195 - The Solitary Cell and Alf's Proposal
"I'm sorry. I tried to secretly tell Aurelia-san about the contents of the book Jasper was transcribing!"
The research materials of the Saint Yuuta Hiraga, which the Silver-White Knights who came from the capital had multiple of them standing guard over. She had leaked their contents to Aurelia.
Having honestly said so, I squeezed my eyes shut and waited for the impact on my bottom. No matter how I thought about it, this wasn't something that would end with a child's mischief, but even after waiting a while, Leonardo's punishment did not land on my rear.
...Huh?
That's strange, I thought, and fearfully opened my eyes. As I looked up at Leonardo just like that, Leonardo wore a strange expression. He wasn't angry, but he wasn't expressionless either, a truly complicated look, as if he were bewildered, as if he were about to start crying.
"...Leo? Um..."
Are you okay? I tilted my head and shook Leonardo's shoulder. The shaking of my vision seemed to reboot Leonardo. He blinked several times, then furrowed his brows as if in utter disbelief.
"I'm sorry, Tina. Could you say that again? I didn't quite understand."
"I leaked information I learned at the Fortress Lord's Residence to Aurelia-san."
I simplified it into words Leonardo could easily understand, and added that Aurelia herself had pointed out to me that this was a crime of information leakage. Because when I told him the whole story, Leonardo had frozen in incomprehension. Maybe removing unnecessary embellishments and conveying just the facts would be easier to understand.
"...Information leak, huh."
To Leonardo, who muttered it as if chewing over the words, I lay back down across his lap and waited for the punishment. Once Leonardo's brain slowly understood the situation, the spanking punishment would surely be carried out this time.
I waited patiently, thinking that, but Leonardo's open palm never fell on my bottom, and without a word he set me down from his lap.
"Huh? No spanking?"
I'd thought I would definitely be scolded, so I felt a little let down. As I looked up at Leonardo rising to his feet in confusion, he held out his hand, so I reached out too. I thought he was going to hold my hand like usual, but tonight he grabbed my wrist.
"...You understand this isn't something that ends with a spanking, right?"
"Yes."
Until Aurelia pointed it out to me, I hadn't thought it was a crime. But I did realize it was a bad thing. That was precisely why I'd been racking my brains over whether there was some way to convey the information to Aurelia without anyone knowing.
"For now, it's the cell."
"Yes."
Since I'd done something bad, it was only natural that I'd be put in a cell. When told we were going to the cell, I obediently complied.
The outside of the residence, which I left without even wearing a coat, was cold, as expected. Winter was already drawing to a close, but early spring was plenty cold enough. At night, even more so.
Salisa and Bart were startled by something being wrong as Leonardo walked gripping my arm. But seeing what the master of the residence was doing and that I was obediently following along, they seemed to understand that this wasn't something they should intervene in. Salisa disappeared somewhere without a word, and by the time we passed through the back gate toward the fortress, she had brought coats for both me and Leonardo.
The cell I was led to was a solitary room in the main building of Grenore Fortress. It was a different place from the underground cell where Jean-Jacques had once been laid to sleep, but the facilities were nearly the same. A space with only a bed and a toilet, without any walls to protect privacy.
There was a window with iron bars for letting in light, but since it was nighttime, the cell was dark. I had prepared myself to enter the cell since I was the one who had done wrong, but thinking about being left behind in a pitch-black cell was still a little frightening.
...Salisa's kindness really sinks in.
The coat Salisa brought for me was warm. There was no way a cell would have a stove, and thinking that I would be a resident of this place from tonight, the coat Salisa had given me was an incredibly welcome gift.
"Excuse me~"
I called out casually and stepped through the iron bars. I thought I'd hear the sound of the lock being fastened as I turned around, but for some reason Leonardo came through to this side of the bars too.
"...Huh? Are you coming in too, Leonardo-san?"
"Tina would be scared alone in the cell, right?"
"I'm scared of the dark and of the cell, but since I was a bad girl, that's okay."
I'll properly accept my punishment, I said, putting up a brave front. Leonardo's large hand settled on my head.
"I'm this bad girl's guardian, after all. If my little sister does something wrong, it's also the responsibility of me as her older brother."
At Leonardo's words, saying he would receive the punishment together with me, tears treacherously spilled out. Because my thoughtless actions had made Leonardo a criminal too.
"...I'm sorry. I'm really sorry."
I should have thought things through a little more. I was aware that it was a bad thing, so I should have thought beyond that too. That this was a full-fledged crime. If I'd thought properly, I would have understood. What would happen if the contents of research materials the knights were guarding were leaked outside. If I'd thought deeply about it, there was no way I wouldn't have understood.
Leonardo sat on the bed, and I was made to sit next to him, but I felt so sorry that I slid down onto the stone floor. But I didn't want to be apart from him either, so I hugged Leonardo's leg and rested my chin on his thigh. I thought to myself that my behavior was just like a baby's, but that was how I felt, so it couldn't be helped. Every time I sniffled as if remembering to do so, Leonardo's large hand stroked my head. At the feeling of being comforted, my nose ached with a sharp pang again.
...Footsteps?
I heard the sound of a door opening in the distance, and then someone's footsteps approached. Who could it be? I lifted my face, and Jean-Jacques showed his face from beyond the iron bars.
"Oh, it really is the Tina kid. What's up, did you do something bad and get scolded by the Commander?"
"...Something like that. I did a bad thing, so I'm in the cell."
I recognized the noisy man from his footsteps, so I returned my chin to Leonardo's thigh. When I pressed myself close like this, it was reasonably warm.
"Aw, no fun. And here I went and brought you a good thing."
"I'm in the middle of receiving punishment, you know. I don't need any good things."
I answered without even bothering to turn my face, my chin still resting on Leonardo's thigh. Leonardo reacted to what Jean-Jacques called a "good thing."
"...Where did you get that?"
"The folks outside had it ready 'cause they heard the Tina kid was in the cell."
...Why is Jean-Jacques bringing something the people outside prepared?
As I inwardly questioned this, Leonardo stood up and walked toward the cell entrance. Because he'd suddenly stood, the arm and chin that had been touching him up until now grew cold. I couldn't bring myself to wait around, so I followed Leonardo toward the entrance where Jean-Jacques was.
"...The good thing... is a stove?"
"This cell's cold, right? There's a buncha guys outside with blankets and stuff."
He held out a small portable firewood stove, and I reflexively hid behind Leonardo's back. It was a perfect gift for keeping warm, but I wasn't sure about bringing a stove into the cell and living comfortably when I was supposed to be receiving punishment. Even though I wanted to accept it, I knew I shouldn't, and I gripped Leonardo's clothes with my reaching hands.
"A bad girl is receiving her punishment, so I don't need something as nice as a st... ahchoo!"
Before I could finish saying it, I sneezed. Leonardo seemed to have been about to refuse the stove too, but my sneeze easily changed his mind.
"...Chase off those folks outside, and on your way, call Alf here. ...I need to consult with him."
"Got it."
At Leonardo's instruction, Jean-Jacques set down the portable stove and left. I heard the sound of the door opening and closing, and then, just as he'd said, there was a bit of commotion as he seemed to be scattering the Black Knights who were waiting nearby with care packages.
"Tina, come near the stove."
"I'm a bad girl, so it's fine. You warm yourself, Leonardo-san."
I felt somehow compelled to punish myself, so I hesitated to go near the stove. In terms of keeping warm, I'd been clinging to Leonardo until just now so it was a little late for that, but Leonardo only had the warmth of a human body after all. Compared to a stove that could warm the very air of the room, the performance was far too different.
As I moved inch by inch toward the wall, Leonardo sighed in exasperation and approached with the stove. I thought portable stoves that could be carried anywhere were impressive, but right now I resented it a little. The more I moved away, the more Leonardo brought the stove closer, so my body ended up getting warm no matter what.
"Leonardo-san is mean."
"I'm not being mean. I just don't want to let my little sister catch a cold."
He beckoned me over, and I made up my mind. In this small solitary cell, no matter where I ran, he'd catch up to me immediately, and running around would just tire me out.
I gave up on getting away from the stove and approached Leonardo. When he understood I wouldn't run anymore, Leonardo set the stove on the floor and sat down on the bed. He patted his knee, calling me over, so I sat down next to him. This way, Leonardo acted as a wall and I was a little farther from the stove.
"...How did things end up with the fortress lord and his little sister being imprisoned?"
And in his own fortress, at that. Alf, who had been called by Jean-Jacques, sounded a bit exasperated. As for Jean-Jacques, he seemed to be standing near the light-admitting window outside, on Alf's instruction. It was apparently a measure to prevent eavesdropping by the Black Knights who inevitably gathered around whenever I was in the fortress.
"At any rate, now I understand why Aurelia suddenly said she'd come to the city."
"How can you tell that from the story you just heard?"
When Leonardo told Alf in sequence how he'd come to be in the cell, at the end of the story, Alf nodded with a look of understanding. I thought we'd been talking about the information leak, about how I'd tried to leak to Aurelia what I'd learned inside the Fortress Lord's Residence, so how did that become a reason for Aurelia to come to the city? With my head full of question marks, this time Alf explained things to me in order.
"Information leakage is certainly a crime, but if you can drag Aurelia, who was holed up in the valley, out to the city, that becomes your meritorious deed, Tina."
In other words, apparently the crime I'd committed could be offset by the meritorious deed of dragging Aurelia out to the city.
"But Aurelia-san said information leakage is a full-fledged crime!"
Could a crime really just be erased because Aurelia came to the city? Leonardo seemed equally uncertain about Alf's judgment, and began saying that the fault was ultimately his own lack of supervision. That he hadn't noticed me taking the information out.
"...I have one question."
Alf raised one hand to stop Leonardo and turned to face me. I intended to answer honestly no matter what I was asked, so I met Alf's gaze straight on.
"Tina, why did you think to tell Aurelia about the contents of the research materials Jasper was transcribing?"
"Because it looked like the medicine for Wards disease, so I thought if it could be revived, everyone would be happy?"
"No. That's not it."
He cut me off, saying that wasn't the point, and added what he'd actually wanted to know. What Alf wanted to ask was that even if the research materials written in Japanese were transcribed as-is, Aurelia couldn't read Japanese. The content wasn't the issue. No matter how much information he risked danger to leak, there was no way Aurelia could read Japanese. Even if you leaked as much information as you wanted, it meant nothing if it couldn't be conveyed to the other party. While the act of information leakage was certainly not commendable and was undeniably a criminal act, sending a Japanese transcription to Aurelia didn't even constitute an information leak in terms of the act being completed.
"...Huh?"
"Tina, how did you know it was medicine for Wards disease?"
The two of them realized the meaning of my words at the same time. Both their gazes fell on me simultaneously. Leonardo's face held bewilderment, while Alf's face held something like certainty.
"...Because I could read it. The research materials said 'Grenidge pox,' but that's another name for Wards disease, right?"
As other information I could read, I told them that a prescription for the medicine had been written. Several types of prescriptions were recorded, ones that worked in the early stage and ones that could still be expected to be effective from the middle to late stages.
When I casually revealed, between the lines, that I could actually read Japanese, Leonardo's face froze, and Alf pressed his hand to his temple.
...Ah, I know that face of Alf-san's. It's the face he often makes when Alfred-sama is around.
Which meant that the bomb I'd just dropped might be as much of a headache for Alf as Alfred was. I grew a little worried and glanced at Alf's expression. Our eyes met, and Alf gave a wry smile.
"This simplifies things even more than with Aurelia. Your information leak, Tina, can be easily swept under the rug."
"Even if she is my little sister, I won't acknowledge wrongdoing."
The crime his little sister had committed. As her older brother, he was ready to bear the guilt himself, and declared there was no need to sweep the crime away. Alf shrugged at Leonardo's adamant statement. Seeing that gesture, I somehow felt certain of Alf's victory. My crime would be swept under the rug, and Leonardo would continue to preside as the fortress lord as before, I thought.
"Your little sister's crime is certainly also the responsibility of you, her older brother. I'll give you credit for acknowledging your sister's crime and trying to judge it fairly."
But think carefully, Alf said.
"Who showed the research materials to Tina?"
"Huh? Um... Alfred-sama?"
Asked by Alf, I remembered. It was me who went to peek at Jasper's transcription work, but I did confirm whether it was alright to look at the research materials. With Alfred, who was supervising on site. It was Jasper who showed me the materials I read, but Alfred was there too. With Alfred's knowledge, I was helping with the transcription work.
...Huh? So that means?
"If Tina's crime is brought to light, first you, as her older brother, would be charged, and the four fortresses including Grenore Fortress would lose their lord."
The Silver-White Knights stationed at the residence to guard the research materials would naturally be charged as well, and Alfred, who let me see the research materials, would not escape guilt either. Jasper, who wrote the letter so I could send it to Aurelia, could also be counted as having abetted the crime. If it stretched that far, then even someone from the Sedovara Church who permitted the letter to Aurelia could be dragged into it.
The ever-widening scope of responsibility made me feel the blood drain from my face. I never imagined my thoughtless actions could cause damage to this extent.
"In the end, it's faster and less damaging to sweep everything under the rug than to try Tina for a crime of information leakage that, while the act was committed, was unsuccessful."
"But...!"
"If you feel that sweeping it away is wrongdoing, then send word to the capital. Explain the situation to your superiors and ask for their judgment."
They'd hand down a similar ruling anyway, Alf said. If Leonardo honestly reported everything, the higher-ups would also choose to sweep away a child's crime in order to minimize the damage.
"Anyway, sweeping away Tina's failure should be child's play for you."
The phrase 'information leak' had already been softened to something as light as 'failure.' Alf was probably going to keep manipulating the impression like this and truly sweep my crime away.
"What Tina talked about won't reach your superiors if you keep your mouth shut. And even if it does reach them through someone else's mouth, Tina has Aurelia's patronage, so you can crush most things."
He declared that his own mother would take my side, and that as vice commander of the fortress, he too would take my side. Truly, a crime that hadn't even been completed, considering the subsequent spread of damage, was easy to crush, he said.
"...You need to learn to be a little more flexible."
It was certainly right to respond resolutely even when a family member committed a crime, but being right alone wasn't enough. Being right alone would eventually have your feet swept out from under you, Alf continued.
Time is up. I couldn't write as much as I'd planned, so tomorrow's update will probably be short.
Typos and omissions again another day. Fixed any typos and omissions I found.