episode_0073

“Give it to me.”

“……”

At the Princess Elizabeth’s confident demand, I closed my eyes and pressed my forehead, lost in thought.

If I made a dress for the Princess, it would definitely suit her well.

Her aura and appearance would make the dress shine.

And her social background, expected to be extremely high, was also a merit.

This is because clothes worn by noble people are more likely to attract attention, be positively received, and lead to trends.

Although the Princess has the disadvantage of a social hiatus, her overwhelming status can override everything.

But the woman in front of me was someone whom even my mother couldn’t handle and only ended up leaving a warning for me.

If I could dress the Princess, it would surely lead to the best result, just as she expects.

“Tsk…”

But no matter how much I thought about it, giving it to Princess Elizabeth would be an NG.

It’s a dress, of all things.

Not meeting as a tailor and customer, but as an employee and employer.

Making a dress for the National Foundation Day when she didn’t even come in as a model like Katerina?

All sorts of rumors would definitely spread behind my back.

Even before that, I didn’t know what her intention was in wanting to receive the dress.

100% she has some ulterior motive.

It made me more uneasy because she hadn’t been hiding that she was plotting something since a certain moment.

“Ah, damn it…”

I’m conflicted.

My head screams to refuse, but my heart screams if I don’t want to see an amazing dress.

My head, too, if asked to choose the person who would look best in this dress, would choose Elizabeth.

It’s only due to survival instinct that I’m refusing.

“Sir William.”

“Hmm?”

As my 고민 deepened, the Princess, who had been quietly watching, brought a chair nearby and sat down, calling my name.

And with a smileless face, she stared intently at me and asked a question.

“Sir, do you know how old I am?”

“Uh…”

I don’t know.

Because the Princess hasn’t told me.

I observed the Princess carefully and tried to guess her age.

Looking at her appearance and aura, she’s definitely older.

About twenty.

“Twenty?”

“I’m seventeen.”

“Huh?”

Surprisingly, we are the same age.

It mattered when her birthday was, but at most, it would be a one-year difference.

Suddenly, a subtle sense of familiarity, which had felt distant, emerged from the Princess.

“We’re the same age?”

When I slightly revealed that feeling, radiating a cheerful expression, the Princess opened her eyes wide like a flounder, and with a displeased look, she retorted pointedly.

“Sir, is that important right now?”

“No, no, it’s not.”

The internal closeness that had gone up plummeted down again.

I wondered if it was something to react to so sensitively, but I immediately agreed, feeling like I would be beaten up verbally if I pointed it out.

The Princess, who had glared at me sharply for just a moment, composed her expression and continued speaking.

“For reasons I cannot speak of, I have hardly engaged in social activities, except for a few times in my very young childhood.”

“Okay.”

“Therefore, this National Foundation Day can be considered my first social debut, a moment of utmost importance and preciousness.”

“……”

With the Princess’s words just now, the balance tilted slightly.

Towards not giving it.

Making a dress for the social debut of someone who had been secluded for many years?

That is absolutely not something I can handle.

“It’s too much pressure for me to take on, for such an important dress, it’s better to go find a more skilled tailor.”

“No, I think the dress you made is the best, if it’s not yours, anything else I wear will just be a plain lady’s dress.”

This was somewhat absurd.

The Princess is someone who would look like a noble, not a servant, even while wearing a maid’s uniform.

But such a Princess is a plain lady?

It was only a few days ago that I saw her captivate numerous women with just a few words, and if such a Princess is merely a plain lady, the cutoff for plainness is far too high.

“You’re exaggerating too much.”

“It’s not an exaggeration, I can assert that a plain dress will fail to leave an impression.”

“Even if you say that, the pressure is unavoidable.”

“Then, would it be acceptable to have another tailor make a dress with this silhouette?”

“That won’t do.”

“See? Do I have a choice? Isn’t it too cruel to show me this and tell me to go to someone else? Only you can best reveal the specialness, isn’t it natural to want to decorate a precious day as beautifully as possible? I just want to entrust the most important day to the most outstanding person.”

“Oh, my goodness…”

I was in a bind.

If she had approached logically, talking about profit and loss, I could have cut it off cleanly, but it was difficult to respond when she was approaching emotionally.

“Still, it’s a bit difficult…”

“Uh…”

Just as I was about to steel myself and say no, a faint sob escaped through the Princess’s tightly pressed lips, and tears began to well up in the corners of her eyes.

“No, wait a minute.”

“I, I just…”

“Elizabeth, calm down first, calm down and talk…”

“Calm down?”

While flustered, I tried to calm the Princess, but she glared at me resentfully and spoke haltingly, as if weeping.

“Is wanting to adorn my social debut most beautifully, an unreasonable request, or stubbornness? Is that it?”

“No, that’s not it, but please consider my position a little too-”

“Sir, I, who aim for natural beauty… I am working with Sir William because I deeply resonate with your thinking.”

“I’m really grateful for that, but-”

“But, Sir… were you a man who would abandon a woman who needs you at a truly important moment? Was your conviction something that… was so easily given up without hesitation, even when it was just a little inconvenient…?”

As the words continued, the Princess’s voice became more and more mixed with trembling and tears.

“So, this time…”

“Hiccup…!”

Finally, as if she could no longer suppress the emotions she had been holding back, the Princess sobbed loudly and covered her face with both hands.

Unlike her previous soft whispers, her strong sobs, clearly audible throughout the workshop, made the employees who were concentrating on their work one by one feel something strange and turn their gaze in this direction.

“Damn it…”

I muttered a low curse and squeezed my eyes shut.

I had been completely caught by the Princess’s response, which used my past against me.

To think that what I blurted out to lessen troublesome work would come back as something even more troublesome and complicated…

I racked my brain trying to find a breakthrough somehow, but no way to resolve this situation came to mind other than to flatly refuse and become a piece of human garbage.

“Haa…”

I sighed and nodded slightly.

And I handed the measuring tape on the desk to the Princess and said.

“I’ll make it, so go get your measurements.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“Thank you.”

The Princess wiped away the tears in the corners of her eyes and took the measuring tape.

“Since you said you’d make it, there’s no turning back now, right? I hope you won’t awkwardly change your mind, understood?”

Wiping away all her tears and standing up, the Princess hurried out of the workshop before I could say anything.

It was as if she was sealing the deal before I could change my mind.

“……”

I stared blankly at the door where the Princess had disappeared.

“It’s not easy…”

And I muttered dejectedly, shaking my head.

I could feel it bone-deep why my mother had sternly warned me to be careful of the Princess.

_

Having been completely defeated in a speedrun fashion by my past self and Princess Elizabeth’s tear offensive, I thought ‘Anyway, I’ll get to see an amazing dress, so it was worth it!’ and focused on my work.

While designing the dress, I also helped the employees with their tasks from time to time, wrote letters to the people selected for skirt measurements next week, and went back to the forest with Katerina to take photos. By the time I realized it, it was already the weekend.

“Whew…”

I put the photos to be sent to the newspaper into an envelope, and when I tried to put the wax seal on it, my hand wouldn’t move.

I didn’t realize it when I took them, but now that my head had cooled down, a concern arose that I might have taken them a bit too provocatively.

His Majesty the Emperor will definitely find it amusing, but I have no idea what kind of reaction other people will have when they see this.

“Ah, seriously, I don’t know.”

But since His Majesty the Emperor is more terrifying than the people, I dropped the wax onto the envelope and pressed it firmly with the seal.

And I handed the envelope to Emily.

“Emily, please ask Francis to send this.”

“Yes.”

Now, there’s really no turning back.

_

“Editor-in-chief, a letter has arrived from Sir William.”

“Give it to me quickly!”

The long-awaited letter from Sir William had finally arrived.

I snatched the letter from the new reporter Anson as if taking it away, and hastily tore open the wax seal. Inside the envelope were a palm-sized piece of paper and a photograph.

Fearing that I would forget the letter if I looked at the photo first, I took out the palm-sized paper first and read the words written on it.

[This time, please include the shop name and address below the photo. The photo enclosed in the envelope is the correct one to be sent, so please have no worries and publish it in the advertisement.]

It wasn’t a difficult request, and I liked that it was clean without various complicated and annoying instructions.

“Hahaha~”

I let out a pleasant laugh and casually put the letter on my desk, then took out the photo.

“Let’s see…”

The black and white photo printed on good quality paper was revealed, and I examined the photo with a beaming smile.

The same model as before, a similar location.

The difference was that this time the model was facing forward.

He’s continuing with a similar concept.

If I print the same quantity as last time…

“Huh?”

I frowned and leaned closer to the photo as if to bury my face in it.

Then, Anson, who was waiting to take the photo to the printing press, approached and asked in a puzzled voice.

“What’s wrong? Is it wrong?”

“Uh… Anson, well, I think I’m seeing things, take a look.”

“Yes? Where…”

Anson narrowed his eyes and examined the photo.

“Uh… huh? Uh-oh?”

And in one second, his eyes widened, and he repeatedly parted his lips, letting out several inarticulate gasps of surprise.

“You see something strange too, right?”

“……”

Anson nodded quickly at my question, then took his eyes off the photo and met mine.

“Is this… alright…?”

“Well…”

It won’t be alright.

Many people will be uncomfortable. Like it or not, a very intense reaction will erupt like a volcano.

But if you ask if this is legally problematic, that’s also ambiguous.

It might be uncomfortable, but it’s not a crime, it’s purely a matter of morality and common sense.

Sir William walked the line perfectly, just barely.

This must be an adventure he can afford because he has a strong background behind him.

I handed Sir William’s letter and envelope to Anson and said.

“Still, we received the request, so we have to fulfill it properly. Anson, send the photo to the printing department and start printing. Tell them to print more generously than last week when you hand over the photo.”

“Yes.”

Anson nodded, put the photo inside the envelope, and turned his back to leave the editor-in-chief’s office.

“Wait, Anson.”

“Yes?”

I called out to Anson, who had his hand on the doorknob, then quickly scribbled a short phrase on the palm-sized note and pressed it into Anson’s hand.

“And beneath the photo, be sure to include this as well. We need to pretend not to see it so we can at least have an excuse.”

“Understood.”

With minimal safety measures, I sent Anson to the printing press.

I feel a little sorry for Sir William, but we have to survive too, so I trust he will understand this much.