124 - The Relationship Between the Three Fortresses and Lagarette
When I returned to the hotel, Diet was waiting for me in the entrance hall. He stood with his arms crossed like a statue, his face twisted in anger.
"Where did you go!?"
...I don't think I have any obligation to report to him, do I?
Apparently not pleased at having been slipped past, he blocked the way with an expression of anger that was incredibly easy to read. The guards Sukebei and Maru standing behind him looked like they had headaches again today.
"I went to an art gallery on the main street."
It was a quiet and comfortable place. When I replied with an innocent look, suggesting why didn't he go too, Diet's angry expression shifted to one of panic.
"Kids aren't allowed to go to art galleries!?"
I felt a bit bad for Diet when his expression changed to one of concern, asking if I hadn't gotten scolded. But there was nothing I particularly got scolded for. The adults around Diet probably told him that lie to keep him away from the gallery.
...Well, if a loud, disruptive Diet barged into that quiet, peaceful place, it would be a nuisance to everyone else.
It's not that art galleries are places children can't go. They just don't allow children who can't stay quiet in public spaces.
I pushed Diet, who was clinging to me saying let's play Reversi for pudding, into the sunroom and had Kalisa make pudding. Since he hadn't been able to win even once last night, Diet was the only one who hadn't gotten to eat any pudding.
While Kalisa was away, a Black Knight would be my guard, while Sukebei and Maru remained as Diet's guards.
...With this lineup, it didn't look like Diet would be getting any pudding today either.
"Come to think of it, isn't Basilia with you?"
After all, Basilia was passionate enough to be driven mad by jealousy and suddenly throw water at someone she'd never even met. I wouldn't have found it strange if she came to play every day chasing after Diet, but I hadn't seen Basilia today.
"Basilia is weak and boring. Even though I took the trouble to teach her, she doesn't get any stronger at all."
Apparently, since she kept pestering him to play Reversi, he told her he'd only play up to three times a day and sent her away.
...That limit is just copying me, isn't it.
And if I were to add, if he learned that being persistently invited to play is annoying, I wish he'd realize he's doing the same thing to me. If nothing else, as a noble lady, Basilia may have been told by her parents to "never win" so that she would defer to Diet as a prince, unlike me.
"Speaking of Basilia, I met her father at the art gallery."
"What, you didn't know? Jemian is the owner of that gallery."
"So that's why he was at the gallery."
Nodding in understanding, I brought the pudding Kalisa had made to my mouth. Yeah, today's pudding was also perfectly sweet with a smooth melt-in-your-mouth texture, I nodded to myself, when Diet started getting angry, saying it was unfair.
...It's not unfair. Tasting is the provider's natural right, or rather, it's part of the job.
"...Is that the famous pudding?"
"I won't ask where you heard the rumor, but this is pudding."
I set Cidur, who had shown his face in the sunroom, on Diet by saying he could eat it if he won at Reversi. The whole winner-gets-pudding thing started as a joke yesterday, but Diet seemed to like it. He kept saying he absolutely had to win and get the pudding, only to be left waiting in vain.
...I could just let him eat it normally, you know?
More than that, I wished he'd just accept the pudding honestly. Diet was the one who wanted to eat it first, but when I made pudding the prize last night, he displayed some mysterious pride, saying eating pudding after losing would feel like he was being pitied, and refused to accept it. Personally, I didn't feel great about it, like I was being mean by withholding sweets from a child.
...Diet is just bad at Reversi, after all.
I think he'd have more of a chance at Saik, but maybe because he kept losing to me at Reversi, Diet was fixated on Reversi.
...Boys are such a pain.
Cidur, who had been introduced to Diet as an opponent, however, didn't play Reversi against Diet. Maybe he thought it would be unbecoming of an adult. Cidur instead faced off against Ethel, who had come to the sunroom to rein in his great-grandson, at Saik, and narrowly missed victory after a close match.
...Ethel-sama, you're quite strong at Saik, aren't you?
If he'd played against Diet, he could have eaten the pudding right away, but Cidur chose Kalisa as his next opponent. He must have heard somewhere that Kalisa had played against Ethel last night and put up a good fight.
...My condolences.
Kalisa, who says she loves Saik, is quite strong. Since she'd had a good match with Ethel, I thought she'd also have a good match with Cidur, but Cidur was easily and simply defeated by Kalisa.
...They say compatibility matters, right?
I don't think Cidur is weak just because he's an adult, but sometimes matches are decided quickly depending on compatibility. After two losses, Cidur seemed to have decided to take a method that would guarantee he could taste the pudding. He moved to Diet's seat, who had just suffered his sixth defeat at Kyuubee's hands.
"...But I'm glad you returned safely."
"About what?"
I tilted my head and turned to Sukebei, who was sneakily eating his own pudding. Catching my gaze, Sukebei shrugged, then asked if I didn't know, and told me in a slightly exasperated voice.
"The lord of Lagarette dislikes Leonardo-dono, you see. I was worried he might do something to harass you, but..."
"Lord Jemian is not a man of such small caliber."
That's exactly why he didn't stop me from going to the gallery, said Cidur, who had received his pudding from Kalisa after beating Diet, joining the conversation. The reason each game was so short was because Diet placed his pieces almost without thinking. As long as he kept placing pieces without thinking, Diet would remain weak.
"...Does the lord get along badly with Leo?"
"Young lady, are you familiar with the geography around here...?"
"I've seen a map at the fortress before. Lagarette was northeast of the city of Grenore and northwest of Mandez Fortress."
As I answered, vaguely recalling the map I'd been shown before, I felt something nag at me. The place Leonardo had gone, leaving me behind, was Lugmilama Fortress near the border. Lugmilama Fortress was northwest of Lagarette.
"...Huh? Is Lagarette surrounded by the knight orders that Leo commands?"
I couldn't say for sure without checking the map, but from my vague memory of the locations, that's how it should be. Realizing this, I could understand why Jemian might dislike Leonardo. Lagarette was geographically protected from outside enemies by the Black Knights, but if anyone tried to start a rebellion, they'd be immediately suppressed by the surrounding Black Knights. If the lords of the three surrounding fortresses were different people, it might be possible to make secret pacts with one to disrupt the unity, but all three fortresses were under the same person. You couldn't break the unity of the knight orders. The great city of Lagarette was in a truly delicate position. People gathered there for the safety it offered, but no matter how huge a city it became, it could never become the capital. If anyone even thought about it, it was clear to everyone that they would be crushed immediately.
"I suppose if someone had bad intentions, they might dislike Leo."
"The fact that he met you at the gallery today was probably to ascertain what kind of person Leonardo-dono's sister is."
"To ascertain what kind of person I am, and what that... never mind. I feel like it's not a pleasant topic."
If he disliked Leonardo, his feelings toward his sister probably weren't good either. And since he was Basilia's father, he might have heard that I made her cry yesterday. In that sense too, he might dislike me.
"...Maybe I shouldn't go out too much?"
Even though Leonardo told me to do some sightseeing. If the ruler of Lagarette didn't have good feelings toward Leonardo, it would probably be safer not to go out. As I frowned and bit my spoon in a bad habit, Cidur explained that if I traveled by carriage along the route he'd taught me, it would be safe. On streets with lots of people, clumsy attacks or kidnappings would be impossible, and considering the impact on their businesses afterward, even the lord would want to avoid causing a disturbance at shops facing the main street, he said.
...The standard for safety was different from what I'd been thinking.
I'd thought that being in public view would protect me, but it was actually about wishful speculation based on the success rate of abductions and kidnappings and the impact on commerce afterward, meaning they'd refrain from attacking on these streets and at these shops. The premise was already based on crime being a given.
"Maybe I really should just stay in my room and spend my time on embroidery."
"Yes. That would probably be the safest."
"...But for me to feel safe holed up in my room, I'd need someone to properly rein in Diet, wouldn't I?"
I turned my face to Sukebei, telling him to do his best on that front, but he quickly averted his eyes. I wished he'd take that on with confidence instead.
"Tina, let's have one more match!"
"We agreed on a maximum of three per day."
After losing to Cidur, and then challenging Kyuubee and losing again, Diet came over to me. In Diet's case, just because he lost to adults didn't mean he could win by switching opponents to a child, but when would he understand that?
"Young Master Diet, if you don't keep your promises to girls, they'll hate you."
Sukebei, who had just been told to rein Diet in, stepped between me and Diet. Hearing the word "hate," Diet blinked blankly, as if he'd heard an unexpected word.
"There's no one who could hate me."
"Huh? At the very least, I hate Diet."
I felt like "hate" might be a bit too strong, but I definitely found him difficult to deal with. I could say that with confidence.
"You're lying. My nanny and the maids said there's no one who could hate me."
"Well, those nannies and maids are employed by you. No matter how selfish you are and how much they hate you, they're going to say they like you."
There's hardly anyone who can freely say "I don't like you" to their employer. If they were that honest, they'd lose their jobs on the spot.
...And yet? I could have sworn I'd already told him pretty clearly that we weren't friends and so on.
I was surprised that it apparently hadn't gotten through to him at all. I'd heard he was raised purely spoiled because of his cute appearance, but I didn't expect it to be this bad. It was precisely because he was convinced no one could ever dislike him, no matter what he said or did, that led to all his past confident foolishness. Diet, who had been clearly told he was hated, blinked with his mouth hanging open as if he couldn't understand the words he'd heard.
"It's a nuisance that you barge in from morning without considering my schedule or situation."
Since I knew he'd come barging in from the morning, I escaped outside right after breakfast today. In truth, I wanted to relax slowly in my room after breakfast, and if possible, I would have liked to stay in my room doing embroidery without setting foot outside. If Diet hadn't been forcefully inserting himself into my life, both of those would have been perfectly normal.
"I don't know how it is at your mansion, Diet, but talking to people outside with the same attitude you use at home isn't going to work out."
Also, I like spending my time in a relaxed way, so being persistently invited to play is a nuisance. As I told him these things while looking into his blue eyes, I could tell that this time it had actually "gotten through" to him. He didn't reply, but I could see his blue eyes go still.
I wondered if I'd said a bit too much, but I thought this was probably for the best. If I conceded here, said "I went too far," and took back what I said, Diet would remain a tyrant who never listened to what people said forever. It was better for him to learn now that he could be disliked too.
...Of course, that goes for me too.
He probably completely hates me now. It's not like I wanted to be liked, but being hated isn't a very pleasant feeling. But we probably just had terrible compatibility with each other. We already know we don't get along, so it's better for us to keep our distance from each other.
At least, that's how it should be.
[Author's Note]
The next update will be January 5th at the latest. December has been filling up with unexpected schedule changes, and even with every-other-day updates, I still haven't made much progress on my big cleaning. So I'm going to go ahead and declare a solid break. I'll update if I can (hoping to). If I find a gap, I'd like to update once by the 30th. But the New Year's period is impossible, so I'm declaring January 5th.
I'll fix typos and errors another day. I've fixed the typos and errors I found.