I confirmed my plans for lunch with Rohtas afterward.
There was nothing I had to do following my after-breakfast tea, or to put it plainly, I had a lot of free time. At my old house, work—cleaning, laundry, garden work—would pile up, so our ‘free time’ wasn’t all that free. But this was the house of the peerless Fisalis family. They had more than enough hands on deck. Or rather, it would be absurd for them to expect the lady of the house to do physical labor.
A true blue-blooded lady would have a clear idea of what to do with her spare time, but unaccustomed to the concept of leisure as I was, even after I’d thought long and hard about it, nothing came to mind.
“Madam?” Dahlia asked, unable to let my groaning and writhing on the sofa in my room as I thought to myself go unnoticed.
“Yes, what is it?”
“Would you like to try some embroidery, Madam?”
I see. That’s the kind of thing ladies who come from money do in their spare time... a refined method for passing time. I hadn’t considered that at all, since I had become an elite so suddenly.
But for me, sewing was...
“Embroidery? I know the basics, but I’m a lot better at mending things.”
Wow, good job. You sound like a seamstress.
Dahlia was silent.
At my parents’ house, you see, not only was embroidery unproductive, but I was up to my neck in clothes that needed mending.
I don’t mean to brag, but I was pretty good, and could do invisible stitching and patchwork.
Oh, Dahlia’s looking at me like I’m pathetic.
No, don’t gently dab at your eyes with your handkerchief!
I told her that there wasn’t anything I couldn’t do.
“Embroidery wasn’t useful to us, so I never devoted much time to it, but I did embroider flowers and birds on my little sister’s clothes.” I embroidered her clothes to make them cuter, since they were just simple hand-me-downs from me. They made my sister so happy, she looked like an angel... but this wasn’t the time to be getting lost in those memories.
And then I took back what I had said, agreeing to give it a shot.
“Ahem, what should I embroider, then?” I asked, giving Dahlia a smile.
Dahlia’s mood seemed to improve, and she suggested, “Hmm, shall we start with a pocket square for the master?”
“Oh... my, well, isn’t that lovely?”
“It would be even more lovely if you actually meant that.”
“Oh ho ho ho...”
Please ignore her sugarcoating of my terrible embroidery.
I might only be a show wife, but if he’s wearing my handmade crafts, we’ll totally look like a happy couple! Great idea, Dahlia, you live up to your title of head maid!
I was embroidering a handkerchief for Mr. Fisalis, using the embroidery set Mimosa cleverly provided for me. Stitch, stitch, stitch...
I was so slow, though.
“Finished...”
I had managed to complete a pocket square within an hour.
“You did very well, Madam!”
Mimosa praised my work, admiring the little handkerchief I made, but something this small was old hat to me, so before I knew it I’d finished it in the blink of an eye.
It’s in larger projects, like clothing for my siblings or myself, that my true sewing prowess shows itself.
“You are truly a skilled embroiderer,” Dahlia gushed.
Nahhh, this was nothing. Took me no time at all.
I had done the Fisalis family coat of arms, which was a ground cherry, and Mr. Fisalis’ initials, C. T. F. I had only sewn the latter in tiny letters on the edge of the pocket square, so it did not take much time at all.
“You certainly finished it quickly!”
“Well, that’s because she’s so skillful!”
“Indeed. We shall have to try a bolder design next time, won’t we? How about a handkerchief covered in coats of arms? Or make a pattern out of his initials?”
“...”
The maids responded to my increased will to create with lukewarm praise. After that, I sewed different designs which ended up taking the whole morning.
I hate how good I am at this!
Following a lunch of reheated breakfast leftovers, as per my instructions, well... I simply had no idea what to do. Move on to lacework?
As I was thinking to myself, I’m already bored with handicrafts, and now my shoulders are sore, Rohtas appeared. He asked, “Would you like to write thank-you letters for your wedding presents?” He had jotted down a list of the many presents that had been sent to the Fisalis house.
I can’t even remember who sent what.
I’ll have to look them over later.
Although I was shocked at the thickness of the list he handed me, I skimmed it over.
Who the heck was this? They sent a bear figurine holding a salmon in its mouth. It didn’t really suit the aesthetic of the house, but I had to find somewhere to put it.
Oh, I know! I’ll put it in the cottage, like this!
I had a veritable mountain of all sorts of figurines and decorations. And I had to write thank-you notes for all of them!
Personally.
Even so, writing thank-you letters is a wifely duty, so it was up to me to do.
“That’s a good idea. It’s better to do them sooner, rather than later,” I told Rohtas, taking the writing tools and stationery (embellished with the family crest) from him.
I soon regretted saying that, but there was no use crying over spilled milk.
I wrote and wrote with no end in sight, losing track of time as I did the same thing over and over again, feeling as though I could pass out at any moment. I had no idea that we had gotten so many gifts. I guess I should have expected as much, marrying into the Fisalis family.
Even if some of them were... weird.
No, they’re not weird, they’re just extremely high quality. Forgive me.
We had received something from almost all of the influential people in the kingdom.
It was hard work maintaining proper writing etiquette while also double-checking who sent what, one present at a time. I was used to physical labor, so it wasn’t difficult, per se, but I had next to no experience with this sort of desk work—no, mental gymnastics—so it tired me out.
Aside from a short break when Mimosa brought me afternoon tea, I churned out thank-you letters at the desk nonstop.