Ascendance of a Bookworm (LN) - Volume Short Story-1 - Chapter 16

Roderick — She Who Saved My Heart

Description: A sales bonus for Part 4 Volume 2. During a meeting in the Royal Academy, the mednoble Roderick faces another day of abuse from the other members of the former Veronica faction.

Author’s Note: Many of you wanted to know more about the nobles of the former Veronica faction living in the Ehrenfest Dormitory—so they’re exactly whom this story focuses on!

“I was under the impression that Viscount Joisontak went rogue and acted alone, but to think the soldiers who attacked the archducal family belonged to an Ahrensbach noble...”

We children of the former Veronica faction, numbering a dozen or so in total, were gathered in a meeting room. The air was heavy but also laced with understanding. Lady Rozemyne had explained the circumstances to us so that we knew why the archducal family intended to distance themselves from Ahrensbach.

“Roderick, good on you for asking. Knowing why the aub is on guard against Ahrensbach puts us in a much better position to plan ahead,” Lord Matthias, a third-year apprentice knight, said to me with a smile.

It hadn’t been easy speaking in front of everyone in the dining hall, especially when Lord Wilfried thought so poorly of me, but nobody had wanted to take my place. I had needed to ask no matter how scary it was. Thankfully, everyone had accepted Lady Rozemyne’s answer, meaning my duty was now complete.

I relaxed my shoulders while looking around the meeting room. My intentions were to keep my head down and wait for the discussion to end.

Two years ago, during the hunting tournament, my father had instructed me to play with Lord Wilfried. Naturally, I did as he asked... but it was because of my actions that Lord Wilfried ended up committing a grave crime. My faction had ostracized me ever since, claiming that I betrayed our shining ray of hope. Those who had once been my friends now looked at me with cold, scornful eyes.

Maybe this will make my life in the faction easier...

Everyone was focused on what the former Veronica faction should do next, but I was thinking only about myself.

Lord Matthias continued, “I was sure that our faction would regain some power—that time would slowly bury Ahrensbach’s involvement in Lady Veronica’s treachery. But if Ahrensbach was also involved in this attack, the archducal family will never lower their guard. Things are not looking good for us.”

Most of the people here had connections with Ahrensbach nobles, and understandably so—our faction had started out as the children and grandchildren of the retainers Lady Gabriele brought with her from Ahrensbach when she married into Ehrenfest. Lady Veronica had told us to continue strengthening our bonds with Ahrensbach, and the archduke’s elder sister, Lady Georgine, was even married to the aub there.

“Guess it’s no surprise that my older brother Freuden’s engagement to an Ahrensbach girl was rejected,” added Lord Laurenz, a second-year, while shaking his head of dark-green hair. “Pretty rare for an archduke to refuse a union that both fathers support, right? I was real curious about what was going on, but there’s one mystery solved.”

The next contribution came from Lady Patricia. “During a tea party I attended before coming here, it was mentioned that Lord Lamprecht, who serves Lord Wilfried as a guard knight, also had his engagement proposal refused. The explanation was originally that he lives in the Noble’s Quarter, but if a giebe had theirs rejected as well...” She cast her eyes down. “Mine will certainly be refused too.”

Lady Patricia was a fifth-year with a lover in Ahrensbach. Apparently, she was even taking action to secure their engagement. I was still a first-year, so all this talk of marriage didn’t mean much to me, but a stir spread through those who hadn’t known the aub was refusing certain engagements. Ever since Lady Georgine’s visit, the adults of our faction had instructed us to form closer bonds with Ahrensbach so that we could suppress the Leisegangs and reclaim our former power.

Those who already have partners in Ahrensbach sure have it rough. I won’t ever have to worry about that, though.

I wasn’t my family’s successor, and my mother was a second wife. Perhaps I would have been able to find a partner by serving Lord Wilfried, but after the Ivory Tower incident, that was never going to happen. Besides, nobody would want to marry a noble on bad terms with their archducal family.

Father ordered me to take Lord Wilfried to the Ivory Tower. Then, when he found out that going there is a crime, he started beating me. I would never be given permission to marry and start a branch family.

“I understand why the aub is on guard against Ahrensbach,” Lord Laurenz said, “but how can we cut ties with a duchy we share a border with? Treating their merchants with suspicion will also harm Ehrenfest’s economy. What does he expect giebes to do?” His father was Viscount Wiltord, the giebe of a province bordering Ahrensbach, so his concerns were understandable. There were orders in place to keep any foreign nobles out of our Noble’s Quarter, and he was worried that the rule might spread to the entire duchy.

“Gerlach also shares a border with Ahrensbach, and we get along very well with their nobles,” Lord Matthias added. “I don’t know the details, but it turns out that my father was put under suspicion too.” He gave a troubled smile. “I suppose he did associate with Viscount Joisontak...”

These two sons of giebes were only a couple years older than me at most, but they were considering our situation from so many more angles than I was. As someone who lived in the Noble’s Quarter, it hadn’t even occurred to me that the provinces bordering Ahrensbach would struggle.

“Ngh... Lady Veronica never would have let this happen,” grumbled Lord Rubert, a sixth-year. “If only we could have saved her when we had the chance.” He looked daggers at me, and my entire body froze. Gone were the high spirits that Lady Rozemyne had put me in.

Two years had passed since that detestable hunting tournament and, while I was accustomed to the abuse, it still made me feel miserable. I remembered all too clearly the events of that fateful day when my life was turned on its head. My friends and I were called over by our fathers, whereupon they told us to invite Lord Wilfried to play and take him to the Ivory Tower where Lady Veronica was staying. They warned us not to go inside, though. Only members of the archducal family could open the door.

I’d enjoyed playing with my friends so, so much. More than anything. Only through the winter playroom had I managed to connect with other boys; before then, I’d only ever played with the daughters of my mother’s friends. On top of that, my family’s circumstances had always made it hard for me to visit people.

And so we searched the forest for the Ivory Tower, doing exactly as we were instructed. Eventually, we found it—and, as our fathers had told us, Lord Wilfried was able to open the door. We thought nothing of it when he went inside; we all just stood around waiting for him to return, speculating about what was in there and wishing that we could join him.

After a while, Lord Wilfried came back outside. He told us that his grandmother had sworn him to secrecy and refused to elaborate, no matter how much we wanted him to. We even asked whether he wanted to be alone to think about whatever was bothering him, but he shook his head and replied that he didn’t get many chances to play with us.

We had done what our fathers had asked of us, so we went back to having fun.

Sometime after the hunting tournament came the start of winter socializing. Only then did we learn that Lord Wilfried was no longer guaranteed to become the next aub; he had been demoted for his crime of entering the Ivory Tower, and the nobles who had informed him of its location were given small but meaningful punishments. Back then, I hadn’t understood what the archduke was saying—I’d merely stared at him in confusion. But at that very moment, my days of peace had come to an unfortunate end.

That same night, the archducal family was attacked.

When I saw Lord Wilfried in the winter playroom the next day, he gave me the most reproachful glare. The other children who had played with us during the tournament had pinned the blame on me, claiming that I had suggested we go to the Ivory Tower. Things were even worse at home; my father struck me without restraint, telling me that my failure had doomed their plan.

Out of nowhere, my whole world had come crashing down. I was the subject of scorn, belittled and attacked at every turn. It was so unfair that I didn’t even know what to say. In fact, there was nothing I could say. Because of my low status, my only choice was to accept the abuse.

Lord Wilfried was defended as a matter of course. “How unfortunate that he lost his claim to the archducal seat,” people would say. “He did not know that entering the Ivory Tower is a crime.” Meanwhile, I was condemned under the axiom that ignorance of the law is no excuse—that my ignorance was a crime in itself.

Despite his punishment, Lord Wilfried continued to live as a normal member of the archducal family. He was respected by all and treated no differently from Lady Charlotte. At the very least, it didn’t seem like his own faction made him feel eternally unsafe. It didn’t seem like he was being beaten by his father and then forced to drink rejuvenation potions until the bruises faded.

We were both victims of ignorance, but I’m treated so much worse. Status sure is everything.

“Quit it, Rubert,” came an unexpected voice. “Your attitude is so pathetic that it pains me just to look at you. That incident with the Ivory Tower happened because Lord Wilfried and his former retainers didn’t know what was forbidden.”

I’d been staring down at my feet and waiting for the abuse to end, but I was so surprised that I looked up again. There was Lord Janrik, Lord Matthias’s older brother, waving away Lord Rubert with a look of disgust.

Lord Rubert fell silent, though he continued to fix me with a hateful glare. The others around him looked just as sickened by my being here.

“Lord Janrik is right,” Lord Laurenz said. “Roderick has also made it clear that he was only doing as his father instructed. Or did you all forget?”

Lord Matthias nodded along in agreement. “Life at the Royal Academy has improved for us ever since Lady Rozemyne woke up and started discouraging faction disputes in the dormitory. Rather than being forever stuck in the past, we need to think about our future.”

Last year and the year before, the Leisegangs had started throwing their weight around in the Ehrenfest Dormitory, resulting in some very harsh treatment for those of the former Veronica faction. This was my first year at the Royal Academy, so I didn’t have any firsthand experience of those days, but I suspected that tensions in the winter playroom were to blame.

“Things might have improved, but they were even better when I first enrolled,” Lord Rubert snapped. “I could speak with the Leisegangs as equals instead of constantly needing to gauge their mood. Hah... If only Lady Veronica were here.”

Lord Rubert’s reminiscing always made me wish I’d been born a few years earlier. As he so often said, our lives would have been much easier if Lady Veronica had never been imprisoned.

“Don’t rule out Lady Georgine,” Lord Janrik said. “She’s going to be visiting more often, and with Ahrensbach’s support under his belt, it shouldn’t be hard for Lord Wilfried to make a comeback and become the next aub. He even seems to be on good terms with Lady Detlinde.” He turned to address the room. “Together, Lady Georgine and Lord Wilfried will strengthen our connection to Ahrensbach—a connection that Lady Gabriele and Lady Veronica worked so hard to create.”

His words carried a certain gravitas, maybe because he was a sixth-year and had seen the dormitory change so many times. Lord Rubert seemed convinced too.

“Right. From what I heard, Lord Wilfried wants to socialize with Lady Georgine. We just need to be patient. Lady Veronica will surely be pardoned and freed from the Ivory Tower.”

“I doubt that,” Lord Janrik replied with a shrug. “Lady Veronica committed a crime so grave that not even the aub—her son—could protect her any longer. I can’t imagine what it would take to get her out.” He didn’t seem at all convinced that Lady Veronica would return, whereas Lord Rubert still considered her our faction’s greatest hope.

“Ah, but her hands are clean! Lord Ferdinand masterminded it all in an act of revenge. He went to the temple and waited for everyone to lower their guards. That’s why Father advised Aub Ehrenfest not to send him to the temple and to instead follow Lady Veronica’s advice by—”

“Rubert, you would be wise not to criticize the aub,” Lord Janrik said.

Rubert looked around the room, then sighed. “I share your opinion that what happened was part of a scheme, but I do not doubt that Lady Veronica committed the crime she was charged with. I am merely saying that Lord Wilfried, when he becomes aub, will overturn her punishment as a relic of the past.”

“Ah, now that is likely. Lord Wilfried was raised by Lady Veronica, and he surely wouldn’t leave his own grandmother to rot.”

Those of our faction agreed with Rubert—and, in their desperation, they immediately expounded on the power of blood relations and the gratitude a person must feel toward whoever raised them. They were useless ideals, I thought as I stroked my cheek, still able to feel my father’s blows. I would cast aside blood ties and filial piety in a heartbeat.

Not to mention, Lady Rozemyne is clearly better suited to become the next aub.

There had been a major contrast between the first and second years of the winter playroom. Lady Rozemyne had sat at a distance and carefully overseen things, as opposed to Lord Wilfried and Lady Charlotte who had simply started playing like all the other children. She was just in a league of her own.

“Do you really think so?” Lord Matthias asked. “Do you truly believe Lord Wilfried is capable of making a comeback?”

“Matthias,” Lord Janrik snapped, but his brother still continued in a calm and quiet voice.

“Lord Wilfried may be scoring excellent grades, but I cannot see him making a grand return when he has a criminal record. There are also the obvious comparisons to Lady Rozemyne, considering that both are the same age. Even to someone of another faction, her superiority is more than clear.”

The excitement started to wane once again. I agreed with Lord Matthias entirely—and everyone in their third year or below who had experienced Lady Rozemyne’s winter playroom surely did too.

Lord Janrik shook his head in bemusement. “I’ll accept that Lady Rozemyne is extraordinary, but aren’t you showing her a little too much favoritism? You need more than just talent and skill to become an aub. No matter how great she may be, no matter how much the Leisegangs support her, she is not a child of Lady Florencia, whom the aub loves above all else. She is also female. It is highly unlikely she would be selected as the next aub.”

“But, Brother—”

“Aub Ehrenfest cannot cut off our faction entirely—and, considering the current balance of power, he cannot disregard Lord Wilfried either. That is why Lord Wilfried will stage a comeback. Father and I expect he will marry Lady Rozemyne to silence the Leisegangs.”

Lord Janrik’s prediction seemed very reasonable to me, but was the aub truly unable to sever ties with the former Veronica faction? I wanted to believe so, but with how the Leisegang nobles were now taking the lead, I really had my doubts.

“Do you have proof that the aub will not cut us off, Lord Janrik?”

“First, there are many of our faction still among his retainers. Second, even the Leisegangs have heavily restricted access to Lady Rozemyne. Third, abandoning us entirely would cripple his administration,” he replied, counting off the reasons on his fingers. “He would only be creating needless ire by replacing the innocent.”

I ended up nodding along. Everything that Lord Janrik said made sense.

“Even when Lady Veronica held power, the aub put Leisegang nobles among Lady Florencia’s retainers and ensured that each faction had equal representation in the archducal family’s service. In the past, this frustrated me, but now it makes me certain that the former Veronica faction will not be pushed aside. Well, unless something truly damning happens.”

So, as our meeting concluded, we all agreed there was no reason to be pessimistic about the future. As mere children bound to our parents’ faction, we didn’t need to come to any hard conclusions; we just wanted somewhere in this closed-off dormitory we could spend our time in peace.

The next day, Lady Rozemyne began visiting the library, which meant we first-years could start going too. This wasn’t part of an official rule—under normal circumstances, the library was freely accessible to anyone who was registered—but none of us had dared step foot in that building while Lady Rozemyne was being denied access.

Lady Rozemyne quickly developed a daily routine. She would borrow a book with a satisfied smile and return to the dormitory right before sixth bell. Then, after dinner, she would retire to her room—presumably to read. She had much less of a presence in the common room as a result, which made Lord Wilfried and his retainers far more dominant. They kept a close eye on any student in the former Veronica faction, fearing that we would attempt some horrible act again.

In just a few days, the common room became an unbearable place for me to stay. I needed somewhere I could feel at ease from when Lady Rozemyne went to the library until afternoon practical lessons.

“But where can I run and hide...?” I murmured one day while bathing. Mednobles generally lived in large, shared rooms rather than our own personal ones. We also had to save our mana for classes, which meant we didn’t have enough leeway to create our own hidden rooms. Thus, the only places I could escape the eyes of the other students were in bed and the bathroom.

“You wish for somewhere to hide?” asked Kashmir, my attendant. He gave me a pitying look, probably because of all the time we’d spent in peace here at the dormitory. “How about the library? None would cause a fuss with Lady Rozemyne around. Plus, it would give you an excellent chance to transcribe books, which is crest-certified work. I cannot think of a better place to lay low.”

Lady Rozemyne forbade faction politics, saying it could wait until we returned to Ehrenfest, and praised everyone equally no matter their status. It was true that nobody would cause a fuss in her presence. On top of that, earning money would be an exceptionally smart move for me, considering my father’s lack of support. I would also be able to use those funds to hire servants, which I was sure Kashmir would appreciate.

“But Kashmir... her retainers would oppose my being there, wouldn’t they? Those serving Lord Wilfried treat me more harshly than Lord Wilfried himself.”

“Lady Rozemyne personally requested these transcriptions. As long as you do not approach her and antagonize her retainers, you should be fine.”

So, at Kashmir’s advice, I started going to the library. I set out as soon as I saw Lady Rozemyne’s group getting ready to leave and soon arrived at the reading room—but before I could secure myself a carrel, the library’s shumils said, “Milady is here” and hopped away. As it turned out, they welcomed Lady Rozemyne personally.

As soon as Lady Rozemyne entered the reading room, she went up to the second floor. She probably had a book in mind already. Meanwhile, I stood around absentmindedly, waiting for the shumils to return.

“Oh, Lord Roderick. Are you here to transcribe books too?” asked Philine, a laynoble. I noticed that she was on her way to a carrel with writing utensils in hand. She never seemed awkward or distant when she spoke to me, maybe because we had been comrades-in-arms in our battles to pass our history and geography exams the first time around.

“I was thinking of transcribing a book for Lady Rozemyne,” I replied. “Do you have any idea what she might want?”

“Yes, I have a list right here. I’m about to start transcribing this book...” She pointed at one of the titles on her list. Then, she tapped a finger against a second and continued, “So perhaps you could transcribe this one.”

From there, Philine called over the shumils, then requested the two books she had pointed out and two carrels. She took care of everything but seemed a little awkward while doing so, probably because she wasn’t used to recommending titles to others.

As I was watching Philine’s preparations, I suddenly felt like I was being watched. I turned around and immediately spotted Lord Hartmut staring at us from a short distance away. The cold, scrutinizing look in his orange eyes made me freeze up all at once.

“Lord Roderick, your carrel is rea...” Philine trailed off. “Is something wrong?”

“Lord Hartmut seems to be glaring at me. Should I be worried?”

“Oh, Hartmut is simply watching to make sure I carried out his instructions without issue.” A smile spread across her lips. “I was truly anxious when I first became a retainer, but everyone in Lady Rozemyne’s service is so kind, which came as such a relief.”

I wanted to say, “That’s great,” but the words caught in my throat. Philine was getting to be Lady Rozemyne’s retainer and she was in a position where she could address Lord Hartmut without a title. I couldn’t help but feel annoyed.

Why does a laynoble get to be so happy?!

I knew that it was unreasonable of me to lash out, but I couldn’t help it; all of my envy kept bubbling to the surface. The best I could do was grit my teeth and try to focus my mind.

“Philine,” came a voice so unexpected that it made me jump. Lord Hartmut had at some point approached us. “You said the lines right, but you still seemed a bit awkward about going through the process. Show any signs of weakness to students from other duchies and they’ll look down on you. You need more practice.”

I thanked Philine for the book and paper, then hurried into my carrel and locked it behind me. I set down my ink and paper, then took a seat and started thumbing through the book that was chosen for me. It contained scenes with knights in combat—and the moment I saw them, a wave of emotion swept through me. I couldn’t help but think of the story I’d given to Lady Rozemyne.

Philine and I both told stories that were made into books, but only she was chosen... Gah, how come she’s so much luckier than me?!

I gritted my teeth more fiercely and glared at the book, trying to hold back my tears. This was a carrel in the library, not a hidden room.

If only I were part of another faction... Had I been born to different parents, I might have been where Philine is now.

I was so jealous because I wanted Lady Rozemyne to accept me. I’d never been able to afford karuta and playing cards, and seeing the other kids’ parents buying them had always felt so unfair. But then, three years ago, after our debuts at the end of winter, Lady Rozemyne had so graciously offered to lend them to those of us who couldn’t afford them. In return, we had only needed to give her a story.

I’d ended up choosing a tale my mother had told me about a courageous knight... but the more I tried to repeat it, the more I confused myself. Failure wasn’t an option, so I was trying my absolute best, but it felt like the details were all being scrubbed from my mind with purification magic. And the more I panicked, the more my mind went blank. Still, I saw my story through to the end. It was fragmented and nonsensical, but Lady Rozemyne listened to the entire thing with a smile and wrote down my every word.

At the time, I’d simply been glad to have received some playing cards—but everything changed just a year later. Lady Rozemyne was attacked and ended up in a long slumber, and everyone suddenly started to see me as their enemy. It was around then that the Plantin Company held another book sale, and among their stock was something I’d never expected—a glimmer of light in my otherwise pitch-dark world:

A collection of the very same stories we’d told in the winter playroom.

I couldn’t even describe how much that had moved me. Some even read my story and smiled, saying it was really entertaining. Father had called me useless and an unnecessary part of the family... but now I actually felt needed—like I could still make it in the world.

But that joyous moment soon faded. After all, Lady Rozemyne, the person who had given me a chance to begin with, wasn’t there to share it with me.

The next thing I knew, two years had passed since the Ivory Tower incident. Everyone called me the shame of my family. I was used to being bullied and no longer saw the point in living.

But this winter, things felt just a little bit more manageable.

Because of my father’s abuse, the cold shoulder I was getting from Lord Wilfried, and the general consensus among my faction that I’d wounded us all for no good reason, I no longer had a place at home or in the winter playroom. That was why I was so grateful to Lady Rozemyne; she treated me as warmly as she would anyone else. My story from two years ago was praised, and she even gave me some money as compensation.

I wonder if she’ll do that again...

Nobody else could understand how much being able to live normally in the dormitory meant to me. Even my family considered me worthless.

“I’m going to write a story.”

I’d stopped writing when my life took such a turn for the worse, but I was suddenly overcome with the feeling to start again. I didn’t want to give Lady Rozemyne a transcription that anyone could produce; I wanted to give her a story that only I could write—not in exchange for playing cards, but as a show of appreciation. Anything would do. I just wanted to write something.

So I picked up my pen and dipped it in the ink jar.