Chapter 39
“It’s not hard… if I make a lot at once.”
Frederick let out a gasp of admiration. He hadn’t expected Grace to be thinking about the circumstances of the people in the territory.
“So you’re planning to make prints and sell them at a low price?”
“Yes… that was the plan.”
“……”
“Of course… I don’t know much about it… so I was going to ask Dorota for help.”
“Should I assign you a secretary?”
Frederick suddenly asked as he listened to Grace.
“A secretary…?”
“Someone to help with what you’re doing. Selling the prints to the people in the territory. Dorota oversees the entire estate, so I thought it might be better to assign one or two people who can focus solely on this.”
“R-Really?”
Grace’s eyes widened in surprise. She hadn’t even asked for help, yet Frederick was offering so readily.
“F-Frederick…”
Grace’s eyes shimmered with emotion. It wasn’t just gratitude—she felt as though he believed in her and was supporting her.
It really would be wonderful to have people dedicated to helping with what she was doing.
“Supplying affordable prints to the people is something that benefits the territory. If you’re doing it for the good of the estate, I’ll support anything you do as the lady of the house.”
“Ahh… Thank you.”
Grace beamed. Hearing that from Frederick made her feel even more like she was a valuable person.
“Please choose good people…”
“Don’t worry about that.”
“Hello, my lady.”
“We look forward to working with you, my lady.”
A young man and woman bowed to her in unison. Grace greeted them with a smile.
“Hello. Please… come in. It must’ve been a tiring journey.”
Grace led them into the studio.
The two were nobles from vassal families of Winstaine. They had been considering their future paths when they were asked to come help by Frederick.
“I’m Hailey Novison. The third daughter of Viscount Novison.”
“I’m Isaac Clayton. The youngest son of Baron Clayton.”
“I’m Grace… Winstaine.”
“We heard that my lady is making printing frames. Our role is to assist in distributing them.”
After introductions, Isaac brought up the topic. Grace nodded.
“Yes… that’s right.”
“Would you mind showing us the frames you mentioned?”
“Here.”
Grace led them to her worktable, where several rubber plates she had been working on were laid out.
“If you fill this with paint and press it… it turns out like this.”
Next to the rubber plates, stacks of printed paper with illustrations were neatly piled. Grace handed them a few sheets.
“Ah… So that’s how it works. You fill the plate with paint and press the paper on it to make a print.”
“Yes. That way… I can make many copies.”
“These are very high quality.”
The two flipped through the prints and opened their eyes wide in surprise. They had assumed the prints would be simple, since they were made from plates.
But they looked as detailed as if they had been sketched and painted directly onto the paper. Grace looked pleased as she watched their amazed reactions.
“How did you come up with the idea to do this with art?”
“I went… to the blacksmith.”
Grace briefly explained what had inspired her to make the plates.
When she had visited the blacksmith with Lisetta, she had seen molds used to make identical weapons. She had also seen someone who wanted a painting but couldn’t afford it because it was too expensive.
She realized that art was expensive because each piece took a long time to make and the distribution was monopolized.
That made her wonder—what if she could make many copies of the same artwork more easily? Then more people could enjoy it.
“But… are you working on all this by yourself, my lady?”
Isaac looked around the studio. There were no signs of anyone else coming and going.
“To make enough prints to distribute, you’ll need help… Wouldn’t it be too hard to do it all on your own?”
“T-That’s why I have a favor to ask. Please… have a seat.”
Grace sat them down on the sofa in the center of the studio. Now it was time to get to the main point—the one she had prepared before they arrived.
“Please gather the artists… in the estate. As many as possible.”
“Ah, so you plan to work with them?”
“Yes. I want them to… make the print plates.”
Grace nodded.
“Right now… the payment is too low. For the artists.”
This wasn’t just about people wanting cheap artwork. It was also about improving the lives of artists. After all, the effort of the artists was the most important part of creating artwork.
Grace wanted to have the artists create the printing plates—and she wanted to pay them well.
“Do you have a specific compensation level in mind?”
“Uh…”
Grace hesitated at the question. She had thought about improving the artists’ conditions, but she wasn’t familiar enough with money to know what was appropriate.
“We’ll consider the appropriate amount and make a recommendation.”
“Yes… Please do.”
Grace felt more reassured. What had felt vague when she was thinking alone now became more concrete as she discussed it with her new assistants.
“What kind of artwork would you like to distribute, my lady?”
“Anything.”
Grace answered without hesitation. She didn’t want to limit the themes of the prints.
She felt that any kind of artwork could be turned into a print.
“Then, when we recruit artists, should we prioritize variety over style?”
“Yes. Please make it diverse.”
“Also, the term ‘prints made from plates’ is a bit long. What do you think about giving them a specific name?”
“A name…?”
Grace tilted her head. She hadn’t thought about that.
“Yes. How about ‘printmaking’? It’s simple and descriptive—it refers to pictures made by printing plates.”
“Print…making?”
“Yes. Short and clear.”
“That… sounds good.”
Taking Hailey’s suggestion, Grace decided to call this new form of artwork “printmaking.”
“I heard you’ve been spending a lot of time in the studio lately.”
Frederick spoke as he entered the bedroom. Grace was already there, sitting and waiting. It was a day when he’d come home late after knight training.
“They say you’ve turned into quite the businesswoman. Is the print frame project going well?”
“Yes… thanks to you. It’s going well.”
According to Dorota’s reports, Grace was spending almost all day in the studio these days. On nights when she didn’t dine with Frederick, she’d eat a quick meal and return to the studio to work.
Lately, she had been so busy she hardly had a moment to rest.
Isaac and Hailey were very capable secretaries.
They recruited artists and negotiated pay with them individually.
They set production targets and assigned work. Grace also created plates according to the schedule they set. Drawing as a hobby had been enjoyable before, but working toward a goal with a plan made it even more rewarding.
They even suggested introducing woodblock printing in addition to rubber plates. Although woodblocks required more effort to carve the initial image, they allowed for more detailed expression.
“How is working with the artists? Is it going well?”
“There haven’t been any big issues… not yet.”
Her tone has changed. Her expression too.
Grace had already been improving her speech, but with more interaction with the artists, her vocabulary and fluency had grown even more.
Now, she only sounded like someone who spoke a little slowly—her word choice had become much more varied.
Isaac and Hailey handled all the contracts and scheduling, but since Grace personally explained the printmaking process to each new artist, she had naturally become better at communicating.
“Hello, it’s nice to meet you.”
Artists visiting the workshop were often extremely nervous, knowing they were commissioned by the duchess herself. Grace tried to ease the tension by greeting them with a smile, which made her expression toward new people more relaxed and natural.
“When will the selling begin?”
“Isaac and Hailey said… in about a month…?”
Currently, thanks to their efforts, they had gathered about thirty artists. It took three to five days to create a single plate. At that pace, they estimated they’d be ready to start printing and selling the artwork in about a month.
“I think… we’ll begin around then.”
“I hope it turns out as well as you hoped.”
Frederick offered his well wishes. He didn’t expect the printmaking project to make a huge profit, but he didn’t mind seeing Grace so lively and full of purpose.
“Oh, I’m planning to start horseback riding lessons soon. I need to learn how to ride properly.”
“Horseback riding?”
“Yes. It’s a basic skill for nobles—and especially for people of the North.”
As he spoke, a memory came to Grace’s mind.
When they first met, Frederick had been on horseback. When he saved her from the monster’s grasp, she remembered how he had almost seemed to shine.
“Will you have a teacher?”
“Not a formal teacher, but… there’s a knight who’s especially good at riding. I was thinking of asking him to teach you.”
“What if… you taught me, Frederick?”
“Me?”
Grace nodded. Frederick didn’t reply right away—he was trying to make sense of what she was asking.
“You’d like me to teach you how to ride?”
“Yes…!”
Grace answered with enthusiasm. Frederick was puzzled. He didn’t understand why it would make any difference whether she learned from him or a knight.
“Why?”
“Because you’re kind, Frederick.”
“Kind…?”
Her answer left him speechless. Frederick almost laughed. It was a word that didn’t suit him at all.
“Alright. Then let’s meet in a couple of days—I’ll make time to teach you.”
But she had asked so earnestly, there was no real reason to refuse. Frederick agreed without much thought.
“Yes. I’ll do my best to learn.”
Grace smiled brightly.
