While Rock was busy solidifying her resolve, Lauretta interrupted her thoughts.
“Oh, I know! There’s actually another piece of clothing I have that’s frayed and bothering me.”
Apparently, she wanted Rock to mend some clothes for her.
“Would you like me to fix it?” Rock happily offered, her guilty conscience getting the better of her.
“Yes, I’d be delighted if you could.” Lauretta seemed thrilled until her bright smile soured a little. “To tell you the truth, both that item and your dress were made by the same tailor. I’m shocked they both frayed when they aren’t that old yet.”
Auntie must’ve been conned by a bad tailor, Rock thought.
Looking closely at the velvet dress, the sewing work was poorly done in more than one place. Although she’d fixed the cuffs, it was only a matter of time before other sections came undone. As a fellow tailor, Rock was disgusted and infuriated by the sloppy work.
Rock thought of her own shop while she followed Lauretta to her dressing room.
She hadn’t been back to her shop since going to Ebel’s. Phoebe probably didn’t have the time to go back and forth from Ebel’s, so the shop was likely left closed with their away sign for the past few days.
Justia was probably going to start worrying about them soon. Lady Trilian might also be throwing a fit, thinking Rock was shirking paying rent. And then there was Nisha…
What would Nisha think when she realized the second tailor she knew had vanished without a trace too?
I hope she doesn’t get too depressed. Rock couldn’t help wishing for the other girl to stay strong.
“This is the room. Let me pull the piece out of the drawers.”
Lauretta opened a chest of drawers once they arrived in her dressing room. Then she began merrily searching for the clothing she wanted to be fixed.
With nothing better to do, Rock randomly looked around. It was quite large for a room dedicated just to clothing—granted, only nobility could afford to waste a whole room for such things. Judging by all the dressers and shelves, her aunt probably owned more clothes than what Rock had in stock at her shop.
Lauretta finally found what she was looking for in the room that smelled of herbs used to keep bugs away.
“I found it. Roxy, would you mind taking a look?” She pulled the piece of clothing out of the drawers and held it up for Rock to see. “The embroidery on the back is coming undone. I thought I’d never be able to wear it again.”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
Rock turned around with a smile—then froze.
Her aunt was holding up a blue robe.
The wool satin faille fabric had been dyed an eye-catching blue, and its back had an intricate design embroidered in gold thread. As Lauretta had said, the embroidery was frayed, but Rock could tell it was of the foxglove flower.
Rock had seen an order placed for a very similar robe rather recently.
The order recorded in Krister Gionet’s ledger.
“…What’s the matter, Roxy?”
Rock shuddered at Lauretta’s question. She hastily composed herself.
“N-Nothing. I was just taken by the stunning embroidery.”
“It is rare to see such complex embroidery work, even if it is fraying.”
Lauretta gave a carefree response. At least she hadn’t noticed how flustered Rock felt.
“Do you think you can fix it?”
“Yes, I can manage it.”
The embroidery’s quirks were exactly the same as the dress Rock was wearing. It was a really sloppy job, resulting from rushing to finish the end product and giving priority only to the appearance while cutting corners on stitching. As a fellow tailor, Rock could never forgive such shoddy workmanship.
But she’d never felt happier to see it in her life.
“Auntie?” Rock began, accepting the robe from Lauretta. “Is it possible for me to meet the tailor who made this?”
“Why would you want to do that?”
That was the natural thing to ask.
But Rock couldn’t let herself get caught now, so she made up the most plausible excuse she could.
“I’d love to speak to the person capable of such beautiful embroidery work. Learning from them would help me in my studies.”
Rock wasn’t sure she’d succeeded in putting much enthusiasm into her lie. At least Lauretta seemed convinced by it.
“Well then, that works for us too. I’ve been thinking about taking you to worship service at the Brotherhood with me next time.”
“Worship…service?”
“Yes. We wear these robes during worship,” Lauretta said, then added, “The tailor works for the Brotherhood. You’ll definitely see him if you come to church with us.”
That must be Krister, right? What’s he doing with the Werewolf Brotherhood? Was he kidnapped like me? Or…
But Rock had no reason to hesitate.
“I’m looking forward to it. When’s the next service?” Rock asked as cheerfully as she could manage.
Lauretta seemed delighted to see her niece take an interest in her religion. “During the next Market Day,” she told her.
Market Day was a weekly holiday meant to encourage people to take time off work and shop in the markets.
The concept wasn’t particularly appreciated or followed in the slums, but it seemed to have already taken root in the imperial capital, and the area around the shopping district was especially busy on that day. Since it was a day when peddlers and people from all classes walked the streets in large numbers, it was also an ample opportunity for thieves to slip in from the slums to pick pockets or commit other crimes.
It made sense for the Brotherhood to have their worship service then.