Ascendance of a Bookworm (LN) - Volume Short Story-1 - Chapter 8

Hartmut — That Fateful Ceremony

A previously unpublished chapter that takes place near the start of Part 3 Volume 1 and was posted online as part of a collection of disconnected short stories. Hartmut decides to attend Rozemyne’s baptism, despite his misgivings about Ottilie being assigned to serve her. To his surprise, what he sees there changes him completely.

Author’s Note: This short story was written to celebrate Suzuka-san’s birthday. She’s always so passionate when she speaks about Hartmut, and many readers requested a short story about his one-sided first meeting with Rozemyne, so I focused on just that! As it turns out, Suzuka-san actually likes Ferdinand more. Oops?

“You recall that Lady Elvira’s child, Lady Rozemyne, is being baptized this summer, yes?” my mother asked me. She had just returned from a private tea party with Lady Elvira, the knight commander’s wife, and we were both holding sound-blocking magic tools. “As it turns out, she is due to be adopted by the archduke at the same time. I will be serving her in the castle.”

I spared our nearby attendants a glance, then said, “You? An attendant of Lady Elvira’s daughter?”

Mother was exceedingly good friends with Lady Elvira, to the point that she had often taken me to Lady Elvira’s estate even before my baptism. Not once during any of those visits had I met a daughter of Lady Elvira’s, nor had Cornelius, who was in the same academic year as me, ever indicated having a little sister.

Which means this is not Lady Elvira’s child.

In other words, she was presumably the daughter of Lord Karstedt’s second or third wife—both mednobles, and both members of the Veronica faction. I knew fragments of their situation through things Cornelius had let slip.

This may be Lady Elvira’s request, but... my own mother, serving someone of such low status?

I was overcome by displeasure. Mother must have noticed, as she promptly began explaining the circumstances.

“I caught a glimpse of Lady Rozemyne while she was being educated. She is quite beautiful, as well as intelligent. I can understand why she is being adopted. Furthermore, as Lady Elvira’s daughter, if she is taken in by the archduke, then she will certainly become the hope of the Leisegang nobles.”

Lady Rozemyne was searching for attendants now that her adoption had been decided, but I found this all much too suspicious. There was no reason whatsoever for the aub to take in a child from a Leisegang noble; there had to be other, more significant circumstances that were being kept from us. I also found it hard to believe that Mother was acting by choice; she hadn’t consulted my father, for one thing.

“This feels too careless for you, Mother,” I said. “There is clearly something happening behind the scenes.”

“Indeed, and my decision to help welcome Lady Rozemyne to the castle will afford me a peek behind the curtain. The castle has been changing drastically ever since Lady Veronica’s imprisonment, and Lord Leberecht more than anyone wishes to know what is going on beyond that which those working for Lady Florencia can learn.”

Father does? That is to say... this is something unknown even to Lady Florencia, the first wife of Ehrenfest? I crossed my arms, conscious that this adoption was the amalgamation of many desires and much authority.

“Furthermore,” my mother continued, “this is an important time for the Leisegang faction, for whether or not we regain our former influence is at stake. Everything rests on this one chance, and so an opportunity to become the retainer of an archducal family member is very much welcome.”

“I see... That is true,” I replied with a nod, my attention now focused outside the window.

Factions this, influence that... It’s all so foolish.

Going to the Royal Academy made reality painfully clear—the reality of Ehrenfest’s position in Yurgenschmidt and how other duchies saw us. We had risen through the ranks somewhat after staying neutral during the civil war, but now we were looked upon harshly. The winners scorned us for not contributing in the battle, while the losers resented us for having attained a higher position through no merit of our own.

What I find strangest of all is that our adults do not realize how empty our duchy’s influence is to begin with.

Despite how meaningless Ehrenfest was in the grand scheme of things, Mother was attempting to serve a girl born from a mednoble for the sake of Father and his faction. It was all so foolish that it deserved nothing more than a derisive snort.

Baptism ceremonies generally took place at the start of the season—but not Lady Rozemyne’s. Hers was being held at an awkward point between the start of summer and the time when nobles were gathering in the Noble’s Quarter for the Starbind Ceremony.

More than two hundred nobles were gathered at Lord Karstedt’s estate, with countless members of the Leisegang faction among them. The high turnout was no surprise considering that baptism ceremonies served the important purpose of debuting children to noble society. The archducal couple was here as well in preparation for the upcoming adoption, as was Lord Wilfried, their son.

There were many nobles of the Veronica faction among the retainers flocking around the archduke and the young lord, which created a very tense atmosphere.

“I heard from Lady Elvira that you will also be serving Lady Rozemyne,” Mother said to Lady Rihyarda.

“Indeed,” she replied. “Because of an order from Lord Sylvester, that is.”

That gave me a moment of pause; Lady Rihyarda had educated Lord Karstedt and served as the current archduke’s nurse when he was growing up.

It seems to me that this Lady Rozemyne is being upheld as someone of great importance. What in the world is the aub thinking?

“Not to mention, my boy Ferdinand expects great things from her,” Lady Rihyarda continued. “He says the future growth of our duchy will rest squarely on her shoulders. The hopes being pinned on this pre-baptism child are so high, in fact, that I find myself worrying about her more than anything.”

We watched Lord Ferdinand climb the stage as the High Priest. He had personally endured Lady Veronica’s wrath for so long and was ultimately chased into the temple despite being a member of the archducal family.

Does he have something to do with this adoption?

Lord Ferdinand and I had never officially met, but the stories about him my eldest brother had told me from his time in the Royal Academy indicated that he was a man of extraordinary talent. He had entered the temple to signal his departure from noble politics, but his cunning nature made it plausible that he had always planned to depose Lady Veronica and return like this.

Of course, that was no more than speculation.

“Lady Rozemyne shall now enter.”

Once Lord Ferdinand had ensured that all the preparations were complete, the attendants of the estate opened the door. Lord Karstedt and Lady Elvira entered as the parents of the one to be baptized, followed by Lady Rozemyne herself. She did not recoil in the face of two hundred noble gazes, nor did she look around curiously. Instead, she merely continued forward, moving with grace and while wearing a gentle smile.

So this is Lady Rozemyne...

Her long hair swayed with each step. It was as dark as the night sky while at the same time as radiant as the stars themselves, and adorned with an ornament I did not recognize. As I had heard, she was a rather pretty child with balanced features, and the elegance with which she carried herself suggested she had been well trained despite her mednoble mother and temple upbringing. The rumors about Lady Elvira giving her a strict education in preparation for today were sure to be true, as were the tutors’ remarks that the girl was exceptional.

She comes across entirely like an archnoble.

I shot Cornelius a curious look and saw that he was anxiously watching Lady Rozemyne; he must have been very worried about her. Despite the loathing he felt for his father’s second and third wives, he did not seem at all opposed to accepting this girl as his own little sister, and understandably so—he had no reason to be embarrassed about someone so refined.

Strange. Whatever’s going on here, it must be something significant.

I watched dispassionately as Lady Rozemyne gripped a magic tool and made it shine, indicating that she had enough mana to be recognized as an archnoble. I applauded along with everyone else, but it was scarcely an achievement. She had proven that she could carry herself as an archnoble, but no part of this ceremony had explained why the aub desired to adopt her.

“Congratulations, Rozemyne,” Lord Ferdinand said. “You are now officially recognized as Karstedt’s daughter. A new child has been born in Ehrenfest.”

There was much applause, during which Lord Karstedt took the stage and raised a blue feystone ring high above his head. “I gift this ring to Rozemyne, now recognized as my child by society and the gods,” he declared, then slid it onto her finger.

It was now time for the priest onstage—Lord Ferdinand, in this case—to do his part. He granted Lady Rozemyne a blessing from Leidenschaft, notably by using his own ring.

Other priests would have to rely on divine instruments brought from the temple.

As I compared the events to my own baptism, Lady Rozemyne gave Lord Ferdinand her thanks. She would now bless him in turn, and the ceremony would end.

But she instead turned to the audience.

“I pray that Leidenschaft the God of Fire blesses all those in attendance, and the High Priest for celebrating my baptism.”

Everyone exchanged glances in response to the unusual development, while a blue light swelled within Lady Rozemyne’s ring.

“What...?”

As it turned out, her offer to bless all those in attendance had not been insincere; blue light flew up into the air, spun around, then scattered across the grand hall like blessed rain. It was a turn of events that I never would have predicted.

Just what is this?!

“What in the world?” came a similar mutter from the audience. “She produced that much light?”

“Just how much mana does she have packed into that small body of hers?”

Their surprise was only natural; the return blessing was supposed to go to the priest and the priest alone, not everyone in attendance. But given how calm Lord Karstedt and Lord Ferdinand both looked, Lady Rozemyne had not made a mistake. They had probably wanted to demonstrate her potential—and her being a child who hadn’t yet learned to compress her mana made it all the more impressive.

It wasn’t her mana capacity that surprised me, though. It was abnormal, to be sure, but what had left me in awe was the sheer beauty of the spectacle. I could not explain why, but it was different from any blessing I had seen before. The blue light seemed to sparkle with life as though it were truly from the gods themselves.

Never before have I seen light like this.

A sudden warmth spread through my chest. The blessings given during baptism ceremonies were usually so mundane, but this... this was different. The ease with which Lady Rozemyne had granted a blessing that would have made most adult nobles wince made her seem like a genuine agent of the gods.

But why? Why is Lady Rozemyne’s blessing so beautiful...?

I was still enamored of this newfound beauty when Aub Ehrenfest went up onto the stage and announced the adoption.

“The aub is adopting her?!”

“I was not informed! What is the meaning of this?!”

Judging by the responses, the news truly had been a secret. The hall immediately started to buzz like a struck hornet’s nest but, after witnessing that extraordinary event, I saw no reason for the commotion; it was obvious why the aub would want her in the archducal family. His tales of her saintly deeds were even more wonderful. I wanted—no, needed—to hear more of them.

He did well to find her in the temple, of all places.

My evaluation of the archduke had become a little more favorable.

I scanned my surroundings. There were a great many nobles in attendance, and they would all be greeting Lady Rozemyne in turn. I already knew from my own baptism that it was impossible to memorize so many faces, especially when these first meetings were so brief. Only those who left a meaningful impression would be remembered.

My mother will be introduced as her future attendant, and my father is Lady Florencia’s retainer. Perhaps that will make me stick out in her mind.

No sooner had that thought crossed my mind than I felt a little strange; this was the first time I had ever been so interested in another person. I was likely more surprised by this change of heart than anyone.

The first people due to be introduced to Lady Rozemyne were her guard knights, who would be accompanying her tomorrow. Next would be the retainers of the archducal couple, whom she would meet with often, then the retainers who would start serving her once she moved to the castle, Lady Rihyarda and my mother included. Her family members, including Lord Bonifatius, would then follow—and that was when I would get my chance to shine.

“Nothing fun’s ever gonna happen here. Let’s go play. Follow me.”

But as I was eagerly awaiting my introduction, Lord Wilfried took Lady Rozemyne by the arm and dragged her out of the hall.

She did not return.

As it turned out, the sickly Lady Rozemyne had not been able to keep up with the young lord. She had fallen unconscious and sustained quite serious injuries, so Lord Ferdinand had cast healing magic on her before carrying her back to her chambers.

Lady Rozemyne was hurt...? Hm... I need to be careful about Lord Wilfried.

I gazed down at my hand. In what had felt like the blink of an eye, I had started to view Lord Wilfried as my enemy.

I suppose I will need to drag him down... so that Lady Rozemyne may become the aub.