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Ascendance of a Bookworm (LN) - Volume 5.2 - Chapter Pr




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Prologue

Many of Aub Ahrensbach’s scholars were gathered together with Ferdinand, previously a resident of Ehrenfest and the fiancé of the next archduchess, in the office he had received in Ahrensbach’s castle.

“This is data regarding the Adalgisa princess,” one said. “An emissary from Lanzenave arrived in the summer and consulted us regarding her being sent over. The king will need to be informed of this during the next Archduke Conference.”

“An Adalgisa princess...” Ferdinand muttered, unpleasant thoughts stirring within him. He recalled that Raublut, the Sovereign knight commander, had noticed his unique history as a former seed of Adalgisa. It was possible that others here knew the circumstances of his birth as well.

The scholars continued their explanation, unaware that Ferdinand was acting so guarded. “You may not know this, as you are from another duchy, but Adalgisa princesses come from Lanzenave. Please read these more detailed papers on how she will be received.” Their duty was to bring Ferdinand up to speed with his responsibilities in Ahrensbach, and they carried in stacks of documents and paperwork one after another. Detlinde, as the next archduchess, needed to prioritize dyeing the foundational magic with her mana, so Ferdinand had to take on most of the administrative work.

I can understand why the scholars would rather work with me than Lady Detlinde—I am better accustomed to bureaucratic work—but my duties educating Lady Letizia are just as important.

Detlinde had not done anything even remotely close to paperwork until very recently, in part due to her being the youngest daughter of Georgine, who had previously been the duchy’s third wife. In fact, Detlinde had previously been further from the seat of aub than any other archduke candidate, trailing behind the second wife’s two sons; her brother, the third wife’s son; and Letizia, the first wife’s granddaughter from Drewanchel.

In the end, however, the purge had seen the second wife’s two sons reduced to archnobles, Detlinde’s older brother had perished in an unfortunate accident, and Aub Ahrensbach had died before Letizia came of age. Detlinde was thus having to serve as a temporary archduchess.

The scholars informed Ferdinand that the late archduke had not done much to educate Detlinde, as he had not wanted her to stand above the younger Letizia.

Still, to think that I would be the one sending a Lanzenave princess to that villa...

Ferdinand started reading the provided documents. He felt a sharp, unmistakable bitterness knowing that he would need to be consistently involved with Lanzenave and Adalgisa, but he kept his true feelings from showing. His eyebrow did not so much as twitch.

“Oh, I thought it was rather cold today... It seems the snow has finally begun to fall,” one of the scholars remarked, their voice somewhat bright.

Ferdinand turned to look outside. Indeed, there were flecks of white falling from the sky. The scholars gathered at the window, suggesting that snow was rare in Ahrensbach, but this was a common sight at the start of every winter in Ehrenfest. He returned his attention to his documents.

“Our duchies share the same seasons, but winter here is very different from in Ehrenfest,” Justus mused aloud as he brought over some tea. Ferdinand understood this as Justus’s way of proposing that he take a break, so he put down his pen and accepted the cup.

Upon hearing Justus’s remark, Sergius, one of the Ahrensbach attendants assigned to Ferdinand, blinked a few times. “Different how?” he asked, his yellow eyes betraying his interest. The gathered scholars were looking at Justus as well, clearly eager to hear about the dissimilarities between their two duchies.

“In Ehrenfest, we see our first flurries at the end of autumn and the start of winter—around when we first came to Ahrensbach. By now, the streets will already be thick with snow, and the people will be taking shelter indoors at all times.”

“We spend our winters differently as well,” Eckhart added. “Socializing thrives at the castle, but knights need to focus on training and preparing for the Lord of Winter hunt. There is no Lord of Winter in Ahrensbach, which alone makes a considerable difference.”

Those listening made intrigued noises. As there was no Lord of Winter to hunt in Ahrensbach, the duchy’s knights did not put special effort into their training.

“The most significant difference might be in how we use our winter playroom,” Justus said. “I was surprised to see that Ahrensbach seldom uses its own outside of when students are being moved to the Royal Academy. In Ehrenfest, the adults tend to be busy over the winter, in part due to the Lord of Winter hunt, so the children too young to attend the Royal Academy spend all day in the winter playroom so as to stay out of their way.”

Those in Ahrensbach had no need to socialize intensely and gather information before the snow grew unreasonably heavy. Adults in particular were afforded a lot more flexibility; nobles rarely spent all day in the castle, and children accompanied their guardians while socializing instead of spending that time in the winter playroom. Even the archduke candidate Letizia, whom Ferdinand was working to educate, had prioritized strengthening bonds with the others in her faction.

“I was also surprised to learn that winter socializing is only done in the afternoon here. In Ehrenfest, to make the most of the brief window we have to socialize, we come together and mingle from morning to night.”

Ahrensbach nobles came together in the afternoon, when it was warmer. During the winter, they tended to stay inside until fourth bell and start their day after lunch—unless they were invited to lunch, that was. In contrast, during the summer when the sun beat down mercilessly, nobles barely went outside between third and fifth bell.

To accommodate the usual Ahrensbach schedule, Ferdinand would spend his mornings doing handover work, then educate Letizia and do the socializing expected of the next archduchess’s fiancé in the afternoon.

“Still, this lifestyle offers much more leeway than I expected,” Ferdinand said. “I wish to use this opportunity to ask for your guidance.”

The late Aub Ahrensbach had already passed away by the time Ferdinand arrived at his new home, so Ferdinand was worried about a great many things. For now, however, it seemed that everything was proceeding smoothly. The ever-annoying Detlinde had returned to the Royal Academy shortly after his arrival, and Georgine was holed up in her villa, in mourning for her late husband, so he had not seen her at all during socializing. Furthermore, the scholars who had served the archduke were being surprisingly cooperative with the handover of work. For now, at least, they seemed to value and greatly respect Ferdinand as a hard worker and the fiancé of their next archduchess. It was a source of great relief... but also somewhat harrowing.

This could not be more different from what happened in Ehrenfest after Father ended up succumbing to his illness.

“Might we ask what you mean by ‘this opportunity’?”

“You are all scholars of Aub Ahrensbach, are you not?” Ferdinand said. “I assume you will work beneath Lady Detlinde when she returns from the Royal Academy and takes her place as the next archduchess.”

In other words, Ferdinand could only focus on handover work during the brief period when Detlinde was at the Royal Academy. Rather than prioritizing a groom from another duchy, their focus needed to be on educating Ahrensbach’s next archduchess.

The scholars exchanged glances, then all gave troubled, telling smiles. “Lady Detlinde is not nearly educated enough for us to work under her,” one said. “By the time she catches up, I expect Lady Letizia will have come of age.”

“We might have thought otherwise if she at least took the work seriously,” added another, “but, oh, how she hates studying. Though she may only be a temporary archduchess, I would expect a bit more... well...”

Although there was some criticism of the next archduchess, it was immediately followed by more generous words of understanding.

“She is underage. Plus, as the third child of a third wife, she has not had the opportunity to receive a political education before now. It would be cruel of us to demand too much from her.”

“Indeed, indeed. Not to mention, she will only be holding the position of aub for a short while, until Lady Letizia comes of age and marries Prince Hildebrand. We do not want her to become too attached. Is her lack of interest not ideal for us?”

She may not be interested in politicking, but she certainly has a lust for power...

Ferdinand dismissed the thought at once; naturally, he could not criticize the woman he was to marry by royal decree here in public. That said, his interactions with her during the few days between his arrival in Ahrensbach and her departure for the Royal Academy had been enough for him to confirm that she had a personality that was painful just to think about.

And so, Ferdinand merely nodded along with the scholars’ remarks, striving to understand their thought processes and personalities as much as he could. It would be better not to speak; he was still pretending to dote on Detlinde, and offering his own thoughts would only result in him lambasting her with utter sincerity. The scholars were criticizing their next archduchess with slight grins, but she was one of their own; if someone from another duchy attempted to join in, then it was possible that they might take offense.

“We are in no position to start being soft on Lady Detlinde and treating her like a child. She may not have come of age yet, but she will very soon, so that serves as no excuse. She will also be participating in the next Archduke Conference as an aub.”

“Even if she is only holding the position temporarily, being the aub is by no means easy. To be honest, I am truly grateful that you are here, Lord Ferdinand; I do not know what we would do without you.”

“And let us not forget how Lady Georgine has abetted this. She did not resist being moved to her villa.”

From there, the focus of the scholars’ conversation quickly turned to Georgine. Ferdinand listened closely, comparing their words to what he had learned through Justus.

“It was a surprise to all, especially after she filled chalices with mana to get Old Werkestock on her side. I thought she would cling more tightly to her newly obtained power.”

“As I understand it, Ehrenfest ceased offering its support...”

“Was that not just Ehrenfest shifting its support from Lady Georgine to Lord Ferdinand, though?” Justus remarked casually. “Aub Ehrenfest is closer to Lord Ferdinand than he is to Lady Georgine, after all.”

The scholars nodded, agreeing with his logic.

Ferdinand drew his brows together in the slightest frown; Georgine had more influence with Old Werkestock and the northern provinces bordering Ehrenfest than Sylvester and the others realized.

“Although we are both members of the same archducal family, Lady Georgine and I have hardly seen one another. I thought that we might socialize a bit more now that I am here, but I have not seen her since our initial greetings...”

Georgine’s lack of presence was almost disturbing considering that she was the late archduke’s first wife. She was also very familiar with Justus, meaning that not even his disguises could get him near her villa. Justus had even said that Georgine had once boasted about being able to see through his cross-dressing.

Ferdinand continued to listen to every word the scholars said about Georgine until there came a sudden knock on the door. “Excuse me,” said the messenger responsible. “This arrived from Raimund in the Royal Academy.”

Raimund was serving Ferdinand not just as his disciple, but as his retainer in Ahrensbach as well—although they were more like mentor and student than lord and retainer. He was lacking in mana and spent all his time in Hirschur’s laboratory, trying to make magic tools as efficient as possible.

Initially, Ferdinand had spoken to Raimund simply because Rozemyne had taken a liking to the young student. He had then accepted him as a disciple as a means of observing him while simultaneously gathering information on Ahrensbach. By this point, however, Ferdinand found reading his unique perspectives and answering his questions by letter a source of great comfort.

Sergius accepted the box from the messenger and then opened it. Inside was a sound-recording magic tool.

“Oho. Is that an improved version?” one scholar asked.

“Its feystone seems to be exposed...” another added.

“Ah, there is also a letter from Lady Rozemyne. We’ll read this first, if you do not mind.”

“I do not mind in the least,” Ferdinand replied, preparing himself as the scholars took and started going through the letter. They were checking for anything dangerous while also looking for any hidden messages or the like that they would need to censor.

That fool. What has she written this time?


In her previous report, Rozemyne had described the state of Hirschur’s laboratory, inadvertently informing the scholars that Ferdinand had been a burden on the professor during his time at the Royal Academy and that he had become so absorbed in his research that he had neglected to clean or eat properly. The scholars had laughed at Rozemyne telling Ferdinand not to live so unhealthily in Ahrensbach, which had made him want to tear up the letter on the spot. Unfortunately, the hidden report she had written in shining ink was much too important, so he had needed to refrain.

One scholar read through the letter while the others began checking for any patterns or phrasing that might have signified a code. Of course, nothing they did made the shining ink appear. Ferdinand checked Raimund’s magic tool once it was given to him while listening to the contents of the letter be read aloud.

Ferdinand had tasked his disciple with making a smaller and more mana-efficient sound-recording magic tool. The first prototype had been small enough to rest on one’s palm—an improvement over the standard model that required two hands—but Ferdinand had sent it back, saying that it could be made even smaller by taking away the lid. Now the lid was gone, exposing the feystone used to store the recording.

All in all, the magic tool was fairly well made.

“‘Upon starting our joint research project with Ahrensbach, Professor Hirschur told me that my strengths are my mana capacity and my brewing skills,’” one of the scholars said, reading Rozemyne’s letter aloud. “‘Thus, my role is to create prototypes based on the designs that Raimund comes up with.’”

“Aah... I was wondering how he finished so quickly, but I see that Rozemyne is the reason.”

Raimund was short on mana even for a mednoble, so while he was quick to draw blueprints, his progress was slowed considerably when it came to creating the prototypes. This one had arrived much sooner than expected—evidently thanks to Rozemyne having brewed it. Raimund was helping to realize the things she wanted, so there was nothing wrong with her helping him during the creation process.

“‘The details are written in the report I sent through Professor Fraularm.’ Hm? Have you received a report about the joint research project from Ahrensbach’s dormitory supervisor?”

“Not to my knowledge.” Ferdinand turned to the attendants behind him. “Sergius, Justus, have any retainers visited while I was absent?”

“No, my lord,” Sergius replied. “A report from a dormitory supervisor would not have been sent to your guest chambers in the first place, so there would never have been a risk of it arriving while you were absent for socializing or the like.”

That was the obvious answer; any letter sent to Ferdinand would first need to be inspected by the relevant personnel in Ahrensbach. It was unthinkable that he could have received a report without the scholars here knowing.

“Hm. Then we will need to question the dormitory supervisor,” a scholar said. “We do not want the joint research to be delayed, nor do we wish to trouble Ehrenfest.”

“Understood.”

After that section of the report, which had more or less called out Fraularm, came the topic of a tea party for bookworms hosted by the royal family. Rozemyne had eagerly gone along with the idea despite it meaning she would need to socialize with the very people she had continuously been told to avoid. One could easily imagine her restraint going straight out the window the moment books and libraries were put before her.

“Still, to think Lady Rozemyne was invited to such a tea party...” one scholar said with a sigh. “If only Lady Detlinde were to socialize with royalty a bit more.”

Some bemoaned the fact that an Ahrensbach archduke candidate had not received an invitation but an archduke candidate from the lower-ranked Ehrenfest had, while others were more interested in the sweets that were described as having been served.

“So... Dunkelfelger produced new sweets with the recipe it obtained, hm?”

“We purchased the same recipe during the Archduke Conference, so perhaps we could try making something with our specialty fruit as well. Lord Ferdinand, would you happen to have an eye for what would suit pound cake?”

“Well... as mentioned in Rozemyne’s letter, I have little interest in food,” Ferdinand replied. “You would be much better off entrusting this question to a chef who is familiar with Ahrensbach fruits.”

They were asking him to make new sweets, but Ferdinand had no motivation for that.

Rozemyne made new sweets and combined unique flavors because she had an unusual attachment to food—an attachment that Ferdinand did not share. He suddenly recalled that she had once said to him, “If you want to eat tasty food, then train your own chef.” If she were here now, perhaps she would be adapting Ahrensbach’s highly spicy dishes to suit her own tastes.

“‘I borrowed books from the Sovereignty and the palace library,’” the scholar reading out Rozemyne’s letter continued. “‘The one that Professor Solange lent me was from a closed-stack archive and contains research about Schwartz and Weiss. I will inform you if we make any new discoveries.’”

“I see. To think she would be allowed to borrow a book from a closed-stack archive...” another scholar muttered. “I suppose it should come as no surprise given that she is both a disciple of Lord Ferdinand and a regular visitor of the Hirschur Laboratory.”

The scholars continued to praise Rozemyne for a reason that Ferdinand would never have expected. According to their explanation, the valuable contents of the closed-stack archives were only lent to those whom the librarians considered particularly intelligent; everyone else would simply be told that it was too soon for them to read such things. Ferdinand had not known this, since his requests for such books had never been refused.

However, times have changed.

Now, there were drastically fewer librarians at the Royal Academy, and numerous magic tools in the library were no longer being supplied with mana. In its current state, the library was unable to perform the duties for which it had originally been constructed; the place was more akin to a glorified study station. There was a chance that the library would improve somewhat with the arrival of the new archlibrarian, but it would still be a far cry from its former glory. The scholars here likely did not know how dramatically things had changed—that, or they merely could not understand it.

“‘This time, I managed to endure the whole thing without collapsing. I’ve grown so much, wouldn’t you say? It’s all thanks to the potions you made for me, Ferdinand.’ And... that is the end of this letter.”

Having failed to find anything unusual, the scholar attempted to pass the letter to Ferdinand. However, Ferdinand waved away the correspondence and said, “I am short on time. There is nothing that I must urgently reread, and my reply can come later. Sergius, store the letter in my chambers with my letter from Raimund and the magic tool. For now, let us resume our duties. Justus, take this tea away.”

After announcing the end of their break, Ferdinand picked up a pen and returned to his paperwork.

That night, in his chambers, Ferdinand started on his response to Rozemyne. He had yet to read the hidden message that her letter doubtless contained—there were too many retainers nearby for that—so he focused solely on his public-facing reply. Only after seventh bell, when most of his retainers had gone, would Ferdinand take out the shining ink. He would wait until Eckhart was on night watch, but even then his time would be limited; the knight was particularly concerned about his lord’s well-being and would swiftly call on him.

Ferdinand skimmed the letter and then put his head in his hands. How does she keep getting involved with royalty like this?

 

    

 

First, Eglantine and Prince Anastasius had deduced that Rozemyne had been the one to bless them during their graduation—and to avoid further unrest, they had asked her to serve as the High Bishop and bless Prince Sigiswald for his Starbind Ceremony. The request had not come at unreasonably short notice, and there were various factions involved, so neither Rozemyne nor Ehrenfest were in any position to refuse.

At the same time, however, the Sovereign temple was involved, and the ceremony being held during the Archduke Conference would draw the attention of every aub from every duchy, alongside that of various other key nobles. Not to mention, Rozemyne had personally confessed that one of her reasons for accepting was so that she could be present when Ferdinand and Detlinde had their own Starbinding.

Please, stop. You will only end up blessing me more than you do the prince.

Ferdinand was certain of that outcome. Rozemyne had already said that he was like family to her, and it was simple to predict what trouble an emotion-driven blessing would create. Some of those who had seen Eglantine receive her blessing had started to argue that she should take the throne, so imagine this scenario: Ferdinand, after being accused of vying for the throne as a seed of Adalgisa and moving to Ahrensbach to indicate his loyalty, receives more blessings from the gods than anyone else. It was not a pleasant thought, by any means.

At the very least, she will want Hartmut with her...

Hartmut had the sharpest eyes and the keenest mind out of all Rozemyne’s retainers. With his assistance as the High Priest, Rozemyne would presumably find things much easier to deal with.

Next, there was the matter of the triple-locked archive’s keys. Ferdinand had given Rozemyne free rein with her Library Committee business under the assumption that her work would consist only of regularly visiting the library and supplying its magic tools with mana. Having her take ownership of one of the keys was far from good.

After all, that underground archive contains so much information leading to the Grutrissheit.

Ferdinand rubbed his temples, recalling the text and the magic circle that had arisen from the High Bishop’s bible. He had never been the High Bishop himself, so it had not even occurred to him that such a development might occur. Rozemyne was surely closer to the Grutrissheit than anyone in the royal family, and if she were to enter the underground archive, then Ferdinand was quite confident that her book-oriented curiosity would result in her obtaining it.

But how can I prevent her from going near the archive?

As he pondered this, his eyes fell on one line in particular: “Once the librarian has inspected the inside, I’m allowed to read whatever books it contains.” He frowned. There were severe restrictions on who could enter that archive. It was managed almost entirely by magic tools, with the librarians merely safeguarding the keys.

It would not be strange for Professor Solange and the new librarian to be unfamiliar with this rule, as the former has never been able to go inside. But how is the royal family still in the dark? They should be visiting the archive more than anyone.

Ferdinand had thought that maybe the royal family was deliberately keeping this knowledge to themselves due to the purge, but in reality, they had simply lost the knowledge altogether. The royal family only had themselves to blame, but not even that explained the extent of their ignorance on the subject. It seemed more likely that someone in the royal palace was restricting the flow of information or concealing documents.

But should I say that?

Ferdinand was in Ahrensbach precisely because he was suspected of wanting the Grutrissheit; he did not want to invite any more suspicion, nor did he want to get involved with royalty. Unfortunately, that no longer mattered. Rozemyne had gotten involved with the royal family and the underground archive against his will; if anyone came to realize that he was hiding information, then he would only be placed under further scrutiny.

“Although I may not have the Grutrissheit, it is the Zent’s duty to maintain peace, no matter how ephemeral it so often proves to be,” the king had said at their meeting.

Ferdinand was a seed of Adalgisa, and Ehrenfest had not assisted the king during the civil war. These two facts alone had aroused suspicion that they were seeking to claim the throne, and Trauerqual expressed that he could not ignore the risk of Yurgenschmidt once again being ravaged by war. Ferdinand could not fault the man for his decision—after all, it was the same conclusion any good king would make.

By indirectly informing the royal family of what awaits them in the underground archive, I should be able to keep Rozemyne away from it.

He could send information about the underground archive to Rozemyne, which would reveal to the royal family that she was providing him with intelligence—and as Rozemyne was an archduke candidate of a duchy already suspected of treason, the royal family would immediately start treating her with more caution. She would be forbidden from entering the library and most likely removed from her position as owner of one of the three keys. They had gone as far as to send Ferdinand to Ahrensbach, so they would absolutely refuse to let Rozemyne anywhere near the archive.

And that is what matters.

To Ferdinand, keeping Rozemyne away from the underground archive was more important than anything else. That was why he was even willing to exploit the royal family to make it happen. The words and the magic circle that had arisen from the High Bishop’s bible—one look at them was all anyone would need to conclude that Rozemyne was unconsciously drawing closer to the Grutrissheit.

I do not know how much she will be able to resist when put before a document-filled archive, but I will emphasize my warning nonetheless.

“If the royal family does not already know about this, then they must be made aware. You are not to approach the archive yourself, however. That will only cause problems.”

After finishing his response, Ferdinand let out a heavy sigh.

Just... let this strange cooperation end there. Please.

He was asking both Rozemyne and the royal family.



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