147 - Children's Spring Flower Festival 1
On the second day of the Spring Flower Festival, I had promised to go around the festival with Mirshe and the others. So after finishing breakfast, I headed out to the city with Kalisa as my attendant. I only go to the Menhishumi Church once every two days, so going to the city on consecutive days is actually quite unusual for me. Even though I live in the city, aside from going to the Menhishumi Church, I still spend almost all my time at the residence.
...When I think about it, my lifestyle really is that of a sheltered young lady.
It is just that I do not leave the residence because I have no particular business to attend to, but if you think of this as the life of a commoner child, it is a bit strange. It might depend on where you live, but I hear Mirshe helps with housework, and Petrona and Elke also help with their family businesses. For Nils and Lusio, looking after me is itself their job. Even though I have lessons with Hermine, I am the only one for whom the entire day is essentially free time.
...Well, Teo was the same way too.
Since Leonardo talked some sense into him, his attitude in lessons has improved, and I hear he occasionally helps Mirshe with her work on a whim, but basically Teo just lives a carefree life of play. It seems every mother finds their son cute, and while Mirshe's mother is strict with her, she dotes on Teo and lets him do whatever he wants.
...I am sure the reason Teo is practically a baby is his mother's fault.
Thinking about it that way, Teo and Dietfried seem a bit similar. Both were raised by people who should have disciplined them but instead abandoned that duty, spoiling them endlessly and leaving them free to do as they pleased, resulting in tyrants.
...I hope they both improve from here, Teo and Diet.
While I was thinking such things, I arrived at the meeting place. A short distance from the guard knight standing at the boundary between the knights' residential district and the wealthy residential area, the usual faces were gathered. Mirshe and Teo, Lusio and Nils, Petrona and Elke.
"Mirshe-chan cute... what deshu? Are those butterfly wings?"
She was not wearing the dog-eared costume she had had when accompanying me for the Spring Flower Festival, but on Mirshe's back today were butterfly wings, just like the children's costumes I had seen in the city yesterday. Up close, the craftsmanship was not exactly good by any flattery, but they were cute butterfly wings. Looking more closely, Teo also had butterfly wings of the same pattern on his back.
"Why are not you wearing wings, huh? The Spring Flower Festival is a kid's one-time-a-year chance to earn some cash!"
"Even if you ask me why..."
I had heard there was a custom where children act as love matchmakers to earn sweets and pocket money, but I had not felt motivated to actively participate. Or rather, I felt like I had already fulfilled my participation in the event just by delivering gifts under the pretense of helping Bart at the residence. And to say more, I am naturally shy around people. Going up to adults who needed matchmaking services, the way the city children enthusiastically did, was a hurdle too high just thinking about it.
"Here, take it!"
"Thank deshu?"
Teo thrust his hand out, and I reflexively made my hand into a dish to receive it. Placed in my palm with a plop was a candy wrapped in yellow paper.
"Huh? Teo gave me candy!? Why?"
I looked up in surprise to see Teo's smug, confident face and Elke's wry smile.
"I am amazing this year! Three people already asked me to be a love matchmaker yesterday alone!"
"...Is three impressive?"
I felt bad for Teo, puffing out his chest proudly, but just the Silver-White Knights currently staying at the lord's residence alone numbered double that. It was only matchmaking within the house, but I had delivered more gifts than he had.
Not really understanding how impressive it was, I tilted my head, and Teo pouted his lips as if offended.
"Three is amazing! It is the most I have ever had!"
"Well then, that is amazing, deshu ne?"
...I do not really get it, though.
For now, since Teo was showing off, I humored him by saying it was amazing. I did not know what the average was, so I could not tell if it was really impressive, but Teo was bragging. He probably wanted to be praised.
As I praised Teo with "amazing, amazing" without really understanding, Teo predictably got carried away. And then, with his hands on his hips and chest puffed out, he touched on a topic he should not have.
"What about you?"
"...It was my first festival, so I went sightseeing with Kalisa and the others"
I did not want to lie, but I also felt reluctant to crush Teo's spirits by telling the truth, so I gave an answer that was not a lie but was a little off from his question. I thought I was being considerate in my own way, but Teo, who had started getting carried away, flashed a smug look that made me want to punch him, grinning and saying I was missing out on more than half the fun of the Spring Flower Festival.
"Everyone enjoys the festival in their own way, you know"
I wanted to get off this topic already, but Teo seemed determined to keep bragging about how this year he had been asked to be a love matchmaker more times than ever before in his life. Still beaming with that smug face, he started talking about having a competition.
"It seems troublesome, so no deshu"
"Just try it! It is definitely fun, and you get sweets!"
...Right now, Teo's energy is such a pain!
I thought so, but Teo's proposal might not be that bad after all. Setting aside the annoyance for now, being a love matchmaker was basically just an errand of delivering gifts. When you complete an errand, you get sweets or pocket money as thanks, but the children doing the errand do not spend any money at all. It might be an event that both rich kids and poor kids can enjoy together.
"...Then, morning we go around the festival, and afternoon until evening we do the match, okay?"
"Yeah!"
Once I incorporated the love matchmaker competition into today's plans, Teo finally quieted down. Apparently he had been so happy about yesterday's results that he wanted to continue being a love matchmaker today too. Up until now, he said, he had only ever been scolded for playing pranks and had almost never been thanked or praised by anyone.
...Yeah, Teo is steadily on the road to reform.
We were only a year apart, but somehow I felt like a big sister, and I decided to warmly watch over Teo's growth. He still had some tyrant tendencies left, but if he kept reforming like this, he would soon become a good big brother for Mirshe.
During the morning festival sightseeing, we went around to various facilities holding events with Nils's commentary. Since yesterday's outing had ended with me returning to the residence midway due to an unexpected encounter with Ethelbert, Nils's guidance was honestly welcome. Nils's understanding of the Spring Flower Festival was close to Hermine's, more of a festival centered around commercial churches that livened things up rather than a season of love. At the Menhishumi Association that Nils belonged to, they were apparently holding a flea market focused on books. They seemed to be selling books they no longer read, old books that had been replaced with new ones for the library, and also newly printed books hot off the press from the Menhishumi Church. The new books that were not even in the lord's residence piqued my interest a little, but our party was all children except for Kalisa. As expected, we spent the most time peeking at food stalls rather than books or flowers.
...Teo really has grown, has not he.
Before, he used the allowance he got from his mother to buy things at stalls only for himself, but today he was sharing what he bought with Mirshe, splitting it in half. It seemed his relationship with Mirshe had improved somewhat too, which made me feel a little lonely. Before, Mirshe had looked up to me as "Tina big sister", but now she called his name and mine about half and half. I was a little jealous, but that could not be helped. I was after all an "older sister" from elsewhere, and I could not compete with a real blood-related brother.
At lunchtime, we disbanded once. It was because we needed to put on costumes for the love matchmaker competition Teo had proposed.
I did not know when they had prepared it, but I strapped onto my back a pair of butterfly wings made for me. Perhaps because this was an event where you delivered gifts and received thanks, it was shaped like a small backpack with wings attached. Since the costume was just a bag with butterfly wings on it, it did not take much time.
Thinking, "Butterfly wings on too," I returned to the meeting place at the entrance of the knights' residential district, where Teo was already waiting.
"Listen up! Whoever does the most love matchmaking wins!"
Declaring a simple and clear rule, Teo grabbed Mirshe's hand. It was good that the siblings were getting along, but I found it a little annoying. However, when we discussed splitting into boys and girls for the competition, the girls' side had more people since Kalisa was with us. So Mirshe had been taken by Teo to balance the numbers. I had no choice but to back down, even if I was a little displeased.
...Wait, including an adult (Kalisa) in the count feels like we are being handicapped, does not it?
Surely no brave soul would ask an adult like Kalisa to be a love matchmaker. I thought so, but Teo had already pulled Mirshe away before I could stop him, so there was nothing to be done about it. It was not a competition where I was particularly invested in winning anyway, so I decided to just enjoy the festival normally and turned to Elke and Petrona, who had been left behind. As I started discussing where would be most efficient to go, the Black Knight guard who had been standing a short distance away beckoned me over.
"...What is it deshu?"
"I heard this morning that Tina-chan and the others were going to be love matchmakers. So I held on to some gifts from people who want to commission matchmaking for the fortress Black Knights."
He wanted me to deliver these to the fortress knights, he said, showing me a mountain of gifts collected at his side. Even at a glance, it was far more than the three commissions Teo had supposedly gotten yesterday.
"...Is not this cheating deshu?"
There was no doubt that just carrying this mountain to the fortress would decide the match. That many gifts were piled up before me.
"If Teo had called out to me, I would have given these to Teo."
So it was not cheating, the Black Knight guard declared. Teo certainly had not called out to him, but he had called me over, so I could not help feeling it was cheating. As I hesitated for a moment, the Black Knight guard gave a wry smile and pushed my back. After all, I was apparently the only kid who could enter Grenore Fortress and not get yelled at. So there was no need to worry, he said.
...I think I would get scolded too if I went in to play, though.
Since the teams were split into boys and girls, Elke and Petrona were on the same team. I did not hesitate to borrow their hands, and we all carried the gifts for the fortress Black Knights.
At the fortress entrance, I explained the situation to the gatekeeper and got permission for Elke and Petrona to enter the fortress. Normally this permission would absolutely never be granted, but after handing over the gifts addressed to the gatekeeper, they let us through "secretly". We were told to proceed discreetly, so to speak.
The gifts for the fortress Black Knights were received with far more delight than I had imagined. Naturally, even during the Spring Flower Festival, children were never allowed inside the fortress, so apparently the Black Knights stationed there never received gifts from the opposite sex. Some knights even started crying, saying that because of this they had not been able to find lovers and could not get married.
...I should mention this to Leo later.
Having heard such a heartfelt tale about the marriage rates of the knights at Grenore and other fortresses, I started to feel a little sorry for the Black Knights. The current master of Grenore Fortress was unmarried, and because he was so dedicated to his work, he took little rest himself. It seemed a negative chain had formed where his subordinates either voluntarily gave up their days off to work, and even those who did not found it hard to take holidays.
We finished delivering the gifts smoothly and returned to the entrance of the residential district. Just as we were about to head out into the city, the guard knight called out to me again.
"...Has not it increased since earlier deshu?"
"It seems word got around somewhere that we are accepting matchmaking gifts for the fortress knights this year."
Apparently there were many young ladies eager to bring gifts, having heard that this year they were accepting presents they normally would not. But I never expected more gifts to have gathered in the time we had gone and come back than there were in the first place.
"...This is absolutely cheating deshu"
"I will apologize to Teo together with you, so will not you please take them?"
"Well, since we have already accepted them, we have no choice deshu ne"
Truly grateful that an adult like Kalisa was with us, I thanked Kalisa's physical strength from the bottom of my heart as we made another round trip to the fortress. Were my eyes deceiving me, or were most of the gifts this time addressed to Leonardo and Alf?
...I can understand Alf-san, but Leo is popular too, huh.
When I look at Leonardo as family, he can seem a little unreliable at times, but from an outsider's perspective, Leonardo must be a good-looking man. He had a sturdy build and his face was not bad. In Japan, slim muscular handsome men were all the rage, but in this country, practicality was also part of a man's appeal. Leonardo, with his muscular build, was preferred over the slender Alf.
After finishing the deliveries for Leonardo, just as I thought we could finally go out into the city, the gatekeeper Pearl stopped me. He beckoned me with a small gesture, and as I approached, he handed me a white envelope.
"...Tina-chan, please give this to Kalisa-san."
"Ho?"
...Not Hermine-sensei, but spring has come for Kalisa!?
My eyes went wide in surprise, but the white envelope was snatched away by Kalisa herself before it reached my hands. Before I could even say "ah," the seal was opened, and I could see Kalisa's eyes quickly scan the letter's contents. I wondered what kind of face Pearl was making right now, having his love letter read in front of him. And what was I supposed to do with this awkwardness, having ended up watching over the scene whether I wanted to or not. Such worries crossed my mind for just a moment, but after finishing the letter, Kalisa returned it to its envelope and pressed it back into Pearl's hands.
"I am terribly sorry, but I have been told by my older sister that workplace romances sow seeds of future regret."
She said she could not enter into a relationship with him, in a voice that was usually so quiet but today was clearly audible. The flower of Pearl's love, which for a moment had seemed about to bloom, withered beautifully before my very eyes.
This is where we must stop for now, as time has run out.
I will return to fix typos and missing words in the spring. I have corrected any typos and missing words I found.