My Dear Husband, Let's Keep It Business-Like! ~Countess Anastasia, Raised in The Downtown, Won't Give Up Her Way~ - Episode 45

Thus, as everyone spends their busy days, the days in the territory pass in the blink of an eye.

First, the dress department.

It seems that over here, it’s a battle against time, and they are managing to cope with it through sheer manpower.

The reason is that most of the shops I approached when I first decided to have a dress made in the territory ended up cooperating with the dressmaking.

It seems that, although they couldn’t take on making a dress from scratch in time, they received various offers from different places. For example, a tailor known for their delicate embroidery offered to help with the embroidery, and a lace specialty store, claiming they couldn’t be beaten in lace, inquired about lending a hand.

I thought the entire clothing industry in the territory was mobilized… but it turns out they ran out of green dye for the embroidery thread, and the children of the territory were helping by gathering the necessary wild herbs.

It is truly the entire population of the territory.

I apologize for the considerable commotion, but I was genuinely pleased with the feelings of the villagers who were trying to make the best possible dress for our lady of the domain.

Next, the domain of consciousness reform for the subjects.

Marie is taking the lead here, thoroughly handling the groundwork and research.

By the way, it seems that the tasting of the mochi-mochi bread was a huge hit.

By the way, I also brought bread made from the wheat commonly available in the royal capital for a taste comparison, and it seems the villagers were surprised by the quality of our own wheat.

When it becomes the norm, it’s hard to notice its goodness, isn’t it?

After that, I had Marie deliver a letter to Ada.

Actually, they are the same person, but due to the circumstances, it ended up looking like “Ana donated the cloth she received to Anastasia,” so I thought I should properly explain that part.

According to Marie, Ada was deeply moved, saying, “I never thought you would take my fabric so seriously. Even though we know each other, it must have taken a lot of courage to directly appeal to the Countess…”

I’m sorry, Ada. It didn’t take any courage. If anything, it was me.

I was overjoyed, feeling overwhelmed that the fabric I wove would become the dress of a countess, so at that moment, Marie quickly informed me that “this fabric is called Hamilton Silk and is highly regarded among tailors,” and that “there are young mothers who want to try weaving this Hamilton Silk.”

As I mentioned at the tea party before, when I asked if there was any intention to carry on this weaving as a business, the answer was that they would like to think about it for a while. So, it is clearly a step forward. I hope to see more of Marie’s skills in the future.

As for me, my days were filled with polishing myself while holding Michelle’s book in one hand, and now they’ve been supplemented with practical etiquette courses and dance lessons with my husband.

Even though my days were already so packed, when I was first told about it, I thought, “Eek!” But fortunately, I had been drilled in manners by the duke’s family, so I managed to get through it, and moving my body with dance was a nice change of pace.

It seems that both my husband and the estate staff thought I couldn’t dance, but in reality, I’m quite good at it.

I wasn’t taught that it was necessary in the ducal family, but my parents, who loved dancing since I was little, taught me.

Even if he has fallen from grace, my father was a former duke’s son. His dancing skills were quite impressive, and my mother was at a level where she could captivate anyone who watched her.

My mother is truly unfathomable.

By the way, my husband started learning estate management from Marcus.

The long-time servants of the estate were delighted, saying, “Young master has married and become responsible!” but it wasn’t because of the marriage, was it…?

Anyway, it’s very welcome as a wife that my husband is reliable! Keep it up, dear husband!

However, things don’t always go smoothly. Even during those seemingly smooth days, there were unsettling events.

A few days ago, a message arrived by express horse from the count’s residence in the royal capital, and it contained something outrageous.

“The envoy from His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has arrived at the Count’s residence.”

Moreover, the request was, “Let’s prepare the Countess’s dress here.”

Of course, such a thing is unprecedented.

I wondered if I couldn’t understand it because I’m not familiar with noble customs, but since my husband was fuming with a bright red face, it must indeed be an unreasonable request.

Even under normal circumstances, it’s unthinkable for another man to give a dress to a newlywed wife.

In the first place, wasn’t this evening party orchestrated by Christina with the intention of embarrassing me, who couldn’t even prepare a dress?

Or is that just our own unfounded speculation, and does the Crown Prince have some other plan in mind?

According to the Crown Prince’s side, they apologized for the sudden invitation to the evening party. They said that if we couldn’t prepare a dress in time, they would arrange something through royal connections and asked to let them handle it. However, it seems they were talking as if they assumed we wouldn’t be able to prepare a dress.

It seems that Sebastian and Michelle politely declined, saying that there was no problem with the dress preparations.

Like they prepared some really weird dress to make a fool out of me…?

However, no matter how you look at it, that’s just too low-class, and if it turns out that the crown prince was the one who provided that dress, then in the end, the crown prince himself will be the one embarrassed.

No matter how much I think about it, I can’t understand the Crown Prince’s intentions.

There is nothing more unsettling than someone whose thoughts you can’t understand.

Feeling that indescribable sense of discomfort, the day I would return to the royal capital was just a week away.