next work.

***

I had to start with the Little Mermaid’s design.

The red hair color that comes to mind when you think of the Little Mermaid.

I wanted to respect the original design, but it was something that absolutely had to be changed in this world.

Women with red hair were the color associated with witches in this world.

Of course, not all red-haired people are witches, but it is said that there are many who are born with naturally high magical power.

As a result, it naturally became closer to magic, and as the number of samples increased, it was natural that the number of bad people would also increase.

But this is a truth that only a cool-headed modern person like me can grasp.

For some reason, in the eyes of the residents of this world, when they catch a criminal who is doing bad things using magic, they see a red-haired woman.

The formula “red-haired woman = witch” was born, and it is said that they still face a lot of discrimination and persecution.

In that situation, there was no reason for me to risk my family’s fate and make the Little Mermaid character have red hair.

‘Even if a custom-made book can be made based on the person’s photo, the characters for the hardcover or popular version must be clearly determined.’

Cinderella has bright yellow blonde hair.

Snow White was easy to draw because she had clear features such as black hair and white skin.

Designing the Little Mermaid was more difficult than I thought, excluding her red hair, which is her identity.

Design is a very important element because if you change it arbitrarily, a disaster like ‘Blackfish Princess’ will occur.

I want to draw a princess under the sea, not a predator under the sea that would make children cry.

‘The Little Mermaid… Mermaid… ocean?’

There also existed a mermaid race in this world, but since this was also a race that could not be found within the empire, it had to be realized entirely through imagination.

Suddenly, Amelia Bluewell came to mind.

Blue hair and light blue eyes.

It was the perfect color for the Little Mermaid swimming in the sea as if God had played a trick on her.

Based on the inspiration that came to mind, let’s design a Little Mermaid character using Amelia Bluewell as a model.

The Little Mermaid’s design was completed so quickly that it felt like everything that had been blocked up until now was a lie.

And it’s surprisingly outstanding.

‘Now that I think about it, unlike the imperial family who rewarded me with a plaque of appreciation, the Duke of Bluewell gave me a large reward.’

Just thinking about the reward from back then still makes me feel full.

At first, I didn’t want to get involved so I kicked him out, but if he came back, I would be willing to smile and greet him.

“Then we also have to decide on the witch character.”

The witch character also plays a very important role in The Little Mermaid.

In Disney, witches were portrayed as vicious monsters, but in fact, witches did nothing bad in the original work.

Rather, he is a character who did his best to help the Little Mermaid and even tried to stop her because he knew the tragic ending.

but

‘The only problem was that the ingredient needed to make the Little Mermaid’s potion was the tongue.’

As a witch, it was unfair. The Little Mermaid wanted legs, so he made a potion, and the only ingredient in the potion was the person’s tongue.

So I had no intention of making the witch character a simple villain.

The witch would simply give her choices, and she would draw a fairy tale in which the Little Mermaid would make all the choices herself.

Only then will the ending of this children’s book have meaning.

‘The witch chose you!’

When you think of a witch, isn’t it supposed to be black hair? And of all the black-haired women I saw, there was only one that I remembered.

The malicious reader of my children’s book, the flower of the empire, or the villainess of the empire, who is trying to shake me up with power.

I guess this is why ancient writers poured out their works when they were exiled or exiled.

When you are treated unfairly, your inspiration soars.

Now that the witch’s character has been completed, all the big work is done.

‘What’s left is the prince?’

In , the prince is a character who will probably get a lot of criticism.

I shouldn’t have drawn a character that was too cool. Give yourself something to chew on. But you don’t want to be too unlikable, so your appearance should be fine.

This time it was difficult because I couldn’t easily come up with a model, but I just did my best to draw whatever came to mind.

A subtle expression between blond hair and cool-headedness.

hmm. I drew this character, but it’s just the right character.

It may seem a bit familiar, but this is a characteristic of cartoonists’ jobs.

Since I have seen and drawn so many things, this often happens when I draw characters.

Now that all the important characters have been completed, all that’s left is to write the story and stories.

gulp.

“Wow, it’s different as expected!”

I drank the entire bottle of the new vitality potion that Esteban Sang-ju gave me as a gift a while ago.

The ones sold at the church put less strain on the body, but the effects weren’t as strong.

Now, this was a vitality potion developed by the Alchemy Guild, so it was extremely effective.

Not long ago, I gave it to craftsmen as a test, but after drinking it once, they freaked out and made a fuss, so now I’m drinking it alone.

“No, I’m a little dizzy and short of breath after the medication takes effect, so I’m making such a fuss.”

In the past, when I was drawing webtoons, in order to keep up with my schedule, I would buy a household IV drip and draw while injecting the fluid myself.

At that time, I was taken to the emergency room after receiving intravenous fluids and drinking high-caffeine beverages like water.

Compared to that, isn’t this really a gift from God?

I started working again with a body full of energy.