Episode 20
"Oh my. I'm sorry for startling you, child."
A middle-aged woman with frost-kissed gray hair had entered the chapel.
She wore a crimson stole draped over both shoulders atop her white priestly vestments—at a glance, one could tell it was the attire of a cardinal.
Indeed, a considerable amount of divine power emanated from her.
Wow, a real cardinal? What exquisite timing.
"Were you in the middle of your dawn prayers?"
"Ah, yes. I offer them every morning."
"You are a rare, devout child. And..."
The cardinal's lingering gaze rested above my head.
"You are a special child, too."
Feeling as though something had been read into me, I instinctively flinched slightly.
Who on earth is this person? And what business does she have at the count's estate?
"Judging by your face, you seem curious about who I am. Since this is the Gillette County, you may call me Dowager Madame Gillette."
"Ah!"
Dowager Madame Gillette. So she was the countess's mother-in-law and Bianca's grandmother.
As a servant of the Gillette estate, she was someone I could only have heard plenty about.
The servants of the count's estate remembered Dowager Madame Gillette as a strict and devout mistress.
Strict. Devout.
Those described by such heavy words tend to hold conservative inclinations, so it seemed she couldn't be a warm mother-in-law to the commoner-born countess.
Even so, there had been no particular friction.
A few years after Bianca was born, the dowager declared she would devote herself to religious life and crossed over to the Elfenheim Holy Nation.
'I'd only heard she was a person of deep faith. I never expected her to be a cardinal.'
Since the religious order allowed marriage, such family relations seemed possible.
Setting aside distracting thoughts, I decided to greet her first.
"It is an honor to meet you, Dowager Madame Gillette. I am..."
"Ailet Rodelin. I remember."
...My vessel's presence might have been quite extraordinary.
Just then, the corridor grew noisy, and a group of people appeared.
At the front were the countess and Bianca.
"Oh, Mother, you're here?"
"Welcome, Grandmother."
The dowager carefully observed Bianca, who greeted her expressionlessly. The direction her seasoned eyes stared straight at was, once again, not her face but above her head.
As expected, a discomfiting height for her gaze.
At that moment, the Spirit of Words gave me a hint within the limits of what she could intervene.
[The 'Spirit of Words that Constructs the World' observes 'Cattleya Gillette' with interest.]
What? Cattleya Gillette?
Cardinal Cattleya?
'...Ah, so that's why.'
Along with the name, I remembered.
What her innate unique ability was, separate from her divine power.
✠
The people of the religious order, who prized diligence and temperance as virtues, ate breakfast at the crack of dawn.
Matching Cardinal Cattleya's lifestyle patterns, the count's family forced down an early meal they normally never ate.
After the family meal ended and Bianca returned to her room, she let out a small sigh. I offered her a potion with digestive effects and asked.
"You look terrible. Did something happen during breakfast?"
"No. Grandmother is just... difficult."
"Difficult?"
Hearing Bianca, who was usually evaluated as quite difficult herself, call someone else difficult made me marvel at the food chain for a moment.
Come to think of it, Cardinal Cattleya and Bianca's atmospheres were somewhat similar. Genetics at work, perhaps?
"Grandmother really dislikes me."
"Huh?"
I decided to stay quiet and listen more.
"Since she was displeased with my commoner mother, I suppose she doesn't like me either. According to Mother, when I was a baby, Grandmother wouldn't even look at me. Then she suddenly went off to the Holy Nation."
"...."
"But it's a bit strange. When Brother Romdio was born, Grandmother personally performed the baptism in her capacity as a priestess, and I heard her relationship with Mother wasn't that bad either. So why am I..."
"...."
Bianca tried hard to hide her hurt and attempted to bring up positive things.
"Still, today's family meal was better than three years ago. Back then, she wouldn't even look my way or speak to me."
"Did she speak to you this time?"
"Yeah. She asked what my relationship with you was. I just answered that we're playmates, but..."
Bianca's complexion, which had brightened for a moment, clouded over again.
It was obvious she was worried that his grandmother might harm his commoner friend.
"...It'll be fine. Even if Grandmother seems cold, she's not the type to torment her subordinates."
It was poignant to hear her defend someone she believed disliked her.
Sigh, this girl's too soft-hearted for her own good.
If that's how it is, I had to step up.
I placed a hand on Bianca's slumped shoulder.
"Listen, Via. Everything you think about the dowager—maybe it's all a misunderstanding."
"A misunderstanding?"
Just then, a knock was heard, and the butler entered.
"Excuse me, Lady Bianca. The dowager wishes to see Ailet Rodelin."
"...Grandmother wants to see the child?"
Bianca's eyes wavered slightly.
"I'll go with you."
"My apologies. The dowager requested a private audience."
"...."
By now, visions of harm must be swirling in Bianca's head.
I squeezed Bianca's hand tightly.
"Via, don't worry. And..."
A whisper.
Bianca's eyes grew wide at my murmured words. Looking into her rabbit-like red eyes, I smiled softly.
It was a smile of stratagem.
✠
Within the count's estate, the dowager was essentially a VIP of the highest order. To attend to her with the utmost care, the countess and the servants were on full alert.
Even the setting prepared for the private audience was testament to that.
In a scenic garden, the countess had personally set up a tea table with lavish splendor.
It was an extravagant spread, hard to believe it was for a tea time with a mere commoner child servant.
'There's a lot of dessert.'
The religious order would consider gluttony a sin, yet the table was overflowing with pretty desserts like ornaments. So are they all for me?
"Eat to your heart's content."
"Ah, yes."
Just as I was about to take a bite without declining—
Cardinal Cattleya, having taken a sip of chamomile tea, asked.
"What is your relationship with Bianca?"
Hmm, getting straight to the point. Not bad.
I considered expressing a business-like relationship, saying we were merely the young lady's playmates, but changed my mind.
"We're friends. Very close friends."
Seeing Cardinal Cattleya's eyebrow twitch, I cheerfully added a postscript.
"Via is the best. She's pretty, smart, and kind! There's no book in the count's estate she hasn't read, she's memorized all the servants' faces and names, and she's much better at calculations than the adults."
"...Is that so?"
"That's not all. When my brother was being beaten before, she even saved him..."
Cardinal Cattleya listened to my story with rapt attention.
After chattering on for a while and looking ahead, deep delight lingered in her eyes.
True feelings are indeed hard to hide. Especially for someone like Cardinal Cattleya.
I gave a gentle probe.
"Via seems to resemble Your Eminence a lot."
"Yes, I've thought so since before... ahem."
Cardinal Cattleya, about to agree unthinkingly, covered her mouth with her teacup.
She returned to a frigid expression, but I did not yield.
"Your visit to the count's estate this time is also to see Via, isn't it?"
"...."
This was a silence of affirmation.
"I'm not sure if it's presumptuous of me to say, but wouldn't it be better to spend time with Via rather than with me?"
"Bianca... I saw that she is safe, so that is enough."
It was a meaningful statement.
Of course, to someone who knew her ability, it meant something different.
Time to strike at the heart of the dowager's intentions.
"Now that there's no reason to withhold your affection from Via, couldn't you treat her well?"
"What?"
"You saw that Via's lifespan has changed."
"You..."
The eyes that see the lifespan one has lived and the lifespan one has left—the Life and Death Eyes.
That was Cattleya Gillette's innate unique ability, which was why she habitually checked above a person's head rather than looking into their eyes.
When she said I was special, it must have been because she knew the lifespan I had lived was not that of a ten-year-old girl.
"I was curious why you would remember a mere servant's name. It was probably because Via and I had the same remaining lifespan. And your sudden visit to the count's estate today must be because you didn't hear the scheduled news of death."
Cardinal Cattleya did not deny it.
"You truly are extraordinary. So, what is your identity?"
"If you looked above my head, I assume you have some idea."
Regression, transmigration, or reincarnation—take your pick.
"I see, so you are one who has returned. That is how you knew the future and could twist Via's fate."
Of the three guesses, Cardinal Cattleya chose the first.
She would think of me as an ordinary child without power, so she must have believed one needed to know the future with certainty to evade fate.
It was an incorrect answer, but I had no intention of correcting her.
It was enough that she accepted the situation and dropped her guard toward me, and above all, explaining transmigration would amount to treason against this world.
Sharing secrets is an activity that fosters intimacy, so Cardinal Cattleya showed me an expression steeped in regret before me.
"I truly regret it. If I had known this would happen, I would have treated her as my heart desired. I've been wretched to my granddaughter."
Her ability merely foretold when death would approach.
She could not know when, where, or how death would strike, and as the price for possessing the Life and Death Eyes, she could not intervene in that death.
She could only silently accept the predetermined death as a bystander.
How immense must the despair she felt have been, the moment she saw a short-lived future hanging over her newborn granddaughter's head?
She must have tried and tried again not to give her heart, but must have suffered greatly because of her granddaughter, who was all the more lovable for resembling her.
That was why she deliberately acted even colder, until she finally left the estate.
"Via now has a normal lifespan. Thank you truly."
After pondering for a moment, she took off the necklace she was wearing and handed it to me. The cross pendant necklace looked like pure gold at a glance.
"Take it."
"What is this?"
"It is a memento of my old friend. I'm giving it as a request for you to remain good friends with Via, so do not refuse."
"Ah, yes! Thank you!"
When I readily accepted and pocketed it, Cardinal Cattleya's eyebrow twitched slightly.
"I thought you'd decline once out of politeness."
"Hehe, since you gave it while making such a request, I felt Via would be hurt if I didn't accept right away."
"Hm?"
Just as Cardinal Cattleya, sensing something amiss, tilted her teacup and then froze—
A privilege for the transmigrator.