Chapter 76
Chapter 76
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 76
Chapter Title: I Became a Clothing Designer in Another World
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"It's been a while."
"Whoa, good to see you both."
A few days had passed with no word from either the knight order or the palace, so I'd half-given up. Then, on the day the newspaper came out, right when I was handing over the underwear, Captain Sophia and Lady Rachel—the knights I'd met before—showed up at the shop.
"A letter from His Majesty to Sir William."
"Ah, yes. Thank you."
[His Majesty feels great joy at your actions and praises you highly.]
[We accept your request and will dispatch knights until we deem it unnecessary.]
"As the letter says, until new orders come from His Majesty the Emperor or the Minister of State, our mission is to prevent any disturbances around you, Sir William."
"Whoa! It actually worked?"
I let out a genuine exclamation of admiration.
I couldn't stop the typhoon, but I'd made it into the eye of the storm.
The outside might turn into chaos, but that was better than us getting killed, right?
"Thank you for accepting my request, at any rate."
"Save your thanks for the palace. So, what do you need us to do?"
"Nothing today. Just rest easy."
"Hm?"
Lady Sophia's eyes narrowed.
A chill ran down my spine, and Lady Rachel, standing beside her, swallowed hard and flinched.
"Lady Sophia, have you read today's newspaper by any chance?"
"Not yet, but I've heard my colleagues making a racket about it."
"Hmm..."
Oh, this was a problem.
"Emily, could you fetch the newspaper?"
"Yes."
It'd be easier to explain if they saw it themselves, so despite the intimidation, I asked Emily to bring it over.
I opened it to the page with the ad and handed it to Lady Sophia and Lady Rachel, keeping my face as neutral as possible as I began explaining.
"This is the ad for our atelier in today's paper."
"......"
Lady Sophia glanced at the paper, crossed her arms, and blinked several times.
"Quite... provocative advertising. I get that you're stirring up trouble yourself, but why did the palace order us to protect you? Shouldn't they be arresting you instead?"
"Well... this wasn't my idea. It's the will of the Sun."
"Oh... dear..."
Lady Sophia frowned at the bridge of her nose and shook her head slowly, looking genuinely sympathetic.
Any bizarre event becomes perfectly reasonable once you slap the words 'the Emperor' on it.
"You have my sympathies."
"Thank you..."
Lady Sophia gave my shoulder a light pat, as if consoling someone swept up in an imperial natural disaster.
Then, with a serious expression, she raised one question.
"But if this is the problem, wouldn't staying put make it worse? There'll be more than a few people looking at you unfavorably. Wouldn't that be dangerous?"
"The paper with this ad just hit the streets today. Most people have probably only just read it."
"True."
"Reactions to this morning's paper won't show up right away. Even the quickest will be around evening, by which time we'll all have gone home."
"Ah, I see. Now I understand."
"Tomorrow the storm hits. So rest easy today, and if you need anything, just let me know."
"Got it. We'll do that."
As Lady Sophia nodded crisply, I beckoned to Marie, who was setting up tools around the workbench.
"Marie! Pause what you're doing and show these knight ladies up to the second floor!"
"Yesss~ Just a sec!"
"If you wait a moment, that beastkin girl will guide you to a room you can use like a lounge. That's where you'll be staying from now on."
"A big cat..."
Lady Sophia muttered something as her gaze landed on Marie.
I couldn't quite hear it, but she seemed fascinated by the demi-human staffer.
Were even imperial knights rare encounters for demi-humans?
Well, sure—when demi-humans swarmed the palace, even the knights scrambled out in a panic. Not something you ran into every day.
But that wasn't important right now.
"Elizabeth?"
"Yes?"
"About the dress design. Come to the lounge."
"Okay."
What mattered was that today was the last day of calm.
I had to make the most of this final stretch of uninterrupted time.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Sorry, milady."
"Truly sorry for laying hands on you without permission."
"...?"
William had said he wanted to discuss the design, so we'd moved to the lounge.
The sight that greeted me was Sera and Emily grabbing my arms and dragging me toward the changing room.
"What are you two doing?"
"We're so sorry, but the young master asked us to help you change, Elizabeth, so we had no choice..."
"......"
I voiced my displeasure, and Emily looked genuinely apologetic as she explained.
I'd expected as much from the maid, so it wasn't surprising. What caught me off guard was Sera silently tugging my arm through it all.
"Emily, I get you couldn't help it, but Sera, what are you doing?"
"From what Sir William said, this seemed like it'd be more fun, so I betrayed you, milady."
"Betrayed me? Aren't you my handmaid?"
"Officially, we're still friends, right?"
"Ha-"
Unbelievable.
Her official equal status with me wasn't far off, yet here she was. Was she not afraid of repercussions?
...No, Sera probably prioritized immediate fun over any fallout.
I didn't want to flail around undignified, so playing along with her prank until William arrived seemed easiest.
"So, what is Sir William planning?"
"Using you as a mannequin, milady."
"A mannequin...?"
"He said comparing to the real thing is the only way to pick pretty clothes. I don't know design, so if the expert says so, I believe it."
Was he planning to try on samples?
But there wasn't enough time to make samples.
I had no clue what he was up to.
Should I struggle now?
"Milady, time to take off your clothes."
"Huh?"
I snapped to and realized we were already in the changing room.
My dress was down past my shoulders to my waist.
"Sera, wait... Emily? Why are your hands so fast... Ah...!"
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ While Sera held me, Emily deftly stripped me and slipped on a new dress with expert skill.
I flailed and waved my arms to resist, but it was all pointless.
Whatever I did, she used it to undress me flawlessly. I felt utterly toyed with in the palm of her hand, to the point of defeat.
Even the capable Sera watched her movements with sparkling eyes.
For the first time, I envied someone else's servant.
"Haa..."
A touch of fatigue.
I let out a deep sigh and examined the dress Emily and Sera had forced me into.
"Sera, isn't this the dress I wore last year?"
"Yes, it is. Sir William brought a dress he was going to discard and said to put it on you."
"Hmm..."
I still had no idea what he was planning.
We weren't some fallen house scraping by, reusing discarded dresses for production...
"All done?"
"Yes, you can start right away."
As I mulled over guesses, Emily called out, and William entered the room clutching a small box.
"Good work. Sera, you too."
"No, no—I'm happy just seeing milady in distress."
"Ah, yes... I see."
William gave a awkward reply, turned, glanced at me, and pointed at the dress.
"This is a discard dress, right?"
"Yes, feel free to do whatever since it's being thrown out."
"Got it."
With Sera's—not mine—permission, William nodded and approached me with the box.
He set the box on the floor, squatted beside me, and opened it while speaking.
"Then, pardon me."
"Yeees-"
William pulled out silver tailoring scissors.
He snipped the thread a few times to check the edge, then lightly grabbed the right skirt flap with his left hand.
He brought the scissors close and sliced the skirt up to hip height, tugging lightly.
"Huh?"
Through the slit peeked a knee-length chemise and pale calves, but William ignored it and closely inspected the cut edge.
It happened in a moment with no chance to react.
"???"
What on earth was this?
I didn't mind the dress being ruined.
But.
I couldn't wrap my head around William calmly slashing a lady's dress without a word.
He was a bit of a pervert, sure, but not the type to cut without warning.
Emily and Sera watching impassively meant Sera had been fully briefed.
"......"
"Haha."
I glared murderously at Sera, who grinned widely, watching William and me with keen interest.
I knew who was behind this mess.
That prankster had meddled in the middle.
"Sir William."
"Yeah? What's up?"
"Can you explain what this is?"
"Uh...?"
Sensing something off, William looked up and met my eyes.
His pupils shook violently with each blink.
"Um... Elizabeth? You didn't hear anything from Sera?"
"I heard you'd use me as a mannequin."
"That's it? Nothing else? Really nothing?"
"Yes."
"Ha- damn it..."
William paled, covered his face with both hands, and muttered a curse under his breath.
"Sorry..."
He apologized in a voice like he was dying.
Hmm...
"Hee hee..."
Laughter bubbled up at William completely deflated.
Thanks to Sera, I'd snagged a weakness.
She probably hadn't planned it, but since things turned out well, I'd let it slide generously.