"Yes, that's correct, but just to remind you. It is the Twenty-Seventh of Shiwasu, so one month and one week would be on the Third of Kisaragi."
Ah, there it was. Delphina knew there had to be some East Asian relics present somewhere in this World. Because the Game was a Japanese-Korean joint effort, she was surprised at the blatant push for European nomenclature. However, like many things in the Otome Game industry outside of China, if it wasn't set in a school or academy setting. It was a Historical European Romance with Japanese names.
"I see," she said quietly as she looked back towards her Absinthe glass.
"I would still like some way of at least recording the date in the Heirs Wing, though, unless there's a room I've missed? Then I can move it to my bedroom instead."
Elvira waved her hand in Delphina's direction.
"You don't need to ask permission so much! Just ask Jenkins. He'll do what he's supposed to."
Delphina realised that her parents were quite good at parenting. Whilst trying to guide her strictly but gently. They also allowed her the freedoms of what an Heir should have. Even if she was a little young, she guessed they were trying to instil confidence or natural leadership in her early.
There was one thing that concerned her, though.
"What about you, Pietro?"
He just seemed like an outsider to all this. Was it the lack of interaction, or the fact that he just kept sitting back and watching? Perhaps she was still unsettled by her initial impression of him being so drastically different from what she had expected.
So, how would he react to her not calling him Brother?
While she did feel bad teasing him like this, her gut feeling wouldn't go away. So she might as well confront it head-on. Would he get the hint if he were similar to herself? Or would he laugh it off like a sibling pulling a crappy prank?
Delphina wasn't sure how things might pan out, even if having 'past livers' in the Family was the norm for de Velasques. She didn't know how everyone would react to finding she had changed out of the blue. Could she paint it as just a change related to becoming a fully fledged Sword Master?
She felt it was something to say to Medinador in private. Especially if Pietro wasn't the original Pietro, she had to sound him out now rather than later and risk anything not going to plan.
As she alternated between focusing on her absinthe glass and Pietro, she didn't miss how his eyes went cold for a brief moment. It was fast, just a flash. But it could mean anything.
"Sister, I thought we just made up. Are you back to calling me by name already?"
That's when she realised she'd already called him by name accidentally earlier. No wonder he had been watching her. She knew how to get out of this with relative ease, thankfully. She didn't want him to think she was warm on the surface but a scheming bitch on the inside…
"Should I call you brother when I'm trying to be more formal, though? If you also want to keep track of the date, it'll change how this Family does things going forward. It's something that I need to consider, I'm sure it's something both our parents are trusting us with."
Elvira gently clapped her hands together at this statement.
"Your sister is right, Pietro. Try to be more mindful that Delphina will sometimes need to take a formal stance, even in our private conversations. But Delphina, try to make that distinction more appropriate. Of course, suddenly calling your brother like that will make him concerned."
With this, she pulled Pietros' shoulders toward her, before essentially smothering him in her bust.
Delphina looked on awkwardly at this scene. She had to remind herself that at this time, she and he were both technically not even out of their teenage years. But Elvira did seem to be babying them a lot.
Was this normal? She had no reference to go off of, so she hoped so. Otherwise, she might learn bad habits in the future. She decided to bow her head and move on. She'd have to sniff out Pietro later on when they were away from their parents, it seemed.
"Let's finish dessert now, shall we?"
Medinador once again smoothed over the situation and brought everyone back to focus. Instead of getting the automatons to do the work, he had silently started placing individual dessert plates in front of everyone. Delphina's seemed to be a citrus cream-pie.
"Well, he's certainly attentive." Delphina thought to herself as she reached out to take a slice with the freshly presented cake fork.
"Father, I have something to talk to you about after this. Do you have time?"
She had decided to bite the bullet; if she could get Medinador solidly in her corner, as the Head of the Family, she'd have a bit of security backing her if the worst-case scenario came to fruition.
Whilst she was going to be semi-honest about being a 'past liver', she wouldn't let him know about her other suspicions just yet, she had no proof. And she didn't want to be labelled as trying to stir up discourse in the Family.
Elvira seemed particularly attached to Pietro, especially since they shared similar personalities. It appeared that there was a risk that, without sufficient evidence to prove it, Medinador would still protect Pietro as a result.
However, it wasn't like she was out to kill or oust him from the family. Unless Pietro had any relation to Delphinas' in-game disappearances or deaths… That would change how things would be going forward.
Medinador had picked up on her formal tone immediately and nodded in agreement.
"Let's move to my study in the inner section, shall we?"
Swiftly finishing the dessert on their plates, they stood up to take their leave. As they did so, Delphina turned to say one last word to Pietro.
"Brother, thank you for apologising once again, and I'm also sorry about earlier. I'm still getting used to all this. You won't hold it against me, will you?"
At this, Elvira opened her eyes wide enough that her pupils were finally visible. Well, you could certainly see where Delphina and Pietro both got their purple tones from; they practically sparkled like Amethysts with the bit of light they caught.
For a moment, Delphina was concerned she'd turn out to be some monstrous 'boy-mum', but judging by that sly smile that was quietly spreading across Elvira's lips. She guessed she was more proud of what she had just said instead.
Elvira tried to paint herself as a white-lotus, even if Delphina knew that behind that facade was a nasty old yandere. So she knew Elvira would pick up on her emotionally backing Pietro into a corner with that simple line. Would he figure it out, too?
However, he was either a great actor or simply didn't get the nuance of what was just said. Because he only looked sympathetic.
"No, of course, sister. Let's have breakfast together like we used to, tomorrow, okay? In the morning, before I go to the Knights. I'll take you along to see them afterwards too, if you'd like?"
Delphina practically felt an arrow through the heart as he said this. Damn, he was being accommodating.
"Sounds great, let's meet here for breakfast? Uh, so. Early morning? If that's how I should say it…"
Turning to Medinador to confirm she'd got that 'adult speak' correct, he nodded with pride.
"Just tell Jenkins to wake you up for early morning, and he'll sort everything else out. You can pick up a calendar from my study as well before you go back."
With this, he stepped towards Elvira to place a kiss on her forehead, nodding at Pietro as he did so. He then opened one of the other doors located at the opposite end of the room from the one which she and Pietro had entered.