HOT NOVEL UPDATES

Ascendance of a Bookworm (LN) - Volume 2.4 - Chapter 9




Hint: To Play after pausing the player, use this button

The Two Who Left 

Damuel didn’t come the next day or the day after that. Since I wasn’t even allowed to go to the plaza, I had nothing but spare time, which I spent thinking up the content for my third picture book and making stuffed animal rattles with Tuuli. She was apparently going to give the one she had made to Corinna’s daughter, Renate. 

“I’ll bring it when we go to her place to see the baby. We are going to see her, right?” 

“It would be a bit awkward if we didn’t go given how much the Gilberta Company has helped us, not to mention that Benno gave us a gift when Kamil was born.” 

My plan was to visit Corinna once all of the danger in the air had settled down, and Tuuli was more than ready to come with me. Girl babies were probably pretty cute too, plus I was kind of looking forward to seeing Otto going head over heels for his new daughter. 

“...But, look. The one you made is cuter, Myne.” Tuuli looked down at the finished rattles and pursed her lips. She had made a white bear-like thing, while I made something more similar to a rabbit. They were kind of lumpy since we had stuffed the white cloth with rags instead of cotton. 

“Your sewing is way better than mine, though.” I had stitched mine together a little haphazardly, but like Tuuli said, it was still pretty cute. 

As I sat looking at my successful work in satisfaction, Tuuli peered over from beside me and shook her head. “If you don’t learn to sew a little better, you’ll never get married.” 

“That’s fine! I’m prepared to dedicate my whole life to books.” What men looked for in wives around here was good health, being able to work, and having good sewing skills. I didn’t meet a single one of these criteria, so my fate was sealed; I had given up on marriage a long time ago. Just like in my Urano days, I would be just fine living with books as my soulmates. And to be honest, I would much rather keep making and reading books than be married off to someone and have to spend my days wrestling with thread to make clothes for my new family. 

If only we had the cat bells to finish these toys, I sadly thought to myself. But on the evening of my third day in isolation, Lutz came over with them. 

“Johann brought these things to the store. Whaddaya need them for?” he asked, rolling a few around in his palm. They let out cute little tinkling sounds as the smaller bells inside knocked into each other. 

Wowee. Johann knocks it out of the park yet again. 

“They’re little bells, and I’m putting them in these toys. That way they’ll make noise when you shake them.” 

The cat bells had to go inside the toys so that small children wouldn’t accidentally swallow them, and the eyes and mouths were just patterned cloth rather than separate parts that could be taken off. I had kept a small slit open on each toy so that I could put the bells in, allowing me to quickly complete them in front of Lutz. 

I shook the finished toys, and a cute clinking sound could be heard from inside the cloth. Success. 

“Kamil, it’s done. Can you hear the bells?” I tried shaking my rabbit next to Kamil’s ears, and he blinked in surprise several times. He couldn’t hold up his head yet, which meant he couldn’t turn to look at the toy, but his eyes were searching for the source of the noise. 

“Cute! You’re so cute, Kamil.” I broke into a smile at his reaction to my toy, and seconds later he started crying. It seemed my road to becoming a beloved older sister was far from over. 

In the end, it was on the morning of my fifth day of being stuck inside that Fran and Damuel came to pick me up at my house. 

“Good morning, Sister Myne.” 

“Good morning Fran, Sir Damuel.” 

“Morning, apprentice.” Damuel nodded in response to my greeting before turning to look at Dad, who was still at home since his work didn’t start until the afternoon today. “If you’ll excuse me, I’m here for the apprentice.” 

“Please take good care of her, sir.” Dad thumped a fist twice against his chest in salute. Damuel responded in kind, a serious look on his face as he spoke again. 

“Gunther, I have a message from Lord Ferdinand. The archduke is presently visiting the Sovereignty and will not be around to grant any entry permits in the near future. You may be shown fake permits, so take care not to accept any as valid. Understood?” 

“Sir, yes, sir!” Dad gave a firm nod, a hard look on his face. He was always so cool when he was doing his job. 

“Okay, bye everyone.” 

“Be careful.” 

We met up with Lutz in the plaza and headed to the temple. I could see Fran’s expression darken as we got closer. 

“Fran, what’s wrong? Your brow is furrowed.” 

“I will explain in a moment. It is not something to talk about in transit,” he said before closing his mouth into a bitter expression. 

“You will know once we arrive at the temple, whether you want to or not,” Damuel added. I looked up at him and saw that he was wearing his usual noble-esque smile that hid all emotion and conveyed absolutely nothing. 

“Alright, well, I’m off to the forest,” said Lutz. 

“Okay. Bye-bye.” 

We split up with Lutz in front of the workshop like usual before heading to my chambers. I waited like a proper lady for Fran to open the door for me, but the atmosphere when I went inside felt so different that I couldn’t help but blink in surprise. 

“...It certainly is quiet in here.” 

It was almost uncomfortably quiet. I would normally be able to hear Dirk crying, or Delia playing with him, or the sounds of several people moving around, but today there was nothing. It was so quiet, in fact, that I could hear the chefs working in the kitchen all the way at the front. 

Dirk must be asleep, I thought to myself while climbing the stairs as silently as possible. When I reached the top, I found Rosina wiping down the table. That actually worried me, since Rosina usually only played music and did paperwork so as to not hurt her fingers; it was always Delia who did minor chores like that. 

“Good morning, Rosina. Where is Delia? Is she feeling sick?” I asked, looking around. Rosina lowered her eyes, then put down the cloth she was using and headed for the closet. 

“Delia is no longer with us. She took Dirk and returned to the High Bishop.” 

“Wha?” The news came so suddenly that I couldn’t even process it at first. I looked up at Rosina, confused, and with my robes in hand she searched for words before giving a sad smile. 

“Sister Myne, let us get you changed before we talk. Fran cannot come upstairs until that is done.” 

Rosina changed me into my blue apprentice robes, then asked me to sit down as she rang a bell. Fran came up the stairs holding some tea he had prepared and set a cup down in front of me. I took a sip, but despite Fran’s tea always tasting good I didn’t taste much of anything this time. 

I set my cup down and looked at the both of them. Rosina spoke first. 

“It happened yesterday. Fran and I went for our daily naps, and when we awoke Dirk’s cushion and diapers had vanished from the room. We couldn’t find Delia either so, already worried, I went to the orphanage to look for them. But Dirk was nowhere to be seen. According to Wilma, Delia had come to get him, saying that she was taking him with her since they’re family.” 

Wilma had apparently let her go, since she wanted to show her support for Delia having gone all the way to the orphanage despite her misgivings to see Dirk. She hadn’t even considered that one of my attendants would take him anywhere except my chambers. 

“I heard this from Rosina and requested an audience with the High Priest. I thought it would be necessary to report the disappearance of a blue shrine maiden’s attendant so that a search could begin,” Fran said with a sigh. It would be serious business if she had gotten in trouble with a blue priest while I was absent. But on his way to see the High Priest, Fran saw Delia with the High Bishop, Dirk in her arms. He tried to question her there, but the High Bishop stopped him; he had no other choice but to ask the High Priest what he knew. 


“How was that allowed? Taking Delia makes sense given that she used to be one of the High Bishop’s attendants, but Dirk isn’t allowed to leave the orphanage, is he?” I had previously been told not to bring Dirk to a discussion with the High Priest, and the High Bishop seemed like he would be the kind of guy to demand that “disgusting children” be locked in the orphanage until their baptism, so it didn’t make sense that an orphan like Dirk would be allowed in the noble section of the temple. 

Fran lowered his eyes. “Dirk is no longer an orphan.” 

“Wha?” 

“Dirk has been adopted by a noble, with the High Bishop’s authorization.” 

The High Bishop’s signature was enough to validate an adoption, even without my signature as the orphanage director or the High Priest’s—if the adopting parent was a commoner, that is. 

“Do noble adoptions not require the approval of the archduke? Sir Damuel told us just this morning that the archduke is absent.” 

“According to the High Priest, adoptions involving nobles from other duchies do not need the approval of our archduke.” In other words, no matter where you went, there were people who would specialize in exploiting loopholes in the law. 

Adoptions to those outside of the duchy only needed the blood prints of the High Bishop, the adoptive father, and the child; Dirk had already been adopted by an outsider noble. 

“...This isn’t something to be happy about, is it?” 

“No, the High Priest looked quite displeased.” Fran crossed his arms and furrowed his brow just like the High Priest often did, then raised his head and looked me straight in the eyes. “Sister Myne, please give up on Delia and cut her off. I know well that you are a deeply compassionate person, but she acted on her own without the approval of her mistress, bringing you great misfortune in the process. She cannot continue to serve as your attendant. You should relieve her of her duties if she elects to stay with the High Bishop.” 

Delia would remain as my attendant until I announced that I was dismissing her. Rosina was fervently nodding, agreeing that she should have alerted me before going to the High Bishop for anything. 

It would be one thing if this had happened right after Delia had become my attendant, but I had thought we were getting along quite well lately. Delia’s sudden betrayal made my head hurt. Why? That was the question that stirred my heart most. I looked down at my swaying tea before saying anything. 

“...I will dismiss Delia. Please call her so that I may inform her.” 

Fran’s stiff expression softened; it seemed that he thought I would be more hesitant to dismiss her. His arms still crossed in front of his chest, he said “Understood,” then left. 

I picked up my cup again now that the discussion had settled down. The tea that tasted like nothing before was now unbearably bitter. 

When Fran returned, Delia was with him. The rather pleased expression on her face was a sharp contrast to Fran’s grimace. She casually walked over to me, her crimson hair fluttering behind her. 

“Good morning, Sister Myne. What would you like to talk about?” There wasn’t a trace of malice in her expression. She looked so normal and spoke so much like she usually did that I felt a little dizzy; for a second I even wondered if she hadn’t actually taken Dirk to the High Bishop at all. But Fran and Rosina’s stiff expressions brought me back to my senses, and I shook my head. 

“I heard that you returned to the High Bishop.” 

“I did,” Delia said with an expression so full of glee that she was positively sparkling. “When I told the High Bishop that the High Priest had looked for someone to adopt Dirk but couldn’t find anyone, he found someone for us immediately! And a noble father at that. Isn’t that incredible? Since adoptions by nobles here would require the archduke’s permission and thus be delayed, he went out of his way to search among nobles from other duchies. He has many more connections than the High Priest does.” 

“Does that not mean that you and Dirk will end up separated?” I would have thought that Dirk would be sent to the other duchy at once. Perhaps Delia would be sent with him as a caretaker. Either way, the High Bishop had certainly gone out of his way to get an adoption that wouldn’t need the archduke’s approval. 

These ominous signs were making me visibly worried, but Delia just laughed. “Dirk will be raised by the High Bishop until he comes of age, as he is no longer an orphan. The High Bishop will give us one of his attendant rooms and allow Dirk and I to live together.” 

...Wasn’t that odd? If Dirk was going to be raised in the temple until he came of age, he wouldn’t be able to go to the Royal Academy despite being adopted, nor would he be able to grow up with his new family. For what purpose, then, would the noble have adopted Dirk? Even assuming he was just after his mana, it seemed like a strange decision to let the High Bishop raise him. 

I was getting increasingly worried the more I learned, but Delia gave a happy smile, her cheeks blushing a rosy red. “Now I won’t have to be separated from Dirk. Had I remained with you, he would have been sent away to the orphanage in no time at all.” 

Since Delia still couldn’t bring herself to go to the orphanage, in her eyes, Dirk being sent there while she remained in the director’s chambers was the same as them being ripped apart entirely. It was true that they wouldn’t be living together even if she grew more comfortable going to the orphanage, and once Dirk was baptized he would be sent to the boys’ building where it would be even harder for them to meet. What could I say to Delia, considering that she had taken matters into her own hands to spend more time with Dirk? 

“The two of you aren’t being treated poorly, are you?” 

“No, of course not,” Delia replied with a firm shake of her head. 

At the moment, the High Bishop was only showing Delia his good side. If she only knew him as a kindly grandpa, then she wouldn’t believe anything bad I said about him. 

I took in a deep breath. “In that case, I hereby dismiss you as my attendant. You will now serve the High Bishop. Are you okay with that?” 

“Very. If that’s all you have to say, Sister Myne, I would like to return to Dirk. His adoptive father will be arriving soon.” 

It had felt like there was ash in my mouth when I forced myself to announce her dismissal, and yet Delia didn’t seem to feel anything in particular at all. She was just excited to leave and get back to Dirk as soon as possible. 

“My apologies for calling you over here. But I hope you know that Fran and Rosina were both worried sick looking for you and Dirk when you left unannounced. Wilma was surprised, Gil was shocked to find the room empty when he came back from the workshop, and I myself was shaken when I heard the news this morning. We were all worried about what might have happened to you and Dirk. I would have liked for you to have at least said something before you left.” 

In the end, I did let her know how I felt, hoping more for her to understand what she had done than to make her feel bad for it. Delia thought back, then smiled to hide whatever she was really feeling. 

“...The High Bishop said you wouldn’t approve of me taking Dirk, so I decided to be more stealthy. I do apologize for that. I’m sorry,” she said, averting her gaze as she shifted the blame to the High Bishop. 

So she had known that she was doing something I wouldn’t approve of after all. 

“Well, good luck raising Dirk. I imagine things won’t be easy for you.” 

“Thank you, and goodbye.” Delia gave me a true smile this time, then left to return to Dirk. I was glad to see that she was happy, but I knew there was no way that would last. 

Once she was gone, I looked to Fran and Rosina. “...Will Delia and Dirk be okay?” 

“There is nothing more we can do now that Dirk is no longer an orphan. Delia chose this fate herself,” Rosina said firmly. 

I gave her a hesitant nod. “...You’re right.” But I still wanted to help her however I could, and as I thought about what I could do, Fran knelt down beside me. He took my hand and looked up at me with deadly serious eyes. 

“Sister Myne, even if Delia is to come calling, you must never visit the High Bishop under any circumstances,” he said. I blinked in confusion, and with a face full of worry he continued. “When I went to get Delia, the High Bishop was extremely insistent that you go to his room to fetch her yourself. I repeated that it would not be proper for a mistress to leave her chambers for her attendant, and in the end successfully left with Delia, but his change in behavior is frightening to me.” 

The High Bishop had ordered that I never be brought to his room—he didn’t even want to look at me. Yet now he was telling Fran to bring me to him. He wanted me to dismiss Delia in his room. That change in behavior made Fran feel uncomfortable, and it certainly was strange. 

“Furthermore, it seems that it was the High Bishop who had given the letter of invitation to the noble who caused a stir at the east gate the other day. His name was on it, and the Knight’s Order went to question him. He claimed that he just wanted to strengthen the bonds between our duchies, but the High Priest predicts that he wanted the noble inside the city so that he could acquire Dirk.” 

“Why would the High Bishop send a letter of invitation if the archduke hadn’t approved it?” 

“It seems he didn’t know,” Fran said. I tilted my head in confusion, and he lowered his voice with an uncomfortable expression. “The High Bishop spent most of the winter in the temple for the Dedication Ritual, and since he is not legally a noble, he is rarely invited to winter social gatherings. He simply was not aware that the rules had been changed.” 

The High Bishop technically wasn’t a noble, and was thus not invited to the gatherings of noble society where the archduke had announced the change in rules. He had therefore tried inviting a noble from another duchy just like he had in the past. 

“We do not know why the High Bishop has given Dirk to an outsider noble and drawn Delia to his side. I request that you take great care and approach the future with great caution.” 

Fran’s hands were shaking, perhaps out of worry for me. I squeezed them and gave him a nod. 



Share This :


COMMENTS

No Comments Yet

Post a new comment

Register or Login