episode_0070

The lottery, as always, provokes a fervent reaction.

“How about holding an auction?”

“Or I’ll offer a premium, so please, let us go first…”

“I am the third child of Count Birken…”

Those with a lot of money, or those who thought they had some influence, seemed dissatisfied with the fair random draw, but I listened to the women’s complaints slowly and said only one word with a smile.

“Lottery.”

“Don’t you want to make money? Why are you doing this when I’m offering money?”

“Lottery.”

“Eek…! Please, won’t you accept the money?”

“Lottery.”

“Kuh…!”

The person trying to pressure me with money quickly gave up at my parrot-like response and took a piece of paper from Emily.

To be precise, they realized that participating in the lottery willingly would be less of a loss than trying to force their way in.

There was no way someone who could steadfastly give the same parrot-like answer in front of so many nobles could be normal.

In fact, if they had persisted and rushed at me a few more times, I would have given the women who had quietly taken their papers earlier another raffle ticket and told them to negotiate with that good money.

The people who didn’t know how to give up and persistently tried to negotiate were the ones who tried to use their status and power to suppress me.

“Excuse me, do you know who I am?”

“No.”

“My father is Count Cumbermere, and my mother works as a lady-in-waiting for Her Majesty the Empress.”

“Is that so?”

“Even you would want to leave a good impression on Her Majesty, wouldn’t you? I think I can help you with that… Heh heh~”

Especially the young ladies with high family power were particularly severe.

They were intoxicated with the high of power, but they didn’t know its fear, so they acted like that.

“Hmm…”

Other than that, this was a bit difficult.

If it were money, I could just ignore it, but my connection with Her Majesty the Empress was too significant to overlook.

“A connection with Her Majesty is hard to ignore.”

“Heh heh- then…”

So, I had no choice but to give them a slight privilege.

“If you bring a recommendation from the Imperial Family by midnight, I will accept it regardless of the order.”

“Huh?”

With a method that would be as easy as eating cake if they were truly close to the Imperial Family.

I couldn’t just do it for them, could I?

It was none other than the highest dignity of the Empire, and if I got caught up in impersonation, I would be in big trouble too.

“You are so close to Her Majesty, so you should be able to do this much.”

“Kuh…”

“Or can’t you?”

“J-Just you wait!”

The young lady, who had boasted of her connection with Her Majesty the Empress, turned red with resentment and left the coffee house with her maid.

“Oh…”

I was a bit surprised to see someone say ‘Just you wait!’ in real life.

To think she would actually say such a cheesy line, she felt familiar like a villain often seen in romance fantasy novels.

I’m a little curious about what she will do next.

Most likely, it’s just empty threats and nothing will happen, but there’s always a chance.

I hope a classic development will come.

“So, anyone else have any complaints?”

“……”

I turned my head and asked the women who were still hesitating.

Their expressions were full of dissatisfaction, but they seemed to realize that no matter what they said, it wouldn’t work.

I chuckled and spread out five fingers.

“I’ll wait five more minutes and then draw lots. Decide by then.”

“Ugh…!”

The women were the ones who were disappointed, not me.

_

Following the women’s request to see if the lingerie was real before the lottery, I passed the baton to Duchess Elizabeth and was kicked out of the coffee house.

“Would you like a cup of tea?”

“No, I’m fine.”

“Please tell me if you need anything.”

“Yes.”

Perhaps because the Duchess had told her, the Duchess’s maid naturally followed me, so I wasn’t left alone on the street, but it felt awkward to be on the street without Emily after so long.

[Oh my…!]

As I stood blankly looking at the street, the women’s exclamations burst out from inside the coffee house, which was completely covered with curtains.

Perhaps Catherina had taken off her dress.

[Oh my!]

After waiting a little longer, an even louder exclamation erupted.

I don’t know what it was, but she must have shown them something with the lingerie.

[……]

As more time passed, even the murmurs from beyond the wall disappeared, and a eerie silence flowed through the coffee house.

[Kyaa!]

[Ohohot!]

[Aaugh…!]

[Aah…! If it’s 10%, shouldn’t you draw better than two pair?!]

Cheers and laments where joy and sorrow crossed.

The results seemed to have come out quite quickly.

In the middle, there seemed to be a woman whose sense of probability had rotted in the gambling world, but anyone can play poker…

“Young master.”

“I know.”

Listening to the women’s cries, Emily slightly opened the curtains and peeked her head out of the window, signaling that I could come in.

“Please, can you give me one more chance?”

“If this week doesn’t work, how about drawing in advance next week?”

“Let’s all sit down and talk first?”

As I re-entered the coffee house with Duchess Elizabeth’s maid, I saw the women surrounding the Duchess and earnestly begging her.

The Duchess, who had been calmly calming the women, pointed at me with her finger as soon as she made eye contact with me, focusing the women’s attention on me.

“Sir William will explain that, so everyone calm down.”

“If you want to hear the story, please sit down.”

““Yes.””

As soon as a madman appeared who said to get a recommendation from the Imperial Family, the women quickly became docile and sat down in an orderly manner.

Indeed, people become docile only after tasting a crazy person.

“Those who have won can go to the atelier with us later, and those who unfortunately missed the opportunity, we can’t just send you away like this.”

The women’s eyes twinkled at the implication of giving some benefits.

“If you leave your personal information here, we will prioritize you as much as possible for the subsequent rounds.”

However, the women began to murmur with subtle expressions at the following words.

“… The word ‘as much as possible’ seems to include the possibility that we might be pushed back… Is that right?”

“Yes, if we inevitably have circumstances, we have no choice but to postpone it…”

“What is that?”

“If someone who wants to flaunt their power diligently brings a recommendation from the Imperial Family, then we have no choice.”

“Ah… I understand.”

Everyone nodded with relieved expressions at the news that the forty-four women here would not be pushed back unless a disaster of the scale of a natural disaster occurred.

Honestly, would anyone really bring a recommendation letter?

You have to say, ‘I want to make lingerie, so I need a recommendation letter from xx xx,’ but no matter what words are used, such as Her Majesty the Empress, His Highness the Prince Consort, Her Highness the Princess, etc., it’s a terrible combination.

If there’s anything that could be understood, it would be Her Highness Princess Jang, who has been in seclusion for over 10 years?

No, that would be the most terrible thing.

If the first personal activity of someone who has been reclusive for over 10 years to prevent conflict is a lingerie recommendation letter, except for official events…

The dignity of the Imperial Family would collapse like a sandcastle.

“So, I hope you will wait with peace of mind.”

“Okay.”

_

“Phew…”

“Shall I bring some cookies too?”

“No, this is enough.”

After calming the complaints of the women who had failed, and asking Catherina to send the winning women to the atelier, I stayed in the coffee house and soothed my exhausted mind with sugary tea, exhausted.

Thanks to Elizabeth, I managed to somehow handle it, but I didn’t think the response would be this good.

In a positive sense, my plans were all ruined, so I was troubled but also happy.

“Hehe… You really didn’t expect the women’s reaction to be like this?”

“Yeah, I thought the limit would be ten at most, but fifty is too many. It’s the first lingerie I’ve ever seen, and the advertisement is ambiguous, so why did so many people come?”

“Certainly, fifty is too many. I expected about thirty too.”

“Right?”

I looked at the Duchess, who was agreeing with me with a bright expression, but the Duchess shook her head gently and chuckled.

“But didn’t I tell you before? Women will accept your lingerie more easily than you worry. Women hate corsets much more than you think.”

“That’s true, but you didn’t predict it properly either.”

“Sir, please overlook such minor mistakes. Men who point out such things one by one are not popular, you know?”

“Huh…”

I scoffed at the Duchess’s brazen attitude, glaring at her with narrowed eyes.

The Duchess, who was staring at me as if asking what I wanted, belatedly felt embarrassed and slightly avoided my eyes, wetting her lips with tea.

I glared at the Duchess for a little longer even after she avoided my eyes, then took a sip of tea and threw out a word indifferently.

“Thanks for your hard work.”

The Duchess, who had been avoiding my eyes, frowned and turned her head, opening her mouth with a suspicious expression.

“… Suddenly?”

“No, calming the crowd isn’t easy, is it? I didn’t seem to have said thank you for the help.”

In the morning, when I was being bombarded with words from the women, Duchess Elizabeth’s appearance, appearing like a knight, was so cool that I almost fell in love.

That appearance of subduing the audience while subtly scattering mana…

Honestly, it was cool.

Of course, I remembered my mother’s warning and quickly came to my senses, but if the villainous young lady had been even a little closer to my taste, I would have fallen for her right away.

“Ah, certainly, it wasn’t easy to step into a place where dozens of women were staring.”

The Duchess said as if she was overwhelmed, but it wasn’t very believable.

At that time, the Duchess was the villainous young lady herself, as if she would show what a terrible future would be like if they resisted even a little.

“By the way, Elizabeth, are you a wizard? You seemed to be handling mana.”

“No, that much is a basic requirement for anyone with mana.”

“Ah, is that so? I don’t have mana, so I don’t know much.”

To be exact, I didn’t try to know.

My father is a wizard and my mother is a wizard, but sadly, I was the only one in our family who had nothing.

My older sister can handle divinity even though she doesn’t have mana, my older brother can use magic, and even my sister Dorothy and Hayes have a little bit of mana, but only me…

If my appearance wasn’t exactly half of my mother’s and father’s, I would have suspected adoption.

“Oh my… That’s, I didn’t know that.”

The Duchess, who heard that I didn’t have mana, made a subtle expression and squinted her eyes.

Suddenly, I felt a cold feeling on the back of my neck.

What is this, is it something I shouldn’t say?

I don’t think there’s such a taboo…

“Sir, have you rested enough now?”

As I was carefully examining the Duchess’s expression to read it, the Duchess, who had put down her teacup, pointed to my teacup and said.

“Huh? That’s right.”

“Then, shall we go back to the atelier now? We have to help the other employees.”

“……”

Her blatant attempt to change the subject was unsettling.

But it’s also true that I’m busy, so I slightly pushed the teacup forward and got up from my seat.

“Let’s go.”

And while thinking to myself that I should find out if there are any protective magic tools, I moved my steps to the atelier.