Chapter 346

The Outcome of Making Fancy Clothes
A week has passed since I finished Little Bern’s dress.
Right now, I’m standing in front of the Marquis Vardmoi.
Alizée is with me, too.

Why?
I haven’t been told the reason.

"I'm glad you both came, Lily, Alizée. A bit of a situation has come up."

"A situation?"

"Yes. The other day, I hosted a tea party with children of Bern's age, and the dress she wore received a lot of praise. Parents have been approaching me, asking if you could make similar dresses for their children."

Huh?
They're making the request to the Marquis instead of directly to me?
Why?

As I pondered this, the Marquis scolded me, saying, "You're the one who asked me to handle the coordination."
Oh, right.

"So, Marquis Vardmoi, should I accept all the requests?"

"I would like you to… but with nearly twenty requests and only a month until the next tea party, it may be too much. Should I narrow down the number for you?"

Twenty dresses in a month…
That would mean finishing two dresses every three days.
That’s a tough pace.
But if I decline some requests, the children who weren’t chosen will be disappointed.
What should I do?
Ideally, I’d like to accept all of them.

"Marquis Vardmoi, how would you decide which requests to accept?"

"First, I will prioritize families without their own tailors. For those who do, I will provide them with your Spider Silk and have their tailors handle the sewing."

"I see. Anything else?"

"From my personal perspective, I will select children who would get along well with Bern. Some of them caused trouble at the tea party, pushing Bern too hard and making her uncomfortable."

Hmm, so he’ll prioritize potential friends for Little Bern.
That’s a social matter among nobles, so I shouldn’t interfere.
Alright, I’ll accept under those conditions.

"Understood. How many requests does that leave?"

"I’ve narrowed it down to six. However, I also have a separate request for boys’ clothing. Would you be able to handle that as well?"

"Boys' clothing… I’m not very experienced with that, but if a shirt, slacks, and a vest will do, then yes."

"That will suffice. What design do you propose?"

"Since it’s for a formal setting, the shirt should be white, with black slacks and a black vest. I’ll incorporate the family crest into the vest using different shades of black—deep black, light black, and glossy black—to make it subtly visible."

"Good. Then, I’ll request three sets. The only issue left… is the price."

"The price?"

Is there an issue with payment?
If it’s too much for some families, I wouldn’t mind offering a discount.

But I was wrong.
The concern was about maintaining market value—I was told to set a fair price to avoid disrupting the market.

"I called Alizée here for that reason. Bern’s dress was a private commission, handled as a transaction between our household and our designated merchant. However, when dealing with other noble families, proper pricing is necessary. Alizée, what do you consider a fair price?"

Oh, pricing…
That’s not my strong suit.
I’ll leave it to Alizée.

"Currently, the Trade Guild sells Spider Silk at 300,000 Rubies per roll, Mana Spider Silk at 700,000 Rubies, and Ogre Spider Silk at 200,000 Rubies. For children's clothing, about two rolls of silk should suffice. The lining can be covered with one roll of Ogre Spider Silk. Including design and craftsmanship fees… I would say Spider Silk dresses should start at 1.3 million Rubies, and Mana Spider Silk dresses at 2.5 million Rubies."

Whoa, that’s expensive.
I’ll be making a huge profit just from one child's outfit.

But the Marquis Vardmoi agreed to the pricing, and that settled it.
I didn’t realize my clothes were this valuable…
I need to find more ways to use my money.

Maybe I should discuss with the Marquis about building a magic education facility.

What do you think about this chapter?