293 - Alfred and Solana
The invitation from Ethelbert that Alfred had brought was an invitation to lunch. I had been dreading that he might invite me to become his grandson's bride or ask if I wanted to become part of his family again, but if it was an invitation to lunch, I had no choice. I heard that Ethelbert's chef trained at the main branch of the Three Crows Tavern in the city of Tior. That meant the lunch served at Ethelbert's detached palace was highly likely to be Napaji cuisine.
...What is on the menu today, I wonder? Since it is winter, maybe a hot pot? Oh, but even if it is a hot pot, I wonder if they do not all share one big pot?
I have heard that rich families use individual small pots. If it is a former king, they certainly would not all share a big pot.
"Young lady, would you like a cat or a dog?"
"Cat is fine. We already have three dogs, after all."
There were three of them. The Black Dog (Oscar), the black shiba (Kokumaro), and a black dog stuffed toy. There were too many black dogs around me. If I put on black dog ears on top of that, I might end up going from the Owl Princess to the Black Dog Princess.
As I was thinking that seasonal Napaji cuisine would be a hot pot, the season had turned to winter while I was making Mustine medicine. When winter came, it was time for my annual beast costume. Since we were invited to Ethelbert's detached palace today, I decided to wear my Japanese gothic lolita outfit for the first time in a while. In Leonardo's head, it seems to have been established that "I begged him for it" on our first shopping trip in the city, and he has come to recognize that I like Japanese gothic lolita. Probably because of that, one Japanese gothic lolita outfit per season ended up in my wardrobe.
...Japanese gothic lolita with cat ears and a cat tail... I feel like that is a bit too accessorized.
But my guardian told me I have to wear the beast costume every winter until I become an adult, so there was no helping it. As for the Japanese gothic lolita, I felt like wearing it today, so I was not about to give that up either. Rather, since the beast costume makes anything look like cosplay in winter anyway, worrying that "Japanese gothic lolita with cat ears is too accessorized" is a pointless struggle. Since the cat ears would make it look like cosplay regardless, I would just wear what I wanted to wear.
...Speaking of cat ear cosplay, Elke-chan and Petrona-chan are also wearing cat ears now, are not they.
Back when I was going to the Menhishumi Church, for the short period until the Spring Blossom Festival, Elke and the others had worn beast costumes along with me. Even after coming to the capital, perhaps out of consideration for me, they attach cat ears and tails to their maid uniforms.
...This time Kalisa made them for each of them, so their hair colors and cat ears matching gives a sense of unity that is cute.
In Grenore, they had white cat ears, but the cat ears Kalisa made were matched to each of their hair colors. This was also partly Kalisa taking out her frustration. Kalisa had apparently been eager to make my costume for the Divine King Festival, but since this year's preparations were being led by Felicia, she redirected that pent-up energy into making the two of them cat ears. According to Elke, who shares a room with her, Kalisa was sewing late into the night again, so I think she is making their Divine King Festival costumes now.
"...There. From any angle, you are an adorable black cat."
Finishing the fine adjustments on the position of my cat ears, Kalisa nodded with satisfaction. Seeing Kalisa pour her passion into making me look cute, even Rebecca, who among the lady's maids had the highest-born family, gave a wry smile. Since Valerier left, the work of dressing me and styling my hair had been done by Rebecca, but before I knew it, Kalisa had taken over that job. I asked whether it was really okay for things to be so upside-down in terms of social standing, but it seems Rebecca said she could not do the complex braiding as well as Kalisa and handed the work over. The fact that Kalisa had been my nurse maid also played a part. Apparently, I am difficult to handle because though I am usually well-behaved, I occasionally explode in clinginess and get sulky. They worry about deciding on the spot whether to treat me like an adult or completely like a child, and their response is delayed. It seems they judged that entrusting me to Kalisa was for the best, since she was the only one who could respond immediately in such situations.
...It is not wrong, and I am grateful for it, but that means they are treating me like a child, right?
I was internally complicated about that, but I set it aside. Since Kalisa and Rebecca decided it was fine and are acting accordingly, this is probably fine for now.
Once I was ready, I boarded the carriage under Alfred's escort. Solana was a maid I had borrowed from Alfred, but she was amusingly bad at dealing with him. I thought it would be impossible to tell apart, but she could distinguish the sound of Alfred's carriage, and as soon as it entered the detached palace grounds, she would notice Alfred's approach. She would come to notify me of Alfred's arrival, but it felt less like she was announcing a guest and more like she was fleeing from the guest (Alfred). After informing me of Alfred's arrival, she would say she was going to mend hems in the dressing room or check on the tea sweets, and dive into the waiting room, somehow managing to hide herself from Alfred. And Alfred, for whatever reason, would catch Solana from somewhere and give her unreasonable demands with a smile. "Find the Leonardo Collection that the Eighth Princess hid" was something I could understand since it was within the same detached palace, but "Go find physical evidence proving Valerier's innocence" seemed like too much of an unreasonable demand. Solana had come to the detached palace after Valerier had left, so I thought there was no way to look for evidence, but Solana still managed to find something. Solana returned covered in dust and nearly in tears, clutching a dusty envelope, which she handed to Alfred. Alfred praised Solana's work with a smile, but it was quite a contrast with Solana, who was terrified the entire time, and it left an impression on me.
"If you are too mean to her, Solana might start hating you, you know?"
"I do not intend to be teasing her, though..."
He asked with a straight face, "Is that how it looks?" so I gave him a straight face back. "You look like a boy teasing a girl he likes."
"If that is how it looks to Tina... that would be bad for her education. Still, I cannot cut corners on Solana's education..."
"Does Solana need education?"
Solana, who in front of the Alfred she was bad at dealing with would push her true nature to the forefront and desperately try to escape, had no flaws in her work as a maid. She was filling the hole left by the two lady's maids who had left well, and I thought she was working well in sync with Kalisa. I did not think she needed any more education, but apparently Alfred's unreasonable demands were his own form of education.
"I am thinking of having Solana become Alf's bride eventually, so being just an ordinary maid will not do."
"Where am I supposed to start with that one?"
At the words "Alf's bride" that came out of Alfred's mouth, I could not help but make a straight face. I never expected the word "Alf's bride" to come out of the mouth of Alfred, who was always shouting his love for Alf day in and day out.
...Actually, I half expected him to say something like "Alf is MY bride." That would have felt more fitting, really.
Alfred's words were too difficult to understand, and my head was filled with question marks. It was surprising enough that Alfred was trying to arrange a bride for Alf at all, but there should have been other problems regarding Alf's bride.
"...What is with that face? Is it that strange that I wish for Alf's happiness?"
It seemed my inner doubts had shown on my face. Since Alfred made a dissatisfied face, I decided to generously throw in one pointed retort.
"It is not strange at all that Alfred-sama wishes for Alf-san's happiness, but I had assumed Alfred-sama would say something like 'Alf is MY bride,' so I am surprised that Alfred-sama has any intention of letting Alf-san have a wife."
"Even if I made Alf my wife, we could not have children, after all."
It was such a reasonable point that I could not argue, but it did not match his usual behavior. I could not imagine Alfred, who shouted "Alf, Alf, Alf" with such unwavering love directed straight at Alf, giving up on Alf just because no children could be born.
...Huh? But did not he ask me once before if I wanted to become Alf's bride? Or maybe he did not?
Thinking about it, Alfred proclaimed his love for Alf, but it did not seem like he was considering making Alf his own spouse. Even without thinking too hard, Alfred was a person who could separate public and private matters. If he thought he might inherit the throne someday, he would have no choice but to choose a woman as his spouse.
"If you are thinking about children... that means Alfred-sama will eventually marry a woman too."
"If I had about three more siblings with Royal Peerages, I would not need to force myself to take a wife, but..."
According to Alfred's estimate, it seemed there were not even three siblings likely to obtain Royal Peerages. It was a mystery whether Alfred knew this, but the First Prince had apparently renounced his right to succession, so even if he had a Royal Peerage, he probably would not be included in the ones Alfred was talking about. That meant if there were not four more royals who would obtain Royal Peerages, it seemed Alfred intended to take a spouse of the opposite sex as his duty as someone born into royalty.
"Whatever happens with my wife, Alf absolutely must be happy. For that, I think someone like Solana would be good, though she is still a bit unreliable..."
"I seem to recall hearing that Alf-san likes his former fiancee? Or maybe I did not?"
It was something I had heard from Hermine and Leonardo, and I remembered the content being something like that. That Alf liked his former fiancee, the former fiancee liked Alfred, and Alfred liked Alf. A perfect love triangle.
"Ariel will not do. She already loves me. No one who cannot put Alf first deserves to be Alf's wife."
So Alf's former fiancee was named Ariel. Alfred had casually said that his former fiancee loved him, but I thought it was impressive that he could say he was loved without any shame. I wondered where this confidence came from, but it was Alfred, so there was no helping it.
...But even though he is aware he is loved, he canceled that engagement, right?
The root of all evil was supposed to be Ariel's father, who arbitrarily changed the engagement, but I felt sorry for Ariel, whom I had never even seen. Because of what her father did, she was not even given a second glance by the Alfred she loved.
"...That is right. Speaking of Ariel, she once said she wanted to meet you."
"Um?"
I tilted my head. Was I hearing things? If I was not mistaken, I thought I heard words that sounded like they still had a normal ongoing relationship with a former fiancee whose engagement had been called off.
"...Ariel-san? -sama? Is that the person who was Alfred-sama's former fiancee? Is there no mistake?"
"Ah, your understanding is not wrong."
So it was not a hearing mistake. Even after unilaterally calling off the engagement, it seemed he still had contact with his former fiancee.
...Well, he is Alfred-sama, after all. It would not be strange for him to be a little off from what I consider normal. In fact, that is so like Alfred-sama.
It was hard to understand, but I would understand it for now. Since Alfred himself said so, it must be that way.
"Why would Ariel-sama want to meet someone like me?"
"Probably because of the rumors. Rumors have spread that there is a young girl I am close with."
"...A former fiancee who still loves him even though her engagement was unilaterally broken off, and a girl he is close with. I can only foresee trouble if I respond to that summons."
Actually, I would call it a chill.
A bored noble lady. A "former fiancee whose engagement was broken off" as per the cliche. She would not have very pleasant feelings toward a "girl rumored to be a new fiancee," even if it was only a misunderstanding.
"That one is not that type. Most likely, she heard there was a young girl I am doting on and thought she would dote on her too."
"...So for Alfred-sama, someone under your protection is also someone under her protection?"
"Something like that, I suppose."
Alfred said it was fine, but I wondered why I did not feel fine about it at all. I considered various possibilities. Was I just not sensitive to the nuances of male-female relations? Was I overthinking? Or was it simply that because she was Alfred's fiancee, she was not the kind of noble lady I imagined? The correct answer was probably the last one. There was no way a lady who could stay as this Alfred's fiancee for so long could be some ordinary noble lady.
...She must be a ridiculous princess, with royal blood somewhere a few generations back.
Once I realized that possibility, there seemed to be no other answer. I felt there might be a microscopic possibility that she was an ordinary woman, since Alf had fallen for her, but that was all. It was just a possibility. What was sad was the conviction that there was absolutely no way that was true.
"I am shy, so I would rather not meet people I do not know."
"If you are troubled, just use Solana. Ariel likes Solana, after all. If you put Solana between you, even shy you should be able to have a conversation."
"...I think that is exactly why Solana dislikes Alfred-sama. Because he uses her so conveniently."
"Dislikes... me? Does she?"
"You do not realize it?"
When I told him that Solana had asked me to be sure to take her along when I returned to Grenore, Alfred blinked once, then smiled a beautiful smile like the one Alf sometimes showed. It was a beautiful smile, but every time I saw this smile, I thought you must not go against this person.
"It seems I will need to have a good, slow talk with Solana when we return to the detached palace."
...Sorry, Solana! Run! Run far away!!
I realized I had definitely misspoken. Alfred had a glittering smile on his face, but I was sure. This was definitely anger.
And then, I noticed one more thing.
...Alfred-sama, do not you like Solana almost as much as you like Alf-san?
He was probably trying to pair up the person he loved (Alf) with the person he was fond of (Solana). It was not a love triangle between Alf and them. It was a love square.
The conversation drifted off course when it strayed to Solana. Tina (a ridiculous princess with royal blood somewhere a few generations back) By the way, when Solana was asked, "Would you like to become Alf's bride?" she tearfully refused, saying, "Would not that mean Alfred-sama would be attached to it too?!" As for Alf himself, he seems like he might be thinking he is fine as is until Leonardo gets a wife.
Will fix typos and errors at a later date.