Chapter 337

Sunflowers After the Rain
Marquis Vardmoi told me that the tea party would be held around the end of summer, so as long as the dress was ready by then, it would be fine.
But since I didn’t have any urgent orders, I wanted to get started right away.

"The basic design... should be a princess dress, right? It’s the best way to express a child’s cuteness."

I could use the wide, flowing skirt of the princess dress to represent a flower and use the bodice to depict a rainbow.
… Easier said than done, though.
Figuring out how to express that is the tricky part.
Let me sketch a quick draft.

"Hmm, first, what color should the skirt be? Red would be too flashy, and purple doesn’t feel right. I haven’t met little Bern much, so it’s hard to imagine what would suit her."

In that case, maybe I should focus on a flower that contrasts well with a rainbow.
What would work...?

It’s summer now... and the end of summer is coming up, so how about sunflowers?
I could make the base of the skirt a bright brown and layer it with several pieces of bright yellow lace.
A yellow skirt with a faint brown undertone sounds nice.

Then there’s the rainbow. This part is a bit tricky.
If I try to create a gradient across the entire bodice, it might look too flashy.
And if I try to incorporate a rainbow arch into the design, it might look silly.
What should I do?

"... Wait? The request was for a dress that 'shines like a rainbow,' right? I don’t actually have to depict a rainbow, do I?"

If that’s the case, there are plenty of ways to approach this.
First, I could make the bodice transition from yellow to blue to represent the sky, and then add some sparkling details to evoke the image of a rainbow... Yeah, that could work!

Alright, let’s get started!

"... Wait, you’re already done?"

"Yep, I finished it. I didn’t have any other urgent orders, so I got carried away."

It was completed by the afternoon of the next day.
I didn’t have time to send a messenger that day, so I brought it over the following day, but there’s no doubt it was an unusually quick turnaround for a dress.
Yeah, I might have gone overboard.

"So, this is the finished dress? It certainly comes close to what Bern requested."

"If I knew little Bern better, I might have been able to make a dress that suits her even more."

"... Now that you mention it, you haven’t had many chances to meet Bern, have you?"

"No, I haven’t. That’s why I had to rely on my imagination for things like her favorite colors."

"In that case, there’s nothing to be done. Someone, call Harriet and Bern."

Marquis Vardmoi decided to have Lady Harriet and little Bern come and judge the dress.
Now, what will their verdict be?

What do you think about this chapter?