From Trash to Villain Master of Card: With Harem of Evil women-Chapter 94: Textile Expansion

Main Workshop of Neudämmerung — Three Weeks After the Commercial Proposal

The building that had once been an empty warehouse now vibrated with activity.

Twenty artisans worked simultaneously. The looms, modified by Aurelia, operated with impossible efficiency. The embroidery stations were organized with military precision.

And at the center of it all: Aurelia.

She bounced between stations like a pink whirlwind.

"NO! The angle of the needle is CRITICAL! Look!"

She took the needle from a confused student and demonstrated.

"Forty-five degrees! NOT ninety! See the difference?"

The student nodded, nervous.

"GOOD! Try it again!"

She ran to the next station.

"You! Maria! THAT is perfect! Keep exactly like that!"

Maria — a woman in her forties, with prior sewing experience — smiled with pride.

"Thank you, Lady Aurelia."

"Don’t thank ME! Thank your HANDS! They’re GREAT!"

Next station.

A young man was trying to fuse two different fabrics.

His frustration was visible.

"They won’t stay together. They separate."

Aurelia studied him.

"Did you use the adhesive I showed you?"

"Yes, but..."

"Let me SEE!"

She examined the work.

Found the problem immediately.

"AH! The ratio is wrong! You need three parts base and ONE part catalyst!"

"Not two and two!"

She demonstrated how to do it correctly.

The fabrics fused perfectly.

"SEE?! CHEMISTRY! It’s not magic! It’s just SCIENCE!"

The student lit up with understanding.

"I get it!"

"Then DO IT! Practice until your hands do it without thinking!"

Aurelia continued her rounds.

Checked. Corrected. Taught.

She had boundless energy.

But also... surprising patience.

She didn’t expect immediate perfection.

She celebrated progress, no matter how small.

Every small success was a victory.

"You don’t need POWER to make ART!" she shouted to the whole room.

"You just need PRACTICE! And PASSION! And not giving up when you fail the first time!"

"Or the second! Or the TENTH!"

"Because, in the end... IT WORKS!"

The twenty artisans nodded.

Inspired by that pure energy.

---

Elsa’s Station

In a quieter corner, a young woman worked with absolute concentration.

Elsa — twenty-five years old, brown hair pulled back in a simple ponytail, surprisingly agile hands.

She was embroidering a complex pattern.

A design Aurelia had shown her that very morning.

A fusion of Japanese style with elements from this world.

Difficult. Technically challenging.

But Elsa’s hands moved with growing confidence.

She followed the principles Aurelia had taught her.

Aurelia approached silently.

Watched for a full minute.

Then.

"Perfect."

Elsa startled slightly.

"Lady Aurelia. I didn’t hear you arrive."

"Because you were CONCENTRATING! That’s GOOD!"

Aurelia examined the work more closely.

"This pattern... how long did it take you?"

"Two hours."

"TWO?"

Aurelia blinked.

"It takes ME an hour and a half. And I have POWER."

"You just have talent."

She looked at Elsa seriously.

"You’re a natural talent. Did you know that?"

Elsa blushed.

"I just follow your instructions."

"Everyone follows instructions! But you UNDERSTAND them!"

"You SEE the patterns! You ANTICIPATE problems! You ADAPT when necessary!"

Aurelia made a decision.

"You’re my main apprentice. Official."

"What? But..."

"Don’t argue! I’ve already decided!"

Aurelia smiled.

"When I’m at the Gala, YOU will supervise the workshop."

"Me? Supervise full production?"

Elsa looked terrified.

"I don’t know if I can..."

"Yes, you can! I trust you!"

Aurelia touched her shoulder.

"And when I return, we’ll start on the advanced projects."

"The designs we’ll sell to the nobles."

"YOU will be the one creating most of them."

"I’ll just... design the concepts."

Elsa processed the information.

It was an enormous responsibility.

But also... an opportunity.

"Alright. I’ll try."

"Don’t TRY! DO IT!"

Aurelia hugged her briefly.

"Now, keep going! That embroidery has to be finished today!"

And she bounced off to the next crisis.

Leaving Elsa with renewed determination.

---

Construction of the Second Workshop — Afternoon

Kaito walked through the construction site.

The second textile workshop was being built.

It was a necessary expansion: demand already exceeded the first workshop’s capacity.

The carpenters worked. The walls rose. The roof was being installed.

The process was efficient, under Gorman’s supervision.

Aurelia was also there.

Unusually quiet.

She watched the construction with a thoughtful expression.

Kaito approached.

"Aurelia?"

She turned.

"Kaito! Look! The second workshop is almost ready!"

But her usual energy was... muted.

Kaito noticed.

"Are you alright?"

Aurelia hesitated.

"Yes. Just... thinking."

"About what?"

She looked around.

Made sure they were alone.

Then.

"Kaito. A serious question."

The tone made Kaito stop.

Aurelia rarely got serious.

"Yes?"

She looked directly into his eyes.

Her green eyes — normally frenetic — were now completely focused.

Vulnerable.

"If... you discovered I have a darker side. More chaotic."

"Things I build that scare even me."

She paused.

"Would you still accept me?"

Kaito processed the question.

He felt the weight behind it.

It wasn’t a hypothetical question. It was real.

"What have you built?"

Aurelia shook her head.

"I can’t tell you. Yet."

"But it’s... DARK. Destructive."

"I’ve rationalized it as something necessary. In case Neudämmerung needs it someday."

"But I know that, if you found out, you’d be scared."

Kaito considered it.

Part of him — the logical part, the one that processed — should push for details.

But a deeper part understood.

Everyone has their own darkness.

He had sacrificed part of his humanity for power.

Who was he to judge others’ darkness?

He approached her.

Placed a hand on her shoulder.

"We all have darkness."

"I sacrificed my humanity for power. Summoned five times, knowing the cost."

"Adelheid was a killing machine who learned to be human."

"Lilith manipulated and destroyed for centuries."

"Naporia massacred thousands for pleasure."

"Valeria was created as a weapon."

He paused.

"If your darkness is part of you... then yes. I accept you."

"Because darkness doesn’t define us. What defines us are our choices."

"And if my choices scare you?"

"Then we talk about it. But I won’t reject you."

Aurelia felt tears forming.

She cried very rarely.

Usually she was too full of energy for slow emotions like sadness.

But this...

"Thank you. I just... needed to know."

"That if you discover my secret projects..."

"You wouldn’t abandon me immediately."

Kaito hugged her.

It was a brief hug. Gentle.

"Never."

Aurelia clung to him.

For longer than he had expected.

Then she pulled away and wiped her tears.

"You’re a better person than me."

"I’m not sure about that."

"You are. But I’m trying to be better."

"Build beautiful things, instead of just destructive things."

"Like dresses, instead of... other things."

Kaito knew there was more.

But he didn’t push.

"Then, we grow together."

"Both of us, learning to be better versions of ourselves."

Aurelia smiled.

It was a genuine smile. Warm.

"Yes. Together."

---

That Night — Aurelia’s Secret Workshop

Aurelia entered the hidden section of her main workshop.

An area no one else knew about.

Behind a false wall. Sealed with a lock only she could open.

Inside: projects that scared even her.

Jars of green liquid — a mustard gas-type poison, synthesized from chemical principles from her world.

Barrels of a viscous black substance — a proto-napalm that burned and was impossible to extinguish.

Biological weapon designs. Improved explosive blueprints.

Everything "just in case."

"In case Neudämmerung ever needs it."

But deep down, she knew.

This was darkness.

She rationalized it. Justified it.

But it was the construction of horror.

She touched one of the jars.

"Kaito said he accepts me. Even with my darkness."

"But would he accept THIS?"

She had no answer.

Part of her wanted to destroy it all.

Burn the projects. Forget they existed.

But a darker part whispered:

"What if Neudämmerung needs them?"

"What if a threat comes that requires this?"

"Wouldn’t it be irresponsible NOT to be prepared?"

The cycle of rationalization continued.

Finally, she walked away.

Sealed the secret laboratory again.

Returned to the world where she built beautiful dresses.

Where she was Aurelia the cheerful. The creative. The brilliant scientist.

Not Aurelia the dark.

The one who built tools of genocide.

"Someday," she thought.

"Someday I’ll show him."

"And then I’ll know."

"If he really accepts me."

"Or if my darkness is too much."

---

Kaito’s Room — Later

Kaito was alone.

Processing the conversation with Aurelia.

He knew there was more.

A deeper darkness than she had admitted.

Should he investigate?

Search for what she was secretly building?

A logical part told him yes.

As king, he needed to know potential threats.

But a more human part — small, distant, but present — told him no.

Trust was important.

If he forced a revelation before she was ready...

It would break something fragile.

He decided to wait.

Let Aurelia tell him when she could.

In the meantime... he would observe.

Make sure the darkness didn’t consume her.

But he wouldn’t force a confession.

"We all have secrets," he thought.

"I have a chest of cards that could destroy the world."

"Who am I to judge her secrets?"

He lay down.

Tried to sleep.

He knew tomorrow they would depart for the Gala.

Where politics awaited them.

And where very different kinds of darkness lurked.

---

Main Workshop — Dawn of Departure Day

Aurelia did the final inspection.

Twenty artisans, prepared. Elsa, ready to supervise.

The first batch of fifty dresses: forty were finished, ten in final production phase.

The quality was... impressive.

Not as perfect as the creations Aurelia made with her Synergist power.

But close. Very close.

Elsa approached.

"Everything is ready, Lady Aurelia."

"Are you sure you can handle everything while I’m at the Gala?"

Elsa nodded.

"I’ll follow your instructions to the letter."

"NOT to the letter! If you see a BETTER way to do it, use it!"

"I trust your judgment!"

Aurelia hugged her.

"Take care of my workshop."

"With my life."

"Not so DRAMATIC! Just... take good care of it."

Aurelia left.

She headed to the waiting carriages.

She was going to the Gala.

She left behind a workshop that would transform the economy.

And a secret laboratory that could destroy everything.

The duality that defined her.

Creation and destruction.

Beauty and horror.

Time would tell.

Which side would win.