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Chapter 3: Leo gets kidnapped by a marquis couple.
Leo was confused. More so than that, he was embarrassed.
「Come on, by all means, please come sit. Now now, no need to be shy, come sit on this cushion! Fufu, see here, obaa-sama personally embroidered it, it’s the apple design of the Harkenberg marquis family. Fufu, ufufu, yes I’m your obaa-sama!」
Leo understood that with a flash and an explosion, he had been summoned to the academy.
「Here you go, some hot chocolate. I wonder if you like sweet things? Surely you do! Ufufu, dear — your okaa-sama also liked sweet things, she loved confections and bread. It’s hot so be careful, drink it slowly okay」
However, just who is this elder woman that’s been circling around me and talking to me since I was summoned. – Well obviously from the flow of the conversation, this is clearly Leena’s grandmother.
When he was summoned, he was vigorously tossed onto a stone floor, so Leo had been a little absent minded.
In the midst of that, while making a huge commotion, an elderly couple stuck close to Leo hugging him, bringing him a warm coat, taking his things and scooping him up with them like the wind before they started talking about something.
From the corner of his eye, he saw some confused people coming to check on the old couple – probably some academy officials – the old bearded gentleman had also stopped his loud thundering outburst in between his low shuddering voice. While Leo was still dumbfounded, he was placed in a carriage and soon arrived at the Harkenberg marquis household that could easily be mistaken as the royal palace.
(This house is huuge…)
While holding onto a delicate chinaware cup, he surveyed the sights in a daze.
There wasn’t even a trace of the harsh cold weather, signature to the Fall of the Weiz Empire, from the layered windows. The fireplace flame was crackling, the amount of fancy fabric seemed as though it could bury Leo up to his knees, and the walls were decorated here and there with various tasteful paintings and jewelry. Standing at attention in a completely orderly fashion, were the servants of the house.
(Oh man, that smells good)
Leo felt that he could smell the fragrance of gold wafting through the air.
「And so, our lovely cute guest, could we perhaps hear your name?」
Once he was asked by the glittering eyed older woman – Emilia it seems – Leo came back to his senses.
「…Uhmm, name. ……it’s. Leena」
Prior before, Leena had explained various complicated circumstances such as 「At any rate, they’ll only be allowed to meet for the night before the entrance ceremony,」 「It’s the relative of their missing daughter that they couldn’t find after all.」
However, it seems that they manage to get approval from the school to delay the entrance ceremony by a day.
(Also, it’s clear that they loved their daughter Claudia very much but, what’s with this.)
(Well, either way I’m going to be escaping soon anyway so, I probably shouldn’t get too close with them huh…)
While troubling over what he should do, Leo decided he should at least hide the truth about what happened for now.
Frankly, if it was explained that Claudia, their true daughter was still alive, the pair of people would instantly go search city. Leo did not want to hinder Leena’s family as they lived peacefully in the lower city.
「Oh my, Leena! So you’re Leena huh! What a lovely name you have~」
Due to the profanity curse, Leo could only awkwardly converse with them but, the two people did not seem to notice at all.
The madam Emilia clapped her hands together in utter delight. The old marquis also loosened his face while saying 「Leena……Mmh. Good.」 He seemed very happy to learn his grandchild’s name.
Feeling relieved, Leo gazed at the hot chocolate that he was handed.
(This smells amazing but, is this really chocolate?)
The chocolate that Leo knew appeared once a year, only at the spirit festival, it was a confectionary that looked like horse dung to Leo. From the smell you could tell it was sweet and it was surprisingly sturdy but melted in your mouth, due to the extravagance of it, everyone at the orphanage called it 「Choco-sama」 with respect.
(Somehow this seems a little loose. It can’t be, diarrhea……nonono that can’t be possible, calm down me)
Whether if it’s due to being surrounded by high class extravagant items or something else, for some time now Leo had been unable to calm down.
If he could, he’d get up and inspect each item one by one and if he could be permitted, he’d want to ask them to gift him a few of them. His fingertips throbbed. To soothe this impulse, Leo felt the need to start counting coins, which was his hidden pastime hobby.
(…hm?)
While dreaming about playing around with a copper coin in his mind, Leo suddenly noticed.
「…… !」
He quickly moved to check his chest area.
Not there.
Of course he’s not talking about his breasts.
His precious and important Karlheinz Raimund gold coin has disappeared from the string necklace.
「Kar-sama…… !」
Leo came over with a ghostly pale expression.
Frantically searching his memory, he thought that it’s likely to have been blasted away during the summoning.
Leo cursed himself for being too carelessly distracted by all the things around him and forgetting about his important possession that was lost without his knowledge.
While pondering and staring at his hot chocolate, when he suddenly cried out with a heartfelt voice 「Kaa-sama!」 – At least, that’s what the surrounding people thought anyway – Emilia and everyone else looked upon Leo with a surprised expression.
「What’s wrong, Leena.」
Bending over forward, Emilia gently peered forward. She turned towards her granddaughter who bore a pained expression that looked as if she could burst into tears at any moment, and tenderly spoke.
「My cute Leena, please be calm. That’s right, hot chocolate was also that child’s favorite as well. It probably reminded you of her didn’t it」
Looking up with a flustered expression, the young girl nodded as if she had understood something. And then, Emilia gently went down on one knee and put both her hands on the young girl’s shoulders.
「Please tell me, Leena. Claudia…… was she kind? She often smiled didn’t she?」
Leo tilted his head with a frown. Why did they suddenly started talking about Leena’s mother? He thought.
「I dun…… I don’t know. I’ve never heard about any of that before.」
It was a half answer as Leo didn’t know how the bakery’s hostess Claudia acted in her home.
「Is that so… Then, did your okaa-sama pass away when you were little?」
Leo tilted his head in puzzlement.
「I don’t know. From my memory, she wasn’t there anymore, my mom.」
If you asked Leo himself about his mother, he was found as a child in front of the orphanage with the umbilical cord still attached, so of course he would have no recollection of his mom.
(Oops, they aren’t asking about my mom, idiot)
Although Leo hadn’t yet caught up with the conversation, since Emilia suddenly started to shed a few tears, he threw away all the questions he was about to ask. He didn’t like seeing women cry.
「How pitiful……! You lived on all this time without even knowing her face, but at the very least you were able to inherit her looks…」
「Emilia. Don’t you think it’s a little discourteous to call a person pitiful right in front of them?」
For some reason the two people started to quarrel but the subject of the conversation himself, Leo, was still lost.
And then, having thought of something, Emilia wiped away her tears and smiled gently towards Leo.
「Oh I’m sorry, Leena. That’s right~ for a change of pace, why don’t we go take a look at the dresses? In order to find the one that suited you perfectly, I ordered a whole bunch!」
Once she clapped twice, all of the servants seemed to have come alive and – Leo shuddered internally – out of nowhere, a large quantity of dresses were laid out before them.
「Here look, if you wear this blue dress, I’m certain you’ll look just like a spirit of the ocean! Or perhaps this one will be more suiting? A golden cider color, I’m sure it’ll shine when contrasted with your black hair! And here, this pink one also, isn’t it feminine and beautiful? Very lovely!」
One by one Emilia pulled up a dress after another, like this, she’s just like a young girl is she not. It seems that she was looking for a present to give to Leo, he had understood that much. But his mind was not there at all.
(I have to hurry and go look for Kar-sama)
If it was blown away during the blast, he thought it had to be at the academy.
(The nobles probably wouldn’t really care about a crusty old gold coin laying around…No, a gold coin is a gold coin. They’ll definitely want it.)
After receiving it from someone a long time ago, he treasured it deeply and handled the gold coin with great care. Leo never worried about whether or not someone would be able it steal it from him even by chance.
Emilia pouted with a bit of displease seeing how even though it was a young girl, she didn’t have any interests in dresses and was fidgeting nervously.
「Come now, Leena. Let’s choose something good. How long are you going to wear those crude – no, I’m sorry, those light clothes, its cold you know? Fall in Weiz can be very chilly after all~ so let’s choose something nice and get changed shall we?」
「Weiz……Cold」
I guess that’s true, nodded Leo in his heart.
Accustomed to the old clothes provided at the orphanage, Leo had thought that even Leena’s current clothes were plenty warm. But going around to search for Kar-sama at the academy is a different story. For moving around at night, something warm, easy to move in, and hard to see in the dark would be nice.
Emilia smiled at Leo, who was now looking through all the dresses with a serious expression.
「Hey, aren’t the various colors pretty? It’s all yours! But hm, for today, how about something like this?」
Think that Leo would like it, Emilia nonchalantly brought out a pink dress.
However, Leo lowered his eyebrows and shook his head.
「It’s too, bright. More, black, or grey」
「I see……Why do you like such dark colors? Even though you look so adorable too」
Emilia moved to tightly hug her granddaughter but Leo pushed her away with both hands in a panic.
「No good,! It’ll get, dirty.」
Emilia was clearly wearing a very expensive dress.
If he carelessly got it dirty, the charges against him will be through the roof.
It is Leo disposition, for clothes and accessories, he liked keeping things that looked beautiful to be as clean and pretty as possible – But obviously, this is for in case of resale, he wouldn’t want to lower the value of an item for something so minor, such was his trait.
「Dity…? What are you talking about? Aah, the clothes you are wearing right now is a little dirty huh. Looks a little floury. But that’s why, you should pick a dress that you like!」
A little confused but still Emilia affectionately answers, Leo once again shook his head.
「I can’t. I’ll, get it dirty. Crouching, crawling, or kneeling.」
He had to look for lost property, moreover at night time as well. With only the moonlight as the light source, it’s obvious that he’ll need to be crawling on the ground.
「Crawling, Kneeling…? What are you saying? Why do you have to do something like that?」
「Kar-sama is, gone, it’s my fault. That’s why…」
Even though he had declared that he had to go search for something, for some reason, Emilia started to shed tears and hugged him tightly.
「Don’t say silly things! It’s your…it’s your fault you say!?」
「Mh…」
Unexpectedly, this old woman has a lot of physical strength. Not able to say anything, Leo wiggled about.
「Leena, Leena! Listen to me. It’s not your fault at all that your kaa-sama is gone. It’s all Flora…No. It’s our fault. You don’t have to feel any sense of responsibly for this at all!」
Saying that it’s her fault that his gold coin had gone missing, Leo became very flustered.
「Emilia-sama’s, fault?」
「That’s right, it’s all our fault. You are by no means, dirty at all!」
That means, it was Emilia that stole Leo’s important gold coin isn’t it?
「…..if so, Kar-sama, give back?」
(If you took it then, please give it back as soon as possible.)
Well, actually this family is super rich so, getting a brand new gold coin would be nice too, and perhaps even giving one or two more for your troubles, Leo thought.
While holding onto these wicked thoughts, Leo stared at Emilia, to which she only sadly shook her head.
「…I’m sorry. That’s, even something that we can’t do, no matter how hard we try.」
It seems that she had no indication of returning the gold coin.
Speaking of which, Leo had no memory of her taking away the coin from him in the first place, she had nothing that she could return to him.
(Even so, if you’re nobles then, can’t you at least give a single copper coin or something?)
‘Stingy’ mouthed Leo.
「But, Leena, your kaa-sama is always with you, you know. Right here –」
Saying that, Emilia softly put her hand on Leo’s chest.
Leo tilted his head in puzzlement.
(There’s nothing there, it’s the fact that I noticed that it’s gone is why I’ve been so impatient.)
Seeing her granddaughter’s innocent appearance, Emilia once again smiled bitterly.
「It must be hard for you right now. But, please remember. Kaa-sama, and us also, we’ll always be by your side –」
After gently giving Leo a kiss, she broke up the night by saying 「How about we rest up for today? 」
Every time Leo would try to hint that he wanted to go back to the academy, all he would get are gazes saying ‘I understand, I get it’ and then ignored him. How frustrating, he thought.
(…There’s no helping it, guess I’ll just go tomorrow instead.)
If he says that he dropped a gold coin, they’ll be alert for it. That might increase the likelihood that someone will try to steal his gold coin, Leo pondered. Leo decided that if he wanted to find it, he’d have to do it personally.
Fortunately, during the carriage ride he had heard that normally, no one would be allowed in that courtyard. Since they had been the last ones to leave that place, it should be fine to wait to tomorrow, Leo affirmed.
It’s really late, while extremely sleepy, Leo thought that he would definitely be oversleeping tomorrow.
(Money doesn’t know sleepiness. No, tomorrow, tomorrow –)
While lying on the lavishly covered lace embroidered bed, Leo counted some sheep and fell asleep.
***
「—Is that child’s asleep yet」
「Yes, after diving into the bed, she instantly fell asleep. …Children are like that. How nostalgic.」
For the sake of her granddaughter, Emilia had redecorated from the children’s room to the living room. While acknowledging the stern expression her husband had on his face, she quietly answered him.
「Dearie」
「Ah.」
The two of them had been married for 40 years now. They could understand each other’s intentions with just a simple exchange.
「Was I, mistaken all this time?」
Before long, the marquis uttered with a big sigh while stroking his moustache.
Emilia did not say anything.
「……When Claudia was wrapped up in the disaster, I thought if it was her she’d be able to brush it off like sparks on her body, and I wasn’t suspicious of her. Even when I heard the rumor that she had died, I half doubted it – I thought that if she had died from something of that degree, that it was dear’s destiny.」
The marquis was a man that gain fame through battle. His ideology was molded from the battlefield, even in his peaceful daily life, he carried the foundations that he built from battle with him every day. Knowing that as his wife, Emilia could do nothing but, be by his side and watch over him.
「However today, that child – once I saw Leena, I saw the miracle of the spirits and understood my own sins. Even though she’s such a lovely, sinless child, she was covered in mud and had to live in self-hate. And the fact of the matter is, it was me who drove her to such terrible circumstances.」
「……She was, very thin wasn’t she.」
「Moreover, she didn’t seem to be very fluent in the Weiz language either. It’s as I feared, there probably wasn’t anyone in her surrounding to teach her was there.」
The marquis tightened his fists till they looked almost white.
「Also, occasionally when she was beginning to feel high strung, each time she would be at a loss for words, did you notice?」
「Mmh, she would quiver her shoulders like she was frightened…」
「Someone did this to Leena. To not raise her voice, or to not displease adults, they’ve most likely disciplined her and hit her each time she would shout or cry.」
Emilia started to shed tears.
「Mh, Mm. If it wasn’t that, why would someone of her age do something like calling themselves dirty? Someone definitely must have scolded Leena, neglected her meals and made her grovel in the ground as well.」
In reality, the reason for Leena’s appearance of having an unbalanced diet is because she was tired of eating leftover bread every day and went on a hunger strike. Especially these days, in order to learn the body swap spell, she immersed herself in her study and neglected her meals. But since the couple did not know any of these things, they spent their exchange talking about the misfortune of their granddaughter.
「Hey, Klaus」
For the first time in a while, Emilia called her husband by his name. Reminding him about important things was her habit.
「That child, I’m going to protect her.」
She had a clear and serious tone.
「No matter how lonely she is, how cold she is, I will give her everything I have to offer, I will definitely protect that child. Will you cooperate with me?」
「Of course I will.」
The response of the marquis Klaus was short, but powerful.
「Let’s prepare a life for her that anyone would be envious of. To start – how about we think of a new name to give her for her new life. What do you think?」
「Oh my, how wonderful!」
In the Weiz Empire, one can think of giving a name from one person to another as the same as giving them a blessing. Meaning, to give someone a new name, would be that same as naming yourself as their guardian.
Emilia of course had no objections towards this suggestion.
「And so, since Leena has been used to her name since she was born, it’s probably better if we try to keep it sounding the same. Leena, Elena, Eleanor…Leonora」
The couple suddenly raised their face.
「How about Leonora?」
「Ah, actually I was about to suggest the same thing.」
The Harkenberg marquis couple smiled at each other.
It was something that hasn’t happened in a long time, a smile from the bottom of their hearts.
「Leonora…Our, beloved child.」
Thus, this would be the moment where Leonora von Harkenberg was born.