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Ascendance of a Bookworm (LN) - Volume 4.2 - Chapter 15




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An Order to Return to Ehrenfest 

I was finally feeling better. I didn’t know whether it was because the Royal Academy was unexpectedly exhausting or because I hadn’t yet built my stamina back up, but I had ended up so sick that it took three full days for me to recover. 

“I am truly relieved to see that your fever has gone down, milady. The past three days have been difficult to say the least,” Rihyarda said. She then went on to explain everything that had happened. 

First of all, Anastasius and his retainers had been exceedingly panicked about me passing out in the middle of our meeting. Oswin in particular had been extremely apologetic, considering they had forced me to give a report despite knowing about my weak constitution and that I wasn’t feeling well. My new retainers had also never seen me pass out before, and the sight of my unconscious body had disturbed them so much that they hadn’t been able to help at all. In the end, Rihyarda had needed to take care of matters herself, picking me up and leaving Anastasius’s villa. 

Even after getting back to the dormitory, however, I didn’t regain consciousness. Cornelius and Wilfried had gone pure white; my being asleep and not responding to any calls must have brought back strong memories of my two-year coma. 

“It seems I will need to apologize to them all...” I observed. 

“Your recovery takes priority,” Rihyarda said, stressing that I wasn’t allowed to leave my bed today either. “We do not want you getting sick again in the middle of apologizing.” 

“Right...” 

In return for agreeing to rest, I was permitted to read the books I had borrowed from the library. I ultimately spent the whole day relaxing in bed.

“I can go to the library today, right, Rihyarda?” I asked. She noted that the color had fully returned to my face and nodded, so I jumped out of my bed with joy. 

“We were told much about your poor health,” Leonore said, having stood guard in my room while I was sick, “but when I saw you faint, my mind went completely blank. I had no idea what to do.” 

With that, she opened the door so that we could go to the dining hall for breakfast, visibly relieved to see that I was better. It was common enough to see apprentice knights pass out during training, but this had been her first time seeing someone faint for seemingly no reason. Clueless as to why I had suddenly fallen unconscious, she hadn’t known how to react, and so she had ended up floundering in place. 

“Good morning, Lady Rozemyne.” 

Hartmut and Cornelius were waiting on the second floor. They too looked relieved to see me up and about again. 

“My apologies for having shocked you, Hartmut,” I said. 

“My heart veritably stopped,” he replied. “All those who attended the playroom during the year of your debut had already seen you collapse from a single snowball, Lady Rozemyne, but this was my first time seeing such a shocking display.” He had heard about my fainting from his mother, Ottilie, but still couldn’t help but be surprised. 

Once we arrived at the breakfast table, Wilfried gave Rihyarda a suspicious look. 

“As she spent all of yesterday in bed with nary a sign of a fever, it is safe to say she has recovered,” Rihyarda said in response to his silent question. 

“Alright then. Rozemyne, go back to Ehrenfest.” 

“Um, what...?” I asked, tilting my head. 

Wilfried sighed and said that he would explain after breakfast, meaning my confusion remained the entire time we were eating. Only once we were done did Wilfried and I gather in a meeting room with our retainers. 

“This arrived from back home. It’s an order for you to return,” Wilfried said, holding up a letter from Sylvester and Ferdinand. It contained three clear messages: 

“Hurry up and get back now that your classes are done. You keep causing unexpected problems one after another.” 

“Leave the Royal Academy at once. There is a mountain of things you must explain upon your return.” 

“The reports we are receiving explain nothing.” 

In short, my guardians intended to interrogate me the moment I was back in Ehrenfest, entrusting future socializing in the Royal Academy to Wilfried. 

“A-Absolutely not! I was told I could stay here until the Dedication Ritual, which means I’ve still got ten days left! I’m going to continue going to the library for as long as I can!” I exclaimed. I had already lost four whole days due to my poor health, so I was desperate not to lose even more. 

“Rozemyne, this is an order from Aub Ehrenfest himself,” Wilfried emphasized. 

“I-I’m regrettably too ill to return to Ehrenfest before the Dedication Ritual. It is essential that I lock myself away in the library, for the sake of psychological stability and physical enrichment.” 

“I get that you’re panicking here, but could you at least say things that make sense?” Wilfried sighed, folding his arms and giving me an exasperated look. 

“But this is just too cruel. Too sudden!” 

“That’s right! It’s much, much too sudden!” Angelica suddenly cried, throwing her full support behind my protests. “She can’t go home yet! The exam for my last class is three days from now! I’m going to pass it and get the fourth step of the mana compression method! Don’t go home yet, Lady Rozemyne! Please, just three more days! Stay for three more days!” 

Angelica gripped me in a tight hug as if to stop me from leaving. I hugged her right back; I needed her valuable support. 

 

“That’s right,” I added. “There’s Angelica’s test, of course, but I have also promised to deliver Prince Anastasius his music, and I need to thank Lady Eglantine for her words of concern. I will also need to fill Schwartz and Weiss with a great deal of mana, since I am going to be away for a lengthy period of time. In short, I have much to prepare before I can leave. I cannot depart so suddenly.” 

Rihyarda nodded in agreement. “Making the proper preparations is crucial. Wilfried, my boy, we will want to inform Prince Anastasius and Lady Eglantine of milady’s departure, for your sake.” 

“Fair enough. We wouldn’t want to leave any loose ends with royalty before she goes,” Wilfried replied. Since no retainers had been present for my discussion with Anastasius, he wouldn’t know what to say or do in my absence. 

Sensing that Wilfried was opening up to discussion, the apprentice knights who had been caught up in Angelica’s studies and the retainers of mine who needed Angelica to pass before they could secure the improved mana compression method all nodded in agreement. 

“We would appreciate this being postponed until Angelica finishes her last test,” one said. 

“Either she passes and graduates, or she shames Ehrenfest by dropping out,” added another. “The fate of our duchy hangs in the balance.” 

“Three days. Please, just three more days. Give her time to prepare,” pleaded a third. 

Angelica’s motivation would no doubt plummet down to nothingness without the mana compression method as bait—she might even be too devastated to finish her final class. It was for that reason that all the apprentice knights familiar with her failures last year were banding together in a united effort to keep Angelica on the narrow track to success I had created for her. 

“Angelica, are your grades so bad that you might not even graduate?” Wilfried asked. 

“Yes!” Angelica said proudly. “All of my written-class grades are just barely passes!” 

That’s not something to be proud of, Angelica... 

She was puffing out her chest with pride over how hard she had worked this year for the mana compression method, but it just made how empty her head was stand out all the more. 

“Lord Wilfried,” Cornelius interjected, “we will force Lady Rozemyne to return to Ehrenfest the moment Angelica finishes her test. We shall come together as her retainers, tear the book from Lady Rozemyne’s hands, and carry her to the teleportation circle ourselves. So please... Please, give us three days.” 

“Cornelius, isn’t that a bit harsh?!” I exclaimed. 

Either way, it seemed everyone’s desperation had gotten through to Wilfried. He fell into thought for a moment before looking up. 

“Alright. I’ll tell Father to give you three days to prepare, so finish all you need to do by then. You’re leaving next Earthday. Got that, Rozemyne?” Wilfried asked, looking over us all. 

Everyone gave firm nods, determination clear on their faces. I was still annoyed at having to leave a full week earlier than planned, but protesting on my own without any backup would get me nowhere. I hung my head and nodded in agreement as well. 

“Fine.” 

Since the magic circles used to transport people required a lot more mana than those used to transport inanimate objects, reports to Ehrenfest were delivered via boards and letters rather than people. There were knights serving as guards at the teleportation hall who would receive ordonnanzes from Hirschur and then transcribe her messages. It turned out that Wilfried was writing daily reports on all the, quote, unquote, “messes I had made,” since there were just so many. In other words, it was his fault I was being ordered to come home. 

Curse you, Wilfried! 

I had a letter sent to Ehrenfest asking for a replacement chef to work in the dormitory’s kitchen, since I was planning to take Ella back with me. It was too much to ask Nicola to handle all the cooking herself when I returned to the temple for the Dedication Ritual, and deciding which one of my personal chefs would accompany me was easy—no way was I going to leave Ella alone in the Royal Academy with nobody to protect her. 

“Wilfried, should I bring Rosina back with me also?” 

“I would prefer you leave her. Rosina is the most skilled musician here, such that even the music professors are impressed with her, remember? She’ll play a crucial role when we’re socializing.” 

Rosina was evidently someone they needed during the upcoming tea parties. She knew all the new songs that were popular in Ehrenfest, and she had started making more herself since arriving at the Royal Academy. Considering that she was good enough to earn the praise of not just the music professors but also Eglantine, her skill was essential for our duchy to gain as much of an advantage as possible. 

“In that case, I shall entrust her to you, Wilfried. Please take extra care to ensure she is not mistreated, and that nobody attempts to take her for their own.” 

“I know. She’s your own personal musician. We’ll make sure she’s treated well,” Wilfried replied, sounding confident. I decided to place her in his care. If she wasn’t coming back to Ehrenfest with me, there was a lot she needed to do here. 

“Well, Rosina, you heard him. You are to stay here to aid with socializing. Would you have the time to swiftly write out sheet music for me? One for the song dedicated to the Goddess of Light, one for the song dedicated to the Goddess of Wisdom, and one for the song dedicated to the Goddess of Earth. I would like to show the Goddess of Light song to Ferdinand as well.” 

“Please do ask Lord Ferdinand whether he would care to arrange the song himself,” Rosina replied. 

I was clinging to the faint hope that presenting Ferdinand the new songs dedicated to the Goddesses of Light and Wisdom would make him show even a little more restraint during my interrogation. The song dedicated to the Goddess of Earth, meanwhile, was the previously mentioned love song that caused some women to faint. We had already decided not to show printed goods in the Royal Academy yet, so it was essential that Rosina write the sheet music by hand. It would then be delivered to Anastasius alongside a letter of gratitude and the report mentioning my absence. 

The lyrics will definitely be appropriate to the situation, I thought to myself. After all, they were about “wanting to know your happiness” and “not letting things end without knowing for certain,” both of which suited Anastasius to a T. He just needed to practice and learn to sing it well—then he would surely make Eglantine fall for him a little more, even if she didn’t outright faint. 

I had been pretty rude to Anastasius, so I wanted to earn some points where I could. After a moment of thought, I added a postscript to the letter about my upcoming departure from the Academy. In it, I suggested that he tell me Lady Eglantine’s favorite flowers and colors so that I could order a hairpin for her. He would surely want to give her such a gift for her graduation ceremony. 

While I was at it, I also wrote a letter of thanks to Eglantine, in which I mentioned that I would buy some rinsham while I was back at Ehrenfest.


The day after Brunhilde had sent the letters for me, a passionate ordonnanz from Anastasius came flying into my room. 

“Excellent, Rozemyne! The song is divine! Eglantine’s favorite flowers are koralies, and I am told she is going to be wearing red clothes. Make her hairpin with that in mind, and...” 

The message continued, but all that mattered was that Lady Eglantine liked koralies—which were very similar to lilies—and that she was planning to wear red. The rest was just endless praise for her, which I was fed up with by the time the message had reached its third repeat. 

I sent Anastasius my reply before heading to the library. I wasn’t just going there to read though. Reading is important, of course, but my main objective was to refill Schwartz and Weiss with mana. I got the feeling I wouldn’t be coming right back to the Royal Academy even after the Dedication Ritual, so it was best for me to pour as much mana into them as possible. 

“Oh my, Lady Rozemyne. It has been so long that I had begun to worry,” Solange said when I arrived. “It is good to see you well.” 

I could understand her concern; I had been coming to the library in the morning and then leaving in the evening like clockwork for days, only to suddenly disappear after Anastasius came and dragged me away. 

“I was unwell for a few days, but it was nothing serious. My apologies for worrying you. I am visiting today to inform you that I will soon be returning to Ehrenfest, and to supply Schwartz and Weiss with mana in preparation for my absence.” 

“I thank you ever so much for your concern,” Solange said. She then called Schwartz and Weiss over, who looked up at me with their golden eyes. 

“Milady is leaving?” 

“Milady will be gone?” 

“I must return home on important business, but I shall come back to the Royal Academy before the Interduchy Tournament,” I replied, touching the feystones on their foreheads. I poured in an extra-large helping of mana before letting out a sigh. “That should do for some time.” 

“Thank you ever so much for supplying Schwartz and Weiss with mana despite your important archduke candidate duties, Lady Rozemyne.” 

My plan had been to spend more time in the library and enjoy my last reading session, but an ordonnanz from Hirschur stopped me in my tracks. “Lady Rozemyne, I would have liked you to tell me you are going back to Ehrenfest. Return to the dormitory at once,” it said thrice in her voice. 

As a summons from a dormitory supervisor, it wasn’t something I could just ignore—Hirschur would end up barging into the library to fetch me. I weepily shut my book, not wanting to bother my fellow library goers. 

“I shall take my leave before I cause any problems here. Schwartz and Weiss... Please continue assisting Professor Solange with her work.” 

“Okay, milady.” 

“We can help.” 

After saying my farewells and returning to the dorm, I found Hirschur waiting for me with boxes and huge bundles of paper. “Bring these to Ferdinand while you’re there,” she said. “They’re transcriptions of the magic circles sewn onto Schwartz’s and Weiss’s clothes and torsos, in addition to my analyses so far. Have Ferdinand decipher them before you return. Additionally, these are magic tools I had Ferdinand make for me in the past. They have been rather sluggish lately, so I would appreciate him fixing them.” 

As it turned out, the boxes stacked up were all for Ferdinand. She had lost contact with him since he entered the temple, so they had gradually built up over the years. 

All my retainers were busy going through Hirschur’s packages and preparing for my departure, so there was nobody to accompany me to the library. My last day before leaving was therefore a depressing one, during which I instead planned for the upcoming interrogation, sorting through the information everyone had gathered for me and preparing payments for that information. 

The knights were united in their goal to tutor Angelica for her written classes, my retainers needed her to pass to secure the fourth step of my mana compression themselves, and the other apprentices simply didn’t want all their work thus far to have been wasted. Angelica was just as determined: she threw herself at her final exam with deadly intensity despite barely being able to keep her eyes open, doing her best to live up to everyone’s expectations and make her dreams come true. 

Angelica’s efforts were ultimately rewarded when she just narrowly managed to secure a pass. She was very proud, and while her professor recommended she retake the test for a higher grade, she convinced them with teary eyes to let the matter go. 

“And now, I’ve finished all my classes!” Angelica declared, her face as bright as the sun. She could pass practical lessons in an instant, but she always ended up barely scraping by in her written classes. Thankfully she was now done with them. 

“I get the fourth step of your mana compression method and I can finally return to guard duty!” she continued with a satisfied smile. I would be returning to Ehrenfest with Rihyarda, my head attendant, as well as Cornelius, Angelica, and Leonore, who had finished all their classes. Judithe, Brunhilde, and Lieseleta were staying behind to work on their remaining practical classes, as were my scholars, since I wanted them to continue gathering information. 

“Philine, Hartmut, it will soon be time for socializing in the Royal Academy to begin for real. New information is going to be flying all over the place, so please do your best to gather what you can,” I requested. 

“As you wish.” 

“I can’t believe I’m the only apprentice knight who hasn’t finished all their classes!” Judithe wailed, having wanted to come back with me, but there was no helping the fact she still needed to study. Unlike Angelica with her unthinkably grave flaws, Judithe was neither particularly good nor bad when it came to her written and practical classes. She needed extra time, but with the socializing season having not even started yet, her progress was normal. 

“Lieseleta, Brunhilde, if you end up accompanying Wilfried to his tea parties, be sure to advise his attendants,” I said. 

“Understood.” 

After saying my farewells to my retainers, I went to the room with the teleportation circle, leaving the rest to Wilfried. 

“Everyone is eagerly awaiting your return to Ehrenfest, Lady Rozemyne. I have received three messages from Aub Ehrenfest today alone,” the guard standing by the door said with an amused smile, holding up the three boards in question. Each one carried the same simple message: “What’s taking so long?” Somehow, I could feel Sylvester’s annoyance through his angry scribbling. 

Only three people could use the teleportation circle at a time, so Rihyarda, Cornelius, and I stepped onto it first. The circle was filled with mana to activate it, and then it shone with black and gold light. The feystone in my brooch started to glow at the same time, the world distorted, and for an instant, I was struck by a wave of nausea. 

When my vision focused again, there were familiar faces lined up before me. Charlotte was the first one to rush over, her brow furrowed with worry as she peered down at me with damp eyes. “Welcome home, dear sister. I am told you spent three whole days with a fever. Are you feeling any better now?” 

“Hello, Charlotte. Yes, I certainly feel much better.” 

We stepped off the circle to make space for Angelica and Leonore before making our way to a waiting room. 

“Rozemyne. Good to see you doing well,” Bonifatius said. 

“Hello, Grandfather.” 

“I trained the heck out of Damuel while you were gone. Take a look.” 

Damuel was covered in cuts and bruises, but he certainly looked more muscular than before. His once feeble expression that had made him an easy target for bullying was now firmer and, to put it simply, more manly. 

“I can only imagine what you have been put through, but you certainly seem to have gotten stronger...” I observed. 

“I am very happy to see you return. Very, very happy...” he replied, the emotion so thick in his words that I couldn’t help but smile. 

Karstedt took this opportunity to step into the conversation. “Rozemyne, I felt my heart stop when I heard you participated in a game of treasure-stealing ditter,” he said. 

“Father...” 

He said that he was worried sick about me, but his eyes were pressing me for details. Before I could oblige him, however, Elvira stepped forward to contain his curiosity. 

“I heard the same and nearly fainted in shock,” she said. “How did you end up participating in a game of ditter despite not even being an apprentice knight? Should Cornelius not have stopped you?” With that last remark, she shot Cornelius a stern glare. 

“Mother, Cornelius is not to blame,” I said, trying to ease her irritation. “I insisted that I would participate.” 

“I tried to stop her but couldn’t,” Cornelius added. “And when Professor Rauffen eagerly accepted her participation, there was nothing more I could do.” 

“I can certainly see Rauffen finding that idea amusing...” Florencia said with a sigh. It turned out that he was responsible for Dunkelfelger having become so skilled at ditter. Florencia had seen the duchy’s transformation firsthand during Rauffen’s student days, and everyone simultaneously gave sighs of resignation. “You defeated Dunkelfelger, did you not? Rauffen will surely be requesting rematches by the day.” 

“That I will entrust to the apprentice knights. I shall participate no longer.” 

“I certainly hope not...” Florencia said, trailing off with genuine worry. It seemed that once Dunkelfelger found a worthy opponent, they sunk their claws into them and never let go. 

That is not something I wanted to know... 

I slumped over in despair, and that was when Sylvester grabbed my right shoulder. On his lips was a bright smile, but his deep-green eyes were contrastingly severe. I stiffened up a little. 

“You’re late, Rozemyne. I’ve been looking forward to you getting back,” he said. 

“Is there any particular reason you have been so eager for my return, Sylvester...?” 

“Yeah. This has pretty much been unprecedented. Hirschur has sent reports that might as well have been blank once a week for I don’t know how many years. Then, out of nowhere, she starts sending actual updates and nonstop questions. When you consider that I’m also getting baffling reports from Wilfried almost every single day, it’s no surprise that I’d want to speak to the person at the center of all this.” 

Wilfried was sending Sylvester regular reports, but I didn’t really see the point in them if they were so confusing. 

“Perhaps you should have summoned Wilfried to discuss improving his writing skills, rather than summoning me.” 

“It’s not his writing that’s baffling! It’s what you’ve been doing! ‘Rozemyne became the master of royalty-owned magic tools when she went to get registered in the library.’ It makes no sense at all. You’re coming to my office. Explain everything at once.” 

Mm... No, that really does seem like a Wilfried problem to me. 

Had he taken the time to write out every detail, the events wouldn’t have seemed so bewildering. As I mused over how to correct this, a hand gripped my other shoulder. When I looked up, Ferdinand was staring down at me with a frosty smile. There was no joy whatsoever in his golden eyes either. 

“Welcome back, Rozemyne. You certainly took your time.” 

“I’m not so sure about that, Ferdinand. There is still much time before the Dedication Ritual, so this return is quite speedy by my measure,” I noted, looking up at Ferdinand as I indirectly expressed my wrath at the library being so abruptly taken from me. 

His brow knitted in response. “I believe I told you to finish your exams as quickly as possible so that you may return before causing any problems.” 

“Did you now? I remember being forbidden from the library before finishing all my classes, but I cannot recall this order to return immediately.” 

We stared each other down with fake smiles until, eventually, Ferdinand narrowed his eyes. A thin smile remained on his lips. “There is much we have to discuss. By what circumstances did you end up in a personal tea party with Klassenberg and the second prince? Ehrenfest will end up absorbed into the second prince’s faction depending on the details of what happened and how you spoke to them, but I am sure you were fully aware of that and acted accordingly.” 

Eep! I’m sorry! I just thought the prince was super annoying! My focus was entirely on getting back to the library to read! 

“Now, shall we go? We have plenty of time before the Dedication Ritual.” 

“O-Okay.” 

And so, I was immediately kidnapped and taken to the archduke’s office by my three guardians. 



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