Chapter Text
“SYLVESTER!” I called out to my adoptive father the moment I saw him after I materialized in the castle’s teleportation room. “It is good to see you again. I do apologize for this urgent request, but I need to discuss something extremely important with you regarding the foundation. I need to speak with you alone.”
Sylvester’s face hardened instantaneously as I met his eyes with grim resolve. The excited chatter of everyone around us suddenly dissipated, now replaced with a degree of wariness.
“Very well, we can speak now; this isn’t something that can wait. Bonifatius, escort Rozemyne to my office.”
He took his leave with a flourish of his ocher cape, his retainers following on his wake. Bonifatius turned to me, like a gallant knight offering an escort. I smiled at him graciously and took his proffered arm. Standing by his side at the moment made me realize how much I had really grown up. The top of my head almost reached his chest now.
Thank you, Erwaermen! Thank you, Anwachs!
A shower of blessings shimmered down on me after my silent prayer of gratitude. I saw Hartmut staggered where he was standing out of the corner of my eye.
Eep!
“Ohoho!” Bonifatius’ booming laughter echoed in the room. “What a sight! A spontaneous blessing from the gods!”
“It appears your blessings have gotten more out of control, sister,” Charlotte remarked with a troubled look. “They’re really beautiful though.”
“If this is now the case, it is going to be even more bothersome. It just came out of nowhere. You were not even singing or whirling.”
Wilfried’s comment was on point, but I glared at him, nonetheless. “This is simply how it is when you pray sincerely.” I heaved a sigh. “I really shouldn’t keep Sylvester waiting. I promise to arrange some time to meet with you all soon.”
Bonifatius started ushering me towards Sylvester’s office, but my legs buckled the moment I turned. I had to grab his arm forcefully to steady myself.
“My apologies, Grandfather. I have not fully adjusted to my sudden growth—”
“No worries at all. If you would allow me.” He swept me up my feet in a princess carry before I could even blink.
“Grandfather!” Cornelius yelled. Even though he and Angelica were beside us in an instant, they were still not fast enough.
“What should we do, Lady Rozemyne?” Angelica asked. “Your orders?”
Bonifatius peered down at my face expectantly.
I turned to my retainers. “Stand down for now. Grandfather never had the chance to carry me around before. This is an opportunity we can both enjoy, with less fear that I could easily get crushed.”
“Right!” Grandfather beamed. “You were just so little before that I didn’t know what to do with you. But now, this is no trouble at all.”
He turned with a spring on his step, still carrying me like a princess. My retainers had no choice but to follow his lead.
Karstedt and Sylvester’s other retainers looked flabbergasted when they saw me in Bonifatius’ arms. Cornelius gave Karstedt a resigned look. Seeing the exchange, Bonifatius grinned at them both.
Karstedt addressed me after Bonifatius set me down. “Aub Ehrenfest awaits, Lady Rozemyne.”
I nodded in acknowledgment and thanked grandfather for his assistance. Then I carefully made my way into Sylvester’s office, with one of the retainers closing the door behind me.
Sylvester was alone in the room, seated behind his desk. I moved closer, turned around to give a curtsy, but ended collapsing ungracefully on the carpet.
Sylvester tried to control it but eventually barked out with laughter. He stood to help me out and guided me towards a seat.
“What were you trying to do exactly?” he asked as he settled back on his chair. “This clumsiness doesn’t suit your sudden grown-up state.”
I grimaced. “I have not yet found my balance in this body, and I keep tripping on my feet. It is truly troublesome. You wouldn’t mind if I use my Pandabus within in the castle, would you? At least until I have found my bearings.”
“Makes sense,” he agreed. “Unless you want Bonifatius to be your personal carrier. I have no doubt that he would volunteer in a heartbeat. You might want to change your highbeast though. Something better than a grun.”
“Excuse me!” I puffed my cheeks and glared at him. “Lessy is adorable, and he is not a grun. He’s a panda! It’s a pity you all haven’t seen Totoro. Then you would all realize just how cute Lessy is.”
Sylvester waved off my grumblings. “Enough about that. What is it with the foundation? You sounded really concerned.”
I took a deep breath and said without preamble. “I know how Lady Georgine intends to steal the foundation.”
The foundation was the heart of the duchy under the aub’s control. To have it stolen would be an absolute tragedy. In most cases, it would result in the death of the usurped archducal family.
Should Georgine succeed in stealing Ehrenfest foundation, the likelihood is high that she would kill Sylvester’s entire family, with absolutely no thought of sparing anyone.
“This knowledge is something that I have recently come across. I have not yet been able to prove it. But if we consider the plot to steal our bible, then it gives much credence to this information. The bible holds the key to the duchy foundation. And the true location of the foundation is right under the temple.”
“What?!” Sylvester’s eyes widened in shocked disbelief.
I understood his incredulity. I have poured over the information about foundations in the Grutrissheit starting from the founding of Yurgenschmidt. The first Zent served as the country’s high bishop and the ruling aubs also served as high bishops in their own duchy’s temples.
This arrangement made it easier to promote religious ceremonies and emphasize the importance of offering prayers to the gods. It made filling the duchy with mana less of a burden due to higher divine protections.
But over time, politics came into play and Yurgenschmidt’s nobles started to disregard the importance of the temple in their quest for power and supremacy. Until it came to pass that temples were no longer regarded with importance but relegated into something unsavoury, a place where children with low mana were exiled and where objectionable dealings were carried out.
Hence, the true path to the foundation was lost in obscurity.
Sylvester nodded as I finished my explanation. “We need to confirm it then. Where is our bible’s key at the moment?”
I frowned at his apparent nonchalance. “It is at the temple with the bible,” I answered. “I don’t understand though. You don’t seem worried at all. At the very least, I expected that you would demand to go directly to the temple and check.”
“I appreciate the information, Rozemyne. Truly.” He paused, as if contemplating how to say what he needed to say next. “You have gone missing for almost two seasons. A lot of change happened in that time. I am not sure how much information your retainers have been able to share with you since you came back.” He gave me a questioning look.
“Only the bare minimum,” I whispered, suddenly wary of what I was about hear. My retainers weren’t able to impart any political updates.
I just came back from the Garden of Beginnings last night. I managed to return through the library, and I was more than thankful for that. There wasn’t any need to summon any one other than my retainers to escort me.
I had been so tired and weary that Lieseleta and Gretia ushered me straight to bed after my dinner. There simply was no time to share much intelligence.
Sylvester continued. “The last archduke conference was a chaos. Lady Eglantine debuted as the new Zent with the Grutrissheit. She had already dyed the country’s foundation and redrew the borders. King Trauerqual was relegated as an archduke of a newly formed duchy. Same with Prince Sigiswald.”
The information was overwhelming, and I felt bamboozled.
Lady Eglantine was now the Zent. How?
I was with Erwaermen receiving the wisdom while all of these were happening. And now I’ve got the Grutrissheit.
What is going on?
“That’s not all.” Sylvester’s voice cut through my puzzled thoughts. “Georgine and majority of her faction were executed. She was colluding with the sovereign knight commander to install a foreign zent from Lanzanave’s collateral royal family.”
My eyes widened in disbelief, and I felt my mana starting to get out of control inside of me. I was overloading.
My heart pounded as I stared at Sylvester frantically. “Ferdinand?!”
“He is now the aub of the former Ahrensbach.”
“Aub? Former Ahrensbach?!” I repeated as if in a trance, staring at Sylvester blankly while my mana was still overwhelmingly close to the surface. “What did he do? How come?”
“Rozemyne, you need to calm down!” Sylvester was out of his seat in a flash, pressing a large feystone on my forehead. “I cannot explain everything when you are this unstable. Ferdinand is safe.”
Ferdinand is safe. Ferdinand is safe.
I repeated the words in my head just like a mantra.
Sylvester slumped in the seat beside me a few more feystones later, seemingly convinced that my rampaging mana no longer poses a threat.
“I know it is hard to process. And I don’t have all the information. From what was shared at the archduke conference, Ferdinand exposed Georgine and the sovereign knight commander’s treason, and he led the fight to oust the Lanzenavians together with Dunkelfelger. He was also instrumental in Lady Eglantine obtaining the Grutrissheit.”
Sylvester suddenly looked tired. “I don’t know how he bargained with the royal family, but he ensured that Ehrenfest stood to gain from his negotiations. There are also specific conditions he negotiated for your sake. As a result, you are no longer to become Prince Sigiswald’s third wife and the new zent can never force you to marry by royal decree or go to sovereignty. Not unless you wish it.”
I felt conflicted hearing the concessions Ferdinand secured for me. What did he have to gain by securing all those conditions? But knowing him as I did, I knew that ultimately his goal was to serve Ehrenfest’s best interests.
Because he wanted me to stay and protect Ehrenfest on his stead.
It wasn’t long ago when I myself had negotiations directly with Prince Sigiswald. I agreed to be adopted into the royal family, marry the first prince as his third wife, obtain the Grutrissheit and hand it over to him as the future zent.
I resolved to make those sacrifices with the sole intention of saving Ferdinand.
But now, he irrevocably overturned them for me.
While I welcomed the unexpected boon of escaping a political marriage twice over – first with Wilfried and then with Prince Sigiswald, my future suddenly seemed so uncertain.
It felt like I lost my footing.
Preparations for my move to sovereignty were already underway even before I went missing. The personnel accompanying me had also started making their own arrangements. My retainers, the Gutenbergs, the Plantin Company and my lower city family.
Their decision to move with me was not done lightly. There had been a lot of things to consider. Uprooting their lives from Ehrenfest and starting anew in an unknown territory was a great risk.
What would happen to all of us now with this new development?
As it stands, I am no longer engaged to Wilfried. Melchior was already in training to take over as high bishop. And I was not interested in the archduke seat, which has always been a subject of contention among the duchy’s factions particularly the Leisegangs.
Simply put, there was no more place for me in Ehrenfest.
I met my adoptive father’s eyes with apprehension. “What’s to become of me then, Sylvester?”
He smiled, choosing to ignore my worry. “You are free to choose the path you want to take.”
“I don’t believe it is that easy.”
He agreed. “It is not. But you do have a few options. You can compete for the aub seat, which I know you don’t really want. On that end, there have been some new developments with Wilfried, so he is now keen to be the next archduke. I will not pre-empt his news as I assume that he would want to tell you directly.” Sylvester chuckled. “If you wish, you can be a minister and support whoever will be the next aub. Or you can marry into another duchy and leave Ehrenfest.”
The last option came as a surprise. It somehow made me feel a little sad. “I thought you wanted to keep me here. It seems like you are now willing to send me away. Wouldn’t it defeat the purpose of the concession Ferdinand wrangled from royalty?”
The next smile he gave me didn’t exactly reach his eyes. “What happened with you and the royal family made me realize the lengths you would go through to save Ferdinand. I failed to do the same for him. Making you a noble and adopting you was supposed to be for your protection. But you are the one who has been doing all the saving ever since you joined the archducal family.”
He paused for a moment, his thoughts seemed to be taking him back to the time when I saved Wilfried from disgrace and from the White Tower, my headlong rush to save Charlotte from being kidnapped and my decision to join the sovereignty to ensure Ferdinand’s safety.
“Now that we no longer have to fear royalty’s interference in your case, the least I could do is to give you the choice to follow the path of your choosing. Within reason, of course.” He added provisionally.
I puffed out my cheeks in annoyance.
His laughter lightened the mood as he poked my right cheek. “Hey, you don’t have to decide your future in the next hour. Now, tell me. Where exactly have you been?”
I beamed a smile at him. “I got a new book.”
He cocked an eyebrow at me. “And the new looks?”
“It came with the book.”
He seemed to digest what I meant and didn’t require me to elaborate further. I wanted to apologize for all the trouble I have no doubt caused him after I suddenly went missing. It couldn’t have been easy. I wasn’t sure what narrative he came up with to explain my abrupt absence.
Vanishing right after the dedication ritual at the academy certainly raised a lot of questions. At that point in time, the royalty had vested interests on my whereabouts. I was on my path to obtain the Book of Mestionora.
But Ferdinand beat me to handing over the Grutrissheit.
“Does this have the potential to compromise Ehrenfest?” Sylvester asked delicately in his most serious aub face that I have seen so far.
I contemplated on his question. Considering all the recent changes, I didn’t think so. Sure, everything didn’t play out the way it should. For some reason, Lady Eglantine ended up as the zent. Her name left a bitter taste in my mouth. I still remember the way he and Prince Anastasius threw me under the bus.
But that was all water under the bridge now. Ferdinand had secured conditions for my protection. For now, I would trust in his machinations and live a carefree noble life.
I met Sylvester’s eyes and shook my head in answer.
He surprisingly seemed to be satisfied with that. “We still need to inform sovereignty of your return and your sudden growth. You will need to attend the academy this off-season to complete the courses you have missed. Discuss and plan with your retainers. I will send a letter to Hirschur to request for special accommodations.”
“Thank you ever so much, Sylvester.”
“Now, off you go. We’ve been here too long. Stay in castle for three days. Your investigation in the temple can wait after that.” He dismissed me, going out of his way to escort me out of the room where most of my retainers were waiting.