Chapter 350

The Price of the Dress
This is a problem.
While I can manage the design, dyeing fabric in multiple colors means the cost needs to reflect that when presenting it externally.

If it were a single color, I could just say it was dyed that way and be done with it.
But using a gradient means ordinary dyeing methods won’t work.
Even if it's technically possible, it’s a labor-intensive process, so I’d have to set a high price for it.

Hmm, this really is a problem.

"Big sister Lily, why do you look so troubled?"

"Hm? Oh, I can make the dress, but the price is an issue…"

"Um, how much would it be?"

Baron Oxitt asked me that, but it's a difficult question to answer.
For now, I’ll propose the idea and let Alizée judge the price.

"Alizée, the fabric is Spider Silk, the lining is Ogre Spider Silk. The outer fabric has a gradient from pale red to blue to black. The black section is decorated with glass beads. The scarf is silver. The brooch is silverwork with red and blue glass inlays. How much would be a reasonable price for this?"

"Let’s see… To prepare a gradient-dyed fabric in time for wearing the dress, especially using Spider Silk, we'd need universal dye agents. For this gradient, at least three are required. Even if we don’t use Spider Silk for the silver scarf, the cost would be around 1.5 million Rubies."

I knew the price would go that high.

This would be tough for a baron’s household.

Baron Oxitt's budget, even with installment payments, is capped at 500,000 Rubies.
Even with a discount for Little Bern’s friend, it's still too much.

Is there any way to reduce costs?

"Alizée, how much do universal dye agents cost right now?"

"In Vardmoi, they're about 100,000 Rubies each."

If we drop the gradient, we can save on the cost of the dye agents.
Even then, the total is still 1.2 million rubis—far beyond Baron Oxitt's budget.
What to do…

"Oh, right! I have a letter from my Father addressed to Little Moira’s father."

"Really, Little Bern?"

"Yeah, I’ll take it out now."

Little Bern pulled out a letter sealed with the Vardmoi family’s wax seal.
She handed it to Baron Oxitt, who opened it and read it with a surprised expression.

What could it say?

"Baron Oxitt, may I ask what the letter says?"

"Ah, yes. Pardon me. It says… the marquis will cover up to 1 million Rubies of my daughter’s dress cost…"

What—?

The MarquisVardmoi is incredibly generous.
He’s not expecting me to let this slide, right?

Anyway, if Marquis is covering 1 million Rubies, we can go with an adjusted design.

A black dress with glass beads sewn in to resemble stars.
The dawn will be represented by a scarf wrapped around the neck.
The red and blue moons will be expressed with a silver brooch inlaid with red and blue glass.

With this, Alizée estimates the cost at 1.2 million Rubies, meaning Baron Oxitt only needs to pay 200,000 Rubies.

I have no idea what Marquis Vardmoi is thinking, but at least we can make the dress as hoped.

What do you think about this chapter?