Miss Dollmaker Doesn't Want to Fall in Love

[Don't read yet, don't read!! I'm stuck!! Completely stuck! Wait until it's finished, sob!!]

"The serious, focused profile she wore at work, and the tenderness and affection in the fingers that stroked my cheek."

Creator, what a wonderful title.

The doll twisted its stiff limbs and staggered to its feet. With its right hand, missing several fingers, it scooped up a handful of Alice's silver hair and pressed it reverently to its broken lips.

The doll, sentenced to destruction, stared at her with a near-mad obsession. Clutching Alice's hair, it refused to let go and murmured a plea for mercy.

But the dollmaker's eyes remained cold. She simply raised the hammer in her hand and swung it down hard.

"Defective products have no reason to exist."

Alice is the finest dollmaker in the kingdom. Apart from charging a little too much, she's practically perfect, so orders for her dolls never stop coming in.

A countess, unable to bear the grief of losing her son, asks her to make a perfect son.

A saint who has fallen in love with a god asks her to create a vessel for the person she longs for, so she can summon his spirit.

A stubborn old general commissions her to raise an excellent heir.

Even the distant royal court sends someone to offer her a fortune in exchange for a crown prince's double, indistinguishable from the real thing.

Alice does as requested. Following the portraits she receives, she carefully paints beautiful irises, stroke by stroke, and meticulously polishes every spherical joint, striving for perfection.

The kingdom's laws require dolls to live with their dollmakers for three months after completion, so they can learn the behavior and lifestyle their buyers expect and to ensure no dangerous impurities have entered their artificial souls.

But these dolls seem less interested in learning and more interested in asking her out?

Doll No. 1 uses his young age as an excuse to ambush her outside her bedroom, hugging a pillow. Every day, he pitifully asks to sleep with her because his room is too dark... Heaven knows, dolls don't need sleep.

Doll No. 2 is indifferent to everyone, but likes to follow her around. He often gazes at her with puppy-dog eyes and clings to her skirt, unwilling to leave... By the Light God, she will never admit that this doll was modeled after the mighty Sea God.

Doll No. 3 is usually elegant and gentle, but whenever he sees a woman other than her, he screams, jumps onto her back, and trembles like a leaf... Come on, you're the general's heir. How can you be afraid of women?

And Doll No. 4 is even stranger...

Reader's guide:

1. At heart, this is a fluffy, no-brains, everyone-loves-the-heroine Mary Sue story, with Japanese-style fantasy as I imagine it. The heroine is an introvert who loves people, a socially anxious kitty.

2. At first, the dolls are merely her creations. Some dolls will be portrayed as yandere. (Note: Some dolls hide their identities as dolls.)

3. There are lots of unrequited crushes along the way, but the pairing is decided, so no need to place your bets. (Doll x Dollmaker) → (Creation x Creator) (meaningful look~)

4. I haven't written in third person for a long time, so I'm a little rusty. No need to tell me if you drop it, thanks.

5. I'll look up information on dollmaking, but most of it is made up, so feel free to take it with a grain of salt.

6. The town has unique customs.

7. Opens on December 17.

Coming soon:

1. The Little Bird's Matchmaking Diary: surrounded by a group of alphas, every match is a pain.

2. The Intern's Lunch-Ordering Diary: the whole company depends on me to feed them! Without me, the company can't function!

3. The God of Beauty Slays Dragons: Hah, male dragons are such shallow creatures.

See my profile for more titles~ Cheep cheep cheep!

Theme: Love should be equal