“Cinderella lost her parents at a young age and was mistreated by her stepmother and stepsisters.”

Shaba Shaba Haishaba. How lonely she must have felt.
Shaba Shaba Haishaba. How difficult her life must have been.

A young girl hummed a song while doing laundry in the river.

Since winter was slowly approaching, the river water was quite cold and made her hands ache, but there was nothing she could do about it.

I heard that the nobles use a tool called a washing machine to do their laundry…

However, as an orphan living with her uncle's family, she knew that such a thing would never be found in their home. She had to do all the laundry for the large family herself.

If the clothes were to get damaged or not washed properly, her aunt would certainly beat her, so she had to be careful and focus while washing to make sure everything was clean.

Lately, though, things had been a little less difficult for her compared to before.

Even Cinderella, who lost her parents like me, ended up happy.

She remembered something she had read in a "fairy tale" she had come across by chance not long ago.

The fairy tale books, which were said to be popular these days, were usually rare and difficult for even nobles to obtain, but recently, merchants had been selling them at a cheaper price.

Of course, even at that price, the books were too expensive for the girl to buy, but she had managed to borrow one from a neighbor’s child after begging them earnestly.

Although she couldn’t read, her neighbor’s child had read the book aloud to her, and even without understanding all the words, she could grasp the story from the illustrations. It was a magical book.

The book, with its illustrations and stories, depicted the heroine who resembled her, ultimately finding happiness.

Cinderella married the prince after wearing the glass slippers made by the fairy.

Snow White fell into peril due to the evil queen's scheme but was saved by the prince on a white horse.

Whenever she imagined a fairy or a prince on a white horse appearing to punish her wicked uncle and aunt and marry her, it made the burdensome household chores more bearable.

The girl began humming and washing clothes again.

I’ve heard that the books read by nobles have much more beautiful illustrations.

She suddenly thought of the fairy tale books that nobles read, with prettier pictures, and wished she could see them someday. That would be a dream come true.

“Xenia! Have you still not finished the laundry? You lazy girl! You won’t get any dinner tonight!”

“No! I’ve almost finished, Aunt.”

The red-haired girl called Xenia quickly put her hands back on the laundry she had been doing.

Then, as if the river water had come to life, it climbed up the clothes and started rinsing them by itself.

I was trying not to use this because it makes me tired.

It was her secret, one that nobody else knew. Somehow, by concentrating her mind, she could control elements like wind, water, and fire.

Xenia wondered if she might have been chosen by a fairy, like Cinderella.

Meanwhile, Elsewhere in the Empire:

The issue with the counterfeits had been resolved, and it was decided that Cinderella and Snow White would both have additional print runs.

Initially, I had assumed there would be no more demand, but that was my mistake.

There was such a scarcity of fairy tale books among the nobles that the issue of counterfeit copies had arisen.

Thus, I discussed with the head of the merchant guild about printing additional copies, but only in a standard edition.

If we were to print limited editions and custom-made versions again, we could make a significant immediate profit, but it would greatly devalue the prestige of our current fairy tale books.

In games, nothing is more infuriating than releasing something as a limited edition and then re-releasing it later.

Being blinded by present profits and devaluing something I created would be foolish.

There were minor complaints from the artisans about the additional print runs, but those could be resolved with money.

Moreover, there was an aspect I hadn't fully grasped.

“Young master, is it possible for us to purchase some books when you make them?”

Some of the maids and artisans who worked at the mansion had children and wanted to give them these fairy tale books as gifts but hadn't been able to ask until now.

Therefore, this time, I decided to make extra copies so that everyone working for our family with children could have one.

Making enough to distribute as gifts to visitors of our family could also save on operating costs, so it was a sound idea.

“If everything goes well, we might be able to pay off the family's debts with the success of the next project.”

I perceived the current situation as a sort of trend, and I was fortunate to be in the best possible position to capitalize on it.

So, there was no reason not to exploit this situation to its fullest potential.

It made sense to release the next installment quickly before the enthusiasm generated by Cinderella and Snow White faded.

“Of course, the next work should also be in the style of a DiXney fairy tale.”

I hadn't ignored the idea of a sequel, and there were a few candidates on the list.

I thought of famous fairy tales like Janghwa Hongryeon, Thumbelina, and Hansel and Gretel, but they all seemed somewhat lacking.

Unlike Cinderella or Snow White, the fairy tales mentioned above had elements that were a bit too intense for children.

The reason I had started making fairy tale books in the first place was to show them to my sister, Ada, so I excluded stories with gruesome scenes.

“Ah… is that the only option?”

Although it has a sad ending, it would feel incomplete without it. I could adapt the ending to be less shocking for children.

I decided to make The Little Mermaid my next project.

Designing the Little Mermaid:

Starting with the design for The Little Mermaid.

The iconic red hair color is what people usually associate with the Little Mermaid.

I wanted to respect the original design, but it was something that had to be changed in this world.

In this world, red hair symbolized witches.

Not all redheads were witches, of course, but those born with a strong innate magical power were often redheads.

As a result, people with red hair were naturally drawn to magic, and the more examples there were, the more likely it was that bad individuals would emerge.

This truth could only be perceived by someone like me, a coldly rational modern person.

To the inhabitants of this world, whenever a red-haired woman was caught doing something bad with magic, it reinforced the stereotype.

Thus, the equation red-haired women = witches emerged, leading to a lot of discrimination and persecution.

In such a situation, I had no reason to stake my family's fate on making the Little Mermaid a redhead.

“For the custom editions, I can use the subject's photo as a reference, but I need to firmly establish the character design for the hardcover and standard editions.”

Cinderella was easy to draw, with her bright yellow blonde hair and blue eyes.

Snow White had distinct features, with her black hair and white skin.

However, with the Little Mermaid, removing her signature red hair made her design unexpectedly difficult.

If I changed it arbitrarily, a disaster like a “blackfish princess” could occur, so the design was a critical element.

I wanted to draw a princess of the sea, not a predator that would make children cry.

“The Little Mermaid… a mermaid… the sea?”

In this world, there were also merfolk, but they were a race that couldn’t be seen within the Empire, so I had to rely entirely on imagination to bring them to life.

Suddenly, Amelia Bluewell came to mind.

With her blue hair and sky-blue eyes.

It was as if the gods were playing a prank, for her coloring was perfect for a Little Mermaid swimming in the sea.

Drawing inspiration from this, I used Amelia Bluewell as a model to design the Little Mermaid character.

What had felt blocked until now suddenly flowed easily, and the design for the Little Mermaid was quickly completed.

Amazingly, it turned out to be an exceptional design.

“Come to think of it, unlike the Imperial Family, who gave me a commendation, the Bluewell Duchy paid me quite handsomely.”

Even now, thinking of the payment from back then makes me feel full.

At first, I didn’t want to get involved and tried to push them away, but if they were to return, I’d be willing to greet them with a smile.

“Now I need to decide on the witch character too.”

The witch character plays a very important role in The Little Mermaid.

DiXney depicted the witch as a monstrous villain, but in the original, she didn’t do anything wrong.

In fact, she tried her best to help the Little Mermaid and even tried to dissuade her, knowing the tragic ending.

However,

“The problem was simply that the potion needed the tongue as an ingredient.”

It was an unfair misunderstanding for the witch. She merely made the potion because the Little Mermaid wanted legs, and the potion's ingredient happened to be the tongue.

So I had no intention of making the witch character a simple villain.

The witch would merely offer choices, and all decisions would be made by the Little Mermaid herself.

Only then would the ending of this fairy tale hold significance.

“You will be the witch!”

Traditionally, witches have black hair, don’t they? And among the black-haired women I've seen, only one remains vividly in my memory.

She is the vicious reader of my fairy tale books and the Empire's femme fatale who tries to control me with her power.

Perhaps this is why writers in the past churned out works when they were exiled or banished.

Experiencing unjust treatment makes inspiration surge.

Having completed the witch character, the major work was done.

“The only thing left is the prince, right?”

In The Little Mermaid, the prince is a character who may receive quite a bit of criticism.

If I depict him too handsomely, it wouldn’t do, as there must be room for criticism. But he shouldn’t be too unlikeable, so his appearance should still be pleasing.

I struggled this time as no model came to mind easily, but I did my best to draw what came to mind.

A character with a subtle expression between haughtiness and coldness, with blonde hair.

Hmm. Even though I drew it, it feels like just the right character.

It seems oddly familiar, but this is a common occurrence due to the nature of my job as an artist.

I've seen and drawn so many things that such instances often happen when creating characters.

With all the important characters completed, all that remained was to write the story and flesh out the narrative.

Gulp.

“Wow, this is something else!”

I drank an entire bottle of a new vitality potion recently given to me by Estevan, the head of the merchant guild, as a gift.

The ones sold by the church were not very potent, though they were gentle on the body.

This new potion was developed by the Alchemy Guild and was incredibly effective.

I had shared some with the artisans as a trial recently, but after drinking it once and causing a commotion, I decided to keep it to myself.

“What a fuss over feeling a little dizzy and short of breath after the potion's effect wears off.”

Back when I was drawing webtoons, I used to buy home-use IV drips and attach them myself to meet deadlines.

Once, while receiving an IV drip and drinking high-caffeine energy drinks like water, I even ended up in the emergency room.

Compared to that, isn’t this truly a divine gift?

Feeling invigorated, I resumed my work with renewed energy.