Chapter 3

After the orientation for external students ended, I headed towards the salon in the East Wing where Lady Sara and the others were. It seems the external students were all going somewhere together. No one invited me. Even if someone had, I couldn't afford to go to a store because of my poverty...

The East Wing is a postmodern-style building. Was it built in the 80s? It stands out in the school. The other buildings are more classical. When I entered the East Wing, a middle-aged man at the reception desk on the left stopped me.

"Who is your introduction from?"

Is this a salon that requires an introduction? It seems to be a place that doesn't welcome strangers.

"It's from Lady Hongo Sara. My name is Kujou Reiko."

The receptionist checked his notebook and told me that Lady Sara and the others were in room 305 on the third floor. I didn't use the elevator but climbed the spiral staircase. It felt like the stairs in an old European apartment I had seen in a movie. However, it strangely harmonized with the modern interior. This must be postmodern architecture!

When I knocked on the door of room 305, Lady Sara greeted me.

"I've been waiting for you!"

"Thank you for inviting me."

The room where Lady Sara and Lady Futaba were had a simple layout with a sofa, a table, and a chessboard. There was a TV and some games too. I had imagined a lavish Rococo-style room, but it was uniformly modern. Oh, this sofa!

"Is this a Cassina sofa?"

I blurted out without thinking. When I was in middle school, I used to spend every day at the town library because I didn't want to be at home. I would leave my grandmother, who had dementia, with Fuki. I would gaze at books on various paintings and interiors. It was a beautiful world. I was escaping from reality.

Especially during my second year of middle school, it was tough. Fuki was flustered by my grandmother's dementia, and my grandmother treated Fuki like a thief. The only saving grace was that my grandmother always cursed in French. I loved Fuki so much, but I left the care of my grandmother to her. When I saw Fuki being hit with a bamboo ruler by my grandmother, I finally stopped running away. Fuki had always been patient, for my sake.

"Lady Reiko! You're spacing out again!"

I could hear Lady Sara's voice. I might look like I'm spacing out, but I can hear everything.

"I'm sorry. Since I'm basically alone, I try to keep my monologues in my head, but it ends up like this."

When I explained, Lady Sara looked like she was about to cry and looked down. Yes, being alone is a powerful word. The kids in middle school used to call it "bocchi." Bocchi, bocchi, bocchi. I think it has a rather cute ring to it.

"Oh, please don't worry! Lady Sara, please smile!"

"That's right, if Sara looks sad, Lady Reiko will be troubled too, right?"

When Lady Futaba said this, Lady Sara looked up.

"I'm actually fine. I don't need sympathy. And about how to address me, no honorifics are necessary. Please just call me Reiko. According to Sakura Yurika, I'm apparently a villainous lady, but I'm just a commoner, no, a very poor person."

"Then how about Reiko-chan?"

"Futaba, that's not your call!"

They argued back and forth, but in the end, they settled on Reiko-chan.

"Then please call me Sara-chan."

Lady Sara said this with a red face and a pout.

"No, that might be disrespectful to the internal students."

"We don't care about being internal or external students. It's just the people around us who do. Sara has a grumpy personality, so she's easily misunderstood."

Lady Sara crossed her arms and turned her head away.

"I don't like being looked down on, whether by internal or external students. There's no distinction."

"Well, that's why Sara doesn't have any friends."

Lady Sara nudged Lady Futaba.

"Sara, that hurts! I don't have friends, but I have a wide network. After all, I'm the granddaughter of the chairman of HONGO Pharmaceuticals and the president's daughter."

"Oh, you're the granddaughter who developed that new immunosuppressant!"

Two years ago, a new immunosuppressant was developed and entered clinical trials, as reported in the news. HONGO Pharmaceuticals is one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world.

"That's right. That's why all sorts of people try to get close to me. Sara's grumpy personality is a result of that."

"Then did you think I was trying to get close to you too?"

Lady Sara shook her head.

"If you knew about me, you wouldn't ask where the infirmary is."

"Hehe, that's true. I did something presumptuous."

I laughed. Lady Sara, the tsundere lady, seems rather awkward. On the other hand, Lady Futaba seems more adept at handling the situation.

"Let's go to the cafe for lunch, Reiko-chan."

"I have a bento, but is it okay to go to the cafe?"

"Huh? We'll treat you to lunch."

Lady Futaba is very generous. He's offering to buy me lunch even though we've only known each other for a day. However, I have a bento.

"I appreciate it, but it would be sad to waste my bento."

Lady Futaba looked surprised. He probably didn't expect me to refuse. At this time of year, it's questionable whether my bento will last until evening, so I want to eat it now.

"Then let's go with your bento!"

Lady Sara grabbed my arm and led me out of the salon room. Lady Futaba came along too.

The first-floor cafe terrace is only accessible to salon members. Salon members are students who have the right to use the salon, which requires a certain amount of donation and must be internal students from the elementary school. Since I don't have the qualifications to enter the salon, I was only able to go in because Lady Sara, a salon member, invited me.

"What a stylish cafe!"

It's different from the organic cafe that replaced Snack Akemi. I've never been to the organic cafe, but I see it on my way. The decor here is amazing. The table we sat at had a Gallé lamp.

"Is that Gallé lamp a real one?"

I hesitantly asked, and Lady Futaba replied, somewhat exasperated, that it was definitely real. What is normal here? I can't afford to replace it if it breaks. I'm too scared to come to this cafe in the future. Besides, I don't have the right to use it, and I don't have the financial means to eat here. Surprisingly, the menu doesn't have prices. Is it like the market price at a sushi restaurant? I've never been to a sushi restaurant, but that's what I've learned from books and from Mariko and Fuki.

They each ordered light meals, probably considering that I had a bento. Looking at the other tables, dishes were being brought one after another. It seemed to be a course menu. Don't underestimate the light meals. Lady Sara's sandwich and Lady Futaba's baguette sandwich were beautifully arranged. In front of these luxurious lunches, I took out my bento box with mountain vegetables and tamagoyaki, and a rice ball wrapped in bamboo leaves. The bamboo leaves were from last year's harvest. I plan to collect more this year.

"Itadakimasu."

I thanked the mountain's bounty and the rice from the landlord. The eggs were from the supermarket. I can't manage self-sufficiency. Lady Sara and Lady Futaba looked at me with wide eyes.

"Oh, did my poor bento surprise you? These mountain vegetables are from the back mountain."

It must be something they've never experienced.

"Did you make this bento all by yourself? Hey, can I trade one of these rice balls for one of your sandwiches? The rice ball wrapped in bamboo leaves looks like something from a fairy tale."

Lady Futaba handed me an open-faced sandwich with black caviar and grabbed a rice ball.

"That's not fair, Futaba! Trade with me too!"

Lady Sara asked the waiter to bring a plate to trade her sandwich, which was filled with prosciutto. I gave Lady Sara a rice ball first and ate the open-faced sandwich Lady Futaba gave me. It was the first time I had tasted caviar. I couldn't tell if it was delicious, but the bread was definitely high-quality. It was very fragrant. This is excellent bread! It's a bread festival!

"This rice ball is delicious! I'll take Sara's too."

"No way! This is mine."

I ate the prosciutto sandwich Lady Sara gave me. The tomatoes and lettuce were fresh, and the cream cheese was delicious. Oh, delicious food is wonderful.

"These open-faced sandwiches and sandwiches were delicious. Thank you for your consideration."

I thanked them for their thoughtfulness. If they hadn't traded their sandwiches for my rice balls, I wouldn't have known the taste of the cafe's sandwiches.

"What are you talking about?"

"What are you talking about?"

They looked at me with puzzled faces. So I explained that thanks to the trade, I was able to taste the delicious sandwiches from the cafe.

"We didn't do it out of consideration. Your rice ball looked really delicious. It was really good!"

"Really, it's so good! I want more!"

Unfortunately, I only brought two rice balls.

"Thank you for the compliment. I think it's because the rice is freshly milled. If you'd like, I can make more."

"Then can I eat this side dish too?"

"Sure, I don't know if you'll like it, though."

I thought they wouldn't like poor people's food, but their reaction was unexpected.

"It's really good!"

"Really, it's a refined taste."

Refined? Since Fuki taught me how to cook, it must be the refined taste of the Kujou family's chef. They both finished the mountain vegetables and tamagoyaki in my bento box.

"Itadakimasu."

"Make more next time!"

"Even though it's a bold request, can I ask you to make more?"

My poor cooking seemed to be well-received. I think they found it delicious because it was novel.

"Sure, if there's an opportunity. If you let me know in advance, I'll make extra bento."

I've always eaten alone, so just sharing a table with someone makes me feel happy. I hope we can have lunch together again.

"Let's go to Mr. Ichijo's office and hear about Sakura Yurika."

"Thank you, Lady Sara."

"It's fine, we're friends, right?"

Lady Sara said this and turned her head away. On the way to the infirmary, she told Lady Futaba about this morning's incident.

"Sakura Yurika. She's snobbish and has a bad personality, but I don't think she's strange."

It seems that Lady Sakura Yurika has recently become strange. I hope she gets better soon.

"This morning, when I got out of the car, I met that woman. She saw us and muttered 'patsy' under her breath!"

"Probably not me, but about you, Sara."

"How rude!"

What's going on in Lady Sakura Yurika's head? What does she mean by "patsy"?

"An angry Sara is cute, but a smiling Sara is even cuter."

"Hey! Oh, right, call me Sara-chan as we agreed."

Lady Sara blushed again. Her shy face is cute. Lady Futaba was teasing her as we arrived at the infirmary.

After this, we would hear a mysterious story from Mr. Ichijo.