Ascendance of a Bookworm (LN) - Volume 4.3 - Chapter 13

Angelica’s Graduation Ceremony

The graduation ceremony would take place the day after the Interduchy Tournament. The archducal couple had rooms in the dormitory, but all the other parents would need to return to Ehrenfest for the night.

That explains why so few came to watch the tournament.

So many consecutive days of teleporting required a lot of mana. For this reason, mednoble and laynoble guardians wouldn’t come unless they already knew that a relative would have a position of honor or unless their relative wanted to marry someone from another duchy.

Angelica’s father was more concerned about seeing her sword dance at the graduation ceremony than the game of ditter, so he would be coming tomorrow after taking a day off work. Incidentally, Angelica’s mother served as Florencia’s attendant, so she had seen the game today alongside her lady. Lieseleta had said that she would have tomorrow off.

Angelica really is the lone knight in a family of excellent attendants...

The graduation ceremony was due to begin at third bell; there would be dedication whirl and sword dance performances, and then the High Bishop of the Sovereign Temple would come to give a blessing. It was also a coming-of-age ceremony, though that was treated as just a part of the day’s events. In the afternoon, the graduating students would gather in the hall for the graduation ceremony while wearing their best clothing.

“I’ll be staying home for that too, right?” I asked Ferdinand in the common room after dinner. He had said that he’d be staying in the Royal Academy overnight, so I assumed he was going to be supervising me tomorrow as well.

“The same important figures who attended the tournament will be attending the ceremony. Your attendance would make all that we did today entirely meaningless. Or what, are you dissatisfied with reading books in the dormitory?”

I knew there was no chance for me to participate in the graduation ceremony after missing the tournament, but still, I was really curious to see Eglantine dedication whirl and Angelica sword dance at maximum power, the latter of which I had never seen since sword dancing was practiced in a separate location from whirling. The fact that these were once-in-a-lifetime dances only served to intensify my enthusiasm.

“I am quite happy to be reading, but I would have liked to see Lady Eglantine’s dedication whirl and Angelica’s sword dance. If only we had a (video camera)...”

“And what is that, exactly?”

“Something which would record the performances and then allow us to view them again later. Hm... Remember the magic tool that Professor Hirschur uses in her lectures? Think of it like that, but it captures motion as well.”

Ferdinand marginally raised an eyebrow. “Hirschur does have a recording magic tool; she used it once during a lecture, I recall, but it took such a ridiculous amount of mana that she shelved it soon after. If you were to move your mana to a feystone and activate it, perhaps it would last long enough for the sword dance and the dedication whirl.”

“Really?!” I exclaimed. I can’t believe there’s already a magic tool that works like a video camera!

I gazed up at Ferdinand with hopeful eyes, spurring him to take out his ordonnanz feystone with a displeased grimace. “The problem is, doing this will inform Hirschur of my presence,” he said, “although I suppose it cannot be helped if it is for the sake of keeping you docile. Pour your mana into these feystones; the recording will cut out partway through if you do not provide enough.”

Ferdinand handed me some feystones and then began sending his ordonnanz to Hirschur. In the meantime, I dutifully carried out my task as a battery; I gripped the feystones one after another and filled them with my mana. It was easy work, since my excitement was making mana course through my body.

Tralala. Tralalalala. I get to see the sword dance and the dedication whiiirl.

Just as I was beginning to wonder when we would hear back from Hirschur, I received my answer. Her response did not come via an ordonnanz, however; she threw open the dormitory door and rushed inside, carrying a magic tool and a bundle of documents in her arms.

“Ferdinand, why didn’t you tell me you were here sooner?! There’s so much we must discuss about the documents you sent me!”

“I imagined you would say that and abandon the Interduchy Tournament, so I opted not to contact you despite how rude that may have been. It is good to see you again, Professor Hirschur. Does the magic tool still work?” Ferdinand asked. His tone was more polite than usual, but he still plucked the tool from Hirschur’s hand and started fiddling with it.

“What do you need it for after all this time? I tossed it away long ago due to how much mana it requires.”

“The need arose to record tomorrow’s performances. Rozemyne will provide the mana, which eliminates that problem... Good, it still works. I appreciate your continued dedication to performing regular magic tool upkeep. If only you would send reports as regularly...”

Hirschur didn’t respond; it seemed that she had ignored everything that wasn’t convenient to her. Instead, she started spreading the documents she had brought out onto the table.

“Getting back to the library tools—these are all the theories I’ve crafted alongside the many researchers who approached me at the Interduchy Tournament,” she explained. “Some of them were researching the royalty’s magic tools in the Sovereignty and were familiar with what they saw, which would mean this part of the magic circle likely has to do with the God of Life. However, the magic circles they recalled did not seem to match completely.”

“Hmm, interesting... What manner of magic circles were they?”

And so the discussion between mad scientists began. The scholars listened on with interest, although their expressions gave away that they understood nothing of what was being said.

Once I had finished pouring mana into the last feystone, I swiftly exited the room; I cared more about the books that Ferdinand had brought for me than their incomprehensible ramblings about magic circles. I went back to my room, read, took a bath, and then went to sleep.

I headed to the common room after breakfast the next day, only to find Ferdinand and Hirschur still discussing things in the exact positions they had been in the night before. Only the increased number of strewn-about documents revealed how much time had passed.

Eckhart was leaning against the nearby wall with a determined grimace, presumably having stayed up all night with them. It seemed that even when Ferdinand had these overnight research talks, his guard knights were forced to accommodate him. Maybe this had been a regular occurrence for them when they were attending the Academy?

“Ferdinand, Professor Hirschur—good morning to you both. Are you still talking? Would it not be wise to at least eat breakfast?”

“Ah, Rozemyne. Morning already, then? Professor Hirschur, today is the graduation ceremony. I believe we should end this here for now.”

“The graduation ceremony, hm? And we were making such great strides too...” Hirschur said with a look of genuine vexation.

Ferdinand shook his head, exasperated. “You will have to make do for today. You were weeping about having no successor, but you have found a promising disciple, no?”

“Indeed. It took much longer than I would have liked, but there’s a promising student in this term’s batch of second-years. It’s unfortunate that they’re a mednoble with so little mana that they’re almost a laynoble, but in terms of improving designs, they’re quite excellent indeed.”

Ferdinand was a genius when it came to coming up with ideas and finding things to focus on, and this had led to him developing all sorts of unique, one-of-a-kind magic tools. However, because he had so much mana, he often invented things that only he could use. Hirschur’s new potential apprentice was currently absorbed in researching whether there was a way to reduce these mana costs.

“Thanks to this apprentice, I feel as though I’ve returned to my glory days. My time is filled with lively research and discussion. You said that nothing but boredom and melancholy awaited you following your graduation, Ferdinand, but did that come to pass? Have you found at least a little joy in Ehrenfest?” Hirschur asked, her expression swapping from that of a mad scientist to that of a teacher concerned about her pupil.

In a rare development, Ferdinand faltered. He gazed into the distance, a deeply nostalgic look in his eyes, and then answered with a hint of wryness. “My days are quite lively now. They are anything but dull.”

“That’s a relief. I will be waiting to hear from you, whether it be about new magic tools, research results, or even attempts at romance,” Hirschur said. She then gathered up her documents and swiftly left for the dining hall. It seemed that she needed to hurry and prepare for the graduation ceremony after breakfast.

Justus came in from the dining hall, as if swapping places with her. “What will you do now, Lord Ferdinand?” he asked. “Will you prioritize sleep?”

“Yes. Wake me up at second-and-a-half bell.”

“As you wish. Rest well... Eckhart, shouldn’t you get some sleep too? I got plenty since I’m stuck with Traugott, but it must’ve been rough for you having to deal with those two again.”

Eckhart glared at Justus and then followed after Ferdinand.

“Why did you leave the dining hall, Justus?” I asked.

“Aah. I was serving Traugott when Professor Hirschur came in, so I knew their research discussion had finally wound down.”

“Does that mean you abandoned Traugott in the middle of his meal...?”

“What choice did I have? Lord Ferdinand is much more important. He takes priority.” After that casual statement, Justus smiled and returned to the dining hall.

“Traugott is only allowed one adult attendant in the Academy like everyone else, and they’re prioritizing someone else,” Judithe whispered. “I’m starting to feel kinda bad for him, knowing that his meals and baths are being ignored for Lord Ferdinand’s sake.”

As students finished their breakfast and started filtering into the common room, the parents of graduating students began teleporting in. The apprentice attendants who had been waiting for them guided them to their children’s rooms as they came out of the teleportation hall. The parents needed to help their children prepare for the graduation ceremony—or rather, they wanted to see for themselves that everything was in order.

“Father. Mother.” Lieseleta welcomed her parents but they ignored her, moving to greet me before even thinking of going to Angelica’s room.

“Lady Rozemyne, it is good to see you. On this day, we—”

I waved a hand to interrupt them. “No need for a formal greeting. There is not much time today. Lieseleta, guide your parents to Angelica’s room—her laziness will no doubt cause her to slack in her preparations, and she will need the three of you there to keep her in line. This is an order from me.”

Her preparations for the sword dance might have been perfect, but she would slack on her formal outfit for the graduation ceremony and pick a plain hairstyle for the dance without giving any consideration to looking flashy. She just couldn’t be trusted to prepare on her own. With her parents and little sister watching over her as three skilled attendants, however, not even she could get away with slacking.

“Understood.” Lieseleta gave me a half-smile and then took her parents out of the common room. That solved the Angelica problem. I nodded to myself, only for Damuel to enter the common room for some reason. He looked around, walked over to me, and then knelt.

“Damuel... why are you here?” I asked.

“Lord Ferdinand sent an urgent request last night—due to most of your retainers leaving for the graduation ceremony, he asked me to serve as your guard today.”

It seemed that Ferdinand had planned to nap in the morning after spending an entire night discussing research with Hirschur from the very beginning.

“Now that Damuel is here, you can all go prepare for the graduation ceremony,” I said to my attendants. They got to work on their respective tasks, and after seeing them off, I turned back to Damuel. “How has the castle been? Is Grandfather doing well?”

His eyes turned vacant and the smile disappeared from his face as though he had remembered something terribly unpleasant. “Yes,” he answered after a pause. “Lord Bonifatius has been very, very lively. He charged into the Knight’s Order and spoke with the higher-ups about training the recruits. I imagine the apprentices will have quite the painful spring.”

Damuel spoke sympathetically, but I was glad that Bonifatius was so motivated. I could expect good things from this.

Second-and-a-half bell was when all the students, save for the graduates and their escorts, would be leaving the dormitory together. They would be preparing the hall before the graduating students arrived. Amid the crowd of attendants seeing their lords and ladies off, I saw Justus disappear to wake up Ferdinand. As expected, he was prioritizing him over seeing off Traugott.

“Rihyarda, this is just too sad,” I said. “Could you please help Traugott for a moment?”

“I’m afraid not. Putting aside that you have no other attendants right now, I cannot leave your side with so many people passing by,” Rihyarda explained, flatly rejecting the idea. I gave a curt nod; if she said no, that was that.

A short while after the students had departed, Ferdinand arrived back in the common room. He was with Justus and Eckhart, and to my surprise, Eckhart was wearing formal clothes that were unfamiliar to me.

“That is an unusual outfit for you to wear on guard duty, Eckhart...” I observed. “Is something happening?”

“I can hardly wear my armor when escorting Angelica, can I?”

“Whaaat?! You’re escorting Angelica?!” I widened my eyes in surprise, which made Eckhart widen his eyes in turn.

“You didn’t know? Hasn’t everyone in the dormitory been gossiping about who’s escorting whom?”

“Lieseleta seemed to know, but nobody else. We were all trying to guess who it was going to be, but Angelica only ever stared at us quizzically when we asked, so most of us just concluded that her parents had made a decision for her without telling her. When did you two get so close?”

Eckhart had come to the dorm with Ferdinand yesterday, but he hadn’t had any friendly conversations with Angelica since then, nor had they seemed to exchange any furtive glances. No matter how you looked at it, they didn’t look like a couple in love.

“We didn’t. Grandfather has been thinking about marrying Angelica to someone in the family ever since he took her as a disciple. He didn’t make his decision before the deadline, so she might not actually know who was chosen. She simply said to Bonifatius, ‘I’ll leave it to you, master.’”

Aah... Of course she left everything to Bonifatius and then stopped thinking entirely.

“This winter sure was a struggle, what with Grandfather demanding that Angelica be wed into our family...” Eckhart sighed.

Marrying one of Bonifatius’s descendants meant wedding into a family that was closely connected to the archducal family. It was a great honor under most circumstances, but it was also far more status than a mednoble like Angelica would normally receive—not to mention, while she was strong as a knight, she completely lacked the personality and socializing skills expected of an archnoble’s first wife. Her parents had desperately searched for any way whatsoever to avoid the marriage, but it was far beyond them to overturn a decision from someone like Bonifatius.

Exhausted, defeated, and anxious about their daughter’s future, they had suggested to Elvira that Angelica become second wife to one of Bonifatius’s grandchildren of a suitable age. They had initially tried pushing for her to become a third wife, but Bonifatius simply wouldn’t tolerate the idea; and in the end, after some backbreaking negotiations, she was secured a place as a second wife.

“The question was, whose second wife would she be?” Eckhart continued.

The plan had initially been for her to become Traugott’s second wife. Angelica had no thoughts of marriage herself—she was a somber, beautiful young woman who cared only about getting stronger—and so her parents had thought she would be better with a younger boy who wouldn’t marry her right away, unlike an adult man. Traugott had also been planned to become my guard knight, which would have made them a good pair.

Unfortunately, Traugott had resigned from serving me, and not under pleasant circumstances, considering that I had pretty much fired him. He had earned Bonifatius’s wrath and in turn lost any chance of marrying Bonifatius’s beloved disciple Angelica.

“We didn’t just have to talk about Traugott’s future at the family conference; with the graduation ceremony looming over us, we also had to rethink Angelica’s marriage partner. It ultimately came down to a decision between my brothers and me.”

“Given that they wanted someone younger, I guess Lamprecht and Cornelius were the first picks?” I asked. Eckhart must have been last in line, considering Angelica’s age.

“That’s right. But we didn’t want to involve Lamprecht while the Ahrensbach business is still going on, and Cornelius had said previously that he didn’t want to escort Angelica because he has feelings for someone else. It ended up falling on me, the widower.”

After so many years of sticking to his guns about not taking a wife until Ferdinand did, it seemed that Eckhart would finally be getting married. It was time to pay the piper... or rather, maybe it wasn’t? Realization struck me.

“And since Angelica has no intention of getting married for some time, you can avoid Mother pestering you about marriage without having to take any action yourself.”

“Precisely,” he replied with a smile. It was evident that he still didn’t intend to get married for years to come, so in a way, he and Angelica were a good match. The only problem was that Eckhart had agreed largely for his own personal gain, while Angelica had most likely agreed without spending so much as a single second thinking about it.

“Lord Eckhart. Thank you for waiting.” Angelica’s parents returned to the common room with a dressed-up Angelica in tow. She was clad in Leidenschaft blue to symbolize her strength, and while one might have assumed she was wearing a skirt at first glance, she was actually wearing culottes—the same piece of clothing used for riding gear. Their hem was long enough to hide her shoes, due to her having come of age.

I balked a little, especially when I saw her bundled-up hair in the style adult women wore. Angelica, with the added benefit of a light layer of makeup, looked so stunning that not even I, someone who had already spent so long basking in her beauty, could believe my eyes.

“I see they’ve made you quite beautiful. I’m looking forward to your sword dance,” Eckhart said casually.

“I hope to perform the best sword dance yet,” Angelica replied, smiling softly as Eckhart took her hand. In that moment, they looked like a heroic knight and a bashful, innocent princess. But no matter how perfect they appeared on the outside, it was the inside that I was really worried about.

“Are you sure you’re fine with Eckhart?” I asked before anything else.

Angelica nodded without any hesitation. “I said that I would trust my master with this, and this is what he has arranged. He has my full trust. Though I do feel bad for Lord Eckhart—he could be anyone for all I care, so long as I can continue to serve you, Lady Rozemyne.”

What a blunt, Angelica-like thing to say...

I was equally impressed and exasperated, but I accepted her reasoning. Her parents, however, went pale. “What do you mean, he could be anyone for all you care?! That’s incredibly disrespectful to Lord Eckhart!”

After lambasting her at once, they pleaded for Eckhart to rethink escorting someone so shameless. They were desperate to get Angelica out of the picture entirely, but Eckhart blew them off with a casual smile.

“That would make Grandfather angry with me. Not to mention, a girl so uninterested in love and romance is a perfect match for me right now,” he replied.

At third bell, Eckhart escorted Angelica out of the dormitory. They had with them the video camera magic tool that Ferdinand had made and the feystones I had packed full of mana.

“Please do remember to record Angelica’s and Eglantine’s performances, dear brother,” I reminded him as they went.

And with the last of the graduating students out of the dorm, it was time for me to resume my idyllic reading. Meanwhile, Damuel was going through some paperwork, in the process of being worked to the bone by Ferdinand.

Everyone returned after fourth bell. They had lunch, and then the graduating students going to the graduation ceremony checked their clothes to make sure everything was in order. Angelica, having performed her sword dance, had to go and put on more formal attire. She would be leaving as soon as she finished changing.

“Now then, Eckhart—show me the sword dance and dedication whirl,” I asked, since he seemed to be doing nothing while he waited. Rather than doing it himself, however, he handed the tool to Ferdinand; playing the video apparently required a great deal of mana.

“I cannot spare the mana right now, considering that I need to escort Angelica at the graduation ceremony,” Eckhart explained.

“So I have to wait, then?”

“No,” Ferdinand replied, fiddling with the tool. “It does not have to be Eckhart’s mana—you can display the image with your own, if you wish. Simply pour your mana into this feystone when it is ready.”

It seemed that some preparations needed to be made before I could use the magic tool. As he worked on that, groups of graduating students started leaving for the ceremony. Those escorting students from other duchies would be meeting them in tea party rooms.

“Angelica, congratulations on graduating.”

“It’s thanks to you that I’m graduating at all, Lady Rozemyne. I need to show my gratitude. Thank you ever so much,” Angelica said, bowing her head and kneeling before me. Her parents and Lieseleta did the same.

“Our entire house expresses its gratitude, Lady Rozemyne. It is thanks to the assistance of you and Angelica’s allies that she stands here today,” they said. It seemed that Angelica’s parents were quite moved about her graduation, since they had steeled themselves for her expulsion.

“Eckhart, take care to escort Angelica properly and not let any cracks show. I trust that you will know what to do, dear brother.”

He ruffled my hair; then he took Angelica by the hand and the two of them went on their way. The other graduating students left after them, and once the guardians and archducal couple were gone, only students unrelated to the graduation ceremony remained.

“Ferdinand, is the tool ready?” I asked upon my return to the common room. He gave a brisk nod in response. Several nearby students were peering at the video camera magic tool, since they hadn’t seen anything like it before.

“The recording is displayed on this board, so position it in a way that is easy for you to see. Then begin pouring in your mana,” he explained. There was a smooth metal board about the size of an A4 sheet of paper that gleamed all the colors of the rainbow when touched by the light. It looked similar to the guild card that I had.

I eagerly started pouring my mana into the tool, and the recording began on the metal board. The gathered crowd of students all made awed noises.

“It’s the sword dance,” one said. “Incredible. I’ve never seen a magic tool like this before.”

“Show me too, Rozemyne,” Wilfried said as he pushed closer for a better look. He and all of our retainers were squishing together behind me.

In all honesty, the video quality was rather poor—there was color, but there wasn’t any sound and the resolution left a lot to be desired. Still, I was glad to see the two performances I had missed.

“Is that Stenluke?” I asked.

“Uh huh. Angelica did the sword dance with Stenluke. She let sparks of mana fly with each swing as the blade glowed blue. It was the most breathtaking sight ever,” Judithe told me with a happy smile, her love and respect for Angelica oozing out of every word. It seemed that even in the Royal Academy, not too many people wielded manablades. Both growing and using them required mana, so basically zero mednobles used them.

There were other female knights participating in the sword dance, but Angelica clearly stood out among them. The sight of a young beauty freely manipulating a glowing blade was so alluring that it was hard to look away.

“That was splendid,” I said with a wistful sigh once the dance was over, but the recording of the dedication whirl began immediately after. It seemed that Eckhart wanted to preserve as much mana as possible, so there was no time for me to get lost in thought.

Eglantine began the dedication whirl with graceful hand movements. I could hear the music in my head, considering that I had practiced the same whirling myself, and started to hum as I watched Anastasius join her in the dance. He must have taken his practicing pretty seriously, as they actually looked like a good pair now.

Oho. Prince Anastasius is a lot better at whirling now.

I had thought it would be a bit awkward for there to be a clear skill gap between those playing the parts of the King and Queen gods, so it made me very happy to see that Anastasius had worked hard to match her talent. They warmly smiled at one another when their eyes crossed amid the whirling. It was such a heartwarming sight that I wanted to bless them from here.

Okay, I’ll bless them both. May their happy smiles be protected forever.

“Rozemyne! Take your hands off the feystone!” came a shout.

“What?” I glanced up just in time to see Ferdinand sprinting over. There was a surprising intensity to his expression as he grabbed my wrists and pulled them up above my head, in what was half of the praying pose. The light of a blessing shot out of my ring and flew off somewhere.

“What in the world were you thinking...?” he asked.

“U-Um... I just thought it’d be nice for Prince Anastasius and Lady Eglantine’s happiness to last forever. Oh, and I decided to bless them.”

My blessing had, to perhaps nobody’s surprise, disappeared in the direction of the hall. I could imagine the light had suddenly shot in and rained down on the couple midway through the graduation ceremony. It had presumably created quite a stir.

“Ferdinand... is it possible to take back blessings?”

“Of course not, fool.”

“Darn. Is the ceremony going to be thrown into a slight bit of chaos?”

“I do not know, but feign ignorance no matter what anyone asks you. All those present now, understand that this blessing is not to be spoken of. You will suffer a fate worse than death should anything leak.”

Ferdinand’s deadly serious expression made it clear that his threat was in no way a joke. The students, having had little interaction with him before, trembled in place as they vigorously nodded their understanding.

“To think you would manage to cause problems even while essentially under house arrest. Good grief...” Ferdinand rubbed his temples and let out a deep, deep sigh.

Sorry, Ferdie... I didn’t do it on purpose.