Ascendance of a Bookworm (LN) - Volume 5.12 - Chapter 5

Eglantine’s Visit

Now that we’d completed the entwickeln, our new priorities were Zent Eglantine’s visit and the engagement ceremony. The books for my library were still tucked away in their boxes, stacked in a storeroom until the time came for me to put them on their shelves. It stung that I couldn’t start at once, especially when the library was so close by. My hands were too full with my duties as the aub and the preparations for the engagement ceremony that needed to be seen to before the new Zent arrived.

Aah, my library... Sadness blankets me.

Ferdinand was doing most of the work—choosing the dates, assigning the guards to their stations, and so on. As the archduchess, I was tasked with observing everything and getting to grips with my duties.

“Lady Rozemyne, we have finalized the details for Lady Eglantine’s visit,” Clarissa announced, then handed me a document. “Take a moment to read this schedule, if you would. Lord Ferdinand would like you to memorize it. Leonore and Cornelius are in a meeting with the Knight’s Order to discuss security on the day of.”

Eglantine was slated to arrive at fourth bell. I would go to the border gate to welcome her and then teleport us to the castle, where we would eat lunch before discussing the upcoming engagement. Once she had acknowledged the engagement, I would destroy the medals belonging to the prisoners being kept in the Sovereignty as a faux “practical exam.” We would then return to the border gate by highbeast, allowing our new Zent a chance to compare Alexandria’s schematics to Ahrensbach’s and confirm that the Lanzenave Estate was gone.

Sounds pretty hectic...

“Lady Rozemyne, we have here your new clothes from Ehrenfest,” Gretia said, indicating the garments made by Elvira’s personnel. She and Lieseleta had gone to fetch them from the Royal Academy. “Let us decide what you will wear tomorrow.”

“Philine is back from Spring Prayer,” Lieseleta informed me while she worked. “Gerlach was in quite a sorry state from the recent battle there, but returning the stolen mana with the chalices and completing Spring Prayer as usual caused the land to mostly recover.”

In other words, the commoners wouldn’t be disadvantaged. I was relieved to hear it. “Now they need a new Giebe Gerlach.”

“Ehrenfest will see to that after the Archduke Conference. We, too, will need to formally decide on new giebes.”

I continued to pick out clothes and accessories for Eglantine’s visit, received a report from Leonore and Cornelius when they finished their meeting with the Knight’s Order, and read more documents that Clarissa brought me. Time passed in the blink of an eye.

It was almost fourth bell, and the Zent was due to arrive. I was waiting on top of the border gate with Ferdinand and our guard knights.

As someone used to Ehrenfest, I couldn’t help but notice the heat. It was hot enough to be summer, and the sun was so bright that one had to wonder whether it was slowly closing in on us. No wonder people had taken to wearing veils here. It was a good thing Lieseleta had made one for me at the advice of one of Letizia’s attendants.

The country gate shone almost as soon as fourth bell rang. Eglantine’s retainers streamed out of the door on its side and took to the sky ahead of Anastasius and the Zent, who were the last to leave. Eglantine held up her Grutrissheit and closed the gate behind them.

As soon as our new arrivals landed in front of us, everyone knelt except Eglantine and me. I started to kneel as well, but she raised a hand to stop me.

“Lady Rozemyne. Once again, Dregarnuhr the Goddess of Time has woven our threads together and blessed us with a meeting.”

“I appreciate you taking time out of your extremely busy schedule to visit us,” I replied. “I realize the Archduke Conference is fast approaching.”

Eglantine’s countenance had changed. She wore the same peaceful smile, but her eyes were sharper, and the princessly aura she had once exuded was gone.

For her to have changed this much in such a short time, the duties of a Zent must be brutal.

“Zent Eglantine, today’s schedule is as we conveyed,” Ferdinand said, drawing me back from my thoughts. “I would ask that you follow us in teleporting to the castle.”

I pressed a hand against the teleportation circle I’d preemptively copied and pasted onto the border gate’s roof, and the Sovereign knights expressed their surprise when it arose out of seemingly nowhere. We asked them to stand atop it, and away we went.

We finished our lunch—fish, in true Ahrensbach fashion—and then relocated to the aub’s office. Our attendants poured tea while Ferdinand activated an area-wide sound-blocker around the two of us, Eglantine, and Anastasius.

“That meal was beyond excellent,” Eglantine said. “I have eaten Ahrensbach cuisine during Archduke Conferences and the like, but never has it tasted so flavorful.”

I nodded in agreement. “Though it might inconvenience the people of Ahrensbach, my spice tolerance is unfortunately low. My chefs have been preparing my food using Ehrenfest methods, incorporating spices little by little in an attempt to find the right balance.”

Anastasius looked as satisfied as Eglantine, which made for a peaceful atmosphere. I thought he’d simply enjoyed the food, but he gazed over at his wife and said, “Eglantine has barely eaten for days. I was glad to see her have her fill.”

Even now, she’s his entire world, isn’t she?

In some regards, it was a tad exasperating. But I could see why he was worried about Eglantine when her countenance had changed so much.

“The duties of a Zent must be strenuous,” I remarked.

“Indeed...” Eglantine replied with a smile. “In this short time, I have seen much that escaped my notice before or was completed without my involvement. I have also realized there is much for which I must apologize to you and Lord Ferdinand.”

Somehow, her response made my heart ache. Apologizing wouldn’t change the past, but part of me wanted to trust her again.

Ferdinand smiled as though he’d just read my mind. “Not even the supreme gods can change the past, but their blessings might bring about a brighter future,” he said. “To that end, we have several documents for you to sign.”

In other words: “Your sins remain, so put your money where your mouth is.” Eglantine would need to prove her remorse by approving our engagement and permitting Ferdinand to attend the Archduke Conference.

She looked over the documents, then placed a hand on her cheek and gave him a quizzical tilt of the head. “Your engagement to Lady Rozemyne is the result of a royal decree. As long as the decree remains, my approval is not necessary.”

“Your signature will provide even further legitimacy. I wish to make it clear to other duchies that royal decrees are not undone by the crowning of a new Zent.”

Eglantine looked unconvinced, but she cast stylo nonetheless. “I take no issue with signing your documents. I will admit, though, I thought the purpose of my visit was to accelerate your Starbind Ceremony.”

“Excuse me?!” I exclaimed. How had she reached that conclusion?

“You let winter arrive early to purge the divine mana from your body. Do you not wish to accelerate your Starbind Ceremony in turn?”

GYAAAH! SHE MISUNDERSTOOD THE SITUATION JUST AS I THOUGHT SHE WOULD!

“That’s not true!” I cried. “I did no such thing!”

“Calm down, Rozemyne.”

“How can I be calm when she’s so gravely mistaken? She thinks we... we...”

She thought we were trying to accelerate our Starbinding! Calming down wasn’t an option when I was so close to dying of embarrassment. What was one supposed to do at a time like this?

“Lady Eglantine, I did not accelerate the arrival of winter,” Ferdinand stressed. “I dyed Rozemyne with a certain kind of potion. As you should understand, the arrival of winter would not have dyed another in such a short period.”

“Yes, it certainly was quick...” she replied.

Winter this, winter that... Can we please move on?!

I wasn’t the only one agonizing—Anastasius moved to stop Eglantine with an anxious look on his face. “If we’ve misunderstood, then we can hold to tradition and schedule Rozemyne’s Starbind Ceremony for after she comes of age. Now, enough of this! Say no more about the speed of her dyeing!”

“Very well,” Eglantine replied with a smile. “Lord Ferdinand, does this mean you will obey the rest of the decree? As I am sure you remember, Lord Trauerqual ordered you to raise and educate Lady Letizia to be the next Aub Ahrensbach.”

I turned to look at him as well. I wanted to know his intentions with Letizia as much as anyone.

“We see no reason for Alexandria to inherit Ahrensbach’s traditions, so Letizia will remain an archduke candidate even after Rozemyne has been recognized as the archduchess. I plan to follow the decree and give her the education of an aub. And when I am Starbound, I will not hesitate to adopt her.”

To live as a noble, Letizia needed someone to support her. Ferdinand would adopt her if she carried out her duties as an archduke candidate and would even consider her as our successor if she displayed the necessary talents.

I’m glad he doesn’t intend to punish her.

“However”—Ferdinand gave Eglantine the same thin smile he wore when about to unload some especially tedious work—“as Ahrensbach will soon disappear, it is currently beyond me to make her Aub Ahrensbach. And the decree said nothing about making her the next Aub Alexandria.”

I elected to watch in silence. The less unnecessary work he had to do, the better.

“We can still meet the terms of the decree,” Ferdinand continued. “Lord Trauerqual could name his new duchy ‘Ahrensbach,’ and Letizia could become its aub after marrying Lord Hildebrand. You could also give the name to an entirely new duchy to be bestowed upon Letizia when she comes of age.”

Anastasius gave a slight grimace, aware of the burden both proposals would put on the royal family. “Could we not just nullify that aspect of the decree?”

Ferdinand returned a venomous smile as he gazed upon both of our guests. “We could, but it would undermine all other royal decrees if people saw the ease with which it was overturned. I would rather Lord Trauerqual and the rest of the royal family bear the weight of the orders they so freely made.”

My mistake. It wasn’t the smile he wears when dumping work on others—it was his revenge smile.

I averted my eyes as Eglantine and Anastasius paled. Given all the trouble they’d made for Ferdinand, I wasn’t opposed to them getting a taste of their own medicine. As long as it didn’t hurt Letizia, I wanted them to reap what they’d sown with this royal decree.

“Have you finished investigating the criminals?” Ferdinand asked.

“Indeed...” Eglantine replied. “Just as Ehrenfest and you warned, the usage of trug was rampant. We had a hard time with many of them, as their most important memories were clouded and obscured, but we are done.”

Going through Detlinde’s and the other Ahrensbach nobles’ memories had apparently been quite an ordeal. Detlinde had complained to no end about her treatment, attempting to leverage her status as “the country’s next Zent,” and then cried foul when she learned that Eglantine had already obtained the Grutrissheit. The person tasked with reading her memories had deemed it a truly miserable experience.

“We have brought with us a list of the nobles we investigated,” Eglantine said. “We plan to spread them throughout the country to be used as mana sources. Lady Rozemyne, if you would destroy their medals.”

Anastasius met my eye and said, “Rest easy—it is the same as what is practiced at the Royal Academy.” He then handed over the list, which comprised not only the criminals’ names but also their blood stamps.

“I could never rest easy when doing such grave work,” I replied.

Ferdinand passed me the box of medals he had prepared. I glared at it intensely while he and the others took their distance. Once they were all outside the range of the sound-blocker, I pressed my schtappe against the sheet of paper Anastasius had set down and chanted the relevant spell.

“Auswahl.”

As the names on the list shone, their medals flew out of the box. I took them in my hand, squeezed my eyes shut, and exhaled.

“Grutrissheit.”

I made my Book of Mestionora and used my duplication spell to create the magic circle I needed. Eglantine watched me closely from outside the sound-blocker; she was serving as my instructor, but it was also her duty as the Zent to face what she did not want to see. In the same vein, I, the aub, had to make sure these criminals were punished.

“O mighty and supreme God of Darkness, who rules the endless skies; O mighty Father who created the world and all things. In the name of Schicksantracht, may those who transgressed against the Goddess of Light be punished.” I cast the medals into the magic circle, and a black mist formed. They stuck fast and started to burn. “I beseech you, close the towering stairway to the distant heights.”

Once the medals were fully destroyed, Eglantine and the others reentered the sound-blocker. “Splendid work,” she declared. “You have passed your practical exam.”

Anastasius grimaced and stared daggers at Ferdinand. “You made it a test? Are you insane?”

I was in total agreement, but we needed a third party other than Ferdinand to confirm that I understood the Royal Academy’s curriculum and possessed the skills necessary to apply my knowledge.

“Now, when we decree Lady Rozemyne the new Aub Alexandria, no one should protest that she is underage,” Eglantine noted.

Indeed, these tests would silence those who tried to argue that I couldn’t perform the duties of an aub without graduating. I actually felt sorry for anyone invested in opposing my assignment, for not only had my strict teacher Ferdinand crammed the entire curriculum into my head a year and a half ago, but I also had the Book of Mestionora. I was far more confident in my abilities than most aubs, who rose to power decades after graduating and remembered almost nothing from their time in the Royal Academy.

“You settled on ‘Alexandria’ as your new duchy’s name, but what about its color and crest?” Eglantine asked. “When will you supply the cape to be given to the aub during the Archduke Conference?”

“We have yet to finish making the dye, so the cape should arrive just before the conference,” Ferdinand replied. “You will not need to take time out of your schedule for it. Our retainers will take care of everything.”

Once my engagement ceremony was over, I would need to gather ingredients from the Royal Academy and create the dye for my cape.

“Very well. Inform me when the cape and crest are complete,” Eglantine said. “What became of the Lanzenave Estate and its teleportation circle? We must know before we can move in to our new living quarters.” They wouldn’t be at ease until they’d ruled out the risk of another invasion.

“Here are the relevant schematics,” Ferdinand said, taking out schematics for both Ahrensbach and Alexandria. He explained where the Lanzenave Estate had once stood and how we had changed that part of the city. “You may observe it with your own eyes on our way back to the border gate.”

Eglantine and Anastasius nodded. They wanted to be sure that the estate was gone and that we had severed its connection to the villa.

We climbed into my highbeast and took flight. This was my first time seeing the city from above; I’d started sleeping in the newly made castle, but I spent all my time in the aub’s living quarters to make life easier for my knights.

Oh, right. Not all of the city has been remade yet.

We had prioritized the castle, the library, the laboratory, the Noble’s Quarter, the temple, and the most important parts of the lower city. We planned to finish the rest gradually to lessen the burden on the commoners.

“The Lanzenave Estate once stood in that corner over there,” Ferdinand said, pointing.

Anastasius checked the map to make sure. In the newly made city of Alexandria, a normal part of the Noble’s Quarter sat in its place.

“Indeed, the teleportation circle is gone,” Eglantine said, having taken out her Grutrissheit to confirm there were no human-transporting circles in the area. Her last objective for her visit had now been completed.

We circled above the city and then headed straight to the border gate.

“I did not think you would already be done with your entwickeln,” Anastasius remarked when we touched down atop the gate, clearly impressed. “You might have excluded some areas, but it must have been quite the task.”

“A shining example of Lady Rozemyne’s excellence, no?” Eglantine asked with a smile.

“Ferdinand deserves your praise more than I do,” I said. “He made all the arrangements; I merely followed his instructions.”

“Oh my.” Eglantine’s eyes widened in genuine shock. “Does that mean Lord Ferdinand designed this city with a library at its center?”

“Indeed. He always makes my wishes come true.” I thrust out my chest with pride and declared, “My Ferdinand truly is phenomenal.”

Eglantine looked up at Ferdinand and giggled. She waited patiently while I continued to lavish him with praise—causing him to grimace—and then said, “I really must return to Alexandria when its construction is complete.”

I nodded in agreement. “By then, we should have finished our entwickeln for the lower city. The temple classrooms should hopefully have opened, the library should be thriving from all the compulsory book donations, and there should be extra laboratories dedicated to feyplants, feybeasts, and feyfish.”

We had performed a hurried entwickeln, since we’d needed to destroy the Lanzenave Estate and heal the wounded Noble’s Quarter, but there was plenty more for us to do.

“I will not settle for hopes and dreams,” I declared. “My desires will be realized. Isn’t that right, Ferdinand?”

“Yes... Perhaps one day...” he replied.

Anastasius placed a hand on his wife’s shoulder, wearing an unreadable expression. “Let us go, Eglantine. I would rather we not hang around.”

“Oh my... But is this not simply heartwarming?” She took out her magic tool Grutrissheit and prepared to open the country gate. “Well then, Lady Rozemyne... until the Goddess of Time weaves our threads together again.”