Ascendance of a Bookworm (LN) - Volume 5.3 - Chapter SS1

My Daughter’s Perspective and Resolve

“We must be taking our leave as well,” I said after Prince Anastasius departed. “We have taken advantage of your hospitality for long enough.”

On that note, my daughter Hannelore and I gathered our retainers and withdrew. We had spent far longer socializing with Ehrenfest than expected, so we needed to return to Dunkelfelger’s spot posthaste.

I have such a terrible headache...

My intention had been to benefit Ehrenfest and give two romances a chance to blossom: Lestilaut’s with Lady Rozemyne, and Hannelore’s with Lord Wilfried. However, when the conversation between our two duchies actually began, it became clear to me that we had fundamentally different understandings of the situation.

It was not just the results of our socializing that pained me; Lady Detlinde of Ahrensbach had acted the way Ehrenfest surely believed was common of all greater duchies. I had also borne witness to the gulf that existed between Heisshitze and Lord Ferdinand—something I would need to inquire about later. On top of all that, the royal family had intervened, and Lady Rozemyne had suggested that a dangerous substance known as trug was being used within the Sovereign Knight’s Order.

Though I cannot be so quick to believe the words of another duchy.

The assertions of a noble could never be accepted wholesale. It was because of misunderstandings and misleading information that my encounter with Ehrenfest had caused me so much suffering. I wanted to investigate Lady Rozemyne’s suggestion to find out whether it was true, but where would I be able to learn about such a rare plant?

The royal family used a sound-blocker. Discussing the matter openly is out of the question.

There was much for me to consider as Dunkelfelger’s first wife. Still, investigating trug and the dangers it posed was far from my most pressing concern to deal with.

Hannelore is my top priority.

“We must inform the rest of the archducal family of what the royal family has taught us,” I said to one of our attendants while still in my stride. “Prepare a tea party room; we will eat without our retainers.”

We had just come out of a confidential discussion with the royal family, so nobody would question our decision to eat and speak alone. Under normal circumstances, such arrangements were made as a way to scold members of the archducal family without undermining their authority—but few would realize that unless I said it outright.

I needed to speak with my husband Aub Dunkelfelger and my son Lestilaut, and the pressing matters were Ehrenfest’s desires and the future of my daughter.

However, I must first learn her true intentions.

“Hannelore,” I intoned, “we should take a moment to organize what we just learned. There were no scholars present within the sound-blocker to record what was said.” It was a reasonable enough excuse for a private conversation that none of our retainers would get suspicious, and with that, I presented my daughter with a sound-blocking magic tool.

Hannelore must not have suspected anything either because she accepted the tool without hesitation.

“We do not have much time before we reach our duchy’s spot,” I said, “but I wish to hear your thoughts while Lestilaut is not around to interrupt you. His reports from the dormitory were written very heavily in his favor, it seems.”

Hannelore nodded, her expression a complex mixture of enthusiasm and trepidation; she wanted to voice her opinions but was also reluctant. The confidence she had shown during our conversation with Ehrenfest was nowhere to be seen.

I turned my attention to the various presentations being done by apprentice scholars from lesser and middle duchies; allowing my eyes to wander would make our conversation seem less intense. “To begin with,” I said, “why was it that Rauffen mistook what was very clearly bride-stealing ditter for bride-taking ditter?”

The two variations were worlds apart. Bride-taking ditter occurred when a couple who wished to marry could not obtain approval from one or both parents. Bride-stealing ditter took place when someone attempted to break apart another couple and marry the bride-to-be against her will. Rauffen had described the game between our duchy and Ehrenfest as the former, and a contract reinforcing that notion had arrived from the Royal Academy. That had naturally led me to assume that Lestilaut’s feelings for Lady Rozemyne were reciprocated.

“Rauffen would never have permitted a game of bride-stealing ditter,” I continued, “not when Lestilaut was trying to claim an archduke candidate from another duchy whose engagement has already received the king’s approval. I expect he believed that Lady Rozemyne was soft on Lestilaut in turn and was offering them a way to be together.”

Ditter matches to secure someone’s hand in marriage were supposed to be resolved privately between the relevant families, not at the Royal Academy. It seemed reasonable to assume that Lestilaut had deceived everyone so that the game could be played outside the reach of Dunkelfelger’s adults.

“So, why did you not correct Rauffen’s misunderstanding?” I asked Hannelore. If she had informed us of what was going on, we would have grown suspicious and interrogated our son. At the very least, I would not have entered a conversation with Ehrenfest under the assumption that Lady Rozemyne wished to marry into our duchy.

“I did not know about Professor Rauffen’s misconception either; Lestilaut went to great lengths to keep me away while the preparations were being made... It did not even occur to me that his feelings for Lady Rozemyne were an act—not until the game concluded.”

It was only when Prince Anastasius arrived to capture the intruding Sovereign knights that Hannelore realized everyone had seen the game as bride-taking ditter.

That boy of mine...

“So,” I concluded, “Lestilaut was deliberately ambiguous when explaining the situation to Rauffen and others. He also used our duchy’s status to strong-arm other students.”

To make matters worse, he had actively excluded his little sister instead of depending on her help. Just what had he been thinking? Keeping her at arm’s length and gambling her hand in marriage without her permission were contemptuous things to do to his own flesh and blood.

“I understand now,” I said. “In his desperation for the ditter game to occur, Lestilaut neglected a great many things.”

“Speaking of which... how did Ehrenfest not realize they were signing a contract?”

I sighed; it made sense that someone born and raised in Dunkelfelger would find the situation confusing. “Ditter contracts are so commonplace back home that we can recognize them at a glance,” I said, “but the same cannot be said for other duchies.”

From there, I continued my explanation. Bride-taking ditter in particular was done privately between the families involved, and in the majority of cases, wooden boards were used for the contracts. These contracts did not abide by any strict formatting rules; the only requirements to make them official were the representatives’ signatures and an outline of the conditions of the game. If any disputes arose after the match, the families would only need a third party to consult the conditions as they were written.

“However,” I said, “those customs do not apply to those of other duchies. The contract would have sufficed if all parties were in agreement, but Ehrenfest did not know what it was signing. The blame lies with us for not explaining things properly.”

It was hard to say why Lestilaut had acted in such a manner. Perhaps he had thought his approach would suffice, since there were no standardized contracts for bride-taking ditter. Perhaps he had expected Ehrenfest to be more familiar with our duchy’s culture. Or perhaps he had another reason entirely... I would need to ask to be sure.

“How do they request funds from their home duchy, then?” Hannelore asked.

“How indeed. I am not that well informed on the bureaucratic processes of other duchies.”

Like my daughter, I was born in Dunkelfelger, which made my being its first wife somewhat unusual. It would have been more ordinary for the archduke to take a first wife from another duchy while I served as the second wife, but the civil war had occurred while he was still searching. The previous aub had not wanted to risk his son’s marriage dragging Dunkelfelger onto one side or the other, so he had forbidden my husband from taking a wife from another duchy until the new Zent was chosen.

The civil war eventually came to an end, but King Trauerqual ascended to the throne without the Grutrissheit. The old aub’s rule had remained in place while we kept a close eye on Yurgenschmidt’s new ruler... and now here we were.

“Let us focus on our own problems rather than those of other duchies,” I said. “Could you not have stopped Lestilaut?”

She shook her head. “Even if I had known about Professor Rauffen’s misunderstanding and the confusion over the ditter contract well in advance, I would not have been able to do anything. Lestilaut rebuked me even in the tea party room, and everyone in the dormitory was beside themselves with excitement. Nobody would have listened to me.”

Apparently, even her own guard knights had continually said, “Fear not. We will win no matter what.” It was a truly headache-inducing scenario, but I could easily imagine the impassioned state of the dormitory.

“Indeed, a mere few people would not have been able to stop such momentum,” I replied. “Even the castle was in a terrible state when news reached us.”

Hearing that a game of ditter was being played in the Royal Academy with Lady Rozemyne’s and Lady Hannelore’s marriages at stake had sent everyone into an excitable frenzy. Dealing with all of the knights itching to join the match had been exceedingly tedious. I recalled sending them and my husband to the training grounds, suggesting they demonstrate the rituals at the core of our joint research to other duchies.

I sighed again, then gave Hannelore a scrutinizing look. “That said, I find myself distrusting not only Lestilaut but you as well. Is there anything that you are hiding or perhaps intentionally obfuscating?”

“Excuse me...?”

“When did you make this decision to marry into Ehrenfest?” I asked, now with a light glare.

Hannelore turned, looking in the direction of Ehrenfest’s socializing spot, then lowered her eyes. Her lips trembled, but she did not speak.

“During the reports we received after Dunkelfelger lost the ditter match, Lestilaut and Cordula mentioned that you truly wish to marry into Ehrenfest. They said you have hidden those feelings for some time and took full advantage of this opportunity to secure your love.”

As a result, everyone considered the match to have been the result of two romances: one between Lestilaut and Lady Rozemyne, and the other between Hannelore and Lord Wilfried. Of course, Rauffen’s claim that it was bride-taking ditter had contributed to no small degree.

“Even this morning when we were discussing our then upcoming conversation with Ehrenfest,” I said, “you merely stared at your feet with an ambiguous smile. You denied no reports.”

At the time, I had assumed she was feeling guilty about having made her brother and duchy taste defeat—but that explanation did not mesh with what Lady Rozemyne had said. After the ditter match was initially thrust upon her, she had apparently maintained that, when Ehrenfest proved victorious, she would allow Hannelore to marry whomever she pleased. Yes, the condition had been arranged under the privacy of a sound-blocker, but it still meant that my daughter had not been guaranteed to move to Ehrenfest.

I continued, “Could it be that you had no intention of marrying into Ehrenfest when Lady Rozemyne first suggested that condition? If so, when did you fall for Lord Wilfried and decide to go with him, even at the cost of making us lose the game?”

Unlike during the prior negotiation, Hannelore gazed downward and quietly said, “It was during the match... when Lord Wilfried offered me his hand...”

“Come again?”

“He feared that I was in danger and sought only to save me. I could tell that he cared about me, and I wished to be with him. That was when I decided to move to Ehrenfest.”

Hearing about her sudden change of heart made my head spin. I never would have guessed that she had fallen for the enemy midway through the game. It seemed that love really could bloom on the battlefield.

Still, she would entrust herself to that momentary impulse and put her entire future at risk? She could very well be deemed a failure of an archducal family member.

Bride-taking and bride-stealing ditter required entirely different strategies, and understandably so—in the former, the treasure wished to be captured, but in the latter, she naturally did not. Hannelore had turned that on its head while the game was already ongoing.

“So, erm, in other words... the feelings might not even be mutual...?” I asked.

“That is correct. However... Lord Wilfried accepted the conditions when he signed the contract, so I do not believe he dislikes me. I even think he would accept the marriage.”

The contract certainly had the boy’s signature. He had even written that he was going to be the next aub. It was also hard to imagine Ehrenfest not wanting to obtain an archduke candidate from a greater duchy.

What a great blunder you made, Lord Wilfried...

Even with Lestilaut being so forceful, only an insane person would sign a contract they did not agree with and note that they were going to be the next archduke. It was unbelievably irresponsible.

“Why did you stop negotiating with Lady Rozemyne in that horrible state?” I asked. “She promised she would allow you to marry whomever you wished, did she not? If you had made your feelings clear to her, I am sure she would have done everything in her power to assist you.”

Lady Rozemyne had already shown that she wasn’t afraid to use ditter to her advantage. That, coupled with the promise she had made to my daughter, made it extremely likely that she would have helped Hannelore to marry Lord Wilfried.

“Furthermore,” I said, “Lord Wilfried must have had romantic intentions when he reached out to you. You could have managed depending on how you approached the conversation. You could have used his decision to sign as the next aub and—”

“Stop it, Mother!” Hannelore sharply interrupted. “As I said, I do not wish to burden Ehrenfest any more than I have already. Our duchy has caused enough problems for it and for Lady Rozemyne.”

“Ah yes, there was mention of Heisshitze having created some unnecessary trouble for Lord Ferdinand and Ehrenfest...” I said, reminding myself to interrogate Heisshitze about it later.

Hannelore shook her head. “It was more than just him. The reports you received were reductive and missing many details. Father and Lestilaut always tell me to keep quiet, since the matters have been resolved and Ehrenfest is not suffering for them, but...”

Hannelore went on to explain the recent history between our two duchies. She added the truths that had been left out when the reports were indirectly relayed to me.

“The relationship between Ehrenfest and Dunkelfelger began when I was a first-year. In an attempt to steal ownership of the library’s magic tools from Lady Rozemyne, Lestilaut led a group of students from various duchies and threatened her with the authority of a greater duchy. I did not see it with my own eyes, but I still remember how the blood drained from my face when Cordula told me what happened.”

I already knew that a game of ditter was played over the royal heirlooms, but the fact that Lestilaut’s tyrannical behavior had started it all was heavily abridged in the reports.

“I am impressed that Lady Rozemyne was still willing to be your friend,” I remarked.

She continued, “In our second year, Lady Rozemyne was troubled more by Father than by Lestilaut.”

During that year’s Interduchy Tournament, my husband had apparently used the translation of our duchy’s history book as an excuse to force another game of ditter. Heisshitze had been defeated, and Ehrenfest had not lost anything in the end, so the details that had reached me were once again heavily abbreviated. Ehrenfest had come across as very assertive during the following Archduke Conference when negotiating the publishing rights, and it seemed that our own aub was to blame.

Is it in our blood to be deceptive when reporting details that might inconvenience us?

“As for this year’s ditter game,” Hannelore said, “that was again prompted by Lestilaut. He insulted Lord Wilfried during a tea party, said that Lady Rozemyne is too great for Ehrenfest to hold, and threatened to pressure even Aub Ehrenfest himself.”

From my daughter’s perspective, Lestilaut had told Lady Rozemyne the benefits of coming to Dunkelfelger and then asked her to become his first wife. At the very least, he had not made any romantic proposals or given her a feystone.

She continued, “On a related note, I do not know how Professor Rauffen came to believe that Ehrenfest and Lady Rozemyne love ditter. To my knowledge, they have never once sought a match; rather, they are always searching for ways to avoid them. I only realized this after our discussion just now, but I am sure that Lady Rozemyne only sees the game as a means to silence Dunkelfelger and have us accept her demands. At the very least, she does not consider it divine as Lestilaut and the others do.”

Put like that, Dunkelfelger had been anything but kind to Ehrenfest. It made complete sense that Lady Rozemyne had felt compelled to say, “Be silent as losers should be.”

“We have troubled them this much already,” Hannelore said. “Also, I do not wish to be yet another greater duchy archduke candidate who forces a marriage, is reduced to the rank of an archnoble, and spends her life in misery.”

There were many reasons to worry about a minor, inexperienced duchy like Ehrenfest taking in an archduke candidate from a greater duchy. As such, Hannelore’s decision to cast the opportunity aside should have come as a relief.

Now, however...

Ehrenfest’s joint research had made ditter appear more divine to the country at large. Hannelore had also chosen to leave her base; rather than being dragged away by her opponents, she had joined them for the sake of more personal objectives. It was like a slap in the face for the knights who had fought with her.

Ah, though Ehrenfest did not consider it a betrayal.

I recalled what Lady Rozemyne had said—that the onus was on Hannelore’s guard knights for abandoning their charge—and shook my head. I could never view joining the enemy and leaving those fighting for your sake as “normal.” How would Ehrenfest have reacted if Lady Rozemyne had taken Lestilaut’s hand, forsaking the safety of her shield after her guard knights were blown away? Would that not have been considered a betrayal, especially if she had never before expressed any feelings for her captor? Or would the blame have fallen on her knights, whose only fault had been drawing their weapons to protect their lady?

Our perspectives are just fundamentally different.

“You have agreed to disregard the clause about your marriage,” I said. “Ehrenfest may have accepted that you acted on impulse, as its students prioritized your safety above all else... but that will not be the case back home.”

After a hesitant pause, Hannelore said, “I understand.” Her desire not to trouble Ehrenfest any further was admirable enough; she knew in great detail what problems we had caused, so it was only natural that she would try to make amends. That said, refusing this wedding was the absolute worst decision—both for our duchy and for Hannelore herself. I would have preferred that she think of some way to apologize to Ehrenfest after marrying into it.

“Do you say that knowing how much of an influence your words and actions have?”

“I... believe so.” She was looking down at her feet, so I could not see her face, but her hand was trembling as she clutched the sound-blocker to her chest.

“You took your enemy’s hand and abandoned your base. We lost because of your betrayal.”

“Yes...”

“You would not have received much of a punishment because your actions happened to benefit our duchy. We would have formed closer bonds with Ehrenfest whether we won or lost.”

To be more precise, there were several reasons why Hannelore would have been let off so lightly. Lestilaut had done a poor job of gathering intelligence on his little sister, her betrayal had been interpreted as a plot to realize her true love, she would be marrying into another duchy in a few years’ time anyhow, and a connection to Ehrenfest would greatly benefit our duchy. Lestilaut was at fault for not having paid more attention to his sister and was being held responsible for losing our treasured shield. That should have been the end of things.

“However,” I continued, “you then declared that you will not marry into Ehrenfest. For what reason, then, did you sabotage us during the ditter game? That is the question you must answer.”

The nobles at home would see her as having stomped on her brother’s romance before abandoning both her own love and the value that it would have offered. To complicate matters further, we could not change our story and pretend that Hannelore was dragged out of our base after all—her surrender had already been recorded on magic tools.

In our current situation, the blame would sit not with Lestilaut, who had manipulated others into believing the game was bride-taking and not bride-stealing ditter, but with Hannelore, who had willingly left our base, refused to marry into Ehrenfest, and decided not to capitalize on such an excellent opportunity. That she was trying to be considerate would mean nothing to our nobles; they cared only about how her actions impacted our duchy.

“You will soon face the exceedingly harsh winds of all those who consider you a traitor,” I said. “Your own actions are to blame, so... prepare yourself.”

“I will...”

I could not help but sigh at my daughter, who was hanging her head and trying to accept everything. “You are simply too kind—or perhaps just too willing to suffer on everyone’s behalf. Things truly do not go as one wishes.”

“Mother?”

The best response now would be to find my daughter a husband in another duchy—to ease the coming winds by showing that she was still valuable. I would tell her that no matter how hard things were now, her suffering would only last a number of years.

But I could never do something so cruel to my daughter, who was even willing to betray her own duchy for love.

I was unsure whether Hannelore truly realized this, but she had thwarted her own duchy in her resolve to marry into Ehrenfest. She was surely heartbroken that her marriage had ultimately fallen through.

“As the first wife, I must protest your resolve and criticize you for what you have done. As your mother, however... I am terribly worried about your future.”

Hannelore looked up at me in surprise, blinking her red eyes a few times as though still processing my words. “Mother, I do not regret my declaration. But, well... My retainers are going to suffer because of my actions. I can only hope that I will one day have an opportunity to wash away this shame.”

Anger began to bubble up from inside of me—not at my daughter, who had acted foolishly on an emotional impulse, but at my son, who had put her in this situation to begin with.

“I understand your perspective and resolve, Hannelore. Now, let us interrogate your brother about his perspective over lunch. I expect you to interject whenever he tries to hide or abbreviate details.”

“M-Me?”

“Who else?”

Hannelore inhaled sharply and glanced around in search of support. As we were gripping sound-blocking magic tools, however, her retainers only looked at her quizzically.

“Oh, right,” I said. “I also need to interrogate the aub about his behavior during last year’s Interduchy Tournament. It is doubtless the case that his actions then influenced Ehrenfest’s and Lady Rozemyne’s positions today.”

Lestilaut was not the only egotist in this situation; the aub was guilty too. It was seemingly because he had used our authority as a greater duchy to put pressure on Ehrenfest that we were having to accept their terms for their translation of our history book. Now, Lady Rozemyne and Ehrenfest were using their ditter wins to make us accept all of their demands. I would need to lecture my husband about hiding his involvement in this process.

“Ohohoho...”

“M-M... M-M-Mother...” Hannelore stammered, tears in her eyes. “Please keep it a secret that I have said all these things.”

I gave her a questioning look. “You are not the one at fault here. Puff out your chest and stand tall as women from our duchy should.” It was a deliberate allusion to their negotiations with Ehrenfest, but Hannelore merely hung her head.

“I am still far, far away from being a proper Dunkelfelger woman.”