70 - Side Story: Leonardo's Perspective - The Festival of Shame and Its Aftermath, 1
It was after I returned to the fortress that I received the report that Tina had come back from the night festival alone. Besides the gatekeeper's report, the same report had come from the knights stationed at key points in the streets for security. At first I was surprised, but since the report of her safe return had come first, I was not that thrown off.
...Why did she come back alone? I assigned an adult (Kaya) to her, did I not?
I did not know what had happened to lead to this situation, but if it was true, I would have to scold Tina and also wanted to confirm she was safe. Leaving the fortress for personal matters was not commendable, but there was also a report that Tina had been acting strangely. Today of all days, I bent public and private boundaries and headed to the mansion, even if it was outside my scheduled time.
...A tutor ditching her student in the night town to join a party? That cannot be right. No matter how you look at it!?
My little sister is adorable, but as her guardian, I have to scold her when she deserves it. Prepared to be hated by Tina, I scolded her for walking home alone at night, but instead, Tina got angry at me. It was a kind of anger I had never seen from her before. Right after I had stated my business, she was calm, but after taking a deep breath, she moved her chair over next to me. And then, just as I thought she was standing up on her chair, she started swinging a cushion with all her might. Swinging the cushion with her cute little arms, Tina shouted with all her strength, "Leonyaldo-sama, you idiot!" Honestly, the cushion hits themselves did not hurt at all, but Tina's words did. She had thrown her anger at me with her whole being. Tina, who had never once complained even when I treated her in ways that felt like far more than a little neglect, had shouted and flailed her arms and legs in anger, though she did not cry.
...She must have been really fed up.
Tina insisted the one at fault was not her, but Kaya, whom I had assigned as her minder. And when I looked back at Kaya's words and actions as told from Tina's perspective, she was right. Tina herself understood perfectly well that a child walking alone at night was dangerous. She understood, but because the babysitter I had assigned had abandoned her job, she had been forced into that situation.
...Maybe I should have praised her for making it home safely.
After her outburst, Tina seemed refreshed, and before I knew it, she was asleep in my arms. When I carried her to her room on the third floor, she woke up once, climbed onto the bed, and hugged the leg of the bear plushie. The bear plushie that Tina had named "Jinbei" was her recent favorite. Looking at Tina, who had fallen asleep clutching Jinbei's leg, I could tell she relied on Jinbei more than me. It stung a little, but since I had not properly listened to what Tina said, maybe it could not be helped that my trust rating was lower than a plushie that could not talk.
When I returned to my room on the second floor, I called for Bart and Tabitha. Normally, servants do not gossip about others where their master can hear, but this time I needed to hear about recent goings-on at the mansion as a report. I no longer doubted Tina's words. A child who was usually well-behaved and did not trouble me had pleaded her innocence with her whole being like that. The one to doubt was Kaya's words.
"...No matter how small. Tell me how things have been at the mansion since the tutor I hired started coming."
When I spoke from my chair, it was Tabitha who spoke first. Tabitha and Bart divided the mansion's work between them as needed, but since Tabitha was a woman, she often took care of Tina as well. Which meant she naturally saw more of Kaya's true nature than Bart did.
"The tutor came every two days as scheduled for only the first week. After that it became every three days, then every four, and recently she has only shown her face at Tina-sama's side once a week. With things this way, no proper lessons have been held either."
It was almost no different from what Tina had said. It was just that Tabitha's report was a little more detailed, perhaps because as a fellow servant she had intentionally committed things to memory.
"I have also been observing the lesson content, and having Tina-sama learn such rude manners would not be in her best interest."
In front of me, she had maintained an impeccable posture and demeanor as advertised, but it seemed different where I could not see. The lesson content Tabitha described was absolutely not something I could let Tina learn. If Tina grew up to be the kind of person the tutor was teaching her to be, it would be more than just failing to face Saromon with any decency. I had wanted her to learn manners and etiquette from a young age so that when the time came to return Tina to her relatives as a noble's daughter, she would not struggle. But with Kaya as her teacher, it seemed the exact opposite effect would result.
Faced with the reality of the tutor that made me want to hold my head, next it was Bart who told me what he had seen from his perspective.
"Up to the point of her showing her face every two days, Tabitha and I saw the same, but conversely, I spotted Kaya on days when there were no lessons too. I had just seen the young lady heading toward the back gate beforehand, so there is no mistake. Please confirm with the gatekeeper as well."
Tabitha had been searching all over the mansion for her hair ornament the day after she had seen Kaya on a non-lesson day, apparently. As long-serving staff at the mansion, both of them grasped the mansion's affairs remarkably well.
...Wanting them to have reported this sooner is my own negligence, is it not.
Servants are loyal to their master, but precisely because of that, they do not overstep their bounds to offer opinions to the master. If asked, they answer what they are asked about, but unless asked, they do not bring servants' scandals to the master's ears. To do so would be to point out from the servant's side that it was the master's failure for hiring a problematic employee.
With Bart's report, this time I truly held my head in my hands and dismissed the two of them. I had thought letting Tina see the night festival would be nice since it was a special festival, but there was no doubt it had not become a good memory for her.
Tina was important, but to be able to dote on her without reservations, I had to finish my work first. When I returned to the fortress, worrying about Tina sleeping on the third floor, Alf was already in my office. Sitting in the chair attached to my desk as if it were his own, Alf smiled and said, "You have become quite a handsome man," as soon as he saw my face.
"...What are you talking about?"
"You did not notice?"
I peered into the mirror he handed me with a wry smile and furrowed my brow. Until he pointed it out, I had not noticed at all, but my face was covered in small scratches. Red and weltered, those were unmistakably marks from Tina's little nails.
"You have gotten along surprisingly well. To have scratches like that put on you."
"Tina and I have gotten along from the start, you know?"
"Only you think that."
Squinting to make a face like he was mocking me, Alf shrugged his shoulders slightly.
"Normal children do not speak to family members with 'desu' or 'masu,' you know."
Pointed out like that by Alf, I realized it for the first time. Tina basically tried to use polite speech, with 'desu' and 'masu.' She was like that with everyone, so I had thought it was just her personality, but looking back, I felt like she had spoken a bit more childishly with her actual father, Saromon. Besides, even if it was 'with everyone,' the adults around Tina were all strangers she had only met two or three months ago. It would not be strange if she could not use casual speech.
"...I had absolutely no trust from Tina at all, did I."
A fact I was learning for the first time. It was a mild shock.
"I do not think it is 'absolutely nothing'... but well, I suppose she at least felt comfortable enough with you to resort to violence?"
If she did not trust you at all, she would not even resort to violence. She would just resign herself to thinking 'this is the kind of person he is,' and passively go along with things. Regardless of the method, the fact that she gave a reaction at all meant there was still hope.
"Or it could simply be that Tina just could not take it anymore."
"...If you are trying to encourage me, follow through to the end."
"I will be on Tina's side, but I do not intend to coddle you."
Your bad luck with women never improves, does it, Alf said, rolling up a bundle of papers and lightly tapping my head with it. If he said I had bad luck with women, I could not deny it. Back when I was in the capital, and now with Kaya, in a sense I had sown the seeds myself.
"So, what made that child angry enough to leave scratch marks on your face?"
"...I told you a while back that I had hired a tutor, right? It is about that."
"Ah, that tutor named Kaya, huh. ...Huh? You are only just now realizing she was off?"
You are far too dense, Alf said, this time holding his own head.
"You are holding your head. Does that mean you noticed?"
"I looked into it right after Tina consulted me."
Saying that, Alf straightened out the bundle of papers he had just rolled up. From the way he idly played with the bundle, the results of his investigation were probably written on them.
"...If you thought something was off, you should have told me."
"I would rather not hear that from the man who did not take her seriously even though he said Tina came to consult him before me."
Originally, as her guardian, I should have dealt with it before Alf, who was an outsider. Tina had the sense for that too, and had told me about Kaya's conduct many times. It was just that I never imagined someone in the profession of tutor, a guide for others, would be so irresponsible as to not even keep scheduled appointments, let alone abandon coming to work without notice. As a result, I had brushed off Tina's words and ended up hurting her.
"Because you did not handle it properly, it looks like Tina took her own measures to protect herself."
I let my eyes fall on the bundle of papers Alf held out. On them were reports of Tina's actions yesterday, as seen from the perspective of the knights and soldiers. Tina had called out to the knights and soldiers standing on street corners, acting so that she would stay in people's memories. It would be effective even with ordinary people, but speaking to knights on security duty was surprisingly effective from a crime prevention standpoint. Once you exchange even a single word, you stay in their awareness, unconsciously watched over. And Tina was a small child. If a child was walking alone, even if adults did not go so far as to escort her, there would have been adults around who would watch over her until she was out of sight.
"If she called out to the knights standing on the streets, the correct choice would have been to rely on the Black Knights there."
"Maybe she did not think of relying on adults because the adult she was supposed to rely on (Leonardo) was not reliable?"
Alf's words pierced my chest. There were too many things that rang true.
"Along with the report on Tina's way home, there is also a report on where Tina was before the rites."
"...I do not want to hear it, but tell me."
Recalling the portrait of that woman Kaya that Tina and Tabitha had painted, I already knew I would not get a good report. But I could not not hear it. Because I, in my foolishness, had believed in the label of 'tutor' and entrusted Tina to Kaya.
"It seems Kaya took Tina to look at stalls, then was at a tavern until the time of the rites."
"...She had a child with her, you know?"
"Give it up. She was never a decent woman from the start. Expecting sensible and reasonable behavior from her is what is wrong."
The reports that followed only made me want to cover my ears. Of all things, Kaya had brought Tina to a tavern, then abandoned her there while she started drinking with acquaintances. The tavern owner, taking pity on the situation, apparently sheltered Tina and protected her from the drunks. During the time they were at the tavern, Kaya spoke to Tina only twice: when they entered and when they left. She had truly just dragged her around without any care whatsoever.
"The investigation into Kaya herself is done too... want to see?"
"Are you not a bit too well-prepared?"
I read through the additional report handed to me and pressed my fingers between my brows. The information Alf had gathered on Kaya was of such a nature that what I had heard from Tina seemed cute in comparison.
Leonardo's brain is in a festival state of shame.
Corrections to typos and errors will be done another day.
I have corrected the typos and errors I found. I will skip the 3rd's update... is what I would like to say, but I will take 2-3 days off until this cold heals.