Before we set out, I entrusted Wibble to her. “Selda, can you hold Wibble for me?”
“Oh! It’s Wibble the spirit slime!”
“Hi again!”
The two of them had met before, quite a long time ago. I decided to pair them up in case anything happened, and it turned out that the sight of Princess Griselda hugging Wibble was the most adorable thing in the world.
“Now, let’s go,” I said. I held out my hand, and after taking it, she squeezed it back. I must not let go of this hand at any cost, I vowed in my heart.
Our first destination was a store selling miscellaneous items. There, I bought a child’s overcoat. It completely covered the princess’s body, so as long as she kept the hood up, no one would be able to tell that she was royalty. I also bought a rabbit mask to hide her face.
“This is so cute!” she exclaimed.
“I’m glad you like it. Can you wear it until we head back home?”
“Okay, I will.”
At the register, the elderly shopkeeper smiled at Princess Griselda and said, “Good for you, little lady. Your maid is buying so much for you.”
The princess and I both smiled awkwardly, not sure how to respond. Apparently, to an outsider, I looked like Princess Griselda’s maid. Perhaps it was exacerbated by the fact that I was wearing a commoner’s dress.
After getting the princess disguised, we headed for the carriage stand.
“Francette, is that where we board the omnibus?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
There was already a line forming, so we went to the end. The carriage arrived not long after.
“This is an omnibus?!” Princess Griselda exclaimed. “It’s enormous!”
It was a double-decker omnibus that could fit twenty passengers.
“The upper level is open-air, so you can feel the wind as the carriage moves.”
“I want to sit there, then!”
The princess was quite brave. Even I had never sat on the upper level before. I was a bit scared, but for her sake, I gathered my courage and climbed up.
“Wow! We’re so high up,” said Princess Griselda.
“Y-Yes, we are.” It was higher than I’d expected, but the princess was enjoying herself, and that was all that mattered.
The carriage lurched as it set off.
“Ahh!” I shouted.
“It’s okay, Francette.” Princess Griselda hugged me and gently patted my back. Reassuring her was supposed to be my job, yet she was doing it for me instead. What a kind girl.
“I didn’t expect it to shake this much,” I said.
“Me neither, but it’s fun.”
Since we were so high up, we passed right next to the tree branches, sometimes brushing against the twigs. Leaves fluttered onto the seats.
Princess Griselda picked one up as if it were a precious jewel. “Francette, is it okay if I take this home with me?”
“Yes, of course.”
She carefully stowed it away in the pouch we’d bought at the general store. The sight was nothing short of adorable.
“Francette, on rainy days, does the upper level get all wet?”
“When it rains, the staff put up a canopy.”
“I see. That sounds like fun too.”
I’d ridden the omnibus in the rain before, so I knew that the waterproofing wasn’t perfect. The conversation brought back memories of the upper level flooding into the lower one and getting me wet. Thank goodness it isn’t raining today.
About five minutes later, we arrived at the old part of town. Noticing Princess Griselda trying to pay the conductor with a gold coin, I hurriedly stopped her and covered both our fares.
When we got off the carriage, she asked me with a confused expression, “Francette, why didn’t you let me pay?”
“High-value currency like gold coins can’t be used in the old part of town,” I explained. The precise reasoning was that the people doing business wouldn’t be able to provide enough change.
“I had no idea. I only brought gold coins with me today.”
“I’ll lend you some money, then. Make sure to pay me back the next time we meet, okay?”
“Okay.”
I didn’t need to be repaid, but I figured Princess Griselda wouldn’t accept the money otherwise. “Now then, shall we go?”
“Yes.”
The pastry store was about a ten-minute walk from the carriage stand. Unfortunately, the old part of town wasn’t the safest of places, so we would need to make our way there quickly before we attracted unwanted attention.
“Selda, let’s hurry,” I said.
“Is the store opening soon?”
“Yes, very soon.”
Princess Griselda did her best to keep up with me, carrying Wibble in one hand. Almost there—or so I thought before something unexpected happened. A garbage can came flying out of an alley.
“Eek!” I screamed. Princess Griselda and I both froze.
A man came out, walking languidly. He grinned at us and said, “Sorry ’bout that. I kicked it without thinking.”
“I-It’s fine,” I said, hiding Princess Griselda behind me as I faced him.
“Wanna come to my place so I can check that you aren’t hurt anywhere?”
“No, that won’t be necessary.”
“No need to be so reserved.”
As soon as the man reached for me, I dug into my pocket and threw out something. The next moment, a cloud of smoke erupted, wafting through the air.
“Urk! Wh-What the hell is this?!”
It was one of Gabriel’s specially made smoke bombs, enchanted to make anyone with ill intentions cry uncontrollably. The item I’d been given for self-defense was doing its job.
“Wh-What is this stuff?! Cough, cough! Ugh, dammit!”
While the man was coughing, I broke into a run, pulling Princess Griselda by the hand. We were able to lose him in the thick of the smoke.
We arrived at the pastry store to find a substantial line. With this many people around, we wouldn’t have to worry about the man finding us. We joined the line at the back and took a moment to catch our breath.
“Selda, are you okay?”
“Yes, I’m fine. What about you, Francette?”
“I’m all right too, somehow.” I hadn’t thought we’d actually run into a scoundrel. I had Gabriel’s smoke bomb to thank for getting us out of that situation safely. “Selda, were you scared?”
“No, not at all! Father’s royal knights are bigger and scarier than that man was.”
“I-I see.” I had been afraid of the girl getting traumatized, but luckily, it didn’t seem like that would be an issue. I also couldn’t help but wonder what kind of knights these were, who were scarier than the miscreants in the slums.
I counted roughly a hundred people in line. There was a limit of one bonbonnière per family, so we were somewhere around the cutoff.
“This is amazing, Francette. The Lakeside Duck Bakery is so popular.”
“I imagine the newspaper promotion helped.”
“Yes! That article was why I wanted to buy a bonbonnière. Mother loves the Lakeside Duck Bakery sweets that Magritte brings.”
“I’m very happy to hear that.”
I could guarantee Princess Griselda a bonbonnière if I went through the back door and asked Solene. But the girl wanted to buy it under the same conditions as everyone else, and I didn’t want her sentiments to go to waste. I decided not to intervene and to continue accompanying her on her big adventure.
After a while, the store opened. The line slowly moved forward.
“Francette, I’ve never been in a line where I can’t see the front,” Princess Griselda said.
“Me neither.”
My original intention had been just to see how the bonbonnière sales were going, but by a miraculous twist of fate, I was now standing in line for them. Most of the people around me had brought the morning paper with them, and I was able to see them marvel at the picture of the bonbonnière in the article.
The women in front of us began to whisper.
“The porcelain is very beautiful, but this is just concept art, isn’t it?”
“Yes. The real product can’t possibly be as beautiful as the illustration.”
“What a great deal, though. You can buy sweets and get porcelain at the same time.”
The newspaper article featured Coco’s design art. These women would surely be surprised when they found out that the real bonbonnières were just as beautiful.
The line continued to move forward very, very slowly.
“Selda, if you’re tired, Wibble can turn into a chair!”
“I’m fine for now,” the princess said.
However, I worried whether her stamina would last until the end. We still had a long way to go, so I suggested accepting Wibble’s offer.
“Okay,” she said. “Wibble, please turn into a chair.”
“Leave it to me!”
Wibble transformed into a squishy armchair. The moment Princess Griselda sat down, she looked relieved. She must’ve been tired, even if she hadn’t wanted to admit it out loud.
The Wibble-chair shifted forward with the line, and Princess Griselda giggled in amusement because she hadn’t been expecting it to move. I’d been able to see many different expressions on her face over the course of the day. I definitely wasn’t supposed to be taking her around town like this, though. I was fully prepared to face punishment. Perhaps her absence would be noticed soon. All I could do was pray that we wouldn’t be found before she bought the bonbonnière.