Ascendance of a Bookworm (LN) - Volume 5.8 - Chapter SS3

Effa — Strong Bonds, Strong Protection

“Mom, come on! We gotta go! Master Benno said we need to evacuate! A soldier’s gonna come soon and say the same thing. A fight’s about to break out at the west gate, so we gotta evacuate before noon!”

It was third bell, and my son had just burst into my workroom. Rumors had already spread of the city’s knights being sent to fight a war in the south, and with the recent decision to station knights at all of the city’s gates, not just the north one, his announcement caused an understandable stir in the workshop. Threats from other duchies were coming to Ehrenfest, and as mere commoners, the most we could do was find somewhere safe to hide, whether at home or at work. There was nothing we could hope to accomplish in a battle between nobles.

“Let’s go, Mom,” Kamil urged.

Together we rushed out of the workshop. The Gutenbergs and other personnel going with Lady Rozemyne to the Sovereignty had been told to evacuate to the Noble’s Quarter, but first we needed to go to the Plantin Company. We were all supposed to meet there and then travel by carriage.

“Oh, we’re not meeting at the Plantin Company anymore,” my son informed me. “We’ve gotta head to the Gilberta Company instead.”

“Why’s that?” I asked.

“Too much stuff!”

Kamil was only a child, so he wasn’t the best at explaining things, but I could guess Mr. Benno had sent him to make sure I went to the right place. No soldiers had come to announce the evacuation, so the city crowd didn’t seem particularly tense; we were the only ones hurrying down the street.

“Go inside, Mom,” Kamil urged me. “Go see Tuuli.”

Sitting outside the Gilberta Company were three carriages, if they could even be called that; they were more like fancy horse-drawn wagons designed to transport large groups of people at once.

I rushed past those busily moving luggage into the wagons and went into the store, whereupon Tuuli gestured me over. I went with her into the back room, confused, and saw several women changing clothes behind a screen.

“For obvious reasons, we can’t go to the Noble’s Quarter dressed as we are now,” she said. “Could you change into these?”

“Hurry, hurry! We don’t have long before noon!” another seamstress urged as she helped the others change.

I did as instructed and wriggled into the new clothes I was given. They were even more elegant than my best dress—the one I’d worn for my coming-of-age ceremony. Under any other circumstances, I wouldn’t have felt comfortable putting them on, but I didn’t have time to waste when everyone was in such a rush.

“Once you’re done, Mom, board the carriage. Oh, and take this with you. Hmm... Gunilla! Is that everything?”

Tuuli spoke with one of the other seamstresses while I went back outside with a wooden box in my arms. The soldiers were now out and about, ordering everyone to evacuate. Seeing the rush of people hurrying down the street made me feel increasingly uneasy.

“You’re in the front wagon, Zack,” Lutz said. He was directing those of us who had finished getting changed. “You can sit in the second one with your wife if you really want, but it’s meant to be for women only.”

Beside him, Mr. Benno was shouting in the direction of the store. “Time to go! Anyone who’s not in their wagon is getting left behind!”

That was the last thing I wanted. I went over to Lutz and asked which wagon I was meant to ride in.

“The back one, please. It won’t be comfortable, since it’s full of the Gilberta Company’s luggage, but you won’t be in there for long. We’re about to leave.”

I took my luggage into the wagon and sat down. Lutz must have put me with the Gilberta Company’s seamstresses, as Mrs. Corinna, Tuuli, and the rest of their group soon joined me.

“Mr. Benno sent word just this morning that we need to protect Lady Rozemyne’s new outfits and that the Gilberta Company’s seamstresses need to evacuate too,” Tuuli explained. “That’s why there’s so much luggage. We’re bringing our tools so we can work while we’re hiding.”

As we discussed this and that, the wagon started to move. It took us all the way to the gate outside the Noble’s Quarter and then stopped.

“Ah! It’s Damuel,” Tuuli said, having been gazing out the window.

“Wonderful,” Mrs. Corinna added with a smile. “My brother said we would see him here. If not for Lord Damuel, we might have been waiting the entire day.”

Commoners trying to enter the Noble’s Quarter were normally stopped at the gate and stalled for a painfully long time. But because Lord Damuel had come out to meet us, we were let right through.

“This is the Noble’s Quarter. It’s your first time coming here, right, Mom?”

I peered outside, and my eyes widened. This was where Myne lived...? Beautiful pure-white stone stretched out in every direction, and there was so much greenery. There was a lot of space too, especially compared to back home; it was so empty that I started to question if anyone else was even here.

“I don’t see any other people or carriages...” I said.

“Carriages are a pretty common sight here,” Tuuli explained. “I think the nobles have already evacuated, though.”

“Ah. That makes sense.”

I continued to look around. Each ivory building was a noble estate, I was told, and they weren’t even shared; each one housed a single family.

“Then again, they technically are shared to some degree, since servants and attendants live there too,” Mrs. Corinna explained with a smile. “It really is shocking to see so many enormous estates, right? Each one is supposed to have its own garden too.”

I was extra shocked to discover that nobles didn’t even share wells. It made me wonder when they had the opportunity to spend time with their neighbors and share gossip.

“Mom, the archduke’s castle is behind that wall,” Tuuli said, pointing. “I went there for the first time just recently. It was so huge that I couldn’t believe it.”

Myne lived even farther back, apparently.

“I heard we’re going to Lady Rozemyne’s library today. Is that here in the castle?” I asked.

“No, I think it’s in the estate the previous High Priest gave her before he went somewhere else. Lutz doesn’t know the details either; he just told me what he learned from Gil.”

“Oh... Well, I’m looking forward to seeing it.”

“Mm-hmm,” one of the seamstresses added. “All noble estates look the same on the outside, but their interiors are totally unique. I can’t wait to see what Lady Rozemyne’s is like.”

The seamstresses were beside themselves with excitement to see the designs and decorations inside the estate. I suspected they wanted to use them as inspiration for future outfits.

The decorations aren’t what I’m excited to see, though.

The Gutenbergs were being evacuated to Lady Rozemyne’s estate, and the arrival of so many commoners meant the lady of the house would need to be present. I assumed we would only exchange greetings, but if nothing else, I would get to see my daughter again. It was the one silver lining to all this chaos.

As our conversation moved from clothes to dyes, the wagon turned a corner. I already knew that each plot of land belonged to a noble estate, but there were three buildings on each one. Which house was whose? And would Myne’s neighbors complain about so many commoners passing by their homes? As those questions ran through my mind, we continued past two more structures and then stopped outside the largest one at the very back.

I stepped out of the wagon and gazed up at the estate towering over us. “This is Lady Rozemyne’s house?” I was too dazed to believe it. The building was far too giant for an unmarried child. Not even the homes of the rich in front of the temple were this big.

Lord Damuel shook his head. “Not a house—a library.” He was the noble who had always seen Myne home safely during her days as an apprentice blue shrine maiden. Even now, he stayed by her side as a guard knight and regularly bridged the gap between the worlds of nobles and commoners. Gunther had told me he was an honest man—someone you could really trust.

“Um, what’s a library?” I asked. “Is it not somewhere you live?”

“It’s a place used to store books you’ve collected—like a way of organizing them so they’re easy to access. You could sleep in one, but since Lady Rozemyne spends her time in the castle or the temple, she doesn’t actually live in hers.”

It’s a house for books...?

That didn’t make sense to me at all. Myne had always been obsessed with books and paper and whatnot, but I’d never expected her to use the giant house the High Priest had given her for this. She must have been causing so much trouble for those around her.

“Mom, hurry!” Kamil called from halfway up a long set of stairs. Lord Damuel urged me on as well, so I started making my way up.

“You are Lady Rozemyne’s personnel and the Gutenbergs, I assume? Do come in,” a young man said as he opened the estate’s door for us. His mannerisms and way of speaking made it obvious he was a noble, which rooted us all to the spot; we hadn’t expected a noble attendant to welcome us.

“I understand your surprise, but could you go inside?” Lord Damuel said wryly. He had just come up the steps behind us.

“Is, uh... Lady Rozemyne not here?” Mr. Benno asked. “I should like to greet her before intruding upon her estate.” I didn’t know what the expectations were when meeting with nobles, but judging by how hesitant he seemed, meeting the lord or lady of a household must have been a very big deal.

“She is absent,” Lord Damuel replied. “Members of the archducal family must fight to protect their duchy in times of war. She’s already leading a detachment of knights on the front lines.”

The Gutenbergs all gasped. I did as well. It hadn’t even crossed my mind that we might be invited to an estate while its lady was away. And never in all my life had I expected Myne, who was still only a young woman, to lead troops into battle.

“Is it okay for her to be doing that? She’s much too sickly—um, I mean, she is quite unwell,” Lutz said, likely having spoken without thinking.

Lord Damuel raised an eyebrow. “I won’t pretend there isn’t risk involved, but this is Lady Rozemyne. She obtained her forces using methods nobody else would ever have employed—or even considered, for that matter—and now she’s just forging ahead as she pleases. I’m confident she’ll win no matter what predicaments she ends up in.”

“That certainly is true...” Lutz said with a smile and a nod. Mr. Benno and Mr. Mark smiled as well, which helped calm me down a little; they knew far more about Myne’s noble persona than I did.

“In short, forget about the greeting for now,” Lord Damuel said. “Just wait until the battle is over. We need you here, since you’re going with Lady Rozemyne to the Sovereignty. This estate has so many protective magic tools that your safety is guaranteed. Lady Rozemyne instructed me to guard you all, but I must head to the west gate before the enemy arrives.”

Did he just say the west gate?!

First to enter the estate was Mr. Benno, who had more experience with nobles than the rest of us—though it did take some urging from Lord Damuel. Next was Mark. I watched them out of the corner of my eye, but I was so preoccupied with my husband’s absence that I couldn’t move.

This house might be safe, but what about Gunther? He’s at the west gate.

I was forcefully reminded of when a noble from another duchy had targeted Myne in the temple. Gunther had sustained an injury on his arm, and the sight of him hunched over, racked with regret that he hadn’t been able to protect our daughter, was burned into my memory. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that, like before, he would devote his all to defending the city and his family.

As my uncertainty returned, I ended up squeezing the charm Myne had given me. I’d been told it would activate when struck by something that would normally do a lot of damage.

Would it help Gunther to have even one more of these...?

Maybe, but I wasn’t in a position to give him mine. Would it be rude to ask Lord Damuel to deliver it for me, since he already had plans to head to the gate? I debated the question while watching him speak with an attendant by the door who looked like she had just come of age.

“Lieseleta, we aren’t going to be sheltering any more commoners here,” he said. “Activate the barrier once I’m gone.”

“As you will. Gretia and I shall see it done. Be safe, Damuel.”

Lord Damuel nodded in response, then turned to leave.

“Mom, what are you doing?” Tuuli asked. “Everyone else has gone inside.” She and Kamil tried to pull me into the estate by my hands, but my body wouldn’t move; this was my last chance.

Lord Damuel turned around when he heard Tuuli cry out. He noticed that I was standing in the doorway and said, “Is something wrong?” I saw consideration in his gray eyes, and the way he looked at me encouraged me to speak.

This is Lord Damuel. He won’t be offended.

I removed and then held out my charm. “Lord Damuel, I’m sorry for speaking out of place, but please give this to my husband at the west gate while you’re there. If we’re going to be safe here, he’ll need it more than I do. Please give him Lady Rozemyne’s charm so that no harm comes to him.”

“Alright,” Lord Damuel said at length. “I’ll take it.”

As I thanked him, Tuuli held out her own charm. “Lord Damuel, please take mine too. Dad needs it more right now.”

Kamil did the same. “You can tell Lady Rozemyne we handed ours over because we wanted to protect Dad.”

“It would be my honor,” Lord Damuel said, accepting our charms with a gentle smile. “Now, if that’s all, I must be heading to the west gate. Hurry on inside.”

And with that, he climbed onto his highbeast and flew away.

Come home safe, Gunther... I pray that you don’t end up in danger.

Once we were inside, the young man from before closed and locked the door behind us. The others were waiting for us in the entrance hall.

“Lasfam, if you would guide them the rest of the way. We will activate the magic tools,” Lady Lieseleta said to the young man—Lord Lasfam—before heading farther into the house with Lady Gretia. They were going to use the magic tools Lord Damuel had mentioned to keep us all safe.

After watching the two girls leave, Lord Lasfam led the rest of us through the estate. “Please take care not to venture upstairs. For that is where the master chambers reside.”

The young man continued to explain the places we wouldn’t be allowed access to while showing us the rooms we would use if the battle stretched on. The furnishings alone told me this was a very expensive house, and it made me all the more thankful that I’d changed my clothes; I wouldn’t have dared sit down in my usual getup.

“Those of the Gilberta Company—please bring Lady Rozemyne’s outfits here,” Lord Lasfam said. “We have prepared a room in which you can sew.”

“Thank you,” Mrs. Corinna replied. She then looked at the mountain of luggage being brought through the estate and paused.

“Er, allow us,” Zack said. “There’s not much else for us to do here, so just say the word if you need us.”

A warm smile spread across Mrs. Corinna’s face. “Oh my. Zack, Johann... Thank you.”

Meanwhile, Tuuli was speaking with a woman from another wagon—someone she knew, from the look of things. “It’s been a while, Ella. I see you’re staying here too. I thought the chefs would have evacuated to the temple.”

“I was on leave to have my son,” the young woman replied, nodding to the baby in her arms. “I came here with him and my mom. I doubt I’ll see you again before we leave, so until then.”

Ella then gave her baby to her mother before approaching our guide. “Lord Lasfam, will the estate struggle to prepare lunch for so many unexpected guests? My mother can watch over my son, so allow me to help as Lady Rozemyne’s personal chef.”

“I would appreciate that greatly.”

“Should we help too?” one woman asked as she and the other Gutenbergs’ wives stepped forward. “We might not know noble recipes, but we can make normal food.”

Ella and Lord Lasfam started to discuss the proposal. They agreed it was a good idea, but Lord Lasfam didn’t want strangers in the estate’s kitchen.

“Could they instead peel vegetables in the servants’ quarters?” Ella suggested.

“That sounds like a fair compromise.”

“We shouldn’t need more than two people for that.”

In the end, it was decided that Zack’s and Dimo’s wives would peel the vegetables. They went with Ella to the servants’ quarters.

Well, I guess they’ve got lunch sorted.

I spent a moment watching Tuuli move busily between the rooms given to the Gilberta Company and then looked around, wondering what Kamil was up to. I soon spotted him with the Plantin Company.

“Listen, Kamil—you won’t get many chances to explore the inside of a noble’s estate,” Lutz said. “Make the most of this one while you can. You can use the decor here as inspiration when furnishing the Italian restaurant, or you could make a tidy sum selling ideas to other aspiring high-class inns and stores. We’ll want to learn as much as we can for when we establish our store in the Sovereignty.”

“Right!” my son replied. Then he got straight to inspecting the house’s decorations.

Lutz gave a slight smile before turning to Lord Lasfam. “If you would allow me to ask, where might the books be? I’ve been making new Ehrenfest-style ones at Lady Rozemyne’s request, but we rarely have the opportunity to see traditional books.”

“Hmm... If you are especially careful not to dirty or damage them, I can show you where they are kept.”

“Believe me, I won’t let anything happen to those books,” Lutz replied, his expression gravely serious. “I’ve seen how Lady Rozemyne gets when someone doesn’t treat them with respect. Her eyes change color and everything.”

Looking back, I couldn’t help but chuckle. Myne had always been such a nightmare at times like that.

“Mom, Mom!” Tuuli called. “Mrs. Corinna wants a hand, if you don’t mind. We’ve done everything we can to help Dad stay safe, so let’s keep ourselves busy for the time being.”

I went with my daughter to the sewing room, which was now packed with tools. Large pieces of cloth and a whole bunch of unfinished clothes were spread out over boxes.

“This is a lot...” I muttered. “Just how many outfits are you making?”

Myne had gone through an enormous growth spurt—I’d noticed it immediately on the day of Kamil’s baptism—but not even that could justify the sheer volume of clothes being worked on. There was way too much for any one person to wear, so maybe some of them were for other customers.

“As well as our own work, we brought some of the clothes entrusted to neighboring workshops,” Tuuli answered. “Lady Rozemyne’s order was too large for the Gilberta Company to manage alone. Oh, Mrs. Corinna—when can we expect the fitting?”

“Not until the war’s over, but I suspect they’ll want to arrange it as soon as they can. There really isn’t much time before the Archduke Conference.” Mrs. Corinna paused her work to look at me. “You can sew, yes? Can I rely on your assistance?”

My eyes widened in surprise. I was a decent seamstress, sure, but only in comparison to my neighbors. I was a dyer by trade, so I’d never sewn clothes meant for a noble.

“Should I really be working on an order like this...?” I asked. I wanted nothing more than to help make clothes for my beloved daughter, but the archducal family demanded perfection; a single mistake risked devastating the Gilberta Company’s reputation.

“Given the time constraints, we don’t have much of a choice. Besides, keeping busy should put you more at ease than sitting around with nothing to do. Can we count on you? The design’s right here.”

My hands trembled as I took some cloth and the design document from Mrs. Corinna, but I did my best to steady them as I got to work. I was using borrowed tools, and Tuuli was making a hairpin beside me.

I poured my heart and soul into every stitch... praying that both Myne and Gunther would return home safe.