339 - Brother-Sister Date 3
The autumn clingy campaign's outings with my big brother continue at a relaxed pace. We only went to see plays in the first week. After that, we spend our time leisurely at the detached palace as usual, and only go out when Leonardo thinks of a place he wants to visit. I almost never think of places I want to go, so from the outside, it probably looks like I am just tagging along on Leonardo's outings.
And the places Leonardo wants to go are a bit lacking in glamour. Training grounds and stations of the Silver-White Knights, cemeteries where acquaintances might be sleeping... they are all places that make you want to tilt your head if you think of them as places to go with your little sister. If even a little sister would tilt her head, then naturally if you brought a lover there, you would get dumped on the spot.
...Leonyaldo-san really does not know how to have fun, does he.
He knows how to fool around with prostitutes, but I do not think he knows the kind of amusements young people enjoy, or what he himself might like. So even when it comes to taking me somewhere, the places he guides me to are libraries and cemeteries. On the other hand, if I express a wish, he tries to respond with all his might, and then goes on a rampage, looking up every theater performance happening in the capital and preparing tickets for all of them.
...The partnership with Alf-san... truly, Christoph-sama's keen insight.
I think Alf really kept Leonardo under control back in Grenore. But Alf, who is pretending to be Alfred in the capital, does not control Leonardo because he is pretending to be Alfred. He recommends places to go, but he does not subtly warn Leonardo off.
...Actually, maybe it is less that he will not help because he is pretending to be Alfred-sama, and more that it is time for Leonardo to get used to handling his little sister.
Before Leonardo got used to handling his little sister (me), I got used to handling my big brother (Leonardo). Or rather, for a homebody like me, even the libraries and cemeteries Leonardo takes me to are more than enough for a change of pace. Maybe this is what they call a cracked pot finding its lid.
Wearing the autumn hat that Sofiya gave me and Mikaela altered, today's destination is the Dupre Orphanage. Lately, it seems Leonardo has been looking into his own past. He has even visited the residence of a retired Silver-White Knight.
We were led into the old but clean dining hall of the Dupre Orphanage, and I distributed the baked sweets we bought on the way as gifts to the children. The long-lasting candies and dried fruits I handed over to Jude, the orphanage director. If I give them to Jude, he will distribute them fairly to the children later.
"Come to think of it, Godwin-sama has not shown his face around here lately. Have you heard if something happened?"
I had been bracing myself to play the listener today, since Leonardo seemed to be tracing his own footsteps, but I felt like I had been suddenly hit from the side. Jude himself brought up the topic I had shelved and forgotten about.
...What should I do. Should I tell him the truth? Or not?
I had agonized over that and put off coming to a conclusion, but now I was forced to face the topic I had postponed head-on. From my perspective, I had plenty of other things to think about, but for Jude, there are only limited people he can ask about noble-related matters. Leonardo and I coming today must have been one of those rare opportunities.
"Godwin... you mean the one you told me about before?"
"Yes, Godwin-sama, who took in the orphans and let them train as apprentices. Since he has not shown his face lately, we have all been worried that he might be unwell."
"Lately... well, I have been away from the capital for a while, so..."
Leonardo pretended not to know, drinking his tea with an innocent face as if to say "do not put me on the spot," but there is no way he could understand what was going on inside me. After showing a slight gesture of searching his memory, he turned to me, probably just to confirm.
"Tina, have you heard anything?"
I do not know about Godwin's recent movements, but I do know what happened to 'the Godwin Jude is talking about' afterward. Godwin is Godwin, but the 'Godwin' Jude is referring to is the fake one.
Well, what should I do... I finally face the problem I had shelved for another day. I could tell them the truth, but knowing it would make both Jude and Leonardo sad. Especially Jude, who raised those children as the orphanage director. I do not think I should tell him that the children he raised and sent off believing they would find happiness have already died.
After agonizing and agonizing, I opened my heavy mouth. The fact that I could not immediately say "I do not know" was practically the same as admitting I did know.
"...Godwin-sama is doing well. I have not heard anything about him being ill in particular."
However, this Godwin is the real one. Not the fake Godwin that Jude is asking about.
"I think he has been busy because various things have happened recently."
I chose my words carefully, so as not to touch on topics I did not want to touch, but also so that it would not be a lie. This kind of speaking technique is something Hermine-sensei taught me. Lies will come back to bite you later, so you should use them as little as possible, and hide what you want to conceal within the truth. In this case, what I am hiding is that 'what I am talking about concerns the real Godwin.' He asked about the fake one, and knowing that, I told him about the real one. Both are about Godwin, so it is not a lie, and even if investigated, I will not be in trouble.
...My stomach hurts from guilt, not just a little though.
Jude pressed me on what various things had happened, so I answered honestly. It was a story about Godwin, and also about the fake Godwin, so it was not entirely a lie either.
"I heard he was being harassed by political enemies, and that he fought them off. It seems they stirred up quite a mess, so I think he is busy cleaning up the aftermath."
Noble conflicts are so complicated and terrifying that I want nothing to do with them, so I got ahead of the conversation and ended it, saying I would be troubled if asked any more. For Jude, as long as he knows Godwin is not ill or unwell, that is enough. If I tell him the enemies have been dealt with and the matter is closed, he probably will not press further.
"...I see. So he is just busy, and not suffering from poor health or anything."
Jude sighed in relief, and I quietly let out a sigh too. He seemed satisfied, just as I had intended, but I was acutely aware that while it was not a lie, I was deceiving him, and my heart ached.
"...Tina, about Godwin-sama."
"What do you really know?" Leonardo asked me in the carriage on the way back. It seemed Jude was convinced, but Leonardo seemed to have noticed my lie.
"Leonyaldo Big Brother-sama is only sharp at strange times, are you not."
"I am a knight, you know. If I could not see through a criminal's lies, what good would I be? And the one lying is not a criminal, it is my little sister."
"Then I will praise you for seeing through it so well today."
"There, there," I said, patting Leonardo's head next to me, then lowered my arm and hugged him around the side. Since it was something hard to say, I decided to replenish my courage by hugging my big brother.
"I will have you know, I did not actually tell a lie. I thought it was better not to let Jude-san hear the details, so what I told him was the recent situation of the real Godwin-sama."
"...Real?"
Upon hearing "real," Leonardo's voice dropped an octave. I think he immediately realized that if there was a real one, there must be a fake one too.
"I would like to confirm with Leonyaldo Big Brother-sama as well, but it is not a story I really want to tell. Do you still want to hear it?"
"You have got the look of someone whose stomach hurts from trying to swallow it all alone. Tell me, even if it is unpleasant."
"Understood."
So I told Leonardo the outline of the incident I had heard through the real Godwin. Leonardo's fists trembled with anger at the tragic fates of the girls who were practically little sisters from the same orphanage. As for the real Godwin's handling of the last surviving girl, Leonardo seemed relieved too. There was no need to mention that the surviving girl was not from the Dupre Orphanage.
"...So that is why you did not want to tell Jude-san about Godwin-sama."
"I am aware that I am foolishly honest, you know. It was a bit difficult to not lie but also not tell the truth."
I shrugged and pulled away, acknowledging that Leonardo had seen through me after all. Now that the hard-to-say story was over, I could not keep clinging to my big brother forever.
"Tina."
"Yes?"
I looked up at Leonardo's face, as if to say there was nothing more I could add. Leonardo stared intently at my face, then bowed his head slightly.
"Thank you for protecting Jude-san. And thank you for telling me the truth."
"There, there," he said, patting my head this time. Just that alone made the ache in my stomach ease a little.
While I dragged Leonardo around on leisurely walks every day, dropped in on Mikaela and Sofiya's tea parties, and prepared costumes for the Divine King Festival, autumn ended in the blink of an eye. Jasper, who had finally finished his transcription, set a date to return to Grenore, and Leonardo decided to begin his winter travels in accordance with that. This year he would make the rounds of the fortresses early, hold the Divine King Festival rites at Lugmilama Fortress, and then return to the capital depending on the snow conditions. He told me not to get my hopes up since it all depended on the snow, but I had a feeling that Leonardo, being such a doting brother, would come back even if it took some effort.
"Jasper, are you going straight back to research the Japanese language at the Sedovara Church?"
"...No, first I have the work of transcribing the transcription."
"What is that?"
I started to protest about transcribing something already transcribed, then realized. This world may have printing presses, but it does not have copy machines. Whether for researching Japanese or for carefully preserving the transcription, duplication work is necessary. It is just like when I made a copy of the research materials for my own use.
...Besides, the Sedovara Church has a history of burning all of Saint Yuuta Hiraga's transcriptions, after all.
I do not think we would go back to those times now, but it did happen once. They probably want to be cautious. In terms of protecting the transcription, being able to return to Grenore with Leonardo as a de facto guard should be reassuring. Ordinary thieves and bandits would run just from hearing Leonardo's name.
"I will take the Mustine medicine and the Greenwich pox preventative back to Grenore with me, so you contact me when you finish something else too."
"No way. If I revive the next secret art, I can go back to Grenore, so I will not bother contacting you. You come to the Grenore residence."
"...Can you really come back?"
"Do not say scary things. I am coming back. If you say I cannot, I will not hesitate to go on strike. I will release the ghosts of the detached palace upon the world."
When I added that if worst came to worst, I would take off my cat ears and return through the hearth, Leonardo pinched my cheek. Apparently that was a joke that was not okay to make, even as a joke. He said that in my case, if I was careless, I might actually be able to do it, which is scary.
"Tina, you listen to Ms. Hartmann and the others while I am away, and wait like a good girl. Whatever you do, do not follow any spirits."
"I am always a good girl, Leonyaldo Big Brother-sama. Being snatched by spirits was a coincidence, and being snatched by the Divine King just happened. It is not something that happens many times, so please rest assured."
"That thing that does not happen many times has already happened twice. Please be on guard for a third."
"Come to think of it, there is a saying, 'What happens twice happens thrice.'"
"Do not say scary things."
"What are you doing, scaring your brother before his departure," he said, pulling me into his arms. Before, he used to scoop up my whole head, but now that I had grown a bit taller, Leonardo's hands rested on my shoulders.
"...If you are that worried, shall I let you gently pack me in your luggage and take me along?"
"I said this before, but... Tina, you sometimes say such childish things."
"That is because I am a child."
Instead of puffing out my flat chest, I hugged Leonardo's waist, wrapped in his fluffy thick coat. It was a temporary farewell to my guardian. Even Hermine-sensei would not get angry.
...I think I will still get points deducted though.
It was hard to part, but I saw off the two departing. Leonardo might come back during the winter, but the next time I would see Jasper would be when I returned to Grenore. First, I absolutely had to obtain the Adorutoru egg that I failed to collect last spring.
...Maybe I should have asked Leonyaldo-san to bring back an Adorutoru egg as a souvenir?
If I actually asked him to do that, his return would be delayed until mid-spring, but I felt that with Leonardo there, even a ferocious Adorutoru could be dealt with. As the lord of Lugmilama Fortress, it might be difficult for Leonardo, who had just directly fought knights from the Saenard Kingdom, to cross the border, but I felt he had the highest chance of success.
...I hope I can get an Adorutoru egg next year.
I heard that learning from last year's failure, they are planning to depart early this year. There will be Sedovara Church people going to collect, but it seems they also plan to hire other people.
...I will ask Alf-san about what the current plans are next time.
And so, as usual, Leonardo is off on his winter business trip. Jasper, who has finished his transcription, still has the work of transcribing the transcription waiting for him even after returning to Grenore.
Will fix typos and errors at a later date. No update on the 22nd.