Chapter 18
“Uh... No, I don’t have anything urgent to do.”
“Then could you sit here for a little while?”
As I replied and watched him quietly, Aiden spoke softly. I simply nodded and sat back down.
I started trying to figure out what Aiden was thinking. Was there something he wanted to say, or did he have some reason for asking me to stay here?
Maybe he simply didn’t want to be left alone by someone who’d been with him.
But this wasn’t the world I’d come from, and even if its inhabitants were people, they might not be the same species. Aiden might not be like the children I’d known before, either.
“Um... Is there a particular reason?”
“It’s not really a particular reason... You’re my tutor, aren’t you, Kana? What kind of tutor would leave a child behind and go off alone?”
I stared blankly for a moment at his words, then smiled awkwardly.
Even so, I’d come here to fulfill the role of his tutor, not as a guest. I seemed to have been taking that role too lightly.
And I was quite relieved that Aiden at least didn’t deny that I was here as his tutor.
“Ah, you’re right. I’ll reflect on having been a little negligent about that. I suppose I was taking it too lightly.”
Then, after thinking for a moment about the everyday conversations Kaide had wanted me to have with him, I decided to start with the basics.
“By the way, young master, how do you usually spend your day? You can tell me the general outline or go into more detail.”
At my question, Aiden briefly looked as if he wondered why I was asking, but then he nodded.
“Ah, I take it no one told you much. Everyone in this mansion is busy with their own work, so they can’t always pay much attention to someone new.”
“Um... That’s true, but I don’t think it’s a bad thing. It means I can hear it directly from you.”
Especially since we’d hardly had a chance to talk alone until now, and I’d spent all of yesterday without much time to spare.
Yesterday, we’d only talked briefly in Aiden’s room. Even then, rather than having a conversation, I’d mostly just listened to his complaints and grumbling.
That was why I was quite happy that he was trying to talk to me now, and that I could speak with him like this.
After all, no matter how young the child I was dealing with, anyone would be cautious when they considered the position Aiden and the Kalinix ducal family held in this world.
“Well, I suppose so. I could hear the general schedule from someone else, but you’re the one who knows best how you feel about it.”
And although he held such a position, he didn’t use it to look down on or browbeat others, which was a relief.
If he’d been that kind of person, I would’ve been a little wary, and there would’ve been all sorts of things I’d have to watch out for.
“Well... I usually get up around 7:20 in the morning. Even when I sleep in, I’m normally up around then. I just got up a little late today.”
“Everyone has days like that~ Sometimes you’re tired or just sleep really deeply.”
“If you say so, then... I won’t argue. Someone who’s lived longer than me would know better about that. After that, I have breakfast, like today.”
“The menu changes every day, right?”
At my question, Aiden nodded as if it were obvious and continued.
“How could we eat the same thing every day? It’s not just Father and me living here. There’s you, Kana, and all the maids and butlers, too, so the meals are different.”
“Um... I suppose that makes sense, since everyone has different tastes and preferences.”
“After breakfast, I rest for a while... Then, around ten, I have swordsmanship lessons for about two hours. That’s my usual routine.”
Swordsmanship lessons... It felt a little strange to teach swordsmanship to a child who was only nine—or ten, by the way they counted in the country I’d lived in.
Of course, it was absurd to judge this place by the standards of the world I’d lived in, so I simply nodded quietly.
“After that, I wash up around lunchtime and have tea, then there’s another swordsmanship lesson in the afternoon. Though I’m not always swinging a sword the whole time.”
“I assume that includes basic physical training, judging by the circumstances?”
“Yes, so the afternoon session is a little longer. After that, I have free time, then I eat dinner and talk with Father for a while, almost like an interview... That’s about it.”
It wasn’t a particularly unusual routine, and it seemed Kaide was handling the practical handover himself, so there wasn’t much else I needed to concern myself with.
Still, that meant he repeated a schedule that left me with less time to talk to Aiden than I’d expected.
“...If that’s the case, it doesn’t seem like you’ll have much time to talk with me, does it?”
“You do seem to care quite a bit about that, more than I’d thought. But there are no swordsmanship lessons on weekends, and I go out occasionally, so there’s plenty of time to talk.”
“Um... How do you usually go out? I assume you don’t go alone.”
At my question, Aiden swallowed his bread and spoke as if he couldn’t believe I’d asked.
“Well, of course I’d go with you. You came here to act as my guardian, after all.”
“...Ah, no—I meant normally. I was wondering if you go with Mr. Miguel or His Grace.”
“What, are you going to get jealous if I say I went out with the head maid?”
Aiden asked playfully. I simply smiled and shook my head, but he seemed even more awkward than before.
He looked like he was more concerned than I was about the fact that I didn’t care about that sort of thing at all.
“Of course not~ I’m not going to get jealous. I was only going to ask who you usually go out with and what you tend to do.”
“...Usually we go out to eat or something... But honestly, there’s no set routine. They give me plenty of freedom and take my opinions into account, so I don’t make a fuss about it, either.”
I smiled at him as he spoke with a maturity beyond his years. Once I saw that he’d finished his meal, I stood up.
Since Aiden had finished eating, I didn’t think there was any need to keep sitting here and talking.
“It took me a little longer to eat today. I’ll be away for a while for swordsmanship lessons, so Kana, you can... do as you please. No one will say anything.”
“I suppose His Grace sees me in that sort of role, too. Still, I hope you’ll join me for tea at noon.”
I thought that would be the perfect time for us to talk at our leisure, just the two of us. When I said that, Aiden nodded in agreement.
In the end, my role was to talk with him and naturally encourage a change in his temperament.
There was no time more precious to me than the time I could spend talking freely with him.
And though I couldn’t measure exactly how much time I had, if I tried to make a rough estimate...
Aiden was nine now. I didn’t know when I’d actually begin to be affected by the madness, but according to the story’s setting, the subjugation party would set out two years after Aiden came of age, when he was nineteen.
Roughly speaking, I had less than ten years left, but I couldn’t be sure exactly how many years I had—at least a few, I hoped.
“Um... Well, I should try to make the best use of my time, anyway.”
No matter how much I wanted to see more of Aiden or how interested I’d become in Kaide, I had no desire to die.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Knock, knock—
After a light knock, I quietly opened the reception room door. As usual, Father was inside, sorting through documents.
“Hmm, Aiden. Did you enjoy your breakfast?”
“Yes. It’s been quite a while since I’ve eaten without you, Father, but... I’d say it wasn’t bad.”
It really had been quite a while since I’d eaten without Father, and it was rare for me to think it hadn’t been bad at all.
That was how much I’d enjoyed talking with the new tutor, and how ordinary and comfortable it had felt.
How should I put it? The head butler and head maid were probably the ones who spoke with us the most, but they never seemed particularly close to us.
Kana was different in that regard.
She approached us in a more everyday way, and a little less mechanically.
“If that’s how you felt, I’m glad my choice wasn’t a mistake. Do you have swordsmanship lessons today?”
“Yes. I’m going to get ready soon and head to the clearing behind the mansion.”
“Well, be careful and do your best today, too. If you do as well as you usually do, you’ll be fine.”
I smiled at Father’s words, nodded quietly, and left the reception room.