138 - Merit Peerage and Father's Father
For some reason, I had been convinced that the species known as nobility were all about noble blood and were nothing but arrogant people who didn't even regard others as human.
But according to Alf's explanation, it seems the "nobility" I had imagined was different from this country's nobility.
First, peerages are broadly divided into five types. Royal Peerage, Staff Peerage, Loyalty Peerage, Flower Peerage, and Merit Peerage, apparently.
Among these, the so-called "nobility" is only the Staff Peerage. However, it seems better to think of them not as a family that preserves ancient bloodlines, but as a long-continuing noble house. With long-accumulated experience, trust, and knowledge, they sometimes take on the role of lending wisdom even to the king, which is why the staff carried by sages became the basis of the peerage name.
The Royal Peerage, to put it simply, is not royalty who hold a peerage, but a title given to royalty who possess the ability to participate in politics. It sounds a bit backwards, but it is not something any royal can obtain. It is granted to the king's children and grandchildren who have completed all the education required of a king and possess the ability and talent to involve themselves in politics. The system apparently works such that only after receiving the Royal Peerage and governing a territory without problems for over ten years is the right of succession to the throne recognized.
The Loyalty Peerage sits right in the middle in terms of peerage power dynamics. Surprisingly, it seems that the starting point for those who obtain a peerage is the Loyalty Peerage. Rather than rising from the bottom, it is about either going up or down from the middle. If a family manages their territory without problems for several generations or achieves great feats, they rise to Staff Peerage. If they neglect their people or commit crimes, they are lowered to Flower Peerage.
The Flower Peerage is the lowest rank. By this point, they are nearly treated as fallen nobles. As other nobles understand it, it seems to be the last chance given to those who have oppressed their people and grown arrogant, resting on their noble status. If within three generations they cannot restore trust with the people or achieve some kind of merit, the peerage is confiscated and they and their entire family are dropped to commoner status.
And the Merit Peerage is, literally, close to an honorary title given to those who have achieved merit. They are treated as nobles, but the title can only be inherited from parent to child for three generations. If within those three generations they achieve new merit, they become Loyalty Peerage and can continue to call themselves nobles from the great-grandchild's generation onward. Once they become Loyalty Peerage, the rest is the same as any other Loyalty Peerage. Achieve merit and rise to Staff Peerage, commit crimes and fall to Flower Peerage, and if they cannot recover within three generations, they revert to commoners.
...The nobility is tough. Somehow, it is different from what I thought.
It was only a simple explanation from Alf, but even so, I understood this much. This country's nobility is tough. If you are born into nobility and lord it over others just because of your birth, while neglecting the people, the system is designed so you easily tumble down the ranks. Rather, it seems like they have to constantly correct their posture and live while being aware of how they appear in the eyes of the people. It seems like far more worry and trouble.
"I thought nobles were unpleasant people who put on airs just because of their birth, deshu."
"There are nobles like villains in stories, too. Most of those are in the Flower Peerage."
Since they have already given up on achieving merit or restoring trust with the people, they are looked down upon by those with higher peerages and can only throw their weight around in front of commoners.
"...Tina, if you go home, you will be cherished."
"Home?"
My home is Leonardo's home, the Fortress Lord's Residence. Since I am already being cherished plenty, I tilted my head, and Alf creased his brow as if troubled.
...Ah, he means home as in my father's family home.
He must have realized I understood what he was trying to say. Alf told me a little about my father's family.
"Tina's family was a Merit Peerage. You are exactly the third generation. There is one sickly cousin, but no uncles or aunts on that side."
"If I am the third generation of a Merit Peerage... then my child would be a commoner, deshu ne."
I suggested we just stay quiet about it since it was convenient, but Alf gently brushed it off. And annoyingly, Leonardo did not seem inclined to interject on this topic. He was probably thinking he would leave this to Alf, since it was a difficult subject to bring up. As proof, when our eyes met, Leonardo awkwardly averted his gaze.
"...Given the situation, if your grandfather learns of your existence, I think he will definitely come to fetch you. It is hard to train you to become a knight from now on, but rather than having your sickly cousin achieve merit, taking you as the heir and finding a son-in-law with merit would be a more certain way to secure promotion to Loyalty Peerage."
"And conveniently, there is a popular man with merit right beside you," Alf said, indicating Leonardo.
Apparently, when Leonardo was in the capital, he was fought over among Merit Peerage families as a son-in-law with merit. Though it seems when higher-ranked Staff Peerage families proposed adoptions or marriage talks with princesses came up, the Merit Peerage houses, being only in the position of upstart nobles, had no choice but to back down.
"Putting aside who Leo marries, that is completely political marriage, is it not, deshu."
I tried saying I do not like political marriage. I still cannot really grasp the idea of marriage, but growing up watching my parents who chose to stay together despite hardships, I refuse to have a loveless marriage.
...I am a little interested in my grandfather and cousin, though.
I am just slightly drawn to the idea of blood relatives. But if being drawn to them results in a future where I am used as a tool for political marriage, it is probably better not to get close.
"I will stay as Leo's little sister forever, deshu."
When I continued saying that, Leonardo's face, which had been pretending not to hear, slackened into a goofy grin. If we were not eating, I would have kicked his leg.
"If there is a sickly cousin, then it is better if the healthy me does not exist, deshu."
Since I am healthier, it would be pitiful if my existence, someone who was not originally there, caused my cousin to be treated worse. Besides, to me, that grandfather and cousin are people I have never even met. I have no business with a father who would let his own son run away from him.
...I would like to see him just once, though.
I think that a little, but that is all. Feelings of longing naturally do not well up.
"Alf-san, did you investigate my father's family in detail?"
"Not in detail. Just about as much as you can find with a little research."
He asked if I was curious after all, so I asked about my grandparents. I have no plans to approach them, but still, I wanted to know a little.
"Tina's grandmother passed away about six years ago. As for your grandfather... he is not the kind of person who would die even if you killed him, I suppose."
"'Won't die even if killed'... Alf-san, have you met my grandfather before?"
Something about his tone made me think so. It sounded less like a personality he had heard about from others and more like Alf's own impression.
"I met him once as a child. Let me think... He is like if you took Ethelbert-sama's attitude toward family, Alfred-sama's excessive energy, and Leonardo's sturdiness, and combined them all into one person."
"You add them but do not divide?"
"Adding them all together still would not be enough."
His words were somewhat milder regarding the two royals, but my grandfather seems like a quite formidable person. Especially the part about not dividing after adding Alfred's power and Leonardo's sturdiness. That is not good. Even just hearing about it, I could imagine we would not get along.
...Yeah, he sounds like someone you would not expect to be father's father.
My father had more of a gentle, refined appearance, but if Leonardo's sturdiness is in the mix, maybe my grandfather is a large-built person. If you add Alfred's power that is like a human typhoon to that, it is probably best to assume that once caught, escape would be impossible.
...Maybe I should not entertain dangerous thoughts like wanting to see him even once?
Having gained a good understanding of the "do not approach" aura surrounding my yet-unseen grandfather, the conversation came to a close. Or rather, I suspect Alf just changed the subject because of my extreme rejection.
My own bed, after so long, felt a little narrow. Not that it just felt that way. I actually thought it was narrow. Mainly because of the giant bear plushie, Jinbei.
After finishing my meal, I quickly holed up in my room. Kalisa and Tabitha keep my room tidy, so I could sleep right away, but Kalisa was different. Even though a room was prepared for her in the annex, she would need to do some cleaning and unpacking before she could sleep. That being the case, to give Kalisa some free time, it was better for me, the child, to go to bed early.
I took off the now-familiar cat ears, finished my bath, and slipped into the bed where Jinbei was waiting. Looking up, I saw Jinbei's face as if peering down at me, and I felt relieved, thinking I really had come back to Grenore.
Maybe I relaxed too much from that relief.
Or perhaps it was accumulated travel fatigue. It was good that I fell asleep within ten seconds of closing my eyes, but starting the next day, I spectacularly fell ill. I thought resting would cure it, but as I slept, my fever climbed higher and higher. When I wrapped myself in a blanket and went down to the entrance to see Leonardo off as he apologized about needing to inspect the last fortress during winter, I got scolded, as expected. He scolded me with such ferocity. When I started crying despite myself, he carried me back to my room, still angry. He told me not to leave the bed until my cold was better, and that I could let the puppy into my room in the meantime.
While I was sick in bed, Kalisa's move to the attic room seemed to have finished. I did not even get to help. Kalisa's room is apparently next to mine. It is the room where, some time ago, we found the Japanese research book and examined the contents of the boxes together. They cleared out the unnecessary luggage from that room and brought in a small wood stove, apparently. I caught a cold in the attic room back in autumn, but it seems that if you install a wood stove, it is livable even in winter.
...I need to get over my cold quickly and go play in Kalisa's room.
Or maybe getting the key back from Leonardo should come first. The spring when Leonardo promised to return the key is still a little way off.
[Author's Note]
Since this is the portion I could not finish writing yesterday, today's is a short one.
Incidentally, Alfred has a Royal Peerage but has not met the standard years of territory management, so the right of succession has not been recognized yet. The second prince has no interest in politics at all and does not hold a Royal Peerage.
I will fix typos and errors another day. I found and corrected the ones I spotted.
The 21st update will be skipped.