Snow White
Snow White
<Snow White> was one of the few picture books whose contents I remembered exactly.
The prince on a white horse. It was a monumental work that first introduced a subject that had since become a tired, worn-out cliché, so there was no way I wouldn't know it.
It was also the work I chose because, having shown a status-raising romance, I felt the need to raise the bar with a prince-on-a-white-horse romance for the next piece.
'Besides, dwarves actually exist in this other world.'
If Cinderella's iconic fairy-tale element was its fairy, Snow White's was its dwarves.
Dwarves didn't actually exist on Earth, but in this other world there was a race that could play the role of dwarves.
Dwarves—short and famously stubborn—were one of those races fantasy could never do without.
Dwarves existed on the Silvania Continent, the setting of The Imperial Family's Youngest Son.
However, they didn't mingle with humans and lived in a kingdom of their own, so they were said to be hard to see.
I was the same, and when I asked the people around me, all they knew was that dwarves were short and grew beards; no one had actually seen one.
'At that level, drawing them exactly as they looked in the DiXney animation shouldn't matter much.'
The designs had already been made by a global corporation to suit children's tastes.
They were designs I could trust. Besides, there was no one to complain, "That's not what my dwarf looks like!"
How could they argue when they'd never actually seen one?
'It wasn't as if my book would make it past this vast empire all the way to the Dwarf Kingdom, so everything was fine.'
If dwarves themselves saw it, they could certainly argue, but how would they see it and argue? They don't even interact with humans.
Perfect. A truly perfect plan.
***
"Again! My Snow White isn't like this!"
Ah. Picky clients who complained without even looking existed in this other world too.
I had thought I'd drawn a perfect Snow White using my memories of my past life and Rupert's outstanding drawing skills.
"I don't like the colors!"
It seemed Ada wasn't satisfied.
Our discerning customer had started butting in about every little thing the moment she saw the picture I was drawing.
Come to think of it, Ada's tastes were indeed a bit unusual.
Ada had a far more sophisticated aesthetic sense than other children her age.
I remembered that when I first drew Cinderella for her, she had been dissatisfied and sulky.
"It's only natural that Master Rupert's frequent drawings for her since childhood have raised her standards."
Alain, who had been watching Ada's fussing, began soothing her with a pleased smile.
Rupert, you bastard! Just how much effort did you pour into drawing for your little sister?
But I couldn't lose either.
Because I didn't take Ada's fussing as mere fussing.
Children's eyes are surprisingly cold and sharp, and their likes and dislikes are clear.
If I could satisfy Ada, whose standards had been raised by Rupert's drawings, then other children would surely be satisfied too.
I had to satisfy that creature called Ada but spelled 'editor.'
***
"Master Rupert, I've returned with all the items you asked for."
There were things I needed to make a picture book that would satisfy Ada.
I had asked the Yuren Merchant Company, with whom I'd signed the picture-book sales contract, and they had readily granted my request.
"So quickly? Thank you, sir."
"It was nothing. Please take a look."
I had expected a subordinate to come, so I was surprised that the head of the company had personally brought the goods, but I decided to check the items first.
"These are paints and dyes obtained from an art supply shop in the imperial capital. The quality is, of course, top-tier."
The art supplies the company head confidently produced were indeed excellent. I'd thought the previous ones were fairly high-grade, but seeing these, the difference was obvious.
Since I had used up all the materials Baron Sleepy had sent before, I had commissioned the Yuren Merchant Company, with whom I'd signed a contract, to procure new ones—but I hadn't expected products of this caliber.
I especially liked the wide variety of paint colors.
'This is it! This was the color that was missing.'
People who don't know art often look at several types of paint in the same color and say, "Aren't those all the same?"
They were distinctly different colors. Women in particular are sensitive to these distinctions in color and notice even the slightest differences.
For example, just compare the paints labeled 'Pearl White' and 'Snow White' right now.
At a glance they look like the same white, but Pearl White has a slight shimmer, making it a suitable color for painting clothing,
while Snow White could be called the most fitting color for expressing the skin tone of Snow White in the picture book I was making this time.
'What Ada had pointed out was the color too.'
Snow White was, as the name said, named for having skin as white as snow.
But it had been difficult to fully realize that with the paint colors I already had,
and Ada had sharply pointed out exactly that part.
"Master Rupert, I have also procured all the books you requested."
"Thank you. The Yuren Merchant Company is reliable as always. I didn't expect you to get them so quickly."
"Not at all. We saw great potential in your picture book, Master Rupert. Please tell us if you need anything at all."
That man really does exaggerate. Of course, picture books are incredibly popular since they didn't exist in this world, but still, they're just a pastime for noble young ladies.
***
Generally, old noble families work very hard to maintain their own solid relationships.
It was also to keep in check the upstart nobles who had suddenly risen to noble status through war or other meritorious deeds.
'Shouldn't we raise taxes once?'
'Hmm... Then just five percent this time.'
'That sounds fine. Let's raise them together.'
Just as bad deeds must be done together to avoid notice, they shared information and pursued profit together.
Therefore, lords of the same region frequently interacted with one another, and there were social gatherings where young noble children also met often as a result.
And at the social gathering held by the Bluewell Ducal House this time, young ladies from all the most prominent noble families had gathered.
"Thank you for inviting me."
"Thank you for coming. I hope you have a pleasant time."
As befitting a social gathering of the Bluewell Ducal House, the foremost noble house of the empire, all the young ladies in attendance were adorned in their most splendid dresses and jewelry.
But the fact that the most radiant person at the social gathering was Amelia, the young lady of Bluewell, wounded the young ladies' pride.
Normally, it was proper for the host to dress modestly in order to let the guests shine, so even though she wore unremarkable clothes, Amelia stood out more than anyone else in the hall.
'Hmph, what a nasty bitch. Riding on the ducal house's prestige and flirting with men.'
To the eyes of Baron Karon's daughter, Amelia's appearance—which drew gazes even when she stayed still—was unpleasant to behold.
It was absolutely not because the young lord of the neighboring territory whom she had her eye on was utterly smitten with Amelia.
'With this thing I begged Father to prepare for today, I can take that thing down a peg.'
A social gathering where noble young ladies assembled.
There, topics of comparison always came up in conversation.
One young lady had brought jewelry adorned with expensive gems.
Another young lady had worn a dress stitched thread by thread from Arachne silk by a capital artisan. Stories like that.
It was an invisible competition among nobles, a place to show off their wealth, their eye for goods, and their ability to obtain rare items.
"Have all of you heard of this 'book'?"
Once the atmosphere had ripened to a certain degree, Baron Karon's daughter confidently took out a book she had brought.
"Oh... That book is!"
"What book is it that you react like that? 'Cinderella'?"
The moment they saw the book the young lady took out, the hall instantly began to buzz.
Half the people knew of the book's existence and half did not, so the reactions were mixed.
But this alone was enough. The baron's daughter was confident that once they saw the book's contents and illustrations, everyone would be astonished just as she had been.
"They say it's a newly released picture book. It's a book containing incredibly beautiful illustrations and a story."
The noble young ladies who crowded around her all stared at the book as if entranced by that explanation.
"The illustrations really are so pretty!"
"How can a story be this beautiful?"
"A prince straight out of my dreams appears."
Now everyone's attention in the hall was focused on Baron Karon's daughter, and they flocked to her.
'I won. I won!'
Just as the baron's daughter, drunk on victory, was about to cheer inwardly—
"Oh my, what you have seems a little different from what my younger sister has."
Amelia Bluewell reignited the embers of a war that had seemed over.
***
"How is it, Ada?"
Like a webtoon artist who had sent in a manuscript, I anxiously awaited Ada's reaction.
<Snow White>, which I prided myself on having upgraded far beyond the previous version with the new paints.
Could it satisfy Ada's picky tastes?
Ada simply stared intently at the manuscript I handed her for a long while without saying a word.
'Is something still lacking?'
When Ada's expected reaction didn't come, I was disappointed.
I had been sure she would at least bounce with joy, if not tap-dance, but to have no reaction at all like this.
But then—
Thump!
Ada suddenly closed the manuscript of my <Snow White> she had been looking at and rose from her seat.
"Big Brother!"
"Huh?"
"Ada will become Snow White starting today!"
Ada's Snow White declaration!