56 - Side Story - Leonardo's Perspective - Benefactor's Daughter 8
"In the end, why wath I made to tag along on Jean-Chack's shopping?"
When Tina greeted me in the entrance hall, I was a little happy, thinking she had been waiting for me to come home. But my light heart was immediately crushed by the follow-up question. Am I really the one who has to answer this question from Tina?
...I should have hit him one more time.
Looked up at by those innocent blue eyes, I feel an indescribable awkwardness. And it is all Jean-Jacques's fault. I pushed through and allowed him to go out, and he came back empty-handed. On top of that, Jean-Jacques has not fulfilled any of his responsibility to explain things to Tina.
...What should I say so that Tina will not be sad?
That is all I can think about, but no matter how much I think, I probably will not find an answer. What Jean-Jacques did is something any bereaved family member would get angry or sad about.
At a loss for an answer, I sat down on the lounge chair in the living room, and unusually, Tina climbed onto my lap on her own. This clingy little one. I want to honestly dote on her, thinking how cute she is, but somehow I feel like my escape route has been cut off. Tina on my lap looked up at me steadily with her blue eyes, waiting for an answer to come.
"...I told you that Jean-Jacques went to burn Mey Village, right?"
"I heard that."
"While he was burning the houses, Jean-Jacques apparently found stray dogs digging up graves in the cemetery. He said he chased the dogs away and reburied the graves..."
"That is a good thing, is it not?"
"If it was just reburying a dug-up grave, yes."
"It ith not?"
"After that, he apparently brought back a ring with a stone set in it that he found in the cemetery and sold it to a secondhand goods dealer in the city."
"...A ring?"
Tina tilted her head, making her soft black hair sway. It was an unbearably adorable gesture, but I put off adoring Tina's cuteness for later and carefully observed her condition. She blinked blankly for a moment, but eventually the question seemed to reach her, and confusion appeared on her face.
"The ring buried with Father... is that it?"
"Based on the characteristics Jean-Jacques described, I think it is the same ring."
Ah, she noticed after all, I thought painfully. Tina is a clever child. Even without explaining everything, once I said a little, she reached the answer on her own.
"Jean-Chack thold Father's ring..."
She blinked dazedly, and in an instant, the expression vanished from her face. I could not understand what inner conflict she was going through, but for a moment Tina's face crumpled and I thought she would start crying, but she immediately raised her eyebrows.
"Leonyaldo, pleathe punch Jean-Chack five or thix time for me."
Without crying, Tina furrowed her brow in a pout and pursed her lips. Relieved somehow, I stroked her little head. The occasional trembling of her blue eyes might be her holding back tears.
"...I already hit him."
Once in the quarantine ward before Tina came. Once when he returned from going out and reported that his mission was a failure. And on top of that, I hit him once more for the report that he could not explain things to Tina himself. It is not enough to meet the number Tina specified, but Alf also hit him, so it should be about right. When I puffed out my chest, telling her to leave it to me, Tina shook her head slightly.
"That wath your share, Leonyaldo. My share, pleathe do theparately."
"With a fist and full force, pleathe," Tina said, clenching her small fist. Despite the inappropriate situation, her adorable protest made a wry smile escape me.
"Got it. With a fist and full force."
I will knock a few of his teeth out. If I hit him with my full strength, his jawbone might break too, but since it is Tina's order, it can not be helped. Jean-Jacques should obediently offer up his jaw to calm Tina's anger.
"...He did rebury the grave, did he not?"
"That is what he said."
"Then I will let him off with two or thre hitth."
What he did is unforgivable, but since he also performed a good deed, she will consider a reduced sentence. It might not be zero-sum, but this is about the extent of punishment Tina can think of.
As we were talking, Bart came to call us, saying dinner was ready.
While eating dinner, Tina told me about what happened during the day. Tina had observed a lot about riding a horse-drawn carriage for the first time, the differences between the north and south shopping districts, and the differences in the clothes of the people walking there. She was telling me about things she had experienced that seemed fun, but today her words seemed a bit fewer. Occasionally she would let go of her fork and fall silent, so she was probably still bothered by what Jean-Jacques had done. Eventually her hand stopped completely and dropped onto her lap.
"Tina?"
"...Today, is it okay if I leave thome?"
"You do not have to force yourself to eat, but... that is unusual."
Basically, Tina eats everything she is served. Even with ingredients she dislikes, she would find her own ways to manage, eating them sandwiched with other things, or washing them down with water. For Tina to say she wanted to leave food on her own was truly rare.
"Tina-sama, excuse me for a moment."
Tabitha, noticing something was wrong, placed her hand on Tina's forehead. Then Tina closed her eyes in apparent bliss. Tabitha's hands, chilled from working with water, probably felt nice and cool.
"...She has a slight fever. Perhaps she is tired from going out to the city today."
"A fever... I would hate for it to be Wards Disease too. There might still be a pharmacist from the Sedovara Church at the fortress. I will go call one, so put Tina to bed in her room."
"Leave it to me. Come now, Tina-sama. Let us go rest in your room."
Refusing Tabitha's attempt to pick her up, Tina tried to walk on her own. But the moment she got down from the chair, her small body swayed dizzily. Tabitha caught her firmly, and Tina seemed to resign herself to being carried. I finished my dinner quickly and headed to the fortress.
The quarantine ward after lights-out was quiet. The pharmacists dispatched from the Sedovara Church also reduced in number at night. When I asked the guard stationed at the entrance to send word, the one who came out was Jasper, dressed in gray clothes. The Sedovara Church was easy to tell apart since the color of their clothes differed by role. White clothes were pharmacists, and gray clothes were scholars. I would have preferred a pharmacist since I wanted to ask for an examination of Tina, but it seemed it would not do to have not a single pharmacist left in the quarantine ward, so Jasper had come instead. There was a difference in the color of their clothes between pharmacists and scholars, but there was no difference in ability. Those who acquired the skills of a pharmacist became pharmacists of the Sedovara Church, and among them, those who devoted themselves to research like compounding medicines came to be called scholars. Both were still the same pharmacists.
...Though I am not happy that Tina has taken a liking to him, even if just a little.
I am not happy about it, but needs must. Tonight I had no choice but to rely on Jasper.
When I brought Jasper back to the residence, Tina was not in the room prepared for her on the third floor. Thinking it might be the case, I looked up the stairs leading to the attic, and Tabitha was coming down.
"You took her to the attic?"
"Tina-sama insisted..."
I had heard from Tina that it was too spacious and she could not relax, but I did not think she would hole up in the attic room even when she had a fever. Even though I had brought a pharmacist who was an acquaintance, it looked bad. Sure enough, when I glanced at Jasper, his brow was slightly furrowed.
"The lord of Grenore Fortress houses his sister in an attic room?"
"Her room is properly prepared on the third floor. Tina just says the narrow space helps her relax and wants to use the attic room."
As we talked like that and moved to the attic room, Jasper entered and slowly looked around the cleaned room. Then he seemed to reach his own understanding.
"This slightly grimy, cramped feeling probably reminds her of her home village and helps her relax."
Jasper nodded slightly and walked over to Tina, who was sleeping in the old bed.
"It is not Wards Disease, so do not worry."
After finishing his examination, Jasper spoke. Apparently the way the fever came on was different between Wards Disease and Tina's current condition. Wards Disease developed a high fever over several days, so it did not match Tina's symptoms of suddenly developing a fever from the evening.
"She has been coming to the quarantine ward almost every day, you know. It is probably overwork and... the shock of the ring story."
With that diagnosis to make her get nutrition and rest, Jasper returned to the fortress. I had Bart accompany him back.
"...Overwork, huh."
I brushed away the sweat-soaked hair stuck to Tina's forehead as she breathed painfully with a red face. Perhaps this cramped attic room was so reassuring that once she got into bed, Tina unreservedly let her condition worsen. If it was a private space where she could let her guard down, that might be something to celebrate, but it was a bit problematic when she was sick. In exchange for peace of mind, her guard dropped and the illness raged. Overwork was not an illness, but in terms of needing to rest her mind, it was probably the same.
...I let her do as she pleased since I could not be there for her.
I pushed her too hard, I thought. I should have given instructions like coming to the quarantine ward every other day, or making her rest every few days. It is important to rest properly sometimes. She looked so happy helping out every day that I felt like I had let it slide.
...And before I knew it, she had turned nine years old. I need to seriously arrange for a tutor soon.
Tina was no longer at an age where I could just leave her alone. Her body was small, so I ended up treating her like a toddler, but at nine years old, she was probably past the age where she should be sitting on a guardian's lap.
"...Mom..."
It must be delirium. Tina softly called out to her mother.
"Dad... wait, I will cat-ch... up..."
Apparently she was playing with her parents in her dream. Her brows were furrowed in pain, but her half-open lips smiled happily.
"...Leonyaldo... altho..."
Suddenly, my name mixed into Tina's delirium. It seemed I was recognized by Tina enough to be called in her delirium. The other day, I thought my attempt to grow closer to Tina had failed, but it felt ticklish to think she was gradually accepting me as her brother.
...I must absolutely not get too happy about Tina's attempts to get closer to me.
The other day, for the first time, Tina called me "Leonardo" without "-san." She sometimes called her father and brother "Dad" and "Big Brother," but when calling family, putting "-san" after the name was rare. Finally Tina had accepted me as family, and I got carried away. I was so delighted that I hugged her and rained kisses on her soft cheeks and forehead, and she hit me. She slapped my nose with all her might. The bright red flustered Tina was incredibly cute, but immediately the "-san" in "Leonyaldo-san" was restored with a strength that was practically shouting. I knew Tina was shy since her time at Aurelia's house, but I completely failed.
...Tina is shy, and easily embarrassed.
Even if Tina does something for me and I am happy about it, I have to express my joy in moderation. If I get too happy, Tina gets embarrassed and sulks.
...A little hard to handle, a little troublesome. But unbearably cute, and a bit of a tomboy. The charge entrusted to me by Saromon-sama.
My precious, precious little sister.
Typos and missing characters will be fixed later. This concludes Chapter 3.
I could not think of a chapter title, so I divided it into three chapters based on Tina's places of residence. Originally, these three chapters were supposed to be just one chapter. The Wards Disease storyline is finished for now. This brings us to about one-fifth of the whole story.
From Chapter 4 onward, more characters will appear, so I will take about 10 days off to recheck the plot. The next update will be on September 15th.
I have fixed the typos and missing characters I found.