467 - Mischievous Fairies and the Urgent Messenger
I told Leonardo not to call me "Christina" without permission, but if simply changing my name could prevent mischief from the spirits, there would be no easier countermeasure. I feel a bit ticklish in my backside, but it might be a good idea to steel myself and give it a try.
"...And so, I have decided to unify my name as 'Christina' for a trial period."
"There is no need to set a period. Age-wise, you have joined the ranks of adults, so you should just switch to 'Christina' permanently."
When Alf asked me back what I was dissatisfied with that made it a limited-time offer, I hesitated for a moment before answering. I am aware, in a way, that I am asserting something strange.
"...It is because when Leonardo-oniisama calls me 'Christina,' it feels strangely ticklish?"
I do not mind it when other people call me "Tina" or "Christina," but only when Leonardo does, it feels strangely uncomfortable. I think it is because I am not used to it, but I do not like the "Christina" that Leonardo calls. It might be my own version of a rebellious phase, believing that one should not force a change in how they are addressed. To me, "Tina" is my name, but to those around me, it is a nickname used when calling a child. Since it is a nickname, there is no need to force a change just because family members use it.
"...Is that only with Leonardo?"
"Yes. Even if other people call me 'Christina,' I do not feel anything."
"In other words, Leonardo is special to Christina."
"What are you saying? It is only natural that Leonardo-oniisama is in my special category. He occupies the prime real estate of my heart."
Speaking of relatives, there are Aristalf and Bertrand, but Leonardo is the only one I can call family. There is no way this is not special.
I declared this, puffing out my still-thin chest, wondering why he was bringing this up now. There is no room for doubt that Leonardo is special to me.
"Ah, yeah. I suppose so. To Christina, Leonardo was special from the start."
Alf's words leaked out along with a sigh, noting a denseness that prevented him from talking about others. I think he is referring to romantic feelings, but when I apply that to Leonardo, I cannot help but tilt my head. I love Leonardo very much, but that is because Leonardo is my family. As the head of the house, he is a father figure, and as a brother, Leonardo is undoubtedly my family. I do not understand the meaning of deliberately placing such a Leonardo in a position one or two ranks lower, as a lover or a member of the opposite sex I like in a romantic sense.
Leonardo is simply Leonardo. Just by being Leonardo, he holds the top position within me.
I could not imagine a man appearing in the future who I would feel more for than Leonardo, nor could I imagine the proportion Leonardo occupies in me decreasing because I got a lover or a husband. And there would be no lover or husband who would feel pleasant about this.
...I think the most harmonious conclusion would be for me to either not marry at all from the start, or to become Leonardo-san's bride.
There is no sign that Leonardo intends to find a bride himself, and there is no guarantee that such a bride and I would get along. In that case, I think I would be the one pushed out, but since I have no intention of yielding Leonardo to someone I do not like, this was something I did not need to consider from the start. I have no intention of entrusting Leonardo to any woman other than one I find favorable, and if it is a woman I get along with, I will not be pushed out. In the end, it is most harmonious for me to settle as Leonardo's bride.
In order to settle as Leonardo's bride, I prepare to thoroughly fill in the outer moat, which I feel is already filled from the start. Since Leonardo seems to value the relationship of brother and sister, I intend to be a good sister until I am twenty, as he declared. Between now and twenty, in five years... accurately, it will soon be four years... unless some cataclysm occurs and Leonardo brings home a good partner, my life plan is "Leonardo's bride." Even so, I take pride in being a cute sister who loves her big brother, so until I turn twenty, I intend to support Leonardo even if he struggles to make a lover.
...Well, in Leonardo-san's case, I think there is only a future where he is dumped by a lover because he prioritizes his sister too much, even if I do nothing, right?
Unaware that such wicked things are being thought of by his cute sister, Leonardo calls me "Christina" again today. To be honest, the way he calls me makes my hips feel tingly, and I feel like rolling around on the floor, but this is where a lady's poise shows. I responded with a lady's smile taught by Hermine. This is a limited-time "Christina" call as a countermeasure against spirits. There is no reason for me to swoon.
...Besides, if I look closely, Leonardo-san also gets a little nervous when he calls me "Christina," doesn't he?
Once I noticed that his nervous face is cute, it was over.
While there is confusion and shyness in being called "Christina," when I think that I can see Leonardo making a slightly cute face, I start to feel that this is not so bad.
...Yes, I love Leonardo-san too much.
We are a mutually loving brother-fool and sister-fool. I think we have a good balance, so this is probably fine for us.
...And, as for the "Christina" call, I guess it was ineffective as a spirit countermeasure?
I have been strictly using the "Christina" call for several days now, but the mischief by the spirits shows no sign of subsiding. The mysterious long-distance travel, like being flown to the detached palace in the royal capital, has not happened since then, but in the mansion, small mischiefs that can only be attributed to the hand of spirits have become frequent.
The first anomaly occurred on the night I returned from the detached palace. I have decided to bathe before going to bed, but colorful petals were floating in the bathtub filled with hot water. It was a sight I had only seen in photos of luxury hotels or as a production for filming in my previous life. Wondering who had created such a stylish production, I tilted my head at the unusual bath, and what I found while searching for the culprit was that no one had floated petals in the bathtub.
Then, where did these petals come from? The source of the petals was revealed the next morning. Flowers in the backyard garden were found with only their petals removed from several stems. Bart screamed at this. It is only natural. The maintenance of the backyard is mainly handled by Bart. If the flowers he grew with all his heart were ruthlessly ravaged, anyone, not just Bart, would scream.
And then, small anomalies that could only be considered mischief began to occur frequently in the lord's mansion. The flowers made of cloth decorating the ears of a giant teddy bear changed into real flowers, or the number of cutlery prepared in the dining room changed, and truly modest anomalies continued to happen.
"...Rather than spirits, does it feel like the mischief of fairies?"
"If it is harmless mischief, it is fine, though."
Basically, only Leonardo and I eat in the dining room, but sometimes cutlery for one more person increases before we know it. Whether by some coincidence or done intentionally, on those days, there are often visitors to the mansion, and the cutlery is used normally. And for some reason, only on these days, Salisa prepares extra food.
"If I recall, fairies were the lowest rank."
"Lowest rank..."
Realizing it seems more like fairies than spirits, I remembered the lessons at the Menhishumi Church. At the top are the Great God Abassitol and his wife, with twelve gods below them, and below them are their respective subordinate gods and spirits, and further below are the fairies, in terms of power dynamics. The situation where I am "kidnapped by spirits," which I encounter occasionally, involves moving distances. However, the mischief currently frequent in the mansion consists only of truly small mischiefs. Rather than thinking of it as the mischief of a spirit that carries a human far away, it feels more fitting to think of it as the mischief of a fairy.
"I see. I had never thought of spirits and fairies separately. ...Does that mean the large spirit we saw at Camille's place was a 'spirit,' and the small spirits are 'fairies'?"
"Saying you saw a spirit, Leonardo-oniisama has completely become a resident of the world of wonders, hasn't he?"
Since Leonardo seems to have something going on to the extent that he received some kind of warning from the God-King, he should probably be as cautious as I am regarding spirit-related matters. Spirits often help us, but they are not beings that absolutely never attack. I do not want to lose another single precious person. If it is a natural death, I have no choice but to give up, but separation due to murder or the mischief of spirits is out of the question.
"For now, I think the greatest mischief was the long-distance travel to the detached palace, and the smallest mischief is the position of the furniture in the dollhouse changing."
As expected, or how should I put it, the number of mischiefs is highest for the dollhouse decorating Enomena's pot. In particular, the small stuffed toy of a black dog moves its location frequently, so it seems to be quite liked by this mischievous fairy.
When Leonardo's birthday came at the end of spring, he was pleased when I gave him a shirt and sleepwear. Since Leonardo was greatly delighted by the gifts for the Spring Flower Festival and his birthday from his sister for the first time in two years, my mischievous spirit also rose up. I thought I should suppress the rising mischievous spirit, but I was defeated by Leonardo's sloppily grinning face. My mischievous spirit won against Leonardo's grinning face.
"...And so, the test period is almost over. From today, calling me 'Christina' is forbidden. Leonardo-oniisama, please call me 'Tina'."
"Let us get used to 'Christina' soon."
"Anyone other than Leonardo-oniisama is fine with 'Christina.' But I do not like it from Leonardo-oniisama. It feels like you are calling another woman's name toward me, and it makes me irritated."
In summary, when told "I do not like it when you call me that," Leonardo's expression froze in an obvious way, so I put in a bit of follow-up. When I told him that your sister is an extreme brother-complex and will get jealous if you call another woman's name in front of her, Leonardo seemed to recover his mood too much. Since it is like being told "I love you, Big Brother" by a cute sister, it cannot be helped that he grins.
"...Does Tina dislike 'Christina' that much?"
"Only Leonardo-oniisama is special. When I am called by a formal name, I somehow feel shy, maybe?"
It might be unavoidable to be called "Christina" in formal places as a treatment of an adult, but I believe my name is ultimately "Tina." I do not mind who else calls me "Christina," but I want to be called by my name, "Tina," by my family (Leonardo).
When I put the vaguely felt dissatisfactions into words one by one, Leonardo did not say "Let us switch to Christina" any further. He only said, "Let us switch when you get married," so I answered, "That is fine."
"...You nodded strangely obediently."
"Getting married is after I turn twenty. I think if I have that much time, I might be able to get used to it."
I gave this response to Leonardo with a nonchalant face, but I stuck out my tongue inwardly. As my ambition (plan), I intend to become Leonardo's bride in the future, so the day I "go" to be a bride will not come. If it comes, it will be the day I "become" a bride, or the day Leonardo "comes as a son-in-law."
In the afternoon after having this conversation, an urgent messenger from the royal capital arrived at the lord's mansion. Since I had predicted that people would eventually come from the royal capital, Tabitha and the others welcomed the urgent messenger without panic. Tabitha first gave water to the messenger, left the care of the horse to Bart, and used Mirshe to contact Leonardo who was at the fort. While Rannvald and Salisa were preparing the reception room, the messenger, who had taken a breath with water, tidied his appearance. Since I am counted as a lady for the time being, it is said that the messenger finds it difficult to show his face without tidying his appearance.
After waiting for Leonardo's return and leading the messenger to the reception room, the messenger first looked at my face intently. When I instinctively stared back intently, the messenger seemed to realize he had stared too much at a lady's face. He cleared his throat softly and straightened his posture.
...I know this person. If I recall, he is the Silver Knight person that Leonardo-san introduced to me in the royal capital, right?
First, I should be surprised that a Silver Knight is being used as an urgent messenger. Probably, he was selected as an urgent messenger because he is the most superior in terms of horsemanship or something.
"Excuse me. As a messenger for Lord Alfred, I have come to confirm the whereabouts of Lady Christina of Grenore."
"That is, how should I put it..."
I thanked the messenger from the bottom of my heart for the expected business, thinking, Thank you for your hard work. The sudden messenger is that. Alfred sent him to confirm the fact that I suddenly appeared at the detached palace. Since there are no telephones or cars in this world yet, urgent business inevitably becomes a job taking several days using messengers with horses and people.
"And so, um... has Lady Christina been to the royal capital recently?"
"I remember taking measurements for stuffed toys, eating cheesecake, and meeting Lord Alfred at the royal capital's detached palace in a dream."
"A dream? No, but..."
"I would also like to confirm something, would that be alright?"
Interrupting the words of the messenger who seemed unconvinced, I voiced what I wanted to confirm. Since a person has come all the way from the royal capital, it is better to make it clear whether eating cheesecake at the detached palace was a dream or a reality.
"Since Lord Alfred sent an urgent messenger, that dream was indeed not a dream, was it?"
"...I was sent as an urgent messenger for that confirmation."
This messenger was indeed chosen as an urgent messenger based on his horsemanship. Being a Silver Knight excellent in horsemanship with physical strength, it seems he crossed the journey from the royal capital to Grenore, which takes a month by carriage, in nine days by using relay horses and sometimes cutting back on sleep.
"This is a letter from Lord Alfred. I was instructed to hand it over if Lady Christina said she had come to the detached palace."
...How should I put this.
It is a letter for which I can only say, I am truly sorry. Since it is a letter brought by an urgent messenger, I checked the contents on the spot. When I hurriedly scanned the contents, it was a content that made me want to apologize with a prostration toward the royal capital.
"What did Lord Alfred say?"
"It is a letter of scolding, saying that if the spirit's mischief is severe, I should dispose of Enomena's pot."
Since he seemed curious about the contents, I handed the letter to Leonardo, saying, "Here." It is not content to be kept secret, so it should be fine. Rather, from the perspective of my management and protection, it should be a letter Alfred would want Leonardo to see as well.
"Lord Alfred thought that just because Tina appeared at the detached palace, it was because of Enomena's pot."
"Rather, I think there are no other culprits."
Wondering what to do, Leonardo returned the letter, and while putting it back in the envelope, I took a posture of resolute rejection. Kalisa's remains have already been buried in Enomena's pot. I could not pull out Enomena's sprout now.
"It also says to properly train and tame it, so disposing of Enomena's pot is out of the question."
I do not know how to negotiate with or train a spirit whose form cannot be seen and whose ability to communicate is unknown, but I suppose I have no choice but to do it. I have already tried changing my name to "Christina" as a countermeasure against spirit mischief. I think it is also an option to try other methods.
...You are asking too much, Lord Alfred!
Taming an opponent whose form cannot be seen is a request that is too much, but I am the one who will be most troubled if I cannot do this. And Leonardo is the one who will be most worried.
For now, I wrote a letter saying I would try my best to tame it and entrusted it to the messenger. The messenger, who had just arrived in Grenore, took a rest in the guest room for one night and then departed for the royal capital immediately the next day.
Furthermore, the reason the name charm did not work is a problem with the person. Since Leonardo thinks of his own name as "Leonardo," it was effective as a blindfold. Since Tina thinks of her own name as ultimately "Tina," it had no effect even if those around her called her "Christina."
Typos and omissions will be handled at a later date.