87 - Side Story: Leonardo's Perspective My Little Sister 3
I'd been thinking about something since summer. There were only adults around Tina, and she basically spent her time alone. The adults around her looked after her and talked to her, but she'd surely want friends her own age too. Tina wasn't the type to make obvious claims like "I'm lonely," so I needed to observe her closely.
...Well, the tutor I hastily hired ended up being a complete disaster.
I don't even want to think about that terrible tutor (Kaya) anymore. When Tina fell asleep from exhaustion after her tantrum, I carried her to her room, but when she woke up, she was angrier than I'd ever seen her. I could tell she was awake and tried to enter her room, and I can still remember the energetic way she shouted in rejection, "I'm sleeping!" Still, her anger didn't seem to last very long. By dinner time, she was already worried about the scratch marks I'd gotten from her.
...Tina is such a kind child.
She'd bring out the mustard plaster right away, though. Since she'd never actually tried to apply it, that was probably her way of joking.
When autumn came, Tina finally started going to the Menhishumi Church. At the Menhishumi Church, Tina would be able to make friends her own age. That's what I thought, but on the very first day, she stirred up trouble. Apparently there was a boy who had pulled Tina's hair when we visited the Menhishumi Church in the summer, and had also played tricks on her at the martial arts tournament.
A report came from the Menhishumi Church that Tina had gotten into a fight with the boy and made him cry. As punishment, she was only able to attend half of the first day's lessons, but she came back having learned a few basic letters. Apparently she wrote her name on her writing board and walked around showing it off, not just to Bart and Tabitha who worked at the residence, but even to the gatekeepers at both the back gate and the main gate. By the time I came home after hearing this heartwarming report, it was already past Tina's bedtime. Bart told me that Tina had apparently wanted me to praise her too, and had waited in the entrance hall with her writing board until just before her bedtime.
...The letters were beautiful. She wrote them properly.
Tina, who was still using the attic room, was sleeping wrapped in a blanket on the old bed. On the desk that had been in the room since before, just like the bed, her writing board was placed with her name written on it. After looking down at the letters on the board that showed signs of being practiced many times, I thought for a moment and then added Tina's real name in chalk. Tina called herself "Tina," so I called her "Tina" too, but the name on the ring that Saromon had apparently engraved was a bit longer. It was part of a longer name common among nobles. "Tina" was a nickname. The name Tina wasn't her formal name.
...I'd have to talk to her properly soon.
That Tina was a noble's daughter. She herself didn't seem to have any idea that she might be a noble's daughter. She was eager to learn reading and writing, but showed a rejection reaction to English. Even setting aside whether it reached a practical level or not, English was one of the accomplishments of nobility. I tried recommending it using Aurelia as a reason once, but she still didn't seem keen on it. Her own reasoning was that she wanted to learn this country's letters first, so I couldn't force her too much.
The next morning, when Tina woke up, she appeared in the living room carrying her writing board. Sitting down beside me on the sofa, she proudly showed me her name written on the board.
"Look, pwease. I can write my own name now, deshu."
"I saw it yesterday, actually. The letters are beautiful."
Tina was so cute with her beaming smile that seemed to say "praise me, praise me," that I couldn't help but pat her head. Satisfied after being praised enough, Tina tilted the writing board so she could see the letters too.
"What are these letters, deshu?"
Asked about something I'd have to talk about someday, I hesitated for a moment. It was me who had written the name on the board for Tina to notice, but actually talking about it required a bit of courage.
"...What I wrote underneath is Tina's name."
When I explained that the "Tina" she normally used was a nickname, and that documents all used her formal name, Tina murmured, "It's long, deshu ne." Tina didn't have the knowledge that long names mainly indicated nobility. She simply gave her opinion that it was a long name, and oddly enough, she didn't ask how to read it.
Using the flow of conversation, I told her what I hadn't been able to say before. That Saromon was a noble when I first met him, and that Tina, as Saromon's daughter, was also a noble. I thought that if she learned she was a noble, she'd say she wanted to become a noble, or to be taken to her relatives. But Tina's reaction was the complete opposite of what I imagined.
First, she shoved a cushion into my face to cover my mouth, acting to stop me from finishing my words. She must have realized quickly that doing that wouldn't change anything. Taking the cushion away from my face, she asked if what I'd said before still held, that I'd look after her until she came of age even if her relatives said they didn't want her. Since I didn't want to let go of Tina no matter what her relatives said, I answered that of course it was still the same. Then Tina said, "I don't want to become a noble" and "I want to stay as your little sister." I was so happy I hugged her until she started to resist.
If Tina had no intention of going to her relatives, then maybe I could give her the present I'd been thinking about for a while.
It seemed that Tina, who had started attending the Menhishumi Church, had made a cute friend named Mirshe. Mirshe, who was two years younger than Tina, apparently called her "Tina big sister" and adored her. The names coming out of Tina's mouth had also changed from Tabitha and Bart to Mirshe and the other children she'd met in the classroom. It felt a little lonely, but it should be a good change for Tina.
While savoring a slight sense of loneliness as I nodded along to Tina telling me about what happened in class, she suddenly started fidgeting shyly.
...If I said "Do you need the bathroom?" here, I'd get hit. I'd learned that much, at least.
I prided myself on finally being able to understand Tina's behavior. I wouldn't make such a basic mistake now. As I patiently waited for some kind of approach from Tina, she clenched her fist tightly once, then looked up at me with a determined expression.
"...Le, Leonyaldo Big Brother."
Called "Big Brother" in Tina's cute voice, my thoughts stopped for a moment. It was a way of addressing me I hadn't heard since she'd tried it just once when we first met. Tina was so cute, looking at me with a serious face, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment.
"Leo-nii? Leo-Big Brother...?"
She seemed to be trying different ways of saying it, but she tilted her head as if none of them felt quite right. Tina, shyly embarrassed but still calling me "Big Brother," was so adorable and made me so happy I wanted to shout. My little sister was just so cute.
...Hold it together...! Stay in control, my facial muscles...!
Tina was so lovely that I wanted to scoop her up and kiss her cheek right now, but I couldn't get too excited here. If I showered her with kisses in my joy, she'd get embarrassed and attack me. Getting my nose tapped with her little hand was surprisingly painful. And then she probably wouldn't call me "Big Brother" again until her mood improved after a while.
...Composure of an adult. With the composure of an adult, I'd calmly deal with Tina's approach...!
Suppressing the storm of flower petals raging inside me through sheer force of will on my facial muscles, I formed a smile that wasn't too unnatural. It was too painful having to put on a fake smile for my little sister (Tina), but I couldn't just let my emotions show here. I'd learned many times over that an embarrassed Tina would get sulky.
"...What's wrong, Tina? You've never called me 'Big Brother' before, have you?"
"Because Mirshe-chan calls me 'Tina big sister' and it makes me happy, so I tried calling you that."
I'd tried to change the subject to distract myself, and then the reason Tina had suddenly called me "Big Brother" was revealed so simply. It seemed she'd been inspired by Mirshe.
...Thank you for the positive influence on Tina!
The effect of sending her to the Menhishumi Church already showing results, I put strength into the corners of my mouth that wanted to curl into a grin. No, maybe it was okay to smile. Not being able to honestly be happy about something happy was surprisingly painful. My arms were already starting to tremble from holding back too much.
"...But Leonyaldo-san doesn't seem very happy, deshu, so I won't call you 'Big Brother' anymore."
Flashing a cute, shy smile, Tina casually drove a knife into my heart. I'd learned that getting too happy was bad, but it seemed this time it would've been fine to show my joy. I'd used all my strength to suppress my grinning face, but the result was completely the opposite.
"I-I am happy! I'm really happy, Tina!"
"Eh? You don't have to force yourself to be happy, deshu."
Saying "please don't worry about me," Tina ended the conversation. There was no getting through after that. No matter what I said, she'd take it as me "trying to be considerate," and it really seemed like she'd never call me "Big Brother" again.
...Was I supposed to show I was happy today!?
My previous learning was completely useless. Everything depended on Tina's mood.
...My little sister is way too hard to handle!!
Tina from Leonardo's perspective is cute. Just plain cute. Little girl is cute. The useless big brother gets pushed around again today.
Typos and errors, another time. I'll skip tomorrow's update. I'll check three chapters' worth of typos. Not good to let them pile up.
Typos and errors, I fixed the ones I found.