kscans

Chapter 9 - You are Everyone's Kobito-san

"Sowwy."

"It's alright, Chihiro. I won't take you to the castle anymore. You don't have to come to the kitchens either, if you don't want to."

The Kobito-san was kneeling formally on the bed, her head bowed to the mattress. It was essentially a prostration, but because her body was so small, she just looked like she was squatting.

"It was my fault. I didn't realize how much you hated the castle. Now that I think about it, it's the place where you were nearly killed. It's only natural that you'd hate it."

Drago paced around the bed fretfully. As Chihiro remained in her bow, she thought to herself that he was half right and half wrong.

What she hated were the king and queen who tried to kill Fatimah. She didn't hate the castle itself, but if she went there, those two would be there. The mere thought of it made her feel sick.

But she couldn't explain that. If she did, her kind father would surely abandon his job and run away with her. They might be pursued. Drago might be punished. Naya and Sasha probably wouldn't get away unscathed either. And she herself would have to live the rest of her life hiding her hair.

If I just endure it, everything will be fine.

Her reality was a hopeless situation.

Her mind was that of an adult, but her immature body was honest. Just remembering the king and queen from that audience in the great hall made bile rise in her throat.

"...Ughhh."

"Chihiro???"

Her condition took a complete turn for the worse, and Chihiro was confined to her bed.

The news of the Kobito-san's illness spread in a flash, and many people came to visit her.

Today, too, someone rattled the knocker on the front door.

When Naya answered, Zack from the orphanage was standing there, his arms overflowing with goods. He was already a familiar face to the guard at the service gate and was known to be receiving instruction in confectionary making at the baron's house, so he had a free pass to enter the castle grounds, just like one of the commuting servants.

"Zack. What's all that?"

"These are the first plums from our field. They're sweet and sour and delicious, so I thought they might cheer up the little gourmand Kobito-san."

"Thank you."

"The rest is from everyone in town. They all know the Baron's daughter helped with the Dwarf-san brand sweets, and they're grateful. They asked me to bring these."

The basket he offered contained freshly baked bread, fruits, vegetables, and even a soup in a lantern-style container. Feeling the warmth of the people's sentiments in the gifts, Naya felt a prickling in his nose and couldn't help but press the corners of his eyes.

My lady... so many people are worried about you.

"Is someone here?"

a voice called to Naya from inside. Zack looked in curiously and saw several men sitting on a sofa.

"It's a get-well gift from the orphanage and the townspeople. Come to think of it, we haven't tried you yet, Zack."

"Tried me?"

With a weary smile, Naya nodded to Zack.

"My lady? May I come in?"

"...? Zack?? Sasha, open the door."

"Yes, my lady."

The door opened before Zack, and when he entered, he saw the Kobito-san lying weakly in bed. She was clearly gaunt, her exhaustion was palpable, and even the faint smile on her face lacked vitality.

"Why...?? You were so full of life just the other day!"

"Quietly, please."

"Ah..."

Gently chided, Zack hurriedly covered his mouth.

"I can't... eat food."

"You can't eat?"

"Even if I eat, I just throw it up... Haha, and I used to eat even when I was on the verge of death."

"Huh?"

Chihiro glanced at the pale-faced Zack, then looked out the window with an air of resignation.

It had been five days since the audience. She couldn't eat properly, and whatever she did eat, she brought back up. A terrible fatigue and weakness made even lifting an arm feel like a chore, and she sometimes ran a fever. Her young body was weakening by the minute.

Chihiro, raised on Earth where modern medicine flourished, knew what this condition was.

Autointoxication.

It was a condition brought on by psychological factors, causing repeated bouts of severe vomiting and fever. The treatment was to remove the mental stress, replenish fluids and glucose with oral rehydration solutions, glucose, or an IV drip, and rest quietly.

Unable to do any of those things, Chihiro was only getting worse. She was near the castle, a den of stress. There was no way for her to get better.

All she could manage to keep down was honey fruit water.

That pseudo-rehydration solution with a little salt mixed in was what currently sustained Chihiro's life. Sasha would feed it to her one spoonful at a time.

Am I going to die? I thought I'd finally found some good fortune.

She had overcome near starvation, only for things to turn out like this. She was surprisingly fragile, Chihiro thought with a self-deprecating smile.

As Chihiro was lost in her twilight thoughts, she suddenly noticed Zack by her bed. He was looking at her with the most earnest expression, his face on the verge of tears.

"Is there anything I can do? For me... I haven't been able to repay you for anything yet! Isn't there something?"

Something...

"I want to eat... udon."

"Eh?"

"When I get sick. I want to eat udon. The kind that's been boiled until it's super soft. With a beaten egg in it."

"What's that? I'll make it! Tell me how!"

"Flour... with salted water... add just enough to make it crumbly... then knead it... Knead it until it's really, really soft... Cut it into thin strips like string... then boil it in soup. Until it's super, super soft..."

After saying that much, Chihiro drifted off to sleep.

Sasha and Zack quietly slipped out of the room.

"You heard her?"

"Yeah."

"Can you make it?"

"I'll try."

Nodding firmly to Sasha, Zack went downstairs to borrow the kitchen.

"Naya-san, I'm borrowing the kitchen! And the ingredients!"

As Zack headed for the kitchen, the men sitting on the sofa turned to him with looks of astonishment.

"You were able to see her?"

"? Yeah."

"And talk to her?"

"I did. She said she wants to eat something called udon."

Instantly, the men stood up with a loud clatter.

The men there were His Highness Romel, the King's younger brother, Knight Captain Harold, and the kitchen apprentice Adoris. They had been secretly conferring, trying every trick in the book to get Chihiro to eat something. Drago had also been trying his best, but he had his duties in the kitchen. When he was working, he had to reluctantly let Adoris take over. Chihiro would throw up at the mere sight of them, so she couldn't even speak with them. They had been wracking their brains, trying all sorts of nutritious and easily digestible foods, but nothing had worked.

And now, a ray of light.

Zack was a boy of about ten. He was acquainted with the Kobito-san, so they had sent him to her room to give it a try. But they never imagined he would get to see her, talk to her, and even find out what she wanted to eat.

The men were all connected to the royal palace. The sight of them reminded Chihiro of the king and queen, which worsened her symptoms. But Zack was a commoner with no connection to the palace. He didn't remind her of the king, so her symptoms didn't appear.

"Udon...? What is that? Can you make it?"

"I dunno. But I'll make it. I heard the basic instructions."

Glancing briefly at Romel and the others, Zack entered the kitchen with practiced movements. It was a familiar place. He knew where everything was. Zack quickly gathered the ingredients, picturing the instructions he'd heard from Chihiro.

Soft... knead it until it's really, really soft.

Adoris came to offer his help, but Zack refused and just kept kneading the dough single-mindedly. However, a child's stamina is limited. In the end, Adoris had to take over, and Zack cursed his own powerlessness.

"Is this pasta? I feel like it's done already."

At Adoris's words, Zack fell into thought.

No, it's different. There's no egg in the dough, and it won't become pasta without a binding agent. There's no way that Kobito-san doesn't know how to make pasta. Soft without a binder... The softness must be the important part.

"More. It has to be kneaded until it's really, really soft."

"Alright!"

The two worked together, kneading continuously. On Adoris's recommendation that it was better to let the dough rest, they let it sit for about thirty minutes.

"Is this good?"

"I don't know, but probably?"

Before them was a glossy, springy dough. Adoris dusted the plump dough with flour and, with a practiced hand, rolled it out and cut it. It seemed like an easy job for him, a cook's apprentice, and Zack, unable to even help, gnashed his teeth in frustration.

"Boil this and the noodles are done. What's next?"

At his words, Zack remembered the rest.

"She said to simmer it in soup until it's super soft, then add a beaten egg."

"Soup? From scratch? Aw, man."

Adoris placed a hand on his forehead and furrowed his brow.

Right. Soup takes time to make. I was so focused on the udon I forgot. My mistake.

Naya tapped Zack on the shoulder as his face went pale.

"We have this."

In Naya's smiling hands was the soup in the lantern-style container. It was part of the gift from the townspeople. Once again, he was saved by the kindness of others. Zack accepted it as if in prayer, boiled the udon until it was falling apart, and finished it with the beaten egg.

"It's done... With this..."

Will the Kobito-san feel a little better now?

The noodles, coated in fluffy egg, were simmered so soft they could be cut with a spoon.

Carrying it, Zack headed for Chihiro's room.

"Seriously...?"

Chihiro stared intently at the bowl placed before her. It was, without a doubt, udon. That nostalgic food, boiled until mushy and coated in egg.

Sasha took the spoon, cooled a small amount, and brought it to Chihiro's lips. Just a tiny bit. As she tasted it, Chihiro's eyes narrowed. The udon was soft enough to be crushed with her tongue. It was a little salty, but for her right now, it was just right.

A Western-style egg drop udon, maybe.

It was similar to, yet different from, authentic udon, but the noodles were unmistakably udon. With tears welling in her eyes, Chihiro opened her mouth as if to hurry Sasha along.

The three men who had been watching from the shadows of the doorway looked at each other and broke into wide smiles. They had been hiding so as not to be noticed by Chihiro, but Adoris, overcome with joy, couldn't help but call out.

"Is it good?"

"You idiot!"

"Ah."

But it was too late. The Kobito-san had noticed the men. However, contrary to their expectations, she didn't throw up. Instead, she beamed with a huge smile.

"...S'yummy."

The men's eyes widened as they stared at her smile. It was the first time in a long while they had seen the Kobito-san's innocent grin.

And for Adoris, a nostalgic line he had heard somewhere before warmed his heart.

Is it good?

S'yummy.

A tattered little person, crying as she devoured a bowl of soup.

It's been a few months since then. She's gotten so big.

Watching Adoris's eyes soften with nostalgia, Chihiro felt a warmth spread through her own chest.

How could I have been so foolish? This isn't enemy territory. I have so many friends here. There's no reason to feel weak when I'm surrounded by people who care about me so deeply. If it comes down to it, I can just run away by myself. That way, I won't get anyone else involved. Things will just go back to how they were at the castle before I came.

Her only enemies were the king and queen.

With her worries completely blown away, the Kobito-san's symptoms subsided, and she quickly regained her strength.

A prayer for the king and queen, who had been designated as her sole enemies for an unjustifiable reason.

Sometime later, the cooks would witness Adoris asking a civil servant if a commoner could become a foster parent, only to be disciplined by Drago, but that was just another charming episode.

And so the Kobito-san is her cheerful self today, shaking her fist toward the castle, full of resentment.