“The beginner book on household magic pretty much only tells me what I already know from Patience’s knowledge. I guess it can’t be helped; after all, it is a book geared toward children. I’ll pursue this further once I find out whether I can use household magic tomorrow.”
I did learn that household magic seemed quite useful. It was possible I’d be able to slightly improve our living situation if I could use these spells—especially the restroom situation. Yes, right now I had to use a chamber pot. Mary frequently cleaned it, but it was still unbelievable.
I’d searched through my memories and found out that there was technically a restroom in the Granger house, but we needed a magic stone to use it. How had I come to seek that tidbit of information? Well, it was my first day getting up and walking around the mansion since I’d become Patience several days ago, but even if I was only eating porridge, my body still had functions to perform. It’s so embarrassing!
There was a time I had thought that I only had to use the chamber pot in my room because I was sick and weak. I’d truly felt like I was dying and had needed Mary’s help to even get out of bed. I had to toss aside things like shame and embarrassment. Luckily, that time was just a number one, so I had managed to survive the interaction. But yesterday, I finally had to deal with number two. I didn’t feel great about using the chamber pot, so I used the bell at my bedside and called over Mary, who was surely busy.
“I apologize for bothering you, Mary, but could you take me to the restroom?” That was when she’d told me that we couldn’t use the toilet in the house.
“We don’t have a magic stone, so...” she trailed off, sounding apologetic, but I was the one who wanted to apologize. She was our only maid, and she had to not only take care of this sick person, but also help me with my bodily functions. I’m sorry you have to serve us.
Anyways, household magic included spells for cleaning, and it seemed I would be able to use those to clean the bathroom. I’m coming for you, civilized life!
But first, I couldn’t handle constantly needing help to use the restroom. I wanted to be able to go on my own. After all, I was ten years old—a charming young girl, if you will.
“On the topic of improving our quality of life, I’ve just remembered that I must do something about those thin covers.” I looked up and realized the room had dimmed. I was perhaps in a region located at a high latitude, because the sun set quite early during the winter. Of course, even our poor family had candles, but the Patience of my memories made a fuss about using them sparingly.
I didn’t want to wake up from how cold it was again, so I went to find Mary and ask if we had anything other than those thin covers.
“If I recall correctly, the kitchen and the workrooms for the servants are on the lower floor, in the semibasement.”
Perhaps it was an area that a lady shouldn’t have been visiting, as Patience’s memories on the lower floor were hazy, though it did appear that she’d been there several times. I recalled a memory of baking with my mother once when she was still alive, which made my stomach growl.
“It seems we’ve stopped having teatime to save money,” I remarked. Nobles are supposed to always be getting dressed up and having tea parties, I whined internally, but there was no use complaining. Right now, the Granger family had no teatime—we probably didn’t have the money to even buy tea leaves.
On a side note, the actual bedrooms for those working in the house were located on the third floor. The butler’s office, the housekeeper’s room (currently going unused since we had no housekeeper), the kitchen, and the female staff’s room were located on the lower floor, which was a semibasement. The female staff’s room was quite spacious, especially with only Mary using it.
“Do we have any blankets, Mary?” I asked as she worked on my outing attire.
“You mustn’t be in such a place, my lady... Blankets? Well...” I hadn’t meant to trouble Mary. We’d probably sold off any extra bedding. “Let’s see, I believe we have some servant’s blankets, but those wouldn’t be suitable for you, my lady.”
What?! We have some?!
“It would be better than being cold,” I said. “I nearly died from pneumonia.”
Mary took out a large metal ring with multiple keys on it and headed for the linen closet, and I followed behind.
“You shouldn’t be using something so unrefined,” Mary said reluctantly.
Well, it might not have been “becoming” of a viscount’s daughter, but I was ecstatic about getting my hands on this gray blanket.
“My brothers should get them too,” I suggested, but it turned out they had already been using them. Mary had figured that it wasn’t good for the young children to be cold, and boys wouldn’t mind using something unrefined.
I also had one pulled out for my father, who seemed to be lacking in general life skills. Apparently, we’d been able to survive despite being so poor because my father’s relatives had been helping us. It would be sad if those little angels had to become orphans.
“For the viscount? That would be good. He seems to be having trouble sleeping because of the cold.”
Yeah, that’s right! We can’t keep worrying about appearances! Looks like I’ll be getting some restful sleep tonight.
There were still many improvements to be made around here, but my stomach let me know that it was time for dinner. I was about to head to the dining room, but Patience had other priorities.
You must change for dinner, she demanded. I recalled watching TV shows in which English nobles would change their attire for dinner, but those were extravagant feasts. I very much doubted this was going to be a meal worth changing for. Even so, I returned to my room, which was tinted gold by the evening twilight, and took out the other dress hanging in my wardrobe.