220 - Carriage Journey 1
My birthday this year ended up being spent inside a carriage. Since Alfred came all the way from the capital to pick me up by carriage, I could not really put off the departure for too long. I had been preparing little by little, but even so, there was no way I could be ready for a trip without a fixed departure date. In the end, I ended up keeping Alfred waiting for nearly a week, but since being kept waiting meant he could pester Alf all he wanted, it seemed like a perfect outcome from Alfred's perspective.
...His attendants were pretty wound up about it, though.
Watching Salisa load the new bobbin lace tools that I had managed to bring at the last minute into the carriage, I reflected on this past week.
Alfred, who had brought the summons for me, beamed at Leonardo, who said, "We have been making preparations, but we are not in a state to depart immediately." Well, there was nothing to be done about it, he said in a meek voice -- forcing things and souring the reincarnator's (my) impression of him would not be any fun after all -- while a barely concealed delight spread across his face. And so, declaring, "I shall remain in the city of Grenore until the preparations are complete," Alfred put up a fine excuse and announced it to his guards and the servants who seemed to be his attendants. More likely than not, he had come to Grenore without any advance notice precisely so he could use our lack of preparation as an excuse to pester Alf. Leonardo and the guards, who had probably dealt with Alfred for a long time, already seemed resigned and raised no particular objections.
"Tina, come here."
"Yes."
I almost answered "Yes desu" out of habit from being in high spirits, but I stopped myself. I was turning eleven today, so it was about time I graduated from that childish "yes desu."
Escorted by Leonardo, who had beckoned me over, I stepped into the largest of the three carriages. I had been sure it was the fine carriage reserved for royalty (Alfred), but it seemed I would be riding in this one too.
"Whoa, it is adorable...!"
I had been keeping up a ladylike facade, conscious of being a proper young lady, but the moment I set foot inside for the first time and saw the luxurious interior, all that awareness flew right out the window. It was spacious and splendid, though since it was a carriage after all, it was still somewhat cramped -- but it was wider and larger than any carriage I had ridden in before. And the interior was magnificent too. The carriage I had used during the winter journey was roomy enough to lie down in and had a small wood stove, but looking at this excessively luxurious carriage, I could tell that one had been a knight's travel carriage.
"Is this what it would feel like to look around inside a dollhouse?"
Though everything was a bit smaller, the interior was furnished with chairs, a writing desk, built-in bookshelves, and drawers -- more like a small room than a carriage. As I looked around the room, which I could tell was equipped with things far nicer than my own room, I noticed doors at both the front and back. The front door was visible from outside, so I already knew what was behind it -- a private room with a large window that let you gaze at the scenery outside. So I reached for the right-hand door at the back, but Leonardo stopped me.
"Tina, the left door. This one is for Alfred-sama to use, so you must not go in there."
"Understood, the left door."
Encouraged by Leonardo, I opened the left door. The room at the rear of the carriage was a dim bedroom with small windows. There were chairs and a writing desk, but no other real furniture to speak of. Aside from a built-in bunk bed, there was nothing much.
"...I would like the bottom bunk. Leonardo Big Brother, would you be all right with the top bunk?"
I tried to claim the bottom bunk of the bunk bed on a first-come-first-served basis, but Leonardo told me I should discuss it with Hermine. Since Hermine was accompanying us, she needed a bedroom too, and even if I was a child and his little sister, it was probably not appropriate for us to share a bed anymore, Leonardo said. It would be strange for an eleven-year-old to sleep with her guardian.
...I suppose that is true.
The thought of sleeping apart from Leonardo in an unfamiliar place made me a little anxious. Perhaps it showed on my face, because Leonardo told me not to worry -- he would be sleeping on the lounge chair just outside the door, so I would not be lonely.
"Is that not the men's room that Alfred-sama uses?"
"No, no matter how you look at it, sharing a room with a prince would be far too disrespectful."
And besides, he added, he intended to guard the door in case anything happened, so he could respond immediately. Alfred had a room to himself, and though he could not show me without his permission, it should be a reasonably well-appointed bedroom, he said.
"Hermine-sensei, the inside is incredible!"
After thoroughly exploring the carriage and feeling satisfied, I stepped back out. Just then, Hermine was coming out to the entrance to load her luggage, so in my excitement I told her all about the carriage -- and predictably got a scolding.
"Really, you are getting far too carried away. That is not how a lady conducts herself."
"I-I am sorry. It was just that the carriage was so amazing..."
"And your speech was terribly improper as well."
She pointed out my still-unrefined way of speaking, so I straightened my spine and corrected myself. Repeating what I had just said in a more polite version was rather a silly sight, I thought.
"It will not do if you drop your composure every time you see something new."
In the capital, where I would be heading, there were plenty of new things and many nobles. Leaving aside the things, I was sure not all nobles would forgive even my small mistakes. There was no guarantee that a noble would not punish me as an impertinent child for dropping my composure when distracted by something new. Unlike Grenore, where my guardian (Leonardo) was the most powerful person in the city, a failure in the capital was not something Leonardo could necessarily protect me from -- that was easy to imagine. And moreover, my mistakes could well be taken as failures by Leonardo himself, as my guardian.
...I really do need to stay strict with myself.
I had just learned the other day that my well-intentioned leak of Saint Yuuta Hiraga's research materials to Aurelia had resulted in a proper crime of information leakage, and Leonardo could potentially be held accountable for it. I needed to hammer it into my head that my actions did not only affect me, and I had to keep up a facade that would not slip at the slightest thing.
"Prince Alfred is an approachable person, as you can see, but you are no longer at an age where you can rely on that leniency."
"Yes. Now that I have turned eleven, I wish to acquire a more composed demeanor."
I nodded firmly, and Hermine smiled in satisfaction, closing her lips that had been spinning her reprimand.
After the carriage started moving, I noticed that there was a maid stationed inside the carriage. I had not noticed her -- or rather, I had overlooked her -- when I explored earlier, but it seemed this carriage also had a servant's bedroom. When I asked why I had not noticed the door, Hermine explained that the servant's entrance was on the outside of the carriage, designed to be invisible to the master's family. Even the place where she usually waited was in a blind spot of the furniture, so thoroughly arranged that the masters would not see her unless they specifically looked.
...I guess this is the proper distance between master and servant.
Thinking back on it now, I felt like Kalisa had also often kept out of sight during our carriage trips. When I wondered what she was doing when I could not see her, she had been working -- making baked treats with the wood stove and frying pan, or brewing tea -- so I had assumed it was because of that, but it seemed I was mistaken. Hermine was my tutor, but perhaps because she too was hired help, she never showed her face in the carriage's living room outside of lesson times. Even when I invited her to look at the scenery, she declined, saying she could see the outside through the small window in the bedroom. When I asked what she did cooped up in the bedroom, it was apparently not so different from how she spent her time at the residence. She seemed to pass the time leisurely, reading books or doing embroidery.
...I hope Hermine-sensei is not bored or feeling cramped.
What felt confining depended on the person. If Hermine truly found it more comfortable to stay in the bedroom, I could not very well drag her out against her will.
...Leonardo-san is the complete opposite.
I had thought that Leonardo, as my guardian, would also ride in the carriage as a guest, but apparently he could not stand being cooped up in a carriage for weeks on end. He had brought his own horse from the start and was riding alongside the carriage. According to him, it also doubled as guarding. There were already guards that Alfred had brought along, so whether his skill was any good or not, it was just an excuse. He probably just could not sit still inside a carriage.
...Alfred-sama sometimes takes turns riding a horse with Leonardo-san too.
Given Alfred's personality, the fact that he was obediently traveling in the carriage was apparently an unbelievable feat. One of the Silver-White Knights guarding him had quietly told me so.
...Lucky. The outside looks like fun.
It might be hot if I went out, but it had to be better than staying inside the carriage all day. Maybe the next time the horses rested, I would ask if I could ride alongside until evening. As I was thinking about that, the maid brought out a Reversi board.
"So you really did have it made, a Reversi board."
I looked down at the Reversi board being set on the table. The Reversi board at Leonardo's residence was all wooden, but Alfred's Reversi board was different. It was foldable and stored the pieces inside, just like the one at home, but the board and pieces were made of polished stone. The pieces at the residence had the Grenore Knights' brand burned into the white side, but Alfred's pieces had crests painted in gold. For a prince to own, perhaps wooden toys simply would not do.
"The rules are simple, you see. It is just right for playing with my younger brother instead of Saik. I taught it to my nephew and he seemed to like it... but you have met Dietfried before, have you not?"
"I met him in the city of Lagarette last winter."
He was so willful that he put me through quite an ordeal, I kept to myself. It was in the past, and tattling on my nephew to his uncle felt somehow wrong.
...And I hear he is being reformed in the city of Mandez.
Letters came from Dietfried from time to time, and from the content, I could see a fair amount of growth. I did not want to be close friends with him, but I no longer had any objection to counting him as an acquaintance.
"I will let you have the first move."
As he said this, Alfred took the white pieces, so I secretly shrugged. I had assumed that the Reversi board being here meant I would be his opponent, but if he was going to fight tooth and nail and not let me win like Dietfried, it would be troublesome.
...And there is no place to run, nor Alf to be my sacrificial victim.
I thought it would be fortunate if I could take a positive view of it -- well, I have nothing better to do anyway -- but I had experienced Alfred's sore loser tendencies on the very day I taught him Reversi. I had also experienced it with Dietfried. I was still studying the art of losing gracefully in Saik, but I had not even begun to work on it for Reversi. I could only pray that Alfred had gotten stronger.
"...Tell me something interesting."
"Alf-related information?"
"That is tempting, but you must have something even more interesting."
I wondered what he meant by that, thinking as I flipped Alfred's white pieces to black. If it was not about Alf, I did not have any story topics that Alfred would enjoy. When I looked up at him with that thought, Alfred tapped his temple with his finger.
...Ah, he means he wants me to talk about my past life?
If it was about my past life, I might have stories that would interest Alfred. It was a story from another world, from this world's perspective. This was a world where many things from Earth also existed, but not everything was the same. It might at least serve as a way to pass Alfred's time.
"...What would you like to hear?"
"Something that sounds interesting. Do you have anything?"
"Even if you say 'sounds interesting'... your request, Alfred-sama, lacks specifics, so I do not know what would be good."
If he wanted to hear a story, I needed him to give me some direction. When I replied as much, Alfred paused to think for a moment, then grinned as if he had thought of some excellent mischief.
"I hear you embroidered a painting with some interesting color usage. I heard about it from Father."
"Are you referring to Leonardo Big Brother's embroidery painting?"
When he said 'painting,' the only one I had made was that pink embroidery painting. I had made several small pieces in terms of embroidery, but none of them were noteworthy enough to be called paintings.
...Huh? Alfred-sama's father is the king, right?
I wondered for a moment why the king's mouth would bring up that pink painting, then remembered. The princess had bought that painting, so the king must have known about the payment. According to Cidur, who had brought the gold coins, the princess's extravagance had incurred the king's wrath, and she was apparently in a state of awaiting some sort of punishment.
"It is about the painting that ruined that sister of mine."
"Huh? Ruined? The princess was ruined?"
I had assumed she was being scolded, but I had not imagined she was ruined. I had just been warned by Hermine, but I was so surprised that my composure slipped again.
"Five thousand gold coins for a single painting is frankly insane, do you not think? Even my kind brother Elvis could not protect her this time, it seems."
"Ruined -- what happened to the princess?"
"Five thousand gold coins comes from the people's taxes, after all. Father flew into such a rage that my mothers had to restrain him -- he was completely out of control."
When Alfred muttered that he wondered if he would have another younger brother or sister by next year, I decided not to comment on how the queens had restrained the king. The king was apparently even more uninhibited than Alfred, from what I had heard. Expecting a dignified, respectable old gentleman would be wrong from the start.
"...By the way, are you trying to change the subject?"
The topic had been about the embroidery painting, but I had been so curious about the apparently ruined princess that I had fixated on it. As a result, Alfred seemed to suspect that I simply did not want to talk about my past life.
...I had wanted to consult him about returning the gold coins, but I did not want him to think I was dodging the subject, so...
I decided I could talk about returning the gold coins next time, and switched my mind back to the embroidery painting to answer Alfred's first question.