Ascendance of a Bookworm (LN) - Volume 3.1 - Chapter 3

A Noble’s Baptism Ceremony 

The day of my baptism ceremony had been busy last year when I was in the lower city, but here in the Noble’s Quarter it was even busier. I had been woken up early in the morning and forced to bathe while still half-asleep, and was now being sent to eat breakfast in my normal clothes for the sake of cleanliness. Only once that was done would I be changed into my outfit for the baptism ceremony. 

“Good morning, Mother.” I went to the dining room once I was done bathing and found Elvira eating breakfast alone. 

In the Noble’s Quarter, we didn’t go to the temple to be baptized; instead, we summoned priests to our homes and held the ceremony there, so the whole house was busy. Food was normally served by chefs in the kitchen, but today our attendants would be serving us. The kitchen was no doubt a war zone right now as everyone busted their butts to make food for all of the guests. 

“Rozemyne, please change as soon as you can. Lord Ferdinand is waiting with a gift.” 

“Yes, Mother.” 

Elvira finished eating and left, at which point Eckhart entered. He sat down across from me, offering a gentle smile as I scarfed down my food as quickly as I could. 

“Morning. And congratulations, Rozemyne.” 

“Thank you ever so much, dear brother.” 

Eckhart made some light conversation as he started working through his own plate, which was a relief as I had been worried that we’d eat in silence. “I hear Lord Ferdinand is going to be the priest conducting your baptism ceremony. I’m pretty excited, since this is the first time I’ve seen Lord Ferdinand agree to conduct a ceremony like this.” 

“Wait, this is his first time doing one?” 

Priests were called to the homes of nobles to conduct baptism ceremonies quite regularly, and since the nobles paid them for this service, it was a valuable source of income. Nobles tried to summon priests of as high of a status as they could, and yet up until now, Ferdinand had never conducted any religious ceremonies in the Noble’s Quarter. 

It must have been obvious from my expression that I was wondering why, as Eckhart started to explain for me. “The High Bishop used to conduct ceremonies for archnobles.” 

While archnobles and the archduke knew Ferdinand, they also knew the High Bishop, and so always invited him instead. This wasn’t much of a problem for Ferdinand though: he always had a ton of work to do and received income from other places, so he was more than happy to leave these ceremonies to other priests. 

“With Lord Ferdinand as the priest, I expect that all of the noblewomen in attendance will kick up quite the fuss,” Eckhart added. He explained that since Ferdinand always came to the Noble’s Quarter wearing normal noble clothing, the women would probably squeal in delight upon seeing him in his ceremonial priest robes. 

...I guess it’s like getting excited over a cool uniform? I’m so used to seeing him in his robes that I don’t think anything of it, but I kind of get it. 

Eckhart and Ferdinand had served as knights together from the start of Eckhart’s apprenticeship to the day Ferdinand entered the temple, so Eckhart knew quite a lot about him. 

“Lord Ferdinand does everything so perfectly that people are quicker to respect and admire him than curse or envy him. Some even worshiped him back in the day.” 

I found it a little hard to believe, but Eckhart had apparently earned pocket change while he was attending the Royal Academy by selling information about Ferdinand to Elvira. Perhaps I could do the same and make a good amount of money from it... 

“You’re the apprentice shrine maiden Ferdinand declared he would be taking custody of, so I’ll take good care of you as my little sister. All I ask, Rozemyne, is that you take good care of Lord Ferdinand too. I want him to have as many allies here as possible, and every single one makes a difference.” 

“Understood.” 

Eckhart managed to finish breakfast much faster than I could and then left. He finished surprisingly fast considering that we had been talking and he had been eating so gracefully—not to mention that he had started after me. I hurriedly scarfed down the rest of my breakfast so as to not be left behind. 

On my way to my room, I bumped into Cornelius, who seemed to be heading to the dining room. “Good morning, Cornelius.” 

“Morning, Rozemyne. I see they dragged you out of bed too, huh?” 

“My attendants woke me up. I’ve already finished my morning bath and eaten breakfast.” 

Cornelius had gotten dressed, but still looked very sleepy. I noted that, and he gave a small laugh. “Guess I better eat breakfast then. Ah, right—and congratulations, Rozemyne.” 

“Thank you ever so much, dear brother.” 

Once I was back in my room, it was time to change clothes. My attendants laid out two outfits for me to pick from; both matched Elvira’s preferences as far as I could tell, so I just picked the one on the right for no particular reason. I followed my fast-working attendants’ instructions on where to put my arms and legs, and was changed in no time at all. 

As my hair was being brushed by an attendant in front of a mirror, a small bell rang on the other side of the door. “That would be Mother. Let her in, please.” 

“Rozemyne, dear, have you finished changing?” 

“I have, Mother.” 

No sooner had Elvira been let in than she walked out of the room again, this time saying something through another door. Moments later she returned with Karstedt, who was wearing a finer set of clothes than usual, and Ferdinand, who was wearing his ceremonial robes and carrying a small box. Elvira stayed back as Karstedt and Ferdinand walked over to me, and honestly, it was pretty funny seeing her gleaming eyes as she stared at Ferdinand from behind. 

“Congratulations on your baptism, Rozemyne. Ah, yes, that certainly does look good on you.” 

“I thank you ever so much, Father.” 

Karstedt praised how I looked, smiled, and then took my hand. “I’ll be borrowing this ring for a bit. I will hand it back during the ceremony,” he said as he removed the magic tool from my finger. He had given me the ring so that I could register a hidden room in the temple, and for protection in case the blue priests tried anything, but technically it was something he was supposed to give me during the baptism ceremony. 

The children of nobles were given feystone-embedded magic tools at birth to store their overflowing mana. Then, at their baptism ceremony, they were given rings that would help them to use the mana instead. I had never been given the kind of magic tool that children received, but was happy enough offering my mana to the divine instruments. Plus, Ferdinand had said that I had enough mana to quickly fill a feystone if I ever needed to. 

Karstedt stepped back once he had the ring and, as if on cue, Ferdinand walked forward with his box. “Congratulations, Rozemyne. May this gift add to your celebration.” 

“My my, I wonder what he got you,” Elvira said, seemingly more excited than I was. “Rozemyne dear, go ahead and open it, if you would.” 

I thanked Ferdinand, set the box on the table, and then gently opened it, trying to be as graceful as one would expect an archnoble to be. 

“Oh my, how splendid!” Elvira exclaimed. 

Inside was a gleaming hair stick made using the most luxurious thread. I took it out for a closer look and saw that there were three big white flowers, the edges of which were lined with gold. They were surrounded by small blue flowers decorated in a similar fashion, and hanging from these was a vine of even smaller flowers that resembled wisterias, their colors forming a gradient from blue to white. 

...Mom and Tuuli made this. 

The flowers in the center used a design that I had taught Mom and Tuuli to make after organizing my deal with Corinna, and I could tell they were involved in part because they resembled the ones on the hairpins from last year. And if they had made the flowers, then I could guess that Dad had shaved down the stick part. The faces of my family flashed through my mind, and the sadness I had bottled up due to being so busy hit me all at once. 

“Ah...” Tears started to stream down my face as though a dam had burst inside of me. I had tried not to think about my family over the past weeks, but now they filled my heart. I was frozen, the hair stick in my hands. 

“Rozemyne?” Elvira looked at me, her eyes widening in surprise. An attendant, shocked by my sudden tears, rushed over with a small towel and patted my cheeks. 

“Calm down, Rozemyne.” Ferdinand took the hair stick from my hands and quietly looked down at me, his face expressionless. I wanted to stop, but the tears kept on flowing, like my eyes were broken faucets. 

“...I-I can’t. They just... keep... Nn... Ngh...!” 

Ferdinand glanced around the room, and while he remained expressionless, I could see the faint traces of panic in his light-gold eyes. His brow furrowed deeply and he rapped a finger against his temple. “Karstedt, get everyone out of the room! Do not let anyone inside until I permit it!” 

“Sir!” Karstedt, having received a strict order, immediately gathered the worried-looking people in the room together and took them outside. After confirming that he hadn’t missed anyone, he left as well, closing the door behind him. 

Ferdinand made sure that the door was shut tight, then roughly rubbed the towel against my face. He grimaced hard when he saw that this hadn’t stopped my tears from flowing out. 

“Ferdinand, hug!” 

“Keep the towel on your face. If my robes get soaked, then I am leaving,” he said, clearly vexed, before sitting down on a chair, hefting me up, and giving me a hug. 

The warmth of another person immediately drained the tension from my body. Karstedt, Elvira, and all of my brothers were kind to me, but I interacted with them a lot less than I was used to. It seemed I had become completely touch-deprived. I clung to Ferdinand, all the while keeping the towel pressed against my face. 

“...To think this would happen on the morning of your baptism ceremony,” Ferdinand muttered. I had finally stopped crying, and was now pursing my lips instead. 

“It almost feels like you did this on purpose. You had to know I would cry if you brought me a hair stick from my parents before my baptism.” 

“Oh, you think so? I intended for you to rejoice, but I see it had the opposite effect. I will have to remember never to gift you any hair sticks again.” 

“Wait, please no! I love it! I’m really happy to have it! Please keep gifting me more!” 

“You will have to excuse me for not wanting to deal with a situation like this again,” he said, deepening his frown. I was so anxious that this just made more tears leak out. 

“But I’m telling you, I’m happy... I’m telling you I want more. Ferdinand, you meaniiie! Sniff... Ngh...!” 

“How annoying. You truly are a pain to deal with, Rozemyne. What exactly do you want from me?” he asked, and despite how harsh his words were, his tone was sincerely puzzled. 

“If you’re going to send me a gift like this, please do it several days in advance. I really am happy to get it, but it also makes me miss my family, so I need time to recover emotionally.” 

“...Very well then. I will keep that in mind for the future. For now, though, you need to stop crying,” Ferdinand said, lightly tapping a finger against my head as if to say he had no way of winning against a crying child. 

I calmed down after the lengthy hug, and stopped leaning against Ferdinand so that I could climb down from his lap. “I think I’m okay now. Sorry for the trouble.” 

After I stepped back with the towel, Ferdinand muttered “Trouble indeed” before standing up with a sullen frown and heading to the door. “Come in,” he said, and Lamprecht entered with several attendants. 

“Excuse me. Mother and Father went to greet the guests, and they...” Lamprecht began as he stepped inside, before coming to an abrupt stop and recoiling at the sight of my red eyes and flushed cheeks. “Rozemyne’s eyes are bright red; someone apply something cold to them at once. Mother will kick up a fuss if she sees her like this.” 

The attendants immediately stepped forward, but Ferdinand, seemingly having only just realized that my eyes were red, reached out a hand to me. “There will be no need for that. Come here, Rozemyne. I will heal you.” 

The feystone on Ferdinand’s ring began to shine, no doubt due to him pouring mana into it. He placed his ringed hand over my eyes and muttered: “May Heilschmerz’s healing be granted.” A gentle green light shone through my eyelids, which had been shut by Ferdinand’s hand, and I could hear the attendants letting out awed noises. The light quickly disappeared, and Ferdinand pulled his hand away. 

I slowly opened my eyes to see Ferdinand closely investigating my face. Meanwhile, Lamprecht looked relieved to have escaped Elvira’s anger. “To think that you would end up offering healing before performing a ceremony, Lord Ferdinand... We are grateful.” 

“Healing of this level is no issue at all.” 

The area around my eyes had apparently been a little swollen. I patted my face and checked in a mirror; everything seemed to be back to normal. 

“Lord Ferdinand, what in the world happened to Rozemyne? It would be good to know for the future.” 

“...We are all busy right now; it can wait until another day. Prepare Rozemyne at once.” 

Having deftly avoided Lamprecht’s question, Ferdinand headed for the door. No way could he reveal that I had started crying after being given a hair stick from my former family, forcing him to calm me down with a hug. I was already sure that he’d think up some excuse before Lamprecht brought this up again later. 

As Ferdinand opened the door, the distant clamor of people could be heard, seeming to all be coming from one place. It was almost time for my baptism ceremony. 

Attendants set my hair using something like pomade, before tying it tightly behind my head with a cord. They patted on more of what seemed to be hair gel, then weaved the front of my hair into complex braids. The hair stick that Ferdinand had given me was slid in last to finish it off. 

With the preparations done, Lamprecht escorted me to a waiting room. It was the closest room to the stairs leading to the assembly hall, where the baptism would be held. 

“I’m told the archduke’s family has arrived. I’ll need to go and greet them, but can I trust you to wait alone? You’re not going to run away and hide like Lord Wilfried, are you?” 

It seemed that Sylvester’s son was like a mini Syl. As his guard, Lamprecht was basically in the same role as Karstedt whenever he had to stop one of Sylvester’s rampages. I felt genuine sympathy for how rough his daily life had to be. 

“Lamprecht, my dear brother—you say that I would be waiting by myself, but the attendants would remain here with me. I would not truly be alone. And furthermore, I don’t have the stamina to escape like a normal child might. You may rest easy and leave.” 

“That actually just makes me more worried,” Lamprecht replied while leaving the room. 

Not long after, Karstedt and Elvira came in, having finished welcoming the guests. Elvira immediately walked up to me and peered at my face. 

“Lamprecht mentioned what had happened. You cried to the point of your eyes swelling up, and ultimately received healing from Lord Ferdinand, no? Rozemyne, first appearances are very important. You must understand that someone’s first impression of you is decided the moment they see your face,” Elvira explained, teaching me a fundamental rule of noble womanhood while continuing to check my eyes. “It is a failure of ladyhood to cry and allow your eyes to swell up prior to meeting so many new people at an event such as a baptism ceremony. You must always present your most beautiful self to the world.” 

Once she was done, we rehearsed the steps for the ceremony. It would begin when Ferdinand, who would be waiting in another room, entered. He would summon me, and then I would walk up to the altar one step behind my parents. 

“My my myyy!” 

“Kyaaah!” 

All of a sudden, I heard the high-pitched squeals of women, so loud that the noise carried through the walls. As I looked at the door, wondering what the heck was happening outside, Karstedt mentioned that it was probably because Ferdinand was here. I thought that was strange. Today was a baptism ceremony, not a harspiel concert starring Ferdinand. 

“...I feel like nobody is going to consider me the star of this event.” 

“Dear, this is the first time everyone is seeing Lord Ferdinand in his ceremonial priest robes,” Elvira said. “Our hearts cannot help but flutter with excitement.” 

One of my few friends back in my Urano days definitely had a huge weak spot for people in particular outfits. Put glasses or a suit on someone and she’d be bleeding from the nose in no time. 

...So he’s like a boy wearing glasses, except he’s a priest? Or maybe this is more similar to a boy in a suit. This is a bit beyond me, but either way, Ferdinand looks a bit too old to be called a boy. 

The high-pitched shrieking stopped on a dime as Ferdinand started to speak. I couldn’t tell what was being said, but could hear his deep voice reverberating through the walls. It seemed the ceremony was starting. 

A small bell rang by the door, which was briskly opened by an attendant. Karstedt and Elvira immediately stood up, and I followed suit, descending the stairs to the first floor one step behind them. When we reached the bottom, I actually gasped at how many people were gathered in the assembly hall. 

There were two, or maybe even three hundred people there—a crowd I would have thought too enormous to fit inside a single house—and all of their eyes were locked on me. Their gazes cut kind of deep—or like, they were heavy and bore down on me, making me cognizant that extreme attention was being paid to every single move I made. 

...Am I supposed to walk like this? 

There was a path running down the center of the hall for us to walk along, and an altar set up by the furthest wall. The divine instruments—which had probably been brought from the temple—were placed on its steps, and Ferdinand was waiting in front wearing his ceremonial priest robes. It felt entirely like this was my wedding day, except I was alone. 

For a second, Karstedt, who was escorting Elvira, shot a worried glance back to me. I returned a small nod to ease his worries. I had already resolved to separate from my family to protect both their lives and my own, and Ferdinand had already promised to give me the keys to the book room if I finished the ceremony successfully. 

I had to become the archduke’s adopted daughter no matter what. I had to earn the right to freely enter the book room so that I could read the precious books inside. I couldn’t let myself fail here. 

I shot my head up, put on the smile that Rosina and Elvira had drilled into me, and took my first step. I straightened my back and stared straight ahead, making sure not to look at the ground. My eyes scanned the crowd, but never focused on one point. I walked gracefully, like flowing water; the slowness of my pace meant nothing compared to how elegant it appeared. 

In other words, I followed the etiquette that had been drummed into me to a T as I walked to the altar. As I neared the steps, I saw Rosina among the several musicians playing music. She was looking at me as she played, worry clear in her eyes, but I broadened my smile to show that I was doing fine. 

As I got closer still, I saw that Sylvester was sitting in the seat closest to Ferdinand, wearing more extravagant clothing than ever before. Beside him was a woman who was presumably his wife, and a boy who looked about my age. That must have been Wilfried. 

Seated on the other side of the aisle were my three brothers. Cornelius wore a tense expression as he looked my way, and while my other two brothers weren’t showing it, I could guess they were worried as well. 

Karstedt stopped in front of the altar with Elvira, then reached out a hand to me. I took it and walked up the steps to stand before Ferdinand. Once I was there, Karstedt and Elvira descended from the altar to join my brothers. 

“Rozemyne, today you become seven years old,” Ferdinand said as he took out a medal similar to the one I had seen at last year’s baptism ceremony. I instantly remembered having to give a blood print. 

Not again, I thought with a grimace, earning me a glare from Ferdinand. 

“Hold out your hand.” 

I timidly obeyed, but what he handed me wasn’t a knife or a needle—it was a thin stick about twenty centimeters long and covered in gorgeous decoration. Judging by the feystone, I could guess that it was a magic tool. The second I touched it, the stick shone and I could feel my mana being forcibly drained. Meanwhile, the audience started to clap, a sign that this was an intended part of the ceremony. 

Ferdinand held out the medal to me, and I pressed the flat end of the stick against it like someone stamping a signature. The mana that had built up inside flowed into the medal, dimming the stick’s light as the medal began to glow the seven colors of the rainbow. 

“As expected,” Ferdinand murmured as he looked at the medal, before immediately putting it away in a small box. “Congratulations, Rozemyne. You are now officially recognized as Karstedt’s daughter. A new child has been born in Ehrenfest.” 

As celebratory applause filled the room, Karstedt climbed up the altar. Once at the top, he held the blue feystone ring high in the air for everyone to see. “I gift this ring to Rozemyne, now recognized as my child by society and the gods,” he declared, before taking my left hand just like he had before and sliding the ring onto my middle finger. It changed size, fwooshing down into a ring that fit me perfectly. 

“Rozemyne, may you have Leidenschaft the God of Fire’s blessings.” As Ferdinand spoke, I saw a flash of blue from the corner of my eye. I turned and saw that Ferdinand’s ring was shining. Blue light rose into the air, then rained down on my head. 

“I am honored, High Priest.” I had been told that when Ferdinand gave me his blessing, I would need to bless the audience in return. “I pray that Leidenschaft the God of Fire blesses all those in attendance, and the High Priest for celebrating my baptism,” I declared while pouring mana into the ring I had just gotten back. It shone with a similar blue light which swelled before rising into the air, circling around and scattering light across the entire assembly hall. The light was of a different color, but it resembled the blessing I had given my family at our last meeting. 

...Whew. And that’s the end of the ceremony, I thought, relieved that I had completed everything exactly as instructed. But a stir ran through the crowd. Unlike the calm, coordinated clapping from before, this was the sound of confused people who had just seen something unexpected. 

“What in the world? She produced that much light?” 

“Just how much mana does she have packed into that small body of hers?” 

...Um, what? Did I mess up? I thought, worried by the reaction. But when I anxiously looked up at Karstedt and Ferdinand, they both just grinned ever so slightly. They were clearly planning something. 

Karstedt stood behind me and, with a hand placed on my shoulder, whispered in a voice so quiet that only I could hear. “In a standard ceremony, the child only blesses the priest in return. This will give weight and legitimacy to the archduke adopting you.” 

Sylvester, wearing the grin of a kid who had just successfully pulled off a prank, leisurely climbed the altar, taking one deliberate step after another. The sight was enough to silence the crowd, and a quiet settled across the hall as everyone awaited his next move. 

“Congratulations, Rozemyne. You have been recognized as a child of Ehrenfest,” he said, facing me at the top of the altar before spinning around to look at the audience. He flourished his cape and continued on, talking in a loud, clear voice that reverberated through the assembly hall. “I shall adopt Rozemyne, here and now.” 

Most of the audience must not have been informed that this was going to happen, as the hall instantly started to buzz like a wasp nest that had just been hit with a bat.