Regular Day Off

The next day, the bakery was closed. That meant I could take it easy in the morning.

With time on my hands and my stomach growling, I ate all the bread for breakfast—and then realized something important.

“Ah. It’s their day off, so I can’t get bread… What am I going to eat…?”

Even if I wanted to cook, I had absolutely no cooking tools. With no choice, I had to buy something to get by. So I decided to go to the nearest bakery that was open today.

“Welcome.”

A young woman was minding the shop alone. They sold only one type of bread, same as Marie’s bakery—of course, it was the flat, unrisen kind. For now, I decided to buy two, one for lunch and one for dinner.

“Thank you. That will be 120G.”

So it was 60G each. At Marie’s bakery, the similar bread used to be 50G, so it felt a bit pricey. But right now, Marie’s bakery sold theirs for 70G each—meaning this one was 10G cheaper.

“Thanks.”

I paid and took the bread. I had 440G left. I went home once and got ready for school.

“Living on nothing but bread for days is going to be a nutritional problem…”

I took out the device and searched for something cheap that would go well with bread.

“This goes with bread, and it’s pretty high-calorie. Plus, it keeps at room temperature.”

I bought a slightly large jar of mayonnaise (450g) for 300G. That left me with 140G.

“This should last a while, since there’s a decent amount.”

I went to school, finished morning classes, and it became lunch break.

Today I brought mayonnaise too, but it was still basically just bread, so I was embarrassed to be seen. I decided to eat behind the school building again. Sitting on the same bench as yesterday, I took out the bread and drizzled mayonnaise on it.

“Today, it isn’t the risen bread, is it?”

Someone spoke to me. When I looked, Josette was sitting beside me before I’d even noticed.

“Ah, Josette-san. The bakery where I work is closed today. I bought this from another shop.”

“Oh? Then what is that thing you’re putting on the bread?”

“It’s called mayonnaise. It goes really well with bread and makes it taste better.”

Josette stared at the mayonnaise-covered bread like she couldn’t look away.

“Want to eat half?”

“I will accept it.”

I’d braced myself for some roundabout comment, but this time she answered easily.

I split the bread in half and handed it to Josette.

“Aaahn. Munch. Mmm.”

Josette ate it with a very satisfied expression. I ate my half too, but since it was a familiar taste, it didn’t move me as much.

“If this were that bread, it would be even more delicious.”

“Yeah. Mayonnaise is really more of a seasoning—you normally enjoy it with other fillings.”

“For example?”

“Let’s see… mashed boiled eggs mixed in… canned tuna… ham and vegetables would be good too.”

“I don’t know what canned tuna or ham are, but if mayonnaise alone tastes this good, I’m sure they’d be delicious… Oh—excuse me. I have to go. Thank you for the meal.”

With that, Josette returned to the school building. In the end, my lunch was cut in half, so I went into afternoon classes still a little hungry.

After school, as I was about to head home, I saw Rachel in the hallway chatting happily with the Prince. …This event, could it be…? As I watched, Cedric—green-haired, slim, and a bit short, the minister’s son—and Mark—black-haired and tall, the knight commander’s son—came over to Rachel. The four of them started talking.

(I think this was the “walk home together” event… and then the villainess shows up to interfere.)

Once the four left the school, just as I expected, Josette appeared with two hangers-on.

“Well, well. It seems someone of a different station is mixed in.”

“Truly. I can smell a country girl.”

The two hangers-on hurled insults at Rachel.

“Gordon-sama, Cedric-sama, Mark-sama. If you associate with someone of such low status, your dignity will suffer. Would it not be best to stop?”

“Josette, you shouldn’t say such things. This was my request. Stop speaking ill of her.”

The Prince spoke sharply to Josette.

“Oh, my apologies. Very well… just remember this.”

Josette glared at Rachel and left with her entourage. At that moment, her eyes happened to meet mine, and noticing that, Josette made an awkward face.

“I’m sorry for making you uncomfortable. Shall we go?”

“Yes!”

The Prince apologized to Rachel, and the four of them went on their way as if nothing had happened.

I didn’t have anything else to do at school either, so I went home.

With the bakery closed too, there wasn’t much to do. For now, I decided to wash the clothes I was wearing.

I only had one set each of underwear and uniform, and I didn’t even have casual clothes. I decided I needed to fix that next.

The following day, I went to the bakery for my morning shift.

“Good morning.”

“Morning. Were you able to rest yesterday?”

When I greeted her, Marie was cleaning the shop.

“Even if the shop was closed, school still wasn’t.”

“That’s right.”

“Morning, Onii-chan! Let’s do our best again today.”

“Morning, Catherine. Let’s work hard today too.”

Because the shop had been closed yesterday, customers who’d been waiting for bread made it busy from early morning. Once the rush passed, it was time to head to school.

“You didn’t have lunch yesterday since the bakery was closed, right? You should take this.”

Saying that, Marie handed me bread.

“Thank you. I’ll eat it.”

I took the bread and went to school.

First period… I felt a gaze. Second period too—I felt it from the same place. The one watching me was Josette.

When lunch break came, I went behind the school building to eat bread alone and sat on the bench. Then, just like yesterday, Josette sat down beside me.

“You… watched yesterday, didn’t you?”

“Yeah… well.”

“This makes the second time, perhaps…”

“Maybe.”

(I knew everything about how Josette harassed Rachel in the game. By the late game, she became an unpleasant presence you could only call an obstacle.)

“It seems hush money is required again.”

Saying that, she pressed her lips to mine. That made it the third kiss. But this time was different from the previous ones. Something slipped into my mouth—Josette’s tongue. It moved as if meticulously licking around inside.

“Pwah…”

After a moment like that, our lips finally separated.

“Why do you use kissing as ‘hush money’?”

Unable to make sense of it, I asked Josette.

“Why, indeed… Perhaps it’s because of the first time…”

Josette said in a small voice.

“It’s like… I couldn’t forget that pounding feeling… I don’t really understand it myself. When I thought ‘hush money’… that I had to plug your mouth… I unconsciously did that the second time. And what I just did…”

Her face turned red, and she fell silent.

“This conversation is over. I’m eating bread again today.”

She said that and pulled a piece of bread from the bag I was holding.

When I spread mayonnaise on it for her, she started eating with obvious delight.

“This bread really does match it better.”

Josette chewed with her cheeks puffed out like a squirrel stuffing its mouth.

The gesture started to look cute.

The gap was so extreme that I found it hard to believe the villainess who acted the way she did and the girl happily eating bread now were the same person.