352 - Tea Party Preparations and Gift Selection
"If you keep being summoned by the Divine King, Christina... Quebia might demand that you be handed over."
"Absolutely not."
Moving to the Divine King's domain of Quebia is out of the question. Even just coming to the capital within the same country makes me want to hurry back to Grenore, so there's no way I'd move to another country.
...Well, if Leonyaldo-san said he was running away to Quebia, I'd follow him though.
My ability to read Japanese could be put to use in a different country if the Sedovara Church was there, but Leonardo is different. Both as a Silver-White Knight and as a Black Knight guarding the border, he'd be a talent too valuable to let go. There's no reason to give away a knight as peerless as Leonardo to another country for free.
"I will stay by Leonyaldo Big Brother-sama's side. Remihio-sama has backed off for now."
"Backed off, you say... So such a conversation has already happened? It seems no report came to me."
His gaze shifted to Leonardo as if to accuse him of dereliction of duty, so I covered for him. Remihio invited me to come to Quebia back in the town of Grenore. Back then, Leonardo didn't know I was a reincarnator, so there was no way he'd report his little sister's every move to the country.
"But if you refused him in such a manner... then the Acting King must be dealing with considerable pressure from below."
"Is something happening with Christoph-sama too?"
At the sympathetic tone regarding Remihio, I stared at Christoph, wondering what this 'pressure from below' was. Receiving my gaze, Christoph seemed to realize his own slip of the tongue. He put on a face as if he hadn't said anything wrong and blustered.
"All that's happening on my end is that the Sedovara Church and the Itsurateru Church are butting in demanding I hand Christina over."
Apparently there are also opinions that I should be married off to a prince to bind me to the country. The only prince close to my age is Dietfried, so that opinion is absolutely out of the question.
"There's also a Staff Peerage noble who says they'd adopt you and extend their protection."
"I thought it would be the Flower Peerage who'd be putting forward such desires."
"The Flower Peerage can't take responsibility if something happens to you. No one among them has the leeway to cross such a dangerous bridge."
For similar reasons, the Loyalty Peerage and Merit Peerage seem to be keeping quiet as well. Bertrand's glare has some effect on those two peerages too.
"...This seems troublesome, so I'll withdraw to Grenore at the earliest opportunity."
It was Christoph who said I could go home once I'd taken up arms, so I told him to take responsibility and protect me. It was Christoph who told me to show my value. Surely he'll at least keep down the pests swarming around that value.
"I'll take care of that, but you should probably increase your guard a little more."
"I'm not comfortable with unfamiliar people increasing around me."
"I understand that, but you're an easy target for spirits to snatch away. Surely you don't want to be kidnapped by humans on top of that?"
When told that it's humans I should be wary of, I had no choice but to agree. Fortunately, many of the royal family including the king of this country are reasonable, good-natured people, but there are exceptions. There even exists a prince suspected of poisoning his father's queen just for his own amusement. I understand that I'm in a position where I need protection, so if it puts my guardians at ease, I'll just have to put up with an increase in guards.
...They do say humans are the scariest of all, after all?
Once released from the questioning, I resumed preparations for the return journey. With my return, Felicia was to vacate the detached palace. She was originally assigned by Alfred as a check against other royals when he left the capital, so it's more accurate to say she stayed longer than planned. Thanks to Felicia being here, I think contact from royals and Royal Peerages who have less power than Felicia, the strongest candidate for the next king, was almost entirely prevented. Dietfried's visit in his cat headpiece and Anselm's visit were like they slipped through the cordon because they were children.
Alf told me that an agreement had been reached among the royal family regarding my return to the town of Grenore. Apparently, even royals will have restrictions placed on approaching me. Contacting me without the permission of the three Royal Peerages and Alfred's final approval has been prohibited. It's a condition that might be manageable while I'm in the capital, but it's effectively a contact prohibition order against me. For me in Grenore, approaching me under these conditions is difficult. The reason Alfred holds the final decision is probably because among the royal family, he has the longest history with me. Prince Alfred, the one who isn't Alf, also understood how to handle me.
...I can really tell they're going out of their way for me.
As the daughter of a commoner or the daughter of a Merit Peerage, royals normally have no need to go this far for me. Yet they prioritize my will because they don't want to ruin the good relationship. There's no need to reject my all-too-ordinary request of 'I don't want to leave my guardian,' hold me at their side, and destroy the good relationship we've built. Giving a bad impression to someone who said I could come to the capital when I turn twenty by saying 'it has to be now' wouldn't benefit anyone.
As I was leaving the detached palace, Felicia advised me to 'hold a tea party before returning to Grenore.' Though my life mostly consisted of holing up in the detached palace or visiting Siegwald's annex, I'd made a few acquaintances. Since I'd be away from the capital for a while, some form of greeting was necessary, she said.
When I consulted Hermine, she said something similar, so I considered holding a tea party. This time, as part of my lady-like education, it was decided that I would plan the tea party consulting with Nadine rather than with Hermine.
"Those I'm inviting are people who have helped me... so it won't be like the tea party with Basilia-sama."
For the tea party with Basilia, I planned a cake-making activity to entertain her. As for other tea parties I've attended, there was the medium-scale tea party hosted by Mikaela and the tea party where Felicia's followers gathered. After selling the bobbin lace guidebook to Felicia, I was asked to show the actual craft and ended up surrounded by several young ladies doing a mock workshop.
...There are so many kinds of tea parties.
Since I'm a girl, I've never been invited to men-hosted tea parties, but those are apparently quite different. Tea parties where Jemian shows off his favorite paintings, or where a hunting competition is held alongside the tea party -- those are diverse too.
"The way I entertained Basilia-sama might not work for entertaining all the guests I'm inviting. However, I've heard that Basilia-sama was very pleased with it."
"...Then, like at Mikaela-sama's tea party, let's prepare tables where guests can make cakes and tables where they can enjoy board games."
Since it's impossible for me alone to entertain all the guests, I decided to set up tables where everyone could enjoy themselves in their own way. I proposed various ideas, and Nadine corrected anything that was unreasonable or might be rude to the guests. It's important to judge things carefully, because if I let my guard down, Nadine's 'I'll grant any wish you desire' -- the same attitude that raised Dietfried into a spoiled tyrant -- might kick in. I can't have Nadine interpret my ideas as 'things I want to do' and force things on the guests that are actually rude or inappropriate.
"I'm fully aware it's not the season, but as a theme, would it be possible to make animal costumes mandatory?"
Since I'd probably be inviting Dietfried too, I prepared a pretext recommending animal costumes. Dietfried, whenever I see him wearing that cat headpiece, apparently goes to various tea parties like that, but I've never heard of him taking the headpiece off. So I prepared a fine pretext that it would make it easier for such a Dietfried to attend. To be honest, being the only one in an animal costume all year round is a bit tiresome. If they objected to making animal costumes the dress code, I might have the waiters stationed at the venue wear animal ears instead.
Once the conversation moved to the theme and arrangements for refreshments, the next thing to consider was who to invite. When I thought about inviting people who had helped me, I felt like inviting the pharmacist from the Sedovara Church too. Basilia goes without saying, and I should probably extend an invitation to Dietfried as well. I've also been helped by Timon, Siegwald, and Lady Mikaela, but Timon and Siegwald are Silver-White Knights. They might not be able to attend the tea party due to work.
...Should I also invite the people from the Menhishumi Church who helped me with the guidebook?
When I asked Nadine about this, she said that if I invited them, it would be best to only invite the Guide from Menhishumi Church. The people I remember as having helped me are the workers at the printing workshop, but if invited to the detached palace within the royal castle, they wouldn't have clothes that wouldn't be improper, and moreover they'd be intimidated by being out of place and wouldn't be able to enjoy themselves.
"The real issue is whether to invite Bertrand-sama or not."
This was the greatest dilemma for me. Emotionally, I don't want to get close to him, but when categorizing people who have helped me, I owe him for getting me the Adorutoru egg. Regarding this, Leonardo seems intent on leaving it to me. He hasn't interfered. And when I consulted Alf, he told me to naturally invite him.
"Invite Bertrand. Tina, you're the type who doesn't make contact unless there's a reason, so when you have a reason, use it actively and gradually build interaction."
"But I don't want to build interaction."
"Even so, if you cut off all contact, that would trouble your heart in its own way, wouldn't it?"
"Alfred-sama sees through me too much."
When he points it out, I know he's right, which is a bit annoying. I'm still angry at Bertrand for speaking badly of my mother, but back when I didn't know he was my grandfather, I was fond of him. If I can maintain a certain distance, I'm starting to think that maybe it's okay if Bertrand is my grandfather.
...That's only on the condition that I won't be separated from Leonyaldo-san, though.
I don't want to be taken in as his granddaughter, but I'm gradually coming to recognize him as my grandfather. Not wanting to admit that, I resorted to writing an invitation to Aristalf that said 'Please come with a guardian.' If I send a separate invitation to Sofiya, that should technically count as having invited Bertrand.
"...Tina, you really are stubborn."
"Say what you will."
Under Alf's gaze, tinged with exasperation, I slipped the invitations he'd checked into envelopes. I lack the decisive reason to openly adore him as a grandfather, so this is the utmost concession I can make right now.
"By the way, when it comes to people who've helped me, I'm also indebted to several members of the royal family..."
I asked Alf whether it would be disrespectful to invite royals. Felicia told me to hold a tea party so of course I'll invite her, and Alfred, not Alf, has been acting something like my guardian too. It would be more unnatural not to invite these two. The problem is those who aren't as close as these two but are still of higher rank. Inviting someone means summoning them, but if the other party is royalty, wouldn't that be like I'm summoning them and therefore disrespectful?
"Stop pretending to think hard while looking for excuses not to invite them. The one who'll make noise if you don't invite him is Ethelbert-sama."
"Right."
Thinking how much easier it would be if they just declined -- which is certainly disrespectful in itself -- I sent invitations to Ethelbert and Christoph. As for Christoph, Alf arranged things so that while maintaining the appearance of not excluding him by sending an invitation, Christoph would decline on the grounds of being too busy with work. It would be strange no matter how you look at it for the king, Christoph, to attend a tea party held at a detached palace where no royalty lives.
As a condition for declining the tea party as we'd planned, for some reason Christoph replied with 'Write my name Christoph in kanji.' It seems he liked the ateji I wrote before, 'Eseryuubaato' (似非流鳥), and Ethelbert apparently bragged about it to Christoph. So he demanded the same for himself, and I wrote back with 'Kurisutofu' (栗酢豆腐), matching it with food items. It seems the seamstresses at the king's castle ended up embroidering 'Kurisutofu' in large letters on Christoph's mantle because of me. I might have done a bad thing to those seamstresses. Regarding this, I can only pray that no reincarnator who can read Japanese appears while I'm alive.
While advancing the tea party preparations, I also progressed the preparations for the return journey. Since I'd soon be going back to the town of Grenore, I decided to look for gifts in the inner city. Of course, Elke and Petrona came along too. Today was treated as a day off, shopping with me.
"Kalisa, aren't you going to buy anything for your sisters?"
"Iridal and Alisa are servants at the Brownie residence, so they don't need gifts. As for Salisa, I wrote down recipes I learned in the capital in a letter..."
Apparently gifts aren't particularly necessary. I said she should give them something anyway, but it just ended up troubling Kalisa. Compared to the capital, everywhere is rustic, but Mandez is a large city. You can get most things you want there, so Kalisa apparently doesn't see the point in buying things in the capital just to add to the luggage.
...And my ideas always lean toward food anyway.
When it comes to gifts for Tabitha and the others, my eyes inevitably go to sweets. I want to think this is an influence from my previous life. When you think of souvenirs, it's the classic consumable snacks sold at shops. Or maybe local keychains that don't make sense, or cute charms that don't feel like they'll bring any real benefit. Even if both existed, people would be troubled if I gave them as capital souvenirs.
"What kind of things can you only get in the capital that would make good gifts?"
I asked Leonardo, who lived in the capital during his boyhood. As an additional condition, I specified that they should be things Tabitha and Bart would like. Mirshe should be at the residence now too, so I planned to buy long-lasting sweets for Mirshe. And maybe some cute accessories. Since she left that house to work at the residence, she should have at least a few good-quality things.
"Bart and the others aren't that different from Iridal and his lot. They're all about practicality."
"Practicality... in that case, how about Laroche seeds or flower bulbs?"
Bart was the one who tended the back garden flower beds, so he might be happy with flower bulbs not found at the Grenore residence. As for Laroche seeds, apparently cultivation at the royal castle is proving difficult. The Divine Kingdom Quebia is a country far from the Kingdom of Ivizia, so the climate and soil seem too different. Since Grenore is a bit closer to Quebia, I'm also considering it experimentally, wondering how the climate would work out.
"You can buy sturdy aprons in Grenore too, though..."
Choosing gifts is surprisingly difficult. The fact that luggage can only fill what fits in the carriage on the way back is another point to consider.
"Hermine-sensei also said sweets are enough as gifts for servants..."
But just sweets feels a bit unrefined. Tabitha and Bart are indeed servants, but at the Grenore residence, they're the ones I spend more time with than Leonardo. If I said it out loud I'd be scolded, but I think of them as family, as close as relatives.
In the end, the gifts I chose for Tabitha and the others were dried rare fruits and liquor. I didn't know if Bart drinks, so if he doesn't, they can use it for cooking or Leonardo can drink it.
When I consulted Elke and Petrona about what their families wanted, since they're both girls, they wanted rare dyed fabric. They looked at the cloth with admiring eyes, saying it was a dyeing method they'd never seen in Grenore, so maybe it appealed to their merchant instincts more than their fashion sense. They seem interested in new things.
It felt a bit different from souvenirs, but I enjoyed shopping with Elke and the others while dragging my brother Leonardo around. The gift for Mirshe was a cute accessory the three of us decided on.
Will fix typos and errors at a later date.