Ascendance of a Bookworm (LN) - Volume Short Story-1 - Chapter 19

Charlotte — A New Step Forward

A previously unpublished short story that takes place near the start of Part 4 Volume 4. After being so abruptly denied a future as the aub, Charlotte has a tea party with her mother Florencia.

Author’s Note: I turned what I couldn’t squeeze into Part 4 Volume 4’s sales bonus into its very own short story. This one focuses on Charlotte’s feelings and socializing between a parent and child in the archducal family.

It was as I expected: the feast celebrating spring had ended with a clamor after Wilfried and Rozemyne’s engagement was announced. And perhaps because the fiancée in question had immediately returned to the temple, the voices had only become more feverish from there. Wilfried was busy dealing with all of the meeting requests, but things were quiet for me now that I was no longer in the running for becoming the next aub.

In the midst of the commotion, Mother invited me to a tea party. Her room in the main building was very close to the children’s room where I’d lived before my baptism, so returning to the hall actually made me a little nostalgic. I hoped that Melchior was doing well; his attendants had all informed me that he’d become a lot needier ever since I’d moved out. He was probably lonely too—this year’s winter playroom had kept me so busy that I hadn’t visited him very often.

“Vanessa,” I said to my head attendant, “would it be possible for me to visit Melchior after my tea party with Mother?”

“Your request is too sudden for you to see him today. I will submit an inquiry for a later date.”

Even visiting the chambers where I grew up required me to get permission first. Being a member of the archducal family really was tedious, especially when I compared my own upbringing to those of my retainers.

After passing by the children’s room, I ended up outside Mother’s room. “Welcome, Charlotte,” she said as I went inside. “It has been a long time since we last spoke alone. Hm... Let us go to my hidden room.”

For her to have made a suggestion like that, we were probably about to discuss something that would disturb my emotions. Already feeling tense, I thanked her for the invitation and went into her hidden room. How long had it been since I was last here?

I took a seat while the attendants prepared tea, then several sweets I’d never eaten before were placed in front of me. The chefs had been working hard on new recipes in the run-up to the Archduke Conference.

“Sylvester bought these new recipes from Rozemyne,” Mother explained. “He plans to introduce them during the Archduke Conference.”

“One after another, my sister comes up with so many unique ideas.”

Under normal circumstances, a noble who introduced a “new recipe” was actually taking credit for the work of their personal chefs. This wasn’t the case for Rozemyne, though. As I understood it, my sister would teach her chefs what she wanted them to make.

“Mother, how has Melchior been as of late?” I asked. “I grew quite wistful when passing by his room and would appreciate the chance to visit him.”

“He would be delighted to see you or Wilfried. All he seems to speak about these days is wanting his baptism ceremony to come sooner. At the moment, he and his attendants are planning what furniture to put in his room.”

“Oh my. That seems quite premature, does it not? Melchior’s ceremony won’t be until next year.” Early or not, they were likely already choosing their craftspeople. I thought back to my own pre-baptism preparations.

“You have been so busy running the winter playroom that you haven’t been able to visit him as much, correct? I understand that he has been very lonely ever since you left for the northern building.”

“I eagerly await the day he joins me.”

On that pleasant note, the tea preparations ended, and Mother cleared the room of attendants. Only the two of us remained.

Mother smiled at me. “Charlotte, have Wilfried and Rozemyne told you much about the Royal Academy?”

“Yes, though Rozemyne speaks only of the library. It contains magic tools that take the form of shumils, and we are going to be making clothes for them, correct? My retainers are looking forward to participating.”

How many books it had, how much the librarian Solange was a respectable person, how amazing Schwartz and Weiss were... No matter how much Rozemyne’s attendants tried to keep her on track, she always ended up raving about the library in one way or another. Her attendants had seemingly accepted defeat midway through and were now letting her speak at her leisure. Her golden eyes sparkled with excitement, and only during that gushing did she actually seem her age. It made her so much more adorable than usual.

“And what does Wilfried say, I wonder?”

“He complains about Rozemyne dragging him into incidents, brags about having been selected as an honor student, and expounds his thoughts on gewinnen. Regarding that last point, he seems especially overjoyed to have beaten Lord Ortwin of Drewanchel. He spoke of their game on several occasions.”

“And what did your apprentice retainers who went to the Royal Academy think about that?” Mother asked searchingly. She wanted to know the unspoken truth behind the reports she was receiving. If any of the retainers were lying to her and Father, it would become hard to identify what was true.

“Wilfried tends to exaggerate somewhat,” I said, “but he did need to oversee Rozemyne’s march to have all of the first-years pass the first time around, attend several tea parties full of girls, and manage treasure-stealing ditter rematches... There can be no mistaking that he has been fighting hard.”

“I see,” Mother replied, sighing in relief. She had apparently worried about how my brother would fare in the Royal Academy, and the reports she had received probably weren’t too far from the truth.

“However,” I continued, “Rozemyne seems to exert a lot more influence. She beat Dunkelfelger at ditter, spread several new trends, established personal connections to the royal family and top-ranking duchies, and paid many students of other duchies for crest-certified work. She was absent for most of the term, but that only encouraged a storm of rumors which gave her an even greater presence than if she had stayed.”

“In his reports to Sylvester, Wilfried mentioned only that Rozemyne has been dragging him all over the place,” Mother said. “We knew nothing else about what he has been doing.” She sipped her tea, then looked at me carefully.

I set my cup down and met her gaze, though I was feeling especially tense. It was clear from the look in her indigo eyes that she was about to broach the main focus of our meeting.

“I wish to apologize to you about Wilfried and Rozemyne’s engagement.”

“Mother...”

“Not only have the duchy’s circumstances buffeted you with demands, but we have also stolen your chance to become the next aub. I regret these outcomes, and I truly am sorry.”

Much like Wilfried under Grandmother, I was raised to become the next aub—to compete with my brother for the ruling seat of our duchy. My archducal education had stopped and started again and again depending on Ehrenfest’s circumstances, whether they were Grandmother’s arrest, the Ivory Tower incident, or Rozemyne’s long slumber. But now, this engagement had put a definite end to my battle for the archducal seat. All of my training had been for nothing.

Hearing my mother’s apologizing roused the frustrations that had smoldered in my chest ever since the announcement. Finally, they began to rampage beyond my control.

“Charlotte,” Mother said. She rose from her seat and stood next to me, then tenderly rested a hand on my shoulder. At once, warm droplets rolled down my cheeks and dripped onto my hands, which were balled into tight fists.

“I could understand correcting the poor education he received from Grandmother in time for his debut,” I said, “but then there was the Ivory Tower incident. That this engagement has returned him to being the next aub even after that is just too much. It feels like a road to the archducal seat has been paved just for him... He must have the love of the gods.”

I had worked hard my entire life. Back when Wilfried was playing to his heart’s content and being doted on by Grandmother, I was studying to become the aub. When he was throwing away his reputation in the Ivory Tower, I was honing my skills. And when my sister was rendered unconscious, I slaved away to fill the hole she left behind. Yet my efforts had never been rewarded—not since Grandmother was arrested and Mother vouched for Wilfried to become the next archduke.

“It just isn’t fair...” I finally said, letting my displeasure bubble up out of me. It wasn’t beautiful or graceful, but Mother did not scold me; instead, she simply stroked my head and my back, apologizing.

I wiped my tears away and took a moment to steady my breathing. Then, I took my mother’s hand, smiled at her, and said, “I am okay now. The unfairness of it all does still frustrate me... but I would not have let it show if you had not given me the chance.”

“Yes, I am sure,” Mother replied. “Your retainers were very worried. They knew you would not express these feelings to them, so they asked me to lend you an ear as soon as I could.”

Mother surely had a lot going on right now; the nobility was clamoring about the announced engagement, and the Archduke Conference was right around the corner. Still, at the urging of my retainers, she had invited me to a tea party nonetheless.

Even though she and my retainers are struggling as well.

I was no longer a candidate to become the next aub, but my retainers were being as hardworking and considerate as always. I needed to prove that I was deserving of their service.

“I understand that this engagement is what’s best for Ehrenfest,” I said. “But the thing is... if it were Rozemyne becoming the next aub, I would at least understand. She’s better than me across the board.”

My baptism had made us sisters, but Rozemyne had so much mana and so many amazing talents that everyone thought her adoption was a foregone conclusion. I was under no illusions that I could even begin to compete with her. To me, my sister was the girl to whom I owed my life, and she deserved the utmost respect.

I continued, “Of course, I understand that her gender, health, and lineage would complicate her becoming the next Aub Ehrenfest. And with your influence, Mother, there can be no other pairing.” Melchior was too young to be Rozemyne’s partner, and I was a girl. “I shan’t protest, as my sister seems to accept the engagement... but it bothers me that this marriage is the only reason Wilfried gets to rule.”

“Charlotte...”

“I feel especially sorry for Melchior, whose future has been closed off before he could even be baptized.” Neither one of us would ever become the next aub now. It was truly frustrating how often noble customs and expectations made one’s hard work amount to nothing.

Mother shook her head, watching me closely. “He was never given a chance to begin with, so I doubt he would feel the loss so keenly. I am more worried about you.” She was likely speaking from experience; the next Aub Frenbeltag had been decided when she was barely a child, so she had scarcely been conscious of the situation growing up.

“I am okay with this as long as Melchior does not suffer from it,” I said, then exhaled slowly. “I may be expressing my dissatisfaction with this outcome, but I accept it all the same.”

This rare chance to be vulnerable and tell my mother my true feelings had been a great weight off my mind. Knowing that Melchior would not suffer the same frustrations and sense of powerlessness that I was currently dealing with put my heart at ease.

“It is as you say, Charlotte... Of my children, Wilfried is the only one capable of marrying Rozemyne as she spreads trends and advances industries. Please support him as his sister.”

Sister...? We do share the same parents, but... Hm...

For the first time, I realized how differently my mother and I saw Wilfried. In my eyes, Melchior was my only true brother, but Mother seemed to view the three of us as a trio.

She still considers Wilfried her child, even though she never raised him? It was Grandmother who brought him up... after she stole him, that is.

It was exceptionally bizarre. I had not lived with Wilfried prior to my baptism, so I felt as close to him as I did to my adoptive sister. In other words, he did not seem quite like a blood relative. It did not help that my experiences with Grandmother had only ever been unpleasant, nor that I was raised to beat Wilfried and become the next aub. Even now, I saw him less as someone to work alongside and more as a rival whom I could not afford to lose to.

Not that I can admit it. Mother considers all three of us equals, so it would only hurt her feelings.

At the moment, my relationship with Wilfried was positive overall. Grandmother was no longer around to show favoritism, and we now had an adoptive sister helping to close the gap between us. There was no need to go out of my way to mention that I did not view him as a true brother.

“Indeed,” I said. “Wilfried is still quite unreliable in some areas, so I will do my best to support him.”

Mother must have noticed that I was calm again because she went back to her seat and refreshed our tea using the implements the attendants had provided us. I took a sip of my drink and was immediately hit with a wave of nostalgia. This was my mother’s preferred flavor—one that I had drunk almost nonstop from an early age.

But it’s not quite to my taste anymore.

Slowly but surely, I was developing my own preferences. It seemed that my taste in tea was evolving as I grew and experienced the sweets that Rozemyne came up with.

“I was raised to believe that the seat of aub should go to whomever is most worthy...” I said. “Thus, even now, I think the position should go to Rozemyne.” She had an exceptionally clear vision of what kind of duchy she would want to lead. My heart had always been set on mundane developments, whereas her ideas were so much more impressive. “She has created whole new industries so, if we want Ehrenfest to grow, Wilfried should at least support her in his capacity as aub.”

Mother’s indigo eyes blinked in surprise. “Hm... Lord Ferdinand said the same thing.”

“Uncle did?”

“Indeed. He said that rather than Rozemyne learning to provide support, Wilfried must learn to take her reins.” Rozemyne had apparently been furious about this, not wanting to be viewed as “some kind of wild horse.”

I giggled despite myself. “She would speak so harshly to Uncle, of all people?”

“Fearless, isn’t she? They always seem to be picking fights with one another, but I am told that is how they always act when they are together. It makes me anxious just watching them.”

I could guess that Mother was always silently debating whether it was okay for them to be so open with each other.

“Charlotte,” she said, her smile suddenly replaced with a more serious expression that made me sit up straight. “Someday soon, all of Yurgenschmidt will realize that Rozemyne is introducing not just new sweets and recipes but also new industries such as printing and paper-making. We cannot even begin to imagine how much influence she will wield when that happens. Many more duchies will seek to form connections with Ehrenfest than before.”

I nodded. Rozemyne was already receiving an impressive number of marriage proposals; once her engagement to Wilfried was announced and it became clear that she would not be leaving Ehrenfest, I was sure to be targeted next. Those who saw connecting with our duchy as a top priority would even want me as a first wife so that I could attend the Archduke Conference.

“In preparation for when you marry into another duchy, use this time to strengthen your bonds with Wilfried and Rozemyne as much as possible,” Mother said. “The strength of your connection to Ehrenfest will determine how well you can protect yourself in the future.”

“The strength of my connection...?” I repeated. Mother’s intentions were clear to me—I was now being raised not as the next aub but as the future first wife of another duchy.

“How you are treated in your new duchy will depend on the support and assistance you receive from Ehrenfest. For a woman due to marry elsewhere, what matters most are your foresight and your relationship with the next aub. Your partner’s love will not be enough.”

Is that really how Mother feels? Even though Father loves her so much that he outright refuses to take a second wife?

Again, Mother was speaking from experience. Her treatment had no doubt changed significantly after her family in Frenbeltag was wrapped up in the purge. I recalled Grandmother’s cold eyes and sighed.

“In that case, I shall deepen my bond with Rozemyne.”

“Oh? Not with Wilfried?” Mother asked, her eyes wide. Most nobles would prioritize siblings with whom they shared a mother—and, considering that Mother and Father were close with their siblings in Frenbeltag, I doubted they would understand my choice.

“Rozemyne is far more reliable,” I said. “She rushed into the night sky to save my life even when we barely knew one another, did she not?”

Rozemyne was belittled in the shadows for having been raised in the temple, but I appreciated her deep compassion—a rare trait among nobles—and the way she could make decisions in the heat of the moment. If my life were ever endangered again, I could trust her to come to my rescue.

“There are many reasons I wish to be of use to Rozemyne,” I said. “Among them, I wish to repay the debt I owe her. Were I a man, I would do everything in my power to drag Wilfried down and then marry Rozemyne myself. I can say with all certainty that I would support her much better than he ever could.”

“Oh my, Charlotte...” Mother let out a gleeful chuckle. “Elvira would jump at the chance to write about two siblings fighting to marry Rozemyne.”

I did not want to be fodder for Elvira’s books, but I was speaking only the truth. “I really do want to repay her, even if only bit by bit. My hope is to at least cover for her weaker points.”

“Then study well. I assume you are aware of what the other nobles are saying about you participating in the printing industry before attending the Royal Academy. It was Rozemyne who pushed for your involvement, you know.”

The nobility called me an upstart for trying to involve myself with industries before enrolling at the Academy. Some had even said that letting me participate was foolish, since I would one day marry into another duchy and would potentially leak very sensitive information. Their voices had deeply frustrated me... but it seemed that Rozemyne had saved me once again.

“I did not know that...” I said.

“Sylvester informed me just the other day. You bemoan not having the favor of the gods, but they did bless you with Rozemyne.”

Somehow, hearing that filled me with strength. I gazed up at my mother and gave a firm nod of agreement, at which point she smiled, stood up, and opened the door. Outside her room, I could see my retainers, all wearing very concerned expressions. They must have been very worried about me.

As I reunited with them, I realized that I had taken a new step forward—not toward becoming the next aub of Ehrenfest but toward being the first wife of another duchy.