Ascendance of a Bookworm (LN) - Volume 4.7 - Chapter 17

The Graduation Ceremony

The awards ceremony went pretty well for Ehrenfest, with two or more students from each grade being called up as honor students. We had plenty of mednoble and laynobles being honor students in written lessons, but not too many during the practical ones. Their lack of mana simply put them at too much of a disadvantage.

Looking back on it, Angelica was pretty weird. She was so skilled that she was selected to perform the sword dance despite being a mednoble, while at the same time having such poor written grades that she nearly had to drop out.

“I am ever so relieved that I was selected to be an honor student,” Charlotte said, sighing with relief. “Both Wilfried and Rozemyne have been chosen too, after all.” She then mumbled that having older siblings with such high grades had put a lot of pressure on her.

As our conversation continued, I noticed that Wilfried was looking somewhat dissatisfied. “Is there a reason you seem so glum?” I asked him. “You were just recognized as an honor student.”

“Ortwin was called right before me, so he must have beaten me by the smallest amount.”

As it turned out, Ortwin had put a great deal of effort into his written lessons, as one would expect of a Drewanchel archduke candidate. His small victory here was probably because Wilfried spent so much time obsessing over cool armor and weapons.

“I’ll win next year for sure,” Wilfried declared.

After we had all finished reporting on the awards ceremony, I decided to talk to Elvira. She spoke at length about how good Cornelius and Leonore looked together, sounding especially excited about the whole affair.

Sylvester came back from the awards ceremony far later than anyone else, and the first thing he did was shoot Ferdinand a very weary look. “Sending Rozemyne back was the best decision you ever made,” he said. I couldn’t help but wonder what had happened, but before I could even pose a question, I was called to the archduke’s room. “We need to plan for tomorrow. Ferdinand, Rozemyne—follow me.”

“They probed me about having the Saint of Ehrenfest perform the blessing at tomorrow’s coming-of-age ceremony. I turned them down, but, you know...” Sylvester explained. Apparently, his late return was because the royal family had summoned him directly.

“You’re getting ahead of yourself...” Ferdinand said. “Start from the beginning.”

The terrorists who attacked the awards ceremony had apparently done so with the motivation of deposing the Grutrissheit-less king. Nobody was able to say whether the biblical fundamentalists who dominated the Sovereign temple were connected to the attack in any way, but one thing was certain—the attempt on the king’s life had energized them beyond measure. It seemed the king now felt the Sovereign temple needed to be put back in its place.

“We have no investment in the relationship between the king and the Sovereign temple,” Ferdinand said. “And, of course, we could not perform such a ceremony without preparation.”

“Obviously. Far be it from me to tell the royal family all that, though.”

This was the first time Sylvester had ever seemed more rational than Ferdinand. Feeling a bit confused, I prompted him to continue. “So, how did you answer, then?”

“I declined, saying that the attack had put such a great burden on your mana and stamina that we were forced to send you home. I made it clear that a single day wouldn’t be enough time for you to recover and even bemoaned that you’d missed this chance to receive public praise from the king... and they bought it. Some of them relented and said that perhaps we should wait to see how well you were doing on the day of, and I took that opportunity to land the final blow with the Immerdink incident.”

Sylvester had apparently made his excuse even more ironclad with the mention that, before the terrorist incident, an archnoble from Immerdink had attacked me. The student had claimed that he was targeting Hartmut, but since I was the one he had struck, it was impossible to say how honest he was being. For me to perform tomorrow’s ceremony as a High Bishop, I would need to send my guard knights away from the stand, and Sylvester had said that he didn’t want to put me in such a vulnerable position.

“As long as you created a sound excuse, I see no reason for complaint,” Ferdinand said with a sigh. “I do not wish to set a precedent for Rozemyne replacing the current Sovereign High Bishop. She serves Ehrenfest, not the Sovereignty, and she has enough work already.”

I tugged on his sleeve. “Ferdinand, may I at least watch the dedication whirling and graduation ceremony tomorrow?” Cornelius was performing and graduating this year, so I wanted to be there to watch. I stared up at Ferdinand, at which point he started tapping his temple in contemplation.

“If we wish to continue using your poor health as an excuse moving forward, you should attend only the morning or the afternoon half. Although, condition or no, I imagine you will grow so excited at the sight of Cornelius and Leonore dressed up together that you will only be able to manage a half day regardless.”

Despite his grim expression, Ferdinand hadn’t forbidden me from participating. In other words, this was going to be my first time attending a graduation ceremony. Cornelius and Leonore were going to be participating themselves, of course, which meant that Judithe was my only remaining guard knight. It was much too dangerous to put my protection in her hands alone, so we decided to summon Lamprecht and Angelica as Cornelius’s family members to have them guard me. We also sorted out several other, minor details, such as who would sit where and who would prepare what potions.

After the discussion, Ferdinand returned to Ehrenfest rather than staying in the dormitory. He needed to recharge my charms so that they could be used again, and prepare some of his own to serve in place of the magic circles embroidered into his cape. I forced him to have dinner before he went, of course—I knew that he’d end up locked away in his workshop all through the night, so I hoped the meal would sustain him until the morning.

The next day, students began filtering into the common room after finishing breakfast, and soon enough, it was time for the parents of those graduating to arrive from the teleportation hall. The apprentice attendants waiting outside guided our newly arrived visitors to their children’s rooms.

“Good morning, Lady Rozemyne.”

“Ottilie.”

Hartmut’s parents had come to the common room to greet us. I was already very familiar with his mother, Ottilie, but his father was still something of a mystery to me... Or so I thought. After all my wondering about what kind of person he might be, it turned out he was Florencia’s retainer—a scholar. His features and the way he carried himself were so profoundly Hartmut that he easily could have passed as an aged-up version of his son. We said nothing to each other now beyond our lengthy noble greetings, but he was a calm person and acted as I would expect Hartmut to, had he not developed such an excessive saint obsession.

Mm? Wait a second. Does this mean that, if we remove all that manic infatuation from Hartmut, we end up with a good-natured scholar who’s skilled at gathering intelligence and basically finishes every job they’re given to perfection? No, no, no, no... That can’t be... This is Hartmut’s father we’re talking about. Like his son, he must have some crippling flaw lurking beneath the surface.

I watched them leave for Hartmut’s room while these thoughts passed through my mind. My own family was next to arrive; Karstedt, Elvira, Lamprecht, and Angelica all came in what was quite a large showing. Karstedt wasn’t serving as Sylvester’s guard knight today—he was off work, having left everything in the hands of the vice commander.

“And in return,” Karstedt noted, “we’ve been asked to guard you, Rozemyne.”

“To think the day would come when I would be guarded by the knight commander himself... I certainly am of some considerable importance now, aren’t I? Lamprecht, Angelica, I apologize for the suddenness of all this.”

The two of them had been called over by Karstedt and Elvira last night, soon after their arrival. They both forgave me with smiles, saying this opportunity was their only chance to return to the Royal Academy anyway.

Karstedt and Elvira headed to Cornelius’s room, but Lamprecht and Angelica were staying in the common room near me. I asked about Ehrenfest and was told that Damuel was still receiving personal training from Bonifatius, since I wasn’t there for him to attend.

“Damuel was sad and said that he wanted to come too,” Angelica said. “Though I’m jealous that he’s getting direct training from Lord Bonifatius right now.”

“Something unusual must have happened for us to have been called, right?” Lamprecht asked. “What was it?” Apparently, our parents had given him his orders upon their return home and then gone straight to bed, since they needed to get up early tomorrow.

And so, I summarized everything that had happened during the awards ceremony.

“I see... It certainly is dangerous for you to have only one guard knight in this situation,” Lamprecht said, nodding his agreement.

Meanwhile, Angelica was wearing a blank smile that indicated she hadn’t understood a word of my explanation, even though she had been standing right next to us. I decided to shift the topic to something she actually cared about—the ditter match between Ferdinand and Heisshitze. As expected, she jumped on the topic with excitement, her sparkling blue eyes strongly reminiscent of Clarissa’s.

“Angelica, I think you might have been born in the wrong duchy...” I observed. She absolutely would have thrived in Dunkelfelger, I thought, but she met my comment with a sullen look.

“No, Lady Rozemyne,” she said. “Those from Dunkelfelger may be good at ditter, but they tend to have good grades as well. I don’t think I would have made it through even their apprentice knight selection process.”

Apparently, Angelica had only started aiming to become a knight after hearing students in the winter playroom talk about the Royal Academy. She wouldn’t have been able to catch up in time to pass Dunkelfelger’s selection exam.

“Not to mention, I wouldn’t have graduated from the Royal Academy in the first place if not for you, Lady Rozemyne. I am very glad to have been born in Ehrenfest,” Angelica added with a blushing smile. This innocent expression contrasting her utterly pathetic declaration put Lamprecht at a loss for words—it seemed that he had finally realized what she was like on the inside.

You’re slow, Lamprecht... Far too slow.

“Lamprecht? You’re here already?” Wilfried asked when he arrived at the common room. He had come over when he saw his own guard knight with me. “You’re going to be guarding Rozemyne today, right?”

“And you as well, Lord Wilfried. As the two of you are engaged, it is only natural that you would sit close together, no?”

“Who knows? The plan is for Charlotte, Father, Mother, and me to sit together, but as Rozemyne is going to have her and Cornelius’s family guarding her, she may be a bit farther away,” Wilfried explained. Apparently, the archducal family sat some distance away from anyone else. “Rozemyne, has Father said anything to you?”

“He has not. Ferdinand predicts that I will pass out from excitement after seeing Cornelius sword dance, however, so I expect to be sitting near him, in a seat close to an exit.”

“Uncle is pretty much your personal doctor by this point, so yeah. How do you feel today?”

I gazed down at my hands. “Fine at the moment, but my passing out comes suddenly during moments of excitement, so how I feel right now doesn’t have much to do with it.”

“Eh. This is your first graduation ceremony, so it goes without saying that you’re going to get emotional. Lamprecht, keep a close eye on her.”

“As you wish,” Lamprecht said, kneeling.

“Dear brother,” I added, “I thank you ever so much for so graciously allowing me to borrow your guard knight.”

“It’s not a problem,” Wilfried replied. “I just want you to participate in these Royal Academy events, even if only a little.”

Charlotte nodded, having finished preparing to go. “It certainly would be sad if you collapsed before you could see the sword dance you’ve been looking forward to oh-so much.”

She was right, and after thanking my cute little sister for being so concerned about me, I promised to stay in control of my emotions.

It was second-and-a-half bell when our students began leaving for the auditorium, where they would start preparing for the coming-of-age and graduation ceremonies. The plan was for the guardians to come at third bell, then the graduating students soon after. As I wasn’t graduating myself, I would be arriving with the guardians in what was an abnormal situation.

“Ferdinand is here, milady.”

I glanced up at Rihyarda’s prompting to see Ferdinand entering the common room. He was wearing a new cape to replace his previously shredded one.

“Rozemyne, hold out your arms,” he said. His brows were drawn into an especially deep frown today—due to sleep deprivation, I originally thought, but it turned out he was just in an especially bad mood. Lamprecht was more surprised to see Ferdinand than anyone, since he wasn’t used to seeing him like my retainers who visited the temple.

I did as requested, at which point Ferdinand attached protective charm bracelets to my wrists. He then took out his schtappe and said “stylo” to form a pen, which he used to make adjustments to the magic circles. I could feel my mana being very gradually sucked into the charms.

“Hm. This will do,” he said. “So, have you decided when you will participate?”

“In the morning. I wish to see the sword dance and dedication whirling.”

“The dedication whirling, hm...?” Ferdinand muttered, his arms crossed and his already deep frown turning more contemplative.

A short while before third bell, the graduating students came into the common room, having finished their own preparations. Cornelius was wearing his sword dancing clothes, while Hartmut, as a musician, was dressed in his proper outfit, which he intended to wear for the graduation ceremony itself.

“You’re going to fetch Clarissa now, right, Hartmut?” I asked.

“Indeed. We intend to meet at a tea party room, as people of all duchies can enter them.”

Those escorting someone from their own duchy would simply meet them in the common room or entrance hall, but for couples from separate duchies, the boy would meet with the girl in her dormitory’s tea room.

“Her heart must be pounding in her chest, waiting for her man to arrive. I almost wish I could have experienced such a feeling myself...” Elvira said, sounding noticeably energetic despite the early hour. She was immensely excited for the graduation ceremony, which served as the conclusion for many a tale in Royal Academy Love Stories.

“So, what? You were unhappy leaving the dormitory with me?” Karstedt asked.

“My, oh my. Quite the contrary. You see, at a time like this, one’s heart throbs out of uncertain anxiety...” There was the fear that one’s partner might never arrive, that their marriage might not proceed, or that things might simply end after the escort. Elvira explained that these fears made the subsequent joy all the sweeter. “Stories are enjoyable due to these twists and turns, the ever-present danger... but in my own life, I am far more attracted to the stable and peaceful.”

I mean, starting up your own printing business and making books that you have to hide from Ferdinand is far from peaceful, Mother. If you ask me, the life you’ve chosen for yourself seems more like a thriller than anything.

Perhaps the word “peaceful” meant something completely different to nobles. I decided to check with Ferdinand at some point in the future.

“We will now be heading to the auditorium,” Ferdinand said as we started toward the door. “Graduating students, leave the dormitory and form your rows.”

I went with the guardians. Karstedt, Elvira, Lamprecht, and Angelica made for a big enough group already, but with Rihyarda, Ferdinand, and his retainers accompanying us too, we had become quite the crowd.

I can feel everyone’s eyes on me, and they sting. They sting so much!

Ferdinand noted that we would need to move at a painfully slow crawl to match my walking speed, so Karstedt picked me up and started carrying me to our destination.

“Father, I can walk on my own, you know.”

“We don’t want you passing out,” he replied. “Just relax.”

I was even having to participate in this farcical cover story about why I was attending. Everyone was in agreement that I had pleaded to attend the graduation ceremony despite my poor health until my dear father had at last relented, wanting to appease his beloved daughter. Sure, it sounded nice, but I didn’t like being the center of attention.

A huge crowd was already gathered in the auditorium. The walls that were used during classes had been taken down, such that our surroundings now looked entirely like a colosseum with tiered seating. There were no desks or chairs for students in the center like there normally were during classes; instead, there was a circular, ivory stage for the whirling and sword dancing. At the very back of the auditorium was the entryway to the chapel, which I had entered once before to get my Divine Will. From above, it looked like a semicircle pointed toward us.

“This isn’t the auditorium I remember...” I said, looking around in a daze. I hadn’t thought its appearance could change so drastically.

“Cool, isn’t it? The seating being like this makes it easier to watch the sword dancing and dedication whirling.”

Since I was attending as Cornelius’s little sister today rather than as an archduke candidate, I was sitting with the guardians. We were quite some distance away from the archducal couple, but as archnobles, we were still afforded some of the better seats near the front. Ferdinand was to my right, Angelica to my left, Karstedt and Elvira in front of me, and Lamprecht and Rihyarda behind me. In other words, I was completely surrounded and unable to move.

“Rozemyne, take this,” Ferdinand said.

“A sound-blocking magic tool?”

“Yes. For safety’s sake. I do not trust you to remain silent.”

Ferdinand instructed me not to relinquish my hold on the tool even for a moment in case any weird cries escaped me. I didn’t intend to make any such noises, but I gripped it nonetheless.

A few moments after third bell, the graduating students came in and formed neat lines on the stage. Those being escorted but not graduating went to their assigned seats, at which point the royal family entered and the Sovereign High Bishop took his place before the shrine.

The proceedings seemed very similar to the coming-of-age ceremony I was used to, albeit on a much larger scale. Biblical tales of adulthood were told, and a blessing was given. The prayer was the same one I already knew, but it took a lot longer to deliver, as the students naturally weren’t all born in the same season.

“I see there aren’t any lights, just like when Bezewanst would perform ceremonies...” I observed. Of course, since I was still gripping the sound-blocking magic tool, Ferdinand was the only person who could hear me.

“You might have enough mana to bless all those gathered here today, but you are absolutely an exception.”

The blessing of the new adults came to a close, meaning it was time to offer music and dancing to the gods—a show of gratitude for the divine protection they had provided the new adults with. Everyone descended from the stage, then those who were going to be playing music returned with instruments in hand. I had only ever practiced the harspiel, but I could see plenty of other instruments, ranging from flutes to drums. Some were empty-handed, presumably because they were just going to be singing.

Everyone lined up in front of the shrine and readied their instruments. “We are those who offer prayers and gratitude to the gods who have created the world...” they said, reciting an all too familiar prayer to music before launching into a song. It was a celebration of spring, during which the wounded Geduldh was healed, and new life began to sprout.

Once the first song ended, those with instruments descended from the stage and surrounded it. Twenty blue-garbed sword dancers took their place and stood in a line.

“Oh! There’s Cornelius!” I exclaimed.

“I do have eyes,” Ferdinand said plainly. “Contain your emotions.”

Cornelius readied his schtappe-turned-sword and music began to play. He swung his weapon in time with the notes, and the light reflected off its blade with each movement. Angelica’s sword dance had been elegant above all else, and she had moved as smoothly as water, but his was more powerful with heavier slashes, perhaps due to him being a boy.

The dancers were all tremendously skilled, as one would expect from honor students chosen specifically for their sword dancing talent. Their movements kept up with the increasing tempo of the music, creating an experience that simply couldn’t be captured in a recording.

“Is that really Cornelius?” Lamprecht asked.

“Yes, of course,” Rihyarda replied. “He has grown quite a lot since you last spent much time with him, no?”

“Yeah. I’m surprised.”

Angelica nodded again and again in agreement. “He really has grown,” she said, having practiced sword dancing with him up until last year.

Elvira turned to Angelica with a smile. “He must have trained with all his heart so that he could show his best side to his beloved Leonore. You will grow stronger too if you strive to show Eckhart your best side. Perhaps you could do this by improving on your embroidery—no, maybe your socializing...”

“Showing Lord Eckhart my best side...?” Angelica repeated. “Lady Rozemyne, do I actually have any good points? Can you think of any?”

Although the question was directed at me, Eckhart, who was sitting beside Ferdinand, interjected to answer. “Your truest virtue is that you diligently strive to continue guarding Rozemyne without worrying about rushing into marriage,” he said with a smile.

“Understood,” Angelica replied. “In that case, I shall grow stronger as a guard knight without rushing into marriage.”

...Eckhart!

Elvira sighed and shook her head; that was no conversation for an engaged couple to be having. I could tell it was going to be a long, long time before they actually got married.

After the sword dance came the dedication whirling. Long sleeves fluttered as the seven archduke candidates ascended the stage. I could see Adolphine clad in yellow garb, signifying the Goddess of Wind. Her wine-red hair stood out beautifully, likely thanks to the hairpin that Tuuli had made for her. Rudiger was there as well wearing white garb, signifying the God of Life. His hair was silvery blond, making him seem radiant from head to toe.

The archduke candidates lined up facing the shrine, as the musicians and sword dancers had, then knelt to touch the stage. “We are those who offer prayers and gratitude to the gods who have created the world...” they began, and no sooner were the words intoned than a magic circle appeared on the pure-white stage. It had all elements, and each one was positioned beneath the archduke candidate wearing the garb of that element’s respective god.

“Ferdinand, that’s the same circle that showed up above the b—”

“I was under the impression that you saw nothing of particular importance on that day. Am I mistaken? Either way, I see it was wise to have you hold this tool...”

“Oh, right. I don’t see anything.”

“Good.”

I had seen last year’s dedication whirling through the camera-like magic tools, but there hadn’t been a magic circle then. Maybe it had suddenly become visible in the same way the bible’s magic circle had, but then what was it? How come Ferdinand was able to see it? Could other people not? I had so many questions, but the most I could do was gaze up at Ferdinand and sigh, knowing full well that he would never give me any answers.