Returning to the Temple
Dinner was basically a gathering of the whole archducal family, with even Ferdinand and Bonifatius in attendance. Charlotte asked me what kind of place the Royal Academy was, so I passionately regaled her with tales of the library and of Schwartz and Weiss.
“Magic tools in the shape of large shumils, you say? They must be very cute.”
“Indeed. They are quite popular among the girls there. I need to provide them with new clothes as their master, and everyone has come together to think up designs. The current plan is to dress one as a boy and one as a girl, with both wearing Library Committee armbands. I plan to wear one such armband myself.”
“Matching armbands? I would love to see them walking around the library in clothes that match your own. I cannot wait for next year.”
Once my lively conversation with Charlotte had reached its natural conclusion, Bonifatius eagerly asked me about my ditter match. Knights certainly did seem to love ditter, and I could see Karstedt’s eyes gleaming with interest from where he stood behind Sylvester.
“I’m told you used a surprise strategy to beat Dunkelfelger,” Bonifatius said. “What’d you manage to pull off?”
“It was an unorthodox technique that will not work again. First, I had our knights hunt a small feybeast that could be bound with light without dying and that wouldn’t struggle too much.”
“Couldn’t your opponents have killed a feybeast like that in a single hit?” Bonifatius asked, frowning as he thought it over.
“Indeed,” I replied, proudly puffing out my chest, “which is why I hid it inside my highbeast for protection.”
“Inside your highbeast?!”
“Yes. Our opponents would need to surpass my mana capacity to destroy my highbeast and steal our treasure, so we were unlikely to lose for as long as it was kept inside.”
Given the dazed expressions on Karstedt’s and Bonifatius’s faces, it certainly seemed to be a strategy that most knights would never consider. Ferdinand, however, nodded along in agreement. “To think that bizarre grun could be used for such a purpose,” he said, sounding clearly impressed.
From there, I explained how we had launched a surprise attack on the enemy when they came back with their treasure. Bonifatius listened carefully, his brows knitted once again.
“It sounds to me like you ambushed your enemy in the middle of the arena like normal. How’s that a surprise attack?”
“The current trend in the Royal Academy is to play speed ditter, and so neither of our teams had played treasure-stealing ditter before,” I explained. “Nobody expected to be attacked while transporting their feybeast back, and thus it became a surprise attack.”
Bonifatius’s face hardened at my words, as though he found them completely unthinkable. “Slack,” he muttered. “They’re far too slack.”
I had to wonder what kind of a hellscape ditter games had been back when treasure-stealing ditter was the popular version to play. Just thinking about it scared me.
“However, our half-baked surprise attack was only half successful,” I said. “Ehrenfest’s apprentice knights lacked any coordination whatsoever, whereas Dunkelfelger immediately put their formation back together.”
Karstedt nodded in response, stroking his chin with an expression that suggested he knew what I was talking about. I decided to take this opportunity to make my request.
“Father, perhaps this is not the place to say this, but I believe some improvements need to be made to the apprentice knights’ training. Speed ditter has been chosen over treasure-stealing ditter for years now, which has led to a total lack of coordination on our end. Learning about cooperation and formations during written classes simply does not translate to actual ability.”
“That explains why the apprentices have been getting so much worse lately,” Karstedt replied. “There’s also the fact we’ve been prioritizing them less to focus on the archducal family’s guard knights. I’ll see about fixing this.”
The higher-ups in the Knight’s Order generally all served as the archducal family’s guard knights. It made sense they would slack on training the apprentices when they themselves were being constantly pushed to their limits by Bonifatius’s brutal training regimen. Plus, considering there had been an attack on the castle itself, training the guard knights was a much greater priority.
“I cannot say whether Dunkelfelger’s competence is down to its Knight’s Order or Professor Rauffen himself, but their knights displayed a level of coordination that we simply could not match,” I said. “Ehrenfest will struggle to win any ditter games in its current state, even with increased mana capacities.”
The only ones who had shown any sort of coordination were the apprentices serving as guard knights for the archducal family. I mentioned this, and a glint appeared in Bonifatius’s eyes; after all, he was the one who had trained them.
“Hrm... If you’re this concerned, Rozemyne, I can start training the apprentices next. I’d say the guard knights are all in good shape now.”
“Absolutely. Please do. You have done a wonderful job training Angelica and Cornelius, so my expectations are high.”
“Hm? Hm! You can count on me!”
Bonifatius accepted my request with a confidence-inspiring grin. Considering that the higher-ups no longer needed to endure his merciless training and could now focus on the apprentices again, I was certain our knights were about to get very strong very quickly.
“So the ambush failed, huh? What happened next?” Sylvester asked, encouraging me to continue my story. All eyes fell on me again.
“We then launched a second surprise attack. I figured that if we made Dunkelfelger’s treasure feybeast go on a rampage, they would no longer be able to hold back against it, and they would need to draw their attention away from our knights. That was why I grew their feybeast to a massive size.”
This reveal was met with a unified “What?!” from all those in attendance. Everyone widened their eyes, so I decided to elaborate.
“I poured a few drops of Ferdinand’s ultra-nasty—ahem—extremely effective rejuvenation potion onto a ruelle dyed with my mana, which I then asked Judithe to throw at the feybeast. I was sure it would eat the fruit on its own, but she succeeded in shooting it directly into its mouth. Impressive, no?”
Sylvester shot me a glance, as though he felt uncomfortable speaking at all. “So you healed the enemy feybeast and increased its size so it would go on a rampage?”
“Precisely. Cornelius and Angelica were able to recover their mana in the time our opponent spent dealing with the abrupt chaos and then launched full-power attacks at the feybeast that secured our victory.”
As an awkward silence fell over the room, Ferdinand alone nodded with great interest. “That is quite an interesting technique to use during your first game of treasure-stealing ditter. Your ideas continue to surprise me.”
“Professor Rauffen said it was reminiscent of the tricks you used to pull, Ferdinand. What were your own techniques like?” I asked. In response, he agreed to show me some of his documents on ditter strategies at a later point in time.
“An interesting approach for sure, but unfortunately not something we can use against the Lord of Winter,” Karstedt noted. I shrugged; that was too bad.
When I returned to my room in the castle after dinner, I found that a bath had already been prepared. My attendants started to undress me.
“Milady, we’re also going to take off your magic tools today,” Rihyarda said.
My body went heavy the very instant the tools were removed. I couldn’t move like I wanted to anymore, though I wasn’t completely infirm, so it was safe to say I was at least thirty percent of the way back to being normal. My legs wobbled, but I could actually stand on my own.
Rihyarda and Ottilie carried me to the bath.
“Lady Rozemyne, I am ever so grateful you accepted Hartmut as your retainer, though I cannot help but worry that my foolish son is being a burden to you. Has he been helpful so far?” Ottilie asked. She was Hartmut’s mother, and now that I thought about it, I could see the resemblance.
Holding back the urge to say he was obsessively working to strengthen my sainthood, I instead explained that he had compiled results from the previous Interduchy Tournaments, and taught Philine and the other apprentice scholars how to gather information, among other things. He was a fine senior apprentice.
“He seems truly obsessed with you, Lady Rozemyne. Please do not hesitate to stop him should he ever overstep his bounds. For your sake, I can easily envision him crossing lines that should not be crossed. That is why I cannot help but worry,” she stressed.
It seemed that Hartmut truly did see me as a saint, a noble who gave blessings without restraint or hesitation, who was brimming with humility and merciful to all. I steeled my resolve to shatter those delusions as soon as possible, only to be struck with a sudden realization.
Wait a second. Shouldn’t he have figured out the truth once he saw how I actually am in the Royal Academy? It didn’t seem that way to me though. Strange...
I floated around in the bath for a while before Rihyarda urged me into bed, forcing me to sleep without the magic tools on. “We had to leave them on while you were in the Royal Academy because there were others around,” she explained. “You need to spend tonight without the tools so that you can truly understand the situation you’re in, milady. You overexert yourself to the point that I struggle to even watch.”
I couldn’t argue back. The fact that I wore my magic tools at all times in the Royal Academy meant my recovery had seldom crossed my mind. Now that they had been removed, however, I couldn’t avoid the truth: despite having woken up two months ago, I was still a long way from being completely better.
“Spend today resting. You’ll be returning to the temple tomorrow, and from there, you’re going to be plenty busy again.”
“That’s true...”
I needed to write to Benno and the others so that we could meet and discuss everything that had come up. I also wanted to check on the orphanage and the workshop, the Dedication Ritual was coming up, and Ferdinand would certainly want my help with his paperwork.
“It is precisely because I must stand down once you leave for the temple that I am so concerned,” Rihyarda added.
“You have been with me every waking moment since I arrived at the Royal Academy. Please use this time to relax at least a little.”
“I am grateful for your consideration, milady, but I must request that you take great care of yourself. Here in Ehrenfest, your health is our greatest priority; Royal Academy affairs will no longer distract us from that.”
With that, Rihyarda put out the lights. It was an early bedtime for me.
The next day, I was told we were waiting for the blizzard to ease before we departed for the temple. I made the necessary preparations to leave at a moment’s notice, and then I started writing my letter to Benno.
In the letter, I explained that rinsham, hairpins, pound cake, and plant paper were all going to be discussed at the next Archduke Conference, since they were now trendy topics of conversation at the Royal Academy. I also warned that, when the blizzards calmed, the archduke was planning to summon the Merchant’s Guild, the Gilberta Company, and the Plantin Company to a meeting. To conclude, I mentioned that I was going to be in the temple due to the Dedication Ritual starting next Earthday, and that I would want to speak to him in person on the next clear day.
I wrote similar letters to Otto and Gustav, making sure to include the hairpin order in my letter to the Gilberta Company: “Please use the highest-quality thread possible to make a red-themed koralie hairpin for a girl to wear at her coming of age ceremony.” Once they were done, I stuck the letters in the pocket of my jacket and nodded to myself.
I now had some extra time on my hands. Rihyarda must have deduced that I was thinking about what to read next, as she grabbed the key to the book boxes and opened one in particular at Ottilie’s direction.
“Lady Rozemyne, you have been gifted two books by Lady Elvira,” Ottilie explained. “They were printed in Haldenzel.”
Joy welled in my heart over new books being introduced to the world. In my hands were two knight story collections made with plant paper, both with simple covers that contained only their respective titles—one read Hand-Selected Knight Stories and the other Royal Academy Stories. Packaged alongside them was a written warning from Elvira, saying that the books were never to be taken out of my room in the castle, as Ferdinand would require the archduke’s permission to enter it.
I started thumbing through the books. The first was a collection of Elvira’s favorite knight stories, only with the illustrations changed to reflect Ferdinand. Someone other than Wilma had drawn them, but it only took me a single glance to realize they were based on him. I wasn’t sure whether this was simply because the artists had taken inspiration from that one illustration Wilma had made as thanks for the art materials I once gave her or whether this was a direct request from Elvira, but Ferdinand was shining about thirty percent more brightly in these pictures than in any that had come before them.
Hand-Selected Knight Stories was all about knights, as one would expect, but every tale had a romantic twist. According to Ottilie, Elvira had sold the first volume in secret at a tea party with women from her faction. It was so well received that she had immediately begun working on Royal Academy Stories, a collection of school romance stories that Elvira and her friends knew from their time as students. Elvira had written the manuscripts herself, with help from some volunteers.
“I was unaware Mother has such literary talents. To think she’s been a writer all along...”
“Lady Elvira has loved to write compositions ever since her time as an apprentice scholar. She has been very lively as of late, saying she has finally found the perfect hobby.”
“Are you reading the books as well, Ottilie?”
“Oh, yes. I am quite enjoying them.”
Elvira had established plant paper and printing workshops in her home province just to make books about Ferdinand. Her enthusiasm was intense to the point of overwhelming, and each page I turned only made her dedication clearer.
As a slight criticism, Mother, not every boy in Royal Academy Stories should be modeled after Ferdinand.
Just as I finished one of the collections, an ordonnanz flew in and said it was time for us to leave for the temple. I shut the book before leaving the room with my retainers, who were coming to see me go. Ferdinand, Eckhart, and Justus were already waiting for me, so I moved to join them with Damuel and Angelica.
“Are you coming with us to the temple, Angelica? Should you really be on guard duty outside the castle before coming of age?” I asked. My eyes turned to Ferdinand, who looked down at the practically buzzing Angelica and gave a slight nod.
“While she hasn’t yet had her coming of age ceremony, she is already fifteen. She is motivated, she finished the classes everyone was so worried about... and most importantly of all, you need at least one female knight with you.”
My parents had chosen my retainers for me at my baptism ceremony, but I was now old enough that I needed to pick for myself. I had been told that I could pick a new adult female knight after the Dedication Ritual should I wish to.
“I can finally do guard duty again!” Angelica exclaimed. “Please let me serve!”
“If you have permission from both Father and Sylvester then I suppose I do not mind,” I replied, taking out Lessy. Ella climbed in first, opting to sit in the back as usual, while Angelica chose the passenger seat where Brigitte had used to sit. I explained how to attach the seat belt while Ferdinand arranged for his work things to be loaded onto the back seats.
Um, he’s pretty brazenly adding more boxes to my highbeast than I did for my luggage. That doesn’t seem right to me.
“Is everything ready, Lady Rozemyne?” Damuel asked. Once I nodded, he raised a hand to Ferdinand, who then looked at Norbert standing at the ready by the doors.
“Open the doors,” Norbert instructed.
They were flung open in an instant. The blizzard was certainly calmer than before, but snow continued to fall. The most I could see were a blue cape and dark-yellow capes as figures leapt into the murky whiteness. I slammed my foot against the accelerator, desperate not to lose sight of them, as those gathered called out their farewells.
“Lady Rozemyne, I can’t believe how comfortable your highbeast is,” Angelica said as we made our way to the temple.
“Eheheh. I know, right? Lessy is cute and practical. He’s the best,” I replied, glancing at the cooking utensils, luggage, and work stuff packed next to Ella on the back seats. “Just to note, my attendants at the temple are gray priests and shrine maidens, but they are just as dedicated to serving me as you and Damuel are.”
Nobles held a lot of prejudice toward the temple. Damuel had been assigned there as a form of demotion after being punished for not following orders, while Brigitte had become my guard knight precisely because she was resolved to suffer through anything for Illgner’s sake. Neither had been in a position to be particularly harsh toward my attendants, which was exactly why I was cautious about new guards entering the temple.
“I don’t understand... What do you want me to do, Lady Rozemyne?”
“I merely ask that those in my service refrain from treating the commoners with blatant disgust, if possible.”
“Um, disgust? Blatant...? I think I get it!”
She totally doesn’t!
“Angelica, I want you to be friendly with the priests and shrine maidens who serve me in the temple,” I explained as clearly as possible, eyeing her reaction all the while. In an instant, her forlorn yet beautiful expression blossomed into a genuine smile.
“Okay! I understand. You can count on me!”
When we arrived at the temple, my attendants greeted me with Fran standing at the lead. “Welcome back, Lady Rozemyne,” they said together before assisting Ferdinand’s attendants with removing the luggage from Lessy. Wilma was helping Ella with her work stuff, while Monika carried my personal belongings.
“Lady Rozemyne, may I help the others?” Zahm asked, also wanting to help Ferdinand’s retainers. I responded with a brisk nod; Ferdinand had packed more than enough into Lessy, who I couldn’t put away until it was all out.
Fran and Fritz moved to take the luggage inside the temple. “I shall go help as well,” Gil said, but I raised a hand to stop him.
“One moment.” I handed him the letters in my pocket. “Deliver these to the Plantin Company as soon as you can, while the blizzard is still weak. Tell them this is a letter for the Gilberta Company, and this for the guildmaster. He should understand the gravity of the situation if you mention that the archduke will soon be summoning him.”
“As you wish. I will leave at once.”
Gil was the closest person to the Plantin and Gilberta Companies out of all my retainers, since he had gone with them to Illgner and Haldenzel. He had seen their struggles up close and, as a representative of the workshop, was often wrapped up in the unreasonable demands of nobles. It was for this reason that, when I gave him the three letters, he paled and immediately rushed off.
Thanks to all the assistance we had, moving everything inside the temple was a quick process. I decided it best to leave the rest to Ferdinand’s attendants and moved to return to my own chambers with my attendants.
“Rozemyne,” Ferdinand said, pausing midway through giving instructions to the attendants carrying his boxes. “I am told you are not up to date with the orphanage and workshop, considering that you were moved to the castle so promptly after awakening. Prioritize communication with the lower city over assisting me tomorrow. Ensure that you are prepared enough to answer any questions about business with other duchies.”
“Understood.” It was my job to protect the gray priests and everyone in the lower city from being forced into unfair deals.
Nicola was already waiting with tea and sweets when I arrived at my High Bishop’s chambers, having returned ahead of me. I took this opportunity to introduce Angelica as the guard knight who was going to be serving me here in Brigitte’s place.
“I want to be on good terms with everyone who serves Lady Rozemyne,” Angelica said, a heroic sparkle in her eyes.
Fran and the others faltered somewhat, unsure how to respond to that. It certainly wasn’t a very noble thing for her to say, and so their eyes wandered about the room as they searched for an appropriate reply. It was only when Damuel started rubbing his temples and sighed that Fran knew for sure that her statement had been abnormal, and a forced smile soon worked its way across his face.
“I am Fran, Lady Rozemyne’s head attendant in the temple. It pleases me to know she has a guard knight as noble as yourself, Lady Angelica. I pray in gratitude for your assistance,” he said politely.
Damuel stood with Angelica by the door and started going over everything she would need to know when on guard duty in the temple. This was pretty much just an introduction—there were a lot of things she wouldn’t understand until she saw them and went through the motions herself, so a verbal explanation ultimately wasn’t going to be enough.
“Fran, I request a report of what happened in my absence.”
“Understood.”
Several children had caught colds in the orphanage but recovered without incident. Winter handiwork and printing in the workshop was going fine as well.
“The Plantin and Gilberta Companies are being summoned to the castle when the blizzards stop and spring approaches, so I intend to meet with them before the Dedication Ritual, as soon as the weather lightens up enough for them to visit,” I said. “Please prepare the orphanage director’s chambers such that a meeting can be held there at any time.”
Gil returned not long after I was done listening to everyone’s reports, completely covered in snow and shaking from the cold. I requested that he stand near the furnace so that he could warm up as he gave his report.
“Master Benno said that he’d expected the letter sooner or later,” Gil said. “He will contact both the guildmaster and the Gilberta Company and is likewise interested in a meeting once the blizzards start to ease.”
“I imagine he will send Lutz over soon to get a feel for things, so you should also help prepare the orphanage director’s chambers, Gil. Go and get changed first though. We cannot have you catching a cold now when there is so much to do.”
“Understood. As you wish.”
Just as Ferdinand suggested, I spent the next day looking over the orphanage, starting at third bell. During my previous visit I had only taken a quick look around, but this time, with the reports I had previously received from Wilma and Rosina, I started to ascertain what the children knew, who had picked up which skills, what their specialties at work were, and so on. I encouraged the artists to continue their practice and praised the apprentices who could now handle workshop labor on their own.
“I see Delia is taking care of the youngest children with Lily and Wilma,” I said.
“Lily can’t spend all her time looking after them, and it was only natural given my experience with Dirk,” Delia said, having been nodding along in agreement. She had spent her time in the orphanage as Dirk’s older sister and played a considerable role in raising all the new young children delivered to the temple. It was a relief to know she had found her place here.
“How has Dirk been lately?” I asked. “Has he had any problems?”
Delia fell into thought for a moment. “He’s become a bit rebellious lately, so he doesn’t listen to what I say all that much.” She turned around to where Dirk was poking his head around a corner. His reddish-brown hair swayed a little as he moved, and it must have been my imagination, but he actually looked a lot like Delia.
“I always listen to everything Delia says,” he called out. “I’m a good boy, Lady Rozemyne.”
“Geez! Don’t lie, Dirk!” Delia exclaimed. She sounded angry, but there was a playful smile on her face. It seemed they had developed a healthy sibling relationship, which was of course nice to see, but it also made me a little upset. I couldn’t help but wish I had spent just as much time with Kamil.
After we had finished talking about the orphanage, Fritz came to tell me about the workshop. He had primarily handled operations while Gil was absent from spring to autumn. It seemed the best workers always accompanied Gil, leaving Fritz with the arduous task of training new workers.
“We are likely going to be establishing more workshops once trade begins with other duchies,” I noted. “You will want to train an ace team of experts to send to these other locations.”
“Master Benno warned me I would need to do something of the sort. He said to prepare for when nobles began establishing new workshops en masse, so I’ve gathered the gray priests used to receiving direct orders from nobles. The problem is going to be getting them used to living with commoners,” he explained, at which point the gray priests who had been sent to other locations gave small smiles.
“The culture in the temple differs from that of the outside world,” I said. “I suppose that comes as no surprise, though, since there are cultural differences even among commoners; the lower city, Illgner, and Haldenzel are all completely dissimilar. I would suggest you send those who specialize in trying new things.”
The smiles the gray priests gave in response were so brimming with confidence that I could immediately tell just how much they had grown through their work in the outside world.
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