99 - The Beginning of Winter
After the noisy Alfred returned to the capital, the residence regained its former tranquility.
With Alfred and his three escorts gone, and four newly added Silver-White Knights, the total number should have increased by one, but it's quiet.
It shows just how much noise Alfred made all by himself.
In front of Alf, he would incessantly talk to Alf, and when Alf wasn't around, he would incessantly talk to the people around him about Alf.
...Thanks to him, I've become quite knowledgeable about Alf trivia.
Whether because she was the most idle person in the residence or because she was suspected of being a reincarnator and had been marked, Tina was frequently preyed upon by Alfred.
On days when she didn't go to Menhishumi Church, she was made to play Reversi with him endlessly as his conversation partner until Alf arrived.
...I don't want to see him again for a while.
Alf, who had been freed from Alfred, probably felt the same way.
The next day, he apparently slept the whole day from mental exhaustion.
...I've had enough of Alfred-sama, but the Silver-White Knights are pretty interesting.
The four knights who newly came to stay at the residence are basically stationed in the guest room as Jasper's watchers.
We don't cross paths unless I approach them, but when we do meet, they tell me all sorts of old stories about Leonardo.
As expected from Leonardo's former colleagues.
Some stories were even of the sort that, if Leonardo heard me listening, he'd come to separate me from the knights.
I plan to make good use of them someday.
Siegwald, who I'd guessed was the Vice Commander, apparently used to be the Commander of the Silver-White Knights when Leonardo was with them.
The Silver-White Knights, even more meritocratic than the Black Knights, also decide their Commander and Vice Commander by strength, it seems.
The current Commander is Timon, who apparently is Siegwald's son, surprisingly.
Siegwald was fatally short on height, but apparently he has a tall, beautiful wife, and perhaps thanks to that, Timon's height was average.
...So there was a future where Siegwald-sama could have been my adoptive father.
The relationship between Siegwald and Leonardo is good, and it seems there was once talk of Leonardo being taken in as his adopted son.
If that had gone through, I might be calling Siegwald my adoptive father now, which is strange to think about.
I'd heard beforehand that there had been various troubles with women in the capital, and apparently Leonardo got fed up with human relationships at that time and turned down the adoption offer too.
His refusal lumped that in with the troublesome women, but Siegwald didn't take it badly and still looks after Leonardo like his own son.
He even seemed concerned about his rumored little sister (me), wondering if Leonardo was having trouble handling me.
...I can see why Leonardo-san is liked by so many people. Like Aaron-sama.
This is another story Siegwald told me, but Aaron, who barely spoke to me during his stay, apparently became a knight chasing after Leonardo.
The whole rising from orphan to knight appeal apparently made Leonardo hugely popular with boys in the capital.
...Come to think of it, Teo was also well-behaved in front of Leonardo-san.
Apparently that was nervousness from having his idol right in front of him.
When I said he's now a Black Knight at Grenore Fortress, I was told his actual affiliation is still Silver-White Knight.
Alf too.
...Alf-san was also a Silver-White Knight, huh.
I didn't know that.
But that means, because of the woman who ensnared Leonardo, two promising young men left the Silver-White Knights.
Since they harmed knights entrusted with guarding royalty, I felt the woman should have received some kind of punishment too.
...But she did get punished, that woman.
Siegwald was evasive with his words, so I asked a different Silver-White Knight.
Leonardo, hugely popular with the boys in the capital, was also hugely popular as a son-in-law candidate, and naturally there were many nobles and others who wanted to claim him.
Among them, one girl stood out and actually succeeded in getting Leonardo interested in her, but that audacious girl got pregnant while Leonardo was out on the battlefield.
At first she spread the word that it was Leonardo's child, but there was no way Leonardo, who had never even touched a finger to the girl, could have gotten her pregnant, and later when the White Knight who turned out to be the real father of her child was revealed, he was pushed into a backwater post by the girl's father, and the girl was married off to that man, effectively disowned.
...Whoa. Leonardo-san's luck with women is god-awful.
Whether he has no eye for women or just attracts weird ones, the more I hear, the more pitiful it gets.
...Huh? But if she got pregnant with another man's child and married that man, isn't that not really a punishment?
From the perspective of the woman who betrayed Leonardo, she got to marry the man she'd shifted her affections to, so it was actually ideal for her, wasn't it?
That's what I thought, but apparently for the woman, being disowned by her father itself is a severe punishment.
Born as the daughter of a high-ranking father, she had her status stripped away and was married off to a man with no hope of advancement.
As for the man who ended up having to take the woman as his wife, his path to promotion was cut off, and he was glared at by the woman's father, bringing him nothing but misfortune.
After all, she was the kind of woman who would sleep with another man and get pregnant while her lover was on the battlefield.
There's no guarantee the child foisted on him as his own is really his.
...Yeah, that's messy. No wonder he'd get sick of human relationships.
And so Leonardo had his battle achievements recognized and, as a reward, obtained a measure of freedom.
In the form of leaving the capital for a while as a Black Knight.
...I think I kind of understand why the higher-ups don't get wary even when Leonardo-san has so much power concentrated on him.
I don't know the status of the woman's father, but he's probably a person with considerable influence.
Even if he didn't end up making Leonardo his son-in-law, that person is protecting Leonardo.
When the knight concluded the conversation saying it might be about time for Leonardo to return to the capital, he stared intently at my face.
This probably means I'm supposed to subtly convey that to Leonardo.
...Don't expect a child like me to pass on those hints. I don't want to make him go anywhere near a place with such bad memories.
Recently, I've been truly feeling he's my real brother.
There's no way I'd willingly push my own big brother back to a place full of bad memories.
...But depending on the situation, we might end up moving to the capital.
First I left Mey Village, then I went to Aurelia's house, then came to Grenore city, and now I've been invited on a winter trip, and if Leonardo gets recalled we might move to the capital... it's a rather unsettled life.
Has Leonardo always lived like this?
When autumn ended and I stopped going to Menhishumi Church, the temperature dropped sharply.
Some days there's even a light flurry of snow.
When it gets this cold, I stop eating lunch by the back gate.
Even the walks around the garden I did for exercise have been reduced to just taking Kokumaro out.
...Thank goodness I decided not to go to Menhishumi Church in winter!
The coat Leonardo bought me is thick, lined with fur on the inside, and warm, but there's no better protection against the cold than not going out.
Leonardo's words that he earns enough that I don't need to worry about heating costs weren't lies, and the residence is always warm.
Determined to never let me catch a cold again, the heating in my room is especially well-prepared.
The fireplace is ready for immediate use, and a small wood-burning stove has also been brought in.
...But I spend most of the day in the living room anyway.
Since the residence's owner Leonardo made a rule that dogs can't go to the second floor, Kokumaro can't enter my room on the third floor.
So if I want to spend time warmly with Kokumaro, I have no choice but to stake out a spot in front of the living room fireplace.
Bored with studying using the writing board, I occasionally stroke Kokumaro's head curled up at my feet while staring blankly at the fire in the hearth.
Since the Memorial Service, I've been remembering things from Mey Village more often.
...Homesick, now of all times?
Really, now of all times.
When spring comes, it'll be a year since Leonardo took me in.
It'll also be a year since my parents died.
...Last winter, everyone was bedridden with Words Disease, and Father and the others would go out nursing, but I was locked inside the house told to stay put.
The disease started spreading through the village at the end of autumn.
Around the time of the Memorial Service, or maybe a little after.
...Last year I was totally fine playing alone in the house all day, you know?
This year, somehow I feel lonely.
This year, the puppy Leonardo gave me is at my feet.
Leonardo, Bart, and Tabitha are in the same residence, and staying here are Jasper and the Silver-White Knights too.
There are more people than when I lived with my parents, but somehow I can't bear the loneliness, so I catch Leonardo when he comes to check on me and make him sit on the long sofa.
Once I've made him sit on the sofa, he's mine.
After that, if I climb onto his lap, Leonardo has no choice but to stay sitting on the sofa until I get off his knees.
"What's wrong, Tina? Are you cold? You've gotten clingy all of a sudden now that winter's here."
Leonardo pulls me close with a wry smile, even though I've claimed his lap but don't particularly do anything.
It's a little stifling when he presses me close and strokes my head, but somehow it calms me down.
"Last winter, Father and Mother and Oban and the others were there, but this year it's strange that it's just me, deshu."
I can't help but find it strange that only I survived.
When I told him what I was vaguely feeling, he wrapped me in his arms.
My ear presses against Leonardo's chest, and I can hear his heartbeat.
"This year, Kokumaro and I are here. Alf comes at night too, and Tabitha and Bart are around."
"...That's true, deshu ne."
Not a single person who was around me when I lived in Mey Village is left, but I've met several people since leaving the village.
Among them too, several people are no longer in this world.
...I want to hide in the attic room.
That narrow room reminds me of the house in Mey Village and feels calming.
But I feel like not being able to enter it now is probably the right choice.
If I entered that narrow room now, I'd surely immerse myself in memories of my parents and never come out.
I feel that way.
In the end, having developed a terribly belated case of homesickness, I clung to Leonardo, needy for human company.
I just clung to him relentlessly.
When I followed him everywhere he went because I couldn't bear to be apart, Leonardo, worn down, gave up on doing his work in his own room and moved it to the living room.
I did feel a bit bad about it, but since he claims to be my older brother and I'm treated as his little sister, I've decided to forget about holding back as family for now.
Alf made a dumbfounded face at me in my duckling-like state, but when I replied with a straight face that it was to save on heating costs, he burst out laughing.
[Author's Note]
Just touching on Leonardo's luck with women a little brings up all that and that and it's pitiful, but I wonder if Tina will get involved with his luck with women.
He himself seems happily spending money on Tina, and she's a woman... well, a little girl, so it's fine...?
Once I reach 100 chapters, I'm going to take 2-3 days off from updating for the 100-chapter milestone and check the accumulated typos and errors... (famous last words)
I've corrected the typos and errors I found.