Ascendance of a Bookworm (LN) - Volume 3.2 - Chapter Pr

Prologue 

Tuuli was busy working at the table. Effa placed a cup of tea beside her, just far away enough that it wouldn’t get in her way, then sat down to watch her. Tuuli had been given a truly ridiculous hair stick order by a customer, asking not just for decorative flowers but for autumn fruits as well, so she had been throwing herself into her work as soon as she got home from her apprentice job to meet that request. She had even kept going after dinner. 

Effa sipped her own tea as she watched Tuuli work, waiting for her to approach a good place to stop before starting up a conversation. “Did you hear what the tiny new High Bishop did at the coming of age ceremony yesterday, Tuuli?” 

“I heard Laura talk about it at work. Her big sister came of age this season.” 

Effa had heard about it from their neighbors whose children had come of age in the summer, and it seemed that Tuuli knew as well. 

“We went to go and see Myne, but we weren’t able to see anything since the doors were closed, remember?” Tuuli said. “I couldn’t believe what Laura told me! She said that nobody was taking their prayers as seriously as the adults did during the Star Festival, so Myne had to make everyone repeat them.” 

Effa nodded with a bemused smile. The whole family had gone to the temple to see Rozemyne the High Bishop after the coming of age ceremony, much like they had during the Star Festival, but they hadn’t been able to see what was happening inside as the doors were kept shut during the proceedings. And when the doors did eventually open, the family was so focused on spotting Myne and protecting Kamil from being crushed by the flood of new adults that they hadn’t paid any attention to what anyone was saying. As a result, despite going all the way to the temple, they knew the least out of anybody. 

“Laura’s older sister was apparently really surprised to learn that a difference in the prayer can change how big the blessing is,” Tuuli said, coming to a good stopping point in her work. She set down the hair stick, then moved to the next seat over where her tea had been placed with a smile. 

Rumors of a tiny High Bishop capable of giving real blessings had spread through the town after the Star Festival marriages, and now people were talking about how she had made the youths repeat their prayers at the coming of age ceremony. One had to wonder whether anything to do with the temple had ever been talked about so much before. 

“Maybe they were all just caught up in the excitement of seeing a real blessing,” Effa suggested. 

“But for the children, having a noble like the High Bishop tell them they weren’t taking things seriously and that they needed to redo their prayers was scary! They thought they had messed up and would get punished. Myne should know that. Geez...” Tuuli puffed out her cheeks in a pout. 

“You aren’t wrong. But I think the High Priest would want to make sure that commoners don’t look down on the High Bishop for being small or treat her as a curiosity for being able to perform blessings.” 

Myne had looked so much like a proper noble up on the distant altar that Effa doubted for a second whether it was really her, and when Tuuli had returned from delivering a hair stick to her in the temple, she mentioned that Myne’s movements were so elegant that she couldn’t believe she was the same person. Myne had changed so much that even her parents could hardly recognize her from afar, and Effa was genuinely worried that she might be pushing herself unreasonably far to fully become a noble. 

“Repeating the prayer was a necessary part of Myne surviving as a noble. I’m sure of it.” 

“Mm... I honestly think Myne was just being weird. I mean, nobody ever took their prayers seriously before now,” Tuuli said with pursed lips. 

Effa couldn’t help but smile; maybe that really was the case. “Myne certainly would do strange things for reasons that only she understood, but now that she’s a noble, it’s hard to imagine she’ll be able to keep that up and drag everyone around her into her crazy exploits.” 

“Well, Lutz said that she hasn’t changed much on the inside. He thinks she made them repeat their prayers so that the kids being baptized in autumn will know they need to take their prayers seriously to get a blessing. I think everyone will be more serious now.” 

Once she had finished her tea, Tuuli returned to her original seat and got back to work on the hair stick. She had started over several times now, not at all satisfied with her first attempts, but now it was close to being finished. 

“That hair stick is turning out really nicely,” Effa said. 

“Myne taught me this stitching technique in her letters. I never would’ve figured out how to make so many different fruits on my own.” 

“Not everyone could learn to crochet like that just by reading letters full of strange diagrams, Tuuli. What you’ve done here is really impressive.” Effa had watched as Tuuli pored over Myne’s letter, teaching herself through trial and error, so seeing the hair stick so close to completion meant a lot to her as well. 

On top of all the fruits, Tuuli had made flower petals using thin, high-quality string. These had then been attached to a base with hide glue to make a beautiful three-dimensional flower. She had even been given a new metal hook from the Gilberta Company to make the hair stick, which allowed her to stitch the threads more tightly to make something even prettier than usual. 

“It’s due in three days, so I’m gonna work for as long as I can. I’m not going to let anyone take the job of making Myne’s hair sticks away from me... because I think this is the only way I’ll ever get to see her.” 

When Tuuli was at the Gilberta Company, Benno had apparently told her she would have even fewer opportunities to see Myne once she started spending more time in the castle. Knowing this, Tuuli looked at the hair stick with a firm glare, her blue eyes filled with resolve.

That night, while Gunther was drinking, Effa told him what she had spoken to Tuuli about. 

“...She said that Myne is going to be spending less time in the temple, so we won’t have as many chances to see her. We might not even get to watch her from a distance after the ceremonies. And even if that wasn’t the case, so many of our neighbors are going to the autumn baptism ceremony that we can’t go ourselves, right?” 

Effa thought it unlikely that anyone would connect Myne with the tiny High Bishop; Myne hadn’t spent much time with her neighbors, her funeral was over, and there was a considerable distance between the floor of the chapel and the top of the altar. Plus, according to Lutz and Tuuli, she carried herself so differently that she was almost unrecognizable. But having her family show up at the temple all the time would no doubt arouse suspicion. They would look weird peering into the temple after ceremonies, and if asked what they were doing, they would have no good answer. 

“I know we have to keep our distance because of the magic contract, but I want to see Myne up close. I’m just really worried about her,” Effa said. 

“Yeah. You’re the only one who doesn’t get to see her in person.” 

As a soldier, Gunther had been assigned to accompany and protect the priests heading from Ehrenfest’s temple to Hasse, which would give him opportunities to see Myne. His excitement actually made Effa a little jealous. 

“How about you go with Tuuli when she delivers the hair stick?” 

“I can’t do that with Kamil at home.” 

“You could ask someone to take care of him for you. Tuuli got to see Myne and she’s still real inexperienced, so I’m sure you’ll be fine.” 

When she was growing up, Effa had often helped her dad, who was a former commander of the gate, at work. Her duties included serving tea at soldier meetings where various nobles were usually in attendance, and the language and manners she had learned from this put her on the same level as Lutz and Tuuli when it came to etiquette skills. If she asked the Gilberta Company, there was a chance that she would be permitted to accompany Tuuli to the temple to watch over her while she was still practicing her manners. But once Lutz and Tuuli had fully mastered polite behavior, Effa wouldn’t be given permission to visit nobles no matter how many times she asked. 

Children grow up so fast. This really is my only opportunity... Effa thought, feeling an indescribable sense of panic in her chest. 

“Your good manners are only gonna get you so far, though,” Gunther continued. “Once Myne moves to the castle, you won’t be able to see her no matter what; the likes of us can’t even go to the Noble’s Quarter, much less the castle. Not to mention, I can take a day off work to look after Kamil for you right now, but once you start working again, getting days off will be a lot harder for you.” 

...He was right. Effa tightly gripped her chest. Her daughter had become a noble, and this was her last opportunity to see her. 

“Gunther, could you ask for a day off three days from now?”

Effa asked the Gilberta Company if she could accompany Tuuli on her hair stick delivery, and they agreed. She would be allowed to visit the orphanage director’s chambers. 

“Mom, remember to call her ‘Lady Rozemyne’ here, okay?” 

“I know,” Effa replied, looking around the chambers. 

Fran had said that it would be best for Effa to avoid coming to the temple while she was pregnant with Kamil, so this was her first time entering the orphanage director’s chambers. She had heard about it from Tuuli and the others, but all they had said was that the door led straight into a hall that was bigger than their entire home, filled with fancy furniture unlike anything they had ever seen before. It was hard to get an actual mental image from that. 

Effa took in her surroundings while Fran guided her to the second floor. A single home spreading across more than one floor was such a foreign concept to her that she felt completely thrown off. 

“Lady Rozemyne, the Gilberta Company has arrived.” 

“Thank you, Fran.” 

Rozemyne turned in her ornately carved chair, wearing a beautiful, fake smile unlike any smile she had ever made at home. But her eyes shot wide open the instant she saw her visitors, and she let out a goofy “Bwuh?!” before covering her mouth with her hands. She was soon wearing the fake smile again, but it was clear to Effa that her daughter hadn’t changed at all. 

Effa was holding back her laughter, and it seemed that Lutz and Tuuli were too. They were clearly struggling to keep straight faces as they listened to Benno’s greeting. 

“This is a craftswoman who assists Tuuli in making her hair sticks. I have brought her here so that she could introduce herself,” Benno said. 

Rozemyne stood up with a bright smile. “The hair sticks you make are my prized possessions. I would ask that you show me the new one in this neighboring room,” she said, before opening the door beside her bed and launching instructions at her knights and attendants. 

Effa passed through the door, surprised that there was another room inside a room that was already so big. 

The moment that the door had shut, Rozemyne shot a glare at Lutz and immediately turned into the Myne that Effa knew so well. “You didn’t tell me she’d be here, Lutz! I was so surprised that I thought my heart was going to stop!” 

“Don’t complain to me. Mrs. Effa asked to come along out of nowhere, and Mr. Gunther took a day off work to look after Kamil. Fey’s little sister has her baptism ceremony in autumn, so they won’t be able to drop by the temple to see you then. If you’re so unhappy about it, I just won’t bring her here again. How’s that sound?” 

“I take it all back. I was just so surprised that I didn’t know what to say. Please bring her whenever you get the chance,” Rozemyne replied casually, showing that no matter how dressed up she was on the outside, she was still Myne on the inside. 

But Effa didn’t know how much interaction the magic contract would permit between them. She opened her mouth, then closed it again, searching for words to say but having no idea how she should talk to Rozemyne. If one thing was for sure, it was that she shouldn’t speak as her mother. Having Damuel the knight accompany them into the room made that more than clear. 

Effa had met Damuel when he guarded Myne back in her apprentice shrine maiden days, and while she knew he was a kind, warm-hearted individual, he was still a noble. If she messed up here, she would never get to see her daughter again. 

“...I am glad to see you well,” Effa said. After racking her brain, the only thing she could think to say to her daughter at their long-awaited reunion was a stiff, formal greeting. 

Still, Rozemyne broke into a wide grin, her happiness more than apparent. Effa knew that smile—Myne would make it whenever she wanted to be cuddled like a baby. But no cuddling would be permitted here. 

“Tuuli, present Lady Rozemyne with her hair stick,” Benno instructed. 

Tuuli gave a small nod and then delicately took out the hair stick, repeating the process she had practiced over and over again at home. Her movements had been a bit awkward at first, but now they were smooth and precise. Effa could remember Tuuli grumbling that Myne was still able to do it more impressively than her, and now that she had seen how gracefully Rozemyne moved, she found that easy to believe. 

“Lady Rozemyne, I present to you the new hair stick.” 

Tuuli had made a plethora of light-yellow petals, then fixed them together around a stem using hide glue to make what looked just like a real flower. The word “fancy” hardly did it justice. The flower had then been cutely decorated with orange leaves and reddish fruits symbolic of autumn. It was clear that Tuuli had poured her heart and soul into making the hair stick. 

“Would you mind putting it on for me?” Rozemyne asked Effa, before turning her back to her. 

At that, Effa looked at Benno and Tuuli, double-checking that she would be allowed to. She then peered over at Damuel, who gave a slight nod as if giving her his permission. 

Effa picked up the hair stick that Tuuli had made, then slowly approached Rozemyne. Her intricately bundled hair was much glossier now than it had been in the past, and Effa’s hands trembled as she carefully pushed the accessory into place. At the same time, she gently stroked Rozemyne’s hair from an angle that Damuel wouldn’t be able to see. That was the best she could do for her daughter who was so desperately yearning to be comforted. 

“Does it look good on me?” came a quiet, tearful whisper. 

As Effa thought about how starved for warmth and comfort her daughter must have been, she could feel her chest tighten and her own eyes start to heat up. 

“Yes, very. It looks... very good on you,” Effa answered, her voice trembling. 

When Rozemyne turned around, Effa couldn’t tell whether she was still smiling. The golden eyes looking at her were wavering, and it was clear that Rozemyne wanted to hug her and call her “Mom.” It was the look that Myne used to give whenever she was feeling anxious and craved comforting, like she was desperate for warmth and a temporary escape from the world. But after just a brief moment of vulnerability, Rozemyne snapped back to her senses and replaced the expression with a sad smile. 

“I concur. It looks very good on you,” Benno said, stepping in to ease the mood. Rozemyne turned to face him, and by that time she had already put on the fake smile of a noble. 

“The hair stick is splendid, Tuuli. It is even better than I had imagined it would be.” 

Their conversation turned to business, and there was nothing more Effa could do. She took a step back and just watched Rozemyne talk. It was beyond frustrating to be within reach of her, but unable to actually hug her. 

Is there a noble out there who’s willing to give Myne hugs when she needs them? I’m really starting to worry about that now... Effa thought.