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Chapter 16
The shocking confession left everyone speechless. Emily took a deep breath and then asked for my permission.
“Miss, may I take a moment?”
“Of course.”
With my approval, Emily began skillfully disassembling the automaton.
She retrieved a gear engraved with her personal mark.
“All the machines I’ve made have this mark on them.”
Then Emily disappeared into the back of the workshop and returned with two identical music boxes.
At first glance, they seemed like they were made by the same person, but looking closely, the differences in joints and the finishing touches revealed subtle distinctions.
“Emily, you know what these are, right?”
“That’s… the ones we made when we first entered the workshop…”
“Exactly. These are the first and last works I was allowed to make at the master’s workbench, on the condition that I’d never step into the workshop again.”
Without hesitation, Emily began disassembling them.
The gears inside the music boxes bore the same mark engraved on my automaton.
“W-what is this!”
“I engraved it to never forget that I made it.”
“You… you dared to deceive me all this time and do this behind my back?”
“It wasn’t Emily who deceived you—it was you.”
How brazen.
“The creator and the one who repaired it was Emily, yet this is still called the Emily workshop? Why not change the name now? Just one letter difference.”
I couldn’t help the sarcasm spilling from my mouth—she was an adult who didn’t need to be coddled.
Why do creations by masters sell for high prices?
Because of superior performance? Or expensive materials? Because they’re rare?
Those reasons aren’t wrong.
But I think the true reason is ‘trust.’
Trust that the materials weren’t stolen.
Trust that the performance is reliable.
Trust that the creator’s identity can be verified.
So can Emily truly be called the master?
I don’t think so.
“Emily, come here for a moment.”
“Yes, Marquis!”
“Miss Emily, may I leave the children with you for a while?”
As my father took Emily inside to discuss adult matters, I finally allowed myself to relax.
Emily was equally stunned.
The moment my father and Emily left, she collapsed onto the floor.
“What… what have I done…!”
“Emily.”
“Miss! I-I was wrong! How dare I, a mere receptionist, deceive you…”
“You weren’t the one deceiving—it was Emily. You made my automaton and took responsibility for repairing it until the end. You deserve praise.”
I expressed my gratitude to Emily with the most elegant and courteous gesture I could manage.
“Thank you so much, Emily. You are the finest clockmaker on this street.”
“Wha…! No, no. I’m just a receptionist… I only handle simple things, and that’s… well, that doesn’t mean your automaton is simple, but—ugh!”
Her endless self-deprecation revealed just how flustered she was.
“It’s fine. Calm down. What made you so bold earlier, trembling like that?”
“Well… I don’t know. Seeing Emily boast that she made it myself made me so angry I couldn’t hold back… and before I realized it, I had already spoken.”
In other words, she completely lost her composure.
Whatever triggered it, the truth had now been revealed, and for me, that was a good thing.
“I believe that Emily, who puts the same care into a royal clock or a broken child’s toy, is the true master.”
Tears welled up in Emily’s eyes as she bowed her head. Her slender shoulders trembled, and occasional muffled breaths escaped her.
Thus, Emily was not ruined, and the workshop was not closed.
…Nothing like that happened.
I might have wanted to kick Emily out of the street entirely and demolish the building, but Emily didn’t want that.
If the Emily workshop, responsible for royal clocks, were to close overnight amid scandal, the repercussions would be enormous.
Emily, too, didn’t want the workshop—the playground and learning space of her childhood—to disappear in scandal.
Instead, my father made another proposal.
“Miss Emily, have you considered studying at the Academy?”
Emily’s eyes nearly popped out in surprise.
“Academy? Me? I haven’t learned properly. All I’ve done is imitate things I’ve seen over someone’s shoulder!”
“Even so, your skill surpasses that of Emily, who formally completed her apprenticeship.”
“Th-That may be, but…”
“If you study properly at the Academy, you will undoubtedly accomplish something that will go down in the history of Loir.”
“Someone like me? That could never happen!”
“Someone like you? Nonsense.”
“I…”
Emily trailed off, biting her lips.
Emily was a natural genius, surpassing even Emily, the most talented among the apprentices. Yet the workshop was destined to go to Emily, forcing her to live her life crouched in his shadow.
Even now, she was squeezing herself into Emily’s shadow, so tightly it was almost suffocating to watch.
“And above all, that’s what it takes for people to recognize a female clockmaker.”
“….”
Sadly, my father was right.
“Graduate from the Academy. Complete a formal apprenticeship and inherit the workshop.”
“What about Emily in the meantime…”
“That is Emily’s responsibility. You have nothing to worry about.”
My father drew a firm line.
Emily’s absence would soon show that Emily’s skill was not what it once was.
Her reputation would fall, sales would decline, and the master’s honor would be tarnished…
If Emily wanted to avoid that, he would have to work as if his life depended on it.
“Emily, the machines you create will undoubtedly make the world a better place. That’s what I believe.”
In her past life, Emily had invented automatons for nobles as well as machines that helped everyday life.
Machines exist to assist people.
That was Emily’s principle.
All I needed to do was trust her principle and give her a little push, a little earlier than necessary.
“…I’ll go. Please send me to the Academy.”
Emily resolved to try to make the world a better place with her own hands.
For a moment, I worried that Emily might cause trouble for her, but seeing her determined expression, no longer timid, reassured me.
Yet something still felt off, as if I had forgotten something very important… Ah!
“Ah! Father! Wait, wait! Stop the carriage!”
Oh dear, I nearly forgot the most important thing!
“Emily!”
“Miss Adelaide?”
I jumped out of the carriage, and Emily, who was about to return to the workshop, instinctively reached toward me.
“Make a machine that records sound!”
“Sound…?”
Emily’s eyes widened in shock.
“Yes! Just like we can record pictures or writing, wouldn’t it be amazing if we could record sound too? If songs could be replayed anytime, anywhere, even without a performer? If we could preserve the voice of a loved one forever, wouldn’t that be incredible?”
“….”
“Can… you do it…?”
When Emily remained silent, I worried I had made an absurd request.
But my concern was unnecessary. Emily quickly recovered and nodded vigorously.
“I’ll give it a try!”
Her confident demeanor, as if she had already envisioned it, made me straighten my shoulders too.
“But Emily, there’s one problem….”
Could she make it in a week—or five days? If she needed support, I’d provide anything!
Please! If we miss this chance, we’d have to wait at least half a year!
