Chapter 252 (1/2)

Chapter 252 New round of purchases

As the Lord of the Western Region, Roland naturally didn’t need to do the job by himself, he merely had to draw a rough outline on a piece of paper, and could then recruit a tailor and make clear what he wanted to create.

Although he had never come in contact with a bra with his own hands, with all the different advertisements, television programs, and movies he had actually already seen plenty of them before, so he could still design some of them in accordance with their different styles. In the end, he chose to create the most frequently seen shoulder strap type, which fastened at the back. To make it, he decided to use three copper hooks, which allowed for the wearer to choose a level of relaxation that was within a fixed range.

Since this kind of close-fitting clothing needed to satisfactorily bind the chest, Roland decided to call for the maids in the castle to be measured by the tailor. Because of the tailor’s wealth of experience, from so many years of cutting out and tailoring clothes, she was immediately able to understand the function of a bra after hearing the Prince’s explanation. In the end, together with the actual measurement results, the bra’s sizes had been divided into several grades, and each grade could be adjusted to a certain extent.

In fact, within this era, the prototype for the bra had long since made its appearance – it was the skin-tight corset. However, the corset wasn’t developed in order to let woman feel more comfortable, rather it was used to tighten up their waistline as much as possible, while at the same time also pushing up the bosom, so that the body would form into an hourglass-like figure. Those gorgeous aristocratic dresses had all been tailored in accordance with the form of a small waist, so without the aid of a skintight corset, Roland was afraid that those dresses with their extremely thin waist would be very difficult for the average woman to wear. Furthermore, when the waist was constricted too much, it would also make for a very uncomfortable experience, and in serious cases could even affect the blood circulation which in turn could lead to fainting.

While the bra, in addition to supporting the chest, also fixed the bosom and lessen its shaking, making it even more comfortable for the woman to wear it daily.

Just two days later, the old tailor had already cut out twenty bras. For the material, Roland had provided her with silk and first-rate cotton; both were pleasing to the eye and breathable, and the workmanship was also exceptionally intricate.

But before Roland was even able to send the gift over to the witches, the caravan from King’s City had once again arrived in Border Town.

Compared to the previous month, not only was the fleet too late, but its size was also far smaller than last time, even so much as to give a deserted feeling when they came to dock in Border Town’s expanded pier.

“Your Highness, and so we meet again,” Margaret said with a smile.

“Welcome, previous by helping me to transport the refugees I’d put you through a lot of trouble,” Roland said and looking at the fleet on the river bank, “This times, it seems there are a lot fewer sailboats.“

“That’s because… of some unexpected accidents,” she wiped the sweat from her forehead. “If you do not mind, could we go to the reception hall to talk about this, it is much too hot out here.”

“I also feel the same,” Hogg mumbled to himself. “I’m a man from Graycastle through and through, this awful weather is killing me. If it weren’t for the purpose of receiving the first steamer, I would not want to even leave the house right now.”

Roland nodded and the entire group of people all returned to the castle. Walking into the hall, the cold air from inside was the first thing to fill their lungs, and after he had taken a deep breath Hogg said in relief, “Thank God for the existence of such a wonderful thing… if I hadn’t seen its course of production with my own eyes, I wouldn’t have been able to believe that it had been made from manure. Oh, there is even ice water! Your Highness, may I –?”

“Of course,” Roland signaled that he should go ahead, and then went to sit at the Lord’s seat, to start his talk with the merchant woman, “With this done, what was the accident which led to this month’s sharp decline of saltpeter?”

In accordance with the contract, she had to provide Border Town with three ships of saltpeter each month, but this time, only one ship had been loaded with saltpeter.