Miyako awoke to a world of muscle pain.
“Ow-ow-ow-ow.”
Miyako whined from inside her bed. Although she was only nineteen, she wasn’t used to exercise, so a full day of garden work had taken its toll on her.
That’s what I get for being able to keep working when I should stop. This nineteen-year-old body is going to get me into trouble. My legs are trembling. It hurts so much.
“Ugh, breakfast. Breakfast.”
Miyako quite literally crawled to the kitchen to make breakfast before Fuuka woke up.
But when she got there—
“You’re late, Miyako.”
“Huh, Fuuka-chan?!”
Fuuka was in the kitchen stirring a pot, wearing an apron over her dress. She’d even gone as far as wearing a bandanna to keep her hair back. Fuuka looked like an overachieving home economics student. She was cute, to say the least.
“Whoa, you look adorable, Fuuka-chan. But didn’t you want to get more sleep?”
“Sleeping in two days in a row would be a disgrace to the Hamilton family.”
“Geez, you’re too straight-laced. Ehehe, even so, I’m excited to try your soup.”
Momentarily forgetting her sore muscles, Miyako sat at the table. Before long a bowl of soup with steam rising from it was placed in front of her.
“It’s something I made myself, so be grateful you get to eat it.”
“Will do, bon appétit!”
She scooped some up with a spoon and brought it to her mouth.
“...”
“...”
It was lacking in taste. Completely lacking in taste. Utterly tasteless. The only ingredient in the soup was potatoes.
I see, she mustn’t have put in any juicy vegetables or condiments.
“I-I wasn’t in top form today, that’s all.”
“No, it tastes good, Fuuka-chan.”
“And there aren’t any cookbooks in here!”
“We should go to the library in the village at some point.”
Fuuka was a lady of the Hamilton family. She had likely never once in her life tried her hand at cooking. So Miyako was happy that she had set aside some time in the morning to see what she was capable of.
I love that Fuuka-chan’s puffing out her cheeks at this tasteless soup but still eating it all.
And also...
“I love how you arranged these flowers.”
“Hmph, it’s part of being a lady.”
“I see. I’m glad.”
There was a small vase above the table. Arranged inside were the roses that Miyako had given to Fuuka inside the carriage.
Feeling uncontrollably happy at that, Miyako wolfed down the tasteless soup with a bright smile on her face.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Before I forget, Fuuka-chan, let’s hold off on taking a bath until the afternoon,” said Miyako while blowing on the tea Fuuka had made for her. This one really is tasty! thought Miyako.
“...I would prefer to wash off this sweat sooner rather than later,” protested Fuuka, unsatisfied.
Smiling at her reaction, Miyako dropped her voice to a whisper.
“The thing is, and this is a secret that I only know because I’m from here—”
Fuuka gulped. “A secret... What is it?”
“At midday today, there’s gonna be... a traveling merchant!!! Yahoooo!!!”
“I was an idiot for taking you seriously.”
“Huh?! This is major; super serious! We wouldn’t want to make do with just the shelf-stable food that was already here. We’ve got to stock up on ingredients!”
Miyako didn’t let up. When she played the otome game Drop Fantasia, the Atika region was the only area without an item shop. Instead, it was set up so that at a certain time each day the player would run into a traveling merchant and be able to obtain a valuable item at random.
Fuuka furrowed her brow in suspicion.
“Ingredients are all the same. I doubt there’ll be any pies or cakes out here in the country anyway.”
“They’re not all the same! Atikan cuisine is really tasty!”
Miyako didn’t relent. As a matter of fact, the Atika region was famous for its rice and vegetable production.
“...Well. If you’re that keen on it, I’ll leave it up to you,” said Fuuka, sighing.
Going by the tasteless soup from this morning, it’s probably better to let Miyako handle the cooking side of things. This is a far cry from my mansion in the capital, where I could eat anything I wanted. Was Miyako’s promise to make me happy just empty words?
“Yep. Now then, Fuuka-chan, I’m off to get some work done!”
“Hm? But we finished the garden yesterday.”
“Well, this land is farmland that my family owns, but there hasn’t been anybody looking after it. I’m borrowing it because I thought it would be a perfect place to hide out. But while we’re here, I figure I might as well fix it up.” And so— “Today... I’m weeding the field!” declared Miyako, full of enthusiasm.
✦ ✦ ✦
To get straight to the point, Miyako had trouble trying to clear the weeds while suffering from muscle pain.
“Oooouuuch, feels like my legs are gonna fall off.”
Each time Miyako stooped down, a stab of pain shot up her legs and back. It had been an hour since she started working, but Miyako had finished weeding less than one tenth of the small field.
“Oooh, my legs huuurt!”
Miyako wiped away her sweat, whimpering. Straggling strands of her braided auburn hair stuck to her neck with sweat.
Fuuka had been sitting in a chair she’d placed in the shade beneath the eaves, watching Miyako intently. But she must have gotten fed up because she was no longer anywhere in sight.
Today’s the second day. I could say it’s “still just” the second day. But with two weeks—the fourteen-day time limit, that is—I could also say it’s “already” the second day.
“Hmmm. I hope I didn’t mess up somehow.”
Just as she grumbled this, a dignified voice called out.
“Really, I just couldn’t stand watching you!”
“...Fuuka-chan!”
When she looked over, standing there was Fuuka, in the matching work clothes Miyako had prepared for her, camel-colored overalls and a checkered shirt. Her lustrous black hair was tied up in a ponytail.
Soo cute!!!
“Whoa, Fuuka-chan’s new costume!! Yes!!!”
“Wai—I really would prefer you not hug me so hard. Watch the mud!”
“It’s fine, it’s not a dress!”
“Wait, aren’t you supposed to have sore muscles?!?! And here I am helping you.”
“Ehehe, it cleared up as soon as I saw you! Thanks for helping out. I’m glad.”
“W-Well, I...”
Fuuka clammed up. To sum up what she mumbled afterwards:
“It’s just that watching you doing the weeding so awkwardly, you sort of looked like you were having fun, that’s all! Now then, let’s get this finished quickly!”
“Right.”
By the time the sun was right above them signaling noon, they’d more or less finished weeding the small field.
All right, it’s midday. The traveling merchant will be here any minute now.