Ascendance of a Bookworm (LN) - Volume 5.5 - Chapter 11

The Merchant Saint

It was the dawn of a new day—a day I wouldn’t be spending in the underground archive. Ottilie was worried that returning to work so soon after my fever would make me sick again, while Clarissa wanted me to avoid anything even remotely strenuous. “Your health is more important than all else, Lady Rozemyne,” she had told me.

“You must be exhausted after spending so many days underground, poring over documents,” Ottilie said. “Please take this opportunity to rest.”

I returned to bed and pointed at the nearby book box. “In that case, Clarissa, fetch me something to read.”

“You intend to continue reading?!”

“Of course. Reading is a hobby of mine, and how better to relax than with a book of my choosing? It might appear similar to my translation work, but I can assure you that I consider it resting.”

Clarissa continued to gawk at me.

“It’s been a long time since anyone responded so dramatically,” I said with a chuckle, then gave her the title of a book I was only halfway through reading.

“Hartmut did warn me, but still... This is shocking to see in person.”

“Lady Rozemyne has been so busy and in such great health recently that she has not had much time to read at her leisure,” Lieseleta explained with a giggle as she helped me get comfortable in bed.

Clarissa opened the book box and took out the title I’d requested. I asked Ottilie to inform Hannelore or Magdalena of my absence, then started reading. By the time Clarissa announced that she was leaving to attend the Archduke Conference, her voice barely even reached me; my book already had my full attention.

All of a sudden, an ordonnanz perched atop my book, forcing me to look up. “This is Hildebrand,” it said. “I am sorry to hear you have fallen ill. My intention was to send you a present to raise your spirits, but Mother told me not to, since you are not supposed to be here in the first place. Get... Get well soon.”

I smiled at his cute message, then sent my response: “My fever has gone down, but my concerned retainers advised me to rest for one more day. I will be back tomorrow.”

As promised, I went to the underground archive the next day. Sylvester and Florencia were attending their meeting with the royal family—I wouldn’t find out how that went until my return to the dormitory—while Anastasius and Eglantine were busy socializing.

“Good day to you, Lady Rozemyne,” Hannelore said when she saw me. “It is wonderful to see you well again.” She knew from experience that a simple tea party could make me collapse, so she wasn’t too surprised that my trip around the Royal Academy had made me ill.

I smiled and confirmed that I was indeed feeling better, and it was then that Hildebrand came over.

“Rozemyne. I’m glad to see you have recovered.”

“Indeed, Prince Hildebrand,” I replied. “I thank you ever so much for your kind ordonnanz.”

He beamed in response, his purple eyes sparkling with joy. For a prince, he was very open with his feelings, which was cute. The way he acted at times like this reminded me of Melchior, so I ended up letting my emotions come through as well.

As we continued our conversation, I suddenly had a feeling that I was being watched. A quick scan of the room revealed that Magdalena was inspecting me closely. The moment our eyes met, she smiled and said, “Let us go into the archive, everyone.”

Once inside, I silently began working on my translation... until somebody tapped me on the back.

“Rozemyne, do you have a moment?”

I turned around to see Prince Hildebrand. “Yes?” I asked. “Is there a word you don’t recognize?” It wasn’t the first time he had requested my assistance.

“I wanted to ask you something while Mother and Hannelore are taking a break. Rozemyne...” He paused, clearly agonizing over his next words. “Are you going to obtain the Grutrissheit and become the next Zent?”

“I am not of the royal family. As a result, I am not qualified to take on such a role.”

So my status as a Zent candidate had at last been shared among the royal family. He had been right to wait for Hannelore to leave, but I still wasn’t sure this was something we should discuss in the archive.

Hildebrand took my hand. “Rozemyne, I want to help you.”

I stared at him in surprise, racking my brain to discern what he meant. I wasn’t given much of a chance, though; the patter of footsteps soon interrupted us.

“Hildebrand, what are you doing?”

“Mother...” The prince had gone pale—a sign that he had probably said too much.

Magdalena looked down at me. “Lady Rozemyne, what did my son say to you, might I ask?”

“That he wished to help me,” I said. “I have already recovered from my fever, but I see that Prince Hildebrand is still so thoughtfully concerned about me.” Of course, I wasn’t going to mention anything about the Zent candidacy.

Magdalena gave me a searching look, then sighed. “Hildebrand, let us both take a break,” she said, bringing our conversation to an end.

After lunch, we got straight back to work. Magdalena was watching Hildebrand even more closely this time, determined to ensure he would not speak to me again.

That was when Sigiswald arrived. It was my first time seeing him here since the beginning of the Archduke Conference. He commended our work in the archive for the royal family’s sake, then prompted Hannelore to return to her dormitory to rest.

“I thank you ever so much for your concern,” Hannelore said to the first prince before taking her leave. She glanced back at me several times as she went, her eyes betraying her concern.

I moved to stand, only to be told to sit back down. “There is nowhere else we can speak,” Sigiswald explained with a peaceful smile while taking a seat opposite me. “Anastasius has told me that, to convey one’s intentions, one must be almost offensively blunt when speaking with you. I would thus like to speak frankly, if you do not mind.”

Anastasius’s phrasing annoyed me a bit, but he wasn’t wrong—it was much better to be straightforward than to allow any misunderstandings to take root, especially when the royal family was involved.

“I do not mind,” I replied, “as long as I am not executed for my own bluntness.”

“Fear not; we would not execute such a valuable Zent candidate,” Sigiswald said with a smile, then looked at me head-on. “Indeed, Anastasius told us. He also mentioned that you cannot obtain the Grutrissheit without being registered as a member of the royal family.”

It seemed that Detlinde’s dedication whirl and the recent Starbind Ceremony had made the Sovereign temple appear more and more credible in the eyes of the country’s nobles. As a result, calls for the old ceremonies to be revived and a true Zent to be found were getting louder. The royals had assumed that even I would manage to obtain the Grutrissheit, but... here we were.

“Just as Prince Anastasius told you, I am not qualified to obtain the Grutrissheit. I would thus advise you to have someone within the royal family secure it instead. Please ask Lady Eglantine.”

“Unfortunately... the royal family does not have the leeway to do that,” Sigiswald explained, looking troubled. Just as the library’s equivalent of a foundation had been about to run out of mana, so, too, were countless magic tools in the Sovereignty. “Do keep this between us, but there are many magic tools in the Sovereignty that have stopped functioning entirely for a lack of anyone to supply them. Just the other day... one was destroyed.”

“It was destroyed...?”

“Some magic tools crumble when they are completely drained of mana.”

That was seldom the case for the magic tools we normally used, but I supposed that the ones in the Sovereignty were particularly old.

Sigiswald continued, “We cannot allow valuable magic tools that have survived since the distant past to be destroyed in our generation. Father and the rest of us are already consuming rejuvenation potions every day in our efforts to refill those that were deemed less relevant and abandoned years ago. As such, we do not have nearly enough mana to start donating to the shrines. Allow me to be blunt: our only option is to take you into the royal family as soon as possible, so that we can have both your mana and unquestionable power for the nobility to follow.”

He certainly had good reason to be concerned; Yurgenschmidt would end up on the brink of destruction if the royal family stopped fueling its magic tools.

“Under normal circumstances, we would wait until you came of age to have you married into the family and made a royal... but we cannot wait that long. We wish for you to join the royal family as soon as you are able. Our hope is that Aub Ehrenfest will disown you so that Father may adopt you in his stead, until you come of age and are wed to me. Is this not the best possible future in all cases?”

It would mean saving Ferdinand from having to marry Detlinde and subsequently be punished for her crimes... Leaping at the offer simply wasn’t an option, though—not with Ehrenfest’s current state of affairs.

“My father made Aub Ehrenfest various offers, believing that Ehrenfest should receive a just recompense for its cooperation... but the aub refused them all.”

I paused. “What were his offers?”

“They were fairly reasonable,” Sigiswald prefaced. “Father proposed raising Ehrenfest’s rank, giving the duchy preferential treatment, and taking as many of its nobles into the Sovereignty as possible to strengthen your position as the future Zent.”

The royal family had expected Sylvester to be overjoyed, as greater duchies always loved gaining influence. He had turned them down, though, saying that the deal would not actually benefit Ehrenfest.

And, well, he’s right.

“I must admit,” the prince continued, “we are troubled that Ehrenfest would respond so selfishly.”

“Prince Sigiswald, Ehrenfest’s nobles are already struggling to keep up with the new expectations that have come with our sudden and continued rise through the rankings. Other duchies frequently tell us that we do not behave in a manner befitting our position. For those reasons, we would rather our rank stay the same—or go down, even—until we have managed to catch up. Raising it any higher would only make Ehrenfest suffer.”

Sigiswald received my explanation with wide eyes. He was in a position wherein both bottom- and top-ranking duchies were at his beck and call. Not once had he stopped to properly consider how Ehrenfest would struggle, stuck between the two extremes of the country’s hierarchy as it was. He also subscribed to the mindset that all problems should immediately be dealt with; at no point had it occurred to him that some could only be fixed through sweeping changes over the span of several years. At the same time, he had come to see Ehrenfest as a duchy with great ambitions, considering that we had passed up an even higher position in the rankings to receive the same treatment as the winners of the country’s civil war.

“In that case, accepting Ehrenfest nobles into the Sovereignty to strengthen your position would also be negative...?” Sigiswald asked.

“Our duchy’s population is already much too small. And, because of extreme circumstances I will not elaborate on here, we were forced to carry out a purge during the winter. Ehrenfest barely has enough nobles to support itself right now and would surely collapse if those who do remain were sent to the Sovereignty en masse.”

Sigiswald put a hand on his forehead and stared at me in silence. He had clearly misunderstood what things were like in Ehrenfest.

“In short,” I concluded, “Ehrenfest has its own circumstances to deal with. I cannot be adopted by the royal family at such short notice.”

“Even though it is crucial to save Yurgenschmidt from a fast-approaching collapse?” There was clear anxiety in the first prince’s voice, but I still refused to budge.

“The collapse you speak of can be summarized as a mana shortage, no? That can be solved by anyone. Meanwhile, Ehrenfest needs me specifically.”

“Do explain,” Sigiswald said, leaning forward.

“In Ehrenfest, I have duties within the printing industry and the archducal family. I also serve as the High Bishop and the director of the temple’s orphanage. It will not be long before I can entrust my archduke candidate duties to my siblings, but the rest will not be so easy.”

Melchior and his retainers would need to observe every ritual and ceremony before they could take over my work as High Bishop, which would take at least a year. The current state of the orphanage also needed to be preserved. There were sure to be complications with the printing industry as well; we would need to oversee the handover to Elvira and decide whether the Gutenbergs would accompany me to the Sovereignty or continue their traveling.

“Furthermore,” I continued, “my engagement to Wilfried is currently stabilizing his position as the next aub. To dissolve it would be to send Ehrenfest into chaos, which we would absolutely need to prepare for. Just as you and the rest of the royal family have wished to avoid another war between the greater duchies since the great purge, Aub Ehrenfest wishes to avoid a war between our giebes when our own purge has put the duchy in such a precarious state.”

Eglantine and Anastasius had mentioned on many an occasion that they wanted to avoid causing another civil war. I wouldn’t let them pretend not to know how we felt.

“That is not all, though; my adoptive mother is currently with child and will not be able to supply Ehrenfest with mana until she has given birth. In the winter, my little sister will perform her divine protections ritual at the Royal Academy, and this time next year, my adoptive father will take his second wife. At the very least, for mana purposes, I cannot leave Ehrenfest until then.”

“Yurgenschmidt’s mana problems are far more urgent than Ehrenfest’s...”

“Not to me,” I said, ignoring the attempted protest with a smile. “The royal family is simply in need of mana. Thus, allow me to exchange some for another year in Ehrenfest. I would also ask that you use your new understanding of our circumstances to prepare to accept a condition that will actually benefit us. Do remember that we are not one of the greater duchies you are so used to dealing with.”

Sigiswald was momentarily stone-faced; then, he smiled in turn. “My apologies. I did not seem to hear you.”

I repeated myself, word for word.

“You intend to trade a year’s worth of mana for an extra year in Ehrenfest?” Sigiswald confirmed. “You would do well to remember that there are seven members of the royal family currently supplying mana; no matter how plentiful yours may be, you cannot hope to equal us alone.” He was speaking with a peaceful smile, as if addressing a child who didn’t understand such a basic fact. Still, my expression did not waver; I already knew that my mana alone wouldn’t be enough.

“At no point have I said that I intend to use my own mana. Recall that the Royal Academy is currently filled with mana-rich individuals.”

Again, Sigiswald gave me a stony look. He then smiled a second time—though it seemed much less natural—and muttered, “Filled with them...?” It seemed that freezing for a moment and then smiling was his way of expressing surprise.

It reminds me of how Ferdinand freezes up when he struggles to process something.

I adopted an even broader smile, trying to emphasize my advantage, while racking my brain for my victory conditions. In the best possible outcome, I would inform the country that another Dedication Ritual was to be held—not for my sake but for the benefit of the royal family—then delegate the preparations and secure myself enough mana to purchase another year in Ehrenfest. The royal family would also help us to earn a bit more gratitude from the other duchies, since our nobles had such a hard time managing that on their own. Then, from our superior position, we would oblige them to accept as many of our demands as possible in return for my adoption into the royal family.

A switch inside of me had flipped, and now I was in full merchant mode. I looked Sigiswald straight in the eye; my aim in this opening battle was to secure, at minimum, a year of time. I would not act as subserviently as the average noble, merely nodding in compliance as the royal family listed off one demand after another; instead, I would take complete control of the conversation. In this verbal wrestling match, I was going to have complete control of the ring.

The man in front of me was no longer a prince but merely someone for me to bargain with. Much like Sylvester, those of the royal family usually left negotiating to their scholars and just delivered the final verdict. Doing this here in the archive, where Sigiswald was alone and without his retainers, vastly improved my chances of success.

I need to use every tool at my disposal to get more time in Ehrenfest and guarantee that the royal family will secure Ferdinand more hospitable living conditions. Here I go! Benno, lend me your strength!

“Let us perform a Dedication Ritual during this year’s Archduke Conference,” I suggested.

“You intend to take mana from the gathered aubs...?” Sigiswald replied, his lips twitching ever so slightly. “That would be unprecedented.”

Perhaps, but the royal family had already demonstrated that it was willing to gather mana from students; accepting some from the aubs wouldn’t be much of a leap. Plus, I didn’t intend to take mana only from the aubs—the retainers accompanying them would participate in the ritual as well.

When you get an opportunity, take it and profit as much as you possibly can. Isn’t that right, Benno?

“Oh my. Is there a reason for your surprise?” I asked. “Performing the Dedication Ritual is necessary to grant your wish, is it not?”

Sigiswald evidently hadn’t connected the two; he gave me a look of concern and even cocked his head a little, causing his luxurious golden locks to sway. “My wish...? Do you mean my desire for you to be adopted by the Zent, obtain the Grutrissheit, and marry me after coming of age?”

“Not quite. Your wish, as I understand it from Aub Ehrenfest and the scholars who have accompanied him, is for me to become the Sovereign High Bishop, visit duchies to perform religious ceremonies, and inspire better harvests and more divine protections throughout the land. Is raising Yurgenschmidt’s mana average not your highest priority?”

“That is—”

Sigiswald attempted to protest, but I didn’t give him a chance. “That was what you asked of Aub Ehrenfest, was it not? I am confident in my assertion.” His demands from just a few days ago had put Ehrenfest’s nobles through the wringer, so I wasn’t going to let him act like the whole thing hadn’t happened.

“Thus,” I continued, “I will perform the Dedication Ritual, as per your wish. Having the country’s aubs and nobles participate should give them a much better understanding of the importance of their temples and religious ceremonies. It should also give them enough experience to repeat the process at home, thereby improving their harvests and allowing them to obtain more divine protections. The Sovereign temple will surely be on board, considering their requests for more mana-rich individuals to perform religious ceremonies.”

The nobles of other duchies had been pushing for the “Saint of Ehrenfest” to be made the Sovereign High Bishop and bestow upon them her knowledge of religious ceremonies. Meanwhile, the Sovereign temple wanted a mana-rich High Bishop, since they couldn’t perform the old rituals without one. Both parties would be made to participate in the Dedication Ritual—and, as far as I saw it, there was absolutely no way that either of them could refuse.

They can learn one of the ceremonies they’re so desperate to perform, and we can squeeze every drop of mana out of them. Easy.

“Not only will this raise the mana average in every single duchy—an outcome that you and the rest of the royal family strongly desire—but it will also secure you an abundance of mana. This, in turn, will allow me another year in Ehrenfest. Would you not describe this as a wonderful idea that benefits everyone?”

Once again, Sigiswald was giving me a blank look. There was a pause as he processed my question, then he suddenly started, and a smile returned to his face. “Indeed, that is a wonderful idea, but when exactly would this ritual take place?”

On occasion, the Archduke Conference could end up lasting for more than two weeks. We still had over a week to go, which was plenty of time to prepare for the ritual. Sure, the schedule would need to be a little bit tighter than usual, since we would need to get everything ready while the conference was being held, but I didn’t expect that to be much of an issue; the Sovereignty had plenty more nobles than Ehrenfest usually managed with.

“The last day of the Archduke Conference should do,” I said. “That would give everyone more than enough time to prepare.”

“That is still too soon. We cannot suddenly amend the schedule when so many nobles are due to be involved.”

Sigiswald was presumably used to his attendants and scholars making his plans for him; in fact, it wouldn’t have surprised me to hear that he simply went around doing as instructed. He must not have had to experience other people abruptly changing their plans, forcing him to update his schedule on painfully short notice. That was the impression I got from his reluctance to my suggestion, anyway.

I could also tell that Sigiswald was finding my stream of seemingly eccentric suggestions to be exhausting. As a prince, he wasn’t at all used to dealing with such matters himself, and there was nobody here for him to consult. That wasn’t going to stop me, though; I was determined to drive him into a corner.

I need to go all out now so that Sylvester can have an easier time dealing with the royal family in the future!

“Oh my...” I said, feigning surprise. “Prince Sigiswald, I never expected you to be so hesitant about this Dedication Ritual. I thought you would embrace it as the perfect idea—especially after you proclaimed that raising the country’s mana average was our highest priority.” I placed a hand on my cheek and allowed a few crocodile tears to wet my eyes. “Did you lie to me about the urgency of the mana crisis? Was your intention simply to get me into the Sovereign temple to appease the aubs of other duchies?”

“I would never...”

“Aub Ehrenfest was ever so troubled by the royal family’s request that I serve as the new Sovereign High Bishop... To think the mana crisis was but a ruse all along...” Taking inspiration from Angelica, I cast my eyes down in an attempt to look heartbroken. The impact was enormous; Sigiswald cast aside his smile and desperately shook his head.

“Please wait, Rozemyne. This is all a misunderstanding. It is unequivocally true that we must raise the mana average among Yurgenschmidt’s nobles with great haste. However... surely such a large-scale ceremony must be performed only after extensive discussion with the Sovereign temple and the relevant scholars. I was simply surprised that you would make such a suggestion when we had not already factored it into our plans. The preparations will take time, of which we have so little.”

Ooh... That’s what you’re going to say? Bad move.

Now it was my turn to be stone-faced. After working his way through various excuses, Sigiswald asked me whether I understood, his usual smile now back on his face. I gave him an exceptionally cold grin as I delivered my response.

“Prince Sigiswald, might I ask you a question?”

“By all means.”

“It was never a life goal of mine to be taken into the royal family. Still, is it not normally the case that the Zent’s adoption of an archduke candidate should take place only after he has had an extensive conversation with the respective aub, and enough time has passed to allow for the relevant plans and preparations to be made?”

Sigiswald merely stared at me, his lips still politely curved. I took his silence as an opportunity to continue.

“Tell me, which is more sudden and drastic: being ordered to prepare for a Dedication Ritual, or being ordered to join the royal family as the king’s adopted daughter? Is my adoption really so trivial that you would choose the former? It surprises me that Ehrenfest and I mean so little to you all.”

The prince blinked at me several times, now looking very serious indeed. He might have thought I was some demure rich girl who would accept his every word, or maybe he had only ever faced people who expressed their slight criticisms indirectly through euphemisms.

At last, he said, “In no way do we look down on you or on Ehrenfest. We act because your adoption is urgent and necessary.”

“No, what is truly ‘urgent and necessary’ is solving the royal family’s mana shortage. If you are so desperate that you cannot wait for me to come of age and would throw Ehrenfest into chaos, then I am sure you could order the Sovereign temple and the aubs to prepare for the Dedication Ritual. That may seem unreasonable, but so is the request you have made of me. Besides, I thought it was the royal family’s specialty to ignore everybody else’s intentions when making demands.”

“Do you honestly believe that we are prioritizing our own needs?” Sigiswald asked, taken aback. “It may seem as though we are being selfish, but we are attempting to maximize the benefit for everyone.”

I grimaced. “Given that you are consulting me, I can accept that you have at least some desire to accommodate others. In practice, however, you have repeated the royal family’s needs time and time again while ignoring my circumstances. Have you made even one suggestion for my benefit? In the first place, these needs for mana, the Grutrissheit, my adoption, and the aubs’ education about religious ceremonies... They are all what you desire. Not a single one of them helps Ehrenfest or me. Do you understand that?”

In truth, I did want to obtain and read the Grutrissheit, but I wasn’t going to say that here. I needed to drive Sigiswald into a corner so that he would agree for the royal family to hold another Dedication Ritual.

“The only reason I am suggesting this troublesome Dedication Ritual is because it suits the needs of the royal family. For religious ceremonies and the like, the aubs can simply consult their own temples and deal with the situation themselves. Even Prince Anastasius said that duchies must take care of their own problems.”

After listening closely to my explanation, Sigiswald cocked his head at me. “The purpose of the ritual would be to allow you another year in Ehrenfest, but you and your duchy are the ones who need that time, not us.”

The royal family had been unsuccessfully searching for the Grutrissheit for years, and now it was dangling right before their eyes; no doubt they had lost sight of everything else. I thrust the reality of our situation straight into the prince’s confused face.

“It has only been a few days since I was determined to be closest to obtaining the Grutrissheit. You and the rest of the royal family keep making my adoption sound simple, so does that mean everything is ready for me? Baptized royals are given villas, are they not?”

Yes, signing an adoption agreement was simple enough, but that was far from the only thing that would need to be considered. To live as the king’s adopted daughter, I would need a villa, items to furnish it, retainer candidates from among the Sovereign’s nobles, living quarters for any Ehrenfest retainers who accompanied me, Sovereign capes and brooches, and so much more than what immediately came to mind.

“I do not believe the royal family could adopt me without first making the necessary arrangements,” I said. “Or do you not intend to give me a villa? Could it be that you plan to toss me into the Sovereign temple and have me serve as its High Bishop until my coming of age? That must be the case, unless you mean to tell me you prepared my accommodation in but a few days. Oh, with such talented Sovereign nobles, it should take not even one day to prepare a mere Dedication Ritual. How reassuring.”

Sigiswald gazed across the room, still maintaining a smile. His dark-green eyes eventually came to rest on the space outside the archive, where his retainers were awaiting his return. Hildebrand and Magdalena were there too, but they must have been told not to interrupt our discussion; they were both looking in our direction yet made no attempt to approach us.

“To clarify... we were going to give you a room in one of our villas,” Sigiswald eventually said, practically forcing out the words. “We planned to have you stay with my mother, who would by then be your adoptive mother, or me...”

“Oh?” I gave him a look of exaggerated shock. “Is it customary for the royal family to grant villas only to their biological children while giving their adopted children naught but a single room? If so, then this is my first time hearing about it. Rumors paint my adoptive father as a cruel man who also discriminates between his children, but he ensured that my accommodation was equal to that of my siblings. Would the Zent grant me less than that? How am I to believe you are not looking down on Ehrenfest and me when you intend to treat me so poorly?”

That hit Sigiswald where it hurt; he winced, then blinked frantically as he tried to come up with a response. The fact that a prince could no longer fake a smile was confirmation that I now dominated the conversation.

“Were I to take the time to identify every single problem with your suggestion, I would no longer need the Dedication Ritual.”

I shouldn’t actually do that, though. I don’t want the royal family and the other duchies to resent me going forward.

This was my last resort, but in his state of panic, Sigiswald surely thought I was only stating the obvious. I could guess as much from his lack of protests.

I continued, “You are right that a sudden Dedication Ritual will prove inconvenient, so I understand why the royal family might not consider it the best course of action. However, I suggested it so that everyone can have an extra year to do what they need to. Perhaps I should help with the ritual. Or shall we exchange something else for the time we require?”

I stared Sigiswald down. He was staring back at me, searching for my intent.

After a prolonged standoff, the prince sighed. “I shall heed your advice, with gratitude, and advise the Zent that we perform another Dedication Ritual.” He seemed to have decided to cut his losses, so I made a whole list of extra suggestions that would prevent Ehrenfest from needing to participate.

“Ehrenfest would struggle to obtain permission to use the altar and divine instruments, so we will leave preparing for the Dedication Ritual to the Sovereignty. Using the auditorium without its stage would allow enough space for the aubs’ retainers to participate as well.”

Sigiswald froze, then smiled—his usual routine. “You intend to have the retainers participate as well as the aubs? Just how much mana do you mean to take?”

“Well, what can I say?” I puffed out my chest, then repeated what Benno had taught me: “I was raised to believe that when an opportunity arises, one should take it and profit as much as possible.”

“So this is what people mean when they say the temple-raised understand things differently...” Sigiswald murmured, looking conflicted.

Close, but nope! I was raised as a commoner, not a shrine maiden! Too bad for you!

“If you would allow me to offer some more advice,” I said, “making the Dedication Ritual an annual occurrence would greatly benefit everyone. In this case, why not allow participating duchies to repeat the divine protections ritual each year, thereby encouraging them to participate? The process takes a while, so I would expect only two duchies to be able to complete their rituals per Archduke Conference. However, if presented with a once-in-a-decade opportunity to obtain more divine protections, any duchy would start taking religious ceremonies seriously.”

If they truly wished to raise the country’s mana average, then adults would need to take the ceremonies seriously as well. Their contributions would encourage the children to do the same.

“Furthermore,” I continued, “Aub Klassenberg has already asked us about performing the Dedication Ritual at the Royal Academy on a yearly basis. If you handle this well, you will receive boons of mana at the end of each spring and winter.”

“Rozemyne, mana is not something you should trade so lightly.”

“But adopting me is? As you have made clear, the mana crisis is so urgent that the royal family must use any method at its disposal to obtain more. Should you not spend your time coming up with as many approaches as you can?”

This time, Sigiswald froze completely. I could gather from his wide-open eyes that the royal family had never expected such a suggestion.

“Of course, these are but a few ideas that come to mind, but where the royal family sources its mana and whether the Dedication Ritual becomes a yearly event have absolutely nothing to do with me. May I continue to outline what preparations must be made before the ritual can be performed?”

“Yes, of course...” the prince said, though he was barely keeping up.

I took some paper and started to write, keeping my eyes down as I delivered my lesson. “It would not take much effort to prepare ordonnanzes or invitations to be sent to the various duchies, informing them of the date of the event and what they will need to bring. If you have the nobles staying in the villas prepare empty feystones, and the Sovereign temple prepare for the ritual, then it should not impact the Archduke Conference very much at all. We can use the large chalices from both the Royal Academy and the Sovereign temple. Oh yes, and now that Spring Prayer is over, we can also make use of the small chalices. Have the Sovereign temple prepare those as well.”

At that point, I stopped writing and abruptly looked up at Sigiswald. He flinched when he saw my smile, no doubt sensing danger. He was right to be wary.

“Also, be certain to have the royal family advertise that the Dedication Ritual is being held thanks to Ehrenfest’s assistance. We have been a bottom-ranking duchy for so long that we are not so skilled at marketing ourselves.”

“Hold on a moment. You expect the royal family to promote Ehrenfest?” Sigiswald asked, struggling to grasp the very idea.

I nodded as though it were obvious. “If you want me; Hartmut, our High Priest; and my guard knights clad in blue to participate, then that is our fee. You said the royal family is attempting to maximize the benefit for everyone, did you not?”

Sigiswald drew his lips together in a frown. Then he sighed, gave a peaceful smile, and promised to help Ehrenfest earn the other duchies’ favor. This would be infinitely more effective than leaving it to our nobles, who were still pretty heavy-footed when it came to political maneuvering. Sylvester would be so happy when he found out.

Sylvester, Benno... I did it! This is a decisive victory for this opening stage, right?

I gave Sigiswald the notes that I’d made. He looked them over, then said, “I wonder, though... will the duchies not be displeased to have so much of their mana taken?”

“If you establish well in advance that the mana is a payment to participate in a ritual which will increase one’s odds of obtaining divine protections, then you should not receive too many complaints. The duchies that really take issue can simply not participate.”

“Will that not cause fewer duchies to take part? Will we obtain enough mana to justify the time spent preparing for it?” Sigiswald asked. Indeed, as I gazed at him, only one thought came to mind:

This guy sure is a prince.

“Those who participate in the Dedication Ritual will see the good it does for their harvests and future divine protections. Those who are reluctant might be forced to think twice if you express your regret that the other duchies will get wealthier and ultimately leave them behind.”

Klassenberg would participate at the mention of the Royal Academy’s Dedication Ritual, while Drewanchel would not even need to be prompted, since the entire duchy was tremendously eager to obtain more divine protections. Not to mention, the duchies that had missed their opportunity to participate in the Royal Academy’s previous ritual would surely not want to miss this chance as well.

“In addition, when we allow them to repeat the divine protections ritual, they will be greatly rewarded,” I said. “If you hint at the knowledge gained from the underground archive, many duchies will surely leap at the chance. You will not need to fret about the turnout.”

Sigiswald shut his eyes for a long moment, then once again sighed and smiled. He appeared to be quite thoroughly shaken; perhaps I was too sharp-tongued for the pampered prince.

Well, my mentors were Benno and Ferdinand, so there isn’t much I can do about that!

“Oh, and as this is a ritual for educating duchies that have never participated in a religious ceremony before, I do not believe the royal family will need to take part as you did in the winter,” I added.

Sigiswald was relieved to hear that. “I see. We will prepare the ceremony ourselves and encourage the duchies to participate. However, could we ask you to make the rejuvenation potions? In the Sovereignty, we must prioritize making them for the royal family.”

“The duchies would prepare their own, would they not? Most nobles keep at least one on their hip, so you would need only warn them to bring spares.”

At once, the prince’s eyes widened. “But did Ehrenfest not prepare them for the Royal Academy’s ceremony?”

“Back then, we were having duchies participate in our research, so we thought it necessary to give them a reward. On this occasion, however, Ehrenfest will already be offering its time and expertise to teach the country about rituals at the royal family’s request. I do not see any reason why we would also need to prepare rejuvenation potions. Is it not far more important that I continue working through the documents in the underground archive?”

I’ll need to enjoy it while I can. Once the Archduke Conference ends, the handover and such will take up so much of my time that I probably won’t get to read for an entire year.

This was my only chance to visit the underground archive, and reading time was obviously far more important than rejuvenation potions.

I continued, “We could also make them to sell, but I do not consider that an option; Drewanchel would purchase our entire stock and devote its resources to replicating our recipe. Perhaps we could instead sell the most powerful of the rejuvenation potions taught in class, but again, I oppose the idea. Those are owned by everyone and would not bring much profit to Ehrenfest.”

Having the knights gather at our spot so that our already busy scholars could make rejuvenation potions would only burden us.

“I now see why Ehrenfest has grown so wealthy all of a sudden,” Sigiswald said. Exhaustion then crept into his smile. “I am also painfully aware why the nobles of your duchy are struggling to keep up with their new rank.”

I smiled back. “It truly is wonderful that we have come to understand each other better. Let us conclude our discussion about the Dedication Ritual and move on to my conditions for becoming the king’s adopted daughter.”

“There’s still more?!”

Hm? That was just the preliminary topic. We haven’t even addressed the most pressing issue yet, have we?