219 - Side Story: Leonardo's Perspective - My Sister 17
When Tina's formal wear arrived from the tailor, as if aiming for that timing, three carriages came from the capital to pick her up. I thought they were carriages, but one of them seemed like a small room made to make a noble's long journey comfortable. It was a large carriage pulled by six horses, with large windows at the front for enjoying the scenery and only small windows at the back to ensure privacy. The remaining two carriages carried luggage, a rest area for the guards, and four servants including a cook were riding in them.
...This is quite heavy equipment just for picking up Tina, is it not?
I only wondered for a brief moment. Looking at the person descending from the carriage that pulled up to the entrance, I reconsidered. This was not heavy equipment for Tina's sake. It was likely the natural preparation for a royal's long journey. They could not secretly arrange all of this for Tina, who was supposed to be my sister the commoner. So they probably made these preparations under the pretext of dispatching a royal member as a messenger.
"Are you free, Alfred-sama?"
When Tina came out to greet him and asked that cutely, Alfred, who had been greeted, pinched Tina's cheek. Alfred was the type of royal who would ride his own horse to Grenore. A long journey in a royal carriage must have been an arduous ordeal requiring patience for Alfred.
"For now, I am the only one in our royal family who has the most friendship with you. It is consideration for you."
Alfred puffed out his chest, saying "Be grateful," and Tina responded with a flat, monotone "Wow, how gracious." At Tina's utterly flat delivery, Alfred reconsidered and said "Well, Dietfried would have been fine too," at which Tina's blue eyes lit up and she began to warmly welcome Alfred. She really seemed to dislike Dietfried that much.
"But really, you came to see Alf's face, did you not?"
After Tina finished expressing her gratitude to Alfred, she tilted her head and added that. To which Alfred nodded magnanimously, saying "You understand, do you not?"
I had told Tina not to worry until the carriage came, but now that it had arrived, she had no choice but to head to the capital. Tina was busy with packing, and I was busy with the handover to Alf, who would be holding down the fort.
Even calling it a handover was a stretch. Since Alf had been stationed at the residence for over a year guarding Saint Yuuta Hiraga's research materials, he was practically already in charge of the fortress. There was nothing new to hand over now, but since I would be entrusting him with the residence too, he probably would not have time to return to his own home.
"Keep an eye on Lugmilama Fortress. It is about time for the Saenard Kingdom to make a move."
The memory was still fresh of the third son of a baron family secretly crossing the border and causing a kidnapping disturbance in Lagarette. The judgment of the criminals in Lagarette had concluded, but a response from the Saenard Kingdom should be coming soon. The people from the Saenard Kingdom captured in that incident were not just one. Since we had also captured alive those who caused the disturbance at the border, they were still being held in the country as prisoners. Anyone could easily predict that Saenard would try to make some pretext to get them back.
"The carriage for Tina from the capital coming too early also bothers me. They might have caught wind of some movement in the capital."
I had no house in the capital. For Tina to stay there, preparations would be needed, such as arranging lodging facilities or preparing a guest room. If they intended to entertain her as a personal guest of the king, there was far too little time to prepare a room. And if they were summoning her as a criminal for information leaks, Alfred would not come to pick her up in a luxurious carriage. If I thought the timing was a bit too rushed, it was probably due to the loss of the secret arts with Aurelia's death, or otherwise they wanted to pull Tina out of Grenore, which was close to the border. If Tina had been living in Mandez, which was not along the border, the carriage would not have come for another half year.
"If possible I would like to leave Jean-Jacques behind, but..."
"It is faster to go to Vilupe Fortress via the capital. You are taking him as one of the guards, are you not?"
Either way, sending Jean-Jacques to Vilupe Fortress was a decision from above. Even if the border was starting to smell dangerous, we probably could not delay it any further.
"Which means you will be defending Grenore alone, Alf... are you alright with that?"
"It hurts to have you and Jean-Jacques away, but the Black Knights are an elite force. Do not worry. Besides, even if something happens, the first to move will be Lugmilama Fortress."
"About all I will be doing is properly grasping the situation, keeping watch on the Empire that might take advantage of this opportunity, and preparing reinforcements," Alf said, shrugging his shoulders jokingly. As the acting lord of the fortress, his duties certainly were not that limited, but roughly speaking, he was not wrong. Vigilance against two neighboring countries and dispatching reinforcements to allies. Since Lugmilama Fortress had Mandez Fortress in the rear, Grenore Fortress would rarely find itself in a truly tense situation. If there was one thing to worry about, it was that the vice commander of Lugmilama Fortress had only been appointed for less than a year, but the former vice commander was also stationed at Lugmilama Fortress. The former vice commander should support the current one, so there was nothing to worry about.
"Is the puppy ready to be taken as a guard dog soon?"
"He is not puppy-sized anymore, but... it seems they cannot give him a passing grade yet. Too bad. It does not look like he will make it in time for Tina's birthday present."
"I have already prepared another one separately, so that is fine, but..."
I had wanted to bring my beloved dog Kokumaro along to the capital. Tina had a tendency to be shy around people, and whenever she was in a new place or meeting someone for the first time, she would always hide behind me. In the capital, I would not be able to stay with her all the time like I could at the residence, so she would need a friend she could feel at ease with. Hermine was supposed to accompany her, but even though they were the same gender, their sleeping quarters would be separate due to the master-servant distinction. There was no way Tina would not feel lonely.
"Once Tina gets used to life in the capital, I will have to station myself at Lugmilama Fortress for a while. I would like to station someone Tina is more comfortable with in the capital, but..."
"Just send a letter to the Mandez residence. Kalisa is not one of the Brownies, so you can move her freely."
"...Should I just transport Jinbei instead?"
"I would advise against that."
I thought about bringing Tina's beloved bear stuffed toy to the capital so she would not feel lonely, but Alf stopped me. I was just voicing a passing thought. I did not seriously intend to transport Jinbei, that giant stuffed bear, all the way to the capital.
...No, if Tina said she wanted to bring it, I would prepare another carriage and bring it.
Tina was clingy, but she also had mature sides to her. Surely she would not say she wanted to bring a stuffed toy along.
To make things worse, the day of departure ended up being Tina's birthday. I had wanted to celebrate by leisurely preparing a feast at the residence, but from the afternoon onward, we would be stuck in the carriage. Thinking that we would be together all day made me happy, but knowing that the royal, Alfred, would be in the same carriage made me feel like I could hardly breathe.
"Good morning, Leonardo Big Brother."
"Good morning, Tina."
It probably was not my imagination that Tina seemed a bit down. She was going to be shaken endlessly in a carriage heading to the capital, a place she did not particularly want to go, with a royal escort. Telling her not to be nervous would be unreasonable.
"Happy eleventh birthday."
"You remembered this year, did you not?"
After widening her blue eyes slightly in surprise, Tina smiled happily. This was the third birthday since I had taken Tina in, but it was the first year I had realized it was her birthday before she pointed it out. The first year, I had been busy dealing with the end of the epidemic, and she had turned nine without me noticing. Last year, I had fallen for her trick question of "Do you know how old I am now?"
"Here is your birthday present."
"Thank you very much."
The box was an easy size for me to carry, but for Tina, it was as big as she could wrap her arms around. As she staggered slightly upon receiving it, I quickly steadied her with my hand and set the box down on the table. After thanking me again, Tina asked if she could open it, and I urged her to go ahead. Last year I had given her a portrait of herself, but it seemed to have been unpopular, as she had immediately returned it to me saying it was a birthday present for me. It was a portrait I had painted cutely, and I had gratefully displayed it in my room, but I was still a bit concerned. I wondered if my taste was really that bad.
...I hope she accepts this year's gift.
Without letting any of my inner nervousness show, I watched Tina open the box. This year, as soon as Tina saw the contents, her face lit up and she looked up at me.
"Bobbin lace tools! Why? How?"
Tina's lady-like mask, which had only just started to settle in, came off effortlessly. Seeing Tina's face clearly showing her joy made me happy too.
"You received Aurelia's full set of tools, right? That is how I knew what kind of things were needed. I had new ones made."
The tools Tina had been using before were assorted odds and ends, and the ones passed down as Aurelia's belongings were old and worn. I knew that for Tina, the value of Aurelia's keepsakes would not be diminished by them being old, but tools would inevitably break someday. Having new ones ready would not go to waste.
"You were planning to leave your bobbin lace tools behind when going to the capital, right? Since we do not know how long the business in the capital will take, you can take these to pass the time."
Tina tended to stow away precious things. The lace ribbon Aurelia had given her was stored in the attic, and she managed it herself. The patterns and other lace pieces that were Aurelia's keepsakes were also in the attic. Even with Aurelia's tools, Tina had given up on doing bobbin lace during her stay in the capital, saying she did not want to take them on a long journey. So she could just take new tools she had no attachment to. I had been thinking about that too.
"Leo, thank you! Really, I am so happy..."
Ah, she had gone back to calling me Leo. This meant she was genuinely happy. I was sure of it, but Tina, who I thought would immediately hug me like usual, looked between the tools and my face several times, then pressed her lips together as if troubled.
...Is something strange?
I could tell she was happy, but I could also see that she was forcibly suppressing that excitement. She clenched her hands tightly, as if they wanted to reach out to me, and her cheeks quivered.
"...A lady does not recklessly hug people just because she is happy."
"I am learning properly, you know," Tina said, putting on a composed face. Seeing her cheeks occasionally twitch, I could tell she was forcing herself quite a bit to suppress her excitement.
"Thank you very much for this wonderful gift, Leonardo Big Brother."
With a somewhat calmed demeanor, Tina performed a graceful bow. Her tone had returned to "Leonardo Big Brother," which she had been working hard to correct recently.
...I am happy whether she calls me Leo or Big Brother, but I wonder about forcibly suppressing feelings of happiness.
Personally, I had my doubts, but I supposed it was proper growth as a lady. Tina said she did not want to become a noble, but she was suited for it. Far more than someone like me.
...Somehow, I had a feeling she would end up marrying into the nobility.
She was suited for it by nature, and by bloodline, Tina counted as a noble. I did not know what Saromon had thought about Tina's future, but he had prepared a ring like that. It was not as if he had not considered returning her to the nobility at all.
...I did not even want to think about Tina getting married.
Just the other day, I said I might let her marry Alf if it came to that. But honestly, I did not want to let her go anywhere. I understood she would not stay my little sister forever, but I did not want to let her go. She was the family I had finally found.
...How long would Tina stay with me?
Tina, pretending to be calm, handed the box of tools to Salisa with an unmistakably giddy atmosphere. The way she ordered her to load it onto the carriage was that of a little lady, but the way her face broke into a delighted smile was pure, unguarded Tina. Seeing that face, I felt a little reassured that her marriage was still far off.
...Alright. I will increase my training so I can beat down the worthless men who are sure to come someday.
For now, my enemies were probably the royals who would want Tina for her person. In any case, Tina, who could read the valuable Japanese language, had considerable say in matters. Since Tina had publicly declared she would marry a man stronger than me, all I had to do was crush any man. Whether they were a prince or the son of a Staff Peerage, it did not matter. Fists were everything.
[Author's Note]
I feel like I closed this wrong, but this marks the end of Chapter 6.
Next up, I will be inserting work to clean up the plots for the three chapters (Chapters 7-9), which come once every three chapters, so the update will be on the 13th, ten days from now at the latest. Spring and autumn are the easiest seasons for me to work in, so if the cleanup goes quickly, I would like to resume updating sooner. To be honest, I already took ten days off between Chapters 5 and 6, so personally I am thinking "is not this too much time off?" and the self-ribbing hurts. Well, the break between Chapters 5 and 6 was for the 200th chapter commemoration and adjusting the plot that inevitably shifts during writing.
Typos and omissions again another day. Fixed any typos and omissions I found.