Angelica and the Coming of Spring
Selling the teaching materials went well. Elvira arrived as we were finishing and bought one of everything for Cornelius. Then, with a smile, she obliquely informed Benno that she was running low on rinsham and wanted him to visit again so that she could order more. Of course, an archnoble such as her doing direct business with the Gilberta Company drew a lot of attention.
Benno returned the smile and nodded, but his eyes seemed to be wavering a little. He was in the castle with dozens of nobles paying close attention to him; there was certainly an immense amount of pressure on him right now. I knew exactly how he felt, since the same thing had happened to me during my baptism ceremony and winter debut.
G-Good luck, Benno!
Once we were done selling the teaching materials, several married women came forward also hoping to purchase rinsham, so Benno and Mark started doing business with them as best they could.
“Ferdinand, I would like to visit Aub Ehrenfest to inform him that sales have finished, and to bring him what we previously discussed.”
“I shall handle that. You stay here,” Ferdinand replied, looking at Benno and Mark. He then had an attendant pick up the box of chalices and follow him to Sylvester’s office.
Meanwhile, Fran, Fritz, and Leon were cleaning up the remaining products and handling the money we had earned.
Once the last of the sales had been made and business discussions were over, I took the Gilberta Company back to the temple, along with Fran and Fritz. I stayed there for just one night, then immediately returned to the castle. I would be given a report on the sales later.
The next day, in the playroom, I told the kids to write their names on the teaching materials they had bought so that they wouldn’t lose them. Since they had identical copies of the same products, labeling them to distinguish who owned what was pretty basic stuff.
“Please write your name or family name here for the playing cards, here for the karuta, and here for the picture books. As the products are made to look the same, steps must be taken to avoid mistaking someone else’s belongings for your own.”
Some kids worked together with their siblings to write their family name, while the archnoble children who had bought everything sighed at the monotonous task ahead. I quickly picked up on this, and they were all very visibly relieved when I said they could just write their names on what they were using at the moment, leaving the rest for their family to help with when they returned home later in the day.
“As we will only be using the picture books today, you need only write your names in the books you have.”
I kept an eye on the playroom while listening to the laynoble children and writing down the stories they told me. Up until now, I had only heard tales from the girls, so this was my first time hearing anything from the boys. It was pretty funny how they would often pause in confusion mid-sentence, and then hurriedly make up the next development on the spot. Some of the things they came up with were genuinely hilarious.
Spring was getting ever closer, and even with the flurries of snow, there were far more sunny days than before. This naturally meant there were more days where the kids went to play outside. I joined them as well, hoping to increase my stamina. The snow had been packed down in the spots where nobles typically landed their highbeasts, and these areas were now surrounded by large mounds that were perfect for sledding down. My plan was to join in with that and the snowball fights.
“Let’s go, Lady Rozemyne!” the kids would exclaim. And while I did my best to race after them, I always ended up falling flat on my face after just a few steps through the snow. I eventually resigned myself to walking instead, but even then, it wasn’t long before I was back on the ground, with the kids getting farther and farther away.
Despite my many valiant attempts, I did not reach the top even once. I was so exhausted that I had to give up on sledding, but when I bent over to make a snowball, I was immediately sniped in the head with a preemptive strike that knocked me unconscious and caused a fever. That was the end of my first snowball fight—that is, assuming you were generous enough to call it one.
That said, I do feel stronger now... Like a foot soldier forced to march through the snow. Yeah.
Such was how I spent my days as the end of winter approached. Since the coming of age ceremony and the Royal Academy’s graduation ceremony were coming up, the archduke and archduchess, the students who had finished their lessons early, and the parents of the graduating students all went to the Royal Academy. They would come back together once the ceremony was over, at which point the nobles would collectively hold a large feast celebrating the return of spring and marking the end of winter socializing. The land-owning nobles would then all be returning to the provinces they ruled.
Prior to the feast, while the students were returning from the Royal Academy one by one, I received a humble, deferential letter from Angelica’s parents requesting to meet in person. I was surprised to see them ask so directly, given how much they had groveled before, but despite my confusion, I accepted and arranged a date.
On the day of, I entered to find Angelica kneeling with her parents. She was in between them, with her head facing the ground.
No sooner had I stepped inside and Rihyarda shut the door behind me than her parents let out desperate cries of remorse. “We express our sincerest apologies for what has occurred!”
“Um... Wh-What might you be referring to?”
“Our ineptitude at parenting has once again placed a burden upon you!” they apologized, sounding so much more desperate than last time that I couldn’t help but blink in surprise. I had absolutely no idea what they were talking about.
They clasped their stomachs and, with deathly pale looks on their faces, began to explain. To sum things up, Angelica had failed to pass this year’s courses at the Royal Academy, which meant she would need to take supplementary lessons during the spring and would not be able to guard me for an additional season.
They pleaded for me to remove Angelica from her position as my guard knight, trembling as they did so, desperate to remove her from my sight before she committed some other grave error. But I knew enough about noble society to guess that doing this would have an enormous impact on her future. Being assigned to guard the archduke’s adopted daughter was a great honor, but being relieved from one’s duty as the result of poor grades would be a permanent stain on a noble’s reputation.
“Rihyarda, what would you suggest I do in this situation? I will be largely absent from the castle in the coming season due to Spring Prayer, so having Angelica finish her supplementary lessons during that time won’t be an issue. But is there something more important about this that I need to know?”
“I believe that you can simply do as you like here, milady. It is up to you whether you wish to deem her a failure and have her removed from your service, or keep her in hope that she will improve.”
It seemed that, as Angelica’s mistress, I could make decisions such as this at my own leisure.
“What would you like me to do, Angelica?” I asked.
“...You wouldn’t mind me continuing to serve you?” she asked, looking surprised.
I nodded. “If you work hard and return successful at the end of spring, I would like to keep you in my service.”
My words prompted Angelica’s parents to look at each other with worry. “Lady Rozemyne, we are aware that you are a deeply compassionate woman, but it will not benefit you to keep our daughter by your side. You do not need a retainer who only damages your reputation. Please, rethink this decision.”
That was probably the right thing for the family of an attendant serving the archduke’s adopted daughter to say; it was very noble-like to remove those who were deemed incompetent in the interest of expanding your family’s influence. But I did not like that mindset. My family had cared for me no matter how weak and useless I was, so seeing this kind of reaction from the nobles actually made me a little upset.
I appreciated that Angelica’s parents were thinking about what was best for me, but I wanted them to think about what was best for their daughter, too. This was probably just me being selfish and refusing to adapt to noble principles, but still, those were my feelings. Wilfried’s attendants and guard knights had been as bad as could be, yet I had still given them an opportunity to redeem themselves; I wanted to give Angelica that same chance.
“I shall take your words to heart, but I would like to see how Angelica is doing at the end of spring before making my decision,” I replied, shaking my head as I shot down their pleas.
They looked between Angelica and me with openly defeated expressions, then bowed their heads in respect. “As you wish.”
“The children in the playroom were able to memorize the names of the gods over the winter, so I am sure that Angelica will do just fine,” I said, standing up and gesturing for her parents to leave.
Once they were gone, I immediately established the first ever Raise Angelica’s Grades Squadron, which consisted of all my guard knights, whether they liked it or not. We would be discussing what classes she was going to take, what problems she had encountered, and what she was struggling to understand. There weren’t any attendants or scholars in the squadron, since they would not have a proper grasp of what knights needed to learn, and since men could not enter my room, our first strategy meeting would be held in the meeting room.
“Angelica, what classes are you struggling with?” I asked.
Students in the Royal Academy were told their grades directly rather than receiving report cards or the like, so asking her was the only way to find out what she needed help with. My plan was to start by focusing on her weakest points.
Angelica’s dark-blue eyes gleamed. “Pretty much all the written lessons,” she answered eagerly.
A feeling of mutual despair instantly crashed down upon everyone in the room. Brigitte tightly closed her eyes, and Damuel dropped his jaw.
“Angelica, that’s just...” Brigitte began, before trailing off uncomfortably.
“The written lessons aren’t that hard though, are they?” Damuel asked. He had decided to become a knight since his older brother was already a scholar, but academics still seemed to be his strong point. As a laynoble without much mana, he instead struggled more with the hands-on practical lessons than the written ones.
“Um, Angelica... What classes are you taking?”
“I’m... not sure,” Angelica replied, cocking her head to the side.
Cornelius’s eyebrows shot up in anger. “Someone your age should be memorizing the names of the gods and studying the fundamentals of warfare! Are you even attending lessons?!”
Angelica was a third-year student at the Royal Academy. And yet, out of everyone here, she knew the least about her own classes. Even Cornelius knew more than she did, and that was only because he had looked into what he would be learning next year. I felt a profound bond with Ferdinand, as I was overwhelmed with the sudden urge to rub my temples.
“Damuel, Brigitte, Cornelius—would you be so kind as to give an exact description of what her classes cover?” I asked, sensing that it would be pointless to ask Angelica anything else. Brigitte’s and Damuel’s memories, alongside Cornelius’s research, would be a lot more reliable than anything she had to say.
“Of course, milady,” they all replied, going on to tell me exactly what I wanted to know.
“Okay, so, to sum everything up: All third-years need to memorize the names and domains of the gods, then acquire the divine protection of the ones most compatible with them. As a knight, she also needs to learn the fundamentals of warfare, as well as the different types of weapons and how to use them. Correct?”
“There is much more to learn if you look at the individual classes in more detail, but as long as you focus on these areas, there is nothing to worry about. I truly don’t understand how she could fail,” Damuel said, shaking his head in confusion. While he had struggled with the practical lessons, he had passed all the written ones with flying colors.
Brigitte nodded in agreement. She was more of an average student, being reasonably proficient in both written and practical lessons, so she hadn’t really struggled with anything in the academy.
Cornelius was probably the closest to Angelica; he was so reliant on his mana and getting good grades in practical lessons that he struggled comparatively more with the written ones. But even so, as an archnoble, he made sure to maintain grades that would not bring shame to his family.
“Given that there are grades, can I assume there are tests?” I asked.
“Yes. Students are given an explanation of what each class is about, then a test. Those who fail must take the class, and then a final exam,” Damuel explained, earning him a glare from Brigitte.
“And yet you never attended one of those final exams, did you?” she asked, placing her hands on her hips.
I tilted my head in confusion. “What do you mean, Brigitte?”
“If you have mastered what the class is about, you can schedule a meeting with the professor during their office hours and take the final exam early. I used all my spare time practicing the practical lessons, but even after finishing the written ones sooner than expected, I still could not leave the Royal Academy before the end of winter.”
It seemed that those who had older brothers and sisters, willing seniors in the Royal Academy dorms, or just great confidence in themselves, could study outside of classes to finish them early. That explained why some students returned to the castle significantly sooner than the others.
“If you manage to secure some free time, you can spend it strengthening your weapon, learning to make magic tools, or taking other classes that you are interested in,” Damuel continued. “Some take this opportunity to deepen their relationships with other duchies.”
I could guess that Ferdinand had blasted through his classes with godlike momentum. It was easy to imagine him taking a bunch of tests at once, passing them all, and then being heralded as a genius by everyone. He wouldn’t acknowledge this praise, of course, since he would be entirely focused on his next classes.
“...So she just needs to attend the classes and pass the next exam, right? In that case, Angelica, please study alongside Cornelius. This way, he should also have no trouble passing when he takes the test next year.”
“I don’t mind, but...” Cornelius looked at Angelica with concern. “Lady Rozemyne, will you be using those karuta of yours to teach her the names of the gods?”
“That’s right. Cornelius, would you please bring a set for me?”
“As you wish.”
My guard knights had watched the game in the playroom but hadn’t played themselves, so I made them try a round with the set that Cornelius owned. They were, of course, all complete beginners, and in the end, Damuel won. Cornelius looked frustrated at having lost, but Angelica did not seem to care in the slightest. She would never improve unless she had the ambition to.
“...It seems that I will need to attach some kind of reward to this, just as I did with the children. Angelica, is there anything that you would like?” I asked.
Angelica’s eyes widened, then she started pondering the question, wearing a more serious expression than I had ever seen on her before. At times she would furrow her brow, touching the hilt of the sword on her hip.
“I am willing to grant the requests of everyone else here as well,” I said, looking over all those participating in the Raise Angelica’s Grades Squadron for me. “This isn’t supposed to be the work of a guard knight, so you may ask for a monetary bonus, or anything else, really.”
“In that case, I will ask for the bonus,” Damuel said with a casual smile. But Brigitte put a hand on her cheek and fell into deep thought.
“I would like something to help Illgner, but nothing in particular comes to mind. I cannot even assist my province with a political marriage due to the rumors of my canceled engagement, but I would at least like to help my brother,” she eventually said. The look of resignation on her face made me purse my lips in frustration; she was a genuinely good person, and I wanted her to have as happy of a marriage as possible.
...Though before I start butting into her life like that, I’ll need better connections and communication skills.
Cornelius clenched his fists and asked for new sweets or recipes. He apparently wanted to bring them to his gatherings with the other knights and with students from his class so that he could start new food trends as Karstedt’s son. I wasn’t sure whether I should laugh at him for being such a classic archnoble or for being such a hungry boy.
“Very well. I shall offer Damuel a bonus of five large silvers, Cornelius a sweet that nobody has eaten before, and Brigitte... I will need to think of something of equal value for you.”
“We are honored.”
Even then, neither Damuel nor Cornelius seemed to be any more motivated than they had been previously; the former was wearing a slight smile, while the latter simply murmured, “Yes, that should be worth it.” Maybe I would need to increase the reward for success a bit more.
“That is my compensation if Angelica fails. However, if she passes thanks to the squadron’s assistance... I shall award Damuel one small gold, Cornelius a never-before-seen recipe that has no precedence in the culinary world, and Brigitte... I will... make your reward comparatively more valuable as well.”
Damuel and Cornelius looked visibly surprised, then gazed at Angelica with the hungry eyes of carnivores that had just spotted their prey. Brigitte, on the other hand, seemed largely unfazed, though I hadn’t exactly given her a concrete reward to look forward to.
“Angelica, have you decided what you would like?” I asked, turning to look at her.
She knelt before me, stroked the hilt of her short sword, and then hesitantly began to speak. “Lady Rozemyne, can I truly ask for anything?”
“So long as it is within my power, I will do whatever I can.”
Angelica lowered her gaze, then looked back up at me with her eyes full of resolve. “I would like your mana, Lady Rozemyne.”
“My... mana?” I asked in confusion.
She looked toward the short sword that she had been touching this whole time. “I’m in the middle of growing this sword right now, so I would appreciate your mana, Lady Rozemyne.”
“...I’m sorry, Angelica. I don’t think I’m following you here.”
The two of us tilted our heads in unison as we looked at one another, a deadly combination of Angelica being bad at explaining things and me not being very well informed about weapons, mana, and such. We might have stayed like that forever had there not been outside intervention.
“Lady Rozemyne, may I explain?” Brigitte asked, identifying the problem and quickly inserting herself between us. “The weapon that Angelica wields is a manablade—a sword that grows from mana. They develop a variety of attributes based on the source of said mana, be it from its owner or from others. In this regard, Angelica wishes to use yours.”
It seemed that one needed to pour their own mana, the mana gathered from hunted feybeasts, and the mana from others they had negotiated with into a manablade to make it grow. I gave an understanding nod, fairly interested, at which Angelica’s eyes widened in realization.
“Um, Lady Rozemyne... My fighting style prioritizes speed, which means I spend most of my mana enhancing my own physical strength during combat,” she said, trying to elaborate. But perhaps due to her usually being a woman of few words, I still did not understand.
Damuel had to step in to translate. “Remember when you observed the Knight’s Order in battle, Lady Rozemyne? Many knights transform their schtappes to fight, but maintaining its new form requires mana. Since Angelica needs her mana to enhance her physical strength, she uses a manablade, which can have mana stored inside it in advance outside of combat. Growing her manablade is thus essential for maximizing her potential in battle.”
“Why not just have everyone in the Knight’s Order help?” I asked. That would probably get the job done in a nanosecond.
Damuel shook his head. “Nobody gives their mana to others so easily.”
Mana was essential for responding to emergency summons, making feystones dyed with one’s own mana, and creating recovery potions. Damuel had a relatively small amount of mana due to being a laynoble, but not even someone like Brigitte would consider giving it away so frivolously. After all, mana was very valuable.
“I don’t mind giving her some of mine, but is there anything important that I need to know or look out for when doing so?”
“Everything should be okay as long as the amount of mana you pour into the sword does not exceed the total amount that Angelica has put in herself, but... wait, are you serious about this?!” Damuel exclaimed in shock.
“Yes. But remember, this reward requires Angelica to have passed all of her written tests before summer.”
The disinterest had now completely vanished from Angelica’s face, and her deep-blue eyes were brimming with enthusiasm. She looked at me with firm resolve, tightening her grip on the hilt. “I’ll pass my tests and get your mana no matter what, Lady Rozemyne. For the sake of both me and my sword.”
“With this newfound motivation, Angelica, things should go just fine.”
Damuel ended up creating a fast-paced, highly concentrated curriculum for Angelica, designed to help her pass the written classes as quickly as possible. She would learn the names of the gods and their domains through karuta, study the fundamentals of warfare using a book that Damuel’s older brother Henrik had transcribed, and learn to play a chess-like board game called gewinnen that required mana to play.
“There will be study sessions every Earthday when the Royal Academy closes,” Damuel said, visibly driven. It seemed that the offer of a small gold really was appealing to him. “Understood, everyone?”
Cornelius appeared just as eager. “I’ll lend you my karuta, Angelica, so study like your life depends on it.”
“Thank you, Cornelius. Damuel.”
And so, the battle of the Raise Angelica’s Grades Squadron commenced for real.
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