Ascendance of a Bookworm (LN) - Volume 3.3 - Chapter 6

A Tea Party 

Around the time that the kids were getting used to the playroom’s schedule, the adults finished the bulk of their initial information gathering. This meant they would now begin to focus on socializing and expanding their friendships. The power balance within the duchy had been dramatically shifted by Sylvester’s mother getting arrested, so everyone was looking for new connections, throwing themselves into strengthening their factions and securing their own safety. 

“These are the individuals who requested a meeting today,” Rihyarda said, bringing me letters to read. I had been doing so daily for the past few days. I glanced through all the requests, but those who wanted to meet Wilfried or me first needed permission from our head attendants and parents. The fact that I was being shown the letters at all was so that Rihyarda could tell me who was connected to whom, which factions to be aware of, and so on. 

Since I was being passed off as Rozemary’s daughter, it seemed that her family were the ones I needed to be most cautious of at the moment. They had apparently been going all around in winter society declaring that I was their niece. People were suspicious of these claims since their requests to meet me were being repeatedly declined, and Rihyarda had said that we couldn’t be sure what methods they might use in the future to try and contact me. 

“Is there anyone you would like to meet?” Rihyarda asked. 

“I would like to accept Mother’s tea party invitation. I have promised to give her a financial report on our earnings from the harspiel concert,” I said. 

A tea party attended by the faction Elvira was in would include Florencia, which would all but guarantee the permission of my attendance. And naturally, Rihyarda gave no protest over me spending time with my mother. 

“Very well. I shall inform Lord Sylvester. Is there anyone else among those you received letters from who you would like to meet?” 

“...Hm. I would like to meet Henrik,” I said, holding up a letter that I had been a little curious about. It contained an apology for last year’s trombe incident, but also expressed his desire to meet me directly, if possible, to thank me for saving Damuel from greater punishment. “He is Damuel’s older brother, no? He said that he would appreciate a chance to apologize and thank me in person.” 

I thought for a moment, then continued. “There is one other, too. I would like to meet Brigitte’s older brother. She has mentioned before that Illgner has quite an active lumber industry, so we might be able to work out some arrangements that aid the paper-making industry.” 

It was possible that the trees growing in Illgner differed from those around Ehrenfest, and some would ideally be good for making paper with. 

While listening to my eager explanation, Rihyarda plucked a letter from the pile and held it up. “Milady. If you meet with him, then you will need to meet with Angelica’s family as well. Otherwise you will be meeting the families of all your guard knights except her.” 

I had personal reasons for meeting Elvira, Henrik, and Brigitte’s older brother, but from an outsider perspective, it would appear as though I was meeting the families of all my guard knights. According to Rihyarda, exclusively not meeting with Angelica’s would risk giving birth to rumors that I did not trust her or she had earned my displeasure. 

“...In that case, I will meet with Angelica’s family as well,” I said. “It’s just that I know less about her than I do the others, so I think we might need to postpone it for just a bit.” 

I couldn’t meet her family until I knew more about them, and Rihyarda nodded in agreement with this sentiment. 

“Actually, Rihyarda—will I not need to meet with the families of my attendants, too?” 

“The only person in my family who would be eager to meet you is Justus, so no. He is a strange man who cares only for gathering the most bizarre and pointless things,” she said, wrinkling up her nose. 

As his mother, it seemed that Rihyarda viewed Justus as a problem child due to his lust for new information and materials. But in any case, she determined that there would be no particular reason for me to meet the family of my other attendants either, so we settled on just meeting with the guard knights’ families. 

Naturally, the first thing I was given permission for was Elvira’s tea party. But since it was a large-scale tea party with everyone in her faction being invited, it wouldn’t be taking place until a long time from now.

A few days later, I was given permission to meet with the families of all my guard knights. The dates were put in order, with Damuel’s older brother Henrik being the first person I was due to see. And so, I headed to the main building of the castle with Rihyarda, Damuel, and Brigitte. 

Ever since that was decided, Damuel had repeatedly mentioned that the thought of attending a meeting with both myself and his older brother was stressing him out, much like a student attending a parent-teacher conference, but it was necessary that he accompany us; Cornelius and Angelica were both at the Royal Academy, leaving him and Brigitte as my only guards. 

Upon entering the room where I was due to meet Henrik, I saw that he was already there kneeling. “Thank you for waiting,” I said. 

“I am Henrik, Damuel’s older brother. Lady Rozemyne, may I pray for a blessing in appreciation of this serendipitous meeting, ordained by the harsh judgment of Ewigeliebe?” 

“You may.” 

Only once we had finished our greetings did Henrik raise his head. He looked like a calm, honest man of gentle manners, which was exactly what I would expect from a scholar. Aside from his eyes and hair being a darker brown than Damuel’s, the two siblings looked just alike in every way. 

My assumption had been that he requested this meeting with the goal of establishing a tighter political bond with me, but that ended up not being the case at all. Instead, he truly did focus on apologizing for Damuel’s mistakes during the trombe extermination and thanking me for lessening his punishment. It had been highly likely that Damuel would receive the same punishment as Shikza due to his status, and as a laynoble, Henrik surely would have been executed alongside him. 

“I am deeply grateful that you would accept my foolish little brother as your guard knight despite the great burden he placed on you, Lady Rozemyne,” Henrik said. 

The fact that he had been punished at all would normally be a permanent stain on his reputation, but since I, as the victim, had stood up for him, the general impression of the event ended up being that he had just gotten wrapped up in Shikza’s wrongdoings. And on top of that, it would usually be unthinkable for a laynoble like Damuel to be assigned to guard a member of the archduke’s family. 

“I wished to express just how grateful I am as his brother,” Henrik said, visibly relieved. My meeting with him ended quickly, with his final words being that he prayed my good relationship with Damuel would continue. 

“He certainly cares a lot about you, doesn’t he?” I said to Damuel, who simply looked away like a student embarrassed by a teacher talking about their parents.

Two days after my meeting with Henrik, it was time to meet Brigitte’s brother, Viscount Illgner. After entering the room and finishing our lengthy greetings, I cut straight to the point. 

“I would like to discuss lumber with you, Giebe Illgner.” 

Viscount Illgner had red hair, green eyes, and facial features that closely resembled his sister’s. He seemed to be in his early twenties, and my first impression was that he looked like Brigitte, but just a little bit cooler. There was no doubt in my mind that he could put on a perfect noble facade, since he needed to survive as a land-ruling giebe, but he did have something of a country vibe to him. 

“I heard from Brigitte that you have an active lumber industry, but what kind of trees do you harvest there? What kinds do you grow that cannot be found here?” 

Viscount Illgner blinked in surprise, but then quickly recovered. “You are interested in trees, Lady Rozemyne?” he asked, offering a small smile. It was the kind of proud look that Brigitte had given when she spoke of her hometown—a sense of pride that one had in the land they ruled. 

“Certainly. The industry I have established involves the creation of paper from trees, so I am always thinking about experimenting with the wood from new trees to make even better paper than before,” I replied. “I would especially like to experiment with rare feyplants, if any are available.” 

“Paper made from trees, you say? That is... quite an interesting concept. We certainly do have species of trees not located around the city of Ehrenfest. I am not sure whether they will prove useful, but we also have unique feyplants,” Viscount Illgner said, going on to list off various names, only a few of which I recognized. 

The ones I did recognize were sturdy kinds of wood used for furniture and construction, and it seemed that the logs cut in Illgner’s forests were brought to Ehrenfest by boat via a river. 

“I don’t recognize many of those species; it seems that you have many types of wood available that are not found in this region. I would like to visit Illgner to have a look at these trees,” I said. 

“Milady, you mustn’t make such promises so casually,” Rihyarda interrupted with a stern look. We were in an official meeting here, so I wouldn’t be able to complain if anything I said was taken as a government promise. 

“...I shall take care, Rihyarda, but I certainly thought before making that promise. It doesn’t have to be soon, but I absolutely intend to visit a region with a prosperous lumber industry one day.” 

“Please select Illgner for that honor when the time comes,” Viscount Illgner said. “We shall welcome you with open arms.” 

I was busy enough that there was a chance the visit would not happen until years from now, but I wanted to improve the paper we were making someday, so the meeting ended with a promise for me to visit Illgner at some point in the future. 

“I am grateful beyond words that you would expend your precious time meeting with me today, Lady Rozemyne.” 

“I could say the same. It was a pleasure speaking to you, Giebe Illg—” I began, only to be interrupted as we were leaving the room. 

“Aah! If it isn’t Lady Rozemyne!” came a voice that I didn’t recognize. It seemed they had just been coincidentally walking down the hall, but upon seeing me, they walked right over. “I heard that you were of poor health, but it seems you have recovered entirely! That is wonderful, but I assure you, there are many nobles you should be building relationships with before dealing with country bumpkins like this.” 

I didn’t know who they were, but they were of a higher status than Viscount Illgner. Or so I concluded when the latter took a few steps back so as to not interrupt us. 

“I’ve thought this ever since I first saw you on stage, Lady Rozemyne, but you truly do resemble my little sister Rozemary,” the man continued. 

Oh, I see. This is one of the annoying family members of my pretend birth mother. 

I placed a troubled hand on my cheek and looked toward Rihyarda without replying to the noble, who had addressed me without introducing himself or giving a proper noble greeting. 

Rihyarda immediately stepped forward. “Cease this insolence at once.” 

“Lady Rihyarda. You call me insolent, but I am Lady Rozemyne’s uncle,” the man said. He then looked my way with greedy, hopeful eyes. “Would you please say a word in defense of your uncle, my dear?” 

But unfortunately for him, the only thing I viewed him as was an annoying obstacle to overcome. Not to mention that Ferdinand had been quite strict about me not directly speaking to nobles I didn’t recognize and hadn’t been previously introduced to. 

“I quite enjoyed our time together today, Giebe Illgner. I look forward to meeting you again,” I said to the bowing viscount, completely ignoring the unfamiliar noble before turning around. Viscount Illgner wouldn’t be able to leave the hallway until those of a higher status had gone, and while I hadn’t given the most graceful farewell, it would at least allow him to go. 

“Lady Rozemyne!” the noble exclaimed as Viscount Illgner walked away and I got into my Pandabus. 

But I had no intention of dealing with him. I had been warned that Rozemary’s family were troublemakers like Bezewanst, so in most cases, I would simply say that I didn’t know anything about my birth mother, and that Elvira was my true mother. Though in this case, the noble had spoken to me without a greeting or an introduction, so I wasn’t even going to say that much to him. 

“...Rihyarda, I mustn’t directly speak to nobles whom I do not know, is that correct?” 

“That’s exactly right, milady. You did well to remember that,” Rihyarda said with a smile, sending the noble packing as I began heading back to my room. 

We went ahead and had Ottilie report what had happened to Sylvester, Ferdinand, and Karstedt, and the result was all three of them agreeing that I didn’t have to deal with the noble. My birth mother’s name hadn’t been publicly announced at my baptism nor my winter debut, so all I needed to do was maintain the status quo without confirming or denying anything. 

I was a little worried whether it would be okay to just leave things as they were, but since all Rozemary’s family was doing was sending me letters every day requesting meetings, there wasn’t much else to do but ignore them.

Next arrived the day I was scheduled to meet Angelica’s family. I entered the meeting room to find a man and woman already kneeling in wait, who I could guess were her parents. That much was normal, but it was when I sat down that things took a strange turn. 

“We express our sincerest apologies for what has occurred!” they both exclaimed at once. 

“What...?” I replied, blinking in surprise at their sudden apology. I was completely lost. 

Rihyarda strode forward as I sat there in a daze. “What exactly are you apologizing for?” 

“Erm... Did Angelica not commit some unforgivable mistake?” the man asked. “We couldn’t think of any other reason why Lady Rozemyne would summon us for a meeting.” 

Wow. 

From my perspective, I was only meeting with them so they wouldn’t feel excluded, but to Angelica’s parents, this was a sign that their daughter must have committed some terrible mistake that would get her entire family punished. 

“We were surprised enough when Angelica told us that she wanted to become a knight before entering the Royal Academy, but when we heard that she had been assigned to guard the archduke’s adopted daughter, our vision practically went black,” the man continued. “That daughter of ours could never guard an honorable lady of such high status. We were certain that she would commit a fatal blunder sooner or later, and so when we received this summons, we just assumed it had finally happened.” 

Despite being born into a family that was known for producing attendants, Angelica hated studying, and while she would always do as she was told, she never acted unless explicitly instructed to. In other words, she was hardly suited to being an attendant. It seemed that her parents had spent their days in fear of what blunder she would make after being assigned to guard me. 

“I heard from Angelica herself that she does not enjoy studying, but it is not like she disobeys orders, and she expresses her desire to be a good servant to me,” I said to console them. Her actual words had been closer to saying that I should do her thinking for her, but her parents were high-strung enough that I decided it would be better not to mention that. 

The meeting ended quickly, with me assuring them that Angelica was working hard.

Yet more days passed after meeting Angelica’s parents, and finally, it was time for me to give a report on the harspiel concert. Since men were not allowed at women’s tea parties, only Brigitte was accompanying me today, with Damuel getting the day off. My only attendants were Rihyarda and Ottilie, the latter of whom was carrying a box containing financial reports which would be passed out to everyone in attendance. 

I had printed out these reports specifically for this tea party, ultimately going through many failed versions as Ferdinand shot them down one by one. This had proven a little costly but overall not too expensive, since I was using sheets of paper that were only half as big as usual and had only made enough copies for the faction that Elvira belonged to. It was a small investment to encourage them to continue donating to and supporting the printing industry. 

“Good afternoon, everyone,” I began. “I will now report to you all where your funding has gone. Please examine the paper that has been distributed to you; it shows how much money was earned at Ferdinand’s concert, as well as where these earnings went. Thanks to all of your assistance, the children of the orphanage have a place to work, and now have the resources to survive the winter.” 

But nobody seemed particularly interested in the report. They were surprised by how much we had earned in total, but it was so rare for people to say how they spent their donations that my detailed report mostly just raised a few eyebrows. 

As it turned out, they had gathered here hoping that there would be new illustrations available to buy, not because they cared about where exactly their money had gone. I could even see some women visibly disappointed upon seeing that their reports had nothing but letters and numbers on them, Elvira included. 

Once I had gone through the reports and opened the floor to questions, the women began asking me for more beautiful illustrations drawn by Wilma. 

“Lady Rozemyne, the portrait of Lord Ferdinand that you sold at the concert was truly splendid. I have looked at mine every day since,” one said. 

“I was hoping to buy one for myself today, having missed my opportunity before. When will they be sold again?” asked another. 

“Do you have any plans to hold another concert?” a third asked. 

...Everyone, I can see the glimmer in your eyes. Do you really want pictures of Ferdinand that badly? 

Given how passionate they were about this, I was pretty sure that I would be able to earn ten fortunes from them without much effort. And I absolutely would have, had I been allowed to. But alas, it was hard to imagine Ferdinand ever giving me a second opportunity to profit off his image. 

“Unfortunately, the full set of three illustrations ended up in the hands of Aub Ehrenfest, who proceeded to show Lord Ferdinand. Suffice it to say, he made me swear never to sell such illustrations again,” I announced. 

The cruel reality that there would be no second printing of the Ferdinand illustrations made the noble wives gasp and groan in horror. Particularly devastated were the weeping younger ladies who had lacked the money on-hand to buy the illustrations during the concert. 

“I even attempted to put a small illustration in the corner, but he refused me at every turn. I thought it over for days, days, and days... until eventually, I came up with the report you see before you.” 

“...Rozemyne, have you hidden something within it?” Florencia asked in amusement, glancing my way. 

Elvira leaned forward over the table, her eyes full of anticipation. “I was certain that you would think of something.” 

At that, everyone’s eyes fell on me. 

I cleared my throat and picked up one of the financial reports. “I thought it would be a waste of paper to have them serve as a financial report and nothing more. After all, paper and ink are far from inexpensive,” I said, cackling a little as I turned the paper around. 

At a glance, the report had what seemed to be random lines all over it. I had only shown Ferdinand the cover of my report, and even had he looked at the back, the lines would have simply appeared as accidental smears and smudges. 

“A knife please, Rihyarda.” 

After taking the paper knife from her, I cut the report in half, then began folding the two pieces into an origami shuriken as everyone watched. Once the folds were done, two distinct pictures of Ferdinand could be seen on either side of the shuriken, each wearing different expressions. 

“Oh my!” Elvira chirped upon seeing the shuriken. She then let out a heavy sigh as I turned it around to show the front and back in turn. 

“How do I do that?!” one noble lady asked frantically. 

“Please teach me!” cried another. 

The tea party had suddenly turned into an origami classroom. 

After teaching everyone how to fold the paper, I looked around at the gathered women. “This secret technique must be known only to those gathered here today. Should Ferdinand discover this as well, he will no doubt forbid me from ever printing anything else ever again.” 

“Indeed. This secret will die with us,” Elvira began. “And since we know everyone who has attended this tea party, should the secret ever be leaked, it shall be a simple matter to identify the criminal.” 

Thus, the tea party came to an end, the women all wearing such deadly serious expressions that, were Ferdinand to ever learn about the shuriken, I would be more worried about what would happen to the person who sold them out than my own punishment.