The Dedication Ritual (Take Two)
“The Dedication Ritual begins three days from now, so I will be absent from the castle for some time. Please practice karuta such that you can beat me by the time I return,” I said to Wilfried in the playroom, having just beat him at a game of karuta.
At that, Wilfried stopped stamping the ground in a frustrated tantrum and looked my way. “Hm? You’ll be gone...? Everyone, this is our chance! This is our chance to beat Rozemyne!” he exclaimed, his focus suddenly switching from his recent failure to the possibility of a future victory.
It seemed that several other boys were inspired by his motivation, as they clenched their fists and shouted in agreement.
“Alright! Let’s hold a strategy meeting! Rozemyne, you go over there. And don’t listen in!”
Now that Wilfried had rivals to compete against in the playroom, his stubborn personality and hatred of losing was helping him to grow in a good direction. With his goal this winter being to beat me in karuta, he had gathered allies and started holding strategy meetings, which was as heartwarming as any innocent group of elementary schoolers having fun.
“For how long will you be in the temple, Lady Rozemyne?” Philine asked, her grass-green eyes full of worry. But I didn’t have a clear answer; there was a chance that this year’s Dedication Ritual would face a lot of problems with the former High Bishop unable to contribute, plus we needed to consider the chalices that Sylvester had agreed to fill without asking us.
“I’m not certain how long it will take to fill all of the chalices, so I unfortunately have no answer to give. If you have the time though, Philine, you can write out copies of this story while I’m gone,” I said, handing her a written copy of another story her mother had told her. My copy would be set aside to eventually become the base manuscript for a printed book, but I intended to take the pages that Philine copied and tie them together with string to make a unique booklet just for her.
“Thank you oh so much, Lady Rozemyne,” Philine said, her eyes shining as she took my manuscript. We giggled together, at which point several more girls came running over.
“Lady Rozemyne, Lady Rozemyne! I asked my mother to tell me stories as well,” one said.
“The picture books about the gods are wonderful, but I would like to read one about the knight tales that minstrels sing about,” requested another.
And so I spent the next three days surrounded by cute little girls, writing down the stories that their parents told them one by one while planning out my next book. They were good days indeed.
“Rihyarda, it’s a bit difficult to move in all this,” I said.
On the day I was due to return to the temple, we were beset by a terrible blizzard that made it near impossible to see. The snow was so deep that carriages couldn’t move through it, so we would be traveling by highbeast instead. Rihyarda had consequently layered me with warm clothing out of concern for my health, but it was so tight and heavy that I could barely move.
“What are you saying, milady? Considering your poor health, this isn’t nearly enough to ensure you are safe when riding through a blizzard this intense,” Rihyarda shot back.
“My highbeast has walls and a roof which shall block all the wind and snow, so it won’t be that cold inside,” I tried to explain, but no amount of sound logic could overcome the trauma that Rihyarda had experienced from me falling sick with fevers twice over the winter. I had gone on to tell her that she really didn’t need to worry about it since I usually got badly ill around five times each winter, but that just made her determination to avoid me falling sick burn even brighter.
I headed to the front entrance bundled in all the clothes that Rihyarda forced me into, at which point Norbert instructed me to bring forth my highbeast. I made my Pandabus as instructed, then allowed Ella, Rosina, and Brigitte to climb inside.
Ferdinand and Damuel, who were waiting for me to get my highbeast ready, were clad in full sets of armor, complete with capes. I was sure that wearing metal armor in the middle of a blizzard would just make them even colder, which actually made me curious enough to ask Ferdinand.
“This armor is a magic tool,” he scoffed. “Your worries are unfounded.”
Surprisingly, what looked like a normal suit of metal armor was in fact a magic tool with anti-cold and flame resistance mechanisms built into it. The strength of the armor depended on the quantity and elemental attunement of the mana within the feystones it was made from, as well as the quantity of the wearer’s own mana.
...Doesn’t that mean Damuel will have a much harder time than Ferdinand, who has a ton of mana and all kinds of feystones?
“Would you like to ride the Pandabus as well, Damuel? Ferdinand?”
“No, we are both going to be guarding you, so continue as you are,” Ferdinand explained. “Now, let’s go.”
Apparently, it wasn’t rare for the Knight’s Order to be dispatched to exterminate feybeasts that appeared in blizzards, so neither of them were bothered by the cold at all. It seemed that the Knight’s Order was a much harsher place than I had thought.
When the door opened at Norbert’s signal, Ferdinand and Damuel jumped onto their highbeasts and raced out into the blizzard. I followed close behind in my Pandabus.
“I was worried about traveling in the midst of a blizzard, but this is actually quite pleasant,” Rosina said.
Everyone had to agree. The snow wasn’t reaching us inside, and we safely arrived at the temple without incident. My vision had been entirely blocked by the blizzard, however, and so this was only the case thanks to Ferdinand and Damuel’s guidance; if not for their respective blue and dark-golden capes fluttering in the wind, I never would have found my way back.
Driving on snowy roads was scary enough, but flying through the air without any sense of direction was beyond dangerous and just plain terrifying.
I speedily put away Lessy as soon as we landed, then rushed into the temple with the snow catching my legs. The moment I was inside, Fran and Monika rushed over in a hurry to greet me. Naturally, the blizzard had been too intense for them to see us coming from afar.
“Welcome home, Lady Rozemyne,” they said.
“I have returned, Fran. Monika.”
It was nice to see them again after such a long time, but the casual chatter could wait.
“Rozemyne, once I am changed into my robes, I shall visit your chambers to discuss the Dedication Ritual. You need to get changed yourself and wait for me,” Ferdinand said.
“Understood,” I replied, most of my attention focused on the fact that neither he nor Damuel had snow on them despite having ridden through the blizzard. Meanwhile, Fran and Monika were both having to work together to knock all the snow off my clothes. Knight armor sure was something else.
Damuel went to his own room to change out of his armor, while Brigitte instead stayed behind to guard me. Fran went to bring tea to Damuel, and when Brigitte eventually went to go and get changed, Nicola brought her tea instead.
I had to get changed, too. A decent amount of snow had caught me in the short distance from my highbeast to the temple, so Monika scrubbed it all off my face and hair. She then removed the layers of clothing that Rihyarda had dressed me in, taking them off one by one like she was peeling an onion. Eventually, I was wearing my High Bishop robes, which were much comfier and easy to move around in.
Now that I was changed, I took a breather with some warm tea. It wasn’t long before Ferdinand arrived wearing his priest robes.
“According to my attendants, Kampfer and Frietack have finished preparing for the Dedication Ritual without issue. We shall therefore begin the ritual tomorrow on Earthday, as planned. Spend today resting in preparation.”
“Okay. By the way, do we know how much of an impact Bezewanst’s absence will have? And did Sylvester ever decide on what to do with the chalices he accepted?” I asked.
We were already suffering a mana shortage due to the lack of blue priests, so what would happen if we took on the additional chalices from Sylvester despite that? Even though we had told him to clean up his own mess—partially to discourage him from doing this again—I knew well enough by now that he would be too busy in noble society as the archduke to come to the temple just for the Dedication Ritual. Ferdinand had previously mentioned he had some kind of plan, but I wasn’t sure whether it had worked out.
“Sylvester and Florencia fulfilled their duty; the chalices won’t be any problem,” Ferdinand said, taking two feystones out of a pouch on his hip. They were a type used for absorbing mana, and I could tell that they were both completely full. It would take someone with a lot of mana to fill up just one of these.
“...Don’t tell me, you had them use their mana for this?!” I exclaimed in surprise.
“Of course not. They are both dedicating their mana to maintaining the duchy; I would never ask them to offer up their mana for something like this.”
“I honestly wouldn’t put it past you to do just that, Ferdinand. I thought you had stolen a bunch of mana from them as a way of making them take responsibility for their own actions,” I said, sighing in relief that my worst fears had been unfounded.
Ferdinand’s lips curled into a smirk as he rolled the feystones in his palm. “This year, we have two criminals at our disposal with much more mana than Bezewanst. In fact, as far as the temple is concerned, we have a larger bounty of mana available to us than last year. Leaving those two alive without executing them shall greatly benefit the duchy.”
Judging by that evil smile, Ferdinand had no doubt forced Sylvester and Florencia into stealing mana from Sylvester’s imprisoned mother and Count Bindewald under the logic that, if they weren’t going to provide it themselves, they would have to get it from somewhere. You could always count on Ferdinand to get things done, namely because he would thoroughly exploit every single tool available to him. And that was precisely why you didn’t want to make an enemy out of him.
“I will teach the blue priests to use the feystones for the Dedication Ritual, and with this much mana, we should be able to finish much quicker than last year,” Ferdinand continued confidently. “Teaching them may prove rather difficult, since their mana is so comparatively weak that they will not be used to handling this much at once, but it will make our future much easier.
“But in any case, I shall be going to teach Kampfer and Frietack how to use mana. You stay here and contain yourself. Consider yourself forbidden from visiting the orphanage today. Rest well so that you do not collapse.”
Under normal circumstances, I would need to be in the ritual chamber from start to finish as the High Bishop, but we would be prioritizing my health and mana offering over tradition this year. Instead, Ferdinand would be watching over the ritual proceedings as the High Priest.
“I expect that you will be summoned to gather your winter ingredient in the middle of the Dedication Ritual as well, so keep yourself as healthy as possible,” he instructed.
On the first day of the Dedication Ritual, I was bathed early in the morning and changed into my ceremonial robes. Unlike last year, my ceremonial High Bishop robes had a golden cord and a silver sash around my waist. Everything else attached to it was red, and my hair stick was the same one that I had worn during my debut.
Monika and Nicola dressed me under Rosina’s instructions, and I could tell that they were more used to it than they had been before; they dressed me much quicker than they would have in the past.
“All done. How does it look, Rosina?” Monika asked.
“Very good,” Rosina said, giving them passing marks.
All we needed to do now was wait for the Dedication Ritual to start. I received a report from Fran and Monika in the meantime on what had happened while I was gone, and soon enough, Zahm arrived.
“Lady Rozemyne, the ritual chamber is ready,” Zahm said, before guiding me there with Fran.
The High Bishop’s chambers were the closest room in the temple to the ritual chambers, so it was a much shorter trip than last year. I watched my feet as I walked, making sure not to step on the hem of my robes, and the gray priests by the doors to the ritual chambers opened them as we approached.
On the other side of the door was an altar just like there had been last year, adorned with the divine instruments and chalices. Fires had also been lit by the walls, both lighting the room and keeping it warm.
“Thank you for waiting,” I said, because unlike last year, it wasn’t just Ferdinand in the ritual chamber—Kampfer and Frietack were there, too. They were each carrying a mana-packed feystone, waiting with tense looks on their faces.
“...We shall now begin,” Ferdinand said, prompting me to step forward before kneeling before the altar himself, both hands pressed against the red cloth. Kampfer and Frietack followed suit, placing their feystones directly onto the cloth before covering them with both their hands.
I walked to Ferdinand’s side, then a few paces further before kneeling in front of the three of them. I then looked up at the altar before lowering my head and placing my hands on the cloth.
Last year, I had just needed to repeat the words of prayer as Ferdinand said them, but I would be the one leading the prayer this year. I inhaled deeply, then began.
“I am one who offers prayer and gratitude to the gods who have created the world.”
The three men behind me repeated the prayer, their deep voices reverberating through the hall.
“O mighty King and Queen of the endless skies, O mighty Eternal Five who rule the mortal realm, O Goddess of Water Flutrane, O God of Fire Leidenschaft, O Goddess of Wind Schutzaria, O Goddess of Earth Geduldh, O God of Life Ewigeliebe. We honor you who have blessed all beings with life, and pray that we may be blessed further with your divine might,” I chanted, feeling the mana being drained from my body as I spoke.
The red carpet sparkled from the absorbed mana, sending it shooting toward the altar as light. These radiant waves came from behind me as well, which sped up the pace of my mana being drained.
“That should be enough for now,” Ferdinand said.
I raised my head and removed my hands from the red cloth, counting the filled chalices while the waves of light briefly continued to flow. Last year, Ferdinand and I had filled seven or eight a day, but this time we had managed to fill forty chalices in a single go.
“At this rate, we’ll be finished by tomorrow,” I observed.
“We would, if the feystones weren’t almost empty. It should take about three more days for us to finish the Dedication Ritual completely,” Ferdinand said as he took the feystones from Kampfer and Frietack to look them over.
They were both mostly black now, signaling that there wasn’t much mana left inside them.
“Good work, you two. You may return to your chambers and rest,” Ferdinand said.
“You have been a great help this year. Rest for as long as you need,” I added, permitting the two exhausted fellows to leave the room. They had never dealt with that much mana before, and the strain had clearly gotten to them.
They expressed their thanks and exited the room.
“Summon all the other blue priests. We shall finish this all at once,” Ferdinand instructed the gray priests outside the door. They then went off as instructed, their footsteps barely audible.
“This will be a lot easier than last year if we can finish in just three more days,” I said cheerfully. Last year, Ferdinand and I had basically needed to fill every single chalice by ourselves, on top of the chalices from other duchies that Sylvester and Bezewanst had pushed onto us. I had been steeling my resolve to do all that while socializing with the nobles as well, so I couldn’t help but smile at my good fortune.
“Unlike last year, the process will not take over ten days. In fact, at this rate, we will undoubtedly be able to finish the Dedication Ritual before it is time for you to gather your winter ingredient. So long as you feel your mana and stamina recovering after some rest, we will have nothing to fear,” Ferdinand replied.
Filling the ruelle with mana had been pretty intense, and it took quite a lot to dye something like that. Last year, I had needed to force down that disgusting potion to recover my mana during the Dedication Ritual, so I was genuinely glad to have some leeway.
...Though we would have been able to finish even sooner without those extra chalices, I thought, glancing over at the ones that Sylvester had pushed onto us.
“Ferdinand, what duchy do the chalices that Sylvester gave us belong to?” I asked.
“Frenbeltag, the duchy to the west of Ehrenfest.”
I mentally envisioned a map of Ehrenfest, thinking back to how I had once heard that the archdukes of Ehrenfest and Frenbeltag got along amicably. “We’re on good terms with their archduke, right?”
“We have a good diplomatic relationship with them, yes. The problem is that both Sylvester and Florencia are weak to their requests,” Ferdinand replied.
Up until now, Ehrenfest had taken a diplomatic approach with Frenbeltag, requesting favorable terms and refusing them based on the time and situation. But according to Ferdinand, both Sylvester and Florencia would be dominated in future discussions unless he personally accompanied them.
“I can understand Sylvester, but Florencia as well? Really?”
“Frenbeltag’s archduke is the older brother of Florencia, and his wife the older sister of Sylvester. As younger siblings, the two find it hard to stand their ground against them.”
As Ferdinand explained, Florencia was the younger sister of Frenbeltag’s archduke, having married into Ehrenfest herself, while Sylvester’s second oldest sister had married into Frenbeltag. What’s more, unlike Ehrenfest, Frenbeltag had gotten completely wrapped up in the civil war that had occurred several years ago, which had led to the previous aub getting executed. Florencia’s older brother had subsequently inherited the position, and was desperately trying to lead the duchy into a safe recovery.
In other words, they were having a lot more trouble than Ehrenfest, and in more ways than one.
“They are such close siblings that they wish to help them, but it has been up to me to follow up on their concessions. You saved me from repeating that once again this year, Rozemyne.”
“Ferdinand, should I take that to mean you once again intend to use me as a weapon against Sylvester in the future?” I asked, glaring up at him.
He simply raised an eyebrow, completely unfazed. “You are the High Bishop, whereas I am merely a humble High Priest. How could I ever defy you?”
“Ferdinand, I think you should look up the word ‘humble’ in a dictionary; it’s rare for you to misremember something so horribly.”
The blue priests arrived to see Ferdinand and I menacingly chuckling to each other. They froze in the doorway, fear evident on their faces, so Ferdinand gestured for me to leave.
“You may return to your chambers and rest now, High Bishop.”
“And so I shall. I pray the rest of the ritual goes well,” I said, smiling politely at the other blue priests before returning to my chambers.
When I returned, I called Monika and had her change me back into my normal robes.
“Fran, it seems that the Dedication Ritual shall be ending sooner than expected. I will be returning to the castle earlier as well,” I said.
“Do you know when that will be?” he asked.
“Ferdinand mentioned that it would take three more days, but that’s as much as I know. Oh, and he said that I would need to go with him to gather materials next Earthday.”
Fran wrote all that down on his diptych, then placed a hand on his chin thoughtfully. “This will be much less of a burden on you than our initial plan of having you leave the ritual midway through to gather materials, then return and continue your participation. The High Priest had mentioned preparing many potions, but it seems they will go unused,” Fran commented while looking at a box filled with the ultra-nasty potions.
I gave a big nod. “I am also very pleased about that.”
“In which case, Lady Rozemyne, would you care to look over these documents while you are in the temple?” Fran asked, bringing over the letters and documents that had piled up while I was staying in the castle. It was simple work that mostly just required me to read, so I happily obliged.
Most of the letters were simple, formal messages thanking me for my participation in the Harvest Festival, but there were a few meant for Bezewanst mixed in as well.
“...Is this from his special someone?” I wondered aloud.
One in particular looked like another of his secret love letters. I wasn’t confident in my handwriting recognition skills, but it definitely seemed pretty similar. The first line said something along the lines of: “There is something I must ask of you. Please, you are the only one I can count on.”
...Well, that’s pretty unfortunate for you.
There wasn’t any way for her to see Bezewanst now that he was dead. And not only that, but the meeting date that she had requested had long since passed. I crossed my arms in thought, facing the letter with no name or sending address.
“For now, I’ll write a response explaining that Bezewanst has passed on, and then ask Ferdinand how to go about identifying the sender so that I know where to send it,” I said.
Parchment for a reply had been included alongside the letter, so I wrote down my normal response onto it—the same message I gave to everyone who sent a letter addressed to Bezewanst. After a lengthy introduction, I wrote that the former High Bishop had climbed the towering stairway, then wrote a short conclusion. His secret girlfriend seemed to be a noble, so she would probably understand without issue, unlike Hasse’s mayor.
“Okay. That should do it.”
For now, I just needed to set aside my pen and wait for the ink to dry. But the second I folded the letter in half and put it into the envelope, mana started flowing into it from my ring.
“Eek?!” I cried out in surprise.
Once the letter and my reply had finished sucking up mana, they turned into birds similar to an ordonnanz and flew off.
“Lady Rozemyne, are you okay?” Brigitte asked.
“Yes. Thank you, Brigitte. I was just surprised. I didn’t realize they were magic tools.”
To think they could be infused with mana like that. If you could send a response back to the sender simply by using mana, then it wouldn’t be necessary to write your name or address at all.
“Please inform Ferdinand when the Dedication Ritual is over. I think I’m going to need to tell him about this,” I continued.
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