Chapter 95

Lady Clara canceled her dinner at the barracks and left the gates separately from me so that we could meet up outside and return home together. We decided to eat dinner at the apartment, just as we had done before. I had some freshly made yakitori (grilled chicken skewers) inside my Spatial Storage, so I decided to bring that out. Since Lady Clara is the type who happily eats anything, I figured she wouldn’t mind the soy-based tare sauce. I had also bought some salted yakitori as a backup, just in case.

True gourmets prefer salt because it brings out the flavor of the ingredients, but if I had to choose, I’d take the sauce. Even with tempura, I prefer dipping sauce (tentsuyu) over salt. Salted tempura is good, but it feels a bit lonely—like the flavor is lacking a companion.

Lady Clara was waiting for me on the street. Perhaps there is some kind of magic in peaceful dusks that makes people feel excited. The smoke drifting from the chimneys of the houses, the scent of cooking, the setting sun, the way you looked down happily when you spotted me from afar, the almond blossoms beginning to bloom—happiness was overflowing in every corner of the space we shared.

Before returning to the apartment, we stopped by a secondhand clothing store to buy Lady Clara an outfit. It was the high-end sort of vintage shop, and I purchased a simple dress, a coat, and a wool shawl like one a merchant’s daughter might wear. Once she changed inside the shop and put on the chestnut-colored wig, no one would ever recognize her as Lady Clara. I took her sword and stored it inside my Spatial Storage.

“Let’s go.”

“Yes.”

We walked side-by-side, both of us feeling nervous. Normally, I would always be walking behind Lady Clara. That’s why even something as mundane as this felt so fresh and new.

“Is there anywhere you’d like to stop by?”

“I feel like taking a walk through the city for a bit.”

“Lady Clara?”

Her tone was different from usual; I wondered what was wrong.

“Because today, I am Kota’s fiancée.”

Ah, I apologize to everyone in the world in advance. I’m so happy. I felt like I could accept any kind of curse—“go explode,” “may you vanish,” “drop dead”—if it were directed at me right now.

“Let’s walk home. Clara.”

The setting sun began to dye the entire world in sepia tones. In a city bathed in the sunset, even if our cheeks were a little red, I doubted anyone would notice. The world was wonderful just because Lady Clara was there.

We enjoyed a detour on our way back, and when we arrived, the housekeeper who had been introduced to us was already waiting at the entrance. She looked to be about my age. Rather than slender, she was quite thin, and her complexion didn’t look very healthy. She spoke in a calm manner and seemed kind, but there was something about her that suggested a life of misfortune.

“My name is Bianca. It is a pleasure to meet you.”

There wasn’t a hint of strength in her voice as she greeted us. I had a rugged image of the housekeepers who lived in the West District. I often saw them carrying water buckets with thick arms and chatting loudly while doing laundry at the well. But Bianca, who stood before me, was very delicate. She looked like she might collapse from anemia at any moment.

“This room is on the third floor, and I think carrying water up here will be quite difficult, but will you be alright?”

“Yes. I will approach this work with sincerity. I will try my hardest to meet your expectations, so please, would you hire me?”

I was surprised by how desperate she seemed. For me, it would be enough if someone could come by about once every three days to handle cleaning, laundry, and water fetching. I’d heard that the standard pay for such work was about 150 Marques per visit. Honestly, it wasn’t a large sum, but perhaps it was a vital income for Bianca.

“Do you have family?” Lady Clara asked.

“My husband passed away five years ago, and I have lived alone ever since. I have no children.”

“And relatives?”

“I am originally from Veneria in the south. I moved to Dresden when I was married, so I have no kin in the neighborhood.”

For a fleeting moment, Bianca wore a face that looked nostalgic, yet painful. Veneria, I recalled, was a seaside city several hundred kilometers to the south. Even if she had parents or siblings, it wasn’t a distance one could travel casually to meet.

“Kota. How about we have her work for two or three days first to see how she does?”

That sounded like a good idea. It would be a shame to have her come all the way here and send her home empty-handed. She didn’t seem to have much physical strength, but she appeared motivated and seemed like a serious person.```

When I asked when she could start, she replied that she wanted the work as soon as possible.

“Then let’s have you start tomorrow. I look forward to working with you.”

Once the job was secured, Bianca wore an expression of relief. Perhaps she had been in trouble due to a lack of income. She thanked us happily over and over, and a faint flush of color returned to her pale face.

As she stood up from her chair to leave, she stumbled slightly, lightheaded. She tried to hide it, but the way she desperately grabbed onto the table to steady herself was heartbreaking.

“Kota…”

Lady Clara pleaded with her eyes, urging me to do something. It was fine—I was worried, too.

“Bianca, please take this with you. I received a lot, so I’m sharing some of it.”

I wrapped some dried prunes in a bag and handed them to her along with a large hot dog. Bianca stared at me, looking startled. Perhaps she was surprised that I’d suddenly produced warm food? I had bought them fresh and put them in my Spatial Storage, so they were still piping hot.

“Eat that tonight, and come to work tomorrow feeling refreshed.”

“Madam!”

Bianca was tearing up.

As Bianca hurried her steps down the darkened street, she opened the package her new employer had given her. Instantly, an aroma that stimulated her appetite rose up. A large sausage was sandwiched inside a long, slender bun. She hadn’t eaten anything but water since having a single piece of bread the afternoon before.

She knew it was pathetic, but she couldn’t withstand the hunger. Ducking into the shadow of a building, she put the food she had just received into her mouth. The juices of the succulent sausage spread through her mouth, and tears overflowed from her eyes. It had been a truly long time since she had eaten anything other than bread. The thrill of eating something delicious, the relief of having survived another day—these feelings became tangled, and her emotions spilled out in the form of tears.

She devoured the hot dog in an instant and let out a long breath. She had been so engrossed in eating that she had forgotten to even question why the bread she’d been given was still warm, as if it were fresh. All that remained was a sense of security, fulfillment, and gratitude for having received a meal.

Bianca decided that tomorrow, she would head to the room right away and polish it until it shone from corner to corner. That was the only way she had to repay them. If she hadn’t received that food just now, she might have been too weak to even get out of bed the following morning.

Last week, Bianca had caught a cold. She had tried to work while hiding her poor condition, but it soon worsened to the point where she couldn’t even stand, and she ended up bedridden for five days. After she paid the weekly rent, her savings were immediately wiped out. Now, there were only two copper coins left in her purse. With 20 Marques, the most she could buy was a single loaf of bread. Her previous employer had fired her while she was sick.

Terrified by the encroaching threat of starvation, she had taken today’s interview as her last hope, and she thanked God for not having forsaken her.

Beyond the street, she saw the West Gate. On top of the city wall, she could see a statue of Lord Seraphim, the apostle of the God of Space-Time. Bianca clasped her hands together and bowed her head. Lord Seraphim was the guardian angel of Dresden.

“God of Space-Time, Lord Seraphim, thank you for leading me to Sir Hinoharu and the others. Thanks to you, I survived today.”

Bianca prayed briefly and hurried on her way home. Bianca still didn’t know that she had arrived at a turning point in her fate. From this night on, the destiny of this ill-fated woman was about to change drastically.