“So…” Dad concluded, “I don’t want you to give up on your dreams, Tina. I want to repay you for everything you’ve given me.”
“N-No, I didn’t do any of it because I wanted you to repay me…” I said, choking up.
“You said your dream was to become a world-renowned alchemical apothecary, right?”
“Huh…?”
My dream… That’s right…
My dream was to become a famous alchemical apothecary known the world over, like Grandma. I wanted people to know me not as the Holy Woman. But as an apothecary. And I wanted to see the Rofola Lodge flourish. Because it was my home, passed down from my grandparents to my dad.
“Won’t setting up a store here in Deshmel help you make that dream come true?” Dad asked. “You can run an inn here. And, if we develop Deshmel, we can have all kinds of merchants set up stores here. And René could find work here when he’s ready!”
“Ah…”
René was, last I’d heard, set to leave for the dwarven kingdom of Segyadis to pursue his dream of becoming a jewel craftsman, with Ledo arranging for him to find a place to train and apprentice at. But Dad was already thinking about after that was complete and he needed employment. If René found work here or set up his own shop in Deshmel’s new noble town, he’d deal with important people from all over the world.
A jewel craftsman wouldn’t find much work operating out of the Rofola Lodge. But if this place at the heart of the world could develop into a country, he’d be able to take orders both locally and from far-off places.
“That sounds like a lovely idea,” I said finally.
“Right? But René not having anyone close to him around would make his life harder. Having you nearby would really put him at ease,” Dad told me.
“Yeah…you’re right.”
Thinking about René’s future motivated me. Even though I had to admit his chosen profession had little to do with either my apothecary work or running the inn, I had to be there for him. I’m his big sister!
“I also wanted to ask you about your coming-of-age ceremony,” Dad said. “What dress do you want for the ceremony? We should be putting in an order…”
“My…coming of age…”
That’s right. In Wisty Air, people come of age at eighteen. My coming-of-age ceremony was coming up next year. And in Dad’s native country of De Marl, as well as Rofola’s closest neighbor, Fei Lu, it’s tradition for one’s family to give their children a ceremonial outfit for their coming-of-age ceremony. A dress for a girl. A tuxedo for a boy. Once one comes of age, they can also get married, and tradition dictates those outfits are what the couple wears.
Normally, these dresses or tuxedos were handed down in families, with some adjustments to fit one’s size, and weren’t subject to changes in fashion. Nakona had her mother in De Marl, but I’d found out (since the wedding had happened while I’d been held hostage in Edesa Kura) that she’d refused to accept her dress, meaning Dad had had to buy her a new one for her to marry Shida in.
In my case, I’d only ever had Dad, who was supposed to provide my dress to begin with.
“I… I forgot all about it!” I cried.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought…” Dad grinned. “How about we head back home and celebrate your coming of age there? And do it while I’m still around, will ya? And remember, we need to pick the dress out from the catalog first.”
“A-All right…”
Nobles and other wealthy people usually had their dresses tailor-made. But since we were commoners, I needed to pick from a catalog. Once it was delivered, we’d adjust the dress to fit my size. Dad had given me the catalog a while back, but I’d been too busy saving the world to look.
If the women in the fort find out about this, they’ll trip over themselves to say something like “Let me design your dress, Holy Woman!” and everyone will want to get in on the act and it’ll be the first fashion show all over again… I shuddered thinking about the chaos that would bring.
“It’ll take a while to make the dress, so please decide soon, will ya?” Dad pressed.
“Yes, I know! Because we need to get fabric.”
“Yeah, that’s right. Because of the increase in monsters and lack of sunlight, there are fewer mooas.”
“Right…”
The Sugula had a lot of unforeseen consequences, one of which was that the lack of sunlight affected creatures like this world’s version of sheep, mooas. My herb garden had been impacted by it, too. While I’d kept some seeds stored, I’d only recently been able to plant and raise them again.
“That makes new fabrics expensive,” Dad emphasized. “The prices should go back to normal once the mooas’ population springs back. But for now, there’s no avoiding inflated prices. So for more reasons than one, hurry up and make your choice, please.”
“U-Understood! I’ll pick right now!”
I ran up to my room, found the catalog, went back down to our table in the empty dining hall and flipped through it, looking for a design I liked. Given my personal image, and since this would also be my wedding dress, I felt white was probably the right direction. Except that in Wisty Air, white was a color people wore to funerals.
The catalog had some pure white dresses, with some of them even having gorgeous patterns and furs. But it all felt a bit…much.
“Yeah, I hope you can make up your mind quick,” said Dad as he watched me flip through the catalog. “But think it over carefully. This dress should last you a lifetime. If you end up having a daughter someday, you can pass it down to her.”
“R-Right…” I swallowed. “My own…”
Daughter… That word made my heart fill up with warmth as Renge’s face came to mind.
Dad pinched the bridge of his nose and whispered, “I guess I can’t complain if it’s Renge…”
Wh-What does that mean?!
“Well, anyway,” he went on to change the topic, “you wanted to know about Deshmel’s development.”
“R-Right…” I said.
“Renovating the storerooms and setting up a commercial area there is a good idea. But, well…considering we’ll have important people coming in from other countries, we might want to get you several dresses, given you’ll be presenting yourself as the Holy Woman.”
“But…but we can’t afford that many dresses, can we?”
“Well, between the dishes you created and Moné selling her medicine and yours, the Rofola Lodge is actually very well off,” Dad said. “I’ve got money put aside for René and Moné too, so we don’t need to worry about money. Besides, figuring out how to get your daughter a dress is a parent’s test.”
“A parent’s test…”
Someday, when I have kids of my own, this’ll be something I’ll have to do for my children, too. I guess starting to think about things like this is part of growing up.
When you think about it…I made it to twenty in my past life. But maybe I was still mentally a child back then… Wait! No, no, no! It’s way too soon to think about children right now!!!
“Then how about…” I said, “a shoulder-length bertha, an A-line skirt, a hip-length veil, and a casket bouquet. We’ll use Almeria for the color and make the fabric chiffon. I can do without a pattern on it. But embroidery, ruffles, or lace could work…”
“I-Isn’t that a bit too revealing?!” Dad stammered, visibly blushing.
“Y-You think…?”
The bertha would be thin, making my skin color visible through the fabric. But that’s just for my collar! It won’t actually show any skin. And if that’s revealing, what the heck do you call Nakona’s usual outfit?!
“I mean, it— It’s your dress, so you can decide what it looks like…” Dad relented.
“Can we…go with this, then…?”
Now I feel down, for some reason…
After that, it was getting late, so Dad retired to his room. But instead of going to sleep myself, I flipped through the catalog a little longer. I wasn’t terribly invested in this whole “presenting myself as the Holy Woman” idea, but I decided to come up with an appropriate dress to wear when doing so. I had to keep in mind that things might get a lot more complicated from here on out.
I have to pull myself together… I thought as I thumbed through the pages.