304 - The Capital's Divine King Festival
Almost as soon as he had set down his luggage, Leonardo went out to the Divine King Festival planning meeting.
He would not return to the detached palace until after the rites of the War God Herkeles were finished.
I still had not gotten nearly enough cuddling in, but there was nothing to be done about that.
...Once his work is done, I will cuddle him absolutely senseless.
The hearth in the living room was being cleaned in preparation for the Divine King Festival, so I stroked my cat-shaped hot water bottle in my own room.
Perhaps out of consideration for Leonardo, who had gone right back out after just returning, Felicia and Alfred each visited me with sweets in hand.
Incidentally, the parent-and-child cat hot water bottles were for use inside the kotatsu, and I gave the cute cat hot water bottle and the slightly ugly cat hot water bottle to Elke and Petrona.
The one I used in my own room was the hot water bottle that Petrona had criticized as "too realistic and creepy."
Since I used it in bed, it did not matter much whether it was realistic and creepy or not.
...This hot water bottle, when you look at it from the front, Kokumaro's tail goes down.
It seemed the black shiba Kokumaro found the realistic-looking ceramic hot water bottle unsettling.
Even now, he kept glancing at it on the table while still staying at my feet.
"This year too, we are spending the Divine King Festival apart from Leonyaldo Big Brother."
The Divine King Festival was apparently a family dinner occasion, but I had never once had dinner with Leonardo on the Divine King Festival.
On the first winter, Leonardo was away at the Mandez Fortress, and last year I had spent it at Aurelia's house.
Considering he performed the rites at the fortress, I probably would not have dinner with Leonardo in the future either.
That would not change unless Leonardo himself resigned as master of the fortress.
"If you are lonely without Leonardo, shall I have you invited to the king and queen's table?"
Since there were plenty of siblings, surely I would not feel lonely, Alfred said, inviting me, and I thought about it for a moment.
Ethelbert had returned to his territory, so seated at the king's family dinner table would be Christoph, his three wives, fifteen children, and I believed there were also several grandchildren.
At least two princesses should be missing, but even so, that was a lot.
"...With that many people, I think I would feel lonely instead."
No matter how many people were there, none of them were my family.
I thought having a lively crowd around and not feeling lonely were different things.
"I also do not want to intrude on a family gathering, so please, you two go and enjoy yourselves."
"I would not think of you as intruding, so you should come too, Christina."
It was also for the sake of the kingdom that Leonardo was tied up with the Divine King Festival, Felicia said.
If I was lonely without Leonardo, they would spend time with me.
"...I think I will spend it with the friends who came from Grenore this year."
If it was about being lonely away from family, Elke and Petrona must be the same.
I thought I could give the two of them the holiday and have them stay at the detached palace as my friends.
"Then I shall spend the Divine King Festival at the detached palace too."
"Alfred."
Saying that leaving just the children would be worrisome, Alfred declared he would spend the Divine King Festival at the detached palace, and Felicia pouted her lips in an adorable way.
Usually Felicia carried herself with the adult composure of an "older sister," but apparently she also showed this kind of clingy behavior toward her younger brother.
...A capable beauty who is also a cute cuddlebug. Felicia-sama, that is just unfair.
Ever since she had started wearing clothes, the difficulty of approaching her had eased, and her followers had only increased.
However, the newly increased followers were not worshippers of Felicia's beauty, but slaves of love.
"You should at least show your face to Father and the others."
"I will at least show my face, Felicia big sister. After showing my face, I will return here to the detached palace and babysit Christina."
When Felicia started saying she would stay in Alfred's place, Alfred made a slightly troubled face.
That was a rare expression for Alfred, I thought, as I watched and soothed Felicia, sending her off.
"...Alfred-sama, it is alright if you go too, you know?"
I could manage staying home alone, and there were guards at the detached palace.
My two friends were here, and Kalisa and Hermine were also here, so it was not that lonely.
It was not enough, but I had seen Leonardo's face once today.
"To be honest, every time my mother sees my face, she urges me to get married soon."
"So you conveniently used me as an excuse to decline."
Babysitting me was apparently just an excuse to escape from his mother's "get married already" calls.
I wondered if it was really alright to decline the family dinner on the Divine King Festival for such a reason, but it seemed I did not need to hold back.
I decided to gratefully have Alfred keep me company in staying home.
Called by Solana that the cleaning was finished, I entered the living room.
In the ash thinly spread over the freshly cleaned hearth, I pressed handprints alongside Elke and Petrona, three of us in a row.
Apparently this charm was done in houses with children, so I needed to have Elke and Petrona's handprints as well.
"Christina, a gift has arrived from a person named Chris."
"Chris?"
At the gift box Alfred received from Solana, I wondered who it could be, then remembered.
I did not use it often, but Chris was an alias of Christoph's that could barely even be called a pseudonym.
"Is the capital's 'Itsurateru's Four Blessings' cheesecake?"
"There is no way that is the case. It is a special order from a person named Chris."
This year's 'Itsurateru's Four Blessings' looked like an egg tart, perhaps.
A tart crust served as the plate, holding a souffle-type cheesecake.
...If you are going to make cheesecake with a tart crust plate, I think rare cheesecake would be better, you know?
As usual, I never saw rare cheesecake around, so perhaps it did not exist in this world yet.
It was possible to eat frozen sweets in the summer, but the cost of transporting ice was too high, making it a luxury that only nobles could afford.
I thought rare cheesecake required a refrigerator to make, so even if a reincarnator remembered the recipe, it would be difficult to reproduce.
"Solana, this year's 'Itsurateru's Four Blessings' has arrived, so please go stop Kalisa if she is working hard in the kitchen."
"Yes."
If she was already in the middle of working on it, I could just have it made into bite-sized cakes and not put the ceramic figure inside.
If it was already past the point of fixing, it might be fine to have the servants cut it up.
"All three of you, make sure to take a good nap today."
"A nap?"
Elke and Petrona were given the afternoon off, so neither of them was wearing their maid uniforms now, but rather clothes befitting young ladies.
Since they were spending today as my friends, Alfred treated them the same as me.
The three of us were being treated like children together.
"Felicia big sister was making costumes, was she not? Since we have them, I will take you to the night festival."
"The night festival? Is it not dangerous?"
A night festival in the capital would have even more people passing through than Grenore.
Just imagining it a little, I could not believe it was a place for children to go out.
"Children from the inner city participate normally every year, you know. Besides, there are three children going, and the three adults accompanying them are me, Aaron, and Giselle."
With one adult per child, it should not be that dangerous, Alfred said.
Adding to that, Alfred's own guards would also be along, so unless something truly exceptional happened, there should be no worry about getting lost.
In the afternoon, I had lessons with Hermine, so I consulted her about going out to the night festival.
For Grenore's streets, I could imagine the level of crowds to some extent, but I still barely knew the capital.
When I asked if it would be alright to go out under Alfred's supervision, Hermine started saying she would come along too.
Without even thinking hard, I had been taken by spirits at the Divine King Festival once before, so she was probably scared to take her eyes off me.
After a good long nap, dinner was a little more luxurious than usual.
Alfred was acting as the head of the household, but it was Solana who cut 'Itsurateru's Four Blessings.'
Apparently when Solana cut it, the pieces came out uneven, but Alfred seemed to like that.
After dinner, everyone played Reversi, and the winners chose from the unevenly cut 'Itsurateru's Four Blessings.'
More likely than not, he had Solana cut it just for the Reversi prize.
...I will not make a mistake this year. I am a lady, after all.
Whether my thinking was ladylike aside, I broke off 'Itsurateru's Four Blessings' little by little on my plate and ate it.
Last time I had eaten it without thinking and taken a ceramic figure out of my mouth, but that method was a bit ill-mannered for a lady.
"Oh, a dragon came out of mine."
I was fairly sure the dragon's meaning was wisdom and long life, but as for my fortune for next year, I wanted to believe that the revival of Saint Yuuta Hiraga's secret arts would proceed smoothly.
Next, a flower figure came out of Petrona's plate, and a crown emerged from Alfred's plate.
"A crown again. For some reason a crown comes out every year..."
"If you are not satisfied with the crown, you should eat 'Itsurateru's Four Blessings' with Alf-san."
In Grenore's streets, Alf had drawn the crown.
Between Alf and Alfred, it was a secret that I wished Alf would have better luck.
Somehow, I felt like Alf lived a life being pushed around by Alfred, so I wanted him to grasp happiness in games like this at least.
"...First of all, Alf will not spend the Divine King Festival with me."
"Then Alfred-sama will just have to seduce him?"
"He would probably hate that. But that reluctant Alf is also adorable..."
...I think that is exactly why he finds you off-putting.
When Alfred started saying dangerous things like taking Solana hostage since Alf treated her like a little sister, I warned him to please use peaceful methods.
From where I was sitting, I could clearly see Solana flinch every time her name came out of Alfred's mouth.
...Alfred-sama, why is Solana so scared of you?
He was not that troublesome a person toward me, but Solana, who knew the private side of Alfred, must have her reasons for being afraid.
She had once tearfully begged me to take her with me when I returned to Grenore, but perhaps I should seriously consider it.
...Wait, actually, Solana was originally borrowed from Alfred-sama. So unless I poached her, I could not take her with me.
Sorry, Solana, I apologized only in my heart, and deliciously brought this year's 'Itsurateru's Four Blessings' to my mouth.
As it was a costume event for the Divine King Festival, I put on the owl coat Felicia had made for me.
Unlike the tea party before, tonight was the full costume set.
The dress made of fur and fake feathers, along with knee-length pumpkin pants, were quite warm.
Since even the lining was fur to achieve the owl's roundness, I would not catch a cold even walking under the winter night sky.
"I can see forward surprisingly well."
The owl face was on the hood part, so tonight I pulled the hood down low.
The visibility was a bit poor, but I could see more than I had expected.
I could not confirm it myself, but with this, the human-sized owl was complete.
When I got out of the carriage, Alfred took my left hand and Hermine took my right.
I thought it was a measure against getting lost, but they were really treating me too much like a baby.
When I looked back to check on Elke and Petrona, neither of them was holding hands with their supervising adults.
...Well, the poor visibility was probably about the same for both of them.
The costumes Kalisa had made for the two of them to match my owl were hooded coats.
They too had an owl face on the hood, and putting the hood up completed the owl costume.
"So, where would you like to go first?"
"I leave it to Alfred-sama. I do not know what shops are where."
"Right... Let us start with the sweet stalls you would probably like, Christina."
"Even if you buy sweets, I cannot eat them."
Look, I said, flapping both my hands. When I flapped my hands, the hands of Alfred and Hermine, who were holding them, also flapped.
"...I will specially feed you. Truly special. I have never done this for anyone but Alf."
"Alf-san actually let you feed him?"
"He would not let me, so I pestered him until he did."
"Uwaah..."
Sympathizing with Alf, who was not here, I deliciously had him feed me sweets.
Alfred said he would feed me, but since it was a candy on a stick, he basically just shoved it into my mouth.
Walking around with a lollipop in my mouth felt ill-mannered too, but it seemed Hermine would overlook it tonight.
As Alfred started buying one recommended thing after another, Hermine's free right hand grew increasingly laden with packages.
"How cute."
I stopped at a stall displaying lanterns.
I wanted to pick one up, so I reached out my hand, and Alfred's hand slipped free from mine.
I wanted to use both hands so I would not drop it since it was merchandise, but Hermine gripped my right hand tightly when I tried to reach for the lantern.
Alfred would grant me a little freedom, but Hermine apparently would not.
...Come to think of it, I was taken by spirits when I was walking around the Divine King Festival with Hermine-sensei.
Perhaps it could not be helped that Hermine could not let go of my hand.
...Huh?
"If I get taken by spirits tonight, would I be able to see Aurelia-san?"
When I said what I was thinking, Alfred fixed my hood, which was slipping off from me looking up at the lanterns.
Do not say things like that even as a joke, he warned me in a slightly low voice.
...I just thought that since I got to see my parents back then, maybe I could see Aurelia-san too.
I was aware that I had caused them so much worry it could not be laughed off, so I did not intend to deliberately remove my costume.
If I disappeared now, I would cause even more trouble for those around me than when I went missing in Grenore.
...Oh, but Leonardo-san is in the capital, so would I come back through the detached palace's hearth?
I started to think then it might not cause that much worry, but I shook my head slowly.
In the first place, the very act of suddenly vanishing was the problem.
Just because there was a possibility of being found quickly did not mean I could deliberately let myself be taken by spirits.
I had the fish-shaped lantern I thought was cute bought for me, and thanked Alfred.
I wanted to carry it myself, but I wondered if tonight's guardians would allow that, and as I checked their expressions, I noticed Hermine's face.
"Huh? Where is Petrona-chan?"
Hermine had frozen, looking behind us, so I also turned to look back.
The pair of Elke and Aaron was right behind us, but Petrona and Giselle, who should have been following after them, were nowhere to be seen.
"No way, was Petrona-chan taken by spirits!?"
Or perhaps Giselle had gotten lost as usual.
While Hermine and I worried about Petrona, Alfred looked composed.
"...Even if they are lost, the adult Giselle is with her, so there is no need to worry that much."
"Huh? But it is Giselle who is with her. If anything, we should be worried!"
"What is Giselle's trust rating in Christina's mind?"
"She ranks below Kokumaro!"
I thought Giselle was a sincere and hardworking person, but she was not just a little but extremely clumsy and absent-minded.
Just because an adult was with her, Giselle was not the kind of "adult" one could feel safe with.
"Giselle is still a knight, after all, so she would not take a child near a place that would be bad to approach."
It was decided we would visit the stalls while looking for the two of them, and when I tried to lower my hood to see my surroundings better, I was stopped.
Even to search for lost friends, apparently I was not allowed to remove my costume.