144 - Spring Flower Festival 1
Since it was decided that the Sedovara Church's censorship was nothing to worry about, I wrote a letter to Aurelia while consulting with Alf.
Once the letter was finished, it was corrected into English by Hermine and became my teaching material.
Finally, I copied the English letter that became the teaching material in my own hand, and the letter to Aurelia was complete.
The content was not much different from before.
My recent news, and an inquiry about whether she might want to move to the city.
"...Is this a pudding recipe?"
"I had Kalisa write it out. Since Aurelia-san doesn't seem good at cooking, you know."
So that she can eat some delicious pudding, I said to Leonardo who was checking the letter's contents, keeping a straight face.
The real reason I put the recipe in the letter was that when I thought of a way to hide a medicine prescription inside it, I figured I'd need a track record of 'having sent cooking recipes before.'
If I suddenly slipped in a recipe with suspicious ingredient names, it would seem odd, so this is preparation for that.
...Well, I know I can't send a cipher without prior coordination or anything.
Still, it might come in handy for something someday, so it's better to take action little by little.
Having passed Leonardo's inspection, the letter was sealed and sent off to Aurelia.
As I wrote letters to Aurelia and went to the Menhishumi Church, the weather grew more and more springlike.
Light coats were no longer needed at all, and it became easier to move around.
That said, since Leonardo basically chooses my clothes, they're hard to move in from the start even if decorated with lace and ribbons.
Today's outfit was a light pink one-piece dress.
It was a dress Kalisa had made after studying my preferences, based on a hand-me-down she wore last year, so the lace and ribbons were kept modest.
But plenty of fabric was used, so it didn't look shabby at all.
I think it's an elegant and cute dress.
"Please put Aurelia-san's ribbon on me."
"...Yes."
Kalisa braided my hair half-up, now freed from the cat ears, and wove the ribbon through it.
Aurelia's ribbon is cute and one of my favorites, so I want to use it for festivals or special days.
"The cat ears are finally off!"
With the Spring Flower Festival upon us, Leonardo finally gave permission to remove the disguise.
This marked the end of the period when children snatched by spirits were on guard against being kidnapped by spirits again.
I confirmed in the mirror that there were no cat ears on my head, and broke into a broad smile.
The cat ears were cute in their own way, but I still felt a little resistant to wearing a disguise when it wasn't the Divine King Festival.
Now that we had safely reached the Spring Flower Festival, I was finally freed from the disguise.
It couldn't be helped that I was grinning.
"...They were cute, what a shame."
"I still think disguises are only good on festival days."
The special feeling is different, I said, consoling Kalisa who seemed disappointed about the cat ears coming off, and headed down the stairs.
Before going down to the first-floor dining room, I stopped by Leonardo's room, where he was just finishing getting ready.
"Leo, Leo! Look! Kalisa embroidered it for me!"
Kalisa had also sewn the dress itself, but the dress's greatest charm was its collar.
A small black puppy was embroidered on the white round collar.
"It's Kokumaro! Isn't it cute?"
While I was at it, I'd gotten an improved ugly cat pillow from Hermine.
It was completely different from the one I'd made first, crafted with care from the materials to the sewing technique, so much so that I felt apologetic for it being intentionally ugly.
The quality was too good to use as a puppy toy, so I placed it on the bed next to Jinbei for display.
With that, the ugly cat pillow that had been shared with me was now officially Kokumaro's.
I hope he treasures it forever as his bed.
"My shirt has my cute little sister's embroidery on it."
Saying that, Leonardo proudly showed off the sleeve of his shirt that I had embroidered.
I thought he was a doting brother, but when he said he never thought he'd have a day in his life where he'd receive Spring Flower Festival embroidery from family, I couldn't bring myself to make a tactless retort.
Leonardo, an orphan, had no family to embroider for him.
...No way I'd say something like "Why don't you get a wife?" here.
Bart had drilled it into me on the very day I arrived at the residence that marriage-related topics were forbidden with Leonardo.
If he did get married, after that his family would grow through children and his wife's relatives, but Leonardo couldn't even manage to find a lover, let alone get married.
He had bad luck with women who attracted strange women, and now with me as a burden, he was even further from having a lover.
...Even if someday I were to marry and leave, I'd have to send Leonardo embroidery gifts every year.
Thinking such things, I headed to the dining room with him.
"Leo, do you have work today too?"
"Hm? Do you want me to take you to the Spring Flower Festival?"
"...If Leo has work, it's fine."
I'll have Kalisa or Hermine take me, I said, stopping my meal and turning to look back at Kalisa, who was standing behind me.
When our eyes met, Kalisa gave me a smile, so even if Hermine turned me down, at least Kalisa would take me outside.
"Didn't you make plans with Mirshe and the others?"
"They said the first day of the festival is busy."
"I see. For Mirshe and Teo, the Spring Flower Festival is a moneymaking opportunity."
"Moneymaking opportunity?"
When I asked Leonardo if children worked on festival days, apparently during the Spring Flower Festival, children serve as love matchmakers, or Cupids, and are quite busy.
Aside from the custom of wearing new clothes in spring, the Spring Flower Festival also celebrates the end of winter and the arrival of spring, and rejoices in the season when love blossoms.
As support for that love, children dress up as spirits and serve as love messengers.
...I finally got freed from cat ears, and now I have to wear a disguise again?
As I was thinking that was a bit much, Leonardo seemed to have anticipated my reaction and didn't seem intent on forcing me to wear a disguise.
He said he'd had Kalisa prepare something just in case, but if I didn't feel like it, I didn't have to dress up, a welcome statement.
Leonardo said he could go out with me from evening onward, but I honestly declined, saying I didn't like night festivals because of the drunk people.
Also, since it was a flower festival, it would probably be better visible during the daytime.
As I waited for Kalisa and Hermine to get ready to go out, Bart called out to me in the entrance hall.
I received a rare invitation to help with some work, and took the box Bart was holding.
"What is this?"
"A Spring Flower Festival gift from Lord Siegwald's wife. Would you deliver it to Lord Siegwald, young lady?"
"Understood. This is a child's job for the Spring Flower Festival!"
Leave it to me, I said, thumping my flat chest.
Jasper was still doing transcription work in the guest room on the second floor, so the Silver-White Knight was stationed at the residence to guard the research materials on the saint Yuuta Hiraga.
He'd been there since last autumn, so naturally they'd been living without even being able to see their families' faces.
A gift from his family would surely comfort Siegwald and the others.
"Lord Sieg, a gift has arrived from your wife!"
"What? From my goddess?"
Forgetting he was in the middle of work, Siegwald took the box with an affectionate expression.
Calling his wife a goddess and crinkling his intimidating face with joy, Siegwald scattered happiness aura around for a while, then composed his expression and gave me a packet of candy as thanks.
"...I only carried it from the entrance, so I don't need a reward."
My labor was really just receiving the box from Bart at the entrance, climbing the stairs, and carrying it to the door of the guest room on the second floor.
It wasn't the kind of help that deserved a reward at all.
"Today's the day children dress up as spirits and act as love matchmakers, isn't it."
Siegwald explained that children receive candy or small amounts of money as thanks for acting as matchmakers for love.
No wonder Leonardo said it was a moneymaking opportunity for Mirshe and Teo.
If you could walk around the city, act as a matchmaker for young people troubled by love, and receive candy and money as thanks, it would be a very welcome festival for children.
...So that's why no one had free time today.
I'd tried to consult with my friends from the Menhishumi Church about going around the Spring Flower Festival together like during the Harvest Festival, but unusually, everyone except Nils had been reluctant.
This was the reason why.