kscans

Chapter 12 - The Rose Embroidery and the Kobito-san

"""There is nothing more we can teach her."""

Naya's eyes widened in surprise.

Before him stood three tutors for arithmetic, etiquette, and languages. They stood quietly with calm expressions on their faces.

"My lady's arithmetic skills are beyond the scope of a pleasantry. There is nothing more I can teach her."

"The same is true for her etiquette. My lady is a remarkably fast learner and has mastered all the basics. To go further would require a specialist in that field."

"Indeed. And languages as well. She has covered everything from the basics to advanced applications for common languages. Her concentration is admirable. I also believe a specialist in the field is now necessary."

These three were private tutors who taught the children of high-ranking nobles. The doting Drago had invited them, tutors of a caliber unbefitting a mere barony.

And all three of them were saying there was nothing left to teach?

It had been half a year since Chihiro was taken in. The season was now approaching autumn.

My lady... Well, I suppose it cannot be helped.

The remaining tutors are for history, geography, and embroidery. It seems those will still take some time.

Japanese people are greedy for knowledge. Their nature to pursue their interests to the very end did not seem to have changed even in another world. Moreover, Chihiro was a young child. She had an excess of time, and a toddler's brain cells were good at memorizing. Her senses were sharp, and she herself was surprised by her new body's ability to absorb information.

I'd heard that toddlers learn quickly, but I never thought it would be to this extent. Every day is so much fun!

Chihiro was happily learning many new things.

Well, with some exceptions.

"Let us use this as a reference for your needlework."

The handkerchief presented to her had a bird pattern on it. The embroidery, stitched with a complex array of threads in various colors and tempos, was nothing short of magnificent.

Here, satin stitch was the mainstream, and flat embroidery that mixed in things like the long and short stitch was common. It was likely for practical reasons. If it was too three-dimensional, it would be easy to snag and difficult to use. In its place, they focused on fine details, creating splendid motifs that looked almost like paintings.

This kind of thing really comes down to talent. This might be tough for me.

Chihiro stared at the handkerchief with a groan and began to push her needle through the fabric with faltering movements. She had been learning for half a year. She had become able to stitch reasonably well, but for these kinds of manual arts, experience was what mattered. It was important to repeat the process over and over, get the hang of it, and become familiar with it.

But while technique could be improved, a difference in talent was hard to overcome.

"You are stitching very well. However, it needs a little more color. Here, for example. Why don't you try mixing in some red?"

When she stitched as her teacher instructed, a strange thing happened. Chihiro's embroidery, which had had a hazy color palette, suddenly gained a strong presence.

Ugh, I don't get it! I like bold, primary colors.

Her small fingers were well-suited for this kind of work, but there was nothing she could do about her lack of motivation. The teacher smiled a warm smile at the child who was grumbling and moving her needle, and gently placed her fingers over Chihiro's small hand.

"It is not good to push yourself too hard. Let us take a short break. I will go and ask for some tea."

This kind teacher brings tears to my eyes. I'm sorry for being such a poor student.

As she watched her teacher leave the room, the Kobito-san pressed her hands together in prayer.

The Kobito-san did not know. She did not know that her teacher was practically giddy with excitement, her eyes wide at the progress of her embroidery.

The teacher, her green hair pulled back neatly, descended the stairs with a light, almost dancing step. Floating in her light purple eyes was joyous delight. When she was first asked to teach embroidery to a child not yet three, she thought it was some kind of joke. But the young child, who had impressed most of her assembled tutors, showed a talent for embroidery that was more than ordinary.

My goodness, Lady Chihiro is a genius!

The teacher's name was Catherine Lindas. She was the thirty-four-year-old wife of a count. Her children were now attending school and she had time on her hands, so she had begun to accept invitations to teach embroidery. It was famous that Catherine, who was the daughter of a lower-ranking baron, had captured the heart of a count's son with her skill in embroidery. Many nobles, hoping to be blessed with the same good fortune, desired her to instruct their daughters.

And among those many young ladies, Chihiro was the most outstanding.

The young Chihiro, not yet three, held her needle without any danger and proceeded as if she knew exactly what to do. Catherine's eyes had widened at the toddler who had already mastered the basics, and a thrill of joy ran down her spine.

Chihiro responded to everything she was taught.

The motifs she had been unable to express well at first were now quite respectable pieces of work. With a little help, they could be finished into something that would not be embarrassing to show to Her Majesty the Queen. All that was left was to keep practicing.

The Kobito-san did not know. She did not know that the handkerchief she was using as a model was a work by Catherine herself.

She was a master of embroidery renowned throughout the country. Who would look down on her for being told her work was inferior to that piece? Rather, Chihiro's embroidery, which was recognized by that very master with only a few touches, was without a doubt a masterpiece. And this was the work of a child who would turn three next season.

Chihiro did not know just how incredible this was. And because she didn't know, she would go on to cause even more of a stir.

It was the Kobito-san's quality.

"I have brought the tea."

Sasha, who had brought the requested tea and sweets, sensed the strange atmosphere in the room. The air was filled with tension. Chihiro was sitting in her chair, absorbed in her embroidery, while behind her, her teacher Catherine stood with a tense face, her eyes wide as she stared at the embroidery. The serious atmosphere made Sasha freeze as well, and for a while, silence filled the area. Then, the sound of a thread being snipped was heard, and with a huge smile, Chihiro held up her embroidery hoop.

"I'm done!"

On it were small, multicolored roses.

The roses, created using techniques like the couching stitch and the French knot stitch, stood out three-dimensionally. Several roses were bundled together and tied with a ribbon, and around them were scattered rose leaves and petals.

It was an embroidery style familiar to people from Earth. But in Frontier, where the satin stitch was mainstream, it was a completely non-existent way of stitching.

Embroidery that was not drawn on a surface, but created on a surface.

Her teacher Catherine, who had been watching with bated breath, took the embroidery hoop with a sigh of admiration. Then she ran her fingers over it as if tracing the design, lost in thought.

I must inform Her Majesty the Queen about this.

Relieved that the atmosphere in the room had finally returned to normal, Sasha brought in the tea. Her teacher Catherine watched the innocently happy Chihiro with a dubious look, comparing the clearly unhesitating and three-dimensional embroidery in her hands with the child before her.

Where did Lady Chihiro learn this way of stitching?

When her teacher Catherine returned after asking Sasha for tea, she found the child diligently moving her needle.

Even though I said it was time for a break.

Her concentration was so incredible that she didn't even notice Catherine had returned. This extraordinary focus was what helped her in so much of her learning. It was a level of concentration not found in a child. Her teacher Catherine quietly approached and peeked to see what she was stitching.

And she froze.

With deft movements, she was wrapping the thread and constructing one rose after another. She wasn't drawing. She was making.

What is this? Is this even embroidery?

She watched without a word for over ten minutes.

And this was the result.

More lustrous than normal embroidery, the clearly stitched piece had a beautiful and striking use of primary colors. Above all, it was simple. It would be perfect for teaching children. From the look of her handiwork, the technique was not that difficult. Embroidery that was drawn on a surface required skill and talent. Many young ladies struggled with it.

This will become a trend. But where on earth did she learn such embroidery?

Catherine had strong opinions when it came to embroidery. She had studied and practiced for years, even ordering works from faraway lands. And yet, this was an embroidery style that even Catherine did not know.

And so, the Kobito-san had planted a seed of suspicion in yet another person.

The Kobito-san's blunders never cease. She goes where the wind and her whims take her. She unconsciously steps on landmines.

It's a lively life, full of this and that, but the Kobito-san is doing great today.