356 - Returning Home After Two Years
When we returned from Waiyakku Valley, a reply letter from Iridal had arrived.
It was a short letter, only briefly writing about the recent state of Mandez Fortress and the residence's news, along with a postscript for Kalisa.
The letter, with a single line saying to work hard even in Grenore, was penned in Alisa's soft handwriting.
Feeling the unchanging sisterly love even when apart, I felt a little envious of Kalisa.
The carriage, which proceeded as smoothly as on the way there, arrived at the city of Grenore about a month after leaving the capital.
Once we passed through the city gate using the Black Knights' entrance, the Grenore lord's residence we were aiming for was right there.
The carriage pulled up to the entrance of the residence, and I heard the sound of the step being prepared.
I finally made it back to Grenore, I thought, and tried to leap out of the carriage, but Leonardo caught me.
"Tina, the first person to get off should be Alfred-sama."
"Oh, right."
The ladylike education from Scone and Hermine had slipped my mind, and I had nearly jumped out of the carriage on pure impulse.
By social standing, Alfred, who is a prince, should be the first to descend.
I yielded to Alf, who wore a wry smile, and then descended from the carriage with Leonardo's escort.
...Ah, Mirshe-chan is really here.
Behind Tabitha and Bart, who had come out to the entrance to greet us, there was a girl with traces of Mirshe about her.
Her hair color and eye color were Mirshe's, but her impression had changed considerably.
Before, she had been thin and looked a bit worn out, but now her cheeks were healthily a little fuller.
Perhaps her nutritional state had improved from leaving home, as her limbs had also lengthened and her height really seemed about the same as mine.
Working as a servant at the residence also required attention to appearance, and Mirshe was wearing a clean servant's uniform.
The impression of the skinny child she had been when we first met was completely gone.
"Welcome back, Christina-sama."
"Allow me to introduce the new servants who arrived while Christina-sama was away."
The way Tabitha and Bart addressed me had changed from 'Tina-sama' or 'young lady' to 'Christina-sama'.
I suppose calling a thirteen-year-old mistress by her 'nickname' and 'young lady' like a little girl was deemed inappropriate.
I felt like I was beginning to be treated a little more like an adult.
"Welcome back, Christina-sama."
Receiving a polite greeting from Mirshe, I felt a slight tickle of discomfort.
Mirshe was a servant Leonardo had bought, so our relationship could no longer be one where we called each other 'Mirshe-chan' and 'Tina big sister' like before.
...The situation was what it was, and I know it cannot be helped, but still.
If Leonardo had not bought Mirshe, she would have been forced to receive customers as a prostitute in a few more years.
If a bad customer had taken an interest in her, she might have been made a prostitute before reaching adulthood.
Considering that, not being able to interact as casual friends is nothing much.
...I will just have to place my hopes on Lusio.
I hear Lusio wants to buy Mirshe, so I will entrust Mirshe's future to him.
Lusio can become a Black Knight, earn money, win Mirshe over, and buy Mirshe from Leonardo.
If she becomes a Black Knight's wife, Mirshe's future will be secure.
If Lusio fails to win Mirshe over, I will not sell Mirshe to him.
That is all.
...Still, what a strange sight.
Alf, acting as Alfred, was passionately embracing Alfred, who was acting as Alf, in a reunion hug.
In response, Alfred, acting as Alf, frowned with a displeased expression as Alf would.
It was an ordinary scene, but watching it while knowing the two had actually switched places was a truly strange sight.
...Looking at them again, they really do look alike, Alf-san and Alfred-sama.
Standing side by side, their faces were easier to compare.
I had heard that Alf had once cut his hair, but that was probably necessary for the two to switch places.
The hair of Alf, or rather Alfred, which I had heard had been cut short, had already grown out and was almost no different from the old Alf.
Alfred, or rather Alf, who was supposedly the one who cut his hair to resemble Alf, as a prince who cares about his appearance, kept his hair neatly trimmed, so the length was almost the same.
...Yeah. With this, you can go back switched just like this, Alfred-sama.
Consciously comparing them to try to find differences between the two, I was reminded of Alfred's obsessive nature from the almost imperceptible differences.
It was his current appearance, achieved through Alfred's efforts to get closer to the Alf he loves.
If I had to name a difference I could see, it might be that Alf's eye color is slightly darker.
That is a part that cannot be helped no matter how hard you try.
Urged on by Alfred's Alf, we turned toward the inside of the residence.
If we lingered at the entrance forever, the servants would not be able to unload the luggage from the carriage.
We were guided not to the living room but to the sunroom connected to the dining room, so that we could see what was happening outside.
Please relax first, said the servant who poured our tea, who had been brought by Alfred's Alf.
To protect the residence while the Commander was away, Alfred had apparently brought some servants from Alf's residence and stayed here.
...As I thought, we need to increase the number of servants too.
Bart and Tabitha are not getting any younger.
We cannot have only two servants (Brownies) forever.
Alfred began reporting to Leonardo about the city and fortress during their absence.
Listening vaguely, I observed the work of the servants unloading luggage from the carriage.
We had promised to go back to being friends once we returned to Grenore, but Elke and Petrona were still working too.
They said once the unpacking was done, their work would officially end, so the two were still maids for a little longer.
At Kalisa's direction, my luggage was unloaded, and light items were handed to Mirshe.
Some of it was gifts and luggage for Elke and the others, but those seemed to be placed in the entrance hall first.
...Ah, my treasure.
On the way there, I had loaded it into the carriage myself, but I saw Kalisa unloading my sewing box.
Since I could not go to my room until all the luggage was unloaded, if I tried to carry my luggage myself, I would have no choice but to bring it into the living room or dining room, so it could not be helped.
It was simply because it was my treasure that I wanted to carry it myself, not that I did not want anyone else touching it.
"...What about Mirshe's mother?"
...Huh?
Amidst the report on the fortress's recent situation, Mirshe's name suddenly came up and my attention turned.
When I shifted my gaze from the servants to Leonardo and the others, they were talking about something they could not let Mirshe hear.
"Just as you predicted, Mirshe's mother came to the residence. Demanding we return her daughter."
"She sold her herself, did she not? Demanding we 'return' her daughter is strange..."
Leonardo's brow furrowed at Alfred's report.
I felt like I was making the same expression, so I smoothed my brow with the pad of my finger.
"Her main claims were that I return her daughter, that I sold her too cheap, and that I give more money."
"That is..."
"How appallingly greedy."
In place of Leonardo, who fell silent as if too appalled to speak, I opened my mouth.
To begin with, Mirshe had been sold to a brothel by her mother's hand.
That Leonardo bought Mirshe from that brothel is a completely separate matter.
Since she sold Mirshe and let her go once, the mother no longer has any right to make any claims regarding Mirshe.
"She probably got greedy. The brothel owner must have boasted to Mirshe's mother. That he sold her at a high price elsewhere."
So the mother thought she could have gotten more money if she had sold Mirshe to Leonardo, and came to Leonardo to beg for additional money.
What was unfortunate for the mother was probably that Leonardo was not in Grenore.
She was dealt with by Alfred acting as Alf, her plea for money was rejected, and then she grabbed Mirshe's arm and pulled her outside the premises, whereupon she was caught in the act of 'theft' by the gatekeeper.
Mirshe's ownership had already been transferred to Leonardo, so even her biological mother could not just take her out of Leonardo's residence without permission.
...And you knew that and watched, did you not, Alfred-sama.
Even at the moment Mirshe was being pulled, Alfred could have driven the mother away.
But Alfred did not do that, and let Mirshe's mother commit theft.
It was probably intentional.
Alf had set a trap for Kaya before too, having her arrested for theft.
Since he was acting as Alf, he used the same method as Alf to eliminate her.
...Scary. The nobility's methods of retaliation are seriously scary.
But indeed, Alf's methods are educational.
Watching someone commit a crime and then legally arresting and eliminating them sounds a bit cruel, but in the first place, Mirshe's mother was the one at fault.
If the mother had not tried to involve herself with Mirshe, the crime would never have occurred.
Alfred simply eliminated Mirshe's mother without dirtying his own hands, in accordance with the law.
"Mirshe had a father, did she not? What happened to him?"
"According to the report, the moment he heard Mirshe's mother had been arrested, he ran away through the back door."
Since they had picked a fight with the lord of the fortress, it is natural to fear retaliation, Alfred said.
Rather, if someone did not have that kind of decisiveness in a bad way, they would not be able to cause trouble for others, or extort or leech off people, he added.
...So Mirshe-chan's father was that kind of person.
Being sold by one's parents is nothing but pitiful, but this might have been a good thing for Mirshe.
I heard Teo was sold because of debts his father had made, and even if he had not been sold now, he would have ended up being sold eventually anyway.
All I can say is it is a good thing Mirshe was protected by Leonardo before she suffered irreparable harm.
"The mother is imprisoned, and the father will not go near the house. The landlord was having trouble, so I had the house vacated, but... that family is done for."
Selling their first child was the beginning of the family's collapse.
They sold the second, heard she was sold at a higher price, got greedy, tried to squeeze out more money, and self-destructed.
The father running away is truly pathetic.
Even if Mirshe was bought and sold, and her mother was arrested for theft, there was no reason for the father to run away.
He was probably a man with something shady in his past from the beginning.
With the father disappearing, Mirshe truly lost the home she could return to.
"The unpacking is finished," said Elke and Petrona, who entered the sunroom together with Kalisa, already changed.
They were dressed like ordinary merchant family daughters, not in maid uniforms.
In other words, it signified the end of their work as maids.
"Elke-chan, Petrona-chan, thank you for your hard work."
When I offered them seats and suggested they have some tea and rest, Elke and Petrona exchanged glances, then opened their mouths apologetically.
"I would like to, but..."
"We are thinking we want to see our families' faces soon, since it has been a while."
Their work was finally over, but their parents must be worried too, so they want to show them their healthy faces as soon as possible.
I could not force them to stay when they said that.
Because if I were in the same position, I think I would feel the same way.
"Then I will see you off."
There is an empty carriage now, I said, starting to get down from my chair, but Leonardo stopped me.
After a long journey, I always come down with a fever.
He said I would probably get a fever starting around tonight, so I should not do anything tiring.
"I get tired and feverish because I let my guard down and rest. I have not let my guard down yet, so I will be fine, you know?"
"That is assuming you will get a fever. Alf will take them, so you take it easy, Tina."
Since it seems to be a foregone conclusion that I will get a fever anyway, I do not think it matters what I do during the day, but Leonardo apparently thinks differently.
It is not worth forcing the issue over, so we settled on me at least seeing them off at the entrance.
"Elke-chan, Petrona-chan. Thank you both so much for everything. Having you two by my side made me feel strong even in the capital."
"It is us who gained good experience."
"When you print the bobbin lace guidebook for commoners, make sure to tell me, okay?"
Petrona, who said she wanted to handle it as a product at her family home, is really a reliable girl.
Elke quickly jumped on board too, so both their families should be secure.
They are truly dependable girls.
We saw off the two girls at the entrance as they left with Alf and Alfred.
Alf, pretending to be Alfred who went with them, probably intends to switch back at some point.
Since they could not very well make a prince escort them only to send him right back, it was also arranged that Alfred would stay in Grenore for a while.
...I am finally back!
I turned back to face the entrance hall I had just returned to.
Until now, there were people around, so I had been wearing the mask of a lady called a 'noble young lady.'
From here on, I could celebrate my return with all my true self, I thought, taking one step forward, but Leonardo caught my arm.
What is it, I wondered, turning around to see Leonardo looking a bit troubled.
"Tina, I know you are happy to finally be home, but do not get so excited you collapse. Do not run all over the residence getting exhausted from joy. It is fine to be happy, but do it quietly, and do not push yourself past your physical limits."
"...I know."
Called out on something I might actually do, I quietly averted my eyes from Leonardo.
It is not like I was thinking of running up the stairs, dashing from one end of the hallway to the other, and going into every single room to say "I am home."
Really, not even the tiniest bit.
I might do a little of it, but that is all.
"...If you want to look around the whole residence, I will come with you."
"I am not really going to run around, you know?"
"You thought about it a little just now, did you not."
It was only a brief silence, but Leonardo seemed to have judged from it that he could not trust me.
Admittedly, I could not say for certain that I definitely would not do it if I got excited, so I felt Leonardo's judgment might be correct.
"...Kokumaro?"
When I climbed the stairs together with Leonardo, I noticed something off about Kokumaro after a few steps.
He was always walking beside me, but when I turned around, Kokumaro was sitting primly in front of the stairs.
"Come to think of it, it was only the first floor for Kokumaro."
There had not been such a restriction at the detached palace, but when Kokumaro was a puppy, we had had that rule.
The dog was only allowed on the first floor, not the second floor where Leonardo's office was, or the third floor which was the family's living space.
...Well, Oscar did get let in quite a bit though.
What should we do, I wondered, looking up at Leonardo.
If we kept the rule that he could not go up to the second floor, it would be difficult for him to guard me too.
On the other hand, I basically spend my time on the third floor in the residence.
There was also the argument that if suspicious people were to sneak in, it would be better to strengthen security on the first floor first.
"...Come here, Kokumaro. You are Tina's guard, and I will not allow you on the second floor or on the bed, but you may enter anywhere else."
When Leonardo called out to Kokumaro at the bottom of the stairs, telling him to protect Tina well, Kokumaro stood up straight, his tail shooting up.
Could not get to a good stopping point.
Will fix typos and errors at a later date.