Ascendance of a Bookworm (LN) - Volume 5.12 - Chapter 12

A Mother’s Encouragement

“Siegrecht was adorable,” I said. “Considering his size and stamina, I think he’s a knight in the making!”

My darling nephew had Aurelia’s golden hair, but his eyes and other features reminded me of Lamprecht. He hadn’t seemed particularly shy for his age; though he’d stumbled on his feet, he had charged straight toward me as soon as I’d arrived. It was so cute seeing him in his oversize diaper.

“I only hope he learns some control as he gets older. As it stands, he acts entirely on impulse.”

Well... he might have gotten that from Bonifatius.

Once we’d seen Siegrecht and eaten lunch, Leonore and Cornelius went to clear out the estate Eckhart had given them. Their belongings would be moved straight to their newly made estate in Alexandria. They were staying in the knight dormitory for now but wanted their new home ready in time for their Starbind Ceremony.

I went to my room with Elvira. She had asked if we could speak in my hidden room one last time before I closed it.

“Leonore and Cornelius are getting married this summer, right?” I asked. “They were thinking about postponing it because of the move, but did anything come of that?”

“The moment Leonore returned to Ehrenfest to pack the last of her belongings, Cornelius was bombarded with proposals from Alexandrian women. He wishes to be Starbound as soon as possible to help him refuse them. Hartmut and Clarissa said they would get married at the same time.”

For some reason, Elvira was entirely in the know about when my retainers were getting married. I supposed there was no helping it—the decision was only recent—but I was still peeved that Cornelius’s romance was advancing without my involvement.

They’re always leaving me out. Hmph!

“Mother, did you hear about Eckhart and Angelica?”

“I received word that they wish to be engaged again. It was a curt letter that contained nothing in the way of details. Do you know how their decision came about?”

“Yes, for it was I who started the conversation.”

I went on to explain how uneventfully the couple had decided to get back together. Elvira sighed in response and muttered what a shame it was; she must have wanted something a little more passionate. Having witnessed it with my own eyes, I was disappointed too.

“Angelica’s parents have been informed,” Elvira said. “They have given their approval.”

“That was quick...”

“Eckhart and Angelica were engaged once already, and their temperaments make it hard to find partners for them.”

Eckhart was devoted to his late wife and to serving Ferdinand, so anyone he married now would need to be content with third place. As one might expect, few women were open to accepting such an arrangement.

As for Angelica, she wanted a husband stronger than her who would allow her to continue serving me. Given that she’d trained under Bonifatius, it was already a lot to ask for, but it wasn’t the only reason she hadn’t found a partner. Her main problems were socializing and trying to think like a regular noble; she really had put all of her skill points into combat.

“But, well... they are a good match for each other,” I said.

“Eckhart will come to fetch his belongings, and I would appreciate you giving Angelica a short leave of absence when he does. I wish to discuss their future plans with them.”

Neither Eckhart nor Angelica would bother coming home for a conversation about their engagement, which was why Elvira wanted to catch them while they were here for other business. They were generally uncooperative, and their parents naturally wanted to speak with them before they hurried away to another duchy.

“If you wish to speak in private, then take this,” an attendant said, entrusting us with a small trolley carrying a tea set. We took it with us into the hidden room.

Elvira poured us each a drink, then leisurely looked around. “It has been almost a year since we last came here together,” she said. Aside from the small table and chairs, there was nothing of any note.

“Has it really been that long?”

Looking back, it was during last year’s Archduke Conference that I circled the shrines and agreed to the Zent’s adoption. My conversation with Elvira had come a short while later. So very much had changed in the span of a single year—more than even I could believe.

“Never again shall I part with a son or daughter in such melancholy...” Elvira said, raising her teacup to her lips and gently blowing. “I spent each day distraught about Eckhart and Lord Ferdinand and the danger they were facing in Ahrensbach.”

She paused, then gave me a small, bright smile. “Well done, Rozemyne. Nobody but you could have accomplished all this.”

If not for the Book of Mestionora, I wouldn’t have been able to mobilize Dunkelfelger, use the country gates, beat Gervasio, or rescue Ferdinand, Eckhart, Justus, and Letizia.

“I still remember that fateful day...” Elvira said. “Eckhart returned through the Royal Academy and requested a change of clothes. I rushed to provide them, and before I knew it, I was being told of your march to rescue Lord Ferdinand. The reports did not stop there—they said it was likely Ahrensbach would invade and that the men of our house would stay in the castle while Lord Bonifatius went to Illgner. Can you imagine what that was like for me?”

Elvira had waited and waited, her heart in her throat. I’d charged into Ahrensbach without a lick of consideration for her and so many others.

I’m sorry I caused you so much worry...

“The news that Lord Ferdinand was safe reached me at the same time as the report that Lady Georgine had been slain,” Elvira said. “The men of my house are quick to speak of emergencies and danger but slow to announce success. They could at least have said a word or two to assuage our fears, but alas... I know not to expect such consideration from Karstedt or Lamprecht. Heed my advice: men have their own duties and priorities, and it falls to you as a woman to create your own information network.”

I was amazed. In the blink of an eye, she had gone from complaining about her husband and son to giving me sage advice.

“To form your faction in Alexandria, you will require the aid of Old Ahrensbach nobles, but know that all noblewomen must be under your command. No matter how large your faction grows, the aub must not lend their authority to anyone.”

“Right.”

“Take care not to rely exclusively on intelligence given to you by Lord Ferdinand. You have a tendency not to socialize with other women and to focus entirely on books, but an aub must gather her own information from a variety of sources. Do not leave it all to others.”

“Ngh... I shall do my best.” I was aware of my overreliance on Ferdinand, and it was true that I neglected some of my duties to prioritize reading.

“You are underage, and the complexities of your upbringing required Aub Ehrenfest to restrict your access to your greater family. I worry that you might not understand the importance of getting along with your relatives and thinking from the perspective of your parents’ generation.”

“Ottilie expressed the same concerns.”

“And it speaks to how vulnerable you seem,” Elvira said, looking worried. “You have female attendants your age who will give you their honest opinions, but they are all young and unwed, are they not? Lord Ferdinand understands very little about familial relationships, so I assume he deals exclusively with his retainers and pays barely any attention to their relatives. That will need to change when he gets married and has children...”

Ferdinand now had some older Ahrensbach nobles with plenty of relatives in his service, but it was hard to say whether he would actually make use of them. His trust issues meant he only ever depended on those who were name-sworn to him.

“I am told you have new retainers as well, some of whom I would guess are married,” Elvira said. “Take care not to disregard their families or undermine the value of such connections.”

I was being taught so much about acting as a proper noblewoman. Was it just the norm for mothers to bestow all sorts of wisdom and warnings on their soon-to-be departing daughters?

Mom had a lot to say before I moved out of the lower city to become Rozemyne.

“Your health has always been a concern, so pay extra attention to it. Strive to live long and fully.”

Each piece of advice Elvira gave me teemed with love and concern. Not only was I leaving her, but I was also about to ascend in status; this was her last chance to speak openly with me.

“Though you were not adopted by the previous Zent, there is still a heavy burden for you to bear—you are about to become the country’s first underage female aub. Depend on Lord Ferdinand where you can and remember that this is all in the service of creating the library city of your dreams. I cannot wait to see how this new duchy of yours takes shape.”

I wanted to make Alexandria a duchy she was proud of. Travel between Ehrenfest and Ahrensbach had been restricted for some time now, but that would change under my rule.

“I expect things to have calmed down by the time Leonore and Cornelius have a child,” I said. “I do hope you will visit when that day comes.”

“Oh my... You should really have invited me to see your child,” Elvira said, amusement in her dark eyes. “You are engaged, in case you have forgotten.”

“Excuse me, Mother, but my wedding will not be anytime soon. Leonore and Cornelius are in love. That isn’t the case for Ferdinand and me.”

“You will marry when you come of age, and a child will soon follow—judging by Lord Ferdinand’s actions during your engagement ceremony, at least. You sought to take him as your husband, did you not? Drawing comparisons to Leonore and Cornelius feels more than appropriate.”

Did this have something to do with my declaration that I cared about Ferdinand’s happiness? I would shout it from the rooftops if necessary—romantic love meant nothing to me.

“As I said during my engagement, I do not feel any of the passion that features so heavily in your stories,” I stressed. “Ferdinand is like family to me.”

“And what is wrong with that?”

I was so taken aback by Elvira’s response that my mind went blank. She made it sound like it was okay for me and my fiancé not to love each other.

“Most marriages are political,” she explained with a serious expression. “A noblewoman cannot refuse an engagement if the head of her house demands it.”

Elvira went on to elaborate. Bonds between houses were a priority for noble marriages, and it was normally up to the head of a house to decide their children’s engagements. It wasn’t rare for a woman to reach the day of her engagement without having seen her husband-to-be’s face. As long as the man had a decent reputation, he was good to go. If he was wealthy or trustworthy on top of that, even better.

“You escaped the shackles of this system by finding someone you wished to bring into your family and who wishes to join your family in turn. As long as you feel the same way about each other, does it matter whether those feelings are romantic?”

Right. In this world, love isn’t expected.

Everyone around me was always blabbing about love, which had made me think it was a crucial part of getting married. In truth, it wasn’t necessary in the slightest.

“So we can be like family even if we’re not in love?”

“I think it is wonderful that you were so close even before your engagement. As long as you trust each other, such feelings can come later.”

I measured Elvira’s response, considering the idea of romance following marriage. “Was that how you and Father fell in love?”

“We did not trust each other until you joined our family. Perhaps we will one day fall in love. Perhaps not.”

“WHAAAT?!”

Father! Mother says she still doesn’t love you!

It was a shocking revelation. Maybe I shouldn’t have asked. I opened and closed my mouth, unsure how to respond.

“I would advise you to be just as patient; trying to force love will not make it gush from your heart like a fountain,” Elvira said with a composed smile, clearly enjoying my reaction. She brought her teacup to her mouth and took a sip. “You wish to bring Ferdinand joy, and he wishes to protect you on your path ahead. That is all you need. Intense passion might make for good storybook romances, but in the real world, something stable is far more ideal.”

Hearing that I didn’t need to force my emotions eased my nerves and relieved the tension in my shoulders. Maybe because of my days as Urano, I’d assumed that love always came before marriage.

“Everyone’s excitement made me feel kind of... guilty for not being in love,” I said. “Maybe a bit panicked too, so this really is comforting to hear.”

“I realize this is somewhat tangential, but I must ask—what was engraved in the engagement feystone Lord Ferdinand gave you?”

I clumsily covered my necklace with my hands, trying to hide it from my amused and very curious mother. “If you hadn’t built up a reputation for mercilessly teasing your children, I might have told you! You’re just going to use it when you write a love story about us!”

“But of course. You charged to his rescue, resisted the fate forced upon you by a royal decree, and marked the start of an entirely new duchy with your engagement. How could any lover of the written arts resist? You are my muse! I simply must capture the story in full.”

“At least stick to the facts!” Unless I did something to stop her, she was going to twist the truth into an extravagant fairy tale.

“Goodness me,” Elvira replied with a giggle. “I need only start the book with a disclaimer that the characters, businesses, and occurrences are all the products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or to actual events is purely coincidental.”

Seriously?! I taught her that!

“I took up the pen so I could give Lord Ferdinand the happiness he deserves, even if only in a story. Do you really expect me not to write about these events that have made him happier beyond his wildest dreams?”

Gah, that’s right... It was my encouragement that got her to start writing fiction in the first place!

I needed to stop her, but again, my mouth simply refused to cooperate.

“Everyone is looking forward to it, but alas, my children are so uncooperative. I suppose I must use my imagination to determine what he wrote.”

“Mother! Copies of your book will end up in Alexandria! If Ferdinand sees them, he’ll scold me and work relentlessly to remove them from circulation!”

“Fear not—the more creative liberties I take, the more it will seem like a work of pure fiction. And even if he does prevent the book from being sold in Alexandria, he cannot stop me from distributing it elsewhere. Ohohoho.”

At that moment, I felt true fear. Ferdinand would probably be able to convince Aub Ehrenfest to stop selling the book, but he would need to wait until the next Archduke Conference to make his appeal. Elvira would have an entire year to spread the story far and wide. Her competency was terrifying.

“Rozemyne, I wish you even greater joy than in the pages of my story. You must find your own happiness before you can spread it to others.”