Chapter 141
Chapter 141
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 141
Chapter Title: Walter's Devotion to Adelaide
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"Hmm..."
My eyes darted around frantically, my mind spinning in a whirlwind of panic.
Walter wasn't my son. Whether he dreamed of becoming a tailor, a pattern maker, or even retiring—it had nothing to do with me.
It was entirely his own free will guiding his thoughts and actions.
But dreaming of Adelaide? That had to be stopped, no matter what.
I couldn't just stand by and watch the kid ruin himself chasing a pipe dream.
But how?
How could I make a delicate, sensitive pubescent boy—more fragile than fine glass—give up such a lofty, impossible goal?
"Walter? It's great to have high aspirations, but... isn't Adelaide a bit of a stretch...?"
To gauge his reaction first, I expressed my concern softly, hinting at negativity without being too blunt.
"Ah, I know."
"......"
Walter replied with more conviction than usual in his voice. He glanced toward the workshop wall, then put on a resolute expression before speaking.
"I know it's impossible for me to imitate Adelaide sis... better than anyone. I've watched her more diligently than anyone else."
"Watched her?"
"Yes."
His expression and dilated pupils looked like he'd taken some kind of drug.
Anxiety bubbled up immediately.
If it were drugs, I'd smack him upside the head and drag him to church. But since it wasn't... that was the real problem.
"A few months ago, didn't William tell me? If I want to get good at sewing, I should observe Adelaide sis closely..."
"...Yeah, I did. Said it'd help a lot."
"So I watched her every single day... her hand movements, expressions, habits, routine, techniques..."
"......"
Suddenly fluent, Walter's face sent a chill down my spine.
Whatever he was about to say next felt downright ominous.
"When sis starts work, she spreads her legs one by one slowly... Then at her second right leg, she frowns slightly, like it's uncomfortable... If she's in bad condition or it's a cloudy day, she nibbles her lower lip..."
"Wow..."
Adelaide must have been observed so meticulously that Walter rattled off details even I didn't know, full of utter certainty.
"When a sewing turns out satisfactory, she wiggles her butt excitedly and jerks her body. If it's unsatisfactory, she twists her lips to the left and rubs her legs gently on the floor. And on days she feels she's done good work, she embroiders a simple design inside the clothes with her own thread... usually a spider holding thread and needle."
"Ah, so it's not random..."
"Yeah, it's how Adelaide sis marks her best creations..."
Thanks to him, I finally learned the truth behind those occasional random embroideries on clothes.
"...Adelaide sis is so beautiful when she sews... Eyes wide open, red pupils fixed on the thread and needle, elegant hand movements piecing the fabric together—it's like acrobatics with thread and fingers... But even more beautiful is when she uses her spider legs... Her long black hair swaying as she moves them feels like a dancer's graceful performance..."
I got to hear praise for Adelaide's handiwork.
"...The expression she makes when focused creates such a seductive aura... Tiny pupils coldly staring at the fabric, black hair drifting down to softly veil her face—chilling yet irresistibly magnetic, like a vampire from legend."
And a surprise compliment on her appearance.
"There's so much more I could say about sis... but I want to keep it all to myself, so I won't."
After rambling about Adelaide for over ten minutes, Walter shyly smiled, as if he still had more to share but held back.
"“Ah...”"
Ellen and I, who had been staring blankly at him, squeezed our eyes shut and clutched our foreheads.
"O-Oppa, that's... kinda gross..."
"Yeah, I know..."
"Hmm... so then... what do you really want, Walter...? Or, um... what are you aiming for? Your goal?"
Sensing something seriously off despite Ellen's genuine disgust, I cautiously probed Walter's true goal.
If he knew catching up to Adelaide was impossible, then he must have a separate real...
"To become like Adelaide sis."
"What...?"
No.
He'd just admitted with his own mouth it was impossible. What was this?
Walter gazed dreamily into the distance with slightly hazy eyes.
"But it's beautiful... Like someone yearning for a star in the sky, knowing they can't reach it but striving toward it anyway... That's how I admire Adelaide sis..."
"Ah..."
Such incredibly romantic words, yet utterly terrifying.
His admiration—or affection?—for Adelaide was far from normal.
It bordered on fanaticism, beyond mere admiration.
I'd half-jokingly thought our atelier's beauties might ruin a pubescent boy.
And here he was, truly ruined.
Not by conventional stunners like Caterina or Elizabeth, but by the extreme woman that was Adelaide.
"Tsk..."
What the hell was I supposed to do about this?
Observation? More like surveillance or stalking.
If it were just watching, fine—but analyzing and cataloging every action was, as Ellen put it, viscerally repulsive.
He was still at the watching stage, but if it veered even slightly off-course, trouble was inevitable.
Adelaide wouldn't take issue with Walter, but the very existence of such a risk was the problem.
"...Alright, for now. I'll plan assuming you're a tailor, Walter, and Ellen's a pattern maker. You two can head back."
"Yes..."
"......"
My head throbbed painfully, so with a weary expression, I shooed them out of the break room and leaned back in my chair.
"Haa..."
This was complicated.
The fact that Walter knew his actions were creepy but did them anyway made it so much harder.
If he were clueless, I could just educate him—but knowing full well...
I had no idea how to handle this...
Unnerved by Walter's mania, once everyone had clocked out, I secretly called Adelaide over and cautiously brought up his behavior. "Ah~ Walter? I already know about that." "What?" What I faced was Adelaide lightly giggling behind her hand, as if to say, "What's the problem?" Her utter nonchalance left me flustered, but she gazed fondly at Walter's neatly organized workstation, a faint blush coloring her cheeks. With half-lidded eyes, she spoke. "Only an idiot wouldn't notice. He stares at me so intensely—how could I not? He even told me directly: 'Ah, I'll catch up to you, Adelaide sis... p-please teach me sewing...' Isn't it cute? A human trying to chase a spiderkin... Hehe..." "Sure, but isn't what comes after kinda weird? He's watching you like he's surveilling you." "I told him it was fine from the start." "You? Why...?" "If he wants to follow me, he has to analyze me thoroughly and challenge me with the resolve to surpass me." "Not just teach him sewing?" "I'm a spiderkin, and Walter's human. Beyond the basics, teaching or learning from each other is nearly impossible. So we're exchanging lessons our own way. I show him my pinnacle techniques, and he breaks them down, recreates them as his own. Surveillance is just part of that—necessary, of course." "I... see..." Today, she was spouting all sorts of things that were hard to grasp. Some special spiderkin sensibility? No, Walter seemed perfectly happy with it, so probably not... "But still, is Walter's goal even possible? What if he burns out later? Wouldn't that be dangerous?" I gave up on overthinking and concluded they shared some avant-garde realm society wasn't ready for. "Then that's just Walter's limit. I've warned him plenty." "Huh..." "But human tenacity can work miracles, right? I'm pretty unpolished among spiderkin, so Walter might pull off a real miracle and stand beside me. And his presence could spur my own growth, too." A bold kid's challenge might annoy some, but others would welcome it gladly. For an artisan, a pursuer burning with rivalry was like built-in motivation. "That's why I'm looking forward to it—whether Walter can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with me, or even half that. If that future comes... ufufu~" "......" But why say all that with such an ecstatic look on her face...? Was this avant-garde? To me, it just looked like a deranged relationship. Like the shock of first hearing "I'll kill you" met with "Come kill me!" "So please just watch quietly until Walter goes off the rails. For now... it's between him and me." Adelaide placed a finger lightly on her lips, gazing at Walter busily tidying his workstation with a sticky, viscous stare and a sinister, clinging smile. "Hmm, alright then..." I had so much I wanted to say. But if it wasn't causing issues, I didn't want to meddle between them. So I nodded, brimming with reluctance. Rubbing my nape lightly, I let out a deep sigh in my heart at the sight of these abnormal prodigies.