CH 17

Upon returning from the royal palace, Mother Elise said, “Next time, I will bring Diana with me.”

Today, Elise had participated in the “Queen Sponsored Embroidery Club”. 

The Queen Sponsored Embroidery Club was a club designed to allow noblewomen to join the queen in embroidering sessions. It was held every other month. As a rule, only those with a rank of Countess and above could attend. It was apparently a serious embroidery club, and if one were to attend, not because they were interested in embroidery, but just because they wanted to get closer to the queen, they ended up shunned and disliked by the rest of the group. 

Each person was to come up with their own goals and work hard toward them while teaching and helping each other along the way. Intending to study diligently, Elise came home with homework to complete after every session.

Incidentally, there was also a “Queen Sponsored Poetry Club”, in which the participants enjoyed reading poetry and released poetry anthologies, every season. Mother had no interest in poetry, and so did not attend this club.

“You’re going to bring Diana with you? Even though Diana has never embroidered before?”

It was not Diana, but her older brother, Cain, who asked this question.

Diana herself, the topic of discussion, was looking up vacantly at her mother.

“There’s a first time for anything. Don’t you think it’s a good thing to be exposed to a high level of skill in something from the beginning of one’s studies, Cain?” asked Mother.

“You’re right, Mother. But, if that’s the case, it would be quite enough to just teach her yourself. Your embroidery is very beautiful, Mother, and you have very quick-working hands,” said Cain.

Embroidery wasn’t really a skill learned as an apprentice. It was usually passed on to daughters from their mothers, and skills, designs, and little tricks of the trade were passed on through the generations.

Therefore, Cain’s point of view on the matter was very proper.

“Of course, before the next club meeting, I’ll teach her the basics. Di will probably be a natural at it. I want to show her off to my embroidery friends,” said Elise. 

“Will the crown prince be attending that embroidery club?” asked Cain.

This was what Cain was actually worried about.

He wasn’t worried about Diana being embarrassed when her embroidery isn’t very good, or that she would be bored at a club meeting full of adults.

Cain believed that the mere existence of Diana and her precious adorableness was a miracle and that she was fated to be loved by all people around her. He seriously believed that there was nothing to worry about when it came to people showing Diana love and kindness.

Cain was worried about Diana going to the royal palace at all. She might meet the crown prince there and become betrothed to him.

In the game’s Crown Prince Route, she would become married to him by name only, and then be sold off to an old nobleman. There was no way that Cain could let something that horrible happen to her. He had to prevent the betrothal from happening at all costs.

“Cain, what are you thinking?…” asked Elise.

“Mother. Will the crown prince be attending the embroidery club meeting?” asked Cain.

“I don’t know. That’s up to the Queen,” said Elise.

She had answered Cain’s repeated question in this way, but Cain caught her eyes wavering. She had tried to mislead him with her answer, but he was coming. The crown prince was going to the meeting.

Even if this wasn’t an official arranged meeting between the two of them, it was a setup for them to at least see each other for the first time. 

“Mother. Please bring me to the next embroidery club meeting, too,” said Cain.

“…What?” asked Elise.

“Please bring me, too, and not just Diana, to the embroidery club,” said Cain.[Read this novel and other amazing translated novels from the original source at the “Novel Multiverse dot com” website @ novelmultiverse.com]

“If you go without having an interest in embroidery, you will fall into disgrace with the Queen, you know?” asked Elise.

“I do! I do have a deep interest in embroidery!” said Cain.

Elise stared at Cain with a heavy look in her eye.

Cain stared back at her with a serious look.

It was Elise who caved. She sighed and got her chamberlain to hand her a sheet of paper from her bag. She handed this paper to Cain.

“This is the design that I plan to present at the next embroidery club meeting. I will give you a copy of this paper, and so, if you can complete the design before the next session, I will bring you with me,” said Elise.

Show me how ready you are for this meeting was what Elise was saying to Cain.

“I am grateful for this chance you’re giving me, Mother,” said Cain, respectfully accepting the paper as he bowed his head.

Later that day, after dinner, Cain was in his room.

“Can you even embroider anything, man?” asked Ilvalino as he dropped a massive pile of clothes and strips of fabric on the low table with a thud.

They were scraps of throwaway fabrics that Cain had asked Ilvalino to obtain from the maid in charge of laundry. Of course, they were going to be used for practicing embroidery.

Since worn and thinned-out fabrics were not good for embroidering, Cain had requested scraps that had been cut into handkerchief-size cloths from dirtied tablecloths and sheets. 

“I’m practicing because I can’t, obviously,” said Cain.

With that, he took a handkerchief-sized cloth in his hand and secured it into an embroidering frame that Mother had leant him.

“I have a feeling I don’t want to hear that answer, but let me ask you,” said Ilvalino.

“What is it, Ilvalino?” asked Cain.

Ilvalino pointed at another frame that was by Cain’s hands. Cain had secured a second fabric into this frame, as well.

There were two embroidering frames, for some reason.

“Why do you have two sets of embroidering tools?” asked Ilvalino.

“Obviously, because you’re gonna do it, too,” said Cain.

“Why the hell would I do that?” asked Ilvalino.

Cain pushed an embroidering frame into Ilvalino’s hands, went into his study, and came back out with a book on embroidering.

“Pull a string through – what does that mean… What? Loosen a string it says… Why would you loosen it…”

Cain was sitting diagonally on the sofa, with one leg up on it, holding the book open with the foot he had taken his shoe off of.

Ilvalino watched Cain mumble questions out loud, and not wait for a response while he worked. He sighed, and went over to the desk used for studying, and brought over a bookstand. 

“That’s improper. Use the tools you’ve got,” said Ilvalino, handing the bookstand to him.

“Domo Arigato,” said Cain.

“Domo? What?” asked Ilvalino.

“It means ‘thank you’ in a language from a far-off land in antiquity,” said Cain.

(Note: the original text used ‘Thank You’ in katakana, not Domo Arigato. In this translation, Japanese has been substituted for Thank You to produce the effect of using an unknown foreign language.)

With that, Cain put the book in the bookstand and clipped it in place so that it wouldn’t close. He then handed Ilvalino another embroidering book for beginners. 

Ilvalino, thinking he might as well, flipped through the book, but it was a world of mystery to him. There were plans for designs, but he had no idea how to even start deciphering them.

“You could always ask your mother to help you with the basics,” said Ilvalino.

“That would make me feel like I lost, so forget it,” said Cain.

“You hate losing too much,” said Ilvalino.

Ilvalino put down the embroidering frame on the table and began reading the book from the beginning.

Cain was the type to work hands-on while reading along, while Ilvalino was the type to concentrate on reading first, before trying out anything by hand.