264 - The Old Hero Returns
"The Owl Princess, following our goddess, has apparently decided to put a dress on a table this time,"
A gentleman among Felicia's devotees asked me this at Felicia's tea party, and I paused to think for a moment. As usual, information about what I'm doing seems to be leaking from somewhere. In this case, since it happened within the same detached palace, it might just be that they know I summoned a merchant. But having it known that I'm researching an antidote for the queen could be a bit problematic. Controlling what information can be let slip and what should be kept quiet is an urgent matter.
...Being a lady is tough, isn't it.
I have to act with calculations that a commoner wouldn't even need to consider. Since I'll either have to marry a noble or stay as Leonardo's family child to live peacefully, I've resolved myself to face this as necessary hardship. It's a skill absolutely necessary for a peaceful future.
Now then, as I tilted my head wondering how I should explain it, a mischievous impulse swelled up inside me. Rather than earnestly explaining the utility of a kotatsu to nobles with time on their hands, it might be more fun to tell them something amusing.
"...It's not that I'm putting a dress on a table, deshu. I'm trying to make a kotatsu. A kotatsu is a foreign spectral spirit that appears from winter to spring, deshu."
It's a spectral spirit that walks on all fours, but basically it just waits silently for its prey to fall into the trap, it loves to devour human legs, and once a person is caught, they can never leave the kotatsu again. In foreign lands, the souls of those trapped by a kotatsu are reborn as spectral spirits called 'kotatsumuri,' and they come charging down snowy mountains with avalanches in search of their next victim. I made up whatever came to mind. The gentleman was laughing at first, but by the end he seemed to be shrinking back. When I wondered why, apparently he'd started believing me partway through because the Spirit's Favored Child herself was saying it. It seems he'll be spending this winter living in fear of the foreign spectral spirit, the kotatsu.
...Just because I'm the Spirit's Favored Child doesn't mean I can see spirits all the time, you know?
The only time I've ever seen anything resembling a spirit was at the Divine King Festival when I was carried off by spirits. And even then, it was only in hindsight that I thought 'ah, that must have been a spirit' at the time, I hadn't thought anything of it. After that, I also had the strange experience of encountering the Divine King himself at the Recollection Festival, but that's it. I'm no different from an ordinary person.
...Well, having had two strange experiences already probably means I'm not all that ordinary, I guess.
I pray that what happens twice doesn't happen a third time, and that there's no such thing as third time's the charm. I just want to live peacefully in this life. I refuse any more undeserved titles on top of what I already have.
Since Felicia was interested in the kotatsu, I had Ulrika bring over the papers with the drafts I'd made when creating the order form. When I explained the structure and purpose, a few of Felicia's devotees latched onto it. The women commented that decorating the table beautifully was wonderful. As for the men, apparently they felt a sense of romance in taking off one's shoes to get inside.
...That thing about taking off shoes, right? Normally you only take off shoes for bed and bath, so just getting into a kotatsu together requires a certain level of intimacy?
I suppose it could be called a lovers' rendezvous space. Originally I just wanted to spend winter warmly, but it seems like it's going to spread in a direction I never intended.
"Christina-sama,"
Just as suggestions I never would have thought of started coming out like why not use a hot water bottle, and if we're going to the trouble, why not use a ceramic hot water bottle shaped like an animal, Stina, unusually, came over. Wondering if it was urgent business, I stepped away from the circle of gentlemen and asked what was the matter.
"Bertrand Cantal-sama has come to visit, deshu."
"Bertrand-sama deshu ka...?"
...Huh? Oh no. How does he know I'm in the capital?
Part of me thought 'he's finally come,' but at the same time, a genuine question arose. I had no intention of contacting him proactively, so how did Bertrand know I was in the capital? If the Black Dog (Oscar) could talk, he might be able to bring information about me back to Bertrand, but the Black Dog hasn't left the detached palace since I put him in charge of guarding the mountain of documents. He shouldn't have returned to Bertrand either.
"How did Bertrand-sama find out I was in the capital, deshu?"
"With all due respect, Christina-sama, those who know are aware that you are Leonardo-sama's younger sister. You went to the Silver-White Knights' station the other day, and Leonardo-sama is a conspicuous figure just by being in the capital."
Leonardo had accompanied me for most of my movements in the capital, and he also won the martial arts tournament. If Bertrand already knew that Leonardo and I were living together as brother and sister, it's no surprise he realized I was in the capital from the fact that Leonardo was staying there. Finding Leonardo's lodgings in the capital would easily lead him to the detached palace, and he could just as easily learn about the appearance of the detached palace's master. After all, there was even that commotion over love letters written for looks.
"...Please turn him away and say I can't meet anyone without an appointment, deshu."
"I told him the same, but he insists he is Christina-sama's grandfather and won't listen. He says a grandfather doesn't need an appointment to see his granddaughter's face."
...I see. Because he insists he's my grandfather, she couldn't turn him away and brought this to me.
He really is a troublesome old man. What's more, it seems he's convinced that I'm his granddaughter this time, so sending him away is probably going to be difficult.
"Please tell him I have no grandfather, deshu. If he still won't back down, please hand him over to the White Knights guarding the detached palace."
"There's no need to take such a roundabout approach, you know."
"Feli... Henrietta?"
I almost called her 'Felicia-sama' and corrected myself to Henrietta. She'd come to check on me, worried because I hadn't returned to the conversation circle for a while.
"For someone to try to take away a guest of my tea party without an appointment. That's simply too rude."
Tell him that and send him packing, Felicia said, puffing out her chest. According to Felicia, her stay at the detached palace was apparently intended for just this kind of situation, as a talisman against trouble. The only one with more power than a royal with a Royal Peerage would be His Majesty the current King, so she can silence most people with a single glare. She's received reports about my relationship with Bertrand, and she also knows what happened to Bertrand's family. So it seems she plans to restrict contact between us, no matter how much we're connected by blood as grandfather and granddaughter, unless I wish otherwise.
"Henrietta, you're too wonderful, deshu!"
"That I am wonderful is a universal truth, but you may praise me more, you know."
When I praised Felicia from the bottom of my heart with all my gratitude, she smiled elegantly. Her demand to be praised more might seem questionable, but there was no trace of spite or self-abasement in it, which is amazing. She just honestly thinks I should praise her more.
Using the signboard of the Sixth Princess (Felicia) as a shield, they turned Bertrand away. There was apparently a bit of a commotion at the entrance, but the finishing blow was delivered by Nadine. Perhaps Bertrand thought he could force his way through if his opponent was a young maid (Stina), so he didn't back down easily. But Nadine, who protects the detached palace, did not forgive Bertrand for causing a disturbance at the entrance. He came to borrow Aaron once, then brought him back with a face like nothing had happened. Nadine didn't tell me the details, but Aaron did. Apparently Nadine's parting shot was that if he'd tried to lay even a single finger on her, she'd have had him arrested for assault. I don't know what kind of relationship Bertrand and Nadine have, but when Nadine appeared, Bertrand first made a pained face, still tried to request a meeting with me, and when Nadine rejected him on the spot, he almost grabbed her but stopped himself at the last moment. Bertrand must have realized Nadine's intention. To Nadine, who kept repeating that the master of the detached palace doesn't meet people without appointments and that she was currently invited to the Sixth Princess's tea party, Bertrand reluctantly but peacefully backed down.
...Alfred-sama said he'd prepared talented people for the detached palace, but I never thought there'd be someone who could make Bertrand-sama retreat with just words.
Nadine, who when she enters pampering mode has a sugar content that makes Leonardo seem adorable, handles her work properly and her response when it's time to crack down is truly magnificent. When I heard she was the nurse who raised Dietfried into a selfish tyrant, I was a bit wary, but hearing about this divine response, I felt I could understand why she was apparently friends with Aurelia.
...Because both of them are harsh on those who need to be put in their place!
Thanks to Nadine and Felicia driving Bertrand away, my life at the detached palace continued surprisingly peacefully. Occasionally I'd show my face at Felicia's tea party for a change of pace, and spent my time reading through documents, but I was just about running out of things to do. I'd written down everything I thought was necessary, the contents of the documents, the symptoms of the poisons that had been administered in the past, and the types and names of the antidotes Aurelia had left behind. Which left me with the problem of what to do with the boxed documents. They're important documents, and I can't keep them in my custody forever. When I consulted Felicia about this, she offered to take them into her own keeping and handle the return.
...That's a relief for now, deshu ne.
If I leave them with Felicia, there's no risk of losing the important documents on my own responsibility, or of them being stolen. The Black Dog is also finally relieved of duty.
Around the time the heat subsided and the air began to feel faintly autumnal, I had spare time and decided to go for a walk in the garden. At Grenore, I was familiar with the flower beds in the back garden because Tabitha managed them, but the detached palace's garden, maintained by a gardener, somehow felt like 'someone else's garden.' I didn't want to make it a daily habit. I was afraid that the place I now thought of as 'someone else's garden' would eventually change into 'my garden' in my mind.
...I'm definitely going back to Grenore, you know. The detached palace is still someone else's home, deshu yo.
As if I'd ever get used to it, I thought, but I came out to the garden because I remembered there was supposed to be a fountain modeled after Leonardo somewhere on the grounds of this detached palace. I had nothing to do except afternoon lessons, and Leonardo had told me to go outside sometimes, so I decided to look for that fountain.
...Also, I want to see the awkward face Leonyaldo-san will make when I tell him I found it, when he comes back in winter.
My motive was completely mischievous, but it was still me, who tends to hole up indoors, going out into the garden on my own. Leonardo would probably be happy and squirm with embarrassment.
...But walking around to search for it is tiring, deshu ne.
"Let's stop here for today," Giselle told me, informing me the time. Since an invitation to Ethelbert's detached palace had arrived, it would be better to cut today's walk short.
Even though it was a garden divided into four sections in a small detached palace, it was far too large for a child to walk around. There was no way I could find it in just one or two walks. And if I had an appointment, I needed to make sure to be early.
When I returned to the detached palace, it seemed I was already a bit behind schedule. Valerier and Ulrika hurriedly dressed me in my going-out clothes and packed me into the carriage that had come to pick me up. Since Leonardo wasn't here today, the carriage somehow felt spacious.
"...I hear you're having something interesting made, young lady."
"I thought I'd rooted out all of Ethelbert-sama's spies, but information about the detached palace is still leaking out, deshu ne."
"This isn't information I gathered this time, you see. It spread from the Staff Peerage and became a rumor among the nobles."
"Which means it spread from Felicia-sama's devotees, deshu ne."
It's not that I'm troubled by it being known, but somehow it's unsettling having information leak out. Right now I'm just modifying a table to spend winter comfortably, but eventually I'll be deciphering Saint Yuuta Hiraga's research materials. If that information were taken outside without any responsibility, it would be a repeat of the era when wise women were called witches.
...Thorough information management is important, isn't it.
Well, what to do, I shelved my wandering thoughts and decided to first fulfill the original purpose of responding to the invitation to the detached palace. I almost forget because of how incredibly approachable he is, but Ethelbert is a former king. Really, he's not someone a commoner like me should be able to meet so easily.
"How do you spend winter in Napaji, deshu?"
I asked, thinking it would be cold to walk barefoot on tatami. Incidentally, the other detached palace built in the courtyard of Ethelbert's main residence is in the shinden-zukuri style. Everywhere is too well-ventilated, so winter would definitely be cold no matter how you think about it.
"I'd like to spend winter on the tatami you gave me too, but it seems impossible to go barefoot in the cold winter, so..."
I added the circumstances that led me to make the kotatsu and consulted him about cold-weather measures. The detached palace where I'm staying isn't in the shinden-zukuri style, so normally there wouldn't be a need for cold-weather measures, but considering I can't light the hearth fire for the sake of Saint Yuuta Hiraga's research materials, it becomes absolutely necessary.
"The Saint's secret arts are a treasure, but the young lady's health is more important, you see. If it means refraining from using the hearth fire, then stop working during the winter."
"But they're medicine prescriptions, deshu yo? I think it would be better to read them quickly, deshu."
"Medicine to save the people's lives is certainly desirable, but Christina. There is no replacement for you. For the sake of many people, and to one day revive the Saint's secret arts, we cannot afford to lose you now, I think."
It seems I must prioritize my health even if it means completely stopping work during winter. When the reasoning is explained, I can understand, but doing nothing at all is painful in its own way.
"You wanted to know how to spend winter in Napaji, did you not?"
It was more about how to spend time in the shinden-zukuri detached palace than in Napaji itself, but as Ethelbert explained, New Kyuubee demonstrated by actually moving the misu blinds and shitomido shutters. As expected, cold-weather measures were important for the well-ventilated shinden-zukuri, and apparently just the misu and shitomido weren't enough. Cloth was hung as insulation and wooden doors were added.
"This is just how we do things in Napaji. As for how I spend winter, I go back to the main building of the residence! That's the long and short of it."
"Eh? You don't spend winter in this detached palace, deshu ka?"
Somehow, that was disappointing. When I blurted it out without thinking, Ethelbert laughed heartily.
"I like Napaji, but that doesn't mean I'll force myself to stay in this detached palace even when it's cold. As you can see, I'm old, you know. The cold gets to me."
Don't overdo it, but enjoy the things you 'like.' That's what Ethelbert said. Getting sick by stubbornly insisting 'this is how they do it in Napaji' is just foolish, he said.
"If it means refraining from the hearth fire, I wouldn't recommend winter work. But if you're looking for ways to warm yourself without fire, I'd also recommend onjaku, heated stones."
"Onjaku deshu ka, that's heated stones, right, deshita?"
"Indeed. You use fire to heat the stones, but you can just put them in the kitchen hearth. When it comes time to warm your body, young lady, it becomes a way to warm yourself without fire."
"That might actually be a good idea, deshu ne..."
"My recommendation is still to rest during winter, though."
To Ethelbert, who insisted that if it meant refraining from the hearth fire, I should rest during winter, I tried changing the subject by bringing up the kotatsu. I thought that if it was Napaji, even if electric kotatsu were impossible, there might be a charcoal-type kotatsu, but unfortunately it seems there isn't yet. Apparently they warm rooms and clothes with hibachi braziers and wrap themselves in them, or rely on heated stones. It's only from what I've heard, so I can only imagine, but winter in Napaji seems harsh.
"Retired master, the guest you had an appointment with has arrived."
Just as I was explaining the structure of the kotatsu-like device, Kyuubee announced a visitor. Surprised that he had an appointment with someone other than me, I thought I should leave since another guest was coming. But when I tried to take my leave, Ethelbert stopped me.
"A guest is a guest, but this one is your guest, young lady."
"My guest, deshu ka...?"
...What could it be. I have a bad feeling about this.
When I hear 'guest' these days, the face that immediately comes to mind is Bertrand. I turn him away every time, but he comes to the detached palace almost daily.
My inner feelings must have shown on my face. Ethelbert smiled wryly and told me not to make that face. It ruins my cute face, he said.
Discovered that I'd written 'Eighth Princess' instead of 'Sixth Princess' for a while... orz I'll fix it eventually.
Will fix typos and errors at a later date.