Aiden Calinix (1)
"Hmm... It doesn't look as though the young master has gotten up yet..."
"Ah... Wh-what is it? We'll let you know once the meal is ready."
"Oh, it's nothing important. I was only looking for someone. Sorry for startling you."
I had already searched the grounds around the manor and the study without finding Aiden, so I even opened the door to the dining room where the table stood. But the only person there was a single maid setting out the food. Aiden was nowhere to be seen.
I apologized to the maid, who looked more than a little startled by my sudden entrance, and quietly stepped back out of the dining room.
He must have been sleeping in later than usual today. He still seemed fast asleep, and since it was just half past seven, I rose to go wake him.
"Hmm... The young master's room should be the second one on the left, on the second floor... This must be it."
Knock, knock.
I was fairly certain he was asleep, but I knocked lightly all the same, just in case. It was a small courtesy, one way of being considerate of each other. If I meant to teach someone manners and have them take root in the fabric of his daily life, I had to be the one who practiced them first.
I gave that light knock and waited a moment at the door, but no sound came from within, so I carefully set my hand on the handle.
...Is it all right to go in? Breakfast matters, and the maids wake him for that very reason. It shouldn't really be a problem, should it?
A brief hesitation held me there, standing before the door with the handle in my grip, lost in thought. What if Aiden was washing up inside and simply hadn't heard my knock? Or what if he didn't want me coming in at all? There was nowhere I could take questions like those, so I held the handle carefully and began to pull. In the end, none of it was something I could know unless I woke him—unless I experienced it at least once.
Creeeak—
"Um... Excuse me for a moment..."
What came into view with the small creak of the hinges was a room far less tidy than I had expected. Perhaps he simply didn't aim for a life quite that orderly. Or perhaps that kind of order belonged to a maturity I had no business expecting of a nine-year-old. I couldn't say. At the very least, the room before my eyes did not strike me as particularly well kept.
Pens and sheaves of paper lay scattered across the desk. Clothes and a few odds and ends sat on the floor, and beside them, on a pure white bed, Aiden slept in perfect innocence, knowing nothing of any of it.
When his eyes were open they could be quite sharp, and his words were never especially gentle, so he never felt particularly soft. Now, though, he looked nothing short of angelic. At the sight I closed the door with care so as not to wake him, then went to the bedside and looked down at him.
"You're sleeping so soundly... Hmm..."
How to put it—the sight of an unspoiled, innocent child asleep really was adorable. Unlike when he was awake, not a trace of worry rested on his face, nor the slightest hint of discontent. He simply lay there in peace, enjoying the warm blessing of sleep in a soft cradle of blankets and bed, and he looked happy. That was all.
Unfortunately, it was time for him to wake, so I watched him quietly and spoke in a small voice.
"Young master, it's time to get up. Breakfast will be out soon."
"Mmm... Haaahm...?"
At my voice he yawned slowly and rubbed his eyes. Then he saw me. His eyes flew wide, and he bolted upright.
"Wh-what? Why are you in here?"
"Ah, breakfast is almost ready, so I only came to wake you. I have no intention of doing you any harm, so please don't worry."
I rose from the crouch I had settled into and gently took Aiden's hand to help him up—only for him to slap it away, almost as if in a fit. A small, stinging numbness lingered. I stood there blankly, staring at my hand, and Aiden approached with caution to look at me.
"Th-that's why you shouldn't just come in like that. I'll go eat on my own, so g-go ahead and eat first. And tell Father I'll be there within five minutes."
"...Understood, young master."
He went straight into the bathroom. I watched his retreating back in a daze for a moment, then quietly left the room.
"...Hah. Why is it her and not Melia...?"
The voice I'd heard through my sleep had been calm and gentle, so I'd fallen unusually deep today, and I'd opened my eyes thinking the head maid had come to wake me. What I found before me was not silver hair, but hair and eyes the clear blue of a lake under open sky—and that posture and figure of hers, the ones that always drew the eye.
I had only just woken, and far too much had poured in at once. I panicked.
I might be a young master, but as Father had told me time and again, rudeness was still rudeness. I would have to apologize later for slapping her hand away. She and I were people all the same, in the end. A noble works for the people of his domain and receives fame and honor in return—he is never superior to them. That was Father's teaching, and I was always to remember it.
I would never let the words of my father, the person most precious to me, go in one ear and out the other. So even if the woman who had come as my tutor rubbed me the wrong way, I still believed I ought to apologize.
Of course, the image of her kept circling in my head—the way she had gone blank for a moment, startled, the instant I slapped her hand away. She always looked like someone who would only ever smile, bright and unshaken. Seeing her so flustered, so stunned she could only stare, left me flustered too. It was like watching someone I had thought could never break, break.
Perhaps she treated me so carefully only because she didn't know me well, and perhaps I had treated her too carelessly when I didn't know her either. Or perhaps it was simply a side of me she hadn't expected. Either way, I didn't want to keep turning it over until my head hurt. All I had to do was wash my face, go out, eat the meal that had been laid out so nicely, and spend the day at ease. And as for this—I could just bury it in my heart and be done with it.
"Haaahm..."
I looked slowly into the mirror, yawned, and turned toward the bathroom door.
"Ah, you're here. Are you feeling a little more awake?"
I was sitting at the table, letting a cream of mushroom soup dotted with a few croutons cool before taking a spoonful or two, when Aiden, finished washing up, walked over and sat down. He didn't seem entirely awake—there was still a trace of tiredness about him—but he came and sat well enough, and when he took a small bite of bread, I smiled.
He still showed a hint of not particularly wanting to talk with me. Even so, he seemed to know he couldn't ignore me forever, and he looked at me quietly.
"The head maid is here. Why did you come in yourself?"
"She was busy with the cooking, and I had nothing else to do just then, so I went in her place. Breakfast is better eaten, don't you think? And if you're going to have it, freshly baked bread is nicer than soup and bread that have gone cold."
"...That isn't something you need to concern yourself with. Your role here is my tutor, nothing more. You're not some nursemaid."
He still didn't seem to trust me all that much. Even so, this much was enough. I would rather he grumble like this than say outright that he didn't want to be around me, or that he didn't even want to exchange a word.
"Hmm... That's true, but a tutor can take on a little of a helper's role in daily life, beyond simply teaching."
He understood me, though the look on his face said he didn't want to. I watched him spread jam on his bread and chew, and emptied my bowl of soup. It was all perfectly fine. I did wish there had been a bit more soup, but this was far better than being given none at all. Complaining about portion sizes in this world would only make me sound spoiled, and I thought it best to keep at least a minimum of manners, so I simply reached in silence for the last piece of bread.
Tap—
"...Ah, I'm sorry. Please, eat comfortably. I've already had plenty."
Perhaps there hadn't been quite enough, because my hand met Aiden's as he reached for the bread. I laughed awkwardly and drew my hand back. His emerald-green eyes stared straight at me, and then he took the bread. I didn't know what that look meant, but if he told me later that it had made him uncomfortable, I intended to apologize.
"I'll see you at teatime in a little while. Enjoy your meal."
"...I'm still eating. Do you have something urgent to attend to?"
I had left the greeting behind me and was about to stand when Aiden spoke quietly, so I stopped and looked back. Perhaps, I thought, he didn't hate me after all.