241 - Gifts and a Tea Party
The day after the Recollection Festival, a large amount of cheesecake arrived at the detached palace from Christoph. It seemed he had fully recognized it as my favorite treat. It appeared products from multiple shops had been gathered, with various shapes and toppings, fun to look at.
...The problem was that this wasn't a decoration, it was food.
The capital's cheesecakes, carefully crafted in appearance, were lovely to look at, but no matter how adorable, food was food. They needed to be put into the stomach before they spoiled.
I had them cut bite-sized pieces and arranged all varieties on a plate, and had the maids and servants eat the rest. There was also the method of serving them to guests, but unfortunately I had no acquaintances in the capital who would visit me. Leonardo had said something about wanting to stop by the Silver-White Knights' station, but I didn't know when that would be, so it was better to avoid keeping them.
The cheesecake was a reward-like gift for participating in the Recollection Festival, but from the next day onward, gifts I had no recollection of began to arrive.
"Um... what is this?"
What Giselle carried in, saying "Gifts have arrived," were three armful-sized boxes and a huge bouquet. The sender was a noble whose name I had never heard nor had any memory of being involved with.
"Silk dresses and shoes, fashionable sweets and hats, and then jeweled hair ornaments and..."
"No, that's not it. I'm not asking about the contents."
Giselle, who had checked the gifts before bringing them to me, was reporting on the contents, but that wasn't what I wanted to know. I didn't want to know what was in the boxes, but why gifts had suddenly started being sent from people I didn't know.
"I apologize. The dress and shoes are from Gregoire-sama of the Merit Peerage, the sweets and hat are from the Menhishumi Church, the jeweled hair ornament is from..."
"I'm not asking about the senders either."
I supposed it was necessary information, but it wasn't the information I was seeking right now. What I wanted to know was the reason why gifts were being delivered to me.
...From the Menhishumi Church, I could kind of guess it was a reward for the Recollection Festival, maybe?
I could vaguely pull out a reason like that, but I couldn't be satisfied. In the city of Grenore too, I had participated in the Recollection Festival as a Spirit's Favored Child, but that was all. Nothing like thanks arriving later had happened.
"I have no reason to receive gifts, so please return them to the senders."
Especially silk dresses and jeweled hair ornaments, they were too expensive, and receiving them was frightening. Expensive gifts with unknown intentions only gave me a premonition of trouble.
Whether it was a matter of peerage or not, since Giselle showed reluctance about returning them, I left the refusal of the gifts to Valerier. I thought this would settle the mysterious gift problem, but the next day the number of gifts doubled.
"...So, why are gifts being delivered to me from people I don't know?"
"It seems to be the influence of Prince Alfred's escort."
This time, information that was neither the gifts' contents nor the senders' names came from Giselle's mouth. It seemed that, having failed to respond to my request yesterday, Giselle was trying to understand me in her own way. She had looked into the rumors outside the detached palace in her own way.
"Prince Alfred is a strong candidate for the next king following Princess Felicia. If you are Prince Alfred's escort partner, it would be a natural judgment to seek friendly relations."
According to Giselle's explanation, it seemed Alfred escorting a member of the opposite sex was extremely rare. The last time Alfred had escorted a woman in a public setting was on the birthday of the woman who was still his fiancee at the time, before he obtained the Royal Peerage and dissolved the engagement. And now, suddenly, he had escorted a member of the opposite sex, even if she was still a child. It might be unavoidable that people would jump to conclusions, thinking that Alfred, who was expected to eventually take a female partner, had finally chosen a new candidate.
"...I think Alfred-sama escorts quite normally, but I understand. In other words, it's a misunderstanding."
I felt relieved to confirm that these were indeed gifts I shouldn't accept. If the senders' intentions were to curry favor with Alfred, who might be the next king, then there would be no benefit in flattering me, who had no intention of becoming his bride or associating with him more closely than necessary.
"It seems there are gifts mixed in that aren't misunderstandings."
"Aside from misunderstandings?"
Giselle pulled out a letter attached to one of the gift boxes and held it out to me. The letter, which showed signs of having been opened and inspected, contained when opened a flowing handwriting with content that made my eyes slide across the page.
"...What is this? It's scary."
It wasn't a threatening letter or a request to mediate with Alfred. In that sense, it was indeed a letter addressed to me, not a misunderstanding.
Where they had seen me, how they had even found out I was staying at the detached palace, how the Menhiriya's Daughter attire at the Recollection Festival was beautiful and lovely, how I looked scared being escorted by the prince to the temple and it worried them, if I was anxious about my current treatment they would lend me their strength, and so on. Viewed positively, it was favorable. Viewed negatively, it was text one step away from stalking behavior.
"...Dietfried-sama's poorly written diary feels cuter in comparison."
The letters from Dietfried were close to diaries in the name of updates on his circumstances, but this letter was different. I thought it was a bit early for me, but it was unmistakably a love letter. Just when I thought the words praising my appearance continued, occasionally poetic lines were woven in.
"I don't need the dress or the jewels either. It's creepy, so please send everything back."
Above all, the part about it being a passionate love letter from someone I had never met was disgusting. If I knew something about the other person, it would be one thing, but I didn't know where they had seen me or where they had investigated my background. And on top of that, this was a love letter. I still thought of myself as a child, but it meant the other person was watching me from the shadows with eyes that saw me as a woman. Calling it unpleasant wasn't even cute enough.
"However, this letter is from the Staff Peerage family..."
"It doesn't matter who it is. Sending a letter like this to a child who just turned eleven makes me question their sanity."
In a few years I would reach adulthood in this world, but I was still a child with small chest and hips. I didn't want to have any dealings with a pervert who sent love letters to a child.
"...How about this invitation?"
As I was asking Valerier to return the love letter and gifts, Hermine held out a white envelope that was clearly different from the previous letters. The elegant handwriting and inoffensive scent somehow softened my wariness toward the sender.
"Mikaela-san? I don't recall the name..."
Since Hermine was recommending it, the person must have some connection to me. Hermine knew I was shy by nature. She wouldn't recommend a complete stranger without reason.
"She is the wife of Siegwald-sama, who was staying at the Grenore residence."
"Eh? Sieg-sama's goddess (wife)?"
Hearing it was Siegwald's wife, my wariness as a shy person completely dissipated. I disliked meeting people I didn't know at all, but if it was Siegwald's wife, that alone sparked a sense of familiarity. At the Grenore residence, Siegwald had both looked after me and doted on me. And this was the wife whom Siegwald called goddess and swore his love to. For me, unusually, a desire to meet her welled up.
"You can't stay cooped up in the detached palace forever, and this is also study in socializing. If it's Siegwald-sama's wife, she will have heard about Tina-san's personality from her husband. I think she will overlook small mistakes."
"In other words, with Mikaela-san... sama? I'm to get used to interacting with nobles."
"Your wording is sloppy."
"I apologize. I misspoke."
Pointed out that my wording was sloppy, I quickly corrected myself. It was just changing to better-sounding words, so the meaning didn't change, but it seemed the way of speaking was important for a lady.
It was good that I decided to accept Mikaela's invitation, but unexpectedly, Leonardo did not accompany me. Aaron was there as a guard, and there was also Giselle, even if she was unreliable as a guard. With Hermine also accompanying me as a tutor to provide backup, Leonardo declined, saying that having too many people would be troublesome for the other party.
...Honestly, I wish he'd swapped places with Giselle.
I was the one who decided to accept the tea invitation, but I hadn't expected to be separated from Leonardo. I felt bad for Giselle, who was continuing her earnest efforts, but having Leonardo with me was more reassuring than having Giselle. I tried tugging at his sleeve and pouting, giving him pleading looks from below, but unusually, Leonardo's opinion didn't change. Or rather, it seemed he had been called by Christoph for a while now. It appeared he had been hesitating about going out because he was uneasy with only one guard.
...As always, Giselle wasn't being counted as a guard.
Giselle wasn't counted as a guard, but visiting Siegwald's residence seemed to be reassuring in a guarding sense on its own. Siegwald himself was a Silver-White Knight, and his son was also a Silver-White Knight. It wasn't that both would be home during the time of the visit, but apparently Timon's child was training to become a Silver-White Knight, and a retired Silver-White Knight visited the residence almost daily as his swordsmanship instructor. At worst, the security was tighter than the detached palace, which was guarded by Aaron alone and a large number of White Knights.
...Come to think of it, was this the first time I was going outside the castle since coming to the capital?
I never thought I would go outside the royal castle grounds without Leonardo. Even though we were going out into the city, our destination was the noble district, which was closer to the royal castle compared to the inner city where commoners lived. If I wanted to get used to going out, perhaps it was a surprisingly good distance.
"Thank you for inviting me today, Mikaela-sama."
"Welcome, Christina-san. Would it be alright if I also called you 'Tina,' the same way my husband (Sieg) does?"
"Yes, Mikaela-sama."
Siegwald's wife, who had a residence in the noble district, was apparently born a noble lady, but she smiled with surprising friendliness and gentleness. She was the complete opposite of the image I pictured when I heard "noble lady." Or rather, it was just that the nobles I imagined were template villains. Originally, nobles were supposed to protect their people and, when trouble arose, stand at the front and lead the charge. That was why they were trusted, loved, and called "lord" by the people.
...Huh? Thinking about it this way, wasn't Leonardo already like a lord?
In Grenore, the fortress city, Leonardo should have been fulfilling a lord-like role. That was why, despite being a knight, he had so much paperwork. And he had civil officials dispatched from the capital to assist him.
"Actually, I have a friend who absolutely wanted to meet and speak with Tina-san."
"A friend?"
Who could it be? I tilted my head. I had been thinking, rather rudely, that since she was Siegwald's wife, she would understand my personality to some extent, and I could use her as a practice partner for noble behavior. So this was a bit troubling. If she was Mikaela's friend, there was a possibility she was a noble. I couldn't expect tolerance like Alfred's from a noble who didn't know me at all.
While sweating coldly on the inside, I responded with a lady's smile and was led to a stone terrace. An umbrella was set up for shade, and in the center were a round table and three chairs, one of which had an earlier guest.
"How do you do, the master of Grenore Fortress's... little sister. I am Sofiya. Today I imposed on Mikaela-sama and requested to sit in."
The woman who called herself Sofiya stood up with graceful movements and bowed. Her head was lowered deeply, and golden hair slipped down from her shoulders.
...Um, this wasn't a greeting, it was an apology, right?
The angle of the head bow was too deep to consider it a greeting. I had no memory of receiving an apology from a woman I was meeting for the first time, so was this apology for the "imposing and requesting to sit in"? I thought it was strange, but I consciously stopped myself from tilting my head, which I felt like doing. It seemed a lady should not make her inner feelings obvious on the outside except intentionally. In this life, I had incorporated body language to compensate for my speech difficulties, so correcting it was a bit difficult.
"I'm sorry, Tina-san. Sofiya-sama usually stays cooped up in her residence, to the point where if I don't forcibly drag her out and take her around, I wouldn't even know if she's alive or dead, but when I told her the master of Grenore was in the capital, she said she absolutely wanted to meet and apologize."
Apparently, since Sofiya had uncharacteristically said she wanted to meet someone, Mikaela wanted to grant her wish, thinking it was a good sign. If only she would gradually turn her gaze outward, even a little.
"I see. I apologize that it's not my brother."
Ah, so the business was with Leonardo. I relaxed my shoulders a little. If she didn't have business with me, then there would be no problem acting as Leonardo's little sister, an eleven-year-old child. I felt relieved and sat down in the chair as guided, deciding to face Sofiya.
"...By the way, what is the apology to my brother about?"
"My father-in-law apparently stayed in Grenore for half a year, and I imagine he must have caused considerable trouble..."
...Hmm? Father-in-law?
Feeling a catch in Sofiya's words, I observed the woman called Sofiya again. She was a pale, slender, graceful woman. She was probably a little over thirty. Mikaela had called her a friend, but the age gap seemed too large to simply consider her a friend.
"Sofiya-sama is Bertrand-sama's daughter-in-law, the mother who bore the heir of the Kantar family."
"Bertrand-sama's..."
...Which meant she was my aunt by marriage. I couldn't introduce myself as such, but nice to meet you.
Feeling quite strange, I greeted my aunt (Sofiya) in my heart only. Then I finally understood Sofiya's business. She probably wanted to apologize to Leonardo for the trouble caused by Bertrand's long half-year stay while he waited for Jean-Jacques's return. The fact that only the little sister (me) came might have been a miscalculation, but I planned to report properly to Leonardo.
"Bertrand-sama doted on me during his stay..."
I wanted to say something inoffensive to reassure her, but when I tried to recall Bertrand during his stay, my words caught in my throat. Back when I didn't yet know he was my grandfather, Nils and I had simply been delighted by the appearance of a living hero and followed him around, but he had participated in the Black Knights' martial arts tournament, let the Black Dog (Oscar) run free, and generally did as he pleased. Moreover, I knew about his treatment of his reportedly sickly grandchild and the signs of torture inflicted on Jean-Jacques. For me, who was aware that I wasn't very good at lying, it was difficult to convey Bertrand's conduct in a neutral way.
"...I think... he doted on me...?"
I had wanted to reassure Sofiya, but my honest stumbling over words must have let her imagine how Bertrand had spent his time in Grenore. Sofiya's already pale face gradually turned blue.
"My father-in-law... my father-in-law truly caused trouble...!"
"Please raise your head, Sofiya-sama. There's no need for you to apologize. He was just a somewhat troublesome old man! I think he caused more trouble for Alf-san than for Leonyaldo Big Brother, but Alf-san is used to somewhat troublesome people thanks to Alfred-sama, so I'm sure he's fine."
"He caused trouble for Alfred-sama too...?!"
This was the first time I had seen a face that fit the phrase "pale as a ghost" so perfectly. Sofiya's fair face turned blue, then passed through that and became white again. It was a mystery whether she was someone who called Alf "Alfred" or if she was confusing him with Prince Alfred, but I felt that trying to smooth things over was only making it worse.
"...I'm tired."
"The outing isn't over until you return to the detached palace (home), Tina-san."
On the carriage ride back, I unintentionally let my strength drain and leaned against the backrest due to mental fatigue, but Hermine, who was riding with me, admonished me that I shouldn't relax until I returned to the detached palace. Having been admonished, I straightened my back as a lady, but I was truly tired today. I wanted to stick close to Leonyaldo-san's side and be spoiled rotten when I got back to the detached palace.
"Still, the hero Bertrand is the worst as a family member."
I had thought I would gradually get used to nobles through a casual tea party, but after that, Sofiya's confession about Bertrand continued endlessly. Novel sweets were served as refreshments, but I couldn't even remember the taste because of it. I thought that apologies for Bertrand's actions, no matter what was said by someone who was, even if an aunt, still a relative by marriage, were meaningless to me, but seeing Sofiya's complexion worsen each time she bowed her head wasn't good for appearances. Sofiya, who had seemed delicate from the first impression, apparently wasn't very physically sturdy, just as she looked. Mikaela had said something about forcibly dragging her out, but I could tell from her words that she was concerned about Sofiya's health, and I thought it was correct to interpret it not literally but as inviting her out to the extent that she wouldn't overdo it while caring for her health. The reliable goddess of Siegwald was indeed a reliable person.
...Just because his son died, taking away the grandson and sending his daughter-in-law back to her family home, what kind of demon does that?
If Sofiya had returned to her family home of her own will, it wouldn't be anything for me to think about. But according to what I heard from Mikaela today, after his son died, Bertrand unilaterally sent Sofiya back to her family home. If her son, the grandson, had been with her, it might have been some comfort to her heart, but he secured only the grandson at his own side. And knowing full well that the grandson was reportedly at death's door ten times a year, he stayed in Grenore and left him for half a year.
...He's the worst. Bertrand-sama is the worst.
When I first came to Grenore, Leonardo had indeed left me alone too, but not this badly. Back then, the fortress was busy with the Wards disease, and when I developed a fever after things settled down, he was by my side.
...I'm definitely not becoming a child of Bertrand-sama's household.
I don't have a father's sister-type aunt, but I do have a father's brother's wife-type aunt, something like that. There's something I want to confirm, but I can't find it, so I'll leave it as is. I might secretly correct it later.
Typos and omissions again another day. Fixed any typos and omissions I found.