358 - The Mistress of the Fortress Lord's Residence
As one would expect, Leonardo was gone when I woke up. I had trouble falling asleep last night and tried clinging to Leonardo, but I was feeling refreshed upon waking.
...I-I overslept, didn't I.
Noticing that the world beyond the canopy was too bright, I wondered what time it was. I squirmed my way up, sat using the belly of the giant bear stuffed toy as a backrest, and placed my hand on my forehead. I felt a little feverish, but that was all. I wasn't in a condition to be bedridden.
...Is it thanks to eating delicious food and sleeping plenty?
As I was thinking such things, I sensed someone outside the canopy, and Kalisa peeked in.
"Good morning, Tina-sama."
"Good morning, Kalisa."
Confirming that I was awake, Kalisa did exactly what I had just done. Her hand reached toward my forehead, and her cool hand felt nice.
"...A slight fever. What would you like for your meal? I could bring it here, if you wish."
"I'll eat in the dining room. I feel a little feverish, but I don't think it's enough to be bedridden."
"Understood. I'll prepare things accordingly."
Kalisa helped me change into simple, comfortable clothes. At the detached palace, being within the royal castle, I always had to be mindful of my attire, and in the carriage, even though it was Alf, there was a prince present, so I couldn't dress too casually. I was in my own home now, so there was no need to wear fancy going-out clothes. So that I could lie down at any time, my hair was loosely braided, and finally the familiar cat ears were attached to complete the look.
"Good morning, Leonardo Big Brother."
"It's almost noon, you know. Did you sleep well?"
"Plenty."
When I peeked into the living room, Leonardo was sitting leisurely on the lounge chair, drinking coffee. It's just like every morning in Grenore, I realized, and eagerly sat down next to Leonardo. I like sitting side by side on this lounge chair.
"...If you touch it that much, I'll go bald."
"Hmm? I'm not touching it that much, am I?"
The moment I sat beside him, Leonardo put his coffee cup on the table and reached his hand toward my forehead. I had no particular reason to brush it off, so I let him do as he pleased, but today, every single person who met my eyes, including my guards Giselle and Aaron, pressed their hands to my forehead and checked my temperature. Going bald was obviously a joke, but still, everyone worried about me too much. Collapsing after a long journey was a regular occurrence, but I considered myself a healthy child nonetheless. Being worried over by so many people made me feel like I had to collapse just to live up to their expectations.
"Leonardo Big Brother's hands are warm, so I don't think they're suited for checking a child's fever."
I was aware of being a little feverish, so I told him in advance that I intended to stay quietly in my room for two or three days. I could act with awareness of my own physical condition now, you know.
When I moved to the dining room for my breakfast that was almost lunch, Alfred was drinking tea after his meal. It seemed I was simply the last one to wake up, and it wasn't actually that late. Leonardo apparently had a light breakfast and stopped by the fortress once. He accompanied me for lunch that served as my breakfast.
For breakfast, which apparently had my favorites prepared again today, I enjoyed the Nassaworuku sandwich filled with roast beef. At the detached palace, I had to eat in a slightly more formal manner, but here was my own home. Without hesitation, I bit into the Nassaworuku sandwich with my hands. I liked egg sandwiches too, but today the eggs were in the salad.
...Which one is it today, I wonder?
While bringing soup to my lips, I stared at Alfred drinking tea with an innocent face, and wondered whether he was Alf or Alfred. At dinner last night, the two had still been switched, so with one night having passed, there was a possibility they had swapped back to their original states.
"If you're wondering about Alfred-sama, he's been Alfred-sama since dinner last night."
"Huh?"
Leonardo must have figured out what I was thinking from my stealing glances at Alfred's face. He gave me the answer about whether it was Alf or Alfred while biting into a Nassaworuku sandwich with more than twice the filling of mine.
"But Alf-san reported on the situation at the fortress yesterday as if he had seen it himself, didn't he?"
I insisted that kind of report couldn't be done right after swapping, but Leonardo didn't seem to think it was a big deal. He said they could have arranged that much when they sent Elke and the others off.
"...I didn't notice at all."
I see, so he's Alfred, I thought, and looked at Alfred again. Whether he found our conversation amusing, Alfred was laughing. When he perfectly met my eyes, he closed one eye mischievously. That gesture was so identical to Alf's when he thought of some small mischief that even knowing he was Alfred, he still looked like Alf to me.
"Speaking of which, about rearranging the rooms and getting new furniture..."
I also wanted to discuss increasing the number of servants at the residence, which I had talked about with Hermine as well. Alfred, who had been staying at the residence as Alf, had even brought servants from Alf's residence. After all, having only two servants was surely too few. When I opened my mouth to say I wanted to discuss these matters soon, Leonardo's hand reached out and pulled my cheek.
"What ishu? I'm in the middle of eating, deshu."
"Tina's job is to think, but that job is forbidden until your health is completely recovered."
He told me to rest first, so I gave an obedient reply. I had planned to rest for a while anyway, but whenever there was something to think about, I ended up starting to think. Wanting to get work done while I could... was that the sad nature of Japanese people? Japanese people are too bad at resting.
It sounded strange to say "steeling myself," but I took a rest. Not leaving my room wasn't that different from usual, but consciously not working was a bit difficult. For me, even translation work, which was in the realm of hobby, was classified as work, and thinking about organizing rooms was also considered the mistress's job. Embroidery, which I had done a bit as side work before, also seemed to count as work. All that was left was to read a book or weave some bobbin lace.
...Bobbin lace requires concentration too, so it might count as work, huh.
Since I didn't know how to rest, I took Kokumaro the black shiba for a walk around the residence. Aaron had been stationed at the residence before, so the floor plan was in his head, but Giselle was happy that exploring the residence was convenient since she had only arrived yesterday. I walked around the residence while walking the black shiba, and thanks to that, I got to know the current state of the residence.
...Ah, isn't this work after all?
I realized that, but no one pointed it out, so I kept quiet. Giselle was checking the positions of doors and the number of rooms, and Aaron's job was my protection, not health management. As long as I didn't say what I was thinking aloud, I was just walking around the residence. With stamina like Aaron's, this much distance probably wouldn't even count as exercise.
...Heavy work goes to Bart, cooking and laundry to Tabitha. Mirshe-chan seems to be helping both of them.
Peeking secretly, I realized Mirshe was quite busy. She was called whenever either Tabitha or Bart had a little room, and was being taught tasks. From today, Kalisa was also helping Tabitha and the others as a maid, so Tabitha seemed to have a bit more room in her work. She was taking Mirshe's hand and teaching her how to use the iron.
...Hmm?
After looking around the entire residence, I felt a bit tired and sat on the lounge chair in my room. There was also a single-person chair, but sitting on the lounge chair was probably a habit from sitting next to Leonardo. Even when Leonardo wasn't there, I unconsciously sat on the lounge chair, leaving the side where Leonardo always sat empty.
...Since Alfred-sama's servants are also here, it's a bit hard to see where we're short-handed.
Because Alfred was staying at the residence, Alfred's servants, like the cook and maids who had been active during the carriage journey, were also working at the residence. They were basically servants who only took care of Alfred, but they seemed to be actively helping with heavy work and such, so Bart seemed to have a bit of room too.
...But when Alfred-sama returns to the capital, all those servants will go back too, right? Huh? But still, with two masters, two guards, and four servants, maybe that's enough...?
Even when Jasper was doing transcription work at the residence, there were only two servants here. During the transcription, the Silver-White Knights had come for guard duty, and the number of people needing care had increased, but I think the residence somehow managed.
...No no no, that won't do. Kalisa is on loan from the Mandez residence, and even though Mirshe-chan is working, teaching her takes extra time and effort.
Even if it wasn't urgently needed right now, it would be better to gradually increase the number of servants. If we waited until something happened to Tabitha and Bart, who were already getting on in years, it would be too late to look for new servants.
"Young lady!"
"Wah!?"
A black shiba face suddenly appeared before me, and I straightened my back in surprise. As I blinked, wondering what was going on, Kalisa was holding the black shiba's upper body up and looking at my face.
"Work is forbidden today. Please take it easy."
"I-I'm not working at all, you know."
I just took a little walk around the residence and was resting because I got tired, I said, gently averting my eyes from Kalisa. I hadn't spoken my thoughts aloud, but Kalisa seemed to have seen through me and knew I was thinking about things. Puffing out her lips slightly in displeasure, she removed the cat ears from my head.
"...Kalisa?"
"Since you end up working no matter what when you're awake, young lady, let's get you to sleep."
I see, she removed the cat ears because she was preparing me for sleep, I understood, and then my hair was being undone. It seemed I was going to be thoroughly pushed into bed.
"I'm not in a condition to be bedridden, you know?"
Stubbornly refusing to give up, I tried to resist. I had slept plenty this morning, not just a little oversleeping, and I only felt a bit feverish without any of that lethargy that makes you not want to move. Really, I wasn't in a condition to be bedridden.
"The reason you fall ill is also mental fatigue, young lady, so today's job for you is rest."
Faced with Kalisa, who began closing the room's curtains while telling me to sleep, I gave up and headed for the bed. Leonardo had also told me to rest, and indeed, as long as I was awake, I would start thinking about something. There was no way I could get the kind of rest my guardians wanted like this.
When I woke from my nap and had Kalisa fix my hair, I saw Giselle reflected in the vanity mirror, frequently looking around the room. While trying not to take her eyes off me as my guard, she seemed interested in the room.
"Is something the matter?"
"While Christina-sama was resting, I was looking at the residence's floor plan in the study..."
It seemed Giselle had put her experience at the detached palace to good use. She had apparently taken the initiative to research the floor plan in the study, trying to understand the layout of the building she was guarding.
...She's a good, earnest girl, but...
She lacks skill as a knight. That's a shame, and I'd almost want to recommend she change careers to being a lady's maid or maid.
"According to the floor plan in the study, isn't Christina-sama's room the mistress's room?"
"...Since I'm the only female family member Leonardo Big Brother has, I am the mistress, aren't I?"
When I tilted my head, wondering if something was strange, Kalisa, who was doing my hair, pressed down on my head. How careless of me.
"Not in the sense of a female family member, but in the sense of Leonardo-dono's wife, the lady of the house."
According to Giselle, this room's bedroom and the master bedroom on the second floor were connected by stairs. This was the first I'd heard of it. But there was one strange thing.
"There isn't a separate room called a 'bedroom' in this room, you know?"
My room was one large room with a canopy bed, vanity, study desk, table set, and such. Sometimes I used screens to partition them into makeshift rooms, but there was no room marked as 'bedroom' on the floor plan. I was about to tilt my head, wondering if the floor plan was old, but this time Kalisa immediately pressed down on my head. Sorry for being a master who doesn't learn.
"...What Giselle-sama is calling the bedroom is probably Tina-sama's dressing room, I believe."
"Ah, come to think of it. A dressing room is also a 'room,' isn't it."
Come to think of it, that made sense. A dressing room was a room connected to this one, and Kalisa and the others brought the clothes I wore every day from the dressing room, so I hardly ever looked into it myself. Even if it had fallen outside my awareness of 'my room,' it wasn't that strange.
Let me check, I thought, and immediately peeked into the dressing room. Since closets lined the entire wall, I couldn't see any stairs.
"There should be a door and stairs behind these closets..."
"Please try moving the hat boxes."
There were only closets, and no door or stairs could be seen. So I had them move the hat boxes placed on top of the closet, and when I stepped back to look, I could finally see the door behind the closet.
"...So the door was blocked by the closet."
Moving the closet would be heavy work, so if I wanted to know more, I should get permission when Leonardo was around and look for the stairs from the master bedroom. In any case, my room really was the mistress's room.
"Welcome home, Leonardo Big Brother."
"I'm home, Tina."
I greeted Leonardo, who had returned at dinnertime. It was early for Leonardo's usual return time, but whether it was because he was concerned about me since we'd just returned from the capital, or an extension of the trauma from the spirit kidnapping, I thought we'd gradually return to our previous life, but today's early return was convenient for me.
"While Giselle was looking into the residence's floor plan, she discovered something..."
I brought up the topic and told him that my dressing room and Leonardo's bedroom were connected. It seemed my room was originally meant to be the room where Leonardo's wife would live.
"I won't deny it's called the mistress's room... but I just made that your room because it was the best room on the third floor, you know."
I was eight years old when Leonardo first took me in. I was still small, and had just lost my parents, so the room with the stairs was apparently convenient so that I could come to Leonardo's room if I felt lonely at night.
"Well, you weren't a child your age, so it seemed it wasn't needed."
In the first place, when I was first taken in, there were many days Leonardo didn't return to the residence, so even if it had been connected to Leonardo's room by stairs, I probably wouldn't have used it. Eventually, Leonardo apparently decided the stairs were unnecessary and placed a closet in front of the door to block the stairs while buying clothes for me. I remembered being left alone back then, but it seemed Leonardo had been looking out for me in his own way.
"...I understand. Even if Leonardo Big Brother brings home a wife, I'll do my best as a sister-in-law and drive the wife out."
"How did you get to that conclusion?"
"Because my room is the mistress's room, isn't it?"
If some miraculous encounter brought Leonardo a wife, I would be kicked out of my own room, I argued, puffing out my thin chest. I would be fine sharing my brother (Leonardo) with Mirshe, but I didn't want to share Leonardo with some woman I didn't even know, and monopoly was completely out of the question.
...Yeah. As I thought, I have no choice but to become Leonardo-san's wife!
Or alternatively, I wanted Leonardo to stay single for the rest of his life. A wife of Leonardo's who would take away my place was something I couldn't welcome even after a little thought.
...It seems an early reservation would stimulate Leonardo-san's trauma, so I'll seduce him once I become an adult.
It seems Tina intends to become Leonardo's wife.
Will fix typos and errors at a later date.