Ascendance of a Bookworm (LN) - Volume Short Story-2 - Chapter 19

Letizia — My First Spring Prayer

Description: A previously unpublished story from the online collection that takes place during Spring Prayer in Part 5 Volume 4. How does Letizia, an Ahrensbach archduke candidate not at all associated with the temple, respond to being asked to participate in religious ceremonies? Ferdinand, Eckhart, and Justus are excited to have a chance to leave Ahrensbach’s castle.

Author’s Note: This story shows what Ahrensbach’s nobles think about the temple. The ingredients Ferdinand gathers are later given to Rozemyne in Part 5 Volume 6.

“Lady Letizia has been instructed to participate in Spring Prayer,” Sergius explained.

“Come again?!” roared my head attendant, Roswitha, making her fury known. “What on earth is Lord Ferdinand thinking?! Has he lost his wits?!”

Roswitha’s outrage did not surprise me. Performing religious ceremonies was the duty of those in the temple, who bore noble blood without being nobles themselves. Asking an archduke candidate to participate was inconceivable. Lord Ferdinand might have been accustomed to such duties from his time as Ehrenfest’s High Priest, but that wasn’t how we did things in Ahrensbach.

Sergius cast his eyes down and pressed his lips together; as both Roswitha’s son and an attendant of Lord Ferdinand, he was frequently tasked with liaising between them. “Lord Ferdinand said she would be safer there than in the castle. Lady Detlinde seemingly intends to have her take part in replenishing the foundational magic.”

As I understood it, Mana Replenishment was meant to be done by archduke candidates who had learned to control their mana, not by those too young to have even enrolled at the Royal Academy.

Sergius recognized our confusion and tried to elaborate. To better supply their duchy with mana, Ehrenfest’s archduke candidates took part in Mana Replenishment and religious ceremonies from the moment they were baptized. Lady Detlinde had apparently heard as much at the Academy, which was why she wanted me to participate as well.

“Lord Ferdinand informed me that, in Ehrenfest, newly baptized candidates rely on feystones full of mana and support from their guardians. He seemed unsure that Lady Detlinde or Lady Georgine would—or even could—provide such aid.”

Lady Detlinde had grown much harsher since becoming Ahrensbach’s interim aub and learning more of her duchy’s circumstances. She would never give me gentle guidance.

“Most of all,” Sergius continued, “only registered members of the archducal family can enter the Replenishment hall. That means Lady Detlinde, Lady Georgine, and Lady Letizia, to be more precise. Lord Ferdinand worries that Lady Letizia might be forced to provide more mana than she can endure and collapse—in which case, nobody will be able to rescue her.”

The thought of being alone with Lady Detlinde—or in any room where my retainers could not reach me—was terrifying enough to make bumps arise on my skin.

“Lord Ferdinand is still waiting to be Starbound, meaning he is not yet a proper citizen of Ahrensbach, but Lady Detlinde forced this religious ceremony on him nonetheless. He says that he cannot predict what Lady Letizia might be driven to do in his absence.”

“Lady Detlinde forced the ceremony upon him...?” I asked. She had told us he had volunteered to help because of Ahrensbach’s mana concerns in the wake of the aub’s passing.

“Lord Ferdinand was exceptionally surprised to receive her instruction and asked whether it was customary in Ahrensbach to force guests to perform religious ceremonies. He was also upset to learn that Ehrenfest’s reformed temple was considered no better than our reviled one. It is regrettable, but because of Lady Detlinde, he has come to see our duchy as unfortunately backward.”

Most of Lady Detlinde’s duties were being thrust upon Lord Ferdinand. They were tasks meant for an aub, interim or otherwise, not for a man who was both a guest and a groom.

“For her own sake, he maintains that Lady Letizia should participate in Spring Prayer despite any reservations she might have and that she should use the opportunity to start learning to control her mana. That is not an order, though; the final decision is up to the two of you.”

It seemed that Lord Ferdinand had already begun his own preparations. Roswitha frowned, most likely torn between wanting me to avoid religious ceremonies and wanting to keep me safe.

I glanced at my white plush shumil, which provided me comfort whenever I needed it. Because of Lady Rozemyne and Lord Ferdinand, it contained recorded messages from my mother and father in Drewanchel. Lady Rozemyne had also given me a shumil that spoke in her voice and instructed Lord Ferdinand to praise me when appropriate. It had revolutionized my study sessions and served as a constant reminder of how much they both cared about me.

“Roswitha, let us take part in Spring Prayer,” I said. “I trust that Lord Ferdinand has my best interests at heart.”

Together with my retainers, I started preparing for my very first Spring Prayer. Lady Detlinde had told us to wear formal attire, not blue robes, so that our generosity would be attributed to the archducal family and not the temple.

Roswitha was glad that I wouldn’t need to wear the same clothes as the blue priests, but Lord Ferdinand thought it was merely an excuse on Lady Detlinde’s part to protect her from being accused of relegating us to the temple. Sergius had passed along his message and informed us that, as we were going to farming towns, we should wear clothes that we wouldn’t mind getting dirty.

“Does he want us to wear lower-quality clothing in front of our citizens?” I asked.

“That sounds far too improper,” Roswitha mused. “Especially when, as Lady Detlinde said, we are acting as members of the archducal family.”

That sounded reasonable enough, so I elected to dress formally for the first day.

And what a blunder that was! I see now why Lord Ferdinand advised against it.

There were no ivory roads in the farming towns, meaning we had to tread upon bare earth. It was my first time setting foot on ground so completely devoid of grass. Some parts were too squishy to hold my weight and made a mess of my shoes, while others were so rocky and uneven that I found it hard to get anywhere. It had even rained at one point, soaking my attire and covering the hem of my skirt with mud.

Roswitha cleaned my clothes, lamenting how dirty they were.

Tomorrow, I shall do as Lord Ferdinand advised and wear clothes that I do not mind dirtying.

In each town we went to, Lord Ferdinand gave the farmers mana from the temple’s large chalice. Both the divine instrument and the ceremony were beautiful and new to me. None of the nobles in our company had seen the religious ceremonies performed in our duchy before, so they could not help but let out sighs of awe.

Once we’d visited our fourth town, we headed to its winter mansion to settle in for the night. Ahrensbach was large enough that we had needed to send our chefs and attendants ahead of us; as they were moving by carriage, they would never have arrived on time otherwise.

“I noticed that nobles and commoners have very distinct manners of dress,” I mused that evening as I ate with Lord Ferdinand and the others. “I was shocked to see the dirty and—quite frankly—miserable attire that so many wore. Do they never bathe?” As it was my first time leaving the castle, near enough everything was new to me.

“I would assume they wore their cleanest clothes for our visit, and even those were of a much worse quality than the clothes worn by Ehrenfest’s farmers,” Lord Ferdinand replied. “Ahrensbach’s farmers are in dire straits indeed.”

Lord Ferdinand spent the rest of our meal answering my questions. Then, when we were done, he looked around the table and said, “I would appreciate the assistance of everyone but the knights so that we might finish replenishing Ahrensbach’s Central District tomorrow.”

“Excuse me?”

“Do you expect us to participate in the ceremony as well...?”

Lord Ferdinand raised an eyebrow at the surprised nobles. “Do not tell me you all shared Lady Detlinde’s belief that I, an Ehrenfest noble, would supply all of Ahrensbach on my own.”

The retainers gathered around the table had all criticized Lady Detlinde for making Lord Ferdinand—a guest—perform Spring Prayer. They had said that her actions were ignorant and tyrannical, so it was beyond them to refuse to participate themselves.

From the next day onward, the scholars and attendants were made to help out. Lord Ferdinand and six others placed their hands on the rim of the large chalice set atop the table. Lord Ferdinand was the only one to chant the prayer, but everyone could contribute their mana.

“Are you well, Roswitha?”

“Worry not, milady. I simply used too much of my mana.”

Although the scholars and attendants took turns to participate, Roswitha had emerged from performing two ceremonies in one day with a look of complete and utter exhaustion. I thought she had done well, but Lord Ferdinand seemed unfazed even after performing the ceremony four times. As much as he insisted that it became less tiring the more one became used to the process, I doubted it was that simple. My future adoptive father was far more fantastic than I had ever imagined.

As of tomorrow, I would be helping out as well, though I would need to use feystones to keep up with everyone. Lord Ferdinand assured me I would be fine, as even Ehrenfest’s blue priests could manage it, but I was terribly worried nonetheless.

It was my first religious ceremony. Lord Ferdinand told me to press a small feystone containing his mana against the rim of the chalice, then covered my hand with his as if to prevent my escape. As he instructed me to “push the mana out of the stone,” I couldn’t help but notice the coldness of his touch.

“O Goddess of Water Flutrane, bringer of healing and change. O twelve goddesses who serve by her side. The Goddess of Earth Geduldh has been freed from the God of Life Ewigeliebe. I pray that you grant your younger sister the power to birth new life.”

Lord Ferdinand prayed, and mana started moving from the feystone to the chalice. I also felt mana other than my own and pushed against the feystone to keep it away from me.

“That will do,” Lord Ferdinand said, taking the feystone from me. I gazed up at him with a start and realized the ceremony was complete. My head spun, and sparks darted across my vision. I put my head in my hands, too dazed to even move.

“Pardon me, Lady Letizia,” said one of my knights before picking me up and placing me atop a highbeast. It was not unusual to be rendered immobile by one’s first Mana Replenishment, it seemed.

My retainers had also expended an enormous amount of mana, so we postponed tomorrow’s ceremony to drink potions and recover ourselves. I was glad to hear that we would not need to take after Lord Ferdinand and perform ceremony after ceremony without a break.

Doing this every day sounds outright impossible.

I drank the rejuvenation potion Roswitha gave me and took some time to rest. Sergius came to check on me in the meantime.

“Lady Letizia, how are you faring? Your first Mana Replenishment must have been tiring.”

“Indeed,” I said. “I can barely move at all.”

“Lady Detlinde would have forced you to participate without the aid of a feystone.”

Now that I understood the burden Mana Replenishment placed on one’s body, I recognized just how much my life had been at risk. If Lord Ferdinand had not stopped Lady Detlinde... If I had refused to participate in Spring Prayer... The thought alone sent a shiver down my spine.

“Should you feel that your mana is not recovering fast enough, I would recommend these,” Sergius said, drawing my attention to several vials. “They are special rejuvenation potions made by Lord Ferdinand. I cannot vouch for the taste—they truly are wretched—but their effectiveness cannot be beat.”

Sergius went on to explain that the potions had come from Ehrenfest before our departure. “Lady Rozemyne sent them with a letter stressing that although they taste so horrid that you might mistake them for being a prank or malicious trick, they really do work. Their sharpness is a small price to pay for their potency. I tried one last night and can verify her claims. It would also seem that these potions are an improved version of the recipe; in the past, they tasted even worse.”

As it turned out, Lady Rozemyne had once survived on those extra-repulsive potions while performing Ehrenfest’s Spring Prayer.

Could these religious ceremonies be the reason she is always so unwell...?

I tried one of the potions, mostly out of curiosity. It truly was awful. A foul stench hit the back of my throat, and my tongue tingled from the bitterness.

“Could anything taste worse than this...?”

Did the Ehrenfest archducal family really drink potions so vile while performing their ceremonies? I could not even begin to imagine how bizarre their duchy must be.

“What is Lord Ferdinand doing today?”

“Our three guests from Ehrenfest show no signs of exhaustion whatsoever, likely due to their experience with these ceremonies. They have gone to gather ingredients with the knights told not to participate, as they cannot go anywhere without Ahrensbach nobles.”

“They are gathering... ingredients?” I stared at Sergius, taken aback by his answer. That was normally a task for knights who specialized in hunting feybeasts and harvesting feyplants. I understood that scholars with a particularly strong interest in rare ingredients sometimes participated, but an archduke candidate who was performing religious ceremonies?

“It would seem he wishes to make the most of this opportunity. I was invited to go with them, but as we will resume the ceremonies tomorrow, I could not muster the motivation. Justus, his attendant, was more excited for this trip than anyone.” Sergius got a distant look in his eyes. “I consider it a blessing that I was not expected to be an attendant in Ehrenfest.”

It was unbelievable to me that an attendant, of all people, was taking the lead in their ingredient gathering. Perhaps being involved in religious ceremonies each year allowed retainers of all professions to develop rather durable physiques.

On every single day of rest, the Ehrenfest trio went out to gather ingredients. News of their outings reached us through the knights accompanying them, who spoke about them at length over breakfast and dinner.

“I never thought we would find verinurs.”

“Me neither. They bloom only on the Night of Flutrane.”

The knights all seemed pleased about the rare, valuable ingredients they had stumbled upon.

“Verinurs?” I asked. “What are those?”

Justus leapt at the opportunity to answer, in an exceptionally bright mood. Lord Ferdinand added to his explanation and even went through the kinds of potions and magic tools in which they were used. Seeing everyone listen with rapt attention, I assumed it had not been the knights’ idea to gather this particular ingredient. It struck me as odd that the Ehrenfest trio knew more about Ahrensbach’s flora than we did.

“Um, Lord Ferdinand... Was the purpose of your excursion to gather these verinurs?” I asked.

He gave me a thin smile and shook his head. “No, Lady Letizia. We merely happened upon them. Our objective was to find an eitze feystone.”

“Indeed,” Justus said. “Had those eitze not led us to that wild patch of verinurs, we would never have noticed them. It must have been the guidance of the gods.”

Eckhart nodded with a smile. “A glorious coincidence, indeed. Just a short while later and they would have wilted.”

Despite their insistence on the whole thing being a stroke of luck, I recalled Justus mentioning that eitzes were drawn to verinur nectar. It seemed to me that the Ehrenfest trio had subtly manipulated the knights into gathering the flowers... but perhaps it was just my imagination.

Would they really have planned all this, even scheduling our days of rest in a manner that suited their intentions?

I suddenly felt like a piece atop a gewinnen board, being moved wherever Lord Ferdinand pleased. The thought was nothing short of unnerving.