301 - Tea with My Cousin 2
"Pleased to meet you, Christina. I am your cousin, Aristalf."
"Pleased to meet you, Aristalf-sama. Since it seems there was some discord between my father and Bertrand-sama, I will refrain from calling myself your 'cousin' from my side, but I am Christina, daughter of Saromon."
Aristalf bore no fault whatsoever, but I felt a little resistance to calling him my cousin, and ended up phrasing it somewhat meanly. Since I was rejecting my grandfather, it felt somehow unfair to claim the title of cousin to Aristalf just because we were both grandchildren.
"I had heard you were sickly, Aristalf-sama, but I am glad to see you looking well."
"I am not bedridden all year round, you know."
Behind his golden bangs, Aristalf's violet eyes, filled with a soft light, narrowed as he smiled. Violet eyes were the same as Bertrand's, but golden hair and violet eyes were the same color as my father, Saromon. If my parents had had a boy, he might have had the same coloring as Aristalf.
Suddenly, a black shadow moved slickly at my feet, drawing my gaze. I took in the black shadow at my feet, the Black Dog (Oscar), but Basilia let out a small scream at the Black Dog's appearance and hid behind Aristalf. It seemed she judged that Aristalf made a slightly larger wall than using me as one.
"Oscar, where were you?"
I stroked the Black Dog's head, wondering where he had disappeared to right after we arrived at Siegwald's residence. The Black Shiba (Kokumaro) tended to wander from my side quite a bit, listening to Alfred's commands or wagging his tail at Solana who brought treats, but the Black Dog rarely left my side. I had wondered at his disappearing so soon after arriving at the residence, but his return was just as sudden.
"So you were here, Aristalf."
"Grandfather."
I swallowed the "Ugh" that nearly slipped out. I understood why the Black Dog, who should have disappeared, had suddenly returned. The Black Dog had not disappeared and then come back. He had guided Bertrand here.
"I heard from Sofiya-dono that she had called for Christina, so I thought I would introduce you..."
"I have already met Christina. We were just introducing ourselves to each other."
While Bertrand's gaze was directed at Aristalf, I slowly, carefully stepped backward. I thought to quietly put some distance between us and escape, but the Black Dog noticed and quickly bit down on the hem of my skirt.
...Oscar! Let go!
I tried to pull my hem back, but the Black Dog clamped onto my skirt would not let go. This Black Dog was smart, and normally he would not do something like this, but he was absolutely Bertrand's dog. Though he had taken up residence in the detached palace without permission, between Bertrand and me, he prioritized Bertrand. Even now, it was because I was trying to escape from Bertrand that he was trying to stop me.
"Kokumaro!"
Drive the Black Dog away, I pleaded as I turned to look at the Black Shiba, but the Black Shiba looked up at me with round eyes. I was currently having my retreat obstructed by the Black Dog, but perhaps to the Black Shiba, it only looked like the Black Dog and I were playing.
...Maro! Your training is still far from enough!!
When I glared at him with intensity, conveying that I would send him back to the trainer as soon as we returned to Grenore, the Black Shiba's tail drooped, as if he understood my intent. He seemed to have realized what was being asked of him, but apparently he had no inclination to bare his fangs and oppose the Black Dog.
"Christina."
"Please discipline your dog properly, Bertrand-sama."
I glared at the Black Dog's owner while he tugged at my skirt. I was the victim. There was no need for me to grovel before the owner of the perpetrator (the dog).
"...It has been a while, Christina."
"We children were having a pleasant chat, but adults are a hindrance. Please go somewhere else."
I checked my skirt when the Black Dog released it at Bertrand's signal. In Grenore, he had torn a hole in my skirt, but this time there was only a little drool and no fang holes.
...If he had bitten the owl jacket Felicia-sama made for me, I feel like I could have fabricated some kind of crime.
Just biting my skirt probably would not make the owner liable. At best, I could charge him for cleaning costs.
"As always, utterly charmless..."
"I am Leonyaldo Big Brother-sama's beloved little sister, but I have no intention of becoming Bertrand-sama's beloved granddaughter, so I have no need to be charming toward Bertrand-sama."
There was nothing for it since the Black Dog had obstructed my strategic retreat. So I just gave up and puffed out my chest. I am Leonardo's sister, I have no intention of becoming Bertrand's granddaughter.
"Christina certainly speaks her mind quite clearly toward Grandfather."
"I have never seen Christina-sama speak so aggressively either."
"Is she not always like this?"
"She is usually a clingy thing attached to her big brother."
Hearing this conversation from the side, my momentum was somewhat deflated. I could not help but furrow my brow at Basilia and Aristalf, who seemed like they would get along better than I had expected.
"...Am I really that aggressive?"
"She does arm herself with logic, but I have never seen her being aggressive right from the start like this."
Arming herself with logic... that must be from the day we first met. I had once made Basilia cry by lecturing her with logical arguments, quite childishly, after she suddenly splashed water on me.
"This is a special specification for Bertrand-sama. I will not give him an opening to exploit."
"Why is it a special specification for Bertrand-sama?"
"Huh? ...Because he speaks ill of my mother, perhaps?"
At Basilia's pointed observation, I thought for a while. Before he started going on about grandfathers and grandchildren, I recall I had some awareness of looking up to him as a kind old man. And yet, the moment I found out he was my grandfather, I distanced myself from Bertrand. It was largely because I did not want to be separated from my family (Leonardo), but I also hated how every time we met, Bertrand would curse my mother.
"As long as he is just someone else's kindly old grandfather... I think he is a fairly nice old man, I suppose."
The son's wife that someone else's grandfather talks about and my mother are different people. Even so, I think it is wrong to badmouth other people in public, but my impression would certainly differ between having my own mother insulted versus someone else's daughter-in-law being insulted.
"Christi"
"Christina, if you are going to fight with Bertrand, count me in."
As her guardian for exactly that purpose, Alfred interrupted Bertrand's words and pushed through the wall of noble ladies to join our conversation.
Since it was a family matter, we changed locations. Because the tea party had originally been arranged for Aristalf and his aunt to meet, a small tea set had been prepared in a separate room. When we asked Mikaela to borrow the room, Basilia declined to enter, saying if it was a family matter she would step out. She had come to the tea party claiming she would disrupt it if it were a matchmaking session, but she seemed to understand this was not that kind of atmosphere. And while Basilia declined, Alfred, who had joined the conversation of his own accord, had no intention of declining, and with the appearance of Prince Alfred, who had even been shown to the separate room, Aunt Sofiya's recovered complexion turned pale once more.
...I wonder if Aunt Sofiya is actually more frail than Aristalf?
I thought about such things as I took my seat. Across the round table sat Aristalf, with Alfred and Sofiya on either side. Inevitably, Bertrand ended up in the farthest seat.
"For a family tea party to have Alfred-sama joining us... it is truly an honor beyond our deserving."
"I am merely acting as Christina's guardian proxy. There is no need to be so formal."
He had heard it was a family gathering, so he had appeared as her guardian proxy. Since Christina's actual guardian was away from the capital on urgent business, he was attending in his stead, he explained.
...Sorry, Sofiya-sama, but if the guardian proxy had not been Prince Alfred, I think it would have been Princess Felicia.
If I had to think about which was better to have around, a prince or a princess, given this world's common sense that women were desired as heirs, Alfred would probably cause Sofiya less worry. Probably. Surely.
...Not by much, though.
It seemed Sofiya had intended to serve as my guardian proxy herself. Bertrand had reached out using the pretext of a meeting with her son (Aristalf), and since Sofiya already knew I was her niece at that point, the conversation had expanded, leading to this tea party being planned. Specifying Siegwald's residence as the venue to put me at ease had apparently been a mistake. Thanks to the meddlesome Mikaela and my request to bring Basilia along, what was supposed to be a small family tea party had turned into a medium-sized gathering of Mikaela's acquaintances. On top of that, since Alfred was accompanying me as guardian proxy, even Bertrand could not resort to force.
...Good job, me.
Thanks to getting Basilia involved, I had avoided attending a tea party with such terrible odds, one against many, with people who claimed to be family. If I were just watching over Sofiya and Aristalf's meeting, I would not have minded, but if Bertrand had joined and they had ganged up on me three to one, demanding I "return home," it would have been unbearable.
"Sofiya-sama could not have held Bertrand-sama back, so we were saved by Alfred-sama. For example, if Bertrand-sama tried to kidnap and confine me, I do not think Felicia-sama and the others would remain silent about me not returning to the detached palace."
In that case, would the perpetrator of the kidnapping be Bertrand, with Sofiya as an accomplice? In any case, they would be charged with some crime.
"What about a grandfather bringing home the orphaned child of his runaway son is kidnapping and confinement?"
"I do not acknowledge you as a grandfather, and I will testify that you are, in fact, a kidnapper."
"Hate to interrupt your confident little speech there, but I am a hero of this country, you know. The King's favor falls more favorably upon me than on some commoner's daughter."
"I am terribly sorry to interrupt your confident statement, but between a commoner (myself) and a hero (Bertrand-sama), I believe the King would choose me."
What do you think? I asked, turning to Alfred. Bertrand's evaluation as a hero was, to put it bluntly, the number of people he had killed in war. In contrast, my value lay in saving people, throughout all the lands where the Sedovara Church had a presence, until the day the secret arts were lost again. There was a difference between giving life and taking it, but even in terms of sheer numbers, my influence would likely be greater.
...So this is what Christoph-sama meant by a 'weapon.'
Showing my own value as a person and wresting support from a higher authority (Alfred). Unable to deny my words, Alfred gave a small shrug.
"Even within the scope of what I alone can decide, if Christina were taken away by means against her will, Bertrand-dono would inevitably face house arrest. In that case, the only one left to inherit the house would be Aristalf, who has not even come of age."
Alfred continued that if possible, he would like to order Bertrand confined to his lands at a physical distance from me, but considering retaliation from the Sedovara Church, he would have to confiscate his lands and confine him to the residence in the capital instead. If Aunt Sofiya could prove she was not involved in the kidnapping, she would be innocent, given that Bertrand had driven her out of the house anyway. However, Aristalf, who had Bertrand as his grandfather, would suffer collateral damage despite having done nothing wrong.
"...What is that? Was I really such untouchable goods?"
Hearing the predictions laid out like that, even I recoiled a little. I did not intend to deliberately cause harm to people I disliked, but nevertheless, the punishment for laying a hand on me was terrifying.
"Realize it. Only a fool without the sense to think ahead would lay a hand on you."
"So that White Knight from the other day was a fool who did not think ahead."
"That one was a genuine fool."
There had been an incident where a White Knight, who should have been stationed to guard the detached palace, had guided an intruder into that very palace. A man who called himself a knight had deliberately brought danger to the person he was supposed to protect. Fool was not the word. He was simply insane from the ground up.
"What is this about?"
"Some troublesome old man went around the royal castle proclaiming me as 'his own granddaughter,' and a White Knight who took that at face value came to arrange a night visit to the detached palace."
I was treated lightly, as just the daughter of a Merit Peerage. Until then, my origins had been kept secret, so even frivolous White Knights would not make a move. This was because if it turned out by some chance that I was a hidden child of the royal family and they had allowed an intruder into the detached palace, they themselves would be punished. But if I was the daughter of a Merit Peerage, that changed things. They must have thought lightly that if the offender was from a house above Merit Peerage, it could be covered up.
"What is this story!?"
Bertrand slammed the table and roared, making Aristalf and Sofiya flinch and stiffen. More likely than not, their daily life was like this. A father-in-law and grandfather who suddenly lost his temper and yelled, constantly wearing down their delicate nerves.
"Aaron and Oscar caught the culprit for us, so it is a matter already settled."
There was also a staged kidnapping attempt, was there not? I listed the incidents that had been triggered by the rumor that I was Bertrand's granddaughter. Even for frivolous White Knights, if Bertrand had not advertised me as his granddaughter, they might have been able to restrain themselves. Of course, the ones who actually committed the crimes were the worst offenders, but one could not say they had not been led astray because of Bertrand.
"I am constantly being put at a disadvantage by Bertrand-sama. Oscar has been working off some of the debt, but he is Bertrand-sama's dog after all."
Since he had just betrayed me, I turned a resentful eye toward the Black Dog. The Black Dog must have been aware of my gaze, but he lay down in front of the door with a composed expression.
"As far as I am concerned, it would be more peaceful not to have a grandfather who only claims the title."
Since Aristalf was the heir, there was no need to bring me back, I repeated the same words I had said before. The royal family did not want me to bear children, so I could not become an heir.
"Aristalf is far too frail to accomplish meritorious deeds."
"I have no physical strength or stamina either, so I cannot achieve military exploits."
Aristalf's expression froze when his grandfather declared him "frail." Perhaps because he was sitting next to me, Bertrand could not see Aristalf's face. No grandchild would be unhurt by being dismissed by their grandfather.
...I do not think of him as my grandfather, so I am fine.
Seeing Aristalf's wounded expression made me feel a boiling anger toward Bertrand. We had only spoken briefly, but Aristalf was an honest, good kid. He might not be able to achieve the kind of military exploits Bertrand wanted, but I felt there was still a possibility he could earn merit through other means.
"Even if he has no achievements to his name, all that happens is that the next generation returns to commoner status. There is no problem."
"Do you have no sense of loyalty to this country!?"
"I would rack my brains a little for Christoph-sama's sake, but I do not think loyalty is something that should be forced upon me by a man I do not even consider my grandfather."
In the first place, there was no connection between loyalty and the next generation returning to commoner status.
"...If you want to make your grandson achieve meritorious deeds and become a Loyalty Peerage, there is a way."
At the seemingly endless impasse, Alfred began to say something like this. I could transfer my achievements to Aristalf.
"I do not have any achievements yet..."
"The results came out just the other day, did they not? It would be easy to go from Merit Peerage to Loyalty Peerage with just that one."
To me, I had only read some Japanese text, but the revival of Saint Yuuta Hiraga's secret arts was apparently a truly great achievement. It seemed that if I continued living as Leonardo's family, it would be possible for Leonardo to become a Merit Peerage while I, as his sister, became a Loyalty Peerage through my achievements.
"So, it is possible for me to transfer my achievements to Aristalf-sama as severance pay?"
"The achievements themselves are not transferred, but it is possible to elevate the Cantar family from Merit Peerage to Loyalty Peerage using your achievements."
Alfred told Bertrand that on the condition that he never approach me again, he could provide what Bertrand sought in an heir. Bertrand had likely never expected to suddenly have achievements dangled in front of him. For once, he wore a stunned expression.
"The heir is Aristalf-sama, and Alfred-sama seems willing to arrange the necessary achievements, so Bertrand-sama has no more business with me, does he?"
I was relieved that I no longer had to worry about Bertrand destroying my current life, but Alfred gave me a look like he wanted to say something. I tilted my head questioningly, and Alfred shook his head slowly.
"...Tina is fine with this?"
"Yes. I have no need for achievements, and if it buys me peace, it is cheap at the price."
I was wondering why he was pressing me on the matter, but Alfred indicated that I should leave the room. Since my wishes were decided, he would handle the rest of the discussion accordingly.
...Come to think of it, why was it 'Tina' at the end there?
After leaving the room, finally free of Bertrand, that question suddenly occurred to me. Had I done something wrong? Alfred's expression, like he wanted to say something, bothered me, and I stroked the head of the Black Shiba, who had settled down right beside me.
It is strange how despite all this tension, it turned out considerably softer than originally planned.
Will fix typos and errors at a later date.