343 - Leonardo's Change and Evelina
We celebrated greatly with the pharmacists stationed at Siegwald's residence annex over successfully obtaining Adorutoru eggs, which we had failed at last year. With this, the stalled work can resume, and if the secret art is completed, the pharmacists confined to the annex should be able to gain their freedom. The pharmacists had come willingly, hoping to witness the revival of the secret art, but it must still be painful not being able to go out to the festival as a breather. Even once they can leave the annex, they will have to teach the compounding methods and prescriptions of the revived secret art to the Sedovara Church, so true freedom is still several years away.
No one wants to fail at the Pant medicine, which is both dangerous and time-consuming just to gather the ingredients. We carefully read through Saint Yuuta Hiraga's research materials, repeating consultations using verbal explanations and prescriptions translated into the Erath language. The procedures had already been explained many times, and they understood all too well that the effectiveness changes depending on the heat level and the size of the prepared granules. As a result, not a single pharmacist tried to skip the meticulous and troublesome processes written in the research materials. Even processes that seem tedious and meaningless at first glance each have meaning, and they have learned that they are absolutely necessary steps for the medicine to exert its efficacy.
...It's so smooth it's scary.
In terms of pure time, the Pant medicine has taken the longest to produce, since we failed once at obtaining the Adorutoru eggs. The process is complex and difficult to adjust, but it seems that for the pharmacists who learned the importance of repeating experiments, recording results, and stably producing more effective medicine during the Mustine medicine work, compounding according to the prescription had already become simple. The Pant medicine was completed so readily that I, on the contrary, grew anxious. But since the Pant medicine is complete, we need to confirm its effects. As with many medicines, the Pant medicine becomes poison if the dosage is wrong. In that sense as well, experiments are necessary.
Since the Pant medicine is an antidote, the experiments require poison. Unfortunately, poison prescriptions have become established in this world, so preparing the poison to be detoxified was quick. After that, since it was something they didn't want to show me (a child), the effects were confirmed between Alf and the Sedovara Church pharmacists. As with the Mustine medicine, animal experiments apparently aren't shown to me.
The effects of the Pant medicine were confirmed between the pharmacists and Alf, and the completion of the Pant medicine was formally declared.
With this, I gain the merit of being 'the meritorious one who revived three of the lost Saint Yuuta Hiraga's secret arts.' For my part, I only feel like I read some Japanese, so being called a meritorious person doesn't quite resonate with me. However, this has proven my declaration that 'I am a useful person who can revive Saint Yuuta Hiraga's secret arts.' This should significantly reduce the number of people who would meddle with me unnecessarily. If they lay a hand on me, they won't receive the benefits of the Sedovara Church. For nobles governing territories and those in power, it's like having their people taken hostage.
...I think it's a good method for self-defense, but even I have to admit it's a pretty vicious approach.
"Well then, Christina has revived three secret arts now..."
Alf, who had handed over the completed Pant medicine and report, asked if there was anything I wanted. He said that with such great achievements, I could have more than just minor requests granted.
"My wish has not changed. I want to live quietly with Leonyaldo Big Brother in the city of Grenore. That is all."
I added a little that I didn't want them to think about troublesome things like using a reincarnator politically, or marrying me to a prince, or making me the king's adopted daughter. I want to live a peaceful, quiet life.
"I think reviving Saint Yuuta Hiraga's secret arts is necessary. I understand that, so I intend to cooperate with reading Japanese. But first, I want to return to my original life."
Even just going out into the garden with a guard escort is a bit stifling. Even just as caretakers for me alone, two lady's maids and four maids were too many. Including the cook and laundry maids, it was even more. I wanted to return to a quiet life with Leonardo as soon as possible.
"I might consider coming to the capital once I come of age, so until then, please let me spend my time freely with Leonyaldo Big Brother."
When I continued that perhaps I could decide the order of medicines to revive during the few years until I came of age, Alf gave a wry smile. He said that I really was like Aurelia. That even if there were some inconveniences, I preferred to live where my heart could find peace, rather than in the capital which was supremely convenient. Alf called it inconvenient, but compared to Mey Village where I was born in this life, the city of Grenore is quite comfortable. It's not so inconvenient as to make me want to live in the capital.
"...Maybe I should just create an Erath language translation of the research materials by the time I come of age? If there's a translation, I wouldn't need to come to the capital. I feel like I have a good sense of where translation discrepancies might arise."
"Then I'll negotiate along those lines. Christina's wish is to live quietly in the city of Grenore. That she's willing to translate the research materials at the Grenore residence."
"Yes. Please do."
Leaving all the troublesome negotiations to Alf, I let out a sigh of relief. It seemed I could finally return to the city of Grenore.
My thirteenth birthday came to be celebrated at Siegwald's residence. When I wondered why they would celebrate my birthday, a stranger, at Siegwald's residence, it was for Bertrand's convenience. I disliked being called to the detached palace by Bertrand, and also disliked being called to Bertrand's residence. I would have been fine with just a slightly more lavish dinner than usual, as in previous years, but Alf, who seemed to be scheming to reconcile me and Bertrand, had dragged the ever-helpful Mikaela into it. I think it's not good to trouble others with the feud between Bertrand and me, but once the decision was made, it was difficult to correct or cancel. Incidentally, Alf, who had known from the start that I would resist, had arranged it as a tea party hosted by Mikaela, where it just so happened that the day coincided with my birthday, as a pretense. He is truly an opponent one cannot let one's guard down around.
...This is scary. If I'm not careful, I might find myself cornered in the capital as Bertrand-sama's granddaughter.
The tea party, held with such wariness, proceeded peacefully throughout. Basilia gave me matching earrings, and Aristalf gave me books. Dietfried also participated wearing a cat headpiece, and stood before me with a large bouquet. I thought he would give me the flowers, but he ran off like a startled rabbit. Before, Basilia would chase after him, but now it seems he has underlings, as several boys chased after Dietfried like baby mice following a mother mouse. I thought I saw Basilia watching them go with an enraptured smile, murmuring "How adorably cowardly," but surely that was my imagination. I had heard they were on good terms, but Aristalf didn't chase after Dietfried. Rather, the sickly Aristalf likely couldn't chase Dietfried.
"...So pretty. For Leonyaldo Big Brother, this is such a lovely, girlish sense. I'm surprised."
When I returned to the detached palace after the tea party ended, Leonardo gave me a birthday gift. Last year's gift was Napaji rice sent via Ethelbert, but this year it was a cosmetic box with a dog design. Inside were cosmetics and perfume in small bottles.
"When I consulted Ms. Hartmann, she said that around now, things like this would be better..."
Apparently he had also prepared the Napaji seasonings I had requested. But it seems Hermine stopped him. She said that was far too lacking in charm as a gift for a younger sister. If he intended to raise me as a lady, then her brother Leonardo should treat his sister as a lady.
"Thank you for this wonderful gift, Leonyaldo Big Brother."
I had him bend down a little, and kissed his cheek as it came closer. I had kissed his cheek occasionally before, but recently this has increased. Without a doubt, it's influenced by the fact that I kissed Bertrand's cheek the other day.
After dinner, as I was checking the gift boxes from the tea party and writing thank-you letters, Alf came to the detached palace carrying an invitation. When I stared at him with full wariness, wondering what he was plotting this time, Alf shrugged lightly.
"This invitation isn't related to Bertrand. You can rest assured there."
"...I have a feeling this might be worse in nature than Bertrand-sama."
I checked the sender on the invitation he handed me saying I could rest assured, and glared at Alf half-lidded. It certainly didn't seem to involve Bertrand, but the sender's name had the king and his queen listed side by side.
"If it's an invitation from Christoph-sama, does that mean it's another one of those suffocating spaces?"
"Are you talking about the Divine King Festival? That was like a gathering of relatives... but you don't need to worry about this one as much. You'll be fine being your usual self, Tina."
"...It might have been a gathering of relatives for Alfred-sama, but from my perspective, the sense of being a commoner who wandered into a dinner party full of Royal Peerage members was painful."
Since Alf, who has recently been distinguishing between calling me 'Tina' and 'Christina,' said that being 'Tina' was fine, it must be an occasion where letting my natural self show was acceptable. Even so, becoming able to get through without showing my natural self is my current goal.
With Leonardo as my guard and escorted by Alf, I visited the queen's detached palace. The tea party last time was in the reception room, but this time I was led to an inner room. By the time I grew anxious about whether I should be going this far inside, I reached the room at the end. Leaving Leonardo by the door and entering the room, I found it was a room with a canopy bed. The room, done in elegant colors, showed the good taste of its owner.
...Huh? Isn't it strange to invite a guest and lead them to a room with a bed?
I looked around the room for the host, but only a lady's maid and maids were present in the room. I recognized one of the ladies maids. Clarice, Alf's mother, was smiling by the window with tea utensils and sweets laid out on a cart.
...If Alf-san's mother is here, then the tea party is definitely here, right?
Turning my gaze toward the window to look for the host, I saw a figure beyond the lace curtains. It seemed the tea party would be held on the balcony.
...No, but still, passing through the bedroom is strange, right?
As I was thinking something was off, Alf took my hand. Startled, I looked up at Alf's face and saw he looked a bit tense.
...Well, I suppose when facing his own mother, he might worry about being found out that he's swapped places, right?
If it happens, it happens, I thought, as detached as an outsider, and pulled Alf's hand saying 'Let's go quickly.' Alf, whose hand I had taken when I was supposed to be the one being escorted, seemed to realize with a start that he was about to become the escorted one. He closed his eyes once, exhaled, and seemed to have switched his mindset. A smile rose to his lips as he straightened his posture and began walking toward the window.
"How are you feeling, Mother?"
"It wouldn't look good, would it, inviting a guest and then being in bed myself?"
The woman who smiled softly was, to anyone's eyes, Alfred's mother. Her golden hair and blue eyes were the same as Alfred's, and her features had a shared atmosphere with Felicia and Alfred. She was a beautiful woman, but her impression was, above all, ephemeral. Perhaps because I had seen the other two somewhat fuller queens first, this queen, with her bones and sinews prominent, seemed as if she might collapse at any moment. Perhaps for that reason, many cushions were placed in her chair, and rather than sitting upright, she seemed more buried in cushions.
"Hello. Nice to meet you, Christina. Forgive me for remaining seated."
"Nice to meet you, Evelina-sama. Thank you for inviting me today."
I performed a lady's bow and greeted her. I was captivated by the sight of Evelina, whom I was seeing for the first time, and at a short distance I spotted Christoph carrying an armful of cushions. It seemed Christoph had been preparing cushions so Evelina could be comfortable. I thought that was the servants' job, but since I also saw Gloriana, one of the queens, removing Christoph's mantle, it seemed that for this country's king and queens, taking care of each other was a natural thing.
"First, let me offer my thanks to Christina. You saved my queen's life."
When I sat down at the seat prepared on the balcony, tea and cheesecake were served. As I enjoyed the delicious tea as recommended, Christoph told me about Evelina's condition.
Thanks to the Pant medicine completed the other day, Evelina's condition had finally begun to improve. The original amount of poison was unknown, but strangely enough, because she had been poisoned many times and each time recovered with Aurelia's antidotes, Evelina seemed to be developing a tolerance to poison. Thanks to that, or perhaps because the poison this time was a very small amount, Evelina's strength had apparently held out until the antidote was completed. She couldn't return to official duties immediately, but since she could now lift her head from the pillow, she had called for me. Alf had apparently stopped Christoph from issuing a formal audience invitation, saying I would be nervous, leading to this extremely private tea party.
...Good job, Alf-san. A formal audience is absolutely too early for me. I'm confident I'd throw up from nerves.
Alf, who had been getting outmaneuvered quite a bit recently, earned my gratitude for this excellent arrangement. As expected from someone I've known for so long, he had properly avoided the difficult things I'd rather not deal with in advance.
"You didn't cheat, did you, Chris? Saint's secret arts... there should have been things more important than my medicine to prioritize..."
Evelina seemed worried that Christoph might have pushed for the Pant medicine among the secret arts to be revived. Like husband, like wife. She seemed like a very fair person, fitting to be Christoph's queen.
"The decision to make the Pant medicine came from a heavenly revelation."
"Oh my. I heard Christina was the Spirit's Favored Child, but to think you're a shrine maiden who can receive revelations from heaven..."
"I'm sorry, that was a joke. Please don't take it seriously."
I meant to say that Christoph hadn't played any favorites, but she took me seriously and I hurriedly corrected myself. I simply chose which secret art to revive based on a child's playful whim. It wasn't a real heavenly revelation, nor was there any intervention from Christoph.
"...I heard about Christina's request from Alfred. I'll suppress all the noise. You may rest assured and spend your childhood at your brother's side."
"Yes!"
At the long-awaited permission to return to Grenore, a natural smile rose to my face at finally being able to go back. I had been wearing a cat mask of lady-like behavior, but my cat was slipping off easily again today.
"To send her away just because business is done..."
"Living in Grenore with her brother is Christina's wish. I promised to fulfill it."
To Evelina's dissatisfied voice, Christoph offered a follow-up. Certainly, from an outsider's perspective, it might look like 'since business was done, they kicked her out of the detached palace,' but for me, my home was Leonardo's home. It wasn't the spacious detached palace in the capital. If I was allowed to go home, I wanted to return to the Grenore residence as soon as possible.
...Still, what a lovey-dovey couple.
Like the married couple at Siegwald's place, the atmosphere of this country's married couples is completely different from the image of Japanese couples I saw in my previous life. It was visible because the chair was pulled back so Evelina could be comfortable, but Christoph had been holding Evelina's hand the entire time. Thinking back, my parents in this life also seemed to have a lot of physical contact. Was it a difference in national character?
"I wonder if the reason my son doesn't come back from Grenore is that it's too comfortable there and he can stretch his wings?"
"What do you think?" Evelina asked, shifting her gaze to Alf. She wore a beautiful smile very similar to Felicia's, but this expression probably meant she had seen through Alf as not being Alfred. I wasn't sure if it was appropriate to mention it here, so I didn't point it out, but when I reflexively shifted my gaze to Alf, he was smiling with an innocent face.
...Yeah. Until I develop this thick-skinned composure, it's definitely safer for me not to come to the capital.
Ignoring Alf and Evelina who were smiling at each other as if in a standoff, I happily ate my cheesecake. It seemed to have become firmly established as my favorite food. Certainly, I do like cheesecake, so I'm happy. I felt like I had done a comparative tasting of cheesecakes from all over the capital these past two years.
"I'll permit your return to Grenore, but I'll continue to assign Silver-White Knights as your guards, Christina. I can't have anything happening to you."
"...Even in Grenore, guards?"
It seemed a bit stifling, but I also thought it couldn't be helped. The powers that be surely couldn't leave a reincarnator who can read Japanese free without any guards. They'd want to guard against kidnapping, but also fear accidents. They'd want to keep guards nearby to protect me immediately if anything happened.
I did mention, for what it was worth, that the Grenore residence was next to the fortress. Since the fortress where the Black Knights were stationed was right next door, there wasn't that much danger. But when they explained that having guards near me and having Black Knights in the fortress were completely different in terms of coverage and response time, I had no choice but to accept. The number of people around me would certainly decrease compared to the detached palace, but it seemed guards would be with me from now on.
"We've been training female White Knights over these past two years, but..."
"If it's a female White Knight, Giselle will do. I'm already used to Giselle."
As a knight, I had concerns about the White Knights' abilities. I'd be happy to have a woman as a guard, but if there wasn't a significant difference in ability, Giselle would be enough. Giselle had the same concerns about ability, but I had a high opinion of Giselle's serious personality. Rather than having some unknown female knight assigned to me now, I'd rather actively request Giselle.
"...Ah, but Giselle has her family situation. Would it be possible for her to come to Grenore?"
"The head of her house isn't at an age where anything needs to happen immediately, so it should be fine. For that White Knight as well, being able to stay by Christina's side is an excellent opportunity to earn merit."
From the Silver-White Knights, it seemed Aaron would continue to come as my guard. When Christoph and Evelina started considering assigning one or two more people, Alf stopped them, saying too many people would make me uncomfortable.
"I have Leonyaldo Big Brother and Alf-san around me, so it's fine. Both of them are Silver-White Knights, aren't they?"
"Leonardo is in the fortress all day, and Alfred is the same. We really do need one more..."
They had gone from two or three to one, so I couldn't reduce it further. In terms of the number of Silver-White Knights around me, including Aaron there would be three, but Leonardo and Alf were basically stationed at the Grenore Fortress. While I was transcribing Saint Yuuta Hiraga's research materials at the residence, Leonardo had been stationed at the residence for security, but before that, he had been living a life where he almost only came home to sleep.
...Huh? So Leonardo-san's normal lifestyle was that he didn't come home to the residence much, and it's only been these past few years that he's been around?
In that case, even if there were Silver-White Knights around me, I'd only have one Silver-White Knight as a guard. Considering reliability, it was understandable that Christoph and the others wanted to assign more guards.
"I basically live a life where I don't leave the residence, though..."
"You don't never leave, do you. Increasing the guards is an absolute condition for your return."
Christoph said that while forcing too much and making me dislike them wouldn't be fun, this was non-negotiable. My physical safety was more important than whether I resented them.
"...I will discuss it with Leonyaldo Big Brother."
When it came to my physical safety, I couldn't argue further. I was aware that I had been protected every time, and I had been in quite a bit of danger. For the peace of mind of my guardians, as well as for my own safety, I had no choice but to accept the guards.
Since we reached 100 chapters in just Chapter 8, this concludes Chapter 8. Chapter 9 is planned to be short. I'd like to adjust the schedule that's gotten off track, and also adjust my sleep schedule which keeps getting later, so I'll be taking a break from updates for a while. The next update will be on November 1st.
Will fix typos and errors at a later date.