451 - Two Years of Good News and Bad News
"...Well, as for the changes you can see at a glance, Leonardo grew his hair out."
"My Big Brother looks good with long hair too."
It is wild and wonderful, I teased back. I could tell this was Alfred's joke. The fact that he was starting with jokes meant the stories to come were probably heavy.
"I heard from Salisa that while I did not know about it, you printed a bobbin lace guidebook and have already started selling it."
"Ah. We needed to make bobbin lace popular."
Alfred apologized for acting without permission, so I decided not to question the parts that had slipped out of my hands. Alfred sweeps through like a typhoon, but he has never caused trouble thoughtlessly. He must have judged it necessary and acted for a reason. He continued by saying he would have Solana prepare a report on the guidebook sales later, so it seemed Solana was also in the city of Grenore.
...I was looking forward to spreading it little by little too, you know.
For my part, I wanted to preserve the bobbin lace that Aurelia had taught me. It would be good if bobbin lace became common enough that wearing it would not draw strange attention from others. But achieving that would probably take several years or more.
That was my plan, to spread it slowly and leisurely. But it seemed Alfred had decided to make bobbin lace popular all at once.
"'Needed' to make it popular, you say...?"
Making bobbin lace popular. I think anyone would be captivated by the sight of bobbin lace, so intricately woven. But that alone would not be enough to make it popular. First, actual samples would be needed to convey the beauty of bobbin lace, and to make it popular, a considerable quantity would be necessary. I had prepared the guidebook in advance, but preparing that many actual bobbin lace pieces and spreading them widely enough to 'make them popular' would be impossible. The period during which my memory seemed fuzzy was two years. Making bobbin lace popular across the entire country in just two years would be more than a little difficult, even for Alfred.
"The bobbin lace matter is for later. ...First, let me tell you the cheerful news from these two years."
"Right," Alfred said, tilting his head as if wondering what to start with. The first topic that came up was indeed cheerful news. Felicia had gotten married.
"What? Felicia-sama got married?"
"Not just married. She has already given birth to a son. She is currently pregnant with her second child."
"...Is that not too fast!?"
My memory was fuzzy for two years, and Felicia had already given birth to one child. They say pregnancy takes ten months and ten days, but I do not think that actually means a full ten months. The way weeks are counted during pregnancy is a bit different.
...Wait, if you consider the first childbirth and second pregnancy, did she not get married right around the Harvest Festival two years ago?
Felicia had a favorite silver-white knight, but he had personality issues. He had a timid personality that matched his pure and delicate appearance, and he was hardly fit to stand beside her as the king's spouse. And Felicia was a Royal Peerage expected to eventually succeed Christoph. I knew that Felicia had been looking for a partner suited to her position rather than her preferences, since the person she chose could become the prince consort. When I asked if she had finally found such a partner, it turned out to be the knight she had liked from before. In other words, that knight with the pure and delicate appearance that I also knew.
"Um, was it Erald? I feel like he was supposed to come to Grenore as my guard...?"
I found it odd, but that was all. I did not know what changes had occurred in Erald's heart, but if he was happy with the partner Felicia had chosen, I suppose that was fine.
"Erald finally got motivated too. That is good."
"No, Erald is still Erald. I am the one who will succeed to the throne."
"Oh, so that is why Erald became acceptable."
It took some time for the information that Alfred was to be the next king to sink into my brain. Perhaps my subconscious refused to understand it, my brain rejecting the thought.
"...Huh-eh!? Alfred-sama is going to be the next king!?"
"I am concerned about how shocked Christina is, but I will be succeeding my father. I did a lot of reckless things this time around, after all."
It seemed he had swung around power second only to the king's and done various things, so now he had to take responsibility for it. As someone born a child of the king, power comes with accompanying responsibility. He had done reckless things knowing that. Hearing Alfred's words about taking responsibility for the power he had wielded, I felt like I wanted Rannvald to hear them too. Rannvald, who was also born a child of the king yet abandoned all his duties and ran away.
"...But is that really okay? Becoming the next king means you have to marry a woman, does it not? You will not be able to keep going on about Alf, Alf anymore."
In this life, same-sex love and same-sex marriage were so established that they did not even come up as anything special. But when it came to succession, the story changed. The role of a successor was to preserve and continue the family line. Those who inherited a family were inevitably expected to have biological children and marry someone of the opposite sex. I did not know what kind of affection Alfred's constant talk of Alf, Alf represented, but at the very least, he would need a wife who could accept a husband who repeatedly called out a man's name.
"I got married in these two years as well. And for what it is worth, I have received word that a baby girl was born safely."
"Oh, is that so? That is wonderful. Congratulations on your marriage. ...Wait. What? A girl, you say...? So Alfred-sama is... a parent... of a child...!?"
At the information added so casually, I barely swallowed the word "does not suit you" that almost slipped out. I could not believe Alfred had gotten married, but the fact that the partner was a woman and he was already a father was even harder to believe.
"...Wh-what kind of female hero could be Alfred-sama's bri... it hurrtsh..."
Perhaps I had been speaking a bit too freely in my shock. Suddenly, Alfred's hand reached out from across the table and pinched my cheek.
"Your face says all too clearly that you are thinking something rude."
"But it is Alfred-sama's marriage we are talking about! I think anyone would be surprised."
Just the marriage alone was surprising, but he was saying he had become a father. There was no way that would not be shocking.
"I will not ask what you were thinking, but my wife Ariel is a lady who has never held anything heavier than an iron fan. She is the polar opposite of the word 'female hero.'"
"Can a lady who carries an iron fan truly be called a lad... it hurrtsh..."
According to Alfred's explanation, his marriage partner was the childhood fiancee he had kept waiting for a long time. When I pointed out that Alfred's fiancee was supposed to be Alf's love interest, Alf himself answered that one. Apparently they had just returned to their original arrangement, so it was not something I needed to worry about.
"As for changes involving people Christina has connections with... Dietfried and Basilia are engaged."
"Huh."
"...You do not seem very interested."
"I think it is happy news. Basilia-sama has adored Dietfried-sama since she was young."
It is just that I have never been very interested in other people's love lives. If someone like Lusio does something that makes me think "oh?" within my field of vision, I might get curious about the truth. But I do not particularly want to know the detailed romantic affairs of friends I do not normally meet. Having the rough results told to me like this is much easier to handle.
...I need to send Basilia-chan a congratulatory gift for the engagement.
I could consult Salisa about what to send. Before, I would have consulted Hermine, but we had parted ways with Hermine in the capital when she became Dietfried's tutor. I could not rely on her this time.
"...Dietfried really did have a hopeless one-sided love, did he not."
"Too straightforward, almost refreshing," Alfred said, looking away. I will take that as a compliment. In terms of reliable, strong men, I had seen too much of Leonardo up close. In terms of handsome men, I was used to Alf. Call it environmental desensitization, but a slender pretty boy with merely decent features does not make my maiden heart stir at all.
...Well, Diet was not just any pretty boy, though.
I recalled Dietfried's face, which I had only seen once, two years ago. I thought he had grown into a remarkably beautiful boy, but having had my eyes thoroughly spoiled by Felicia's beauty, I felt nothing special. Two years had passed since then, so he had probably grown into a truly handsome young man. I thought so, but still, there was no flutter in my heart.
"Dietfried is planning a wedding in the autumn three years from now."
"So he will be nineteen when he marries. That is early."
"For royal or noble marriages, it is not particularly early."
Rather, his own and his sister's marriages were too late, Alfred continued, then seemed to remember something. After a brief pause as if considering whether to add this, he eventually told me.
"...And for what it is worth, I gained a new little sister."
"Alfred-sama has a new little sister. That must be lovely... Hm? A little sister? Not a niece?"
"Ah. A sister."
"That is... how should I put this..."
I offered a harmless congratulation. The first word that came to mind was "Christoph-sama is still young, is he not," but that was probably not something a lady should say out loud. It would be more than a little vulgar.
"There are plans for two more to be added."
"Whoa."
Christoph treats all his wives equally. So when one has a child, he makes children with the other two wives as well. The result of repeating that is sixteen siblings. Far too many children. Joslynne, who married Christoph earliest, was probably approaching an age when childbirth carries increasing risks.
...The royal family has entered a baby boom, has it not.
This was indeed cheerful news worth celebrating. The king gained a daughter. A princess gave birth to a son and was expecting another. A prince had a daughter. And the king's grandchild was to be married in three years. A boom that would likely continue for a while. What could be better?
"Christina, how much do you remember about these two years?"
When he finished talking about the royal baby boom, Alfred's voice dropped an octave. The main topic. The less pleasant stories. They were probably about to begin.
"Even if you ask me how much..."
Being asked "how much" with such vague scope was difficult. If the Harvest Festival two years ago was when the Second Prince ran amok, then my memory almost ends there. After that, I only have memories from this year's Divine King Festival up to today. What Alfred called "two years" were almost completely absent from my memory.
"Then let me go through it in order."
Alfred said to tell him if there was anything I remembered or recalled, then began to recount the Harvest Festival two years ago. After the Second Prince's rampage, I went to the Sedovara Church to have my scraped knee treated.
"I remember that. Jasper bandaged my wound."
Reassured that I was treated, Leonardo left me at the Sedovara Church to deal with the aftermath of the Second Prince's rampage. He said he would come to pick me up when he was done.
"'I will wait quietly like a doll,' I said... I saw... Leonardo Big Brother off... I think? That is... what happened."
But I had not waited quietly like a doll.
That thought flickered through my head, and then it stopped, as if my thinking had been cut off right there. Not so much stopping as simply having no further thoughts beyond that point.
I must not think about it. I must not remember.
Caught by that formless feeling, whenever I tried to turn my thoughts beyond that point, I felt as if my thinking was severed by an axe. Snip. My thoughts were forcibly cut off, and I could not consider what came next.
...Huh? What was that? This.
It felt unpleasant. There was something I needed to remember, but it was as if my instinct was refusing it. The more I tried to remember, the further my thoughts drifted away. The answer should be in my head, but it seemed to have turned transparent and hidden itself. The more I thought, the further the answer receded.
"As Leonardo was rushing around dealing with the aftermath of the commotion, he noticed a fire at the pier."
I pushed through the discomfort born of vague unease by focusing my attention on Alfred's voice. What came next was a story I did not know, from when I was at the Sedovara Church.
Noticing smoke rising outside the city walls, Leonardo headed to the pier outside the city of Grenore. He found a fire there and called people to work on extinguishing it. The fire was put out by the next morning, and from the burned remains, the bodies of a man and a woman were discovered. Additionally, the bodies of the pier manager and a warehouse keeper were also found, it seemed.
...A woman's body?
I felt the blood drain from my face. My heart pounded with a bad feeling, loud enough to be annoying, but my mind was blank. I could not think of anything. Only Alfred's voice echoed in my head.
Why was he telling me such a story? I wanted to cover my ears at Alfred's voice describing the gruesome bodies, but my arms would not move. My hands, clenched tightly on my knees, were sticky with unpleasant sweat.
"As Leonardo and the others were investigating around the pier, they joined up with Alf, who had been pursuing something else."
"What was Alf-san chasing?"
Ah, it seemed the topic was finally moving away from the pier. As I let out a sigh of relief, as if expelling the unpleasant atmosphere, I noticed Alfred staring intently at my face. It was not just Alfred looking at me. Leonardo and Alf were also staring at me.
"What Alf was chasing was Christina, who had been taken out of the Sedovara Church. You."
"...Me?"
Being told they were looking for me was confusing. I had no memory of leaving the Sedovara Church. Of course, I had no memory of being taken out either.
"Do you remember what happened inside the Sedovara Church?"
"...Leo told me to wait, so I was waiting at the Sedovara Church. I tried to continue making soap to pass the time. Jasper said the batch we made before had finished drying..."
I tried to move to the room where the soap was drying, but I had no memory of checking the soap. I opened the door to move rooms. After that, the only memory I had was of an unpleasant sound and smell.
A sticky, wet sound and --
I felt my stomach contents surge up, and I stood up, covering my mouth with both hands. I tried to suppress it as soon as I noticed, but nausea is not something that can be overcome by willpower alone.
"I am going to be sick! Kalisa!"
Desperately calling for Kalisa, trying not to let what was in my mouth spill out. What I needed now was a basin. Something to catch what was in my mouth.
Thoughts of being a lady or being in front of Alfred were shoved to the corner of my mind, and I dashed into the hallway at a jog, determined not to make a scene in front of a guest. Salisa immediately chased after me with a basin, so disaster in the hallway was averted. In exchange, my clothes were slightly stained with vomit.
"...Perhaps I was a bit greedy with lunch?"
After I had finished emptying everything from my stomach, Leonardo came out into the hallway. I hung my head, not wanting him to see my face stained with vomit, and Leonardo's large hand patted my head. More than enough time had passed since lunch. Anyone could tell that the reason I threw up had nothing to do with food, but Leonardo played along with my light comment. There is no need to force myself to eat when I cannot properly keep food down yet. After saying that and patting my head, he declared the briefing about these two years adjourned for the time being.
Will fix typos and errors at a later date.