252 - Reunion with Basilia 1
We traveled by carriage to the Markov residence in the noble district of the capital. With Leonardo's escort, I boarded the carriage, and as always, the Black Dog (Oscar) slipped in along with me. Really, without me noticing, he's taken to acting like my guard dog.
...Well, it's too much trouble to put him down, so I don't mind, I suppose.
But the Black Dog is Bertrand's dog. Eventually he's bound to say something about it, and in that sense, I was troubled by being followed around. If he says something like "Since my dog has taken a liking to you, you're one of my children," that would be a problem too. He does listen to commands like "stay" and "come," but the fact that he won't obey the command to return to Bertrand is infuriating.
...Could it be that he actually ran away because his owner mistreats him...?
According to Leonardo, when Bertrand brought the dog to Mey Village, he didn't show any particular concern for his pet, nor did he let it ride on his horse. I think there's a clear physical limitation between dogs and horses, but Bertrand just dragged the dog around without any consideration for the Black Dog.
...They say "dogs are man's best friend," but Bertrand-sama's treatment of him isn't exactly how you treat a friend, is it...?
Considering his attitude toward his sons and grandchildren, maybe his treatment of the Black Dog is his own well-intentioned brand of tough love. I don't need that kind of whip (Bertrand). As long as I have Hermine's reasoned whip and Leonardo's somewhat flawed candy, that's enough for me.
While I was thinking such things, the carriage arrived at the Markov residence. Since many noble houses line the noble district, each one can't be built too large. Most of the mansions had spacious gardens, but compared to Jemian's main residence built on the outskirts of Lagarette, this one was small. About the same size as the Grenore residence, or perhaps slightly smaller than the detached palace.
The carriage passed through the main gate guarded by a gatekeeper and rode along the stone pavement stretching straight toward the mansion. A tastefully arranged garden could be seen through the carriage's small window, and as I gazed at it, the carriage came to a stop.
"Welcome to our ho... kyaa!?"
I heard Basilia's voice and turned my face toward her, but there was no sign of Basilia. However, I did see the front door moving, so I understood that Basilia, who had come to greet me, had hurriedly retreated back inside the mansion.
...Huh?
I understood she came to greet me, but why did she retreat in the middle of her greeting? For the time being, I straightened my back, waiting for the door to be opened from inside to welcome the guests, when the door opened only a crack. Through the gap, I could see Basilia peeking out at us.
"Wh-why? Why is the Black Devil with you!?"
At the voice coming from beyond the slightly opened door, I instinctively looked up at Leonardo's face. When they say "Black Devil," Leonardo is dark-haired, but since coming to the capital he's often been wearing white clothes. I don't think anyone would look at this appearance and think "Black Devil." That meant the only other black thing was... I dropped my gaze to my feet. At my feet, the Black Dog, Oscar, was stationed with a guarding expression.
"...Basilia-chan, are you scared of dogs?"
"Th-there is no such thing! There is nothing I am afraid of... kyaa!?"
Basilia tried desperately to maintain her composure from behind the door, but her appearance apparently seemed suspicious to the Black Dog. He moved slightly from beside me, approached the entrance, and Basilia screamed again.
...Yeah. She's scared of dogs, all right.
She tried to open the door to greet me, but each time the Black Dog became alert and approached the door, and Basilia, frightened of the dog, closed it again. From the outside looking in, it was funny like a comedy sketch, but I didn't want to be kept waiting at the entrance forever.
"Oscar."
At the call of his name, the Black Dog's ears twitched. He was still concerned about Basilia beyond the door, but after staring at the door for a while, he returned to my side.
"It seems Basilia-chan is scared, so Oscar, you'll wait in the carriage."
"I-I am not scared at all!"
As I commanded the Black Dog to return to the carriage, I heard Basilia's protest from behind the door. Even though she had hidden behind the door the moment she saw the dog, she still wouldn't admit she was afraid of dogs.
In the end, the Black Dog, who apparently didn't want to wait in the carriage, didn't obey my command, and instead sat down at a slight distance. After confirming there was enough distance from the Black Dog, Basilia finally appeared from behind the door.
"H-how disgraceful of me to show you such a sight... Allow me to reintroduce myself. Welcome to our home, Tina-sama."
Saying this, she performed a quiet, ladylike curtsy. It had been about a year and a half since I last saw Basilia, and her impression had changed considerably. Her hair, which had been short like a boy's, had grown and was loosely curled, flowing to the front. Before, the frills-and-ribbon-laden dress had seemed incongruous on her, but now it suited her. With her spirited-looking eyes and refined features, combined with the fact that inside she's a clingy, lonely person, she's absolutely perfect as a tsundere.
"Likewise, thank you very much for inviting me, Basilia-sama."
Unlike before, since Basilia performed the greeting as a proper lady, I returned it as a proper lady as well. It seemed I could no longer call her "Basilia-chan."
...But somehow, doesn't it feel like something's missing?
Basilia was dressed up cutely, but I felt a slight sense of incongruity. I kept a smile on my face so as not to show my question, performed the standard greeting I'd learned from Hermine, and was invited inside the mansion.
Basilia managed to keep up her ladylike composure only for the greeting. Once we passed through the front door and entered the entrance hall, she immediately puffed out her cheeks and stood with her hands on her hips.
"You finally came!"
"Eh? Finally?"
"Finally" meant that she had been waiting for me to come, I suppose. If that's the case, we did have an agreement to come today, and I wasn't that late. I didn't think I deserved to be complained at by Basilia, but Basilia was clearly making an unhappy face.
"I have been staying in the capital for weeks now, and yet you only come today!"
"...Um, meaning?"
Did she mean that she had come to the capital to coincide with my arrival? Now that she mentioned it, I could wonder "is that so?" but even if it were, being blamed for not coming to see her sooner was a bit much.
"But I only learned that Basilia-sama was staying in the capital from the letter Shestin-sama sent me..."
The fact that Basilia was staying in the capital itself was something I had only learned just the other day. There was no way I could have come to visit Basilia before that.
"Th-that... may be true, but..."
Basilia herself seemed to understand that her claim was unreasonable. As her voice gradually grew smaller, a new feeling welled up inside me.
...Come to think of it, I didn't have any tsunderes around me. It was only the honest and cute Mirshe, and the slightly older sister-like Elke and Petrona.
"B-but still! ...We are... friends, so... you could have noticed, couldn't you?"
...What is this, this adorable creature. I can hardly believe this is the same girl who splashed water on me the very first time we met.
"Wh-what is that look on your face! Grinning like that, it's creepy..."
"Young lady."
"Eep!?"
At the words thrown from the side, Basilia let out a small scream and straightened her back. Turning my gaze toward the voice, a woman who was instantly recognizable as a tutor stood in the hallway with perfect posture.
"I was told that you, as a lady, would greet our guests, and that your education in that regard was perfectly complete, so I entrusted the greeting to you, but..."
It seems my education was insufficient, the tutor said, her eyes narrowing sharply. Even I instinctively straightened my back. From that single remark alone, I understood she was a strict tutor.
"I apologize, honored guests. Allow me to reintroduce myself. I am Eliana Messner. At the request of Jemian-sama, I serve as the tutor for this young lady, Basilia."
Eliana performed a perfect, practiced lady's curtsy, not one of our makeshift efforts that were clearly still in practice, and took over the role of escort from Basilia. Seeing her firmly grasping Basilia's hand, I imagined a scolding was about to begin.
"Welcome, Christina. And Leonardo-dono."
In the reception room where we were led, we were greeted by a woman who didn't look much like Basilia. Since she should be Basilia's half-sister, Shestin may have taken after her mother.
"It's a pleasure to meet you. Thank you for inviting me, Shestin-sama."
Having seen the strict Eliana in the hallway, I naturally tightened my own composure as I faced Shestin. I pulled together my relaxed attitude, thinking "it's just a friend's house," and returned a lady's curtsy while reciting what Hermine had taught me in my head.
"What do you mean by Chriiiiistina?"
Basilia's voice trailed unnaturally because Eliana had pinched her cheek. I think that was because Basilia had interrupted the greetings between me and Shestin, earning an immediate reprimand. If the tutor issues such forceful restraints on the spot, I might be better off not paying attention to the fact that Basilia had opened the door to greet me herself. As a lady, she shouldn't have opened the door herself for a guest, but rather had a servant open it while she waited in the entrance hall. We're still at an age that can be counted as children, so she probably just intended to come to the front door to greet a close friend, but as a lady, Basilia's actions were completely failing marks.
"...As you can see, my jealous little sister is sulking, so would you mind keeping her company for a while?"
I had only been continuing my standard greetings of "nice to meet you" and "thank you for inviting me," but gradually Basilia's gaze was growing intense. Even with teary eyes, she didn't interrupt the conversation because Eliana had her by the shoulders.
"But Shestin-sama was the one who sent me the letter. Would it really be all right for me to spend all my time with Basilia-sama?"
"Under Basilia's name, I couldn't send a letter to Christina-sama, who is being kept carefully hidden within the royal castle. So I sent it under my name."
She apologized for surprising me with a sudden letter from an acquaintance, so I gave an ambiguous smile and said that recently I've been receiving love letters from complete strangers, so I'm used to it in that sense. The fact that the sender was a woman made Shestin's letter more relaxing for me. She repeated her request for me to spend some time with Basilia, and I agreed.
Time's up.
Will fix typos and errors at a later date. Fixed any typos and omissions I found.