228 - A Workplace Popular with Women
Waking up the next morning was the worst. After all, the last memory before falling asleep was of a world brightening with the pale dawn light. It would be more accurate to say I barely slept at all.
...But I'm getting up. I don't want to be thought of as a sleepyhead.
I feel like even on the first day, when the fatigue of travel lingers, oversleeping might be forgiven, but the start of everything is what matters most. I don't want to be thought of as a child who sleeps in late.
With my blinking eyelids still closed, I lifted my heavy head. I thought I'd crawl across the bed and get down, but I stepped on my own hair with my hand and tumbled face-first onto the soft bed. I'd been thinking of cutting it after the Recollection Festival this year too, but it seems I probably won't be participating in the Recollection Festival as a Spirit's Favored Child this year. And since Kalisa, who wanted to braid it, isn't here, maybe I should cut it a little early. As I was thinking such things, I heard the door open.
"...Are you awake?"
"I'm awake deshu~"
Aaron, who had been guarding me through the night, asked if I was awake, so I answered that I was. It was my own voice, but it sounded sleepier than I expected, which surprised even me.
"Good morning, Tina-sama."
As Aaron stepped aside, I heard Hermine's voice. Footsteps continued, so she must have entered the room. Just as I climbed out of bed to greet her and opened the canopy, Hermine was standing there carrying warm water for washing my face.
...That's right. Hermine-sensei, outside of lesson hours, acts as a maid here.
During the time she works as a maid, she even wears a maid uniform, so it feels rather fresh. I said my first greeting of the morning to Hermine and washed my face at the washstand with the towel and warm water prepared there. The drowsiness faded a little, but I still wasn't fully refreshed.
"Would you like to take a bath? I heard the previous master, unlike Tina-sama, had a habit of bathing in the morning."
I remembered that because the servants, thinking the new master would also bathe in the morning, had been preparing the bath since morning. At any rate, I'd been told to sleep early last night, so I'd gone to bed without even bathing. Which meant I hadn't washed off the travel dust, and I figured a bath would definitely refresh me.
...It didn't really refresh me, though.
The bath in the detached palace was too large for me to relax in, and I felt like soaking in all that water actually tired me out instead. When I got out of the bath and was having Hermine fix my hair, Giselle and yesterday's maids all came bustling into the dressing room.
...What is this?
All of them had subtly wandering eyes. They kept glancing at Hermine as if they wanted to say something, but Hermine ignored them and braided my hair into a half-up style with two small buns on each side.
"Good morning, Leonyaldo Big Brother-sama."
"Good morning, Tina."
Led by Hermine, I moved to the living room, where Leonardo was sitting on a lounge chair drinking coffee. Though the place was different, the familiar scene somehow made me feel relieved.
"Looks like you managed to sleep alone last night."
Leonardo reached out his hand to pat my head, saying "Good job," so I let him pet me. I could report the fact that although I'd been alone, I hadn't actually slept, after I'd fully enjoyed Leonardo's hand.
"I couldn't sleep, so I tried to go to Leonyaldo Big Brother-sama's room, but Aaron stopped me."
Saying that at eleven years old, I'm no longer a child, and even with a guardian, sleeping together with Leonardo would be problematic. Since it was a reasonable argument, I obeyed. I was anxious in an unfamiliar room, but I think I did my best to sleep alone.
"Leonyaldo Big Brother-sama, did you sleep well in a new room for the first time?"
"I was sure Tina would visit me in the middle of the night, so I stayed half-awake."
Leonardo suppressed a yawn, saying that's why he's a bit sleepy, and I silently retorted that maybe I should have gone after all. I can understand that I need to start being independent from my brother, but I think it depends on the time and circumstances. In a brand new place, in a room far too large that I'd never been in before, of course a child would feel anxious. If there's a guardian right nearby, I should be allowed to rely on them.
"Anyway, do you want something to drink too, Tina? The maids behind you are fidgeting like they want to work."
"Fidgeting?"
Prompted by Leonardo, I turned around. Four maids were lined up against the wall, and they didn't look 'fidgety' at all. If anything, their expressions were more 'nervous.'
...Huh? Where's Hermine-sensei?
She came with me to the living room, but I can't see Hermine. And then I realized something belatedly. I think I heard Nadine was the coordinator of the detached palace, but I haven't seen her this morning either.
Thinking it was strange, I tried telling a maid, "Please give me something to drink." Then, all four maids started moving at once.
...Ah, right. I see.
Connecting their flustered preparations for drinks with the words I occasionally overheard, they were confused by me. More precisely, by how different I was from the previous master.
...Now I understand why they came bustling into the dressing room later, with their eyes wandering.
The previous master, who had the habit of bathing in the morning, wasn't particularly an early riser. It was just that they happened to bathe during the morning hours. Their waking time was probably late. The maids, who worked according to that master's schedule, apparently neglected to confirm that my wake-up time would naturally also be the same as the previous master's. In other words, the reason they showed up late in the dressing room was simply because the maids had overslept. The reason Hermine and Nadine weren't here was likely because Hermine was reporting the maids' negligence to Nadine.
"Here you are, young lady."
The sound of a cup being placed on the table echoed four times in succession, and four types of drinks were set before me. This might have been my mistake. Since I'd just ordered "something to drink," the maids, who had no way of knowing my preferences, each prepared a drink according to their own judgment. Looking at the table lined up with coffee like Leonardo's, herb tea with a lemon slice, citrus juice, and milk, I could see their trial and error.
...Hard to choose.
Four pairs of eyes were fixed on my hand, watching which cup I would pick. As someone exposed to those gazes, it actually made every cup harder to choose. Well then, what should I do, I thought, and decided to prepare a fifth option, though it was a bit cowardly.
"...Please give me an empty cup and some water."
"At once."
I'd just wanted to moisten my throat a little after my bath, but was it my fault that four drinks got prepared? Being in the position of giving orders to others is surprisingly difficult.
I poured water into the empty cup that was brought, then squeezed the lemon that had come with the herb tea and dropped a few drops into it. With just that, it became a slightly refreshing glass of water. For drinking after a bath, this was just about right.
"Please save the juice for breakfast. I'd like the milk warmed before I go to sleep. As for the coffee... Leonyaldo Big Brother-sama, can you have another cup?"
As I was racking my brain to cover up my mistake, wondering what to do with the herb tea, I heard Leonardo's stifled laughter. I appreciate the effort to put things in my stomach so as not to waste food, but my stomach also needs to save room for breakfast.
...True, if I fill up on coffee, I won't be able to eat breakfast.
"The maids are there to help with Tina's daily life. They've been trained to serve people, but they only started serving Tina yesterday. There's no way they can immediately meet Tina's wishes."
Leonardo said that since there's no way they can immediately discern what you want or how you want it done, for both sides' sake, you should give clear instructions. The maids were confused when told by a new master whose preferences they didn't know to bring "something" to drink.
"I undershtand deshu. Next time, I'll make it clear and say what I want to drink."
"It's fine to 'ask,' but to the maids, it's an order. Make sure you maintain the distinction between master and servant."
Admonished that the distinction is important for both sides' sake, I ended up responding with a childish "Haaai," but unfortunately, Hermine, who had returned to the living room, heard me. I felt her eyes flash, so I'm sure I'll be getting a lecture in the afternoon lesson.
At breakfast, I could only eat about half. The juice went down smoothly, but perhaps because of my lack of sleep, solid food was hard. I wasn't being rushed, so I could chew slowly, but it gradually became more difficult, so I gave up forcing myself.
...The soup is too strongly flavored.
Whether it was because of my physical condition or if this is the capital's taste, the juice was delicious, but even drinking the soup was a bit hard on me. Maybe once I'm feeling better it'll taste normal, but if this is the capital's flavor, I'd want to have Leonardo's vegetable soup on heavy rotation.
...I used to think I didn't want heavy rotation, though.
After breakfast, the morning was free time. Rather than free time, in my case, there was nothing scheduled besides the afternoon lessons with Hermine. As I was wondering what to do, I remembered the Norakamu that had gone untasted yesterday.
...I heard it was a gift from Elvis-sama, but should I send a thank-you letter or something?
...So the coffee was Rebecca, the herb tea was Ulrika, the juice was Valerier, and the milk was Stina.
Honestly, I felt like I couldn't remember all of them at once since there were too many people, but I used the Norakamu I'd received as a conversation starter and first asked for the names of the four maids. When I told Hermine I was going to distribute the Norakamu and greet the maids and servants, she cautioned me that this wasn't behavior befitting a master, but Nadine pushed me forward from behind. Saying that I'm the master of the detached palace, so I can do as I please. I understood Hermine's caution, but at any rate, unless I get used to this new environment, I won't be able to sleep properly. I might be a somewhat unconventional master, but first I wanted to at least grasp how many people work in the detached palace.
The four maids were apparently daughters of nobles, each one. They had been serving at the royal castle as part of their etiquette training, but it seems that with my move, especially young girls were gathered at the detached palace. About two-thirds of the maids who served the previous master were dismissed, and those remaining haven't come before me yet but are taking care of Leonardo and looking after the two escorts. I also heard that they decided to surround me with young girls to also serve as conversation partners, so that I might quickly grow accustomed to the capital.
"Why are there some who give their house's peerage title and some who don't?"
Catching another maid who hadn't appeared before me since arriving at the detached palace, I wandered through the palace exchanging Norakamu for names. The four maids seemed resistant to going around meeting even the servants, so I left them behind. I don't know whose consideration placed them around me, but I feel like I won't be able to get along with them very well.
...Well, my hunches don't usually come true, though.
I was initially uncomfortable with Elke and Petrona too, but now I think of them as ordinary friends. That initial discomfort with them was mostly due to my own shyness.
"As for the reason they don't give their peerage title, Tina-sama should be able to think of it immediately."
"...Is it because it's the lowest rank?"
At Hermine's words, who was accompanying me, I thought a little more deeply. If there was a reason not to want to state their peerage, the first thing that came to mind was the Flower Peerage, which was said to be on the verge of collapse. As for the house name as well, if it really was on the brink of ruin, the name might be well-known among nobles too.
"There aren't many who would willingly tell a new master that they're in such a position."
"Huh? But then..."
...Didn't Giselle also refuse to tell me her peerage and house name yesterday?
"Giselle will be Tina's guard for at most three years."
As if he'd read my thoughts, Leonardo started saying something like this. As for my existence, noble information networks can learn about it to some extent. If that's the case, then any noble who has the chance to get their daughter close to someone of such importance that the king himself assigns a guard wouldn't pass up the opportunity. The target of protection is a woman, even if she's a child. A female knight is absolutely necessary. The essential condition is being female, so other necessary knightly skills could be put off. It should be a good workplace for female White Knights. In particular, it's a prime workplace for Flower Peerages looking to earn meritorious deeds and restore their house, and Merit Peerages wanting to become Loyalty Peerages and stabilize themselves as nobles.
"What do you mean by three years?"
"It takes three years for a noble's child to be sent to Viloup Fortress and be formally recognized as a knight."
Right about now, Merit Peerage houses who want to assign their daughters as my guards should be discussing sending their daughters to Viloup Fortress, Leonardo said. Between Flower Peerages and Merit Peerages, the Merit Peerages are stronger. Even if Giselle from a Flower Peerage has already been assigned as a guard, it would be easy for a Merit Peerage daughter who comes later to take the guard position.
"In other words, Giselle deshired to be my guard because she wanted meritorious deeds."
"No, in Giselle's case, it's probably simpler than that. There just weren't any other female knights."
Unlike Aaron, who had investigated the detached palace's layout in advance, Giselle had neglected information. She might not have even looked into what kind of valuable person her charge was.
"At any rate, for a woman to become a White Knight, her house must be one that seeks meritorious deeds that desperately."
Judging by the level of desperation, they were probably really on the brink, barely holding onto their noble status. She was silently following behind as my guard, but feeling somewhat sorry for her, I turned around, and Giselle, who met my eyes, quietly averted her gaze.
...Ah, I see. There's one more reason this is becoming a workplace popular with women.
In that moment when Giselle looked away, I thought of something. If they're seeking meritorious deeds, they don't necessarily have to serve as my guard to catch the king's eye. My brother Leonardo possessed the very meritorious deeds they so earnestly desired. If, while working close to him as my guard, they could somehow seduce Leonardo and make him their husband, that alone would accomplish their goal.
...It's a workplace popular with women in a bad way.
Couldn't reach the planned point (as usual). Leonardo-san with his terrible luck with women, this is your time to shine (not really).
Typos and omissions again another day. Fixed any typos and omissions I found.