245 - Love Letters and an Intruder and That Black Thing
Periodically consulting with Leonardo, the month changed while I was putting together my to-do list and the report for Christoph. The month after summer, what I would call August in my previous life. Half a month should have passed since the Recollection Festival, but gifts from people who were not even acquaintances kept arriving as usual. It was quietly stressful, but having to send each one back individually was too much trouble, so I had taken to leaving them alone except for the expensive ones.
"......Un?"
Sensing I had heard a faint scream in the distance, I looked up. As if realizing my concentration had been broken, Hermine also furrowed her brow slightly and turned toward the source of the sound.
"What seems to be the commotion?"
As if escaping from my dreaded English lesson, I left my desk and approached the window. My guard Aaron strode across the room and passed by my side. Realizing he was silently signaling me not to get near the window, I stopped, and Giselle came to stand beside me.
......Ah, I heard it again.
The owner of the scream, now clearly closer, seemed to be a man. Though he was letting out a high-pitched shriek like a woman's, I could tell his natural voice was low.
"I will go check the situation."
Giselle gave the order to wait by my side, and Aaron opened the window and went outside. My room in the detached palace had been built with a view of the garden, so the windows were large, allowing easy access to the garden. Unable to simply return to my lessons as if nothing had happened, I stared at the garden where Aaron had disappeared. After a moment, I heard Aaron's voice calling out to stop someone, and accompanied by noisy footsteps, a shabby-looking man ran past outside the window.
......Huh? That black thing just now......?
The one who had passed outside the window was a man, but I could see something black at his feet. The creature sinking its fangs into the man's back and rear, when I thought about it for a moment, overlapped with the figure of a dog I recognized.
"......Was that Oscar, deshu ka?"
"No, that young man is Nicola Woodon-sama of the Flower Peerage."
I had meant to identify the black dog's name, but Rebecca, who was waiting behind me, told me the name of the young man who had passed by. To my eyes he had looked like a shabby man, but apparently he was a noble with the rank of Flower Peerage.
......Right, I see. The shabbiness is the black dog (Oscar)'s fault, then.
Considering the situation as he passed outside the window, that young noble had probably been reduced to a shabby state by the black dog's fangs. Thinking about it that way, I felt like there might have been something clutched in the young noble's hand.
"Either way, he is an intruder."
"Leonyaldo Big Brother-shama, why are you making such a nice smile?"
Wearing a smile so good it was almost bewitching, Leonardo headed toward the window. If I organized the situation logically, this should not be a situation where Leonardo could smile. For some reason I did not understand, there had been an intruder in the detached palace where his little sister (me) lived. Normally, one would think that a detached palace was not a safe enough place to let one's little sister live.
"Speaking of Nicola Woodon, he is the man who sent love letters to Tina."
Saying "I will go greet him a bit too," Leonardo went out the window. Seeing him off, I searched my memory while following Hermine who urged me to resume the lesson. I felt like the name Nicola Woodon was not one I had seen among the many love letters sent to me. Of course, I did not remember every sender's name accurately, but even so, nothing about it stirred even a flicker of recognition. It felt a little unnatural, but having intruded into the detached palace, he was a full-fledged pervert. He had been upgraded from a gentleman suspected of being a pervert who sent love letters to an eleven-year-old girl, to an undeniable criminal. All I had to do was leave things to my guards Aaron and Leonardo, and that black dog who had appeared suddenly for some reason. It might have been a different dog of the same breed, but considering it had been chasing the intruder, it was probably some kind of guard for the detached palace. There should not be any particular problem with leaving the intruder's disposal to them.
......No, wait, there was a problem. If that dog was Oscar, then that meant Bertrand-sama would know I was in the capital?
I had a feeling that was going to turn into something very troublesome. I felt like clutching my head, but I could imagine that doing so would turn my English lesson into etiquette and a reflection session, so I straightened my back and endured it. Clutching my head, and thinking about countermeasures against Bertrand, could wait until after I confirmed whether that black dog was Oscar or not.
Once the black dog Oscar started stationing himself by my side in the detached palace, love letters and gifts from unknown members of the opposite sex were cut in half. To me it just looked like the numbers had gone down, but according to Valerier and Rebecca who did the sorting, apparently the only ones who withdrew were people from the Flower Peerage. Love letters from the Staff Peerage seemed to be more like fan letters, harmless to receive. Among the Loyalty Peerage, the atmosphere had shifted to a wait-and-see stance. And among the Merit Peerage, Leonardo had apparently stepped in and done something, because letters other than love letters had started arriving too. A reduction in love letters from strangers of the opposite sex was simply a happy thing.
"And so, the Woodon family has sent an apology letter and gifts addressed to you."
"Uwaa-oh. Making Prince (Alfred)-shama run errands because we kept sending them back is, in a way, impressive, deshu ne."
When I went to greet Alfred, who had appeared at the detached palace carrying packages, I heard a surprising story. I had been sending back both the apology letters and gifts because I wanted nothing to do with them, but it seemed the Flower Peerage family in question had become unable to choose their means. Having their own country's prince go to the trouble of delivering an apology letter to me... I do not think that would occur to someone with a normal mindset.
"Pashi......?"
"Errand-runner, deshu. It is kind of a slang version of 'gofer,' deshou ka."
This was definitely not something you did to a prince. Additionally, because Alfred the prince had brought it, I could no longer refuse to accept it. They had achieved their goal of delivering an apology letter to me, but did the Flower Peerage family in question realize it? They would be seen by those around them as having troubled a prince with their errand.
"Alfred-shama, were you really alright with this? Acting like a messenger for the Flower Peerage."
I asked, worried whether things like royal dignity or prestige were not something to be concerned about. Royalty were the people with the highest status in the country after the king. If they were so easily used by those of lower rank, it would damage the dignity they were meant to maintain.
"It is a good pretext for coming to the detached palace (here), is it not? Interestingly, it seems the Flower Peerage (them) do not think they troubled me the prince, but rather that they did me a favor."
"Uwaa......"
I felt like I understood the reason the Flower Peerage was the Flower Peerage. Even I did not understand exactly what royalty was supposed to be, but I could still tell that they were not people a lower-ranked Flower Peerage could use as a personal errand boy. Probably, it was precisely because they did not understand that that they kept losing rank.
"By the way, what do you mean by 'pretext'?"
"I only show my face around here when I have business, but there are some who are suspiciously guessing that I have finally chosen a new fiancee."
Fewer nobles were recommending their own daughters as a new fiancee, and Alfred seemed to have become surprisingly comfortable. There were still some who, insisting I was still a child, had not given up on pushing their own daughters, but those who had seen my face at the Recollection Festival seemed to have come to the mysterious conclusion that with looks like that, they would be willing to wait until I grew up.
"About marriage... should I start thinking about it soon, deshou ka?"
"Speaking of your marriage, I heard you told Leonardo, but he apparently set the condition as 'a commoner stronger than Leonardo.' I will not say anything bad, but you should avoid commoners."
According to Alfred, a commoner husband would make the peaceful life I desired difficult. I was originally born in a poor village so a life of poverty would not bother me, but apparently a commoner husband, even if he got a beautiful wife, might not be able to fully protect her.
......That is right. In this life, I have a cute face.
People often say being beautiful is an advantage, but in reality it is not all benefits. Just being born female makes you a target for criminals, but if you are beautiful, that danger increases, which is a problem. To give the most recent example, there was the man who intruded into the detached palace garden the other day. If he had been capable of calm judgment, no one would intrude into a detached palace inside the royal castle, but he lost that composure over my face which he had apparently only glimpsed for a moment at the Recollection Festival, and the man ended up imprisoned. I did not know the man's face, nor did I remember meeting him, but according to his claims, he was testifying in his cell that "we made eye contact at the Recollection Festival" and "she invited me." A man's self-serving delusions were truly dangerous. Cuteness is indeed justice, but I must not forget that sometimes it can become your enemy.
"......I understand, deshita. If commoners are no good, then I will become Leonyaldo Big Brother-shama's bride."
"If you become Leonardo's wife, the country would prefer you not have children, though......"
"Children, desu ka?"
I had meant it as a casual joke, but unexpectedly Alfred responded with a straight face. And on top of that, it was about not having children, a major issue for a married couple.
"......Why is it that if I become Leonyaldo Big Brother-shama's bride, it is better not to have children, desu ka?"
There was no blood relation between Leonardo and me, so calling ourselves siblings was self-proclaimed at best. We were practically strangers. There was a superstition-like belief in Japan too that children born from close blood relations would have some kind of disorder, but that should not apply to Leonardo and me.
"No, my apologies. That was a poor choice of words. It is not that Leonardo being the one is the problem. It is that the country wants you to serve it for a long time, without having children."
"......I understand, deshita."
In other words, the problem was not the relationship between me and Leonardo, but the fact that I could read Japanese. The act of childbirth was a life-risking ordeal even for the pregnant woman. They wanted to keep me away from life-threatening acts, just in case the reincarnator (I) who could read Japanese might lose my life. "Do not have children if you marry Leonardo" meant that Leonardo would obey the country's orders. Even if he gained me as a wife, with the country having put a hold on things, Leonardo would not be able to treat me as a true wife.
"I will not become Leonyaldo Big Brother-shama's bride."
"You changed your tune awfully quick."
Alfred prompted me for the reason why. For someone as shy as me, having Leonardo as a husband would be a wonderfully perfect arrangement in the sense that I would not need to form any new relationships. Additionally, we both knew each other's good points and clumsy points well, and neither of us would be disappointed in the other at this point.
"It is because Leonyaldo Big Brother-shama treasures even a 'little sister' through a name-giver connection so dearly, so dearly, desu yo."
It was not that he had lost his parents and siblings to death, but Leonardo was treated as an orphan. There was no way that Leonardo, who treasured even a little sister with no blood relation, would not long for his own blood-related children. And yet for me to squat in as a wife as a refuge, causing the country to forbid him from having his own children... that was far too cruel a story.
"But still, desu ne... If the country says it does not want me to have children, then it is probably better that I do not marry anyone, desu ne."
Love letters arrived daily from people I had never even met, but if the country was telling me not to marry, that was actually a blessing. This gave me the justification to send back letters, saying "stop sending me love letters" with a clear conscience.
"Do not you yourself have any feelings about having children?"
"I have Leonyaldo Big Brother-shama as family, so not really...? After all, I am being doted on by my brother more than both parents combined, so anymore would be more than enough, desu."
If I added anything more, in this life I was still an eleven-year-old child. Having children or not having them was too far in the future for me to have any real sense of it, to be honest.
"Is that how it is?"
"That is how it is, desu yo."
Ending the idle chatter here, I changed the subject, saying let us get down to business. My marriage problems were something that, in my sense of things, was nine years away, and even by this country's age of adulthood, there were four years of leeway. It was not something that needed a conclusion today no matter what.
"Regarding the revival of Saint Yuuta Hiraga's secret arts, I have been thinking about the arrangements while consulting with Leonyaldo Big Brother-shama, but without the research materials themselves, the matter simply will not progress, desu."
I presented Alfred with the writing board and the papers I had compiled as reports, explaining the points where I was stuck, who I wanted to request cooperation from, and the conditions. It was, so to speak, a work presentation. Thinking calmly, I did not think this was something an eleven-year-old child should be doing, but since an ordinary child would not be given a detached palace within the royal castle, Nadine, who had been assigned to serve me, was waiting in the corner of the room with a normal expression.
"We had better retrieve them from Grenore quickly. I will notify His Majesty and the Sedovara Church from my end."
Especially regarding the Sedovara Church, since I would be taking the original manuscripts in the middle of transcription, some groundwork would be necessary. Even if it was for reviving the secret arts, that was that, and this was this.
"To Grenore......"
"It is urgent, you see. You would just be baggage, so you will stay home at the detached palace."
I started to say I wanted to go along, but Alfred cut me off. It was true that with me, who could not even ride a horse alone, coming along, I could not deny it would slow down the travel.
"......If I am just staying home, I will not be able to do anything for quite a while during the round trip, but if I come along, I could read the research materials on the way back, and that would save time, desu."
"Being able to read through the research materials on the way back is significant, but it also means you would not be able to do anything else. The extra time it takes just to bring you along would increase the time we stay in the capital."
Even just giving up carriage travel alone would dramatically increase travel speed. Thinking about it, the correct answer in terms of time saving was to not bring me from the start. He advised me to quietly do what I could in the capital, so I tried being petulant, saying that things like identifying what was needed could not be done without the research materials.
"As for what I can do right now desu ka ne... sending letters to acquaintances at the Sedovara Church, or doing some groundwork, deshou ka?"
"Then work hard on the groundwork. Also, while you are at it, learn how to handle love letters from Nadine or something."
"My tutor is Hermine-sensei, desu ga?"
Why, when asking who to learn from, did Nadine's name come up instead of Hermine's? I wondered for just a moment, but that was all. The reason was immediately clear.
......What I needed to learn was the "handling method." Certainly, if I asked Hermine-sensei, I felt she would teach me the "rejection method" instead.
As I was coming to terms with the choice of teacher on my own, Alfred's hand landed on my head. Alfred's hands were big too, but still a little smaller than Leonardo's.
"If we hurry, the round trip will not even take a month. I am leaving everything after that to you, so quietly stay in the capital and watch the house."
When he said "Your brother (Leonardo) is here, so you will not get lonely," I could not deny it.
Will fix typos and errors at a later date. I am planning for that person to appear soon, but I am not confident about tomorrow's update.
I have fixed the typos and errors I found.