A day later, carrying bundles of the prepared clothes and patterns, I went with Mother to Father’s study.
“Dear, are you busy?”
“Not at all. What brings you here at this hour, my lady?”
Without even knocking, Mother strode up to Father, plopped two documents down on his desk, and spoke with a boldness that bordered on audacity.
“Dear, please sign these.”
“Mother?”
She had definitely said she was going to persuade Father, but what came out of her mouth was far too different from what I understood persuasion to be.
Had the concept of persuasion changed without my knowledge?
Or was this part of Mother’s grand scheme to test my abilities?
“What is this?”
“William wants to have some servant uniforms made. I thought it looked fine, so I’m pushing for it.”
“If it’s about clothes, your eye is better than mine. I’m sure you’ve handled it well. Do as you please.”
“Father?”
While I was falling into confusion, the conversation progressed rapidly.
Actually, it wasn’t even worth calling a “conversation”—it had ended the moment it began.
Glancing at Mother’s face, Father casually pushed the first page aside without reading a thing, picked up a quill, and scribbled his signature at the bottom.
“Here you are.”
“Hehe~ thank you.”
And so, Father neatly arranged the documents with a practiced, almost indifferent expression and handed them back; Mother received them with a lilting smile.
Then Mother rolled up the documents, slightly bowed her waist, placed a light kiss on Father’s cheek, turned around, and left the study.
“Anything else?”
Their efficiency—no, the brisk satisfaction of it all—left me standing there in a daze. Father glanced at me, now the only one left, as if to prompt me to get moving.
“Uhmm... no, nothing.”
Snapping back to my senses at Father’s words, I shook my head and waved my hands dismissively.
“Um... Father, thank you.”
“Hah, what did I even do? Pass your thanks to your mother waiting outside.”
“Yes.”
When I bowed a beat too slowly to convey my gratitude, Father snickered and waved his left hand as if to tell me to hurry up and leave.
After a light bow, I picked up the basket I had set on the floor and quietly left the study.
Mother had already come out first and was waiting with Emily and Grace the maid; the moment I exited the study, she started walking and spoke.
“Now, let’s go visit the tailor.”
“Yes.”
_
After the swift deal with Father, we headed outside the mansion, to the street of commoner tailors in the city center.
Among them was a shop that usually made uniforms for the knights affiliated with our house.
Even though there were already dressmakers in the mansion, we had come outside because they were elite craftsmen who only handled nobles’ clothing; clothes for butlers and maids had to be entrusted to the commoner tailors on the street.
“Hmm.”
Walking lightly down the street with Emily and Grace at her side, Mother suddenly stopped and glanced at a shop sign.
A very crude yet utterly common sign that read [George's Tailor Shop].
“Let’s go in.”
After checking the sign, Mother slightly lowered her head to peek inside the shop through the window, then gestured to Emily and commanded in a soft voice.
At Mother’s words, Emily slightly bowed her head and trotted to the door, opening it wide for us.
“Welcome!”
A man with a kindly impression approached us with a booming greeting the moment the door opened.
The man, his hands covered in calluses, broke into a bright smile upon seeing Mother and gestured for us to enter quickly.
“Isn’t this the Countess? Don’t tire yourself standing outside; come in quickly!”
“Good to see you, Mr. George.”
“It feels like it’s been ages. Have you been well?”
“I have always been well. How have you been?”
“Yes, we’ve been well thanks to the Count’s grace.”
“Thank you, even if it’s just pleasantries. How is business these days?”
“It’s the slow season since the time for buying clothes has passed. It’s so quiet, there are more flies than customers.”
At Mr. George’s joking complaints in response to her casual greeting, Mother smiled and extended her hand to Grace, receiving a bundle of papers. She handed it to Mr. George as casually as if presenting a stone.
“That’s truly welcome news. As it happens, I’ve brought new work for you.”
“What welcome news indeed!”
Mr. George received the bundle of papers respectfully with both hands and examined it carefully with a faint smile.
However, when he was about halfway through reading, he suddenly furrowed his brows and brought the paper close to his face. Then he turned it around to show us the written part and asked, pointing to a spot.
“Countess, did you recently recruit new knights?”
“No. You know well that recruiting knights is still a long way off, don’t you?”
“Yes, but is there a reason to order as many as fifty-nine sets of clothing?”
“I’m thinking of giving the servants new uniforms. Unless something special happens, I’ll be ordering regularly.”
“Haha~ thanks to the Count and Countess’s grace, it seems I’ll never starve to death in my life.”
Mr. George’s face bloomed into a smile once again. He jested and turned his gaze back to the paper.
“That’s quite an exaggeration. So, is it possible?”
“I suppose I need to see what kind of clothes they are first.”
“William.”
“Yes.”
At Mother’s call, I took the patterns from the basket and handed them to Mr. George.
The moment he received the patterns, Mr. George unfolded them right there, frowning and glaring at the designs with wide eyes as if trying to pierce through them.
Having carefully examined each page one by one, Mr. George finally showed a positive response with a satisfied smile after viewing the last page.
“Hmm. Clean... and concise. It doesn’t look too difficult to make, and the price is reasonable... By when do you need them?”
“That’s what we need to discuss. It’s not urgent, so I’m willing to accommodate your schedule as much as possible.”
“Mm...”
Mr. George groaned, closed his eyes, and fell into thought for a moment. He soon opened his eyes and answered in a confident voice.
“With this design, I can manage about six dresses and three tailcoats per month.”
“Let’s do that, then. Shall I send someone once a month as usual?”
“Yes.”
“Very well.”
Mother gestured to Grace.
Grace stepped forward and handed Mr. George one gold coin and two copies of the contract, then stepped back.
“We will draw up the contract and pay the deposit right now.”
“Hm...”
Mr. George slowly looked over the contract he had received.
“Is there anything odd?”
“No, none at all. It seems I always gain great opportunities thanks to the Count and Countess; I hardly know what to do with myself.”
Mr. George placed the contracts side by side on the nearby table, signed each one, then overlapped the two pages and signed once more before respectfully offering the pen to Mother with both hands.
Mother received the pen from Mr. George and signed just as he had. Then she set down the pen, picked up one copy of the contract, and handed it to Grace.
“Mr. George, I look forward to it.”
“Yes, I will do my best.”
“Then, we shall take our leave.”
The neat and respectful transaction characteristic of long-time partners came to an end, and we left the shop.
Mr. George followed us outside to see us off and bowed at a perfect ninety degrees.
“Please have a safe trip back!”
A voice so loud it echoed through the streets.
Mr. George, having secured a major contract, looked happier than anyone.
__
About a month later, when the day came to receive the first batch.
A minor commotion broke out in the mansion.
“Hnngg!”
Tears from the head maid, who normally never showed emotion and was even called cold-blooded.
She had entered the mansion at the young age of fifteen and worked here for nearly thirty years—a veteran among veterans. Seeing her unable to control her emotions and shedding thick tears before Mother, I rushed over in alarm, thinking something terrible had happened.
“Mother.”
“Oh my, William. You’ve come at just the right time.”
“Yes?”
The moment she saw me, Mother knelt down with a playful smile on her face, gently took the head maid’s hand, and whispered in a tender voice.
“Esther, calm down and see who has come.”
“H-hng, yes... hng... *sniff!* Hnngh... W-William, Young Master...?”
At Mother’s words, the head maid raised her tear-stained face with difficulty and looked at me, forcing her puffy eyes open.
I didn’t know what was going on, but I gave the head maid a gentle smile and nodded.
“Yes, Head Maid. I’m Wil—”
“Hwaaaah!”
“Huh?”
The moment she realized I was William, the head maid began to cry even more sorrowfully.
“Y-Young Master... *sob*...!”
Unable to understand what was happening, I stood frozen and blankly stared at her. She kept calling for me, crawling along the floor, and grabbed my pant leg.
“Young Master, hng... hwaaah!”
“Head Maid? Please, calm down first...”
“Hng, hah...! *hic!*”
I hurriedly patted her shoulder to calm her, but her sobs showed no sign of stopping, drawing the gazes of those nearby.
Unfortunately, since the head maid was clinging to my pants while lying on the floor, the gazes directed at her gradually focused on me.
The piercing stares of the servants.
“Hwaaaah!”
“So what on earth is going on here...?”
I continued patting the head maid earnestly, unable to hide my bewilderment.