A Class for Kids
During the winter, adults prioritized their social lives above all else. Giebes who owned land near the border brought valuable information about neighboring duchies, while the archduke and his retainers had stories and rumors from the Sovereignty, which they had visited during the Archduke Conference.
Nobles would gather information from the connections they had formed in the Royal Academy, giebes would discuss their harvests and feybeast damages with other giebes, and women would attend all sorts of gatherings, during which rumors would fly. All in all, there was a lot for the adults to do.
In the midst of all that, the baptized kids were gathered together in what was known as the playroom, despite the fact that not much actual playing was ever done there. Since they would be attending the Royal Academy together in the future, this was considered a good opportunity for them to spend time with those who would be their future classmates, juniors, and seniors.
Children would select their ideal academy course based on information from their siblings, then form cliques with the other kids planning to take the same course to get a head start with diplomacy. By cutting their teeth here, they could start learning the ways of society before the time came when they had to participate in adult socializing. They were also expected to fully understand who was above and below them in status, as well as how to behave like a proper noble.
“You will be joining them this year, Lord Wilfried and Lady Rozemyne,” Rihyarda said after breakfast as she explained everything that we would need to do. “The playroom is a place to select and raise your future retainers. Since those who spend time together in the Royal Academy usually come to trust one another and develop feelings of companionship, retainers tend to be selected from your own age group. Parents will wage what is nothing short of political warfare behind the scenes to secure those retainer seats, so milady, please do not ever forget that the children you are talking to are very much in the shadows of their parents,” she added, a severe expression on her face.
I responded with a nod, then got into my highbeast and headed to the room where the kids were to gather. I had my four guard knights with me today; the current students waiting to leave for the Royal Academy were going to be gathered in the same playroom, which meant that we would need a lot of guards with us until they had gone.
On the way to the main building’s playroom, we came across a great number of wagons packed with luggage—the belongings of all those who were going to the Royal Academy. I could also see people wearing capes and brooches heading in and out of various buildings.
“All this stuff is being moved around because the oldest students are leaving today, right?” I asked.
“The oldest students are the first ones to leave every year, while the new students leave last,” Rihyarda explained.
“Who are the people without capes and brooches?”
“Their retainers. Students may bring one attendant with them to the Royal Academy.”
Just as Rihyarda said, students headed to the Royal Academy with an attendant from their home. I would have thought they would need to bring more people than that, but students could apparently hire those taking the attendant course to do attendant work, those taking the knight course to be guard knights, and those taking the scholar course to complete other miscellaneous work. That was why baptized children were so eager to hear about the Royal Academy; the information they received would prove important when it came time for them to decide which course they would choose for themselves.
As we continued heading to the playroom, those leaving for the Royal Academy did double and then triple takes at my Pandabus, but I was so used to the shocked expressions that I marched on without so much as thinking about them. My retainers were used to it as well, and so also continued like it was nothing.
“Lady Rozemyne, this is the playroom, where children make social connections over the winter. It will most likely be quite cramped until the students have left for the Royal Academy, but I am sure you will manage,” Rihyarda said as she waited for me to put away Lessy. And once I had, she opened the door.
In an instant, everyone who had been casually chatting fell silent, turned our way, and then hurriedly knelt.
Rihyarda beckoned me to follow as she headed to a seat at the far end of the room, treating everyone’s silent kneeling as a matter of course. I sat in the chair once we reached it, and while Rihyarda moved to prepare tea, my guard knights surrounded me in a half-circle.
After that, it was a storm of greetings. The kids lined up and began introducing themselves to me one by one.
“It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Hartmut, son of Leberecht. Lady Rozemyne, may I pray for a blessing in appreciation of this serendipitous meeting, ordained by the harsh judgment of Ewigeliebe?”
“You may.”
“O Ewigeliebe, God of Life, may this new meeting be blessed.”
They were introducing themselves to me in such quick succession that there was zero chance of me remembering every one of their names. The best I could do was listen out for the names of their parents, and then focus on remembering the kids who were related to those marked as needing caution on the former High Bishop’s secret list.
I did my best. Bezewanst’s list came in handy too.
Bit by bit, the line in front of me started to shorten. And when Wilfried arrived, one formed in front of him as well. The kids who had greeted us couldn’t properly speak to us until everyone in these lines had finished their introductions, so they walked off and started asking the Royal Academy students questions. I could see that the students were more than willing to answer, having once been on the asking side themselves.
I was enjoying listening in and hearing their questions. “Why did you choose that course?” “What were the lectures like?” “What were the professors like?” And so on.
...I know that I’ve been told not to just casually speak to them, but I want to join those discussions, too.
Once everyone had greeted me, I looked around the room. The only ones near me now were my guard knights.
“Damuel, why did you decide to become a knight?” I asked.
“My older brother is a scholar, so I thought I would be more useful as a knight,” he replied.
It made sense that working in different fields would result in more information being collected for the family to use. And since Damuel wasn’t as skilled as his older brother at scholar work, there wasn’t any particular need for him to walk down the same path.
“What about you, Brigitte?”
“I’ve been athletic ever since I was a child, and Illgner is teeming with small feybeasts thanks to its mountains and trees, so learning to defeat them earned me the gratitude of all those around me,” she explained. Her eagerness to take the lead and fight off any harmful feybeasts for the sake of her home was beyond heroic and, in all honesty, just plain cool.
I gave her an understanding nod, thinking back to how intensely she had fought on the Night of Schutzaria. And with that, I looked Cornelius’s way. “Cornelius, why did you decide to be a knight?”
“Father and our brothers are knights, so I never once considered becoming an attendant or scholar,” he replied.
That made sense to me. Family tradition carried a lot of influence, so much so that Karstedt had even admitted he had no idea what to do with a daughter like me, since he had spent all his time thinking about training his sons for combat. There was no doubt in my mind that he had been merciless when training them to be knights.
Finally, I looked at Angelica. She was the one I wanted to hear about most. A lithe girl with a small frame, she was the complete opposite of Brigitte. Her light-blue hair and deep-blue eyes gave her a much more fairy-like impression, and she looked more like an attendant than a knight.
I knew that she had a speed-based fighting style due to the work she had done thus far, and given that she was being trusted to guard the archduke’s daughter, I knew that she was strong enough to more than hold her own in a fight. But up until this point, I had never gotten the opportunity to ask why she personally wanted to be a knight.
“Angelica, why did you decide to become a knight?” I asked.
“Because I didn’t want to study,” she replied on the spot. And upon seeing me blink in surprise, she elaborated with an utterly serious look on her face. “Knights don’t have to study as much as those in other jobs.”
“I-I see.”
“I’m glad that you like to study a lot, Lady Rozemyne. The commander said that the mark of a good master-servant pairing is them making up for each other’s weaknesses,” she continued, which to me sounded entirely like, “Please use your head so that I don’t have to.”
I had already guessed that she didn’t like studying, since she didn’t particularly enjoy reading books, but the thought had never crossed my mind that she decided to become a knight specifically to avoid it. You really could never judge a book by its cover.
“I see you all have your own reasonings. I personally want to be a scholar. And then, a librarian who manages the castle’s book room,” I announced.
Since I already knew that librarians were selected from a pool of scholars, my plan was to go to the Royal Academy, become a scholar, and then ultimately become a librarian. I was prepared to do whatever it took to make that happen, but sadly, my fantasies of spending all my time in the book room were shattered when Brigitte began to uncomfortably speak.
“Lady Rozemyne, it is law that you shall be attending the archduke candidate course. You are the archduke’s daughter, and so this cannot be changed.”
“Wha...? But I’m adopted. I won’t become the archduke.”
“All children of the archduke become archduke candidates. I would imagine that is why you were adopted in the first place,” she said.
The reality was that I had been adopted because I needed enough status to defy Bezewanst (who was backed by Sylvester’s mother) and nobles from other duchies, but as far as the public was concerned, Sylvester the archduke had adopted me so that my immense mana could be used for the greater good of the duchy. It was set in stone that my mana would be used for Ehrenfest’s sake, and while that was fine with me, I hadn’t realized that it meant I would be studying to become an archduke in the Royal Academy at the cost of not becoming a scholar or librarian. My intention had been to support Wilfried once he became archduke, all the while modifying the temple’s book room to my liking or potentially serving as the castle’s librarian.
“Um... If I can’t be a scholar, does that mean I can’t be a librarian either?” I asked.
“That is... a good question. I have never heard of an archduke’s child becoming a librarian before,” Brigitte said, faltering slightly. Daughters of the archduke were expected to support the future archduke and marry nobles from other duchies to strengthen political bonds; they were not expected to stay at home forever and work as librarians.
...This can’t be happening! I cried silently. And as complete and utter despair overwhelmed me, my vision went black, and my consciousness faded away.
“Lady Rozemyne?! Stay strong!”
When I awoke, Ferdinand was there. He was looking down at me with his brow deeply furrowed, wearing a thoroughly displeased look.
“Ferdinand! Am I not allowed to become a librarian?!” I cried, leaping out of the bed I was in with teary eyes.
He let out a heavy sigh, not even trying to hide how annoyed he was. “I wondered what had happened when Rihyarda came barging into my meeting with a deathly look on her face, but I see you have worried her over nothing.”
“This isn’t nothing! It’s one of the most important things in my life! Ferdinand, will I not be allowed to become a librarian? That was the very reason I started making books myself—so that I could work in a place filled with books, new and old alike. If you say I’m not allowed to be a librarian after all that, I’ll... I’ll...” I trailed off, crying too hard to continue.
Ferdinand looked down at me calmly, tapping a finger against his temple. “Calm down, Rozemyne. It shall be difficult, but it is not entirely impossible for you to become a scholar.”
“Really?!” I exclaimed, looking up at my savior Ferdinand as I immediately clung to the thread of hope he had just offered me.
His lips curled into a thin smile. “You need only take scholar classes alongside all of your archduke candidate classes.”
My jaw dropped. He was essentially telling me to major in two subjects at once, doing twice the work that everyone else would be doing.
“Is that even possible?” I asked.
“There are precedents. It should be within reason for you.”
“‘Precedents’...? Are you talking about yourself, Ferdinand?” He was the only person I knew who would do something as strenuous as taking the scholar course on top of the archduke candidate one. And sure enough, he nodded, as though it was nothing special at all.
“Indeed. I was an archduke candidate as well. I took the course alongside the scholar and knight courses.”
...Just what kind of superhuman is he?!
I had vastly underestimated just how incredible it was that Ferdinand could simultaneously manage scholar work, his responsibilities in the Knight’s Order, and assisting the archduke. I cradled my spinning head.
“The majority of students stay in the Royal Academy only during the winter, but if you request it, you are allowed to stay during other seasons as well. I remained in the Academy for the entire year, leaving only when summoned,” he explained.
The teleportation circle meant he could immediately return when needed, and he found the Royal Academy a more comfortable place to be than the castle thanks to the lack of constant criticism from all sides. He used all his free time to its fullest, ultimately conquering all three courses at once.
“Don’t expect me to have your inhuman talents, Ferdinand! I’m just a normal, innocent girl.”
“That’s a shame, then. An ordinary person will not be equipped to serve as a librarian. If you are not willing to put in the work, then it is best you give up sooner rather than later,” Ferdinand said bluntly, waving a hand as if signaling that the discussion was over.
But letting this conversation end here meant that my road to becoming a librarian would be closed off forever, and that was something I needed to avoid no matter what. I could never give up on being a librarian, especially before even getting a chance to try it.
I clenched my fists in determination and looked up at Ferdinand. He immediately grinned, as though he had known from the start that I would never give up so easily.
“I will never give up, no matter what,” I declared. “Forget all that about me being a normal girl. I’m going to become the weirdest, strangest girl who ever lived!”
“Hold it. You are already bizarre beyond words. That is the wrong direction to focus your motivation,” he said, extending his hand and waving it in front of my eyes as if to seal away my brimming determination. He then went on to inform me what my path would entail, his voice steeped in exhaustion.
“We shall discuss which classes are best for you to take when the time comes for you to attend the Royal Academy, so take care not to get ahead of yourself and charge forward on your own,” Ferdinand continued. “In your case, you must focus on making your jureve and fixing your weak body before anything else. As you are now, you will barely be able to handle the archduke candidate classes, let alone the scholar course as well.”
“...That’s true.”
In summary, he was telling me to think about Royal Academy stuff when the time came, rather than right now. That was fine with me, as long as the road to becoming a librarian was still open to me. I could relax and put it off until later.
“You are planning to spread karuta and picture books among the children to help fund the printing industry, are you not? Put aside the scholar course for now and focus on that.”
“Okay. I will.”
The day after all the students had left for the Academy—Angelica and Cornelius included—I headed to the playroom with a deck of karuta, brimming with energy now that I knew hope wasn’t dead after all.
“Now that all the students have headed to the Royal Academy, it is this group who will be spending the winter together,” I said. “I have brought toys known as karuta here so that we can all play and get to know each other.”
At that, I divided the kids by year—from ages seven to nine—and started a karuta tournament. Both Wilfried and I mingled with the nine-year-olds at the start, since we were already experienced, and it was needless to say that we absolutely dominated. Wilfried rejoiced at the victory, but the looks on everyone’s faces made it clear they were going easy on us. I was annoyed, but I needed to put on a calm smile and be diplomatic here.
“We shall have the advantage for some time since we already have some experience, but you will need to win at least once by the end of winter,” I said. “Otherwise, we could never consider trusting you to be our retainers. Isn’t that right, Wilfried?”
Wilfried looked confused, but all of the other kids immediately tensed up. Their parents had no doubt told them to get close to us with the goal of eventually becoming our retainers—that is, our attendants and knights—but I had no intention of simply having them try to butter us up all winter. Rather, I would be training them.
“He and I are striving to be worthy lords, but we need only the most skilled of retainers,” I continued.
“Right. Exactly,” Wilfried agreed.
Having sufficiently riled them up, we moved on to playing another game, but the difference in experience was still much too great for them to overcome. Once again, we crushed them. It was safe to say that Wilfried had gotten pretty good at the game, so much so that I might have lost to him had I not gone all out. He would probably be able to consistently beat me by next winter.
...I’ve got no issue finding the relevant picture cards, but I just don’t have the arm strength to grab them fast enough.
“I look forward to playing with you all again,” I announced. “Starting tomorrow, I shall offer sweets to the best player out of you all.”
Sweets were usually brought to the playroom already, but those with the highest status ate first and passed their leftovers to the rank below them. This meant that the lower-status kids didn’t get to eat much in comparison. So now that these tasty sweets were essentially up for grabs, the kids were staring at the karuta even more intensely than before.
Since it was only the first day, we had just brought the karuta with us. But from the following day onward, we brought everything else that would be required for the kids’ curriculum.
After breakfast, we had training with the Knight’s Order. And while everyone was running laps, I practiced... walking. Eckhart was following close behind, watching me with eyes like a hawk to make sure I wasn’t about to collapse.
Come third bell, it was study time. We played karuta, read aloud from picture books, and had the kids read and write according to their skill levels. Wilfried now knew the entire alphabet, so his task was to write out the contents of a picture book on another sheet of paper. Such was the skill level of a seven-year-old archnoble, and the equivalent to how much eight-year-old mednobles and laynobles knew, so he was just barely keeping up as the archduke’s son.
Meanwhile, I was reading books from the book room, summarizing the content elsewhere, and starting to write out the text of my next picture book. It really was a blissful time.
As for math, on top of our regular lessons, we played card games involving addition like blackjack. Many of the children weren’t particularly good at math, so it was admittedly fun to see them frowning hard as they tried to play the game. The kids who showed they were good at math earned some sweets after the games.
Everyone then practiced harspiel at the same time. Some kids wouldn’t get better without talented teachers, so having them be educated by the musicians who served the archduke’s family (such as Rosina) was a surefire way to ensure some impressive growth.
I had been given permission from Florencia to boost the base stats of all the noble kids in the duchy over the winter, and the tutors were all being paid for, so they did their work without any complaints whatsoever.
“I have never seen such an orderly playroom before,” said one attendant, going on to praise both Wilfried’s and my efforts with a smile. He apparently watched over the playroom each year, mentioning that it had previously been a place where archnoble children used their status to bully laynoble kids, forcing the attendants to step in and arbitrate when necessary.
“Now then—once you’ve all finished your writing, let us start reading picture books,” I said. Since I was dealing with kids who weren’t used to studying a lot, I made sure to mix up what we were doing on a regular basis. I roughly approximated this based on when Wilfried started to get bored.
And so, Moritz began reading aloud to everyone from a picture book. The books had large illustrations and weren’t very text-heavy overall, so the kids all listened with shining eyes to the simplified tales of the gods.
Philine in particular looked awestruck, her eyes sparkling brighter than anybody else’s. She was a laynoble who had just been baptized this year, sporting honey-colored hair and grass-green eyes, and despite generally being very passive and quiet, she always sat up front and looked at the picture book intently when it was time to be read to. The way she willingly picked up books during her free time and read them with a smile made me like her quite a lot.
“Y’know, Philine, it was Rozemyne who made these picture books. Impressive, huh?” Wilfried said with his chest proudly puffed out, as though he had been the one to make them.
...Why are you the one bragging? I thought, my polite smile not faltering in the slightest.
Philine’s cheeks flushed, and she turned to me with innocent, glittering eyes. “Lady Rozemyne,” she said, clasping her hands in front of her chest and wiggling as if working up the courage to confess her love. Only once her resolve had steeled did she muster the courage to continue, her voice brimming with a mixture of hope and desperation. “I-I want to make picture books, too!”
“What kind of picture books would you like to make, Philine? Do you know any interesting stories?” I asked, more than ready to take under my wing any girl who loved making books.
Shyly placing her hands on her cheeks, Philine lowered her eyes. “I would like to preserve the stories my mother told me in a picture book.”
Her birth mother had apparently passed away, and the new woman whom her father was now married to didn’t know the same stories. Philine wanted to record the stories that her birth mother had told her so that she would never forget them, which reminded me of when I had desperately tried to make a book of the stories my own mom had told me. I had put that project to the side, since nobles wouldn’t understand them, but now I really wanted to make a short story collection to give to Tuuli and Kamil.
“In that case, would you tell me the stories? I know you cannot write on your own yet, but I can write them down for you,” I said.
And so I did. Philine told me the stories that her mother had told her, while I speedily wrote them all down on paper. Her winter homework would be to write copies of all the stories herself.
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