Infectious Crimson (M. Yandere x Fem. Reader)

The Autumn

A/N: As usual, I would recommend putting the video on loop.

   

Four months had gone by since the young knight had left her the piece of fabric. The war in the west continued, and she never saw any of those knights again, which worried her, but it also made sense. If the war was continuing, the king wouldn't send the men back home. Maybe if they were injured? Surely, the king would be that kind, but she didn't want any of them to be injured. So if they were still out on the field, that meant that they were fine. At least, that's what her seven-year-old mind told her.

Unfortunately, those four months had produced no progress on the surcoat. She had told her mother about what the knight had done, which surprised even the older woman, since she never had heard of a knight giving a piece of their clothing away, especially to a complete stranger even if the stranger was a child. Her father had seemed baffled, but he didn't stay for the conversation too long since he tended to their crops and animals, which they mainly had for clothing purposes. For other crops, they would trade clothes. There were other families in the small village of Leavonshire that made clothes, but (f/n)'s mother was known as the best clothing maker, so she was tasked with making most of the village clothes, which was a reason (f/n) constantly was helping her mother with the task.

That very fact was one of the main reasons why she could never work on replicating the surcoat. She was busy helping her mother and learning her mother's trade so that she could become even more of an aide to her mother and replace her when the time came. With autumn already arriving, demand for thicker wool garments and new hemp undergarments increased so that the villagers could remain warm while they tended to their crafts and fields. So, her chances of weaving the surcoat decreased even more.

She didn't complain, but she was longing to work on the piece. It consumed a large part of her mind, especially since a knight leaving her something was a great honor. (F/n) wanted to have a new surcoat ready for him when he returned. If they passed by Leavonshire on the way to the war, they had to come back the same way. That made the most sense.

Unfortunately, her taxing schedule wasn't the only thing preventing her from making a replica. The material used for the thread wasn't available to them. Linen was too labor-intensive and time-consuming for them to devote time to growing, spinning and weaving it. They needed a crop that would utilize less energy and resources, so they resorted to growing hemp and using wool from their sheep.

During the winter using a less taxing crop was even more beneficial since more resources were required. They had to trade for a lot of hay for their sheep, especially when they were sheared to maintain their body temperatures, and they had to make sure that the hemp area was covered well so that the plants wouldn't freeze. Her father had built an enclosure for the plant to accommodate it for colder temperatures, but the coverings had to be replaced usually each year due to wear on them, which meant that some of their trading resources were used for that.

Needless to say, linen wasn't an option. (F/n) was even more surprised to hear that some of the knights wore silk surcoats, which definitely wasn't a possibility for her. Her mother explained to her that the only way they would obtain that material and/or thread, the same for linen, was if the king or some noble hired them for the task and provided them with the proper resources. There was a small chance of that happening since Jacob's father sometimes took requests from the king, but no requests ever had been made to her mother. When she heard that information, (f/n) had puffed out her chubby, child cheeks and crossed her arms. As much as the gesture amused her mother, the older woman told her daughter that she needed to behave more like a lady, which caused (f/n)'s cheeks to deflate a little.