My Retainers and Entering the Dormitory
The teleportation circle filled with mana before shining with black and gold light, the feystone embedded in my brooch shining along with it. I saw the air in front of me begin to shimmer, and for a brief moment, I was hit with a feeling of dizziness. Rihyarda must have noticed my head wavering, because she reached out her hands and hugged me against her.
Just as I sighed in relief, I realized that the shapes of those standing in front of me had started to twist about like they were caught in a whirlpool. The sight made me blink in surprise and then rub my eyes as I tried to process what was happening. A few seconds passed, and by the time my vision was back to normal, everyone who had gathered to see me off was gone.
“Welcome to the Royal Academy, Lady Rozemyne. This is the Ehrenfest Dormitory,” came a voice.
In front of me was a wide-open pair of doors with two knights standing on either side to monitor the magic circle. The teleportation circle beneath me was the same as before and the room looked fairly similar, but I could tell this wasn’t the same place by the chairs positioned near the knights, the assorted magic tools nearby, and the fact that all the people who had seen me off were no longer there.
“If you aren’t feeling well, milady, let’s hurry to your room,” Rihyarda said, placing a hand on my back and gently guiding me out of the teleportation room. “Lord Wilfried cannot teleport until the servants have brought your things to your room.”
Once through the doors, I found myself standing in a waiting room similar to the one in the castle. This was where those wanting to use the teleportation circle would bring their belongings and wait their turn, though only Angelica and Cornelius were here right now, having come to greet me.
“It is good to see you have arrived safely, Lady Rozemyne.”
We left the waiting room together and stepped into a corridor lined with doors. It looked so much like one of the castle’s hallways that I genuinely doubted whether I had actually teleported to the Royal Academy.
“The Royal Academy’s dormitories were made using the creation magic of archdukes who have long since passed, so the aesthetic of a given duchy’s dormitory tends to resemble its castle,” Rihyarda explained. Each duchy’s dormitory apparently had its own style, with some being fancy, some rustic, some rounded and elegant, some sharp and crude, and so on. “That said, as you cannot enter the dormitories of other duchies, you will only see their exteriors when you are flying on your highbeast.”
It seemed that the brooches we were given during the gifting ceremony were specialized magic tools unique to our respective duchies, such that even if one was stolen, it couldn’t be used to enter the dormitory of another duchy.
“This way, Lady Rozemyne. Your tea has been prepared,” Cornelius said.
“Angelica, Cornelius, where exactly are we going right now?” I asked.
“The common room has been prepared to welcome new students.”
Those who teleported from the castle to the dormitory were unable to enter their rooms until their attendants had finished preparing them, so they waited in the common room in the meantime. Here, the senior students, whose rooms had already been prepared, would welcome their juniors.
“I’m leaving milady in your care,” Rihyarda said when we reached the stairs; then she went up to put away the luggage the servants had brought in.
“Lady Rozemyne has arrived,” my guard knights announced, prompting some upperclassman apprentice attendants to begin preparing tea and serving me sweets. When I looked around, I saw some of the other new students in my year nervously sipping their own tea.
“Please feel free to sit over here, Lady Rozemyne,” Brunhilde said with her amber eyes narrowed in a warm smile, her crimson hair fluttering slightly as she came over. She had been nine when I first debuted in the winter playroom, so she was now a twelve-year-old student in her third year. “My... Your outfit is simply magnificent. It plays on the Royal Academy’s current fashion trends while incorporating flower ornaments of your own design.”
“It was made based on the information you provided, Brunhilde. Your help was much appreciated, as I am not familiar with the trends of the Royal Academy.”
“It is my wish that your clothing designs and hair ornaments grow in popularity here in the Sovereignty. I would like for Ehrenfest fashion to dominate for at least a brief period while I am attending the Royal Academy,” Brunhilde explained. As a fashionable archnoble who stayed on top of trends, she apparently found it quite humiliating for her home duchy to be considered a backwater.
“I am certain that the trends you established in Ehrenfest have the potential to be just as popular in the Sovereignty,” she continued. “I previously asked the archducal couple whether I could spread them myself, but they forbade any such actions until you were attending the Royal Academy. I have been waiting oh, oh, oh so eagerly for you to arrive. This year will certainly be the best one yet.”
Brunhilde’s smile remained just as bright as she spoke about spreading sweets and fashion throughout the Sovereignty, her eyes burning with the same naked ambition I so often saw from Elvira. In all honesty, I found it a little overwhelming—I only ever made things when the thought struck me or when I needed something in particular, so all this business about trends was pretty much beyond me.
“Lady Brunhilde, you mustn’t just speak of your own interests. How can you expect Lady Rozemyne to relax?” one girl chided as she quietly stepped forward. Locks of emerald-green hair framed her face, with the rest tied into a long braid that rested over her shoulder. She was a bit shorter than Brunhilde, and the fact that I couldn’t remember speaking to her meant she had probably already entered the Academy by the time I joined the playroom.
“Very true, Lieseleta. Do forgive me, Lady Rozemyne. It seems I was so overjoyed that I forgot myself.”
“Think nothing of it, Brunhilde. I understand well that you are determined to strengthen Ehrenfest’s influence. That is an important trait for any archnoble to have,” I said reassuringly.
Brunhilde stepped back with a sigh of relief, at which point Lieseleta stepped forward to take her place. “My apologies for the disturbance, Lady Rozemyne. Please enjoy your stay,” she said with a polite smile before quietly leaving.
Lieseleta’s hair was tightly braided so that it wouldn’t get in the way when she moved, and her dark-green eyes shone with an intelligent light. The colors were all different, but she looked a lot like Angelica. They had to be sisters, or at least cousins.
I turned to look at Angelica, who was standing behind me. “Lieseleta certainly looks like you, doesn’t she?”
“Yes, she’s my little sister. She’s very competent, unlike me, so our parents compliment her all the time.”
Lieseleta seemed to be quick-witted and tactful: she was speeding all around the room, preparing damp cloths for those who had dirtied their hands with sweets, pouring fresh tea for the newly arriving students, and so on. She carried herself with restraint, saying only that which was necessary as she worked with an unfaltering smile. It all went to show just how well raised she really was. While she looked a lot like Angelica, the way she spoke and acted couldn’t have been more different.
Was that “skilled attendant bloodline” her parents mentioned fully concentrated into Lieseleta?
“Well, Angelica, was it not the case that you simply have a poor affinity for attendant work? You are an excellent knight, are you not?”
“That’s exactly right, Lady Rozemyne,” came a sudden voice, speaking up in defense of Angelica. I blinked in surprise, while Angelica frowned slightly.
“Lady Judithe...” she said, sounding troubled.
Judithe was one of the girls I had seen in the playroom three years ago, and I seemed to recall her being one year older than me. She had sparkling violet eyes and fluffy bright-orange hair that was bundled into a ponytail just like Angelica’s.
“Lady Angelica is an expert at enhancement magic despite being a medknight, and she’s so skilled that even Lord Bonifatius recognized her talents and took her on as an apprentice. She’s amazing. On top of that, she’s received your favor, Lady Rozemyne, and her manablade has a mind of its own. It can even talk. What other manablade can do that?” Judithe said, extolling Angelica’s virtues at length. “I want to raise a manablade of my own, but I don’t have the mana for it, and I can’t do enhancement magic either.”
It certainly was nice to hear my guard knight receiving so much praise. I listened with a smile before voicing my agreement. “Yes, it is amazing that Angelica has learned to use enhancement magic so well, isn’t it? Lord Bonifatius did tell me that she has grown much while I was asleep.”
“Exactly! I want to be strong enough for Lord Bonifatius to recognize my efforts too. Lady Angelica is my role model.”
Well, well, well... Looks like Judithe is a member of an Angelica cult. She pretty much worships her.
“Lady Judithe, please leave it at that...” Angelica interjected.
“You’re right. Lady Rozemyne can’t relax like this. To think you even take perfect care of your charge, Lady Angelica! I have so much to learn from you. If you’ll excuse me.”
It occurred to me that Judithe was actively interpreting Angelica’s words and actions in the best, most convenient way possible. I glanced up to see that Angelica was trying not to make eye contact with Judithe, while Cornelius was barely containing his laughter. It seemed that she was so unaccustomed to receiving praise that she didn’t quite know how to react to the avalanche of compliments.
“Judithe certainly is a good girl, isn’t she?” I said.
“...No. She is a weird girl, not a good one,” Angelica replied, correcting me with a thoroughly troubled expression.
I smiled and scanned the room. A thick carpet was spread across the floor and the walls were covered with tapestries, all of which incorporated the color of our capes. It was as I was looking over these decorations that I noticed a bunch of young students sitting at an isolated table. They were all staring at the floor, and during the brief moments they glanced up, I could see a profound sadness in their eyes; they evidently wanted to join in with the others, but something was stopping them. Roderick, who had worked so hard to get stories for me, was among them.
“Cornelius, why are those students sitting at such a distant table?” I asked, turning to look at him.
“Those are the children of nobles belonging to the former Veronica faction. Some of them were among those who tricked Lord Wilfried into disgracing himself during the hunting tournament two years ago. They are being kept at a distance so they do not endanger either of you.”
A great many people had been in the former Veronica faction, which came as no surprise given that it had once been the largest faction in the duchy. It hadn’t fully collapsed even after two full years, and a solid quarter of the students in the Royal Academy were now considered worthy of suspicion. This meant that around fifteen of the sixty-five students living in the dormitory were being isolated. It was for my safety, of course, but keeping them excluded would make it a lot harder for me to boost everyone’s grades at once.
“Is there anything we could do to get them on our side?” I asked.
“Unfortunately, this is simply how factions function. Eckhart has told me that Ferdinand was once isolated in a similar manner despite being one of the previous archduke’s sons, all as a result of the Veronica faction ostracizing him. Before Eckhart joined the Academy, Ferdinand’s only retainers had been those directly ordered to serve him by the previous archduke.”
I tried to imagine Ferdinand sitting alone, looking on at the Veronica faction in envy, but that mental image didn’t really fit him. He had almost certainly walked the lonely road of a mad scientist with glee, pleased to have people avoiding him. As he had mentioned, he had used all manner of tricks and excuses to stay in the Royal Academy, doing whatever he could to remain in the one place he could truly be free.
The castle was apparently a terrible place for Ferdinand, but he was pretty lively at the Royal Academy according to Eckhart. He surely tricked all sorts of people into “investing in the future” just like he did with me.
“Lord Wilfried has arrived,” came an announcement.
“Sorry about the wait,” Wilfried said as he entered with his attendants. His retainers prepared tea and sweets for him, and as they busily moved around, he sat down in the chair next to mine. “So this is the Royal Academy, huh? It sure looks a lot like the castle.”
“It certainly does,” came a sudden voice from behind him.
I turned around to see a slender, serious-looking woman wearing a calm smile. She looked to be somewhere between thirty-five and forty-five, and my first thought upon seeing her was that she reminded me of a scientist, almost certainly due to the monocle resting over her left eye.
“I am Hirschur, dorm supervisor of the Ehrenfest Dormitory,” she said.
It turned out that Hirschur was formerly an Ehrenfest noble but had moved to work in the Sovereignty after securing high enough grades. She was now a professor at the Royal Academy, where she held lectures on magic tools.
“Ferdinand contacted me for the first time in quite a while recently. It seems you are his prized disciple, Lady Rozemyne. I am quite interested to see what miracles a genius prodigy taught by the man who received perfect grades in the archduke course, knight course, and scholar course all at once will show me.”
“Prized disciple”? “Genius prodigy”? Um, when have those terms ever been used to describe me? And how am I possibly supposed to live up to such high expectations?
Before I could even consider how to respond, Hirschur shot me a smile and moved to the center of the room, where she began explaining the dormitory rules to the new students.
The girls’ rooms were on the third floor, the boys’ rooms were on the second floor, and communal spaces such as the dining hall and common room were on the first floor. Boys were prohibited from going up to the third floor, and apprentice knights would take shifts watching the stairs for this very reason.
The rooms at the farthest end of the second and third floors were for the archduke and archduchess, respectively. These were used when they visited for the Archduke Conference, which was held here at the Royal Academy.
“If you fail your exams and are forced to spend your spring here at the Royal Academy, the archducal couple will remember you for all the wrong reasons,” Hirschur warned. “Do take care, everyone.”
Oh no, Angelica... Oh nooo...
The girls’ and boys’ floors each had three rooms for archduke candidates. It was tradition for archnobles to use the rooms farther back while laynobles used the rooms closest to the stairs, but retainers were exempt from this rule, since they always had rooms by their charge. Laynobles and mednobles normally had to live in shared rooms, but those who saved up enough money could rent one of their own.
Meals were eaten in the dining hall on the first floor, with all the students being told when it opened. We were also expected to prepare our own baths in our own rooms, just like at the castle.
“The advancement ceremony and fellowship gatherings will be held two days from now, with classes beginning the day after. You have until then to adjust to dormitory life and ensure you are ready for your lectures. Remember—preparation is essential for all things. Any questions?”
“I have a question!” I exclaimed, immediately shooting my hand up. Hirschur looked my way, as did everybody else. “Does the dormitory have a book room?” I asked excitedly.
Hirschur forced a smile. “There is no book room in the dormitory, as the Royal Academy has its own full-fledged library. Incidentally, the library will open when classes begin. New students will be taught how to use it in order of duchy, and only then will they be allowed to freely enter.” She must have been able to tell how hard my heart was pounding in my chest, as her expression grew even more bemused. “You certainly are passionate about your studies, Lady Rozemyne. I am sure that an archduke candidate showing such dedication will encourage the others to work hard as well. I look forward to seeing what you accomplish.”
So you’re telling me that, as an archduke candidate, my reading will make other people read too? Oh goodness! I guess it’s my duty to read all the time then!
Rihyarda came up to me once Hirschur had finished her explanation. “Your room is ready, milady,” she said as she urged me along. The corridors were long enough that I was told to use my highbeast, and so I brought out my Pandabus and climbed into it.
“This is as far as I can go,” Cornelius said when we arrived at the stairs to the third floor. He couldn’t go beyond the second floor, given that he was a boy, and so Angelica would be my only guard knight from this point onward.
When we reached the third floor, I found myself in a long corridor lined with doors on both sides. My room was right at the back, which was much farther away than I had anticipated; I probably would have collapsed midway had I needed to climb up the stairs and walk the entire way without Lessy.
“This is your room, milady.”
The interior wasn’t much different from my room back at the castle. I could imagine this had been done deliberately so that I would feel more comfortable, and so that Rihyarda would have an easier time moving around.
“Now, milady, let’s decide on your retainers. Is there anyone in particular who has caught your eye today? Please select them from this list.”
I took a seat at my work desk—though I suppose it was technically my study desk here at the Royal Academy—and saw that there were already several sheets of paper lined up for me to look at. On them was a list of students that Cornelius had prepared for me, and beside each name was one of three marks representing how suitable each person was to be one of my retainers. Those with a circle were completely acceptable, those with a question mark I could choose but weren’t necessarily ideal due to various quirks with their family or status, and those with a cross were best avoided due to being untrustworthy. There were also students with Wilfried or Charlotte’s initials next to their name, indicating that they were already serving as their retainers.
“Let’s see here... Brunhilde, circle... Lieseleta, circle... Judithe, circle... Philine, question mark... Roderick, cross...” I muttered the names I recognized while looking down the list.
“Roderick was among those who tricked Lord Wilfried, so he is by no means fit to serve you, milady.”
“Is it not probable he was just doing what his parents told him to without realizing the implications? I think we should talk to him about this to see whether he deserves a second chance, like we did for Wilfried.”
“The point still stands that we presently do not know him well enough, so he cannot be trusted as your retainer,” Rihyarda said, instantly shooting down my suggestion with an argument I couldn’t refute. “I will arrange for any of the others to be your attendants. Perhaps Brunhilde and Lieseleta as apprentice attendants, and Judithe as an apprentice guard knight. If you so wish, you can also include Philine as an apprentice scholar—though as she is a laynoble, you will need an apprentice archscholar to train and support her. I’d suggest Hartmut, milady, if you have no objections.”
“Who is Hartmut?”
“Ottilie’s youngest son. He’s a friendly young man who loves talking to people. Much like his father, he’s quite good at gathering information.”
Hartmut was about Cornelius’s age and had entered the Royal Academy before I was even baptized, so I didn’t really know him, but him being Ottilie’s son and having Rihyarda’s recommendation meant I had no reason to doubt his abilities.
“With that settled... it would be wise to select an apprentice knight to take Cornelius’s place when he graduates. What about Traugott? He’s the child of my daughter and Lord Bonifatius’s son.”
“Grandfather’s and your grandson... I can only imagine how powerful he must be.”
“He is nothing compared to Cornelius, who was trained by Lord Bonifatius and taught your mana compression method, so I would say he still has a very long way to go.”
Traugott had previously been considered to serve Wilfried, but as nobody knew when I would permit Wilfried’s guard knights to learn my new mana compression method, he hadn’t been very enthusiastic about it. Wilfried had apparently struggled to secure retainers now that he was no longer guaranteed to be the next archduke.
“Moving on,” Rihyarda continued. “Having Judithe take Angelica’s place when she graduates is fine, but Angelica is not much of a teacher. What are your thoughts on this?”
“Rihyarda is right, Lady Rozemyne. I’m sorry,” Angelica said, though she didn’t sound at all torn up about it.
Rihyarda sighed. “Cornelius could teach her, but there are many things that are best left between women. You will want either a head female knight, or an apprentice female knight who can work with Cornelius to teach Judithe. Do you have any ideas, Angelica?”
Angelica merely tilted her head. It seemed she hadn’t considered the matter in the slightest, and she wasn’t about to start considering it either.
“Are there any female apprentice knights who could think in your place, Angelica?” I asked with a bemused smile. Her expression became serious in an instant.
“...Leonore is friends with Cornelius, and I think she’s smart.”
“You truly have no intention of ever thinking for yourself, do you?”
“No. None at all.”
Oh no... It looks like Angelica has given up on using her mind even more than she had two years ago.
“Master, you truly are foolish!” Stenluke scolded. “It is not always ideal to give such blunt answers. The more you study under your teacher, the more you rely on feelings and instincts over thought. This trend must be reversed.”
There wasn’t anything for me to add in that regard; this kind of strict lecturing was best left to professionals like Stenluke with his Ferdinand voice.
“Let us ask Leonore and then progress things further if she is receptive,” I said.
“As you wish, milady.”
Thus concluded the initial selection of my retainers.
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