episode_0174

When a person undergoes a great ordeal, they often gain many emotional changes or realizations.

The recent events I experienced were also significant enough to bring about such changes, and in fact, I was forcibly subjected to various psychological experiences.

Although the ending was a bit anticlimactic and slightly ambiguous, how often does one get suspected of heresy and even face trial in their lifetime?

Even being framed as a petty thief is rare right now, let alone being accused of heresy.

I, too, am someone who creates works in my own way.

Thanks to the continuous series of unfair attacks over the past month and the forced injection of experiences, my aesthetic sense, which had temporarily fallen asleep due to the busyness of my current life, began to revive, and the desire to unleash new works into the world surged forth.

Strictly speaking, I’m closer to a smuggler than an artist, but even a smuggler has their own avant-garde artistic spirit.

An avant-garde smuggler who carefully selects works that are likely to be hits and secretly introduces them into this world.

Therefore, I wanted to have a pen and paper brought before me immediately and smuggle clothes from my past life right away, but right now, I had a small but important issue that needed to be resolved first.

「☆January 23☆」

On the January calendar filled with countless schedules, a day uniquely highlighted with two stars.

When I came to my senses, Emily’s birthday was only two days away.

It’s truly a big deal.

Some people occasionally said it was too much fuss for a maid’s birthday, and Emily herself would say, ‘Madam takes good care of me, so you don’t need to worry about me like this every time, Young Master,’ with a troubled expression, but that’s nonsense.

Although Emily is a maid, she is my exclusive maid, and one of the few people who has observed my foolish self for years and understands me generously.

Haven’t they said that more important than many connections and money in life is that one person who can be by your side when things are difficult and tough?

Excluding family, Emily is that one person to me.

So, this is not the time for tactless avant-garde art to interfere.

“What should I really do this year…”

The only small problems were that I was starting to run out of ideas and time was too tight.

Jewelry is definitely out because it would make Emily terribly uncomfortable.

I already gifted a watch, and items Emily might use frequently like a comb were too plain to give as a gift.

Right now, you can buy ten for 1 silver in the market, and even using 고급(high-quality) wood costs only a few silver.

A comb made of jade or silver would be suitable as a gift, but then there’s no difference from jewelry.

I’ve made her clothes and shoes frequently recently, so she wouldn’t accept them even if I gave them.

The most common gift, perfume, Emily didn’t use often.

She said too many people looked at it negatively, and I thought, isn’t it good if a maid smells nice? But usually, I was the only one who thought that way.

Most people dislike maids having strong characteristics.

It was such a sad thing.

I wished my Emily would become a dispenser of fresh scents.

Indeed, it is the truth that young maids should smell of soft powder, virgin maids should smell of fresh flowers or fruit, and mature middle-aged maids should smell faintly of a bookstore mingled with the scent of black tea.

“Hmm…”

This is a bit too gloomy.

Pushing the thought that even I felt uncomfortable thinking about into the deep abyss of my mind, I rested my arms on the desk and propped up my chin.

A gift that Emily wouldn’t feel burdened by, could use without worrying about others’ reactions, wasn’t expensive, and didn’t overlap much with previous gifts.

I had a small wish for it to just drop from the sky, but since that’s not possible, I had to find a good method.

“Should I go to the study first…”

Usually, getting help from the primitive ancient AI was beneficial for mental health in times like this.

_

The study, which I found relying on a small magic lamp.

“Sigh… Haa…”

Trembling slightly while savoring the smell of old books, one of the few narcotics permitted by the state, I ignored everything else and went straight to the bookshelf where books that were a bit ambiguous to classify separately were kept.

It was dark and hard to distinguish where everything was, but whether it was the manor house or here, I could find the bookshelves in the study with my eyes closed, so it wasn’t a problem.

“Hmm…”

After reaching the bookshelf, I held the magic lamp close to it and slowly examined each title written on the labels one by one.

「Letter Writing That A Gentleman of the New Era Must Learn As Culture」

I’m not writing a letter to Emily, so not this.

「Cocktail Mixing That Sends Someone Away In One Go Without A Trace」

Hmm… It’s a useful book for giving something to a woman, but not now.

And it’s not a method I want to use in the first place.

I immediately shifted my gaze.

「Encyclopedia of Oriental Tea Ware」

This is too much.

「Embroidery Patterns for Ladies」

This is useless.

「Making Bookmarks for Someone Special」

This is for the shopping cart, for now.

「Perfumes Suitable for Gentlemen and Ladies and How to Use Them」

I saw this a few years ago.

“Ugh…”

I’ve examined about half of them, but none are particularly appealing.

Maybe it’s because there are fewer books than at the main house; they’re all disappointing.

It would be a disaster if the primitive ancient AI is already faltering…

Time is ticking by as each book is rejected, and no answer is coming out, only increasing my anxiety.

「Flower Language Culture of the Romayion Kingdom」

“Oh?”

Then, when there were about two shelves left, one book caught my eye.

Flowers.

They aren’t a bad item to gift to someone.

It’s easy to convey meaning through flower language, they are beautiful, and giving them with a simple gift makes it less burdensome.

In a world full of pragmatism, you might get told off, saying, ‘Why give something you can’t eat or use?’, but here, romance and sentimentality are still firmly in place, so theoretically, it’s not bad.

However, I’m not sure if the culture of subtly conveying meaning through flower language is well-understood here.

It’s true that here too, roses symbolize love, and lilies symbolize purity or nobility, or perhaps mourning for the dead, but it wasn’t at the level where five or six meanings were attached to every single flower.

Modern flower language is attached so recklessly that it feels like some kind of mind-reading, and in the case of roses, they assign meaning to RGB values, and give special meaning based on the number, color combination, or growing season, doing things you’d only find in a mystery novel, aren’t they?

Of course, that’s why flowers are often used in modern times when it’s hard to speak directly, but the meanings here are just too simple.

No, wait.

Maybe that’s why it’s better?

Since there aren’t many complex meanings, perhaps I can convey the meaning I want to convey clearly…

“Good.”

This one, I liked it.

I immediately pulled the book out and tucked it under my arm.

I checked the remaining shelves to see if there were any other eye-catching books, but after that, there were no friends that caught my eye as much as the flower language one.

I also pulled out the bookmark book that I had considered initially and left the study for my room.

With these friends, I should be able to make it in time somehow…

_

The book about flower language was quite useful.

It was a bit old, so the writing style was stiff and reading it almost made me fall asleep, but the information itself was useful.

Here, flower language was still quite simple.

Of course, even so, some flowers had two or three meanings attached, but the meaning didn’t change depending on the color, number, or combination.

So, I was able to find a few flowers with meanings like gratitude and thanks.

Flowers whose names I might have heard a few times and which could be found in the Empire included Campanula, Anemone, Geranium, and Dahlia.

They were all pretty flowers, and generally well-liked, but unfortunately, none of them were in season.

In the first place, it’s the middle of winter right now, so no flower is in season…

Naturally, with magic, there are no flowers you can’t get if you have time and money, but I need to solve everything by tomorrow.

There’s no way the exact flowers I want would be perfectly available in one greenhouse, so I’d have to go around places, and a single day isn’t enough.

Since fresh flowers are close to impossible, the only option left is making fake flowers…

“Both are a bit iffy…”

I couldn’t get a sense of whether I should make artificial flowers out of fabric or embroider on fabric.

Time wasn’t an issue either way.

If I limit it to a few flowers, I can finish within two or three hours, and materials aren’t a problem, but I just didn’t like either option.

My small inner practicality bug instinctively felt repulsion towards artificial flowers, and embroidery on fabric wasn’t as pretty compared to artificial flowers.

It would be better if it was something pretty with a bit of practicality, but what could I do with embroidered fabric?

“Hmm…”

Maybe I’m thinking too deeply; my head hurts.

… Head?

Hair tie?

A hair tie is too small, a scrunchie would be good.

In terms more familiar to us, a “곱창 밴드” (intestine band) or “슈슈” (chouchou).

It’s a hair tie made of wavy fabric like intestines that stretches well like a rubber band.

It’s made by creating a tube of fabric and putting elastic inside, good for decorating and simply tying hair.

Since the surface area is a bit wider, it leaves less marks on the hair, and being elastic, it’s easy to tie.

Getting elastic? That problem was solved long ago, so it doesn’t matter.

I can make the fabric to cover the elastic quickly, so I’ll make about three in different colors.

Giving just a scrunchie would feel too empty, so gifting a comb and a mirror along with it would make a matching set, and it’s at a level that commoners can prepare if they put their mind to it, so it won’t be too burdensome either.

The most important thing is that it can be solved within dozens of silver.

This is it.

There’s no other answer besides this.

I’ll prepare the design today, make the actual items tomorrow, and give them on her birthday.

“Ha~”

Feeling completely refreshed, I let out a breath close to an exclamation of admiration, a wide smile spreading across my face.

And immediately, I placed a pencil and paper in front of me and began drawing lines on the paper with nimble hands.