34 - First Time Home Alone?
Bart came to fetch me saying dinner was ready, so I went to the first floor dining hall, only to be scolded by Tabitha for being covered in dust.
It was dim so I had not noticed, but it seemed the attic room had accumulated quite a bit of dust.
She said "Look at this" and picked the dust out of my hair, and on Tabitha's hand sat a big clump of dust.
"A bath before dinner, I think."
"...Yes."
Where Tabitha led me was not the large bath on the first floor, but a small bath prepared in the guest room.
Even saying "small" that was only compared to the one on the first floor. It was a normal size for one adult to bathe in.
Seeing the brand-new soap and towel prepared for me, my heart fluttered a little.
...Well, I was Japanese in my past life, after all. I love baths, you know.
It seemed they had originally prepared it for after dinner.
Tabitha dipped her hand in the slightly hot water to check the temperature, and finding it too hot after all, she went to fetch the water jug saying "Let me add some water to adjust it."
Left alone, I untied the lace ribbon Aurelia had given me.
Even looking at it again, it is such a cute lace.
As I thought, it has that kind of adorableness that only a little girl is allowed to wear.
...Even for a little girl, it is too pretty for everyday use, such a waste. It feels like something for special days, like going out somewhere.
I removed the little bit of dust clinging to it and carefully rolled it up so it would not wrinkle.
While I was taking off my shoes, Tabitha returned.
She offered to help wash my body, but I politely declined.
It seemed she had heard from Leonardo that I could bathe properly on my own, so Tabitha accepted my refusal readily.
After washing off the dust and going to the dining hall again, bread, salad, and stew were laid out before a chair whose height had been adjusted with cushions.
"...The meal, just for me? What about you and Bart, Tabitha?"
It was a large table, but the meal was only prepared in front of my chair.
I knew Leonardo was not here, but there was no food for Tabitha and Bart.
"We are servants, Tina-sama. We will eat after you."
...Ah, so that is how it is.
The two of them were caretakers of the Fortress Lord's Residence, and the Fortress Lord was Leonardo.
As someone taken in as Leonardo's sister, I was of the master lineage to them. I was not someone to share a table with.
That must be it.
In this life, a villager. In my past life, born into an ordinary Japanese family. It seemed it would take me a while to get used to this.
It was different from being occasionally left with the Daltowas.
To Tabitha and Bart, they were not watching over a small child until their guardian returned. The young master was simply home alone.
I brought an undeniably delicious stew to my mouth, but it somehow felt unsatisfying.
Even though there were other people in the same space, only I was eating. That was uncomfortable.
I just wanted to be released from this uncomfortable situation as soon as possible, so I ate my dinner in silence.
When I emptied the stew plate, a refill automatically appeared.
...Huh? Could it be the Daltowa family style? If I do not leave a little behind, they will think it is not enough and keep refilling like wanko soba? (T/N: Wanko soba is a serving style where servers repeatedly refill your bowl the moment you finish, common in Iwate Prefecture.)
I did not want to leave food from a moral standpoint, but did I need to intentionally leave some here too?
When I asked Tabitha to confirm, she answered that there were indeed situations where such manners applied.
But she said that on occasions like today where it was not a formal gathering with guests, I could eat as I pleased.
"We had heard from Leonardo-sama that Tina-sama liked stew..."
It seemed she had proactively served me more, thinking that even if I wanted a refill, I might not be able to bring it up with people I had just met.
My silent eating to escape the uncomfortable situation apparently looked like I was earnestly devouring my favorite food.
...Mutual understanding is important.
The reason I only made stew at Aurelia's house was because I wanted a change of flavor from vegetable soup, and I ate silently because eating alone was awkward.
When I gently conveyed that, I learned from Tabitha that I had been in danger of having stew for all three meals.
...Leonardo! That is the wrong way to spoil someone!!
Even if it is a favorite food, you get tired of it if you eat it every day.
And three meals a day of the same menu. What kind of outrage is that.
...Leonardo is that kind of person. He is absolutely a rough and ready type.
When I told Tabitha that I would like to try various flavors, not just stew, she said that from next time she would make soups with seasonal vegetables and fish soups too.
After the meal, I moved to the guest room, tried on the secondhand clothes that had been prepared, and consulted about alterations.
They also took my measurements, so it seemed that next time I would have clothes made from scratch rather than secondhand ones.
Secondhand clothes were plenty sufficient as far as I was concerned, but apparently Leonardo was enthusiastic about it.
...Leonardo. Is he starved for family? Some kind of luxury he wanted to let his little sister enjoy?
A family that would sell their child. They probably were not well off financially.
If so, I could understand if he had a longing for newly tailored clothes, not secondhand ones.
...No, more than that, the way he dotes on me is just...
He wants to let his child do the things he could not do as a child.
He does not want his child to experience the things he hated experiencing as a child.
I feel that kind of spoiling, the kind characteristic of bad parents from the relaxed generation. (T/N: Yutori sedai refers to Japan's relaxed generation raised under a less competitive education system, often stereotyped as spoiled or indulgent.)
...It is kindness, if you want to call it that.
If your parents do everything for you, you end up unable to do anything yourself.
If something shocking happens, you cannot recover on your own.
I feel like I would become that kind of person.
...It has been over a month since I met Leonardo, but the only time I have been scolded was when I asked if I should become Aurelia's apprentice?
Now that I know how runaway apprentices of the wise woman are treated, I understand Leonardo's anger back then.
Regardless of the circumstances, he could not just stand by and let me do something that would kill me after accepting me as his sister.
...Leonardo is a good person.
But I must not get used to this degree of spoiling.
If I start thinking this is normal, I will surely end up useless as a person.
That is what it felt like.
I will gratefully accept kindness as kindness, and when I think something goes too far, I will properly tell him.
...He said I could tell him if I thought it was necessary, so that is fine, right?
My vision bobbed and I realized I had been half asleep.
Tabitha noticed me jolt and the consultation about alterations was called off.
In the end, I was changed into white nightclothes and carried to the bed.
"Well then, I will be returning home..."
"Huh? Home?!"
At Tabitha's bombshell statement, my half asleep consciousness jolted awake.
I threw off the blanket that had been pulled up to my shoulders and scrambled after Tabitha, who was about to close the canopy.
"Home what? Tabitha, you not sleep Fortress Lord's Residence?"
"We live outside the residence... in the servants' quarters."
Outside the residence. That must be the building I saw from the attic window.
I had thought it was some kind of storage shed, but it seemed to be a house for the servants.
...As expected of the Fortress Lord's Residence. That kind of scale is a little girl's enemy!
Even so, being home alone in this too-large residence was scary.
Even with an adult inside, it was scary.
"Tonight Bart will remain on the first floor as the night watch, so please rest assured. The Fortress Lord's Residence has gatekeepers even when the master is away."
Perhaps my anxiety showed on my face, because Tabitha said this to reassure me and then left the guest room.
...I, I cannot calm down.
I rolled over on the clean sheets.
A too-large room in a house I had never been in before, and a bed that was also too large.
I had heard there was someone on the first floor, but that was someone I had only met today.
Just because I was lying in bed did not mean I could fall asleep right away.
...Ugh, it is dark.
With the canopy down, the light blockage inside the bed was perfect.
Even without that, the city was not bright at night like modern Japan.
Outside light was only the moonlight. Not enough light to disturb sleep.
...It is too quiet, I cannot sleep.
I had slept alone in a bed before, but I had never been in a house where there were absolutely no sounds.
Since I was still a toddler, I had the earliest bedtime in the village and at Aurelia's house.
Even after getting into bed, I could hear sounds from the other rooms. My family or Aurelia. So it was never silent.
Bart was apparently on the first floor, but the residence was too large and the carpets too soft. Even if he walked on the floor below, I could not hear his footsteps.
...I cannot sleep at all!
I do not know how many times I tossed and turned.
It felt like I had been in bed for hours, but in reality, maybe not even an hour had passed.
In a room with no light and no clock, my sense of time was unreliable.
I sat up with a rustle and got out of bed.
I moved to the window barefoot, pulled back the curtain, and looked outside.
The moon was still high in the sky, so I could tell it was not as late as I had thought.
...Bart?
A creaking sound came from the stairs.
Was I imagining it? I listened closely, and there was the sound of the stairs creaking at regular intervals.
The only people currently in the residence should be me and Bart, so these footsteps should be Bart's.
...It is Bart, right? It is not a ghost or a burglar, right?
The owner of the footsteps was Bart. I was fairly confident of that, but even with a small probability, I could not rule out imagining a thief or some other intruder, and that scared me.
The anxiety I had already been feeling about being in a new house was pushing that fear forward.
...Huh, the footsteps stopped right in front of this room?
If Bart just came to check if I was sleeping, that was fine. But if it was a thief or a pervert, I could not deal with that.
While I was thinking whether to go back to bed or hide somewhere, I heard the sound of the guest room door opening.
...Even if it is called a guest room, it is a maiden's room right now! At least announce yourself before opening the door!!
While silently protesting to the intruder, I thought quickly.
Should I go back to bed and pretend to sleep, or stay hidden in the curtains?
While I was still debating, the owner of the footsteps was approaching the bed directly.
[Author's Note]
This is a short one today, since it is a part I could not finish writing yesterday. Next will be an interlude from Leonardo's perspective... probably.