episode_0093

After a night of unexpected luck, a new sun rises on a weekend morning.

“Emily, I’m going out alone today, so don’t follow me.”

I changed clothes to head to the atelier and had Francis prepare the carriage. To Emily, who was ready and waiting to follow me, I gave an order I had never given her in her life.

“…?”

At first, Emily, who couldn’t understand what she had heard, wore a dumbfounded expression, blinked, and moved her lips.

“…Yes?”

Only after a long time was she barely able to utter a short word.

“I said I’m going out alone today, so you don’t have to follow me.”

As I repeated the same words once more, Emily, her face turning pale, cautiously approached with a frightened expression and began to touch my body here and there.

“Not… not a ghost…”

Tapping my shoulder, arm, and cheek to see if she could feel me, Emily muttered to herself, then put her hand on her forehead to check for a fever.

“No fever…? Young Master, have you been drinking?”

“No, I’m not seeing things, I’m not sick, I didn’t drink, and I’m definitely sober.”

“But why are you going out alone…? Is it because I got angry yesterday? I was wrong…”

“No, it’s not that…”

Suddenly, Emily started trembling and fell into despair, which made me flustered.

I thought she would be surprised, but I didn’t think she would take it this seriously.

“If it’s not that, then why are you going out alone? You’ve never done that before.”

“……”

I’m at a loss for words.

What excuse can I make to get out of this plausibly?

It has to be plausible that I’m leaving Emily behind, and it also has to be plausible that I’m going alone.

Doesn’t exist…?

Even when I visited the Imperial Palace once, we went together, so there’s no place I can leave Emily alone.

“…”

No, there is one place.

A place I can go, but it would be awkward to take Emily.

However, if I use that as an excuse, my image will be shattered.

No, if I finish the dress on time, I can perfectly explain it.

It will be awkward for a few days, but it’ll only be about three days.

That’s shorter than the army training camp, which was the worst period of my life in both lives.

“Young Master…?”

“Sss… Hooo…”

As the silence grew longer, Emily called me with an anxious voice.

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes tightly, reciting the excuse I had prepared in my mind.

“Well, actually, I was going to buy a book that’s embarrassing to talk about, I’m slowly becoming an adult now, right?”

Pornography or decadent novels.

The best invincible reason to cite as the cause of a teenage boy’s sudden deviation and eccentricity.

However, it wasn’t that this was a serious level of deviation.

A near-perfect excuse that would only earn you nagging and embarrassment, no matter who found out.

“Eh…?”

As the invincible excuse popped out between my lips, a bewildered voice flowed out of Emily.

“Ah, that… Ah… Euh…”

Narrowing my eyes and looking ahead, I saw Emily blushing, bowing her head deeply, and making strange noises like she was broken.

She looked even more embarrassed than when I asked her to show me her legs.

It was better than the pale and trembling look from before, but her face was so red that I wondered if she was having a stroke.

“Y-Young Master, y-you should make up something more a-appropriate! You can’t just say something so blatant in front of a woman…”

“I didn’t want to say it either, but Emily looked so serious that I had no choice…”

“Be quiet!”

“……”

When I subtly blamed Emily, she yelled in embarrassment.

Some of the servants who were busily moving around the townhouse glanced at our noisy selves, but as soon as they saw me, they nodded as if they understood and poured their attention into what they were doing.

What is it…

What did they see to be convinced?

“Are you going to follow me?”

“Are you crazy?”

“Then is it okay if I go out alone?”

“Just do whatever you want!”

With the words “do whatever you want,” Emily turned sharply and scurried away from me as if running away.

It’s good that the lie worked, but I feel like Emily’s affection for me has dropped a lot because of this.

Can I recover this?

It would be a disaster if I just get fixed as a perverted young master…

Would it have been better to just tell her the truth…?

As I blankly watched Emily, who had disappeared from view, a sudden wave of regret washed over me.

“……”

But it was already water under the bridge.

_

After completing the miraculous exchange of sacrificing affection to protect a secret, I arrived at the atelier secretly from Emily.

“The fabric we’re using this time is cotton, right?”

“Yeah, prepare the black thread, and make the seams as invisible as possible.”

“Yes.”

Making the dress with Adelheid’s help was progressing much more smoothly than going out alone.

“Make the seams a little stronger there.”

“Yes.”

Unlike the noble trio, who unreservedly revealed their tastes whenever I offered an opinion, the seamstresses would do it without complaint unless it was technically impossible, which was really nice.

So, after about three hours of me cutting the fabric and Adelheid attaching the fabric as instructed.

“It’s done.”

“Oh…”

I was able to get the dress exactly as it was in the blueprint before lunchtime.

As expected, a living sewing machine, the performance is reliable.

“Well, did it come out the way Sir William wanted?”

“Hmm…”

I carefully examined the dress that Adelheid had lifted up and brought close to my face.

The finishing touches and the overall silhouette came out perfectly as intended.

There was only one thing, the waist was thicker than expected.

“Adelheid, doesn’t it look like there’s too much space under the chest?”

“I was wondering whether to say something or not, but Sir William sees it too?”

“Yeah, you sewed it according to the measurements, right?”

“Yes, you can measure it.”

“Ugh…”

Emily’s chest circumference was so large that there was still too much empty space, even though I had given it some curves.

If I put it on her like this, she would look like a pigeon with a puffed-up chest.

If I were to fix it, it wouldn’t be just one or two parts that I would have to tear apart and cut to fix that one thing.

If I were to make it from the beginning, I would have to redraw the drawing and meet again tomorrow.

Then I would be a crazy guy who spends the whole weekend looking for erotic books.

One day is okay, but if it’s two days, my mother will summon me.

“I can’t help it, I’ll have to cover it with a belt if it’s too much.”

It’s a bit of a shame that I can’t see the tent, but if I tighten it slightly to suppress the empty space, I can add a point without distorting the clothes.

“Oh~ A belt… that’s a good idea, how do you come up with things like that right away, Sir William? You always bring amazing clothes out of nowhere, I’m dying to know what’s in your head.”

“Haha…”

I felt strange because the compliment wasn’t about the clothes, but about me.

I would be proud if I were a designer who really created new things, but in reality, it’s not a big deal because it’s a design rip-off from the future…

“Then shall we make a belt too?”

As I looked at the dress with a bitter smile, Adelheid set out to find new work on her own.

It wasn’t a bad suggestion, but I shook my head and refused.

“No, I’m going to buy it somewhere else.”

“Why? I’m good at making belts too, I’ve worked with all kinds of leather from cows to rabbits, alligators, and lizards?”

It’s obvious, but if I could make it here, it would be better for me to make it here than to go around looking for it.

“Of course, it’s not that I don’t trust you, it’s just that there’s no leather in the atelier yet.”

If there were materials, that is.

Unless I’m an alchemist, I can’t create something from nothing, so I had no choice but to buy the belt.

“Then is this the end of work for today?”

“Yeah.”

“Aww… that’s a bit unsatisfying.”

“It’s a shame, but there’s nothing I can do, next time I’ll bring a bunch of fun stuff after National Foundation Day.”

“Okay.”

While appeasing Adelheid, who was making her disappointment obvious, I packed up the completed dress.

_

After buying a black leather belt and a dark green shawl, I stopped by the bookstore first.

It’s a lie, but I said I was going to buy an erotic book, so it would be strange if I didn’t buy a book.

I wondered if I had to buy an erotic book because of a three-day lie, but it was better to do it properly since I was going to give a surprise gift.

It was frustrating in many ways.

I should have just told the truth and made it with confidence.

Things keep getting twisted because I impulsively make plans.

“Aish…”

Sighing, I picked up one of those books in a very dark and secluded corner of the bookstore.

How do I know it’s one of those books?

The way to tell is very easy.

The title of the book is very explicit.

Books, whether in the past or present, have to be interesting to sell well, so there are quite a few titles that are in the form of sentences or explicitly spoil the story.

Once you know what the content is from the title, you’ll naturally become interested.

Like “The Memoirs of a Loose Woman” that I just picked up.

I don’t know what it’s about, but the title makes it sound like it’ll be a dopamine rush.

“Hmm…”

Is one book not enough?

One book seems too honest.

So I also picked up a book next to it titled “Forbidden Relationship.”

Two books would be appropriate under the guise of “first try.”

“Owner, how much are these two books?”

“5 silver each.”

“Here you go.”

“Thank you.”

So, I grabbed two books and finished paying, then immediately left the bookstore and got on the carriage.

It was only about two o’clock, but because the streets were crowded with carriages, I might not be able to return home until sunset if I didn’t hurry.

“Eish.”

After getting on the carriage, I threw the books into the corner irritably.

To spend 10 silver on that kind of thing.

10 silver is a few meters of silk, seriously.

I’m dying of regret.

“Charles, let’s go back to the townhouse.”

“Yes.”

I took my eyes off the books and frowned, ordering Charles to head home.

I’ll have to throw them away or something as soon as the work is done.