Chapter 33
Chapter 33
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 33
Chapter Title: Finishing the Uniform Prototypes
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Ugh~ Ow... I thought I was gonna die."
The medicine from His Highness worked incredibly well.
Just an hour after taking it, it got me out of bed when I hadn't been able to move at all.
The pain hadn't completely vanished, but compared to the agony that felt like it was ripping my muscles apart with every breath, this was like heaven.
Now that my body was somewhat better, it was time to stop slacking and get back to work.
I slowly climbed out of bed and stood up.
"You're up sooner than I expected, Young Master. I thought you'd be bedridden for at least three days."
As I staggered from the bed toward the desk, Emily—who had been sitting on a chair in the corner of the room—widened her eyes and hurried over.
"The medicine works great. I'm feeling much better."
I frowned at Emily as she scanned me up and down, then rotated my right arm to show it was fine.
But my arm, turning as slowly as a windmill on a still day, only made her more worried. She gave me a dubious look and spoke in a hesitant tone.
"...You should probably take it easy today and rest up."
"I'd love to, but with work piling up, I can't relax."
If I were still too pained to move, I'd have no choice but to rest. But now that I was better, the anxiety creeping in was something even I couldn't ignore.
"Well, no helping it then..."
Emily nodded reluctantly, her face full of dissatisfaction.
"I'll bring some tea, so at least drink that while you work."
"Haha, thanks."
I smiled at Emily as she left the room and sat down at the desk.
It was time to get back on track after that brief detour.
His Highness had said a plan would suffice, but I couldn't settle for that.
Drawings and writing are flat; the real thing is three-dimensional. The difference is huge.
Shadows, wrinkles, and curves that appear when worn can't be easily captured in a sketch, so I believed the actual garment was even more crucial.
To achieve that, I needed to start by finishing the sketches from the first day.
"Hmm..."
I picked up a pencil and lightly touched its tip to the paper.
Finishing the drawings was a bit embarrassing to say—I'd already completed the skirt and was just pondering stocking colors, while the pants were down to long or shorts.
These weren't even real dilemmas by my standards.
Black stockings with suits were standard, and long pants with formal wear were common sense and law.
But that was modern common sense, where ready-to-wear was everywhere.
Here, where the height of formal wear was a frock coat with shorts and white stockings, defying convention was a bold challenge—hence these pointless worries.
"Mm..."
I poked the corner of the paper with the pencil and pouted.
Tailcoats like tailcoats would rise to formal status in a decade or so anyway. Couldn't I just fire the starting shot a bit early?
It made me a little nervous.
Firing it in front of His Highness, no less.
...No, thinking about it, I'd already done plenty of tactless things.
I'd outright told him the knights' uniforms looked ragged.
I planned to push underwear and H-line skirts too—would stockings or long pants be the issue?
One more wouldn't make much difference...
"Mm...!"
Realizing I'd crossed the line ages ago, I could go all out without worry. My mind eased.
I pulled the pencil from its corner dotted frenzy and placed it over the unfinished sketch.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The day after I finished the sketches and bought cotton and silk fabrics with Emily.
"You look much better."
Lady Rachel, who had visited the townhouse early that morning, glanced at my face, smiled, and greeted me.
"It's all thanks to His Highness's grace. The effect was immediate."
"I was worried how to report to His Highness if you'd been down for days. Glad to hear it."
"Haha... I'm ashamed."
I gave an awkward laugh and rubbed the back of my neck.
"So, no need to head back today?"
"Yes, today we'll make the dress uniforms and combat uniforms for real."
"Make them? I thought His Highness only asked for plans."
"Correct, but doesn't the real thing feel different? I want to show exactly the vibe I'm going for, so I'm making prototypes."
"Hmm..."
Lady Rachel narrowed her eyes and let out a faint groan.
She probably thought it impossible to make both in just ten days.
No need for lengthy explanations—just show her, and she'd believe.
"For that, I need Lady Rachel's help."
"How can I assist?"
"I'd like you to model the prototype dress uniform."
"Me?"
"Yes."
"If my help is needed for His Highness's task, I'll gladly do it."
Lady Rachel nodded without hesitation.
"Thank you."
I smiled gratefully at her.
First, measurements. I pulled a tape measure from my pocket and handed it to Emily.
"Emily, if you would."
"Yes."
Emily took the tape and gently touched Lady Rachel's shoulder, leading her to the dressing room.
Once they were gone, I slowly examined the uniforms Lady Rachel had brought.
The Imperial Knights' uniforms came in two types: combat and dress.
It was natural to split them, as no single garment could balance functionality, style, productivity, and cost.
What I liked most about these knight uniforms—minus decorations—was that the base was all achromatic colors.
White and black, especially, were fantastic.
Well-fitted, they suited any body, were easy to coordinate, and hard to mess up.
White made you look bigger, black slimmer, but unless your build strayed far from standard, no big deal.
The only issues: white was hard to maintain and could show through even if thick. Otherwise, perfect.
The silhouettes resembled ornate uniforms from my past life's line infantry, but details differed.
Combat uniforms: simple tailcoat covering most hips and fully chest, vest and shirt underneath, long pants to ankles.
Colors: shirt white, rest black.
Shoulder epaulettes, chest insignia, long row of buttons—that was the decoration.
Dress uniforms, by contrast, were flashy.
Base white (minus trim).
Same coat silhouette, but shoulders had dangling gold fringe epaulettes, aiguillettes from right shoulder to chest, laurel leaf cuffs, imperial crest and knight insignia on shoulders.
Bottoms: traditional shorts and stockings, which I personally disliked.
Well... I'd overhaul the dress bottoms soon enough.
"Young Master, here."
"Got it."
As I inspected the dress uniform, Emily emerged from the dressing room with Lady Rachel and handed me a paper full of numbers.
"Let's get started."
I skimmed for odd numbers and picked up the white fabric.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Phew... That was close..."
It took eight days to make the dress and combat uniforms, plus one skirt.
Finished the day before showing His Highness.
"Wow..."
They looked sharp.
To save time, I recycled decorations from the old dress uniform, disassembled and refitted shirts and vests to her size—but I hadn't expected to finish everything.
I was confident in my skills, but without a sewing machine, I figured combat uniforms would be tight.
"To think this was possible..."
"I still can't believe it every time. And Young Master complains he's slow."
"His skills are top-tier."
"Right?"
A bit intoxicated by my own awesomeness, I overheard Lady Rachel and Emily whispering behind my back.
Or not whispering—right in front of me? Sneak attack criticism?
Well, par for the course. I humbly accepted.
To those without sewing machines, this must seem lightning-fast.
I stood, grabbed the dress uniform, and held it out to Lady Rachel.
"Take a look."
"Yes..."
She took it carefully, voice dazed.
"Young master, why are there two dress bottoms?"
"Ah, wasn't sure which would work, so I made both."
"......"
Lady Rachel frowned at me and tilted her head.
A perfect 'What the hell is this guy?' face.
First time seeing her express emotions so bluntly—novel and amusing.
"I'll show both to His Highness anyway, so pick whichever you like."
"Understood..."
She stared intently at the clothes, lost in thought.
I stepped back quietly to not disturb her choice.
"I..."
After staring holes through them, Lady Rachel lifted her head slightly and spoke.