Bang! Bang! A sound like someone striking the floor or a table rattles me awake, as wherever I was sleeping starts to wobble back and forth. With every oscillation, a shot of pain blasts through my skull like I was being punched in the head, and I let out a small moan.

  Shut up… please… shut up…


  The irritating noises and vibrations didn’t stop, continuing at a steady rhythm, not letting me sleep at all.

  I’m kept awake, painfully aware of the vibrations reverberating within my spinning head. I plug my ears, hoping it will go away. Moving around feels strange, like my body isn’t doing exactly what I tell it to. All of my joints are sore, and I feel feverish all throughout my body, like I’d come down with the flu.

  “Ugh…”


  I need my glasses if I want to figure out what’s going on. With my eyes screwed shut, I feel around for the glasses I always keep near my pillow. My entire body feels a little bit numb, and my arm’s movements are sluggish. As I squirm, something beneath me rustles with a sound like grass or paper.

  “…what’s making that sound?”


  The voice that comes out of my mouth sounds too high, almost childlike. It might because I’m ill, but it’s not at all the voice I’m used to hearing. Even though I want to do nothing more than sleep off this fever, I can’t just ignore this many abnormalities around me. I slowly open my eyes. My field of vision is warped, thanks to this extremely high fever. I don’t know if it’s the tears in my eyes helping me see in place of my glasses, but everything is much clearer than it usually is.

  “Eh?”


  The first thing I notice is a ceiling that, while it may have originally been white, has been stained black with soot. Some number of thick, black beams hold it up, across which a spider has build an enormous web. This is absolutely nothing like any room I remember.

  “…Where am I?”


  I look around the room, keeping my head perfectly still so as not to shake the tears from my eyes. It’s obvious, from what I see, that much of what’s around me is entirely unlike the Japan in which I was born and raised. Just from the architectural style of the ceiling, this isn’t a Japanese-style building, it’s Western. Furthermore, it’s not a modern, steel-framed construction, but something much older. The bed I’m on is hard, and there’s no mattress beneath me. Instead, I seem to be lying on some kind of cushion made of a prickly material. Through the dirty cloth that covers it, I smell a strange scent. On top of that, my body itches here and there, like I’m being bitten by ticks or fleas.

  “W… wait a second…”


  My most recent memory is being crushed under the weight of countless books, and I don’t remember getting rescued at all. At the very least, I don’t think any hospital in Japan would put a patient on top of a sheet this dirty. Timidly, I try to raise my hand over my head so that I can see it, and what I see is the small, slender hand of a child. I live a lifestyle where I was shut indoors with my books all day, so the untanned and almost unhealthy skin was no surprise, but at twenty-two years of age my hands were, of course, those of an adult. Completely different from these small, malnourished-looking hands before me now. These small, child-like hands that I can open and close at will. As I move around, my body does not feel at all like I’m used to it feeling. At this shocking realization, my mouth goes dry.

  “…What’s going on?”


  It’s possible that I might have reincarnated. God might have heard my dying wish and given me new life, so that I may read again. This is incomprehensible. I want to know more about the world around me, so I lift my heavy head and slowly push my feverish body upright. My sweat-soaked hair sticks to the side of my head, but I pay it no mind as I look around the room. I see more bed-like platforms like the one I’m on, the dirty cloths on top of them, and a few boxes full of various things… but no bookshelves.

  “There’s no… books…”


  The only door in this room swings open. In an instant, the pounding noise reverberating through my head goes away, only to be replaced by the sound of footsteps as somebody outside bustles about. I really have no idea what’s happening. Based on the beams across the ceiling, the state of the walls, and the kinds of furniture in this room, I feel like this is something out of European history. There’s nothing around me to indicate modern civilization. Is this an extremely backwards country, or have I somehow slipped through time and wound up in the past? If only I knew; if I did, I’d have a lot easier time figuring out my next move.

  “…Am I hallucinating in my final moments?”


  As worried tumble around my feverish head, a woman appears in the doorway, having heard me moving around and talking to myself. She is wearing a triangle bandana tied around her head and is in her late 20s, judging by the condition of her once-beautiful face. Her general facial features are pretty enough, but all of the dirt ruins it. If she were to wash her face (and her clothes), she’d look half-decent, but it’s such a shame that she is the way she is now. Generally, I don’t worry too much about someone’s appearance (or my own, really) as long as they keep themselves clean; if they’re filthy, though, I really wish that they’d put a little effort in, otherwise their beauty just goes to waste.

  “Maine, %&$#

  *+#%?” says the woman in a language I don’t understand.

  At the sound of her voice, someone else’s memories burst through my consciousness, and I let out a small cry. In the blink of an eye, several years’ worth of memories crowd into my mind. The sheer pressure of it feels like it’s churning my brain to a pulp, and I grab my head in pain.

  “Maine, are you all right? You didn’t wake up for the longest time! I was starting to get worried.”


  “…Mom?”


  A few memories bubble to the surface. The woman who came to check on me and is now gently stroking my head is my mother, and my name is Maine. I don’t know how I suddenly started to understand what she was saying; this deluge of information has left my mind in shambles. Honestly, I wish this could have waited until I was feeling a little better. Sure, I wished that I could be reincarnate so that I could keep reading, and sure, it looks like I have, in fact, been reincarnated, but it’s not like I’m just going to meekly accept that this woman in front of me is suddenly my mother.

  “How are you feeling? It looks like you have a headache,” she says.

  The fingers of the hand she places on my forehead are stained with green and yellow spots. Does her job involve working with dye? I remember that workers back in Japan that worked with indigo dye had similar stains on their hands. I don’t want to let this so-called mother, who I simultaneously know nothing about yet somehow remember, touch me, so I flinch away from her outstretched hand, bury myself in the stinking bed, and screw my eyes shut.

  “…My head… still hurts. I wanna sleep,” I say.

  “Oh, rest well.”


  As my mother left this bed-filled room, I started to think deeply. Between the dizziness from my fever and the disarray in my head, there’s no way I could just quietly get back to sleep.

  “I’m not mistaken… I died, didn’t I?”


  Unbidden, an image of my own mother floats to the surface of my mind, and I silently apologize that I’ll never see her again. She’ll probably be furious, screaming “how many times did I tell you that you had too many books?!” while choking back tears of grief. I raise a sluggish arm and wipe a tear from my eye.

  “I’m sorry, Mom…” I whisper, an apology that will never reach her ears.

  I reluctantly let go of that image, and start to carefully sort through the memories of this child, Maine, that had been dumped into my head. Her latest memory was of having an extremely painful, painful fever, so painful that she couldn’t bear it. It seems to me like, somehow, the Maine who used to own this body died, and I possessed it in her place. Oh, or maybe I was actually reborn in this world, and the delirium of the fever is causing the memories of my past life to resurface?

  “It doesn’t matter, either way. I’m going to have to live as Maine from now on, there’s no way I can change it…”


  Since that’s the case, I need to sift through Maine’s memories to learn more about the situation I’m in; otherwise, my family might start to get suspicious. However, no matter how hard I think, Maine’s memories are those of a little girl with still-developing language skills, and there’s a lot that her parents said that she didn’t really understand. She didn’t know what they meant! She’s missing a lot of useful words from her vocabulary, so most of what she remembers is cryptic and ambiguous.

  “Whoa, no… what should I do?”


  From Maine’s childish little memories, I’ve figured out what I do know. Her family consists of four people. Her mother is the woman who was just in here. She has an older sister, Tory. Her father has a job that’s something like a soldier.

  And, most importantly, this is not Earth. From the image in Maine’s head, underneath the bandana that her mother was wearing, her hair is a rich green, like jade. You might think that she’d have to dye it to get it that color, but it really is naturally green. It’s such an unnatural color that I almost kind of want to check to see if it’s a wig. It seems really unlikely, though, that she would be some kind of cosplayer who always wears a green wig and dirty clothes; it’s much more realistic to think that I’m in some sort of alternate dimension.

  Incidentally, Maine’s sister’s hair is blue-green, and her father’s hair is blue. Maine’s own hair is a deep navy blue. Should I be grateful that my hair is close to black, or should I be sighing at my cosplaying family? Regardless, this house doesn’t seem to have a mirror, and no matter how much I dig I can’t find a clear image of what I look like, apart from my hair color. Well, based on what I know about my mother and father’s looks, and what my sister looks like, I guess I don’t look half bad. I’m also, without a doubt, filthy.

  “Ughh, I really need a bath. …Do we even have one?”


  Realistically, my appearance isn’t my biggest concern right now, it’s my living conditions. It seems like the family that I’ve been reborn into is mind-blowingly poor. Just from looking around, things seem pretty bad. The cloth that I, a sick child, am wrapped in is extremely threadbare and worn-out. Even for hand-me-downs from my sister, this is too cruel. I briefly thought that this might be some kind of abuse, but according to Maine’s memories even her mother’s clothes are sewn together out of rags, and her sister’s are much the same. This is the standard for my new family. My father’s work clothes are relatively solid, with only a few patches, but even so he was only ever provisioned one uniform, and that was several years ago.

  On top of that, this house doesn’t seem to be stand-alone. The wall closest to me is made of some kind of brick, and through it I can hear footsteps climbing up and down stairs and the voices of people who I presume are our neighbors. Perhaps this is some kind of housing complex or apartment building?

  So, about this reincarnation business… aren’t I supposed to be reborn as some kind of nobility, so that I don’t have to worry about living a difficult life?

  I breathe a heavy sigh at the rest of my conditions. I may have had a perfectly ordinary lifestyle back in Japan, but that was massively different to what I’m facing now. I don’t know what era or what country I’ve been born into now, but Japan was a nice place to live, overflowing with wonderful things. Comfortable fabrics, soft beds, books, books, more books…


  “Aaah, I want to read a book. Reading always helps my fevers go down.”


  No matter how dire my circumstances, I’ll be able to endure it as long as I have books. I place a finger to my temple and concentrate, searching through my memory for books. Where in this house could the bookshelves be?

  “Maine, you awake?” A voice suddenly breaks through my concentration. A girl, about seven or eight years old, is walking towards me with light footsteps. According to my memories, this is Tory. Her blue-green hair is carefully woven in a simple braid, but I can tell at a glance that it’s extremely dried out and in bad need of washing. Just like her mom, she’s a little dirty all over, and I really want her to wash up. She’s wasting her adorable face.

  I may be thinking that, but it’s the opinion of an outsider from Japan, a country with a high standard of personal hygiene. Even if you’re poor, you still want to maintain a healthy living environment; otherwise, you’ll fall ill, then you have to see a doctor, then you’ve spent money you don’t have.

  I really don’t care that much about that right now, though. There’s exactly one thing that’s on my mind.

  “Tory,” I ask, “could you bring me a ’book’?”


  Based on Tory’s age, there must be about ten or so picture books in the house. I may need to be resting to get over this sickness, but I can still read. Reading books from an alternate dimension is, right now, my highest priority above all else.

  “Tory, please!”


  Tory looks blankly at me, her adorable little sister, with her head tilted to one side. “Huh? What’s a ’book’?”


  “Wh… uhh, it’s a thing where ’words’ and ’pictures’ have been ’written down’…”


  “Maine, what are you talking about? I didn’t understand, what did you say?”


  “I told you, a ’book’! I want a ’picture book’!”


  “What’s that? I don’t really understand…?”


  It seems like I might have accidentally used Japanese words in place of words that Maine doesn’t know. No matter how hard I try to explain it to Tory, she just stands there with her head cocked to one side and a dumbfounded expression on her face. Even if I were to just say “get me a book” in Japanese, there’s no way she would understand. I have to dig up this vocabulary, and fast.

  “Ugh, fine! ’Translation function, engaaaaage!’” I yell.

  “Maine! What are you getting so mad about?!”


  “I’m not mad! I just have a headache.”


  Getting mad at Tory for not understanding me would be an extremely childish thing to do. …I did, though.

  First off, I need to start focusing everything I’ve got to listening carefully to what people around me are saying and, little by little, start to memorize all of the words I hear. Between Maine’s young, flexible brain and my own 22 year old college graduate’s intuition, memorizing vocabulary should be easy… in theory. At the very least, if I think back on what I went through when I was learning other languages so that I could read foreign books, it wasn’t unmanageably difficult. The zeal and love with which I dedicated myself to my books was enough to drive other people away.

  “…Are you angry because you still have a fever?” asks Tory. She reaches her hand towards my forehead, probably to feel my temperature. Without thinking, I grab her filthy hand before she can touch me.

  “I’m still sick, won’t you get sick too?” I ask. Although I’m pretending to show concern for my sister, I’m really just trying to stop her from doing something disgusting. I really don’t want Tory to touch me with those filthy hands, so I’m employing this adult technique to avoid it.

  “Oh, I guess so. Take care!”


  Safe. If she were clean, she’d be a great older sister, but right now I don’t want to be touched at all. If this is the situation I’m in, then I’m going to have to pound the concept of hygiene into their skulls. If I don’t start improving things around here, I don’t think I’ll be able to survive. According to these memories, Maine has always been a weak child, and was bedridden and feverish far too often. I have too many memories of this bed.

  If I’m going to be able to read to my heart’s content, I need to first make sure that I’m healthy and that my environment is sanitary. This family is way too poor, so if I get sick nobody will be able to call a doctor. Even if they did, from the looks of this place I can’t imagine they’d be any good, so I definitely don’t want to have to be in their care.

  Mother calls from another room. “Tory, come help me with dinner!” “Yes, mother,” says Tory, and runs away with a pitter-patter.

  Judging from the angle of the sunlight that streams through the window, it probably is time to start dinner preparations. Tory looks like she should still be in elementary school, but already she’s helping out a lot with the housework. What a state of poverty this is, for children to be relied on for manual labor.

  “Ugh, this is bad…”


  The thought of what my life will be like when I grow up is really depressing. No matter how I think about it, I’m going to be stuck doing housework forever. I’m not going to very much time for reading. Housework was already a huge bother when I was still in Japan with all of its convenient appliances; is a useless woman like me who spends all her time reading even able to adapt to life like this?

  Bang! Bang! An intermittent, lively sound reverberates through the room. Mom said it was time to work on preparing dinner, so that’s probably the sound of cooking, but what in the world is happening out there? I can’t see anything from where I am, but at the same time I really don’t want to know that badly.

  I have to stay positive! I’m not going to waste this reincarnation. There are books here to read that I could have never read on Earth! My first order of business is to take care of my physical condition. With that decided, I slowly close my eyes.

  “I’m home!”


  “Hi, Father!”


  I hear clanging sounds, like metal plates rubbing against each other. My father has returned home, just in time for dinner. Maine is still too feverishly sick to eat, so I gradually drift off to the sounds of the happy family meal in the other room. As my mind slips into the dark, there’s only one thought on my mind.

  Ah, I don’t care what it is, I just want to read a book.

  Drama CD 2 Bonus SS: A Royal Commission

  “Alright, Corinna, I’m off. Renate, Knut, behave yourselves. Tuuli, finish Lady Rozemyne’s hair pin as soon as possible.”


  “Understood, Master”


  Master Otto kissed Mistress Corinna on the cheek and then also gave a light peck on the cheek to Knut, their newborn son whom she was carrying. He then stroked the head of his beloved daughter, Renate. He tried to kiss Mistress Corinna again, but Theo and Leon dragged him off to the temple.

  They said it was a preliminary meeting for a summons from the archduke in the spring. Until now, the Gilberta Company had never been invited to a business deal with another duchy so all the leherls were pleased with the company’s progress.

  “……For some reason I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”


  While finishing up the hair pin I was currently working on, I stared at the various shades of thread I’d collected to make the red koralie and muttered quietly to myself.

  ……When Myne makes a request, it’s always something that’s completely outside my realm of expectations.

  The other day, even though it was snowing, Lutz brought me a letter requesting for me to make a hair pin with a red koralie flower. There have been times when Myne has introduced the Gilberta Company to nobles interested in hair pins, but this was the first time she had specifically asked for me to make one.

  But even if she says the client has blonde hair, the shade of blonde is different for each individual. The colour of the thread used for the hair pin has to be changed depending on whether the red of the dress is closer to orange or perhaps closer to pink and whether the colour intonations are dark or light. I also don’t know whether large flowers would look better or whether I should make smaller flowers. I can’t make a hair pin without more specific information…


  …… Master Otto said he would collect more information about it, but I don’t think it’s possible to make a hair pin for a customer who I’ve never even seen. I’ve never had any experience with this, at least not other than helping other craftsmen with ready-made products for the store.

  I was concentrating on making hair pins and hadn’t even noticed that Master Otto and the others had returned until the leherl Leon knocked on the door and said, “The master wants to see you”. I set aside my nearly completed hair pin and headed to Master Otto’s office.

  “Tuuli, I’ve received more detailed information on the client for the red koralie.”


  Inside the office, there was Master Otto who was in a good mood, and Mistress Corinna who looked a little troubled. My bad premonition seemed to be right on the mark. When I heard his words, I almost couldn’t believe my ears and struggled to understand their meaning.

  “Eh!? It’s a request from royalty!?”


  I wondered just where exactly Myne has been and what could she have possibly done for something like this to happen. It was completely outside my expectations that a prince would ask me to make a hair pin for the woman he’s interested in.

  “T-That’s impossible, Master”


  “It’s not impossible, Tuuli. The royals liked Lady Rozemyne’s hair pin and asked us to make it because it can’t be made in other duchies. Hence, it’s fine for you to make it. Just like you did for Lady Rozemyne, as long as you make it better than the hair pins you made before, there will be no problem.”


  It’s easy for Master Otto to say, “If you make it, it’ll turn out fine,” but I’m sure there’s no way it’s that simple. Mistress Corinna who makes outfits for nobles as a craftswoman, understood exactly how I felt. She glared at Master Otto with a troubled face.

  “Don’t be absurd, Otto. That’s like asking her to make something even better than what she made for Lady Rozemyne. Tuuli is a minor and has never received an order from an unknown customer before. It’s unreasonable to tell her to take on a royal commission out of the blue. If you don’t feel confident and don’t think you can do it, you don’t have to make it, Tuuli.”


  “That would be a problem, Corinna. If it’s Tuuli, she’d be able to make it, right?”


  Master Otto is not a craftsman, so I don’t think he really understands. He doesn’t know how difficult it is to make something that suits a person who you’ve never met and have them be satisfied with it.

  The hair pin I was asked to make was for a coming-of-age ceremony. In the letter it was written that “the colour of the dress is red” so I think the dress has probably already been prepared. It would be a disaster if the hair pin gifted by the prince did not match the outfit of the woman he intended on gifting it to. At the very least, if I had the costume with me to use as a reference or if the customer had ordered it from Gilberta Company, I might be able to make it work. However, there’s nothing I can do if I don’t have anything to work off.

  “It’s impossible. I know the kinds of flowers and colour combinations that Lady Rozemyne likes and I can make hair pins that suit Lady Rozemyne well. I am confident that I won’t lose at this to anyone else. However, I have never custom made any hair pins for other nobles and I don’t think I could make one that would satisfy royalty.”


  When I refused, Master Otto turned pale and held his head in his hands, saying, “this is a problem”, but Mistress Corinna agreed with me, saying, “Tuuli’s right”.

  “But Corinna, It’s a commission for Tuuli ……”


  “Otto, shut up. Tuuli, you don’t need to worry about it. I’ll leave it to some other craftsman who thinks they can do it.”


  When Mistress Corinna asked me to leave the room, I excused myself from the office while holding complicated feelings at the words, “I’ll leave it to some other craftsman.”


  *

  That evening, Mr Benno came to the Gilberta Company while covered in snow.

  “Brother, what did you come here for at such a late hour!?”


  Mistress Corinna rushed over, leaving her son, Knut in the care of a female servant. Renate also shouted joyfully, “Yay, Uncle Benno!” and followed after her. Mr Benno often visits to educate Renate, who will be the heir to the Gilberta Company. Mr Benno is Renate’s beloved uncle who often looked after her ever since she stopped being spoiled by her mother when Knut was born.

  “I was bored from being shut in by the snow. Come and play with me. Read me a picture book.”


  “I’m here on official business today. I can’t do that until I’m done. If you understand that, then be a good girl and wait, Renate.”


  Mr Benno lightly waved his hand and shooed her away. As if to protect Renate who looked like her feelings had been hurt, Master Otto stood between them and glared at Mr Benno.

  “Hey, Benno. You don’t have to be so harsh with her, do you?”


  “Huh? Whose fault do you think it is that I had to come all this way when it’s snowing?”


  From just a single look at the sharpness of his eyes as he glared back at Master Otto, it was clear that it was Master Otto who called Mr Benno here. After closely watching the interaction of the grown-ups, Renate quickly fled the scene while saying, “I’ll get uncle to read me a picture book when he’s in a better mood.”


  “Tuuli”


  When the ill-tempered Mr Benno called my name, I flinched. The instant our eyes met, Mr Benno jutted his chin towards me. That was enough for me to understand what he was here for. It was regarding my refusal of the royal commission.

  ……Am I going to be admonished for refusing?

  The mere thought of it gave me a suffocating level of fear and apprehension. Was it because he was the master of a separate store named the Plantin Company? Or was it because he was Myne’s oldest acquaintance and the closest to her out all the merchants? Was it because he was responsible for deciding which people from the lower city could be brought to the temple? Being scolded by Mr Benno gave me a completely different level of fear compared when I’m scolded by Master Otto or Mistress Corinna.

  Master Otto and Mr Benno quickly moved into the office and Mistress Corinna looked at me, holding her forehead while muttering “Geez, Otto is……”


  “Tuuli, if you can’t do it then even if it’s Benno, just say no. If you force yourself to try to make something when you don’t have any confidence in making a good product, you won’t be able to satisfy the customer. I’m on your side, Tuuli. I can’t overlook the possibility of ruining a good craftswoman.”


  From her perspective as a craftswoman and a workshop manager, Mistress Corinna supported me from behind and smiled as if to reassure me. Feeling as if I could breathe a little easier, I walked together with her to the office.

  The moment the door shut, Mr.Benno crossed his arms and looked at me. His reddish-brown eyes stared at me as if to say he wouldn’t let me escape. My heart began to race and my body started to tremble.

  “Tuuli. I heard that you turned down Lady Rozemyne’s request so I would like to know your reason why… Do you have any other commissions?　Or are you saying that you can’t make the same kind of product for royalty?”


  My lips quivered. I didn’t know what to say. I looked at Master Otto, Mr Benno, and Mistress Corinna in turn. When our eyes met, Mistress Corinna nodded lightly as if to encourage me.

  “Those were… Lady Rozemyne’s hair pins were made with the intention of providing a little support to Myne, who lives in noble society to protect her family. It was made with my feelings for Myne who was poisoned and had to sleep for two years… I don’t have confidence I can make something like that again.”


  Mistress Corinna’s concerns were right on the money. I wasn’t sure whether I could make something for someone else with the same feelings I had when I made it for Myne. There were no falsehoods in my words.

  “Until now you’ve made a lot of hair pins for nobles, haven’t you? Aren’t you the one who taught all the other craftsmen how to make hair pins?”


  I slowly shook my head in response to Master Otto’s impetuous words.

  “Those were off-the-shelf products made with the same standards as other craftsmen, and I’ve been told to make them with a lower quality than what I would make for the archduke’s adopted daughter. Obviously the requirements are different when it’s for nobility compared to when it’s for royalty, right?”


  “Yeah, what is required is something equal to or better than what you’ve made for Lady Rozemyne.”


  “I’ve never made hair pins for a customer I’ve never met, nor do I have any experience trying to match an outfit I’ve never seen before. On top of all that, you’re telling me that my first time is going to be a commission from royalty…”


  I don’t know what the great duchy’s princess looks like, nor do I know her hair colour or what her dress looks like. In such circumstances, even if you ask me to make a hair pin that is better than Myne’s, I don’t have any confidence that I can do it.

  “I see, it’s understandable that you would feel a sense of repulsion when told that your first hair pin commission from a client other than Lady Rozemyne would be from a member of royalty.”


  Mr Benno scratched his bangs and let a troubled expression show on his face. I let out a sigh of relief as I realised that he had accepted my opinion. I trust Mr Benno because I know he wouldn’t just give me any thoughtless orders and would properly heed my opinions.

  ……Hmm?

  I realised that Mr.Benno’s reddish-brown eyes hadn’t lost their resolve. They remained sharp and alert as if to make sure they captured my every reaction. When our eyes met, Mr Benno’s gaze grew even more intense.

  “Tuuli, if you insist that you can’t do it no matter what, then we have no choice but to leave it to another craftsman. But if the product turns out to be unsatisfactory, Lady Rozemyne will be scorned as the person responsible for it.”


  “Eh……”


  “Even if we offered her a hair pin crafted by another craftsman, Lady Rozemyne probably wouldn’t scold or dismiss you from your position as her personal hair pin craftswoman. She would simply keep her emotions buried in her chest while being denounced by royalty.”


  Mr Benno said that even if I couldn’t produce a hair pin that satisfied royalty, Myne would protect me from the ire of others, but Myne herself and the archduke would both be scolded by the royals.

  “And when that happens, would Tuuli not regret it? Would you not end up resenting the craftsman who was appointed, thinking that if you had made it yourself, you might have made something a little bit better and perhaps Lady Rozemyne wouldn’t have had to suffer the painful experience of being denounced by royalty?”


  …… Of course I’d regret something like that!

  I had sworn to do everything I could to help her. I could easily see myself stamping my feet in frustration and regret for failing to keep that promise.

  “Hey, Benno…”


  When Mistress Corinna tried to stop him, Mr Benno waved his hand to silence her, but his gaze remained steadfast on me the entire time. He looked straight at me and told me the harsh reality. Mr Benno is different from Mistress Corinna, who was always trying to protect me. But within those strict reddish-brown eyes, I could see his trust and confidence in me.

  “You were able to make something that Lady Rozemyne was able to puff out her chest and proudly present as having been made by her personal craftswoman. This is a job for Lady Rozemyne’s personal craftswoman. Is it really okay to give it to someone else?”


  The reason I’m Lady Rozemyne’s personal hair pin craftswoman is because I still possess skills that others cannot match. It’s because I can make hair pins that are suitable for the archduke’s daughter. If there exists a craftsman whose skills are recognized by royalty, there is a possibility that I will be replaced. I suddenly remembered the words that Lutz once said to me. “You’d have to give her hair pins made by someone else, all while pretending that you made them yourself.”


  …… I don’t want that to happen.

  This is something I can’t run away from. This is a job that I can’t afford to pass to anyone else. Having realised this, I stood up and looked straight back at the reddish-brown eyes which had been observing me this entire time before opening my mouth.

  “…… No, I’ll make it! Please let me make it!”


  Master Otto slapped his desk with a shout of “Alright!” while Mr Benno stood up and lightly patted me on the shoulder.

  “Tuuli, I had faith that you would say that. Good luck.”


  The tension in his reddish-brown eyes vanished and as he smiled, I could see his trust in me showing on his face. I could feel something indescribable tugging at my heartstrings. It felt like something wonderful was going to happen if I managed to get through this trial. Feelings of joy welled up within me. My entire body burned bright with the conviction that I was definitely going to make a hair pin that would surprise everyone and leave them satisfied.

  “Geez, you’re being so pushy. Tuuli, you shouldn’t carry this burden alone. Let’s make it together with everyone else.”


  Mistress Corinna sighed in exasperation and looked at me with eyes full of concern. I nodded back to her with a smile brimming full of motivation.

  “I’d like to know as much as possible about the customer so that I can do everything I possibly can to satisfy them.”


  *

  After that, I was extremely busy. There really was far too little time until the deadline to make something more intricate and beautiful than Myne’s hair pin. After discussing with Mistress Corinna and the other craftsmen about the most suitable size for an adult woman, selecting the red thread that looked best with Lutz’s blonde hair and asking my colleagues Inez and Karen to make small flowers and leaves to decorate the surroundings, the Gilberta Company began to work together to make the hair pin.

  It was a hair pin with small white flowers surrounding a warm red koralie, the precious colour of the earth goddess, and young green leaves flowing like vines, reminding us of the coming of spring. It was completed on a day when the end of winter was fast approaching. I contacted the temple and soon received an invitation for delivery.

  Then, on the day of delivery, I headed for the temple in a carriage with Master Otto and Mr Benno while carrying the box containing the hair pin which I had made with my best possible efforts. I was extremely nervous since I had to deliver the hair pin in-person.

  For starters, I was nervous about heading to the temple in an unfamiliar carriage since I had always gone there on foot. Secondly, since I was going to meet Myne for the first time since she woke after falling asleep for two years. I was also anxious about the very act of meeting Myne itself. I was confident that I had made a beautiful high quality product fit for royalty, but there was a difference between a good product and a product that suited the customer. I wasn’t sure if the prince would be satisfied with my work. I got nervous just imagining the possibility of disappointing Myne.

  …… Ahh, I’m so nervous that I’m not going to be able to move!

  Even though my mind was in a complete mess, the High Priest was together in the orphanage director’s office with Myne. I hadn’t expected him to be there. It was the first time I had seen him since the contract to turn Myne into Lady Rozemyne. The image of him speaking in a cold and stern manner was strongly burned into the back of my mind. That’s why I felt chills all over my body.

  “High Priest, This is Otto, the successor of the Gilberta Company, and Tuuli, Lady Rozemyne’s personal hair pin craftswoman.”


  I stiffened at Mr Benno’s introduction and joined Master Otto in giving a greeting towards a noble. I focused and tried my best to keep myself from stuttering. I had never been so glad to have been educated by Wilma and Rosina until now.

  “May I pray for a blessing in appreciation of this serendipitous meeting, ordained by the harsh judgment of Ewigeliebe?”


  “I give you my heartfelt blessings. I pray that the God of Life Ewigeliebe will henceforth bring guidance to the Gilberta Company.”


  The High Priest gave us his blessings in a shower of light. The slightly warm light gave me encouragement, but simultaneously brought about a mix of complex emotions as if I was once again confronted with the difference between a noble and a commoner.

  “This is the item you ordered.”


  Prompted by Mr Benno’s words, I held out the box with the hair pin and stepped in front of Myne, who was dressed as the high bishop. Her sparkling golden eyes and her hair pin adorned indigo blue hair were the same as the Myne who I had always known. Her height and facial features also hadn’t changed from the Myne in my memories. Perhaps she actually seemed smaller to me due to my own growth? Or was it because I unconsciously compared her to Kamil’s growth?

  I felt terribly relieved to see that Myne hadn’t changed and with such feelings in my heart, I showed her the item commissioned by the royals. I’ve already grown accustomed to the act of carefully opening the box and showing the hair pin inside.

  “……It’s lovely”


  Myne gasped at the sight of the red koralie hair pin. As she looked at me with approval in her eyes, I secretly felt relieved while keeping my smile pasted on my face. If I passed Myne’s assessment, then it’ll probably be okay. Even when she was a commoner, Myne’s eye for clothes and accessories was so amazing that even Mr Benno was impressed.

  “Yes, there should be no problems with something like this. Well done, Gilberta Company.”


  “It’s made very well. I’m sure Lady Eglantine will be very pleased with it. You’ve really become good at this haven’t you, Tuuli? I’m impressed.”


  “Thank you for your kind words. Seeing Lady Rozemyne’s healthy appearance also fills me with joy.”


  Once I received praised from both of them, I was able to smile a little more naturally. My heart, which had been full of tension and nervousness, was now filled with feelings of pride and accomplishment.

  “Also, I would like to present this to Lady Rozemyne.”


  I brought out yet another box. It was the Spring-themed hair pin I had made for Myne. In order to make the deadline for the red koralie hair pin, I had finished this one in a hurry, so upon close inspection you could see that some parts weren’t done too well. I hope she doesn’t notice.

  “Oh my, what a lovely hair pin. Could you please put it on for me?”


  I nodded while replying “yes” and carefully changed Myne’s hair pin while paying attention to the High Priest’s reactions. With my fingertips, I rearranged Myne’s hair, which was a little disheveled and hanging over her shoulders and swept it down her back. Holding myself back from patting her on the head like I used to in the past, I stepped back and commented “It’s done”.

  “…How does it look?”


  Myne’s maintained her poker face as she looked back at me. The stern gaze of the High Priest, who was scrutinising our interactions, told me that I couldn’t afford to let down my guard. What was the permissible degree of familiarity between a craftsman and a customer? I desperately tried to recall the words Mistress Corinna would use when complimenting a client.

  “Lady Rozemyne, it’s a hair pin that I made especially for you. Of course, it looks very good on you.”


  When I giggled, Myne broke into a smile as well.

  …This degree of interaction is allowed, right?

  I only found out later that Mistress Corinna’s words which I had used for reference were intended for talks between commoners, and not the kind of attitude one should show towards a noble.

  *

  After completion of the hair pin’s sale, the carriage carrying us began to rumble as we passed through the gates of the temple. Once I could hear the familiar hustle and bustle of the main street, I was finally able to relieve my pent-up tension.

  “I was really nervous because the High Priest was there.”


  When I relaxed and voiced my thoughts, Master Otto chuckled in agreement.

  “I also didn’t expect the High Priest to be there, so I was just as surprised. But I’m glad we were able to greet him without screwing up.”


  “Yeah. You guys didn’t only ace your greetings, you even got praised by the High Priest. Nobles usually never compliment any commoners. Even when taking Lady Rozemyne’s favouritism into account, you guys did well. Good job, Tuuli.”


  Mr Benno had completely reverted to his usual self with no semblance to the man who had been putting on airs while interacting with nobles. He smiled cheerfully while patting me lightly on the head.

  “Kyaa!”


  My heart skipped a beat. I was so startled that I almost leapt out of my skin and then reflexively shielded my head. For some reason, I suddenly simultaneously felt very happy and embarrassed as my face started turning red.

  “…… Geez, Mr Benno! I’m not a child any more so please don’t pat me on the head.”


  I must have felt embarrassed because I was being treated like a kid. I glared at Mr Benno but he simply said “My bad, my bad” with an expression that didn’t look even slightly apologetic at all, and started to talk with Master Otto about the scheduled sale of goods in the castle when Spring comes around.

  I looked out the window and tried my best to forget about these embarrassing feelings. But the sensation of a large hand patting my head still lingered and wouldn’t disappear. I tried putting my own hand on my head but something about it felt different.

  My reflection in the window was smiling happily back at me. I wondered if it was because I had been praised for the hair pin I had worked so hard to make. I recalled my feelings of joy in the temple earlier when I had been praised by Myne and the High Priest. But it was somewhat different to how I felt when Mr Benno had just patted me on the head.

  …What is this, I wonder…? Could I have felt the happiest when I was being praised by Mr Benno…? I’ve never felt this way before… I wonder what these feelings are…


  It would be a long time until I understood the meaning of these feelings I’d experienced for the first time.