Examination Results and the Noble’s Quarter
The examination was embarrassing and horrible—so horrible, in fact, that I declared Ferdinand had crossed a line that now made it impossible for me to marry, which I would use as an excuse to refuse political marriage and stay at home for the rest of my life. But at the end of my examination, Ferdinand told me that I had died before.
...Uh huh. That makes sense. I’ve been on the verge of death so many times, I’m sure I would have actually died at least once.
I accepted it immediately, but Karstedt looked at me in disbelief. “What does he mean by that? You’ve died?”
“In the past, my mana has overflowed and nearly killed me more times than I can remember; it wouldn’t even surprise me to hear that I’ve died more than once. What I’m more concerned about is the mana being hardened inside of me. I can still move it around, so I don’t really get what you mean when you say it’s hardened.”
Ferdinand, seeing our shared confusion, continued to rub his temples as he searched for the right words. “Karstedt—when feybeasts die, their mana flows to the organ that usually stores it and hardens. You know this, correct?”
“Hm? Of course. That’s where feystones come from.” Karstedt nodded like it was the most obvious thing in the world, but I just blinked in surprise.
Um, what? I don’t know anything about a mana-storing organ. Are the bodies here built differently from the ones on Earth? They look exactly the same, so I assumed they were made exactly the same too, but...
When cut, we bled. When we cried, tears came out. The whole digestive process was the same, too, so aside from the people here having all sorts of strange hair and eye colors, I had been convinced that our bodies were the same. I hadn’t doubted it for a second, and definitely didn’t know anything about a mana-storing organ.
“Given that Rozemyne is alive and standing before us today, I believe that rather than completely dying, she revived from a half-dead state. But while she was in that state, her mana returned to her center, where parts of it hardened.”
Ferdinand drew a number of charts and explained the situation in detail, and judging from where the mana-storing organ was, I could determine that it was probably my heart. That helped me understand that hardened mana was more or less like a person’s arteries getting hardened.
“I believe that Rozemyne has a poor flow of mana due to the hardened clumps of mana scattered inside of her, and that is the cause of her collapsing. The flow of mana accelerates when she gets excited, but cannot flow properly. I imagine that her body knocks her unconscious to contain her emotions and protect itself,” Ferdinand said.
“So in other words, she needs to practice containing her emotions. That’s something all nobles have to do either way, so perhaps this is for the best.”
Apparently me passing out whenever I got too excited was just my body protecting itself, but something as simple as seeing a book room was enough to get me worked up. It was hard for me to imagine ever being able to contain my emotions well enough to stop that from happening.
“Ferdinand, does that mean it’ll be okay for me to get a little excited if I drain most of the mana from my body?”
“You should know from experience that you cannot move without mana. I suspect that when you have too little mana, the flow is too weak to push past the hardened clumps, which in turn paralyzes your body. This means you must keep your body filled with a decent amount of mana at all times.”
Hmm... I was thinking that mana might just be blood, but it does sound a little different. I don’t think that’s how blood works in the human bodies I’m familiar with.
“Rozemyne, do you know when it was that you died?”
“What? Umm...”
When I had first become Myne, I was so weak that cleaning the bedroom was enough to make me collapse, and just walking down to the well outside of our house would leave me exhausted. Myne had always been that weak, so it was possible that the mana had hardened before I became her. In all honesty, I had no idea when I might have died.
“Mm... I became self-aware inside of Myne when she was five, so probably then? But if you’re telling me that I’m weak because of these mana clumps, then... Well, I’ve been called weak since I was born, so I don’t know when I would have died.”
“This is your body we are talking about here. Don’t give me that disinterested look.” Ferdinand gave an annoyed frown since he clearly wanted more details, but the date of my death didn’t seem particularly important to me.
“I mean, does it really matter when I died, or even how many times I died? Right now, I’m alive and well. What’s important to me is whether this can be cured. Can you make a potion to fix this, Ferdinand?” I asked while looking up at him, still not quite used to calling him by his name.
He furrowed his brow and let out a sigh. “I can, but it will be extremely difficult.”
I had hoped that some kind of magic tool or restoration potion would fix me in a snap, but apparently it wasn’t so simple. Magic tools sure are a lot less useful than I thought.
My disappointment must have shown on my face, as Ferdinand proceeded to pinch my cheek. “It will be difficult for you, not me.”
“For me...?” What? Is he saying this is something he could make if he wanted to?
“You need only use a potion meant for bringing one back to life from a half-dead state. It will block the hardening of mana and dissolve any existing clumps. However, obtaining the necessary ingredients is far from easy.”
“Are you saying that they’re too expensive for even the adopted daughter of an archduke to buy?” I mean, I can understand that medicine able to bring someone back from the verge of death would be expensive, but I thought for sure that I wouldn’t have any money problems once Sylvester adopted me!
I cradled my head in despair, and Ferdinand shook his head. “It’s not the price, but the fact that you have to gather the ingredients yourself. Your mana will be necessary in gathering them.”
“This sure is a cruel potion, making people on the verge of death gather the ingredients to make it themselves. How are you supposed to use it in emergencies like that?” I said, pursing my lips.
Ferdinand stared down at me with a thoroughly condescending look. “Are you an idiot? Archnobles gather the ingredients while they are healthy and attending the Royal Academy, so that they can make it ahead of time and carry it with them in case of emergencies. Sylvester, Karstedt, and I each have one on us.”
A potion that archnobles carry on them at all times? Wow.
“Well, I’m never healthy. How am I supposed to gather the ingredients?” I asked, hoping for the oh-so-wise High Priest to answer. This time, he didn’t give me a condescending look, but rather one of utter exasperation.
“That is why I said it would be extremely difficult for you. Are you just not listening?”
“Rozemyne having to gather those ingredients herself despite her weakness, hm?” Karstedt interjected, wearing a troubled frown as he rubbed his chin. “That should be manageable if we surround her with knights and only have her do the final gathering part. Though even that will be out of the question unless she learns to ride her own highbeast first.”
“Indeed. Her training will begin once her baptism and the rituals related to her appointment as High Bishop are finished.”
Guuuh, what?! I’m going to have magic training on top of learning the etiquette and common sense of an archnoble? I’ll definitely die before we finish making that potion!
“Hopefully we can finish the gathering before Rozemyne goes to the Royal Academy.”
“What? Is it going to take that long?”
“At best, it will take one year. At worst, many more. Some laynobles don’t finish it during their entire enrollment at the Royal Academy.”
We still had three years before I would officially turn ten and be sent to the Royal Academy, but even knowing that, they weren’t sure whether I would be able to get all of the ingredients in time. For a moment, I wondered whether taking that long would lead to the ingredients I collected first rotting or going bad over time. But the medicine took a year to make at the very minimum—there had to be some kind of storage method that worked.
“Ferdinand, what will we do for the winter ingredient? There is that one well-known spot by the Royal Academy, but bringing a contingent of knights into the Sovereignty would be an act of war. Where do you intend to gather it?”
“We have no choice but to search for something suitable within Ehrenfest. I have several contenders in mind, and considering the quality we will need, the regular spot by the Royal Academy may not suffice.”
“Is that so?”
“The mana hardened so long ago that she does not even remember when it happened. The potion will need to be of an exceedingly high quality to work.”
Karstedt and Ferdinand were advancing the discussion themselves. Despite the fact that I was at the center of all this, they were completely leaving me behind. That wasn’t exactly uncommon, but I would have rather they explained the things they were talking about instead of just ignoring me.
“Q-Question, please! What determines the quality, or lack thereof? How do you get high-quality ingredients?” I shot a hand up, and they both looked down at me as though they had only just remembered I existed. Given that I was so far below eye level that they couldn’t even see me without looking down, they probably really had forgotten I was there.
“The quality is determined by the density of mana where the material is gathered. It also depends on the amount of mana poured into it,” Ferdinand began.
“To obtain high-quality ingredients, you will need to carefully select what you gather, and where and when you gather it. Of course, the amount of mana the gatherer has plays a role in all of this, too,” Karstedt continued.
“You say ‘of course,’ but I don’t know a thing about any of this. Please explain a little more,” I requested, but Ferdinand just shook his head with a look that made his lack of interest in explaining things to me more than clear.
“There is no time for that. We will make the necessary arrangements. All you must do is clear your mind and focus on getting through the baptism ceremony successfully. You will be moved to the Noble’s Quarter in three days. Get changed behind the curtains,” he said with a dismissive wave of his hand.
The two started discussing which ingredients they would get and where based on quality and efficiency, but as soon as I was done changing, they tossed me out of the room, telling me to go and practice the harspiel or something. I was being left out, as usual. So mean.
Once I was outside Ferdinand’s chambers, Fran—who had been waiting outside since being sent out with the other attendants—asked me what the High Priest had wanted to talk about. Damuel was standing beside him.
“I’ve heard that the apprentice—er, I mean, Lady Rozemyne—will be sent to the Noble’s Quarter in three days. I imagine it was something to do with that?”
“Yes, it seems they’ve prepared a room for me. I will be educated in the Noble’s Quarter prior to my baptism ceremony, Sir Damuel. ...Or should I just call you ‘Damuel’ now? Either way, it seems we will be saying our goodbyes for the time being.”
Damuel had apparently received healing magic of some kind, which had allowed him to get right back to his duties in the Knight’s Order. While I was in the Noble’s Quarter, he would apparently be receiving additional training to whip him into shape to become a personal bodyguard to the archduke’s adopted daughter. They figured that having someone familiar around would make things easier for me. That said, my status suddenly shooting above his made it hard for us to address each other properly. It would no doubt take a bit of getting used to.
“Also, they examined me to see whether there was a potion that could cure my illness.”
“The High Priest had said previously that he would rather not do so without your father’s permission,” Fran interjected. “I imagine he decided to hold the examination now that Lord Karstedt is your father.”
It sure was hard for me to imagine Dad giving Ferdinand permission to strip off my clothes and force me to stand on a magic circle. He’d probably tell him to buzz off, and the thought of Dad being his usual overprotective self made me giggle for a second before a heavy sense of loss gripped my heart.
...Nn. I wanna see my family. I at least wanna see their faces again.
They weren’t allowing me to meet anyone from the lower city, the Gilberta Company included, until my baptism ceremony was over. It would take some time for them to get everyone to accept that Myne was dead, and begin laying the groundwork to make people buy their Rozemyne story. I was going to die of loneliness in the meantime. My two new attendants were my only emotional support in these trying times.
“Welcome back, Lady Rozemyne,” Monika greeted me when I returned to my chambers, her undecorated emerald-green hair bundled tightly behind her head. Apparently she looked up to Wilma so much that she was even mimicking her appearance. The first thing she had said to me was that she would serve me in Wilma’s place, given that Wilma couldn’t leave the orphanage.
Monika’s dark-brown eyes gave her an air of intelligence, reminding me of a student council member or some such. She and Fran got along just fine as colleagues, and she was a hard worker, dedicating her all to taking over paperwork duties from Rosina. Fran often praised her results, saying that her time spent helping Wilma with paperwork in the orphanage had made her a faster learner than he had expected.
“Monika, Nicola—I have returned.”
“Welcome back, Lady Rozemyne. I will prepare tea at once,” Nicola said. Her flowing orangish-red hair was tied into two braids, and she headed to the kitchen with a beaming smile. She was an energetic thirteen-year-old girl who just loved tasty food, and I personally called her “Smiley Nicola” since she was always smiling. She was doing basically all of the work Delia had done, and was always excited to help Ella with the cooking.
Both Monika and Nicola had adjusted to my chambers in no time at all, probably partly because they had been visiting all the time during winter to help the chefs. These two provided invaluable emotional comfort for me.
I climbed to the second floor, and there I found Rosina, working through a pile of work Fran had asked her to finish before she left for the Noble’s Quarter. It seemed that she had to select furnishings for the High Bishop’s chambers, decide on a color scheme, figure out what utensils would be needed, and then write all of that down in a list. A single desk, for example, would need to have its height and overall size recorded in great detail, down to the number of drawers and their dimensions. Karstedt would be using her list to order furnishings of appropriate quality and design.
“Lady Rozemyne, a gift from your father arrived while you were absent. It seems to be clothes for the Noble’s Quarter.”
Karstedt had sent me clothes to wear when heading to the Noble’s Quarter. But it wasn’t just clothes for me—there were also outfits for Rosina, my personal musician, and Ella, my personal chef.
“The High Priest told me that we will be moving to the Noble’s Quarter in three days.”
“In that case, I must hurry.” Rosina glanced at the harspiel, her blue eyes gleaming. Her expression made it clear that she was endlessly happy about going from being a gray shrine maiden to a noble’s personal musician.
I spent the next three days being fervently trained by Rosina to act even just a little more like a normal noble girl, and in the blink of an eye it was the day of our departure. I finished eating lunch and prepared to head to the Noble’s Quarter. I put on the clothes Karstedt had given me and slipped on my leather shoes, then took out the fancy hair stick I used for ceremonies. Ella and Rosina were changing in their own rooms, so I was being changed by Monika, Nicola, and also Wilma, who was visiting from the orphanage to teach the former two.
“I imagine that handling the cooking will be hard for you two since I’m taking Ella with me while Hugo and Todd go to train with Leise, but I trust that you can handle it,” I said, and Wilma looked at them while nodding.
“Sister My— Excuse me, Lady Rozemyne’s food makes up a significant portion of the divine gifts given to the orphanage, so both of your efforts will be greatly appreciated.”
“Don’t worry, Wilma.”
“We practiced for this all winter. We’ll make tons of tasty food.”
They had both just moved here from the orphanage, so they knew just how much of an impact a single blue priest or shrine maiden leaving would have on the divine gifts the orphanage received.
“I’ve told Fran to continue using the same budget as always when buying ingredients, so please do not hesitate to make the usual amount.”
“Thank you ever so much, Lady Rozemyne.” Monika and Wilma replied at the same time, both giving similar smiles. It was so cute to see how much Monika adored Wilma.
“Lady Rozemyne, I will study hard and learn lots of new recipes to make for you when you return.”
“I look forward to that, Nicola.”
I finished changing and headed down the stairs with everyone. Upon reaching the first floor, I found Fran, Gil, and the chefs who usually didn’t show themselves all kneeling in wait.
“Fran, I entrust you with keeping everyone in order and managing the High Bishop’s affairs in preparation for my return. As for the High Bishop’s chambers, I do not particularly mind reusing the same furniture, though I imagine that doing so would not please you.”
“Indeed. The High Bishop’s furniture is not at all suitable for a lady. The High Priest has ordered for it all to be replaced.”
The fact that I considered that to be a huge waste of money was probably a sign that I was still looking at things from a commoner’s perspective. Nobles cared about appearances, and noblewomen needed to live surrounded by fancy, elegant furniture.
Ferdinand had agreed to leave the furniture in the orphanage director’s chambers unchanged since it would be used as a meetup spot for people from the lower city, but the High Bishop’s chambers would be visited by blue priests and nobles, which meant appearances were much more important there. It was apparently unthinkable for an archnoble adopted by the archduke to reuse furniture previously owned by a criminal. It wasn’t like someone’s sins carried over to their furniture, but he was dead set on it nonetheless.
I had no idea what kind of furniture upper-class noble girls tended to use, but as my request to have my chambers filled with bookshelves and books like a library was shot down, I didn’t really care how it ended up. Ferdinand, Karstedt, and my attendants could take care of selecting and paying for the furniture.
“Gil, you will be going to investigate some city’s orphanage while I’m gone, correct? Take care to stick as close to the Gilberta Company as possible—the High Priest has told the scholars that you’re there in my place, but I’m not sure whether you being of a lower status will change things.”
“Understood. I shall be careful.”
Since I was now an archnoble, Fran had started correcting Gil’s speech and behavior even more harshly than usual—after all, we wouldn’t be able to interact so casually once I was both the archduke’s adopted daughter and the High Bishop. I went ahead and patted Gil on the head while I still could.
And then I stood in front of the two chefs, who on this rare occasion were out of the kitchen. “Thank you both for cooking such delicious meals for me every day. The next time we meet shall surely be in the Italian restaurant. Make good use of what you’ve learned here.”
Karstedt was waiting at the temple’s front entrance for me, and once I was there, he escorted me to a carriage. Ferdinand was with him, wearing noble clothing as well. Rosina and Ella would be riding in a separate carriage—one specifically for attendants. Theirs departed first so that they could open the gate to the Noble’s Quarter for us.
“I will be off, then. Fran, I entrust everything to you in my absence.”
“I await your return, Lady Rozemyne.”
Once I had finished saying my goodbyes to all of my attendants, the door to my carriage was shut, and we departed. Unlike Benno’s carriage, this one moved incredibly smoothly, not shaking at all. It was actually pretty comfortable. The Noble’s Gate was already wide open, and we passed by the attendant’s carriage and into the Noble’s Quarter.
The carriage passed by the plaza where the knights had been gathered prior to the trombe extermination, rolling down the white paved road that seemed to stretch on endlessly. It looked like a bunch of modest-sized parks were lined up next to each other, but apparently each was a noble’s estate. The mansions got fancier the further away we got from the Noble’s Gate; it seemed that things getting fancier as you moved away from the gate was true in the Noble’s Quarter, too.
Spotlessly clean carriages passed by ours, but I couldn’t see anyone walking. Apparently adults just used their highbeasts, and would bring out their carriages when traveling with small children, so there was rarely any reason to walk around outside. That felt pretty weird, since walking was the standard down in the lower city.
“Oh?”
I saw a section where the buildings were large, but packed very close to one another, like a residential area you might find in Japan. We were quite far away from the gate so I had assumed the buildings here would be pretty fancy, but instead they were getting more cramped.
“I see some buildings have big gardens and others don’t. What’s the difference between them?”
“These are the winter estates for nobles given land by the archduke, called giebes,” Ferdinand responded. “As they are only used during the snowy winters, they do not need large gardens.”
They were the homes of nobles who lived on their own land from Spring Prayer to the Harvest Festival, only returning to the Noble’s Quarter to socialize during the winter. That made sense—you wouldn’t really need a big garden if it was going to be buried in snow the whole time you were there. The estates of nobles who served the archduke and lived in Ehrenfest naturally had bigger gardens.
“Is that wall over there where the Noble’s Quarter ends?” I asked, pointing at a huge wall that stretched along one end of the Noble’s Quarter.
Ferdinand shook his head. “No, the archduke’s castle is behind that wall. You will be going there after your baptism.”
The mansion that would be my new home was located close to that wall. The carriage advanced through the spacious garden, which did in fact look like a small park, until we eventually came across a pure-white building that seemed to be made of the same material as the city walls and the temple.
“My first wife, Elvira, and my son, Cornelius, live here with me. I have two other sons with her, but they’ve both come of age and now live in the knights’ barracks. My second wife and her son live in a separate building on the estate. You will rarely ever see them, I imagine.”
People were lined up in front of the door, which opened just as our carriage arrived. From inside came a single woman, who leisurely strolled our way.
“That’s Elvira. She will be your mother from now on. Try to get along with her.”
My new mother had dark-green hair gathered up in complex bundles, and wore elaborate clothing covered in embroidery of all colors. Judging by her looks, she seemed to be in her mid-thirties. She gave off a dignified aura even while standing still, and every single movement she made exuded grace and refinement. She was so different from the world of women I was used to that I honestly didn’t even know how I should talk to her.
“Um, I appreciate the thought, but how am I supposed to get along with her? I don’t know how to interact with a married archnoble woman,” I said weakly, but Ferdinand simply mumbled something about ladies’ society being outside of his jurisdiction.
“Elvira has only ever been graced with boys before now,” he continued. “Why not begin by acting like an obedient daughter? She is not so foolish as to treat the future adopted daughter of an archduke poorly. That said, getting her to like you as much as possible will make your life in ladies’ society that much easier.”
Karstedt and Ferdinand may have been my guardians, but even they couldn’t go to the gatherings and tea parties attended only by women. I would have to find new allies in ladies’ society. Right from the start, I had a huge hurdle to overcome.
“Elvira seemed excited about dressing a daughter and preparing a room for her. You would do well to go along with that until she is satisfied.”
“Okay. I will do my best to become a living doll.” If she was so eager to dress me, maybe I could win her over with some rinsham and hairpins, then seal the deal with sweets that she could bring to tea parties. But either way, I had to start by finding common ground and focusing on that.
“Welcome home, Karstedt. And Lord Ferdinand, I am delighted to see you again so soon.”
“Hello, Elvira,” Ferdinand replied. “This is Rozemyne, your new daughter.”
Ferdinand and Karstedt each placed a hand on my back and gently pushed me in front of them. I slowly lowered my hips in a curtsy, as I had been made to practice over and over again.
“It is nice to meet you. I am Rozemyne. May I pray for a blessing in appreciation of this serendipitous meeting, ordained by the pure rivers flowing from Flutrane the Goddess of Water?”
“You may.”
This was the greeting nobles always gave to express that they were happy about their meeting. It was the same one that Ferdinand had given Benno the first time they had met.
“O Flutrane, Goddess of Water. May you grant this meeting your blessing.” I put a little bit of mana into my ring as I had been taught, and a bit of green light rose into the air before raining back down.
Elvira, having received the blessing, smiled. “I welcome you into my home, Rozemyne. From this day forth, I am your mother.”
...Well, at least my greeting got a passing grade from her.
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