299 - A Message from Mikaela
"Detailed notes really are important, aren't they?"
Regarding the preventative medicine for Greenwich pox, confirming the materials that had arrived was easy. Since most of the ingredients could be gathered in Waiyakku Valley, Paula had a hand in preparing the materials. Though only for a time, Paula had been able to receive Aurelia's instruction, so there were no mistakes in the material preparation. The pharmacists gathered in the annex, after briefly faltering as if caught off guard by materials arriving in exactly the same state as described in the research documents, began insisting that they wanted to make them from the raw ingredients after all.
...This is an occupational hazard, I suppose.
They might be perfectionists. Still, I thought this was a good sign, so I read aloud the section about making materials from raw ingredients in the research documents as many times as they wished. The only thing I can do is read Japanese, but eventually this will spread to the Sedovara Church, and from there it will lead to medicine that reaches people's mouths all over the world.
...But still, even though there were research documents written this meticulously and carefully, why did the knowledge die out?
I heard that the translated books were burned by a faction within the Sedovara Church that clung to its old teachings. Perhaps because of that, what should have been lost earlier had instead been passed down through oral tradition, surviving until Aurelia's generation. In a world with paper and ink, it's hard to imagine oral tradition transmitting things more accurately over the long term than written records.
...Aside from burning the translated books, I wonder if the Sedovara Church did something else.
I could understand that there would be backlash when they brought compounding techniques into a church that had previously only been a place to pray for recovery from illness. Sedovara is the god of medicine arts. There must have been opposition on the grounds that it was too awe-inspiring for humans to perform the works of a god.
As I was making materials from raw ingredients based on the transcription myself, a Silver-White Knight brought a letter to Siegwald. After Siegwald confirmed the letter, he held it out to me. Wondering what it was, I dropped my gaze to the letter, and saw that it contained the news I had been waiting for.
"It seems the effectiveness of the Mustaine medicine has been confirmed."
When I read the key points aloud with joy, the pharmacists stopped their work and gathered around. I had thought they would test it on animals first and then try it on humans, but apparently animal testing and human administration had been carried out almost in parallel. I couldn't help but feel that was questionable, but since I had left the confirmation of efficacy entirely to the Sedovara Church, I had no room to complain. If someone told me, "If you have a problem, you do it," I have neither the procedures nor the connections for administering medicines to animals or humans. In the end, I have to rely on someone, and the first person who comes to mind for that is the Sedovara Church. The best I can do is offer the mild complaint that they should at least confirm safety before administering to humans.
"...So this really completes one of the secret arts."
I have my thoughts, but first, one is complete. If its effectiveness has been recognized, I should accept it as completed. The fact that a Silver-White Knight brought the news probably means the same report has reached Alfred and Christoph as well. Once I complete two more medicines, I can return to Grenore.
"Mustaine medicine is easy since you just make the materials following the prescription."
"Making those materials was the hard part, though."
"We'll need it again around early spring. Let's prepare as much Mustaine medicine as we can before the materials for the next medicine arrive."
After celebrating the completion of Mustaine medicine for a while, the pharmacists immediately returned to their next tasks. The raw ingredients and materials for the Greenwich pox preventative would be ready by early spring, considering transport time. Preparing the Mustaine medicine that would be needed in early spring seemed like a good way to use the time efficiently.
My work at the annex wasn't much different from when I was at the detached palace. I spent my time reading transcriptions, and whenever the pharmacists were stumped about material preparation, I was called over to find and read aloud the relevant passages from the transcriptions. Research into material preparation would continue until the materials matched exactly what was described in the research documents, but there was almost nothing I could do to help with the actual material preparation. At most, I could do simple tasks, like when I was at Aurelia's house. Apart from that, I occasionally checked the delivered raw ingredients and materials against the account books. Since the people I'd borrowed from the Sedovara Church were pharmacists, they tended to put off paperwork if left alone. They'd probably rather touch actual ingredients and make materials than confirm the names and quantities of delivered materials on paper. In a way, that was reassuring.
"Christina-sama. Do you have a moment?"
"Yes."
Called by Siegwald, I looked up from my transcription. Normally he called me 'Tina' or 'little miss' like when I was in Grenore city, but Siegwald used a slightly more formal address for me when I was working. It wasn't treating me like a child, nor like a lady, which felt a little ticklish. It wasn't quite treating me like a full adult either, but I felt like he was treating me as a fellow worker, at least an apprentice.
"This is a message from Mikaela. It seems Lady Sofiya wants to invite you to a tea party."
"Lady Sofiya does?"
Once we stepped out of the annex that had become my workroom, he immediately went back to his usual 'little miss' address. As could be understood from the overly personal content, this was probably not work for Siegwald, but rather slacking off. He was slacking off to take me out and deliver a message from his wife.
"Mikaela's opinion is that this time, she's probably asking you for help."
It seemed that Bertrand, her father-in-law, had contacted Sofiya.
'It seemed' because Mikaela and Siegwald were intermediaries, and everything was communicated through them.
"Just hearing the name Bertrand-sama makes me strongly want to refuse."
"Don't say that. He is still your grandfather, little miss. ...It seems Bertrand-dono has permitted a meeting between Sofiya-dono and Aristalf this time, and Sofiya-dono would like you to be present."
Should I be surprised that Bertrand, who drove Sofiya out of the house, would permit a meeting with his grandchild? If he was going to permit a meeting in the first place, he should never have driven Sofiya away, or at least let my cousin leave with her. My cousin would surely live more peacefully with his mother Sofiya than with a selfish grandfather who had a habit of neglecting things.
"...Lady Sofiya is going to meet her own child, isn't she? Is my presence really necessary there?"
"Sofiya-dono has a delicate disposition. She's probably nervous about seeing her son after so long."
I tilted my head, wondering if that was really the case. I don't know about such things from my previous life, and in this life, I have no son. I couldn't even imagine how a mother feels about meeting her son after a long time.
"I understand about Lady Sofiya, but will Bertrand-sama be present at this tea party?"
"You seemed to get along fairly well with Bertrand-dono in Grenore. Don't hate him so much."
"That was back when I didn't know he was my grandfather. If he weren't my grandfather, I'd think he was a nice old gentleman."
However, I'd rather keep my distance from Bertrand as a grandfather. I'd also like to avoid his child-rearing methods, but what I dislike most is how he constantly badmouths my mother Chloe. On top of that, even though he's made no preparations for taking in a child, he asserts his rights over me saying 'I'm your grandfather.' I don't think I'm wrong for wanting to stay as far away from him as possible. Even if there were a room prepared for me like my room in Grenore, as at the detached palace, I wouldn't want to go to Bertrand's place. I don't want to be separated from Leonardo, whom I've come to recognize as my brother.
...Ah, if Leonyaldo-san were adopted into Bertrand-sama's family and married Lady Sofiya, wouldn't that sort everything out...?
Bertrand would gain an adopted child with meritorious deeds, and Sofiya would be able to live with her son. If Leonardo and Sofiya had children, he'd probably stop pestering me to return to the family. And if Leonardo were there, I planned to follow him anywhere as his little sister.
...Huh? Am I just averse to being separated from Leonyaldo-san, and if Leonardo is with me, I'd be fine even at Bertrand-sama's house?
I suddenly realized this. I don't want to be sent back to Bertrand's house alone, but if Leonardo is with me, I wouldn't resist that much. Even Bertrand's questionable teaching methods, which I can only see as problematic, Leonardo would probably handle with a cool expression.
"So, what do you say? Will you accept Lady Sofiya's invitation?"
"I honestly wish to decline where Bertrand-sama is concerned, but I am indebted to you, Siegwald-sama and Mikaela-sama, for lending me the annex."
I answered with a slightly playful gesture, saying I'd save face for them. If Bertrand started saying troublesome things, I had the option of crying to Christoph, and I was also a little curious about the existence of my cousin. He was a blood relative who might be a different type from Bertrand. Perhaps I could build a good relationship as cousins.
A few days after I told Mikaela I would attend the tea party, I visited Basilia's house as promised. My tea parties with Basilia were more like just chatting, so they were relaxing. However, if I let my guard down too much, it would get back to Hermine through Solana and Rebecca who accompanied me, and the moment I returned to the detached palace a reflection meeting would be held, so I couldn't completely relax either. Today's topic from me was about recent events at the detached palace.
"Elke and Petrona came from Grenore, and since it's winter, both of them are indulging me by wearing beast costumes."
I advertised the cat-eared maid situation to Basilia behind the two girls' backs, saying that if she came to the detached palace now, she could see cute cat-eared maids. Cat-eared maids who were still young enough to be called girls were an irresistible treat for those who liked such things.
"They're adorable enough to be worth seeing."
"If you're telling me that beast costumes are winter attire, then why didn't you inform me beforehand?"
Furrowing her brows with a pout, I couldn't tell whether Basilia was jealous of Elke and Petrona's existence, or jealous that they and I were all doing beast costumes together. Probably both, I thought, but was it really necessary to inform her about the winter attire?
"...I think I was wearing cat ears when we first met too."
In Lagarette city, I always acted while wearing cat ears. The only times I took them off were during baths, sleep, and the brief period when I was kidnapped. Considering that, in Basilia's memory, I should always have been wearing cat ears.
"Since I was once taken by spirits, I'll be doing beast costumes in winter until I become an adult."
I'd been told 'until becoming an adult,' but no clear age seemed to be set. I planned to obediently follow my guardian's (Leonardo) wishes and do beast costumes until the age of adulthood in this world, but I thought I'd stop costumes outside the Divine King Festival once I passed fifteen.
"...Eh? So your first meeting with your cousin will be with cat ears?"
"Cousin?"
I noticed a fact I didn't want to acknowledge and the thought slipped out. I didn't want my cousin, whose face I hadn't even seen yet, to think I was some cosplay enthusiast who did beast costumes even when it wasn't the Divine King Festival. When I murmured whether I couldn't postpone the tea party until after the Spring Flower Festival, Basilia caught my muttering.
"A tea party with a cousin... In other words, are you having an arranged marriage meeting!?"
"No, I'm not. It's nothing like an arranged marriage meeting."
Since I'd be troubled by strange misunderstandings, I explained Bertrand's family situation to Basilia. The fact that Bertrand was my grandfather had reached Basilia's ears because Bertrand himself had spread it around. If I told her about the circumstances surrounding Bertrand, she should understand that this was no lighthearted talk of arranged marriage.
"...See, it is an arranged marriage meeting!"
"How does hearing that lead you to an arranged marriage meeting?"
I thought I'd only conveyed the facts, but apparently Basilia interpreted the simple story of being asked to accompany my aunt and cousin's meeting as an arranged marriage meeting. I didn't understand why I needed to be present for a mother and child meeting, but it was also hard to grasp how meeting a cousin alone could be judged as an arranged marriage meeting.
"Even if it were an arranged marriage meeting, the one who becomes my husband would have to be stronger than Leonyaldo Big Brother."
Of course, I kept quiet about the fact that the King had asked me not to have children in the future. Those words had no meaning to convey anyway, and for me now, talk of marriage or having children was too far in the future for me to feel any sense of reality. I truly only intended to simply accompany my cousin and his mother's meeting.
"If you're troubled, I would be happy to accompany you."
"And if the atmosphere gets strange, I'll ruin the arranged marriage for you," Basilia continued, and I corrected her for the umpteenth time that it wasn't an arranged marriage.
...But still, if Basilia-chan came with me, it might be a little reassuring, you know?
I had only met my aunt Sofiya a few times. While I had become comfortable visiting Siegwald's residence, meeting a cousin I'd never met before and who had never met Sofiya by myself was a bit hard for me, who was self-aware of being shy around new people. If Basilia were to come with me as a fellow child, that would honestly be very welcome.
...Well, bringing an outsider (Basilia) to a family gathering is also strange, isn't it?
Being surrounded by people who were relatives but not particularly close, without my guardian (Leonardo) present, was tough. I decided to ask Mikaela if she might indulge me as a child's selfishness on this one.
Will fix typos and errors at a later date.