After Father and Turi saw me all the way to my room in the
"What has happened, Lady Mine?"
"Fran, sorry for the sudden visit."
I stopped Fran as he tried to usher us inside, then gave a brief explanation at the doorway. I told him about being targeted by the president of the Ink Guild, about how
I also told him that I didn't even know the president's name in the first place, and since the person apparently had connections to the nobility and a bad reputation, he should be careful not to let Deria leak any information.
Fran listened with a troubled expression, but once he'd heard the whole story, he nodded slowly.
"Understood. I shall inform the Chief Priest of all this as well."
"Fran, I intend to gather information from this end too, but please look after Mine. I'll come check on her."
Father's hand, resting on my shoulder, tightened with force. Fran met Father's gaze straight on and nodded.
"Of course. Lady Mine must be feeling anxious, so please do come visit."
"Mine, don't go causing trouble for everyone around you with your selfishness. And make sure you properly inform the Chief Priest. Things won't end well if communication with your superior is poor."
I gave a wry smile at his soldier-like advice and thumped my right fist twice against my left chest. Father softened his expression slightly and returned the same gesture.
Turi hugged me tightly and gazed at me with worry.
"Well then, Mine. I'll come here on my next day off. Until then, be good, okay?"
"Yep. I'll be waiting."
I saw Father and Turi off, then entered the room. Even though it was technically my own room, this was my first time staying overnight at the Temple, and I was a little nervous.
The attendants, who were not accustomed to my sudden appearance around dinnertime, were uniformly surprised.
"What has happened, Lady Mine?"
"There were some circumstances, and I'll be staying at the Temple starting today."
"What circumstances?"
When Deria tilted her head and asked, I hemmed and hawed.
"There's a possibility that nobility is involved, so I can't go into detail."
I stopped Deria, who was trying to get me changed into my Blue Robe, by saying I had no plans to go out for the rest of the day, and let out a light sigh. It was around the time when everyone would normally have gone home, so I couldn't think of what to do on the spur of the moment.
"What does everyone usually do at this time?"
Deria appeared to be preparing the bath, carrying hot water from the kitchen. Apparently, bath time was an important time for a woman to pamper herself. I needed to learn from Deria's excellent femininity.
Fran was compiling reports on food and daily supplies consumed at the orphanage and this room, and was preparing replenishment requests. He had various paperwork every day, so Fran was extremely busy. Even so, he said it had gotten easier since he'd delegated some of it to Rosina and
"...Perhaps I should write a letter requesting an audience with the Chief Priest."
Turning to my desk, I wrote a letter requesting an audience so I could talk with the Chief Priest. It would take several days to get a reply, so who knew when I'd actually be able to speak with him.
After finishing the letter, I worked on ideas for my next picture book, using Frieda's opinions as reference. I decided to compile stories about the divine descendants of the five gods associated with each season.
I ate dinner alone while being waited on, took a bath with Deria's help, and then slipped into a fluffy futon by myself. On the nightstand were a water pitcher and cup, and a bell for summoning the attendants.
"Good night, Lady Mine."
"Good night, Deria, Rosina."
The curtains hanging from the canopy were drawn shut with a rustle, and I rolled around by myself in the big, completely dark bed.
The delicious food, the bath where I could use all the hot water I wanted without being scolded, and the big bed with wonderful sheets and great sleeping comfort—despite all that, I kept thinking that the warm, lively family dinners, splashing around in the bath while fooling around with Turi, and sleeping huddled together in our narrow beds as a whole family were better.
...It hadn't even been a full day yet and I was already homesick. How uncool.
Even though attendants were present, the line between master and servant was strictly maintained. They treated me with respectful attitudes, but they didn't dote on me with excessive affection. Being alone while feeling anxious about being targeted by people whose faces I didn't even know was unbearably lonely.
Mornings at the Temple were late.
To be precise, it seemed I wasn't supposed to leave bed until the attendants had finished their preparations and breakfast was ready. When I got up early, Deria scolded me, saying, "Please, milady, stay in bed until someone comes to wake you."
This was the first I'd learned that noble young ladies had to pretend to sleep until their attendants were done with their work. Would I be scolded if I secretly got up and read a book?
"Then, shall we begin practicing right away?"
After finishing a light breakfast, I practiced fehspiel with Rosina. "It's wonderful that you'll be living here, Lady Mine. There's no need to wait for you to arrive," Rosina said with a bright smile as she prepared the fehspiel.
By the time I started practicing, Deria and Gil had begun cleaning the room and drawing water, while Fran had gone to deliver the audience request letter and explain the situation to the Chief Priest.
When Fran returned, he told me he'd been sternly ordered not to let me leave the room until they'd gathered intelligence. It seemed like for a while, I'd be confined not just to the Temple, but to this very room.
Music lessons ended when the third bell rang. Since I couldn't leave the room, I spent my time brainstorming ideas for the next picture book and teaching Deria how to write letters and do simple arithmetic.
"Lady Mine, you're surprisingly good at teaching. You're easier to understand than Gil."
"Oh? Then maybe I could be a teacher at the Temple classroom?"
It was rare for Deria to praise me, and while I was feeling a little bashful, Fran caught my words.
"Lady Mine, whatever is the Temple classroom?"
"It's a place where I teach children who can't read how to write, so they can learn to read and write?"
"...Is this already decided?"
"Yes, it's been scheduled as something to do during winter."
After blinking several times, Fran let out a slow sigh.
"Lady Mine, I don't believe I've received any report on this. Please explain what exactly you intend to do and how you plan to proceed."
"Huh? But it's written right here, isn't it?"
I cheerfully pulled out my winter schedule and held it where Fran could see it. Fran lowered his eyes slightly and murmured, "That's the Temple classroom?" It seemed the concept of teaching children hadn't registered. Fran had apparently thought that teaching Turi's sewing class and how to do winter handicrafts was what counted as educating the children.
"I mean, you said you want to teach the orphanage kids, but Lady Mine, they can already read to some extent with the karuta and picture books you gave them, right?"
Gil tilted his head, and I stumbled over my words.
"I-I want them to be able to write too. If they can read and write, wouldn't it be easier for them when they become attendants or go work at a noble's house?"
"I suppose so."
"And if they can count and do arithmetic, they'll be able to manage the workshop and the orphanage on their own, right? I think it's better to know things than not to know them."
I mentioned the workshop management that Gil had been working on yesterday, and he nodded in understanding. Apparently he still couldn't read large numbers, and was writing his reports with help from a gray priest.
"Lady Mine, where exactly do you intend to hold this Temple classroom?"
"The dining hall is the only place where both boys and girls can gather, so I'll hold it there. I'll take on the role of teacher."
"Please let the gray priests who can read and write handle the teaching. Lady Mine, you must not do such things."
Fran and Rosina shut it down in unison. It seemed I really wasn't supposed to appear in public after all.
In the end, it was decided that I would create a lesson plan of sorts, then first practice by being the teacher for Deria in my own room. Based on that, Fran and Rosina would serve as teachers in the dining hall.
Former attendants among the gray priests would also be roped in as teachers, and at appropriate points Fran and Rosina would step down from the teacher role. That was how the Temple classroom was set to be launched.
...Hmm. I'd finally been complimented on my teaching, and I really wanted to be the teacher.
For the Temple classroom, I set the goal that during winter, all the children would learn to write the basic alphabet and be able to do single-digit addition and subtraction. I had prepared plenty of Slates and stone styluses, and there were also children's Holy Books to serve as textbooks.
Once the general plan was settled, it was lunchtime. As I was eating and having tea, Lutz came to check on me.
"Mine, are you okay?"
After being checked by
I ran down the stairs and dashed to Lutz in the main hall, where he was waving.
"Lutz, give me a hug!"
"Whoa—!?"
I threw myself at Lutz with a thud and demanded a hug. Feed my hunger for warmth with your warmth.
"It's lonely without my family. I want to go home already."
"It hasn't even been a full day, you know?"
My complaints made Lutz laugh helplessly, but lonely was lonely even if it was only one night.
"The loneliest it's going to feel is right now, since I'll get used to it eventually."
"Hmm, I don't know about that. It might get even lonelier than this."
"...If it keeps getting lonelier and lonelier, I might die of loneliness."
I couldn't read books unless I went to the Library, yet here I was, locked in my room. The only books I had were the children's Holy Books I'd made myself. If this situation continued—no family and no books—I'd probably lose the will to live.
"...You're always on the verge of death the second someone looks away, Mine. No joke."
"I'll put up with being lonely too, so Lutz, please put up with the hassle and keep me company for a bit."
"Haah, fine. Can't be helped."
I clung to Lutz until I was satisfied. Lutz left me clinging to him as-is while he compared Gil's Slate from yesterday to his own report, pointing out calculation errors and the like.
While I was getting emotional stability from hugging Lutz, the attendants made various comments: "How unseemly!", "A proper lady should...", "If you're going to cling to someone, at least choose a wealthier nobleman. Honestly!", and "Lady Mine relies on Lutz so much."
But I completely ignored them. The road ahead was long, and my mental stability was far more important.
"Oh, that's right. Mine, there's nothing left to do at the workshop, so what should I do? Start the winter handicrafts?"
The second volume of the children's Holy Book was finished, and there was still thick cardstock left for printing plates, but there was almost no paper left for picture books, so I couldn't make any more. And with the river getting so cold it was about to freeze, papermaking was on hold.
I'd been doing winter preparations and ink production recently, but those were almost done, and apparently the soot I used as raw material was running out too.
"Then, I'll explain the handicrafts, so could you bring the boards and tools from the workshop for making Reversi?"
"Got it. Gil, let's go."
"Right."
Lutz and Gil brought back the boards and tools. At the table in the small hall, I explained how to make Reversi.
"For the game board, use this thicker board. Use a ruler and your Soot Pencil to draw straight lines on it. Eight squares by eight squares."
I drew lines across the board with my Soot Pencil, swish swish.
"Once the lines are drawn, use this to carve them."
I pointed to a tool that looked like a triangular carving chisel and said this. I'd ordered the chisel from the forge workshop after asking a woodcarver about it.
"Once you've carved along the lines, use ink to draw along the grooves. Since you're tracing over the carved lines, there shouldn't be much spillover, but be careful not to let it overflow."
"Got it."
"That thinner board—cut it into sixty-four pieces to match the size of the game board squares, sand them smooth, and even out the texture. You only need to apply ink to one side to finish, so once you've cut them, the rest is easy. And then..."
I was explaining how to make something like a shogi variant—or maybe a chess variant—by cutting wooden boards the same way as Reversi and writing characters on them, when Lutz made a face.
"Say, Mine. Couldn't we do this more like printing?"
"Why?"
"Not many people can write characters yet, and even those who can aren't necessarily good at it. Since you're writing in a small space, it'd be a problem if people couldn't read it."
"Hmm, good point... Let me try making stencils like with the printing plates."
Lutz kept writing procedures into his slate board. I wrote down improvements and things to think about on my own.
Gil, who had been watching our usual meeting, shot a glare at Lutz.
"...So this is what you've always been doing, Lutz—teaching Lady Mine how to do things?"
"Yeah. Since a Blue Shrine Maiden can't work at the workshop, I had to teach her at home beforehand or she wouldn't be able to do the workshop work."
"And here I always thought you were the one who knew everything, and it turns out it's Lady Mine who's the impressive one."
Gil puffed out his cheeks in a sulk, and I poked his cheek with my finger.
"Gil, Lutz is amazing too, you know. He learns something once, like this, and then he can explain it and make it work at the workshop. Gil, you were listening just now—could you teach everyone?"
"...Nah."
Still sulking, Gil looked down, then raised his face sharply and pointed at the slate boards Lutz and I were holding.
"But the reason I can't do it is because I don't have a slate board! If I had one, I'd be amazing too!"
"Oh, Gil, you've learned your letters, haven't you? You've been practicing the workshop reports, so maybe it's about time. Since we can't go outside right now, I'll prepare one for you when spring comes."
"Really?! Alright, I'm definitely gonna beat Lutz!"
Lutz let Gil's boastful rival declaration wash over him with a casual "Sure, go ahead and beat me by spring, if you can." Apparently, when spring arrived, Lutz was planning to go along with Benno when he visited the plant paper workshop in the next town. Lutz said he wanted Gil to reach a point where he could manage the workshop entirely on his own.
"Oh, that's right. Next time, I'll be bringing someone from the shop—an apprentice... well, someone closer to adulthood, but still."
"Why? To fill in while you're away?"
When I tilted my head, Lutz furrowed his brows slightly.
"On the surface, it's to have another workshop assistant like me, but basically the master told me to have them learn proper conduct around the attendants here."
"Oh, right, he did say something about training waitstaff for the Italian restaurant."
I'd have to schedule that in too, so I added it to my slate board.
"...I get the Reversi, but how do you make playing cards?"
"Really, it would've been better to have different-colored inks, but since we don't, we'll have to make do with black only for now."
I drew symbols and numbers on a Slate, sketching a three of diamonds inside a large square as an example.
"Like this—you draw the number and that many marks, and make four suits."
"That's quite a lot."
"Lady Mine, these symbols look a bit like the divine instruments of the gods."
Gil said this proudly, pointing at the diamond on the Slate.
"They do?"
"Yeah. This one looks like the Fire God's spear. And this one's the Water Goddess's staff."
He said the diamond resembled the Fire God
"What about the Wind Goddess
"That shield is round, so it doesn't fit here. The
According to Gil, the circle represented the Wind Goddess's shield, and the inverted triangle the Earth Goddess's Holy Cup. If we were going to have four suits, familiar shapes might be easier to accept.
Based on Gil's input, I redrew the card symbols as spades, diamonds, circles, and inverted triangles.
"Then, let's make J, Q, and K represent gods too. Drawing pictures is such a pain."
J would be the sword symbolizing the Life God, Q the crown of the Sun Goddess, and K the black cloak of the Darkness God. The key was to keep the designs as simple as possible.
I thought about what to do with the joker and decided on a symbol of a Chaos Goddess who harbored an unrequited love for the Darkness God and stoked the Life God's stalking tendencies—a distorted ring.
"Yeah, looks good. They look like playing cards made in the Temple."
"Right, they're familiar from karuta too, so they'll be easy to understand."
When I was celebrating the decision with Gil, Lutz looked at the Slate and made a troubled face.
"Mine, this is exactly the kind of thing you should make printing plates for. There's no way the drawings will come out consistent by hand."
"...Okay. I'll make the printing plates."
It was decided that I'd make printing plates from cardstock, the same way as with the printing press, and print them onto the boards. There was plenty of time anyway. Making printing plates for cards was a piece of cake.
"Well then, I'm heading home for today."
"...Okay."
Lutz smiled helplessly and gave my cheek a little pinch. I held my cheek saying "Ow!" and glowered at him.
"...I'll be coming tomorrow with Turi, so don't make that face."
"I'll put up with being lonely, so you'd better come properly."
After watching Lutz leave, Gil looked down at me with concern.
"Is Lady Mine lonely?"
"Yeah. Having family around was so normal that it's lonely without them."
Even knowing that being here was safer for everyone, I wanted to go home. I kept feeling like I'd been left behind at the Temple.
"Should I spoil you like Lutz does?"
The moment Gil tilted his head and said that, a stern voice called out from behind.
"You must not."
When I turned around, Fran was standing there with a fearsome expression. He walked up to Gil and spoke quietly but firmly.
"Gil, Lady Mine is the master. It is not the place of attendants to spoil the master. You are not in the same position as Lutz, who receives treatment equal to a friend or family member."
"...Got it."
Gil bit his lip in frustration, then slowly nodded. Seeing this, Fran's expression softened slightly, and he let out a light breath.
Then he knelt before me, met my gaze, and his stern expression returned.
"Lady Mine, I understand that with all these circumstances, you must be feeling anxious. Therefore, when Lutz or your family visits, I will turn a blind eye to your being pampered within this room. However, I would ask that you maintain an appropriate distance with the attendants."
"Understood."
It was going to be a harsh winter where the loneliness cut deeper than the cold.
This was Mine, lonely and pining at the Temple.
Next time, a three-way meeting between the Chief Priest,