On the way back after saving Marion the nanny from the curse.
We became close contacts of the red pox.
As a result, we were to be isolated in a separate residence to prevent infecting everyone, including Father, my older brother, and sister.
After leaving Marion’s mansion, some time passed, and the Grand Duke’s estate came into view. I spoke to Sara, who was seated next to me.
“Sara, that’s the house where Luria and the others live.”
“How splendid.”
“Indeed. And over there, that’s the birdhouse.”
“Bird?”
“Yes. I’ll show you something fun, so watch.”
I opened the carriage window and looked outside. A stronger wind blew in, which felt refreshing.
As if keeping watch over the carriage, the usual flock of birds soared in the sky above.
I stuck my arm out of the carriage and shouted loudly, “Little ones, come hereeeeee!”
The reason I called the little ones was that the big ones were heavy, and it would be difficult to bring them into the carriage.
“Tweet tweet,” “Chirp chirp,” “Chuu chuu.”
Immediately, three sparrows flew over to my arm and perched on it.
“Thank you, sparrows.”
“Tweet-tweet.”
I brought the sparrows inside the carriage and showed them to Sara.
“See?”
“Amazing! Lady Luria, are you friends with the birds?”
“Yes, friends. You should try petting them too, Sara.”
Sara gently petted the sparrows perched on my arm.
“So cute.”
“Chirp chirp.”
“They’re adorable. Hehe, hehe.”
Sara smiled brightly.
After she had her fill of petting them, I let the sparrows back outside.
“Thanks. Luria will be staying at the lakeside villa for a while, so be good and wait, alright?”
“Tweet-tweet.”
The sparrows tilted their heads a few times before flying off energetically.
At that moment, the carriage was traveling through the forest surrounding the Grand Duke’s estate.
As always, the forest seemed full of signs of animals.
“Mother, what kind of animals are in the forest?”
“Well, we don’t see many animals, but there might be small ones like squirrels or rabbits.”
“Hmmm. But I feel like there are signs of much bigger creatures. What do you think, Sara?”
“I don’t know. But… maybe?”
“Yeah. I’m sure there are.”
I’d like to explore the forest someday.
I’m already five years old. I think Father and Mother should start allowing me to explore the woods soon.
While I was lost in thought, the carriage passed by the Grand Duke’s estate and continued on.
“Mother, what kind of place is the villa?”
“This will be Luria’s first time there as well.”
“Well, today’s also the first time I’ve been outside the estate.”
“Then it might be fun. The villa is a place where we take summer holidays.”
According to Mother, it was a building located near the royal capital, closest to the main residence among the Grand Duke’s properties, except for the central mansion.
It was a relatively small house by the lakeside, about an hour away from the usual mansion by a four-horse carriage.
Both my older brother and sister had stayed there for a few weeks in the height of summer when they were younger.
“It’s been years since I last visited the lakeside villa.”
“Mother, has it been a long time for you too?”
“Yes, it has. Well, His Majesty was also planning to visit this summer, so it works out well.”
“His Majesty? You mean Grandfather?”
“That’s right.”
I hadn’t known that His Majesty, my grandfather the King, was planning to visit the lakeside villa.
“Will you check if the building is damaged or anything?”
“The caretaker handles that properly, but just in case.”
Mother must not have visited the villa for several years because she couldn’t take me outside before.
It must have been a favorite summer retreat for my siblings.
“I’m looking forward to it. I hope we can all come together from now on.”
“Yes, that would be nice.”
“Next time, Marion should come along too, right, Sara?”
“…Yeah.”
Sara still seemed uneasy.
She was likely worried about the new house, whether we had avoided catching the red pox, and most of all, about Marion.
“Sara, when we arrive at the villa, you should write a letter to Marion. I’ll teach you how to write it!”
“Okay.”
“Oh my, Luria, can you really teach her properly?”
“Of course! Oh, Sara, swimming in the lake will definitely be fun.”
“Yeah, it sounds fun.”
“Luria, you can’t go swimming by yourselves, it’s dangerous.”
“It’s fine! I know that!”
I kept talking about fun things so Sara wouldn’t feel uneasy.
Even Carro sat on Sara’s lap to help ease her worries.
After traveling for a while in the carriage, the lake came into view.
“Sara, Luria, look, the lake is visible. It’s beautiful.”
“Wow!”
“Yeah, it’s so pretty.”
The lake was indeed beautiful, but I sensed something a bit strange.
“There’s… something mysterious about it.”
“Oh? Perhaps you’re sensing the presence of the lake’s guardian.”
“Guardian? What’s that?”
“Well, there’s an old tale about a great guardian that lives in this lake.”
“Wow, it’d be nice if it were true, don’t you think, Sara?”
“Yeah.”
If it really exists, that would be exciting. But I didn’t feel the presence of such a guardian.
Rather, it seemed like there were fewer spirits here compared to the area around the Grand Duke’s mansion.
Maybe the strange feeling was because, despite the lake being beautiful and surrounded by nature, the lack of spirits felt unusual.
“Oh, by the way, Sara, do you like swimming?”
“I’ve never swum before.”
“I’ll teach you, so don’t worry.”
When I said that, Mother spoke in an exasperated tone.
“Luria, you’ve never swum in a lake either, have you?”
“I haven’t, but… I’ve been practicing.”
“Oh, that’s impressive.”
“I practiced in the bathtub.”
Whether or not I could swim might one day make the difference between life and death.
That’s why I’d been practicing splashing around in the bathtub.
The maids always complimented me, saying, “You’re so good at this.”
“Carro, I’m good at swimming, aren’t I?”
“Kyuu~.”
Carro, who always watched my bathtub swimming practice, agreed that I was skilled.
“…Practicing in the bathtub isn’t very ladylike, so you shouldn’t do it too often, okay?”
“I understand, but there’s nowhere else to practice.”
“That’s true… though a lady doesn’t really need to know how to swim.”
“That’s not true. Drowning doesn’t discriminate between boys and girls.”
If only boys drowned, there would be no need to practice. But that’s not the case.
Girls can drown too, which means it’s necessary to know how to swim.
“Well… that’s true.”
“That’s why I’ll keep practicing swimming.”
“But, Luria, it’s still spring, so the water will be cold.”
“Cold?”
Cold water would be a problem—it might make me catch a cold.
“You should wait until it’s much hotter to swim in the lake.”
“Okay. That’s a shame for you, Sara.”
“Yeah.”
As we passed by a few small villages, the Grand Duke’s villa came into view.
It was about two sizes smaller than the mansion I live in.
On the roof of the villa, the usual birds had already perched.
As Sara and I got out of the carriage, holding hands, the birds flew down to greet us.
“Hoho!”
“Peep peep!”
“Coo coo!”
“Ah, the owls have come too—thank you!”
“These birds are your friends too, Lady Luria?”
“Yes, Sara, you should pet them too.”
“Hoho.”
“They’re so fluffy and cute.”
The birds seemed pleased to be petted by Sara.
“Usually, there’s also a chicken named Koruko, but we’ll see him when we get to the house.”
Unlike the dove Daru, who came along on his own, the chicken Koruko stayed behind to guard the house.
“Koruko! I want to meet him too!”
“Yes, Koruko is very cute.”
While Sara and I played with the birds, Mother was discussing security arrangements for the villa with the attendants.
Feeling bored, I explored the nearby area with Sara, Daru, and Carro.
“Don’t wander too far, okay? There might be dangerous animals in the forest.”
“Okay. We won’t go far.”
Not wanting to get scolded, we stayed near the carriage.
The villa and the large lake were surrounded by a vast forest.
“But there don’t seem to be many animals around here, do you think, Sara?”
“Yeah.”
This forest was much bigger than the one near the mansion, yet it felt like there were fewer animals here.
“If there are any, maybe they’re just squirrels? Do you think there are prairie dogs?”
“Kyuu.”
As we walked around the carriage chatting, I found a stick.
“Hey, look at this cool stick!”
It was about the same height as me, with just the right curve to make it look stylish.
“Cool?”
“Yes, it’s cool here, don’t you think?”
Sara tilted her head curiously.
“Come on, don’t you think so?”
I waved the stick around, trying to show off how cool it was.
“Oh, I see. It’s cool!”
It didn’t seem like she really understood its coolness yet.
But eventually, she would surely get it.
“Luria, Sara, let’s go inside now.”
“Okay!”
“Alright.”
Together with Daru and Carro, Sara and I entered the villa.
