11: OLDER SISTER’S REQUEST

I didn’t see Furore-sama nor my older sisters outside of meal times unless they needed me.

For me, noble conversations was something to recall during meal times. I listened attentively to my sisters gossiping and talking about the latest fashion trends. That’s why I think the things I know are a little bias. Even so, it might be useful to know. I, didn’t go out as a noble, so there were many things that I couldn’t imagine even if I heard them.

One of the things I couldn’t imagine was a knight.

I’ve seen soldiers who guard the town patrolling on horses before.

There might have been some knights at the place where I had my debut, but it’s not like they had a sword and I was also nervous, so I couldn’t tell who was a knight and who wasn’t. I can only imagine them from book illustrations.

I knew which person was a knight from the noble almanac though.

I also had a glimpse of the high ranking nobles at my debut.

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No one took me to greet the nobles. The royals I met at my debut were very far away and I could only gleam at them. I saw their portraits in the noble almanac.

It seems that my older sister Catherine is aiming to marry into a high ranking noble House. She was already 18 y ears old and she grew more discerning as the year passed. She didn’t want to compromise on her marriage partner.

My sister’s tactic was to appeal her embroidery skills. In short, she wanted to give a handkerchief that I had embroidered to a man.

The handkerchiefs I sold to the western clothing store were now on sale. Embroidered handkerchiefs has now become one of the popular items for nobles.

I simply embroidered initials for small change, but the design Catherine wanted was of her initials intertwined in a rose. She wanted to carry this around while broadcasting, “Embroidery is my strong point”. Then finally, “Because I’m good at embroidery, the person I’m thinking of would be incredibly happy if I gave him a handkerchief as a present”. She told someone and asked me to embroider something for her.

“Ayeshamarie, I have a favour to ask of you.” I already learnt that if the family asked me for something like this I couldn’t refuse most the time.

“I’d like to give a nice handkerchief to Raven-sama. I want you to do the embroidery. Could you do this for me?”

I was drinking pumpkin soup, but I put the spoon onto the table and wiped my mouth with a cloth before turning towards Catherine. I complied with her request without being able to refuse.

The thing that Catherine had asked me to embroider was a little troubling.

She wanted to put her initials and the initials of her intended onto the handkerchief, as well as his family crest.

If I looked in the noble almanac then I would know his crest. But it was in black and white. I had to confirm the colour somehow. He was from a frontier Count House and it was a present for a higher ranking noble so I couldn’t do a poor job.

Fortunately, she had asked this during meal time so my father also heard it. Catherine’s request had more priority over the job my father asked me to do, so I didn’t have to help him for a while.

Older sister Rosalie also seemed to be good at embroidery and the ladies of the Thousand House were called experts at embroidery that had passed noble standards. I recall embroidering for them because they were too busy with tea parties and balls.

Mm, I think they’re all made by me though… When the truth comes out, what will you do sisters? I wonder if they would be able to deceive them with words.

Well, they should make sure that they become good at embroidery.

Thankfully, I think that my good point, which I inherited from my mother, is to tackle problems head-on and solve them. Under normal circumstances, I lived my life facing down so at least my heart should be uplifted.

Thus, I diligently commuted to the gardener’s work cabin to make designs and snuck out of the estate in maid clothes. I went to the upper district and somehow managed to see the Raven House crest myself. The upper district was really far so it was really difficult to get there.

My cleaning and washing time decreased and my embroidery time increased because of Catherine’s demand.

I completed it 10 days later.

*Knock Knock*

I knocked on Catherine’s room door. I came to give her the handkerchief that I’d finished.

Whenever I entered her room, I would choke on the perfume smell of flowers. I happen to see some multi-coloured cushions. I always think that her room is really girly.

“I have finished the handkerchief that older sister Catherine asked me to make, so I came to deliver it.”

Catherine took the handkerchief and looked at it. Her eyes squinted in pleasure… Ah, it looks like she’s satisfied.

This handkerchief had a lot of embroidery on it so it wasn’t practical. There was so much embroidery on it that it would probably look great hung on a wall.

“I knew you were the one for the job. I’ve never seen anything like this before. I always admire your embroidery skills. With this I’ll be able to give Raven-sama a good impression of me.”

“I am honoured by your praise. It took a lot of time but in exchange, I was able to make something good.” Catherine seemed to be in a good mood, so this time I insinuated that this was more troublesome than usual.

My sister got what I was trying to say.

“I’ll give you this.” She gave me a flower shaped brooch… She seemed to be in a really good mood. It looked much more expensive than the ones I saw in town.

I received it with gratitude.

I probably won’t use it but I can exchange it for money if I need to in the future.

This time, I got a reward and improved my embroidery skills. I also had many opportunities to go into town.

Preparing gifts for someone… Catherine, who was staring at the finished handkerchief lovingly, was impressive. She was probably in love, wasn’t she? Would I ever embroider a gift for someone someday?

However, my relief over finishing the handkerchief only lasted a brief moment. Rosalie, who Catherine had shown the handkerchief to, asked me to make her a handkerchief to give to Elmer-sama.

Although, I had expected this.

Translator: Blushy Editors: Readers