Chapter 39

Harold set aside a room for Linda to stay in. It was the morning of her fifth day working there. Edgar had made a suspicious face over it, but perhaps because Harold had asked his permission the day before, he hadn't said anything.

"A room on the first floor is more than enough."

"But you'd be uncomfortable there."

Linda, who'd chosen the small servant's room on the first floor over one of the second-floor bedrooms, mouthed the words silently so they wouldn't carry to the children watching from a distance.

The children would be startled.

At the mention of Edgar and Edwin, Harold nodded without a word.

It hit him then that when Linda had run her plan by the boys and they'd said it was fine, "fine" might not actually have meant fine. His good-natured nephews might just not have been able to say no to their uncle.

"I need to fetch my things, so I'll be off by the weekend."

"Ah — shouldn't we talk about vacation and that sort of thing too?"

"My salary is paid by Master Grisha in any case, isn't it? If I need a day off, I'll tell you."

"..."

Ignoring Harold, Linda got on with moving the groceries she'd brought. Harold came to his senses and helped her.

They couldn't have things delivered, so anything they needed had to be brought in themselves. He was already imposing on Linda as it was; asking her to lug groceries on top of it didn't sit well with him.

"What are you going on about?"

Predictably, Linda gave a small snort.

"Do you really think this Linda Glazel would take on work she didn't want to, even at Master Grisha's asking?"

"...No."

"You were too young to know it, Sir Harold, but Count Bertholdt once did House Reichnek a service."

"When I was young?"

"Back when the Count — Master Albrecht, then — had gotten interested in fruit cultivation for a while."

His brother's interests had changed often. It seemed to come with the territory of being a genius.

Harold, who respected his brother without any intention of following in his footsteps, hadn't paid much attention to Albrecht's accomplishments. Whenever he heard his brother had accomplished something impressive, he'd let it wash over him with a mental well, he's my brother, of course he did.

What Linda was talking about must have been one of those.

"You know what the Reichnek domain produces?"

"Grapes, of course."

"There was a period when the yields kept dropping. No one could figure out why. There was no drought and no flood."

At that, even Harold could work it out.

"...And my brother helped?"

"He suggested a number of improvements. Though the Count said he only wanted to try his hand at it."

That had probably been the truth. Otherwise his brother wouldn't have stepped in to help.

"Whatever the Count thought of it, House Reichnek was in his debt."

Linda smiled with meaning.

There were probably reasons Harold didn't know about, but pressing her on what she hadn't said wasn't going to lead anywhere good. At best, it was probably tangled up with the troublesome business Grisha had warned him about.

Harold shook his head. That kind of long-winded justification—

"..."

If he did what Grisha had advised and left the capital, none of it would apply anymore.

Domain or no, there were plenty of places he could take his nephews. But would that be enough? Could he be at peace with it?

His brother had said he wouldn't blame Harold's decision, but Harold couldn't confidently say he wouldn't come to resent his own decision either.

The image kept circling back — his brother in rumpled clothes on the bed, laid out as if only asleep, the cold of that body.

"Now then. Have all three of you had breakfast?"

"Uncle made us an omelet!"

"...We had salad, too."

"We should try to eat at least three kinds of vegetables a day."

Linda smiled and spoke to Edgar and Edwin.

The grown-ups' thorny conversations meant nothing to children. Fussing over food was about the right kind of topic for his nephews' age.

Of course, his good-natured nephews ate whatever was in front of them without picking at anything.

"And plenty of meat too, naturally. You're both growing."

Having finished putting away the groceries, Linda showed Edgar and Edwin a small box she'd brought.

"Young masters. I hear you'd like to try your hand at the garden. Is that right?"

"Hmm..."

Edwin rolled his eyes around once and then nodded.

"Yes! But we haven't decided what to grow yet! We were going to check the plant encyclopedia first..."

"...Uncle and I were going to fetch the books from home, but we haven't gone yet."

Edgar added the explanation and glanced sidelong at Harold. Right after they'd moved in, Edgar had left the bear behind now and then, and Harold had thought maybe he was easing off — but Edgar was carrying it around with him again.

At night, once the children were asleep, Linda had brought it up with a worried look. Harold knew as much himself. When he explained that his first priority was building the most stable environment he could and that he was already thinking about counseling down the line, Linda's face eased considerably.

Harold knew that expression well. It was one his brother had worn often. The ah, so you've finally worked out that head of yours isn't just for decoration look.

Mm.

Harold gave an awkward smile under his nephew's steady gaze.

"Ahem."

The truth was he'd half forgotten.

He'd said he'd take them to the estate...

"Ah — yes. Uncle's had some things come up. I'm sorry."

Unable to bring himself to admit he'd forgotten, Harold scrambled for an excuse.

"Not today, but the weekend? How about the weekend? Uncle will make time as soon as he can."

Linda gave a small laugh. Naturally she'd seen right through Harold's flimsy excuse.

Fortunately, Edgar and Edwin let his excuse pass. Or maybe the good, grown-up boys had seen through it and let it slide anyway.

Thinking about it that way, guilt twisted at Harold's stomach.

"The plant encyclopedia is well and good, but this is your first time looking after a garden, isn't it, young masters?"

Linda came to Harold's rescue.

"Today, why don't we start with something easy together, young masters?"

"Something easy?"

"The weather's finally warmed up, so it's just right. As it happens, this Linda brought some things that this garden was missing."

Linda opened the box.

Inside were small bundles wrapped in cloth, a few pots, and a dusty little sack. Alongside them lay small trowels sized for children's hands.

Harold knew as little about gardening as anyone, but he could recognize what those were.

Linda smiled brightly.

"Pretty flowers are lovely, but how about herbs?"

"Herbs?"

"The weather's just warmed up, so it's perfect."

Edwin's eyes went round.

"We can put them in cooking and eat them, too."

"Like fruit?"

"That's right. Not sweet like fruit, but they make cooking taste better. There were herbs in the pie you had yesterday, young master."

"Oh! I know that one!"

Edwin was so excited his feet started thumping the ground.

At the Archibald estate there hadn't been many moments when Edwin's hands weren't around a book. Before the Dustin Glenn business, he'd taken Edgar's hand and gone tearing around the garden, but that had been about it. Afterward, unlike Edgar, who'd gotten stir-crazy stuck in a room, Edwin had settled in well.

...Come to think of it, this was a child who'd played with an unknown shepherd down at the domain and gone as far as giving a puppy a name. He was lively. Just as Edgar couldn't put the bear down, maybe Edwin's anxiety was coming out in the shape of books.

Did my brother read parenting books?

For the first time in his life, Harold felt the need to study. And urgently.

Oblivious to Harold's inner turmoil, Linda kept explaining.

"As long as the weather cooperates, herbs grow quickly. That's why plenty of people with gardens raise them."

"Because we can use them in cooking?"

"That's right."

Even Edgar, unlike Edwin, hadn't shown much interest in the garden, but he was won over by the way Linda talked.

Watching those two small heads peer curiously at the tiny seeds tucked inside the cloth bundles, Harold set his worries aside for a moment and let himself smile.

He was glad Linda had come. He had no intention of leaving everything to her, but Linda had far more to teach the boys than he could.

"Can't we just plant the seeds straight in the garden?"

"It's not that we absolutely can't. But these seeds are very delicate. Like little babies. So we plant them in small pots first and wait until they grow a bit more."

If it had been up to Harold, he'd have said just scatter the seeds and let them grow on their own...

"..."

Harold checked the time.

He didn't want to break up this peaceful moment, but unfortunately grown-ups had things to do.

He'd told the royal guard in advance about his plans to go out, so they'd be coming to fetch him. No sooner had the thought crossed his mind than the sound of hoofbeats came from the distance.

Harold glanced toward the front door. The children, with their attention buried in seeds and dirt, didn't notice, but Linda did. Linda got the boys gently to their feet.

"Now, Sir Harold has business to attend to and needs to go out. You'll say safe travels, won't you?"

"Uncle, you're going out again?"

"Uncle, can you bring more of those sweets you got us last time?"

"Hm. Did you like those?"

"Yes!"

Harold nodded.

"All right. But you have to brush your teeth properly after, understood?"

"Yes. Promise!"

"Promise."

Edwin waved. He'd stood up when Linda lifted him, but his eyes were still on the flowerpot.

For some reason, Harold felt a pang.

"...Edgar, do you want sweets too?"

"Sweets..."

Edgar hesitated.

Somehow his face looked dark. Worried, Harold went over to him.

"Edgar? What is it?"

"...Do you have to go?"

Edgar asked it, working his fingers into the fur of the bear.

"You'd rather Uncle didn't go?"

"..."

"Young Master Edgar."

Linda cut in, her voice firm.

"Sir Harold has work he needs to do."

"Linda."

"He can't always be at your side, young master."

Harold didn't want to leave the children's side either. But there were things he had to check on.

He couldn't stay put and leave them alone. Above all, this concerned the children's safety and his brother's death.

Edwin looked uneasily at Edgar, at Linda, at Harold.

"But."

Linda spoke on, still firm.

"Sir Harold will always come back."

"..."

"To your side, young master. Isn't that right?"

"Ah — of course. Have you ever seen Uncle not come back, Edgar?"

"..."

Edgar buried his face in the bear.

Just as he had a moment ago with Edwin, Harold held out his little finger to Edgar.

"No matter what happens, I'll come back to you and Edwin."

Harold waited patiently. He paid no mind to the sound of the royal guard knocking at the door.

At last, the arms wrapped around the bear loosened. A warmth as light as feathers hooked onto Harold's finger.

"Promise?"

"Yes. Promise."

Edgar looked up. His eyes were reddened, but thankfully there were no tears.

Edgar ducked his head a little, embarrassed, then waved to Harold.

---

"Hello, Lord Bertholdt."

A young man with an academy researcher's badge came to greet Harold.

His complexion was almost distressingly pale, as though he hadn't seen the sun in a long time. Coming toward Harold, the young man tripped on his own feet and stumbled.

"Thank you, Lord Bertholdt... I'm— um, Dietrich. I heard you'd asked to have a look around."

When Harold caught him, the young man laughed awkwardly.

Harold let him go and nodded.

"I'd like to see the lab Countess Bertholdt used to work in."