I Became a Clothing Designer in Another World - Chapter 78

"Young master, another letter."

Only a day after the newspaper spread nationwide, people's reactions slowly began to surface.

"Who is it this time?"

"It says it's from Count Carlyle and Count Longford."

The difference from last time is that the age range of the people coming has increased quite a bit.

Instead of the fresh and fluffy teenage and 20-something nobles, heavy protests from gloomy and damp 40 to 50-something nobles were pouring in every hour.

"Oh dear..."

"There's so much, we could use it as firewood."

As I groaned while receiving the letter, Duchess Elizabeth, who was cutting fabric next to me, smiled and joked.

It's only the first day, so I can still take it as a joke, but if this pace continues for a few more days, I might really have to consider using it as firewood.

"Should we really use it as firewood?"

"If you do, you might actually die, even the Imperial Knights Commander couldn't stop them, you know?"

"Ugh..."

Thankfully, thanks to the presence of the Imperial Knight stationed at the atelier, they only left the letters quietly.

The sentences written in the letters were purely filled with accusations, without any flowery language, and if I had heard them voiced in person, I would have definitely gone crazy.

It was a blessing in disguise.

Still, the good thing about the accusation-filled letters was that the content was almost all the same, making them easy to handle.

The content of those letters was nothing more than:

1. Are you in your right mind to post such outrageous things for everyone to see?

2. Aren't you ashamed to show this to children?

3. I will inform the church.

4. And numerous other insults.

Even if you keep seeing insults and accusations, your mind will become exhausted, but the insults were so old-fashioned, befitting nobles, that it didn't feel like being insulted.

Expressions like 'child of the devil' or 'snake's offspring' are quite harsh, but since I'm not a religiously devout person...

The threat to report me to the church that followed was also scary, but even if they actually reported me, what could the church do?

I covered everything, and I only posted it once, so what are they going to do.

Even if the church feels uncomfortable, I'll immediately bow my head deeply and say, 'I won't do it again,' and then make a generous donation, and they'll just give me a warning and it'll be over.

This is a classic coping method proven by history, and it's a method frequently used by nobles who are caught in adultery or affairs to cover things up appropriately.

"Check the names on these letters and organize them into a list."

"Yes."

I read the letters filled with protests and accusations appropriately, roughly gathered them, and handed them over to Emily.

I'll write the apology letters later at night and send them, but now it's work time, so I have to grab fabric instead of paper.

Today, I planned to transfer the design onto the fabric I received yesterday, so I have to draw quickly so I can either cut the fabric myself or entrust it to someone else.

"Um, Sir William?"

"Ugh..."

As soon as my finger touched the fabric, Sir Rachel poked her head into the studio and called me.

"It seems you'll have to come out in person this time."

"Who came that you say that?"

"Former Duke of Devonshire..."

At this point, my stomach churns.

This is too big of a figure for me to handle.

I didn't know that what I did would have such a big impact that it would make even someone who had retired and locked themselves in the back room come running out...

"......"

I carefully put down the fabric, swept my hair back once, and got up from my seat.

"Please escort him inside, I will see him in person..."

"Understood."

I'll have to give up on cutting and sewing today.

_

Before talking to the former Duke of Devonshire, let's briefly tell a boring and tedious history story.

Currently, the number of dukes in the empire is woefully insufficient compared to the vast size of the empire.

Until 30 years ago, there were six dukes with territories and ten people with the title of duke without territories, but now there are less than half of them.

The reason is very simple: the people who were supposed to receive the titles all died.

They were purged because of the War of Succession that happened about 5 years before I was born.

The reason why I'm suddenly telling this story is because the Devonshire family is the only remaining ducal family with a territory among the dukes who survived that war.

The other one is held by His Majesty the Prince Consort, so it is, in fact, no exaggeration to say that it is the only ducal family.

The person who came to visit now is the former duke, not the current duke.

He is an old man who has handed over the title to his son and has long since withdrawn from politics, but the history of being the leader of the noble faction and a former duke does not disappear.

No matter how much a lion's teeth have fallen out, he is a big shot that someone like me, who has never even had teeth, should not even encounter, and should not encounter.

"Hehe~ He's the spitting image of his parents!"

"Haha... I hear that often."

But reality is different from theory, and the reality is that such a big shot that I shouldn't encounter was sitting right in front of me.

"Is your father doing well these days? I heard he's preparing for retirement, I hope he's not too heartbroken by being treated like an old man in the back room at his age?"

"He's doing well, he's actually happy that he can spend more time with my mother."

"Haha! When your parents were young, they were so sickeningly attached to each other that I cursed them to get a divorce, but to think they would still be so passionately together even after passing forty, that's just like him! "

"... Excuse me?"

I frowned without realizing it and looked at the former duke.

Is it okay to casually say that he cursed his parents in front of their child?

"I'm sorry to you, but you should have seen it yourself, you know how terrible it was to see them feeding each other strawberries in front of everyone, do you know how many couples broke up because of your parents? I was also compared to your father by my wife and nagged so much... Haa... It's terrible just thinking about it."

"Ah... is that so..."

I don't know how to react because I'm listening to words that I don't know whether they are compliments or sarcasm.

On the outside, it looks like a benevolent old man is telling old stories in a meddling way, but no matter how I think about it, it seems like he's trying to scratch my insides.

"More than that, what brings you here today?"

I was a little upset, so I just got to the point first, even though it was against etiquette.

Then, the former Duke of Devonshire smiled and clapped his knees, and then rattled off the words in a nonchalant manner.

"Ah! That's right, look at my mind, I think my stories keep going astray as I get older, I keep forgetting the main point and just keep rambling on about strange things, I'm sorry."

"Haha, it's okay."

"If it's okay, why did you interrupt instead of listening to the story quietly?"

"......"

The friendly atmosphere froze in an instant.

Both I and the former Duke of Devonshire are smiling, but the pupils revealed through the thinly opened eyelids are looking at each other coldly to the point of being sharp.

My chest is tight and my mouth is parched.

I clasped my trembling fingertips and placed them on my stomach to hide them.

And I put on a nonchalant smile and answered the pressure that the former Duke of Devonshire threw at me like a question.

"If I had my way, I would like to listen to Your Excellency's story, but I'm living such a busy life that I can't afford to waste time on such small talk, I hope you understand."

"Hehehe~ I guess I lacked consideration because I retired too long ago, I'm sorry."

"No, so I hope you can move on to the main point now, is that okay?"

"Yes, a young man doesn't want to listen to an old man's story, so I have to do that, right."

The former Duke of Devonshire, who leaned back on the backrest and sat in a rather crooked posture, continued to speak after resting his chin on his right hand.

"The empire is buzzing with your story these days, did you know?"

"I vaguely know, I'm receiving excessive attention."

"Heot heot heot!"

The former Duke of Devonshire laughed heartily and patted his knees.

Then, he raised one corner of his mouth as if he was amused, and gently pointed his finger at the door.

"Seeing that you even brought an Imperial Knight, you know exactly what's going on, so what do you mean by vaguely, isn't this something you did knowing it would become this noisy?"

"I won't deny it, isn't advertising all about doing anything to attract people's attention?"

"That's right, you're right, but this time it was too much, even within our family, opinions are divided because of that advertisement, and the arguments are endless."

The smile slowly disappears from the former Duke of Devonshire's face.

The feeling of being tied up is getting stronger and stronger, and it's getting hard to breathe.

I pulled on my collar to give my neck some room and frowned slightly.

"It's unfortunate, but isn't disagreement always something that happens? The trigger may be my advertisement, but I think it's something that would have happened someday."

"That's also true, if you only look at the advertisement, but your actions won't end with just one advertisement, I've been watching your actions and they're very interesting."

"......"

"A nameless upstart who suddenly popped out a few months ago is only doing things that are annoying to old men like us, so we can't just sit back and watch."

The former Duke of Devonshire glared at me with his eyes wide open.

"Listen, young friend."

And he called me in a serious voice and added a word quietly.

"Do you think you have the whole world because the great Emperor is backing you?"

There's an Imperial Knight beyond the door, how can he make such a radical statement?

The smile that I was barely maintaining disappears in an instant at the difficult-to-ignore statement.

And both I and the former Duke of Devonshire glared at each other fiercely.

"......"

Ha, damn it.

My stomach is churning and I feel like I'm going to throw up.

I wish you would stop this pointless war of nerves and someone would get me out of here.