Ascendance of a Bookworm (LN) - Volume 4.8 - Chapter 12

Report on the Archduke Conference (Second Year)

We spent our days peacefully until, soon enough, the Archduke Conference came to an end. Word arrived that the archducal couple’s attendants had returned and were preparing to welcome their lord and lady. I was worried about Ferdinand, since he hadn’t come back from his second summons, so I went to welcome them at the teleportation circle. Wilfried, Charlotte, and Melchior were naturally with me, excited to see their parents again.

“Father! Mother!” Melchior cried, brimming with excitement. The archducal couple had returned. Florencia was wearing her usual smile, but Sylvester was almost completely expressionless. He looked so stoic that it was hard to even imagine a smile on him.

After saying our greetings, I turned to Sylvester. “Did something happen during the conference?”

“I’ll explain during our meeting. Gah... That idiot,” Sylvester said, offering only the briefest response. He then clicked his tongue and muttered a few crude words about this unknown person.

“Sylvester,” Florencia said, chiding her husband. He let out a sigh, put on a smile for the kids, and urged us out of the teleportation hall.

“Come on, now. Let’s get a move on. We need to make way for the next teleportation,” Sylvester said. And indeed, a few moments later, the teleportation circle flashed. It was Ferdinand.

“Welcome back, Ferdinand,” I said.

“Indeed. It is good to be back,” he replied, wearing the most brilliantly fake smile I had ever seen in my life.

“Hartmut, did something happen to Ferdinand...?” I asked once we were back in my room. Unfortunately, it turned out that he had only been allowed to attend the negotiations with Dunkelfelger; he hadn’t been permitted to accompany Ferdinand to wherever he was summoned.

“The most I saw was the aub shouting in the dormitory and Ferdinand silently brushing him off,” Hartmut explained. “Based on the few snippets I overheard, I believe they received a royal decree from the king that they cannot refuse.”

From there, Hartmut gave a report on the meeting with Dunkelfelger. Negotiations about the royalties and translations had panned out mostly as expected.

“Dunkelfelger’s first wife is a fearsome woman indeed,” Hartmut noted. “Although she could not provide any details, she seemed to have deduced the existence of printing.”

“How did she do that?”

“She examined the book that Lady Hannelore borrowed and observed that the handwriting was so consistently neat that it couldn’t possibly have been done with a pen. She looked at the ink surrounding the letters and noted that it differed from what she was accustomed to from handwritten works. And as her most impressive feat, she took the knowledge that we want to sell our books and deduced that we have created technology capable of producing multiple copies of the same work.”

Eep... The first wives of greater duchies sure are scary.

It had been scary enough when Drewanchel immediately deconstructed and analyzed the trial portion of rinsham I gave them, but Dunkelfelger’s first wife figuring out the existence of printing technology simply by looking at a book her daughter had borrowed was absolutely terrifying.

“Now, if you will allow me to move on—Dunkelfelger’s scholars came to understand the royalty and translation fees much quicker than our own,” Hartmut continued, “The skill gap between our duchies was made apparent once again.”

It was not an easy task to absorb completely new ideas and concepts. In a world where books being handwritten was not only the norm but literally the only option, people simply could not understand the concept of paying anything per copy of a book. It generally took quite some time for the laynobles of the printing industry to grasp everything. Elvira, in contrast, had understood quite quickly, as she was making the books firsthand.

“Overall, it was quite a tense meeting. There were two sharp eyes on me at all times, trying to determine whether I am a fitting partner for Clarissa.”

Clarissa’s father had been among the guard knights, and he had spent the entire meeting fixing Hartmut with a stern glare. Things had gotten so unnerving that Hartmut had apparently started to worry that Clarissa’s father would suddenly charge over and cut him down.

“The shield of Wind that you produced during the attack on the awards ceremony seems to have garnered quite a bit of attention,” Hartmut continued. “It came up even during the conference.”

“You didn’t fan the flames, did you?”

“I spoke only of the legends that I have already made public. I understand when to hold my tongue,” he replied. He had wanted to spread the more recent legends about the first ternisbefallen hunt and the recovery of our duchy’s gathering spot, but he had thankfully exercised some control.

“I would ask that you learn even more self-control and outright cease your efforts to push exaggerated tall tales as saintly legends,” I said.

“That would mean limiting myself to the more restrained tales, which won’t be quite as satisfying... but if such is your wish, Lady Rozemyne, then I shall obey.”

Our meeting about the Archduke Conference was held the day after everyone returned. The archducal family, their retainers, the Knight’s Order, and the majority of the high-ranking scholars were in attendance. Wilfried, Charlotte, and I were there as well, and we promptly took our assigned seats.

“Uncle seems to be in a good mood for once. D’you think it has something to do with the Archduke Conference?” Wilfried asked. He was sitting next to me and commenting on Ferdinand, who was seated almost across from us.

I had been trying to avoid looking at Ferdinand, but I eventually conceded—and my blood immediately ran cold. His smile truly was faker than any he had ever worn before, and that was precisely why it was so scary. I didn’t have a clue what was going through his head or what he was so angry about.

“You must not be fooled, Wilfried. That is the expression he makes when he is exceptionally displeased.”

“Is that so?” Charlotte asked, surprised. She was sitting on my other side.

“I’ve never seen him smile like that before, though...” Wilfried said, looking between Ferdinand and me with suspicion.

“He can disguise most emotions beneath an expressionless mask, but when he gets very angry or is in especially great pain, he overcompensates with the most exaggerated smile so that those around him cannot detect how he truly feels.”

“Rozemyne,” Ferdinand called, deepening his smile before raising a hand to cover his mouth. I understood that as him telling me to shut up, so I placed both of my hands over my mouth and nodded repeatedly.

He’s always scarier when he’s smiling.

“Everyone’s here, I see,” Sylvester said. He had entered with Florencia once everyone was ready, and just like last year, the meeting commenced. “A lot changed this year, so our gathering here won’t be brief. Don’t let your minds wander or you’ll miss a lot of very important decisions.”

After these initial words, one of Sylvester’s scholars began by announcing our place in the duchy rankings this year. Ehrenfest was now eighth, meaning we would be using the doors and rooms marked eight in the Royal Academy next year.

“Rozemyne’s Mana Compression Method is producing excellent results among children still in their growth period,” Sylvester said. “Furthermore, the children are collectively working together to improve not just their own grades, but the grades of the whole duchy. Their accomplishments can be seen through how many honor students we have attained and the fact that our grades at the Royal Academy have risen significantly. Keep up the good work.”

Wilfried frowned, adopting a slight pout. “I thought we’d go higher than that...”

“Getting a higher rank through grades and trends alone seems unlikely,” I replied. “We have just about reached our limit, unless Ehrenfest begins to hold more influence within the Sovereignty. Those above us now are middle duchies with royal family members and greater duchies that have more influence to begin with.”

If we wanted to climb beyond eighth, we would not only need to keep up with the trends, but also send people into the Sovereignty to converse with and sway fellow Sovereign nobles. The problem was that this latter point would immediately put Ehrenfest in dire straits. We just didn’t have the manpower to spare.

“So we need to train new people, then?” Wilfried asked.

“I imagine it will be many years before we can send skilled workers while maintaining our current grades,” Charlotte said, looking equally as troubled as her brother. Ehrenfest’s population was on the smaller side for a duchy of our size, meaning it would take us quite some time to produce people skilled enough to work in the Sovereignty.

“Our business deals this year have increased our influence with Klassenberg and the Sovereignty, even if only by a small amount,” Sylvester continued. “Next year, we plan to finally start spreading printed goods at the Royal Academy. Keep your guards up and do your jobs.”

Sylvester then went on to explain the deals that had been made during the conference. We had settled on doing business with Klassenberg, the Sovereignty, and Dunkelfelger.

A scholar looked around the room, then started to give more details. “We have given permission for eight companies from the Sovereignty to come; six from Klassenberg, as they caused problems in the lower city last year; and six from Dunkelfelger. As for the duchies we were once again unable to sign with, Lady Rozemyne permitted us to sell them the production method for rinsham and certain sweets. This should help contain the rising price of plant oil. Increasing trade is important, but we have been made painfully aware that our entire duchy must be prepared, not just our city.”

There was a limit to how many merchants could be accepted into Ehrenfest’s lower city, so it was outright impossible for us to take any more trade partners without either expanding the city or increasing the amount of accommodation available in the cities alongside the main trading route, such as Groschel.

That said, sorting out large-scale infrastructure projects is a job for Sylvester, not me.

“Next, I shall report on the printing industry,” the scholar said. “We held a meeting to discuss our acquired right to publish the book on Dunkelfelger history.” He then repeated what Hartmut had already told me before signaling for another one of Sylvester’s retainers to bring forth a box.

“These are the winnings that Ferdinand secured alongside the rights in question through his ditter match,” Sylvester said. The box apparently contained the ingredients that Heisshitze had promised. Ferdinand checked its contents to confirm, then handed the box to Justus.

Another scholar stood up. “As Lord Wilfried and Lady Rozemyne are now engaged, it is Lady Charlotte who was flooded with marriage proposals this year.”

Apparently, there had been a truly shocking amount. There were requests from greater duchies for her to be a second or third wife, and even requests from top-ranking middle duchies asking her to be a first wife—something that would have been unthinkable just a year ago.

“We postponed our answers, as this is not a matter to be settled on the spot, and intend to consider these options with Lady Charlotte’s thoughts in mind.”

Ehrenfest hadn’t yet decided which duchies it wanted to maintain or establish connections with. We would need to consider whether it was best to establish a relationship with a greater duchy with Charlotte as a second or third wife or whether it was best to have her be a first wife, which would allow her to attend the Archduke Conference.

“Some duchies also offered Aub Ehrenfest second and third wives,” the scholar noted. “These, too, will receive careful consideration.”

Sylvester had publicly declared that he didn’t intend to marry anyone but Florencia, but the times had changed, and Ehrenfest was no longer in a position where we could keep to ourselves. Now, we had to use marriages to form bonds and increase our influence with other duchies.

“Those requests will also be put on hold for now,” Sylvester said with a bitter grimace. Florencia, who was sitting beside him, merely shook her head and shrugged, as if to say that she did not mind him having more wives and wished he would stop avoiding the subject.

Sylvester coughed, stood up, and waved a hand to change the subject. “I think it’s time we move on to announcements about royalty. Prince Hildebrand had his debut. He’s the son of the king’s third wife from Dunkelfelger, but he’s being raised as a vassal. It seems safe to say that Prince Sigiswald is going to take the throne.”

This announcement resulted in some low muttering among those gathered. “The child of the Dunkelfelger wife seems more competent and mana-rich than that of the Gilessenmeyer wife,” one person said, “so I am surprised that Dunkelfelger stood down so easily.”

Another nodded in agreement. “They must be prioritizing avoiding another civil war above all else.”

“Furthermore, Prince Anastasius’s Starbind Ceremony with Lady Eglantine was completed without issue,” Sylvester continued. “The hairpin she wore was one she received from Ehrenfest. It drew much attention, and we expect further orders for hairpins from greater duchies and royals.”

That made sense. I thought of the archduke candidates who would be graduating next year and considered the possibility that Lestilaut from Dunkelfelger might order one.

I wonder what Lady Detlinde will do? Aub Ahrensbach asked for a husband for her, but Ferdinand refused.

“One last thing—and this is going to impact Ehrenfest more than anything else mentioned thus far,” Sylvester said. His voice lowered, and his expression disappeared as if to contain his emotions.

Is this the most important thing that happened at the Archduke Conference? I wondered, leaning forward out of curiosity. In contrast to my enthusiasm, all those who had returned from the conference were wearing similarly flat expressions.

Once all eyes were on Sylvester, he began to speak. “The king has ordered that Ferdinand and Lady Detlinde of Ahrensbach be joined in matrimony. They are to be engaged posthaste, and their marriage will take place as soon as Lady Detlinde graduates from the Royal Academy.”

But... I thought the matter was dealt with! What’s this about the king ordering it?!

I glanced over at Ferdinand without a moment’s hesitation. He was wearing the same fake smile that he had been using to mask his feelings ever since he returned from the Royal Academy.

“An engagement? How wonderful. To think love would return to Lord Ferdinand...”

“I would never have expected a greater duchy such as Ahrensbach to seek a former temple priest. What an honor.”

“The king must have remembered and favored Lord Ferdinand from when he came first-in-class so many years in a row.”

The attending nobles exchanged words of celebration, which Ferdinand received with a polite nod and the same exaggerated smile. It was clear that he hadn’t wished for this marriage—in fact, he had outright told me that he had refused it. I knew that the more guarded of a smile he put on, the angrier and more dissatisfied he was on the inside... but everyone was celebrating this news as though Ferdinand was over the moon himself.

Just how much pain does Ferdinand have to endure in his life? Now he has to marry Lady Detlinde, who’s more or less a young version of Lady Veronica, the woman he hates most? Will the world ever let him be happy?

Just seeing Ferdinand smile like that made me so frustrated and sad that I wanted to cry. Sylvester must have felt the same; his eyes wandered to Ferdinand, and immediately his flat expression morphed into a deep frown. Florencia gave him a light jab in the side a beat later, prompting him to become stone-faced once again... but I could see his true feelings through the cracks in his mask.

Sylvester looked around the room, seeming a little frustrated. “I ask for quiet,” he said. The words of celebration stopped, and all eyes turned to him. “It has been decided that Ferdinand will move to Ahrensbach after Lady Detlinde’s graduation, and their Starbind Ceremony will be held straight away during the following Archduke Conference.”

Normally, an engagement like this would sit for a year following one’s graduation; there was a lot to prepare when it came to moving duchies. Marrying right after one’s graduation was very strange, and there must have been some dire circumstances behind it.

“Thus, Ferdinand will be removed from his position as High Priest, and we will need to assign someone to take his place,” Sylvester said.

The room began to stir; those looking to climb the social hierarchy had much to gain from supporting me as the High Priest. The problem for them was the temple’s reputation. Although its image was slowly improving due to my retainers’ and my regular visits and the occasional phenomenon like the Haldenzel Miracle, nobles were still very clearly loath to get involved. I could see them all grappling with their pride as they weighed up the pros and cons.

“Aub Ehrenfest, I humbly ask that you assign me to be the High Priest.”

This request came from Hartmut, of all people. He listed reason after reason why he was suitable for the job: he was already familiar with the temple through visiting it so often, he would be able to hit the ground running due to his experience helping Ferdinand, and it was the job of my retainers to assist me in the first place.

“But Hartmut, you... Are you not getting married in a few years?” Ferdinand asked, furrowing his brow. One naturally could not enter the temple after inviting one’s marriage partner to the duchy—nobody in the temple was married, for priests and shrine maidens could not get married. That was precisely why I, myself, would only be serving as the High Bishop until I came of age.

Hartmut smiled as though this weren’t an issue at all. “I do not intend to abandon my position as a noble; I am simply prioritizing assisting Lady Rozemyne above all else. When she comes of age and leaves her post, I will do the same and get married. Indeed, there is nothing to worry about—if Clarissa does not wish for me to enter the temple, I will simply cancel our engagement.”

That... That would be a problem in itself! Clarissa and her parents will have a lot to say about you entering the temple after promising to marry her. And she’s, like, the only girl in the world who would actually marry you, Hartmut! So what are you going to do if this falls through?!

I would be coming of age four years from now, by which point Clarissa would be eighteen. That wasn’t old enough for people to say that she had married late, but it was a bit too long to make her wait, in my opinion.

Besides, I don’t need any more retainers who refuse to get married!

My internal screams went unanswered, and Sylvester really had no choice but to select the lone candidate for the job. “In that case, I hereby assign you to the position of High Priest, Hartmut. You will serve as a retainer in the castle, but in the temple, you will take on your new role. It will prove exceedingly difficult, and you will have much to do in order to take over in so short a time... but the duty is now yours.”

“I graciously accept,” Hartmut replied.

This marked the end of the meeting. The room was abuzz, and most people left with bright expressions, pleased to have some good news to talk about. Of course, there was one particular group of people who weren’t so happy...

“This was another hectic year,” Wilfried said.

“Indeed,” Charlotte replied. “The printing industry will shift greatly next year, so perhaps it would be wise for us to greet Elvira and ask her to start sending us more work to complete.”

And so, they both headed over to Elvira, having decided while working with Bonifatius to increase their scholars’ workloads. I watched them go, then stood up with a clatter and approached Ferdinand, whose smile remained unfaltering. “We need to talk,” I said, glaring up at him.

To my surprise, the voice that followed didn’t belong to Ferdinand; Sylvester had appeared next to us, and with unmistakable anger he said, “Good timing. I need to talk to Ferdinand too. Both of you, come to my office.” I almost shouted, “Don’t lump me in with him!” on instinct, but I thankfully managed to hold my tongue.