Chapter 48: Anne’s Ingenious Idea

"Wh-What in the moons is the meaning of this?"

By the time the matter came to light, there were only four days left until the swordsmanship tournament. After making her way to the best lunchbox store in town, Mia came face to face with the harsh reality of her situation.

"Sorry, but that day's a no go. Every store around here is already up to their eyes in orders. I doubt there's a place that can take another one."

She cursed her own carelessness. After hearing from her entourage that when it came to lunchboxes, "it's all about the personal touch," she decided to try ordering it herself without consulting Anne. She'd dealt with merchants when she was in Tearmoon, and she'd watched Ludwig place orders with suppliers before. Having seen it done, she figured it'd be a cinch to do herself. Her confidence, however, ultimately betrayed her.

Oh merciful moons, what should I do?!

Hearing that the stores had all stopped taking orders caused her to break out in a cold sweat.

M-Maybe if I pay them more... Yes, if I brought enough gold...

Throwing money at a problem was indeed the simplest solution. Show someone enough coins, and they could probably be convinced to prioritize her order. However...

No, I can't do that.

Mia immediately dismissed the thought. After dining together a few times, she'd come to understand that the academy's reigning authority, Rafina Belluga, was a scrupulous character.

She could, in theory, force a store to serve her through sheer might of money. While selfish, she might get away with it if the store staff simply worked longer hours. If the store ended up cancelling someone else's order to make room for hers, however... it would ruin Rafina's opinion of her. She could already see the contempt in Rafina's eyes as she vowed to never speak to her again.

"What... What a terrifying thought!"

In an attempt to avoid such a fate, she thought and thought, but no good ideas came. In the end...

"A-Anne!"

...She had no choice but to run back to her room and ask her loyal maid for help. Seeing her master burst through the door close to tears gave Anne quite the start.

"Milady, please calm down."

After being told of the situation, Anne immediately sprang to action.

Okay, first order of business should be to ask around in the market and get some more information...

While Mia was having fun at school, Anne had been steadily expanding their network of connections. She'd started with the academy staff. Through them, she got to know the merchants who did business with the academy. Next, she asked those merchants to introduce her to even more merchants. She paid frequent visits to the town, and the people in the market all knew her by name. By making use of her vast network of connections, she'd gotten a complete grasp of the situation.

"I see. This is indeed a tricky problem."

The kind of extravagantly-packed lunchbox Mia had in mind was very hard to find in stores around here to begin with. Lunchboxes were packed with the intention of being taken somewhere else and eaten. They were often necessary when traveling long distances, so they were usually comprised of foods that kept well. For the common populace, lunchboxes meant things like jerky and dried bread that traded in taste for resistance to spoilage. In fact, their contents didn't change much among noble circles either. Again, the primary concern was to make sure eating the food wouldn't cause the runs. Safety and nutrition were priorities. Taste was an afterthought. Consequently, the market simply didn't have products like "lunchboxes packed with delicious foods that would win the heart of the boy you liked." Such a demand was rare. Regular folks weren't going to pay money for things like that, and the academy's students didn't need them often either. Only a handful of stores actually prepared them, and by now, none of them were in any position to accept new orders.

"So basically, what we're missing is manpower." Anne let out a sigh of relief. At the very least, it wasn't the worst-case scenario. The thing she'd feared the most was a shortage of ingredients. If she couldn't procure the physical ingredients with which to make the food, she might as well have called it a day right then and there.

"In that case..."

After making the rounds in the market and placing orders for ingredients, she returned to Mia.

"H-How did it go, Anne? Did you figure anything out?" asked Mia as she clung anxiously to Anne's arms.

"I think so," replied Anne with a nod. "Things might work out after all."

The concern on Mia's face gave way to relief.

"Oh, thank the moons! I knew I could count on you, Anne! I assume you found a store that would do it for us?"

"No, milady. None of them can."

Mia paled again.

"Th-Then what do we do?"

"We make it," said Anne as she turned to Mia with a look of determination. "We'll do it ourselves."

"...Huh?"

Mia's mouth hung open for a moment before Anne took her hands up in her own.

"Come on, I'll help you. We'll have you personally prepare a lunchbox for Prince Abel."

"P-Prepare it... myself?"

It goes without saying that Mia had never cooked in her life.

"Yes. You might not know, but among ordinary folks, people often get excited when a husband brings in an especially nice lunchbox his wife made him. It's like a show of love. Women's cooking, you see, is a source of happiness for men," said Anne, nodding to herself with the air of someone who'd just said something very wise.

"I-Is that how it works? I see... By the way, Anne, would you happen to be well-versed in the art of cooking?"

"...I've baked bread before."

The implication of those words was not lost on Mia. She could smell the impending danger.

Gaaah! We're doomed!