“What is it?” asked Elliot, raising his head from his book, his legs crossed.
Olivia looked consternated as she folded her arms. “Well… I’m not sure how to explain it, but I feel like, while currently popular designs are beautiful—incredible, really—they don’t really fit the lifestyle of the women here.”
“Oh?” Elliot looked at her with interest. “What do you mean?”
Olivia discreetly pointed to her right. “Do you see the two women at the table over there? There’s one in a flowy white dress and one in a blue sweater.”
Elliot glanced in that direction. “I see them.”
“Does anything strike you about the magic jewelry they have on?”
Elliot pretended to be looking in the distance past the two women as he examined them. “The diamond-shaped pendant and brooch?”
“Yes. They’re jagged and sharp.”
“Well,” Elliot’s eyes fell as he thought, “I suppose I just thought about how that jewelry is mimicking what’s popular among the noble ladies right now.”
Olivia mulled over the new information. “So, that shape is popular among nobles, right?”
“Yes. It’s become popular recently.”
Olivia was impressed; obviously, a trader would know that sort of thing. “That explains it,” continued Olivia as she lowered her voice. “Do you see how the woman’s sweater has been damaged, like it’s caught on something?”
“I do.”
“I think that’s where it’s caught on the brooch. And the woman next to her, she’s been stretching her neck like it hurts—that pendant is far too heavy. For them both, the jewelry will get caught on their clothing when they change. So, basically,” she lowered her voice even further, “the design doesn’t fit their lifestyle at all. And, of course, it wouldn’t. That design was made for nobles. Their lifestyle is basically the opposite of commoners.”
Noble women wore elaborate dresses you couldn’t change out of without the help of several maids and spent most of their lives barely moving. Commoners, on the other hand, wore light dresses they could put on by themselves and moved around a lot. A design made for noble women who had everything done for them wasn’t going to suit a commoner woman who worked and moved on her own. It was harder to see in the simple designs that had been popular up until now, but these large, jagged designs now gaining traction emphasized the difference in lifestyles.
“Huh. That’s a fascinating perspective,” murmured Elliot, sounding impressed.
Olivia cocked her head. “What I don’t understand is why did a design that was so unsuited to their lifestyle become so popular.”
Magic jewelry usually had effects like lessening back pain, preventing eye strain, or warding against food poisoning. They were the sorts of things that only had a point if you wore them every day.
This design trend was admittedly interesting and beautiful, but didn’t it get in the way of life for everyday people?
“Hmm,” uttered Elliot as he fell into thought, looking serious. “There are quite a few shops with the mindset of utilizing the selling point of ‘popular among the nobility,’ because it means if they offer these for sale, they will certainly sell. Once they appear popular, more women wear them. Perhaps that’s it.”
Olivia’s head bobbed up and down. That was perhaps how trends became a thing.
The two continued to analyze the jewelry with verve.
“Perhaps these women haven’t even thought about how inconvenient this jewelry is,” pointed out Olivia.
“That’s very likely. It’s surprising how common it is for people to accept something as normal even if it is inconvenient.”
After some time, Elliot’s serious expression broke into a laugh.
“Hmm? What is it?” asked Olivia, confused by the sudden change.
He smiled. “It’s nothing. I was just enjoying this. It’s been a long time since I’ve had so much fun.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Lately, I’ve found myself surrounded only by people who turn the conversation into some sort of duel if I let my guard down at all.”
Olivia looked at his weary expression and felt bad for him. “It must be hard being a trader if you have customers like that.”
Elliot half smiled then changed the subject. “Right, so, what are you going to do next?”
Olivia looked down for a moment. “Well…thanks to you, I’ve got a vague idea of my direction now. Next, I need to align it with my concept, then start sketching designs.”
“Your concept?” He looked intrigued. “May I ask what that is?”
“Magic jewelry that puts smiles on the faces of working women. It seemed like a perfect fit since I became an artificer because I wanted to make magic items that make people smile.”
Elliot’s eyes crinkled in a smile as if he was looking at something incredible. “It’s a good concept. And it’s very you.”
“Thank you.” Olivia scratched her head bashfully as she thought about how the jewelry would need to be convenient to wear if it was to make her target demographic happy.
I’ve decided. I’m going to go with an easy-to-wear design that suits the lifestyle of the working woman. I’m sure it’ll turn out lovely if I incorporate a floral design, which is so prevalent in clothing right now.
Elliot smiled at Olivia, who seemed to be having fun working through things.
After that, she continued the conversation with joy as she told him about currently popular magic offerings.
As the time came for Olivia to head back, they made their way out of the café when Elliot asked if she would join him for a stroll. She obliged, and he took her down the scenic route back to Gordon’s.
“Thank you for today. I learned so much,” gushed Olivia.
“No, thank you for the engaging conversation. May I write to you again?”
“Of course.”
With that usual agreement, Olivia waved to Elliot as he disappeared into the evening city.
✦ ✦ ✦
💎💎💎
THE evening after her day off, Olivia was in the back of the second-floor workroom, standing in front of a waist-high cupboard with Gordon’s golden key in hand.
It’s about time I see what materials I have to work with.
Materials played a big part when it came to design. She’d have more options if there was a large variety for her to choose from.
Olivia settled on making a ring because she thought it would suit a working woman well since it could be taken on and off easily and matched seamlessly with different clothing.
Right, what’s in here…
Her heart raced as she unlocked the door to find five drawers. She pulled open the top one, and her eyes nearly bulged.
“What?!”
Inside was a shocking number and variety of magic stones. The other drawers had expensive-looking metals and magic materials.
She gulped. In this one set of drawers alone was more money than five years of sales at Carter’s Magic Items.
I really can make anything with this variety at my disposal!
With a pounding heart, she took stones and materials out one by one and checked them over.
The sky through the window had dissolved from the colors of evening to night by the time she set a tray on the worktable holding a red magic stone the size of her thumbnail and metal for the ring band.
If I’m going to use anything, I think it’d be something like this.
She turned on the magic lamp in the now-dark workroom and stared at the red stone on the tray. The gem glistened almost like a bead of water beneath the lamplight.
I’ve never worked with something this size before. I should test how it feels.
She picked up the stone and fastened it in the metal to make the ring. It was a simple ring, but she had one now with a red stone. She put the ring on her right-hand middle finger and stood.
First, let’s try moving around and stuff.
In the glow of the magic lamp, she went about various daily activities: carrying a bag, tidying her hair with a comb, taking off her blazer, and writing, all the sorts of things she did regularly and which she thought the average woman might do. Lastly, she tried opening and closing the door several times, then crossed her arms and contemplated.
Right. A ring with a stone this big does really get in the way.
It caught on her bag when she’d tried to reach in for something and on her jacket when she took it off. It also tugged at her hair when she combed it, and she was nearly panicking when opening the set of drawers because it seemed like she’d hit it against the furniture and damage it.
And it’s just plain heavy.
The ring needed a hefty setting to hold a stone of that size, making it surprisingly heavy. Add that to its inconvenience, and Olivia really didn’t think you could call this a piece of jewelry that would make women smile.
The problem was, if you used a smaller stone, you significantly decreased the power of the effect you could imbue into it.
Olivia mulled it over as she stared at the sparkling gem on her finger.
What do I do?
From that day on, she experimented late into the night.