Adoption
As I looked down at the buzzing audience, I let out an annoyed internal sigh at my three guardians. Don’t just plan things among yourselves! Keep me informed too! I yelled silently. I understood that they were keeping me in the dark about a lot of things, but a little time to prepare would have been nice given that I was standing on top of an altar in full view of the guests.
“As you have all just seen, Rozemyne has an enormous amount of mana within her,” Sylvester said abruptly, not even telling people to quiet down or pay attention first. He was clearly used to addressing crowds as the archduke, and his voice reverberated through the wide assembly hall.
That alone was enough to make the nobles fall silent. Whether it was due to Sylvester’s charisma or just another unspoken rule of status-based society, I didn’t know, but everyone remained silent and focused their attention on Sylvester as he spoke.
“Her mana is so great that Karstedt determined it necessary to hide his own child and raise her in secret, away from any danger. I am sure you all remember the former High Bishop misunderstanding her presence in the temple and, upon failing to discern her true identity, groaning and complaining of a commoner shrine maiden disturbing the peace.”
Well, there it is. Here we go blaming everything on the High Bishop. The ultimate technique: “It’s all his fault, not mine.”
I knew from talking to Karstedt and my older brothers that the High Bishop had committed so many crimes that Ferdinand had found it tedious just to list them all. So much embezzlement had gone on that just doing the math on it took me forever, and maybe, in the end, adding a single extra crime on top didn’t make much of a difference at all. But even knowing that, I found it pretty impressive how Sylvester could stand in front of a huge crowd like this and casually lie without a care in the world.
“Rozemyne was raised humbly, unaware of her parents or status, but even so, her compassionate heart ached at the suffering of those living in worse circumstances than herself. She pitied the children living in the orphanage, and did what no other person would by giving their young selves food and work.”
He was speaking so highly of this “Rozemyne” girl that I honestly wanted to ask who he was actually talking about. I mean, he wasn’t wrong when he said that I had been shocked by the state of the orphanage, and that I had established a workshop inside to improve the conditions there, but he was making it sound so incredible that I wasn’t sure it applied to me at all.
“I heard tales of her inspiring dedication from Ferdinand the High Priest, but I held my doubts. No child could be so compassionate to others nor so successful, I thought, and so I traveled to the orphanage to investigate myself. But there I found Rozemyne, being worshiped and honored by the orphans like a saint. My heart was moved by the sheer extent of her virtue.”
...Um, that’s way too much exaggeration! Me, a saint?! The only saint I know is Wilma!
I was protesting on the inside, but the archduke saying that he doubted Ferdinand and had confirmed the truth himself clearly made his claims more believable to the people. Those who had previously been murmuring “How ridiculous” or “That can’t be true” were now saying “Wait, really?” and “I find it hard to believe, but if he said he saw it himself...”
...Gaaah! I can’t stand being on this altar anymore! I wanna shout that I’m not a big deal and that they shouldn’t believe him, then run out of the room! Dad, Lutz, save me!
“Furthermore, the work she gave the orphans was quite interesting, and I determined that it could potentially become a new industry for this duchy. Just as I was considering the possibility of spending the next twenty-or-so years spreading it through the duchy, Rozemyne was targeted by a noble from another duchy,” he said.
At those words, the crowd immediately started to buzz once more.
“I’m sure you are all already aware of the incident: a villain tried to take advantage of my absence during the Archduke Conference and forged an entry permit to get inside the city. As it turns out, the former High Bishop had leaked information of Rozemyne’s heroic exploits and her immense amount of mana. And so, in order to secure her position in our society, and to protect her wealth of mana for the good of Ehrenfest, I shall hereby adopt Rozemyne.”
Another stir ran through the crowd, but this time it seemed to be one of acceptance; I could guess that the duchy’s mana shortage was felt more harshly by the nobles providing mana than anyone else.
“Due to the execution of the former High Bishop, the lack of priests available to perform prayers and blessings, and her own desire to continue helping the orphans, I will assign Rozemyne to the position of High Bishop from now until she comes of age. Her first duty will be to establish workshops in nearby cities to continue saving the orphans suffering throughout the duchy.”
I didn’t really care about getting married, so I would have been fine serving as the High Bishop for my entire life, spreading printing and expanding the temple book room, but I guessed that Sylvester wasn’t about to let that happen. If he was adopting me to prevent nobles from other duchies coming after me, then I could imagine that he might want me to marry Wilfried in the future. But it sounded like Wilfried was just a mini Syl, which honestly just sounded depressing.
“Ferdinand, if you will.” Sylvester took out a piece of parchment from his pocket and held it out to Ferdinand. Something was already written on it, and after glancing over it, Ferdinand gave a nod. It was the official document for the adoption.
Sylvester then took out what looked like a thin, ornately decorated fountain pen from his pocket. He handed it to Karstedt, who signed the parchment before passing it on to me. I had assumed it was something like a ballpoint pen since he hadn’t dipped it in any ink, but the moment I took it, I could feel my mana being drained out. Apparently, it was a magic tool that used mana instead of ink. As I used it to sign the sheet, I found that it was indeed just like an ink pen—I could write in exchange for the teensiest bit of my mana getting sucked out.
Wowee, I really want one of these!
I gazed lovingly at the pen for a bit, only to be interrupted by a cough. Ferdinand was glaring at me, and then slowly shifted his eyes to Sylvester. I followed his gaze to see Sylvester holding his hand out and mouthing the words, “Hurry up and give it back.”
I felt a sudden burst of anxiety, which I quickly swallowed down before returning the pen as gracefully as I could, forcing a smile as I did so. Sylvester took it and smoothly added his own signature to the sheet, which then shone with golden light just like a magic contract before burning away.
The contract was complete.
As the crowd cheered, Karstedt bent over to pick me up. “Smile and wave,” he instructed, speaking quietly enough that only I could hear him among the loud cheers. I did my best to wave while wearing a smile like one I had seen the Japanese emperor give.
As I continued to smile and wave to the crowd, I whispered a question to Karstedt. “Um, is that magic contract limited to the city too? Should an adoption really only be limited to this one city?”
“Only magic contracts for commoner merchants have effects limited to the city. Do not lump them all together,” Ferdinand replied in Karstedt’s place. Apparently there was more than one kind of magic contract.
Now that the baptism ceremony and adoption were finished, everyone began to talk among themselves while eating meals proudly prepared by Ella and the estate’s head chef, who had been working together in the kitchen. Unfortunately for me, I was stuck sitting on the altar in preparation for nobles to come over and greet me. I couldn’t exactly be munching away at food while people tried to introduce themselves, so the most I could do was sip drinks while I waited for the greetings to finish.
...Aww, it all looks so tasty. I want to eat too. You’re so lucky, Cornelius.
As I watched Cornelius eating happily, I noticed Wilfried break away from the crowd to try and steal some food, only to have his hands blocked by Lamprecht. The archduke’s wife walked over, grabbed Wilfried, gave some instructions to Lamprecht, and then came walking this way.
The first people to greet me—and the ones I needed to introduce myself to most—were Sylvester’s family. Other nobles couldn’t come over to greet me until the archduke’s family had. Wilfried was pouting with a slight frown at having been pulled away from the food, but I could tell that both of his parents were ignoring that.
Karstedt introduced me to the three of them. “This is Lord Sylvester, the archduke, and his first wife, Lady Florencia. Beside them is Lord Sylvester’s son, Lord Wilfried.”
Florencia had light-blonde hair that was close to silver, indigo eyes, and while at a glance she seemed to be a laid-back beauty, the iron grip she had on Wilfried’s shirt gave me the impression that she was a strict, no-nonsense mother. Assuming he really was a mini Syl, then I could only imagine how tough it was to keep them both under control at once.
“Lady Florencia is two years older than Lord Sylvester, and has the incredible power of being able to control her husband.”
“Karstedt.” Sylvester grimaced a bit at that introduction, but Florencia brushed it off with a refined giggle. I could see Ferdinand nodding in agreement. If she really was an older sister-type wife who could keep Sylvester under control, then I would absolutely love to be on great terms with her.
“I am Rozemyne. It is a pleasure to meet you all.”
“Elvira has told me much about you,” Florencia said. “I assure you that being Sylvester’s adopted daughter will not be easy, but we shall get through it together.”
Wilfried had the same light-blonde hair as his mother, and deep-green eyes that greatly resembled Sylvester’s. To be honest, aside from his hair, he didn’t look like his mother at all; his face was literally like a younger version of Sylvester’s. He was a mini Syl indeed.
“Lord Wilfried is the same age as you, but as he had his baptism in the spring, that makes him your older brother. Lord Sylvester has two other children, but they stayed behind at the castle today.”
Although I was in truth his older sister, the fact that I was repeating my seventh year and only just being baptized made everyone else assume I was younger. Wilfried also apparently had a younger brother and sister at the castle, but they weren’t here today since children who hadn’t been baptized couldn’t be brought anywhere public, even if they were the children of the archduke.
In a shocking twist, Sylvester had somehow managed to have three children despite acting like an elementary schooler. That was legitimately the biggest surprise of the day so far.
...I’m hardly one to talk, but you need to grow up, Sylvester.
“Just consider me your new big bro, Rozemyne. You’re as much of a little sister to me as Charlotte is.”
“That is oh-so-kind of you to say, Wilfried.”
“Yeah, don’t worry. I’ll look after you,” Wilfried said, seemingly satisfied at having established himself as the older brother and, by extension, the more mature sibling. I could already see him dragging me around until I fell unconscious.
Once I had finished meeting the archduke’s family, Karstedt raised a hand before any other nobles could approach. Judging by the two people who started coming this way, that had probably been a signal decided upon ahead of time.
“You’ll be moved to the castle once your High Bishop inauguration ceremony is over, but now that you’re the archduke’s adopted daughter, you need knights to guard you at almost all times. These two will be your personal guards starting tomorrow.”
As the two made their way through the waves of people, I instantly recognized one of them. The other, however, was a woman who I hadn’t seen before, wearing normal noble clothing with low-hanging sleeves.
“It was pretty difficult to find a female knight for you since your workshop’s in the temple, and you’ll of course be going to the lower city.”
I needed a female knight so that she could truly follow me everywhere, but as most only went where noble girls went, they didn’t really want to leave the Noble’s Quarter.
“These two are going to be the knights who follow you to the temple and beyond. I’m sure you recognize one of them,” Karstedt finished, just as the two arrived and knelt before me.
“It’s good to see you well, Damuel. I look forward to your continued good service.”
“It has been a long time since we last met, Lady Rozemyne. I will serve you to the absolute best of my ability,” Damuel said.
Under normal circumstances, it would be unthinkable for a laynoble like Damuel to guard a member of the archduke’s family. He had apparently gone from being called an unlucky guy who had almost died alongside Shikza, to someone who had found a metaphorical feystone in the pit of mud known as the temple.
“This fine lady is Brigitte. She’s the same age as Damuel. Her skills are unquestionable, and as a mednoble, she has more mana than Damuel. I think you’ll find her a reliable ally. For the most part, she’ll be your guard when you go to the temple. You’ll have other guards when you’re in the archduke’s castle.”
The dark red-haired woman raised her head and looked directly at me with her amethyst eyes. She had broader shoulders and was more muscular than most other noblewomen I had seen, which made it easy to accept that she was a female knight. At a glance, she felt kind of like a reliable older sister, and did seem like someone I could count on.
“Brigitte, I imagine that going all the way to the temple won’t be pleasant for you, but I thank you for accompanying me.”
“Your wish is my command, Lady Rozemyne.”
Having met my knights, it was time for the rest of the nobles to come up group by group to introduce themselves and congratulate me.
“Rozemyne.”
I had been greeted by a number of nobles when Wilfried came wandering over, probably bored now that he had filled his stomach. It was a fact of noble society that when the son of the archduke walked over, everyone else had to make way for him, no matter how young he was. The nobles retreated backward.
“Nothing fun’s ever gonna happen here. Let’s go play,” he said, before pulling my arm. “Follow me.”
But I was technically the focus of this event, and meeting the nobles was almost certainly an important job for me. My promise to Ferdinand that I would memorize all of their names and jobs to make the ceremony a success spun through my mind.
“Um, but I need to be introduced to everybody...”
“Who cares about that? C’mon.”
I turned around in search of help, but Ferdinand just waved a hand and told me to go. “What is wrong with kids playing together? I am sure you would prefer to be with children, Rozemyne, than around all these adults.”
...Um, no? I would much rather be with the adults. And should I really be allowed to just leave my own baptism ceremony? I thought, my mouth dropping in disbelief. Meanwhile, Wilfried continued to pull me away. I started following along behind him so that I wouldn’t fall over, but he kept speeding up. He pulled me down from the altar and through the throngs of well-dressed ladies, at which point he basically broke out into a run, dragging me right behind him.
“Wilfried, could you go a little slower...?”
“Nah, you need to speed up, Rozemyne. The adults are gonna catch us if we don’t hurry.”
I’d asked him to slow down and his immediate response was to call me weak. It wasn’t hard to guess that he spent pretty much every day running from adults and trying to avoid getting caught, and considering how Sylvester acted, it was easy to imagine Wilfried being an overall problem child.
“You gotta practice every day and get good at finding places to hide if you wanna master shaking off that busybody Lamprecht. A clumsy slowpoke like you is just gonna get caught in no time.”
“I don’t plan on running or hiding, so if you would please let go of my hand...”
“No way! That’ll get us caught, and then we’ll be yelled at!”
I wanted to protest and say that he only got yelled at because he ran away from his guards in the first place, but by that point I was breathing so heavily that I could barely even speak.
...Oh no. I’m about to fall unconscious.
“Please... stop... I can’t... breathe...”
“Nguh?! Rozemyne?!”
My knees buckled and I hit the ground. The pain as my skin dragged across the ground and Wilfried’s shocked cry were the last things I remembered before everything went dark.
That’s the second time I’ve failed to finish a baptism ceremony. Hopefully there won’t be a third time...
When I woke up, I was in my room. I sat up in bed and saw Karstedt and Ferdinand playing reversi nearby.
“Finally awake, I see,” Ferdinand said.
“...I can still taste it.” He must have made me drink that potion again. The awful bitterness stayed in my mouth for so long it was hard to believe.
“As you now know, Wilfried is the spitting image of Sylvester in his youth and listens to nobody but himself. I decided that teaching him how weak you are up front was the only way to ensure he treated you with the proper care going forward, and here we are.”
“I think he might end up traumatized from me passing out like a minute into him dragging me away.”
Even Mark and Benno had said that their hearts nearly stopped the first time they saw me pass out in front of them, and they had become more than a little overprotective afterward. The same went for Cornelius. Somehow, I got the feeling that the same thing happening to two little kids would be enough to actually traumatize them.
“Undoubtedly. Wilfried has a kind heart despite his clumsy immaturity, so it is easy to imagine this wounding him to some degree. And that is exactly why he will be much more considerate of your health from now on.”
Ferdinand didn’t hesitate for a second to traumatize a child if doing so was a reliable way of getting the results he wanted as soon as possible. I’d assumed that he was so excessively logical and harsh with me since he knew I was an adult on the inside, but dang, he didn’t even show mercy to his own nephew. Ferdinand was kind of mean.
“I see the unhappy look on your face, but this would have happened sooner or later no matter what I did. Wilfried listens to no one, and you cannot keep up with him. Had the same thing happened in the castle, your guards would have been punished for failing to protect you. It is better for everyone if he learns of your weakness and the position you’re in now rather than later.”
Right. I was entering the castle as the archduke’s adopted daughter. If anything happened to me, the knights guarding me would be punished. Wilfried’s rampage had ended without any far-reaching consequences since I had only just been baptized and no guards had started guarding me in an official capacity yet, but had it happened at any point beyond today, things would have gone much differently. Other people would have been hurt too.
“Lamprecht was shocked beyond belief as well. As you are the same age as Wilfried, you and he will often spend time together as fellow children of the archduke. His guards will need to understand your circumstances just as much as he now does.”
Me collapsing had apparently traumatized Lamprecht as well, since he had been stealthily following behind us as Wilfried’s guard.
Sorry, Lamprecht.
“A noble who had coincidentally seen the incident came rushing to inform us, and by the time we arrived at the scene you were in quite the horrible state. Due to how hard Wilfried had been dragging you, there were scrape marks going from your temple all the way down to your cheeks, and blood had started pooling on the white stone floor. There were also scrapes along your thighs and knees, so your white baptism ceremony clothes were stained with blood. You were so still and unresponsive lying on the floor that it was entirely as if you had died.”
“Gyaaah! I don’t wanna hear that! Ow, ow!” I covered my ears and shook my head hard. Ferdinand looked down at me with exasperation, but Karstedt just let out a laugh.
“Don’t let it get to you, Rozemyne. Lord Ferdinand healed your wounds and gave you a potion. He lectured Wilfried and Lamprecht as well. It’s all over already.”
“...The scrapes are all gone?” It wouldn’t have really mattered back in my Urano days, but I didn’t want my cute little girl face all covered in scars. I patted my cheeks to check, and Ferdinand grimaced, asking whether I doubted his skill.
...Of course not. No way. I know you’re the man himself—the High Priest. I would never doubt your ability.
“In any case, both the ceremony and the adoption concluded without issue. Spend the next two days resting, and if you seem in good health, return to the temple. There we will hold the High Bishop inauguration ceremony.” Ferdinand stated our future plans, then left. I assumed that was the end of the conversation, but Karstedt kept looking at me, as if there was something else he wanted to say.
“Yes, Father? Is something wrong?”
“...Rozemyne, did you do something to Damuel?”
“What do you mean by that? Are you asking whether I earned his eternal loyalty through sweets or something?” Maybe he had learned about the parue cakes we would sometimes serve in the orphanage, or maybe... I fell into thought, at which point Karstedt furrowed his brow and shook his head.
“Not that. I’m talking about his mana. The process is slow, but his mana capacity is growing the more he trains. That kind of growth is unthinkable considering his age; he should be just about finished growing by now. Did you give him some kind of blessing without telling us?”
I had never given Damuel a special personal blessing before. At most, he had received part of the blessing I had sent my family.
“...The only thing that comes to mind is the big blessing that I gave my family back at the temple. I wanted it to heal everyone, and both Fran and Dirk received the blessing, so it wouldn’t be strange if it also flew over to where Damuel was lying unconscious.”
“That blessing, hm...?” Karstedt murmured before cradling his head for a bit.
I hope I didn’t mess anything up.
“Rozemyne, tell no one of this. Not Sylvester, of course, but not Ferdinand either.”
“Um...”
“Sylvester will never let Damuel hear the end of it.”
Apparently the blessing I had given my family was pretty unprecedented in scale, and Sylvester was not only complaining about Ferdinand getting it, but also teasing him for it.
“As his brother and someone who has known him for so long, Ferdinand is skilled and capable when it comes to enduring Sylvester’s teasing, but Damuel would never survive.”
Considering what had happened back at Spring Prayer, that was definitely something I could agree with. Damuel had nearly buckled under the stress of Sylvester teasing and bullying him. I’d feel bad if my actions caused that to start all over again.
“...I can understand not telling Sylvester, but why shouldn’t we tell Ferdinand?”
“You know what a cold-blooded rationalist he is. He wouldn’t even hesitate to offer up Damuel if it meant he could escape Sylvester’s bullying himself.”
“I understand completely. I won’t say a word.”
Knowing firsthand how harsh Ferdinand’s rationalism could be, I silently swore to keep it a secret that Damuel had received my blessing.
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