Chapter 240

You Wanted to Say it Wouldn’t Suit Me, Didn’t You?
“Um… why was I the only one called here?” Rosetta asked anxiously as she sat on the sofa in the reception room.

“Sorry, did I make you nervous? It’s not about work—well, maybe it is work. Anyway, wait just a bit longer until my Mother gets here.”

As I was saying that—

“Sorry to keep you waiting,” Mother said as she entered with a few other women.

“Hardt, this is Ayla, the owner of the shop that makes the maids’ uniforms,” she introduced. Ayla looked a little older than Mother.

“Thank you for coming on such short notice.”

“Not at all. When I heard you wanted to design a uniform for the newly appointed female administrative officer, I was excited to see what kind of outfit it would be.”

“Uniform…?” Rosetta said uncertainly, glancing down at her current clothes.

“We never had female administrative officers before, so you had to prepare your own outfit, right? Sorry, I should’ve noticed that sooner.”

“I apologize as well, I didn’t realize either until Hardt mentioned it.”

“Well then,” I said, spreading the sketch I’d drawn across the table. Mother and Ayla leaned over to look.

“Hardt, are these pants or a skirt?”

“Mother, they’re pants that look like a skirt.”

What I’d drawn was a skirt-style gaucho pant.
If it’s about ten centimeters above the ankles, it should work fine with boots.
I figured it would be easier to move around in than a long skirt—though if I’m wrong, sorry about that.

“Rosetta walks around the domain a lot as an administrative officer. Even if she mostly travels by carriage, I thought pants would be better than skirts—but since there might be some resistance, I designed something that combines both.”

“So when standing still, it looks like a skirt—but when walking, you realize they’re pants. And the jacket’s tailored to give a slightly feminine waistline.”

“I’d prefer it not to be too tight. I’d like to wear a vest underneath the jacket.”

“A vest?”

“Yes. Men wear them in winter too, and I think a blouse and jacket alone would be too cold.”

“I see… well, this is a brilliant idea. I’m honored to be entrusted with such an innovative design,” said Ayla, quickly redrawing my sketch into a more refined version—adding stylish touches to the jacket, vest, and gaucho pants.

“My, I might want one for myself,” Mother said. “Maybe I’ll wear it when working at home.”

“Eh—Mother, you’ll wear it?”

“You wanted to say it wouldn’t suit me, didn’t you?”

“No, that’s not what I meant—I just wondered if you’d meet guests while wearing it.”

“It’s fine. We rarely have unannounced visitors,” she said easily.

Better not press that any further—I’d only risk souring her mood. Time to change the subject.

“Rosetta, for the blouse, do you prefer a ribbon or a necktie?”

Caught off guard, Rosetta blinked. “Eh?” She seemed completely lost.

“Do you not like the uniform? We can change anything you don’t like.”

“No! It’s just… I wasn’t sure if it’s really okay for me to have such a lovely uniform made for me.”

“You’re the only one now, but I’m hoping there’ll be more female administrative officers in the future, so don’t worry about it. In our domain, many female knights and mages continue working even after marriage. We even have maternity leave. I want you to be part of expanding opportunities for women here.”

“That’s right,” Mother added. “When you have time, talk to our household staff—they’ll tell you more. Other domains don’t have such a system, you know? I actually thought you joined because of it.”

Rosetta admitted she didn’t know, but her stiff expression softened, and a faint blush rose to her cheeks. Maybe that struck a chord.

“Anyway—back to the question. Which do you prefer?”

“Well, since it’s an administrative uniform, a necktie would be more appropriate… but I’m terrible at tying them. So, could I have a ribbon instead?”

“In that case,” I suggested, sketching again, “we could make a pre-tied necktie—one that doesn’t have to be undone. If we add a button under the blouse collar, the tie’s straps could hook onto it. Or we could design it more like a scarf hybrid.”

“If buttoning it is troublesome, we could make it hang from the neck and adjust the length at the back.”

“How would that adjustment work?” Ayla asked, leaning forward eagerly.

This pattern again, huh? It feels familiar somehow.
I vaguely remembered some small metal fittings and quickly sketched two of them on the paper.

“So the string goes through here, and you can lengthen or shorten it?”

“Probably?” I said uncertainly—I wasn’t confident about it.

“For now, let’s go with the button type,” Mother decided, but—

“Young Master Reinhardt, please make those fittings! Adjustable straps would be so useful—please!” Ayla said, almost leaning over the table in excitement.

“They’d be handy for women’s undergarments too,” she added.

At that, Mother immediately nodded.

“She’s right. Hardt, do your best.”

… And just like that, she took Ayla’s side.

I asked them to give me a little time and brought the conversation back to Rosetta’s uniform.

“If we go with the pre-tied necktie, how about embroidering the Westland crest on the knot?”

Ayla suggested enlarging the knot so the embroidery would be clearly visible.
“If it’s below the knot, it might get hidden by the jacket,” she pointed out.

We decided to make a prototype first and see how it looked.
The jacket design they chose had a slightly relaxed fit rather than a tight one.

Once everything was mostly decided, Rosetta was taken to another room with the seamstresses to get her measurements.

As for me—Ayla’s silent pressure of “Don’t forget about those fittings” was practically radiating across the table, so I decided to head straight to Maria’s workshop.

What do you think about this chapter?