Ascendance of a Bookworm (LN) - Volume 5.12 - Chapter 3

Busy Days

I awoke the next morning feeling better than ever. Not having to worry about dying meant I slept well, I got to drink a potion for the first time in ages, and most of all, recovering my mana no longer caused me unbearable pain. Life couldn’t get any better than this.

Lieseleta’s hands didn’t tremble as she did my hair. To put it simply... it felt like I was human again.

“Lady Rozemyne,” Gretia said, “Lord Ferdinand wishes to check your health after breakfast.”

“I see. I wonder if he’ll bless me with some reading time.” Surely I deserved some now that I’d come back from the brink of death. I looked to Gretia, who looked to Clarissa for more information.

“I could not say...” Gretia replied. “It will depend on your health, I imagine, but your schedule is already rather packed today.”

Clarissa nodded and opened up her diptych. “You can expect to be immensely busy in the lead-up to the Archduke Conference. An entwickeln must be performed posthaste to rebuild the city and castle. We must also welcome the new Zent so that the criminals can be punished, not to mention the preparations that need to be made for your engagement ceremony. I doubt you will get much time to read in the near future. The Noble’s Quarter is in an uproar preparing for the entwickeln, and the scholars are hard at work producing the necessary schematics.”

“Hmm? Wait, hold on. My engagement ceremony?” I’d agreed to marry Ferdinand only the night before. Weren’t things moving a little too fast?

Clarissa’s blue eyes widened in response to my surprise. “If we do not perform the entwickeln at once, then your Gutenbergs and the war orphans will not have anywhere to live. It would also be considered a slight against the new Zent to welcome her to a city still bearing Lanzenave’s scars.”

The importance of performing an entwickeln wasn’t lost on me—if people were going to be homeless, then we needed to act fast. Even when I was formally recognized as an aub, I wouldn’t be able to summon Fran, the Gutenbergs, and everyone else to Alexandria unless we attached doors and windows to the newly made buildings. Carpenters would need to be hired at once.

“I can understand needing to rush the entwickeln, but why is Zent Eglantine coming now when she just came into power and the Archduke Conference is right around the corner? Is this really the best time to invite her? Can the criminals not wait?”

As I understood it, Eglantine had gone through hell to make her name stone and carry out all the required preparations in time for the transference ceremony. Coming to Alexandria would only exhaust her further.

“I am told that one of her reasons for coming here is to ensure that the Lanzenave Estate and its teleportation circle to her future home have been completely destroyed,” Clarissa explained. “Though her most important goal is to approve your engagement with Lord Ferdinand.”

“Won’t she give her approval during the Archduke Conference? Is there a point in doing it now when we’re already so busy?” I pursed my lips, wishing for more time to prepare emotionally.

My retainers all stared at me in shock. One by one, Lieseleta, Clarissa, and Gretia extolled the importance of performing the engagement ceremony sooner rather than later.

“Lord Ferdinand is still associated with Ehrenfest. Unless the ceremony is performed soon, he will not be able to join you at the Archduke Conference.”

“If we postpone your engagement, will you not feel the consequences more than anyone? Attending the Archduke Conference alone at your age sounds like far too great of a burden.”

“The rest of the archducal family has been obliterated, and you have spent not even a full month in Alexandria. As you were unfamiliar with Ahrensbach’s previous circumstances and have yet to meet all of its nobles, I do believe you will need Lord Ferdinand to support you.”

I inhaled sharply. They all made excellent points. Now wasn’t the time to be embarrassed about exchanging feystones in front of a massive crowd of nobles or about giving dramatic declarations of love filled with biblical allusions; delaying my engagement would cause me no end of trouble.

“There is much you will need to do as the aub,” Ferdinand said, having taken me to my new office once he’d completed my health inspection. “This will go a lot quicker if you understand your schedule and the importance of each role you must perform.”

“I thought we’d see at least one scholar...” I mused while inspecting the room. We were the only ones here; there weren’t people working or waiting outside. “Isn’t everyone preparing for the Archduke Conference?”

“They are working in my office. This room has not been used for anything except storing documents for quite some time.”

Detlinde had apparently come here to work, but not for long. She had soon grown tired of the walk and insisted that anything she needed to sign be brought to her personal chambers instead. Of course, she’d still refused to allow Ferdinand entry to her room, so most of the commonly used documents had needed to be moved to his office.

“That said, this first task of yours requires us to be here. You must contact Sylvester using the water mirror. Then we will open the dormitory in the Royal Academy.” He got me to stand in front of the tool used for emergency communication between aubs and said, “How fares your feystone phobia?”

I gazed down at the water mirror. Seeing the feystone within made the blood drain from my face. I touched it with trembling hands and tried to smile while I supplied it with mana.

“N-No complaints,” I said. “As you can s-see, I am touching the mirror without issue. Maybe because my negative memories hit me all at once, their strength in isolation seems much w-weaker than before.”

“You might have convinced me if not for your shaking hands and the tears in your eyes.” Ferdinand placed some cloth over the feystone so I wouldn’t have to see it. “Still, that you are even conscious indicates some improvement. Do not overdo it.”

“Rozemyne?” came a voice from the water mirror. “If you’re contacting me like this, then you must have gotten rid of your divine power. How are you doing? Feeling better?”

As soon as he appeared in the mirror, Sylvester asked about my health. I could tell that I’d worried him to no end. I grinned and waved to assuage his concern.

“Yeah, thanks to Ferdinand, the divine power’s all gone. I’m doing much better now.”

“Glad to hear it,” Sylvester said with a relieved sigh. He mentioned that he would pass the good news along to Elvira, Bonifatius, and the others. “Ferdinand—as decided, I’ve permitted anyone with an Ehrenfest brooch to enter the dormitory. As soon as the dorm sends word, I’ll give the schematics to Rozemyne’s retainers.”

Wait, what? Decided as of when?

I was at a complete loss, but Ferdinand gave a nod indicating that he’d expected as much. “Your assistance is appreciated. Do you anticipate any problems in the run-up to the Archduke Conference?”

“Not as long as things go well on your end. I know better than anyone how busy someone gets once they’ve formally taken the archducal seat, and nobles are all too prone to looking down on young aubs. I’ll provide all the support I can.”

I didn’t have a clue what he was talking about, but I thanked him anyway.

Sylvester continued, “Send word when you’ve decided on a date for your engagement ceremony. I’ll make sure everything aligns.”

“It will take place the day after the Zent’s visit,” Ferdinand replied. “We will contact you by water mirror when the finer details have been ironed out.”

“Oh, spare me all that. You know I’m going to get called over no matter what I’m doing. And you also know who’s to blame for me being so busy right now. I only answered this time because I wanted to make sure Rozemyne was doing okay. For anything else, stick to letters sent through the dormitory. You aren’t the only one with a full plate.”

And with that, Ferdinand and Sylvester’s brief exchange came to an end. The latter’s face vanished from the mirror.

“Ferdinand, could you not have explained all that to me before we contacted Sylvester?” I asked with a stern glare. “Don’t you always preach the importance of sharing intelligence ahead of time?”

“I shall enlighten you en route to our next destination,” Ferdinand said, then signaled my retainers and took me outside the room. “Your stamina has yet to fully recover. Angelica, carry her.”

Angelica picked me up, and we departed. I wasn’t familiar enough with the castle to guess where we were headed.

“Following a discussion about your plans for Alexandria, I obtained Sylvester’s support by using a teleportation circle at the border gate to make sure your Gutenbergs approved the schematics for the entwickeln.”

“Excuse me? They’ve been checked...?” I knew he’d returned to the castle and taken care of some administrative work while I was under the throes of my divine power, but I hadn’t expected him to send schematics to Ehrenfest.

“Yes, as you considered it urgent. Now that your divine power has faded, I wish to use the dormitory to receive the schematics and move your luggage. To that end, I obtained permission for your retainers still registered with Ehrenfest to enter.”

Using the border gate would have meant sending the items from Alexandria’s castle and trusting the knights stationed on our side of the gate to hand them over to Ehrenfest. Ferdinand was still wary of most of the knights from Old Ahrensbach, so he wanted to avoid relying on them when he could. That made sense to me.

Ferdinand continued, “Once the engagement ceremony is over, you will return to Ehrenfest until you have formally been made Aub Alexandria. This will stop the nobles of Old Ahrensbach from being able to approach you and make your security much easier to manage. It will also give you a chance to finish preparing for the move before official duties take over your schedule.”

“There’s a lot I need to memorize before the Archduke Conference, right? And is it really okay for me to return to Ehrenfest when I’m due to become the aub of another duchy?”

“Study Ahrensbach’s geography and various industries, but do not worry about its nobles and their factions for the time being. I intend to use a series of tests to determine which nobles we will favor moving forward, and you will start by memorizing the names of those who pass. Not even I am well acquainted with many of the nobles Detlinde snubbed over the years.”

Those who had continued to work in the castle despite Detlinde’s cold treatment of them stood out, but Ferdinand still needed to find out more about the nobles from the provinces. He hadn’t interacted with them much—or with those Detlinde had commanded to stay out of her sight.

Having been thrust into a test of my own just recently—with the country’s foundation, of all things—I sympathized with the nobles about to be put through their paces. Ferdinand wouldn’t listen to any of their grievances. We would all need to do our best to pass.

“Furthermore,” he said, “there are several things I want you to make before the Archduke Conference.”

“You seem intent on using Ehrenfest’s ingredients, facilities, and personnel. Won’t that be a problem for Sylvester? You’re already dumping a lot on him, aren’t you?”

“He agreed to help us, no? I see no reason to give it any more thought. Focus instead on making Alexandria’s crest and dye for your cape.”

Most of my retainers were in Ehrenfest, and our plans would result in my active retinue getting even smaller. It certainly did sound easier for me to return to Ehrenfest and gather ingredients for brewing rather than fight for my life here in Alexandria.

“I shall provide detailed documents later,” Ferdinand said. “You must have a lot of unfinished business in Ehrenfest, and returning there will prove much harder once you have been recognized as Aub Alexandria. Use this opportunity to finish as much as you can.”

Indeed, there was so much I still needed to do, but Ferdinand was only saying all this so I wouldn’t feel guilty about returning to Ehrenfest.

Our conversation continued until we eventually arrived outside the teleportation hall.

“The dormitory will now be reopened,” Ferdinand announced. “This is necessary not only so we can stay in contact with Ehrenfest but also so that attendants can enter and start preparing for the Archduke Conference. Only the aub can open the teleportation hall and perform the initial unlocking of the dormitory. Rozemyne, do you know the process?”

“Yes, it was part of the archduke candidate course.”

I asked my retainers to stand down, then took the key to the foundation from a leather pouch at my hip and used it to open the teleportation hall. As I entered, I gazed around the dark room in search of the magic tool that would activate the circle.

As I suspected... It, too, is a feystone.

I reached out a trembling hand to touch it, repeating under my breath that I didn’t need to look. It was cold, and the slight chill gave me goose bumps.

Swallowing the shriek building up in my throat, I channeled my mana into the feystone. It wasn’t long before the magic circle at the center of the room lit up, making its presence known.

I-It’s done. I did it!

Feystones still scared me—tears had already welled up in my eyes—but I was relieved to have safely completed one of my duties as an aub entirely on my own.

“Now then...” Ferdinand said. “Henceforth, knights shall be stationed at the teleportation hall to serve as liaisons. Strahl gets along well with the knights of Old Ahrensbach, so I plan to leave the assignments and such to him. Rozemyne, will that be a problem?”

“Not at all. Strahl, I trust you to do your best. I anticipate a lot of back-and-forth between Ehrenfest and the Zent in the lead-up to the Archduke Conference, so contact me immediately in the event of an emergency.”

I turned my attention to the knights who would guard the teleportation hall, spurring them to salute in acknowledgment of their orders. Ferdinand had introduced them to me as members of a faction Detlinde had abused. They looked tense but proud and were apparently moved to have seen my large-scale spell—in large part, I suspected, due to Hartmut’s brainwashing.

“You, Lieseleta, and Cornelius will teleport first,” Ferdinand told me. “Move to the waiting room when you arrive.”

I stepped onto the teleportation circle with my two retainers and warped to the dormitory. Once there, we did as instructed and relocated to the nearby waiting room used primarily at the start and end of each academic term when massive groups of people needed to teleport. It was large and white and contained nothing of note.

“I see that Old Ahrensbach’s teleportation hall and waiting room are identical to those found in the Ehrenfest Dormitory...” I mused aloud. “The building looked rather unique when we flew past it, but are all dormitories the same on the inside?”

“I don’t know,” Cornelius replied. “Tea party rooms are pretty distinct, but I’ve never been inside another duchy’s dormitory before. Don’t even think about wandering off to check; we were told to wait for Lord Ferdinand.”

He must have seen me scooting closer to the door because he shot me an especially stern glare. I stayed put from that point onward, but it didn’t quash my curiosity. No matter how much I tried to stay focused, my eyes kept wandering to the door.

Soon enough, Ferdinand arrived with Eckhart and Justus. “I made these registration brooches with the feystones you provided,” he said. “Take them now. You will need them if you leave the dormitory.”

“Hm? You made brooches?”

“Only for those coming here today. I do not have nearly enough for everyone scheduled to attend the Archduke Conference, so I will need to brew more upon my return.”

Lieseleta took one of the brooches and secured it to my cape for me. Now I could freely move in and out of the dormitory.

“Rozemyne, start by contacting Zent Eglantine,” Ferdinand said. “I prepared this letter to be sent in your name.”

I accepted and read through the letter in question. Written in Hartmut’s hand, it explained that we had eradicated the divine power wreaking havoc on my body and reopened our dormitory. It also stated the date of our entwickeln, asked when Eglantine planned to visit, and noted that we would station knights in the dormitory to relay her response.

I signed and sealed the letter, then used my schtappe to send it away to Anastasius’s villa. In the time it took me to do that, Ferdinand sent two letters of his own. I asked where they were headed.

“To the teleportation hall in the Ehrenfest Dormitory and to Raimund, who is in Hirschur’s laboratory. The former letter noted that we have reopened our dormitory and requested the schematics for the entwickeln. The latter was a summons to the tea party room.”

Ferdinand then extended a hand to me. I took it, and we exited the waiting room.

The hallway was as white as I was used to, but the carpet was purple, a color I’d seldom seen in Ehrenfest’s dormitory or castle. I supposed the teleportation hall we had just used was situated in a small tower by the main building because the path ahead of us quickly circled downward. It was a fun little distinction that really made it stand out.

“The main building is beyond this curve,” Ferdinand said.

“Wow!” I exclaimed as it came into view. “This dormitory has pots all over the place. Does the warmer climate mean they can use flowers as decoration even during the winter?”

“During the academic year, flowers are brought only for the Interduchy Tournament and the graduation ceremony. I still remember the previous Archduke Conference, when Detlinde ordered that every single pot be decorated with them. It was a foolish endeavor if you ask me; the smell was strong enough to induce a headache, and several attendants had to waste their time tending to them.”

Flowers would add a welcome splash of color to the dorm, but they made Ferdinand terribly uneasy. He explained that their scent could mask poison, their petals could carry it, and they could even be paired with poison that activated with water.

Good lord... Just how awful was his life in Ahrensbach?

“I do not plan to order any flowers this year,” Ferdinand said. “Is that agreeable with you?”

“I don’t care either way. Oh, but what about the people tasked with growing and preparing them? I wouldn’t want to put anyone out of work.” As the new aub, I wanted to avoid making changes that people would resent.

Ferdinand said that he would keep my wishes in mind and then directed my attention to our surroundings. “This is the dining hall. The tea party room is beyond it.”

As we continued toward the tea party room, a white letter shot into the dining hall and dropped into my hands. It was a special tool Hartmut had made to accommodate my fear of ordonnanzes. I opened it and started to read.

“Lady Rozemyne, this is Judithe. I am at the Ehrenfest Dormitory. Is everything ready for me to leave?”

“Rozemyne, wait in the tea party room for Judithe to arrive. Lieseleta, reply by ordonnanz in her stead. I will go with Justus to unlock the dormitory.”

Having doled out his instructions, Ferdinand opened the door to the tea party room, then unlocked the door to the central building and immediately made to leave.

“One moment, Lord Ferdinand,” Lieseleta said. “I must ask to go with you. As my lady’s head attendant, will it not be my duty to unlock the dormitory in preparation for the Archduke Conference? I remember Lord Norbert doing as much for Ehrenfest.”

Ferdinand and Justus gave her awkward, sympathetic looks.

“As much as I appreciate your dedication,” Ferdinand said, “you are mistaken about something fundamental. Unlocking the dormitory is the duty of not the aub’s head attendant but the dormitory supervisor. I am only doing it now because Fraularm was fired and has yet to be replaced.”

“Oh...?”

“Professor Hirschur has a tendency to ignore messages from Ehrenfest,” Justus added. “Norbert, her uncle, unlocks the dormitory in her stead not because he is the aub’s head attendant but because he can drag her away from her research.” He gave the tea-set-laden trolley he was pushing a few light taps and concluded, “You should prioritize getting ready to welcome guests over learning to administer the dormitory.”

No sooner had the pair dropped that bombshell than they departed with Eckhart to unlock the rest of the dormitory.

PROFESSOR HIRSCHUUUR!!!

Our absentee supervisor had made us look like naive greenhorns.

“Professor Hirschur really is troublesome, isn’t she?” Lieseleta said with a sigh, looking at Cornelius and me. She then prepared an ordonnanz and clearly spoke her message: “Judithe, this is Lieseleta. Lady Rozemyne is waiting in the tea party room.”

We couldn’t exchange valuable documents out in the Royal Academy’s hallways, and the only viable place that Judithe, a citizen of Ehrenfest, could meet us was our tea party room. We started preparing to welcome her, and it wasn’t long before she arrived with the schematics.

“Wow, Lady Rozemyne! Your divine power really is gone! It was too strong for me to get anywhere near you, so I’m glad you’re back to normal.”

Judithe’s bright orange hair swayed as she hurried over to me, her violet eyes wide as saucers. It was nice to see her so excited; I’d wondered if everyone would be disappointed about me losing my divinity.

Lieseleta brewed tea while I accepted the entwickeln schematics from Judithe and spread them out on a nearby table. I could tell the Gutenbergs had checked them because they were marked with notes and minor alterations.

“The Gutenbergs were summoned to the temple, where Brunhilde handed them the schematics from Groschel and Alexandria and told them to make any changes they wanted and write down any concerns they had,” Judithe explained. “It must have been stressful for them. They really were put on the spot.”

Eep. Have I given Benno and the others a reason to be mad at me?

By attempting to honor their wishes, I might have made an even greater problem for them. Still, they had proposed some alterations, so the headache hadn’t been for nothing.

“I appreciate the update; now we can move forward with the entwickeln,” I said. “Please give Brunhilde and Sylvester my thanks for their support. And thank you, Judithe, for coming all the way here from the castle.”

“It wasn’t any trouble. I know things are getting busier with the Archduke Conference around the corner, so I’m just glad to be useful. I mean, I’m the only one without anything to do today. Philine is helping with Spring Prayer as an apprentice blue shrine maiden, and Damuel is guarding her. They should be back soon, I think...”

Melchior and his retainers were overseeing the temple, and Judithe had no reason to go there while Philine was absent. She generally had nothing to do but train in the castle.

“Bertilde and Ottilie are preparing to move your things,” she continued. “They have almost all of your unseasonable belongings ready to go. Oh, and they’re helping with preparations for the Archduke Conference. I’m technically supporting Brunhilde, but there isn’t much for an apprentice guard knight to do. The scholars and attendants, on the other hand...”

Judithe was my apprentice knight; she didn’t serve Brunhilde, which severely limited what she could do. Her only real duty at the moment was accompanying Brunhilde to the temple for her meetings with the merchants.

“Do let me know if you need any help in Ehrenfest,” she said. “I can do anything.”

“Certainly. I will tell Hartmut and the others to rely on you as well.”

Judithe took her leave around the same time that Ferdinand, Eckhart, and Justus returned from unlocking the dormitory. Raimund arrived a short while later. He must have been deeply immersed in his research because he looked sickly and uneasy on his feet.

“Lord Ferdinand, what in the world happened...?” Raimund asked. “First, Justus told me not to come back to the dormitory. Then Professor Hirschur saw some strange group and told me not to leave the laboratory. And now that I’m finally here, Lady Rozemyne is sitting in our tea party room...”

He was completely out of the loop. On second thought, maybe that was part of the reason he looked so pale. He didn’t know that I was his new aub or even that Eglantine had taken over as the new Zent.

“Seriously? You didn’t tell him anything?” I snapped, shooting Ferdinand an especially harsh glare. “Isn’t he your retainer?”

“Do you think we had the time? Besides, it was better to have him continue his research; he would not have been of much use to us in the castle. Or would you have rather I cast him aside, since his family issues would only have inconvenienced us when you were fighting for your life?”

As it turned out, our obsessive researcher’s family was a little on the problematic side. Returning him to the castle would only have caused us problems.

“Oh, no, let me stay in the laboratory!” Raimund interjected, desperately shaking his head. “Lord Ferdinand, I sincerely appreciate your consideration!”

“Aah...” I said with a nod; it was starting to make sense to me now. “He’s like Lasfam. You want to keep those who can’t keep themselves safe out of trouble.”

“We have, at last, weathered the storm,” Ferdinand said to Raimund, then handed the scholar a registration brooch. “Find a stopping point in your research and return to the castle if you wish to remain my retainer. You will need to clear out your room in Old Ahrensbach before the entwickeln and attend the new aub’s engagement ceremony.”

“Right. I’ll return to the castle with you. It’s been days since I made any real progress with my research, anyway.”

“I see. Be sure to inform Professor Hirschur.”

Having finished our business in the dormitory, we entrusted everything else to the knights in the teleportation hall and returned to the castle.

“Raimund, here are the schematics for our entwickeln,” Ferdinand said. “Deliver them to the scholars in my office and observe their delegation of work. Justus, tell Hartmut and Clarissa to join us in the aub’s office.”

From there, he took us to the back of the office and into a brewing room. The aub and their retainers came here to brew magic tools essential to the duchy’s operation, such as registration brooches.

“Later, we shall brew everything we will need for the Archduke Conference,” Ferdinand explained.

I was alone in the brewing room with Ferdinand and three of our retainers: Justus, Hartmut, and Clarissa. We had excluded the scholars of Old Ahrensbach because those not used to Ferdinand’s methods would get in our way at every turn, but the fact that only our name-sworn were present made me think he had other reasons too.

Like, the nobles here don’t know about my feystone phobia, for instance...

Incidentally, there were guard knights stationed outside the door to the brewing room, and my attendants were preparing a corner of the aub’s office for when we took lunch.

“Now then, Rozemyne,” Ferdinand said, lining up tools and ingredients on the brewing stand, “we need to brew the feystones to be exchanged at our engagement ceremony. Are you up to the task? If not, I can make yours for you.”

Wait, what? Is he proposing that he make his own engagement feystone?

I still remembered the joy on his face when I’d given him a protective charm. He had said it was his first time ever receiving one. I couldn’t bear the thought of making him brew his own feystone for our engagement.

“I can manage this much, at the very least,” I replied. “On countless occasions, I’ve seen the negative consequences that arise from avoiding one’s duties. If I run away now, I could hardly call myself a good woman.”

“You sound assured, but one does not normally approach the creation of an engagement feystone like a knight going to war,” Ferdinand said, his expression tinged with worry. “Hold out your hand.”

Touched that he was being so considerate, I did as instructed. A small stone dropped onto my palm.

“This is a feystone taken from a regisch,” he said. “I picked one of a size befitting the avatar of a goddess. Knowing that it came from a scale should assuage your fear somewhat, no?”

“Thank you.”

I clenched the feystone in a trembling fist and started pouring mana into it, doing my best to avert my eyes. It was cold to the touch and sent a shiver down my spine, but I soldiered on; I needed to dye it with my own mana no matter how uncomfortable it made me. At least I wasn’t required to look at it.

“Take your time. Do not overdo it.”

“I won’t. But I refuse to lose to a feystone.”

As I glared down at my hand, Ferdinand sighed and gave my forehead several quick pokes. “You are too tense. Perhaps you should take a moment to consider the message you will engrave into your feystone before you start channeling mana into it.”

I didn’t even have a chance to respond; Ferdinand then sneered at me like he’d remembered something amusing and added, “Though I would advise not using that phrase you asked me about.”

“Obviously not!” I cried, blushing red. I wasn’t about to include such a direct invitation in my feystone—not now that I actually knew what it meant.

“Hmm. I am eager to see what you decide upon.”

Ferdinand turned away from me to instruct Justus, Hartmut, and Clarissa on how to create registration brooches. We needed enough for everyone attending the Archduke Conference and for those who would need access to the dormitory beforehand to get everything in order.

“As the aub, I should be making them myself,” I said. “I apologize for thrusting this burden on the rest of you.”

“The gold dust you provided is enough,” Ferdinand replied. “And is the purpose of our engagement not for me to support you? Focus on the duties you can perform.” I couldn’t help but feel guilty that he was taking on my work, but it motivated me to make him the perfect engagement feystone.

I’ll think of something so amazing it’ll render him speechless!

I dyed the feystone, then picked up a piece of parchment. I needed to decide what kind of message to put in the engagement stone. During class, Hirschur had told us to choose something that reflected ourselves and would move our partners’ hearts. I just wasn’t sure what Ferdinand would want to hear.

I already vowed to make him a lab, so that won’t do. Even something like “Let’s be family” feels unnecessary at this point.

“Ngh...”

No matter how much I racked my brain, I couldn’t come up with a single good idea. I was starting to think I should just put a generic “I wish to be your Goddess of Light” and call it a day.

“Lady Rozemyne, are you still debating what message to include?” Clarissa asked.

“Yeah... Can I ask what you carved into the feystone you gave Hartmut?”

“‘Let us worship our goddess together,’ of course.”

I shouldn’t have asked...

As I hung my head, Clarissa gave me a slight smile. “You won’t find much use in other people’s examples.”

She was right about that. In this case, I’d gained absolutely nothing of value.

“Could you not simply write what you wish to do for him?” Clarissa pressed.

Just like that, a phrase suddenly came to mind. I used my schtappe-made stylus to scribble it down on my sheet of parchment. Ferdinand must have noticed my enthusiasm because he came over to check on me.

“Done, are you?” he asked.

“Now, now. No peeking.” I quickly hid the parchment and glared at him. “You’ll need to wait until the big day.”

He gave a wry smile, took a step back, and then turned away from me. Justus was smirking in my direction; I wanted to punch the stupid grin right off his annoying face.

“Would you like my assistance, Lady Rozemyne?” Hartmut asked.

“I can manage on my own, thank you. Even second-years are taught how to do this.”

I turned down help from Clarissa as well, then dropped the feystone into the brewing pot and channeled my mana into it. Ferdinand and I were both omni-elemental, so there was no need for me to fret about which elements I used.

Gold text arose within the rainbow feystone:

“Let me embroider your cape.”