episode_0147

After half-forcing a few ties onto Prince Herbert and Princess Fannie, I presented a few ties to Baron Bennion, who quietly manages the atelier building as if he’s barely there.

There wasn’t anything particularly special about his reaction, he just seemed to like them okay.

From what he said, it seemed like he was more pleased with the fact that he was also being taken care of with prototypes, rather than the ties themselves, but I didn’t really care.

It’d be good if he wore them, and if not, oh well.

After teaching Baron Bennion two ways to tie a tie and asking him to give me a simple evaluation or feedback later, I immediately went to Prince Hans’ weaving workshop.

“Duke Howard, what brings you here today?”

Prince Hans, who guided me to the drawing room as naturally as flowing water, sat down, offered me black tea, and asked a question while dropping two sugar cubes into his cup.

“It’s nothing much, but there’s a piece of clothing our atelier is currently designing, and I came to get Prince Hans’ opinion on it.”

“Mine? Oh my, I’m honored!”

The prince’s ears fluttered very quickly at the words that I had come to seek his opinion.

“Is that clothing in there?”

“Yes.”

And with his ears perked up, he leaned his upper body forward slightly and fixed his gaze on the basket I was holding.

Sparkling eyes and restless hands.

I was just lightly asking for an opinion, so I wondered if he needed to be this happy, but since there are hardly any times that I talk with the prince about design, I figured that might be the case.

Since it feels like credibility goes up when you bring up things you don’t usually talk about.

“Let’s take a look in person first.”

So, for Prince Hans, who was full of anticipation, I immediately took out the black tie from the basket without any delay.

“Hmm~ A string? No, is it a belt? You made it out of silk, which is unique.”

As the long, black cloth of 160cm length came out of the basket, Prince Hans narrowed his eyes and moved his head from side to side, examining the tie. Then, he put his hand on his chin, stroked it gently, and speculated about the use of the tie in his own way.

He was right about it being worn on the body, but unfortunately, the location was wrong.

Well, it’s too thin to be a muffler, and too thick to be a choker or necklace.

It’s long even for a belt, but he probably didn’t think about wearing such an ambiguously thick piece of cloth around his neck.

“No, this is clothing called a tie, and it looks similar to a belt, but it’s worn around the neck.”

Slightly shaking my head and pointing to my neck with my left hand, I briefly explained the tie to the prince.

“Neck?”

“The cravat was too uncomfortable, so I tried to make something that gave a similar feeling, but felt more comfortable than a cravat when worn.”

“Hmm~ I see, can I see how it’s worn?”

“Of course.”

I immediately spread out the collar of my shirt and wrapped the tie around my neck.

After briefly considering what knot to show, I tied a Windsor knot, which has volume and can be used for both formal and informal occasions, and lowered the collar.

“It’s worn like this.”

“Hmm… It’s more comfortable than a cravat, the knot looks sturdy, and it doesn’t seem like it will come undone easily.”

“Yes.”

“However, it doesn’t seem like it will be popular with the demi-humans.”

I frowned at the sudden statement that it wouldn’t be popular with demi-humans.

“What do you mean by that?”

“The first reason is that many demi-humans dislike having their necks constricted, as they are more sensitive than humans.”

“Hmm… But isn’t that something that can be solved by tying the tie loosely?”

“That’s right, it may have its likes and dislikes, but it’s not that big of a problem.”

“Yes.”

“However, there’s nothing we can do about the physical characteristics.”

“Ah~”

Prince Hans gave an awkward smile and subtly raised his hand.

A hand that looks similar to an animal’s paw, just like Marie’s.

It was a hand that had many limitations in many ways when it came to doing complicated things.

“There are just too many people who have difficulty tying knots like I do, so it will be difficult to gain the attention of the demi-humans.”

“Hmm~ That’s a good point, but I expected that to some extent, and I’ve also thought about how to solve it.”

I wondered if it was a serious problem.

Fortunately, it was a problem within the range I had expected.

“You expected it? But it doesn’t seem easy to solve the knot problem just because you expected it…”

“Then let’s take a look.”

As I confidently smiled and put my hand in the basket, Prince Hans looked at me with a distrustful face.

Guarded by suspicious eyes, I took out a navy-blue cloth from the basket this time, and I immediately began to explain as I unfolded it lengthwise.

“If it’s too uncomfortable to tie and fix a knot, wouldn’t it be enough to make the knot in advance?”

“Make the knot in advance? But wouldn’t it still require adjustment?”

“It would be enough to make it so that it doesn’t need that either.”

“What do you mean…”

Prince Hans’ gaze moves to the new tie.

And with a frown, the prince lightly scanned the tie, then tilted his head and frowned.

“Hmm…?”

And after blinking his eyes, he looked at the tie I was holding once again.

A tie that has the same shape as when a knot is tied in advance and worn around the neck.

But one difference was that there was no part that went under the collar like a noose to allow the tie to be worn around the neck.

“Duke Howard, how… How do you fasten the tie in that shape? You can’t put it around your neck.”

Prince Hans did not hide the absurdity he felt upon seeing that shape.

“The answer is on the back.”

Smirking, I twirled the tie I was holding in my hand and pointed to the metal on the knot.

“You can use a hook like this.”

“A hook?”

“Yes, if you attach a hook to the knot like this, hook it onto the front of the shirt, and gently touch the collar, you’ll get a pretty plausible shape. It’s hard to tell the difference from a real tie unless you look closely.”

This is what is called a clip-on tie, which in my past life was a type of tie that was often used by police officers who had inconvenient hands or whose necks could be a weakness.

It’s less stylish than a real tie, but its convenience is exceptionally good.

“Ah…”

The prince, who was faced with the clip-on tie, widened his eyes as if he had realized something and nodded his head.

“You can easily wear this even if your hands are uncomfortable. Wow~ I never would have thought of this.”

And soon, a satisfied smile spread across his face, and he fixed his gaze on the clip-on tie that was fixed to the clothing with a hook.

“There doesn’t seem to be anything particularly problematic about this, rather, if it becomes successfully popular among humans, demi-humans might come looking for us, saying that we can wear it too, unlike cravats.”

“That’s a relief then.”

An answer that does not deviate significantly from what I expected.

I comfortably smiled and leaned back slightly in my chair.

I knew I would receive a good evaluation.

“Prince, would it be alright if I ask for one more small favor?”

“What is it?”

A not-so-bad atmosphere.

Since he didn’t seem to have any major aversion either, I placed the clip-on tie and the regular tie on the table and slid them towards the prince.

“I’ll give you the two ties I showed you, so I’d like you to wear them and let me know about the fit and any improvements that could be made.”

“I can do that much, I’m just happy that you’re listening to my opinion, but do you have any more of those ties with hooks?”

The prince, with a tempting expression, took the tie and asked if there were any more clip-on ties, showing even more interest in the tie.

“Unfortunately, this is the only one right now.”

“Oh no!”

As much as I wanted to hand over a few more to the prince, who was showing such interest, it was a test product, so unfortunately, that was the only one right now.

“Do you have any plans to make more?”

“Hmm… If you want a few more, come to the atelier, I can make them for you in an hour.”

“Oh- really?”

A beaming smile spread across the prince’s face at the words that I would make him one more.

“Then would it be alright if I visit you the day after tomorrow?”

And the prince immediately made an appointment.

“Yes.”

“Ahaha~ Thank you.”

As I readily nodded my head, the corners of the prince’s mouth stretched out even longer.

The prince’s reaction to the clip-on tie was better than I had expected.

“Are you that happy?”

“Of course, I’ve never even dreamed of wearing a cravat like humans because of these hands, but thanks to Duke Howard, I can wear something similar.”

“That’s true, but just for this much…”

“Just for this much? Do you know how much we’ve heard because of the cravat? That we have no formality, that we’re not neat, that we’re frivolous… Now we can hear less of that, so I’m satisfied enough.”

“Haha…”

Prince Hans must have had a lot of resentment for not being able to wear the cravat.

His face was slightly flushed as he listed praises for the tie.

“So, if you officially release it, please let me know quickly, I’ll make sure to promote it to the other demi-human nobles.”

And then he volunteered to do something that I didn’t particularly order or ask him to do, and his eyes sparkled.

“Hahaha, yes, I understand.”

I smiled, nodded my head, and leaned my body against the backrest.

Even though I only showed him the tie, he had such a positive reaction.

With this kind of reaction, I was starting to look forward to how humans, and those in high positions like my father or His Majesty the King Consort, would react to the tie.