episode_0060

Patrick’s skill was not bad enough to be comparable to his high self-confidence.

“How is it?”

“You passed.”

So I immediately took out the contract.

I wanted to completely take Patrick away and set up a new smithy, but that was too much of a stretch, so I signed a contract with Isabella.

Patrick’s affiliation would be changed to the clothing store, but he would borrow equipment and work space from Isabella’s forge.

It was a bit complicated, but it was a win-win contract for both sides.

So we stamped our seals without much disagreement.

“…Patrick, you were an adult?”

I found out while stamping the seal that Patrick was older than me.

“Yes, I’ve been an adult for two years.”

A whopping 21 years old.

When Isabella first mentioned it, I thought he was similar to me or younger because she described him as a child, but he was 4 years older than me.

“……”

I looked back and forth between Patrick and the contract with eyes as round as a full moon.

His face is like a girl, but his body has fine muscles everywhere, and he looks like an innocent teenager, but he’s actually an adult?

“Wow…”

It was the most shocking fact I’d learned recently.

_

The day after learning about Patrick’s shocking truth.

I went to work and opened the door to the workshop, and the employees who had returned from their short vacation were gathered in the center of the workshop, waiting for me to arrive.

Unlike last week, when they were ready to work on their own, this time they were all quietly waiting, because I hadn’t clearly defined what they should do after the vacation.

“Hello, everyone.”

“Sir William, you’ve finally arrived!”

“We’ve been waiting.”

As I greeted the employees who focused their attention on me as the door opened, they greeted me warmly and stood up from their seats.

“Did everyone have a good vacation?”

“Yes.”

“I had a good rest.”

“Okay, then let’s get things done quickly.”

After exchanging formal greetings, I immediately walked to the table where the employees were gathered and took the head seat.

“I’ll skip the annoying stuff and tell you a few things about our plans for the future.”

“Yes.”

“For the next few months, our core customer base will be human nobles. From October to the end of the year, there will be major events in the Empire, so clothing purchases will increase rapidly.”

“October?”

Princess Elizabeth interjected with a questioning voice.

As I turned my gaze to the princess, she continued with an intriguing smile.

“August is only a week away, so we have to appeal to the nobles and finish production within a month, isn’t that too much of a stretch? Besides your reputation, we don’t have much to appeal to the nobles.”

“You’re not wrong, but I have a way to definitely raise our awareness among the customers.”

“What is it?”

I pointed to Katerina and said.

“We have Katerina, I’m going to put an ad for our clothing store in the newspaper sometime in September.”

“You don’t mean…?”

While everyone was watching me and the princess with puzzled faces, the princess smiled with her lips almost reaching her ears.

“There was a magic tool that copied the real appearance and drew it as a picture, right?”

“That’s right.”

It comes out like a high-definition black and white photo, and it costs as much as a dress to take three or four shots, but the performance is guaranteed.

“If Katerina is plastered all over the newspaper that spreads throughout the country, wouldn’t that definitely attract attention?”

“That’s right.”

“Has there been such an advertisement before?”

“Not yet, picture ads are more expensive.”

“Then it will definitely attract attention properly.”

“So, am I finally going to try on clothes? Not just do chores to death?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“Yay!”

While everyone was seriously imagining Katerina’s face being in the newspaper and nodding, only Katerina was smiling innocently, happy to be able to play the role of a model.

“Then, Sir William.”

As I was looking at Katerina and smiling like I was looking at a cute puppy, Princess Elizabeth, who had been whispering with Princess Fannie and Prince Herbert, asked again.

“What clothes are you thinking of putting in the advertisement?”

“I’m thinking of showing off the bra that matches the girdle and the clothes that Fannie and Herbert are making now, indirectly, of course.”

“Our clothes…?”

“Hmm…”

A stir spread among the employees.

Especially the expressions of Princess Fannie and Prince Herbert were worth seeing.

The other employees were just thinking, ‘The schedule is tighter than I thought~’, but for the two of them, who knew how things were going, it was a schedule that seemed impossible.

I’m sorry, but I can’t help it.

If the work had ended late, I would have proceeded slowly, but the employees showed me their tenacity first and showed me a sliver, but beautiful, possibility.

You shouldn’t have shown me hope.

“To put an ad in the newspaper in September, Fannie and Herbert’s clothes must be finished by next week. I’m sorry, but Fannie, Herbert, and Adelheid will have to suffer a bit. The other employees don’t have anything special to do until the clothes are finished, but I hope they will help those two as much as possible.”

““Yes.””

After hearing the employees’ answers, I paused the story and organized my thoughts.

I searched my mind to see if there was anything else to talk about, but I thought this much would be enough for the big picture.

Then I have to move on to the details.

“Fannie, Herbert?”

““Yes.””

“How far has the work progressed?”

“The design is almost finished, and we can start working on it as soon as the fabric is decided.”

“Really? What kind of feel do you want the fabric to have?”

“I want it to be smooth on the outside and have a shine.”

“Hmm… Okay, I got it.”

It wasn’t a difficult condition.

One of the characteristics of synthetic fibers is gloss, and silk is also a beautiful gloss, so if you mix it appropriately, it will work.

“Then Fannie, how much yarn can you bring right now?”

“If I prepare in a hurry, 2 pounds… that is, 1kg is possible.”

“Until when?”

“It’s possible by the weekend.”

“Do that, the sooner the better.”

“Yes.”

“Herbert, draw the design in advance according to the size, so that you can put it on the fabric and redraw it as soon as the fabric is finished.”

“Okay, but how about the size…”

I took out a piece of paper from my pocket and handed it to Prince Herbert.

“Draw according to this.”

“…Who is this? Judging by the numbers, it’s an ideal body shape.”

“Katerina.”

“Oh, I see, that’s amazing.”

I was a little surprised when I first saw it.

It came out with an ideal figure that was healthy and beautiful, yet made you feel full.

I realized then that the symbol of beauty is not called an elf for nothing.

Women envy elves because they are a race that is born with a body that only a few humans can obtain through hard work.

“Sir William, but how do you make the fabric?”

“I’ve already talked to Prince Hans about that, and as soon as the yarn arrives, production will begin according to the requirements.”

“Ah, yes, I understand.”

“The other employees don’t have anything to do until the fabric is finished, so play while watching the others. If possible, it would be good to practice sewing or embroidery, or think about new clothes, but do it on your own.”

“Yes~”

“Okay, then let’s all start working.”

_

After assigning work to Princess Fannie and Prince Herbert, I started making a bra to match the girdle.

I had been working on it little by little, so as soon as I unfolded the design and took out the fabric, Princess Elizabeth approached me with interest.

Then, she carefully picked up the wire placed in one corner of the table and examined it with interest, saying.

“Is this what you ordered on Monday?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“It’s a little small, but it looks similar to the frame of a corset.”

“It has almost the same role as that, it plays the role of shaping the breasts.”

“Hmm~”

The princess nodded slightly and made a humming sound, then put the wire down on the table.

“It seems that it is enough to shape the breasts even without the wire, so why are you making this? It seems a bit far from the naturalness you want.”

“Some correction is inevitable. It’s okay to hide weaknesses and highlight strengths, but it becomes a problem if it’s too much.”

“I see.”

I don’t hate the act of decorating appearances itself.

It’s a natural instinct to pursue beauty.

But I hate pursuing it too much.

Even if beauty is important, it is less important than health, so it is not something to pursue to the point of ruining your body.

So it’s important to do it moderately.

“But, how are you going to promote this? No matter how much I think about it, I can’t show these clothes to others while using Katerina as a model, so what method are you using?”

“Hmm…”

I pursed my lips slightly and narrowed my eyes.

Princess Elizabeth’s eyes were sparkling as if she wanted to know right away, but I didn’t want to tell her now.

“There are a few things that we can do with the clothes we make that we can’t do with corsets, I’m going to use that.”

If I kept it completely secret, she would bother me, so I only gave her a moderate hint.

“Something that only our clothes can do? What is it?”

“That’s still a secret. As I said before, it’s not fun if I tell you everything now, so think hard until that day.”

“Ugh… I understand, is there a prize if I guess it right?”

I don’t have anything in mind for that…

I blurted out something that came to mind appropriately.

“Appearing as a model in the next advertisement?”

“I refuse.”

The princess showed her dislike with a serious face.

“Hmm…”

Seeing her like that makes me want to make her do it even more?

I thought that I should make her do it once if I have the chance later, and I drew a line on the silk fabric.

I’m looking forward to seeing how the princess will react then.