Ascendance of a Bookworm (LN) - Volume 4.7 - Chapter SS

Speaking at the Gazebo

It was the Earthday right after Lady Rozemyne returned to Ehrenfest, and in a meeting room in the scholar building was a gathering of apprentice archscholars from all duchies ranked tenth and above. Naturally, this was where her sudden absence would receive the most attention, as she was the starter of so many trends.

“Pardon?” I asked. “Lady Rozemyne has already returned to her duchy?”

“Yes, because she collapsed twice in quick succession. It was the archduke himself who summoned her back,” Hartmut informed those who had gathered for the meeting, looking slightly concerned.

I had seen Lady Rozemyne collapse myself while attending a tea party with Lady Hannelore, and I also knew that a prince had been in attendance. I was here at this information-exchange meeting in the hope of asking how Lady Rozemyne was doing, but it seemed that Hartmut was carefully controlling how much was known. He intended to publicize nothing more than the fact she had returned to Ehrenfest due to poor health, as she had done last year.

But will everyone be satisfied with that, I wonder?

Lady Rozemyne was the source of so many Ehrenfest trends, and all talk of them being mere fads had soon disappeared when her duchy formed trade deals with Klassenberg and the Sovereignty. Furthermore, while the only new foods they were serving at tea parties were sweets, those invited to Ehrenfest meals at the Archduke Conference were said to have been shocked by the enticing dishes they were offered.

As a result, Ehrenfest’s rank had risen dramatically, and the top-ranking duchies who had failed to secure trade deals with them were now striving to at least establish connections. Most had rarely socialized with Ehrenfest due to its neutrality during the civil war, but now it was getting closer and closer to the Sovereignty, and many wanted to learn as much as they could about Lady Rozemyne, the one responsible for this abrupt shift. I observed my surroundings, wondering whether I should reveal the information that only Dunkelfelger knew.

“Do we know whether Lady Rozemyne will miss the Interduchy Tournament again this year?” an apprentice archscholar asked.

“It will depend on what her doctor and the aub decide,” Hartmut replied. “As her retainer, I do hope for her prompt and safe return, but...”

“There is no need to fret,” Marianne noted. “Lady Charlotte is in attendance this year, so our socializing will not be interrupted.”

“Lord Wilfried is expected to deal with the male socializing while Lady Charlotte takes care of the female socializing. Aub Ehrenfest has ordered us all to be very proactive with spreading trends,” came a third voice.

Hartmut had trailed off, but these other apprentice archscholars took that opportunity to assure everyone that Ehrenfest’s socializing would proceed just fine even without Lady Rozemyne. Their phrasing did come across as somewhat rude, but perhaps that was intentional misdirection to hide her relationship with Prince Hildebrand.

Perhaps it would be best for me to arrange a private meeting with Hartmut to ask for details about Lady Rozemyne.

I had already known about her leaving due to the message she had sent Lady Hannelore beforehand, but I didn’t even have a scrap of information about how she was doing. Hartmut was so distracted with preparing for his lady’s return that his responses by ordonnanz were all very brief.

If only I were Lady Rozemyne’s retainer... I wouldn’t need to spend each day so miserable and anxious.

“Lady Clarissa of Dunkelfelger. There is something I wish to report to you personally. May I have a moment of your time?”

Hartmut addressed me with a smile following the meeting’s conclusion. His politeness was natural for a noble from a bottom-ranking duchy speaking to a noble from a top-ranking one in public.

But not so natural for a man speaking to his betrothed...

From my perspective as someone who had finally completed the marriage challenges given to me, I found the way he spoke to and acted around me much too distant. There were many from other duchies who wished to copy the movements of the top-ranking duchies and socialize with Ehrenfest, and as such, a great number of apprentice archscholars who had attended our meeting were seeking to have Hartmut escort them as a quick path to success.

Too bad for all of you, though. He’s chosen me, so there’s no point trying to get him now.

That said, I couldn’t afford to let my guard down before he formally introduced me to Lady Rozemyne. I glanced around, then approached Hartmut and gave a warm smile that made our close relationship more apparent.

“My, my, Hartmut...” I said. “The meeting has ended, so you may refer to me as just ‘Clarissa’ now. If you have the time, let us go to a gazebo as an engaged couple should.”

Voicing the facts that we were engaged and could spend time in the gazebos for lovers would surely drive away the women attempting to flock to Hartmut. Any who still tried to approach him after such a clear vocal warning would swiftly be struck down, as was the usual response for a woman of Dunkelfelger.

“Clarissa, then,” Hartmut replied. He had paused to think while I smiled at the girls around us, a daring fire blazing in my eyes, and ultimately decided it was most wise to adjust his speech as I requested. “Let’s meet at third bell, on Winday. You know my highbeast, right?”

Winday was a weekday when classes were normally held. In other words, we were demonstrating how close we were—that we knew how each other’s studies were going so well that we had no reason to hesitate. I appreciated that he had picked up on my intention to make our relationship clear... but that didn’t explain how he knew which days I was no longer attending lessons on.

Although I felt confused and a little creeped out, I nodded with a smile. “Yes, let’s. It shall be a wonderful time.”

On the scheduled Winday, I started toward the gazebos with a get-well gift for Lady Rozemyne in my arms. I advanced through the central building and then the scholar building on my way outside, and soon enough, the snow all around me vanished, much like when one entered a duchy’s gathering spot. Beyond the herb gardens tended to by the professors were flower gardens containing several white gazebos. It was a vibrant area that was very popular for lovers’ meetups, especially when the Royal Academy’s grounds were otherwise engulfed in dull, colorless snow.

“I wonder which gazebo has Hartmut’s highbeast...” I mused aloud, scanning my surroundings as I rode through the gardens on my own highbeast. I took to the air for a better look.

These gazebos will probably get even busier once Ehrenfest’s Royal Academy Love Stories becomes popular with the other duchies too.

Most students were still occupied with their classes, so there were few gazebos with highbeasts near them. Hartmut’s was very easy to spot as a result, and I descended toward it.

“Oh?”

Despite the gazebos being a place for lovers to meet, I could see three figures with Ehrenfest capes. Hartmut was sitting and reading some documents, while the younger boy and girl with him were anxiously looking around as though feeling very out of place. I recognized the girl as Philine, one of Lady Rozemyne’s retainers, but who was the boy?

“Your partner is here, Hartmut,” Philine said, regarding me nervously. Hartmut looked up from his documents, then gestured me over.

“Might be out of taste to bring third parties to the gazebo,” he said, “but my main goal today is to introduce them to you. Hope you can forgive me.”

“I, too, suggested the gazebos with something else in mind, so it doesn’t bother me if other, relevant people are also here. However”—I turned to Philine and the unknown boy—“I see the two of you are feeling very unsure about this. Please rest easy.”

I set down my things and smiled at them. The only Ehrenfest people Hartmut would think to introduce me to were retainers serving Lady Rozemyne, and making the best possible impression on my future coworkers was an important step toward achieving my aim of one day serving alongside them.

“Clarissa, this is Philine,” Hartmut said. “She’s an apprentice layscholar serving Lady Rozemyne. I’d imagine you know her from how she gathers stories from other duchies in the library.”

“Yes, of course. It is rare for a laynoble to be selected to serve an archducal family. She must be an exceptionally talented apprentice scholar,” I said. It was for precisely these reasons that I had taken a particular interest in her while investigating Lady Rozemyne and her retainers.

Hartmut crossed his arms. “Philine believed in Lady Rozemyne’s promise and kept her own while Lady Rozemyne was unconscious. Her faith is so splendid that, even during those two uncertain years, she gathered story after story. It comes as little wonder that Lady Rozemyne strongly wished for her to be taken as a retainer.”

I understood just how long two years seemed to a child. And with Lady Rozemyne spending that time in a jureve, there had even been a constant risk that she might die outright or never come back at all. Philine’s resolve to continue believing in her promise with Lady Rozemyne and gathering stories for two years amid all the naysayers truly was splendid.

“The boy is Roderick,” Hartmut continued. “He is a medscholar who will soon be taken in as a retainer due to his talent for writing new stories.”

I’m so envious! Geez!

Just the thought of writing new stories to present to Lady Rozemyne made my heart throb. I had hoped to offer stories of my own in the process of completing Hartmut’s marriage challenges, but I had quickly learned that I didn’t possess the talent for it myself. Instead, I had needed to resort to transcribing Dunkelfelger books and collecting knight stories. Seeing these two young and very talented people made me feel anxious and worried.

I wonder, am I even going to meet Lady Rozemyne’s standards?

“This is Clarissa,” Hartmut said. “She is an archscholar from Dunkelfelger, and the woman I shall escort during my graduation. I intend to introduce her to Lady Rozemyne at the Interduchy Tournament.”

“My. You don’t intend to introduce me as your fiancée?”

“Our engagement isn’t official yet. We can hardly call ourselves engaged before our parents have met, can we?”

Hartmut had seemed to be quite the playboy, involving himself with girls from all sorts of duchies, but he was evidently still quite diligent on the inside. Enjoying this new discovery, I looked toward the two apprentice scholars. “And yet, you’re going out of your way to introduce me to these two before the Interduchy Tournament. I must wonder, what might be the significance of that?”

“I intend to ask you to gather intelligence in my stead next year at the Royal Academy.”

“Oh my. Intelligence?”

One important job for apprentice scholars was to socialize with various apprentice scholars of other duchies to gather intelligence and discover the truth behind rumors, but I was from another duchy—whyever would he make such a request of me?

“Roderick’s a mednoble, Philine’s a laynoble, and while they’re both skilled at writing and gathering stories for Lady Rozemyne, they lack the skills actually required of a retainer. Thus, it’s highly likely that Lady Rozemyne will struggle to learn things shared between apprentice archscholars once I graduate.”

I took a moment to digest his words. In short, Lady Rozemyne wasn’t going to have any apprentice archscholars next year. I might have been engaged to Hartmut, but for him to make such a request of someone from another duchy was still unusual. Perhaps he wasn’t well-connected with Lord Wilfried’s and Lady Charlotte’s retainers, who had been attending the meeting for apprentice archscholars. Or perhaps he didn’t trust their intelligence-gathering skills either.

“I will do anything for Lady Rozemyne’s sake,” I said. “However, is there perhaps something in this for me?” Hartmut obviously had some kind of reward ready, but with third parties here, it was important to establish a verbal agreement.

Hartmut looked at me through narrowed, orange eyes. “How about this? First of all, cordial relationships with Lady Rozemyne’s retainers. I intend to introduce you to her apprentice archknights and attendants at a later date too. Naturally, it’s down to you to make things work from there, but the opportunity exists.”

“Oh my. Do you think I would ever fail you?”

“No. Do you think I would ever waste my time with someone who would fail despite me having planned so far ahead for them?”

“Planned ahead, hm? If all of your preparations to make me Lady Rozemyne’s retainer are complete, you must have revealed everything I know to your fellow retainers.”

“Trying to get Lady Rozemyne to take a retainer she doesn’t know by name or appearance would be as hard as getting Ewigeliebe to look at any goddess but Geduldh,” Hartmut noted. We were smiling at each other, but there was a pleasant tension between us—the kind that arose when two people tried to squeeze out as much information and the best terms from one another. It seemed that we were the only ones enjoying our scholarly exchange, though.

“E-Erm, if you would mind please calming down...” Philine interjected, leaning forward and attempting to mediate. Roderick was just letting his eyes wander, trying to maintain neutrality.

“Oh, but we are delightfully calm,” I said. “Is that not so, Hartmut?”

“Indeed. Is that not how it appears on the outside?”

Their innocent reactions were cute, but these two weren’t at all suited to being information-gathering scholars—this much was clear to me already, even though we hadn’t spent even a bell together. If these were the best apprentice scholars Hartmut was able to introduce me to, then his situation truly must have been unfortunate. I was losing all confidence in my understanding of what Lady Rozemyne wanted from a retainer.

“Hartmut,” I said, “why do you say that becoming Lady Rozemyne’s retainer is difficult?”

The retainers of a duchy’s archducal family were normally chosen based on recommendations from one’s parents and grandparents, as well as already existing retainers and members of the same faction. Retainers with partners marrying into their duchy would similarly recommend their betrothed, which was why I had thought that Hartmut putting my name forward would be enough for Lady Rozemyne to accept me after my marriage.

“Would it be hard to recommend me, even though you are her only apprentice archscholar?” I asked, swallowing hard as my plans seemed to come apart at the seams. I rested a hand on my cheek and gave a rigid smile, trying to hide my panic. My assumption had been that my becoming Lady Rozemyne’s retainer was near enough guaranteed—that is, unless it came to be that Hartmut was an extremely untrustworthy individual. “Ah! Could it be that... Lady Rozemyne doesn’t trust you?”

All expression disappeared from Hartmut’s face. He folded his arms, crossed his legs, and turned to the two students sitting across from him. “Philine, Roderick. Could you tell Clarissa whether I am trusted or not?” he asked, looking equally as blank as before. They both went pale, despite not having been yelled at, and started praising him with tearful eyes.

“Hartmut is incredible, Lady Clarissa!” Philine exclaimed. “Um... Even the temple gray priests respect him, and he knows everything about Lady Rozemyne. He’s also a very fast worker—so fast, in fact, that even Lord Ferdinand praises him!”

“He has high standards for others,” Roderick added with equal enthusiasm, “but that’s because he meets those standards himself! Naturally, Lady Rozemyne recognizes his talents! Er... I think!”

They sounded so desperate that I started to feel a little bad for them. There was no doubting how competent Hartmut was, especially with how skillfully he navigated the apprentice archscholar meetings. As someone who was planning to marry a person of a lower-ranked duchy, I was comfortable saying that I understood this better than most.

“But talent and trust are two separate things, are they not?” I asked. “Otherwise, there’s no way that Hartmut’s recommendation wouldn’t be enough.”

“Well, Lady Rozemyne is an unusual case,” Hartmut said.

“I’m well aware. She used unthinkable plots in ditter, started several trends, was accepted as the master of the library’s magic tools, contributed significantly to Prince Anastasius and Lady Eglantine getting engaged, and even healed her gathering spot after the ternisbefallen attack. She is the Saint of Ehrenfest, no?”

Hartmut nodded repeatedly, saying that was exactly right, then let out a sigh. “Lady Rozemyne was raised in the temple; her perspective is fundamentally different from that of a regular noble and she chooses her retainers on another basis entirely. Just look at Roderick. He wasn’t recommended by her family or retainers—in fact, everyone spoke out against him. He’s of a low status and from another faction, and when judged as a retainer of an archducal family member, he’s downright incompetent. But Lady Rozemyne has high praise for his writing skills, and after paying a heavy price, he was taken as a retainer anyway.”

Roderick shrunk back at Hartmut’s harsh tone, but the fact that he didn’t protest indicated that it was all true. Philine had simply been looking at him with worry, but she used this opportunity to smile and interject. “A simple recommendation will not be enough to guarantee one’s assignment,” she said. “After all... Lady Rozemyne did suffer the Lord Traugott incident just recently.”

“Traugott is the guard knight who held everyone back during last year’s treasure-stealing ditter game, correct?” I asked. In Dunkelfelger, disobeying an order was enough to get one banned from ever playing ditter again. To see an apprentice knight act so foolishly was surprising enough, but hearing that he was also Lady Rozemyne’s retainer had made me so furious that I committed his name to memory.

“He is a guard knight no longer,” Philine said and explained to me what had happened. Traugott had actively requested to become a guard knight with his grandmother’s recommendation, but in truth, he had no intention of serving a weak lady and planned to quit as soon as he accomplished his goals. He had subsequently been relieved of duty, and the whole experience had wounded Lady Rozemyne’s trust for new retainers. As she had made no attempt to hire any new guard knights since, it was hard for those around her to recommend anyone from their family.

So he not only dragged the others down in ditter, but he also quit for such a selfish reason and even impeded my aim to become a retainer?! Traugott must pay!

“Not to mention,” Hartmut added, “I expect that Lord Ferdinand will reject anyone he doesn’t deem valuable to the duchy.”

“My apologies,” I said. “I did not think things through enough... Lady Rozemyne’s guardian can speak on her choice of retainer, even though she is already in the Royal Academy? Not even her adoptive mother and father can interfere, but he can? Is that allowed in Ehrenfest?”

Archduke candidates were normally closer to their retainers than anyone else, so it was generally up to them to choose who they took into their service. My initial assumption had been that Lady Rozemyne was too strong-willed to accept anyone’s introductions, but now Hartmut was saying her guardian had final authority. I couldn’t understand what in the world was going on.

“Lady Rozemyne spends much time in the temple, so Lord Ferdinand will refuse anyone who does not respect the gray priests who keep it organized and the lower city commoners who assist with her trend-making. Not even close family are exceptions to this rule. Lord Ferdinand is her guardian in the temple, her skilled teacher, her apothecary, and her doctor. By and large, he has more authority over her than her adoptive parents.”

He had explained that it wasn’t Ehrenfest that was weird; it was just Lady Rozemyne. This certainly was valuable information for anyone who wished to be her retainer. I had no idea that marrying Hartmut would be the beginning of my work, not the end.

“She is so unusual that planning or predicting anything seems impossible...” I said, holding my head to endure the psychological damage I was experiencing.

Philine peered at me, her grass-green eyes rich with worry. “Erm, Hartmut... What can we do to help Lady Clarissa join us as retainers?” she asked. “She is willing to gather intelligence for Lady Rozemyne, so I would like for her wish to come true.”

I could only blink in surprise. Apprentice scholars were known for lying to each other’s faces with a smile while gathering intelligence, so Philine’s honesty had caught me off guard. My shock must have been apparent, as Hartmut gave me a knowing smile.

“The first thing we can do is make her known to Lady Rozemyne,” he said. “Clarissa, it’s much harder than you think for someone from another duchy to become Lady Rozemyne’s retainer. It’ll be a long and painful road. Do you want to give up?”

My heart roared with determination. “Never. My resolve isn’t so flimsy—the stronger my foe, the brighter it burns. I will smash every obstacle that stands in my way.”

“I thought you’d say that,” Hartmut replied with a chuckle. He had doubtless predicted that I would go along with his plan.

“Philine, Roderick, do trust next year’s intelligence gathering to me,” I said with a smile as I started preparing to leave. “I will leak to you all the information that Dunkelfelger’s apprentice archscholars gather. In return, do tell Lady Rozemyne that it is all coming from me.”

“Understood. We look forward to working with you, Lady Clarissa.”

After securing Philine and Roderick’s support, I proffered a bundle of papers to Hartmut. “As a get-well gift, I wish to give Lady Rozemyne these Dunkelfelger stories that I gathered. Please deliver them to her in Ehrenfest while emphasizing that it was I who provided them. We must first start with her learning my name.”

“You got more than you needed for your marriage challenges? Hm... I might need to reevaluate my opinion of you...” Hartmut said and reached for the papers with an impressed look. I had not stopped at the transcriptions required for my marriage; I also had some ready to bring with me when I was introduced to her.

I can do this. I will do this. I’m going to become Lady Rozemyne’s retainer, no matter what.

“Okay. That settles that. Let’s go.” Hartmut stood and extended a helping hand to me, only for Philine to tug on his cape.

“Erm, Hartmut... Roderick and I can go now, but as this is the Goddess of Time’s gazebo, perhaps you and Lady Clarissa could stay here until fourth bell...?”

Hartmut looked down at Philine, who was doing her best to be considerate and helpful despite being too young to really understand school romance, and spent a moment in contemplation. “Clarissa, is there anything we have to talk about?” he asked.

“Lady Rozemyne’s condition, the temple’s circumstances, her guardians, the various miracles she has caused...” I replied, counting each of my answers off on my fingers. “I have a mountain of questions for my God of Darkness.”

Philine and Roderick looked absolutely horrified. I had no idea what had caught them so off guard, but unlike them, I was starved for information on Lady Rozemyne.

“I came all this way to meet you, Hartmut, and yet we have barely discussed Lady Rozemyne herself. Do not think I am a woman who would be satisfied with so little...” I continued, taking Hartmut’s outstretched hand and sweetly pulling him back down into his seat.

“In that case, let’s talk about how saintly Lady Rozemyne was in her youth, shall we?” Hartmut said after considering my proposal. “My Goddess of Light.”

“My God of Darkness truly knows such wondrous tales. Do continue.”

Philine and Roderick fled from the gazebo, and I got to hear stories singing Lady Rozemyne’s praises all the way until fourth bell. The Goddess of Time must have been playing her tricks, much like the rumors warned, as our time together seemed to run out in the blink of an eye.