202 - Thick Letter
...Clothes that are not factory-made really take time, huh.
While stitching away at my work embroidery, I think about the differences from my past life. In my past life, even embroidery could be done with a machine (sewing machine), but this world is different. If you want even a single accent of embroidery on a collar or cuffs, you have to do it all by hand. There is also the option of paying a tailor to do the embroidery, but even that ultimately comes down to hand-sewing by a person. It is impossible to make things at the speed of a sewing machine.
...Even so, working on autumn embroidery when it is not even summer yet feels strange.
The embroidery I am sewing now is apparently for a dress I am planning to wear to the Harvest Festival. The order is to embroider autumn flowers onto the front of a bolero. They say they are making a matching skirt too, but that embroidery has been sent out to another person. The work that comes to me is still all small jobs.
...But maybe I should not take on any more work for a while after this one finishes.
Alfred ended up having to make a hasty return to the capital mid-conversation, but apparently there is a summons for me to appear in the capital. I do not know when I will be going, but since it is official business, it is probably better not to take on work with uncertain schedules.
I occasionally stop my hands and run my fingers along the thread flow to check the finish. Lately I have been spending more time practicing bobbin lace, but embroidery is still fun. It is fun, but...
...Making it my life's work might be a bit tough.
I feel like taking on small jobs on the side like I am now is just the right amount. Doing large pieces like skirts as commission work, meeting deadlines, would be a bit difficult for me.
...If I improve my bobbin lace skills enough to make it marketable, would tailors or general stores buy it? Well, but first I would need to display it or it would not circulate in the market as decoration.
From what I can tell, just because you learn the weaving technique does not mean you can immediately produce merchandise-quality items, and gathering the tools is tough too. Finishing a single piece takes time, and it is probably not suitable as a commoner's profession at all. The people suited to be artisans might not be commoners but rather the wealthy who have some leeway in their lives. People who can afford the tools and can go without starving during the long time it takes for products to turn into money... that is about all I can think of.
...Or maybe someone who can make things casually, not thinking of it as work but just making what they enjoy and turning it into money on the side?
Either way, only people with financial stability can probably make bobbin lace. The financial barrier for a commoner to gather tools from scratch and make it is too high.
...Machine knitting in a factory is not possible, but if I had the funds to set up a workshop and prepare tools, could I do it? Plus the cost of training artisans, material costs...
Even thinking roughly about it, it is not something I can handle. If I wanted to establish bobbin lace in this world, the best I could do would be to pass it down to my children and grandchildren.
...New things do not spread that easily, right?
It seems like during my lifetime, Kalisa and I will just have to keep making them little by little.
As I continue working with these thoughts, Salisa brings me a letter, saying one has arrived from Jemian of Lagarette. It is a thick envelope, far from the thickness one imagines when hearing "letter."
"...It really is from Jemian-shama deshu ne. I would undershtand if it were from Basilia-chan, but..."
I check the name on the envelope and tilt my head slightly at Jemian's name clearly written there. If it were from his daughter Basilia, it would make sense since we are almost in correspondence, but I never expected a thick letter from Jemian.
"Could it be about the painting that was entrusted to Jemian-shama?"
"That could be deshu ne. That was a birfday present for Leonyaldo-san, so it might be about arranging its return deshu ne."
Leonardo's birthday is at the end of spring. Since communication is by letter, it arriving early is only natural.
I leave tidying up my sewing box to Salisa and open the letter. Inside the thick envelope are several neatly folded sheets of stationery. I never imagined there was someone who would write a letter this thick with just paper.
...It has a faint pleasant scent too.
The simply designed stationery, with tastefully placed crests, has words written in precise handwriting. The faint scent is not unpleasant either. If I showed it to Hermine, she would probably give it full marks as a letter written by a noble.
...I think that, but I wonder why I feel a bit disappointed.
Each individual element is tasteful and elegant, but the content is his impressions of that embroidery painting. His passion for art... a bit too much passion... is poured into every single phrase of the written words.
...Well, it seems like Jemian-shama gave it high marks. I am a bit relieved.
The letter, starting with a faithful seasonal greeting, shifts to passionate commentary on the embroidery painting. The handwriting remains neat, but the heat practically radiating from the text is palpable.
First, Jemian seems to have been surprised by the use of color. There is no way I, who only drew a little in art class in my past life, could accurately shade a human body, so I incorporated the strong comic-style shading I was familiar with. The contrast came out clearly, and as a result, the fleshy elements like muscle definition ended up quite emphasized. And on top of the strong shading, I put effort into the light expression. My art grades were average, but in an environment where beautiful CG was easily accessible, there were people who publicly shared their making-of processes. In my past life, I was just someone who read those, but in this life, I get to use them as knowledge. The tip about using pink for shadows to make things look sexy is also borrowed from those making-ofs.
It was an analog CG expression... too analog, being done by hand with embroidery... but even from the discerning eye of Jemian, it must have looked unusual. He wrote impressions of each of the details I put care into, the gradients done like pixel art, the pink threads experimentally mixed throughout, and it makes me more than a little happy.
...No, I am happy, though? That he is looking so closely.
Still, the thickness of this letter is a bit much. I am happy, but sorry, but it is a bit much. That is how thick and passionate his impressions are.
...And of course, he put it up in the gallery after all.
The letter also describes in detail the reactions and reviews at the gallery. I wrote in the accompanying letter that he should enjoy it at home, but apparently Jemian is enjoying it displayed in his gallery. If it were in a private room not open to the public, I would understand, but he says he specially prepared a room in the publicly accessible area just for that painting.
Reactions from people other than Jemian include "new use of color," "something about it draws me in," "cannot look away." There seem to be many offers to buy the embroidery painting, but he explains it is a gift on limited-time display and apparently turns them all down. One enthusiastic lady asked if he could have a copy made. Is that a request to make a replica?
...That pink painting, what would they even do with it if they bought it?
If you hung it in a room, it is so pink I guarantee the room would look risque. As for that pink painting, for me, it had not one millimeter of meaning beyond a mischievous prank on Leonardo.
...The number of women visiting the gallery daily has increased... did I overdo it?
It started as a small mischievous impulse, but it seems Leonardo has gained a large number of female fans without knowing it. When Leonardo next stops by the city of Lagarette, there might be a bit of a commotion.
...I am glad the person who drew the preliminary sketch seems to have recovered a bit.
He still cannot move his brush as freely as before, but the young painter who drew the underdrawing seems satisfied with the finished embroidery painting. He said the use of color was interesting and inspiring, which is the best outcome.
...This one is clearly a commission, is it not.
It is written so directly there is no need to read between the lines, asking if I would like to take on a new embroidery painting, having the young painter draw the underdrawing. He wants to depict a woman, with the flower goddess Menhiriya as a motif.
...I do want to try embroidery painting again, but I cannot imagine I could make something that meets Jemian-shama's expectations using someone I have never met as a model...
Jemian's letter reached me without censorship, but letters from me to Jemian require Leonardo's censorship. Given that I have a prior record of leaking information, I think it is only fair.
After consulting with Hermine and writing a reply, I hand it to Leonardo for final confirmation. While waiting for Leonardo to check the contents, I ask about something that has been on my mind.
"By the way, Leonyaldo-san. Alfred-shama said deshu... I mean, he said that there is a summons to the capital."
I ask what I should do. I heard there was a summons, but I have not received any instructions about when to go or who to visit or where to go. That is because Alfred made a hasty return after the news of Aurelia's death came crashing in.
"...That is more like 'you will be called eventually, so be mentally prepared.' It is not something immediate."
He tells me there is no Leonardo residence in the capital, so arranging a room for me to stay would take time. Once those preparations are done, a formal escort will probably come, he says.
"So I jusht wait until the escort comes deshu ka?"
"Since you are going to the capital, how about having some better-tailored clothes made than usual?"
Hmm, he makes a thoughtful gesture, and what comes out of Leonardo's mouth is "make clothes." I feel like I should discuss this with Hermine and Alf later. I wonder if this is just Leonardo being Leonardo and ending it with "make clothes," or if I really can just "bring a change of clothes" and go.
"...What kind of clothes should I make deshou?"
"You will almost certainly be meeting royalty, so formal wear. Generally, women wear dresses."
...The slight pause before "generally" makes me think he was remembering that "generally" does not apply to that certain princess, from the rumors.
When I asked about noble clothing before, I think I heard that one of the princesses, I forget which number, walks around the royal castle practically naked. This country supposedly has categories like formal and informal wear, but there are young people who walk around in bizarre outfits like light novel heroines or protagonists, as if as long as it suits them, anything goes, and no one stares at them like it is cosplay. They just walk past with perfectly straight faces as if it is perfectly normal.
...And yet in a country where that common sense is so entrenched, that particular princess is considered eccentric.
I suppose even here, being naked is too far.
He says I can decide the design of the formal wear I am having made based on my preferences, which leaves me a bit troubled. Personally, I prefer simple things, but I feel like something too simple would be a problem when meeting the king. For once, I would like to have it made to Leonardo's taste.
He mentions a few tailors, telling me to pay attention to fabric quality and stitching. When I obliquely ask if he cannot come with me, he gives me a puzzled look and says that he thought we had agreed to leave the clothing to my discretion.
...I did say that, but! I have never made formal wear myself, so I want you to come with me!
It is a tailor I visit at least once a season, but telling someone as shy as me to go order clothes alone is a bit much, I want to argue. I might not be the mental age I appear to be, but I am still a child. Having a guardian come along would be reassuring.
When I puff out my cheeks, which I had sworn I would stop doing, Leonardo finally seems to understand that I am feeling dissatisfied. I manage to wring a promise of accompaniment out of Leonardo as he starts trying to soothe me.
"...Are you going to tell me to go to the capital alone too?"
If he tells me to go to the tailor alone, am I going to be treated like an independent adult and told to go to the capital alone too? Even if I hear an escort is coming, I do not want to go far away by myself.
"Even I do not think going to a tailor in the city of Grenore is the same as going to the capital, which takes weeks by carriage."
He gives me his firm assurance that he will leave the city of Grenore to Alf and come with me, so I can rest easy. Since I just hesitated about going to the tailor alone, he seems to have quickly realized that I am anxious about acting on my own. Getting a clear promise that he will come with me, I relax my shoulders.
"...Will Salisa be coming too?"
"No, I would like someone to take care of your daily needs, but... how about a nursemaid?"
As a caretaker for a child, it is necessary, but the royal castle is not a place for children to be entering. Therefore, children who need a nursemaid accompanying them are not summoned to the castle. In my case, since I am known to be a Japanese reincarnator, they might think of me as somewhat adult on the inside, regardless of appearance. If so, a nursemaid would be even less necessary.
"I will ask Ms. Hartmann to accompany us, but I want to leave Salisa at the residence."
Salisa was hired as my nursemaid, but when she is not taking care of me, she helps with work around the residence. Even if Leonardo and I go out, there are still the Silver-White Knight and Jasper in the residence who need care. It is better not to reduce the staff.
"Is it okay for Hermine-sensei to come with us deshu ka?"
"Ms. Hartmann is a governess, after all."
What is wrong with bringing along a teacher of etiquette when taking a child to a place where etiquette is clearly required, Leonardo says. It is good that there is a legitimate reason to bring Hermine, but I wonder if he intends to have Hermine take care of all my daily needs during the trip too. When I point this out, he says that the escort should have everything prepared for travel care. Since they are the ones calling me and sending an escort, the preparations for a comfortable journey should be a given, he says.
"...Is that what a summons is like deshu ka?"
"Even if it is a summons, in your case, they will be sending for you as a guest from the royal castle. That much is only natural."
"I am a guesht deshu ka?"
Huh? I tilt my head, wondering if the summons is not for me as a criminal for information leakage. I have heard they want to meet the Japanese reincarnator face to face, but the only matter I can think of is my information leak.
"Alfred-sama said it was just a meeting too, right. Probably, they want to offer you a salary to work reading Japanese, I think."
...So it is like a job interview?
I had heard it was a summons to the capital, so I had been imagining something scary, but it seems I do not need to be so tense. I also heard they need me to work in good spirits, so I probably will not be treated that badly.
"...I do not mind reading Japanese deshu kedo, but I do not wan' to be separated from Leonyaldo-san deshu yo?"
I already think of him as family, so I do not want to be torn away. Thinking that, I stare up at Leonardo's face, and his expression softens for just a moment before tightening again.
"If you firmly refuse, saying you want to work at my home, that should be fine. They might be able to assign some guards, but your wishes should be granted to some extent."
A big hand lands on my head. "Are you relieved?" And feeling a bit embarrassed, I look away. He had correctly understood my feelings for once, so despite being embarrassed, I honestly answered, "I am relieved deshita."
Typos and misspellings will be fixed another day.
The bobbin lace I saw on TV before, since people are shut inside during the long winter, they make things by hand using tools passed down through generations.
I have fixed the typos and misspellings I found.