431 - Leonardo's Perspective, The Long-Awaited Visitor Arrives
I woke to a small force tugging at my neck. Thinking it might be one of the spirits' pranks, I opened my eyes, and found myself meeting Tina's blue eyes, which had "Oh no!?" written all over her face.
"...Tina. Did you wake up? Good. Is anywhere hurting, or feeling strange?"
I had put Tina to sleep on the lower bunk so I would know the moment she awoke, and I was sitting at the edge of it, but I seemed to have fallen asleep myself without noticing. Tina, who must have woken up without my realizing, had sat up and was reaching her hand out toward me.
...What is it?
I stared at Tina, who had frozen as if something was wrong. Realizing she was being watched closely in return, Tina slowly let go of what she had been holding. Whatever she had been holding onto fell and returned to my neck. When I checked what she had been gripping, it was the gold pendant I wore doubled around my neck. Hidden inside were cameos, with my profile and Tina's carved into each.
"Ah, this. One of them is yours, Tina. Which one..."
I hooked my fingernail into it to check the contents, then removed the cameo pendant with my face carved into it from around my neck. This pendant was one Tina received from Christoph. The one with my profile was Tina's, and the one with Tina's profile was mine.
"Here. Want me to put it on you?"
As I placed the gold pendant in Tina's palm, she examined it carefully, then moved across the bed and somehow distanced herself from me. Her gaze was fixed on me, and when I reached out my arm to pull her close, she bristled like a kitten and hissed at me. I was being treated with caution, of that there was no doubt.
...Was I away so long she forgot my face?
I wanted to dismiss it as ridiculous, but right now, Tina was showing more wariness toward me than ever before. This was the first time she had even hissed at me. She had been cautious when we first met too, but she had not hissed then. She had just dodged my outstretched hand a little.
...Ah, is it my hairstyle? Is it because it is different?
I remembered that when I first took Tina in, she had been scared of me because my hairstyle was different between when we were in Wiyack Valley and when I was at the fortress. Back then it was only about half a month apart, but today she was seeing me for the first time in about two years. I had grown my hair out as part of my disguise, so from Tina's perspective, it might be an unfamiliar face. Even aside from that, Tina did tend to be shy around strangers.
"Tina, it is me. It is Leonardo. Your big brother."
When I lifted my bangs to show her, I felt the sharpness leave Tina's gaze. I could sense her confusion, so it seemed the hairstyle really was the problem.
"The light..."
I had dimmed the lights for Tina while she slept, but it would be better to put them on so she could see my face clearly. I thought that and started toward the wall to turn on the room light, but the spirits seemed to have taken care of it first. The dimly glowing spirit lamps began to shine brightly enough to illuminate the room.
"...See, Tina? It is the same face as the one in the pendant, right? It is your big brother."
Even I thought my voice sounded pathetic, but I coaxed Tina in a soothing tone. She seemed scared and cautious, so I had no choice but to calm her down and have her compare my face in the pendant with my current face.
In the brighter room, Tina's wariness seemed to fade a little. She hesitantly approached, opened the pendant, and tilted her head, comparing the me in the cameo with the me in front of her. Her gaze moved between the pendant and my face several times, and she seemed to have reached some understanding. After nodding once, she placed the pendant in my palm and moved over beside me. Showing me her back like that was probably a signal for me to put the pendant on her. Despite all that wariness, once she knew it was her big brother, she wanted to cling to me. My little sister is cute.
...What a thin neck.
Her short hair fell forward as she bowed her head, exposing her thin neck. I remembered it having more roundness before, but whatever kind of life she had been living, Tina's body had lost flesh in many places. At fifteen, it would not be strange for her chest and hips to be starting to round out, but far from her chest swelling, Tina's limbs were as thin as a doll's.
...Hm? A ribbon?
As I was thinking about whether there was anything I could do about Tina's painfully thin neck, a wooden doll-like spirit on the "treadle sewing machine" that had been brought in while Tina was sleeping began asserting itself. When I turned my gaze toward it to see if it wanted to tell me something, it pulled a large ribbon out of the fabric that had been brought in with the sewing machine.
...That is a color that would suit Tina.
It seemed the spirit was saying we should put a ribbon in Tina's hair. It was true that I should avoid asking things of them directly, but just letting them act on their own initiative was a huge help. A ribbon in Tina's hair was an idea that would never have occurred to me on my own.
"Tina?"
I was about to go get the ribbon. When I lifted myself from the bed thinking that, for some reason Tina also stood up. And though it was only a short distance to the treadle sewing machine, Tina silently followed closely behind me.
"Uh, Tina? What is wrong?"
I added that it would have been fine for her to wait in bed, but Tina silently shook her head. At this point, even I could tell something was off with Tina.
...It is like that time before. Back then she had turned into a mass of selfishness.
The atmosphere was similar to when Tina had appeared at the Mandez residence after being taken by spirits for the first time. Back then, Tina had acted spoiled like an ordinary child, clinging to my leg and saying she would hate it if I went to work at the neighboring fortress. Now Tina did not voice her selfishness in words, but her attitude was full-on clingy. If I could think she was just happy I had finally come for her, I would not need to worry, but the atmosphere did not seem like she was happy. I could feel her will not to be separated from me, but I could not sense any emotion resembling emotion at all. It was like she was empty inside.
"Look, Tina. Let me tie the ribbon. How cute."
I tied the big ribbon right on top of Tina's head. That way the ribbon would stand out and draw attention away from her too-short hair. That was what I thought, but the wooden doll spirit moved to expressionless Tina's shoulder and pulled the ribbon loose, undoing it. I wanted to complain that it was the one who had suggested the ribbon, but it seemed the spirit had not liked how I tied it. It moved the knot to just above her left ear and tied the ribbon in a slightly more complex shape. It was the same ribbon I had tied, but the spirit's version was far more elegant and served to make Tina's short hair less noticeable.
...Now she looks even more like a doll.
The large ribbon hid her short hair, but with the thinness of her limbs, the dress she was wearing, her already refined features, and her vague expressionlessness, Tina looked just like a doll. I had heard she was called the "Doll Princess" in the imperial capital Tralbach, but seeing her up close now, she really was a doll.
...A doll? Wait. Is there something nagging at me...?
Besides Tina being called the Doll Princess in the imperial capital Tralbach, there was something else bothering me. When I searched my memories for Tina and dolls, I recalled the day Tina first came to Grenore Fortress. She had gotten angry at me for completely forgetting she was there in my office, saying she was not just a doll sitting around.
...No, but that was not it. There should be something else.
There should have been another exchange connecting Tina and dolls, I thought as I watched Tina looking around the room while gripping my clothes. Her hair length and clothes were different, but it should have been a line from a Tina who looked about this age.
"I will wait quietly like a doll, so please come for me soon."
...Ah, that is it.
I had finally remembered the nagging words that connected Tina and dolls. They were words Tina had said at the Sedovara Church right before we parted on the day she was kidnapped. That she would wait quietly like a doll, so please come for her soon.
"...Tina."
I lightly tugged on Tina's hand as she looked around the room with a curious expression, drawing her attention to me. Now that I had remembered, there were words I had to say to Tina again. I had said them once before, but Tina had been asleep then, so she could not have heard my voice. Since Tina had truly waited like a doll, all the more reason I had to say this.
"Sorry I am late, Tina. I came for you. You are as cute as a doll, but you are human."
As I told her to come back as my human little sister, Tina blinked in surprise, then her face crumpled. I thought she might start crying, but instead she hugged my waist with all her strength and pressed her face into my side.
...Still, something is missing.
Something was missing inside Tina. I thought so, but it was different from the completely expressionless state she had been in a little while ago. I also understood that this was as far as I could bring back Tina's emotions myself. The rest would be up to Tina to overcome on her own, or would need some other catalyst.
"...I am hungry."
Tina had been rubbing her face into my side, but she seemed to have finally calmed down. And the first thing out of her mouth when she settled was this. If I had to say whether this was like Tina, it was like Tina.
"That instant cocoa stuff was sweet."
It was a sweet drink you could make instantly by putting powder in a cup and turning a red handle to add hot water. I had tested everything once to check for safety. If there was any drink Tina would like, it would be the milk or cocoa that had been added to the cold storage.
I moved toward the kitchen area to make her some cocoa, but Tina followed me again. Having her stick close in the narrow kitchen was a bit dangerous, but since I was not actually cooking, it would be fine for tonight. When I just looked toward the shelf for the cocoa powder, a spirit wearing an apron opened the jar's lid. When I looked at the cupboard for a cup the right size for Tina to hold, a different spirit pushed out a slightly smaller cup.
...I could see how this lifestyle could become addictive once you got used to it.
Just by starting to move because you needed something, the spirits would anticipate and help you. This convenience could not be found outside the cave.
"...Jin? Not Leo?"
"I came to get Tina secretly, so it would be a problem if you called me by my real name here."
I told Tina to call me "Jin" until we got back to the city of Grenore. I also gave her a general rundown that Jean-Jacques should be called "Chuck" and that the Black Dog (Oscar) had also come for her. Tina, sitting on my lap, toyed with the cup of cocoa while mulling over what she had been told. She had said she was hungry, but it did not seem she could eat much. She had only drunk a little of the cocoa, and was holding the cup wrapped in both hands as if savoring the warmth.
...She is light. And she is still acting strange.
She had said she would stop sitting on my lap when she turned ten, but today Tina chose to sit on my lap as if it were the most natural thing. She had been sitting next to me earlier, but once she stopped being a doll, she unhesitatingly chose my lap. As a brother, I was honestly happy to have my little sister act spoiled with me, but I should probably take it as her regressing a bit.
Whether because the cocoa had warmed her body, Tina began to doze off, nodding drowsily, so I picked her up and carried her to the bunk bed. Not wanting to accidentally break the bed and crush her, I had given Tina the top bunk, but she seemed dissatisfied with that. When I set her down on the top bunk, she immediately woke up and tried to jump off. I hurriedly caught her, and Tina clung to my arms. It seemed even the distance between the top and bottom bunk was too far from me for her liking.
...She is light. Sadly light.
I lay down on the lower bunk with Tina pressed close against my chest. Even with an entire person's weight on top of me, I did not feel heavy at all.
...Starting tomorrow, I need to get her to eat first.
In the end, Tina never finished her cocoa. She had seemed happy about how sweet it was for the first sip or two, but that was it. Tina's appetite had become thin, and not just a little.
With the spirits' assisted living, it seems even a useless big brother can manage to take care of Tina somehow.
Typos and errors can wait for next time.