271 - The Secret Building
"I... I cannot eat this!"
When I presented the finished cake to Basilia with a "Here you go," she froze, pressing both hands to her cheeks. She did not reach for the cake, but she swayed her body left and right as she gazed at it.
...I think she could just pick it up and turn the plate around to look at it, though.
But that thought probably never crossed her mind. Basilia circled around the plate herself, examining the cake from every angle.
...Looks like she liked it. Good.
Satisfied with Basilia's reaction, I looked at my own creation again. The cake I had assembled after asking Basilia about her preferences was overall like a thick fruit tart on a plate. I had chosen a square sponge cake for the base, so I decorated it to resemble a jewel box. The sides were lined with thin butter cookies baked in strips to give it a firm impression, with cream drawn like a ribbon across the middle, and crushed red candies arranged like gems. For the top decoration, I bordered it with pink cream, and since she answered "I like it" to everything I asked, I packed it full of various sweets and fruits like jewels. Thinking that might be lacking in artistry, I made a cat by combining large and small macarons. The ears and tail were cream.
"...As I thought, I cannot eat this."
"I appreciate the sentiment, but it is a perishable item."
I thought "it will rot, you know," but I did not say it out loud. I could tell even without receiving a lecture from Hermine that those would not be very ladylike words.
...Besides, I set it up so that the cake would still be enjoyable even after being cut.
If anything, I wanted her to cut it quickly and see the inside. The kitchen maid did the actual hard work, but I wanted Basilia to be amazed by her efforts.
I had chosen a pink sponge cake in front of Basilia, but the ones I actually selected were two colors, white and pink. While Basilia was absorbed in her own cake, I had the maid cut them thinly and assemble them in a checkerboard pattern using jam as glue. The butter cookies on the sides and the cream and decorations on top meant the inside was invisible until cut, but the cut surface would reveal a cute white and pink pattern.
I wanted her to cut it quickly, but since I wanted to surprise her, I could not reveal the secret. So I thought about what to do, and I gave in to Basilia, who kept agonizing in front of the cake.
"In that case, let us save that one as a gift, and let us have the cake that you made, Basilia-sama."
"That is an excellent idea!"
Once she ate a different cake first, her special attachment to mine would fade, I figured, and proposed we split Basilia's cake in half. Basilia jumped at this suggestion. It seemed she did not want to cut my cake for as long as possible.
"Tina-sama, we will prepare the tea, so perhaps Basilia-sama could show you the garden."
"That sounds good. I will leave the rest to you."
We could not relax and enjoy tea at the table laden with the sweets and cream prepared for cake-making. Hermine's words, decorated in lady-speak, essentially told us to kill time while they cleared the table, so I gratefully accepted.
...Huh? Am I on a date with a girl right now?
As I walked through the garden with its autumn flowers, holding Basilia's hand, I suddenly realized this. Taking her by the hand, guiding her through the garden, and admiring the flowers blooming here and there felt more like a lovers' rendezvous than playing with a friend.
...A lady's friendships are so complicated!
I thought that, but I figured this was something that would reassure Leonardo if I told him. That I had real lady friends and was getting along with them just fine.
...Maybe I will write a letter. Oh, but even if I send one, would winter come before it arrives?
Leonardo was scheduled to return from the fortress when winter came, so there was a chance the letter would cross paths with him. Or it would be a wasted effort.
...Besides, he would probably be happier if I told him directly.
I would tell him when Leonardo came back in winter. I quietly decided that, and as I was noting today's events in my mental "List of Things to Tell Leonardo," Basilia, who had been walking beside me, suddenly stopped.
"Is something the matter?"
"What is that building?"
"A building?"
Hmm, what could she mean? I turned my gaze in the direction Basilia was pointing. I had always thought it was just the boundary between the summer garden and the autumn garden, but beyond the hedge, I could see a whitish building.
"Indeed. What building could that be?"
"This is your detached palace, yet you do not know?"
"It is so vast that I still have not grasped everything about it."
Since Basilia was present, I called the Black Dog (Oscar), who was following at a slight distance, and had him investigate the building. While the Black Dog was checking it out, I approached the building and tried asking Aaron, my escort, about it.
"Aaron, do you know about that building?"
"No. I believe it was not marked on the detached palace's floor plan."
Aaron said that since he had been assigned as my guard, he should have investigated every corner of the detached palace grounds, but it seemed the hedge had cleverly deceived his eyes. Aaron himself had already walked through the detached palace's gardens, but apparently he had completely overlooked the hedge at the boundary and the building at its center. If Basilia had not noticed it, I probably would not have either.
As we walked along the hedge, we found a section where a different type of tree was planted. When I frowned suspiciously, the Black Dog emerged from the other side of the hedge.
"Eep!"
Basilia let out a small cry and hid behind me. She really seemed to be afraid of dogs.
"It seems this is the entrance. What should we do? Check inside now, or come another day..."
When Aaron fiddled with the different-looking tree, the hedge that had been blocking the path split open. I had thought it was a different type of tree, but it seemed to be a fake. It had been hiding the path leading to the building as a hidden door.
"Come another day...?"
"I believe what lies ahead is probably what you have been searching for, young lady."
"What I have been..."
...What was I searching for, again?
I thought for a moment, then remembered after a beat. This was the former Eighth Princess's detached palace. If there was something I was searching for in its garden, there was only one thing.
"...Let us come another day. It is probably better not to show Basilia-sama."
"Oh my, a secret building? I would very much like to see inside as well."
"But it seems to be a secret building, so I imagine it is locked, do you not think?"
Since it was a building on the detached palace grounds, if I told Nadine, she would probably prepare a key for me, but I did not have one now. I tried to use this as a reason to keep Basilia away from what was probably inside, but an unexpected wild card appeared. Giselle, who could not really count as combat strength, showed the results of her efforts to compensate in areas other than martial ability.
"I have a key to the annex prepared."
...Right, thank you, Giselle! You are such a hard worker! Even though right now, that was the last thing I needed!
Without letting my internal complaints show on my face, I gratefully accepted the key from Giselle. With the key, the hidden door, and the annex that I technically had searched for before, there was no turning back now. Basilia, her eyes sparkling with excitement like she was on a treasure hunt, was cute, but would she make the same face at what was inside? I was more than a little anxious, but since it seemed difficult to turn back now, I steeled my resolve and decided to step on the landmine I could clearly see.
The annex had stopped being used at most since this summer. There were no signs of anyone having entered it since then, but it was not very dusty. True to being an annex built by the Eighth Princess, the interior was furnished with nothing but first-rate items on par with the main palace. Thinking these pieces of furniture would rot away without anyone ever using them felt a bit wasteful.
"There are not many signs of use, are there."
Basilia pressed her hand against the seat of a lounge chair, checking the cushion's condition. I wondered if you could tell the frequency of use that way, but Aaron explained that everyday use always left creases and small scratches, which were absent here.
Leaving Giselle with Basilia, who was distracted by the interior, I searched for the problematic object. If I could find it first, I might be able to end the annex exploration without it ever catching Basilia's eye.
...I was too naive. Princess Claudine was impressive, as expected.
Should I call it worthy of royalty? I found what I was looking for right away. Or rather, it was hidden by the building so it could not be seen from outside, but once inside, it was impossible to miss. That was because the annex had originally been built by the Eighth Princess to hide THAT from other people's eyes while she herself enjoyed it.
...Well, there is no hiding it from the inside, is there.
At the center of the building was a fountain. Or rather, the building had probably been built to surround the fountain. The walls facing the fountain were entirely made of glass, so the fountain could be seen clearly from any angle.
...It is a showy open atrium with an unnecessarily aesthetic touch.
I opened another glass door and stepped out into a space I was not sure whether to call outside the building or a courtyard. Looking up, there was no ceiling or roof. Whether sunny, rainy, or even snowy days, she had probably enjoyed it all as part of the fountain's presentation.
...A fountain decorated with my brother's fully nude self. That is seriously awkward.
He really is completely naked, I thought, marveling at the absurdity as I stared at the central statue of Leonardo. I imagined it was made life-sized, but the Leonardo holding up a jar seemed a bit smaller than he was now. I remembered hearing he had modeled for it in his teens, so it was probably lacking in height and muscle.
...His face has not changed much. Even back then he had his hair swept back.
The face was clearly recognizable as Leonardo, which told me the craftsman or artist who made the fountain was skilled. I really wanted whoever made this fountain to see Leonardo now. He had grown buff all over.
"Wh-what is this!? How indecent!"
...Ah, she found it.
Setting aside the content, I had been so captivated by the skilled sculpture that I had apparently completely forgotten to hide it from Basilia. Basilia had come out into the courtyard sometime without me noticing, and she had gotten a perfect view of Leonardo's nude form.
"You must not look at such indecent things!"
"Wah!?"
Abandoning any pretense of ladylike walking, Basilia stormed toward me. She covered my eyes with both hands, but with both her hands occupied, her own eyes had a perfect view of Leonardo's nude form. Was that okay? By the time I realized this, Basilia's scream rang out from right next to me.
"Kyaaaaaaaah!? I-indecent! How shameless!"
"Hey!"
I roughly guessed where her mouth was and covered it with my hand. Her high-pitched scream quieted down a bit, but we must have looked ridiculous, each covering the other's eyes and mouth.
"Mmph mmph!"
"Basilia-chan, lower your voice. My ears are ringing."
"Mmph!?"
It seemed my words had reached her brain. Sensing she had held her breath and quieted down, I gently removed my hand from her mouth.
"...What on earth is this? It is, it is, sh-sham... mmph!"
"Basilia-chan, do not shout. Why do you not take your hands off my eyes and cover your own instead?"
"I cannot show you something like this!"
"The 'something like this' you are referring to is my brother (Leo), you know."
"Huh!? R-right, that is so..."
A small "I am sorry" reached my ears, and my vision brightened. When I opened my eyes after the blindfold was finally removed, I saw Basilia covering her own face with her hands.
"For now, let us turn around. Okay, rotating our bodies now~"
I turned Basilia's body around and finally let out a sigh of relief. We had our backs to the nude statue, so now we should finally be able to talk calmly.
"There were plenty of nude statues in Lagarette's art galleries too."
"That is true, but... your big brother's physique is indecent."
"Is there any difference between the nude statues in galleries and Leonardo Big Brother's nude form? They are both statues."
...Well, my brother's muscles ARE kind of erotic, I will admit!
Those muscles had captivated people of all ages and genders in the city of Lagarette. Even if this was a statue of him when he was younger, there was no doubt his physique was alluring.
"You are remarkably calm in front of your brother's nude form."
"The real thing is even more impressive."
"The... real thing...!?"
Whatever had shocked her, Basilia's face paled at the words "the real thing." As if the nude statue behind us was not even in her sight, she whirled around and grabbed my shoulders, starting to shake me vigorously.
"What do you mean, the real thing!? Have you seen it? Your brother's nude body!"
"Fueeeeeeh!?"
Shaken by the shoulders, my head spun. A pathetic cry leaked from my mouth, and as I was being shaken helplessly, Aaron caught Basilia's hands and freed me.
"Tina-sama and Leonardo-dono are brother and sister. It is only natural that she might see some skin now and then."
"Is that so!? Is that how it works between brothers and sisters!?"
I did not know about other siblings, but in our house, it happened. For siblings close in age, it might happen during childhood. For siblings far apart in age, the opportunity might arise when the older sibling took care of the younger one.
...In our case, I saw it when I took care of my brother, though.
If I had to recall an occasion when I saw Leonardo's skin, it was when I washed his hair in the bath. If there was another time I could remember, it might be the summer right after I was taken in, when I learned Leonardo slept completely naked.
When I explained this plainly, Basilia heaved a sigh of relief, and for some reason, Aaron and Giselle made complicated expressions.