216 - The Price of the Embroidery Painting
Rolling the bobbins, click-clack. The Fortress Lord's Residence, free of Bertrand's visits, is perfectly peaceful. Since I no longer have my mornings consumed by being forced to accompany Bertrand, my bobbin lace is progressing faster too. I still cannot weave very complex patterns, but I think the new design I am challenging myself with is coming along quite well.
...It is quiet.
Even if I strain my ears, I can barely hear anything beyond the birds chirping. In my previous life, I could hear cars running in the distance, neighborhood children playing outside, and even the sounds of refrigerators and air conditioners from indoors, but this residence has none of that. It is not just that there are no cars or electrical appliances. The Fortress Lord's Residence has such expansive grounds that even if children were running around nearby, their voices would not reach here. Then surely the people inside the residence would be making noise, but the small tasks like cooking and laundry are done on the first floor, and my room is on the third floor, so those sounds do not reach me either. Since everything is like this, I can immediately notice when there are visitors from outside.
...A visitor?
At the sound of carriage wheels rattling closer, I stop my hands from rolling the bobbins. From the distance of the sound, I can tell the carriage has arrived at the residence entrance, so I go to the window and check below.
...Who could it be?
There are men on horseback who appear to be guards, a white elegant carriage, and then, in stark contrast to the white carriage, a pitch-black rectangular carriage. As I peek at the guests from above for a while, a familiar face descends from the white carriage.
...Huh? Cidur-san?
The person getting out of the white carriage looks like Cidur, Nils's father. If Cidur is with them, then the black carriage must have also come from Lagarette to the city of Grenore.
"What a strange carriage?"
I voice my question aloud, seeking an answer to the doubt that suddenly arose. Then, as if to answer my question, Salisa comes to the window.
"...That is a prison transport carriage."
"A prison transport carriage?"
Shifting my gaze from Cidur, who is giving some instructions to the coachman, to the black carriage, I listen to Salisa's explanation. The black carriage does have windows, but they are very small. And I can see that iron bars are fitted into every single one of them.
...Why is Cidur-san coming with a carriage like that?
If it were transporting a noble, they would not fit iron bars. Even if they did, they would surely use an elegant design that would not immediately look like iron bars. In that case, I can only think that black carriage is for transporting prisoners.
And I can think of two people who might be treated as criminals.
"Tina-sama, Leonardo-sama is calling for you."
Salisa, who had apparently gone to investigate the visitors, returns and tells me that Leonardo has called me to the reception room because there are guests. As far as I know, the guest is Cidur, but I cannot connect Cidur with a prison transport carriage. If I were not the one being called, I might think it was for transporting Jean-Jacques, but even in that case, Cidur accompanying them would be strange. Even if I were being transported as a criminal, Cidur being here would be strange.
"...Who is the prison transport carriage carrying?"
If I have no idea who might be riding inside, maybe there is no one in it from the start. I tried changing my perspective, but that seems to be off the mark too.
"That is a prison transport carriage, but apparently it is not carrying people, but gold coins."
"...Gold coins?"
Hearing that the carriage is carrying gold coins, my questions are resolved. The carriage with small windows fitted with iron bars was not a prison transport at all. It was being used as a cash transport vehicle. If it is carrying gold coins, then the number of guards also makes sense.
"Is Cidur-san, who brought gold coins, my guest?"
"It seems Cidur-san has come to make a payment to you."
"Huh? Cidur-san making a payment to me... I have no idea what for."
"To be precise, it seems Cidur-san has transported gold coins entrusted to him by the lord of Lagarette."
"Jemian-sama..."
Hearing that the gold coins are from Jemian, I do have some idea. Either that embroidery painting I made was sold, or Jemian decided to buy it himself.
When I step into the reception room, Leonardo and Cidur are seated facing each other. Greeting Cidur politely like a proper young lady after so long, I am called by Leonardo and take a seat beside him. The conversation that begins right away is the same as what Salisa told me beforehand.
"The painting that Tina-sama left at the art gallery in Lagarette has been acquired by someone who insisted they absolutely must have it."
The words are decorated rather prettily, but I know the inside story from Jemian. It was not so much that it was a difficult connection to refuse, but rather that a troublesome person who would not listen to others kept pressing daily to sell that embroidery painting, so a conclusion was reached to sell it. I had set the price for that painting as 'enough to buy a detached house with a garden' as a small act of spite. Of course, it is a price I would never pay myself. There was no intention beyond spite. And yet, it seems that painting really sold. I was pointed out about the discrepancy between my idea of a 'detached house with a garden' and what the customer side would consider a 'detached house with a garden', but I did not specify it, wanting them to judge that it was an unaffordable amount. After all, this is a 'detached house with a garden' as considered by someone in the position of being called a princess. I cannot imagine it is something you can just casually buy at a princess's whim, but... is that really okay?
"...There really was someone who bought it."
"Well, if it is Princess Claudine, she would probably buy it."
Leonardo furrows his brow, saying that while it is unclear what she liked about it, Princess Claudine favors him to the point of obsession. When it comes to him, Princess Claudine cannot make calm judgments, apparently.
"But now Princess Claudine can no longer harm Tina."
Leonardo set a condition for handing over the embroidery painting, that she not approach Tina. Since she chose to purchase the painting even with that condition presented, Princess Claudine will never appear in my sight again, Leonardo says with relief.
According to what I heard from Alf, Princess Claudine worships Leonardo and despises any hint of female presence around him. She shows no reaction to monetary relationships like prostitutes, but they say she flies into a jealous rage even over a female servant or maid accidentally touching his hand due to work circumstances. For a time she apparently tried to gain a Royal Peerage and take Leonardo as her husband, but her abuse of her female servants and maids became known to the King, and due to her temperament she could not be allowed to inherit the throne, so her path to the crown was closed before she ever received a Royal Peerage.
...Is that problematic princess really okay? If she is found out to have paid enough to buy a detached house with a garden for an embroidery painting, will she not be disowned next?
The money a princess uses for shopping is, originally, the taxpayers' money, when you trace it back. Even if I have heard she has a difficult personality, the current King, who seems to care about his people, surely would not allow that.
Feeling a little worried about Princess Claudine, I look down, and a tin of candy is pushed into my view.
"...What is this?"
"It is a message from Princess Claudine."
At Cidur's words, it is Leonardo who stiffens, not me. While she has not broken the agreement to stay out of my sight, it seems there has been no contact like this until now. The non-approach order seems to me like nothing more than a verbal promise that could easily be broken, but Leonardo does not seem to think it could be broken in the slightest. That is why he is concerned about this form of contact through a message.
"Some time ago, I did not know you were Leonardo-sama's younger sister, and I was truly rude. Since Leonardo-sama has forbidden me from approaching you, I regretfully cannot apologize to you directly in person, but as a small token of my apology..."
This tin of candy is apparently an apology for startling me at the shop. Originally she wanted to visit with a gift of confectionery to apologize, but since the non-approach order is in effect, she is being rude by sending word through a messenger, it seems. It appears she intends to faithfully keep even that verbal promise of not approaching me.
"...She startled me, that woman, but she seems like a good person."
"I think she is just following proper etiquette. I think she is an honest person, but a bit of a troublesome one."
Since Leonardo tells me to accept it, I gratefully receive the tin of candy. As a former Japanese person, opening a gift right after receiving it feels impolite, but in this world, it seems more proper to check the contents on the spot and show delight. When one is a lady or a noble, they hand it to a servant to have the contents checked. It seems to be to prevent danger from reaching the master if something dangerous has been planted inside.
"Oh my. How cute."
As Hermine taught me, I have Salisa, a servant, open the tin of candy. After confirming it is safe, Salisa shows me the contents, and inside are colorful candies. They have patterns like temari balls, and they are just so cute.
"Now, stepping aside from that, allow me to return to my original business."
With that preface, Cidur produces several documents. While Leonardo begins checking the documents, I ask Cidur something that has been on my mind.
"...But why did Cidur-san end up being the one to transport the payment for the painting?"
"It is a simple matter. The lord entrusted me with gathering people to guard the gold coins, and I accompanied them as an overseer."
Since he would be going to the city of Grenore safely with guards anyway, he apparently thought it would be nice to see his son (Nils)'s face for once. After the payment delivery is complete, he plans to stay in the city of Grenore for a few days to see Nils before returning to Lagarette.
"My apologies for the wait. The confirmation of the gold coins is complete."
Bart, who seems to have been counting the gold coins until just now, whispers to Leonardo. If I had noticed at this point, I probably would not have been so shocked. Quite a bit more than 'a little' time has passed since Cidur arrived at the residence. And yet, the fact that he was still counting gold coins until now means that the embroidery painting, which did not even cost five gold coins in materials, has turned into a number of gold coins that requires an adult (Bart) to count them.
...What? Does that really mean it is an amount that can buy a 'detached house with a garden' by royal standards!?
Once I realize that possibility, my heart starts pounding wildly. Leonardo and Cidur are exchanging amounts and numbers of gold coins between them, but my heart is beating so loudly I cannot hear them well. But I think it is better that I did not hear. It is surely not an adorable amount that would let me simply say "Yay, my painting sold!" and be happy.
...Five thousand gold coins... how much is that? Let us see, one gold coin is 10,000 Shivil, so...
[Author's Note]
I will cut it here since it will not end.
Typos and omissions again another day. Fixed any typos and omissions I found.