Chapter 56 (2/2)
Walking practice.
I was already doing that every day. It consisted of just one thing.
Walk straight. And what’s more, until I was exhausted.
It was a little different under Karen than it was with Allie, but only in that it wasn’t quite as spartan. Fundamentally, nothing had changed.
I walked. I did nothing but walk.
But it was more painful that I expected. I say ‘walk’, but it was a world apart from the marching I was familiar with. I was correcting my walking posture.
Generally, everybody has experience with the act of walking from before they develop an awareness of their surroundings. And that’s why, when I say ‘walking posture’, I’m talking about years and years of ingrained mucle memory.
Since I was working on fixing it, it must’ve been a pretty big deal. Of course, I didn’t take it seriously at first, but I understood for the first time once I tried it. It was genuine agony. By the end, I was completely worn out.
I was a man at heart to begin with, and that just made it so much worse. Until I started learning, I never noticed that I had a tendency to walk rather bowlegged. I was never explicitly aware of the differences between the ways men and women walk, so you might say it was justified.
“Walking is fundamental, and so it is crucial to repeat it many times in order to make your body remember. You have finally mastered it, so we shall repeat the exercise rigorously, like so, in order to prevent you from returning to the way you were before.”
…No, if I don’t go back to the way I was before, I’m gonna be in trouble…
Though I shuddered slightly when she said something so terrifying — and without an ounce of malice, I stood at the end of the line drawn on the floor as she told me to.
Taking a step straight ahead, I placed the tips of my toes on top of the line. Without straining too much, I crossed my hands before my chest. I elongated my spine, slightly drawing back my chin. My eyes looked straight in front of me.
Like so, I stepped forward with my left foot. Feel it from my toes to the ground in front of them. Careful not to let my body sway… Like that. One, two, one, two.
“Wonderful. Let us ensure that you will not forget the way you are walking right now. Now then, turn around there and go one more time.”
There isn’t a guy out there who wouldn’t be happy about being praised.
My feelings were rather mixed, but there was no denying that I certainly made progress.
I felt like I was gradually losing sight of what was good and what wasn’t.
For now, let’s not think about it.
Coming to that decision, I obediently turned around and set my toes on the line once more.
–
–
It was just before noon when Karen finally set me free. Dead tired, I made my way to the dining hall. To tell you the truth, I was starving. I was eating properly in the mornings, of course, but when you’re hungry, you’re hungry. It was just that draining, I guess.
When I peeked inside, the table hadn’t yet been set. Still, there was a lovely aroma wafting out of the kitchen, so it should be any moment now.
Even so, I really was hungry, so I entered the dining hall on instinct, then cut across peek into the kitchen.
What’s for lunch today? Ooh, I smell meat roasting — that’s my feeling.
“Aira, plate please — !”
“Right away!”
Inside were two maids dressed in ap.r.o.ns and triangular headkerchiefs, hurrying back and forth.
To be more precise, one of them was Aira. The other, Miche. A dark-skinned, southern-born girl. The white ap.r.o.n looked pretty on her.
Based on her looks, she gave the impression of being just as boisterous as Lacreaux, but she was unexpectedly delicate and finicky. That’s why she was almost always managing the kitchen single-handedly, to the point that before we came, it seemed that no one else ever set foot inside.
I heard that after Aira came, one thing or another happened, and she reluctantly allowed Aira in. But to my genuine surprise, Miche said that Aira apparently had a natural talent for it, and now the two of them prepared meals together.
Though I was thinking, it’s Aira, so won’t she break plates in her constant state of ditziness?
When I said that to Aira herself, she got seriously angry, so since then I’d been amending my way of thinking.
In the kitchen, Aira set out the plates according to Miche’s direction, and Miche carefully placed roast meat on them one by one with the spatula. She was marvelously skilled.
“Okay–! Aira, when you sprinkle on the parsley, hold it like that!”
“Yes — ”
Aira brought over a bowl, and taking a generous handful of chopped parsley from inside, she sprinkled it over the plates. Her expression was uncharacteristically serious.
‘She’s working hard, huh.’ Unconsciously, I admired her.
Ah, but in the beginning, it was a common occurrence to hear a scolding voice echoing from the kitchen. Still, even if it was parsley, it looked like Miche was trusting her with something. Great! Do your best.
Completely free of any personal responsibility, I cheered her on from the background.
“I’m taking them out! — Big Sister!?”
And while I was at it, I was easily spotted. Well, of course I was.
“Ah, sorry. I didn’t mean to get in your way.”
“Princess. There is a little bit left to prepare, so might I ask you to wait in the dining hall?”
Implying that I was an annoyance, Miche… Just kidding. She seemed a little embarra.s.sed, and spoke to me shyly.
Don’t ask me why, but Miche seriously disliked it when other people watched her cook. Apparently it was embarra.s.sing, as she put it. I didn’t know why it would be, but according to Aira, she said [For a southerner like me to be cooking…]. Miche herself might have some kind of conflict with it. Like a complex or something like that.
To be honest, it seemed like that was the real reason Miche wouldn’t let anyone into the kitchen, and her pickiness was a secondary consideration.
“Mn, sorry. I got it.”
Worried that I’d done something truly awful to Miche, whose face burned bright red, I waved my hand as I retreated into the dining hall. When I sat myself down on a chair, Aira caught up to me from behind, nimbly managing four plates, one of which she set before me.
“For goodness’ sake, Big Sister. Even though I told you not to peek into the kitchen.”
“Uhn, sorry. I was hungry.”
While offering a woefully inadequate excuse, I lowered my eyes.
In the center of the large, white plate, was a piece of roast meat. A vivid green sauce was drizzled around it. On top of the meat, the parsley Aira sprinkled on earlier added a colorful accent. It was a gorgeous plate: I honestly had to admire it.
“You still can’t eat yet, alright? –Everyone~! Lunch is served~!”
Aira gave me a warning before heading back to the kitchen, simultaneously announcing lunch in the mansion’s style.
For a moment, I wondered if that was what Aira was here for. Given her circ.u.mstances, I couldn’t picture Miche in that role.
Having heard the call, the maids and Palmira gathered in the dining hall in succession and began to take their seats. Grace went as usual. Recently, I hadn’t been resisting it very much.
Fork and knife in hand, I started with the meat that made up the main course. To tell you the truth, I should’ve started with the soup, but Allie wasn’t here, and I didn’t give a d.a.m.n myself. Anyway, I was starving.
I put a piece in my mouth. Delicious. ‘That’s Miche for you,’ I thought.
“Lady Chris, your table manners have become seemly.”
“Mm?”
I looked over at Karen as I chewed. I was just thinking that I was in the clear since Allie wasn’t around at the moment, and hearing something so unexpected, a strange mood came over me.
“Really?”
After swallowing, I addressed the always-smiling Karen.
At which point Toa gave me an emphatic nod and added,
“That’s right. In the beginning, I couldn’t stand to watch, you know. I had to ask myself, ‘Where did this savage come from?'”
She laughed.
…Was it that bad? It came as a bit of a shock to me. I didn’t remember the banquet at the fortress, but how did they actually see me?
“Now, you give off the feeling of a princess!”
“I rather think so too. An elegant impression.”
Lacreaux and Miche each chimed in with their own praise.
A mood I couldn’t quite describe descending upon me, I looked at Aira and Palmira, but they quickly averted their eyes. From the shaking of their shoulders, it looked like they were cracking up. It’s because they know the truth that they can’t take it, I guess. You guys will regret this, wait and see.
–
–
Even so.
I thought, as I lightly wipe dab at my mouth with the napkin, the meal over.
It was peaceful.
When I thought about it, it was like I’d been living under some kind of tension all this time.
Not once did I spend a day like this, peacefully, without thinking about anything in particular.
When I first came to this city, even though it should’ve rubbed me the wrong way, even though I should’ve gotten irritated, I’d now grown accustomed to it.
I was tired from being so busy, but it wasn’t like I was really putting my life on the line.
Am I happy like this?
Suddenly I felt uneasy, but at the same time, a part of me thought that this wasn’t so bad either.
Still, a little unease remained within me.
Tugging at me, like I was forgetting something.
What that ‘something’ was, I was reminded of all too soon.
Author’s Notes
I was thinking of delving into the maid-sans, when I thought of all those scenes, it became about 1.6x as long as usual.
Footnotes
1. というか、貴様とか言われるのかと思ったら流石にそこは自重したか ↵
2. 少なくとも第二王子に対して第三王子はあまり良い感じとは言えそうになかったと思ったが ↵
3. レオンはどうやって最後に無かったことに持って行くつもりなんだろうと ↵
Alternate t.i.tle: Training Montage /cue the Rocky music
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