262 - Autumn Room and Cold Weather Measures
The month changed, and on the calendar, it became autumn. Not that the heat subsided just because autumn came, but my private room was moved from the summer room to the autumn room. The garden visible from the summer room had summer flowers planted in it, but from the autumn room, apparently you could enjoy the autumn leaves. The leaves were still green, but as autumn deepened they would turn red, and eventually the leaves would fall and the entire garden would become like a red carpet laid out.
...As expected of a former princess's detached palace. No persimmons or chestnuts or anything edible planted, huh.
I think it would be nice to have something at least, but the only food cultivated at the detached palace was a small herb garden near the kitchen. Fields and livestock were not maintained at the detached palace.
...The summer room was almost the same as the Grenore residence, but the autumn room had a bit more variation.
The summer room had mint green wallpaper and the furniture colors made me think of chocolate mint overall, but the autumn room was a light pink, perhaps considering the warmth conveyed by the colors. The wooden furniture also had warm-colored fabric upholstered here and there to match the wallpaper.
...Yeah, the tatami's sense of incongruity is strong.
Among the wallpaper and carpet arranged in warm warm-toned colors, only there, a patch of light green tatami was laid. I had it prepared as my relaxation space, but the sense of incongruity stood out even more than in the summer room.
...Maybe I should lay a small carpet? A carpet for no-shoes zones, since basically you wear shoes except on top of the tatami.
I imagined placing a carpet on top of the tatami, and if that were the case, I would rather want to put a kotatsu there instead. Of course, I have never seen a kotatsu in this life, so it would be difficult to realize, but a kotatsu would suit the tatami well.
I drown out the loneliness of Leonardo's absence by immersing myself in work. Besides reading through the records compiling the queen's symptoms, Hermine added an assignment for me to prepare the winter room myself. Personally, I thought we could just use certain things as they were, but apparently they were unlucky as things used by a princess who had her status stripped, and moreover the items themselves seemed too extravagant for my station. I thought it was more than a little troublesome and wasteful, but I did agree with lowering the quality of the furniture. Having things too expensive would make me afraid of accidentally damaging them, and I would feel suffocated.
...The winter room, huh.
I really want a kotatsu, I thought, looking at the tatami on top of the carpet. Autumn had only just begun, and while the morning and evening temperatures were dropping, as things were, there was no way I could go barefoot in winter no matter how I thought about it. The shoes the shoemaker made for me fit perfectly, so it was not like they were uncomfortably tight in terms of size, but still, taking off one's shoes had a special sense of liberation. Having known this sense of liberation, I did not want to go back to a life of wearing shoes all day.
"Young lady, a thank-you letter has arrived from Mr. Godwin."
Just as I looked up thinking it was about time for a tea break, Valerier came carrying a letter on a tray. I received the letter, asked for tea, and checked the contents.
...Let's see?
As Valerier had said it was a "thank-you letter," after polite greetings, the content that followed was mostly thanks to me. It seemed that after I reported about the encounter with the self-proclaimed Godwin Gibbs at the orphanage the other day, an investigation had begun. It was still unclear whether it was harassment from a political enemy or if the impersonator just happened to be using his name, but apparently they would look into both the self-proclaimed Godwin's purpose and the whereabouts of the orphans who had been taken in. The main content was thanking me for informing them before it became troublesome.
"...Normally, would impersonating a noble's name be a crime?"
The self-proclaimed Godwin had done that. Perhaps my sense of things was wrong and just calling yourself that was not such a big deal. Losing confidence due to the shoddy actions of the self-proclaimed Godwin, I tried asking Giselle, who was a noble. Wondering if my sense of things was off.
"You are correct, young lady. Impersonating a noble's name is a crime."
For someone claiming to be a noble, he was walking through the commoner districts on foot, and although he was dressed decently at first glance, the clothes did not fit properly. The quality was low. The self-proclaimed Godwin would probably show his flaws if you just poked at him.
"...It is a bit late now, but should I have reported through Giselle instead?"
"Through me, you mean?"
At Giselle, who blinked blankly and tilted her head, I sighed inwardly. Giselle, being of the Flower Peerage, should have been wanting achievements to restore her house, but she herself was somehow carefree and obtuse. I could see the tail of achievements wagging, but Giselle did not even seem to notice that achievements were dangling from the tip of the tail, let alone grab it.
"Giselle's house is of the Flower Peerage, is it not?"
"I am ashamed to say so."
"If one of the Flower Peerage achieves merits, their continuation for several generations is recognized, or they rise to the Loyalty Peerage. Am I correct in that?"
"That is correct. As a woman, I cannot hope for achievements great enough to raise my rank, but at the very least, I wish to pass it on to the next generation."
...If that is what you think, then notice it.
Godwin was of the Staff Peerage. If you caught someone impersonating that Godwin's name, it would become Giselle's achievement. At the very least, Godwin might feel a considerable debt of gratitude toward Giselle, might arrange a good marriage prospect for her, and she might even be able to have the peerage continue to the next generation.
"I thought that if I reported to Godwin-sama through Giselle, it would become Giselle's achievement...?"
I pointed out bluntly, wondering if she truly had not noticed. As for Giselle, who received the pointed remark, she began to panic, showing it pitifully on her face.
"Ah..., aah? N-now that you mention it...?"
This was the first time I had seen Giselle so flustered that her true nature came out. Normally, even when counted as non-combatant by Aaron and Leonardo, Giselle held back her inner dissatisfaction, but right now her face clearly showed what was going on inside.
"...My oversight. I was completely unaware."
"Restoring your house seems difficult."
When I pointed that out, Giselle averted her eyes, then put on a smile that was clearly forced. I assumed she was trying to hide her agitation, but I had already seen her flustered plenty. Anyone could tell it was just a brave front.
"I will work earnestly and accumulate achievements."
"I have heard there are also methods like restoring the management of your territory or improving relations with the people there, though?"
Even if you did not force yourself to aim for achievements, there were reliable ways to continue the family. When I pointed that out too, Giselle averted her eyes from me this time for sure.
...Is there some problem with the territory itself, too?
I wondered what the problem was, but I decided not to pry further into Giselle's circumstances. It sounded bad to say it was none of my business, but it was not a topic to stick my nose into unasked. It was a problem of someone else's territory and Giselle's house. It was not something I, an outsider, could say anything about.
"...Giselle."
"Yes."
I called out, saying I would say just this one last thing. I could not push in and force her to tell me the circumstances, nor could I proudly declare I would lend a hand, but offering the tip of my pinky finger would be fine. I thought so.
"Since it is another family's affair, I will not say anything more, but if you ever want to consult with someone or accidentally let slip a complaint, I think sooner is better."
Right now, you have someone by your side who might accidentally leak information to power players like a former princess or former king, I said. Both of them were people who strictly distinguished between public and private matters, so they probably would not show favoritism, but they would lend wisdom for improvement measures and such. If Giselle's house recovered, that would mean the relationship with the people of the territory would also improve. Those two, who thought of the people's happiness as rulers, might not just lend wisdom but even offer consultation.
"I know I am still a child and unreliable, but the people I might accidentally bring consultations to are very reliable."
I mischievously suggested, "Want to vent a little complaint?" but Giselle fell silent with a troubled expression. It seemed that Giselle's family problems were the kind that could not be leaked outside, not even as complaints.
I waited for a while after that, but Giselle said nothing. However, her eyes seemed to want to say something, so she probably had not given up on restoring her house.
When I ended the conversation, saying I would leave it to Giselle's judgment, Giselle visibly sighed in relief.
Thanks to Leonardo's groundwork, Silver-White Knights had started visiting the detached palace occasionally. Perhaps because of that, the White Knights, who were sometimes ridiculed as a decorative knight order, also seemed to have their faces tighten, or so it seemed to me. Ulrika was delighted at this, calling it a "good trend," while Valerier gave a strict comment, saying "This is how it should normally be."
...The document reading has progressed quite a bit.
If I just skim through them, I finished right after receiving the documents. Now I was on my second pass, writing down points of concern, commonalities, and things that caught my attention, and that was almost done too.
...Why is the same poison used several times?
The poisons fed to Evelina, according to the records, symptoms that were the same appeared several times. If it were just symptoms, they could be from similar but different poisons, but Aurelia's prescriptions were the same antidote, so they were probably the same substance. The differences in the degree of symptoms even with what seemed to be the same poison might simply be due to the amount of poison ingested.
...Maybe the culprit is doing it half for fun, or just randomly dosing without knowing the lethal dose?
Even just from looking at the documents, I could tell there were five types of poison that had been fed to Evelina. The amount ingested seemed to differ each time, causing variations in symptom severity, but Aurelia's careful diagnostic notes had precautions about the amount of antidote. If the same antidote was written in Saint Yuuta Hiraga's research materials, it might be reproducible.
...The problem is if they use a different poison than the ones Aurelia was able to diagnose so far, right.
Considering that the same poisons had been used over a long period of about twenty years, it was possible the culprit only had these five types, but I could not be optimistic about anything. Even if we prepared the antidote listed in the diagnostic notes assuming it was the same poison as always, if it was a different poison, the antidote would be meaningless.
...Well, the biggest problem is that despite everyone around her and even she herself being vigilant, they still somehow succeed in poisoning her, though.
The things that go into a queen's mouth, the things that touch her hands. There is no way they are not being careful. Yet the culprit had been doing this for twenty years.
...A really dedicated person with too much time on their hands? Or someone who would absolutely never be suspected?
In any case, finding the culprit was not my job. Feeling the need for a change of pace from my thoughts that had started wandering in a completely different direction.
...Let's think about cold weather measures.
Leonardo had told me that for the sake of the research materials of Saint Yuuta Hiraga, a treasure of the nation, even winter heating would have to be refrained from. Preferably finish reading during autumn, or give up on winter work, he said.
...But I want to spend winter reading books. It is cold and I do not want to go out!
If I was going to shut myself in my room anyway, I wanted to use the time productively. But I could not use heating near the research materials.
Wondering if there was some way to warm myself without relying on fire, what came to mind was the kotatsu I had thought about the other day. That was because I recognized kotatsu as something that heated with electricity, but this world did not have convenient things like electricity. I had heard that in times without electricity, charcoal was put in kotatsu, so it might be replicable, but trying to replicate something based on hearsay was too scary in terms of fire risk. I had just heard stories about it. I had never actually seen a charcoal kotatsu.
...Ah, but it sounds nice. A kotatsu. Even without the electricity on, it was pretty warm.
A kotatsu blanket partitioned the space, and people's legs went inside. Body heat warmed the air inside, and because the blanket sealed it, the warm air did not escape. I thought it might not work in the depths of winter, but during the day, even in winter, I felt like I could endure it.
...Can I make a fake kotatsu?
I could not make an electric kotatsu, but I knew the shape. Roughly speaking, it was like covering the sides of a table with a giant tablecloth.
...Huh? Even if charcoal is impossible, if I put a hot water bottle at the foot area, would it not be pretty warm?
Because I imagined the completed form of an electric kotatsu, I almost gave up thinking it was impossible, but the shape was simple. Cover a table with a cloth and trap the air inside. If I put a hot water bottle in there, it felt like I could call it a makeshift kotatsu.
...Ah, I am starting to get a bit excited.
Lately I had been thinking about the winter room and reading documents about Evelina's poison, so thinking about even small contrivances was really fun. As expected, a change of pace was important.
...How did Alf-san make the Reversi board back then?
I had no confidence in carpentry work, so I tried to remember how Alf had made the Reversi board. Leonardo had paid for it, but I talked about the Reversi pieces and board, Alf decided the approximate sizes, made an order form, and brought it to a woodworking workshop.
...Huh? Where is the woodworking workshop? Oh, when I am preparing the winter room, I could ask about shops that make furniture?
I wondered who to ask, and the first face that came to mind was strangely Ethelbert. Ethelbert, who, perhaps due to his strong preference for Napaji, had built a shinden-zukuri detached palace in the detached palace's courtyard. There was a possibility he had troubled carpenters as a custom-order demon.
...Come to think of it, how does Ethelbert-sama spend winter?
Thinking of the shinden-zukuri detached palace, it seemed like it would be cold, but when I thought about it, all the nobles of the Heian period should have lived in shinden-zukuri mansions. Even in well-ventilated wooden buildings, there must have been ways to get through winter.
...If he spent winter in the original detached palace, that might be a bit funny.
But if he did that, could he really claim to be a true Napaji fan? I wanted Ethelbert to endure and spend winter in the cold shinden-zukuri detached palace, no matter what.
...The seated chair Ethelbert-sama gave me. Would it not be convenient if it could rotate?
Things I wanted to do, things I could do, things that might be reproducible with some ingenuity. All came to mind one after another, and I felt the limits of thinking alone. At this stage, they were just ideas like "maybe it is possible?" and I had not sufficiently checked what could actually be implemented. What I, an amateur, thought was possible and what an actual carpenter, a professional, thought was possible would surely be different.
...Let's consult Hermine-sensei.
After waiting for class time, I caught Hermine. After dutifully receiving the English lesson that I could not seem to escape, I consulted her during break about how to order furniture.
"Normally, you write down the functions you want from the furniture, the materials to be used, and the size and design specifications, then hand them to a lady's maid or servant. They send a messenger to the craftsman, or summon the craftsman and place the order."
If you had an image of the finished product, you could draw it. If you summoned a craftsman, you could see material samples. Details could be conveyed orally, but in that case, it seemed a lady would communicate through her lady's maid or servants and not speak directly with the craftsman.
"...Hermine-sensei. At the Grenore residence, I spoke directly with Petrona-chan, ah, Petrona, and ordered thread, though?"
"They are merchants. Those who have been educated to appear before customers and craftsmen who hone their skills in workshops are different."
In other words, merchants, due to the nature of their business dealing with customers, had learned the etiquette to appear before nobles and royalty, but craftsmen, rather than learning etiquette, honed their skills, so it seemed they could not appear before ladies. The nobles of this kingdom needed to discipline themselves, so I did not think they would behave so outrageously toward commoners, but still, summary execution for discourtesy surely existed. Just because they did not force unreasonable treatment did not mean they were people you could casually associate with. If craftsmen were aware they had not learned enough etiquette to deal with such people without disrespect, they probably would not want to meet nobles and royalty face to face either.
"I do not know any woodworking workshops in the capital. What should I do about that?"
"There is also the method of having someone introduce you, but what about merchants who have supplied furniture to the detached palace?"
When Felicia had dresses made, knowing that the eighth princess's favorite tailor was in a difficult position, Felicia called them to the detached palace. She acted knowing full well that her own preferences and the eighth princess's preferences were completely different. That was clearly a relief measure for merchants who had suddenly lost a valued customer. Felicia had carried out relief for the tailors, but apparently Alfred had taken care of the merchants who had supplied the furniture. The summer room prepared for me was ordered by Alfred through merchants who had previously supplied furniture to the detached palace.
...Really, as private individuals they are a naked princess and a typhoon prince, but as public figures they are people who can be considerate, huh.
Will fix typos and errors at a later date.