Ascendance of a Bookworm (LN) - Volume 5.6 - Chapter Pr

Prologue

“Well, the Archduke Conference is finally over. How are you holding up, Florencia?”

Florencia looked down at her belly. It was now a little noticeable, no matter how carefully she dressed to hide it. The truth was that she wanted to rest, but there were too many decisions to be made before they returned to Ehrenfest.

“I am fine for now,” she said. “We have much to discuss, do we not? I will visit your chambers once I am changed.”

This year’s Archduke Conference had involved one shocking development after another. A divine instrument had turned into the night sky during the Starbind Ceremony. The nobles of other duchies had banded together to get Rozemyne sent to the Sovereign temple. Rozemyne had discovered that she was a Zent candidate, which had resulted in several meetings with the royal family. Then everyone had participated in a second Dedication Ritual and restored their respective duchies’ gathering spots. Never before had any of these things happened during a conference, so there was plenty that needed to be worked out before the archducal couple could return home.

I never thought Wilfried and Rozemyne’s engagement would be canceled like this...

Once the news spread that Wilfried was no longer going to marry Rozemyne, he would cease to be secure in his position as the next Aub Ehrenfest. Would he be overjoyed to hear this, given his own recent pushes to end their engagement? And then there was Charlotte, who had been forced out of the archducal candidacy as a result of the betrothal. How would she react after having shed so many tears? Would she rejoice that the path once lost to her could now be forged anew? Or would she sob for her brother by blood, who would now need to endure the same merciless pain? Florencia could not tell.

Melchior was currently being educated to play an assisting role within the archducal family—a necessary course of action, at least before recent developments, to ensure that he would not oppose Wilfried. He was young enough that it might have been possible to train him as the next archduke, but it had already been decided that he would serve as the next High Bishop. Florencia worried that, like Rozemyne, he would end up lacking critical socializing skills or common sense as a noble.

But I am most worried about Wilfried.

Being the eldest son of an archducal family was a dangerous position, and this was especially true for Wilfried. He had already enjoyed a long stretch as the duchy’s next archduke and achieved grades impressive enough for him to have been recognized as an honor student at the Royal Academy. He was also trusting to a fault, which made it easy for others to sway him. He had already been led astray once, and if such a thing happened again, there was a genuine risk that it would end with his assassination. If not that, perhaps he would join Veronica in the Ivory Tower, reduced to nothing more than a source of mana. At best—and most likely of all—he would merely be removed from the archducal family.

We finally managed to remove Oswald from his position, and yet...

The engagement between Wilfried and Rozemyne had emboldened the former head attendant. Believing that his lord was now guaranteed to become the next archduke, he had shamelessly used Veronica’s methods to further his own interests. Florencia had opposed the man’s distasteful conduct, but removing him had not been her call to make. It was up to Wilfried to decide whether he would take action, but no matter how much his mother had tried to convince him to change his retainers, he had refused. In his words, he had seen no reason to abandon those who had stayed with and supported him when he was at risk of being disinherited.

Only through the purge had the archducal couple finally secured enough leverage to force Oswald from his role, but their own retinues had suffered as well. So dire was their situation that they were having to share retainers between themselves, leaving them without any manpower to spare for their son. Florencia had planned to give him one of her retainers after the Archduke Conference, when they had hoped to be in a more favorable position, but then his engagement had been abruptly canceled.

Truly, what is there to do?

To make matters worse, during the conference, it had come to light through one of his guard knights that Wilfried was still secretly in contact with Oswald. Barthold, a name-sworn retainer of the young lord, was serving as their intermediary.

One problem after another... The timing is so unfortunate that I could almost resent the gods.

It was problematic for Wilfried, a member of the archducal family, to remain so close with a former retainer. It suggested that he knew not why Oswald was relieved of duty to begin with, and their continued relationship was very likely to develop into an unnecessary incident.

He will need to be educated on how to deal with his retainers and maintain an appropriate distance from them. I shall consult Leberecht.

“Should you not be resting, Lady Florencia?”

“I appreciate your concern, but I must settle various matters with the aub before we return to Ehrenfest. You all may continue to prepare for our departure.”

After returning to her room and changing into looser attire, Florencia headed to Sylvester’s chambers. They sat patiently as their attendants served them tea; then, they sent their retainers to wait behind screens and each picked up a sound-blocking magic tool. Keeping the results of the Archduke Conference private was of the utmost importance.

“Sheesh. I still can’t get over what happened...” Sylvester said, moving to join his wife on the couch. His archducal persona had given way to his true emotions, frown and all. “Who’d have thought that Rozemyne was a Zent candidate and that the king would end up adopting her like this?”

The Grutrissheit was of critical importance to anyone who wished to rule Yurgenschmidt. Without it, internal borders could not be redrawn, deposed duchies could not be reformed with new foundations, and the country gates could not be opened or closed. That was why the Sovereign temple refused to accept Trauerqual as the Zent, why those who shared their opinion stirred rebellion, and why tensions had not eased even ten-some years after the civil war.

Florencia nodded in agreement. “Under normal circumstances, it would have been an honor for the royal family to seek an archduke candidate from Ehrenfest, a middle duchy. Still, if our assistance is required to find the Grutrissheit, we are duty bound to provide it.”

Now that Ehrenfest was being treated as a winner of the country’s civil war, Florencia had come to realize just how much the victorious duchies were doing to keep Yurgenschmidt afloat. Deposed territories had been divided among the greater duchies, who were having to dump raw mana into their lands—a terribly inefficient process made necessary by the missing Grutrissheit, which was required to manage the country’s foundations. It would suffice over a short period, but the burden it imposed would only increase. At the same time, there were reports that the portion of Old Werkestock under Ahrensbach’s control was so devoid of mana that it was facing enormous difficulties.

She continued, “And during these tough times when even greater duchies are feeling the strain, one of the royal palace’s magic tools crumbled to dust. We can deduce as members of an archducal family that the tool must have been close to a foundation, which explains why the royal family feels so much pressure right now.”

The royals had admitted this in confidence during their discussion about adopting Rozemyne. They had assumed that they would be able to meet the country’s mana requirements without the Grutrissheit, but as the days passed, their misjudgment was being thrust in their faces. Obtaining it was crucial; otherwise, it would only be a matter of time before Yurgenschmidt faced complete and utter destruction.

A decade had passed without anyone finding even a trace of the Grutrissheit. That, coupled with the time pressure, explained why the royal family was grasping so desperately at this lone opportunity. If, as they had said, Rozemyne truly was the closest Zent candidate to obtaining the Grutrissheit, then why would they not have scrambled to adopt her? Florencia believed that the adoption would have been inevitable even if Rozemyne had been due to become the next Aub Ehrenfest.

“However, in our current state, we cannot rejoice,” Florencia said. “It brings me great shame as both Rozemyne’s adoptive mother and an archducal family member serving royalty that we cannot send her off with a smile, and without needing to make conditions.” She took a sip of her tea, then sighed; her home duchy of Frenbeltag was also suffering immensely for the lack of a Grutrissheit. Most of the rebelling nobles were from the deposed duchies, and they were only daring to act in the first place because, without their aubs, their medals could not be used to distribute proper punishment.

“We really don’t want Rozemyne to leave Ehrenfest right now,” Sylvester said.

“Indeed. Were we not in our current predicament, she would not have shown so much resistance and applied so many conditions. Yet she had no choice...” Florencia giggled, then added, “Prince Sigiswald must have been quite surprised when he attempted to negotiate with her directly.”

A normal archduke candidate would have understood the problems that Yurgenschmidt was facing and determined that assisting the royal family was the greatest priority for both their home and the country at large. They would have intuitively agreed to put aside their own duchy’s problems, as securing the Grutrissheit would improve things for everyone.

Of course, Rozemyne was anything but a normal archduke candidate. She had been raised in Ehrenfest, a middle duchy that had mostly avoided the chaos of the civil war—and in its temple, no less. Her understanding of the royal family and of the other duchies’ suffering was minimal, she prioritized her own duchy above all others, and she was reluctant to help freely, even going as far as to negotiate the terms of her adoption. The royal family could not be blamed for their surprise.

At the same time, however, Rozemyne’s efforts had been extremely beneficial to Ehrenfest. If not for her suggestions, Florencia would never have thought to attach conditions to the adoption.

“I know there’s no helping it,” Sylvester said, “but it hurts my head just trying to imagine the repercussions this is going to have. If only this whole mess had happened last year instead. She could have negotiated to cancel Ferdinand’s engagement rather than merely save him from punishment...”

“Indeed. And if not for that engagement, Rozemyne would surely have been more compliant with the royal family. Everything would have proceeded a lot more smoothly if only Lord Ferdinand had stayed in Ehrenfest until the Archduke Conference, as was initially the plan, and not been summoned to Ahrensbach so early.”

Indeed, had his departure for Ahrensbach not been brought forward to the end of autumn, he would not have been so involved in the duchy’s administration, nor would it have been a problem to delay his Starbinding. In turn, his lack of an official tie to Detlinde would have meant there was zero threat of him being punished by association, which would have put Rozemyne more at ease. Ehrenfest would have been afforded a bit more leeway when dealing with its handovers, and the loose ends of the purge would have been tied up more neatly.

Not to mention, it would have delayed all this troublesome behavior from Wilfried.

No sooner had spring arrived than he had abruptly started to view Rozemyne’s compassion for Ferdinand as a problem, spurring him to protest and commit acts of defiance. This had always been bound to happen, but if everything had gone according to the original schedule, it wouldn’t have been happening now. His engagement to Rozemyne could have been canceled at a more peaceful time, rather than while his relationship with her was so twisted.

“Why must everything be so difficult?” Florencia asked with a sigh. But before she could say anything else, she felt Sylvester’s hand tenderly stroke her back. As her body relaxed and the tension she was feeling started to dissipate, she turned to her loving husband and reached out to caress his face. He looked so exhausted. It was becoming harder to find the time for these acts of affection, but that just made them all the more valuable.

“I already suspected this, but the recent incidents have made me certain,” Florencia said. “Rozemyne’s focus truly is too narrow for her to be the king’s adopted daughter.”

“You think so?”

“If the country’s foundation were to crumble, neither Ehrenfest nor Lord Ferdinand in Ahrensbach would survive. An archducal family member soon to be in a position of leadership must be impartial and work toward whatever future will produce the fewest casualties. Rozemyne is the opposite; she makes her decisions based on emotions and personal preferences, does she not? Wilfried is much the same. In this regard, they are both far too immature for their age.”

Both had obtained good grades at the Royal Academy, but their fractured education as archducal family members was clear to see. One had been raised by Veronica, while the other had grown up in the temple. It seemed that one’s early education had an even greater impact than Florencia had ever assumed.

“Yeah, spending all that time in the temple and then those years in a jureve hasn’t done much for Rozemyne’s common sense,” Sylvester agreed. “She can keep up appearances, but you can just tell that she’s fundamentally different from the rest of us. I’m told she prioritizes the things she wants to do and puts off whatever doesn’t interest her.”

She was always refusing to embroider, despite it being an essential skill for any decent noblewoman. Florencia knew that much because of the reports she had received from her retainers.

“That said,” Sylvester continued, “I don’t think she’s narrow-minded or anything like that; she just has a tendency to focus on the people she cares about. That’s why she’s more concerned about the commoners she knew from a young age than the well-being of any noble. It’s also why she’s more concerned about her former guardian, Ferdinand, than her fiancé, Wilfried, and why she’s more invested in Ehrenfest’s problems than Yurgenschmidt’s. She’ll do everything she can within her sphere of influence but doesn’t get involved in anything beyond that.”

Florencia suspected that he was right; Sylvester knew Rozemyne better than she did, and what he had said seemed to add up. Sometimes, Rozemyne would act quickly enough to leave even adults speechless, and exploit even the briefest windows of opportunity to their fullest. But on other occasions, her understanding of the world was worse than that of a pre-baptismal child. Her perspective truly was twisted.

Sylvester paused in thought. “You know, by the same logic... if we can get her invested in the royal family and the Sovereignty after her adoption, she’ll probably start caring about Yurgenschmidt above all else. We should think about putting something she really values in the Sovereignty.”

“As nice as that might be, do you truly believe she would develop such a connection to the Sovereignty? On the one hand, her lack of noble common sense has benefited the royal family up until now...” No other noble would have managed to unite Eglantine and Anastasius, nor would they have come up with—much less suggested—the idea to gather mana by holding a Dedication Ritual at the Royal Academy. Those feats had only been made possible by Rozemyne’s peculiar common sense. “But on the other, once she moves, her lack of education will surely be seen as a blight. Long have I wished to do something about it, but she is so reluctant to visit the castle that my options are limited.”

As a mother, Florencia had used dinners, tea parties, and other such occasions to communicate with and educate her children. Rozemyne rarely spent much time in the castle, though, so she was often absent from such gatherings. She barely socialized with other nobles to begin with, so what would normally have developed naturally had not developed at all.

Florencia continued, “It might be tempting to assume that the next year will offer us an opportunity to improve the situation, but we can expect to see her in the castle even less often now that she is preparing for her move and the handover.”

Florencia had previously said that she wished to teach Rozemyne about being a first wife, but the idea had quickly been shelved. Rozemyne’s temple work came first, she was told; there would be plenty of time to focus on her education in the future, and there were far more pressing matters to attend to. But now Florencia was just as busy. Once she gave birth, nursing the baby would be her top priority.

“Rozemyne has been meeting with Elvira in the temple,” Florencia mused, “and there is nothing forbidding her from visiting her home. I expect her true mother has been educating her on how to be a noblewoman, but I worry that her teachings will not be enough; archnobles and archducal family members live in fundamentally different worlds.”

Sylvester put on a half-smile and waved a hand as if to dismiss his wife’s concerns. “Rozemyne will manage on her own. That force of nature has made it this far, after all. She’s so determined to realize her desires that she even negotiated with the royal family. And whenever she’s faced with a problem that seems impossible, she swiftly solves it using some incomprehensible approach or another. I’m not that worried.”

Florencia placed a hand on her forehead. “You are as optimistic as always—or as negligent, I should say.”

“We don’t have time to educate Rozemyne. Even if we did, I doubt we’d make much progress with her. It seems pretty obvious that we should instead devote our resources to interduchy relations and fixing Ehrenfest’s internal problems. I really mean it when I say that the impact of this conference is going to be enormous. Rozemyne is no ordinary archduke candidate; thinking about all the handover work we’ll need to do makes my head hurt.”

“The next year will give us enough time to deal with that. Was that not what Rozemyne concluded during her negotiation with the royal family?”

Rozemyne was similarly focused on how her move would impact Ehrenfest. She likely already had a plan for how to pass on her work to others.

“Melchior is starting to take over in the temple, and Elvira is in charge of the printing industry. She may leave business with the lower city to her retainers, with Brunhilde taking the lead. I would also advise delegating work to Wilfried, even though his current relationship with Rozemyne might complicate things.”

“Not happening. If we involve him, no way will things go smoothly. His retainers have too much bad blood with Rozemyne’s. I can already see feuds popping up all over the place.”

Florencia understood that disputes between retainers would inconvenience everyone involved, but still—for the sake of his future, Wilfried needed to take over at least some of Rozemyne’s work.

“At the very least,” she said, “could we not entrust something to Charlotte? She is on good terms with Rozemyne, so I would not expect them to butt heads.” Delegating work to Charlotte would make it easier for Wilfried to get involved later.

“Nah, we need Charlotte to assist you with your work for at least half a year after your delivery. And given that we only have a year before Rozemyne leaves, there just won’t be enough time.”

“If only we could ask Brunhilde to support me instead... but she is underage and still just your fiancée,” Florencia lamented. It would be unfeasible to ask Brunhilde to assist with the work of a first wife when she had yet to formally become a member of the archducal family. Charlotte, on the other hand, would be able to enter Florencia’s chambers even after the birth, meaning she would be able to ask questions if she needed to.

But even knowing that, Florencia could not help but worry for her son, who was now in the midst of a rebellious phase.

“What do you think Wilfried should do, then?” Florencia asked. They had planned to double down on his education after the Archduke Conference, but now that his engagement to Rozemyne was no more, his future position was of much greater concern.

“He will continue to support me. This whole mess is going to increase my workload, after all.”

“Do you not think he would protest? His engagement being canceled means that he is no longer guaranteed to become the next aub. It is easy to imagine he will start pouting or some such.”

It had not been long ago that Bonifatius had given up on Wilfried, who had refused to stop throwing tantrums—and recent reports from Ehrenfest suggested that the young lord’s attitude had not improved in the slightest. In fact, he seemed glad that his archducal education was being halted.

Florencia frowned, then heaved an uneasy sigh. In response, Sylvester pressed a finger against and started to massage her forehead.

“I won’t actually be giving him archduke work,” he said. “And while he’s no longer guaranteed to become the next aub, that doesn’t erase his responsibilities as an archducal family member. Not to mention, he’s been asking for his engagement with Rozemyne to be canceled. He won’t fight against getting what he wanted.”

Sylvester was trying to protect his son’s position by having him openly carry out his duties as an archducal family member—but how would the duchy’s nobles react? Now that his engagement was no more, Wilfried would need to bear the shame of a guaranteed archduke once again reduced to the status of a mere archduke candidate. One needed only to consider the situation surrounding Giebe Groschel to see how Ehrenfest would treat such an individual.

This would have been so much simpler if romance had actually bloomed between Wilfried and Rozemyne...

Had the two fallen in love, Rozemyne might have negotiated for Wilfried to accompany her to the Sovereignty as her fiancé, or wait until she found and relinquished the Grutrissheit, at which point she could return to Ehrenfest and marry him. Then, Florencia would never have needed to worry about her son’s future.

Instead, Wilfried was demanding that their engagement be canceled, even getting into shouting matches with his parents, while Rozemyne was emotionally detached from the whole affair. On top of everything else, the royal family wanted to keep Rozemyne in their care for the foreseeable future. Not a single person had wanted the engagement to continue.

“Do you think he can remain an archducal family member while being looked down on by the nobility?” Florencia asked.

“Protecting him is my duty as both his father and the archduke,” Sylvester said, then let out a short chuckle and placed a gentle hand on his wife’s belly. “Right now, all you need to think about is your delivery.”

Florencia found comfort in her husband’s unfaltering confidence, but it also made her extremely worried. She knew his tendency to put on a brave face even when he was severely overexerting himself.

Sylvester continued, “The Leisegangs will oppose Rozemyne’s move, but it’s an honor to be adopted by the king. They won’t be able to keep making a fuss once she’s gone, in any case, and my engagement to Brunhilde should placate them well enough. It might take us a while, but we’ll get everything under control.”

The purge had dissolved the former Veronica faction—and now that its figurehead, Wilfried, was losing his position due to the canceled engagement, Sylvester didn’t expect the Leisegangs to continue causing a stir for much longer. Florencia, however, was much less optimistic. Sylvester’s position as the next aub had never faltered, whereas she, the daughter of a third wife, could easily have been demoted to an archnoble depending on where she married into. Their perspectives on archducal family members were entirely different.

I sincerely believe we should curb the power of the Leisegang elders before Rozemyne leaves. Something must be done so that Wilfried can remain in the archducal family even after his engagement has been canceled.

“No need to frown like that,” Sylvester said. “I’m not fully convinced that things will go well either. But if we can keep Rozemyne’s departure a secret, the Leisegangs won’t be incited to action.”

As it stood, the only ones who knew about Rozemyne’s future adoption were Rozemyne herself, Ehrenfest’s archducal couple, and those among the royal family who had participated in the discussion. Rozemyne’s retainers and the nobles attending the conference might have been aware that Ehrenfest had received several royal summons, but they certainly wouldn’t know why.

“I see,” Florencia replied. “In that case, it would indeed serve us well to hide this revelation until Rozemyne must leave. Right now, we do not have strength to spare for keeping the nobles under control. But when it comes time for Rozemyne to move, we should already have given our baby the minimum amount of nursing it will require. I will then be able to move more freely.”

“Yep. We’ll commit to a vow of silence for now and tell individual retainers what’s happening based on whether they’re needed for the handover.”

Those taking over duties would inevitably learn the truth, especially when Rozemyne started packing. And at that point, Florencia realized something.

“How do we intend to help Rozemyne with her preparations? I am unlikely to be able to move after the birth.”

Rozemyne had acted with Ehrenfest’s best interests in mind, so Florencia was determined to help her prepare, as both her mother and the archduke’s first wife. But that sense of duty was not enough; she knew from experience how useless she would be after giving birth and while looking after the baby.

“You won’t be expected to help, will you?” Sylvester asked. “Rozemyne has Elvira, her true mother. Leave the preparations to her. It’ll afford them greater secrecy than preparing in the castle, and I’m sure Rozemyne will feel more comfortable. I’ll tell her about this through Karstedt.”

Elvira was busy enough with the printing industry handover, so she had very little time on her hands already. Still, her love for her daughter was tremendously strong—Florencia knew that much. And Rozemyne would surely rather spend time with her true mother than her adoptive one.

Florencia nodded. “Of course. Elvira may be better suited to this work, given her relationship to Rozemyne’s retainers and the amount of time she has spent at the temple. I will simply let Rozemyne know that I am willing to provide as much help as I am able.” There was much that she needed to think about—preparing for Rozemyne’s departure, the impact of the canceled engagement, Ahrensbach’s funeral, her own delivery, the renovations in Groschel...

“Let us do our best together,” she murmured, affectionately stroking her belly.