Ascendance of a Bookworm (LN) - Volume 5.4 - Chapter SS

Reflection and Envy

The news that Father would be taking Brunhilde as his second wife had made the blood drain from my face. A fake smile and superficial congratulations were enough to get me through the rest of our meal, but my calm quickly fell apart once I was back in my chambers.

“Vanessa, what should we do?” I asked my head attendant. “At this rate, Father is going to take Brunhilde as a second wife—and it will be all my fault.”

During our family meeting, my frustrations had finally become too much to bear. I had exploded at my parents and criticized my father for not taking a second wife to ease the growing fears of the nobility. My outburst was surely the reason he had now rushed into this engagement with Brunhilde, a member of the Leisegang faction who had yet to take a fiancé and was young enough not to impact Mother’s pregnancy or delivery.

“Lady Charlotte, do calm down,” Vanessa replied. “Regardless of whether your criticisms played a role in this, it was ultimately the aub’s decision to take a second wife. Furthermore, there is no mistaking that he needs to marry a Leisegang to put the other nobles back in order. I see no reason for your unease when, after years of skirting the issue, your father has finally listened to you.”

She was right; I certainly had said that my father needed to take a Leisegang as his second wife. As a result, one of my sister’s precious retainers was now in a terribly difficult position.

This new engagement would do plenty to benefit the archducal family, but Brunhilde had very little to gain from it. She would be welcomed as a second wife to put the Leisegangs in order, but she was still underage; I struggled to see how she would manage to control the older members of her family. It was equivalent to someone ordering me to make Lord Bonifatius and my uncle agree with one another, despite my being so much younger than them both. The very thought made me dizzy.

To make matters worse, although everyone had agreed that bringing Brunhilde into the family fold would make the Groschel reconstruction a lot easier to manage, nobody had acknowledged that my parents had disrupted the schedule to begin with. No matter how one dressed it, Brunhilde was being made to marry Father to remedy the consequences of my mother’s pregnancy.

As I understood it, Brunhilde had accepted such active roles in the printing industry and reconstruction effort because she was due to become the next Giebe Groschel. No matter how much her new engagement benefited the province, she was surely devastated to be losing her position simply to satisfy Father’s sudden demands. I recalled my own heartache after losing my chance to become the next aub because of my brother’s engagement.

Father has a tendency not to realize how people feel on the inside. He likely has no idea how much I detest his prioritizing Wilfried over me...

Because it was already decided that Wilfried would become the next Aub Ehrenfest, Brunhilde would never even have a chance to mother the duchy’s next ruler—a great honor in itself. The future that most second wives would wish for and strive toward would be closed off to her from the outset.

On top of everything else, Father was completely devoted to Mother and had spent so very long declaring that he neither wanted nor needed a second wife; not even someone as young and attractive as Brunhilde was likely to win his affections. Perhaps this was uncouth for me to say about my own father, but his love had always bordered on the obsessive.

Brunhilde was a dazzling star of the Royal Academy with plenty of admirers, not only from other duchies but from the Sovereignty as well. Yet here she was, resigning herself to a loveless marriage—and to a man old enough to be her father. The mere thought of ending up in such a position myself sent a shiver down my spine.

“Rather than taking Brunhilde, Father should have found an older widow unable to bear a child,” I concluded.

Vanessa shook her head at me. “You may not approve of this engagement, Lady Charlotte, but there is nothing that you can do to prevent it; Giebe Groschel has already expressed his approval. If you feel that you have wronged Brunhilde, then think of ways to improve her future. Help her in ways she will sincerely appreciate.”

The feast celebrating spring ended in a commotion after Father’s engagement to Brunhilde was announced. The nobles then started returning to their respective provinces, and the castle became a little bit quieter. In the meantime, I summoned Brunhilde to my room; she was visiting the castle to examine the western building.

“I realize that these are busy times, so please forgive this inconvenience,” I said.

“Oh, no. I was overjoyed to receive your invitation,” Brunhilde replied and sat down with a smile. “I, too, have much to discuss with you.”

I got my attendant to pour us some tea, and my eyes wandered to the necklace adorning Brunhilde’s breast. It contained the engagement feystone that Father had given her—and, as long as she wore it, she was in an equivalent position to the rest of the archducal family.

“First of all, allow me to apologize,” I said. “It is likely my fault that you were asked to become the second wife to begin with. I never thought my outburst would cause you to shoulder such an immense burden. My actions were unforgivably shallow.”

“There is nothing for you to worry about, Lady Charlotte. The aub made this decision himself.”

I shook my head, conscious that she was only being considerate. “If my father desired a Leisegang woman who would not affect Mother’s pregnancy, he could have chosen an older widow with more socializing experience. At the very least, she would have found it easier to make your family comply...”

That much was a given; I wouldn’t be able to face off against Uncle or Lord Bonifatius, but I would easily be able to deal with Wilfried, Melchior, or their future children. Not to mention, nobody would bat an eye about a widow older than Mother not receiving Father’s love or favor.

“Lady Charlotte... do you expect my socializing to be inadequate?” Brunhilde asked.

“Not in the least. We have arranged tea parties together in the Royal Academy. I am well aware of your talents.”

Brunhilde’s assistance had allowed me to smoothly interact with top-ranking duchies when I was still only a first-year. Ehrenfest had socialized only as a bottom-ranking duchy before then, but she had advised me on how to act and guided me through the unknown. I could no longer count how many times Rozemyne’s retainers had saved me, be it through their experience attending tea parties with top-ranking duchies or their knack for providing tea and sweets to the tastes of our guests.

“Bringing the Leisegangs under one banner will save Ehrenfest and do much to assist Father and me,” I said. “However, I cannot see what you gain from it. Uniting an entire faction is an overwhelming task for an adult, much less a mere student.”

After sipping her tea, Brunhilde gave me a troubled smile. “Though I appreciate your concern for me, Lady Charlotte, an aged widow simply would not do. Plus, there is no need to unify the Leisegangs.”

I was stunned, unable to respond with anything more than a quizzical stare. We didn’t need to unify the Leisegangs? I wanted to ask what she meant, but she continued unprompted.

“Lady Veronica’s reign of tyranny over the Leisegangs lasted much too long. The elders among them—those who endured her abuse the longest—are too angry and resentful to even consider agreeing with the archducal family. To be frank with you, if we did allow the Leisegangs to unite under a second wife, it would inspire them to take drastic action—to eliminate as much of the current archducal family as would be necessary to position Lady Rozemyne as the next aub with Lord Bonifatius as her support base. The situation could get much worse than it is already.”

Her warning shook me to my core. “Would the Leisegangs target Mother and me as well...? We also suffered Grandmother’s abuse.”

“The two of you would potentially escape their wrath, but not Lord Melchior. Because he is male, they would consider him a threat.”

Perhaps it was because Mother and I had been victims ourselves, or because we had so many Leisegangs in our service, but I was shocked to hear that Melchior and I would also be scorned. As it turned out, the Leisegangs hated the archducal family as a whole, irrespective of our individual relationships with Veronica.

“Right now,” she continued, “Ehrenfest needs a second wife from the younger generation—someone who considers Lady Veronica’s reign a thing of the past, who understands that Lady Rozemyne doesn’t want to be the next aub, and who can work with the archducal family to move our duchy forward instead of merely serving as a figurehead so that her family can sow dissent.”

I couldn’t help but sigh in awe. Brunhilde understood the danger of the Leisegangs so much better than I did as a member of the archducal family.

“My engagement was announced, and it subsequently became known that I am taking a more active role in the reconstruction of Groschel,” Brunhilde said. “As a result, the internal power balance has split between those who desire Lady Rozemyne as the next aub and those who wish to maintain the status quo now that the archduke is more pliable to our desires. My intention is not to unify the Leisegangs under one banner. Quite the opposite. I want to keep them apart so that they don’t pose a threat to the archducal family.”

Brunhilde was carefully observing her house and considering her every move... but I could not understand why she was so devoted to the archducal family.

“You were meant to become the next Giebe Groschel and, with any luck, take a groom of your own,” I said. “Surely becoming my father’s second wife is not what you truly desire.”

One of my guard knights, Lengurt, was a Groschel native, so I considered myself quite knowledgeable about the province. Brunhilde was the daughter of the giebe’s first wife and was being raised as his successor, since he had no male heirs to speak of. The kind of education needed to rule was not the same one needed to be married into another house. As someone who had gone from being a potential archduchess to merely the future wife of a foreign noble, I was well aware of the troubles that came with a sudden change of position.

On top of everything else, Giebe Groschel surely hadn’t accounted for his daughter being taken by the aub. The province was bound to struggle without its successor, I thought... but Brunhilde gave a faint smile and shook her head.

“There is no need for you to be so troubled, Lady Charlotte. The truth is... this engagement is my only hope.”

I simply blinked at her, not having expected that at all.

Brunhilde’s expression turned contemplative, then she gave me a sound-blocking magic tool. Her bright, noble smile never so much as faltered as she said, “You must keep this a secret from everyone, even Lengurt. My father’s second wife has given birth to a son.”

I took a sharp breath. In other words, Brunhilde was losing her chance to become the next Giebe Groschel irrespective of this engagement. I was no stranger to the heartache of one’s hard work suddenly coming to naught, simply because of an unfair disparity between the genders. Back then, nothing had worked to console me, so I could only stare at Brunhilde as I racked my brain for a response.

“Erm... I do not know what to say...” was my eventual reply. “At the very least, I can understand how you feel. There have been times when I wished that I were born a man.”

“Ah, yes... You were in an unfortunate position yourself. I relate to your feelings of powerlessness all too well.”

We gave each other wooden smiles. Though we had only exchanged a few words, our similar plights had given us something to bond over.

“Father rejoiced at the birth of his son, then coincidentally decided to postpone the announcement of his successor,” Brunhilde explained. “My replacement has not yet been made official, but neither can I take a husband in Groschel—doing so would give rise to all sorts of conflict. On that path, my only option is to wait for the future, when either my little sister takes a groom or the boy starts to grow up. In either case, I will not be the giebe. Oh, what a fit Mother threw.”

Were the son to become the next Giebe Groschel, his mother, the second wife, would take precedence over the first. Brunhilde’s mother would become more and more neglected after her daughters were married off.

Ah, that reminds me—one of the reasons Father put Wilfried with Rozemyne was to protect Mother’s position.

I sighed. The moment Brunhilde was ousted from her position as the next Giebe Groschel, she would need to start worrying about her mother’s future. She wouldn’t even have a chance to grieve her own loss.

“Of course,” Brunhilde continued, “Mother rejoiced when I told her about my engagement to Aub Ehrenfest. The mother of the archduke’s second wife would never be neglected, would she?”

Becoming the archduke’s second wife was normally cause for concern. How would one’s status change when the position of aub passed to the next generation? Brunhilde, however, was a retainer serving my sister, our duchy’s future first wife; barring any extraordinary circumstances, she would continue to thrive even after the generational shift.

“Thus, I rather welcome this engagement,” Brunhilde remarked. “You must consider my situation from every angle. Would you not agree that such an influential position—one that will give me power over future giebes—is something to be excited about? I will stand above even my father, whose whims I have for so long been a slave to.”

Her amber eyes narrowed into a mischievous squint, and an impish smile spread across her lips. Like me, she was losing the future she had spent her entire life working toward, but she showed not a trace of despair. How were we so different? Compared to me, she was like a dazzling light, refusing to let the present drag her down as she marched ever onward.

“More than Groschel,” she continued, “I worry about how you and Lady Florencia feel. Is my sudden rise to second wife not displeasing to either of you?”

“Oh, no. How could we ever be displeased about this engagement? You are giving us such crucial assistance during these formidable times. Only a true fool would speak ill of your decision.” No sooner had the words passed my lips than I clapped a hand over my mouth in realization; there was one member of the archducal family who had been protesting Brunhilde’s new position. “Could it be that... Wilfried said something to you?”

Brunhilde’s smile widened ever so slightly—a silent yes.

Wilfried had told me that he was going to protest to Father, but it had never even crossed my mind that he might complain to Brunhilde. The engagement was a decision to be made between parents; no matter what he said to her, she was unable to end it herself.

“My brother, the next archduke, would complain to you about an engagement decided by the aub, for the sake of the duchy...?” I muttered. “Unbelievable. I cannot express how sorry I am. Perhaps because of the education they received from Grandmother, neither my father nor Wilfried views second wives in a positive light.”

Wilfried was so opposed to the idea that he had even tried to make us come together as siblings to protest the engagement. He had gotten very emotional, saying things like “No good can come from taking a second wife,” “Aren’t you worried about Mother? That’s cold...” and “Rozemyne can take care of unifying the Leisegangs.” It concerned me that he prioritized his emotions over political decision-making.

And it was fairly exasperating when he told me that our sharing a mother obligates me to obey him...

The purge had greatly reduced the size of the former Veronica faction, and now Mother and Father were doing their best to get the Leisegangs, our next big threat, under control. This was all to ensure that Wilfried would become the next aub, but he seemed painfully oblivious to that fact.

“Lady Veronica’s education, hm...?” Brunhilde asked, covering her mouth with her hand to indicate surprise. “I never would have expected such opinions from Lord Wilfried, considering how hard he fought for Hannelore to become his second wife...”

I agreed; it was surprisingly common for Wilfried to say one thing and then do the complete opposite. “In the past, whenever he said or did something that concerned me, I assumed that he was letting Oswald manipulate him. He seems concerned about Leisegang nobles securing more power, which suggests that his former Veronica faction retainers are continuing to influence him. I had thought that his twisted thought processes would improve after Oswald was relieved of duty. Now, we can only hope...”

“Relieved of duty?” Brunhilde repeated, her eyes wide. “I was told that Oswald resigned.”

“He was relieved of duty in secret and allowed to pass it off as a resignation. Wilfried is guaranteed to become the next aub now that he is engaged to Rozemyne, but Oswald was simply too dedicated to Lady Veronica’s methods. For that reason, I pleaded with Mother to remove him, but we could not act so openly. Relieving him of duty before the purge would have risked him leaking information to others in the former Veronica faction, so Mother determined it best to instead isolate him from the others at the Royal Academy. There, he was cornered and told to choose between resigning or being relieved of duty upon his return. He chose the former. Though, do keep all this a secret.”

“I thank you ever so much,” Brunhilde said, smiling. It seemed that I had obtained her trust by offering her a secret in return for the one she had given me. “Even now that Oswald is gone, Wilfried comes across as far more emotional of late. Do you know why that is?”

He had started ordering me to help him as his full sister, but I wasn’t sure whether he was making similar demands of those in Rozemyne’s service. “Perhaps there is an issue with the new head attendant. Oswald would often tell me to cede my accomplishments, but Wilfried was unaware of this. Now, however...”

“We should conclude that, rather than working in the shadows, Lord Wilfried’s retainers are directly instigating him to act in this way?”

Through this discussion with Brunhilde, it felt like I was beginning to see the truth beneath my brother’s irritating behavior. Our conclusions were little more than baseless extrapolations, however; further investigation was necessary.

“I do not know the details myself,” I said, “but it seems very likely. This is so blatantly unnatural that even Wilfried will come to distrust his retainers. I shall keep an eye on the situation.”

It really is worrisome that the supposed next aub is the most concerning factor in all this.

I exhaled slowly and picked up my teacup. We both took a moment to enjoy our drinks, and thus ended our discussion about my brother.

“To return to your original concern, Brunhilde... Fear not. My mother and I take no issue with your engagement. I still maintain that the burden is too great for someone of your age to bear alone, and I regret taking such a capable attendant from my sister, but those are separate matters...”

Not only was Brunhilde leaving to become a second wife, but Rihyarda had also returned to Father’s service. Rozemyne had already been in desperate need of more retainers, so her situation right now was surely dire.

“I intend to serve Lady Rozemyne until I graduate,” Brunhilde assured me with a consoling smile. “And if you are concerned about Rihyarda, she returned to the archduke’s service of her own volition. She said that Lady Rozemyne spends very little time in the castle and would scarcely feel her absence as a result.”

So my father hadn’t ordered Rozemyne to give up Rihyarda... Perhaps I was viewing him a little too harshly.

“Lady Charlotte... does Lady Florencia truly welcome me?” Brunhilde asked.

“Certainly. Mother has been pushing Father to take a second wife for years to help resolve the archducal family’s mana shortage. For that second wife to be of the same faction and capable of dealing with the Leisegangs, well... what more could she ask for? You are very welcome indeed.”

Finding a second wife who would not butt heads with the first was no easy task, but Brunhilde was perfect. She was of the same faction and could provide support to both Mother and Rozemyne. Not to mention, unlike with my sister, there was no need to teach her about female socializing. Her being underage also removed any worries of the engagement affecting Mother’s pregnancy. Indeed, there was no better choice in the world.

“It is relieving to hear that,” Brunhilde said. “In which case, might I ask you to help me integrate into the archducal family? I would have asked Lady Rozemyne, but she isn’t here in the castle for me to consult, and the last thing I want to do is burden her further...”

“Naturally. I will provide you with my full support,” I replied at once with a firm nod. “If you ever require my assistance, then you need only contact me. I, too, would like to make things easier for my sister.”

To say that Rozemyne was busy right now was an understatement. She was having to take on Uncle’s temple work and educate Melchior. She had also mentioned taking the playroom children into the temple.

Of course, that was still only scratching the surface. Even when it came to the printing industry or welcoming merchants from other duchies, Rozemyne was expected to do far too much. In particular, Mother and Father were focusing on internal noble politics this year, which meant that Rozemyne was almost entirely responsible for the more hands-on duties such as directing the commoners.

“In an ideal world,” I said, “I would be helping Rozemyne in the temple, but there is so much desk work to be done here in the castle as a result of the purge. Plus, I must admit, I am not yet used to how things operate there. I would only drag everyone else down.”

“Lady Rozemyne believes that people should focus on their strengths and allow others to compensate for their weaknesses, as evidenced by Philine and Damuel playing such valuable roles in her retinue.” She giggled, a teasing look in her eyes. “To be honest with you, Lady Charlotte, you have already been tremendously useful to us; Lady Rozemyne works with such dedication when we say it is for your sake.”

It seemed that I was being useful to Rozemyne after all. How wonderful.

She continued, “I would also like to assist my lady. Lady Rozemyne cannot socialize with the Leisegangs—or, rather, any such socializing would not benefit either party.”

“What do you mean?” I asked. Rozemyne was often unpredictable, but there was always a reason for her actions. And, in the end, her ideas would usually lead to good conclusions.

“As you know, Lady Rozemyne was raised in the temple. She didn’t spend any time with her wider family before her baptism. Even after she was baptized, the political climate meant she was forbidden from meeting with them on all but a few carefully selected occasions. I cannot say I have ever seen her socialize with them.”

I knew that Rozemyne had been keeping her distance from most of her family to avoid them hailing her as the next Aub Ehrenfest, but it was news to me that she had never socialized with them at all.

“As a result,” Brunhilde continued, “Lady Rozemyne cannot empathize with her house’s anger toward and obsession with Lady Veronica, nor can she truly understand what they desire. In all likelihood, the Leisegangs will end up disillusioned with her and despair. I speak from experience, for I went through such a period myself.”

Again, I was surprised. In my eyes, Brunhilde had always been Rozemyne’s loyal retainer.

She elaborated, “Not only is Lady Rozemyne unable to grasp her house’s desires, but she also seems ill-equipped for conventional socializing—likely because she was asleep in her jureve for two years and entered the Royal Academy without proper experience.”

“But she made use of her own, unique methods to obtain connections with top-ranking duchies and the royal family. I could not hope to mimic that form of socializing myself. Even after seeing it up close at the Royal Academy, I cannot say that I understand it.”

Unlike my sister, Brunhilde had socialized with her family since she was a child—as was normal. Furthermore, because she had received a giebe’s education, she was an expert at using traditional methods to deal with other nobles. Then there was my sister, who had been raised in the temple, was completely unpredictable, and was very difficult to secure a meeting with. It was easy to guess which one a Leisegang who wanted influence over the archducal family would prefer working with.

“That said,” I continued, “I agree that Rozemyne would struggle to perform the more traditional socializing that the Leisegangs expect of her.” Because she had received no formal training and had needed to learn on the spot, her socializing was entirely unlike that of a normal bottom-ranking duchy.

“As stated earlier, I wish to keep the Leisegangs divided, but Lady Rozemyne is not suited to such delicate maneuvering. It seems best to have her stick to socializing with other duchies.”

I agreed. Going forward, Ehrenfest needed to present itself as not a spineless duchy eager to obey those at the top of the rankings but a strong duchy that was determined to make its voice heard.

“At present, I do not believe there is much point in teaching bottom-ranking socializing to my sister,” I said. “Doing so will only cause confusion when she is meeting with the royal family or top-ranking duchies. Instead, we should push for the generational shift and start bringing the rest of the duchy up to her level.”

Brunhilde gave a firm nod of agreement. It was reassuring to know that we shared the same goal... but I wished that I could share her strength as well.

“Were you not frustrated to lose your position as the next giebe and have the job of containing the Leisegangs forced upon you?” I asked. “Erm... when my future as an archduchess was taken from me, it was quite some time before I regained my footing. I was hoping to learn from your experience so that I might do better in the future.”

Brunhilde knit her brow as if pondering her answer. “It would be a lie to say that I wasn’t disheartened. Even now, I wish to help Groschel grow and turn it into a city that can host merchants from other duchies. However, while I may have lost my future as a giebe, I am still Lady Rozemyne’s attendant. There are duties for me to complete and a path for me to tread.” Her lips curled into a bitter smile. “In truth, I was so busy attending my lady at the Royal Academy that I seldom had time to feel down.”

“In that case, will you not feel the loss more keenly once you become a second wife and cease being her retainer?”

“Not at all. I do feel some pressure due to the lack of time, but I do not feel sad.”

“‘The lack of time’?”

“Yes. There are only three, maybe four years before Lady Rozemyne comes of age, resigns from her position as High Bishop, and starts living in the castle as the next aub’s future wife. That is how long I have to take control of the Leisegangs for her and learn to socialize like a proper woman of the archducal family. I must compensate for Lady Rozemyne’s weaknesses and ensure that she can live a life of comfort. Those are my duties as her retainer.”

Even after her graduation, Brunhilde would remain Lady Rozemyne’s retainer at heart and do everything in her power as the archduke’s second wife to make her days easier. Her resolve was stronger than I expected, and seeing her proud, confident smile made me feel envious and inferior.

“Lady Charlotte... will you offer me your assistance?”

“But of course. Let us support Rozemyne together.”

I gave Brunhilde a smile and a nod, but my facade did nothing to ease the discomfort inside of me. It was like there was a heavy weight pulling down on my heart.

I now understood that Brunhilde wanted to become Ehrenfest’s second wife and that she had her own reasons for supporting the archducal family. My initial concerns had thus been resolved, but I was still in low spirits long after our discussion concluded.

Vanessa eyed me carefully. “You still seem down, milady. Might I ask what the two of you discussed? I know nothing of what transpired after the sound-blockers came out.” She sounded concerned, but what could I say to her?

I proceeded with the utmost caution, not wanting to spill any of the secrets we had promised to keep. “Just as Lengurt feared, Brunhilde will no longer be the next Giebe Groschel, but she is not particularly depressed about that fact. She said that she remains Rozemyne’s attendant and still has that path to follow. I was ever so shocked...”

Vanessa gave me a look of surprise; she knew exactly how I had felt after losing my future as an archduchess. “I was aware that Lady Brunhilde had a strong spirit, but even so...”

“She told me that she is becoming the second wife for Lady Rozemyne’s sake, to help her when she comes of age and leaves the temple. I promised to assist her with this effort.”

“Your discussion was productive, then?” Vanessa asked, watching me closely.

I nodded; speaking with Brunhilde really had eased my initial concerns. “There is no need for me to worry about her. Brunhilde is strong, has a clear goal in mind, and will put her all into her duties. All of my fears have been allayed, so why am I still so forlorn? I cannot help but feel that I have lost to her in some way, and it makes me all the more envious.”

Vanessa cast her eyes down and contemplated my admission. “Were you engaged in some form of competition, milady?”

“Not at all. But, well... I have been trying to be useful to Rozemyne, but I can offer only a pale shadow of the resolve and proactiveness that Brunhilde embodies. Now, I feel as though my determination to repay my sister has been much too weak.”

“Retainers and sisters have different roles to perform,” Vanessa replied with a chuckle—but there was more to my concerns.

“Being able to work with Brunhilde to support Rozemyne was exactly what I wanted, but... for some reason, I feel as though I have been left out. I am overcome with nothing but envy for Brunhilde.”

“Is your envy tinged with admiration? Or does it feel more akin to jealousy?” Vanessa probed. She was urging me to reflect on my feelings, so I thought back to the first time they had plagued me.

“My feelings were most similar to admiration. There was such determination in her eyes as she told me her plan to continue supporting my sister long into the future, and it made me feel so... incapable. I simply do not know how to face the future with such courage.”

“There is only so far you can plan ahead, milady. You are due to marry into another duchy, and your partner has not even been decided yet. This is not something worth fretting over.”

“Ah...”

That was true. I would eventually marry into another duchy to benefit Ehrenfest. In other words, while Brunhilde and my sister were going to have a future together, I was destined to be sent away.

“I had hoped that Brunhilde, Rozemyne, and I would never be separated...” I murmured. “That we would always work together like we did in the Royal Academy...”

Female members of archducal families were tasked with marrying into other duchies to strengthen diplomatic ties. Small archducal families had the option of bringing a groom into their duchy so that he could offer support, but with Melchior growing up and a skilled politician such as Brunhilde supporting Rozemyne as the second wife, Ehrenfest no longer needed me. My value would come entirely from the connections made through my future marriage.

I understood that it was my duty to marry into another duchy... but I disliked the thought from the bottom of my heart. Learning that fact about myself was troubling.

“It seems that I have grown so sad and envious precisely because Brunhilde is such a splendid retainer,” I said. “I will one day need to leave Ehrenfest, meaning I cannot remain Rozemyne’s sister forever.”

“You need not corner yourself, milady.”

I smiled at Vanessa in response, but she must have seen through my charade; her brow furrowed in a way that made it clear she was hurting. It was the same face she had made when I was taken out of the running to become the next aub.

At this rate, I will simply worry my retainers again. I must get back on my feet somehow.

As soon as that thought crossed my mind, I remembered what Brunhilde had said to me: “However, while I may have lost my future as a giebe, I am still Lady Rozemyne’s attendant. There are duties for me to complete and a path for me to tread.”

“Be honest with me, Vanessa—will Rozemyne still be my big sister, even when I am in another duchy and no longer a member of the archducal family?”

“Hm? That goes without saying. Given how close you are, I can confidently declare that not even duchy borders will sever your bond as siblings.”

Those words alone filled me with hope. “And will I still be able to support her?”

“But of course. The purpose of your marriage will be to tie Ehrenfest to another duchy. It will depend on where you end up, but once Lady Rozemyne becomes the first wife, the two of you will have opportunities to support one another.”

“Father said that he will do everything in his power to grant my requests when deciding which duchy I am to marry into. My desire is to go somewhere where I can continue working with my sister.”

If my sibling bond with Rozemyne would survive even after my departure from Ehrenfest, then I had no reason to lose to Brunhilde. There would surely be times when the first wife of another duchy would be more helpful than the second wife of the previous aub.

Now that I had something to work toward, the feelings of envy and inferiority that had tormented my heart were nowhere to be found.