79 - Nickname and Real Name
I had been waiting for Leonardo to return so I could report today's results, but even by dinner time, Leonardo did not come home. I wondered if this was just a late day for him and waited until I got sleepy, but in the end, Leonardo never came home.
...And here I'd managed to learn how to write my own name, too.
As an obligation of being taken care of, I'd wanted to report my academic progress, but if he wasn't coming home, there was nothing I could do. I left the writing board with my name written on it on the desk and reluctantly crawled into bed.
...Huh? There's something written on it.
When I woke up the next morning, the writing board I'd left on the desk had more letters on it.
Below the four letters spelling 'Tina', a slightly longer word was written.
...What is it? Did Leonardo-san write it in the middle of the night?
If Leonardo wrote it, then maybe this string of letters was Leonardo's name. Thinking that, I looked more carefully and noticed that the last four letters of the string were the same as my name.
...Could it be, this is my name?
When I was looking for things to bury with Father, one of the rings I found should have had my name engraved on it. I had stared at it back then too, but I couldn't remember the exact shape anymore. At the time I knew even fewer letters than I did now, so perhaps that couldn't be helped.
...Did Leonardo-san come home? Let's ask.
I got ready, picked up the writing board, and went down the stairs. When I peeked into the living room on the first floor, Leonardo was sitting on the couch, leisurely drinking coffee.
"Good mor-ning, Leonyaldo-san."
I said "welcome home" as I sat down next to him. Next to Leonardo smelled like good coffee. I didn't smell any sweat, so he must have already taken his morning bath as usual.
"Look at thish. I can write my own name now."
As I said this and showed him the writing board, his big hand ruffled my hair. When Leonardo ruffled my hair, he did it with such vigor that it made me a little dizzy, but I've gotten used to it now, so I'd miss it if he didn't.
"I saw it last night. You wrote it beautifully."
So it really was Leonardo who had invaded my room during the night and written that mysterious string of letters on my writing board. Ever since that first night, he always knocked before entering my room, so I must have been sleeping so soundly that I didn't even hear the knock.
"...What're these letters?"
I pointed at the word that had appeared while I was sleeping and promptly asked Leonardo about it. The word I'd thought might be Leonardo's name or my name turned out, as I'd suspected, to be my name.
"What I wrote below is Tina's name. The last four letters are the same, right? Tina is a nickname. All the documents use this name."
"So I've been called by my nickname all along."
As far as I could remember, I'd always been called 'Tina'. Not just by the people around me, but by my parents too. So I'd always thought my name was 'Tina', but it seemed 'Tina' was just a nickname, and my real name was a bit longer.
"...It's long."
When I counted the letters, 'Tina' which I'd always thought was my name was four letters, but my official name had nine letters. Unfortunately, among the letters I'd learned yesterday, only one was in it in total.
"...Noble names are long. Alf's is a nickname too, you know. His real name is Alfred."
...Huh?
Leonardo's voice was a little stiff. It was surprising that Alf's name, which I'd been calling so casually, was a nickname, but that alone shouldn't be reason for Leonardo to be tense.
...Hmm?
I understood that Alf's name was long, but I didn't understand how noble names being long connected to my real name being long. I didn't understand, but an uncomfortable sweat ran down my spine.
"Leonyaldo-san, why did we start talking about noble names being long?"
A prickling sense of foreboding came over me. I didn't want to hear it, and I was afraid to have it confirmed, but I also didn't want to leave it half-finished and keep worrying about it. When I looked up at Leonardo's face from below, trying to read his expression, he opened his mouth as if he himself found it hard to say.
"...I told you before that Saromon-sama saved me when I was a knight, didn't I?"
"I 'member. You said he shaved me from being wolf bait."
"At that time, the armor Saromon-sama was wearing was white."
I'd heard that knights in white armor were called White Knights, and that they were the children of nobles who became knights. Put simply, the fact that someone was a White Knight meant beyond doubt that they were the child of a noble family. Leonardo was saying that my father Saromon was a White Knight, and a noble.
"If Saromon-sama is a noble, then his daughter Tina is also... mmph!?"
I didn't let him finish the ominous words, stuffing a cushion over his mouth. I didn't like leaving things vague and unresolved, but I didn't want to hear unwelcome facts either.
...No, me being a noble or something, that's terrifying! What is this, what is this. Too horrible...!
When I think of nobles, I think of that. I know it's prejudice, but they're a mass of pride and vanity. They can live in luxury, but sometimes that comes with being up to their necks in debt. They get married off to nouveau riche families as payment for debts, have political marriages arranged among nobles, can't look down, can't even wash their own hands. They're a social class bound by mysterious rules.
...Don't tell me now that I was actually from a world like that!
Living in an unsanitary village was manageable once I got used to it, but I don't think I could ever get used to noble life.
...But I do understand now the real reason Leonardo-san was so insistent that I learn English before.
I heard back when I was at Aurelia's house that English was essential as a noble's education. Leonardo must have known that I, as Saromon's daughter, was a noble, and wanted me to learn English from an early age.
"Leonyaldo-san, there'sh shomethin' I want to confirm."
"...What is it?"
I removed the cushion I'd been holding over Leonardo's mouth and hugged it to my chest. I didn't want to become a noble, but to avoid that, I needed to confirm one thing.
"Before, you said the relatives didn't want me, and that you'd take care of me until I grow up. Do you shtill feel the same way?"
"Of course. I haven't changed."
Leonardo nodded firmly, saying I could rest assured he had no intention of letting me go even if I said I didn't want to stay. Maybe he was still holding a grudge about me saying I'd "become Alf-san's child" at the martial arts tournament.
"Then I'm the daughter of Saro from Meyu Village. I'm not the daughter of some noble named Saromon."
When I said I'd always be his child, so please don't look for relatives anymore, Leonardo tilted his head in puzzlement.
"...Normally people would be happy to hear they could become nobles."
"I'm sure shome people would, but I don't want to."
"If noble relatives took you in, you could live a life of luxury, you know? Pretty clothes, lots of delicious sweets."
I thought Leonardo had been reluctant to tell me I was a noble, but now he was advertising the good points of being one. Did this man want me to become a noble, or did he want to keep me as his little sister? Half-annoyed, I cut off Leonardo's sales pitch about how great being a noble was. The luxuries he was talking about were things I could enjoy even as Leonardo's sister.
"I'm already livin' way more luxuriously than I need at Leonyaldo'sh place."
As I said this, I got down from the couch and lightly spread the hem of my dress to show him. The dress, made with plenty of high-quality fabric that felt nice to the touch, was far too luxurious for a commoner's child. And not only did it use luxurious amounts of fabric, but Leonardo's custom order had also added a monstrous amount of lace and ribbons.
"I really don't wanna get anywhere near shcary nobles, shso pleash don't go lookin' for relatives anymore."
"If you're fine with that, Tina, then I won't, but..."
Leonardo looked away, hinting that stopping the search for relatives might end up being pointless.
"Eh? Why?"
"Jean-Jacques sold Saromon-sama's ring, didn't he? We still don't know where that ring ended up."
Leonardo said that if by some coincidence the sold ring found its way to Father's original family, the relatives might come seeking them out if they had business. If nobles actually came to them, they couldn't just play dumb and claim to know nothing about such a ring. They'd have to report everything, and would likely end up guiding them to Meyu Village, where Saromon had lived.
"...In that case, jush guide them to Meyu Village."
If they learned of Father's death there, that would be the end of it. If they wanted to know Father's whereabouts, that would fulfill the nobles' purpose. For them to have any business with me, the relatives would need to know that Father had a daughter, but that ring would be a clue to Father's whereabouts, not something that would reveal my existence. There were two rings. One had my name engraved on it, but the one Jean-Jacques had sold was the gold ring with the gem. There was no way a wooden ring would sell, so the chances of Jean-Jacques having taken it were low. And I had gone with Leonardo to the Meyu Village graveyard the other day. We found the box the rings had been kept in, but the wooden ring that should have been inside was gone. It was a wooden ring, so eventually it would decay and return to the earth. There was no need to worry that much.
"...So you're sure you want to stay as my child? You won't go back to being a noble?"
Leonardo's big hand enveloped mine, and he looked straight into my eyes. He seemed to be looking at me with an unnecessarily serious expression, and it felt ticklish.
"I don't wanna become a noble, sho I wanna be Leonyaldo'sh little shister."
When I answered without any hesitation, he pulled me into his big chest. It was a little hard to breathe. Leonardo, who had seemed reluctant to tell me that my long name was a noble's name, might have been intentionally avoiding this topic. I felt like Leonardo had known from the start that I was a noble's daughter. He knew, but he didn't want to let go of his suddenly-appeared little sister, so he kept quiet.
While eating the breakfast Tabitha had made for us, I gave my report on my first day at the Menhishumi Church. The lessons were surprisingly easy, and I felt I could keep up. A gentle boy named Nils had been assigned to help me. I felt like I could become friends with a cute girl named Mirshe. And that boy Leonardo had said wouldn't be around by autumn was there, and he'd pulled my hair again.
"...That boy, is it Teo? The one who was put in the cell at the martial arts tournament?"
"Yesh. Hish name ish Teo, but... Leonyaldo-san, you knew about Teo?"
"After the tournament, I received a report. It said the boy who suddenly pulled Tina's hair was restrained and put in a cell to encourage reflection."
Apparently he'd been too busy and left the boy in the cell overnight, but the next morning, Teo's mother had complained that her child hadn't come home, so his identity was discovered and he was sent home. Though they called it a cell, it was the punishment room that even I and Alf had been put in before. It was a much more comfortable place than the underground dungeon where Jean-Jacques had been kept. Even that little brat Teo seemed to have been shaken by being left overnight in the punishment room. Apparently he ran home the next morning trembling. Something about a female ghost appearing in the north wing at night.
...The north wing was the quarantine zone, so a lot of women did die there, but...?
The prostitutes infected with Wards disease, starting with Royne, were all cheerful women no matter how they felt inside. They weren't the type to come back as ghosts just because they died.
"If Teo gets too out of hand, I can do something about him, but..."
"Nilsh told me that, too. He shaid if I told my guardyan about Teo, it wouldn't jusht be a kidsh fight anymore."
I told him about the lecture that my words could, in a sense, be more powerful than violence. I was mad and wanted to vent, but I also made sure to stress that I didn't want Leonardo to use force to remove him.
"...Beshides, I don't jusht take it lyin' down. This time I kicked him and made him cry."
"Made him... cry? Teo's a boy, isn't he?! You made him cry?"
"Yesh. Inshtead of tattlin' to my guardyan, I fight back. Guide Anna approved it."
"Guide Anna? No, that can't be..."
"I didn't do anythin' Jean-Jacques taught me, sho thish ish shtill gentle treatment."
When I puffed out my flat chest and insisted he shouldn't worry, Leonardo finally pressed his hand to his temple. While rubbing his temple with his fingers, he asked about the methods Jean-Jacques had taught me.
"The methods Jean-Jacques taught you... what are they?"
"He told me to shtrip 'em naked and tie 'em to a tree!"
When I explained that it was supposed to break their pride and sense of shame and various other things, Leonardo made me promise never to actually do it.
"Jean-Jacques shaid it'sh important to hammer into their headsh and bodysh who'sh shstronger."
"You're too much of a tomboy, no matter how you look at it..."
"It'sh jushht shelf-defenshe."
After such a conversation, I went to the Menhishumi Church again the next day. At the Menhishumi Church, where Bart escorted me, another boy named Lusio had been assigned to me in addition to Nils. Unlike Nils, it was clear he was Teo countermeasures. Though Nils had already acquired basic knowledge, he'd brought his own writing board, presumably to teach me. But Lusio didn't have one. He sat behind my seat and seemed to be watching to make sure Teo didn't pull my hair.
"Hello, Tina big sister."
"Hello, Mirshe-chan."
Calling a friend with '-chan' felt kind of fresh. I'd only done that when I was very young in my past life, and it was a first in this life.
Mirshe's soft smile was so cute that I found myself smiling too.
...This cute little girl being Teo's sister has to be some kind of mistake.
I thought it was some kind of mistake, but Mirshe sat down next to me, and Teo tried to claim the seat next to her, which Lusio promptly moved to counter. Teo was grabbed by the scruff of his neck like a kitten and made to sit in the very center of the back row. In a classroom that was basically arranged by height, the back row seats were for adults who were tall, or rather, who had the leeway to learn. Even Teo would have no choice but to behave surrounded by adults. When adults came to the Menhishumi Church, they were serious about learning the basics. They had no mercy for children like Teo who made noise in class and disturbed other children.
...Teo should take this as a lesson and study properly.
Putting aside Tina's name in the story, as the author I wanted to have the older young man call her by a nickname in a spoiled tone, and I settled on Tina because the sound was cute.
As for why Tina thinks she was only ever called Tina even by her parents, it's probably that. When she was a baby and couldn't understand what she heard, they probably called her by her full name normally, but she could only make out 'Tina' and only responded to 'Tina', so her parents might have started calling her only 'Tina' as well.