115 - Before I Knew It, Mandez
...Huh?
When I opened my eyes, I was in an unfamiliar place. I could tell I was inside a warm, cozy blanket, but I didn't recognize the ceiling.
...Where is this?
With a hazy mind, I gazed up at the unfamiliar ceiling. Even though I was in an unknown place, I didn't feel anxious. Was it because I could smell Leonardo?
...Huh? Leo?
Wondering why the smell of Leonardo was so strong here, my memories gradually came into focus. Of course it would be soaked in Leonardo's scent. This was Leonardo's bed.
I squirmed and wriggled, and the arm of Leonardo sleeping next to me reached out, perhaps finding me annoying. He stroked my head with slow, sluggish movements, but a young girl who'd had enough sleep was already wide awake. A head pat wasn't enough to lure me back to sleep.
I bounced up as if shaking off Leonardo's arm, flipping the blanket off. Though the servants kept the room warm, leaving the blanket was still cold, I supposed. Leonardo reflexively curled up, and I almost put the blanket back over him... but stopped. My contrarian streak was in fine form today too. It might've been fun to dive-bomb onto the defenseless, sleeping Leonardo, but that seemed a little too cruel, so I held back. The only small mischief I could manage was not fixing the blanket I'd flipped off.
When I got out of bed, Alisa entered the room, apparently having heard my footsteps. She helped me change, beautifully braided my hair, and finally attached the black cat ears. The figure reflected in the mirror was undeniably an adorable cat-eared little girl, but having to dress up even when there wasn't a festival was a little embarrassing.
...I still don't really get it, but if this makes Leo feel better, I guess it's okay?
My memories were still vague, but according to what people around me said, it seemed I'd been taken by spirits. Otherwise, the travel time from Grenore to Mandez couldn't be explained, they said.
...Well, I feel like "being taken by spirits" itself is a phenomenon that defies explanation, though.
I tried to remember what happened that day, but the memories were frustratingly hazy. I could clearly recall going to the Three Crows tavern with Hermine, but everything after that was fuzzy. When I came to, I was trapped in a dark, cramped fireplace. After that... was it a tantrum, maybe? Or just spoiled emotions. I'd simply indulged in Leonardo's attention. Maybe I'd demanded more than a lifetime's worth of selfishness. I couldn't help it since I couldn't put the brakes on myself, but looking back on it was so embarrassing I wanted to dig a hole and bury myself.
...I'll never be selfish with Leo again.
That's what I thought, but somehow that felt lonely too, and Leonardo would probably just be annoying about it.
...I'll be selfish sometimes, I guess.
Finally, they attached the cat tail to my waist, and my preparations were complete. Dressing up until the Spring Blossom Festival was my duty, to make sure I wasn't taken by spirits again.
...This is too much like a punishment game.
That's what I thought, but I was a girl after all. Aside from being embarrassed, somewhere in my heart I was also enjoying this cute outfit.
...Maybe I'll wait by his side until Leo wakes up?
Salisa took the lead on breakfast, with Kalisa helping her. Alisa's job was to help Leonardo get ready once he woke up, and Iridal was also actively handling indoor work. In this residence, it would actually be more trouble and inconvenience for everyone if I offered to help. Staying quiet was the best way to not get in everyone's way.
I picked up a book that Kalisa had prepared for me, one I could actually read, and went back to Leonardo's sleeping bed. I kicked off my newly worn shoes and climbed onto the bed. Using the lying-down Leonardo as a backrest, I read the book aloud in a small voice, also practicing my pronunciation. I felt bad about waking him roughly, but this way, Leonardo would probably wake up eventually.
The Black Knight who had come from Grenore as a messenger burst into tears the moment he saw my face. A grown man, crying loudly without caring who saw. I felt so bad I wondered if people would think I'd made him cry. I felt so awful about it that I considered returning to Grenore with the messenger, but Leonardo stopped me, saying he'd worry that I might get lost in unfamiliar places again. The messenger knight also seemed relieved to see me looking perfectly fine. He emphasized that I should never leave my brother (Leonardo)'s side no matter what happened, and then returned to Grenore.
I was supposed to be a sudden intruder, but life in Mandez was peaceful. I was living comfortably, with nothing lacking and nothing excessive.
...Probably because there were tons of clothes in my size, though.
The children's room where I spent most of the daytime had a proper dressing room, and inside it was packed with lots of children's clothes, mainly in black and orange tones. If I took it at face value, it seemed Leonardo had anticipated me accompanying him during his stay and had prepared clothes for that duration. Even so, the number seemed excessive. I'd heard the stay in Mandez was about twenty days, but even if I wore different clothes every day for those twenty days, there would still be clothes I hadn't worn yet.
...Why are there so many clothes...?
When I asked Leonardo about it in bewilderment, he claimed he was innocent. Apparently this excessive number of clothes was prepared by Kalisa and Salisa. Iridal seemed to have made an effort to reduce the count, at least. He'd carefully explained that Leonardo had informed them he wouldn't be bringing me along, but included the possibility that a child might change their mind at the last minute, and so they'd prepared just a few outfits.
...Well, looks like Iridal ended up joining the clothes preparation too, though.
The three sisters, raised by Iridal, followed the same approach as Iridal. They deliberately interpreted "a few" as "less than ten" and made nine outfits each. Not nine each from the three sisters alone, but nine total from the four including Iridal. Then someone said "we forgot the nightgowns," so nightgowns increased by two sets each including changes. Then more were added one after another with "what about costumes for the Divine King Festival?" and "we need visiting clothes, not just loungewear."
...That's that thing where having money makes people stupid, I guess.
If they'd at least consulted each other before preparing the clothes, it wouldn't have come to this many. All my clothing costs came from Leonardo's wallet, but apparently Leonardo's salary was provided by each fortress. It didn't sit well with me that he apparently received the same pay from other fortresses where he barely did any work. Leonardo himself seemed to feel the same way, and apparently donated the extra to Menhishumi churches, Sedovara churches, and orphanages in various regions. I'd wondered what kind of extravagant life he'd been living, but apparently Leonardo had lived quite modestly before taking me in. He had no wife or lover to spend money on, and no particular hobbies. His steadily accumulating money was finally circulating through the region by being spent on me.
...Is that a good thing or a bad thing...?
Well, Leonardo himself seemed happy, so I suppose it was fine. Even if from my perspective, there was a lot of wasteful spending that worried me.
"Have a good day."
I waved bye-bye and pushed Leonardo out of the residence. If I didn't do this, Leonardo would never go to work. He'd go on and on with precautionary instructions and hugs.
...Somehow it feels worse than when we were in Grenore.
Was this also because of the spirit kidnapping? I thought so, but there was nothing to be done about it. Being taken by spirits was like an accident. No one could have prevented it.
...Well, I did hear that if I dressed up as an animal, I could avoid it, though.
Feeling curious, I fiddled with my cat ears. They'd prepared high-quality ones here in Mandez too, it seemed. The feel was excellent.
I saw Leonardo off in the morning, and greeted him when he returned home at night. My life here wasn't much different from life at the Grenore residence. The only difference was maybe that I didn't have Hermine's lessons. Instead, Kalisa kept me company, so I never got bored.
"Kalisa is really good at Saik. I bet you'd give Hermine-sensei a good match."
"...Th-thank you. I, like, Saik."
When I praised Kalisa for being strong, she blushed shyly. The three sisters all had the same face, but their personalities differed, making them easy to tell apart. Kalisa was shy around strangers and bashful. Her voice was a little quiet, but she had strong convictions. She had firm opinions and, despite looking timid, she didn't get pushed around.
...Also, she likes kids? Kalisa is the one who mostly looks after me, isn't she.
She seemed good at all kinds of board games. The Mandez residence didn't have a Reversi board, which was only natural, so I showed her how to play Reversi with paper pieces for the first time in a while, but now I couldn't even beat her anymore. Leonardo was no match for her at all.
Salisa was a good cook. Most of the meals served at the residence were made by Salisa. She said she'd expanded her repertoire of sweets in preparation for my stay, so delicious snacks were prepared every day.
"Lady Tina, would you mind tasting the pudding?"
"With pleasure!"
Salisa, who claimed to have mastered various dessert recipes in preparation for my stay, was knowledgeable about sweets and had good instincts. Even if I didn't remember the exact measurements, as long as I could explain how to make something, she was a wonderful person who could create something close to it.
...I never expected to be suddenly asked what kind of dessert pudding was, though.
Apparently Salisa's interest in pudding was prompted by Leonardo. Leonardo had heard me talking in my sleep about nothing but food names, and asked her to recreate it for me.
...Well, it's not the sweets my mother made for me in Mey Village, but ones I ate in my previous life.
I had no memory of it at all, but apparently in my sleep, I'd sung a song praising pudding. Along with sweets, I was also apparently calling out foods I'd liked in my previous life, like gratin, nori rolls, and nikujaga.
...Eavesdropping on your little sister's sleep-talking and even remembering it clearly, Leo, you're a pervert-san.
Unconscious sleep-talking is something I'd rather people not mention even if they overhear it. Leonardo lacked that kind of delicacy, or consideration.
...But that's fine. Thanks to it, I get to eat pudding, so I'll forgive him this time.
But if he ever goes around telling others about my sleep-talking again, I'd have to exact proper revenge.
"...It might be a little firm? But it's delicious."
I remembered the ingredients and the method, but I didn't remember the measurements at all. So thinking we could just improve it little by little, today's pudding used a one-to-one ratio of eggs and milk, with the sugar left up to Salisa. I didn't know the caramel measurements either, but apparently caramel existed here normally under the name caramel. At least Salisa made the caramel without asking me anything.
"Is it a failure?"
"There's such a thing as firm pudding too, so this is delicious in its own way."
I urged Salisa to try it too, and she made a complicated face as she sampled the firm pudding. She was probably thinking of ways to improve it.
"Maybe try increasing the milk next time?"
"Yes, that could work. Since the caramel is sweet, we might be able to reduce the sugar a bit more."
When Salisa asked me to tell her the finished form of pudding again, I shared every improvement method I could think of and everything I remembered about pudding. With Salisa's research-oriented nature, I felt she'd produce the ideal pudding before long.
Alisa, who seemed to be the leader of the three sisters, was always working. When help was needed, she assisted Salisa with cooking, she helped me and Leonardo get ready, and she also adjusted the room temperature.
...Anyway, every time I see her, she's working, so I haven't really talked to her much yet.
I didn't want to disturb her work, so I found it hard to talk to Alisa. There were moments when it seemed like there was a break in her work, but she'd smoothly start her next task, making it hard to suggest we chat.
...And the reason I'm not good with Iridal is definitely because of that terrible first impression, right.
Iridal had pale skin, white hair, and red eyes. Was he an albino? I'd heard his skin was sensitive, but that didn't matter. That white face and red eyes emerging from the dim room as seen from inside the pitch-black fireplace had been nothing but terrifying to me, trapped in a cramped space with my anxieties exploding.
...I'm sorry I saw your face and screamed at the top of my lungs.
I'd done something incredibly rude. I wanted to properly apologize for that, but every time I saw those red eyes, I remembered the terror of that day and my throat seized up. Whenever I happened to encounter Iridal in the hallway, I'd end up hiding behind Kalisa, who was usually nearby as my caretaker, and I still hadn't been able to properly apologize. Iridal also understood that I was scared of him, and seemed to try not to appear before me too often.
...But seeing a different mansion like this, I can really tell the Grenore residence is understaffed.
Here at the Mandez residence, there was a gardener who commuted and a temporarily hired stable hand. The Grenore residence, where everything was done by just the two, Tabitha and Bart, was probably a black company, if anything. This residence only had two people to look after, me and Leonardo, but the Grenore residence had six adults and a puppy besides us. That was clearly overwork.
...If we can hire temporary workers, should we increase staff, after all?
That's what I thought, but I wanted to avoid hiring someone like Kaya again. That meant we needed to take our time searching, and while we took that time, Jasper's transcription work might finish and the Silver-White Knights might return to the capital.
...Maybe I could help out myself, by saying it's bride training or something?
Though I felt they'd refuse again, saying they couldn't make the master (Leonardo)'s sister work. I didn't want any incompetent people coming into the house. But I was worried about Tabitha and the others' working conditions. So if I could prepare the right pretext, this felt like the best solution from my perspective.
It's getting to the point where there are too many guests, and managing and maintaining the Grenore residence is difficult with just two people (that's just a fact).
Since it's December (shiwasu), I'll aim for updates every other day.
I'll fix typos and missing characters later.
Fixed the typos and missing characters I found.