episode_0081

“This number feels a bit awkward; was the workshop always this big?”

“It’s because there are less than half the people we used to have.”

“Ah, I already miss Marie, wagging her tail and scurrying around.”

“Shall we call for Adelheid right now for you?”

“Herbert, are you crazy?”

“Hehe~ Just kidding.”

The third Saturday of September.

Apart from the day we went to the forest to take pictures of Katerina, this is the first historical day I’ve come to the atelier on a weekend.

On such a day, the four employees and I, feeling awkward in the emptier-than-usual workshop, huddled around the table in the workshop.

A subtly excited atmosphere.

Until last night, I kept wondering if it was right to drag the employees into my work, but seeing their expressions, my worries disappeared in an instant.

“Since everyone who’s coming is here, I’ll start the explanation now.”

“Yes.”

“I’ve been waiting for you to say that.”

I unfolded my arms, leaned on the table, and as I opened my mouth, the employees focused their attention on me as if they had been waiting for it.

“As I said yesterday, for the time being, we’re going to temporarily unleash ourselves and show what we want to show, right?”

“Yes.”

“I’m planning to expand the work significantly in the future, but the work itself isn’t much different from what we’ve done so far: make prototypes, upload advertisements, close our ears, and make prototypes.”

The act of starting a chicken game doesn’t change.

The only thing that separates a game from a chicken game is the determination not to turn the steering wheel despite the risk of crashing into a wall, and the madness of enjoying proving that you have a strong heart after crashing.

Of course, I had no intention of making bizarre attempts to make it flashy.

After all, it has to be on our atelier’s menu.

As the old saying goes, the old is good, and it’s best to do what you’ve always done rather than touching something strange, I was just going to make underwear as I’ve always done.

“So, what kind of clothes are you thinking of making?”

“Um~ I’m thinking of putting out underwear for now.”

“Underwear’s’?”

“Yeah.”

I nodded and looked at Elizabeth.

“In the remaining four weeks until Foundation Day, I’m planning to release one piece of clothing each week. Through those four types of clothing, we’ll clearly show what direction we’re aiming for and what kind of clothes we want.”

“……”

I was thinking of creating a new category of underwear on this occasion.

The kind of underwear that only our atelier can try and make.

I think what fits that kind of clothing perfectly is ‘clothing that you shouldn’t show, but want to show to a specific person.’

In subculture terms, it’s ‘victory underwear.’

Friends whose very purpose of birth is for ‘that kind of’ purpose.

I wanted to establish a modern meaning of lingerie on this occasion.

In modern times, when you hear the word ‘lingerie,’ you think of racy and embarrassing women’s underwear, but the original meaning of lingerie is nothing more and nothing less than ‘underwear.’

To be exact, in the early days, it meant underwear made of linen, regardless of gender, and as it moved into English, it changed to women’s underwear, and after going through the turbulent 20th century, it unofficially included the meaning of ‘sexy underwear.’

That’s exactly what I want to do.

On this occasion, I will add ‘underwear worn for racy purposes’ to the meaning of ‘lingerie.’

“What kind of clothes are those? Considering William’s actions so far, I can only think of things that are all sexy…”

“…Well, you’re not wrong.”

It is sexy underwear.

But if I aim for that openly, it’s like confessing indecent exposure to the church and the judge, so I was thinking of using friends who were released for practicality on the outside, but could naturally lead to that direction.

“First, can you take a look at this?”

I unfolded a picture on the table.

“A nightgown?”

“It’s too short for that; isn’t it a negligee?”

“Where’s such a vulgar negligee? Most of them cover up to the knees, and they don’t show through openly.”

“Hmm…”

“It’s called a Babydoll.”

The guy I chose as the glorious first hitter for that kind of act is Babydoll.

Babydoll is a type of nightgown, that is, women’s pajamas.

To be more specific, Babydoll was born from two stages of evolution of indoor clothing in the form of a dress that noble ladies wear lightly, called a dressing gown.

When a dressing gown undergoes a first evolution, it becomes indoor pajamas that are airy like a negligee but a little less see-through and difficult to wear outside, and when it changes once more, it becomes a babydoll.

The negligee, which is the prototype of the babydoll, is thin and short enough, but this babydoll is made by using even less of a thinner fabric.

So the design is simple, there are no sleeves, the clothes are loose, the waistline is not clear, and the buttocks are clearly exposed even with a slight movement, and the bottom of the clothes is blatantly see-through.

“Babydoll…? Why is it called that?”

“Isn’t it because it’s for making babies?”

“That’s not it…”

I frowned, looking at Adelheid, who was spewing nonsense with a refreshing smile, as if I was dumbfounded.

In sexually open societies, they wear it with that feeling, but that’s definitely not the reason for the name.

The reason why Babydoll is named that way is because the silhouette of the clothes is similar to that of a children’s dress, like a baby dress.

The original creator said that he hated this name, but what can he do about the official subject, if others want to call it Babydoll.

The name of sexy underwear is Babydoll, it’s a bit contradictory and makes you feel a sense of guilt.

“This is a lighter version of the negligee.”

“Is there really a need to do that? Girdles and bras have excellent justification, but this seems to lack justification.”

“That’s a valid point.”

Princess Fanny, who was staring intently at the picture, tapped the picture with her finger and expressed her concern.

A very rational and justified point is that the first time Babydoll appeared in my past life was in the United States in 1942.

As you can see from the year, it was a friend who was born due to the lack of supplies due to the war that swept the world, the same reason why corsets quickly became losers of the times.

But since that’s not happening here, the appearance itself is very unnatural.

I’m not stupid enough not to know that, so I’ve prepared some excuses for this.

“Sometimes people feel uncomfortable wearing long and thick clothes when they sleep, right? But since negligees also serve as indoor wear, they can be heavy to wear as pajamas, and it’s the same thing to put on a shawl or jacket when walking around outside the room anyway, right?

So, the decorations are reduced, the shoulder straps are thin, and the fabric is silk chiffon, so it’s light and comfortable as if you’re not wearing anything. For a light feeling, we’ll use bright colors such as pink, white, and blue.”

“Hmm~”

It wasn’t a bad excuse.

Negligees that have not undergone modern transformations are more like pajamas than underwear.

The reason for its birth is for convenience, and it’s up to the user’s autonomy to use it as underwear by chance, so it’s not my responsibility.

“Hoo…”

I thought I did a good job, so I smiled confidently and straightened my back, and Princess Elizabeth, who was narrowing her eyes and staring at me, opened her mouth.

“So, what are your true intentions?”

“This is sexier.”

“Hehe~ Thank you for your honest answer.”

The princess raised her eyebrows and gave a sly smile.

And with her arms crossed, she glared at me and added.

“The excuse itself isn’t bad, but I don’t know if there will be anyone who believes it after seeing this outfit.”

“I don’t think I’d believe it either.”

“Are you still going to put it out anyway?”

“Yeah.”

People aren’t stupid, and most people will immediately realize that it’s just an excuse.

So I’m prepared to go to jail.

There’s a similar precedent from decades ago.

Wasn’t that person defending an adult novel as a sex education textbook?

If he had admitted it honestly, he could have gotten away with a fine because he was a noble, but he was punished with a month’s detention in the Knight Order’s barracks for saying such nonsense.

“Well… we’re not going to jail, so let’s just move on from this issue and move on to other issues?”

“Yeah.”

“The clothes themselves aren’t difficult to make; if Adelheid is here, it’ll be enough for a day, there aren’t many decorations, and the unit price isn’t that high. If we can sell it, it’s much better than a girdle.”

“That’s right, that’s the key.”

Princess Elizabeth drew a line like a knife, with a proud smile on her face that she had noticed what I had not said.

“What are you planning to promote it?”

“I’ll take pictures and show them.”

“The newspaper won’t be published until next week, so do you have a place to show it? You’re not going to print them out one by one and distribute them yourself, are you?”

“Of course not, I don’t have so much money that it’s overflowing.”

The cost of spreading flyers across the country is enough to buy a mansion in the capital.

If that’s the case, I’d rather buy a mansion than spread flyers.

And since this is a kind of provocation, it was enough for the news to spread only in the imperial capital, even if it wasn’t nationwide.

“I’m thinking of putting it up big on the bulletin board in the western part of the imperial capital, like a newspaper spread wide open?”

“Hmm… if it’s there, the promotional effect will be certain.”

“Right?”

Besides, it’s the time when the Foundation Day is approaching, so people will slowly flock to the imperial capital one by one, so it’ll be more dramatic than usual.

“So, anyone who opposes my plan so far?”

The employees all shook their heads, expressing that they had no objections.

“Good, then let’s go with this.”