“Cleaning the garden did take all day after all,” said Miyako.
The evening sky was dark; only a fraction of the western sky far in the distance still smoldered. The crackling of firewood and the rustling of leaves rocked by the night breeze were pleasing to the ear.
Without looking up to the heavens, just beginning to sparkle with scattered stars, Fuuka heaved a sigh.
“Ugh... I’m tired. I’m not happy at all.”
“Haha, thanks for helping out so much, Fuuka-chan.”
They made the campfire from what they’d gathered, fallen leaves and withered branches strewn across the garden.
All Fuuka had actually done for the day was pick up the smallest branches with great care so as not to dirty her dress. Dressed in the work clothes she had prepared in the cabin and with a broom in hand, Miyako did most of the work.
“Is your dress still clean?”
“Yes, it’s fine.”
“I do have another set of clothes for you, too.”
“No member of the Hamilton family could ever put on such shabby clothes!”
“Haha, if you ever want to try them on just let me know, okay?”
“If you have any silks, I might wear those.”
It was customary in the Atika region to spend the night making a magnificent fire like this on the first day after moving in. It let the animals living in the forest know that humans had taken up residence.
Calmness fell over them as they listened to the dry crackling and popping sounds and watched the flames dancing.
“Ah, it’s ready.”
Miyako pulled a potato from the fire. The world of Drop Fantasia had potatoes. There were many unusual plants and animals, but they had potatoes.
I took the potatoes I boiled in the kitchen and then baked them in the fire—
“Here’s yours. Careful, it’s hot!”
And I dolloped on that stuff I’ve kept just for this—
“Hold on, Miyako. Potatoes aren’t bread, you know? Why are you wasting our precious butter on them?!”
And voilà, we’ve made butter potatoes!
“Heh heh, these are butter potatoes!”
“Butter potatoes...”
“Come on, have a bite.”
Fuuka-chan looks so adorable when she’s puzzled.
Miyako had wanted to make these over a campfire so badly that she went out of her way to procure potatoes and butter before leaving the capital.
Fuuka hesitantly took a bite of her butter potato. Her eyes widened, and she sank her teeth in for another bite.
“...Not bad.”
“Ehehe, you’re telling me!”
Fuuka-chan’s wolfing it down, so it looks like she likes it. While stoking the fire, Miyako peacefully watched Fuuka as she ate.
She’d always liked the outdoors. Miyako was into otome games, but she would also go camping, grow vegetables, and do gardening. She loved all sorts of leisurely activities.
And yet, after she became an adult, all she had was work, work, work, and more work. Before she knew it, whether she liked it or not, all she did was travel back and forth between her office and her house.
Ah, and to think that now it’s just me and my villainess first crush sitting around a campfire beneath the night sky.
“Oh, I’m so happy. I could just scream. I’m so happy!!!”
“You’re not going to trick me into joining in.” Fuuka flashed a cold glare at Miyako.
If only she’d said “I’m happy,” I’d have won. Miyako puffed out her cheeks using her muscles to their fullest, the same way she used to when she was young and her friends would call her “Pufferfish.”
“I wasn’t trying to.”
“Ha, what a weird face.”
“No way, you laughed!”
“...No, I didn’t.”
“You so did.”
As they continued going back and forth, Fuuka’s eyelids began to droop. For Fuuka, after years of chronic sleep deprivation, having a large meal after working and exercising her body, then listening to the soothing sound of the fire all worked together to make her drowsy.
“Ah, are you going to bed?”
“No... I still need to do... my nighttime studies... my calisthenics...”
“Don’t push yourself. The plan was to ‘do nothing,’ remember?”
“But...”
“I suppose I’ll be off to bed too. We’ll leave bathing for tomorrow!” said Miyako, and she pulled Fuuka by the hand.
Fuuka must have been at peak drowsiness since she obediently followed along and crawled into bed as soon as she took off her dress. It didn’t take long for Miyako to hear that she was sound asleep.
“Ugh... Gotta say I’m pretty tired too.”
After Miyako confirmed that Fuuka was asleep, she smiled and stretched.
“Ouch. Looks like I’ll have sore muscles tomorrow.”
A whole day’s work in the garden really was tough.
Miyako let down her auburn hair, which she’d tied up to work, and crawled into her bed. Her eyes grew heavy as she watched Fuuka sleeping peacefully in the bed on the opposite side of the room.
I hope Fuuka says “I’m happy” in the next thirteen days, she wished as she drifted off to sleep.
“Fuuka-chan, let’s be happy together.”