443 - Leonardo's Perspective - Grandfather and Granddaughter
Outside the cave, the checkpoint inspections were still going on. I had heard as much, but the checkpoints were practically meaningless. Albert's carriage was sometimes stopped at them, but perhaps because they could tell it was a noble's carriage, almost all ended with just a verbal confirmation. Occasionally there were soldiers who checked inside the carriage, but even they did not check the hidden compartment that was almost always built into Zugall Empire carriages.
...No, actually, the fact that they did not check the hidden compartment might have been because they saw Bertrand-dono's face.
At each checkpoint, I coaxed Tina into the hidden compartment, and Bertrand sat on top of the lid, glaring at any soldier who tried to peek inside the carriage. Even for a noble's carriage, they were rare diligent soldiers for the Zugall Empire, wanting to conduct a proper inspection, but it seemed they were no match for Bertrand's intimidating face. To the soldier who quietly confirmed, "It seems there's no abnormality," Bertrand roared back, "Speak up!" The soldier jumped in surprise at the outburst and quickly fled, but he was not the only one startled by that voice. Tina was too. When I opened the hidden compartment's lid after passing the checkpoint, Tina, looking like she was about to cry, reached her arms around my neck. It seemed she had been frightened by Bertrand's loud voice, plain and simple.
For the next three days or so, Tina would not go near Bertrand, so Bertrand looked like he had bitten into a bitter bug. That was only natural. Having distanced herself from Bertrand, Tina instead grew attached to the servants traveling with Albert. Even I found this surprising. She never went so far that I was out of her sight, but Tina had started acting on her own, going to the servants to get hot water on her own.
...That is my cup.
Tina was holding my cup and talking to a servant who was boiling water for breakfast preparations. I could hear her asking for hot water, but the servant looked at the cup with a puzzled expression. He seemed to have some doubt, but commoners in the Zugall Empire did not defy nobles. Even with questions, they simply worked as told. And toward Tina, who was being treated as a guest of their master Albert, they pushed their doubts deep into the backs of their faces, the same way they treated their master.
"Leo, I'll give you some cocoa."
The cup Tina handed to me with a "here you go" had just had hot water poured into it by the servant. Tina was calling it cocoa, but what wafted up was the scent of Ihoku.
"...Tina, is this instant coffee? It's not cocoa."
"Oh? I must have put it in my bag by mistake? I can't drink coffee, so I'll give it to Leo."
"Is that so. You made a mistake, huh. Too bad for Tina, but I'm glad I get to drink instant coffee again."
To Tina, who was presenting me with instant coffee with a refreshingly flat delivery, I responded with an equally disingenuous flat delivery. Tina had been angry at me, telling me to put the instant coffee in my own luggage if I wanted to take it back, but it seemed she had put it in her own bag for my sake.
...My little sister is adorable. The way she is a little contrary is the most adorable thing.
The way she makes excuses, saying "I guess I accidentally put it in my bag," as if it was not for me, makes it even cuter. Whether she is being honest or contrary or mischievous, my little sister is adorable.
...I hear a throat clearing somewhere.
As I was admiring Tina, who was embarrassed from being thanked, I heard a deliberate cough from diagonally above. When Tina and I both looked up, Bertrand was standing there with a difficult expression on his face.
"...Tina, don't you want to say 'here's some cocoa for you too' to Bertrand-dono?"
Bertrand's actions were too easy to read, so I decided to help him out by guiding Tina. At my prompting, Tina finally seemed to notice what Bertrand was hinting at. She blinked with a puzzled expression, then tilted her head at Bertrand.
"Bertrand-sama, do you want some cocoa?"
"Oh, no. It's not that I am requesting it..."
"Okay. Then I won't give you any."
Tina can be ruthless sometimes. To Bertrand, who said he was not asking for cocoa, Tina took his words literally as they were. To Tina, cocoa was a precious commodity. She probably judged that if someone said they wanted it, she would make it for them, but there was no reason to brew precious cocoa for someone who did not want it.
...With Tina right now, the best approach is to be straightforward.
As if to say the conversation was over, Tina turned her back on Bertrand and ran off. Albert was a little distance away, and she started asking him if he wanted cocoa.
"Grandpa Bart, how about some cocoa?"
"Is that your precious cocoa, young lady? Are you sure I can have some?"
"It's fine. Delicious things should be shared by everyone."
Whether he had overheard the conversation or not, a servant prepared Albert's cup, and Tina took it. The jar she was opening was different, so she was probably going to brew cocoa this time.
...The instant coffee was for me.
It seemed she was willing to prepare drinks for anyone, but the instant coffee was apparently treated differently in Tina's mind as something for me. As her brother, I was more than a little happy.
...Well, the expression on Tina's grandfather's face is something else right now.
If he had just honestly said, "I want my granddaughter to make me a drink," the guidance I had given would not have gone to waste. On top of that, Albert was being called "Grandpa Bart" by Tina and having cocoa personally brewed for him. It was entirely Bertrand's own fault, but watching it was painful to bear.
...I wish I could improve their relationship a little while we still have the chance.
Tina, who did not seem to harbor any particular negative feelings toward Bertrand, interacted with him normally. She was not stubbornly ignoring him or pushing back against his every word. I thought she would accept him as a grandfather if given the chance now, but this time, Bertrand's false bravado was making things not quite work out.
...I do not think they are incompatible or anything.
The journey to Augun territory proceeded smoothly. We were stopped at a few more checkpoints along the way, but the farther we got from the kingdom of Ivizia, the sloppier the inspections became and the fewer they were. It seemed they were searching because Tina's body had not been found, probably thinking that if she was alive, she would flee toward the kingdom of Ivizia.
We spent the Harvest Festival almost entirely in the carriage. At a larger town we passed through, Bertrand bought some baked sweets for us to eat, but that was about the extent of Tina's memories of this year's Harvest Festival. Having been kidnapped on the day of the Harvest Festival, I worried she might have unpleasant memories associated with it, but she did not say anything in particular. She did say she wanted to eat some pan-fried treats, so she seemed to be recovering quite well.
After the Harvest Festival passed and autumn was deepening, we arrived at Augun territory. I had told Albert that dropping us off at any town in the territory would be fine, but he laughed it off, saying it would be faster to take us directly to Augun Castle and introduce us rather than writing a letter of introduction. Since we were technically fugitives and did not want to cause trouble for Carlotta, I had kept our prior acquaintance hidden. And so, the meeting with the old gentleman of Augun Castle turned into an incredibly disingenuous encounter.
"Oh my? These people are..."
"I brought them because I wanted to introduce them to Carlotta-sama. Could you arrange an audience?"
The old gentleman, welcoming Albert as his steward, fixed his gaze on me. To Albert, it probably looked like he was just confirming who I was, but to me, I felt like I could hear imaginary words saying, "Please explain in detail what this is about."
"...This young lady is a face I have never seen before. Welcome to Augun Castle."
To the old gentleman who bowed and greeted her, Tina hid behind my back for a moment, then quickly peeked out again and returned the greeting. I thought it was unusual for Tina, who was shy with strangers, but thinking about it, I felt she got used to elderly people quickly. She had met Ethelbert without me knowing and was calling him by his nickname, and she had grown more accustomed and attached to Aurelia than I had. She had grown comfortable with Camille too, and she even liked Albert enough to offer him her precious cocoa. The only one Tina did not treat as an old person and had trouble getting used to was Bertrand.
"Oscar."
As we walked through the hallway toward the reception room guided by the old gentleman, the Black Dog appeared from somewhere. He was walking with a slight limp, but he seemed healthy. He did not bounce around excitedly like Kokumaro did around Tina, but I could tell he was happy to see Bertrand.
"This dog was brought from the Imperial Capital with a broken bone, but now the bone has healed. We had a pharmacist examine him, and they said he is an old dog now, so it would be best not to overexert him."
"Don't overexert him, Bertrand-sama."
"I was not the one who overexerted him."
As if trying to escape Tina's sharp, accusatory gaze, Bertrand turned his eyes toward me. I could tell he was asking me to mediate with Tina, so I racked my brain, but there was no way to defend him on this point. Even I could only think that Bertrand's way of handling his Black Dog was rough.
Sending him off to search for Saromon across the territory on a wandering journey, and while I would like to think Bertrand brought him as far as Leberan territory, the Black Dog had apparently traveled alone as far as Uhlenfurt territory. And on top of that, I remembered the move from Grenore city to Mey village, where Bertrand made the dog run alongside his horse without considering the dog's stamina.
"...I have a feeling he has been overexerted even before he became an old dog, as a dog."
"Bertrand-sama, that's terrible."
When I accidentally voiced my thoughts, Tina turned a disapproving look toward Bertrand. As the gap between grandfather and granddaughter widened before our eyes, only the Black Dog lowered his tail, looking troubled.
After we were led to the reception room and waited a while, Carlotta appeared, guided by the old gentleman. Carlotta entered the room, exchanged brief greetings with Albert, and then turned to Tina before me or Bertrand.
"Hello, Christina-san. We have met before at Edgar's mansion. Do you remember me?"
"Hello, Carlotta-sama. Ed...? Thank you for the cute puppy plush toy."
Her memories of Edgar were hazy, but she seemed to remember receiving the plush toy from Carlotta. Truly, Tina's current memory was a mystery. I had no way of knowing what she remembered and what she forgot until I asked.
...But come to think of it?
Tina's way of responding was slightly different from how she spoke to us. Tina, who seemed to be acting as a nine-year-old, responded to me and Bertrand in a manner befitting a nine-year-old child, but with Carlotta it was different. She was responding like she had when she first began receiving deportment lessons from Ms. Hartmann. It was not perfectly ladylike, but it was the response of a child who had been reasonably well-trained.
"Could it be that she changes her response based on who she is talking to?"
When I voiced my doubt as it was, Carlotta's theory was this. Tina probably changed her responses based on who she was talking to. With me, she was uninhibited as a little sister doting on her brother. With Bertrand, she was rough and casual with the familiarity of a granddaughter. And with Carlotta, she seemed to be behaving like a nine-year-old young lady. At the very least, toward Albert, who treated her like a friend's granddaughter, even Tina had put on a bit of a facade with her responses. It was similar to how she acted with Alfred, so it was probably her attitude toward family acquaintances.
"A room has been prepared for Tina, so feel free to stay as long as you like." Hearing these words from Carlotta, Albert realized that I and Carlotta were already acquainted. But he did not accuse me of deceiving or plotting against him. He probably understood that I had stayed silent in order not to drag Carlotta into trouble in case something happened.
"...Well then, I will leave Jin and the young lady to Carlotta-sama. What will you do?"
"I came into the Zugall Empire openly as a traveler. I must leave openly as well."
Bertrand, who had come straight into the Zugall Empire to search for Tina, must cross the border as openly as he entered, to prove there was nothing underhanded about his actions. He could not very well travel with us, who needed to slip across the border discreetly. With a reluctant expression, he began making arrangements to return to Leberan territory with Albert first, and from there wait for the situation on the Ivizia kingdom side of the border to calm down before returning to his own country.
"And so, we will be parting for a while. Will you miss me?"
"Bye-bye!"
Though he was not leaving immediately, Tina waved at Bertrand with a cheerful smile. Tina probably had no ulterior motives or malice, but she was precisely gouging out the heart of Bertrand, who wanted to get along with his granddaughter.
"I have a room prepared for Christina-san's stay, but..."
"About that, if troops are gathering on the Ivizia side of the border, then I think there is a possibility that the Quebia side of the border is now undermanned..."
If, as I expected, the Divine Kingdom of Quebia side of the border was undermanned, I wanted to leave the Zugall Empire through that route now. Even if Alfred was drawing soldiers to the Ivizia kingdom side of the border, they could not hold out through winter. The Zugall Empire's food supplies could not support war in winter, and the kingdom of Ivizia was much the same. Gathering troops at the border during the harvest season in autumn was itself too reckless.
"...If Cody were here, we could travel using his packhorse wagon."
"Unfortunately, he is here. In this very Augun Castle."
It seemed Cody had received a letter for me from Alfred and had come back to the Zugall Empire, setting aside his business along the way. I could not rest easy until we returned to the city of Grenore, but we had technically retrieved Tina. I felt like I should let him return to his original trade as a traveling merchant, but it looked like I would have to rely on him a little longer.
"Ah, so it was deliberately provoked after all."
When Cody was called to the reception room and I received the letter from him, I checked its contents on the spot. The letter briefly summarized the commotion near the border. Within the Zugall Empire, there were rumors that "the kingdom of Ivizia is going to start a war?" but this seemed to be a rumor Alfred had spread using his people.
As for the reason for moving the knights within the kingdom of Ivizia, it was apparently a public unveiling to the people under the guise of establishing authority for Prince Alfred, who had been decided as the next king. It seemed there was a purpose in moving the knights in large numbers to conduct exercises near the border, and in doing so, strengthening the impression of the third prince, who had rarely appeared publicly until now due to swapping places with Alf. For the kingdom of Ivizia, the next king was just practicing moving the knights around, but to the Zugall Empire, it must have looked like a provocative act of gathering a large military force at the border. It could not be helped that they hurriedly gathered troops at the border in response.
"...He is a little too efficient. It is kind of scary."
"Efficiency is normally a good thing, but in this case it is irritating."
Carlotta made a slightly sulky gesture, implying that because of this excessive efficiency, it seemed she would not get to spend leisurely time with Tina. She had even prepared rooms for Tina and was waiting for us, so I felt a bit sorry about that. Still, Alfred had thinned the border for us. I could not afford to miss this opportunity.
Unfortunately for Carlotta-sama, it seems we will not be able to relax much at Augun Castle after all.
Will fix typos and errors at a later date.