Ascendance of a Bookworm (LN) - Volume 5.9 - Chapter 7

Late-Night Tea Party

Gretia went to the greenhouse ahead of us to prepare some tea. The building was used quite regularly during the blizzard-heavy winter when everyone gathered to socialize. My retainers had advised me to leave later than I normally would to account for the time Hannelore would need to get changed.

“Let us go, Lady Rozemyne,” Damuel said as I exited my room. He and Judithe were going to be guarding me. “Are you not going to use your highbeast?”

I reached down to grab my feystone, as I normally would... then stopped.

“Is something the matter?” Judithe asked, looking at me curiously. Her eyes widened when I explained the fear I’d developed since the battle.

“Please inform your attendants when you are in such a state,” Damuel said with a grim frown. “Lieseleta expressed her concern earlier when she saw you drop an ordonnanz feystone. Leaving her to guess the cause was entirely unreasonable.”

“Damuel! We weren’t going to tell her yet, remember?! What happened to letting her get a good night’s rest?!”

“There is a clear distinction between someone who simply needs to rest and someone in an abnormal state of mind who requires special attention. If we want our lady to tell us these things, we should make that clear to her, should we not?”

My knights were in an argument of some kind. From what I could gather, they’d intended to delay a report meant for me, but Damuel thought it was best for me to hear it now.

“Please tell me, Damuel,” I said. I was traveling to the greenhouse on foot, since I was too afraid to form my highbeast; we weren’t going to arrive anytime soon.

“Although you did so upon Lord Ferdinand’s prompting, the fact is that you were the one to invite Lord Bonifatius to share his tales of heroics. Are you aware that this made you the host of the table?”

I was not.

In my eyes, I’d simply taken advantage of the feast to contain Bonifatius’s rampage. The others had appreciated my actions at the time, but reporting to the archduke should have come first. Bonifatius’s attendants and my own had colluded and, out of sheer desperation, invited Sylvester to sit with us, thereby allowing a facsimile of order to be maintained even as Bonifatius gave his report first.

“Lord Bonifatius regaled us all with his tales of the conflict,” Damuel said. “Then, after an evening spent in silence, the aub finally spoke about his own battle. To all those observing the conversation, things were proceeding as smoothly as one could hope—until you interrupted the aub, rose from your seat, and started rambling about your fitting.”

My sudden anxiety attack had made me want to get as far away from Georgine’s feystone as possible, but the others at the feast hadn’t known that. As far as they were concerned, I’d randomly stood up and tried to leave, not even bothering to signal my attendants or give those sitting with me the courtesy of a farewell. I’d seemed so upset about my new clothes that I’d started criticizing attendants even at the cost of disrespecting the archduke.

No way... I couldn’t have been more rude!

It was tragic, but it wasn’t like I’d possessed the emotional leeway to consider the politics of my situation. No matter how they interpreted it, what everyone had seen was my best attempt to keep up appearances.

“Lord Ferdinand implied that the cause was something other than exhaustion, which allowed us to deduce the truth of the matter,” Damuel explained. “But it was already too late. If you had simply told us that feystones were the cause of your distress, Lord Ferdinand would not have asked Lord Bonifatius about his battle, and Lieseleta would not have approached the situation as she did. In the absence of a report, it did not even cross our minds that you might have been uncomfortable. You experienced ditter at the Royal Academy on many occasions and even led the first battle after inviting Dunkelfelger to join the fray.”

I could have pretended to pass out, thereby creating an excuse for my retainers to carry me out of the room, but no—instead, I’d chosen the nuclear option of going to Florencia and Charlotte to discuss my fitting. Only with the most forced smiles had we all made it through.

“You have gotten so good at disguising your emotions that the aub’s and Lord Bonifatius’s retainers interpreted your abrupt departure as the height of rudeness.”

Lieseleta had desperately tried to smooth things over with Bonifatius and his retainers, but they had responded only with criticisms: “You and your fellow retainers must be doing such a poor job arranging Lady Rozemyne’s clothes if she felt the need to bring it up before the aub during a feast.”

I can’t believe that happened...

“Lord Karstedt and the aub held Lord Bonifatius’s group back, saying that you must have had other reasons for your actions. After all, even Lord Ferdinand was worried about you. Please take care moving forward and inform us ahead of time if something is wrong.”

I wanted to protest that my feelings hadn’t been clear enough for me to have noticed them before the feast, but that wouldn’t do much to appease my retainers who had already faced the consequences. I’d been so focused on my own worries that I hadn’t stopped to think about Sylvester or Bonifatius. It hadn’t even occurred to me how much the retainers I’d abandoned in the moment might have struggled. I really was a failure of a lady.

“I will need to apologize to Lieseleta...”

“Um, Lady Rozemyne...” Judithe interjected, “might I suggest praising her? While I was making the arrangements for this trip to the greenhouse, she was negotiating with Lord Ferdinand about holding the fitting in your estate, seeing as the castle was out of the question. She even went ahead and contacted the Gilberta Company. But of course, we weren’t supposed to tell you any of this until tomorrow morning...”

“It was brought to our attention that you shouldn’t use the same estate as Lord Ferdinand, and we were advised to invite Lady Hannelore and Lord Heisshitze under the guise of awarding them a hairpin.”

Tarnishing my reputation would have severe long-term consequences, especially considering my engagement to the royal family. It was an annoying situation, to say the least.

“It was because of our inexperience that we didn’t notice something was wrong... but a lot of the blame should also lie with Hartmut,” Judithe complained, her lips pursed. “He did notice the problems but elected not to tell anyone, since he didn’t have evidence to bolster his suspicions. He spoke to Ferdinand in secret, leaving the rest of us out of the conversation.”

The greenhouse soon came into view. It was wondrous—like something out of a fantasy book. Massive windows designed to receive copious amounts of sunlight now let in radiant moonbeams, which made the ivory building look as though it were glowing. Small lamp-like magic tools added a bit more light, in which multicolor flowers blossomed and gleamed.

“How beautiful...” I murmured.

“Over here, Lady Rozemyne,” Gretia said, then led me to a neatly arranged table. Because noblewomen frequently used the greenhouse as a gathering spot, there was plenty of space for tables and chairs. “Lady Hannelore is on her way. The guest rooms are only in the main building, so she shouldn’t be long.”

Gretia then took me through the tea she had prepared and what I should do with Hannelore when she arrived. That time came even sooner than I’d expected.

“Lady Hannelore. Good evening.”

“I thank you ever so much for the invitation, Lady Rozemyne. It came as a boon for me on this sleepless night.” Her eyes crinkled in a smile as she admired the plants. “This greenhouse really is a wonderful place.”

I asked our guest, who looked somewhat drained, if she would care to wander around with me. Gretia had advised me to do this, as she would use our short absence to ask Hannelore’s attendants what tea their lady would prefer from the available ingredients.

Hannelore accepted my request, and the two of us leisurely browsed the greenhouse. We appreciated the flowers and took deep breaths of the fresh, pleasantly scented air. Our guard knights followed a short distance behind us.

“In truth, this is my first time visiting this greenhouse,” I said. “Women frequent it during winter socializing... but as I’ve always spent my winters in the playroom or at the Royal Academy, I’ve never had a chance to join them. The flowers must look so proud and vibrant against the falling snow.”

“The thought alone sets my heart aflutter. What a shame I will never see it.”

As she continued to admire the flowers, Hannelore noted that most of them couldn’t be found in Dunkelfelger. The climates of our two duchies must have differed quite considerably.

“Did you enjoy the feast?” I asked.

“Indeed, though I was shocked to learn that your mother wrote Royal Academy Love Stories. She gave me the newest installment, and we discussed her work in great detail. I had a truly wonderful time.”

Hannelore was positively brimming with excitement as she told me everything she and Elvira had spoken about. Her mood was so infectious that I ended up smiling along with her.

“Lady Elvira even told me she plans to incorporate my experiences into one of her upcoming books. She wishes to write a love story about you and Lord Ferdinand.”

I waved away that statement without a second thought. “That is not something I ever want to see published. I shall ask that she abandon the idea at once.”

Hannelore slumped her shoulders. “Lady Elvira came across to me as a very strong mother. She said you should at least find joy in the world of stories, for a tale of romance can provide a wonderful escape from the harsh reality of one’s situation.”

Wait... Didn’t I say something like that? Back when Ferdinand was first ordered to move to Ahrensbach, maybe.

We continued our leisurely stroll through the greenhouse, chatting about meaningless topics, until Gretia and Hannelore’s attendant called out to us.

“Please enjoy this brew,” Gretia said. “It should keep you both warm on this cold night.”

I took a sip of what turned out to be herbal tea; Gretia must have brewed it specially to help us sleep. She’d even added some honey to help it go down smoothly. I took a massive gulp and enjoyed the warmth of the drink flowing through me. I must have been colder than I’d thought.

“Lady Hannelore, if you would...”

I didn’t want our retainers to hear what I was going to say next, so I arranged the preparation of a sound-blocker. Once my conversation partner had accepted it, I wasted no time getting to the heart of the matter.

“I truly am sorry about this.”

“Lady Rozemyne?” Hannelore asked, blinking at me.

“I told Aub Dunkelfelger this would take only two bells, but three days have now passed... On top of that, the initial plan was simply to rescue Lord Ferdinand; I did not intend for your volunteers to be dragged into the Purge of Lanzenave or today’s battle. It brings me nothing but sorrow to think that I troubled you so deeply that you cannot even sleep tonight.”

“But, um... Lady Rozemyne...” Hannelore said nervously. “It was Lord Ferdinand who rallied the knights. Then I decided they should continue to fight, since they were so dissatisfied with Lanzenave’s showing. There is no reason for you to apologize.”

I shook my head. “It was entirely through your goodwill that we obtained victory. In public, we must express our gratitude for your duchy’s assistance... but we cannot apologize for the trouble we put you through. I wish to use this opportunity to make amends—to some degree, at least.”

Hannelore had even gone as far as to help defend Gerlach. If she was struggling to sleep, of course I needed to apologize.

“It was thanks to your forces that we managed to win the Battle of Gerlach,” I said. “There may not have been any casualties on your side, but many of your knights were gravely wounded, were they not? To think I put people from another duchy in such grave danger...”

I’d managed to heal everyone in time, meaning nobody had died, but still—some of our combatants were seriously hurt or enduring the neutered but still dangerous effects of the instant-death poison.

“Lady Rozemyne—as I said, we chose to involve ourselves in those battles. Please stop acting as though it were a one-sided decision. There is not a single knight in Dunkelfelger who would agree to a ditter match without having the resolve to see it through. If anything...” Hannelore exhaled, and tears welled from her eyes. “I should apologize. To you and to Ehrenfest.”

I merely stared at Hannelore in surprise. I’d thought she would scold me; it had never even crossed my mind that she might apologize in turn.

“I caused everyone so much trouble during the Battle of Gerlach,” she continued. “My attempt at a surprise attack strengthened the enemy... and so many Ehrenfest knights died as a direct result of my actions. I agreed to participate to make up for the shame of that past ditter game, but I was no help at all. That is why my heart aches so... I cannot apologize enough to the knights who lost their lives—not that I will ever have the opportunity...”

I’d gone straight into the giebe’s estate with Matthias, so I hadn’t known that Grausam had used the mana from Hannelore’s surprise attack to launch an explosive offensive. Hannelore had watched several Gerlach knights die as a result, which was why she couldn’t sleep. As someone who couldn’t bear to even look at feystones anymore, I understood exactly how she must have been feeling.

“It was because of you that our knights were saved,” she said. “You granted us your large-scale healing immediately after we broke through the enemy’s ranks, meaning we did not need to drink rejuvenation potions and could keep our antidote-soaked cloth over our mouths.”

At the time, we had devoted ourselves to giving the giebe’s knights time to heal, since they had already been a broken mess when we’d reached them. My blessing hadn’t worked to replenish their mana, so they had fallen back while Dunkelfelger’s knights held the front line with Heilschmerz’s healing. They had needed to move the cloth from their mouths to drink their rejuvenation potions, so several of them had died when the poison had struck.

“As an Ehrenfest archduke candidate, you should have prioritized your own knights. Instead, ours were the only ones who emerged unscathed. You protected us at the expense of your own troops, and... I just feel terrible.”

I shook my head. It would have been ideal if nobody had died, but in a battle waged on such a large scale, such a convenient outcome would never have been possible. The fact that Dunkelfelger had made it through without any casualties was nothing short of a miracle in my eyes, especially when they hadn’t needed to fight for us in the first place.

“If not for your knights, I would never have been able to rescue Ferdinand,” I said. “The Purge of Lanzenave would not have received such a favorable name, and our victory in the Battle of Gerlach would have come at a much greater cost. So please do not beat yourself up over what happened. Your involvement in this operation saved not just Ehrenfest but me as well. I am grateful to you from the bottom of my heart.”

Tears ran down Hannelore’s cheeks, and she wrapped her fingers together in prayer. I placed my hands over hers.

“Let us mourn the dead together. We can pray for them as they climb the towering stairway to the distant heights to join the supreme gods at daybreak.”

Hannelore gazed up at me in surprise. “Pray for them...? I was raised not to feel sad about the deaths of our knights. They sacrificed themselves to protect their home, their lords, their families, their friends, and their ideals. It falls to their loved ones to mourn them. I, as an archduke candidate, must instead ensure that their legacy lives on. I need to praise their heroism and give ample compensation to their families. Would it be right of me to pray for the deceased when they barely even knew me?”

“I cannot speak for your duchy’s customs, but this is Ehrenfest. I see no issue with it as long as your feelings of mourning are genuine.”

I exchanged a few words with my knights, then went from the greenhouse to a balcony on the building’s second floor. There, I formed my schtappe amid the cold night air. The sky was starting to brighten, but before dawn came, I taught Hannelore the prayer for the dead.

“O mighty King and Queen of the endless skies...” I began, spurring first Hannelore then our retainers to take out their schtappes and join me. “May our prayers reach those climbing to the towering heights. We perform our song of mourning so that you might protect those who can no longer return to us.”

Light and Darkness flew out of my schtappe and soared up into the sky. Similar lights shot from the schtappes of Hannelore and her retainers.

“Lady Rozemyne... do you think our prayers reached Gerlach?” Hannelore asked.

“I do.”

“Even though I was praying for their sake, it feels like I was blessed as well...” The smile on Hannelore’s face told me the sorrow clouding her heart had dissipated.

First bell rang in Ehrenfest, signifying the start of a new morning.