Prologue
“Now then, shall we discuss this elsewhere?” Rozemyne suggested, glancing toward the door to her hidden room in the orphanage director’s chambers. That was her signal for this formal discussion to turn casual, and so Fran guided Benno and Mark inside.
In this room, she could speak as Myne rather than Rozemyne the archduke’s adopted daughter, and the retainers allowed to follow her inside were all those who knew her from her commoner days. For that reason, Benno generally only ever brought Mark and Lutz to the temple. Damian technically knew her from when she was a commoner as well, but it seemed that she didn’t exactly like him very much, so Benno avoided bringing him when he could.
The lehanges sent from other stores weren’t particularly happy about not being brought to the temple to observe the negotiations, but Benno was holding them at bay for now by reminding them how lucky they’d already been to sell goods in the castle.
The lehanges’ll stop complaining when we start doing even more business there. It’s just that, in these kinda discussions, people being too subtle and overly flattering always gives Rozemyne the wrong idea.
On the inside, she was a commoner raised in poverty, which meant she didn’t quite have the level of common sense one would expect from a blue shrine maiden turned archduke’s adopted daughter. Even Benno had no way of knowing what might set her off on her next rampage, which is why he had to discuss things with her in frank, clear language. And worst of all, now that she was the archduke’s adopted daughter, every word she spoke carried an immense amount of political influence.
“Here is your seat, Master Benno.”
Benno sat in the chair that Fran offered him, with Mark standing behind him. Only once Benno had sipped the tea that was served to him did the discussion begin, and he made doubly sure to hold the cup with noble etiquette. Ever since Gil went to Illgner, Fran had started entering the hidden room in his place, meaning noble customs had started to take root even in here.
A sudden fear struck Benno. If we see even more changes like this, how long is the hidden room even gonna function as a spot for real-deal business discussions? Rozemyne needs to learn to understand noble euphemisms, and fast. Things could get real bad otherwise.
“So, what’s our business this time? I heard you finished some new kind of paper,” Benno said, breaking the ice as he set down his cup.
Fran began lining up some gleaming silky paper on the table, placing a letter beside it. Rozemyne’s regal expression crumbled in an instant, her golden eyes twinkling as she regarded Benno with a proud grin.
“Benno, this is the paper I just received from Illgner. Could you give it to Heidi at the ink workshop so she can run some experiments? It has a silky smooth surface, so I want her to see if colored ink will stick to it.”
“Alright.”
Despite having sent Lutz and everyone to Illgner, Benno had largely assumed they would teach the locals how to make paper and nothing more. Never did he expect they would finish making an entirely new kind of paper this fast. He picked up a sheet, feeling his lips curve into a grin as he rubbed its surface with his finger; assuming the ink did indeed stick to it, he could only imagine how many new products they could make.
“I wish I could do some research myself...” Rozemyne muttered.
“Hey, we’ve all got our roles here. Researching ink isn’t a job for the archduke’s adopted daughter. You just need to continue building up influence in noble society, all while staying healthy enough to not collapse. Can’t let some noble scuffles bring the printing industry to its knees before it even takes off, y’know?”
Rozemyne would spontaneously overstep her boundaries without considering the consequences, so Benno reminded her to stick to her role and not butt into anyone else’s work. That wouldn’t actually stop her if push came to shove, but he could at least say he tried.
“Making paper is a lot more fun than dealing with nobles, but I understand it’s my duty to protect the printing industry now that I’ve started it. I’m doing my best here,” Rozemyne said, puffing out her cheeks in a way that wasn’t cute in the slightest.
Truth be told, Benno knew that she was working extremely hard to survive in her position. Even merchants struggled to speak and act properly when visiting the castle, and yet here she was, a commoner girl stuck living as the archduke’s adopted daughter, forever surrounded by noble attendants. It took more than a little hard work to survive in that kind of situation.
“Yep, you better protect it. But anyway... This new paper is pretty firm, huh? What’s it gonna be used for?” Benno asked, whipping one sheet around a little, holding it up to the light to peer through, then rolling it up.
“Playing cards to start with. They’ll be much easier to use that way,” Rozemyne explained. Small wooden boards were currently used for the playing cards, but it seemed she wanted to start using this paper instead.
Doesn’t look like she’s even considered that this’ll take valuable work away from the Ingo Workshop, who make those boards every year.
Benno was conflicted. Should he point that out for Ingo’s sake, or just let Rozemyne’s creative spirit run free, knowing that real-world consequences would only stifle her ideas?
“Ferdinand seemed to like the harisen a lot, but I don’t really want him beating my head with it all the time. Oh, Benno, you’ll never believe this—Ferdinand was so mean to me,” Rozemyne began, launching into a fervent speech about just how cruel the High Priest had been when the paper arrived from Illgner.
This is just so... so petty!
Benno slumped in his chair, almost losing the will to live. He just knew that Mark was smiling behind him, and in all honesty, he felt stupid for ever taking this seriously.
Bleh. I guess no matter what happens, Rozemyne’s gonna keep inventing more weird junk that she wants for whatever reason. Losing a single job won’t put Ingo in too bad of a spot.
Concluding that he would simply let this matter rest until the day potentially came when Ingo was desperate for more work, Benno cut Rozemyne’s rant short by asking what price she intended to sell the paper for. She fell into thought, not seeming at all bothered about the topic being so abruptly changed.
“I think we should wait for Heidi to do her research before we consider the price. It really is going to depend on whether or not the ink sticks.”
“Yeah, I guess the research should come first,” Benno replied, handing both the new paper and the letter from Lutz over to Mark. As he did so, Rozemyne took out her diptych and looked it over, nodding to herself a few times. It seemed she had written down everything they needed to talk about.
“What’s the status of the pump for Hasse?”
“They’re moving the prototype they were planning to put by Johann’s workshop over to Hasse’s monastery. Johann got all weepy about having to wait for a new one. Can’t say I’m surprised, though—their first pump was given to the temple, then he had to make one for the castle, and now this. He was pretty depressed.”
“I guess Johann really needs to train someone else to make that part, hm?” Rozemyne said with a contemplative hand on her cheek. While the schematics for the pump were readily available, no other craftsmen had managed to produce one themselves; one part in particular was so precise that Johann was currently the only person able to make it.
“It won’t take long for someone to figure it out. Now that everyone knows you’re showing favor to fresh talent like Johann and Zack, all the young men have been busting their butts to hone their skills.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yep. Head of the Smithing Guild told me all about it. Zack spilled the beans about you wanting to give him and Johann their own workshop, so loads of people are doing their best to improve in hopes of getting one as well.”
Now that the pump schematics were public and the archduke’s adopted daughter was placing a ton of orders, the smiths of the lower city were all working harder than ever. Rozemyne’s golden eyes sparkled upon hearing that, and she broke into a happy smile.
“I will welcome any number of people as Gutenbergs, so long as they have skills as honed as Johann’s or creativity as impressive as Zack’s. Please, introduce them all to me.”
Benno’s cheek twitched. He could already picture it—Ehrenfest’s upcoming talents having their common sense torn to shreds one after another as Rozemyne turned them all into Gutenbergs. He needed to maintain the current status quo for as long as possible to keep the peace in the lower city. But even with that in mind, he didn’t turn Rozemyne down.
“...Alright. I’ll pass that along to the head of the Smithing Guild.”
The reason? He knew that as the paper-making and printing industries grew, the load placed on Rozemyne’s Gutenbergs would continue increasing to an overwhelming degree. Having more Gutenbergs would at least lessen that burden. Plus, Rozemyne’s ideas were profitable; if young craftsmen wanted to be knocked all over the place with unreasonable expectations, then that was all the more beneficial for him.
No reason for us to deal with all this alone. The more the merrier.
“Oh, right. Mind if we check out the workshop before leaving?” Benno asked. “We’re still getting regular reports, but without Lutz and Gil there, we’re not quite as in the know.”
Since the two boys’ departure, Benno hadn’t received any messages detailing the gray priests’ thoughts—whether that be what they wanted improved in the workshop, or ideas for new products that sometimes ended up pretty valuable. He wanted to see how things had changed now that their best workers had gone to Illgner, and whether they were at all unsatisfied with the Gutenbergs working elsewhere.
“I don’t think the gray priests will say very much to you, Benno, but I don’t mind you checking up on the workshop. Fran, please send word to Fritz.”
“As you wish.”
With that, Fran exited the hidden room. Silence fell almost immediately, perhaps due to their discussion having run dry, and Rozemyne’s eyes wavered slightly as she searched for something to say. Soon enough, she clapped her hands together in realization.
“Speaking of which, Benno—how’s Tuuli doing? Is her work going okay? She’s been going there every day now that she’s ten, right? She never has a chance to come to the orphanage now...” she said, slumping her shoulders sadly. Lutz being in Illgner meant he couldn’t pass letters to her lower city family nor tell her stories about them, so it was easy to guess she was feeling especially lonely. “I have so many letters sitting around that I’ve written but can’t send. Could you not give them to Tuuli for me?”
“Well, the Plantin Company’s separate from the Gilberta Company now, so...”
With the Plantin Company currently in the process of moving, Benno was actively trying to avoid going to the Gilberta Company in front of the lehanges from other stores, thinking it best to minimize contact until the transition was completely finished. It would stick out way too much for him or Mark to start giving Tuuli letters.
“I could give them to Corinna, but we really don’t want this to go public,” Benno continued. There was no problem with Lutz taking the letters from the hidden room and delivering them straight to Rozemyne’s family in the lower city, but having Benno give them to Corinna, then Corinna pass them on to Tuuli created too many opportunities for other people to see what was going on. “Having her give the letters to Tuuli would be way too conspicuous, since everyone’s gonna want to know what she’s telling the new leherl who came from a poor home. We’d be drawing a lot of attention to ourselves, and we don’t want that.”
“...You’re right,” Rozemyne said with a sigh, bottling up her loneliness once again. “I suppose I’ll make do until the Harvest Festival. It sucks, though.”
Benno knew how much Rozemyne cared for her family, so the mature way she was controlling her feelings actually made him feel a little bad. He scratched his head, trying to think of something he could say about them.
“Actually... Hey, how’s the Harvest Festival looking this year? Are you going to be moving the priests about again? I can get carriages for you if you need them.”
“I am, yes. Please do get carriages. We’ll be moving some from Ehrenfest to Hasse, and vice versa.”
Benno glanced behind him to see that Mark was already writing it down on his diptych. The two exchanged a meaningful glance; then Mark turned his eyes to Rozemyne.
“Lady Rozemyne, we shall organize the carriages and prepare food. Would you kindly write a letter to the gate requesting some guards?”
“Absolutely! I’ll get started as soon as I can,” she replied, enthusiasm returning to her voice. She must have remembered that this was a rare opportunity for her to see Gunther.
“Also, I’d recommend doing the orphanage’s winter prep with the Gilberta Company again this year,” Benno added. “We want to keep it as connected to the Rozemyne Workshop as we can.”
“Right. Oh, if you want to strengthen that connection, maybe I could ask Tuuli to take the gray priests shopping for used clothing? Tell her that I’ll pay for whatever clothes she needs in return. She’d end up wearing the same ones otherwise, even if they started getting tight on her, right? I wouldn’t want her sticking out in Corinna’s workshop.”
Rozemyne’s expectations were correct. Most of the seamstresses working in Corinna’s workshop were from wealthy families; she only employed workers with connections to the Gilberta Company, and since her store was such a large one, that meant hiring those from the wealthy side of society. Tuuli was the one exception—the single poor person in the workshop, hired to make hair sticks for the archduke’s adopted daughter. Corinna had warned Benno that she would initially struggle to adapt to the culture there, just as Lutz had.
“But Tuuli has Lutz there to help her, she knows how to clean herself with homemade rinsham, she’s cute, she has an honest personality, and she’s earning the store money with her hair sticks,” Rozemyne continued. “As long as she has good clothes to wear, I don’t think she’ll have any problem fitting in. Just ask Corinna and Otto to keep an eye on her for me.”
It was because of Rozemyne’s influence that Lutz was given time to adjust to the Gilberta Company and ultimately became a leherl in the Plantin Company, so hearing her say she would stay connected with the Gilberta Company for Tuuli made Benno glad for a variety of reasons.
“Alright. You sure love Tuuli, huh?”
“Of course. She’s my angel,” Rozemyne said proudly, puffing out her chest. It was then that Fran returned from the workshop with Fritz, everything having been prepared for Benno’s visit.
Upon entering the workshop at Fritz’s guidance, Benno and Mark looked around. At a glance, the working gray priests all seemed to be doing fine.
“Master Benno, may I ask what brings you here so suddenly?” Fritz asked.
“I just wanted to check up on the workshop. Sales this summer were real high, and we can expect a lot more books to sell at the end of winter this year. Lutz and the others have gone to Illgner, so I wanted to make sure there weren’t any problems.”
“It is all as my reports said—no major problems have occurred in the workshop.”
Noticing Fritz’s stiff demeanor, Mark gave a peaceful smile and nodded in agreement. “We certainly believed that things were running smoothly.”
Benno followed up with a merchant’s smile himself, trying to disarm Fritz. “Lutz always passed on minor issues and such that he heard about while working. We haven’t received news of any since he departed, so we were a little curious. Got anything like that for us? It doesn’t have to be anything major—just things you might want to be improved now that your best men are gone.”
Mark and Benno’s explanation made Fritz widen his brown eyes a little. “We improved the workshop many times at Lutz’s suggestion, but we never knew he was discussing those matters with you, Master Benno. There were many minor problems when Gil and the others first left, but we have since made various small adjustments and grown accustomed to the situation. In the future, we shall report any improvements we wish to make.”
According to Lutz’s reports, Fritz was the solid foundation that kept the workshop running smoothly, and he would mediate whenever Lutz and Gil got into a debate. The fact that he guessed Benno’s intentions and agreed to them after such a short exchange was very impressive to say the least; had he not been one of Rozemyne’s attendants, Benno would have tried to take him into his own store.
“If this long-term trip to Illgner works out, printing and paper-making will start spreading all across Ehrenfest,” Benno explained. “I’m guessing Lutz and Gil will be going to one city after another, which means this situation might just be your new standard. That’s why it’s in everyone’s best interests for you to tell us right away if there are any problems.”
Fritz thought for a moment, then smiled. “As long as Lady Rozemyne remains the High Bishop and orphanage director, everything should be fine. She readily accommodates our every need.”
Now it was Benno’s turn to be shocked by a realization. What the Plantin Company needed to worry about wasn’t how the gray priests were faring while Lutz and Gil were in Illgner, but what they’d do if Rozemyne stopped being the High Bishop and they lost the ability to communicate in her hidden room.
“Fritz, I’m going to be blunt—are there any rumors about Lady Rozemyne stepping down from her position as High Bishop?”
A stir immediately ran through the workshop. All eyes fell on Fritz, who shot Benno a resentful glare.
“No, but she will retire from the position when she comes of age and marries as the archduke’s adopted daughter. Everyone in the temple knows this. She cannot get married while serving here.”
Benno gulped at the presence of such a clear deadline, but the gray priests simply nodded in support of Fritz’s words and returned to their work. And with the workshop checkup complete, Fritz gestured toward the door, signaling that it was time to leave. Benno and Mark promptly obliged, with Benno speaking words of encouragement to a nearby apprentice gray priest on his way out.
“Fritz, are you sure Lady Rozemyne’s going to stay here until she comes of age?”
“I heard from Fran that she intends to remain High Bishop until then. However, this does not mean you will always be able to discuss matters with her as you have been. You will surely be forbidden from entering her hidden room long before then, as it is frowned upon to allow those of the opposite gender inside. Hidden rooms are very private, personal places for nobles.”
Benno was able to discern from this information that, under normal circumstances, entry would only be permitted to someone like a future spouse. If that was basic knowledge to nobles, then gray priests and a commoner merchant certainly wouldn’t be allowed inside forever. Rozemyne’s guardian, the High Priest, was only permitting it for the time being because she currently lacked the common sense of a noble, needed connections to her commoner life to remain emotionally stable, and still looked absurdly young on the outside. It wouldn’t be strange for their access to be revoked at any moment.
“...How long do you expect we’ve got before that happens?”
“I can provide no definite answer, but I would guess quite soon after she turns ten and starts attending the Royal Academy. At the absolute longest, you might retain access until her fiancé is chosen.”
There were only two years until Rozemyne turned ten. Benno had always known that the hidden room wouldn’t be an option for them forever, but that was an even shorter time frame than he expected.
Fritz gave a sympathetic smile, sensing Benno’s slight panic. “I am somewhat anxious about this as well. As her attendants, Gil and I have been instructed to continue operating the workshop even after she leaves the temple so that the orphans can continue to sustain themselves using their own money. But Gil still struggles to comprehend that Lady Rozemyne will one day leave the temple. It is therefore my duty as one who has experienced such loss before to prepare for the day that will inevitably come, and to that end, I intend to keep in close contact with the Plantin Company, regardless of Gil’s presence or Lady Rozemyne’s protection.”
Fritz’s voice conveyed none of the anxiousness that he claimed to feel, his peaceful smile exuding such strength that Benno couldn’t help but blink in surprise. He had worked with Fritz before and received many reports from him, but it felt like this was the first time he was actually having a real conversation with him.
“I intend to increase the frequency with which I visit the Plantin Company. Master Benno, I look forward to working together with you.”
“Same to you, Fritz.”
If Gil and Lutz being away on long-term business trips was going to become standard practice, Benno needed to strengthen his relationship with Fritz. The two men exchanged a glance, then firmly shook hands.
Upon leaving the temple, Benno and Mark got back into their carriage. It was annoying that they needed to use one when visiting the temple, but they were the High Bishop’s favored merchants—there was no getting around it. The doors closed, and only once the carriage was rattling down the road did Benno let out a heavy sigh.
“Mark, we’ve got two years. We’re gonna need to prepare for when we can’t discuss things in the hidden room anymore. Do you think we’ll make it? Gotta admit, I’m worried about Rozemyne here.”
Benno picked up Lutz’s letter. His absence alone made it hard to get messages to Rozemyne’s lower city family, and Benno was quickly reminded of just how sad she had looked. When access to the hidden room was inevitably restricted, she would get even fewer opportunities to properly speak with Lutz and Tuuli. That would probably place a heavy burden on her heart.
“There is nothing we can do about that ourselves, Master Benno. The most we can do for Lady Rozemyne is train Tuuli to be a personal craftswoman for the nobility, ensure Lutz is capable enough to visit the castle, and entrust Gunther with continuing to guard the priests on their way to Hasse. We have received powerful advice from Fritz—advice we must use as best we can. This is hardly different from our usual situation,” Mark concluded with a laugh. He was right.
Benno started to relax slightly. “You’ve got a point—dwelling on this won’t change the outcome. Besides, no matter how much we prepare, she always goes way beyond our expectations like it’s nothing at all,” he said, starting to cackle himself.
Soon enough, the carriage arrived at the Plantin Company, and the driver opened the door for them. When Benno and Mark stepped out, the cool air signaling the approach of autumn brushed over them.
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