Ascendance of a Bookworm (LN) - Volume 4.4 - Chapter 1

The Feast Celebrating Spring

The feast marking the end of winter socializing and celebrating spring was due to be held a few days after I said my goodbyes to Lutz and returned to the castle. Following its conclusion, the giebes would return to their home provinces and spring would officially begin.

“Would this outfit not suit you perfectly, milady?” Rihyarda asked.

“Given that this is the spring feast, I believe this green one is much more preferable,” Brunhilde replied.

Rihyarda and Brunhilde had chased me down the moment I returned to my castle chambers, each with an outfit in hand. I looked between the clothes and their intense expressions, but I had no idea which was the right call.

And honestly, I don’t care which one I wear.

I couldn’t help but falter in the face of such ferocity, buying time for Lieseleta to slide between us and hold out a hairpin. It was the one I had gotten most recently—the one I had purchased from Tuuli when ordering the one for Eglantine.

“Lady Rozemyne, will this hairpin do for the feast?” Lieseleta asked.

“Indeed. I will use this new one,” I replied with a nod.

Lieseleta turned to smile at Rihyarda and Brunhilde. “I believe the outfit Ottilie selected to begin with will best suit this hairpin. Shall I bring it for you?”

“Please do.”

Once my outfit was selected, my attendants proceeded to seek permission for each accessory I was going to wear, down to my shoes. It didn’t require much effort on my part; I merely granted permission as they lined them up before me one by one.

“Lady Rozemyne, what was decided during the meeting with the merchants at the temple? We have finished making the documents necessary for us to prepare our entry into the printing industry,” Hartmut said, showing me the papers. I had just said goodbye to Lutz and the others, so remembering what had happened in the temple made my heart ache. I looked over the documents to distract myself.

“You are quite a skilled scholar, Hartmut. These documents will do just fine. Philine, could you add these to the box we are going to be delivering to Mother?” I asked as I signed the documents and passed them to Philine. I then took out some other documents from a box we had brought with us from the temple and held them out to Hartmut. “These are Justus’s records of the meeting with the Plantin Company and my opinion piece on the subject. His reports are quite well put together, such that you may wish to follow his example—although I would recommend that you not attempt to learn the one unusual talent he displayed in the Royal Academy.”

“I am not sure his unusual talent should be so easily dismissed; it seems quite useful to me.”

The curiosity in his voice sent a wave of panic through me. “It’s not for you to learn, Hartmut. Not now, not ever.”

“But whyever not? Surely you understand the value of information as well, Lady Rozemyne.”

“It just doesn’t suit you. Nothing feels off about Justus cross-dressing because he has an androgynous face and is a bit on the shorter side, but you are more tall than not, Hartmut. You also have broad shoulders, and you are still in your growing period, are you not?”

Hartmut had grown a bit over the winter and that would probably continue. It wouldn’t be long before he just wasn’t built for dressing as a girl.

“Furthermore, it’s not easy to cross-dress in a way that draws no suspicion. Justus mastered the adoption of vocalization, language, and behaviors after years of grueling work and research in order to satisfy his obsessions, but without such experience, such attempts would only end in disaster.”

Ferdinand might have seen no issue with having a cross-dresser in his service, but I certainly didn’t want one. Hartmut was giving me a hard enough time already, what with his attempts to spread the Legend of the Saint and his desire to make researching me his life’s work.

“If you cross-dress, I will have you relieved of your retainer duties at once,” I said, finalizing my thoughts on the matter.

“Now, that wouldn’t do. I suppose I’ll need to give up on cross-dressing after all...” Hartmut murmured, his shoulders slumped in disappointment. I let out a relieved sigh, and I saw that Ottilie and Rihyarda were making equally relieved expressions.

Everyone was busy with their own work, so I started making progress on what I needed to do as well. I was going to fulfill my promise to Lutz by making more books, and to that end, I needed to prepare more manuscripts to be printed. I began editing the textbook transcriptions from the Royal Academy and adding to the romance story I had stopped partway through until, soon enough, Lieseleta called out to me.

“Lady Rozemyne, Lady Charlotte has invited you to a tea party. It is a little sudden, but she has suggested tomorrow afternoon.”

“So long as it won’t cause any problems among my attendants, I am more than happy to accept,” I replied. As far as I was concerned, my schedule was free until the feast.

“Lady Charlotte will surely be overjoyed; she has been waiting for your return this entire time,” Lieseleta said with a gentle smile. “I will pass on your response at once.”

Wilfried was also invited, which meant it was going to be a tea party between us three siblings. Thinking about it, this was the first time we were having such a tea party. It began peacefully, with me having brought sweets of my own for us to share.

“My apologies for the sudden invitation,” Charlotte said. “I wanted us to distribute the Spring Prayer workload now rather than later, so that we’ll each know what preparations we’ll need to make.”

Spring Prayer was our first topic of discussion. Wilfried and Charlotte were apparently going to help out this year as well, so we spread out a map of the duchy and started going over who would cover which areas.

As the blue priests would deliver chalices to the giebe-ruled provinces, we only needed to travel around the Central District. If we included Ferdinand, we had four people at hand, which really cut down the area each of us needed to cover. Perhaps Spring Prayer would be over before we knew it this year.

“I am scheduled to take the Gutenbergs and leave for Haldenzel’s Spring Prayer once our duties in the Central District are complete. I would also like to check up on Hasse, and so it would be convenient for me to handle the east side of the district, where the city is located.”

“The people of Hasse certainly think highly of you, Sister. I see no issue in entrusting the east to you. I’m sure those in the monastery will be relieved to see you once again,” Charlotte said.

“Yeah.” Wilfried nodded in agreement. “Rozemyne for the east side, then.”

We ultimately decided that Charlotte would cover the south, Wilfried the west, and Ferdinand the north. All we needed now was for Ferdinand to give his approval.

“Still, do you two truly not mind assisting with Spring Prayer?” I asked. “Will you not find the necessary preparations hard to manage?”

“I have already had my outfit made, so you don’t need to worry,” Charlotte replied. She was now too tall to wear clothes my size, as she had done last year, and so she had arranged to have her own made after resolving to continue helping me.

“And I had mine made two years ago when Uncle told me to help with the Harvest Festival. I couldn’t use your clothes, since they’re all covered in embroidery,” Wilfried explained. My blue ceremonial robes from my days as a shrine maiden were decorated with patterns depicting flowers and flowing water, so regardless of the actual fit, they weren’t something a boy would feel comfortable wearing. It was one thing for him to have worn them during his first Spring Prayer, considering how abruptly the situation had developed, but he didn’t want to keep wearing them after that.

“Traveling is no easy matter. Are you going to be okay?”

“The worst part of it all is that potion. It recovers my mana and stamina, sure, but it tastes absolutely putrid,” Wilfried said with a grimace. Charlotte nodded in agreement, wearing a conflicted expression that conveyed a sense of disgust beyond words.

“Indeed. Your temple attendants said that you also stomached those potions while traveling for Spring Prayer and the Harvest Festival. To think you would endure so much for our duchy’s sake, giving up your mana and drinking scores of those nasty things despite your ill health... I remember thinking at the time that you were more than a saint—that you were, in truth, a goddess. To make matters worse, the taste lingers for so long that it even taints meals eaten days later. After drinking one for the first time, I truly believed that Uncle was just antagonizing us.”

Charlotte gave a heavy sigh while shaking her head, although I couldn’t quite understand why; it was my understanding that Fran had accompanied her on both occasions, and the potions he had brought with him were the better-tasting ones. The thought crossed my mind that it might be amusing to have them continue believing the potions were a deliberate provocation nonetheless, but I soon decided to tell them the truth.

“You may trust that Ferdinand was not trying to antagonize you,” I said. “In fact, the potions you drank can be considered the very crystallization of his kindness and consideration. They taste positively divine compared to the original ones.”

“That foul concoction is brimming with... kindness? Consideration?” Both Wilfried and Charlotte recoiled at the mere thought. I informed them that the original tasted unbelievably worse—with the one positive being that it was much more effective—which earned me looks of clear admiration.

We continued to talk for a while until Charlotte suddenly pressed her lips together and lowered her indigo eyes, as if driven into a metaphorical corner. There was a pause before she raised her head and looked at me head-on.

“Sister, is it true that you will soon be engaged to Wilfried...? I could not believe my ears when Father told me at dinner the other day.”

I nodded. “Aub Ehrenfest would not joke about such a matter. As I understand it, this is a critical move for the sake of our duchy.” It was the best possible way to organize the political factions, secure me the book rooms, and cement our ability to make books in Ehrenfest.

Not to mention, marrying into another duchy would mean saying goodbye to everyone in the lower city forever...

Charlotte picked up her tea with a somewhat clouded expression. “It came as quite the surprise for me. I had thought you were going to be my ally, Sister.”

“I’ll always be your ally, Charlotte. You can count on me. I’m your big sister, after all.”

As I puffed out my chest, however, a wave of realization washed over Charlotte. She regarded me with conflicted eyes, as if wanting to point out I was misunderstanding something, but in the end, she just gave a defeated sigh. She glanced over at Wilfried and then looked back at me.

“I find myself worried to death about you, Sister.”

Waaait, what? I just said that she can count on me. Why is she the one suddenly worrying?

“Is this engagement an attempt by Father and Wilfried to deceive you? You must not fall for their ploys, even if you are being offered books in return!” Charlotte exclaimed. Given her concerns, I could hardly admit to her that I was being promised not just a few books but two entire book rooms.

I smiled reflexively, trying to buy time to think of an excuse... but before I could, Wilfried shot Charlotte an annoyed look. “I’m not tricking Rozemyne, alright? I only learned about this engagement the other day. I was just as surprised as you are, since I also thought Rozemyne was on your side. I never thought for a moment that she’d ever agree to get engaged to me.”

Hearing their discussion allowed me to deduce what they were actually referring to when they talked about me “allying” with someone—in this context, it apparently meant supporting someone in their attempt to become the next aub.

“Wilfried... did you end up agreeing to be engaged to me?” I asked.

“Yeah. Everyone said that married couples are family in the same way that siblings are, so it shouldn’t be too different from what we have now. Also... having you on my side will change a lot,” Wilfried said, shooting Charlotte a somewhat guilty look.

I knew from Ferdinand that nobles were centralizing around the Leisegangs to prop me up as the next aub. The archnobles in Ehrenfest that owned the largest swathes of land had started to mobilize, and it only made sense that those serving Wilfried would recognize this. In other words, this enthusiasm for our marriage to succeed was coming not from Wilfried, but from his retainers, who wanted to clear their charge’s name and organize Ehrenfest beneath his banner before the schism broke the duchy apart.

But that doesn’t matter if Wilfried doesn’t want to go through with it.

I was fated to have a political marriage no matter what happened, so I asked only that I receive full access to the castle and temple book rooms. Wilfried, on the other hand, was in a different position entirely. He had also been raised differently.

“If you have thought hard about this and come to a conclusion yourself—that is to say, without simply following the opinions of those around you—then I am fine with this decision, Wilfried.”

“You are?”

“Yes, of course.”

The feast celebrating spring was held the day after our tea party. It marked the end of winter socializing and so it was usually attended by all the nobles in Ehrenfest.

Ferdinand had instructed me to arrive as late as reasonably possible, so I waited with Wilfried and Charlotte for a while in the room closest to the grand hall. The three of us would enter on Rihyarda’s signal... although it was a bit more complicated than that, since we each had our retainers with us. Our group was actually pretty sizable.

One’s position in the grand hall largely depended on status, with archnobles sitting at the front closest to the stage while laynobles gathered at the back near the entrance. We marched toward the very front amid the sizable crowd of nobles.

Now that she was serving as one of my retainers, Philine, a laynoble, was going to be positioned at the front among the archnobles for the first time. She was doing her very best to appear calm and keep her head held high, but her expression was stiff, and I could see her legs trembling.

Damuel, who was also a laynoble, allowed a smile to play on his lips as he saw Philine’s nervousness. He moved to one side, his new position making it a bit harder for the surrounding nobles to see her. I seemed to recall Brigitte having done the same for him in the past so that he wouldn’t have to endure so many eyes being on him.

“I’ve been in your position before, so I know how you feel right now,” Damuel said. “It takes some time, but you just have to get used to it.”

“...I’ll do my best,” Philine replied. She nervously glanced in his direction, and then a calm smile crept onto her face, suggesting that she was feeling at least a little better.

Yup, that’s what I like to see! All my retainers on good terms with one another.

Nobles started to approach us, no doubt wanting to greet the archducal children, but the archducal couple arrived before they could. A relieved sigh escaped me. Just as Ferdinand had said, we had managed to get through this without being surrounded.

Sylvester stood on the stage and looked sagely across the grand hall. “Flutrane the Goddess of Water’s pure streams have washed away Ewigeliebe the God of Life and rescued Geduldh the Goddess of Earth. Blessed be the melting of the snow!” he declared.

And thus began the feast celebrating spring.

“First, I’ll announce our honor students,” Sylvester continued. “Five students—an incredible number—achieved high enough grades to be recognized as honor students.”

Cheers of approval and eager applause filled the hall. I was the only one to have come first-in-class—there were separate first-in-class achievements for the knights, attendants, scholars, and archduke candidates once those courses began—but Wilfried, Leonore, Cornelius, and Hartmut were also following me onto the stage as honor students.

“Excellently done, Rozemyne,” Sylvester said with a smile. “Here is a gift to commemorate your success. May it prove useful to you.”

He presented to me a relatively large feystone. I was impressed with how big it was, and as I looked it over, I noticed others had received stones of their own.

“It is a joyous occasion for there to be so many skilled students among those who will one day support Ehrenfest. All students should hone themselves and work to achieve even higher grades. As was pointed out during the awards ceremony at the Royal Academy, consider it your duty to focus on finishing not just quickly, but with high grades as well.”

Thus ended the moment of recognition for the honor students. It seemed the Ehrenfest students had received a warning from the Royal Academy, since so many had been on the very cusp of failing. Our duty next year would be to fix that.

As I returned to my seat, I looked over the honor students and gave a satisfied sigh. “My retainers truly are talented,” I declared.

“We have no choice but to be,” Cornelius replied with an exasperated expression.

I could understand where he was coming from; I had finished my classes in the Royal Academy as soon as possible and then immediately started visiting the library. My guard knights and scholars had needed to take turns accompanying me, usually sending whoever was free at the time, and since I was going there every single day, my retainers had been forced to desperately finish their classes as fast as possible to keep up with me.

“Furthermore, it would not do for society to observe that you are an honor student while your attendants lag behind,” Hartmut added. He then gave me a proud smile. “I am putting in the utmost effort to prove I am worthy of serving as your retainer.”

Leonore smiled as well. “It certainly is important for retainers to match their lord or lady. And I appreciate that, thanks to the Better Grades Committee, there is more cooperation among the courses. Students now find it easier to ask each other questions.”

“Speaking of which... Are we all in agreement that the knight course won the competition?” I asked.

I had promised to give the pound cake recipe to the team that passed their tests the quickest and the team with the most honor students. The first-years had without a doubt finished their classes before anyone else and ended up with the most honor students, but since the latter achievement was due in part to my own accomplishments, that reward would instead go to those from the knight course, who had come in second.

“I believe so. But the scholars will win next year,” Hartmut said with breezy confidence that stirred my competitive spirit. “We are already preparing the textbooks to help with studying.”

I looked up at him with pursed lips. “We first-years have finished preparing for our second year as well. Don’t assume you’ll win so easily.”

“Indeed,” Brunhilde added. “We did not plan enough this year, but next year, the attendants will achieve victory. After all, making perfect preparations is a part of our job description.” There hadn’t been any honor students from the attendant course this year, so she was overflowing with motivation. Their written grades hadn’t been bad, so they were presumably planning to go all-out on the practical lessons.

“I hate to crush your enthusiasm, but the knights will win again next year,” Cornelius said, victory written on his face. “The apprentice guard knights serving Wilfried have started using the mana compression method, and Grandfather is training them personally. Not to mention, Angelica has now graduated, which is a huge advantage for us in itself.”

Hartmut nodded and then muttered, “Angelica graduating really hurts our chances...” with a deadly serious expression. Now that I thought about it, he was the one who had suggested taking Stenluke away from her as a handicap.

“I look forward to next year,” I said with a laugh.

In any case, it was decided that the pound cake recipe was going to be distributed to the first-years and the students of the knight course as a reward from the Better Grades Committee.

After the honor students were announced, the average grades of all the duchies were announced. It seemed that we had come in eleventh place in the ditter section of the Interduchy Tournament, which, considering our history of coming in fourteenth, went to show how much we had improved.

“Bonifatius will take charge of training the apprentice knights starting this spring to secure even better ditter grades. Do your best, everyone.”

From there, Sylvester went on to discuss the attention Ehrenfest had received during the publishing of scholarly research. Hirschur, our dorm supervisor, had taken the lead and drawn much attention with her presentations on my drivable highbeasts, what she had learned from the royalty’s magic tools, and crest-attached schtappes. Our attendants, meanwhile, had received a middling but respectable appraisal for their hosting at the Interduchy Tournament. Sylvester said they would likely do better next year, considering the situation.

As well as our duchy’s grades having increased across the board, Sylvester went on to explain that rinsham, hairpins, and pound cake had become trendy all throughout the Royal Academy. Archdukes from other duchies would soon be coming to negotiate business agreements for them, and Ehrenfest’s overall ranking was likewise going to be addressed during the next Archduke Conference.

“This year, Ehrenfest started several new trends,” Sylvester said to the nobles. “From this point, we intend to spread printed books as well. I ask for your assistance in this endeavor.”

Last of all, the new adults who had graduated from the Royal Academy were going to be premiered. It would be announced who they were going to work under not as apprentices, but as proper adults. Angelica was among them, meaning she would no longer be serving me as an apprentice, but as a full-fledged guard knight. This meant she could accompany me on guard duty even outside of the Noble’s Quarter.

The air relaxed as everyone assumed the feast was coming to an end, and it was then that Sylvester raised his voice and continued. “I now have an important announcement regarding the future of Ehrenfest,” he stated, cutting his hand through the air to signal Wilfried and me as a stir ran through the gathered nobles.

“Here we go, Rozemyne.”

I gracefully climbed the steps with Wilfried escorting me, and all eyes in the grand hall fell on us. From atop the stage, I gazed across the gathered nobles. Bonifatius was exuding a fearsome aura as he watched with gritted teeth. Elvira seemed to be more alive than ever; there was a sparkle in her eyes, and the look on her face gave me reason to believe she was writing a romance novel starring Wilfried and me in her head. Ferdinand was keeping an eye on his surroundings with his usual blank expression, as were Eckhart and Justus.

Ferdinand was focusing primarily on Count Leisegang, whose eyes were beginning to widen in disbelief, while Justus was looking at Viscountess Dahldolf. Eckhart was on guard against some other man who appeared to be the giebe of some province, at least judging by his outfit.

I wonder who that is...

As I squinted my eyes in an attempt to get a better look, Sylvester’s booming voice resounded throughout the grand hall. “The mighty King and Queen of the endless skies, the gods of Dark and Light, have guided Dregarnuhr the Goddess of Time to weave two threads together, here and now. May the meeting of Rozemyne and my son Wilfried be blessed, and may they be graced with divine protection,” he declared.

It was the standard form for announcing an engagement, but most nobles were looking on with a complete lack of understanding. It was safe to say that nobody had expected this. A solid few moments passed in absolute silence, and then, all of a sudden, the crowd exploded into a frenzy. Everyone exchanged uncertain looks, taking the occasional pause from their rushed conversation to shoot Wilfried and me startled glances as we stood next to each other.

From where I was on the stage, I could see their shocked expressions very clearly. From what I could tell, there were barely any people cheering or expressing approval; some had even gone as far as to shout out “Why?!” or “How?!”

Count Leisegang was frozen in wide-eyed disbelief, while Viscountess Dahldolf was attempting to cover her agape mouth with her hand. Of all those in the shocked crowd, only the man that Eckhart was watching seemed to be largely unfazed. That, for some reason, made him stand out all the more. I even felt as though our eyes met for a brief moment.

“I will acquire the king’s permission for this engagement at the Archduke Conference,” Sylvester concluded. “That is all.”

And so, the feast celebrating spring came to an end—a feast which had created huge ripples among the nobles.