episode_0077

“- He was trying to do something like that.”

“I see, I understand. However, I hope you can explain it to me sufficiently next time.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry about that.”

What William was trying to do to me was less significant than I thought.

Since it was the first time making a dress in the shape of a mermaid, he said he wanted to check the silhouette with clothes to be thrown away, which was a very ordinary reason.

It was not a strange or unusual thing because nobles who live frugally often do that.

It was just that an error occurred in the process because of Sarah’s playfulness.

Belatedly, regret rushed in.

It was a little weak to use as a weakness, and I think I reacted too calmly when William cut the skirt.

I should have shown a girlish reaction, blushing and screaming while gathering the skirt hem, which would have properly pressured William, but I was somewhat disappointed that I couldn’t.

But it was already too late.

Rather than dwelling on the past, it was important to respond properly from now on.

“Then, can we start again?”

“Yes, but is it okay to proceed as is?”

“What?”

“That dress you’re trying to make, you have to wear it without a petticoat, so don’t you have to take off your chemise to properly check the silhouette?”

“That’s true… but isn’t that too much to ask?”

“If we’re going to do it, we should do it properly. I can endure a moment of embarrassment for the most beautiful clothes.”

“Hmm…”

Hesitation settles on William’s face.

Feeling like I only needed to push a little bit more, I immediately added before William fell into deep thought.

“Think about it, sir. Doing it right from the beginning ends sooner, and we’re less embarrassed. Wouldn’t it be more embarrassing to wear a chemise, thinking you’re being considerate, and then have to ask me to take it off later?”

“……”

William, with narrowed eyes, stares intently into my eyes.

As if trying to see if I have any ulterior motives.

A decisive battle to create a favorable battlefield.

I met William’s eyes without avoiding them and wore a serious expression without a hint of a smile.

“Okay, let’s do that if you’re okay with it.”

Done.

An environment I can lead has been created.

I suppressed the urge for the corners of my lips to rise and nodded lightly, slightly closing the wide-open skirt.

“Okay, then could you please leave for a moment so I can change?”

“Yeah, call me when you’re done.”

“Yes.”

_

“Shall we start?”

“Yes.”

Only after waiting once again for the Duchess Elizabeth to change her clothes was I able to get into the design in earnest.

It was a long wait, but seeing the skirt hem with completely dead volume after taking off even the chemise, I thought it was a wait worth it.

“First, I’ll make a slit on the other side as well.”

“Yes.”

First, I cut off the skirt hem that I hadn’t been able to cut because I was busy explaining the situation to the Duchess.

You might wonder why I’m cutting it again when I’ve already cut one side, but when you repair clothes, if you only touch one side, the fabric will be twisted, and the design will be asymmetrical.

So, if you pull the right side, you have to pull the left side by a similar amount to minimize twisting and create a beautiful symmetry.

“Spread your legs slightly, with the feeling of standing comfortably. If you don’t know, spread them as wide as your shoulders.”

“Like this?”

At my request, the Duchess moved her right leg to the side.

But perhaps because she was nervous, she spread them a little too wide, and her left leg slightly came out through the side slit, revealing her fair calf.

Beautiful legs with almost no fuzz, probably because she was properly taken care of as befitting a high-ranking person.

Even just giving a point with ankle socks without wearing stockings would have been beautiful enough, but now was not the time to pay attention to that.

“Elizabeth, you spread them too wide. Put your legs back in.”

After covering her legs by closing the skirt hem, I asked her to narrow her legs as cynically as possible.

“Keu-heup…!”

“… Yes.”

The sound of Sarah’s laughter bursting out from behind, and the Duchess’s trembling voice.

Right now, a woman is standing in front of a man with tremendous courage, what are you doing to embarrass people?

I glanced back and glared at Sarah, then put my finger on my lips.

“Sarah, please be quiet.”

“Ah, I’m sorry.”

Sarah, whose lips were twitching, met my eyes, shrugged, and hurriedly began to manage her expression.

Judging by her embarrassed appearance, it seemed she knew she had made a mistake, so I didn’t add any more words and just gave her a light warning.

“Sigh…”

Letting out a shallow sigh, I gently grabbed the skirt hem and carefully closed the opened part of the dress, being careful not to let my gaze go to the split space in the dress.

“Emily.”

When I had closed the side slit by about a hand span, I held the closed part with my left hand and brought my right palm up to my ear.

“I’m here.”

Emily, who was crouching next to me and waiting, took out a small clip from the box and placed it on my palm.

I took the clip Emily handed me and clipped it directly onto the dress, slowly grabbing the line of the skirt hem, clipping every finger length.

“Where…”

Repeating the process of closing the dress along the legs and clipping it, when a somewhat pretty line was caught, I took a step back and carefully examined the silhouette of the entire lower body.

“Not bad…”

Even though the outer line was a bit blurry because it was a dark-colored dress that the Duchess enjoyed wearing, a pretty silhouette like a mermaid’s tail came out.

As expected, a mermaid dress looks prettier when worn without underwear.

Duchess Elizabeth must know this, so she must have made that choice, enduring her embarrassment.

“Tsk…”

However, it felt like something was 2% lacking.

To be exact, was the feeling that it was 2% too much and burdensome?

“I caught the line as I thought, but what do you two think?”

What’s needed in times like this is collective intelligence.

I immediately asked Emily and Sarah, who were watching from directly behind, for their opinions.

“It sticks too much to the legs. Don’t you think it’s too focused on emphasizing the body?”

“I have a similar opinion to Emily. I think it would be good to widen the width of the skirt a bit.”

“Elizabeth, what about you?”

“I wish there was more room around the knees.”

“Hmm~”

All three had similar opinions, so should I increase the circumference around the knees by about the width of a thumb?

“Okay…”

I estimated the circumference with my eyes and released the clips one by one.

I’ll probably find a suitable shape if I repeat it two or three times.

_

When William briefly went out to take the clothes covered in pins after the work of confirming the silhouette was all over.

“Haa…”

My heart was tattered like a leaf eaten by worms.

How can someone be so crazy about clothes that they can’t be conscious even once when a lady’s bare legs are right in front of them?

You could at least show a sign of embarrassment.

Like blushing, or shaking your hand slightly, or clearing your throat, or some very small sign.

But how can you not even twitch an eyebrow while touching the dress?

Even when I pretended to make a mistake and casually put my leg out, he just told me to put it back in without even reacting.

Since then, I tried various things to make him conscious in any way, but not a single one was successful.

Rather, when my fidgeting became severe, I heard the words, ‘Stay still,’ in a slightly annoyed voice.

A feeling that my pride as a woman was collapsing.

I usually thought he was afraid of me, so I tried to use the time when he was making clothes, but it all went down the drain because of that wooden doll who was obsessed with the clothes.

“Haha…”

A laugh full of futility flowed out.

And I glanced at Emily, who was carefully taking off the dress.

Is that woman the problem?

Is it because there is such a lewd woman next to him that he doesn’t see other women as women?

No, it’s certain that there was nothing ‘like that’ with Emily.

Countess Hume wouldn’t just leave the misfortune of her child touching a servant unattended.

“…”

A chilling hypothesis came to mind.

The reason for placing servants of the same gender is to prevent misfortunes.

But the reason why they bothered to place servants of the opposite gender is…

“Emily.”

“Yes?”

“Does that person like women?”

“Yes.”

“……”

I was the one who asked, but I felt unpleasant at Emily’s confident answer.

As if she had definite grounds for herself, as if she knew something I didn’t.

Of course.

She’s been watching directly by his side for years, so she must know something I don’t.

“But why is there no reaction at all?”

“Yes?”

Emily tilted her head, widening her eyes.

As if wondering what nonsense I was talking about.

“That’s quite conscious enough.”

“Liar, that’s being conscious?”

“The Young Master hardly changes his expression when he makes clothes, and he doesn’t even mention it if he’s not really conscious, but the fact that he told you to cover it means he was a little embarrassed.”

“That’s…?”

I couldn’t believe it.

That person who was expressionless like a statue, that expression that he would tear everything up if I moved, was all conscious?

The reaction is so different from usual.

A person who is as transparent as glass becomes a poker face when he grabs a needle, you have to say something that makes sense.

“Could it be…”

Suddenly, I remembered the anecdote of when William’s younger sister caught her fiancé.

The rumor that William told her the secret that Duchess Hayesbrook knocked down the second son of the Braebrook Viscount family in one go.

Am I being tricked by psychological warfare?

“Emily, I won’t tell anyone, so please tell me honestly.”

“Yes.”

“Does William have a lot of women?”

“Haa-”

Upon hearing my question, Emily let out a sigh from deep within her chest and glanced at the door of the lounge.

“I wish that were the case.”

“Ah.”

My heart suddenly felt at ease.

Because I realized that the starting line was not that different between me and this child, from the answer full of sincerity.

And on the other hand, my head became complicated.

Because it seemed like I couldn’t understand what was in that person William’s head even more.