Ascendance of a Bookworm (LN) - Volume Short Story-1 - Chapter 14

Cornelius — To Protect My Little Sister

The sales bonus for Part 3 Volume 5. Cornelius finds out he isn’t the only one who feels responsible for Rozemyne getting attacked, and a secret conversation with Hartmut leads to a very unexpected revelation.

Author’s Note: I wanted to write about Cornelius’s friendships—something that isn’t really seen from Rozemyne’s perspective. This short story includes a conversation between her future retainers, as well as an illustration that I requested of them all when they were younger. They’re so cute! Oh, and if you’re reading these chapters in order, prepare for a little déjà vu: some of the dialogue that was originally cut from this story (and went on to become “A Miserable Morning Full of Regret”) ended up being worked into the lunch meeting scene.

“You don’t look so good, Cornelius... Couldn’t sleep?” Damuel asked me, sounding worried.

It was the day after the Viscount Joisontak incident, and I’d arrived at the room in the castle reserved for the Knight’s Order. I gazed up at Damuel, unsure how to respond, and saw that he looked just as beaten. It seemed that neither one of us had gotten any rest.

To be honest, it was nice to know that I wasn’t the only one agonizing over my failure.

I sighed. “If I hadn’t raced off to rescue Lady Charlotte, I could have stayed with Lady Rozemyne and stopped all this from happening. I was up half the night thinking about it.”

“Cornelius,” Brigitte said, “that’s—”

“I know. Staying with Rozemyne wasn’t an option; Lady Charlotte and Angelica would have gotten badly injured—or worse. Mother told me this morning that Lady Charlotte’s guard knights are largely to blame, which made me feel a little better... but I still think I could have done something to save Rozemyne from this danger.”

I didn’t want to believe that saving them had been a mistake, but I was Rozemyne’s guard knight. I couldn’t shake the feeling that I should have prioritized her safety above all else.

“You feel so responsible because Lady Rozemyne is your little sister as well,” Brigitte noted, then gave me a gentle pat on the shoulder. “That said, all this regret is bad for your health. It will only serve to make those around you even more worried.”

I recalled something Mother had told me about Brigitte—that her decision to cancel her engagement had put her home province, Illgner, in very dire straits. She likely knew my feelings of guilt firsthand.

“I heard your call for Lady Rozemyne to stop when she charged off on her own,” Brigitte continued. “For a guard knight to protect their lord or lady above all else, a degree of cooperation is needed. In the heat of the moment, you followed Lady Rozemyne’s orders and acted as was appropriate.”

“Is that really true, though...?”

“Yes. Do you remember what Lady Rozemyne shouted when you succeeded in your rescue maneuver? Plus, as I understand it, she always prioritizes others above herself. I am sure she would have been distraught if you had abandoned Lady Charlotte.”

I recalled the look on Rozemyne’s face when she had raced to save her sister, and the desperation in her eyes when she had begged me to save Lady Charlotte and Angelica. But that wasn’t all—I also remembered the jubilation with which she had called my name when my rescue attempt proved successful, and my own pride at having granted her wish.

That’s right. Rozemyne wanted to rescue them.

“Brigitte is right,” a familiar voice added. “There’s no reason for you to beat yourself up over this, Cornelius.”

“Angelica...”

“Were I able to use my highbeast while strengthening myself, Lady Rozemyne would never have been in danger...”

I could tell from Angelica’s downcast eyes that guilt was eating away at her just as it was me. Perhaps my words had backed her into even more of a corner. I racked my brain, trying to think of a way to console her... but when she looked up again, she looked completely unperturbed.

“However, there’s no use crying over something that was out of my control. I just need to work hard so I don’t have that same constraint next time—that’s what Lord Bonifatius said. I became his disciple to grow stronger, and next time, I will protect Lady Rozemyne, no matter what.”

I had wondered what insanity compelled Angelica to train as Grandfather’s disciple, but I could see now that there was a method to her madness. She was being so optimistic and constructive... whereas I had spent the night agonizing before coming to no meaningful conclusions whatsoever.

“I agree; we should train hard so that we can do more for Rozemyne,” I said. “I see that I have a lot to learn from you.”

I had no intention of making the same mistake twice. To protect my little sister, I needed to be better. Plus, it would definitely wound my pride if Angelica ended up stronger and more reliable than me by the time Rozemyne woke up.

“Seems you’ve calmed down, Cornelius,” Brigitte said with a relieved smile, then looked at Damuel. “Let’s go to Rihyarda, then. We need to check our schedule for today.”

“Viscount Gerlach’s due to be questioned soon. Hopefully we can confirm he was the criminal who attacked Lady Rozemyne...”

We nodded at Damuel, then all went to see Rihyarda. As I thought about the upcoming interrogation, my hands instinctively balled into tight fists. If it turned out that Gerlach was the culprit, I would make him pay then and there in the questioning room.

“You are not allowed to attend today’s questioning.”

“Hold on, Rihyarda—why not?!” Brigitte protested. “We’re Lady Rozemyne’s guard knights!”

I gave a firm nod of agreement. We had been allowed to attend when Viscount Joisontak was questioned, so this made absolutely no sense.

“Giebe Joisontak was captured at the scene of the crime, so the archducal family’s guard knights were permitted to spectate,” Rihyarda explained. “Giebe Gerlach, on the other hand, has only been mentioned by name. The Knight’s Order has also confirmed that he was in the grand hall at the time of the incident. He is unlikely to be the culprit, which is why attendance is so limited.”

“But, Rihyarda...”

Brigitte attempted to object, but Rihyarda raised a hand to stop her. “Allow me to speak more plainly: there is too great of a risk that you young’uns will lose control and automatically label Giebe Gerlach a criminal, even when we have no evidence. We cannot have you causing even further problems.”

I pursed my lips, unable to argue. I was well aware that I wasn’t as commonsensical as usual—especially after my conversation with Brigitte.

“What is our schedule for today, then?”

“Aub Ehrenfest and my boy Ferdinand visited the winter playroom after breakfast, whereupon they instructed Wilfried and Charlotte to manage the winter playroom. You are to assist them with their efforts.”

We weren’t serving Lord Wilfried or Lady Charlotte, so I didn’t see why we needed to help them.

Rihyarda must have noticed the furrow in my brow, as she gave a half-smile and said, “This is going to be Lady Charlotte’s first time in the winter playroom, and Lord Wilfried was not particularly focused on its management last year. In other words, they will struggle on their own. Lady Rozemyne also made quite a few changes to how the winter playroom operates, and the attendants there are simply not used to her methods.”

They needed our help because, as Rozemyne’s retainers, we had seen her work up close and assisted with her various preparations. Angelica and I were going to be spending most of our time in the Royal Academy, though, so it was unlikely that we would be of much help.

“Lady Rozemyne was very invested in the managing of the winter playroom—so much so that she wrote a letter about it,” Rihyarda continued. “Her wish is that it will smoothly continue down the same path while she sleeps.”

“Understood. She may not be here to give orders, but if she put her wishes in a letter, it is our duty to fulfill them.”

I went to the playroom and got Lady Charlotte to show us Rozemyne’s letter. It contained a bunch of instructions, as well as details on what she wanted done in the playroom. Lord Wilfried and Lady Charlotte were clearly working hard to make up for their sibling’s absence, and seeing their valiant efforts made me want to do my best too.

As Rozemyne’s guard knight, the least I can do is make sure the winter playroom doesn’t return to what it was like before.

But no matter how much I resolved myself to do that, Angelica and I would be spending most of the winter in the Royal Academy. How would we be able to help with the winter playroom?

As it turned out, Rozemyne had the answer. In her letter, she asked for students to start gathering intelligence on other duchies and creating study guides for the various courses. Angelica and I were going to oversee these efforts—except Angelica was slowly but surely backing out of the conversation. I really wished she wouldn’t use her talents as a knight to disappear from sight the moment she lost interest.

Alright. Let’s not trust Angelica with gathering information.

Anyone who thought she might buckle down and use her head was sorely mistaken. I had plenty of battle scars from my tour of duty in the Raise Angelica’s Grades Squadron, and it was because of my experience with her that I immediately gave up on seeking her assistance and instead decided to cooperate with Lord Wilfried’s and Lady Charlotte’s underage retainers.

“I do not mind giving reports on what we learn,” Ernesta said, “but should you not be speaking to those of the scholar course? It is not a knight’s duty to gather intelligence.”

“You make a good point,” I replied, “but we want to cast as wide a net as we can. That’s why we should all work together instead of leaving everything to the scholars.”

“Right. And, as those who provide the most valuable intelligence will be handsomely compensated, it makes sense that people other than scholars will offer their assistance.”

During our conversation, Lady Charlotte received first-time greetings from those in the playroom. The line stretching out in front of her was far from short, so it was obvious she was going to be busy for quite some time. In the meantime, the adult retainers were speaking with the teachers, musicians, and so on. Rihyarda and Ottilie were helping with management preparations, while Damuel and Brigitte would apparently be leading temple-related work such as the preparation of new picture books.

Lord Wilfried was currently telling the other children everything he was allowed to disclose about last night’s incident. After the Knight’s Order blocked all of the exits from the grand hall, the attending nobles had all been checked and then swiftly ordered to return home. As a result, they knew nothing except that an attack had occurred.

“And then, Lord Bonifatius, Cornelius, and Angelica brought back the criminal. To our surprise, the black-clad man who kidnapped Charlotte was Viscount Joisontak.”

“Whaaat?!”

The children were eagerly listening to the story. Viscount Joisontak had admitted to his crimes after being captured, so his family had presumably been found guilty by association. A quick look around seemed to confirm my suspicions: the Joisontak kids, who had been here last year, were nowhere to be seen.

“So it was Lady Angelica and Lord Cornelius who rescued Lady Charlotte?” asked one of the children—a boy called Matthias. “I’m going to be a knight myself, so I wish I’d been there to see it.”

“I also want to become a knight and do those things!”

“You too, Lady Judithe?”

“That’s right! I’ll become a knight like Lady Angelica and protect Kirnberger’s country gate. You’re Lady Angelica’s little sister, right, Lady Lieseleta? Will you become a knight too?”

Lieseleta shook her head. “My house is well known for producing attendants. I will become one as well and serve Lady Rozemyne alongside my sister. Um, hopefully...”

“That’s so wonderful!”

Among the children listening to the stories of our battle was none other than the son of Viscount Gerlach, the man under interrogation at that very moment. Despite his father’s predicament, he seemed just as excited as the other kids. He looked particularly relieved when Lord Wilfried mentioned that the culprit had been caught, then started discussing strong knights with the son of Viscount Wiltord. I couldn’t tell whether his nonchalance was because Viscount Gerlach was innocent or because he simply hadn’t brought his son into his schemes.

“Why the long face, Cornelius?”

“Hartmut...”

“If you need intel from the Royal Academy, why not ask me? C’mon, we’re friends.”

Hartmut and I had been friends since we were little, owing to our mothers getting along so well. He had red hair and bright orange eyes—a combination that really made him stand out in a crowd—and, like any noble worth his salt, always wore an approachable smile that revealed absolutely nothing about his true feelings. He also had more connections than anyone else I got along with.

Of course, he had his faults as well. He tended to be annoyingly casual, and there was a particular coldness to his warm-colored eyes. It was also rare to see him show an interest in something—which was why I found it so unusual that he was poking his nose into a conversation about generic intelligence-gathering.

I was surprised, but then I saw Brunhilde and Leonore behind him—Leisegangs. There were other nobles similarly looking in our direction. They were mobilizing to get more information about Rozemyne.

“This is a conversation between retainers,” I said. “Can we speak later?”

“Perfect. Lady Elvira just sent me an invitation to have lunch with you all.”

I wasn’t told about that...

Mother had said during breakfast that winter was going to be tough, but she hadn’t said that we were going to have lunch with guests. She was evidently working in the shadows, beyond my notice. It was going to be even harder for me to guess her intentions once I returned to the Royal Academy, since contacting one’s parents became much less simple, so I would need to learn what she was doing before then.

“How about we talk over lunch, then?” Hartmut suggested. “It should be a little more leisurely than if we spoke here and now.”

“Sounds good to me,” I said.

With that, Hartmut walked away, with Brunhilde and Leonore following after him. They appeared to be discussing something among themselves—no doubt trying to decide which questions to ask me.

This is going to be annoying...

It was fourth bell—lunchtime.

As some nobles went home to eat, lunch in general was longer than dinnertime, lasting an entire bell instead of merely half of one. I wasn’t an attendant, meaning I didn’t need to serve anyone food, so I could choose between eating in the castle or at home when I wasn’t on guard duty.

Today, I was going to be eating at home. I mounted my highbeast and took flight, with Ottilie and Hartmut accompanying me.

“Apologies, Cornelius,” Ottilie said. “This lunch meeting took you by surprise, did it not?”

“It truly did.”

“Now that we know Lady Rozemyne will not wake up anytime soon, there is a need to speak with Lady Elvira before the Leisegang house mobilizes. However...” Ottilie glanced at her son. She was the picture of a mother looking at a problematic child, which told me that Hartmut had twisted her arm to come along to this lunch.

“Leisegang nobles will surely swarm us the moment we arrive at the Royal Academy,” Hartmut continued with a smile, not at all bothered by his mother’s stare. “We need to hold a meeting before then, no?”

“You intend to help me?” I asked.

“Yep. My real interest is this intelligence-gathering operation in the Royal Academy, but I don’t mind offering some assistance as well, if the mood takes me.” It was his way of confirming that he had no intention of helping me whatsoever.

On that note, we arrived at my family’s home, where Mother welcomed us with a bemused smile. “I see Hartmut dragged you along after all, Cornelius.”

“Wasn’t this meeting already agreed upon?” I asked.

“Not at all. I merely said that I wished to spend some time in leisurely conversation with Ottilie and that she should only bring Hartmut if you would be coming home as well, to keep him company. In the future, you must observe your surroundings and take more care to obtain information, my son.”

My cheek twitched as we sat down for lunch; my naivety as a noble had just been thrown in my face.

During lunch meetings, attendants would busily move around to serve everyone, so only matters that were safe to be made public were discussed. Ottilie reported that Rozemyne was going to be asleep in her jureve for more than a year, at which point Mother put a troubled hand on her cheek and shook her head.

“Lord Ferdinand said during the questioning that she would survive, but to think it will take her that long simply to regain consciousness...”

Indeed, Rozemyne’s recovery period was far too long. The world around me started to grow dark, much like it had when I first heard of her situation in the castle. My understanding was that most people spent five days at most in a jureve.

“More than a year...” I repeated. “Do we know what kind of drug was used on Rozemyne?”

“Lord Ferdinand did not specify in fear that it might be used again,” Ottilie replied, “but it seems to be lethal to Lady Rozemyne in particular. He said that if the rescue had come even a moment later, she likely would have ascended the towering stairway to the distant heights.”

Apparently, it was a drug that wouldn’t be fatal to most people—but to the sickly Rozemyne, it was. Ottilie’s explanation made my anger toward the culprit swell more and more. But while I was getting increasingly furious, Mother remained calm.

“Rozemyne, the shining hope of the Leisegangs, was brought to death’s door...” she said casually while bringing some food to her mouth. “Just thinking about all the fretting I will need to deal with gives me a pounding headache.”

In truth, her attitude annoyed me a little. “I think you are being a bit cold, Mother. Lord Ferdinand did not give any details as to her condition. It is unlike you to trust someone so readily.”

“Lord Ferdinand always speaks ambiguously to keep his own words from being used against him, yet he made it very clear that Rozemyne will survive. I trust that she will be safe in his care.”

Mother and Eckhart both put way too much faith in Lord Ferdinand. Have they forgotten that he was responsible for that bloody accident on the day of her baptism?!

Ottilie had a distant look in her eye. “You were keeping her meetings with other nobles to an absolute minimum, correct? Because she was so unwell and unaccustomed to noble society. And now this, right before she was due to start meeting with the giebes in her family and spreading the printing and paper-making industries. I am aware that the latter turned out to be very successful in Illgner.”

She certainly was abreast of the situation. I could only imagine she had spoken with Mother at some point already.

“There are many who were looking forward to formally meeting Rozemyne,” Ottilie continued, “so getting through this winter will prove very difficult indeed.”

The Leisegangs had spent years under Lady Veronica’s thumb—and now they were pinning all of their hopes on Rozemyne. In their eyes, the future of their house rested on her very shoulders. Now that she was asleep in her jureve, however, those hopes had been scattered to the four winds. Their newly formed connection to the archducal family, adoption of new industries, and guarantees of future support—all these things would be on hold until Rozemyne woke up.

I imagined the inevitable looks of outrage from all those in our family who had joined together to eliminate the former Veronica faction, and immediately I understood why Mother had such a headache.

Great-Grandfather might despair so much that he ascends to the distant heights.

“Incidentally, Ottilie... have any candidates been chosen to take over as the next Giebe Joisontak?” Mother asked.

“I was told that the Joisontak family has been imprisoned, but I received no news about their successors. I assume the selection will take place this winter. That said... Joisontak is filled with nobles of the former Veronica faction. The higher-ups have been racking their brains for a way to put a noble of the Leisegang faction in charge, but to no avail.”

Our meal ended while Mother and Ottilie continued to share intelligence. They were going to move elsewhere and use sound-blocking magic tools to have a more in-depth conversation, so Hartmut and I were shooed away and told to wait in my room until fifth bell.

I couldn’t help but grimace at Hartmut’s scheming smile. “Get along with one another,” they said. How can I get along with a guy like this?

The moment we entered my room, Hartmut held out a sound-blocking magic tool, still wearing the same grin. He had always been kind of... aloof, and he seemed to look at everyone else like they were idiots, so it was seldom good news when he was keeping something from the adults.

I glared between Hartmut and the magic tool, which made him cock an eyebrow at me. “This is about Lady Rozemyne,” he said teasingly. “Would you rather it become public knowledge?”

Having no other choice, I accepted the tool.

Hartmut walked over to the window with an exceptionally bright smile. He stared off into the distance for a moment, then turned to look straight at me, his eyes sharp and judgmental. “You and Angelica should have stayed with Lady Rozemyne instead of rescuing Lady Charlotte. You are a failure of a guard knight, are you not?”

Had he put that question to me this morning, I would have been at a loss for words—and when I had finished wavering, I would have agreed with him, crushed under the guilt of my own incompetence. But now, I didn’t believe his criticism in the slightest.

“It was Rozemyne’s wish for Lady Charlotte to be saved, and she was overjoyed when she saw that her little sister had been rescued,” I retorted. “Angelica and I both obeyed our lady’s orders and did the best that we could in the moment. For those reasons, I do not consider either of us to be failures—though that must be hard to accept for someone who doesn’t understand Rozemyne like we do.”

Hartmut’s face twisted in the most blatant grimace. I wasn’t sure why, when he had set the hostile tone of our conversation.

“Is that true, Cornelius?” he asked. “Lady Rozemyne wished to save Lady Charlotte?”

“It is. I shouted for her to wait, but she ignored me and rushed off with Angelica in her highbeast. If she had understood her position as an archducal family member and acted accordingly, I would have guarded her and her alone—even if the Knight’s Order had arrived late and Lady Charlotte were lost.”

It was a guard knight’s duty to protect their lord or lady above all else. Under most circumstances, we were not responsible for Lady Charlotte’s safety—she had her own guard knights, as did all members of the archducal family. But when our lady ordered us to look after her, well... that was an entirely different story.

“Did the two girls socialize before Lady Charlotte’s baptism...?” Hartmut asked.

“No. They had their first greetings at the end of autumn, when Charlotte’s room was being prepared in the northern building.”

“You mean to say that Lady Rozemyne rushed headlong into danger for someone she barely even knows?” Hartmut moved over to a chair, perplexed, and sat on it with his legs crossed. I supposed that I should have offered him a seat sooner, but I still wished that he would act more like a proper guest.

“It might have been because she was raised in the temple,” I said, taking a seat opposite him. “Although she’s trained to carry herself as a proper member of the archducal family and gained plenty of knowledge through books, on some fundamental level, she’s still a bit lacking in common sense. She doesn’t always seem quite like a noble. Didn’t you hear this from Ottilie?”

Hartmut slowly shook his head. “She told me there have been absolutely no problems with her day-to-day behavior in the castle—that nothing about her suggests she was raised in the temple... But I see now that her true self sometimes shines through. I wonder, what further education might she need...?”

With that, he started to ponder something or another. I knew from experience that he would stay like this until he reached a conclusion he found satisfying, so I stood up, grabbed a board and pen, and started writing down this morning’s decisions about gathering intelligence in the Royal Academy.

“Cornelius, as Lady Rozemyne’s retainer and brother by blood, do you not think you lack the proper mindset and motivation for making her into the next aub?”

“What the...?”

That was his first question after spending so long lost in thought? He must have noticed my confusion because he launched into explaining himself.

“Lord Wilfried, who was raised by Lady Veronica and propped up to become the next archduke, was disgraced and pulled down from his position of guaranteed power at a time when one has to admit he had the blessing of Dregarnuhr the Goddess of Time. And as for Lady Charlotte, she does not even pose a threat—not when Lady Rozemyne has such an abundance of mana, the profits from her new industries, and several new trends under her belt. As if that weren’t enough, she also has the advantage of being a year older. Now is the time to help Lady Rozemyne become the next archduchess and...”

It was no surprise that we were using sound-blocking magic tools; this wasn’t a conversation we could risk our attendants overhearing. Did everyone in the family share his opinions? Just imagining it made my head ache.

“Hartmut. I hate to break it to you, but Rozemyne has no intention of becoming the next aub. Your grand ideas would also require Mother and Father to push aside one of Lady Florencia’s children, which I doubt they would ever do. Mother is keeping her influence to a minimum, outside of mediating for the first wife.”

Mother couldn’t be too high-handed, else she would breed unnecessary conflict within the archducal family. It would be one thing if Rozemyne herself wanted to become the next aub, but I couldn’t imagine Lord Sylvester wanting his position to go to someone who gleefully visited the temple even after her baptism.

“Still, Lady Rozemyne might as well be the princess of the Leisegangs,” Hartmut said. “She can’t ignore the will of an entire noble house. With their support, it’s only a matter of time before she becomes aub.”

“Er, that isn’t necessarily the case... If the Leisegangs kick up too much of a fuss, Rozemyne will either be sent to the temple for good or married into another duchy. At the very least, I can’t imagine Lord Sylvester letting a child who isn’t Lady Florencia’s become the next aub. Our family supports that notion as well.”

As I saw it, Rozemyne had been spending so much time in the temple to show noble society that she had no intention of becoming the next aub. It was just like how Lord Ferdinand had entered the temple to avoid the nobles of the Veronica faction.

“Lady Rozemyne managed to escape the temple through her baptism, and now you mean to send her back?” Hartmut asked with a look of disgust.

I gave a half-smile. “She doesn’t have a negative opinion of the temple, you know. I’ve been there with Father, and it isn’t as bad as I was led to believe.” There was great food, and the gray priests and shrine maidens serving as attendants were well trained. Rozemyne even seemed more at ease when she was in the temple—maybe because there were fewer nobles there.

“Hmm...” Hartmut mused aloud. “In that case, I should see the temple with my own eyes. Lady Rozemyne was raised there, after all. Perhaps it holds the key to securing a mana capacity large enough to bless an entire hall full of people during one’s baptism.”

“I don’t know what you’re thinking, but the temple is going to be closed off to all nobles except Lord Ferdinand and Rozemyne’s guard knights for quite some time.” Letting anyone else visit would only make it easier for someone connected to the culprit to cause Rozemyne harm. Even the families of blue priests, the archducal couple, Grandfather, and our parents were forbidden from entering.

“Wait, hold on. It’s been over a year now since I resolved to become Lady Rozemyne’s retainer. I was going to start serving her this year. Can’t you start treating me as part of her retinue?”

What...? Hartmut, becoming Rozemyne’s retainer?

He looked serious, but was he really telling the truth? In all the years that I’d known Hartmut, never had he said something so bizarre before.

“I can’t see a shred of sense in what you just said, but even if we did treat you as a retainer for some reason, you’re still underage and can’t visit the temple. Angelica and I aren’t allowed to go either.”

“That’s rough. How can I be of use to Lady Rozemyne, then...?” Hartmut mused. He brushed up his scarlet bangs while staring into space again—but no matter how deep in thought he appeared to be, I needed to get to the bottom of this.

“Hartmut... do you seriously intend to serve Rozemyne as a retainer? Weren’t you against your mother serving her?”

“At the time, I didn’t know a thing about Lady Rozemyne,” Hartmut admitted. He then let out a satisfied little chuckle, like he’d just remembered something amusing. I wasn’t sure he understood the weight of what he was proposing. As an archnoble apprentice scholar, he would be committing himself to Rozemyne for the rest of his life. Unlike a female scholar, he wouldn’t be able to resign for marriage or anything like that.

I grimaced. “Lamprecht invited you to serve Lord Wilfried, didn’t he? Become his retainer instead.”

“I already refused; a subordinate of summer cannot become a subordinate of spring. That aside, Cornelius—weren’t you set on leaving Lady Rozemyne’s service when she grew old enough to pick her own retainers? She may be your little sister, but that seems out of line to me. I don’t believe all this about her not wanting to become the next aub either.”

Hartmut was glaring at me, but I wasn’t about to back down. I had resolved to make sure that Rozemyne was never put in harm’s way again. Now that I knew there were more criminals after her, how could I resign as her guard knight?

“Do you think I would step down when people like you are trying to sneak into the ranks of her retainers? Rozemyne is my little sister; I will protect her. Shouldn’t you be trying to work out what you’ll do when she doesn’t pick you?”

“That’s rich coming from someone who doesn’t have the strength or the grades expected of Lady Rozemyne’s brother,” Hartmut shot back with a mocking smile. But his words only steeled my resolve: I would keep this dangerous lunatic away from her at all costs. I would also secure grades that put me above the archnoble average—grades that would shut Hartmut up for good. Luckily, thanks to having studied in the Raise Angelica’s Grades Squadron, my classes this year were going to be easy.

Just you wait, Hartmut.

Thus began my battle to protect Rozemyne from all sorts of danger.