214 - Side Story: Leonardo's Perspective - The Old Hero's Lost Item Search 3
The return journey was a relaxed pace. They had confirmed Saromon's grave in Mey Village and Bertrand was satisfied, but the main purpose was probably to match the Black Dog (Oscar)'s pace. He thought about carrying him like on the way there, but Bertrand chose to have the Black Dog track the ring's scent. He could not imagine Tina's scent remaining on a ring only touched once over two years ago, exposed to rain and wind, but this was the Black Dog that had recognized Tina as a child connected to Saromon and protected her, despite never having met her before. Maybe it could smell something humans could not.
"Welcome home, Leonyaldo-san."
When they returned to the city of Grenore, Tina poked her head out as he opened the front door. Before, her gesture of using her weight to open the door had been cute, but now that her body had grown, she opened the door normally to greet him. As a young lady, the proper etiquette would be to leave door-opening to the servant (Bart) and wait in the entrance hall, but he was happy that his little sister came to greet him, so he deliberately did not point that out.
Since Tina who came to greet him was cute, he tried to dismount and pat her head, but the Black Dog slipped right past his feet and moved. The Black Dog went to Tina's side, sat down, and barked three short times.
"Hya wa!? What is it, barking so suddenly?"
Startled, Tina said, pressing both hands over the Black Dog's mouth. The gesture of teaching it not to bark was also cute, but as someone who understood the Black Dog's intent, this was no time to be softened by his little sister's cuteness. This was the same bark the Black Dog used when reporting to Bertrand that it had found its lost item.
"...What is it?"
It seemed Bertrand finally noticed the Black Dog's report. He dismounted, approached Tina, and stared intently at her face.
...If he were a grandfather who doted on grandchildren like normal people, he could just introduce her straightforwardly.
But knowing how he had trained his son until he broke and left his reportedly sickly granddaughter alone, he could not honestly introduce Tina. The way Bertrand's face regained life after being disappointed at Saromon's grave and spending the return journey in silence was pitiable, but Tina's safety was a different matter. What was wrong with prioritizing his little sister?
...Well, at least this proved Oscar was not a useless dog that did not work, but had been protecting his owner's blood relative (granddaughter), clearing his name.
He had a feeling this would lead to trouble, not just a little, but he had no intention of letting go of his little sister. If there was ever a time to let go of his little sister, it would be when Tina married a man of her own choosing.
"Young lady, have you ever been told you resemble your father?"
"My father, you mean?"
"Well now, I wonder?" Tina showed a gesture of thinking. If even he could see a resemblance, he wondered how Bertrand had failed to notice until today. Perhaps it was because Tina's hair color was black, nothing like Saromon's, and also because Tina was a girl.
...Or maybe he just had not looked at his child's face properly.
Bertrand seemed to lose patience with Tina, who had started thinking deeply. Before Tina could answer, he cut to the chase.
"Christina, is it?"
"Who is that?"
It was an attack meant to strike at the core and draw out some reaction, but Tina did not know her own real name. He had written it on the writing board and taught her before, but she had never asked how to read it. As a result, Tina could not realize that the name Christina Bertrand suddenly brought up was her own name, and just tilted her head, dodging Bertrand's attack.
"...Is that not your name? Tina is a nickname, is it not."
"My name is Tina. Ever since I was a baby, always Tina."
She dismissed it, saying she had never been called anything else by her parents either, and repelled Bertrand.
Faced with Tina who insisted she was Tina and would not listen, Bertrand seemed to decide to back off for now. He left with his horse and Jean-Jacques toward the Grenore Fortress where they were currently staying. Tina, who had repeatedly warned Bertrand not to bully Jean-Jacques, waited until Bertrand's back was completely out of sight, then turned around with a smile on her face.
"Leonyaldo Big Brother-sama, I have something to talk about."
He should be happy that her address toward him had suddenly returned to Big Brother-sama, but this was not the time. Her face wore a cheerful smile, but he could tell it was not a genuine smile. It was the face Hermine had taught her, the smiling face of a lady used to hide her inner feelings.
"...Should we change locations?"
"Here is fine. It will be quick."
Her face was all smiles, but he felt he could hear her inner voice saying she would not let him escape. Just when Tina finally dropped her smile, she now wore an incredibly complicated expression.
"What is my real name, really?"
She said he had taught her before, but back then she could not read the letters, so she did not know how to read it. She also said that as long as she remembered the spelling Tina, she had never had any trouble until now.
"Tina's name is Christina. Normally the nickname for Christina would be Chris, I think..."
"I think that is because when I was a baby, I could only pick out Tina."
Tina, who had the memories of a Japanese person, said that right after she was born she could not hear the words of this world well. She told him that being bad at speaking was also because of that. In the process of getting used to her new life, it seemed the first word she could pick out was Tina. Thanks to that, Tina ended up being called Tina instead of Chris, the common nickname for Christina.
"Is Bertrand-sama... my... grandfather?"
This was probably the question she most wanted to ask. She hesitated a little, but Tina looked straight up at him. To such a Tina, he also looked straight into her blue eyes and answered.
"Yes. Bertrand Auguste Cantal is the father of Saromon Bertrand Cantal, and the grandfather of Christina Saromon Cantal."
The name is long, but this is the part I could not write last time, so it is short today.
I found and fixed typos and errors.