37 - Side Story: Leonardo's Perspective - Benefactor's Daughter 6
Driven back to the mansion by Alf, there were naturally no lit windows. But from today, even if she was young, there was a master of the house, so either Bart or Tabitha should have remained in the mansion. I knocked the door knocker and waited a while, then heard the sound of a lock being undone from inside.
"Welcome home, Leonardo-sama."
"Ah, it has been... a month since I have been back to the mansion?"
"It has been three and a half months, sir."
Corrected by Bart, I reconsidered. Had it really been that long? After returning to the city, I had been stationed at the fortress, and before that I had spent about half a month with Tina in Waiyakku Valley. Combined, I thought it was about a month, but I had gone to Meiyu Village at the end of winter. This year, from the Divine King Festival in midwinter to the end of winter, I had been at the Lugmirama Fortress to the northeast, so I supposed it really had been about that long since I had returned to the mansion.
"...I will come back more often from now on."
"Please do, sir. The young lady will miss you."
Tina, who had not even shown tears except in her sleep when her father died, was supposedly showing signs of loneliness in front of someone she had only just met today. I found that hard to believe. Had Tina done something that seemed like that, as Alf had pointed out?
"...How was Tina?"
"She is a very well-behaved young lady, with excellent upbringing. She has a composure that is hard to believe for an eight-year-old..."
He paused, then as if remembering something, Bart gave a wry smile. It seemed Tina had done something that could not quite be described as "composed."
"Did she do something?"
"No, sir. She seems to have found the attic while exploring the mansion, and had cotton dust in her hair."
It seemed she had appeared in the dining room like that at dinner, and Tabitha had dragged her to the bath, saying "bath before dinner." They were surprised when Tina said she would bathe alone, but since they had been told in advance that Tina could bathe by herself, they apparently let her be independent. She ate the stew for dinner in silence, so thinking it must be a favorite as they had heard, they served her seconds... at which she apparently confessed with a troubled look that it was not really a favorite.
"...She just wanted a change in flavor, huh."
...Come to think of it, I felt like she had said something about that at Aurelia's house.
It must have been the first morning after we arrived at Waiyakku Valley. When I was about to make vegetable soup for breakfast, Tina asked "What is for breakfast," and when I answered vegetable soup, she made an indescribably subtle face. Seeing Tina's expression, which looked like disappointment, I thought she must be remembering Aurelia's flavorless vegetable soup from the previous night, and insisted my soup was different. My vegetable soup has flavor, I said.
It has flavor.
That was Tina's response at the time. A claim where "has" was subtly emphasized. That emphasis must have meant "something other than the flavor is the problem."
...There is so much I do not know about Tina.
I handed my coat to Bart and looked up the stairs leading to the second floor. The room I planned to give Tina still had not been cleaned, so she should be using the guest room from tonight.
...Might as well check on her.
I did not think Tina would soak her pillow with tears from loneliness, but no matter how mature she was, she was still an eight-year-old child. It was just that I could not think of it, but she was probably thinking all sorts of things and feeling all sorts of things. If she was already asleep, that would be fine, but I felt it would be sad if she was spending a sleepless night feeling uneasy in a new house.
After asking Bart to prepare hot water and a late-night meal, I turned toward the stairs to check on Tina first.
Standing in front of the guest room Tina was using, I thought for a moment. Should I knock or not? If I considered this a visit to a woman's room, knocking was necessary, but if it was a room of a young girl who might already be asleep, it was probably better not to knock. I might wake a sleeping child. After thinking about what to do, I decided not to knock and just peek in. I opened the door silently and entered the room. The long-pile carpet absorbed my footsteps. This way, I would not wake Tina with the sound of my steps.
...She is not here?
When I gently opened the canopy, Tina, who should have been sleeping inside, was not there. I looked around, thinking that could not be right, and saw a faint silhouette against the curtains. It was not a clear human shape due to the moonlight, but there was a shadow about Tina's height deep behind the curtains.
...What is this? Hide and seek?
Either way, as a guardian, I could not permit a child staying up late. I approached to catch her and toss her into bed, but the shadow inside the curtain moved to the opposite side, as if fleeing from me. The more I approached, the more it moved, so I understood Tina was intentionally running away.
...More like a game of tag than hide and seek.
I cornered Tina at the gap in the curtains and observed for a moment. What would Tina do now that she had no escape?
...She is not moving.
I was waiting for Tina's reaction, but Tina, hidden at the edge of the curtain, stayed still, holding her breath. While I waited, I started to feel foolish, so I grabbed Tina along with the curtain. As I tried to peel back the curtain and lift her up, I felt a clear will to resist. Her small hands gripped the curtain tightly and would not let go.
"...Tina?"
Not understanding why she was resisting, I picked up Tina, curtain and all. Holding Tina with one arm, I peeled the curtain off like skin, and from inside, Tina emerged with a pale face.
...What happened!?
Tina's expression was so extreme that I realized something abnormal was going on. Before I could even ask what had happened, Tina's eyelids blinked rapidly and her eyes focused. When my eyes met Tina's blue eyes, her pale face instantly flushed bright red.
"Eeekyaaaaahhh!?"
Tina started crying with a force like she had caught fire, and I could only be bewildered. I had never seen Tina in a state like this. When I first met her at Meiyu Village, Tina also cried, but back then there was a certain wheedling quality to her voice. I understood that after learning about the village's devastation. Tina back then had cried from relief at seeing a healthy adult for the first time in a long while.
But her crying now was different. Her voice was strained, almost a shriek. She was not crying to be comforted. It was an alarm call to alert those around her of an abnormal situation. Since I was holding her, the crying from such close range made my ears ring sharply.
"Tina? What is wrong? What is scaring you so..."
What was she frightened of? I could not understand, and I was at a loss. Alf had said she might be feeling uneasy, but far from uneasy, she was crying loudly with way too much energy.
"Leonyal... stupid! I hate you, hate you!"
Just when I thought words had finally come out mixed in with the crying, this is what I got. She cursed me with "stupid stupid I hate you, I really hate you," in a voice that had calmed down a bit, while swinging her fists. The attacks were clearly full-force for a toddler, but even though I did not understand the reason, I just let her do it. Anyway, I could not talk until Tina calmed down.
By the time Bart, alerted by the crying, rushed into the guest room, Tina had finally calmed down. Tina, still hiccupping softly, explained what had happened to her, mixing in curses toward me.
...I did not call out because I thought she might be sleeping, and it turned into a huge commotion.
Tina's explanation went like this. She could not fall asleep, so she was looking out the window when she heard footsteps. The footsteps climbed up the stairs and continued until they reached the guest room. She thought it might be Bart doing his night patrol, but if it was a ghost or a thief, that would be scary, so Tina decided to hide in the curtains. Then the owner of those footsteps opened the door without knocking and invaded the room. This seemed even more suspicious, so she could not come out of the curtains. The suspicious footsteps came closer, so she fled around inside the curtains, but in the end was picked up without any explanation.
...So that expression when she saw my face and realized it was me... that was the shift from terror to relief and anger.
Just remembering it, Tina's face when she was lifted from behind the curtain was intense. Bart brought in a light, and now the guest room was bright. It was not the level of light for a room where someone was about to sleep, but Tina probably would not be able to sleep right away anyway, so I decided not to worry about it. When I sat Tina, who could not stop hiccupping, on my lap, she slid down to sit on the floor. I did not quite understand, but she seemed to be sulking. She did not want to sit on my lap, but apparently did not want to leave either. She clung to my left leg with her back to me.
"When you entuh a girwl's woom, you MUST announce you'self firsht! Even if it'th thmall, it'th a girwl's woom, you know!"
She was huffing with anger, occasionally interrupted by hiccups. Parts of it were not pronounced correctly, but it was rare for Tina to use baby talk outside of when she was asleep. Sometimes she seemed to remember her anger and hit my leg with her tiny fists, but it did not hurt at all.
...What is this adorable creature.
If she found out I was thinking even her sulking was cute, she would probably sulk even more, so I swallowed the words without saying them. I had resolved to watch over her until she felt better, but then Bart came to call me, saying the hot water was ready.
"Leonyaldo... you gonna go take a bath...?"
"Hm? You do not like stinky sweat, do you, Tina?"
"No."
"Well then, I have gotta go wash off the sweat in the bath so Tina will not hate me."
"Nooo~"
It was rare for Tina to draw out the word like that. I thought, she is really sulking like a child, and then remembered that Tina was still a child. For a child, having an intruder while home alone in a brand new house would be nothing short of terrifying. I should not be casually enjoying how cute her sulking was.
"...When I get out of the bath, let us sleep together tonight. It has been a while."
So please cheer up soon. As I made the suggestion while lightly tugging her hair, Tina finally looked up. Her blue eyes were a little red and swollen.
When I returned from the bath, Tina was picking at the late-night meal Bart had prepared for me. When our eyes met, she turned her face away with a hmph, so this was probably included in her act of revenge against me. And yet, the moment I sat down on a chair, she climbed onto my lap, so it seemed she did not want to be alone. What a truly complicated child's heart.
Tina started nodding off on my lap, so I carried her to the bed. When I returned to the table to eat the remaining late-night meal, Tina came out of bed and climbed onto my lap again.
...What is this adorable creature.
Sulking and angry but still seeking affection... a truly complicated creature. Even if I carried her to bed, she would come out when I left it, so I decided to give up on my late-night meal. When I lay down on the bed with Tina, she grabbed the hem of my shirt. She had not done this even when we were at Aurelia's house, so tonight must have been a truly terrifying experience for Tina.
...Far from coming back frequently, it seemed I would need to come back every night for a while.
Oh right, this story was supposed to be doting affection (self-proclaimed). From Leonardo's perspective, I cannot help but feel it looks somewhat like doting affection.
Will correct typos and errors another day.
Typos and errors corrected. Added a bit more text as well.