454 - Coming the Next Day Shows You're Still Young
It seems I have some kind of trauma related to going outside. During the Harvest Festival, I went out intending to buy pan-grilled fish from the Three Crows Tavern, was nearly kidnapped by the former second prince, and was taken from the Sedovara Church where I had been entrusted for treatment of my scraped knee, apparently having been kidnapped for two whole years. So perhaps it is only natural. As for that kidnapping, I lost my nurse maid Kalisa, and even though two years have passed, my beloved dog Kokumaro still bears the aftereffects. It is not something I can say is completely over. It would hardly be strange if I have been unconsciously avoiding the act of going outside.
...Alright. Let me just flip my mindset and embrace being a shut-in with a positive attitude.
Since I cannot go outside, I have no choice but to spend my time inside the residence. Fortunately, thanks to my well-earning guardian (Leonardo), my life is not so destitute that I need to go out and work immediately just to eat. This residence has servants too, so I do not even need to go out shopping for groceries. In extreme terms, I could live without setting a single foot outside the residence.
...Besides, I was basically living like a shut-in before anyway, right?
I was never the kind of child who actively went outside to play, so even if I think about spending my time only inside the residence, it is not that painful. The archives in the residence still have plenty of books I have not read, and my hobbies are all introverted ones like embroidery and bobbin lace. Really, even if I cannot leave the residence, I will not have any trouble.
...Though I am not sure this is entirely healthy either.
I decided on a goal. I would train slowly and gradually, and eventually be able to go visit Kalisa. Even if I rushed to retrieve her remains, I do not even know a place to bury them. And even if they are just remains, Kalisa would probably rest easier if I do not move them around too much.
I decided to take my time dealing with the trauma around going outside. The next thing I need to face is my relapse into clinginess, how I cannot feel at ease unless I am attached to Leonardo twenty-four seven. Even if it is trauma from the kidnapping, being glued to my brother's side at age fifteen is too ridiculous. Besides, it is bad that Leonardo cannot go to the fortress (work) because I am clinging to him. Leonardo as a working member of society would die.
...For now, let us start by reducing the amount of time I am attached to him.
Sitting side by side on the lounge chair has been our habit for a while now, but currently I am pressed right up against him. I will put a fist's worth of distance between us, and once I get used to that, I will put two fists' worth of distance. Once I am back to what seems like the proper distance from before, I will be able to feel at ease even when separated as long as we are in the same room. Unlike me, Leonardo works in the living room, so if I want to find him, he is always sitting in the same spot.
...Ah, looks like it was still too soon.
Having reached the point where I could be apart from him within the same room, I moved to the next stage. Thinking I needed to be able to act separately from Leonardo, I came to the study to get a book while leaving Leonardo in the living room. But when I turned around and could not see Leonardo, I felt a strange sense of panic. Even though Salisa had come with me, so I was not alone, just not having Leonardo there made it feel hard to breathe. Still, going back to the living room without even getting the book would be too embarrassing, so I forced myself through and achieved my goal. On the way back with the book I had come for, I barely managed not to break into a run, but I think it was half race-walk.
"Tina, welcome back. You managed to go on your own."
Leonardo patted my head, saying "Good girl, good girl," but the scene was hardly dignified. I had managed to race-walk back to the living room where Leonardo was, but then I tossed all my recent efforts, along with the book, carelessly onto the lounge chair, plopped my bottom down on the carpet, and hugged Leonardo's legs. Whether it was progress or regression that I did not cling to his side while sitting on the lounge chair was a mystery.
And at that terrible timing, Alfred arrived at the residence.
"I had heard reports that Christina has been working hard lately to become independent from her brother..."
"If you want to laugh, go ahead. I got a little greedy and went to the study alone, and this is the result."
I had been reporting my progress in my efforts to free Leonardo sooner, but today was this mess. I thought I had finally managed to be apart a little, but I got greedy and tried separate actions, and I was back to being a clingy bug again. If only I could have pulled myself together before Alfred arrived, but today there was no way I was letting go of Leonardo.
...But come to think of it?
Something is strange, I thought, as I listened to the conversation exchanged above my head between Leonardo and Alfred. Alfred had always been a friendly prince, but Leonardo should not have been this familiar with him. There was supposed to be a line drawn between a prince and a knight. I did not think they had talked to each other like friends. Yet above my head, they were exchanging words as casually as if Leonardo was talking to Alf.
...And come to think of it, is it not strange that Alfred-sama is the one bringing documents addressed to Leonardo-san?
The handover between Rannvald and Leonardo was finished, but Leonardo still had not been able to show his face at the fortress. The reason was that I was clinging to Leonardo and could not go outside myself. As a result, Rannvald was still going to the fortress in Leonardo's place. If you thought about it, that was strange too. I could not quite believe that Rannvald, with his penchant for running away, was faithfully working at the fortress because Leonardo had asked him to.
...I wonder if he is just preparing the groundwork for another escape?
Maybe he is pretending to work hard to lull the silver-white knights assigned to watch him into carelessness. I thought that too, but when I see his delighted face every time Leonardo welcomes him back from the fortress, I am not so sure. Rannvald, who apparently is actually Teo's father, has an oddly strong desire to fuss over Leonardo.
...Is it because Leo and Teo differ by just one letter?
Or maybe Leonardo just emits some strange pheromone that affects the royalty of the Ivizia Kingdom. The former king (Ethelbert) and the current king (Christoph) both like Leonardo way too much. I hear Alfred's two younger sisters were also completely captivated by Leonardo, so maybe Alfred and Felicia have some resistance.
...Come to think of it, I have not heard any rumors about Alfred-sama's eldest sister.
Christoph's queen Evelina has given birth to five children. Among Christoph's children, the fifth through eleventh are Evelina's children. The sixth princess is Felicia, and the seventh and eighth are Alfred's younger sisters, but I have truly never heard any rumors about the fifth princess.
"However, if you cannot go outside the residence, then that is convenient in its own way."
...Huh?
Sensing that the topic had shifted to me, I lifted my head. I looked between Leonardo and Alfred's faces, then gazed into Alfred's blue eyes, the one who had brought up the subject.
"How is it convenient?"
"It means security will be easier for a while, since Christina will not be walking about."
"That did not sound like the only meaning to me..."
Something is off, I thought, staring intently into Alfred's eyes, but there was no further answer. When asked how I had been spending my time lately, I replied that I was trying not to interfere with Leonardo's work. Things like reading books I had brought from the study, or working on creating an Erath translation from a transcription of Saint Yuuta Hiraga's research materials.
"...Christina is supposed to have our blood in her, you know."
Alfred, who had seen a father who never shirked his official duties but put way too much effort into play, a predecessor grandfather the same way, and an uncle who tried to run away at every opportunity, tilted his head at my work output. He found it strange that I, who supposedly had royal blood mixed in, did work that needed to be done before being told.
"It is necessary work that involves people's lives. It is better to get it done early."
"That is true, but..."
"For my part, I would rather you exercise a little and regain your muscle strength than translate research materials."
I thought it would be better to prioritize the translation of the research materials, but from Leonardo's perspective, building stamina and muscle strength seemed to come first. My meal portions were gradually increasing, but my muscle strength was not coming back at all, he noted, examining the muscles in my arm.
...Well, my "exercise" is just walking around the residence clinging to Leonardo-san, or carrying a book.
I had not done any bobbin lace since coming back, thinking the sound of rolling bobbins might disturb Leonardo's work. As for the heaviest thing I carried, it was still books, I suppose. I was deliberately carrying them myself now as part of my physical training, but originally that would have been a maid's job, someone like Salisa.
If Leonardo wanted it, I had them bring the step stool I sometimes used in the kitchen into the living room. Since I still could not act separately from Leonardo, for me to exercise, I would either have to take Leonardo with me or do it in the living room. Thinking about it, what came to mind was step stool stepping exercise. It was a simple exercise that did not take up much space and promised decent results.
"...Can you really build muscle strength with movements like that?"
"For building muscle for diet and health, it is a classic among classics."
I thought I would try five minutes on each leg to start, but I could not even last two minutes. Seeing me immediately out of breath and collapsing onto the lounge chair, Leonardo seemed shocked at how little stamina I had. He said it did not look like such intense exercise.
Leonardo easily continued the step exercise for ten minutes without any trouble, and then Alfred did the same amount on the step stool. It was a little surprising that Alfred, a prince, could do ten minutes of step exercise without getting out of breath, even if Leonardo being a knight was a given. Maybe it was because this world did not have elevators yet. At least, the royal castle of the Ivizia Kingdom did not. Compared to modern Japanese people for whom step exercises were effective, perhaps it was not as effective for Leonardo and the others who normally went up and down stairs on foot.
...Found a comrade.
The step exercise that showed no effect on Leonardo or Alfred caused Rannvald to collapse after five minutes when I lured him into trying it after he returned from the fortress. It really came down to whether one normally moved their body or not, I suppose. Leonardo the knight could not feel any effect, while it was immediately effective on me and Rannvald, who barely moved at all. The next day, when Rannvald and I both complained of muscle soreness, Leonardo acknowledged the usefulness of the step exercise, though not entirely convinced. At the very least, it seemed to be effective for people like me and Rannvald who lacked exercise.
"So, I made a schedule."
I presented Leonardo with my daily schedule, which I had written on a writing board at the breakfast table. Leonardo had told me to exercise, not just do translation work. I intended to incorporate his wishes while spending my time indoors.
"...Tina, it is good that you are planning to alternate between translation work and exercise, but... there is no break time in this."
"Huh? I exercise during breaks from translation work, and do translation work during breaks from exercise."
When I puffed out my thin chest, insisting I had given the break times proper thought, Rannvald took the writing board from Leonardo and began massaging his temples, muttering, "So this is the corporate slave spirit from the Japanese legends..." Apparently, the Japanese reincarnator predecessors had left words like 'corporate slave' in this land.
"I do not think this counts as taking breaks."
"But I think it makes for a good change of pace. Alternating desk work and exercise."
In the first place, translation work did not really feel like work to me, and exercise was just building stamina for myself. I could not see why I would need rest breaks between them. If anything, it was just an extension of hobby-like work or exercise for my own benefit. Setting aside specific break time felt strange.
"...Salisa, insert appropriate break times into this schedule."
"As you wish."
It seemed they had decided arguing with me was pointless. The writing board passed through me into Salisa's hands, and the expression on Salisa's face vanished as she checked its contents. Apparently, Salisa was also dissatisfied with the schedule I had made.
Under Salisa's supervision, my schedule underwent an astonishing transformation into a generously relaxed plan. I had thought she would just insert break times, but she had also set aside time in the morning and afternoon to play with the Black Dog (Kokumaro). A snack break had already been planned to address my small meal portions by increasing frequency, but she had even included a nap time.
"I understand having snack time, but a nap... I do not think that is fitting for a fifteen-year-old adult's lifestyle."
This is no different from a child, I thought, voicing my objection to the schedule that now seemed to have too many breaks. A nap might be important for a single-digit-age child, but regardless of my physique, I was technically at an age counted as an adult. I could have fewer breaks. A nap was definitely overdoing it. I thought it was overdoing it, but Leonardo seemed to have a different opinion.
"Even if you are fifteen, Tina, you have a small body, and right now you are practically half an invalid."
Do not be greedy and carefully regain your strength, he nodded contentedly, looking at Salisa's revised schedule. It was overprotective, I thought, but if my guardian (Leonardo) felt at ease with this schedule, then maybe a life with naps was not so bad. The goal was to regain my stamina and muscle strength. I did not want to push myself, end up bedridden, and lose what little stamina and muscle I had left.
"Alf, want to try this (step stool exercise)? Let's start with ten minutes."
"...This is... quite... huh?"
And then, the next day
"...!!" (Voiceless muscle pain)
Will fix typos and errors at a later date. Something is wrong... I was supposed to go until the end of winter, but where did it derail...