Ascendance of a Bookworm (LN) - Volume 4.9 - Chapter SS7

Memories and Farewells

“It has been the greatest honor to serve you.”

After saying my farewell to the High Priest—though he was now the High Priest no longer—I watched as he flew his highbeast back toward the Noble’s Quarter. Only once he and Lady Rozemyne’s group were gone did Zahm and I return to the High Priest’s chambers. There was much to do, even without our lord.

“Fran, how are the orphanage’s preparations coming along?” Lothar, the head attendant of the High Priest’s chambers, asked me upon our arrival. Getting each other up to date was the first thing we needed to do. The orphanage was planning to accept a great number of pre-baptism children this winter, and preparations were being made to that effect.

“We are progressing steadily with Wilma and Monika leading the effort, but winter preparations are our current priority,” I replied. “The problem is that we do not know how many children we are due to receive.”

We were unsure how many dishes or beds we would need, and neither Lady Rozemyne nor Lord Hartmut could tell whether we had enough clothes at the ready, since they did not know how tall or old the new orphans were going to be. We were fortunate in that we would not need to prepare bedding and food—that would apparently be delivered when the children arrived—but there was still the matter of the furniture and other daily necessities.

“This is quite the challenge...” Lothar said, narrowing his indigo eyes and scratching his light-brown hair—as he always did when deep in thought. “Lady Rozemyne says that she will provide anything we lack, but as these are noble children, we cannot use their bedding and dishes and such.”

It was then that Ymir—the youngest of all the attendants in the High Priest’s chambers, who had joined after I was reassigned to serve Lady Rozemyne—blinked in surprise. “Why is that?” he asked. “Would it not be most logical for them to bring what they already own?”

Lothar shook his head. “That runs the risk of a room in the orphanage being better equipped than the rooms of the blue priests.”

“Ah, I see. I would not want Brother Kampfer to have worse living conditions than the new orphans either...” Ymir said, slumping his shoulders.

Brother Kampfer was exceedingly diligent compared to his fellow blue priests; he not only completed his work with the utmost care, but also made sure he was on good terms with his attendants. Ymir saw him in an especially positive light, perhaps because he had gotten so used to accompanying him for the Dedication Ritual after Lady Rozemyne became the High Bishop. Still, amiable though Brother Kampfer was, his house was far from wealthy. That was why they allowed him only the bare minimum he needed to maintain his status as a blue priest and took everything else for themselves.

“There were times when the High Priest—or, rather, Lord Ferdinand—would send stern words to Brother Kampfer’s house... but Lord Hartmut acts only for Lady Rozemyne,” Ymir said, his voice tinged with worry. “Is Brother Kampfer going to be okay?”

I was once again reminded that I could no longer refer to the High Priest as such. This was much easier said than done, though. I had been taken as his attendant shortly after he was made the High Priest, and the fact that I needed to start calling him “Lord Ferdinand” felt both strange and deeply saddening.

“If we find out that his house is behaving exceptionally cruelly, then we need only tell Lord Hartmut that we wish for Lady Rozemyne to be informed,” I said. “He will most likely determine the matter as being beneath her and opt to scold them himself.”

“Oho... I see you are used to handling Lord Hartmut.”

“Lord Ferdinand informed me of many ways to deal with Lady Rozemyne’s retainers back when they first began visiting the temple.”

“Do tell us what you learned when we next have the time,” Lothar said, but there was no need for him to sound so impressed. I could only manage a dry chuckle as I recalled those tense earlier days when my attention had been dedicated almost entirely to not angering the visiting nobles.

“These methods involve going through Lady Rozemyne, so they may not be that practical for those of you working in the High Priest’s chambers,” I said. “If you wish for her to be mobilized, then please discreetly consult either Zahm or me, as we once consulted with Lord Ferdinand.”

“If we act too carelessly, then we will only earn Lord Hartmut’s ire,” Zahm added. “He is especially sensitive to Lady Rozemyne being used.”

Everyone responded with noises of understanding. I was sure that they were recalling Lord Hartmut sitting atop the blue priest he had restrained.

The atmosphere in the High Priest’s chambers was always a lot more relaxed without a lord present—and with Monika at the orphanage, we were all former attendants to Lord Ferdinand, myself and Zahm included.

“Ymir, are the blue robes that Lord Hartmut ordered ready?” Lothar asked.

Those in the High Bishop’s chambers often focused on winter preparations and coordinating with the lower city, but here, the Dedication Ritual took priority. Lord Hartmut was still in his very early days as the new High Priest; we could not risk his first Dedication Ritual ending in failure.

That said, with Lord Ferdinand and Brother Egmont leaving the temple and Lady Rozemyne not returning for winter, we had very few blue priests at hand. Lord Hartmut had asked Lord Cornelius, Lady Rozemyne’s brother by blood, to help compensate for the shortage, as well as Lord Damuel and Lady Angelica. Ymir was apparently in the process of preparing blue robes for their sake.

“I am not quite finished with them,” Ymir replied. “I, um... do not know much about the ceremonial robes of the blue shrine maidens, so...”

“In that case, we must hurry to find ceremonial robes for Lord Cornelius, Lord Damuel, and Lady Angelica... Fran, Ymir, let us go to the storage room. Everyone else, continue with your work as usual.”

“You wish for me to join you?” I asked. It made sense for him to ask Ymir, since he usually assisted with such preparations anyway, but I failed to see why he would want my help.

Lothar gave a small smile. “You have a similar build to Lord Damuel, I to Lord Cornelius, and Ymir to Lady Angelica. Are we not the perfect trio?”

“I see,” I replied.

Ymir shook his head in protest. “I’m a man. My build is nothing like Lady Angelica’s.”

“You are just a bit taller and on the thinner side, but you should suffice for us to get some rough measurements.”

“Take that back! You’re hurting my feelings!”

We exited the High Priest’s chambers with Ymir, who was still clearly wounded, then headed to the storage room where the blue robes were kept. The everyday clothes were folded and put on shelves along with their accompanying ornaments, while the ceremonial robes were hung up to keep them from creasing. Closest to the door were the ceremonial robes that Lord Ferdinand had used to wear. Seeing them reminded me that he truly was gone.

In stark contrast to my sentimentality, Lothar was rifling through the robes with an entirely businesslike demeanor. “Lord Ferdinand’s robes are too large for Lord Cornelius. We do not have time to hem them, let alone measure him for more significant alterations. Come, help me search for something that may be a more appropriate size. Fran, do you believe that Lord Ferdinand’s ceremonial robes would fit you?”

I reached toward the robes, intending to hold them up to myself to check, but my hand stopped short. Something about touching the limp, empty robes just felt wrong.

“Lord Ferdinand is tall enough that I cannot imagine them fitting me,” I eventually said. “More importantly, the robes of an archducal family member would not suit a laynoble such as Damuel.”

“Ah. I did not consider problems of status. Do you know each of their ranks?”

“Lord Cornelius is an archnoble, Lady Angelica a mednoble, and Lord Damuel a laynoble,” I said. The circumstances were urgent enough that they probably would not have complained, but as we were dealing with nobles, it was crucial that we take every precaution.

“Let us settle on the archnoble’s clothes first. Then, we can search for outfits that are less extravagant in comparison,” Lothar replied. He was evidently less concerned about status when lending robes to Lord Hartmut, which immediately made me feel uneasy. I remembered Lord Hartmut kicking up a fuss over the furniture in the orphanage director’s chambers not suiting Lady Rozemyne.

“On what basis did you select Lord Hartmut’s ceremonial robes?” I asked. “Did he say nothing of status?”

“He did not,” Ymir replied. “Perhaps he simply did not mind, as he will only be wearing them once. In fact, Lord Hartmut rarely expresses dissatisfaction about anything. He is also very easy to serve, since he commutes from the Noble’s Quarter.”

“I wonder about that...” Lothar interjected, crossing his arms. “He may be staying in the temple for extended periods in the near future, namely when Lady Rozemyne is here. Lord Ferdinand also began by commuting from the Noble’s Quarter.”

“He did...?” I asked, blinking in surprise. Ymir likewise indicated that this was his first time hearing such news.

“Oh, of course. I suppose I am the only one who was serving as his attendant from his very first day in the temple...” Lothar remarked, scratching his light-brown hair and seeming a bit solemn.

I had joined the High Priest’s chambers around the time that apprentice blue priests and shrine maidens were leaving the temple one after another. We had always been busy with the ever-increasing workload, and only now did it occur to me that we never spoke about the past.

“If you were unaware of that, then you may not know this either,” Lothar continued. “Lord Ferdinand hardly did any work at all when he first joined the temple as a blue priest.”

“What?!” Ymir exclaimed.

Lothar could not help but smile at this response. In truth, Lady Rozemyne had already told me about Lord Ferdinand having had more time to brew and read before he became the High Priest, but hearing it from another attendant made it somehow feel new.

“At the start, he took only two attendants,” Lothar explained. “He hired a chef so that those beneath him could eat, but he would return to his estate in the Noble’s Quarter for every meal—even lunch.”

“He went all the way to the Noble’s Quarter for lunch?” I asked. Again, this was news to me. It must have been troublesome for him to fly there every day at fourth bell. I had to wonder whether he had a lot of work to do at the castle even then.

As I was contemplating this unusual revelation, Lothar lowered his voice and said, “He did so because he anticipated that the High Bishop would attempt to poison him.”

“I knew they were on bad terms but... poison?”

It had been clear to those of us serving Lord Ferdinand that he and the late High Bishop did not get along well, but we had never feared a poisoning attempt. In fact, the two were entirely uninvolved with each other outside of work and the distribution of money.

“Indeed,” Lothar said. “I was surprised when I first heard this, but it seems that nobles must expect to be poisoned at all times. Lord Ferdinand even went as far as to warn us temple attendants that we would be at risk unless we built up a resistance of some kind. How could we not be on guard after that? The food prepared in the temple kitchen was thus eaten not by Lord Ferdinand, but by the chef, us attendants, and those in the orphanage.”

Lothar went on to explain that he had once witnessed a gray shrine maiden steal into the kitchen in the High Priest’s chambers and attempt to sneak something onto one of the plates. He had ensured that she was swiftly captured.

“I reported the incident to Lord Ferdinand, who said that he would interrogate the gray shrine maiden himself. I did not see what he said or did to her, as I was told to use that time to eat lunch, but she emerged with vacant eyes. And then, that night, there was chaos in the High Bishop’s chambers—someone had poisoned his food.”

“That must have been Lord Ferdinand taking his revenge,” Ymir said, his lips curling as he fought back the urge to laugh. “How did the High Bishop fare?”

Lothar smirked. “Everyone in his chambers was bedridden for three days with intense stomach pain.”

It was easy to imagine the late High Bishop angrily stamping his feet while Lord Ferdinand listened impassively. We had all found the High Bishop a source of constant frustration, so tales of his suffering filled us with vicarious delight. After all, the man had received his just deserts.

I picked up a set of ceremonial robes, trying to hide the smile that had risen to my face. The clothes must have belonged to someone from a high-status household, for their designs were excellent and their material pleasant to the touch.

“Perhaps this will do,” I said. “I believe it would suit an archnoble.”

“Excellent,” Lothar replied. “The hem and sash can easily be adjusted.”

We had decided on Lord Cornelius’s ceremonial robes. Next, we would need to find some for Lady Angelica.

“So, what happened next?” Ymir asked, unable to mask the excitement in his voice, while holding the ceremonial robes of various blue shrine maidens up to his chest. “I cannot imagine that Bezewanst, of all people, would concede so easily.”

“Naturally, he barged in on Lord Ferdinand upon recovering. We were all quite afraid, but Lord Ferdinand greeted his anger with an expression of exaggerated surprise.”

Once the High Bishop had finished ranting about his own poison being used against him, Lord Ferdinand had merely given him a curious look and said, “I do not see what there is to complain about; I even had the poison you attempted to feed me mixed into a jar, drastically reducing its toxicity. I did not think that the younger brother of a first wife would be so unaccustomed to poison. You speak often of your connection to the archducal family, so I suppose I must assist you in preparing for what that connection entails.”

The late High Bishop had retreated shortly thereafter, understanding that Lord Ferdinand was threatening to poison him again.

Ymir shuddered. “I do not even want to imagine Lord Ferdinand saying something like that to me with a flat expression. I would be so scared that I would truly wish to cry.”

“Indeed. The blue priests were similarly terrified when the High Bishop explained the situation to them, and from that point on, attendants could no longer be sent to the kitchens of others. Kitchens were guarded more carefully than ever before, and that was the end of poison incidents in the temple.”

This had all taken place when I was serving Sister Margaret, the orphanage director at the time. I had lived in the orphanage director’s chambers, which were a good distance from the noble section of the temple, so word of this poisoning incident had never reached my ears.

Just as that thought crossed my mind, I noticed that Sister Margaret’s ceremonial robes were spread out before me, colorful and embroidered with flowers. The very sight caused so many old memories to resurface, and my teeth were chattering before I knew it.

I’ve come so far. I’m even able to enter the hidden room in the orphanage director’s chambers. So... why now, after all this time?

I clenched my fists. It was like someone had reached out and grabbed me by the heart, and each shallow breath seemed to catch in my throat. I had truly believed that I was over my tragic past, but the memories were carved so deeply into my mind that they were far from gone.

As I returned my attention to my surroundings, I saw that Lothar was holding those very robes up to Ymir’s chest. “Is this flower embroidery not cute and feminine?” he asked.

“Lothar, are you doing this on purpose?” Ymir said in response, a sudden harshness to his light-blue eyes.

I got between them and started acting as the mediator, though my true intention was just to get the robes out of my sight. They were about Ymir’s size, and as Sister Margaret had been a mednoble herself, they were appropriate enough for Lady Angelica... but I simply could not bear to see her wear them.

“Please calm down, both of you,” I said. “Ymir, Lady Angelica is not particularly fond of such feminine designs. Please make your selection based on size and status. Lothar, you are teasing him a little too much. Put these robes away, if you will.”

“My apologies. At once.”

I gave a quiet, relieved sigh as Lothar took Sister Margaret’s robes away, then picked up a more subdued outfit and held it up to Ymir. “How about this?”

“I personally think the floral design would better accentuate Lady Angelica’s beauty...” Lothar said, looking regretfully back at Sister Margaret’s robes.

Ymir similarly fell into thought. It was seeming more and more likely that Lady Angelica would end up wearing Sister Margaret’s ceremonial robes. Desperate to avoid that outcome, I started comparing the two women’s figures in my mind.

“Lothar, Ymir, look carefully. The bust would not fit Lady Angelica properly. These other robes would match her better.”

“I see,” Ymir said. “I did not consider that. We will use the other robes, then.”

“Fran! Ymir!” Lothar exclaimed, sounding indignant. I had successfully prevented Sister Margaret’s robes from being used, but now he was eyeing me carefully. He must have found my behavior suspicious. I returned the focus of our conversation to Lord Ferdinand in an attempt to distract him.

“So, when did Lord Ferdinand actually start living in the temple? Was that poison incident responsible?”

“Let me see... It was to observe the former High Bishop and the temple in general, from what I remember,” Lothar replied, going along with the change in subject. “Lord Ferdinand would say that he risked encountering someone troublesome in his noble estate, so he began staying here instead. At the time, I assumed that it was a lie to keep us from worrying about him... but now I believe it was a means for him to escape Lord Sylvester.”

“That does seem likely...” I replied. It was just like Lord Ferdinand to give some fitting excuse for keeping a close eye on those around him, though this was a very believable exception.

When was it that a mysterious noble had suddenly begun appearing at the temple, followed shortly after by any number of ordonnanzes that said, “Sylvester, where in the world are you?” When was it that I had worked out that Lord Sylvester was in fact the archduke, and that these ordonnanzes had come from his guard knight, Lord Karstedt? At this point, I struggled to remember.

“I believe these will suit Lord Damuel, no?” Lothar asked.

“He is surprisingly muscular, so perhaps these will be a better fit,” I replied. Lord Damuel was of average height for a noble, so there were more robes here that were about his size. I selected some of a slightly lower quality than those we had chosen for Lord Cornelius and Lady Angelica, then moved on to searching for sashes, cords, and such to complete the outfits.

“Why do women’s sashes come in so many widths and with such varying decoration?” Ymir asked. “I have no idea which one to pick.”

“Let us pick ones similar to Lady Rozemyne’s in design so that Nicola and Monika have an easier time helping Lady Angelica dress,” I said, then indicated several potential options. “Any of these will do nicely.”

Ymir looked visibly relieved. “I have only ever served the High Priest, so I would not have been able to put together an outfit for a blue shrine maiden on my own.”

“Well, this should suffice.”

I exhaled once we had all the sashes, cords, and such that we needed. But while I was feeling at ease over a job well done, Ymir looked conflicted, as though there was something he wished to say.

“Is something the matter, Ymir?” I asked.

“Well... is Lord Hartmut, um... serious about this? I do not know about having guard knights assist with the ceremony...”

“It is precisely because he is serious that he has ordered us to prepare ceremonial robes.”

I had seen Lord Hartmut asking Lord Cornelius and the others for their assistance in the High Bishop’s chambers, and when I conveyed what I had heard, Ymir furrowed his brow in displeasure. “Does that not mean the guard knights will be participating in the Dedication Ritual without having performed the fealty ceremony?” he asked. “Lord Hartmut carried out his when taking his place as the High Priest, but they have not carried out theirs.”

“That will most likely be the case, yes. I have not heard of any knights simultaneously serving as blue priests.”

“Will that even be permitted...? Guard knights have thus far been forbidden from entering the ceremony hall, but now they’re being allowed to simply because they have blue robes? I think we should at least have them perform the fealty ceremony and double as blue priests.”

In truth, Ymir was not the only one feeling unsure about how nobles from outside the temple were participating in the Dedication Ritual; I, too, was quite hesitant. Lord Hartmut was making so many considerations so that Lady Rozemyne could remain at the Royal Academy for an entire term, but I personally would have preferred that she return.

Our musings were cut short as Lothar brought us back with a loud clap. “I understand how you feel, Ymir, but our priority here is to perform the Dedication Ritual as best we can and ensure that the chalices are filled with mana. A weaker harvest throughout the duchy will mean less taxes paid during the Harvest Festival. Let us just be grateful that the nobility is being so thoroughly cooperative.”

Lothar was correct—a lack of mana for the Dedication Ritual would negatively impact everyone, ourselves included. Such decisions made by the High Bishop and the High Priest were not to be argued with.

“Furthermore, Lord Ferdinand agreed with Lord Hartmut’s suggestion.”

“He did...?”

Lord Ferdinand was normally so adamant about operating within the rules... yet here he was, going back on his own guiding beliefs so that Lady Rozemyne would not need to return to Ehrenfest. This realization made me feel unusually warm inside.

“Lord Ferdinand certainly has grown softer...” I muttered.

Lothar smiled and nodded. “It is all thanks to Lady Rozemyne. I was surprised to see him, of all people, heed the words of that young child so carefully and make so many arrangements for her.”

“Indeed,” Ymir added. “I recall thinking that Lady Rozemyne was quite something—she never faltered beneath his cold glare, and she came up with one solution after another each time she was scolded, never once giving up on her desires.”

I could not help but chuckle at his evaluation.

“It certainly was Lady Rozemyne who brought about this change in Lord Ferdinand,” Lothar said, speaking slowly and thoughtfully. “We attendants were stricken with fear at the thought of us needing to return to the orphanage, and we did all that we could to read Lord Ferdinand and guess his intentions. Lady Rozemyne, in contrast, fought to make her own feelings heard. Perhaps that is what separates us?”

I could still remember how infuriated and exasperated Lady Rozemyne had been when she had failed to understand Lord Ferdinand’s intentions.

“There is doubtless some truth to that,” I said, “but perhaps her being so unpredictable also factored into it. Her speech and actions seldom conform to the logic of nobles or the temple. That surely forced Lord Ferdinand to observe her so closely.”

After learning that Lady Rozemyne did not understand the more indirect language that nobles used, Lord Ferdinand had started interacting with her in increasingly blunt and direct ways. It had even reached a point where, back in her days as a blue shrine maiden, Lady Rozemyne had come to associate Lord Ferdinand’s hidden room with long and criticizing lectures.

I wonder when Lord Ferdinand went from grumbling about her antics to treating her with such care... It was such a gradual change that I cannot quite pinpoint it.

“As of late, she has seemed particularly hesitant about the handover process,” Lothar noted. “I was surprised to see how suddenly the distance between them closed.”

“I was more surprised that Lord Ferdinand accepted it without even trying to rebuke her,” Ymir added. “He did not call her a bother, nor did he pick her up and toss her out of his chambers for being too annoying.” We all chuckled as we recalled just how much he had treated her like a pest at times.

“It seemed to me that Lord Ferdinand was not used to being considered an equal, where one would act with concern for him, and he would act with concern for them in turn. I sometimes saw him deep in thought.”

“I’ll never forget Lady Rozemyne rampaging around, doing everything in her power to make the High Priest understand that there are people who care about him,” Ymir said. Lothar put a hand over his mouth to keep back his laughter, and it wasn’t long before I was doing the same.

Everyone saw it all, Lady Rozemyne.

That said, I saw Lady Rozemyne’s actions as less of a rampage, and more of a desperate attempt to get through to Lord Ferdinand. She had spoken as directly and as freely as someone who had no worries that their feelings might be rebuffed, and with such careful consideration. It was identical to how she interacted with her family in the lower city.

If only Lord Ferdinand had changed sooner—perhaps then Lady Rozemyne would not have cried alone after being forbidden from meeting with her lower-city associates in her hidden room. And if their warm, caring relationship had been given room to grow further, perhaps Lord Ferdinand would have one day come to express his emotions honestly instead of disregarding them entirely.

O Goddess of Time Dregarnuhr, I pray that you undo the present. Take us back to before those two were separated...

But no matter how much I prayed, my wish would not be granted.

I was also aware that this change between them had come about precisely because their separation had been decided. Going back in time would only reestablish the distance that had once kept them at arm’s length of each other. I knew all this, but after seeing how far they had come, I could not help but feel frustrated that it had all ended so soon.

“We have all we need for the ritual,” Lothar said. “We may now depart.”

I picked up the full ceremonial outfit we had chosen for Lord Damuel and then went to leave. As I turned toward the exit, however, I spotted Lord Ferdinand’s ceremonial robes still hanging by the door.

“Fran, is something wrong?”

“I still cannot believe that Lord Ferdinand’s ceremonial robes are here...” I said, feeling a profound sense of sorrow as I gazed upon them. Lothar and Ymir looked at them as well, and for a while, we remained completely silent. They were likely feeling a similar melancholy.

“Or that Lady Rozemyne will only be in the temple for a few more years...” Lothar suddenly added. It had already been decided that she would move on from the temple upon coming of age; perhaps we would experience this same sadness then as well. The very thought of that departure ate away at me until my heart felt strangely hollow. It was like a depressing cloud hung over me.

“Am I going to be left alone again, I wonder...?” I mused aloud. As a gray priest, there was no place for me but the temple. Lord Ferdinand had already left me behind, and it was inevitable that Lady Rozemyne would one day do the same. It surprised me how much that frustrated me. This was my first time learning that I had these feelings at all.

I had felt no sadness when Sister Margaret went—only a deep sense of relief. Yet now the mere thought of losing those whom I served made my heart ache. I, too, had changed a lot.

“Personally, I would rather stay here in the temple, even if Lord Ferdinand asked me to leave,” Ymir said. “The outside world is too scary.”

Lothar agreed, and the two of them went on ahead.

If Lord Ferdinand or Lady Rozemyne wished it, I would accompany them to an entirely new world...

I swore that in my heart and knelt once more before Lord Ferdinand’s ceremonial robes.