Ascendance of a Bookworm (LN) - Volume 5.8 - Chapter 8

My Geduldh

“I was told that the mana enveloping all of Yurgenschmidt has grown thin,” I said. “Did Erwaermen tell you to complete the book too?”

“He told me your portion was larger than mine and that my immediate death would be the best solution to our predicament.”

Curse you, Erwaermen!

“Well, forget about him. There must be a way we can do it. Maybe we can buy ourselves some time by filling the country gates with mana.”

“How optimistic and naive...” Ferdinand replied, raising only his head to glare at me. “It might interest you to know that I already had a plan—before you came along and ruined it.”

As it turned out, Ferdinand had attempted to meet with Erwaermen the day after the graduation ceremony. He had wanted to complete his Book of Mestionora so that he could create a Grutrissheit to give to the royal family. The problem was that he hadn’t been allowed to visit at the same time as me—and when he’d tried again come spring, I’d already taken the rest of the book.

“You could have told me if you had such important plans,” I griped. “I was going to have the Zent adopt me so that I could get the Grutrissheit at the back of the underground archive. I don’t want to hear you complaining when you didn’t even keep me in the loop.”

“And I do not want you to complain when you omitted such crucial information from your reports,” Ferdinand retorted, his brow furrowed. He sat up, scooted over to the wall, and then slumped against it. “Back when I was devising my scheme, the duchies were pushing for you to become the Sovereign High Bishop. I was told nothing about an adoption.”

For a moment, I was lost for words. Ferdinand was at fault for not sharing his plans, but so was I. There was so much I could have told him using my invisible ink, but I’d written only about the mundane. Suddenly feeling very awkward, I sat next to him and tried to plead my case.

“Sylvester and the royal family swore me to silence. I was dying to ask for your help, believe me. I also had plenty of complaints, but they were the kind that could only be aired in a hidden room.”

“Spare me your grumbling and remove these bracelets already.”

Come on, at least pretend to care!

Ferdinand had shut me down without any hesitation, but I understood that freeing him and discussing the current state of Ahrensbach and the Grutrissheit took priority. I touched the bracelets thrust out in front of me and started searching for a keyhole, but they were completely smooth.

“I would remove them for you, but I’m not sure where to start,” I said. “Do you even know where the key is?”

Ferdinand gave me a look of exasperation. “Do you see a keyhole?”

“No, but I’m searching as hard as I can.”

“For what purpose does your bible exist? If you know not how to open them, look it up. You will need to use an unlocking spell rather than a key. My book contains several from past generations, so we need only compare them and fill in whatever gaps we find in the magic circles.”

“That sounds like an extremely tall order...”

Still, it hadn’t even crossed my mind to use the Book of Mestionora. I was consulting mine only in moderation for fear of someone seeing it, but was Ferdinand using his on a daily basis? I chanted, “Grutrissheit,” then began searching for how to unlock his bracelets.

“Rozemyne, what is with that bizarre shape?” Ferdinand asked upon seeing my faux tablet and shook his head at me. “Good grief. Be it your highbeast or your bible, your creations all take the strangest forms.”

“It may be abnormal, but my Book of Mestionora is exceptional. The (screen) lights up and can be read in the dark, and there’s a feature that allows me to search for words or phrases.” I stuck out my chest, brimming with pride. “Convenient, right?”

Ferdinand gave me a strange look. “The Book of Mestionora exists to find the information one seeks, so whatever one wishes to know appears automatically when one opens it. As for being able to read in the dark, the letters shine on their own. It seems to me that needing to input words makes your bible less convenient than any other.”

“Th-That can’t be right...”

As I entered a shocked daze, Ferdinand leaned over to peer at my book and pointed at one of the magic circles. “This is the correct one. Draw it with your stylo.” I couldn’t tell the circles apart, but his book had the ones from older generations, whereas mine had the ones from newer generations.

“Copy and place!”

Drawing the circle with my stylo sounded like way too much work, so I used magic to duplicate it onto a sheet of fey paper. Then I activated the circle, and the bracelets restraining Ferdinand dropped to the floor with a loud clatter.

There we go.

“Rozemyne, what in the world did you just do?” Ferdinand asked, wide-eyed. This was definitely something to be proud of, so I stuck my chest out once again.

“You just witnessed copy-and-paste magic—my own invention. It has its limitations, but it’s useful, don’t you think?”

“It seems exceedingly abnormal, but yes, I can see it having its uses. Teach me the principles behind the spell, and the correct pronunciation.”

“Is this really the time or place? These are dire circumstances...”

“Is that so?” Ferdinand asked with a frown, opening and closing his hands. “Then explain them to me.”

It would take him a while to rehabilitate, so I explained the situation back in Ehrenfest. He had sent Eckhart and Justus there following the incident with Letizia, so he presumably cared more about things there than in Ahrensbach.

“I see,” he said at length. “Ehrenfest was already anticipating war, then.”

“That’s right. The duchy’s nobles all came together to prepare. I made combat-ready versions of Schwartz and Weiss to help defend the temple.”

“You are as incomprehensible as ever. Was there really a need to have your magic tools made for warfare look like shumils?”

“Lieseleta did it. Besides, what’s the problem? They’re cute.”

As we continued to discuss Ehrenfest, Ferdinand gradually regained use of his fingers. His arms had a wider range of motion now, but his growing frown betrayed his frustration at still not being able to move as he wanted.

“Rozemyne,” he eventually said.

“Yes? If you have any other questions, ask away. Or do you need more medicine?”

“No, I want your cheek. You told me I could pinch it, did you not?”

That was his question? But he was wearing such a grave expression. And was cheek pinching really appropriate when our circumstances were so severe? Though I’d already concluded that he wasn’t going to give me a serious lecture, I was still taken aback. I couldn’t even begin to imagine what was going through his head.

“I mean, I guess I did... You still can’t fully move your arms, though, can you?”

“I can move them enough. And if we do this now, it should barely hurt at all.”

“I meant you could do it when you were fully recovered, but... if you insist.”

As much as I wanted to protest, it really was better to let Ferdinand do it now while his grip strength was weakened. I sat in front of him, between his legs, and simply waited.

His still-numb fingers brushed against my right cheek and then pinched. Well, if you could even call it a pinch; it felt more like a gentle massage. Would that really be enough to satisfy him? I wasn’t so sure, but then his hand started to wander.

“Ferdinand, that isn’t my cheek.”

His thumb had trailed down to my chin, like he was trying to get more leverage. He must have really wanted to pinch my cheek, I thought, but then green light began to flow out of his ring.

“May Heilschmerz’s healing be granted to Rozemyne...”

The stinging ache on my neck disappeared; Ferdinand must have healed the bruise left by his chain. I appreciated it... but not for long.

“Ferdinand, what are you doing?! You should be focusing on your recovery, not wasting your mana on me! The bruise didn’t hurt that much. It could have waited...”

“It was merely an ideal opportunity to test whether my mana flowed properly. Ah, and now I can produce my schtappe.” He took his hand away and immediately stopped focusing on me, instead turning his attention to forming and morphing his schtappe.

He’s not listening again! Harrumph!

Though he was struggling to stand up and move around the room, Ferdinand was on the mend. I still wished that he would get some proper rest, but his attitude made it clear that he had no such intentions.

“Well, since you appear to have recovered,” I said, “I’ll take a moment to inform everyone and search for a registration feystone for you.”

“Rozemyne.”

I was halfway up when Ferdinand spoke my name, so I got back on my knees. “What is it this time?” I asked while peering down at him.

There was a pause before he said, “Please tell me your Geduldh.”

“What? That’s, um... Do I need to answer here and now? Everyone’s waiting outside.” I’d never expected Ferdinand to ask that question under these circumstances, and in truth, I still didn’t have an answer.

His eyes fixed on a singular point. “I thought your Geduldh was the same as mine—Ehrenfest—yet you accepted the proposal the royal family made to you. So I shall ask again: what is your Geduldh?”

“Bwuh?”

I didn’t have a clue what Ferdinand meant, but when I followed his gaze, I noticed he was looking at my necklace from Sigiswald. I touched it, and he let out a quiet hum of realization.

“Now I remember—it was your dream to marry a prince. You said as much when writing that ridiculous story of yours some time ago. I must admit, I never thought it would one day come true...”

He was referring to when I’d attempted to print Cinderella during my days as an apprentice shrine maiden, before I’d understood anything about noble society. I was impressed that he even remembered something he had read only briefly all those years ago. At the same time, though, it struck me that he had misunderstood my intentions. I’d said that I wanted my story to inspire envy because it would make people more invested, but he’d thought I was envious too.

“Hold on! I object! My dream is not to marry Prince Sigiswald. In fact, wedding an already-married man without a book to his name would be more a nightmare than anything. Do you really expect me to long for a decline in my standard of living?”

Being torn away from my library and dragged someplace where I wouldn’t receive a single new book or even be allowed to get involved with the printing industry until my coming of age sounded awful. Anyone stupid enough to think I might envy such an arrangement deserved to have my wrath unleashed upon them.

“In the first place,” I said, “my dream husband is someone like my dad: someone who supports me in my charge toward my dreams, who protects me from everything and cares for me without paying any mind to status. Prince Sigiswald couldn’t be further from that ideal. This necklace is only meant to indicate that I’m acting with the royal family’s authority. It has nothing to do with the proposal. Come, look closer! There are no vows on it, nor is it even omni-elemental.”

From there, I explained my actual dream for the future: “I want to hole up inside a library and spend my days reading. I want to enjoy delicious food with my family and everyone else who’s close to me, read my favorite books, and venture to other libraries in search of works I’ve yet to consume. I want to be a librarian, helping visitors search for the books they want, restoring old documents, researching magic tools, and establishing a (network) connecting my library with those of other duchies, whereupon I can begin expanding my collection from everywhere at once. That is my dream. How could you ever think I wanted to marry a bookless prince and wait years to even resume my work in the printing industry?”

Having finished my impassioned speech, I sighed and dropped down onto my backside, exhausted. Ferdinand gave a wry smile.

“I see. Your fervor leaves no doubt that I made a grave mistake.”

“Well, no harm done, I guess. You might have misunderstood my dream, but you’re not wrong about the actual situation.”

“Excuse me...?”

“Before the next Archduke Conference, the king will adopt me,” I announced, maintaining an airy smile so as not to bring the mood down too much. There was no point hiding the news from him now when the conference was right around the corner. “Then, when I come of age, I will marry the next Zent, no matter how far from my tastes he might be.”

“You plan to marry Prince Sigiswald...?” Ferdinand asked, his jaw actually dropping slightly. He must have been comparing the arrangement to his own marriage by royal decree.

“Yes, but only because he wants the Grutrissheit and my mana. A former commoner marrying a prince... It’s laughable, isn’t it? The prince doesn’t want me doing anything incomprehensible, so I’ll remain out of sight while they focus on upholding the current balance of power between duchies.”

“And... you would accept being treated like that?” Ferdinand asked, a stern look on his face.

I pressed my lips together and nodded. As long as I could save him, I would accept whatever awaited me.

“You, my lower-city family, the Gutenbergs, my temple attendants... If any of my Geduldhs were in danger, I would tear Yurgenschmidt apart to rescue them. But if they’re all safe, I’ll do everything I can to protect it. If our country collapsed, the people I care about wouldn’t be able to live their lives.”

I was at peace with my fate. To prevent Yurgenschmidt’s collapse, I would need to complete the Book of Mestionora or retrieve the royal family’s Grutrissheit from the underground archive—and to that end, I would need to join the royal family.

“As a royal, I shall use my authority to its fullest extent to protect those I care about. I won’t let you be executed for Detlinde’s crimes. I’ll pull every string to make sure you can return to your Geduldh. That much, I promise you.”

“You intend to leave me and all those you care about in Ehrenfest...? And you would put them all in my care?” Ferdinand asked, looking increasingly bitter. He was likely comparing my future to what he had experienced moving to Ahrensbach.

I smiled, hoping to ease his concerns. “You don’t need to worry about me, Ferdinand. I’m going to be fine. My lower-city family is coming with me to the Sovereignty as personnel, with Lutz and Benno tagging along with the Plantin Company when I come of age. Melchior will take over as the High Bishop and manage the temple, and my name-sworn are all permitted to accompany me, no matter how old they are. I will survive.”

And then I remembered—I still needed to give Ferdinand back his name stone. I took the small white cocoon out of my bag and placed it in his right hand.

“This belongs to you. Although it was to save your life, I apologize for stealing your name. Now that you have your own hidden room, you’ll want to keep the stone there, right?”

Ferdinand cast his eyes down, his hand trembling as he squeezed the name stone. “Do you not...”

“Ferdinand...?”

“Never mind. You make returning me to Ehrenfest sound trivial, but I can assure you, that will not be the case,” he said, his voice weak and dripping with despair. “Rather, it will almost certainly be impossible. I will never be permitted to leave Ahrensbach when the duchy is in such a state. Thus, there is no need for you to go.”

I was hesitant, but I decided to reveal the part of our plans I hadn’t intended to mention: “Umm... This is kind of a secret, but once I’ve been adopted and obtained the Grutrissheit, the duchy’s borders are going to be redrawn. You don’t need to worry—my retainers and I will take care of Ahrensbach in the meantime.”

“Oh...?”

Ferdinand clenched his trembling fists, and the color of his eyes slowly started to waver. He wasn’t prone to emotional outbursts like I was, so seeing these changes in him wasn’t normal at all.

Wait... Have I just awakened the Lord of Evil?!