episode_0121

“Hmm…”

Once started, the question wouldn’t leave my head, settling in and tormenting me late into the night.

Objectively, it’s a completely useless worry.

Frankly, the suspicion I keep feeling is just guessing using mind-reading, and based on the information so far, it’s 100 times more plausible that Countess Tigris was trying to feel gap moe from her husband.

But still, the reason I keep clinging to this useless worry is, I don’t know much about psychology, but isn’t there something like that in people’s minds?

Like, because I don’t think I can do it, I ask someone else to do it and get vicarious satisfaction.

Something like that being expressed…

“You’re still not asleep, are you?”

“!”

A voice breaking my deepening reverie.

Startled, I turned my head to where the sound came from, and there was Emily, arms crossed with a displeased expression.

Judging by her wearing a floaty ivory chemise, draped in a grey blanket, and revealing her fair calves, it seemed she had come suddenly just as she was about to go to bed.

“What’s wrong? Weren’t you going to sleep?”

“Your expression seemed suspicious today, so I came to check.”

“Suspicious?”

“You just have a certain expression you make when you don’t want to sleep.”

“What is that, scary…”

I frowned and slightly cowered.

How can you know that just by looking at my face…

More than that, what kind of expression do I make when I don’t want to sleep?

“Haa~ I wonder how long you’re going to keep acting this unplanned way…”

As I shuddered and looked at her as if she were something strange, Emily sighed, shook her head, and trudged over to sit on the bed.

“So, what’s the worry that’s tormenting you?”

“It’s nothing much.”

“If it’s nothing much, are you going to get angry that I’ve been awake all this time?”

“I can’t understand why Countess Tigris made this request.”

“……”

At my swift change of attitude, Emily pursed her lips as if she couldn’t find the words to say.

“……”

And after washing her face dryly, wiping her face several times with her palms, Emily stared at me with her eyes narrowed like threads, and said in a listless voice.

“… Why is that?”

“No, it’s hard to explain, but doesn’t it just seem strange?”

“What’s strange when it’s hard to explain?”

“Should I call it big data, or suspicion arising from experience, hmm… it can be accepted emotionally…”

“Haa~”

Emily’s deep sigh, seemingly drawn up from her belly, cut off my words.

I pursed my lips, subtly aware of Emily’s discomfort, and cautiously watched her.

“Master, please don’t rattle off words I can’t understand.”

“Okay…”

In the end, I got a sharp scolding.

Frankly, I don’t even know what I’m talking about.

“Well, let’s say it is suspicious like you say, but why couldn’t it be? You were also imprisoned and came out because of an unjust charge, right?”

“No, that’s a bit different…”

“It’s the same in that it doesn’t make sense, and it’s an event for the Countess to spend quality time with her husband, so what does it matter if it’s suspicious?”

“But still…”

“What do you mean ‘but still’? It looks like you’re just being stubborn, I don’t know what’s wrong or what’s strange at all.”

“Keueung…”

I have nothing to say.

Emily’s words are all correct, so what can I say?

Because it’s something I’ve been aware of all along, but trying to ignore.

“Isn’t it just that you want something, and you’re using Countess Tigris as an excuse?”

Could that be…?

There’s no reason to be so interested in someone else’s family affairs, so why can’t I let go?

Is it really as Emily says, that there’s something else I want, and I’m looking for a reason?

“It might be…”

It feels like the stuffiness in my head is clearing up.

I felt like if I had just a little more time, I could completely sort out my thoughts.

“Emily, I think I see something, but if I just stay up two more hours…”

“……”

For a brief moment, a rebellious spirit flickered in Emily’s eyes.

I immediately shut my mouth, sensing a menacing aura that she would use any means to put me to sleep if I said I would postpone sleep.

“No, I’ll just go to sleep right away.”

“……”

A smile spread across Emily’s face.

And she gently got up from her seat, kindly pulling the blanket and pointing to the bed as if telling me to lie down immediately.

“What are you doing?”

“Ah, okay…”

_

As the saying goes, if your head is too complicated, you should try to sleep, so after being forced to bed by Emily, as soon as I woke up, my head was cleared as if I had a dream, and what I wanted to do flashed like a light turning on.

Thanks to the surprisingly clean organization, I felt like I could fly away easily, so I became anxious for no reason and headed to the atelier as quickly as possible, skipping breakfast.

“It’s a bit chilly…”

The atelier, which I arrived at an hour earlier than usual.

Overcoming the heavy, cool air that had settled in the workshop, I stood in front of the stove and lightly tapped the top of the stove with a mana stone placed nearby.

Then, a blue energy burst out and seeped into the stove, and the stove shone red and began to spread warm heat in all directions.

“Good.”

I chuckled at the warmth that was slowly driving away the coolness, and headed straight to the workbench to sit down.

My hands are itching like crazy.

“Master.”

Just as I was hurriedly unfolding the paper because I wanted to move the pen as soon as possible, Emily, who had followed into the workshop a beat late, grabbed my wrist tightly.

“What’s wrong?”

“Please eat this at least before you do anything.”

A square basket that had already taken the place where the paper would go.

As Emily opened the basket while holding my wrist, there were sandwiches inside, neatly arranged, though the shapes were slightly different, as if they had been prepared in a hurry.

“You didn’t eat, so you have to eat something like this.”

“Aww~ I won’t die from skipping one meal, I’ll eat it slowly while I work, so please move it to the side.”

“Keueung…”

Unlike sleep, people don’t break down from skipping a meal, and Emily was even more troubled because I said I would eat slowly, not that I wouldn’t eat at all, so she looked back and forth between me and the basket with a troubled expression.

“Haa~ You have to eat them all before 10 o’clock, okay?”

“Okay.”

Emily nodded without saying a word to the slightly concessionary condition, and Emily moved the basket to a corner of the desk, took out a plate from the basket, and neatly stacked a few sandwiches on top.

“Thanks.”

“If you’re thankful, please listen to me.”

“That’s difficult.”

“Eueu…”

I smiled playfully at Emily, who was holding her forehead with her hand as if she had a headache, and unfolded the paper with a swoosh.

The clothes I wanted to make this time were not very difficult in terms of production difficulty.

In terms of form, it is similar to a corset, and the way to wear it is also similar to a corset.

However, the difference is that it is not underwear, and its true value can only be realized when the surrounding accessories are harmonized with the clothes.

“First, black silk, nylon, white rabbit fur, and white chiffon…”

First, I wrote down the materials to be used for the clothes in a corner of the paper.

The silk is satin with a glossy finish and no patterns or embroidery.

The nylon will be used as the material for the stockings, and the rabbit fur will be the material to be put in the accessories.

Chiffon is the material to make the babydoll that was requested.

Even if there are clothes I want to make, I have to faithfully finish the request.

“Hmm…”

After writing down all the necessary materials and checking that nothing was missing, I tore off the corner of the paper as it was and handed it to Emily.

“Take the materials written here from the warehouse.”

“Yes.”

After confirming that Emily was walking to the warehouse with the piece of paper, I immediately transferred the silhouette of the clothes I was imagining in my head onto the paper.

The overall line is to cling to the body and show off the figure.

Since there are no shoulder straps, the upper part of the waist is similar to an off-shoulder dress or corset, and the shape below the waist is drawn the same as a leotard.

Draw the lines steeply with the feeling of connecting the crotch and waist so that the pelvis is clearly visible.

Now, the empty legs and pelvis are subtly covered with coffee-colored pantyhose.

Next, a fluffy fur scarf around the neck, cuffs around the wrists, a headband with long ears on the head, and a round, fluffy tail the size of two fists near the tailbone.

“Hoo…”

After finishing the sketch of the back and putting down the pen, I let out a hot breath and leaned back in my chair.

I feel like I was so focused that I wasn’t even breathing properly and just worked hard with the pen.

Suddenly, my hands are shaking and I feel like my sugar is dropping.

I blankly reached for the sandwich.

“Master, what on earth are you drawing that you’re burying your nose in the desk, sweating profusely, and moving the pen?”

“Huh?”

As I was nibbling on the sandwich and catching my breath, Emily suddenly held out her hand with a handkerchief and tapped my forehead.

She only tapped it lightly three or four times, but the handkerchief was soaked and began to stain thickly with water marks.

“Wow…”

“I told you I brought the fabric, but you didn’t react, and you only moved your hand for an hour as if you were possessed by a ghost.”

“It’s already been an hour?”

“Yes, everyone else has come to work too.”

“Come on… Still…”

Thinking that the exaggeration was too much no matter what, I turned my head slightly and saw the employees who were already working at their desks without saying anything.

“It’s true…”

“Why would I lie about something like this?”

Emily snorted lightly, straightened her back, and put the handkerchief she had used to wipe the sweat into her apron pocket.

Then, she moved her gaze to the sketch on the desk and looked at it with a curious face and said.

“What on earth are you trying to make that made you so absorbed in it?”

“Hmm…”

I chewed on the sandwich and shifted my gaze to the sketch, just like Emily.

If this has a name, it’s definitely that, but is it okay to use it as it is?

“Gulp.”

No.

No matter what I attach to it, that seems to be the best.

I chuckled and opened my mouth, shaking my head.

“Bunny girl.”

It was the outfit I had been wanting to make for months and singing about in my heart.