episode_0140

Even after concluding a mutually satisfactory contract, the guild master and I didn’t leave our seats but continued our conversation a bit longer.

The business itself was finished, but it would be too cold-hearted to leave right away.

“My daughter, you see…”

“Ah…”

I quickly regretted it when the guild master started sharing personal stories as soon as the business talk ended.

My father in my past life once said, ‘Dads are just fools who can only talk about their kids when they go out.’, but I didn’t expect to experience it here.

It’s enough to just pretend to be interested and nod along to family stories.

“That kind of rascal…!”

“That must have been upsetting.”

Of all things, it was someone else’s daughter’s love life, so I was mortified.

To me, it sounded like a normal romance between a man and a woman, but it seems it didn’t quite meet the father’s expectations.

I wasn’t sure if it was right to suddenly talk about it to someone you just met, but a father’s heart for his daughter is a mysterious thing.

“Please go in carefully!”

“Thank you for your hard work.”

Perhaps because I showed mindless empathy to the best of my ability, I was able to get on the carriage with the guild master’s courteous farewell, smiling more brightly than when he stamped the contract after finishing the story.

“Hoo…”

I sat on the carriage seat and let out a faint sigh.

I never thought I’d come all the way to the guild to get counseling, so I was very tired.

However, thanks to that, the vague anxiety that had been lingering in my mind seemed to disappear completely.

I felt like even if this person messed things up because they were bad at their job, they wouldn’t stab me in the back.

And seeing how they tried to make a profit by taking a cut in the middle after listening to a few words, it didn’t seem like they were bad at their job either.

The truth will only be known when we start working in earnest, but at least the start was pleasant.

Anyway, after finishing my work at the Tailor and Seamstress Guild, I didn’t go straight back to the atelier, but met with Prince Hans, Miss Isabella, and Miss Heini in turn to give them a heads-up about what had happened with the guild.

I had told them in advance by letter, but it was a very important matter for us, so I wanted to prevent any confusion as much as possible.

The three people who heard my story showed somewhat bewildered reactions, like ‘You actually brought in work?’, but were generally positive.

Guild-level contracts, not just shop-level, are difficult to obtain easily.

Even if it’s not everything, just picking up the crumbs that fall can be a pretty good profit.

Especially Prince Hans, he was overjoyed.

Unlike machines or metals, which don’t have a large supply, the atelier uses fabric like water.

If the ateliers belonging to the guild start ordering, they could supply kilometers every month, and even that could be synthetic fiber fabric with a high unit price?

And only he can supply it?

It’s almost a contract where he can name his price.

While running around very busily like that and getting positive answers from the three people, I was able to return to the atelier when the sun was hanging in the western sky and the sky was slowly starting to shine with a yellow light.

Just one hour left until quitting time.

Because it took more time than expected, it was almost as if I had missed an entire day.

“Ugh…”

I scanned the busy employees and let out a groan.

The work must have piled up little by little again.

The characteristic of a shitty small company is that things go haywire when one person is out for a day, and the fact that I’m following that was quite strange.

It’s a bit of a blind spot that that one person is the CEO, but what company would be in an uproar if the CEO was away for a day?

A country doesn’t fall apart just because the king has a cold.

No, there must have been countless kings around the world, so maybe there was one?

“Elizabeth, nothing special happened while I was gone, right?”

“Yeah, two customers came, and one said you weren’t here, so they just left a message saying they’d come back tomorrow or the day after.”

“Really nothing happened.”

“If special things happened often, they wouldn’t be special.”

“That’s true, but…”

Those special things happen too often to me.

As if the world is being unfair to me.

No, since my career path is smooth, is it being too nice?

It’s tiring, but it’s a relief that it’s full of good things.

If I had caught the Emperor’s eye and it was something like, ‘You, just you wait.’, my life would have been ruined in many ways.

He’s openly declaring, ‘This kid belongs to the Imperial Family.’, so the guys who look at me unfavorably have become much quieter.

“Oh, right.”

As I was recalling what had happened in the past few months and squinting, Elizabeth, as if realizing something belatedly, exclaimed and pointed to one area of the workshop.

“Walter and Elin were looking for you?”

“Who?”

“Walter and Elin, they seemed to have something they wanted to talk about, they were fidgeting, saying they had to talk by today.”

“Today? Hmm…”

I narrowed my brows, frowned, and rolled my eyes quickly.

Did Walter and Elin have something they needed to tell me so urgently?

There’s nothing in particular like that…

“Ah- that’s right.”

I asked them last week if they were thinking of becoming tailors.

I told them to think about it until this week and let me know, but they came to a conclusion faster than I thought.

Even if they had dragged it out until Friday, I wouldn’t have said anything, but if they made a decision quickly, I should listen to their story quickly too.

“Walter! Elin!”

I smiled slightly at Elizabeth to express my gratitude, then called Walter and Elin.

“Yes?!”

“U, uhwat!”

“Come to the break room, I want to talk.”

“”Yesh…!””

_

Walter and Elin came into the break room about 5 minutes after I called them.

“Sit down quickly.”

“Yes…”

I recommended them to sit down, watching them being cautious, and subtly pushed water with citron jam in front of them.

“I heard you were looking for me.”

“Yes…”

“It must be because of that matter last time, right?”

“T, that’s right…”

“Then, you can tell me what choice you made, right?”

The reason was obvious, so I didn’t bother asking why they were looking for me and went straight to the point.

“Yes…”

They had decided on their answer and were determined to answer, but expressing it was a separate matter, so the siblings nodded and fidgeted with their pants and skirt hems for a long time, keeping their heads down.

I was frustrated that they couldn’t properly speak even though they came to find me, but I was very proud that they had taken action before I looked for them, so I leisurely sipped my black tea and waited for them to have the courage to speak.

“I, I…”

After waiting, Walter was the first to pluck up his courage and open his mouth.

“Yes.”

I put down my teacup with a nonchalant expression and made eye contact with Walter.

Walter also didn’t avoid my eyes and met them, swallowed once, and continued speaking.

“I want to continue… working as a seamstress like I am now…”

I was expecting it because the decision was quick, but as expected.

He had a negative reaction from the beginning, so it would be difficult for his mind to flip-flop in less than a week.

It’s Walter’s choice, so I can’t interfere, but I can’t deny that I had some expectation that he might change his mind if he had some time, so I felt a little disappointed.

“I see…”

While answering in a slightly bitter voice, I shifted my gaze to Elin, who was still fidgeting with her skirt.

“How about Elin? Do you have a similar thought to your brother?”

“I, I…”

Elin, who lowered her head even further, shuddered her shoulders and opened her mouth.

Elin repeatedly raised and lowered her head, showing an anxious appearance, and then said with difficulty, trembling her lips.

“I want to try learning, learning tailoring…”

“Yes, that’s… hmm…?”

Tailoring?

“Elin, did you just say tailoring?”

“Yes…”

I was happy and embarrassed by the unexpected answer, so I couldn’t think of anything to say.

These siblings always had similar opinions, so I thought it would be the same this time, but this time they made different choices.

“Oh…”

I quickly checked Walter, wondering if Elin was reading my mind and suddenly made a different choice, but Walter was just sitting there looking at me without any particular surprise.

The situation kept deviating from my predictions, but I felt good instead.

“H, 혹시 안 되나요…?”

“Ho, perhaps it’s not allowed…?”

Unlike Walter, I didn’t give a particular answer and was just spacing out, so Elin’s voice, full of sobbing, flowed out of her, feeling uneasy.

“That’s absolutely not the case, I have to respect your choices, whether it’s tailoring or sewing, since they came after much deliberation.”

I immediately denied Elin’s worries with a firm voice, then added, looking at them with the warmest smile and gaze possible.

“However, it’s the first time your opinions have diverged, so I was wondering why, can you tell me why you made those choices?”

“It looked cool…”

“Cool?”

“W, when the tailors design their own clothes… their appearance, it’s, it’s so cool… if I could do that too… it would be nice…”

“Hmm~ I see, that’s not a bad reason.”

A smile naturally flowed out at the innocent and youthful reason.

I want to follow along with what I think is cool.

It was a common motivation for teenagers, and a very excellent motivation.

If a snobbish reason like social status or money came out at this young age, I would have felt disappointment and pity at the same time.

It’s best to think in an ideal direction, even if it feels a bit childish, in the young age when you’re just entering puberty.

“Walter?”

After hearing a satisfactory answer from Elin, I shifted my gaze to Walter, anticipating what kind of answer he would give.

“I, I… want to be like Sister Adelheid…”

“What…?”

The pleasant moment collapsed in an instant.

“Who? Adelheid?”

I repeated, with my eyes wide open, telling myself that I must have misheard, though it was unlikely.

“Yes… Sister Adelheid…”

But what came back was Walter, nodding shyly and smiling bashfully.

“A, Adelheid… you said…?”

I couldn’t believe it.

The goal is so high that it’s impossible.

If it was just a difficult task, I would have cheered him on.

He’s trying to take on a challenge that humans can’t do in a world without sewing machines or electric motors…?

“Ooh…”

I could feel the alarm bells in my head ringing very loudly.

This is a big problem…