464 - Love Stories
While becoming a little worried about Dietfried's future, the tea party with Basilia came to an end. Although it was a distance that would take half a day to go upstream by boat and be even faster going downstream, I suggested she stay in a guest room, thinking she wouldn't make a hasty return, but it seemed she had already arranged for lodging. To be honest, if she had the idea of arranging lodging in advance, I wish she had said a word to me. Mainly for the sake of Tabitha and the others, who had hurriedly brought a full set of tables into the sunroom to prepare for the tea party upon the sudden arrival of a guest.
Since I still cannot go outside, I saw Basilia off at the entrance hall. I left it to Salisa to escort her to the carriage. After waiting in the entrance hall for a while, I heard the sound of the carriage carrying Basilia fading into the distance. After waiting a bit longer, Salisa returned to the entrance hall.
"...Salisa, what was it about the person you gave the embroidery to that attracted you?"
"Is this Basilia-sama's influence? It is rare for you to talk about such things, Young Lady."
Since the answer did not come immediately, I felt somehow that Salisa wanted to avoid this topic. Basilia had continued to brag about her love even if left alone, but Salisa seemed to be the opposite. Perhaps it is still an unrequited love.
...I wonder who it is? To not be swayed by my Salisa's advances.
Even from my perspective as a woman, Salisa is the owner of breasts that draw the eye. I don't think there is any man who dislikes breasts, but is there really a man who would not nod "yes" even with Salisa's huge breasts?
...I was wrong. In this world, it's also possible for a romantic partner to be of the same sex.
I had momentarily thought that Salisa's romantic partner would be a man, based on the sensibilities of my previous life, but the romantic partner is not necessarily of the opposite sex. Unlike my previous life, same-sex romance is rooted as a normal thing. If Salisa's partner is of the same sex, then Salisa's huge breasts, her strongest weapon, might be meaningless.
As I began to groan in thought, troubled by the possibility that the person she loves is of the same sex, Salisa smiled with a troubled face. She probably never imagined that I would become this serious and care about her partner. "It's a secret," she said, placing a finger to her lips with a mischievous smile I had seen for the first time. If there were a man who did not fall for this Salisa, I could only think that his sexual preference is for the same sex. Even from my perspective as a woman, it is a seductive smile that makes one likely to fall for Salisa.
"I liked that he could tell me and Kalisa apart at a glance."
Apparently, when Salisa arrived in Grenore, crossing paths with Kalisa, he had initially mistaken her for Kalisa and spoken to her. However, the partner seemed to have realized immediately that she was not Kalisa.
"His face when he apologized for mistaking me for someone else was so cute..."
Since she said "his face," it seems the partner is of the opposite sex. It seems this instant was when Salisa began to be conscious of that man.
The three sisters, who had been lumped together as triplets, tend to feel affection for people who can distinguish them individually. Just to be sure, I asked, and it turns out there are surprisingly few people who can tell the three sisters apart, including the master of Fort Mondays at the time they were picked up, Iridal who raised them, me, Ethelbert and his four attendants, and Dietfried. As for Leonardo, he gave up on distinguishing them from the start and called everyone "Alisa" whenever the three sisters were at Fort Mondays. The previous Kyuubee, who was restructured, was also one of those people. He seemed to understand the individual differences, but the faces and names just wouldn't match up.
...I was with them all day, so I could tell them apart immediately, though.
For now, I have learned one thing. Salisa's loved one is someone in Grenore. Since he mistook her for Kalisa and spoke to Salisa, who came to Grenore crossing paths with her, he must be someone within my sphere of activity. Since my sphere of activity is also Salisa's workplace.
...Which means, is the suspicious one the Black Knight at the gate?
Among the young men in the lord's mansion, the suspicious one is the Black Knight serving as the gatekeeper. Even if he's not young, if I include men of an age that barely matches Salisa, I might include Rannvald. If it's a man not currently in Grenore, there is the possibility of the Silver Knight, who for a long time had been guarding the research materials of the saint Yuta Hiraga in the lord's mansion. Either way, it has become possible to narrow down the person Salisa has her eye on.
When Leonardo returned home at night, I greeted him at the entrance hall, and Alf was with him tonight. Leonardo had apparently invited him to have dinner together, but he probably came to see how I was doing since I cannot go out. Alf's inside should be different, but he acts almost without any sense of incongruity compared to the previous Alf.
"Alf-san, what was your first love like?"
"First love? ...Hmm, I wonder?"
Wait, that's a strange reaction, I thought, stopping the spoon scooping the dessert mousse and looking up at Alf's face. There had been times before where stories judged as dangerous or not suitable for children to hear were glossed over, but it is a bit surprising that Alf would dodge a simple love story. I thought he would tell me a story about his first love casually, but Alf's reaction is a bit awkward. Rather than awkward, he seems to have started thinking deeply.
"Love... love, huh. I wonder? I have no memory of something like 'first love' that Tina wants to hear about..."
"Eh? You have no memory of it?"
Then what was that passionate feeling for Alf when he was acting as Alfred, I wondered, but he answered that that was something like life or a concept. For Alfred, Alf was, and for Alf, Alfred was, treated as a special separate category, something that cannot be compared with others.
Conversely, since they are in a position of being special to each other, Alfred loves Ariel, who became his wife, from the bottom of his heart, and even if there are times he prioritizes Alf over Ariel, it seems that is not cheating or anything. In the first place, since he treats them as beings of different dimensions, the very act of thinking of them on the same level is strange.
"I don't quite understand, but for now, I understand that Alf-san and Alfred-sama are in separate categories for each other. ...Then, for Alf-san, is Solana a wife in a separate stomach?"
"The part about making Solana a wife is something Alfred-sama is saying. I have no objection to welcoming her as a wife, but if you ask if I am in love...?"
It is rare for Alf to knit his brows and think deeply. I had only wanted to hear a first love story with a light heart, but surprisingly, it seems that love stories themselves did not click for Alf.
"Since Alfred-sama has firmly enclosed Solana and said she'll be Alf-san's wife, I thought for sure that Alf-san liked Solana."
As I said it, I tilted my head, thinking it was strange. According to Alf, the idea of making Solana Alf's wife seems to be Alfred's arbitrary decision. I cannot imagine Alfred doing something like pushing a partner who is not to Alf's liking or something that does not benefit Alf, but Alf's reaction is lackluster.
"If it's a matter of liking or disliking, I like her. There is no reason to dislike her. However, Solana is Solana, so..."
Oh? I blinked at the change in Alf's expression. His reaction is slow, but somehow Alf's expression is "different."
"I grew up in the detached palace as Alfred-sama's foster brother, so I've known Solana since shortly after we were born."
The meeting between Alf, who was raised in the detached palace as Alfred's foster brother, and Solana, who was also raised in the detached palace as the eighth princess's foster brother, was early. Since the first impression of the meeting was as babies, it seems Alf cannot shake the consciousness that Solana is always a baby. He has feelings of affection, as a cute younger sister figure, but he says he has no feelings of longing.
...No, no, Alf-san. Look in the mirror. A prime example of the eyes speaking as much as the mouth is right here in front of me.
He is probably remembering Solana as a baby from the flow of the conversation, but Alf's expression is soft, as if melting with sweetness. Although he is not the Alf who had a long relationship because he swapped with Alfred, it is an expression that even Alfred, acting as the previous Alf, had never shown. With an expression like this, there is no way he thinks of Solana as nothing more than a younger sister figure.
...Yes, I get it. Probably, Alf-san's first love was Solana, and the moment he fell in love was the first time he met baby Solana.
If he fell in love from the first meeting, he probably wouldn't fall in love again. If he recognized that as the normal state, he wouldn't consciously realize his first love again upon reaching puberty, and he might not even notice that he is in love now.
...In an unexpected place, an unexpected person was dense.
Alf, who until a moment ago had a face as if it were someone else's business while remembering Solana as a baby, also seems to have started thinking about his own marriage. I think the fact that Alfred is married and even has children is affecting his change of heart.
...I can't hear it. I can't hear anything. I can't hear a loud monologue like, "If I get married and have children right now, I can make my own child a Silver Knight and the guard for Alfred-sama's children."
Even if the insides are swapped, Alf is Alf. The previous Alfred's love for Alf, which is usually kept hidden, was still very much alive.
"...Is Tina not asking me?"
"If you want to talk, I'll listen to Big Brother Leonardo's first love story."
Leonardo cut in, seeing that the topic of Alf's first love had ended. Normally, he would be the brother asked first, but he probably finds it unpleasant that I wanted to hear Alf's first love story more than Leonardo's. It was amusing to see him acting somewhat restless, so I intentionally brushed him off coldly.
"My younger sister is cold to her brother."
"In Big Brother Leonardo's case, it's difficult whether it's okay to bring up love stories."
Leonardo has a past of being sold by his parents and becoming an orphan. If his first love was before puberty, it would be a story from when he was with his parents, and if it was after puberty, it could be a case where the partner was a princess who had children with another man and cancelled the engagement. To ask out of simple curiosity, there were too many landmines visible.
"My first love was a girl I saw at the Menhishumi Church."
"Ah, you're telling it after all."
I thought I had been considerate, but it seems Leonardo intends to talk about his first love. Since it was at the Menhishumi Church, it seems it's not a landmine story about the former princess.
"She was a girl as cute as a doll, held in her father's arms, who had come to visit the church."
"To come to the Menhishumi Church, she must have been seven years old or older, right? Was she still being carried by her father?"
"Tina, you were carried by me until you were nine, weren't you?"
"I feel like I was carried even at ten depending on the case, but in my case, my brother had excessive arm strength."
It is a fact that I was carried until the great age of ten because supply and demand matched. I cannot say for sure that I wasn't especially spoiled, but I'll say I wasn't. In short, it's a matter of feeling.
"Even so, I'm surprised that such a normal story came up. How old was Big Brother Leonardo at the time?"
"I should have been seven or eight, when I could attend the Menhishumi Church..."
I gave a light glare to Leonardo, who continued that it was before he was sold by his parents. I thought I had been considerate not to make him remember old things, but he doesn't seem to mind at all.
"...As I thought, isn't this a story that's better not to ask about casually?"
"Even so... I don't care about my parents anymore."
Leonardo says it's not something to be considerate about. He says he cares about his younger siblings, but since they are all at a reasonable age now, they should have built their own lives.
"...There is one thing I want to confirm."
I wondered which one it was, looked at Leonardo once, and then turned my gaze to Alf, who had entered the conversation. Alf, receiving the gaze of me and Leonardo, had a strangely serious face. It doesn't seem to be a trivial topic extending from the first love stories.
"Previously, there was a boy named Teo around Christina. Do you remember meeting Teo?"
"Teo?"
The reason Alf's phrasing is strange is probably because Alf and Alfred have swapped. In terms of knowledge, the name Teo, the older brother of Mirsche whom Leonardo bought, should be in his head, but this Alf should not have had an acquaintance with Teo.
"If I recall, on the day of the fortress tournament... while I was lining up at the main gate of the fortress, my hair was suddenly pulled from behind."
I remember that Bart, who was with me, gave Teo a knuckle sandwich when I screamed from having my hair pulled. Whether it was bad timing or just natural, since the location was the main gate of the fortress, the Black Knights present restrained Teo for the violence against me, the sister of the fortress master. And I believe I heard later that Teo was detained in the fortress for one night, not being dismissed as a child's prank.
...I remember surprisingly well.
Feeling nostalgic, the image of Teo passed through my mind as I was pulled into the memory. A mischievous boy with black hair and black eyes. He was by no means a beautiful boy, but I feel his features were not ugly either. Leonardo and the others apparently investigated his whereabouts after he was sold by his parents, but they were unable to track him down. If he is alive, he is one year younger than me, so he would be fourteen.
...Wait? Is Teo's birthday one day apart from Leonardo-san's?
The day after celebrating Leonardo's birthday, Teo had sulked and made things troublesome, saying it was unfair that I didn't celebrate his birthday. For some reason, Bertrand appeared at the Menhishumi Church that day, and through Bertrand's arrangement, we ended up celebrating Teo's birthday in the square with Nils and the others.
...That time was quite fun.
Teo was there, and Kalisa was there. Two people who now only exist in memories.
...Though there is a possibility that Teo is still alive somewhere.
There is a possibility, but we will probably never meet again. I live a life where I hardly leave the mansion, and Teo's whereabouts became unknown in the neighboring country. I ended up moving around the continent surprisingly much, being picked up from the royal capital or being kidnapped, but in this world where the transportation network is not that developed, people who travel or move are already rare to begin with. Teo, who was sold to a neighboring country, will probably not return to the Kingdom of Ivizia.
Imagining a fourteen-year-old Teo, his atmosphere somehow overlaps with Leonardo's. Leonardo has a large build, and Teo should have had a build larger than his age. He is not a beauty like Alfred, but Leonardo also has reasonably well-featured, spirited looks. Thinking about if Teo were alive, I remembered the fountain with the pot that was in the detached palace of the royal capital. I hear that the Leonardo who was the model for that fountain was seventeen at the time. Rather than overlapping with the current Leonardo, the Leonardo of that fountain should be closer to Teo's age.
"...No, that's wrong. The first time I met Teo was at the Menhishumi Church."
"Eh? Was that so?"
The thought that this is probably how Teo would be if he were alive is interrupted. Looking up at Leonardo, who interrupted my thoughts, Leonardo also had a thinking face.
"What do you mean 'was that so'... Tina was the one who said it. That during the tournament, it was probably that child from back then."
"Now that you mention it, I feel like I might have said something like that...?"
Recalling it further after being pointed out, I feel like I said such a thing. When I had just come to the city of Grenore, I had Leonardo take me to visit the Menhishumi Church to see what kind of place it was. At first, I was walking by myself, but halfway through I got tired and was carried by Leonardo. At that time, someone spoke to me from behind. Saying that being carried by my father was like being a baby.
...Well, Leonardo-san is not a father, but a brother.
I was smaller than I am now, and Leonardo had an old-looking face, so Teo probably thought I and Leonardo were parent and child. At that time, I was spoken to from behind. Looking from behind, my and Leonardo's hair are the same black, so it wouldn't be strange if we looked like parent and child.
"--If you look at it from Teo's perspective, doesn't that become the same as Leo's first love story?"
"Is that so?"
Rannvald, who felt the limit of improvements to the cardboard house decorating Enomena's potted plant, had remade it a bit more authentically. The house, which became a small dollhouse where the dolls made by me and Salisa could play, has too much presence to be decorated in a pot, but since the pot was too large to begin with, it's amazing that it fits if you say it fits.
The current Enomena potted plant has become like a small miniature garden.
In the center is the sprout of Enomena that is planned to bloom someday, and our dolls are decorated to protect the sprout, and the dollhouse made by Rannvald is decorated as the dolls' house. At first, it was a lonely pot with only one small Enomena sprout in a large pot, but it has become quite lively. Before I knew it, even a livestock shed and a well were added, so the dolls should be able to live comfortably.
"Leo seems to be aware that he was a child like Teo, but..."
While slightly adjusting the position of the dolls in the new house, I ruminated on Rannvald's words. Certainly, if you change the perspective to Teo, my meeting with Teo has many overlapping parts with Leonardo's first love story. Since Teo at that time thought Leonardo was my father, it would also apply to Leonardo's "girl as cute as a doll, held in her father's arms." Including the inside, it would have "unfortunate" attached to the head, but in this life, my parents gave me a cute face. I, who was nine years old at the time and had a smaller build than the age I was carried by Leonardo, must have been as cute as a doll.
"...But even if Big Brother Leonardo's story and the story from Teo's perspective overlap, what meaning does that have?"
"There might be no meaning... but it's curious."
"Eh? I'm not particularly curious."
What is it that the overlap between Leonardo's first love memory and my meeting with Teo means? The only thing that might make someone think something after hearing this is that Rannvald, who is Teo's father, becomes a little more knowledgeable about the son he has never seen. For me, it's nothing but a bad memory of being bullied by a boy.
"More than that, Vald-san, you could draw pictures too, right? Can you draw Bertrand-sama?"
"I've seen Bertrand a few times when I was at the royal castle... what is it? Do you want me to draw a portrait?"
"I don't want it. If I decorated my room with a face like that, I feel like I'd have nightmares in the middle of the night."
Since I feel like I'd have nightmares, I don't want to decorate my own room with Bertrand's portrait, but I was taught by Hermine before that drawing and giving a portrait of oneself or the other person is "acceptable" as a gift. Unfortunately, it's not in my memory, but it seems I was taken care of a bit by Bertrand while I was being kidnapped. It would be good to give Bertrand's portrait as a thank-you gift.
"...Therefore, please draw a life-sized sketch. I will add the colors with embroidery."
I can fulfill my obligation and kill my boredom. Thinking this is a good idea, I looked up at Rannvald, and Rannvald made an indescribably disgusted face.
"The rumored pink painting of five thousand gold coins that brought down the eighth princess."
"I won't ask what kind of rumors you've picked up, but please make it a normal standing posture. I had the sketch for Big Brother Leonardo's embroidery painting drawn on purpose for mischief, so I won't do that to Bertrand-sama."
As I continued, saying let's make it a brave figure that would serve as a charm against evil if decorated at the entrance, Rannvald also seemed to get a little motivated. He gave an active opinion, saying that if it's for the purpose of a charm against evil, let's make it the brave Bertrand of his prime.
I bet the statue of a naked Leonardo (17) holding a pot never thought the day would come when it would be mentioned other than as a joke.
Typos and omissions will be fixed at a later date.