Patty’s Family

I was riding in a carriage for the first time in my life.

It wasn’t the kind of wagon or stagecoach that commoners like me would use; it was a magnificent carriage intended for high-ranking nobility. As the darkened cityscape flowed past me from a higher vantage point than usual, I felt a strange sense of displacement.

The carriage featured four seats facing each other. A woman dressed in a maid’s uniform sat beside me, and Lady Josette sat directly across from us. Although we were classmates at school, we had hardly spoken until now. She was the only student of noble rank in our class—the daughter of a Duke, a high-ranking noble. I called her with the “-san” honorific at school, but in my heart, I addressed her with “-sama.” This was because, during the self-introductions on the first day of our second year, she had strictly insisted that we not use “-sama” for her. It seemed some students from other classes or different grades still called her that, though.

“Have you grown accustomed to the work?”

“Eh? Yes—no, well, it is only my second day, so I have many things to learn.”

Josette spoke to me so suddenly that I had to scramble for an answer.

“I see. Do you think you can manage?”

For some reason, nobles were working just like commoners there. It was a shop that handled bread and cooking, but the products and equipment were all things I had never seen before. Since I hadn’t asked for details, I didn’t fully understand, but I thought it was a workplace shrouded in mystery. However, regarding the wages, I was able to receive an amount that seemed impossible for a student’s part-time job. When I first saw the sum, I actually thought Marie-san might have put it in by mistake. I hadn’t opened the envelope yet, but I assumed the envelope containing today’s pay held about the same amount, provided the previous one wasn’t an error. Therefore, I had absolutely no intention of quitting a place that paid such a high salary.

“Yes, I intend to do my best somehow.”

“Is that so? I have high expectations. Please work hard.”

Josette, who was said to be one of the top two most beautiful girls in school, was so pretty that even as a girl myself, I could get lost just looking at her. Inside the narrow carriage, the sweet scent of perfume, likely emanating from Josette, drifted through the air.

As for why I was riding in a carriage with Josette, the story goes back a little bit in time.

Caro-san’s farewell party was held at Marie-san’s bakery. Kent-san and the others hadn’t planned on serving alcohol.

“It is a farewell party, yet no alcohol has been prepared. What is the meaning of this? I shall have some brought at once,” Josette had declared.

Recalling the previous lesson, Kent-san, Marie-san, Catherine, and Rachel-san all worked together to stop her with everything they had. Thus, the farewell party proceeded without alcohol.

When the party ended, Marie-san spoke up.

“We will handle the cleanup, so Josette-san and Patty-san, you may head home early.”

Since it had already grown dark outside, the cleanup was left to those who lived nearby or were staying on the premises.

“Patty-san, do you want to take the leftovers home?”

“Eh? May I really have them?”

“I’ll pack them up now, so please wait a moment.”

Kent-san packed the food left over from the party and handed it to me as a souvenir.

“The containers are disposable, so you can just throw them away when you’re done.”

“They are such beautiful containers, yet you throw them away?”

“You could use them if you wash them, but they aren’t very durable, so they’ll crack easily.”

“Thank you very much. I think my family will be happy.”

“It has grown dark outside, and I believe the night roads are dangerous for a woman alone, so I shall escort you home.”

“Eh?”

Josette offered to take me home.

“Come now, a carriage is prepared outside, so let us go.”

Before I could even reply, Josette hurried me along, and I was bundled straight into her carriage.

And that brings us to now.

“Patty-san, we have arrived.”

I snapped out of it when Josette spoke. Before I knew it, we had arrived in front of my house. Because a noble’s carriage had stopped in front of my tenement house, the neighbors had come out to see what was happening and were watching from a distance. Of course, my parents and my younger siblings were out there too.

(Ugh, this is hard to step out into…)

I had to get off the carriage while being the center of attention for so many people. As for Josette, she looked perfectly unbothered despite being watched by the crowd. This sort of thing was likely a daily occurrence for her, and she was used to it.

“Thank you very much for the ride.”

After stepping down from the carriage, I gave Josette a polite bow.

“It was no trouble at all. Well then, until tomorrow. Good day to you.”

Once Josette said that, the carriage door closed and it began to move.

Once they realized the person getting off the carriage was me, my family rushed over.

“Patty, what happened? To think you’d be sent home in such a grand carriage!” my mother asked.

“The rest of the talk can wait until we’re inside. Sorry for the commotion, everyone,” my father said to my mother, and after apologizing to the neighbors, the whole family went into the house.

“For now, here are some souvenirs.”

I placed the containers with the leftovers on the table.

“Whoa, what’s this?”

“Looks delicious!”

“Can we eat this?”

“It smells so good!”

My two younger brothers and two younger sisters said as they looked at the variety of foods they had never seen before.

“Patty, between that grand carriage earlier and all this food, what is going on? Weren’t you going to a part-time job?”

My mother pressed me.

“I did go to my job. This food is from a farewell party we had because a coworker is quitting today; these are the leftovers. The carriage… well, a coworker just gave me a ride.”

“I understand the food part. But that coworker… no matter how you look at it, that was a noble’s carriage. Why is a noble working together with a commoner?”

“I don’t know why. But we were working together. And the person who quit today was a noble girl, too.”

“Just where on earth are you working? You had all that money the other day, too. Is it really okay?” my mother said, worried that her daughter was working in some strange place.

“Um… this is today’s pay.”

I said as I handed the paper bag containing today’s wages to my mother. My mother and father checked the contents together.

“Five silver coins, just like last time. Even though it’s a short-shift part-time job, how is it that you’re earning more than what your father or I make in a day?”

(So Marie-san didn’t make a mistake after all… even I’m actually surprised there’s this much in here.)

“Mom, um, do you know Marie’s Bakery?”

“Yes, I know it. It’s that bakery everyone’s been talking about lately, right?”

“I’ve heard of it too. I hear it’s a shop that sells unusual bread,” my father added.

“I’m being allowed to work there. The work is very busy, but the shop itself seems to be making quite a profit.”

My parents knew about Marie’s Bakery. Since there were no bad rumors about the shop in town, they seemed to view it relatively favorably.

“I see, so they’re properly giving back to the employees what they earn. Isn’t that a good shop?”

“I suppose so. But I still don’t understand why a noble is working there.”

“I don’t understand that either. It’s just that the noble who gave me a ride today is a classmate.”

My father seemed to have a good impression of the owner. My mother, however, still seemed preoccupied with the fact that nobles were working there.

“I see, a classmate. That’s a good connection to have made. It’s quite difficult for a commoner to connect with a noble outside of school life, after all.”

“That’s true. In ordinary life, commoners and nobles hardly ever speak to each other.”

“Dad, Mom, can we eat this yet?”

My younger brother spoke up, having lost his patience. He seemed very interested in the food left on the table.

“It looks like expensive food, but is it really okay to eat it?” my mother confirmed with me again.

“It’s fine. Like I said, it’s leftovers from the farewell party, so if we don’t eat it soon, it’ll spoil.”

“Since we have it, shall we eat?”

I explained again, and my mother was convinced.

“Yay!”

My younger siblings, who rarely have the chance to eat their fill, looked happy.

“Well then.”

“Let’s eat!”

After that, Patty’s family ate their fill and fell asleep.