I had originally planned to start working on turning the grass stalks that the other kids had gathered for me into my pseudo-papyrus, but it seems like fate had other plans for me.

  “Maine,” says my mother, grabbing me by the scruff of my neck as I try to slip out the door.

  “Eep?!” I squeak, startled.

  “Where do you think you’re going? I told you, today we have to start preparing for the winter, right?”


  I was trying to go down to the well so that I could start working on extracting the plant fibers from these stalks.

  Soon, we’ll all be stuck indoors as the long winter creeps in, so we’ll have to make preparations in advance. Why, though, am I being pressed into service? I’m so weak that I’m not good for anything! According to Maine’s memories, all she ever did was catch a cold, then spend all that time uselessly wandering around. In other words, I’m completely useless. (I’m hoping I don’t actually catch a cold, though.)

  “You’ll go help your father, Maine. Come,” she says.

  “Doesn’t Daddy have work?”


  “It’s his turn to take a few days off. It wouldn’t be good if the soldiers couldn’t prepare for winter, you know?”


  …Giving employees time off to go prepare for winter is an unexpectedly reasonable thing for an employer to do. On top of that, is preparing for the winter really so hard that it requires a man’s help?

  Regardless, even if my father is home, it’s unusual for me to be paired up with him. He’s a muscle-headed soldier, after all, so it’s usually the much more fit and energetic Tory that winds up going with him.

  Since the entire family’s home, I don’t think I’ll be able to escape. And, since it seems like my father’s specifically nominated me, I’ve got no choice but to follow him.

  “…So what are we going to do?” I ask.

  Next to the kitchen window, my father is pulling out some things that look like tools.

  “We’re going to go through the house and do a little maintenance on anything that needs it. The door’s what’s going to protect us from a big snowstorm, so we need to make sure the hinges are tight, there’s no rust, and there aren’t any holes in the wood. When we’re done with that, we’re going to clean out the chimney and the flue for the stove. We don’t want to have any problems with those during the winter.”


  “Huhhh…”


  I understand what needs to be done, but how the hell am I supposed to help with any of that? I can barely hold a screwdriver, much less turn it. I can’t carry anything heavy, either! You can see these skinny little arms right?!

  However, if I’m enthusiastic about doing whatever little bit I can to help out, it’ll go a long way to helping build up my family’s confidence in me. I can definitely help identify the loose parts on the hinges, and my modern-age knowledge will make spotting rust a piece of cake.

  “Daddy, on this hinge, isn’t this nail getting rusty?” I say, pointing at a nail.

  My father bends down to study it. “…Looks like it’ll hold for now.”


  Uh, wait, no matter how you look at it, a worn-out nail like this is going to rust away, right?

  I’m immediately worried by how confidently my father said that. Once winter hits, this door’s our main defense against a snowstorm, so it breaking down halfway through would be very bad for us. I climb up on a chair so I can reach the door, and try to rattle it back and forth. No matter how confident my father may be, if I’m able to break it like this, then surely he’d recognize my superior judgement.

  After I wiggle the door a few times, the top hinge pops off with a sharp ping, and the door starts to precariously sway on its one remaining hinge. I nod in satisfaction, but my father’s face goes ghastly white as he sees the door wobble.

  “M- Maine?!”


  “Looook, it broke!” I say, pointing at the door. “It wasn’t going to last the winter. Make sure you fix it, Daddy!”


  My father, pretending to ignore his judgement error, helps me down off the chair. “Maybe you should go help your mother now.”


  Perhaps he’s upset that his daughter pointed out his mistake? I shrug my shoulders, shaking my head. It can’t be helped, I’m not going anywhere. My mother specifically assigned me to help my father, so I’m going to stay next to him and continue my inspections. I’m going to make sure that we make it safely and comfortably through the winter.

  “Huh?” I say. “I’ve got to make sure you’ve found everything! We’re fixing things so they don’t break in the winter, so we shouldn’t leave things all beat up like that.”


  “We can’t afford to fix everything, and I can’t have you around breaking everything you can. Go see your mother.”


  …Money problems, again!

  I thought I’d be able to make my father take things a little more seriously by breaking the hinge. Instead, I’m having to quietly make my way to the bedroom to go help Tory and my mother.

  The two of them are hanging shirts and blankets from clotheslines, as if they were trying to dry them, and rearranging the beds to be closer to the kitchen stove, trying to make the place just a little bit warmer.

  “What’s wrong, Maine?”


  “Daddy said that I should come help you instead, Mommy.”


  “Oh? Well, we’re almost done with this, so next we’re going to work on getting some more light in here. We should have some beeswax this year. We’ve also got some tallow and some tree nuts, so we’ll spend some time squeezing some oil for the lamp and making a few candles.”


  Just hearing about the work makes me wrinkle my nose. I’ve been smelling the stench of animal fats coming from various other houses lately, but the thought of filling our own kitchen with that stink makes me feel really uneasy.

  Tory heads off to the storage room to start pressing oil out of the nuts. I, however, don’t have enough strength to swing a hammer, so I can’t seek shelter in the storage room with her.

  Next to my mother, our largest saucepan sits over the fire, filled with nothing but beef tallow.

  It stinks!! Hang in there, me…


  I might be able to bear this stench for now, but it looks like the total extent of my mother’s preparation is only just melting the tallow alone and skimming off the impurities that rise to the top.

  “Wait, Mommy, is that really all you’re doing? You’re not going to ‘salt it out’?”


  “Hmm? What was that?”


  Oh, crap. “Salting out” is so extremely obvious, but it looks like she doesn’t know about it.

  I try not to flinch as my mother’s stare drills into me, as if she’s asking me if I really have a problem. As best as I can, I try to explain the process using only simple words.

  “It’s, um… where you add salt water, then you cook it over the fire a little more, and then you strain out the dirt multiple times?”


  “Salt water?” she asks.

  “Yeah. When you leave it alone and it cools down, only the fat on top will harden, and the water on the bottom will stay liquid, you know? Then, you can take out the water, and only use the fat that was on top. It’s more work, but it will smell a lot better, and it’ll be a higher quality fat, too.”


  I don’t know if it’s because I said “higher quality” or not, but my mother starts salting out the tallow. The quality of the candles that we’re going to be burning throughout the entire winter is literally a life-or-death matter for me. We’re going to be trapped indoors with it, after all. Living in a house filled with that kind of stench for the whole winter would be far too much for me to bear.

  I don’t actually know the right concentration of salt we should be using, but even just a little should make things better, right?

  I guessed on the concentration, but as we salted out the tallow, it gradually started turning from a dirty yellow to a pure white. We’ll be able to use this to make candles, and then when spring comes around and we need to make soap, we can melt the candles again and re-use the tallow.

  Not one to waste anything, my mother uses the chunks of meat and bone that we filtered out of the tallow to make a delicious soup stock, which we have for lunch. After that, we start making the candles.

  “Now then,” says my mother. “Tory, please work on the candles. Your father and I will go and start working on the firewood.”


  “Okaay!” says Tory, cheerfully.

  …Uh, what am I supposed to do, then?

  The three of them stand up and get to work. I think about it for a little while, then decide to follow along behind my mother, who’s about to step out the front door. I guess I’m going to continue trying to help her out. She notices me, however, and points firmly back towards the kitchen table.

  “Maine, go help Tory with the candles. Try not to get in the way.”


  “…Fine.”


  Why do you have so little trust in me?

  I turn back to the kitchen, where Tory is cutting string into lots of equal lengths to use as wicks. She ties them to wooden sticks, letting them dangle. She takes each stick and starts to dip the strings into and out of the pot of tallow, one by one. As she dips them over and over, tallow starts to soak into and harden around each string, gradually building in circumference with each repetition. Slowly, candles start to take shape.

  “Huh, so is that how you make candles…” I muse.

  “Maine, don’t just watch, help me!” says Tory, scowling.

  Tory’s starting to get mad, so I decide to help out. I chop up some herbs to erase the scent, then take some candles from the pile so that I can start rolling them in the herbs. They’ll have some effect when they’re stuck to the outside of the candle, but next year, I’m going to make sure that these herbs get mixed in to the tallow as it melts.

  “Maine! Don’t play around!” says Tory.

  “…I’m only going to use these ones. It’s better to have candles that aren’t smelly, right? Please, Tory!”


  “Okay, fine, but only those ones!”


  I nod vigorously to show that Tory’s made herself clear.

  I don’t know if this will work or not, so I wasn’t planning on doing this to every candle anyway. I get the herbs attached to five of the candles, varying the amount and positioning so that I can try to figure out what will produce the best result.

  While Tory and I keep working like that on the candles, our parents work on preparing enough firewood. There’s so much careful preparation that goes into preparing for the winter, but it’s necessary if we don’t want to freeze to death. To supplement the kindling that Tory brought back, my father’s brought back a huge number of logs, each half a meter long, that he went out and purchased. He’s currently splitting them into firewood, his hatchet beating out a steady rhythm as he works. My mother collects the wood as it splits apart, then carries it to another room to stack it up for later.

  “Mommy, where are you taking that?” I ask, startled, as she opens a door to a room I’d never seen before. This is the first time I’ve noticed it, but attached to the storage room is what seems to be an additional storage room. It looks like it might not be used for anything but storing materials that were prepared for the winter. Already, the room is half-filled with chopped wood.

  “Huh?” I ask, following her in. “What’s this room for?”


  “It’s… the winter storage room, you know?” she says. “Maine, why are you asking about this now?”


  Come to think of it, I had been wondering where the heck all of the firewood that Tory had brought back was being stored, but it looks like it’s being kept in here. We typically keep the firewood we use on a day-to-day basis in the storage room, so I guess I just never noticed the other room.

  “…It’s cold.”


  “Well, this is the farthest place in the house from the stove, after all.”


  Our house doesn’t have a dedicated living room with a beautiful fireplace, so the kitchen stove is the only real source of heat in the entire house. We spend most of every day in the kitchen, as a result.

  Also, since the bedroom is separated from the kitchen (and the stove) by a wall, we’ve pushed all of the beds in the room up against the closest wall. While the stove burns, the heat radiates through the wall, so when it’s time for the children to go to bed the beds are quite warm. They’re only warm right when we go to bed, however. Our mother quenches the fire before she goes to bed, so the room is piercingly cold by the time we wake up.

  This winter storage room, however, is the furthest room away from the stove, so it’s very cold in here. During the winter, this room looks like it would be great for storing food, preserves, and maybe even oil for a while, kind of like a natural refrigerator.

  “Wow, we have a lot of wood,” I say, amazed.

  “We might just barely have enough, don’t you think?”


  Even though the room’s half-full?!

  Looking at the pile of firewood before me, I suddenly start thinking about the problem of deforestation. If a single house burns this much firewood over the course of the winter, how much wood does this entire city go through in a single year?

  “Maine, don’t space out,” says my mother. “Make sure you’re ready for your handiwork.”


  I’m not spacing out!! Deforestation is a serious problem that merits significant thought!

  Even as I try to object, my mother’s already heading back out towards the kitchen. I hurry after her. I really don’t want to be in that gloomy, window-less room by myself.

  “Mommy, what’s handiwork?”


  “Hmm… well, the men might do things like repairing the tools they use for their jobs, or maybe use the time to make furniture. We need to make sure we have enough materials ready for that.”


  “Oh, it’s the jobs we do during the winter?”


  As I’m asking my questions, my mother is counting out how many balls of yarn she has. “That’s right. As for women, making clothes is our most important job, you know? If we don’t spin enough thread for weaving cloth or sewing, and if we don’t dye things in advance, we won’t be able to make anything. My job is dyeing thread, so I already have enough of that for now, but I’ll need to spend some time preparing some plants, like nilen, to spin into more thread next year.”


  “Ohh…”


  “On top of that, your sister’s baptism is next summer! We’re going to need brand new clothing for that, since it’s a special day… Hm, and I’m going to need to make that this winter, while I have time…”


  My mother’s face goes fierce as she concentrates, calculating whether or not she’ll have enough materials for the task. I don’t want to interrupt her at all, so I quietly migrate downstairs to the well, where Tory is working.

  “Tory, what are you doing for your handiwork?”


  “I’m making baskets! I’ll sell them in the spring.”


  Tory’s already started preparing the materials she’ll need for her work. She’s brought down a bundle of sticks that she’d gathered in the forest, soaked them, and peeled the bark off. Now, it looks like she’s using a knife to shave them down, parallel to the grain.

  “Maine, what will you do?” she asks.

  “Me? I’m going to make some 'pseudo-papyrus’.”


  “What’s that?”


  “Eheheh, it’s a seeeecret!”


  Following Tory’s example in getting a head start on my winter’s work, I’ll start separating the fibers I’ll need to make my pseudo-papyrus. This is an extremely important part of my preparation! This is a necessary task that nobody could possibly get mad at me about.

  To extract the fibers, I can probably do something similar to what Tory’s doing. I’ll strip the skin off of the grass stalks, soak them in water, and then dry them. Since there’s not very much time left to finish our preparations, I wasn’t able to get a whole lot of grass. Now, though, I can finally start working on separating out these plant fibers.

  “Hey, Tory,” I say, “can I get some water?”


  “…Sure.”


  “Hey, Tory,” I say, “how do you think I should take just the fibers out of this?”


  “Huh? Ummmm…”


  “Hey, Tory,” I say, “these won’t fly away if I dry them like this, right?”


  “……”


  I bundle up the plant fibers that I’ve managed to extract. There aren’t a whole lot of them, but for the purposes of my experiments I should be able to make maybe one or two pages with this amount.

  And, so, I conclude my final preparations for the coming winter. Whoof, man, I worked hard!

  Huh? Why’s Tory looking so exasperated?

  Volume 7 10: Doom Befalls (Part 1)

  “Sister Myne, shall we look for a new attendant now that Delia has been dismissed?”


  “How soon will we need one?”


  Winter was over so I was no longer staying in the temple, so I had thought that we weren’t busy enough to need another attendant to resume Delia’s duties.

  “As soon as possible.”


  Fran had more time to sleep and help Gil with the physical chores now that he didn’t need to look after Dirk. Rosina didn’t help out with the chores because she didn’t want to hurt her fingers, so Fran urged to find someone to replace Delia as soon as possible.

  “Pardon my rudeness, we all know that you are quite softhearted and will not stop worrying about Delia. It would put my heart at ease if you find someone else to accompany you which will help you take your mind off Delia.”


  I didn’t speak back because he had hit it right on the mark. Fran must have noticed how I kept looking across the room to search for Delia. Anyways, Fran was right. I couldn’t let Fran and Rosina keep worrying about me because of Delia. I should care more for those who stayed with me than the one who left.

  I sighed and dipped my gaze, “…If I had to choose one of the gray shrine maidens, how about Monica and Nikola?”


  The two helped Ella with the meals last winter. Wilma had praised them for their work so I knew that they were hardworkers that could help with the chores and meal preparations for the kitchen.

  Furthermore, the italian restaurant was about to be opened so all the chefs except Ella would be leaving. Ella wanted to stay behind to learn more recipes and I already arranged for it to happen with Benno’s permission. I was more than happy to let Ella stay behind since we needed someone to teach the new chefs that Benno was going to send over. Monica and Nikola would also work well with Ella since they already did so last winter.

  “Monica and Nikola? Sister Myne, would that not be a strain on you?” Fran whispered to me, expressing his worries about my finances.

  Taking on two new attendants might be quite a financial burden for this season, but it would be already since we had lots of orders for the games we made over the winter, and we would be earning much more if the picture books continued to sell.

  “They were helped out lots over the winter, right? It wouldn’t be fair if I only chose one of the to be my attendant. Anyways, it would be much better to hire them both.”


  “Sister Myne, you need not be considerate of the feelings of the gray shrine maidens.”


  Rosina smiled looking a little confused. However, life in the orphanage and as an attendant was very different. I couldn’t pick one of them with that in mind.

  “Well working with them would be much better now that Delia is gone,” Fran chimed in.

  “Shall I bring them over now?”


  “Yes, please. They are new to the job so it would do us well if they start their training as soon as possible. Fran, could I get you to train them?”


  I intended to let them adjust to their work before the rest of the staff in the kitchen left for the Italian restaurant. Since Rosina couldn’t bear to hurt her fingers to show them how to clean the place, either Fran or Gil had to teach them. It would be a little difficult if Fran wasn’t free to help.

  “Rosina has been a great help with the paperwork so I have some time to do so.”


  “Alright, please let Wilma now and we’ll go to the orphanage tomorrow.”


  After settling the time for tomorrow’s meeting, there was a sudden knock on the door. My attendants would usually enter the room without knocking and everyone else in the temple, including the High Priest and his attendants, would use a bell. Only Lutz and Tuuli, and others from the lower city, would knock on the door.

  “Lutz is already here? He’s early today.”


  The fifth bell had just rung. I walked to the stairs and looked down it towards the door on the first floor, Fran, on the other hand, went downstairs to greet them. Damuel opened the door with a wary look. Lutz was standing outside the door, along with Tuuli.

  “Welcome, please come it.” Fran greeted them and was about to close the door when I heard Gil’s tell from a distance, “Wait a moment!”


  Fran held the door for a while and I was greeted my the sight of Gil running into the room, panting hard.

  “Tuuli, why are you here?”


  “We’re here to take you back home, Myne.” Tuuli grinned at me who was running down the stairs.

  “Remember that things are dangerous right now? Well, I’m going to protect you, Myne!” she boasted while puffing her chest.

  Gil stood upright and puffed his chest too, and shouted out as though he was competing with her, “I’ll protet you, Sister Myne! It’s my job as your attendant!”


  “Thank you for the concern, both of you, but that would make it harder for my bodyguard to work.”


  I glanced at Damuel who looked a little annoyed at having to look after so many children.

  “…Yes, it would be much more dangerous if I had to protect more people.”


  “Huh? I apologise on their behalf, Sir Damuel. Tuuli wasn’t aware about it.”


  We couldn’t do much about it now that everyone was already here. It was a little early but I decided to head home with everyone. Rosina helped me out of my robes and into my casual clothes so that I could leave the temple.

  “Fran, please pass the message to the orphanage. I will make my leave now.”


  “As you wish. Please stay safe.”


  ~~~

  We left the temple with Lutz and Gil walking in the front, Damuel at the back, with me and Tuuli in the middle.

  “Thank you for this Tuuli, but I think it’s best for you to not walk me home,” I said.

  “Why?”


  “If something bad were to happen, Sir Damuel will have to jump in to protect me. Things might get more risky if he has to protect us both.”


  Damuel might be a fully-trained knight but that didn’t make him omnipotent. In fact, he was stuck here because he needed to guard me. When things get dangerous, his priority would be my safety, and he might not be able to protect Tuuli if the situation worsens. He might even resort to abandoning her to flee with me, and I didn’t want to think of the possibility of Tuuli being taken as a hostage to threaten us.

  “Frankly, you’re more likely to get injured than me.”


  “…I understand.” Tuuli pouted and frowned.

  I could tell she wanted to tell me that she was more than capable to protect me and herself, but her sulking wasn’t going to make me give in to her. Tuuli was more important than my well-being, I couldn’t bare to see her get injured.

  We walked through the central plaza and walked south towards the Artisan’s Street and made a last turn, after which it would be a straight walk home. We took a side path that was less crowded compared to the main road, and then we ran into Otto. He was holding onto a spear and was watching the area, he seemed to be on a patrol.

  “Good afternoon, Otto. We haven’t seen each other for some time.”


  “Myne!”


  Otto smiled when he saw me.

  “It’s good to see that you’re safe. You have no idea how worried I was thinking about the captain beating me up if you weren’t fine.”


  It felt quite worrying to see him this unnerved. It made me wonder if he had ever done something before that tempted Dad to beat him.

  “…Otto, did you do something?”


  “Hey, it’s not my fault. Blame the commander of the guards at the east gate and the other guards,” Otto responded with a shrug.

  He explained that he had been occupied with all the paperwork in the office when the guards on duty along with the commander had done something that made Dad want to beat them up, so much so that he was now here because of their mistakes.

  “In the afternoon, captain told the other commanders at the other gates to gather at the central plaza to pass an important message.:

  “Huh?” I was surprised to hear that.

  Dad probably wanted to tell them that the archduke was out of the duchy and that there were not to be any other entries for nobles. That felt like a bad premonition.

  Otto continued to explain how Dad had arrived to work much earlier than his afternoon shift. He had gone to the commander to tell him about what was going on and that they needed to call a meeting with the other commanders at the plaza. He conveyed to them what Damuel had told him, to watch out for any forged passes because the archduke was absent, after which he returned back to the east gate.

  “It was just that the east gate had already let a noble through before the captain returned. The commander had yet to instruct the guards so they were completely unaware of the fact that the pass might be a forged one. It was only when it was time for captain’s shift that did he discover this. He yelled at the commander about it before running out to the temple to check on you. Did you not run into him?”


  I shot my head up to look at Damuel, I could only think about how a noble had gotten pass the gates and not that I didn’t see that. Damuel looked shocked too.

  “They went through?! It can’t be but was it the noble who tried to enter a few days ago?”


  “That’s right. I’m surprised that you know this much, yes, it was the same noble. All the guards at the east gate have been dispatched to search for them, but we haven’t found a trace yet. Could they be in the Noble’s District? If that’s so, I suppose they would have run into the knights at the north gate,” Otto said.

  It seemed that despite the archduke having forbidden the entry of nobles from outside the city into the duchy, not all soldiers shared the same sense of danger and urgency. It seemed apparent that the soldiers remained ignorant of any possible dangers even through the archduke had warned that no noble from the outside where to enter the duhcy.

  “Have you reported this to the Knight’s Order?!” Damuel was fuming and extremely agitated, but Otto remained unbothered and said. “…Probably, I guess? The commander might have done it, but then again the captain ran out before he could tell them.:

  “You should have reported this right away, you idiot!” Damuel whipped out his wand just as he scolded Otto for his carelessness. He didn’t respond to Otto who was surprised by his wand and muttered out a “What? Wait a second, you’re a noble?”, instead he sent out a red beacon into the sky that was used to call for help.

  The knights will be here soon, I sighed in relied at the sight of the red light in the sky just when Tuuli was pulled away from me.

  “Huh? Tu—” I didn’t finish my words when something rough and opaque went over my head, after which I began floating in the air.

  “Ah!!!”


  Volume 6 10: Rumtopf and Shoes

  According to the calendar, it was almost spring so the number of blizzards was dying down, but the cold was still ruthless that it did not feel anything like spring outside. Anyways, less blizzards would mean that Tuuli could visit more often. The day I could return home was fast approaching and I was so excited.

  One day, Tuuli brought with her a small bottle.

  “Hey, Myne. You said that this could be eaten when winter comes, what should we do with it now? We didn’t know what to do with it, so Mum told me to ask you.”


  She placed the bottle on the table and opened it. The distinct smell of alcohol hit me straight in the face. Inside the jar were some fruits soaking in wine, it was the rumtopf I had been fermenting at home. I gave an excited exclaim, I had forgotten how much effort I spent trying to make this during the summer

  “Ooohhh! Since we already have sugar and honey here, and the homemade jam, this slipped off my mind!”


  “…I knew it.”


  The rumtopf that was made from various fruits steeped in wine was finally finished. The once sharp edges of the fruit had disintegrated in the wine, and it now looked round. It was ready to be eaten, but what would be the best way to prepare it?

  “This is hard. I made this thinking that I could make some ice cream or pudding to complement it, but parue cakes are the most convenient pastries to make at home.”


  I made all these plans back during the summer, that was before I found out that I had to spend my whole winter in the temple. I was going to trade some sugar and the rumtopf at Lutz’s place for some eggs, milk, and labor needed for my ice cream and pudding. They would be eaten with some chopped-up rumtopf garnished on top. But that was not possible to do at Lutz place now so I needed an alternative for my family to eat it.

  “We can just eat these with parue cakes?” Tuuli asked.

  “You have to cut the fruits into smaller bits. You and Mom can eat the fruit, Dad will be happy with the leftover wine. If you want something else other than parue cakes, it goes well with French toast too! You remember that we ate that before, right? And, um… And there’s also…”


  Rumtopf was usually eaten with the traditional German bread stollen, but our home didn’t have an oven to bake bread.

  “Myne, calm down. Is there anything we can make here to eat with it? We can’t make parue cakes here, right?”


  “…Right.”


  I did not want Ella to find out the recipe for the parue cakes, so if we wanted her help we could not make them here. But if we made them in the kitchen in the girls’ building, we did not have enough rumptof for all the orphans.

  “That’s tough. Stollen is the usual pairing, but that takes too much time. Hmm… Maybe we can get Ella to make crepes instead?”


  “…You don’t mind others knowing the recipe?” Tuuli knew that my recipes were a secret. They had been saved for both the Italian restaurant and Freida, so she was a little worried.

  “It should be ok. I’ve already saw something like crepes here so…”


  I was thinking about the meat pies that resembled galettes, they were simply made with beef, mushroom, cheese, and other ingredients in buckwheat dough. They were sold in restaurants as a light snack. However, no desserts that used the galette were sold. At least, not to my knowledge. After all, the people from the lower city only cared about filling themselves rather than eating tasty pastries.

  “Fran, how long would it take for you to make some cream?”“Since the weather is quite cold, it should not take long. How much will you need?”


  I looked back and saw that Fran was holding onto his diptych, ready to take notes.

  Because the fat would separate from the natural milk when kept cold, making cream was not a difficult task as long as you had the milk. Though you had to be careful to make sure not too much water is lost or it would turn into cream with curdled bits.

  “A cup of cream and a cup of milk, please.”


  Galettes can be made with the buckwheat flour in the kitchen’s pantry, but I prefer plain crepes.

  Nobles usually used sugar to make pastries, therefore it would be better to make noble-esque food in my kitchen than to mimic those in the lower city. So, we were going to make crepes with whipped cream and minced rumtopf.

  Fran went to the temple’s noble area to get some cream from the ice room that he told me where they were kept in, in the meantime I would write down the crepe recipe. Ella will have to make the crepes totally from scratch while following my instructions throughout.

  “Hey, Tuuli, what’s that food called… uhm…you know the one where people make the batter by mixing buckwheat flour, water and salt, then they cook it with ham and cheese?”


  “Oh, buchretes1?”


  “I think that’s it.”


  I did not know what they called galettes here, so I just wrote “make it thin like a buchrete.”


  Just as I was about done writing the recipe, Fran was back with two jars each filled with milk and cream. He passed them to the kitchen before coming up to the second floor, and received the board with the recipe.

  “Fran, please tell Ella to make this. She has to cook it like buchretes, and that she only needs to cook the batter part plain. She should be able to understand that. After that, please put them on a plate and bring it here.”


  “Understood.”


  Fran received the board from me, at the same time, Tuuli stood up with the rumtopf jar.

  “Um, Fran. May I see Ella cook? I want to help out, if needed!”


  It was obvious that Tuuli was curious about professional chefs, so I tried to help her.

  “Fran, Tuuli is quite familiar with the food I make and won’t cause any trouble. Ask Ella whether she would be interested in working with her. I would like to go too, but I am afraid it would make everyone too nervous to work well. I will stay here while you look after Tuuli.”


  Making sweets together was something girly and, to me, it seemed really fun. Ella had been cooking all winter with the help of Nicola and Monika, and they always seemed to be having fun even when they talked during their breaks. I wished I could join Tuuli in the kitchen, but as an apprentice blue shrine maiden, that was not likely so I had to remain seated.

  “So rich girls have it tough, huh?” Tuuli looked at me with sympathy, she knew I had no freedom in my own room.

  I nodded back at her. I was the odd one out in the temple because I came from a different place, so having someone who could empathize with my circumstances was a relief.

  “Uh huh. Looks matter to everyone here.”


  “…Looks, so your socks too?”


  We both looked down at my feet at the same time. Then we looked back at each other and laughed. It was difficult to pretend to be a rich noble girl.

  “What was that about your socks, Sister Myne?” Delia walked in after Tuuli and Fran went to the kitchen, her eyes shining with intrigue. Delia usually scooted over when the conversation turned to clothes or hair, and I couldn’t help smiling.

  “We were just laughing about how the socks were so cold.”


  My socks were thin and went halfway up my thighs, they were tied up with a string since this world did not have any rubber. When I got dressed in the temple every morning, the first thing I did was put a cloth around my waist. After that, I put on my socks and fastened them to the belt with strings. It basically resembled a garter belt.

  After that, I wore thin culotte-like clothes that went below my knees. Strings sewed at the edges of the cloth at my knees, which let me tighten them around my legs. It was not an underwear I enjoyed wearing because it felt breezy compared to those I wore as Urano. To finish off, I wore a shirt.

  But of course, I could not expose my legs. Exposing one’s legs was something despicable and shameful to the rich, even more so for the nobles, so everyone there would always wear socks. Covering up was vital to one’s self-image and dignity, so anyone who did not wear socks was seen as an embarrassment.

  I began wearing socks with the Gilberta Company’s apprentice clothes, and in the temple, all the priests and shrine maidens wore socks yoo.

  “…Sister Myne, why did you say the socks are cold?”


  “It’s not like the socks of the lower city which are made to be more practical.”


  Socks were made for comfort, not looks. They were not worn in the summer. Only during the winter, we would wear bag-like socks made out of wool over our feet and they only reached to our ankles. Instead, we wore wool leg warmers to cover our knees and sometimes a layer of pants for more warmth.

  “But Tuuli’s socks don’t look fashionable,” Delia complained.

  “Indeed so. But some rather choose warmth over fashion.”


  “…If you want to feel warmth, why don’t you get boots?”


  Nobles cared so much about their appearances and fashion sense that they did not wear wool leg warmers. Instead, they chose to wear knee-high fur-edged boots. Those boots did look warm.

  I was not aware that leg warmers were not allowed in the temple, and I was broke enough let alone getting boots. Instead, I wore the Gilberta Company apprentices’ short leather boots that allowed for easier movement.

  “If I were an adult, I could hide them under a long skirt…”


  When I tried to put on leg warmers to keep warm, Rosina stopped me. My skirts were shorter and they exposed my knees, leg warmers would be seen. I was so disappointed that I sighed, but this made Delia raise her brows and give me a harsh look.

  “Geez! You just don’t care about fashion, even if nobody sees it!”


  Wow… Delia’s is crazy about fashion.

  Warmth over fashion for me, but as they said ‘when in Rome and so as the Romans do’.

  “I will take in mind to get taller boots for next winter. I do not want to fall sick from the cold again.”


  “That would be for the best.”


  “You need to get some new shoes soon, Sister Myne,” Rosina interrupted, as she took a break from her work. “You do not own stylish, high-end shoes that are a necessity for a proper lady. Please consider sending a request to Master Benno to seek a shoemaker.”


  She warned me that I might find myself in a pickle if I only brought a pair of plain shoes with me for the upcoming Spring Prayer.

  “We still have enough time to get them before Spring Prayer, that is if you order them now.”


  “Rosina, please continue to advise me on matters like this so that I am better prepared.”


  “Yes, I will do my best to do so. I was just not sure what you already had and lacked, Sister Myne.”


  Rosina had no idea about the fact that I only owned one pair of shoes. She just assumed that I had been wearing different shoes of the same design, it was only after I entered the temple did she discover the glaring truth.

  There are two common types of shoes in the lower city. First was the shabby wooden shoes that the poor wore, next was the leather ones worn by the rich. As a last resort, those who could not afford wooden shoes would wrap their feet with rag or go barefoot, both of which was not rare right

  Up until I had my Gilberta Company apprentice attire, I always wore wooden shoes and never thought about getting new shoes before the old ones broke. Despite the fact that I had owned multiple pairs of shoes for different occasions throughout my Urano days, my new circumstance gave me a whole new perspective on shoes.

  I opened my diptych and noted to “Ask Benno to order shoes”.

  “All right, Sister Myne! Which leather are you interested in? Horse leather? Or pig leather? Oh, and just in case, how about getting a pair of cotton ones too?” Delia’s eyes twinkled with glee. When it came to fashion, she was quite ready to bite.

  But, unfortunately for her, I knew nothing about fashion so I did not have the prior knowledge to decide what shoes I needed to buy, nor did I know what designs were in trend or other matters like what materials were most commonly used. My objective was to let Rosina make the decision and learn from her.

  “Rosina will be in charge of designing my shoes. Please order ones I will most likely need for future events. If it were up to me, I would probably get the same ones I already own.”


  “Understood. Please leave it up to me.”


  Rosina explained to me what shoes were worn for what occasions. Soon after, Fran and Tuuli returned from the kitchen with plates. One was full with fresh white cream, the other with minced rumtopf.

  “Delia, please prepare the tea.”


  “Understood.”


  With Fran’s instruction, Delia left for the kitchen. Tuuli and Fran placed the cutlery neatly on the table, they returned to the kitchen again and came back with another plate with two round and freshly made crepes. Each for me and Tuuli.

  “Sorry for the wait, Sister Myne.”


  Fran placed the dish on the table for me. The crepes looked identical to the ones I was familiar with, a delicious smell swirled around my nostrils and it made me smile

  “I helped cut these!” Tuuli exclaimed with pride and she pointed at the rumtopf. She began reiterating how good Tuuli was at cooking and how much effort her helpers had put into it

  “Sorry Fran, would you mind bringing over some honey too? Oh, please ask Ella if she could come up too.”


  “May I ask why?”


  “I want to teach her how to nicely decorate these sweets. So that she can make the whole thing by herself in the future.”


  Fran was not comfortable with the idea of bringing a chef to the second floor but I did not want Ella to misunderstand that the recipe was over after making the crepe.

  “Sister Myne, you can show me what comes next, I will teach her the remaining steps.”


  “Then watch carefully, Fran.”


  With everyone watching me, I used a spoon to get some cream and smoothed it over one-sixth of the half of the fan-like crepe that was closer to me. After that I used the spoon to sprinkle the rumtopf.

  “Spread the cream into a triangle on half of the crepe that is closer to you. To make it better, make sure the layer of cream is a little thin. Then, on top of the cream, sprinkle the rumtopf, it’s better with more. Rumtopf can be replaced with whatever fruit is in season, so this recipe is very flexible.”


  I topped it up with some honey before finishing up with folding and rolling the crepe.

  “You can eat the crepe with your hands if you do it this way. If you prefer using silverware like a noble, simply fold it instead of rolling it up. Then all you have to do is finish it up with cream, fruit, and honey.”


  I unrolled the crepe and scooped some cream beside it, garnishing it with some rumtopf and honey decoration to make it look cute.

  Fran kept blinking in surprise at the final product.

  “…This certainly looks something like the nobles would enjoy.”


  “Amazing, it’s so cute! It must taste good, Myne!” Tuuli was giddy with anticipation and began prepping her own crepe.

  Delia was curiously observing, but she had to wait till after we had eaten before she could try some. I found it unfortunate that my attendants could not eat with me, but it was a rule set in stone and I had no control over it.

  “It’s done!” Tuuli declared with a contented voice as she examined her product. She was quite talented to have made such a nice dish despite this being her first time decorating.

  “I offer thanks and prayers to thee, O mighty King and Queen of the eternal sky who have graced us with thousands and thousands of lives for sustenance, thee O mighty Immortal Five who look over the mortal realm, I shall be grateful to partake in this blessed meal.”


  I cut a mouthful of the crepe without any cream and brought it to my mouth. The crepe was soft and not too sweet, and it was not too crispy at the edges. I continued to cut off another part with cream. The cream and the crepe’s supple texture did not taste that sweet, but paired with the honey it now had the perfect amount of sweetness. I relished the taste before adding on some rumtopf. As I bit into the soft fruit, my mouth washed over with the distinct alcohol taste and pleasant sweetness.

  “How is it, Tuuli?”


  “It’s delicious, Myne!” Tuuli’s lips curled into a delighted smile and it was dirtied with cream.

  “Tuuli, your mouth has cream on it.”


  “They are just too hard to eat.”


  Using silverware to eat crepes required considerable finesse. Tuuli’s fight with the crepe concluded with her mouth covered with cream, this made me smile. Food tastes so much better when you share it with others.

  “This is the best. Next off, I want to eat caramel custard. Let’s see if we can try making it the next time you visit Tuuli?”


  “New pastries? Yesss! I’ll look forward to it!”


  I really wanted to return home as soon as possible so that I could share these delectable treats and this wonderful joy with my entire family once more.