Ascendance of a Bookworm

Because Brother Lamprecht and the others’ starbinding ceremony was at summer’s end, the coming-of-age ceremony in summer and the baptism ceremony in autumn soon arrived.

After the rituals were over, I moved to the castle for the dyeing competition. I would spend the short period until the harvest festival preparations at the castle.

“Lady Rosemine, just a little more to go.”

When I arrived at the castle, Lieselotte greeted me with a bright smile, spreading out a cloth vibrant with intricate magic circles and embroidery designed to conceal them. Thanks to Lieselotte and Charlotte’s hard work, most of Schwarz’s costumes had their embroidery nearly finished.

“Wonderful work, Lieselotte!”

“Only a little remains. I’ll help as well.”

Angelica’s blue eyes sparkled as she took up an embroidery needle to memorize the magic circle, prompting Judith to look up sharply and reach for her own embroidery thread in competitive spirit.

… Everyone’s so gifted in feminine skills.

I decided to leave it in the capable hands of these ladies with high feminine skills. I had other tasks I needed to attend to.

“I’ll leave the guard duty to Darmel and Cornelius. Hartmut and Filine are on the manuscript copying. There’s not much time, so let’s hurry.”

We had to finish copying the Dunkelfelger books before going to the noble academy, so Filine, Hartmut, and I threw ourselves fully into the manuscript work. While I wasn’t copying, but translating into modern language, time was equally tight.

I left the tea party preparations entirely to Brynhildr, Mother, and Foster Mother, and before long, the day of the dyeing competition arrived.

The tea party was scheduled for the afternoon, but at the sound of the third bell, the Gilberta Trading Company would arrive to begin bringing in the fabrics. When I was informed of their arrival, I moved to the venue to observe.

I was the first to enter the venue, but soon Foster Mother and Mother arrived as well. Seeing this, Otto, who had been giving instructions, came over to greet us.

After exchanging the lengthy greetings typical of the nobility, Mother looked around the room.

“Otto, what are those wooden frames?”

I could see the Gilberta Trading Company staff setting up wooden frames along the wall. I immediately recognized them as tools for hanging cloth. However, Foster Mother and Mother seemed puzzled; perhaps because they usually think of merchants displaying fabric by spreading it out for customers.

The wooden frames Otto brought resembled ikou — clothes racks used to spread out kimono widely — among the various types of emonkake (clothes hangers). They were about two meters tall and looked like a torii gate at a shrine.

Mother frowned at the sight of those wooden frames lined up against the wall. Otto, a little troubled, smiled faintly and began explaining.

“Even though this is a tea party to showcase a new dyeing technique, we thought that all the cloth should be visible even to those seated further away, so this arrangement was devised.”

When nobles choose cloth, it’s usually laid out before them, and they have merchants spread it or touch it while they select their favorites.

When there are many nobles like now and you want each to see all fabric, it would be impossible to provide the usual individual service: there wouldn’t be enough people, cloth, or time. Otto had been troubled by this.

“A craftsman who mainly makes Lady Rosemine’s hair ornaments suggested it. Since the castle has continuous white walls, hanging the fabrics along them would really make the dyed cloth stand out. If spread wide and used as tea party decoration, it would be easier to appreciate the fabrics one likes.”

“Indeed. This time is not for ordering new outfits, but for presenting the dyeing techniques and deciding on exclusive artisans. Everyone must see all the fabrics. I think laying them out like this is clear and good. As long as there is no mix-up in the order of selecting exclusive artisans or cloth, there should be no problem.”