"Hmm..."
After finishing my meal and returning to my room, I began pondering how to accomplish the task Mother had given me.
…Or at least, that's what I'd like to say. In reality, I was just sitting there with my head buried in my desk, staring blankly at a sheet of paper without doing anything in particular.
It couldn't be helped—nothing at all was coming to mind.
Especially when it came to the maid uniform.
I had a vague idea in my head for the butler's uniform, but as for the maid outfit, I had absolutely no clue what to change.
"Young Master."
As I kept dotting meaningless marks onto the paper, Emily—who had brought a chair over and was sitting nearby—narrowed her eyes and called out to me cautiously.
"What?"
"May I ask why you've been stealing glances at me this whole time?"
"Was I?"
"Yes. Our eyes have met about once every ten seconds."
"Hmm..."
It was practically unconscious.
I was probably so frustrated that I couldn't keep my gaze still.
I set the pencil down on the paper, leaned back in my chair, and looked up at the ceiling.
"After you left the dining hall, Mother gave me two assignments."
"You weren't just scolded?"
"I was scolded too. Anyway, she gave me two tasks, and I confidently said I'd do them."
"Yes."
"But now that I'm sitting at my desk, I don't even know where to start."
"Where are you stuck?"
"The maid uniform."
"What did Madam say?"
"She said the direction of the maid outfit is vague and told me to fix it. But from my perspective, it's already perfect."
"And the reason you kept looking at me…"
"I don't know what I'm supposed to fix."
"..."
Emily lowered her head.
Did she not have an answer either?
"Haah..."
I let out a sigh and ran a hand down my face.
Whether it was a change of mood or a nap, I needed something to clear my head.
"Tch..."
Clicking my tongue lightly, I stood up.
"Ugh..."
"Um, Young Master."
"Hmm?"
As I stretched my arms high overhead, Emily—who had been staring down at her clothes—carefully called out to me.
"What is it?"
"When is this outfit worn?"
"When receiving guests."
"I see."
Emily smiled and lifted her head to meet my eyes.
"In that case, I think there are about two issues."
"What?"
At most, she'd been thinking for a minute.
I'd agonized over it for dozens of minutes and couldn't find anything—yet she found two problems in that short time.
Staring at her in surprise, I watched as Emily, wearing a triumphant smile, pointed to her chest and said,
"First, the buttons used to fasten the dress should either be moved to the back or hidden."
"Why?"
"Madam once said that with dresses, the beauty lies in not showing buttons or laces. If you're curious, take a close look at Madam's or the young lady's dresses."
"But the clothes you used to wear had laces in the front."
"We cover them with an apron, and more importantly, we never stand in front of guests."
"Ah."
I'd been overthinking things and overlooked something trivial.
I think I finally understood why Mother told me to discuss it with Emily.
"Ha… then what's the other one?"
Feeling a bit hollow at the fact that I'd wasted time struggling alone, I asked about the second issue she'd found.
Emily pointed to the ends of the sleeves and the neckline.
"The collar and cuffs should be detachable."
"Why? Wouldn't that be more inconvenient?"
"Because they're hard to wash. If just the sleeves and collar get dirty, you can't wash the entire dress every time."
"But it looks better when they're attached, and it's more—"
"Will you be the one doing the laundry, then?"
"..."
Avoiding Emily's sharp glare and curt tone, I shut my mouth.
If the person who does the housework says it's difficult, what could I possibly argue?
The way for someone in a high position to survive long is to listen to those beneath them. I gave up trying to push my way and immediately apologized.
"Sorry. I'll make them detachable."
"Thank you."
Emily's expression quickly softened, and she gave a small bow of gratitude.
"Anything else?"
"Hmm… wouldn't a hair cap be better than a hairband?"
"Ah, we'll keep what you originally used. The hairband is just for you."
"Oh… in that case, I don't think there's anything else."
"Really?"
So the parts I needed to fix were the buttons, the sleeves, and the collar.
It shouldn't take too long.
If I got started right away, I could probably finish by noon.
Pointing toward the dressing room with my thumb, I said,
"Then go change now so we can alter it."
"Yes."
Once the parts I'd been stuck on were resolved thanks to Emily, the work progressed quickly.
"Emily, your clothes smell nice."
"…Young Master, please show a little consideration toward women."
"Oh, sorry…"
The alterations began under Emily's cold glare.
"How should we do the cuffs?"
"It would be good if they were about half a span long. That'll help keep the dress from getting dirty. And the collar should cover about half the neck."
"Got it. Anything else?"
"Hmm… could you make them stiff? So they hold their shape well."
"If we have interfacing fabric, that's doable."
First, I made detachable collars and cuffs using leftover fabric from yesterday.
"You'll need at least two buttons so they won't come off easily while working."
"Two above the collarbone for the collar, and for the cuffs? Around the wrist? Or toward the armpit side?"
"Toward the armpit, please."
"Okay."
I added buttons to the existing sleeves and neckline to secure the detachable pieces.
"If I add this strip here, it won't be uncomfortable when buttoning, right?"
"The fabric shouldn't get in the way at that width."
Lastly, I sewed a long strip of fabric along the line of the front buttonholes so that the buttons wouldn't be visible when the dress was fastened.
With that, the issues with the maid uniform were resolved by the end of the morning.
After trimming the loose threads I hadn't gotten to earlier, I stood up and held out the newly altered dress.
From top to bottom. From bottom to top.
After rolling my eyes several times and checking for any last issues, I held the one-piece dress out toward Emily.
"What do you think?"
"Hmm…"
Emily narrowed her eyes, her gaze moving busily.
In the silence, she examined the black one-piece as if taking it apart and analyzing it piece by piece. Then she gently curled up the corners of her lips and left a single, simple verdict.
"It's perfect."
"Really?"
"Then let's finalize this design for the maid uniform used for receiving guests."
"Yes."
Now that the design was confirmed, all that remained was to draw the three-view diagram on paper.
I neatly folded the dress, handed it to Emily, and glanced at the clock on the desk.
It would be lunchtime in just a few minutes.
"Shall we finish the rest after we eat?"
"Yes."
ZGVPdDc2cnQxMFU0bVlrbnZITXlVbFBEY0NGK2dPYmsyL1hYUHhSRURPdnlQbG9RTG1qVXlXdGc5Mm8rZ1A2eg
No matter what, you have to eat your meals properly.
Unlike the maids, the butlers each already had their own uniform.
That was because, unlike maids who mostly handled chores out of sight, butlers were already seen performing various duties—attending their employer on outings, receiving guests, running errands, assisting at banquets or meals, and so on.
So there wasn't really a need to make new uniforms for the butlers. However, what Mother requested this time was a new uniform that would "match the maid outfit."
So I planned to use this opportunity to divide the butlers' uniforms into formal dress and semi-formal wear.
The clothes they had been wearing would be elevated to formal attire for important events, while the newly made outfits would be versatile enough to wear like casual suits.
"I think the butler uniform should be a tailcoat."
"A tailcoat?"
"Yeah."
And that was the choice I made—a tailcoat.
In more familiar terms, a swallowtail coat.
If the image that comes to mind is the outfit butlers always wear in novels or comics, with the two long tails at the back—then that's exactly it.
The reason the tailcoat was created was surprisingly practical: people wanted to move more comfortably.
In Europe, up until the 18th century, coats that extended down to the knees were considered standard formal wear for nobles.
The problem was that they were extremely uncomfortable for knights who moved around frequently or for people who enjoyed horseback riding. So those people cut the lower hems of their coats to make them easier to move in—that was the origin of the tailcoat.
As you can tell from how it was born, the tailcoat began as practical wear. But after various twists and turns, by the modern era it had settled as formal attire for nobles. Later, as fashion shifted to other types of suits and it fell out of trend, the tailcoat ended up becoming the standard attire for butlers.
Of course, it can still be worn as proper formalwear at important occasions—but that was all in my previous world.
"Isn't that what knights wear?"
"Yeah, that's right. Nobles sometimes wear it when riding as well."
"I see."
In this world, tailcoats were still used as activewear.
That was truly a relief.
If tailcoats had already become standard noble formalwear, I would have had to switch to a classic suit or tuxedo instead—and that would've been a bit disappointing.
To me, a butler means a tailcoat, and a tailcoat means a butler. That's just common sense.
There's no way I could deny such common sense.
"But, Young Master, if it's a tailcoat, we'd have to make the coat, vest, trousers, and shirt as a full set. Can you really finish both the design and the clothes within a week?"
"Well… I'll just have to do as much as I can."
"You're not planning to stay up all night making them again, are you?"
"Haha, I'll try not to."
"That's not a yes."
"Hahaha!"
"Ugh! Young Master!"