36 - Side Story: Leonardo's Perspective - Benefactor's Daughter 5
I tried to escort Tina to the toilet, but she politely refused. This "polite refusal" of Tina's might actually be an expression of anger. Her wording is polite, but all inflection is stripped from her voice, and it pierces the heart coldly.
...Well, the only reason I realized she might be angry was because she stepped on my foot.
It was sturdy military boots versus the foot of a little girl wrapped in nothing but cloth, so it did not hurt at all. In fact, it felt about as noticeable as something lightly brushing against me. But when Tina tilted her head with a look that said "Huh? No damage at all?", it was clear she had done it on purpose. Come to think of it, back at Aurelia's house, she came to wash my hair to embarrass me by bursting in on my bath. But I do not have such a pathetic body that I would be embarrassed being seen, so Tina's counterattack ended in failure.
...This is a good sign, right?
At the very least, Tina is trying to communicate her feelings to me. The rest is up to whether I can properly notice them.
I saw Tina off as she headed to the toilet, and grabbed a passing Black Knight to order some light food. The light food arrived at the office at almost the same time Tina returned from the toilet. It felt like she took a bit longer, but she probably got lost in the hallway, or it was just her stride. Tina poked her head out from behind the door and shyly said, "I am home." I did not understand why she said "I am home" at that timing, but since my little sister (Tina) said "I am home," as her older brother, I replied, "Welcome back."
Since she told me she was not a doll, I moved Tina's chair to face mine. If she rejected sitting on my lap again, I do not think I could recover.
I sat Tina in her chair and offered her the plate of sandwiches. Maybe the soft bread was unusual to her, because she spent a while feeling its texture with her fingers before grasping the sandwich in her small hands and starting to eat. I had specially ordered the bread cut into small pieces so Tina could eat easily, and it seemed to be the right choice. She munched away with her small mouth, occasionally tilting her head to keep the fillings from falling out as she nibbled at the sandwich.
...Completely different from me, a grown man. She is like a different creature.
The foot I held to measure her size was astonishingly small too. Differences between man and woman, adult and child are only natural, but maybe I feel it more strongly because the only people I see every day at the fortress are burly Black Knights.
...When I was eight, I never sat still to eat.
My siblings and I would wolf down our food while fighting over it, and the moment we finished, we would run out of the house to play. My little sister was a year younger than me, so she should have been even smaller than Tina is now, but being little did not make her quiet. She ran wild just like me, and I recall she was quite the tomboy who sometimes even made boys cry.
...Which means, Tina being quiet must be Saromon-sama's upbringing.
Or maybe it is just her personality, I thought, but immediately denied it. She threw a tantrum when she did not want to bathe together, and just now she stepped on my foot to show her protest. Tina is not quiet because of her personality...
...Maybe she is trying to be a good child toward her guardian (me).
On the rare occasion she voices her own opinion, the words that follow often take my circumstances into consideration. The reason she suggested becoming the witch's apprentice back at Aurelia's house was, at its root, because Tina thought "it would be easier for me if I did not take in an orphan." She puts her own feelings aside and adjusts to the convenience of the adults around her. That is the better way to think about it. After all, Tina is the kind of child who, if told to "wait quietly," will endure the toilet and hunger alike and keep her mouth shut. It is not an impossible notion.
"...I need to prepare a room for Tina too."
While observing Tina skillfully eating her sandwich without dropping crumbs, I thought about the future. The first thing that came to mind was the room where Tina would live. As I thought about the room Tina would use, the reality slowly sank in. From today, Tina was my new family, living in the same house as me. The lord's residence given to the master of Grenore Fortress was built quite spacious, meant for the master's family to live in together. Since I was single with no parents, until now I had lived a life where I almost never returned to the residence. Though it was a residence given to the fortress lord by the state as a place to sleep, there was also a nap room beside my office in the fortress. Even if I did not go back to the residence, I had no trouble living.
...For now, the room I can use immediately is the guest room.
The excessively many rooms were mostly empty, but the only one ready for immediate use was the guest room. There was a caretaker, so dust should not be piling up, but if I wanted to use it starting today, it would need considerable preparation.
...Should I increase the staff for Tina's care? For looking after a child, a nurse maid?
She is past the age needing a wet nurse, but thinking of someone to discipline and care for her, a nurse maid would be necessary. If I had a wife or lover, I could consult about Tina's upbringing, but...
...If I am adding staff, I need to consult with Bart too.
Bart and Tabitha have been managing the residence alone together for a long time, so adding another person now would probably cause issues. Even if I do add someone, they would have to be someone who gets along very well with the two of them. Those two know more about the residence than I do, the master. Given the nature of the residence as the fortress lord's castle, the fact that it has been maintained without issue despite the master changing frequently is thanks to those two.
...Until now, there was no problem with just the two of them.
Since the master almost never returned to the residence, the middle-aged couple managed to run it somehow. For times when manual labor was needed, they would call on Black Knights or hire people from outside as needed, and managed without issue.
...Which room should I give to Tina?
The second floor, where the master's room was, was one thing, but the third floor, prepared for the family, was completely empty. Since the rooms were empty anyway, I thought about the best room.
...Should I give her the room on the third floor with the best sunlight?
That room was the second best room after the master's room. Under normal circumstances, it should be given as a room for one's wife.
...Well, I have no plans to get a wife, so there is no problem making it Tina's room.
Making that judgment, I recalled the eastern room on the third floor. I had only seen it once, on the day I received the keys to the residence, but I was sure it was a room with bright blue-green wallpaper.
...It was a refreshing color scheme, but it feels a bit chilly for a child's room.
So I thought about changing it to warm-toned wallpaper, then reconsidered that it would be better to use Tina's favorite color. I have never raised a child, and when it comes to caring for a little girl, there might be things she cannot tell me as a man, like when she refused the bath and toilet, I had just reflected on that earlier. If I decide everything on my own, I cannot confirm Tina's wishes.
...Come to think of it, I still do not even know Tina's favorite color.
Realizing this belatedly, I gazed at Tina again. I wondered if there might be hints of her favorite color in what she was wearing, but thinking about it more, everything Tina was wearing now was second-hand, things I had the Black Knights gather somewhat haphazardly based on her height and age. I tried to recall if she had shown any preference among the gathered clothes, but Tina had just chosen things that fit her body from the second-hand clothes. I did not think there was anything resembling a preference in clothing. The only thing I could think of that I had not given her was the ribbon tied in Tina's hair. But even that was a ribbon Aurelia had brought from somewhere when she braided Tina's hair, so it did not reflect Tina's preference.
...There is so much I do not know, yet I am going to be Tina's big brother.
As I was concluding that there were indeed many things I should consult about, Tina, having finished the last bite of her sandwich, spoke up.
"Jean-Chacques-san, infection, do you know why?"
It was not a topic I wanted to bring to the ears of Tina, who had lost her parents to disease, but she seemed concerned about it. She asked about Jean-Jacques's condition and how the epidemic was spreading, so I answered her without going into too much detail. It was better to talk to her properly than to poorly hide things. Thinking that, I gave a simple explanation of Wards Disease and told her about the current state of Jean-Jacques and the fortress. When I talked with Tina, I noticed that her perspective was a little different from mine.
I wanted to distribute medicine to the people indiscriminately too. I wanted to give medicine to people who had a chance of recovery rather than to Jean-Jacques, who had no hope of getting better. That was how I was thinking, but Tina seemed to have no interest in the number of medicines or the distribution method.
...Rather than isolating and containing the infected, Tina is trying to find the source of infection.
Instead of hunting down the culprit who brought the infection back and blaming the perpetrator, she is calmly trying to find the root cause, accepting that what has happened cannot be helped.
"When Jean-Chacques-san burned the village, did he do anything?"
In a place where neither I nor Tina could see, Jean-Jacques must have done something in the village and caught the disease. Thinking that way, it seemed he could only have been infected when he went to burn down the village. At that time, the two of us were already holed up in Waiyakku Valley, unable to monitor Jean-Jacques's movements.
To Tina, who kept pressing about what Jean-Jacques had done, I explained that even if I wanted to question him, Jean-Jacques was not in a state to hold a conversation. I could not let Tina into the isolated quarantine zone, and moreover, Jean-Jacques, who was fighting intense itching around the clock, could not have a proper conversation anyway.
...Come to think of it, Alf said he gave him just one day of leave, but the spread was pretty extensive for that.
According to the report, Jean-Jacques, who had taken leave, went to a brothel, went to a tavern, caused a ruckus at a dining hall, then changed locations and drank more. Apparently, during that time, he was living it up, even covering payments for friends and acquaintances who were with him.
...Where did Jean-Jacques get that money?
Jean-Jacques spends money recklessly. He should have income, but he is always borrowing from someone. There is no way he had money to live it up like that.
When Jean-Jacques's infection was discovered, the first places I put on alert were where large numbers of people gathered. The brothel, dining hall, and tavern where he had regular prostitutes were those places. But for daily life, Jean-Jacques should have visited other places too.
...I feel like there is something I am overlooking.
I re-examined his actions at the time based on Jean-Jacques's usual behavior. No matter how I thought about it, I could not figure out where the money came from.
"Commander, the Brownie couple from the residence are here..."
The sound of knocking interrupted my thoughts. The Brownie couple were the two I had called to pick up Tina.
Tabitha, who entered the office guided by a Black Knight, handed me a small box. Inside the box were red shoes. I had her measure Tina's foot size and buy them before coming to the fortress.
I handed the red shoes to Tina right away, and she sat down to try to put them on. I was a little surprised that she could not put shoes on while standing. Before Tina could sit on the floor, Tabitha knelt down and put the shoes on Tina's feet.
...I am glad I chose red.
I narrowed my eyes at Tina, who was clicking her heels contentedly after putting on the shoes that suited her, and then I noticed. The red shoes were, after all, my preference, not Tina's.
After seeing Tina off as she left the fortress, I silently resumed my work. I felt like I wanted to spend time with my little sister soon, but Tina was entrusted to the couple, so it would be fine. At the very least, they would take more devoted care of her than I could.
"...Huh? Why are you still here?"
"What do you mean, why... it is because the paperwork is not done, is it not..."
Though it was the same for both of us that even as night fell, the work was not finished. Alf, who had been sent to pick up Tina under the pretense of taking leave, had returned to work as soon as he got back to the fortress. He had really just been "sent to pick up Tina," not given leave. I thought I would need to make it up to him someday, but he did not seem that bothered, probably because he had gotten to check on Aurelia using that excuse. Apparently, Alf had known Aurelia since he was a baby, and he revered her. He said she had saved his life many times.
"Tina is waiting at home. Go home early."
"I left her with Bart and Tabitha, so it should be fine."
I replied without lifting my eyes from the documents, to Alf, who was probably making a dubious face. Tina was a sensible child, so she should get along well with those two. Thinking so, I was continuing my work at ease, but Alf snatched the document I was reading.
"...Think about how an eight-year-old girl feels, brought to an unfamiliar city, in a house for the first time, surrounded by strangers she only met today."
And on top of that, she had lost both parents and was torn away from Aurelia, whom she had finally gotten used to. Alf said this with a rare look of undisguised displeasure.
"Tina is a clever child, so I am sure she will be fine."
"Precisely because she is a clever child, do you not think she has all sorts of thoughts about it?"
Alf toyed with the document he had snatched, his eyes reading its contents. Once his gaze had traveled about halfway through the document, he set it face-down and pushed it to the edge of the desk. It seemed he had judged it was not a matter more urgent than Tina.
"If you are going to neglect her, I will return Tina to Aurelia. Those two got along pretty well, you know."
Aurelia rarely takes a liking to anyone. As far as I know, zero. As far as Alf knows, Alf's mother and Tina were apparently included this time. And while I am Alf's superior as the fortress lord, when push comes to shove, Alf's priority is undoubtedly Aurelia. For the elderly Aurelia to be able to stay in the valley with peace of mind, he would want to attach someone who could contact the outside world if something unusual happened, like Tina. That was probably what he was thinking. If he judged it necessary for Aurelia, Alf might seriously take Tina and return to the valley.
"...Once I finish up to a good stopping point, I will go home tonight."
"Right now."
And I did not make it to a good stopping point... orz. I think three straight side stories might be too much, so the next chapter might return to the main story.
I will fix typos and errors later. I have plans to go out tomorrow, so no update.
Fixed some typos and added a little content.