In the study, Elizabeth was showing the letter to Elena and Janet.
"Really?" Janet couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, "They actually want to replicate the detective game's script?"
Elizabeth nodded slightly, affirming, "That's right. After all, there aren't many entertainment options in the countryside, what else could be fun?"
Compared to the bustling city of Ludenton, the countryside estate here indeed seemed dull and monotonous. Maybe some weathered elderly folks would cherish this peaceful life, but just imagine living in a "world-isolated" manor without the internet — how boring that must be.
Therefore, it wasn't that noble young ladies were particularly fond of reading; without books, there simply wasn't much fun. In such rural life, even a stranger's arrival could become the talk of the town for days.
So it was no surprise that detective games became a pastime to kill time. After all, these games were easy to set up, only needing a few actors. And how could a noble family with a manor not have a handful of servants?
Moreover, murder mystery games are well-known "time killers"—investigations and reasoning consume an entire afternoon. For busy modern workers, such entertainment might seem extravagant, but in the countryside where time is abundant, it becomes a rare delight.
"In short," Elizabeth summarized, "more and more people in the countryside will be interested in this kind of game."
"I see," Elena nodded. She had originally just wanted to find something new to occupy Liz's attention, but didn't expect this idea to be so popular among the rural nobility. "No wonder everyone is so enthusiastic…"
"So!" Elizabeth took the opportunity to ask, "When can we try the new game? How's the 'Mystery of the Vampire Monster' coming along?"
Elena also wanted to speed up working on the "Mystery of the Vampire Monster." Back then, she had played a lot of Wild West Outlaw and Gwent 3, so she was quite experienced in large-scale role-playing games. However, the script design was complicated, and she didn't have much time to devote fully at the moment.
"I probably can't focus on that these days," Elena shook her head helplessly, "We're busy working on paper dolls now."
Helen's next chapter was finished, meaning Helen's paper doll project needed to be planned, especially since Elena wanted to incorporate the Rhine family cards into this part. Their card costumes would definitely need a more Gothic style.
But previously, Elena's designs had mostly been everyday or fashion-forward gowns. Gothic costumes were not hard to design, but the challenge was to combine them with current trends, giving a fresh feel without seeming too outlandish.
"Oh, by the way," Elena suddenly seemed to remember something and turned to Elizabeth, "I brought you something nice."
After saying that, she left the study and went back to her room to get a fashion catalog sent by Voss Tailor's shop. As she left, one could still hear Elizabeth's curious question, "What nice thing?" and Janet teasing mysteriously, "You'll find out soon."
When Elena returned to the study with the exquisite fashion catalog, Elizabeth exclaimed with surprise, "Wow, could this be… the most popular dress styles in Ludenton now?"
"Yes," Elena flipped through the pages, "This is from the most fashionable tailor shop in Ludenton — Voss Tailor's catalog. It references the latest fashion trends from Ludenton and France, specially made for noble ladies to pick from. Especially, it even includes designs personally created by Mr. Voss for the Queen of France herself!"
"How did you even get your hands on such a thing?" Elizabeth was stunned. "The Queen of France's dresses?! This must be a trade secret for the tailor, right? Wow, it even has detailed patterns, which means that anyone confident in their sewing could actually make these dresses themselves."
Those patterns were originally prepared for outsourcing to other tailors. Since each tailor's skill varied, a unified and standard requirement was needed to ensure quality. This was undoubtedly a business secret of Voss Tailor's shop. Elena had even signed a confidentiality agreement when receiving them.
These patterns could serve as a reference for the paper dolls' designs, and their own tailor could sew from them. However, a very important condition was that these patterns must never be leaked to other tailors or directly copied. To keep uniqueness, slight modifications like changing colors or fabrics were best.
They were more like samples because every client who came to order wanted a one-of-a-kind dress.
Elena explained these rules in detail to Elizabeth, who immediately showed understanding and solemnly promised never to disclose the patterns. Then she began admiring the beautiful dress designs with endless affection in her eyes.
"These dresses are so beautiful," Elizabeth sincerely sighed. "No wonder your evening gowns look so stunning—it turns out you have such precious catalogs! Especially this puff-sleeve dress—it's hard to imagine how amazing it would look worn."
"You have a great eye," Janet praised. "This dress is really gorgeous, we all like it."
Elena smiled gently, not taking the praise to heart. Seeing Elizabeth so captivated by the fashion designs, she took the chance to pull out her treasured paper doll card album. Though she didn't need to buy cards herself, she treated these cards with great care. Every time she got new cards, she would carefully inspect them in daylight and ask the printing factory to resend if any flaws appeared.
Her customized card album was naturally paired with Helen's cards, with a cover featuring similar patterns and the bold words "Helen" printed centrally. Opening the album revealed delicate little envelopes stuck to the pages, each drawn with simple black-and-white sketches.
These sketches corresponded one-to-one with each Helen card, forming a unique loose-leaf card album. Elena planned that whenever new card series were launched, matching card pages would be designed to spark collectors' enthusiasm.
"What's this newfangled thing?" After admiring the beautiful fashion catalog, Elizabeth was immediately drawn to the card album. This delicate little item seemed to capture her girlish heart in an instant. "Ludenton really is a place to envy. The things you bring—I've never even heard of them in the countryside, let alone see them in person."
Her words showed a trace of frustration, feeling like a naïve country girl in front of two sisters from the big city, everything unfamiliar and novel.
Janet quickly comforted her, "Your sister is about to enter the social circle, right? She'll surely attend various social events in Ludenton this year, and you can go along."
Hearing this, Elizabeth brightened and smiled, "You're right. This country bumpkin will have a chance to go to the city too."
Elena cautiously pulled the cards from the envelopes. Her carefulness made Janet a bit impatient, sighing, "Stop being so cautious showing them off. I'll show Liz. I'm worried if she accidentally scratches your cards, you'll get mad."
"I'm not that careless!" Elizabeth retorted stubbornly.
Janet said no more and went to get her own cards. They were a gift from Elena, kept in a velvet-lined box. She spread the velvet on the table and poured out the cards, showing them to Elizabeth.
She guessed Elena's intention—to use Elizabeth's painting skills to recruit her into the paper doll project. Though it felt a bit like "forced recruitment," Janet didn't oppose it. After all, she earned a little money drawing paper dolls, enough to buy some small things she liked.
Liz was idle anyway, so might as well draw together.
Seeing these exquisite cards, Elizabeth was deeply attracted, her eyes hardly leaving them. Excitedly, she said she wanted to collect such a set herself. Elena took the chance to ask her to help draw the paper dolls. Though Elizabeth wasn't very confident in her art skills, encouraged by Janet and Elena, she was willing to give it a try.
"What kind of clothes are you planning to design?" Elizabeth asked curiously, taking out paper and pen to take notes.
Elena was already well prepared. This paper doll batch would feature a rare SR-level Helen card, plus six R-level Rhine noble cards, including the count, countess, two daughters, and two sons-in-law.
The collaborative cards wouldn't just have different characters and costumes, but their card backs would no longer use the usual yellow-green of R-level cards. Instead, the color would change to red—or black—to indicate their status. The final choice depended on the printing factory's price quote. Elena remembered black seemed more economical.
In addition, she planned to add background designs to these collaborative cards, naturally a gloomy castle, with a flying bat in the sky. Originally, she intended backgrounds only for SSR cards, but given the special nature of the collaborative cards, she decided to add this element for them too.
Elena was still debating whether the male protagonist should be SR level. Usually, in games with crossovers, collaborative characters are designed as SR or SSR, although there are only two or three such characters.
If the male lead was SR, to keep the card probability balanced, the workload of paper dolls would double—a huge project. Elena wasn't sure if the recruited helpers could handle such a heavy task. But if he was R…
He was the male protagonist, after all, to be on equal footing with supporting characters?