Chapter 1: The Lady Brunhilde: Second Wife of the Aub
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
1: The Next Giebe Groschel
At one time I was being trained as the heir to my father, Giebe Groschel, to become the next Giebe. As the eldest child of the First Wife, and with the rapidly changing conditions of Ehrenfest politics, I had a lot of circumstances in favour my ascent to the position. The fall of Lady Veronica and her faction, the adoption of Lady Rozemyne as an Archduke Candidate, and subsequently being selected as one of her retainers. I was even growing my mana capacity in line with the Rozemyne Compression Method, thanks to my status as a trusted retainer.
But, then a son was born to my father’s Second Wife. The odds immediately turned against me and my path to becoming the next Giebe was quickly being closed off. Not only that, the position of my mother and younger sister became increasingly unstable with this shift. The Second Wife was now likely to supplant my mother as the First Wife, since she was now being seen as the mother of the next Giebe Groschel. Furthermore, when Lady Rozemyne identified the weakness in our early schtappe acquisition and the limit to our mana capacity from obtaining them early, I felt the strikes continue to my pile up against my future as Giebe. Only a few years prior we had been discussing a son-in-law for Groschel to help support my rule as Giebe, but now the discussion had already shifted to my marriage into another family for Groschel’s advantage. Sadly, even if I did want that, there are next to no available noblemen in Ehrenfest with a mana capacity close to mine compressed with Lady Rozemyne's methods, save for Aub Ehrenfest the Lord Sylvester.
I resolved myself to try to marry Lord Sylvester as his Second Wife as the only available compatible male noble within the duchy. Though, I didn’t think that it had a high chance of working out, a surprising opportunity came my way. I immediately acted upon it. Aub Ehrenfest uncharacteristically agreed with my marriage proposal to balance the internal politics of Ehrenfest and form a connection with the Leisegang faction. It must have been the guidance of the Goddess of Marriage, Liebeskhilfe, that allowed such a fortune to present itself for my future. After graduating from the Royal Academy, I married Aub Ehrenfest the Lord Sylvester, under the guidance of the Supreme King and Queen Gods, at the spring Archduke Conference.
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As the Second Wife of Aub Ehrenfest, my influence exploded overnight. Now, my mother’s position as the First Wife of Giebe Groschel was secured. It would be foolish and patently unwise for my father to challenge my authority as the Second Wife of Ehrenfest by demoting my mother from the position of First Wife. Instead, father will try to court my favour now that I have joined the archducal family. With this my younger sister Bertilde is now the top candidate for the next Giebe Groschel with father planning to find the best son-in-law possible to support her in leading the province.
Bertilde, has become a retainer to the archducal family as my apprentice attendant, and future attendant when she graduates from the Royal Academy. I am training her based on the methods and mindset I learned myself, during my service to Lady Rozemyne, on creating and spreading trends and interacting with higher territories. Bertilde is also building connections in the castle and among the central nobility of Ehrenfest, becoming well positioned to inherit the position of Giebe Groschel in a few years time. She was lucky to begin attending the Royal Academy after schtappe acquisition was moved from the first year and the importance of sincere prayer being brought to light by Lady Rozemyne. Being from Ehrenfest, she learned to pray to the gods with a sincere heart and gained many blessings, increasing her overall number of attributes and obtaining a high quality schtappe appropriate for an archnoble of a higher territory, like the new Ehrenfest.
Bertilde secured an engagement with an archnoble from Klassenberg, the son of a Second Wife she had become close with at the Royal Academy, Lord Alasdair. It surprised many that Bertilde had a mana capacity that could match that of an archnoble from a greater duchy like Klassenberg. Lord Alasdair was welcomed as the son-in-law for Groschel and husband to the next Giebe Groschel, Bertilde. Father was extremely pleased that Bertilde was able to secure such a high quality partner silencing all of her remaining critics. The new couple decided to live in Ehrenfest's nobles’ quarter for a few years after their marriage to allow Bertilde to continue building her influence and allow her husband to become familiar with the duchy, all while Bertilide continued supporting me as the Second Wife of Aub Ehrenfest.
After Lady Charlotte rose to the position of Aub Ehrenfest, as a middle reliever Aub, Bertilde retired from my service and had three children with her husband from Klassenberg. When she returned to Groschel she rose to the position of Giebe Groschel at the age of twenty-five.
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2: Being the Second Wife is Never Easy
Though she gained many benefits from becoming the Second Wife of Aub Ehrenfest, Lady Brunhilde unintentionally created more headaches for herself as well by inflaming the Leisegang faction once again with the desire and possibility for an Aub Ehrenfest with Leisegang blood. Though Lady Rozemyne becoming the Aub of Alexandria, and supplanting the former Ahrensbach bloodline with a pureblooded Leisegang, helped to clear some of the historical wounds inflicted from the introduction of Lady Gabrielle into Ehrenfest, the Leisegangs have still remembered their original goal. Even before Lady Gabrielle, the Leisegangs desired an archduke with their blood. Now, with Lady Brunhilde’s new position as Second Wife, the Veronica raised Wilfried gone from the line of succession, and the rising power and importance of the Leisegang faction in Ehrenfest, some Leisegangs want to push one of Brunhilde’s future children to Aub even at the expense of eliminating Florencia’s children. Lord Sylvester is obviously not pleased by the arrogance of the Leisegang and their not-so-subtle threats. I am not pleased either as I have always supported Florencia and do not intend to threaten her position.
In consultation with Lord Sylvester, we have decided on various actions to finally curb the influence of the Leisegangs and appease their anger. Lord Wilfried will be assigned Giebe of the province of Gerlach which has been rebounded with the former province of Bessel and part of Joisontak to be a larger province rivaling the size of Leisegang, placing a local power to check their influence. The Leisegangs were allowed to assign nobles of their faction as the giebes of several southern provinces formerly ruled by nobles of the former Veronica faction to reward their support and appease some of their anger. If the temporarily assigned giebes management of the provinces is sufficient during the trial period those nobles will permanently be assigned as giebe by Aub Ehrenfest. Finally, Lord Sylvester promised to work diligently with his descendants to ensure that an Aub of Leisegang blood will appear within three generations.
With those actions I have been able to contain most of the outlandish behaviour of the Leisegangs to an extent but I will need to remain vigilant until the younger generation takes over with their mindset for unity and a focus on interduchy politics instead of factional infighting within Ehrenfest. Although the Leisegangs are not pleased about a large province next door that will see Lord Wilfried as Giebe and neighbour, there’s not much room to complain considering Gerlach is surrounded by Leisegang giebes on all sides with a single small neutral province to act as a breakwater. Honestly, I believe this will be good for Lord Wilfried, since he has had too many sycophants surrounding him for most of his life keeping him from the truth and preventing his growth. Now that he’s no longer in line for Aub, and the Leisegang favoured Lady Rozemyne is no longer tied down by him, he might have an easier time getting along with the Leisegang faction. We must ensure that Lord Wilfried marries a clever wife who can set him straight and will not coddle him. He has close relations with Drewanchel, so we can only pray to the God of Trials, Glucklitat, that there is a noblewoman brave enough to marry this foolish man and overcome various trials with him.
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As the gods would have it, Lord Wilfried was lucky enough to marry an archnoble descended from the Drewanchel archducal family, Lady Genevieve. Though his foolishness with the bride-stealing ditter at the Royal Academy placed Ehrenfest in a bad position with Dunklefelger, it endeared Drewanchel towards us allowing Ehrenfest to receive an archnoble bride from their duchy. It’s unheard of in the Ehrenfest of the past to be able to welcome so many marriage partners from higher territories, but we seem to have learned our lessons from Lady Gabrielle of Ahrensbach and are more prepared to absorb nobles of influence without collapsing the duchy. Lord Wilfried is settling well into his position of Giebe Gerlach with his new Drewanchel First Wife, Lady Genevieve. I am certain she will whip him into shape as a worthy nobleman who rules over land on behalf of the Aub. Maybe now I can finally focus on actually having a child or two with Lord Sylvester as Lady Florencia’s youngest child is passed the weaning period and is now even said to be sauntering about.
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After having three children with Lord Sylvester, two adorable daughters and then a curious son, he informed me that he will be stepping down from the position of Aub Ehrenfest in favour of Lady Charlotte who will be turning twenty this winter. Though this decision will cause chaos among the older generation of nobles I believe it is the correct one; Lord Sylvester is struggling to maintain the new Ehrenfest built by Lady Rozemyne and the unified faction of the younger generations she created at the Royal Academy. Since she is no longer here to guide or instruct us, we must now carry on that work ourselves and earn the position for ourselves that was given by Lady Rozemyne. I had always intended to promote the trends of Lady Rozemyne, but now as the Second Wife of the Aub I am able to do so freely while also creating new trends of my own. How fortunate I was to learn from Lady Rozemyne personally and to have my noble sensibilities trusted by her to interact with higher territories. I was able to thoroughly develop the attitude and awareness of a noble from a higher territory myself thanks to her guidance.
Lady Charlotte is a hard worker and will be extremely effective at stabilizing the current Ehrenfest that is receiving a critical eye from the surroundings following all of our strange trends and actions that have come from our newly rising duchy, especially one that has lost Lady Rozemyne who's achievements many believe were the driving force for our rise. From the backwater third placed from the bottom duchy, to one of the highest ranked territories in a single generation. That’s certainly a lot of pressure for an Aub who wasn’t trained to lead such a duchy. But Lady Charlotte is different. She was trained directly and supported by Lady Rozemyne who always believed in her ability, even risking her own life to save Lady Charlotte's at one point. Lady Charlotte was always raised to be an Aub and quite a competent one at that from the training provided by Lady Florencia to act as a natural counter to the Veronica-raised Wilfried.
My children are already born as proper Archduke Candidates as the children of Aub Ehrenfest so I have no reason to challenge this decision. I will enthusiastically support Lady Charlotte as the next Aub Ehrenfest and assist her in ruling as a member of the younger generation's unified Ehrenfest faction.
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Little did I know that she would wring us dry of mana for nearly three years!!! The announcement of Lady Charlotte as the new Aub Ehrenfest caused quite the stir in the winter social circles, especially among the older Leisegang who thought that their position had finally solidified. Lady Charlotte had previously married a male Archduke Candidate from Gausbuttel a few years prior, Lord Konradin, allowing the nobles to recognize that Lady Charlotte would likely become a middle reliever Aub at some point. Though, I suppose they didn’t think it would happen so soon. Particularly, before any of my children were old enough to be lifted up as potential successors. My children haven’t even been baptized yet, and as the second wife most nobles don’t even know if I have a child with Sylvester at all yet. Though, it's clear the Leisegang plotters stewing in the background most certainly already knew.
Lady Charlotte announced at that time she would be reforming Ehrenfest to truly represent the higher territory status it has achieved with its ranking and set up the duchy for a prosperous future. She would be expanding the production of trends created by Lady Rozemyne by rebuilding cities and towns across Ehrenfest to support trade expansion with more mercantile and production centers. She also announced that she would ask the Zent Lady Eglantine to open the country border gate in a few years time to allow Ehrenfest to trade with nations outside of Jurgenschmidt. It is clear that her speech outlining her plans for the future has earned her goodwill from the nobles and certainly Giebe Kirnberger in particular.
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3: The Leisegang’s Wish and Aub’s Promise
Frenbeltag has had a concerning influence over Lord Sylvester and Lady Florencia for years now despite being several ranks lower than Ehrenfest. Given the blood relations between the archducal couples of the two territories our Aub and his First Wife rarely seem able to turn down their requests. The duchy of Frenbeltag is still struggling with mana shortages, especially after having a whole generation of nobles receive the worst quality schtappe possible from obtaining them in their first year. Much like I did as well. As a result, the Frenbeltag archducal couple have decided to have a middle reliever Aub, much like Ehrenfest, in the form of Lord Rudiger with the intention to raise one of his children to be a proper heir.
Their antics never change though, first they sought Lady Rozemyne as the First Wife of Lord Rudiger and now they have the confidence to come seeking my daughter to be the First Wife of their future Aub. Though, I suppose this is certainly advantageous for my family and the Leisegang faction in its own way, I find it irritating how Lord Sylvester approached this issue with me. He’s ever the weak man when it comes to accepting the requests of his elder sister, Lady Konstanze. If this marriage goes forward it should stabilize the Leisegang’s opinion about Frenbeltag when all the future Aubs will be descended from their bloodline. It will certainly be a massive benefit to Groschel, given that the Frebeltag border gate to Ehrenfest is through Groschel and its newly reborn trade city. While Frenbeltag is currently ranked low, the duchy was formerly ranked quite high in the single digits and it has the potential to rise up in the rankings once again, if properly managed.
Thus, I consented to a future marriage, of course assuming their mana capacities could match. My daughter is set to become the First Wife of the next Aub Frenbeltag, the son of Lord Rudiger and Lady Faustina of Immerdink. It seems that Immerdink is still trying to make amends for the attack on Lady Rozemyne all those years ago but cannot casually approach Alexandria or even the increasingly powerful Ehrenfest, choosing instead to approach through the blood-related but politically weak Frenbeltag.
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My son, Clement, has decided to become a support for Lord Melchior in the future when he rises to the position of Aub Ehrenfest. He has always admired his older brother and wanted to be closer with him despite being born to a different mother. I am sure my close relationship with Lady Charlotte over the years likely influenced this behaviour. Clement decided to join the temple as a blue priest supporting rituals and ceremonies while Lord Melchior was still acting as the High Bishop. Clement then took over for Lord Melchior as the next High Bishop, so that Lord Melchior could focus on supporting Lady Rozemyne and the Zent Lady Eglantine with reformation of duchy temples across Yurgenschmidt, as per the will of the gods.
In time, Clement became Lord Melchior’s right-hand man and most trusted confident, acting as proxy Aub for Lord Melchior when he attended the spring Archduke Conference with his First Wife every year, much like Lord Bonifatius did before him. Clement married an adopted Archduke Candidate from Drewanchel as his First Wife, followed by an Archduke Candidate from Hauchletze as his Second Wife, and a Leisegang archnoble as his Third Wife. As a newly minted higher territory, Ehrenfest has continued to attract attention from other duchies that desire closer relations leading to a deluge of proposals for marriages into Ehrenfest. Thanks to Lady Charlotte and Lord Melchior, we have shown Yurgenschmidt that the new Ehrenfest is here to stay despite the loss of Lady Rozemyne and even Lord Ferdinand to Alexandria.
My second daughter was married to Lord Melchior as his Third Wife to rebalance the interests of the Leisegang within the Ehrenfest archducal family that had become populated with First and Second Wives from greater duchies. When seeking out a noblewoman of Leisegang blood within Ehrenfest who could match Lord Melchior's mana and age only a daughter of mine would be a proper fit. She was raised as an Archduke Candidate, she learned an advanced form of mana compression, and she has an abundance of blessings because of her involvement with temple rituals. It's not an ideal marriage given their close blood relationship but being born to different mothers should prevent any issues with mana. It was a bit displeasing to have a daughter of a Second Wife become a Third Wife within the same duchy, however, we cannot overcome Dunkelfelger and Klassenberg, the top ranked duchies of the nation. Fortunately, my children have always gotten along very well with Lady Florencia's children and I expect that relationship to continue. My son Clement's position will also become a lot more stable now that his sister of the same mother is married to the Aub but also better define his position in Ehrenfest society as she is a Third Wife; important but still clearly distanced from power.
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Out of respect for the Leisegangs continued support in ruling the new Ehrenfest and bringing Lord Sylvester’s promise to them full circle, Lord Melchior has promised to marry his heir to a Leisegang descended First Wife. Apparently, Lord Melchior had done a lot of work behind the scenes to convince Cornelius and Eckhart to allow Lady Rozemyne to adopt one of their children as an Archduke Candidate who will eventually marry into Ehrenfest as the First Spouse. Being raised as an Archduke Candidate of Alexandria will grant the adopted child a status that cannot be ignored, while having pure Leisegang blood with no former Ahrensbach heritage. It would have otherwise been too bold of him to ask for a child of Lady Rozemyne herself, given the recent establishment and small size of the current Alexandria archducal family.
Eventually, we would welcome the Lady Rozelynne, an Archduke Candidate of Alexandria, the daughter of Cornelius and Leonore who was adopted by Aub Alexandria, as the First Wife of Ehrenfest. She was wed to Lord Mynehardt, the next Aub Ehrenfest and the son of Lord Melchior and his First Wife, Lady Sapphira. Lord Melchior and Lord Mynehardt vowed that one of Lady Rozelynne’s children will be the next Aub regardless of if it’s a son or a daughter. Finally, the Leisegang’s century long wish will come to fruition. A ruling archduke or archduchess of Ehrenfest descended from their bloodline. Not only did the Leisegang gain an Aub of their bloodline in Ehrenfest, but also one in Frenbeltag through my daughter as the First Wife, and one in Alexandria through Lady Rozemyne.
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The Leisegang faction has gradually lessened in power over the years becoming less of a threat to collapsing the duchy itself but still remained an important political force. Increasing numbers of nobles from other duchies have married into Ehrenfest, creating new factional supports and connections, while throwing the existing factions into disarray. The growth of Gerlach next to Leisegang, which has only increased in importance since the country border gate opened again in Kirnberger. And finally, the First Wife of the next Giebe Leisegang will be one of the daughters of Aub Ehrenfest the Lord Melchior and his Leisegang Third Wife. These events have deflated the outsized influence of the Leisegang faction following the fall of the former Veronica faction. Though the archducal family has taken steps to bring the Leisegangs power to heel they have also taken action to seriously address the wrongs committed against those of the Leisegang faction in the past. The Leisegang remain an important faction in Ehrenfest today, but are now willing to cooperate fully with the Aub as the archducal family has become their close relatives and they continue to tie their bloodlines even closer.
Notes:
This is the first chapter in a series of perspective chapters about the future.
Chapter 2: The Story of Wilfried: As told by his Head Attendant Isidore
Summary:
Perspectives about Wilfried's Life and His Growth.
Notes:
(29/12/22): I added one daughter to Lamprechect's children of his First Wife. I am making some minor lore corrections to the story as I finish my final prequel series chapter and prepare to start writing and releasing the planned main series.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
1: A Path of His Own
The first son of Aub Ehrenfest, Lord Wilfried, was once regarded as the heir apparent to the seat of Aub. Now, he has stepped down from the competition for Aub after his engagement with Lady Rozemyne was publicly dissolved following the invasion of Lanzenave and the events it precipitated. No one outside of Ehrenfest really knows what his reason for stepping down was. Some romance minded ladies believe he must have been really heartbroken to lose his Goddess of Light, Lady Rozemyne, deciding he no longer wanted to rule without her by his side. However, others believe that the embarrassment of losing a remarkable Archduke Candidate and future First Wife like Lady Rozemyne, stained his reputation, causing the nobility of Ehrenfest to lose faith in his ability to protect what is important. Instead, Lord Wilfried was assigned as a Giebe by his father Aub Ehrenfest, to the destroyed province of Gerlach, which was still recovering after the attack of the treacherous nobles of the former Ahrensbach. Regardless of the true reasons for his stepping down from the competition for Aub, Lord Wilfried is still a well-regarded Archduke Candidate from the increasingly high-ranked Ehrenfest. The duchy that raised the incarnation of Mestionora, Lady Rozemyne, and saved the nation of Yurgenschmidt from collapse.
Aub Ehrenfest the Lord Sylvester, took this opportunity to massively transform the southeastern region of provinces in anticipation of the Ehrenfest country border gate being opened again by the newly crowned Zent, Lady Eglantine. The province of Gerlach was rebounded and given more land from the surrounding provinces of Bessel and Joisontak to create a land worthy of being ruled over by a member of the archducal family. The current Bessel was added to Gerlach in its entirety and the edge of Joisontak connecting to the central district was sliced off and also given to the new Gerlach. A new provincial boundary was created to the south of Hirsch and west of Kirnberger carving off land from the central district and combining it with the remaining lands from Dahldolf, reforming a new province for Joisontak at the northern edge of Dahldolf. The province of Bessel was reformed with the remaining former lands of Joisontak. Since the southeastern provinces were a collection of rebellious nobles from the former Veronica faction, rebounding the provinces and assigning new giebes loyal to the archducal family was important for stomping out any remaining embers of rebellion. The laynoble provinces of Blon and Glaz were completely collapsed and rebounded into the central district directly ruled by the Aub as the former Giebes Blon and Glaz were directly involved with Lady Georgine's plotting to overthrow Lord Sylvester as Aub.
Giebes Wiltord and Joisontak were selected from the members of the Leisegang faction to earn favour after the purge of the rebellious former Veronica faction nobles. The new Giebe Dahldolf rose to his position young, despite the treason of his step-mother, the former Viscountess Dahldolf. Though his father was swept up in the crimes of the former Viscountess as if she were Chaoscipher, the Goddess of Chaos. The new Giebe Dahldolf swore his name to the archducal family. But there was still the need for the appearance of serious punishment, so land was sliced off from the edge of Dahldolf, to prevent direct access to Kirnberger. Given that the country gate would be soon opened by the new Zent for the first time in Ehrenfest history, leaving Dahldolf connected would be seen as a reward for the opportunities it would gain instead of the punishment it should be receiving. The sliced off land from Dahldolf was added to the new Joisontak, ruled by a giebe appointed from the Leisegang faction, while the new Bessel was ruled under a recently appointed neutral faction mednoble giebe. To further watch over the new Giebe Dahldolf, a strong mednoble of the Florencia faction and neutral mednoble were selected as his First and Second Wives by the Archduke Lord Sylvester and his First Wife the Archduchess Lady Florencia.
The amount of consideration spent reforming the southeastern provinces could be seen as responsible management on one hand, punishing sinners and rewarding supporters, but on the other as a direct challenge to the Leisegang faction. With one hand the Aub gave two provinces for the Leisegang faction to rule over by selecting the new giebes from their kin and allies, while with the other hand placing a check on their power by expanding the province of Gerlach and appointing his son, Lord Wilfried, to act as giebe of a province now rivaling the size of Leisegang itself. Though Giebe Dahldolf is now part of the neutral faction just like Giebe Bessel, both will become natural supporters for Lord Wilfried, creating a new faction in the south to check the influence of Leisegang. It’s as if the Aub is saying, “here’s a reward for enduring and supporting Ehrenfest all these years but do not look down on the authority of the archducal family.”
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2:A Clever Wife is a Happy Life
Given Lord Wilfried’s close relationship with Lord Ortwin, now the Aub of Drewanchel, it’s not surprising that Wilfried’s First Wife is an archnoble hailing from Drewanchel. Lady Genevieve is closely related by blood to the archducal family of Drewanchel, as her grandfather was the former Aub Drewanchel from two generations ago. Moreover, her elder brother, a former central noble, is married to Lady Adolphine, the daughter of the previous Aub Drewanchel, older sister of the current Aub Drewanchel, and Giebe of a large research city in the new province of Verstoben located in the territory obtained by Drewanchel from the former Royal Family. Verstoben developed close connections to Alexandria's Lord Ferdinand through their collaboration on various research topics led by Lady Adolphine the first Giebe Verstoben.
Ehrenfest’s meteoric rise in the rankings over a single generation is impressive and certainly warranted the attention of Drewanchel. Yet, Drewanchel was one of the only higher ranked duchies without a close relationship to Ehrenfest. Lord Wilfried sought a peaceful marriage that would not create further conflict to the succession of the next Aub in Ehrenfest and ultimately came to find a strong partner in Lady Genevieve, introduced to him by Lord Ortwin. She was a curious lady interested in the mysterious trends arising from Ehrenfest, one after another, and wanted to have a hand in facilitating such innovation. Though she was an archnoble of Drewanchel, her influence was limited within the greater duchy, whereas if she married into Ehrenfest, and to an archduke candidate no less, the opportunities for her seemed limitless.
I had heard that her first few interactions with Lord Wilfried were very positive, finding him quite charming and handsome but she quickly realized that he’s a bit oblivious to those with ill intentions. She thought to herself that Lord Wilfried will certainly need a clever wife to help guide his efforts in productive directions and ensure he’s not manipulated by those around him. More important yet was to instill proper awareness into the children born to such a foolish yet sweet man, and if it was a child of hers anyways, it would have at least that much sense. She quickly got to business expressing her support for the marriage to Lord Ortwin and slowly arranging the situation such that Lord Wilfried would be her escort to graduation from the Royal Academy. She was one year younger than Lord Wilfried so he returned to the Royal Academy to escort her, drawing a lot attention in the process as her partner was an Archduke Candidate turned Giebe from the mysterious Ehrenfest. After the graduation ceremony Lord Wilfried proposed to Lady Genevieve with a beautiful engagement feystone dyed with six colours representing his attributes, he asked her to join him in Ehrenfest and build a province of possibilities together with him. She had always found him charming, but he knew exactly what to say to drive her excitement. She wanted nothing more than to learn more about Ehrenfest and facilitate the expansion of its products and trends. Drewanchel will certainly be pleased if they’re able to gain a greater number of these products and study their origins.
Together the Gerlach Giebe couple built a thriving production and research center focused on Ehrenfest paper, printing technology, and the collection of stories for new books. Many still do not know exactly what Ehrenfest paper is made from, but even for those who do they are often made to sign a magic contract silencing them before they were allowed to learn anything. Ehrenfest and Alexandria still maintain a monopoly on Ehrenfest paper and printing, but it’s been said that they intend to share production methods for Ehrenfest paper in the near future with duchies for which they have close relationships with. I had overheard Lady Genevieve once say, that it was the guidance of the Goddess of Fortune, Greifechan, as Drewanchel is most likely to benefit from such an arrangement. Given that the province of Gerlach is the largest production center for these goods in Ehrenfest and it happens to be overseen by Countess Gerlach, the Lady Genevieve a former Drewanchel archnoble, it seems likely Drewanchel will be selected as Ehrenfest's production partner. With the support from Drewanchel scholars it's possible that Ehrenfest technology and its trends will become even more dominant in the future than they already are with greater efficiency and scale.
Lord Wilfried has really shone brilliantly in his position as Giebe Gerlach despite starting immediately after his graduation from the Royal Academy. He has been able to demonstrate his abilities quite clearly in his new role by turning Gerlach into a major production center. Having always lived in the shadows of his seemingly more competent siblings, Lady Rozemyne, Lady Charlotte, and even now Lord Melchior, he has finally been able to stand out in a position based on his own merits without comparison to his siblings. Lord Wilfried is one of the most successful Giebes in the new Ehrenfest with his province producing more profit and goods than any other, while also becoming a key supplier for the recently refurbished merchant city of Groschel. Nobles of the former Veronica faction, who tended to have higher mana capacities than their status would suggest, have also been moving to Gerlach in large numbers to start over. Marriage proposals have been pouring in from numerous duchies that want to form connections with Ehrenfest and many are accepted into the new Gerlach where nobles of the former Veronica faction, now becoming those of the Neutral faction, find it difficult to secure marriage partners from within Ehrenfest. This has bolstered the population of Gerlach and is likely to ensure a strong foundation for the future of the province. Lord Wilfried had faced a challenging path in the competition for the seat of Aub, but as a giebe he has finally gained the respect of the nobility that he had so desperately wanted and demonstrated that he is a competent leader in his own right. With the support of his First Wife Lady Genevieve, Lord Wilfried's future, and that of Gerlach, is certain to be bright.
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3: The Wise Charlotte and Kind Knightly Wilfried
Recently, Lord Wilfried has taken a Second Wife from Blumefeld, but she is an archnoble who hails from the former Werkestock territory of the newly formed duchy. Though she herself had made no mistakes, she was the daughter of one of the sinners who supported the attempted coup by the former Ahrensbach. The gods had demanded, through the incarnation of Mestionora, that no more blood should be shed in Erwarmen’s garden from petty mortal squabbles and thus the life of Lady Priscilla and those like her, were spared. But she was not looked upon favourably in a duchy now ruled by the same former Royal Family that her relatives previously attempted to overthrow.
With what could only have been the intervention of the God of Guidance, Erwachlehren, Lord Wilfried had come to learn of Lady Priscilla’s plight from his younger brother, Lord Melchior, after he himself witnessed her maltreatment at the Royal Academy by other nobles from Blumefeld. Lord Wilfried sympathized with Lady Priscilla given that he was a sinner himself who received harsh glares and words from the nobles of Ehrenfest after he stained his reputation, but he was still given many chances, deserved or not, to improve his situation. Moreover, having previously learned about the ill treatment of Lady Aurelia in the former Ahrensbach from the Gerlach Knight Commander, Lord Lamprecht, he chose to take action and reached out to his sister Aub Ehrenfest the Lady Charlotte, to try to improve the situation in Blumefeld. If Lady Priscilla was suffering, it’s likely that many others are also subject to the harsh looks from the other nobles of the former central territories, despite committing no wrongs themselves.
When Aub Blumefeld approached Aub Ehrenfest the Lady Charlotte, he suggested a marriage of a Blumefeld noble to the Ehrenfest archducal family to build stronger bonds. Likely he was trying to be crafty and aim for the Second Wife or Third Wife position of the presumed next Aub Ehrenfest the Lord Melchior. Since Lady Charlotte, the current Aub Ehrenfest, knew of a certain archnoble lady’s plight because of her elder brother she agreed to a marriage between the two duchies but insisted on selecting the candidates herself. She paired her brother Lord Wilfried with Lady Priscilla, sidestepping the intention of Aub Blumefeld and causing him a political nightmare at home by selecting the outcast noble lady as the marriage partner meant to bring Blumefeld closer to Ehrenfest.
Lady Charlotte has been a brilliant Aub, stepping into the role of leader of a higher ranked territory effortlessly considering that not too many years ago Ehrenfest was a bottom of the barrel duchy. Though Blumefeld was still ranked higher than Ehrenfest at this time, Lady Charlotte pushed back against Lord Traurequal’s plan without consequence, as if she had some prior knowledge or awareness of his weaknesses. Aub Blumefeld was forced to try and make inroads with the remaining nobles of the former Werkestock territory who now represent his only connection to Ehrenfest.
The province of Gerlach under Lord Wilfried as Count Gerlach, became a place that welcomed nobles marrying in from other duchies and those looking for a chance to repent for their past mistakes. It became a province of opportunity and represented a model for all other provinces in the duchy for what the future Ehrenfest could and should, look like. Lord Wilfried was a leader who welcomed and protected those who would made mistakes in the past, with his support they all made significant efforts to make amends for their past wrongdoings. Lord Wilfried, as Giebe Gerlach, became a strong support for both of his siblings future rule as Aub Ehrenfest, bolstering their reign despite shifting faction dynamics over the years as Ehrenfest stabilized into its position as a higher territory.
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4: Retainers in Love
Most of Lord Wilfried’s retainers chose to continue serving him but now as Giebe Gerlach instead of the Aub Ehrenfest, joining him in the reborn province of Gerlach.
--Lamprecht--
Lamprecht chose to continue following his master, Lord Wilfried, moving his family to Gerlach and leaving behind the Ehrenfest noble’s quarter. When Lord Wilfried was ejected from the competition for Aub he was not upset but he did realize it was partly his failing as a retainer that led to this outcome. Finally starting to learn the lessons of what it means to be an archnoble from his mother and eldest brother, he decided he would continue to support Lord Wilfried. Lamprecht joined the Giebe Knights as the Knight Commander for Gerlach. For Lady Aurelia, this was ideal, she who prefers to avoid socializing in high pressure and politically sensitive environments. While she had gradually become used to Ehrenfest, less afraid to interact with others, she was still very much pleased to leave for a new province in the countryside. She felt comfortable enough to switch to a transparent veil only partially blocking her visage and on occasion even choosing to go without her veil. Moreover, as a province with an increasingly large population of former Veronica faction turned neutral nobles, her veil was less and less out of place as a remaining trend from the former Ahrensbach now Alexandria. Lamprecht had an astounding five children with his First Wife Lady Aurelia, four of them were sons that seemed bound to become muscle head knights like their father, grandfather, and great-grandfather before them. Surprisingly, a daughter was born as the youngest child of his First Wife, a welcome surprise for Lord Bonifatius. It was impressive for one noble lady to have so many children but I suppose their affection for one another was just that strong. He married a Second Wife from Ehrenfest, an archnoble lady that he had three children with. His Third Wife was a high mana neutral mednoble that he had two children with. All of his children were raised as knights.
--Ignaz & Lulraldi--
Ignaz, the archnoble scholar of Lord Wilfried, married an archnoble from Josbrenner, Lady Lulraldi, who comes from a family with close connections to the Josbrenner archducal family. She had aggressively pursued Ignaz at the Royal Academy and ultimately won his favour through their shared interest in scholarly work and moving forward the Ehrenfest printing industry. She and Ignaz supported Lord Wilfried in establishing the major production centers of the new Gerlach. Lady Lulraldi would promote Ehrenfest books to foreign visitors and merchants while collecting information on new stories. She was able to form a new connection to Aub Alexandria the Lady Rozemyne through her regular creation of new stories, to the great pleasure of Aub Alexandria, gaining great profits and influence. Ignaz would focus on collecting information and techniques from abroad to refine large scale paper production and printing in Gerlach, seeking to trade information with Lord Ferdinand of Alexandria whenever possible. The pair became an influential couple in their own right, not entirely surprising for archnobles of higher ranked duchies but still impressive for the new Ehrenfest. Though he welcomed a Second Wife, given the massive profits the household was earning, there was peace in the home as the new wife respected Lady Lulraldi’s position as the First Wife never attempting to threaten her or her children’s position. Not that it would be a wise idea either to make an enemy of such an influential archnoble lady from the highly ranked Josbrenner that his close connections to Klassenberg.
--Alexis--
The archnoble guard knight from Kirnberger, the son of Giebe Kirnberger and his Second Wife, was a neutral apprentice knight in Lord Wilfried’s service. He married an archnoble from Lehmbruck that he met at the Royal Academy. When he was courting her originally, the position of Ehrenfest was still below that of Lehmbruck in the rankings and it was uncertain if their engagement would be approved or not. However, with the meteoric rise of Ehrenfest, the Goddess of Sprouts, Bluanfa, was able to bloom once again and the lovers torn apart by duchy status, now had their pairing actively pushed by Aub Lehmbruck himself. The Aub was likely seeking closer connections with the newly rising Ehrenfest and jumped on the opportunity to bring the pair together. Alexis was very happy to welcome his lover to Ehrenfest thanks to the guidance of the Goddess of Marriage, Liebeskuhilfe. He had four children with his First Wife, the Lady from Lehmbruck. Though, as an archnoble, Alexis was pressured to take a Second wife, and one from Ehrenfest, to produce more children during the mana shortage era. He ultimately chose to marry a high mana mednoble of the Florencia faction to avoid threatening the position of his First Wife, who comes from the now much lower ranked duchy of Lehmbruck. The mednoble lady was happy to rise in status to an archnoble through her marriage to Alexis and had a comfortable life in Gerlach having two children with her husband.
--Gregor--
An archnoble guard knight and retainer to Lord Wilfried, he decided to continue following his lord and joined the Giebe Knights in Gerlach. He married a strong neutral mednoble from Ehrenfest, Lady Katinka. They had three children together and lived a calm life in Gerlach supporting the rule of Lord Wilfried. Several years later, Gregor would go on to welcome his First Wife, an archnoble lady from a higher territory. Many duchies were still seeking to build connections with the new Ehrenfest, pressuring various archnoble and mednoble men to take additional wives for the sake of balancing interduchy politics.
--Linhardt--
An adult mednoble attendant selected by Lady Veronica before her downfall, he continues to support Lord Wilfried. Though whether its for loyalty or not having any other paths to power after the purge of the former Veronica faction, I know not. Linhardt moved with his wife and family to Gerlach. His First Wife is a mednoble from the former Veronica faction, having married at a time when Veronica was still in power. The Second Wife of Linhardt is a high mana laynoble from the Florencia faction who learned the Rozemyne Mana Compression Method, giving her a mana capacity on par with that of a mednoble. Though, Linhardt is not the only one, many of the remaining former Veronica faction nobles have moved to Gerlach to find peace, including those who have already been punished by the archducal family after the former Veronica faction purge. They have all sought second and third marriages, where possible, to shift their faction alignments to more neutral, even accepting strong mana mednobles and laynobles as their marriage partners from the Florencia and Neutral factions. Thanks to Lady Rozemyne, such marriages were common among those who learned her compression method, greatly increasing the numbers of mednobles and archnobles in Ehrenfest during this generation.
--Isidore--
I, the archnoble Head Attendant of Giebe Gerlach, and member of the former Veronica faction, have continued to follow my master, Lord Wilfried, despite his decision to step away from the competition for Aub. Though I never chose to be a member of the former Veronica faction, it’s not always possible to choose your own faction, with many of us still being seen as connected to the traitors all these years later. Fortunately, the younger generations believes in selecting your own factions and evaluating individuals based on their merits thanks to the influence of Lady Rozemyne. The new Gerlach is home to many misfits like those of us from the former Veronica faction, where we have an opportunity to prove ourselves without the weight of our parent’s sins. I choose to support Lord Wilfried and the archducal family; having associated myself with the Florencia and Neutral factions. I married my First Wife, a neutral archnoble from Kirnberger and later my Second Wife, a strong mednoble from the Florencia faction. My children will be raised as neutral nobles who support the rule of the archducal family above all while seeking to avoid political squabbles.
--The Problem Children--
Oswald, though a former head attendant to the next Archduke, remained in the city of Ehrenfest under the direct supervision of the archducal family as someone who had given their name to Veronica and often acted in an underhanded manner. Oswald was married to a high mana neutral mednoble at the strong recommendation of the archduke and his First Wife to prevent further erroneous actions on his part. The plan of the marriage being to allow the reversion of his noble house from the former Veronica faction back to the Neutral faction, and incentivize the mednoble First Wife to monitor Oswald with the increase in her status to archnoble through this marriage. Moreover, her children would also be archnobles and will inherit Oswald's house, one with close blood relations to the archducal family of Ehrenfest. It was almost certain that if she did her job well her children would become important retainers for the next generation of Ehrenfest Archduke Candidates.
After Lord Wilfried’s First Wife from Drewanchel married into Gerlach, she quickly wised up to Bartolt’s subversive actions after observing him and urged her husband to take action. Lord Wilfried had been aware that situations tended to become unnecessarily complicated whenever Bartolt was involved but was uncertain because his name dedication led Lord Wilfried to believe Bartolt couldn’t act against him. But with his wife’s input Lord Wilfried was finally able to confirm that this was not the case. Lord Wilfried reprimanded Bartolt and removed him as a retainer of Giebe Gerlach, but ordered him to remain in the province and take no further actions that would impede Lord Wilfried or the archducal family. Bartolt would remain on house arrest for the foreseeable future, responsible only for dedicating mana to filling various magic tools. Of course, none that had any dangerous functions.
Notes:
FAN ILLUSTRATED MAP OF MODIFIED EHRENFEST PROVINCES: https://www.reddit.com/user/nViroGuy/comments/ykl2ix/ehrenfest_factional_province_split_giebe_wilfried/
ALT LINK
https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/903605112711707692/
Chapter 3: The Noble Charlotte: Recollection of the Aub’s Scholar Marianne
Summary:
Charlotte's rise to the Aub.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
1: An Archduke Candidate Meant to Lead
After Wilfried stepped down from the competition for Aub, Lady Charlotte was the natural next choice to succeed the seat. For a time, it seemed she was not in serious contention for the position after her elder brother's engagement to Lady Rozemyne. She nonetheless made a name for herself at the Royal Academy with various high-ranking duchies. She caused a bit of a scramble between territories seeking her hand in marriage as the First Wife to their duchy’s future Aub. Lady Charlotte made close connections with several Archduke Candidates close in age and a particularly close relationship with a young man from Gausbuttel the Ninth, Lord Konradin. They grew close to one another despite believing their affection never really stood a chance. Lady Charlotte was being pushed to become the First Wife of a higher territory while Lord Konradin, the son of the Aub Gausbuttel's Third Wife, was never in serious contention for the seat of Aub. But there was a major reversal for Lady Charlotte in the competition for Aub after her brother stepped down, and she now needed to secure a male Archduke Candidate as a husband to rise to the position of ruling archduchess of Ehrenfest.
While Lord Konradin was never mistreated in Gausbuttel he was raised without an expectation to lead. His status really shot up with the opportunity to become the consort of the next Aub Ehrenfest. Lady Charlotte married her God of Darkness Lord Konradin after her graduation from the Royal Academy and rose to the position of Aub Ehrenfest at the young age of twenty. Many were surprised to see Lord Sylvester step down when he was still relatively young and more than able to continue governing. Though several others also believed it a prudent decision given the challenges Lord Sylvester was facing trying to act as an Archduke of a higher territory. He first rose to the position of Aub when Ehrenfest was among the lowest ranked territories in the country, so it is not exactly surprising that it was difficult for Lord Sylvester to continue effectively managing the new Ehrenfest that was a higher ranking territory with the added responsibility to protect and lead those now weaker than Ehrenfest.
Despite her youth, Lady Charlotte effortlessly stepped right into the role of Aub and actually improved the success of her duchy further by raising the rank of Ehrenfest from the 8th to the 6th behind only that of the greater duchies during her short decades long reign. Lady Charlotte quickly got to work reforming the provinces of Ehrenfest, particularly those provinces along trade routes from the duchy's boundary gates and the country gate, with similar reforms to those used to remake Groschel into an important trading city. With her support, Lord Wilfried was able to massively redesign and expand the capital city of Gerlach using entwickeln. Turning it into a production and mercantile center supplying Ehrenfest's innovative products to various trading partners and welcoming merchants from Alexandria and nations beyond the Ehrenfest country border gate. This allowed Ehrenfest to massively expand the number of duchies it traded with and the volume of Ehrenfest products that could be provided. The ability to welcome more merchants and increase the distribution of Ehrenfest products to other duchies was one of the remaining factors limiting the continued rise of the duchy's ranking and status. Through the actions of the Aub Ehrenfest the Lady Charlotte, Ehrenfest had finally cemented its position as a higher territory for generations to come.
Surprisingly, Lady Charlotte chose to step down from the position of Aub after only a ten-year reign, in support of her younger brother Lord Melchior, as the next Aub Ehrenfest. She had stated that it was always her intention to act as a middle reliever Aub and stabilize the Ehrenfest created by her beloved elder sister, Lady Rozemyne. Though many expected her to continue reigning for several more years to come as she had been recognized as one of the most competent Aubs in recent history. Potentially the most consequential Aub for all of Ehrenfest's two hundred year history.
Lady Charlotte remains a popular figure in Ehrenfest politics to this day despite her short tenure, given the massive shift in leadership between her father, Lord Sylvester’s reign and her own. According to my aunt, many nobles were extremely hesitant with trusting the Ehrenfest archducal family at all, given the chaotic leadership style that had become the norm in the duchy since the marriage of Lady Gabrielle of Ahrensbach into Ehrenfest. The nobles looked at Lady Charlotte’s ascension to ruling archduchess with great hope and also great fear, not knowing whether she will represent stable leadership as she intends or the chaotic leadership her family has come to demonstrate during their most recent generations.
The younger generation of the archducal family worked exceedingly hard to rebuild confidence in their ability to rule Ehrenfest effectively. With support from her father’s Second Wife, Lady Brunhilde, Lady Charlotte was able to build stronger relations with the Leisegang faction who had originally favoured her compared to the Veronica-raised Lord Wilfried. She further cemented their positive view of her when she permanently appointed the Leisegang nobles as giebes over the southern provinces previously ruled by rebellious former Veronica faction nobles. Lord Wilfried also worked hard to rebuild his image among the nobles as a giebe of a large province bordering Leisegang. He worked hard to make amends for his past foolish actions and demonstrated his growth as a leader, slowly building a cooperative understanding of sorts with his Leisegang neighbours. Lord Melchior, acting as the High Bishop of Ehrenfest, built positive relationships with all the giebes and provincial nobles during the spring prayer and harvest ceremonies demonstrating his commitment to effective leadership of the temple and fair distribution of mana.
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Aub Ehrenfest the Lady Cahrlotte and her consort Lord Konradin had three children together, two of them born prior to her rise to the status of Aub, and the third born after her several years long campaigns of entwickeln. Her first-born daughter was married back to Gausbuttel as the First Wife of the next Aub Gausbuttel. Her second child, a son, was married to Reunwalt as the son-in-law to the next Giebe Reunwalt. The adjacent province of Groschel already had a female Giebe, Lady Bertilde, making the acceptance of a female Giebe in Reunwalt simple for the nobles to accept. Finally, her youngest child, a daughter, was married as the First Wife of the next Giebe Kirnberger. All of her children brought the mindset of a modern higher territory with close relations to the gods with them and greatly benefited the territories they ruled over with their spouses. Despite marrying into giebes, the children of Lady Charlotte did not completely lose their status as Archduke Candidates, allowing her to cleverly install many of the supporters of the archducal family into key positions in those provinces of Ehrenfest that had previously shown tepid support for their rule up to this point.
Aub Ehrenfest recognized the importance of having influence with other duchies by marrying Archduke Candidates into various archducal families. In the past, there were very few duchies interested in even accepting Archduke Candidates from Ehrenfest, never mind accepting them into any important positions like the First or Second Wife of an Aub or future Aub. With her husband’s marriage into Ehrenfest, Lady Charlotte was more than happy to marry her daughter back into Gausbuttel, creating stronger connections with the duchy and surrounding Ehrenfest’s problem neighboring territory, Corinzdaum, on two sides. Furthermore, with Lady Brunhilde’s daughter set to marry into Frenbeltag as the First Wife of the next Aub Frenbeltag, we can create a regional containment of the influence of Corinzdaum’s Aub, Lord Sigiswald. Lady Charlotte’s youngest sister from the same mother, has married into Corinzdaum as First Wife of the next Aub. The collective impact of these marriages and the rise in Ehrenfest’s status will ensure that her influence within Corinzdaum is great and thwart the actions of any members of the nobility who would attempt to challenge her authority. Moreover, we have been directly assigned a mission by the Zent as direct supporters of her reign, to assist her in pressuring Lord Sigiswald to step down from the position of Aub, in favour of the designated heir, to prevent the embers of conflict from reigniting once again.
Reunwalt has become increasingly important since the territory of the former Zausengas has been incorporated into Klassenberg. There is now an accessible border gate directly between Klassenberg and Ehrenfest open most of the year when previously it opened for a month at best when it was in Haldenzel. The first step to smooth trade and relations with Klassenberg was performing an entwickeln in Reunwalt to create another sizeable merchant city like the renewed Groschel. But changing mindsets in the population is not as easy, thus the placement of a child from the archducal family into the ruling giebe family ensures that capable nobles will be placed into key positions of the rebuilt province. With such actions also earning strong favour from the nobles of Reunwalt by demonstrating the Aub's current and future support of the province by marrying in a politically important Archduke Candidate instead of into another duchy. Now the province of Reunwalt is becoming a strong supporter of Ehrenfest’s archducal family.
Kirnberger became extremely important to Ehrenfest for obvious reasons. It contained the country gate, one of only six in the entire nation, trusted to a single duchy each. The former major trading city for Eisenreich used to exist in Kirnberger but was abandoned altogether by new ruling family when the first Ehrenfest archdukes took over from the former Eisenreich. While the city did not require a massive Entwickeln there was some updating that was necessary, but more so there was a greater need for mana rich nobles who were competent and trustworthy to the archducal family. Especially as foreigners will once again enter the country through Ehrenfest, the duchy must avoid repeating the mistakes of the former Eisenreich and Ahrensbach this generation and every generation after. By marrying her daughter into Kirnberger, Lady Charlotte was able to shift the province into strong supporters of the Aub, while ensuring that many high mana nobles would be born into the province from her daughter and her daughter’s retainers, who also married into the province.
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Though her reign was short, Lady Charlotte might be the most consequential Aub in the history of Ehrenfest. She presided over a generational shift in attitude in Ehrenfest from that of the lowest territory to that of one of the highest. She instilled a sense of authority in Ehrenfest that has not existed in its history. She rebuilt the lost trust between the various nobles of Ehrenfest and the archducal family that had been lost from previous generations of archducal mismanagement. She made a major display of her mana prowess and that of the archducal family, by the sheer scale and number of entwickelns she performed in cities across the duchy, over just a few short years. She also oversaw the single largest trade expansion in Ehrenfest history during her reign. She deepened her connections with other territories originally built during her days in the Royal Academy, capitalizing on those benefits for the whole of Ehrenfest and further increasing trade with newly allied duchies. She has demonstrated her commitment to overcoming the challenges given to her by Glucklitat, the God of Trials, by becoming the ruling Aub despite being a woman. Aub Ehrenfest the Lady Charlotte was one of many successful female rulers of this generation I might add, contributing to the Yurgenschmidt nobility's improved impression of female rulers in general and slightly closing the gap for all future female Archduke Candidates compared to their male rivals across the nation.
Notes:
FAN ILLUSTRATED MAP OF EHRENFEST WITH FAN FICTION RELEVANT DATA
https://www.reddit.com/user/nViroGuy/comments/ykln0y/ehrenfest_factional_province_split_after_aub/ALT LINK
https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/903605112711707650/
Chapter 4: The Lovely Melchior
Summary:
This story is told from the perspectives of third person omniscient and that of a scheming Klassenberg noble.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
1: Sincerity that Reached the Gods
Lord Melchior stepped into the position of High Bishop of Ehrenfest after his adopted sister, Lady Rozemyne, left to become the First Aub Alexandria. It seems all the children of Aub Ehrenfest have been assisting with temple rituals and maintaining the old ways that have been long since forgotten. This despite Ehrenfest being a relatively young duchy, with only a two-hundred-year history. This allowed the rising middle duchy to become the leading expert on topics relating to temple rituals, temple reforms, and sincere prayers. There were increased blessings and attributes in the nobles of Ehrenfest compared to the nobles of other duchies making it appear that the duchy itself was favoured by the gods.
Lord Melchior was often invited to participate in leading prayers and rituals at the Royal Academy with the Zent Lady Eglantine, and Lady Letizia the adopted daughter of Aub Alexandria. As a High Bishop personally trained by the incarnation of Mestionora herself, Lady Rozemyne, there were no other nobles or blue priests who could possibly compare to him or his sincere connection to the gods that he had cultivated since even before his baptism. Seemingly, not even Lady Letizia who had recently come under the guidance of the incarnation of Mestionora as well. Though, if any student at the Royal Academy was considered to be the next closest to the gods, it would certainly be Lady Letizia of Alexandria. Lord Melchior worked with Lady Letizia to support the Zent at the Royal Academy, working together to demonstrate the importance of sincere prayers and rituals, all to remind the nobility of the need to return to the old ways demanded by the gods.
Luckily, Lady Rozemyne herself, the incarnation of Mestionora, had already demonstrated the importance of blessings for mana efficiency and for obtaining, or strengthening, attributes one was not born with. The importance of the temple, its rituals, and sincere prayers, rapidly caught the attention of various nobles trying to increase their influence and status. Nobles will always want to have as much mana as they can handle as their status is directly connected to their mana capacity. However, the temples of most duchies have fallen to little more than brothels for flower offerings, where mana poor children of noble birth are sent away to be out of sight. Members of the nobility across the country were desperate to reform their temples in the hopes of receiving similar benefits to that in Ehrenfest. Yet, they had no idea how, or even where, to start. Lord Melchior was one of the wizened nobles to offer this knowledge to the duchies which lacked it, along with support from Aub Alexandria and the Zent, they advised various nobles and their duchies on how to reform their temples, based on the Ehrenfest temple as a model. The status of Lord Melchior, and Ehrenfest itself, continued to rise with their close association with the incarnation of Mestionora, Lady Rozemyne now also the Aub of Alexandria, and the legitimate Zent with Glustrisheit, Lady Eglantine.
Given Lord Melchior’s proximity to the temple, the rising position of Ehrenfest, his connections to Lady Rozemyne, and being from a generation that will obtain the highest quality schtappe in his final year at the Royal Academy, many nobles have come to expect that Lord Melchior will be the first proper Zent Candidate of this generation. Though the blessing ceremony now occurs in the sixth year, the specific blessings received are private unless the individual chooses to share that information. When asked what blessings he received, Lord Melchior only stated he is happy the gods have heard his prayers. During the schtappe acquisition ceremony at the Royal Academy, Lord Melchior caused the statues in the small hall to dance, opening the doors to a mysterious place previously entered by Lady Eglantine when she received the Glustrisheit. It is said that behind the doors lay the Garden of the Beginning, where one obtains a seven attribute schtappe. One of the major requirements needed to qualify oneself as a proper Zent Candidate, particularly because the schtappe can only obtained once in a person's life. When the Zent learned of this news it was said that she became very excited. She took her planned role of educating and supporting the next generation of Zent Candidates quite seriously. To the point she had even promised directly to the gods at her coronation to be the type of Zent demanded by them and would ensure legitimate Zent Candidates that opened pathway themselves. Lord Melchior is recognized as the first potential Zent Candidate to walk the halls of the Royal Academy since Lady Rozemyne, the incarnation of Mestionora. He too, is from the duchy that produced such a revered figure, it seems only natural that he would follow a similar path.
The Zent began to take Lord Melchior on special lessons across the Royal Academy grounds to determine if he could open the path to the knowledge of the gods on his own and obtain a Glustrisheit. Lord Melchior began residing at the Royal Academy after his graduation, offering sincere prayers to the gods at shrines across the academy grounds to strengthen his blessings and receive new blessings he had yet to obtain. It's been said that the mana capacity and strength of one’s schtappe can grow from these prayer ceremonies at the Royal Academy shrines, however, only those who have outgrown the limit of their schtappes or are potential candidates for Zent are allowed to participate under the guidance of the reigning Zent, currently Lady Eglantine.
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A few months later, the Zent announced that Lord Melchior had obtained a Glustrisheit from the gods and is the presumed next heir to the position of Zent. Many nobles celebrated this development as a positive sign for the continued stability of the country even into the future. Though, just as many nobles were frustrated at the race for Zent seeming to have ended before it could even begin. The Zent reminded the nobles that only those who can obtain a Glutrisheit from the gods on their own merits can be recognized as a candidate for Zent, and even then, that candidate must be willing to follow the will of the gods, as she has. Lord Melchior later displayed his Glustrisheit in front of the nobles gathered at the new Sovereign Palace, on the Royal Academy grounds, to show proof of his candidacy for the Zentship.
Ehrenfest had cemented its position as a higher territory having now produced two legitimate Zent Candidates in less than a decade; Lady Rozemyne and Lord Melchior. Previously, no one even knew how to properly obtain the Glutrisheit. Not even the former Royal Family after their ancestors twisted the process of becoming Zent to favour themselves. The interest surrounding Ehrenfest only intensified as various duchies expected their status to further increase, as the next Zent of Jurgenschmidt is expected to hail from Ehrenfest.
Lord Melchior has not publicly declared whether or not he intends to become the next Zent after Lady Eglantine, only continuing with his duties as the High Bishop of Ehrenfest and supporting his elder sister’s rule as the current Aub Ehrenfest. After returning to his duchy, Lord Melchior welcomed his First Wife from Dunklefelger the First, an Archduke Candidate born from the Second Wife of the Aub. Though the engagement was originally suggested in passing by Aub Dunklefelger, it became necessary to make it official to restore interduchy relations after earning Dunklefelger's displeasure. This from the time Lord Wilfried ordered Ehrenfest students to participate in the bride-stealing ditter for Lady Hannelore’s hand in marriage on the side of Drewanchel. Ultimately, Dunklefelger won the ditter match, which was to be expected from a duchy full of muscle head knights. However, all the participating duchies had earned the ire of Dunklefelger the First, now the most powerful duchy in the land. In the eyes of Dunklefelger, Ehrenfest’s actions represented a major convenience for them to exploit as Dunklefelger wanted to build closer relations with the new Ehrenfest. Dunklefelger was able to secure the perfect justification to nab the position of First Wife for the next Zent of Jurgendschmidt, or at the very least, the next Aub Ehrenfest.
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2: The Plotting of the Greater Duchy, Klassenberg
All of the unrest created from the civil war between the princes of the former Royal Family and the later attempted coup by the former Ahrensbach, have thoroughly shaken the rankings and stability of all duchies in the country over a short time period of less than two decades. The newly formed and rebounded duchies primarily existed in the eastern region of the country, surrounding the increasingly important duchy of Ehrenfest. This new reality required a thoughtful balancing of the new faction politics and interduchy relations to stabilize the eastern regions.
Klassenberg, not pleased to stand idle as Dunklefelger further secures its position as the highest ranked duchy through a marriage to the first proper Zent candidate with a Glutrisheit of this generation, has decided to pressure Ehrenfest into accepting one of their own Archduke Candidates as the Second Wife of Lord Melchior. Whether or not he ultimately rises to the position of Zent after Lady Eglantine, there are currently no other candidates for Zent. It is Ehrenfest Archduke Candidates, and those connected to them, who are currently the most likely to become candidates for Zent, at least for the foreseeable future. Only Ehrenfest has such a close connection to prayers, the temple, and the gods themselves. In consideration of these new realities, Klassenberg has realized that it must have a closer relationship with Ehrenfest given its new importance and a future status that is likely to only increase further, especially if Lord Melchior becomes the next Zent.
After the rise of Lady Eglantine to the position of Zent, the duchy with the most influence should have remained Klassenberg. It the home duchy of the Zent and the ones who raised her, a princess of the former Royal Family that almost perished from royal infighting. However, it was Ehrenfest and Dunklefelger who acted while Klassenberg was unaware, to repel the Lanzenave-former Ahrensbach alliance. And it was Ehrenfest’s Lady Rozemyne, as the incarnation of Mestionora, who actually elevated Lady Eglantine to the position of Zent. Bestowing upon her the Glutrisheit. Klassenberg was unable to play any role in these key events and was thus surpassed by Ehrenfest and Dunklefelger in contributions, losing out on their position as the highest ranked duchy. Klassenberg fell even further to the 4th position in the rankings beneath the newly created duchies of Blumefeld and Corinzdaum to be ruled by the former Royal Family members. Though on the side of benefits, having a legitimate Zent with the Glutrisheit meant that the territory gained by Klassenberg during the previous civil war could finally be rebounded and incorporated into the duchy. Gaining new warmer lands through absorbing the former the middle territory of Zausengas, represented a boon for Klassenberg in terms of agriculture and increased trade access.
Despite Ehrenfest not accepting an immediate rise in their duchy's ranking after the Lanzenave-former Ahrensbach conflict, it was clear that Ehrenfest’s influence would only continue to grow and it would start rising again in the rankings once its internal situation stabilized. This could represent either an opportunity or a threat to the position of Klassenberg. An opportunity if Klassenberg can bring Ehrenfest closer to them and their sphere of influence through marriage or trade activities. And a threat if Ehrenfest takes a neutral or negative stance towards Klassenberg while becoming more powerful and closer to Dunklefelger or another greater duchy. Given their proximity to the temple, temple rituals, and prayers, Ehrenfest is an important potential ally that must be brought to Klassenberg’s side. Particularly now that the importance of the temple and its crucial role in noble society has been rediscovered.
Klassenberg lacks the knowledge and experience related to temple matters and there remains historical barriers between the temple and the nobility, creating an ongoing barrier to the reintegration of the temple rituals and prayers back to noble society. Ehrenfest nobles have, and will continue to have, more blessings, more mana, and higher quality nobles as their fellowship with the gods becomes increasingly apparent. To the point of potentially eclipsing even those nobles of the greater duchy of Klassenberg within a generation if we are unable to reform our own temple. A middle duchy with nobles more powerful and mana-rich than the nobles of the great Klassenberg, home of the legitimate Zent, Lady Eglantine, and the former First ranked duchy? Such a reality must not be allowed to happen. Therefore, a plan was created to bring Ehrenfest closer to Klassenberg and ensure future close relations.
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The First Wife position of the next Aub, Lord Melchior, was already cleverly snatched away by Dunklefelger, leaving only the Second and Third Wife positions. Klassenberg must marry one of our Archduke Candidates to Ehrenfest as Lord Melchior’s Second Wife to secure closer relations. Though such a position will have limited authority in Ehrenfest. We must take direct action to further create a foothold in the duchy to exert our authority, such that Ehrenfest will consider the interests of Klassenberg in its decision-making.
If we agree to return territory gained from the former Eisenreich back to Ehrenfest it could be seen as a measure of goodwill from both the duchy of Klassenberg and the Zent, Lady Eglantine, stating that the new Ehrenfest is a trusted partner able to rule over the territory previously confiscated from their former duchy. We can stipulate that Ehrenfest must appoint all the children of the Second Wife from Klassenberg, as giebes in the returned territory. With Klassenberg descended Archduke Candidates and their retainers settling in the north, we will have succeeded in creating a Klassenberg faction in Ehrenfest, who can exert their influence to maintain close relationships between our duchies. With the rule of the returned territory by Klassenberg descended nobles, it will essentially still ruled by Klassenberg, but now through proxy.
The land obtained from the former Eisenreich has not been productive to Klassenberg for over a century, becoming essentially abandoned at this point. It represents an increasingly useless drain on the mana of the archducal family and nobles of the duchy, offering no real benefits and only costs. Especially now, with the addition of the lands from the former Zausengas, there is a large amount of mana required to continue its full integration into Klassenberg. By handing over territory gained from the former Eisenreich we can create a goodwill gesture towards Ehrenfest, reduce the mana expenditure placed on the Klassenberg archducal family, temporarily disrupt Ehrenfest from rising any further in the rankings, and create a new Klassenberg faction in Ehrenfest to counter-balance the rising influence of the Dunklefelger faction of the First Wife, likely to take root.
Klassenberg had also considered splitting off a lesser duchy from our massively expanded territory to reduce mana demands on the archducal family and the nobility. However, splitting off a lesser duchy would actually be a drain on the resources of Klassenberg, as we would need to provide both the funds and personnel necessary to establish a new duchy. In an area like the territory of the former Eisenreich that was essentially abandoned there is an even greater initial cost associated with it. Moreover, if the new lesser duchy does not thrive and effectively assert their influence, it would represent a stain on Klassenberg’s reputation for the inability of our nobles to succeed in the new duchy. But if we hand the confiscated territory back over to Ehrenfest, we will actually gain influence as a benevolent territory working to create better relations with our neighbour. Then even Ehrenfest would have a difficult time coming up with any justification to reject our request for a marriage as the overall deal appears to greatly benefit their duchy more than ours. Once we hand over the territory, Ehrenfest will be so busy trying to integrate and stabilize lands that have been effectively abandoned for over a century, they won't even have an opportunity to even think about surpassing Klassenberg in the rankings. And even if Lord Melchior rises to the position of Zent, Klassenberg will still be seen as one of his supporters due to the marriage of his Second Wife from our duchy. Thus, with this plan, Klassenberg will have secured its future position either way, as is appropriate for a higher territory to do.
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3: Melchior’s Path to the Future
Lord Melchior married his First Wife, Lady Sapphira of Dunklefelger, as an Archduke Candidate of Ehrenfest and the only candidate in line for the position of Zent. Through the political maneuvering of Klassenberg, it was decided that Lord Melchior will later welcome his Second Wife from Klassenberg, Lady Kassiana, daughter of the Aub's Second Wife. After his first marriage Lord Melchior and Lady Sapphira, never even had an opportunity enjoy the beginning of their newly wed life, as Lady Charlotte, the new Aub of Ehrenfest, regularly pressured all members of the archducal family to supply as much mana as possible to the magic of the duchy's foundation. This was to allow for her numerous entwickelns being carried out across Ehrenfest to reform the duchy, by increasing its capacity for production and trade, and create a foothold for its future growth. During the first few years of Lady Charlotte’s reign as Aub Ehrenfest, no children were born to any archducal family members living in the capital city of Ehrenfest, because they were all being drained of mana to meet the stringent demands required to keep up with the numerous entwickelns. However, the grand magics performed by the Aub Ehrenfest the Lady Charlotte, with the support of the archducal family, greatly impressed the nobles of all factions and built new relationships of good faith and trust between the Archduchess and the nobles of Ehrenfest.
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Years later, after Aub Ehrenfest completed her quest to reform the key physical infrastructure of the duchy, there was a bit of a baby boom among Ehrenfest’s archducal family members. Lord Melchior had four children with his First Wife from Dunklefelger. Lady Charlotte had another child with her consort from Gausbuttel, bringing her total number of children to three. And then, Lord Melchior married his Second Wife from Klassenberg, Lady Kassiana, who he went on to have four children with. Three sons and one daughter, all destined to become future giebes in the soon to be received northern territory of the former Eisenreich.
After the wedding of Lord Melchior to his Second Wife from Klassenberg at the spring Archduke Conference, an aide to the Zent summoned Lord Melchior for a private audience. After arriving at a private conference room for the audience, the Zent handed Lord Melchior an anti-eavesdropping magic tool. The Zent asked Lord Melchior when he was planning to to step into the position of Zent, given that she was only acting as a middle reliever Zent until another qualified candidate appeared. It’s commonly understood that there are currently no other Zent Candidates who have obtained a Glutrisheit, besides Lord Melchior of Ehrenfest. Though he responded to the Zent that he had no intention of ever becoming Zent himself, seriously shocking Lady Eglantine. He stated that he intends to support a child of Lady Rozemyne as the next Zent, since he believes it an utter certainty that one or more of them will have the qualifications to become Zent. It is only sensical that children born to the incarnation of Mestionora, would also be favoured by her to obtain the Glutrisheit.
This all came as a major shock to Lady Eglantine. It was certainly not what she wanted to hear. Her face froze with a less than gentle smile. Lord Melchior stated that in an emergency he would be willing to stand in as a middle reliever Zent. However, barring such an emergency he intends to become the next Aub Ehrenfest after his sister, Lady Charlotte, steps down from the position in a few years. It seemed that Lady Eglantine was not pleased about remaining Zent for several more years to come. She would need to wait until she could confirm the qualifications of any children born to Lady Rozemyne, as candidates for Zent. At the same, she too believed it most appropriate for a child of Lady Rozemyne, the incarnation of Mestionora, to rise to the position of Zent.
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Years following that, Lord Melchior welcomed his Third Wife from Ehrenfest, his half-sister born to Lady Brunhilde his father's Second Wife. The Leisegangs still wanted to see an Ehrenfest Archduke from their bloodline and for their heritage to remain in the ruling archducal bloodline. Though, this would be impossible to accomplish this generation with a First Wife and Second Wife from greater duchies. There were not many appropriate potential candidates for the position of Third Wife when considering Leisegang descended noblewomen of marriageable age. Only his younger half-sister remained, she was an Archduke Candidate who learned an advanced mana compression method so she had enough mana to match him and she had a number of blessings thanks to her involvement with temple rituals. Moreover, there was already a close bond of friendship and Lord Melchior got along exceedingly well with Lord Clement so it was also perfect from a factional and personal connection perspective. This marriage to another Leisegang noble, like Lady Brunhilde to Lord Sylvester, was used to both placate the Leisegang faction of this generation and to finally suppress them the for the next generation to come. Lord Melchior intended to bring the Leisegang faction’s influence in line with the other developing factions within Ehrenfest. A daughter of his Leisegang Third Wife would be married to the next Giebe Leisegang as his First Wife, to mediate the overtures of the Leisegangs and act as a liaison for the Aub. Finally, Lord Melchior already has a plan in place to ensure the First Wife of the next Aub Ehrenfest, likely his eldest son Lord Mynehardt, would be descended from the Leisegang family and would not be displaced by a higher-ranking wife. Lord Melchior would finally bring the decades long conflict between the archducal family and the Leisegangs to a close. Allowing the duchy to look towards the future and finally move past the factional infighting of the past.
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Upon rising to the status of Aub Ehrenfest, Lord Melchior was able to further increase the rank of Ehrenfest and overtake the greater duchy of Blumefeld, becoming the 5th ranked duchy right behind Alexandria the Fourth. The daughters of Lady Sapphira, his First Wife from Dunklefelger, were married off as the First Wife of Hauchletze the Sixth and Second Wife of Drewanchel the Third. His eldest son was designated as his heir and married his First Wife from Alexandria the Fourth, a full blooded Leisegang noble that descended from the Ehrenfest archducal family through Lord Karstedt and Lady Elvira, the Lady Rozelynne. The Second Wife he married was an Archduke Candidate from Gausbuttel descended from Lady Charlotte's daughter, and the Third Wife was an Archduke Candidate from Frenbeltag descended from Lady Brunhilde's daughter. His youngest son born to Lady Sapphira, was trained as a proxy Aub to support his elder brother Lord Mynehardt, just like Lord Clement had done for Lord Melchior.
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4: Klassenberg’s Endgame
When the children from Lord Melchior’s Second Wife began attending the Royal Academy as Archduke Candidates, Klassenberg initiated the process of returning the territory of the former Eisenreich to Ehrenfest, totaling the size of a small lesser duchy. Ehrenfest increased in size from just a middle duchy to a large middle duchy nearing the size of a greater duchy, similar to that of Gilessenmeyer and a bit larger than Hauchletze. The new size of Ehrenfest felt more appropriate for a higher territory managing one of nation’s six country gates.
After graduation from the Royal Academy, the children from the Aub’s Second Wife were assigned as Giebes, one after another, in the newly incorporated northern territories received from Klassenberg. Their first marriage partners were decided from among the children of Lord Clement, the younger brother of the Aub born to a different mother, and one of Lord Melchior's most trustworthy supporters and Giebe Gerlach the Lord Wilfried. This was to ensure that the influence of Klassenberg would be blunted by temporarily preventing the marriage of additional Klassenberg nobles into key positions within the new northern provinces. Currently, Ehrenfest is on good terms with Klassenberg, but even the new Ehrenfest recognizes the danger of a powerful duchy having too great an influence in one's territory after the fallout of Lady Gabrielle's marriage into Ehrenfest. Thus, Lord Melchior further assigned two children from his Leisegang younger brother, Lord Clement, to act as a breakwater in the provinces of Schneeslacht and Ritterkampf, directly north of Haldenzel and on a section of the duchy border with Klassenberg respectively. A series of mednoble giebes from the neutral faction were also assigned to various smaller provinces created to manage the remaining land of the new north.
The four-Archduke Candidates born to the Second Wife became Giebes Eisenlekt, Kaltefelt, Wasserhafen, and Nachtwachter, in provinces larger than Haldenzel and appropriate in size for members of the archducal family. All of the new larger provinces were designed with a central fortress city to protect the noble and commoner populations alike, including underground winter mansions for commoners like those seen in Haldenzel. Ehrenfest’s close relationship with the temple, its rituals, and prayers were also passed along to the Klassenberg descended Archduke Candidates allowing them to call forth the warmer months themselves during the Spring Prayer rituals, first debuted in Haldenzel by Lady Rozemyne the High Bishop of Ehrenfest at the time. Moreover, given that their father, Lord Melchior, was also a Zent Candidate, he had been able to rediscover knowledge of older rituals that could restore metals and gems to the long-abandoned mines of the former Eisenreich territory. Lord Melchior taught his children how to perform the metal and gem restoration rituals through a prayer ceremony dedicated to the God of Mountains, Elbberg, and the God of Smithing, Vulcanift, to further support the future prosperity of their new provinces in the north.
The northern lands of Ehrenfest became quite successful, despite having been left previously abandoned for over a century by Klassenberg. Strong knights have become characteristic of the north with the large number of feybeasts that emerge and are culled to reduce the strength of each year's Lord of Winter. The mines went back into production giving Ehrenfest a consistent supply of metal for their printing technology and various innovative products attracting commoner artisans and merchants to the north. This further contributed to the expansion of Ehrenfest's key industries and their production capacity. And with the ability to call forth spring themselves using temple rituals, the colder provinces were able to farm almost as long as the warmer provinces in the south of Ehrenfest, though the mana demand was greater. A moderate Klassenberg faction formed among the nobles of the north descended from the Second Wife and her retainers, but they only sought to ensure that the Dunklefelger faction will not cause Ehrenfest to turn away from Klassenberg and to encourage Ehrenfest to maintain good relations with Klassenberg into the future.
Even though Lord Melchior had previously supported Klassenberg in reforming its temple himself, the majority of nobles still felt a repulsion to it. Aub Klassenberg could only assign an Archduke Candidate from his Second or Third Wife to the position of High Bishop to prevent the nobles from looking harshly upon their next Aub or threatening the stability of their future reign. The Archduke Candidate Giebes in the north of Ehrenfest were able to tangibly demonstrate the benefits of the temple and its rituals to Klassenberg nobles. They accomplished this by turning the formerly abandoned territory handed over to Ehrenfest into thriving lands that are now a net positive for the duchy, instead of the mana drain they were on Klassenberg. The interest of Klassenberg nobles grew exponentially after seeing the difference that land management with prayers and knowledge of temple rituals could make. This was particularly of interest for the giebes of colder provinces in Klassenberg. Giebes Eisenlekt, Kaltefelt, Wasserhafen, and Nachtwachter regularly welcomed nobles from Klassenberg for temple ritual exchanges so that the giebes could replicate various important ceremonies back in their provinces of Klassenberg. Of course, Ehrenfest insisted on a "small" reasonable information fee to share this knowledge, much to the surprise of Klassenberg. But for those in the know, it is clear that Lady Rozemyne’s antics are still having far reaching impacts on the Ehrenfest archducal family and their diplomacy.
Notes:
FAN ILLUSTRATED MAPS OF EHRENFEST AND YURGENSCHMIDT ACCORDING TO THE FANFICTION STORY
https://www.reddit.com/user/nViroGuy/comments/yklt1k/yurg_world_map_with_ehrenfest_territory_gain_from/ALT LINK
https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/903605112711707803/
Chapter 5: The Puppet Aub, Lord Sylvester
Summary:
Focusses on relationships between Ehrenfest and Corinzdaum
Chapter Text
1: The Reluctant Aub
Ugghhh, being the Aub is such a pain. Especially these days! There’s so much more work to do now that Ferdinand and Rozemyne have left for Alexandria. Why can’t Charlotte hurry up and takeover so that I can stop dealing with these bothersome things? I don’t even have the heart to be an Aub. I can’t be harsh and logical like Ferdinand can. I can’t pump out endless new inventions and trends like Rozemyne does either. I just wanted to love my wife, my kids, and have a happy family. Though, I have learned it’s never that simple when you have power.
I even had to take a Second Wife, which I had hoped would never happen. She happens to be a Leisegang and the former retainer of my adopted daughter, Rozemyne, making this a very politically convenient marriage. It all worked out for the best in the end, I suppose. But I’ll need to put in at least a bit of effort to ensure that Brunhilde doesn’t become unhappy lest she insight the Leisegang faction with her displeasure. Worse yet could be the rampage of Rozemyne, now Aub of the greater duchy Alexandria, given that she has looked upon this union with a critical eye on me from the beginning, to ensure Brunhilde’s happiness.
I adopted that little gremlin because it seemed interesting and I thought it might be nice to use her talents to raise our duchy’s rank a little. Ferdinand never asked for much but he seemed really intent on protecting this commoner turned blue robed shrine maiden. I wanted to grant the wish of my only younger brother. Knowing that my duchy would greatly benefit from protecting that little gremlin, helped steel my resolve about condemning my mother and uncle who’s repeated criminal activities had gone unchecked, even to the detriment of Ehrenfest itself. I know that this was a smart leadership decision in my mind but in my heart, it was never easy to do or to live with having done now. Moreover, ever since I adopted her it’s been nothing except for more headaches, more work, and less fun. I’ll need to keep poking Charlotte about stepping into the role of middle reliver Aub sooner rather than later so that I can sneak out and have fun aga… I mean, have an Aub trained with the mindset of a higher territory step into the role of supporting the new Ehrenfest.
Just a bit more effort and I can drop everything on Charlotte! She’s already married an Archduke Candidate from Gausbuttel, signaling to the nobles she intends to step into the position of Aub. She's already started to dye the foundational magic of Ehrenfest with her mana in preparation for taking over during the winter socializing. I can almost taste the freedom!! I mean, I am looking forward to stabilizing the new Ehrenfest under my daughter’s reign as the next Aub.
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2: Why is it Always Ehrenfest?
Finally, it’s my last Archduke Conference. This fall I’m handing everything over to Charlotte and getting the heck outta here.
Oh no, there’s the Zent, Lady Eglantine. Act cool. Maybe she didn’t notice me.
No! She’s walking towards me with a smile on her face. Those smiles are never peaceful. LIES! It’s a lie!
“May I pray for a blessing in appreciation of this meeting ordained by the pure flow of Fluhtrane, the Goddess of Water?” I said as the Zent approached me.
“You may.” the Zent responded back, maintaining her false peaceful smile.
“It’s a great fortune to have our threads cross once again thanks to the guidance of Dregarnuhr, the Goddess of Time. I am Aub Ehrenfest, your humble servant.”
“Aub Ehrenfest, shall we take this opportunity to bask in the blessings of Cuococalura, the Goddess of Cooking, and further enjoy this opportunity weaved together through the grace of the Goddess of Time, Dregarnuhr?”
UGHHHHH. I knew it was going to be something.
“I would be honoured, Zent.” I responded not allowing my displeasure to show.
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We moved to a private conference room on the Royal Academy grounds, with tea and snacks prepared the moment we stepped inside. So, she was planning on nabbing me from the start eh… guess I can’t escape whatever she’s planning. Why must all the women I am involved with be so crafty? Is this a test from the Goddess of Patience, Duldsetzen? I do not need more blessings! I just want a simple life!
Greetings. Euphemisms. Dancing around the subject. Just smile and nod Sylvester, you got this. So close to freedom. La La La.
Why did she just hand me an anti-eavesdropping magic tool? Why did I just grab it so naturally? Probably a habit I picked up because of Ferdinand’s craftiness.
Huh…. What did she just say? Wait, WHAT!?! She wants my cute daughter who’s just preparing to be baptized this autumn to marry into Corinzdaum? For what purpose?
According to the Zent, the Aub of Corinzdaum, Lord Sigiswald, has never truly gotten over losing his chance to become the Zent. It is thought that he still harbours serious machinations on becoming Zent, despite not having the qualifications to even obtain the Glutrisheit. He had previously sought the hand of Lady Hannelore, the incarnation of Dreganuhr, in an attempt to raise his status back into contention for the seat of Zent. Though thanks to Dunklefelger being… well, Dunklefelger, no duchy truly had a chance of defeating them in the bride-stealing ditter. Apparently, Aub Corinzdaum has not given up even after losing the ditter and has been making moves that could potentially lead to another civil war.
Thus, the Zent needs a noble from a trustworthy background to marry into Corinzdaum as soon as possible, and essentially takeover the duchy to make sure that no flames of rebellion are once again ignited. Especially not from the former Royal Family, which would completely undermine her and her consort in their rule over Yurgenschmidt as former Royal Family members themselves. This marriage would happen with the express support of the current Zent Eglantine. With my daughter being the younger sister of the presumed next Zent, Melchior, she would be in a very advantageous position as the First Wife of Corinzdaum. We just need to marry her in with some capable retainers, gather and support the non-rebellious noble factions, and suppress the problematic factions within Corinzdaum to stamp out any lingering thoughts of rising up and causing another civil war.
I suppose this is also in our interest as Corinzdaum now borders Frenbeltag, Florencia’s home and my second sister’s new home. Moreover, it is likely that mine and Brunhilde’s daughter will marry into Frenbeltag as the First Wife in the future, assuming there are no issues with mana compatibility. If Frenbeltag collapses or gets dragged into Corinzdaum’s schemes, that will be bad news for everyone. Potentially placing close blood relations of Frenbeltag, like those in Ehrenfest, at risk. I guess that now as a higher territory that helped repel the foreign invaders, Ehrenfest also has a responsibility to exert its influence in lower ranked duchies and prevent major conflicts if we are able to do so. Florencia would be happy about this to, protecting Frenbeltag and increasing its influence, which should help stabilize its position.
“Aub Ehrenfest, know that this is a request. Not an order. I have learned the lesson of making Royal Orders for our own convenience. But I believe we have mutual interests in ensuring the stability of the region, which includes Ehrenfest as an important existence.”
She’s not wrong. Most Archduke Candidates do marry for politics and not love anyways. It’s rare to marry for love like Florencia and I have. Plus, we can strongarm Corinzdaum into becoming whatever kind of duchy we want and increase Ehrenfest’s regional influence as a counter to the surrounding greater duchies of Klassenberg, Blumefeld, Alexandria, and Dunklefelger. It’s important that we build strong blood relations with all the duchies in our surrounding region to help protect Ehrenfest into the future and provide a basis for positive interduchy relations.
“Of course, Zent. I will speak with my First Wife, Lady Florencia, and immediately inform you of the decision”.
Ultimately, the conversation with Florencia was unnecessary. She also recognized that politics is the priority, and our daughter being in a powerful political position is the ideal. Even more so to publicly have the support of the current Zent, Lady Eglantine, while also being the younger sister of the presumed next Zent, Melchior. Her status will be protected and above reproach, which is the most ideal position for a First Wife marrying into another duchy to have. Moreover, Frenbeltag and Ehrenfest would have been dragged into yet another conflict if we were not proactive about this issue. The young heir of Corinzdaum cannot rise to the position of Aub until he’s at least graduated from the Royal Academy. But he would still need more time after that to solidify a political faction for his future reign. Ehrenfest has become an increasingly powerful duchy so we should flex that power and our connections to slowly investigate Corinzdaum from the inside by planting several people to support our daughter when she marries into the duchy as First Wife. Conveniently, our daughter won’t be far away either so we can easily support her through Frenbeltag or even Gausbuttel where Charlotte’s husband hails from.
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3: Daughter of the Puppet Aub Becomes a Shadow Aub Herself
When the previous Aub Corinzdaum retired early in favour of his young heir, the nobles of the duchy thought it a little strange. But everyone was so excited to have a First Wife marry into the duchy related to the next Zent, Melchior, and connected to the incarnation of a goddess, Lady Rozemyne. The duchy of Corinzdaum has sought more legitimacy and status with important figures of Yurgenschmidt after the instatement of their former Aub, who had failed to become the Zent himself.
Despite marrying into the duchy as the First Wife, Lady Wisteria became the de facto Aub with her husband, the actual Aub, acting as a mere figure head. Seemingly following in the footsteps of her grandmother, Lady Veronica, Lady Wisteria ruled Corinzdaum with an iron fist punishing those who earned her ire and rewarding those who bent their knee to her. Ehrenfest supported her in building this authority through a powerful political faction in Corinzdaum, the Wisteria faction, from nobles of Gausbuttel, Frenbeltag, and Ehrenfest heritage. Plus, there were those nobles already in Corinzdaum who wished to build a close relationship with the Lady from Ehrenfest with connections to the current Zent, the presumed next Zent, and Lady Rozemyne the incarnation of Mestionora. Her authority easily eclipsed that of her husband, the Aub. She ruled Corinzdaum effectively and stabilized the duchy’s position after it had dropped several ranks from its original position as the Third.
Fortunately for the new Aub Corinzdaum, Lord Edmund, the two actually have a very loving relationship as Aub and First Wife. He is just not good with handling conflict after he was constantly berated by his father, Lord Sigiswald, to increase his blessings, obtain the Glutrisheit, and become the next Zent. His father clearly intended his son to become a puppet Zent so that he could rule Yurgenschmidt, even if it was from the shadows.
Lord Edmund was regularly demeaned for any perceived failure in accomplishing the task of becoming Zent, given that the former bottom of the barrel duchy, Ehrenfest, was able to produce two Zent Candidates in less than a decade. When he failed to obtain an all attribute schtappe in his final year, never even entering into contention as a potential candidate for Zent, Lord Sigiswald was furious. However, with Lady Wisteria of Ehrenfest already engaged to his son and the Zent, Lady Eglantine, placing increasing pressure on Aub Corinzdaum to step down, he was running out of options. Lord Sigiswald had intended to suppress Lady Wisteria when she married into Corinzdaum and figure out from her how to allow his second child to become a Zent Candidate so that Corinzdaum could take the seat of Zent.
Though when Lady Wisteria married into Corinzdaum, she formed a powerful political faction almost immediately and was able to directly counter the Aub’s influence. After a few short years she had all but destroyed Lord Sigiswald’s plans to force one of his children to become Zent or cause another civil war if the first plan failed. With her influence inside and outside Corinzdaum, it should have been clear from the beginning that Lord Sigiswald was not a match for Lady Wisteria. But his pride had continued to rise as a former Royal Family member instead of being checked by his failures during the Lanzenave-former Ahrensbach conflict. Lady Wisteria forced Lord Sigiswald to retire early in favour of his son, Lord Edmund, using her factional support and showing him the evidence she collected about his plans for rebellion. Not only was she aware, but so to was the Zent, as her marriage had been part of a decades long plan to suppress him. He could choose to step down peacefully and not be severely punished like the sinners of the previous civil war, or, she could march the armies of the Sovereignty, Ehrenfest, Dunklefelger, and Klassenberg into Corinzdaum to arrest him and turn him into a living mana battery.
The choice for him was obvious. He was still punished by having to dedicate his name to the Zent after which she ordered him not to act against her, or the stability of Yurgenschmidt, and to remain uninvolved with duchy politics for the rest of his life.
Thanks to Lady Wisteria of Ehrenfest, Lord Edmund was freed from a life of being criticized for not gaining the favour of the gods. He was finally able to live his life calmly and more freely than ever before. Maybe he did gain the favour of the gods, as he was able to marry his own goddess, Gebotordnung the Goddess of Order, in the form of Lady Wisteria. She transformed the duchy from the moment she married him, removed his neglectful father from power, and saved the duchy from being condemned as sinners if his father’s plans had been enacted. Now, he doesn’t even need to rule the duchy, which is a task he finds endlessly stressful. Though he is technically the Aub, he can leave the majority of governing and decision-making to his First Wife, Lady Wisteria, and focus on raising their lovely children or socializing with the nobility when necessary. It seems she was quite prepared to act, in effect, as the ruling Aub as if she had experience with someone like that before. A peaceful life really is the best.
Chapter 6: The Wisest Zent: Anastasius' Love
Summary:
Told from the perspective of Anastasius and third party omniscient.
Notes:
EDIT (22/09/22): I added a few paragraphs clarifying the status of Zent, Zent Candidates, and their families. I also added rules for the scenario that an archnoble gains the GH without being an AC as technically the requirements to do so are only having all attributes, high mana, and high blessings. The additions were added to "2: The Lady Who Learned to Stop History from Repeating"
EDIT (14/10/22): I added a bit on when the shrine tours happen and ensuring no Zent Candidates come about who haven't sworn their oaths to the gods. The additions were again to "2: The Lady Who Learned to Stop History from Repeating"
Chapter Text
1: The Transformation of Yurgenschmidt
Lord Anastasius, the former 2nd prince and contender for the throne of Zent, is now the consort of the Zent. Many have observed that Lord Anastasius was the most prudent member of the former Royal Family in retrospect, having recognized when to seek power and when to let it go. His love for Lady Eglantine, had driven him to seek the position of Zent. But when he realized what his Goddess of Light truly wanted, he immediately let go of power and embraced love instead. It’s a truly romantic story still exceedingly popular today among the nobility about the strength of love and its ability to heal not just individuals but a nation itself. For without Lord Anastasius love for Lady Eglantine it is likely the nation of Yurgenschmidt might have collapsed altogether.
Lord Anastasius actions protected Lady Eglantine from being embroiled in a second civil war to win her hand in marriage. This allowed her to eventually rise to the position of Zent when it was revealed that she was the most qualified member of the former Royal Family to do so. In fact, she was the only member of the former Royal Family qualified to do so. She was anointed by the Incarnation of Mestionora, Lady Rozemyne, as Zent and received the Glutrisheit marking the rise of a legitimate Zent. Ultimately, it was the bloodline that rose to the throne of Zent as originally intended before the Second Prince was assassinated the generation before.
Lady Eglantine had inherited a beaten and bruised nation that she needed to restore to the old ways lost for millennia and bring back the importance the temple. This was both for her own belief about this being necessary for the future of country and for the oath she publicly made to the gods. The hereditary succession of Zent was henceforth completely eliminated and the former Royal Family and its authority was dissolved. Children of the Zent will henceforth be treated as Archduke Candidates from the Zent’s home duchy. Children of the Zent will not be publicly presented at the spring Archduke Conference again instead they will be baptized in the Zent’s home duchy at the Archducal castle, where the Zent and their Consort will stand for the baptism.
Though the Zent’s children have the formal status of an Archduke Candidate from the home duchy of the Zent, the nobility is not foolish enough to treat children of the Zent poorly and receive their ire in turn. Information on the identity of the Zent’s children became some of the most highly valued information in all of Yurgenschmidt to avoid accidentally committing a transgression against them and inviting the Zent to find fault with the offending noble or their duchy.
The Sovereign palace and central temple were collapsed and moved to the central territory containing the Royal Academy; the new Sovereignty, approximately the size of a small lesser duchy. The Zent, Lady Eglantine, rebuilt the area where the collapsed palace for foreign Royalty previously existed at the Royal Academy. She built a castle similar to those used by the Aub of a greater duchy, but one appropriate for the ruler of a nation. In fact, this castle had several similarities to the castle in Klassenberg, which should come as no surprise given that it was where Lady Eglantine was raised. The Zent’s castle on the Royal Academy grounds was used to conduct the business of the country, house the Zent and their family, and house their retainers.
Beyond that, the Zent decreed that sovereign nobles will now live primarily in the dormitories of their home duchies at the Royal Academy. Given that the territory of the Sovereignty has greatly decreased, from a greater duchy in size to a small lesser duchy, there was not many other places left to house future Sovereign nobles. Only those nobles that were direct retainers of the Zent or their family, could live inside the Sovereign Palace. Zent Eglantine returned all central nobles to their home duchies, keeping only those whom she had immediately accepted as direct retainers to herself or her consort. If any duchy wished to have central nobles accepted again into the Sovereignty, their Aub would need to expand and even rebuild their dormitories to accommodate the number of expected or potential central nobles from the duchy.
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This led to a long year of mana dedication for many Aub's and their families, as they worked to build up and store enough mana to support rebuilding their dormitories. Now duchies needed to accommodate adult nobles of various statuses and their attendants throughout the year, while still having space for nobles during the Archduke Conference and students during the winter Royal Academy lessons. Even more important was that the expansion of the dormitories needed to be grand. This was to avoid any duchy being looked down upon as their dormitories are visible to all in the Sovereignty. Fortunately, it was tradition for most Sovereign nobles to return to their duchies during winter socializing to share information from the Sovereignty, in preparation for the spring Archduke Conference.
Of course, the first duchies that were able to expand their dormitories and have some of their nobles accepted into the Sovereignty once again, were the higher territories rich with mana and favour from the newly crowned Zent, like Klassenberg, Dunklefelger, and Drewanchel. With the decrease in Sovereign territory from that of a greater duchy to that of a lesser duchy, and the dissolution of the former Royal Family, the total number of central nobles required to administer the Sovereignty itself had dropped precipitously. There is now even more fierce competition among duchies to place more of their nobles in the Sovereignty, despite the still overall limited numbers of nobles in Yurgenschmidt.
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The central temple was relocated to the Royal Academy, using the existing facilities like the Chapel in the Small Hall to conduct rituals and prayers. Much like those performed by Lady Rozemyne during her tenue at the Royal Academy. As the incarnation of Mestionora, Lady Rozemyne had relayed the wishes of the gods directly to the nobles for a return to the old ways. She demonstrated the importance of sincere prayers to the gods and made the path to becoming a true Zent, known to all. There were always meant to be several candidates for Zent with the Glutrisheit. At one time, it wasn’t even strange for all the Aubs within Yurgenschmidt to have obtained the Glutrisheit and become Zent Candidates before ascending to the position of Aub of their duchy.
Lady Rozemyne, as the Incarnation of a Goddess, demanded the reform of all temples across Yurgenschmidt, and the return to the old ways of Aub’s being the High Bishop of their duchy. At the very least appointing a member of the archducal family as High Bishop, with one of their retainers taking the position of High Priest. The Aubs themselves moved to place trustworthy members of the archducal family into the position of High Bishop, to avoid the theft of the foundation after they learned it was located beneath the temple of every duchy. Temple protection and security became a new priority for Aub's and their duchies.
The Zent became the Sovereign High Bishop once again, while Lord Anastasius became the Sovereign High Priest with support from the former Ehrenfest High Bishop, Lady Rozemyne, now High Bishop and Aub of Alexandria. It became well known that Ehrenfest was the duchy closest to the gods and with the most knowledge of the old ways: provinces in the north of Ehrenfest were performing rituals to call for spring, Archduke Candidates performed temple rituals like spring prayer, the Aub even appointed Archduke Candidates as High Bishop and High Priest, and the archducal family prayed when supplying mana to the magic of their foundation.
Ehrenfest had even produced Lady Rozemyne, the Incarnation of Mestionora, and a candidate for Zent in her own right. All eyes had now turned to Lord Melchior, the now High Bishop of Ehrenfest, as the next candidate for Zent likely to appear during the reign of the current Zent, Lady Eglantine. All this, plus their increasingly popular trends, cemented Ehrenfest’s position as a higher territory and its status was only likely to rise further in the future.
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2: The Lady Who Learned to Stop History from Repeating
The Zent announced that she, and all future Zents, would support the development of potential candidates for Zent and guide them along their paths. She would not interfere to prevent nobles from becoming Zent Candidates who had the qualifications, as demanded by the gods, nor would she favour those who were lacking them. She would teach all candidates for Zent equally to make them all capable of stepping into the position if necessary. Zent Candidates have already passed the trials of the gods and it was not the place of Zent to disregard their decisions. She announced that all future Zent’s must make an oath directly to the gods using the crown of light, the Goddess of Light’s divine tool, in front of the Archdukes, Archduchesses, and nobles of the Sovereignty. They must swear an oath to act as the kind of Zent that has been demanded by the gods, as she herself had already done.
Thus, the Zent is accountable to the gods and would be severely punished by them for breaking a divine contract oath to them.
It was decreed that all Zent Candidates must present themselves at the spring Archduke Conference following their attainment of the Glutrisheit, regardless of if said candidates intended to vie for the position of ruling Zent, to ensure that all Zent Candidates had the proper oaths to the gods administered. The shrine tour would thus be prohibited after the spring Archduke Conference ends each year. All attributes potential candidates with high mana who wished to still try and obtain the Glutrisheit but failed to gain it during the Archduke Conference would need to apply for special permission from the Zent to remain in the Sovereignty for an extended period. If such a candidate should obtain the Glutrisheit they can choose to have a smaller debut ceremony in the Sovereignty where the Zent would administer their oaths in front of all the Sovereign nobles, followed by their formal debut at the spring Archduke Conference. Otherwise, their only other choice would be then to remain in the Sovereignty until their spring Archduke Conference debut and administration of their oaths to the gods by the ruling Zent. This was strictly managed to prevent the appearance of Zent Candidates who have not sworn an oath to the gods to act as the proper Zent they desire.
To avoid the bloody conflicts that arose in the past for the seat of Zent between proper Zent Candidates from happening again in the future, even generations from now, the Zent made a decree. When a decision for the next Zent cannot be decided upon by the Aubs at the Archduke Conference among existing Zent Candidates, then a game of treasure stealing ditter should be held. This would occur under the supervision of the current eras reigning Zent. The Zent Candidates who wish to rise to the position of reigning Zent must gather their supporters and emerge victorious against the other Zent Candidates who also wish to rise to Zent. The treasures used in the ditter would be the Zent Candidates themselves. The victorious Zent Candidate will become the next reigning Zent having demonstrated their ability to secure their rule with martial prowess if necessary and the gathered support from various duchies.
The reigning Zent can never appoint the next Zent, only the Archduke Conference can select the next Zent or the Zent Ditter can be used if it the decision is contested. The reigning Zent can only decide when they retire and handover rule to the properly selected Zent Candidate heir.
Zent Candidates who challenge the decision of the Archduke Conference can never be selected as an Aub, regardless of the will of their duchy's Aub, but will not be punished or rebuked further as long as they support the reign of the victorious party of the Zent Treasure Stealing Ditter.
Once a new Zent is crowned, all existing Zent Candidates must make a contract oath using the Goddess of Light's divine tool, stating that they will never again seek the position of Zent for themselves and will support the reign of the Zent Candidate who emerged victorious in the treasure stealing ditter.
Should that Zent die before a new Zent Candidate can be raised from the next generation, one of the existing Zent Candidates of the previous generation may act as a middle reliever Zent. But only until a new Zent Candidate rises from the next generation. After which, the previous generation’s Zent Candidate turned middle reliever Zent would hand over the position of reigning Zent to the new candidate after administering the next Zent’s contract oath with the gods.
The middle reliever Zent should be selected based on the Zent Candidate that hails from the highest ranked duchy at that time. By creating such a system the current Zent, Lady Eglantine, would prevent any nefarious actors from eliminating a Zent early to avoid their chosen candidate being limited by the contract oath to the gods. To eliminate all Zent Candidates and the Zent is to invite the collapse of the country itself and most certainly the wrath of the gods.
Furthermore, the new Zent established a number of public edicts to clarify the position of a Zent, Zent Candidates, their families, and their formal status within Yurgenschmidt noble society.
It is considered a serious crime and an act of heresy against the gods themselves to intentionally kill or attempt to kill a Zent or Zent Candidate, that has received the acknowledgement of the gods by obtaining the Glutrisheit. All nobles directly or indirectly involved in such cases will be severely punished and any attempts that are discovered will require that all those involved be punished just as severely as if the attempt had succeeded.
All children born to a Zent or Zent Candidate, are automatically considered Archduke Candidates of the parent Zent's or Zent Candidate's home duchy. However, the Aub of the home duchy is not obligated to place those Archduke Candidate children into the direct line of succession for the seat of Aub.
Children of a Zent or Zent Candidate are not entitled to a formal higher status based on their parentage beyond that of a typical Archduke Candidate from their home duchy. Those children are not nor should not be considered the next heir to the position of Zent based on their parent's Zent or Zent Candidate status. Children of a Zent or Zent Candidate can only become a Zent or Zent Candidate themselves based on their own merits and receiving the acknowledgment of the gods like any other.
The Zent and their family will be referred to formally as the 'Royal Family' but there will be no permanent Royal Family. It will change generation to generation as the Royal Title is not hereditary. The title of the Zent and their Spouse is officially the King and Queen, neither title is above or below the other with the title of Zent indicating the ruler. For example, the current Zent could be called the Queen of Yurgenschmidt, Lady Eglantine or Zent of Yurgenschmidt the Lady Eglantine while her husband would be called the King of Yurgenschmidt, Lord Anastasius or Zent-Consort the Lord Anastasius.
The children of the reigning Zent are entitled to use the courtesy titles of Prince and Princess instead of Lord and Lady. These courtesy titles will disappear upon their marriage or their Zent parent's retirement, whichever comes first. The influence of Royal Princes and Princesses are vested in which duchy they are Archduke Candidates for and not their parent's status as the reigning Zent. Similar to a non-heir Archduke Candidate whose children would be born as regular archnobles.
Archnobles who gain the acknowledgement of the gods by obtaining a Glutrisheit are entitled to and in fact required, to return to the Royal Academy for a special session to properly take the Archduke Candidate course. In the case of an archnoble turned Zent Candidate they will also be considered an Archduke Candidate of their home duchy upon completion of the Archduke Candidate Course. However, their home duchy Aub is not obligated to place them into the direct line of succession for the seat of Aub.
Only children of the Aub or the Archduke Candidate next in line to be the Aub will automatically become Archduke Candidates themselves, unless or until the next in line to the seat of Aub changes. Any children of an Archduke Candidate who loses their position as next in line to the seat of Aub but have already graduated from the Royal Academy as Archduke Candidates will remain Archduke Candidates of their duchy but will not be placed into the direct line of succession without their Aub's intervention. Children of all other Archduke Candidates are considered just an archnoble unless their Aub intervenes to elevate them to the status of Archduke Candidate.
A Zent or Zent Candidate cannot use their status to intervene and pressure their home duchy's Aub to place themselves, or their children, into the direct line of succession for the seat of Aub.
Zent Candidates have a higher social status than an Aub but less than a ruling Zent. Zent Candidates have no formal ruling or decision-making authority within their home duchy beyond that of their noble status unless such authority is directly assigned to them by their Aub or the reigning Zent. Zent Candidates are entitled to choose whether or not they will follow an order from their Aub as their status is greater than that of an Aub; however, Zent Candidates must follow the orders of the reigning Zent.
Unlike Archduke Candidates, Zent Candidates are all equal in status across Yurgenschmidt with only a reigning Zent above them. As such, Zent Candidates are not obligated to follow the orders of another Zent Candidate unless otherwise directed to do so by a reigning Zent. Only a reigning Zent can punish a Zent Candidate with the gods themselves as their witness.
All Zent Candidates are judged based on their own merits of mana, blessings, and ability in addition to the quality of nobles within their coalition of allies gathered to support them and secure their potential future reign as Zent.
Opposing coalitions supporting other Zent Candidates that fail to emerge as the victors of the Zent Treasure Stealing Ditter are not to be sanctioned or punished for previously supporting a different candidate. That is, under the presumption that they do not continue to oppose the victorious Zent Candidate turned reigning Zent.
For those who knew Lady Eglantine before she rose to Zent, this process for selecting the next ruler of Yurgenschmidt was very characteristic of her. A Lady mired in a life of bloodshed and conflict who wished to never see such senseless death again. The process she instituted was inspired from her own rise to Zent, with the support of the Incarnation of Mestionora. And the bride stealing ditter that she oversaw for the hand of Lady Hannelore of Dunklefelger in marriage, the Second Incarnation of a Goddess. The Zent pushed for further reforms to prevent unnecessary death and bloodshed, shifting the primary punishment for treasonous nobles not to death, but instead turning them into living mana batteries by breaking their connection to their schtappes. As a noble can only obtain a schtappe once in their life, breaking their connection will guarantee that the criminals are unable to use one ever again.
As long as the punished nobles are not intentionally killed their living conditions and treatment were left up to the Aub responsible for their management or the collective of the Archduke Conference when larger conflicts arose. It was not made illegal for one noble to kill another, but it was severely frowned upon if you were caught. When someone died from unnatural causes an inquiry was often held to determine the cause and condemn the noble, or nobles, who would act in contravention to the will of the gods. Though nobles still killed each other in secret over their squabbles for power, the frequency dropped significantly during the reign of Zent Eglantine. The new punishments in place of the death penalty during her reign could often be considered a punishment worse than death, depending on the treatment received by the former noble turned living mana battery from their jailors.
The nobles of Jurgenschmidt really began to understand that they were accountable to the gods themselves, who were not just fictitious stories used for their convenient euphemisms. The gods truly existed and observed their actions deciding whether or not to bless them with their support or guidance. The Zent, Lady Eglantine, went down in history as the wisest Zent who was selected by the Incarnation of Mestionora herself to receive the Glutrisheit. Much like the First Zent of the Yurgenschmidt. She restored the old ways and secured a peaceful era during her reign, stabilizing the nation of Yurgenschmidt from its previous state of near collapse.
No matter how much time passed, Lady Eglantine would remain a significant figure in Yurgenschmidt's history who's reign and policies were a compulsory subject matter both for the scale of her accomplishments and to remind future generations to not repeat the mistakes of the past. The story of Lady Eglantine from its beginnings as a victim of the civil war that killed her family, rise to potential next conflict over the throne for her hand in marriage, her mediation of conflict and desire for stability with a proper Zent, to her rise as a legitimate Zent who reformed the broken and battered Yurgenschmidt, was one that made quite apparent that her lived experience and tragedy had a significant but positive impact on her policy decisions during her reign. As if guided by the gods themselves she created an ironclad system for selection of the Zent and ensured that this knowledge would not be lost again with the support of her ally Aub Alexandria the Lady Rozemyne, Incarnation of Mestionora, and a Protector of Knowledge. Her decisions on punishments for nobles were also an important subject matter for rulers who realized that sometimes death is actually a kindness. She wished to avoid conflict but the Zent was not afraid of punishment either, the reign of Lady Eglantine was a period of peace and prosperity following the ruling states era that preceded her rule.
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3: The Zent’s Consort: Sometimes Love Can Conquer All
Lady Eglantine and I completed many shrine tours and participated in various temple rituals to increase the strength and number of our blessings, while I also worked to dedicate mana to obtain all the attributes. We struggled for several years at the beginning of her reign, working towards making her a legitimate Zent without the need for support from that hateful little gremlin, Lady Rozemyne. I worked to increase my mana capacity through mana compression and sheer willpower to match that of my love, Eglantine, so that I could support her as a proper consort by contributing mana to the foundation of Yurgenschmidt. Moreover, If we ever wanted to welcome the arrival of winter again, I must earn the qualifications needed to act as a temporary Zent. At this point, I know I cannot earn a genuine copy of the Glutrisheit myself. And even if Eglantine provides me a temporary Glutrisheit magic tool like the one she received from Lord Ferdinand and Lady Rozemyne, I still need the quality and quantity of mana necessary to perform the grand magics of a Zent.
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After five years of serious hard work, Eglantine had gained a genuine version of the Glutrisheit obtained by her own merit and recognition from the gods, becoming a legitimate Zent in her own right. She did this in secret of course, while ruling over the country making it all the more impressive of a feat. She created a thirty-year lifespan magic tool of the Glutrisheit for my use, containing only the basic information needed to properly run the country. She insisted that I to must swear an oath to the gods not to seek the seat of Zent for myself to ensure consistency. While I did become all attributes by increasing my blessings through temple rituals as the Sovereign High Priest, the scale of my mana and blessings never quite reached Eglantine. But we are close enough once again to feel each other's mana, despite Eglantine having increased her mana compression significantly to more effectively carry out her role as Zent. A true testament to the hard work put forward from both us to be competent rulers for the nation and clean up the mess left behind by generations of corruption from the former Royal Family. Now we can finally welcome the arrival winter once again. Maybe even welcome younger siblings for our soon to be baptized daughter.
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A few years later, we were able to welcome two more children. All lovely daughters just as beautiful as my Goddess of Light, Eglantine. Together we have overcome the challenges placed in our paths by Glucklitat, the God of Trials. To me, all the challenges were worth it so that I could be with the woman I love, and even have a happy family together. Though our children could likely become Zent Candidates themselves in the future, after all the conflict attached to the former Royal Family and its civil wars, Eglantine hopes for our children just to be raised as simple Archduke Candidates of Klassenberg. I just want my Goddess of Light to be happy, so her choice is my choice though its unlikely that the marriage of our daughters won't create some conflict among their potential suitors.
Eglantine made it clear to Aub Klassenberg that she would not encourage any of her children to pursue the status of Zent Candidate and in fact strongly discouraged it. She wanted our daughters to live as regular nobles and avoid being caught up in major conflicts like she was as a young princess. Ultimately, Zent and Aub Klassenberg decided that our eldest daughter would become the next Aub Klassenberg and marry one of his First Wife's sons to strengthen the archducal family's bloodline. Should she choose, our eldest daughter will be entitled to take a Second Husband but the next Aub Klassenberg should be selected from the First Husband's children. Our second daughter was raised to become the right hand of her elder sister and proxy Aub, establishing her own archnoble house within Klassenberg and marrying a male Archduke Candidate from Drewanchel as her First Husband. Our youngest daughter decided to marry the non-heir son of Aub Alexandria the Lady Letizia and establish their own archnoble household in Alexandria. While I was sad to see my daughters marry and leave home I was happy to see the peaceful demeanor on my beloved's visage everyday as she was thankful to protect her daughters from being exposed to a tragic situation like her own. The marriages will benefit our family, our daughters, and contribute to improved relations all around.
I must admit, the work of ruling over Yurgenschmidt was a greater burden than I had ever realized. I would never wish such a burden on my beloved daughters. I hope that we can drop this responsibility right back onto that little gremlin, though I suppose she's not little anymore, and one of her own children so that she could suffer even a fraction of what we did to stabilize and rebuild the nation. Even if she had the guidance of the gods she tore the nation apart and burdened my lovely Eglantine. I suppose we will have to wait and see which of her children rise with the qualifications of Zent. This isn't over Lady Rozemyne I will definitely repay all the work you dropped onto us with an innocent smile right back to Alexandria! You are NOT the Saint everyone thinks you are! Let's see you remain uninvolved when it's your own children who take up this burden. Heheheh....
Chapter 7: The Woeful Letizia
Summary:
A long chapter about the future of Alexandria from the perspective of Letizia, an archduke candidate of the former Ahrensbach now Alexandria. Covers Letizia's fate, information about the Alexandria archducal family, and some information on interduchy relations.
Chapter Text
1: From Saviour to Sinner to Saint
Taken from my parents at such a young age, I was thrust into a status of heir to Aub Ahrensbach. However, my position was less than stable from the moment I entered the duchy. And that was when my grandfather, the former Aub Ahrensbach, was still alive. After he perished under mysterious circumstances, Lady Georgine, the recently elevated First Wife, constantly made moves to undermine my position and authority. Sadly, I wasn’t even completely aware of her actions or the increasingly negative situations she was placing me in at the time. It was because of the competent guardian assigned to me, Lord Ferdinand of Ehrenfest by order of the former Zent Traurequal, that I even started to recognize how my position was becoming less stable by the day.
Ultimately, my lack of awareness and foolishness caused me to commit the greatest sin of my life, against my own guardian no less. After watching my closest attendant murdered in front of me by my aunt Lady Dietlinde and a strange man named Lord Leonzio, it seemed I had no choice but to follow their commands. I attacked Lord Ferdinand myself, like the coward turned sinner I was, and tried to kill him. Fortunately, he did not die and instead handed me a cage of stones to return to his retainers, telling me go immediately. I ran from the room handing the stones to Lord Justus and Lord Eckhart, explaining that Lord Ferdinand was attacked and they needed to go and follow the plan. Lord Eckhart was rightly angry and looked as if he would strike me down where I stood. I was prepared to accept such a punishment for my actions. My guard knights would not allow it though, and whisked me away. I had enough time to warn those of my faction to escape and shelter in place where possible. But my actions lead to my location being discovered and I was captured by the enemy.
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Lady Rozemyne, the salvation of my heart. The Incarnation of a Goddess. The Aub of Alexandria. And shortly after, my adoptive mother. Despite being a sinner who had attacked her one true love, Lord Ferdinand the now Consort of Aub Alexandria, she rescued me and the other noble ladies captured on the foreign ship being sent away to Lanzenave. When I was rescued from the ship, she instructed me to remain silent about my sinful actions knowing full well what I had done. I shuttered. I felt I deserved to be punished and though I was happy to be rescued, I wasn’t sure that I merited rescuing.
When I saw her again at the castle, she only looked at me with love and decided to still adopt me as her daughter when Lord Ferdinand had decided not to hold my sinful actions against me. My crimes had been completely concealed and only Lady Rozemyne and Lord Ferdinand were aware of what I had done. She raised me as a proper Archduke Candidate for the newly reborn duchy of Alexandria. Though when Lady Rozemyne rose to the position of Aub Alexandria, she was still too young to have her starbind ceremony. Thus, she could not formally adopt me until her graduation from the Royal Academy.
I spent time in the temple as a blue shrine maiden; offering my prayers to the gods, participating in rituals, and learning how to eventually step into the role of High Bishop of Alexandria. I would alternate time between living in the temple and living in the castle to adequately prepare to attend the Royal Academy in the winter as the only Archduke Candidate for Alexandria. Lady Rozemyne had abolished the rule where existing Archduke Candidates were dropped to the status of archnoble after a new Aub rose at the spring Archduke Conference where she was officially enthroned as Aub Alexandria herself. This ensured that my status as an Archduke Candidate would be preserved, but now for the duchy of Alexandria and not the former Ahrensbach.
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There were a lot of incidents that occurred at the Royal Academy involving Lady Rozemyne during her final years prior to graduation. Though I was ever so grateful for my adoptive mother Lady Rozemyne and our time together in the Royal Academy, I was exceedingly pleased to no longer have to manage the incidents that inevitably unfolded around her. I suppose there is such a thing as being too loved by the gods, at least when it comes to her. I can only imagine the challenges Lady Rozemyne and Zent the Lady Eglantine must have faced when trying to mediate between the gods and mortal existences like ourselves. Though I do take me prayers seriously, I would never desire the position of Zent and all of the challenges that come with it. I have already been so blessed to live such a happy life despite the sins that I have committed. I am unworthy of it. Despite descending from the bloodline of the foolish former Ahrensbach I have received nothing but grace from those around me. And though I do not deserve such grace, it is my duty and my burden to become worthy of it.
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I have been engaged to Lord Hildebrand of Blumefeld for several years now, it seems to be a remnant of the Royal Order made by the former Zent, now Aub Blumefeld. Which means its unlikely the engagement will be cancelled, even if our mana capacities ultimately do not match because rescinding such an order would undermine Lady Eglantine’s rule as Zent. Thankfully, as a former Royal now Archduke Candidate to a greater duchy, his mana capacity will likely be proportionate in size to my own as the daughter of an archducal family from a greater duchy myself.
At first, I felt pressured by the weight of expectations placed on this engagement from my surroundings. How could I be worthy of a former Royal like Lord Hildebrand, the son of the Third Wife from Dunkelfelger, formerly the Second and now the First. Yet, during our days in the Royal Academy we shared our inner thoughts and guilt over past actions with one another, learning that we had both been suffering in silence. I couldn’t believe that Lord Hildebrand had also committed sins as grave as my own. He was so ashamed to tell me about it, stating that he was undeserving of me the adopted daughter of Lady Rozemyne, Incarnation of Mestionora who saved Yurgenschmidt. I broke down crying and shared knowledge of my own past sins, having attacked Lord Ferdinand after being enticed by Chaoscipher, the Goddess of Chaos. He was shocked. But it allowed us to grow closer and strive for a future where we could made amends for our past sins in service of Lady Rozemyne, who saved us both.
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Aub Blumefeld and his Third Wife, Lady Magdelena, seem to have been quite infatuated with one another as two children had been born during my time in the Royal Academy, though their existence will be formally announced at their baptism several years from now. Of course, assuming they have the mana appropriate for an Archduke Candidate of a greater duchy. As the fiancé of Lord Hildebrand, I was privy to such private details in their family before it became general knowledge to the nobility. Thus, the line of succession for the next Aub Blumefeld was secure and my concern about depriving the duchy of its only Archduke Candidate had dissipated.
Though it seems strange that Lady Magdalena remained a Third Wife despite being from Dunklefelger the First and with an authority that outmatched the First and Second Wives of Aub Blumefeld. There remained concerns that the dignity of Lord Anastasius, Consort to Zent the Lady Eglantine, and Aub Corinzdaum the Lord Sigiswald, would be impacted if she was formally elevated to the position of First Wife. Like always, she seemed indifferent about political matters being perfectly content to remain the Third Wife. She was just interested in raising her children, though to the rest of society it seemed she only focused on her son prior to becoming aware of the two new lords.
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When I performed the blessing ceremony at the Royal Academy in my sixth year, I learned that I had gained all the attributes and received the blessings of 35 gods. I opened the doors to the Garden of the Beginning and received an all attribute schtappe. Normally, this should be considered good news in the modern Yurgenschmidt, but I was conflicted about it. No doubt this information would be passed along to the Zent, Lady Eglantine, so that she could keep an eye on me. As she intended to monitor and support those with the potential to become candidates for Zent. Nevertheless, I do not want to be Zent. At least, I am not deserving of the status of Zent.
I shared these concerns with my adoptive mother, Lady Rozemyne. She comforted me as always and expressed that I needed to learn to forgive myself. To move forward. Then she giggled and reminded me that no one could make me become a Zent even if I was qualified. It was not my responsibility to shoulder the burdens of Yurgenschmidt. After all, she too had obtained the Glutrisheit. Though she chose to become the Aub of Alexandria and use that information to enrich her duchy. I felt relief. She shared that obtaining the Glutrisheit used to be a normal accomplishment for any Aub of the past as it helps one to better govern their duchy. If that’s the case, then I too will try to obtain the Glutrisheit. If I am successful, I will use that knowledge to support a prosperous future for Alexandria.
The Zent approached me about remaining in the Royal Academy after graduation to participate in the shrine tour, increase my blessings, and obtain the Glutrisheit. I obliged of course, but asked that my extended stay in the dormitory be kept confidential as I didn’t want to receive unnecessary attention from the nobility. She easily agreed to my request.
I was able to receive the Glutrisheit relatively quickly thanks to the large number of blessings I had already received and the massive mana quantity I had developed through the special mana compression techniques of my adoptive mother. I was easily able to complete the shrine tour for the remaining blessings that I had yet to receive. The Zent was quite pleased with this news and quickly began planning the formal announcement of the first proper Zent Candidate to appear this generation. Though, I quickly stopped her before she could even begin.
I informed the Zent that I had no intention of ever stepping into the position and only wished to obtain the Glutrisheit to support Alexandria like my adoptive mother, Lady Rozemyne. I could see the shock on her face. She seemed quite crestfallen. She wanted to announce that the Glutrisheit was accessible for those who followed the proper procedures to become a legitimate Zent Candidate. Though I pointed out to her that Lord Melchior was quite likely to obtain the Glutrisheit himself. Especially having been appointed to the position of High Bishop of Ehrenfest as such a young age, following Lady Rozemyne. Coming from Ehrenfest the Eighth, home duchy to Lady Rozemyne, and a major supporter of Lady Eglantine’s current reign, he would be an ideal candidate for showing the way to Zent that the gods demand. Moreover, he had been working directly with us during his time at the Royal Academy to support myself and the Zent with performing rituals and ceremonies at the Central Temple within the academy grounds.
I returned to Alexandria with the Glutrisheit, but the nobles of Yurgenschmidt were none the wiser that I had even obtained it. I showed it to my adoptive mother, Lady Rozemyne. She was beyond excited with an expression that clearly only thought about reading the contents of the Glutrisheit despite having a version of her own. I probably shouldn’t have been surprised considering how she reacts to books in general. Obviously, she asked to compare her own version to mine, to see if I had gained any new information that she didn’t have. If there was one thing our Aub couldn’t stand, it was someone having more books than her great library city of Alexandria. Of course, I complied with the wishes of my adoptive mother that had given me so much. Lady Rozemyne was filled with glee, though I’ll have to try to cover for her absence later with Lord Ferdinand.
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Though my secret attainment of the Glutrisheit was not fated to last. I was called by the Zent to the Sovereignty and she informed me about the new system she would be implementing for new Zent Candidates who are raised from this generation, and every generation after. All Zent Candidates were to be publicly announced and presented at the Spring Archduke Conference where they would make an oath to the gods to act as a proper Zent according to their will should that candidate ever step into the position. The purpose was logical, Lady Eglantine was trying to prevent the creation of another hereditary Royal Family or the disappearance of important information on obtaining the Glutrisheit. Conveniently for her, though, this would also mean that I would need to publicly come forward as a Zent Candidate at the upcoming Archduke Conference, which could create chaos in Yurgenschmidt seeing as my now husband is the former Third Prince of the dissolved former Royal Family.
However, I was informed that Lord Melchior had just obtained the Glutrisheit himself and is willing to be the heir apparent to the position of Zent. Lady Eglantine seemed exceedingly pleased about this for some reason. Why would she be excited that someone would appear who could take her position from her?
I presented myself at the next Spring Archduke Conference as a publicly acknowledged Zent Candidate and made my oath to the gods should I ever step into the position of Zent. Though, I publicly declared I would not take up the position and intended to remain in Alexandria as a member of the archducal family. Moreover, as my husband was a former Royal I intoned that I did not want to invite the attention of Chaoscipher once again to Yurgenschmidt. Thus, all the attention shifted to Lord Melchior as a male Zent Candidate and one engaged to an Archduke Candidate from Dunklefelger the First. He was well positioned to take up the role of Zent in the future and had the necessary support to do so if he so chose.
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2: I Will Protect Her
We welcomed Lord Hildebrand to Alexandria as my consort and First Husband, though it’s unlikely I’ll marry another again. We were married at the spring Archduke Conference immediately after our graduation from the Royal Academy, as is standard for Archduke Candidates to do. After our marriage, I decided to adopt Lady Benedicta, the daughter of Lady Alstede and Lord Blazius. She was alone and without support following the imprisonment of her parents and the harsh eyes of the nobility for her parents’ transgressions.
I didn’t believe it fair that such an innocent child was being punished by her surroundings simply for whom she was related to, but I who had committed such a grave sin, was adored by all those around me. If I deserved a second chance, then surely so did she. Thankfully, Lord Hildebrand agreed with me on this matter. Thus, our first child was actually our adopted daughter Lady Benedicta, henceforth to be raised as an Archduke Candidate of Alexandria.
Previously, we had met several times in the temple during my time as a blue shrine maiden and subsequently the High Bishop. She was one of the orphans of the former Ahrensbach uprising who were remanded into the custody of the temple orphanage instead of being left to die or purged. Given who her parents were, there were none willing to adopt her and carry the burden attached to her, despite the thick archducal bloodlines flowing within her. She was already baptized as an archnoble with Aub Alexandria as her guardian and assigned as a blue shrine maiden to support her noble lifestyle.
I had developed a close bound with her in the temple and tried to protect her as much as possible from the angry words of the orphaned children noble and commoner alike, who blamed her for the death of their families. Protecting her helped soothe my guilt racked heart, as I was not allowed to publicly seek penance for my crimes. I was a sinner, but only I knew. Benedicta had committed no sins herself but everyone labelled her as one nonetheless. When I called her to the High Bishop’s chambers, I handed her an anti-eavesdropping magic tool which she took with a worried expression. I asked her if she wanted to become my adopted daughter. She looked at me with a confused expression. But I only explained to her that it was unfair that I was forgiven despite also being a descendant of the former Ahrensbach archducal family. She too should be given an opportunity to stand on her own merit and be judged for her own actions not those committed by her birth parents when she was only a pre-baptismal child. She teared up but did not allow herself to cry. She only nodded and smiled. I knew from that moment that I now had a daughter. I wonder if this warm feeling was also felt but Lady Rozemyne when she decided to save me.
I had spoken to Lady Rozemyne about the potential adoption prior to speaking with Benedicta. I was strongly concerned that she would be against it. Yet she completely supported me and said that the decision was mine to make. I would be responsible for raising Benedicta, for guiding her to ensure she doesn’t follow a bad path, and to protect her from the nobility who will oppose her existence at every step. The Aub further stated that she would not intervene to raise or protect Benedicta herself as it was my responsibility to protect what was important to me and demonstrate my authority as an Archduke Candidate of Alexandria and presumed next Aub at this point in time.
She acknowledged that we could always use more Archduke Candidates in the current Alexandria given our relatively small archducal family. Especially since we rule a greater duchy. Though, she veered off the topic of adoption, and onto my marriage suggesting that Hildebrand and I should welcome the arrival of winter as soon as possible. She gave me one her typical mischievous grins that pierced through her usual façade of a proper noble lady. Honestly, mother can be so outrageous some times I thought with a flustered expression.
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3: The Next Aub Alexandria is …
As the years passed by, several children were born to the archducal family and their close retainers. Lord Hildebrand and I had three children, a son and two daughters. Lady Rozemyne had four children with Lord Ferdinand, two sons and two daughters. The Knight Commander of Alexandria, Lord Cornelius and his First Wife, Lady Leonore, had four children together, three sons and one daughter. While Lord Eckhart and Lady Angelica had a single child together, a son.
Lady Rozemyne decided to adopt one each of Lord Cornelius’ and Lord Eckhart’s children to raise as Archduke Candidates of Alexandria; Lady Rozelynne from Cornelius and Lord Heidelferd from Eckhart. Apparently, this was related to a request from Ehrenfest to marry an Alexandria Archduke Candidate of Leisegang and Ehrenfest archducal blood, back into Ehrenfest as the First Wife of the next Aub Ehrenfest. Lady Rozemyne had intended to only adopt the child of Leonore and Cornelius, since they had a daughter. But Eckhart and Angelica were so excited at the prospect of a child of theirs being raised by their beloved masters, Lord Ferdinand and Lady Rozemyne, that it was difficult for the archducal couple to reject their earnest wishes. Thus, Aub Alexandria and her consort also adopted Lord Heidelferd as an Archduke Candidate of Alexandria.
Despite having a female ruling Aub and a female Archduke Candidate first in the line of succession to Alexandria, the archducal family of Alexandria had grown to include fifteen Archduke Candidate members, with eleven children and four adults. The future rule of Alexandria has been secured.
I must contain my faction though, such that it does not threaten the position of Lady Rozemyne’s children, who I believe are the most ideal candidates for the next Aub. I hope that Lady Rozemyne reigns for a long time in Alexandria and passes the aubship to one of her children. I am beyond overjoyed at being able to have a family at all nevermind a husband who understands and accepts me. It’s more happiness than I ever believed I deserved but I will accept it nevertheless.
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At the age of thirty-four, Lady Rozemyne decided to step down from the position of Aub Alexandria and appointed me the next Aub. This came as a shock to everyone inside and outside of Alexandria who had expected Lady Rozemyne to reign as Aub for a very long time. Alexandria had stabilized from the once former Ahrensbach that was struggling for mana and full of treasonous nobles, to an important duchy central to the current and future direction of Yurgenschmidt.
Alexandria had risen from the Sixth to the Fourth during Lady Rozemyne’s twenty-one years long reign. Though she was a trailblazer in her own way, it is hard to overcome the top three ranked duchies, Dunklefelger the First, Klassenberg the Second, and Drewanchel the Third, who have an extensive history of achievements, excellency, and loyalty. Dunklefelger protected the Sovereignty and helped repel the foreign invaders and former Ahrensbach. Klassenberg, the champions from the civil wars of the previous Royal Family and home duchy to Lady Eglantine, the reigning Zent. Plus Drewanchel, a duchy full of brilliant scholars still producing cutting edge inventions and magic tools, but now in collaboration with Alexandria, and Lord Ferdinand in particular. It seems unlikely for Alexandria to overtake them any time soon as Alexandria is still recovering from the internal wounds inflicted by the former Ahrensbach and the lost nobles who became sinners dispersed throughout the nation to offer their mana as living mana batteries.
I should have expected that Lady Rozemyne never intended to rule as Aub for longer than she did, given her obsession with books and her grand library. But I had thought she finally found a balance between her family, her aubship, and her books. She claims her reason is to fulfil the Royal Order of the former Zent to support my rise to the position of Aub. Though I believe its truly because she doesn’t want to continue dealing with tedious issues within the duchy and power greedy nobles in general who seek her favour and influence. It’s for similar reasons that I truly believe Alexandria has not overtaken the top three ranked duchies. Lady Rozemyne and Lord Ferdinand likely find it bothersome to be pulled from their obsessions, books and research respectively, to contribute further to the governing of not only their duchy but the country itself, as is the responsibility of the highest ranked duchies.
However, I owe Lady Rozemyne everything. So, if she wishes to live her remaining life in peace surrounded by her books in the grand library of Alexandria, then I will step up to the position of Aub and allow her to do so. I was always raised to be Aub and with that intention I am more than qualified to become one. Yet, the title of Aub Alexandria specifically is a heavy one for me to bear. Especially with the expectations of one raised by the Incarnation of the Goddess herself, despite being a sinner who’s crimes were covered up and hidden. Though I have made great progress in striving to be worthy of the grace given to me it's still much to heavy a burden for me to carry for long.
I informed her that I would only become a middle reliver Aub, and abdicate in favour of one of her children when the time was right. Lady Rozemyne insisted that I was always meant to be the true Aub and she was just filling in so that she could have her grand library. After a bit of back and forth in our conversation we agreed that for the future stability of the duchy we will marry one of her children as the next Aub, to one of mine as the future First Consort. This is the most peaceful way to prevent faction conflicts between her children’s supporters and mine. It would further strengthen the position of Rozemyne’s children, and future heirs, by reintroducing the former Ahrensbach’s lord clan bloodline into the new archducal family of Alexandria. While also ensuring that the bloodline of the Incarnation of Mestionora is preserved in future rulers of Alexandria.
At the age of thirty, I rose to the position of Aub Alexandria with Lord Hildebrand as my consort. I announced to the nobility that I intended to act as a middle reliever Aub and would appoint one of Lady Rozemyne’s children as the next Aub Alexandria, when they reached the appropriate age. We would have them married to one of my children as the First Consort to bring together the former and current archducal bloodlines in the hopes of further unifying our great duchy. With the children born of the next Aub and their First Consort being the only candidates for the next heir regardless of their sex, male or female.
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4: Righted Wrongs and Second Chances
My adopted daughter, Benedicta, ended up marrying into Blumefeld as the First Wife of the next Aub Blumefeld. Originally, the previous Aub Blumfeld the Lord Traurequal, was still a bit hostile to the remaining nobles of the former Werkestock territory now incorporated into his new duchy. Though he had to quickly shift his attitude after Aub Ehrenfest the Lady Charlotte, outmaneuvered his transparent plotting at the Archduke Conference. He had intended to marry his adopted daughter as the Second Wife of Lord Melchior to build a closer connection with Ehrenfest. However, Aub Ehrenfest the Lady Charlotte arranged it so that an archnoble lady of the former Werkestock territory would marry into Ehrenfest as Lord Wilfried’s Second Wife in the province of Gerlach. I had heard from Lady Rozemyne that this was also Lord Wilfried’s wish himself after learning of the plight of those in Werkestock. Given that the Lady Priscilla was not particularly well treated by the former Zent’s faction in Blumefeld, like most of the remaining Werkestock nobles, Lord Traurequal was in a complicated position. He needed to win the support of the former Werkestock nobles now that they had a strong connection with Ehrenfest.
This knowledge eventually reached Lady Benedicta during her fourth year at the Royal Academy. She asked for me to personally request that Aub Alexandria petition her marriage to Blumefeld as the First Wife of the next Aub Blumefeld.
At first, I was strongly against the idea. But Benedicta explained that even though my adoption of her stopped the harsh treatment she received from Alexandrian nobles it did not endear her to them given that people were already aware of who her birth parents were. Those who lost someone during the former Ahrensbach uprising needed someone to blame and she tended to be the focus of their quiet anger. Those who remain in the former Werkstock territory of Blumefeld are innocent to, like she was, but are still being condemned nonetheless. As the last remaining direct descendent of the former Werkestock archducal family through her birth father, Lord Blazius, she felt a responsibility to save her people and protect them from the underserved treatment they are receiving, just like I had done for her.
It was difficult to argue against her reasoning knowing the guilt I personally suffer from because of my past sins that were hidden. Once I had moved past that I actually became quite proud of her decision to support the nobles of the former Werkestock by becoming the First Wife of Blumefeld. It felt like I had only adopted her yesterday. Benedicta had gone from being a quiet and introverted child afraid to stand up for herself after all the negative treatment she had received to a strong lady ready to protect others who were suffering a similar fate. Admittedly, her prospects for a good marriage in Alexandria were limited, and the nobility of Alexandria would no doubt attempt to secretly sabotage her marriage prospects in the other higher ranked duchies. But with Blumefeld, her parentage could actually benefit her through the Werkestock and Ehrenfest heritage she received instead of the negative it has become for many nobles everywhere else.
I informed Aub Alexandria of Benedicta’s request and she agreed to bring the marriage proposal to Aub Blumefeld at the next Archduke Conference. Lady Rozemyne had summoned Aub Blumefeld to a private conference room and insisted that he accept Lady Benedicta as the First Wife to the next Aub Blumefeld, both for the benefit of his duchy and as a form of personal penance for his past foolish actions. Having carried out an extensive purge after the previous civil war he had won allowing him to become Zent. He had thoughtlessly killed even the innocent Werkestock archnoble librarians and the Second Wife of Aub Ahrensbach, despite their duchy supporting him, simply for being related to Werkestock. These actions likely directly enabled Lady Georgine to precipitate the events leading to the Lanzenave-former Ahrensbach conflict, which further weakened the already compromised nation.
Perhaps it was the punishment of the gods that lead him to rule over a broken and divided duchy like the current Blumefeld. It was a particularly challenge for him given that even the neutral Werkestock nobles left were irate with him for having abandoned the duchy without an Aub for more than a decade, allowing it to slowly wither away and cause unnecessary suffering since he didn’t have the ability to rebound the duchy himself or assign a new archducal family.
When Aub Blumefeld learned that Benedicta was of the former Werkestock archducal bloodline and of the Ehrenfest archducal bloodline as well, he was excited to have finally found a way to build a connection with the nobles of the former Werkestock territory which made up nearly half of Blumefeld’s total area. However, Lady Rozemyne informed him that she was not to be used for his political bargaining, he will hand over power to his heir shortly after Lady Benedicta marries into Blumefeld as First of his son, the next Aub Blumefeld. This was a shocking command given to him but he accepted all of Lady Rozemyne’s demands nonetheless, like he was receiving a Royal Order himself or a divine edict from the gods. I suppose this is the power of the Incarnation of Mestionora.
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Benedicta married into Blumefeld at the age of twenty to her younger husband, the soon to be Aub Blumefeld, aged sixteen. Though they had been engaged for several years, Benedicta was not in a rush to be married. She instead regularly went to visit Blumefeld and build connections with the nobles of the former Werkestock territory. Benedicta’s retainers consisted of those of Werkestock blood still left behind after the uprising of the former Ahrensbach. The majority of these children were left without a family, or even guardians, instead moving to the temple of Alexandria to live as blue robes supported by the Aub or baptized with the Aub as their guardian. The remaining nobles of former Werkestock heritage were extremely loyal to Lady Benedicta as their fates were tied to the influence and favour she could build; she offered support and protection in Alexandria as an Archduke Candidate and the last remaining direct descendent of the Werkestock archducal family. Her retainers were also grateful to Aub Alexandria for being given her support to live as nobles through supporting her reform of the temple of Alexandria.
As a special exception arranged by Lady Rozemyne, Benedicta was allowed to bring all of her Werkestock retainers with her when she married into Blumefeld. She brought an assortment of fifteen nobles of former Werkestock heritage trained as knights, scholars, and attendants, both male and female. She was able to quickly establish a strong faction among the former Werkestock nobles because of her heritage and her commitment to rebuild the duchy of Blumefeld to welcome all nobles, including the outcast former Werkestock nobles that remained.
Her husband, Lord Hendrix, the next Aub Blumefeld supported her actions and believed it important to incorporate the nobles of the former Werkestock into the society of the new Blumefeld. Though their marriage was originally a political one, Lord Hendrix fell in love with Lady Benedicta for real. Her commitment to always overcome challenges, fair or not, and rise to the top endeared her to him. Her fighting spirit reminded him very much of his relatives in Dunklefelger. While her strategic mind made her quite the tactician, embodying the ideal of Dunklefelger women. That such a woman was ever looked down upon was his greatest frustration and he would tolerate no disrespect to her.
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When Lord Hendrix rose to the position of Aub Blumfelt three years later at the age of twenty, it was a move celebrated by all nobles as a smart decision by the previous Aub Blumefeld. No one knew of the agreement he had made with Lady Rozemyne to abdicate early for his son, nor were they aware at the silent pressure she increasingly placed on him at every Archduke Conference after their marriage that he had failed to step down from the position of Aub.
Thanks to Lady Benedicta, Blumefeld was able to blunt their fall in the rankings at Tenth from their original position as Second. Finally settling into the position of Eighth a few years later, behind that of Ehrenfest, now the Fifth, and the other greater duchies. Similarly, Corinzdaum's rank continued to drop for several years after its creation despite the duchy being made from the mana rich lands that were under the management of the former Royal Family.
Benedicta went on to have an astounding five children with her loving husband, Aub Blumefeld the Lord Hendrix. Two sons and three daughters with strong mana capacities more than appropriate for Archduke Candidates of a greater duchy. Benedicta encouraged her husband to take an archnoble Second Wife from the former Royalist faction of the incorporated territories and an archnoble Third Wife from among the former Schaffer nobles that remained. This was to be a symbolic move to bring together the bloodlines of the former Werkestock archducal family, the former Royalists, and those left behind from the former Schaffer.
Of course, the next Aub would be selected from among Benedicta's five children. As is tradition for children of the First Wife. Her eldest son being the most likely candidate for the position of the Third Aub Blumefeld. No longer would the nobles of Blumefeld be divided by their former Werkestock, Sovereign, or Schaffer territorial lines, but now will start coming together as a single duchy rising from the ashes of the former three.
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Corinzdaum had fallen all the way to the Thirteenth position and became increasingly unstable before the engagement of the next Aub Corinzdaum was announced. Somehow, Corinzdaum was able to secure a marriage with Ehrenfest, still the Sixth at the time, to the youngest daughter of the former Aub Ehrenfest and his First Wife, Lady Wisteria. It seems the young lady of Ehrenfest had her work cut out for her as she attempted to stabilize Corinzdaum and prevent its continued descent in the rankings. It seems likely that the current Aub Corinzdam the Lord Sigiswald, will be pressured into stepping down from his position in favour of his son, Lord Edmund, since Lady Wisteria has already married into the duchy.
I heard that her marriage was strongly supported by the Zent, Lady Eglantine, which doesn’t come as a surprise given that Ehrenfest, much like Alexandria, is a major contributor to her ascension to Zent. Ultimately, I hope that Lady Wisteria is able to settle down Corinzdaum. As Corinzdaum is an adjacent duchy to Blumefeld sharing a long border, any major conflict there will likely spread to Blumefeld. I do not wish to see my dear Benedicta suffer in Blumefeld when she’s been working so hard to rebuild the duchy and incorporate the former Werkestock nobles.
I will continue to support Benedicta as she works to stabilize not only her position as the First Wife but also that of her duchy itself, as she brings her faction of the former Werkstock to merge with the new Aub Blumefeld’s faction of the former Royal Family. I believe that we can continue to stamp out the seeds of hate and distrust formed during the previous warring states period that sprung up after the death of the Second Prince all those years ago. And the civil wars that continued afterwards until Lady Rozemyne brought a stop to it all, as the incarnation of the Mestionora. Truly the actions of Lady Rozemyne, those she saved and those she raised, have brought stability to the nation of Yurgenschmidt and ensured that we all have a future.
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During my reign as the Second Aub Alexandria, I decided to accept a proposal for a Second Husband from Gilessenmeyer. An archduke Candidate born to Aub Gilessenmeyer and his First Wife. Though Gilessenmeyer was formerly one of the top ranked duchies during the reign of the previous Zent for their familial relations, the duchy dropped significantly after the former Zent Traurequal stepped down. Moreover, being the birthplace of the traitorous Raoblut, the former Sovereign Knight Commander, caused them to be seen with extreme suspicion by the surrounding nobility. The new Zent the Lady Eglantine, decided to leave their country gate closed for the foreseeable future to placate the nobility of Yurgenschmidt. As someone who had made a grave mistake in the past myself I decided to support those who had done no wrong themselves but were being punished by others nonetheless, like my dear Benedicta.
When I became Aub Alexandria, I received regular proposals from other duchies for the position of my Second Husband. Fortunately, none of the higher ranked duchies pushed for an engagement given that I was already married to Hildebrand under the Royal Order, nevermind the fact that he's someone with the heritage of Dunklefelger the First and the former Royal Family. As such, no higher ranking duchy could attempt to even displace him to take the position of First Husband to the ruling Archduchess and decided against proposals for the Second Husband position. I was able to safely ignore all other proposals from lower ranking duchies.
When I received a proposal from Gilessenmeyer it likely was not intended to be a serious consideration but just a fanciful hope for them. I decided to accept an engagement for a Second Husband from Gilessenmeyer nonetheless to help improve their reputation and to build a debt of gratitude to Alexandria. As territories responsible for the country gates represented by the Supreme King and Queen gods, it felt only appropriate that we should have closer relations and connections with one another, Alexandria holding the gate of Darkness and Gilessenmeyer holding the gate of Light. It was certainly a shock for Gilessenmeyer when I accepted their proposal, but it was even greater for the other duchies who had been hoping to gain influence within Alexandria. The decision was ultimately interpreted as a show of support for the current Zent the Lady Eglantine and her Consort the Lord Anastasius, as his heritage directly descends from the Gilessenmeyer archducal family. Though none would look at Lord Anastasius with suspicion, the continued distance experienced by Gilessenmeyer from the other duchies was seen as a black mark on his reputation. In a sense, this decision was a choice to support Gilessenmeyer but not because of the Zent or her Consort, but as my own personal form of penance while also receiving benefit for the territory and people that I rule.
I welcomed Lord Ingram as my Second Husband in Alexandria. We also concluded a trade agreement with Gilessenmeyer to export our trends to their duchy and to receive unique raw materials and products from their territory. My mother, Lady Rozemyne, always finds new and inventive ways to add the products of other territories to her trends inventing new ones and modifying her existing ones. It surely won't be much longer before Alexandria starts to rise in the rankings again once our influence is able to overtake Drewanchel, Klassenberg, and maybe even Dunklefelger one day. We used the additional mana provided from my new husband to perform Entwickelns along key trade routes to continue the expansion of our trade activities and increase the volume we can engage in with other territories.
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To uphold the dignity of my Second Husband the two of us decided to have a child. It was a bit of a challenge as our mana capacities were at the edges of compatibility making it necessary for me to decompress my mana a little bit and for him to seriously compress his own. With the permission of my mother we taught Lord Ingram her mana compression method, which allowed his capacity to greatly expand becoming a closer match to mine. We welcomed a single daughter, Lady Isabella.
Once she entered the Royal Academy, she was sought after by Gilessenmeyer to become the First Wife of their next Aub. My Second Husband and I agreed that this was a mutually beneficial decision for both Gilessenmeyer and Alexandria to accept her future engagement as the next First Wife. Truly, an engagement of an Archduke Candidate from Alexandria is quite a lucky feat for the current Gilessenmeyer, even if her father was originally from that duchy. The reputation of Gilessenmeyer softened in the eyes of the nobility after I married my Second Husband and then once again when the engagement of my daughter was announced. I am pleased that the duchy will now be judged on their own merits and demerits and will no longer carry the stench of the civil wars upon them any longer. It seems likely that even their country gate could be opened again in the future once my daughter moves to Gilessenmeyer and rises to the position of Archduchess as First Wife of the Aub. When that happens, Alexandria will truly benefit from the influence of being connected to another duchy with a country gate and the stream of unique products that will enter the country and the priority we will receive in gaining access to such products.
Mother will be greatly pleased for new books and stories that will enter from the lands beyond the country gates.
Chapter 8: Lady Philine: Layscholar to Archduchess Alexandria
Summary:
Philine Perspective on life in Ehrenfest after Part 5. Resolving issues of her past, finding her love, and looking to the future.
Chapter Text
1: Left behind in Ehrenfest
After Lady Rozemyne travelled to Ahrensbach with the knights of Dunklefelger to save Lord Ferdinand, she victoriously came back as the new Aub Ahrensbach. It was said that she was able to take the foundation of the greater duchy in a single bell; my mistress is as impressive as always. Only someone overflowing with as much mana as her could even attempt such a feat, never mind actually accomplish it. From there she repelled the foreign invaders from Lanzenave and the rebellious nobles, of Ahrensbach and the former Werkestock, over several battles and spread out across many territories. She even became an Incarnation of the Goddess, Mestionora, saving the whole of Yurgenschmidt from collapse by giving the Glutrisheit to Lady Eglantine. Lady Rozemyne facilitated the rise of a legitimate Zent that could properly rule over the nation capable of performing grand magics lost for a generation.
Though, I was only able to hear all of this from her other retainers after the fact with a few stories told to me directly from Lady Rozemyne herself. As I was left in Ehrenfest to protect the temple with Lord Damuel, I sadly could not see her miraculous deeds for myself. Thanks to the guidance of the Goddess of Fortune, Greifechan, I was able to keep the orphans and my temple attendants safe as during the attack on the temple the orphanage did not appear to be one of the targets. I hid the children in my Orphanage Director’s chambers during the first signs of conflict in Ehrenfest and barricaded the doors as per Lady Rozemyne’s instruction. A lot happened in the temple while I was unable to take further action. I kept my focus on protecting the orphanage children and my younger brother Konrad. The Archduke and his family were able to repel Lady Georgine and her retinue, but there were still many gaps in our defense that she was able to exploit, despite all the preparations and fortifications we prepared. I only learned later about the death of a blue priest and their temple attendants. I resolved myself to become stronger so that I would leave no gaps in the future to be exploited. I needed to be able to protect my family and be of use to my mistress, Lady Rozemyne.
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Lady Rozemyne was officially recognized as the new ruling Archduchess of the reborn duchy of Alexandria, formerly known as Ahrensbach, with Lord Ferdinand becoming her fiancé. Though she seems embarrassed about their engagement, I always thought that her and Lord Ferdinand would make an excellent pair given how much the two of them clearly care for one another. You can practically see Efflorelume, the Goddess of Flowers, in full bloom whenever they are together.
Only Lady Rozemyne’s adult retainers and those retainers who swore their names to her could join her in Alexandria immediately after she became Aub Alexandria. I was left behind, yet again. I needed to remain in Ehrenfest until after my graduation from the Royal Academy, and subsequent coming of age. I wanted to join Lady Rozemyne immediately like everyone else, and I was the only one of her retainers intending to remain in her service who could not join her. I needed to work hard to show her that I can support her rule well, despite being a laynoble who would not even be able join her until years after she’s started her reign in Alexandria.
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I officially became the Orphanage Director, and a blue shrine maiden of the temple under the leadership of Lord Melchior as the new High Bishop of Ehrenfest, in the spring following my Fourth year at the Royal Academy. The transition to Lord Melchior’s leadership was relatively smooth as Lady Rozemyne had been preparing for it to happen a year in advance, teaching Lord Melchior about important ceremonies and training one of his retainers to act as the High Priest. The temple reforms that Lady Rozemyne had instituted during her tenure were stabilized with the start of Lord Melchior’s ascent to High Bishop and became the standard. Blue robed priests and shrine maidens were now expected to actively contribute to the proper management of the temple. The adult blue robes were also expected to take on younger apprentice blue robes under their guidance raising them into competent blue robed priests and shrine maidens. The training of apprentice blue robes was less of an issue given that all the children had noble baptisms and would attend the Royal Academy in the future, making them useful connections for the temple bound adult blue priests and allowing for proper guidance to build positive relationships.
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On occasion I would visit the castle to support the training of other laynoble and mednoble scholars who needed to learn how to properly interact with the commoners of the printing industry and to better comprehend Lady Rozemyne’s approach. Now that Lady Rozemyne and the majority of her highly trained retainers were gone, there were few remaining in Ehrenfest who could pass along that knowledge or guidance. Thus, I regularly attended business meetings on printing matters, between commoners and nobles alike, as they often took place in the temple where I was primarily residing. Despite the presence of mednobles, and even occasionally archnobles like Lady Elvira or Lady Brunhilde, I often actively participated in meetings as a noble directly trained by Lady Rozemyne and Lord Ferdinand. I was exceedingly fortunate to be allowed to keep polishing my skills as a scholar even while remaining in the temple full time. I was occasionally probed for my interest on staying in Ehrenfest instead and becoming a retainer to Lady Charlotte or even Lady Brunhilde, now the Aub’s Second Wife. While I was grateful for their interest and probing subtle offers, I have but only one one mistress to whom I have sworn my eternal loyalty, and that is Lady Rozemyne. I am determined to rejoin her in Alexandria and once again to act as her scholar.
When I do visit the castle, I am able to meet with Lady Brunhilde from time to time when Dreganuhr weaves our threads together. We developed a close bond with one another after both serving the same mistress for a time as fellow retainers to the archducal family. Back then she often acted to protect me in situations where higher status nobles might attempt to intimidate or pressure me using their higher status. Though I was grateful for the protection, over the years I have increasingly desired to be useful to others instead of just being seen as a helpless schumill in need of others protection.
Lady Brunhilde and I would have tea parties together on the occasions when she was available, which acted as a low-pressure environment for her younger sister, Lady Bertilde, to perform her apprentice attendant training. After all I am just a laynoble despite being a retainer of Aub Alexandria. With the rise of Lady Brunhilde to the position of the Archduke’s Second Wife, it is almost a certainty that Lady Bertilde will become the next Giebe Groschel with the growing influence of her elder sister. To that effect, Lady Bertilde is receiving a lot of training in the castle under her elder sister's guidance and forming important connections that will support her future rule of Groschel. She often asked for advice about the printing industry and how Lady Rozemyne effectively uses commoners to accomplish her goals, which I imagine was suggested by Lady Brunhilde. Thankfully because of that I was able to form a connection with the next Giebe Groschel.
In the castle I was fortunate to be able to receive bridal and socializing training taught by the mednoble and laynoble wives working there. It was important to know how to properly socialize and collect information as a noblewoman but with the death of my mother and estrangement from my father being well known in the castle, it was clear that I would not otherwise receive the necessary knowledge. The bridal training at the castle became a mischievous past time of the ladies who were a bit more interested in lightly teasing me about my future partner than just teaching and guiding my progress. Though I was grateful for all their time and advice, it slowly became an open secret that Lord Damuel and I were likely to marry in the future. The noble wives of the castle enjoyed watching our love story blossom before their own eyes, as if jumping off the pages of the Royal Academy Love Stories written by Lady Elvira herself. But it was exceedingly stressful for me who hadn’t even properly confessed my feelings to Lord Damuel yet and I wasn’t even certain that he could even see me as a woman. If I propose like a Dunklefelger woman, as Clarissa did to Lord Hartmut, I am sure that I could prove myself to my personal hero and love, Lord Damuel.
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2: My Beloved Brother
My younger brother by birth, Konrad, is not officially recognized as my brother in the eyes of society as he never had a noble baptism. But as children from the same mother to me he’s my brother all the same. One of the benefits of remaining in Ehrenfest is being able to watch over and protect him, who was just recently baptized. He did not have enough mana to be baptized as a noble, according to the criteria set by Aub Ehrenfest for noble children placed in the temple orphanage. Frustratingly, I did not have the resources to raise him as a noble either. Though I was upset to be forever separated from my beloved little brother by the burden of status, Konrad seemed to have already accepted it. He was perfectly fine. In fact, he was the one comforting me when I heard the result.
Konrad decided to become the apprentice attendant of his first friend from the orphanage, Lord Dirk, who was baptized as a mednoble of the former Veronica faction. Konrad plans to become a blue priest himself in a few years time, once his mana capacity increases enough during his upcoming growing period. He wants to become like brother Kampfel, his idol, who is of laynoble birth also, but makes enough money in the temple to support himself as a blue priest without the support of his purged noble birth family. I believe it’s certainly possible for Konrad to do on his own, but I want to take whatever actions I can to ensure he has enough funds to live a proper lifestyle as a blue priest and to protect himself.
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Nearly three years after I left Ehrenfest, Konrad’s mana capacity had grown enough to justify raising his status to a blue robed priest. Though it was surprising for many that an apprentice grey priest rose to the status of a blue priest, many nobles remembered that the orphaned noble children were left in the temple orphanage after the purge of the former Veronica faction. While only those noble children with mednoble or archnoble levels of mana baptized as proper nobles with the Aub as their guardian. Not a single laynoble was ever baptized under his protection.
Konrad was part of a group of orphaned laynobles who didn’t receive noble baptisms. All of them eventually rose to the position of apprentice blue priests and shrine maidens after having formerly been apprentice grey priests. These blue priests and shrine maidens, had to work much harder than their contemporaries who were supported by their families, or those with the Aub as a guardian. These apprentice grey robes turned apprentice blue robes became the backbone of the reformed temple. A newly reformed Ehrenfest temple where it was normal for blue priests to actively involve themselves in temple affairs and its administration. Having formerly been grey priests themselves the relationship between the grey and newly risen blue priests created a positive dynamic of respect and comradery. Konrad lived a happy life as a blue priest taking his friends he grew up with from the orphanage as his temple attendants, he was able to earn enough income through paperwork and the harvest festival to support himself. Though I also ensured he received regular donations to top up his income as a blue priest. While there would always be the wall called “status” separating blue robes and grey robes, there was an increasingly cordial relationship between temple attendants and their blue robed masters or mistresses after the rise of new blue priests like Konrad and his peers.
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3. My God of Darkness
Lord Damuel stayed behind in Ehrenfest temporarily joining Lord Bonifatius’ retainers, not that anyone in Ehrenfest could even hurt the powerful Lord Bonifatius. Lord Damuel was trained more intensely than he ever before as Lord Bonifatius was beyond frustrated from not being able to join Lady Rozemyne’s retainers or continue to watch over her from close by. He was still an Ehrenfest Archduke Candidate and thus had to remain in Ehrenfest. It seems all that energy is being funneled into Lord Damuel to ensure that Lord Bonifatius' adorable granddaughter will be safe in the new Alexandria.
I know that Lord Damuel stayed behind for me, though it was a request of Lady Rozemyne he didn’t seem particularly upset about carrying it out. I wonder, does this mean he finally recognizes me as a woman? Does he consider me as a serious potential marriage partner?
Lord Damuel is my personal hero after he rescued me from my household with Lady Rozemyne. Ever since he’s been exceedingly kind and supportive of me. I wish to be his Goddess of Light. In my heart, he is already my God of Darkness. I worked hard at continuously compressing my mana according to the Rozemyne Mana Compression Method. I pushed myself as hard as I could to become compatible with Lord Damuel who’s mana capacity has already grown to that of a mednoble. Years ago, his mana capacity was already enough to match Lady Brigitte, the younger sister of a Giebe. Now, with Lady Rozemyne having created a 4th step to her compression method, his capacity has likely only increased further. Thankfully, I have the advantage in catching up. I started learning my lady’s compression method after my First Year at the Royal Academy, an important point in the growing period of my mana. If I work hard my capacity should end up being more than enough of a match for Lord Damuel, despite coming from a weak laynoble family with barely enough mana to even still be considered noble.
When I can finally sense his mana, I will know that I am his match and will propose to him in the style of Dunklefelger women. I was very interested when I heard from Lady Clarissa about how women can take the initiative and offer engagements to prospective husbands in her home duchy.
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During the summer after my Fourth year at the Royal Academy I was able to sense Lord Damuel’s mana for the first time. What a relief! What joy! I am finally compatible with him as a marriage partner! All of my hard work compressing my mana over the past few years has really paid off, especially since becoming a blue shrine maiden. I would always dedicate mana to the spear of Leidenshaft and the Shield of Schutzaria, hoping to gain the pillars gods blessings, and gain the fire attribute to improve the quality of my mana. Through my hard work and honest prayers taught by Lady Rozemyne, I gained the blessings of the pillar gods of Fire and Wind, as well as blessings from some of their subordinates. Though my schtappe will only ever have strength from the blessing of the Earth pillar Goddess, Geduldh, my mana now has attributes for Earth, Wind, and Fire, while Lord Damuel has attributes for Wind and Light.
The next time I saw Lord Damuel, I pulled him out of the public view and pushed him down to propose. Surprisingly, he didn’t seem as shocked as I would have expected, he simply smiled and agreed. Apparently, he was planning to propose to me himself once he started noticing that he could sense my mana, but he was not confident whether or not I would be interested in an old man like him. But such a thing matters not where Efflorelume, the Goddess of flowers, blooms. As is the case with Lady Rozemyne and her consort Lord Ferdinand, I was completely pleased with Lord Damuel as my marriage partner. We exchanged magic stones of engagement in a small ceremony held at Lord Damuel’s home in the noble’s quarter with his elder brother Lord Henrik, and his Wife, in attendance.
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4: From Shrinking Violet to Proper Noblewoman
Lord Damuel will be my escort to my graduation from the Royal Academy. We planned to move to Alexandria after the spring Archduke Conference that year to have enough time to sort our household circumstances. Given that Lord Damuel was the second son of his household he had nothing to inherit, but I was the heir of my mother’s household so he would marry into my family. I just needed to sort out the remaining issues with my father and his wife, Jonsara. Now that I am an adult and recognized as a full noble, I can claim my right of inheritance as the foremost heir to my mother’s household. I had never intended to return to that house, but now that I am leaving for another duchy, I will need the resources to help establish my position with Lord Damuel in Alexandria.
I contacted my father and arranged a meeting with him three days later. He was only too eager to see me after his having become a pariah in society. He earned the ire of an Archduke Candidate to such an extent that Lady Rozemyne felt compelled to intercede in his household's private affairs. He apologized for his past actions and asked for my forgiveness. But I would not allow that.
He abandoned Konrad and was even willing to let him die. In fact, he fully intended to let him die if not for Lady Rozemyne’s intervention. He allowed Jonsara to steal Konrad’s magic tool, ending any future he had as a noble. Despite the fact that magic tool was made from our own mother’s magic stone. How disrespectful to spit on his deceased wife's and our mother's memory like that. He allowed Konrad to be mistreated by his new wife and didn’t intervene to protect me properly either. We were the heirs of the household as children born to our mother. He married into her house. Jonsara’s child had no rights of inheritance. Yet, father didn’t intervene to protect us or the future of our household.
I smiled and informed him that I would be taking over my mother’s household as her only heir and confiscating all of its property. From the mansion in the noble’s district to magic tools, furniture, and clothing passed down within the family. I would be selling the mansion in Ehrenfest immediately, meaning he needed to find accommodations elsewhere with his wife and their pre-baptism son. As a retainer of Lady Rozemyne, the First Aub Alexandria, I would be moving to her duchy to continue supporting her as I had done in the past. I would be using the property from my mother’s household to re-establish the household in Alexandria with Lord Damuel as my husband. Furthermore, even the non-noble servants of the household and several of my retired maternal relatives would be leaving with us to support our family’s future in Alexandria.
Father looked at me with a shocked expression. He probably didn’t think the quiet and nervous me of the past would confront him in this way, demanding my birthright now that I am an adult. Especially because I had been seemingly hiding in the castle and temple for all these years. While at first, I was hiding and I was afraid. I gained so much confidence serving Lady Rozemyne. I learned from her other more senior retainers and was even able to effectively socialize with other duchies, including higher ranked ones. I also learned from the ladies in the castle who supported my bridal and socializing training as a noblewoman. After all these years, it was less hiding from my father and more biding my time until I became an adult, so that I could exert my rights over my mother’s household. I would no longer be the helpless Philine of the past who is left behind during important events or protected by others from the shadows. Now I will use all that I have learned and the various tools at my disposal to forge ahead on my own path and be useful to my mistress.
Father was clearly quite angry, complaining about who I thought I was and demanding I give up my rights as an heir. I suppose he really started to believe himself the master of the house in his own right after mother’s death. I told him to rely on his family or that of Jonsara’s. Surely the two of them together could figure something out. He foolishly claimed that I would be destroying my younger brother’s future as a noble, as they might not be able to afford raising him properly anymore. I felt my mana start to become agitated when he said that, an aura of red energy surrounded me. Ruin my younger brother’s future as a noble? Father already allowed that to happen to Konrad who’s now living in the temple as an apprentice grey priest, not even an apprentice blue priest. I told him my brother’s future as a noble was already ruined by Jonsara and now I was simply following their example. It makes sense to invest resources in the child with the most mana; in this case, that’s me who has a mana capacity equivalent to that of a mednoble. Father and Jonsara can figure out their own child’s problems, like how Konrad and I resolved our own.
The next day, Damuel and I watched as my father and Jonsara left my mother's mansion in a carriage with whatever possessions they had left to their name. Of course, Jonsara took the time to glare at me on her way out with a furious gaze. It’s a bit too late for her to be upset though, she should have understood her position better and acted accordingly. This is the direct result of her own actions.
Fortunately for her, Lady Rozemyne has shown me that people need opportunities to grow. So I offered my father a deal. I would use my influence to arrange for him to find work in one of Ehrenfest’s provinces. I would even leave them just barely enough funds to continue raising their son as a noble for a few months, but they would need to establish themselves to support him into the future. In return, father would agree to partially sponsor Konrad to live as a blue priest in the temple of Ehrenfest. I had them sign a magic contract in both Ehrenfest and Groschel to that effect, further stating they would not take action against myself nor Konrad, and requiring that they raise their son to hold no hostility against us either.
I regularly correspond with Konrad via magical letters to learn whether or not those two are holding up their end of the agreement. It seems they were able to baptize their son as a noble after all. However, Jonsara needed to return to work as an attendant immediately afterwards to afford the materials necessary for him to attend the Royal Academy in the future. Father and Jonsara ended up sending Barnaby to the temple, though to live as a noble blue priest during the year while attending the Royal Academy in the winter. Though the son of Jonsara was baptized as a noble, Konrad was of higher status than Barnaby in the temple because of Konrad’s close relationships. One to the mednoble blue priest, Lord Dirk, and two as the younger brother of the former Orphanage Director, Philine, retainer to Lady Rozemyne the Aub of Alexandria, that is to say… me.
Ultimately, Konrad and Barnaby developed a relatively close relationship while in the temple. Barnaby apologized for his mother’s actions in the past and said he would make amends for having contributed to taking away Konrad's future as a noble, despite being an infant at the time. Barnaby became a scholar and contributed an annual tithe towards Konrad to support him as a blue priest for the rest of his life. Their connection became close enough that Konrad would even visit Barnaby in the noble’s quarter on occasion. I am happy that my beloved brother has a stable life and happy life as a blue priest in Ehrenfest.
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5: To Alexandria, Our Future Happiness
After the Royal Academy graduation, Damuel and I decided to spend a few weeks remaining in the Sovereignty to participate in the temple shrine tour to improve the quality of our schtappes. As Damuel and I increased our mana capacities through compression, we eventually started to reach the upper limits of our schtappes. Though we cannot increase attributes not already present within our schtappes, we can certainly improve the mana capacity by praying at shrines we had attributes for during our original acquisition. Indeed, this has become a somewhat regular activity in recent years encouraged by Zent the Lady Eglantine, to improve the quality of schtappe for those of the generation who obtained the worst ones. With nearly a decades worth of nobles having received their schtappe in their first year at the Royal Academy, even before the blessing acquisition ritual.
I prayed at the shrine dedicated to Geduldh, the Goddess of Earth, while Damuel prayed at the shrine dedicated to Schutzaria, the Goddess of Wind, representing the original attributes that we were both born with. When I entered the shrine I dedicated mana to the divine instrument of a golden statue using my schtappe and recovery potions. I noticed that red feystones were growing on an altar in front of the statue. I would collect the feystones and dye them with my mana like when I obtained my divine will. The red feystones were absorbed into my body each day and I could start to feel my schtappe growing ever so slightly, getting a bit stronger each time. After a few weeks I was not able to summon anymore red feystones, I knew then that I had grown my schtappe as much as possible given that I only had a single attribute when I obtained it.
The experience was very similar for Damuel, but he gained blessings from the subordinate goddesses of the wind genus. Geduldh has no subordinate goddesses. I could only rely on a greater strength of blessing from the Goddess of Earth herself to improve my schtappe’s quality. Regardless of our original attributes, we both now have stronger schtappes appropriate to our mednoble mana capacities gained through the Rozemyne Compression Method.
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Lord Damuel and I moved to Alexandria after the spring Archduke Conference following my graduation from the Royal Academy. We purchased a large laynoble appropriate sized mansion in the new Alexandria noble’s quarter rebuilt by Lady Rozemyne. We selected a mansion that could also be appropriate in size for mednobles if our household happens to rise in rank after three generations, which is part of our plan for a prosperous household of retainers to the archducal family. Saving for a mansion in the noble’s quarter was expensive, but using our savings, gifts from his elder brother and Lady Brunhilde, and confiscating the resources of my mother’s household in Ehrenfest, we were able to gather enough funds to buy our mansion in the Alexandria noble's quarter.
I brought various personnel with me to, including maternal relatives that were retired, widowed, or did not receive a noble baptism, my former temple attendants that I bought, chefs trained for the Italian Restaurant, and any remaining commoner servants from my mother’s household. I ended up with one retired couple whose children were already grown and married, a widowed noble lady, a male relative without a noble baptism, a former grey priest and grey shrine maiden, and three commoner servants. The future of our household is bright in Alexandria, I am so happy that I am able to revive my mother’s household and allow it to prosper in deference to her memory.
After settling our household affairs in Alexandria, Damuel and I returned to work as retainers to Lady Rozemyne, the Aub of Alexandria. I was excited to see the others who had served together with me previously as retainers to our mistress in the Royal Academy, like Lord Cornelius, Lord Hartmurt, Lady Leonore, Lady Clarissa, and Lord Roderick. For a time Damuel and I received harsh glances from the nobility after being discovered as laynobles that serve the Archduchess. The nobility of Alexandria initially believed us to be mednobles given that they could sense our mana capacities. We had both gained mana appropriate for a mednobles through years of mana compression, but that information was only known to those of Lady Rozemyne’s faction until news of her compression method spread. Damuel and I served as examples of how effective and truly valuable her compression method was.
We waited a few years to have children to allow us to properly establish our household and status in Alexandria. When I entered my early twenties, Damuel and I felt prepared to finally have a child. It takes a fair bit of planning to raise a noble child especially for laynoble households with limited resources. Though in our case, we wouldn’t need as many feystones for storing mana for the Royal Academy lessons, since our children would likely have higher mana capacities than typical laynobles. Hopefully our children are born with mednoble, or even strong mednoble, mana capacities.
During the Alexandria baby boom of Ehrenfest-born retainers, I gave birth to two sons and one daughter, all of whom had mednoble level mana capacities and two to three mana attributes each. I worked extremely diligently during the pregnancy to ensure that our children would be born with as much mana as possible and with all of mine and Damuel’s attributes. We originally planned to have only two children as we were confident that we could properly raise two nobles with our resources. But Lady Rozemyne had encouraged all of her retainers to have as many children as possible, with the archducal family willing to sponsor the additional children beyond the household’s resources.
Thus, our youngest child and only daughter, Pomeline, was sponsored by Aub Alexandria. She performed blue shrine maiden work in the temple after her baptism to contribute back to the resources being used to sponsor her lifestyle as a noble. Though truly this was a massive benefit for her, enabling our Pomeline to increase her attributes and blessings in the temple.
We raised our eldest son as a scholar who would inherit the household, our second son was raised by Damuel to be a knight, and our youngest daughter was raised as an attendant. All of our children were selected to be retainers to the archducal family, serving the Archduke Candidate children of Lady Rozemyne and Lord Ferdinand. I was happy to return to Lady Rozemyne’s service as a scholar upon my youngest child’s entrance into the Royal Academy.
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From then on, my days were spent blissfully helping the Aub with her paperwork, transcribing books with her in the Grand Library of Alexandria, attending meetings on her behalf for printing related matters, and collecting stories to turn into books for my mistress. I ended up often attending meetings related to printing matters on behalf of Aub Alexandria when her status was considered too high to warrant her direct participation. It became common knowledge that in such meetings, my words were effectively the Aub’s words. Unfortunately for those sneaky nobles they not only were not freed from her involvement but were now under her suspicion and were being monitored by a born laynoble like myself.
Damuel and I continued to serve Lady Rozemyne even after her retirement as Aub Alexandria, spending our time almost exclusively in the Grand Library of Alexandria where Lady Rozemyne became the head librarian. Even after all these years, my lady has never tempered her book obsession, she just got better at balancing her time between her various responsibilities or at least pretending to.
Chapter 9: The Chronicles of Lieseletta: Head Attendant to the Incarnation of Mestionora
Summary:
Lieseletta POV of life in Alexandria, marriages of the retainers, and various political issues popping up in the reborn duchy of Alexandria. This is the longest chapter yet but there's a lot more details to cover in Alexandria since there are a lot of named characters surrounding Rozemyne and Ferdinand.
Notes:
Lieseletta only needs to use polite speech (i.e. Lord, Lady) for those who are above her in status. At this point, that would only be archnobles with close ties to an archducal family.
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1: The Path of Loyalty to the Saint
I am endlessly grateful to Lady Rozemyne for saving my family from the humiliation and shame of my elder sister failing out of the Royal Academy. Angelica was on the road to having her schtappe sealed and needing to be raised as a servant for our family. This negative mark on her reputation would not have impacted only her but the entire family after my parents had worked so hard to gain favour with Lady Florencia, even during the Veronica faction era before the fall of Lady Veronica. Only Lady Rozemyne could have not only the grace to give Angelica a second chance to complete her studies, but even the patience to work with her own knight retainers to personally impart the knowledge to Angelica. Truly Lady Rozemyne is deserving of the epithets of Saint and Goddess. She has saved many with her actions noble and commoner alike. From that moment on, to me, she had already become my mistress, I decided that I would serve her and do whatever was necessary to realize her wishes.
Fortunately, when she became Aub Ahrensbach and then Aub Alexandria shortly thereafter, I was already an adult noble which allowed me to immediately follow her as an attendant. She valued me as a retainer and had even previously requested that I join her in the Sovereignty when she was in the process of being adopted by the King. I ended my engagement in a heartbeat, as I only wanted a higher status to serve my mistress. But if that engagement would hold me in Ehrenfest when she went elsewhere, then I had no use for such an engagement. He was a kind man and we were compatible in more ways than one, but as a retainer to Lord Wilfried our marriage was more political than anything else.
Now that we’re in Alexandria, I once again need a higher status to serve as the Head Attendant of the Aub despite the fact Lady Rozemyne only has two mednoble attendants from Ehrenfest, myself and Gretia. I needed to find an archnoble to marry so that I could rise in status to archnoble myself. Thanks to Lady Rozemyne’s Mana Compression Method, my mana capacity grew to that of an archnoble, I was even compatible with many of the male archnobles of Alexandria despite it being a greater duchy. Given my status as a close retainer to the new aub of the former Ahrensbach, now Alexandria, I had no shortage of marriage proposals from archnoble men who could sense my mana. I decided to marry an archnoble of the Letizia faction, expecting to become his Second Wife in the future like Angelica with Lord Eckhart.
In Ehrenfest, a middle duchy formerly ranked near the bottom, it might have been possible to hold the status of First Wife of an archnoble despite being born as a mednoble, as I would be a retainer to the First Wife of Aub. However, in Alexandria, a greater duchy where nobles tended to have higher mana and status, it would be difficult to hold the position of First Wife over an Alexandria former Ahrensbach-born archnoble lady. The politics of the First Wife position did not matter much to my soon to be husband, nor I. He wanted a closer relationship with the new aub and to preserve Lady Letizia’s status as an archduke candidate of the new Alexandria. While I wanted the status needed to secure the position of Head Attendant of Lady Rozemyne, Aub of Alexandria.
I was not concerned with one of my future children inheriting my husband’s household either as I had intended to establish a new household in Alexandria for my archnoble-born children, with some support from my parents, my husband, and my own personal resources. A household that will support the bloodline of my mistress, Lady Rozemyne, as my husband’s household is aligned with the Letizia faction. These two factions are currently working together as Lady Rozemyne intends to adopt Lady Letizia formally after her starbind ceremony, however, their support is ultimately concentrated on two separate individuals. Thus, the future household that will be established for my children will focus their loyalty and support to Lady Rozemyne and her descendants.
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2: Life in Alexandria as the Aub’s Head Attendant
I am beyond fulfilled as a retainer to the Aub of Alexandria, Lady Rozemyne. She is a kind-hearted leader that brings about great change with her actions and ideas, like Flutrahne, the Goddess of Water, washing away the cold winter of Ewegeliebe, the God of Life, to welcome spring. Lady Rozemyne has brought a new spring upon the lands of the former Ahrensbach, now the greater duchy of Alexandria. She takes her responsibilities as the aub seriously and completes the necessary work with great aplomb. But she still has too strong of an obsession with her books. It makes it exceedingly difficult to get her to leave the Grand Library once she enters, have her stop reading new books late at night instead of sleeping, and encouraging her to stay on task for her paperwork not the planning of new magic tools for her Grand Library. Sometimes I wonder how such a brilliant and capable person can be as one-sidedly preoccupied with books as she is. Though, I just smile at her antics and work to make her environment as comfortable for her as possible while managing her schedule as best as possible like I was taught by Lady Riyharda.
After a few months in Alexandria, Lady Rozemyne started quite the concerning habit with Lord Ferdinand, the pair would disappear together into a hidden room none of her retainers could enter. Lord Cornelius becomes exceedingly frustrated every time this happens, to protect the honour of his little sister, Lady Rozemyne. Given milady’s lack of knowledge on matters between men and women, I am doubtful anything scandalous is happening in the hidden room. But I agree with Lord Cornelius that this is inappropriate behaviour for a noblewoman, and a ruling Archduchess no less. Fortunately, this only occurs once a season or so. Perhaps they are working on some sort of magic tool in secret, or Lord Ferdinand is studying knowledge from Lady Rozemyne’s Glutrisheit in exchange for giving her more reading time, or likely some other strangely obtuse activity that only those with a strong obsession could possibly understand. One research obsessed; the other book obsessed. I suppose such a trait is typical of Ehrenfest that historically produced limited nobles of talent or note, with those gaining prominence often being one dimensional and unbalanced in their skill. Once the two finally exit their hidden room, I believe we’ll need to have another conversation about why it is not appropriate to cast aside one’s retainers and enter a hidden room with a male as an unmarried noblewoman.
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Lady Rozemyne and Lord Ferdinand’s starbind ceremony during the spring Archduke Conference after Lady Rozemyne’s graduation from the Royal Academy, was a major event that drew much attention from the nobility. The marriage of the Incarnation of Mestionora and the so-called Lord of Evil. The Zent heaped an impressive blessing onto the new couple, though not quite comparable to one of Lady Rozemyne’s, it was greater than what the Zent had offered for the starbinds of other Archduke Candidates. Lady Rozemyne has now officially become an adult and has married a male Archduke Candidate, becoming a fully realized ruling Archduchess. The two have made it clear to the rest of the nobility that there will be no Second Wife or Husband for Lady Rozemyne and Lord Ferdinand.
I, like Lady Rozemyne, will wait several years before having a child. The current Alexandria is not in a good position for us Ehrenfest-born nobles to step away from work in castle to have and raise noble children. The important positions in the castle are primarily held by the Ehrenfest-born retainers with the remaining posts held by trustworthy nobles of the Letizia faction. If we started having children now, we would not be able to supervise the scheming nobles of the former Ahrensbach and it could potentially place the entire duchy at risk before Lady Rozemyne has even fully consolidated her rule over it. Of course, the nobles do not actively oppose the Aub’s rule of Alexandria; however, many of them have not yet committed to fully supporting her rule either. Most recognize that if they tried to depose the ruling Archduchess, the Zent would collapse the duchy itself and punish them severely. The only thing holding together the current Alexandria reborn from the rebellious former Ahrensbach, is that Lady Rozemyne, the Incarnation of Mestionora, deigns to reign over it at all.
When Lady Rozemyne returned to Alexandria after the Archduke Conference, she formally adopted Lady Letizia as her daughter providing certainty behind her status as an Archduke Candidate of Alexandria. Lady Letizia was already being formally treated as an Archduke Candidate in the Royal Academy to avoid her falling behind in her lessons while Lady Rozemyne comes of age. Lady Rozemyne had already revoked the rule of Archduke Candidates losing their status after a new Aub is crowned, but Lady Letizia’s status as an orphan still limited her influence within Alexandria without the formal adoption and guarantee of an official position in the line of succession. The Letizia faction threw even more of their support behind Lady Rozemyne after the adoption was concluded.
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3: Faction Politics of Alexandria
The faction politics of Alexandria have become quite complex as there are now even factions within factions. There’s the Rozemyne faction, which consists of the archducal retainers brought from Ehrenfest, the nobles who attended the Royal Academy with Lady Rozemyne, and the Goddess worshippers brainwashed by Lord Hartmurt and Lady Clarissa to offer their unconditional support to our mistress. The Ehrenfest and Royal Academy factions within the Rozemyne faction are relatively small compared to the population of the duchy and we’re still waiting for some of those nobles who attended the academy with Lady Rozemyne to graduate and step into important roles within the duchy.
The Letizia faction, which consists of the Drewanchel retainers of her grandmother and their descendants, the few Drewanchel retainers brought by Lady Letizia, nobles of the former Ahrensbach, and the nobles who supported her grandfather Aub Ahrnesbach the Lord Giselfried. The Drewanchel portion of her faction is the smallest, but that has Lady Letizia’s most ardent supporters. The former Ahrensbach nobles support her as the planned heir of Ahrensbach but their support has become a bit lukewarm. The supporters of the former Aub Ahrensbach the Lord Giselfried had their numbers noticeably thinned out after his death, most likely from the plotting of Lady Georgine and her supporters.
Finally, there’s the Neutral faction, which consists of nobles of the former Georgine faction that weren’t punished, those of the former Werkestock who weren’t punished, provincial giebes who tend to distance themselves from duchy politics, and nobles of various other descent who’s parent or grandparents married into the duchy.
Strangely, Lord Ferdinand has a small faction of his own from nobles he had won to his side during the period he was Lady Detlinde’s fiancé, due to his overall competence and the clear benefit he represented to the former Ahrensbach that was barely holding together. Though his faction has a lot of overlap within the Rozemyne and Letizia factions he certainly has a small dedicated group of supporters. Collectively, the three members of the archducal family still only have the active support of a minority of the noble population, with the other nobles falling into the tepid support and undecided categories. I suppose it should be considered a win that the remaining nobles of Alexandria do not actively oppose Lady Rozemyne’s rule. But to effectively rule Alexandria, the Archduchess and her family will need the active support of a majority of the nobles as an Aub from a new archducal bloodline.
I imagine this is what the marriages of the archducal family retainers will be used for. Between Lady Rozemyne, Lady Letizia, and even Lord Ferdinand, there are a lot of opportunities for marriages between Alexandria nobles, as a bridge to build closer bonds with the new Archduchess. The archducal family set to work arranging engagements and marriages for all of their retainers who had no shortage of proposals from the nobility of Alexandria.
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In a private meeting with her Ehrenfest-born retainers, Lady Rozemyne encouraged all of us to have as many children as possible with our Alexandria spouses to establish a strong Ehrenfest faction within the duchy. It was important to create a faction appropriate in size for a greater duchy, not just for milday’s rule this generation but for the protection of our future children and families. Without appropriate factional support we could all be wiped out from the future Alexandria or at the very best extremely oppressed to contain our influence. Aware of the burden additional children could have on noble families, Lady Rozemyne even offered to sponsor the additional children born beyond our means with magic tools and even their living expenses. Following a similar system to the orphanage, the costs would be recouped from our children’s future work as a blue robed priest or shrine maiden in the temple and even through crest certified work performed at the Royal Academy. Encouraging our children to perform the work of blue priests and shrine maidens is actually a net benefit for all of us as it will increase the blessings and future attributes of our children before they even attend the Royal Academy.
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Lady Rozemyne used knowledge of her special mana compression method to draw more nobles to her faction like she did in Ehrenfest. The evidence of its success was obvious from her various retainers of laynoble and mednoble status who gained mana capacities compatible with the noble rank above their own in just a single generation. Even Hartmurt had increased his mana capacity to the point it was a match for an archnoble from Dunklefelger the First closely related to the archducal family, that being Clarissa. Like in Ehrenfest, Lady Rozemyne required the nobles of Alexandria to sign a country wide magic contract agreeing not to teach her method to anyone else and promising not to become her enemy in the future. The Aub also used her creative mind and inventive spirit to create new tends in food, fashion, and music, appropriate and unique for Alexandria. She drew many new supporters to the Rozemyne faction and gained the interested eyes of all nobles in the duchy who could clearly see that she had an almost endless stream of ideas to allow Aexandria to prosper.
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4: Alexandria’s Son-in-Law
After Lady Letizia graduated from the Royal Academy, she remained in the Sovereignty for a time to support Lord Hildebrand performing the Shrine Tour to increase the quality of his schtappe. It’s a well-kept secret, but Lord Hildebrand was manipulated into participating in the Lanzenave-former Ahrensbach conflict and ended up obtaining his schtappe before even becoming a Royal Academy student. He had received the worst-quality schtappe possible for him in his life. Fortunately for him, being born to the Royal Family and Dunklefelger meant he likely had many attributes from birth. Not seven, but most likely six mana attributes. Thus, there was a lot of room for his schtappe to grow with sincere prayer, participation in temple rituals, and serious mana compression. At least this much would be necessary for him to remain compatible with Lady Letizia who is now the High Bishop of Alexandria and has learned Lady Rozemyne’s Mana Compression Method. Lady Letizia most likely obtained an all attribute schtappe herself at her graduation.
It was decided that Lord Hildebrand would obtain his own schtappe in private to avoid drawing attention from the surrounding nobles as a former Royal Family member. Though the justification was shaky, many nobles did not disagree with any methods used to avoid sowing new seeds of chaos in the recovering Yurgendschmidt. Strangely, Lady Letizia had stored mana into several feystones prior to the ceremonial dance performed by the Archduke Candidates, as if she was trying to contain her mana for some reason. Perhaps she was very excited and needed to calm her nerves? After the graduation ceremony, Lord Hildebrand and Lady Letizia privately performed the shrine tour to improve his strength of blessings one final time as he had already secretly received his schtappe years prior.
Apparently, he had already been performing the Shrine Tour every other year in secret since his entry into the Royal Academy. This was to support his growing mana capacity from compression by increasing the strength of blessings he received through performing temple rituals and the blessing acquisition ceremony allowing him to increase the quality of his schtappe each time. The Zent helped to cover up these actions to protect the reputation of the former Royal Family and hide their crimes. He performed three shrine tours outside of the regular academy term and after the Archduke Conferences to allow him to go unnoticed.
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Given that the two went forward with their marriage at that Archduke Conference, I assume Lord Hildebrand increased his schtappe quality to the extent he believed possible and necessary, to be appropriate as a marriage partner to Lady Letizia. Currently, she’s next in line to be Aub Alexandria, meaning that Lord Hildebrand needs the mana capacity appropriate to support a greater duchy and act as a proxy Aub during her pregnancies.
On the subject of children, after she welcomed Lord Hildebrand and his retainers to Alexandria, the two of them immediately adopted Lady Benedicta as their daughter. Lady Benedicta was the daughter of Lady Alstede and Lord Blazius, former Archduke Candidates of Ahrensbach, making her of the direct bloodlines of the former Werkestock, the former Ahrensbach, and Ehrenfest. There was a lot of controversy surrounding her survival and status as an archnoble of Alexandria under the guardianship of the Aub. But this adoption created new waves beyond even that. The neutral nobles of the former Werkestock immediately threw their support behind Lady Letizia with their desire to have their own children join the future retainers of Lady Benedicta, a direct relative of the former Aub Werkestock. In fact, she’s the only remaining direct descendant of the former Werkestock archducal family at all. Though former Werkestock nobles were only neutral to protect themselves and avoid conflicts, as nobles descended from a thrice rebellious collapsed duchy. With Lady Benedicta’s adoption it seemed to be the guidance of Greifechan, the Goddess of Fortune, and those neutral former Werkestock aligned nobles found safety in joining the Letizia faction.
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Lord Hildebrand arrived in Alexandria with a large entourage and many carriages of gifts that one would expect of a former Royal Family member turned Archduke Candidate of a greater duchy. Though Blumefeld has been slowly dropping in the duchy rankings since its creation, Aub Blumefeld is still the former Zent and requires a level of presentation and respect befitting of that status. Thus, Lord Hildebrand arrived with seven retainer’s total; four archknights and three archattendants who would also become nobles of Alexandria. It will be an advantage for our duchy to gain so many archnobles that are loyal to the archducal family, even if that loyalty is concentrated on Lord Hildebrand and Lady Letizia. The Letizia faction gaining additional supporters will be a major net benefit to Aub Alexandria, so long as we can keep their behaviour under control and it doesn’t threaten the Aub’s continued rule.
It was decided that some of Lady Letizia’s and Lord Hildebrand’s retainers would be married to one another with the remaining retainers being directed to seek marriage partners among the wider Letizia faction and from those within the neutral faction of Alexandria. Despite being the heir apparent of the former Ahrensbach, Lady Letizia’s position has become unstable with the great upheaval caused by the death of her grandfather and the rebellion of Lady Georgine. Even my mistress, Lady Rozemyne, has an unstable political position in the duchy, despite her rule being necessary to prevent the collapse of the duchy itself. The union of Archduke Candidates from two greater duchies will create a solid foundation for Lady Letizia within the archducal family of Alexandria.
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5: The Plan of the Alexandria Archducal Ladies
During one of their regular private tea parties between mother and daughter, Aub Alexandria encouraged Lady Letizia to start having children with Lord Hildebrand as soon as possible, now that Lady Benedicta was adopted. It was ideal for Lady Letizia to have several children with her now husband while Lady Rozemyne stabilizes her own rule. This was suggested for various reasons.
First, it was not safe for the Aub or her Ehrenfest-born retainers to start having children, retiring from service, and/or being absent from the castle for extended periods of time. The foundation of Ahrensbach was taken by Ehrenfest only a few years ago and there are likely still many who, under the surface of their noble facades, are very displeased about the idea of the former bottom of the barrel ranked Ehrenfest becoming their new lords. Lady Rozemyne and my fellow archducal retainers from Ehrenfest would need to delay having children to prevent leaving the castle defenseless and being absent from Alexandria politics during a key moment in its history. Second, Lady Letizia was the heir apparent of the former Ahrensbach, now that she’s come of age some of the former Ahrensbach nobles might try to push her up to become the next Aub immediately, displacing Lady Rozemyne, and attempting to create a debt to them from the newly crowned Aub Letizia. Thirdly, if Lady Letizia did need to step into the role of ruling Archduchess sooner than expected because something happened to Lady Rozemyne and/or Lord Ferdinand, the Alexandria archducal family would be at risk of collapse once again, like it was in the former Ahrensbach. It would be ideal if Lady Letizia had all of her children while she was young, so that she would be in a position to step into the role of ruling Archduchess before Lady Rozemyne starts having any children of her own.
Lady Letizia also agreed with the Aub’s view of the situation and the two formulated a plan to ensure that the castle would be protected by the Letizia and Rozemyne factions during both of their pregnancies, which they agreed to stagger.
First Lady Rozemyne would stabilize her rule as Aub Alexandria with her Ehrenfest-born retainers, while Lady Letizia and Lord Hildebrand along with their retainers, would have several children with their new partners. During this period, Lord Hildebrand would still support Lady Rozemyne and Lord Ferdinand by contributing to the foundation of Alexandria and Lady Letizia could focus on contributing her mana to the baby during pregnancy, allowing for mana rich Archduke Candidates to be born. Likewise, their retainers would focus on raising a new generation of archducal family retainers for their lady’s and lord’s future children, expanding the Letizia and Hildebrand faction.
Then, after the Letizia faction noble children were born and their weaning periods had passed, Lady Rozemyne would start having children with Lord Ferdinand, her Ehrenfest-born retainers would also be able to start having children with their Alexandria partners. Lady Rozemyne would take a step back from actively ruling the duchy during her pregnancies and Lady Letizia would step forward to act as a proxy Aub with the other adult members of the Alexandria archducal family. The castle would then be protected with the close retainers of Lady Letizia and Lord Hildebrand covering for any gaps left by the departure of Lady Rozemyne’s retainers. This would also help with supporting Lady Letizia’s position among the nobility as a legitimate Archduke Candidate of Alexandria.
Thus, Lady Letizia consulted with her husband the next day and they decided to immediately get to work on welcoming Entrinduge, the Goddess of Childbirth. Lady Letizia welcomed three children into the Alexandria archducal family during her youth, two daughters and one son; Lady Belphoebe, Lady Primrose, and Lord Percival. Similarly, the retainers of Lady Letizia and Lord Hildebrand welcomed many archnoble children into the duchy, securing the primary candidates for their next generation archducal retainers.
Lady Letizia had a surprise pregnancy in her later years giving birth to a third daughter, Lady Euphemia.
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6: The Blazing Smile of the Aub
Our mistress, Lady Rozemyne, encouraged her Ehrenfest-born retainers to marry Alexandria nobles to bolster her faction and political support within the reborn duchy. I had already wed my Alexandria archnoble husband and risen in status to an archnoble. My sister, Angelica, rekindled her engagement with Lord Eckhart, much to the excitement of Lord Bonifatius and the chagrin of our parents. Lord Cornelius and Leonore as well as Hartmut and Clarissa already attended their starbind ceremony in Alexandria, overseen by Lady Rozemyne as the High Bishop of Alexandria. I remember her displeasure over Hartmurt's and Clarrisa’s praise over her Saintly and Goddess-like blessing, but it is much too late to curb the behaviour of those two obsessive retainers. I am not sure that milady fully realizes that yet though.
The remaining retainers were a bit slow to arrange their own engagements, not that it lasted very long. Lady Rozemyne would introduce potential marriage partners with a blazing smile that seemed to say “GET MARRIED ALREADY!” during the starbind socializing period in the evening, of course she would do it with the grace and poise one would expect from an Aub lightly pressuring their subjects. She became a matchmaker and started arranging the marriages herself as if overtaken by Liebeskuhilfe, the Goddess of Marriage.
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Lady Rozemyne had four children with her God of Darkness, Lord Ferdinand. It was quite surprising considering most of us were worried about whether or not Lady Rozemyne was healthy enough to have even a single child, nevermind multiple children. She had two daughters and two sons, her eldest children being the daughters and the youngest being the sons. Given how much mana Lady Rozemyne and Lord Ferdinand have, truly any of their children could inherit the position of Aub Alexandria regardless of gender.
Being ever the luminary with new trends, Lady Rozemyne established a system of part-time work in the castle for her female retainers who would have otherwise retired completely until all their children entered the Royal Academy. This meant that we could have children and raise them, while still maintaining our status in the castle. We could remain connected to duchy politics, information collection, and the ability to continue serving our lady. This new policy mainly applied to Leonore, Angelica, and myself. But it allowed us to remain active and involved as retainers to the Aub even before our children began attending the Royal Academy.
It started a new trend among the nobility of Alexandria with archnoble and mednoble women choosing to flex their political clout by returning to work part-time and actively engaging in politics once their children had passed the weaning period. Their absence from the house was covered by nannies and elderly relatives who’s mana would not impact the children. With a female ruling archduchess who only stopped actively working during pregnancy and the following weaning period, it became less strange to imagine other senior status noblewomen doing the same. In fact, having the resources available for one’s wife to return to work part-time prior to all her children entering the Royal Academy became a sort of new status symbol.
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Matthias was married to an archnoble lady of the Letizia faction, Lady Lauren. Though she dropped in status from archnoble to mednoble at the beginning of their marriage, she would rise in status once again if her first child was born with the mana capacity appropriate for an archnoble. A prospect that seemed extremely likely given that Matthias descends from a former Ahrensbach archnoble himself, has been using the Rozemyne Mana Compression Method, and his wife was previously an archnoble of a greater duchy. Matthias was the second generation to be born with a higher level of mana than what his mednoble status would suggest, so if his first child was also born with archnoble mana, he and his household will rise to the status of archnoble. Matthias had three children with his First Wife, all of them sons, with the two parents rising in status to archnoble seven years later, after their first son’s baptism. Matthias would go on to marry a Second Wife from the Rozemyne faction, a strong mednoble that learned the Rozemyne Mana Compression method, and have four children together; three sons and a daughter. Lady Rozemyne promised to sponsor all the children of his Second Wife as his resources were increasingly strained as a former mednoble from a now destroyed household in Ehrenfest. Finally, he was pushed by Lady Rozemyne once again to marry a Third Wife from the neutral faction, an archnoble lady. Matthias had three more children with his Third Wife, two daughters and one son.
Lord Cornelius and Leonore, the lovebirds that they were, had four children together immediately after it was possible to start having children without compromising Lady Rozemyne’s rule as Aub. The couple had three sons and a surprise daughter, which was rare in their family lineage, the only other example is Lady Rozemyne herself. It’s fortunate that there will be a generation of clever knights coming from Leonore and Lord Cornelius, as the children of milady will likely be a bit oblivious and relying on a child of my sister for awareness is beyond concerning. Lord Cornelius welcomed Second and Third Wives from the Rozemyne faction and Neutral faction, to expand the political support of his younger sister, Lady Rozemyne. Lord Cornelius had three sons with his Second Wife and three sons with his Third Wife. All of Lord Cornelius’ children were trained as knights, except for his daughter with Leonore.
Hartmut and Clarissa were perhaps a bit too enthusiastic about having children. The couple wanted to have enough children to assign at least one each to all of Lady Rozemyne’s future children to observe any potential saintliness or other signs of divinity within them. Better yet, they were hoping to have several of their children assigned as retainers to each child of Lady Rozemyne. Entrinduge, the Goddess of Childbirth, blessed them with four children; three sons and one daughter. But the chaos was not limited there, Hartmut eventually took a Second and Third Wife from the Rozemyne faction, particularly from the Goddess obsessed segment, having four more children with each new wife. I actually feel a bit sorry for the children of my mistress who will have to navigate twelve Hartmurt and Clarissa like nobles running about the castle while being exceedingly overbearing about their saintliness. May they have the guidance of Glucklitat, the God of Trials, to overcome the upcoming ordeal. Clarissa raised her children to be scholars of the sword, as is common in Dunklefelger.
Laurenz was introduced to a strong mednoble of the Rozemyne faction as his First Wife and had three children together with her, all raised to be knights. He later married a Second Wife from the Neutral faction, another strong mednoble, and had a further three children with her. The children of his Second Wife were sponsored by the Aub. All of Laurenz children were born with weak archnoble level mana capacities.
Roderick married a mednoble scholar of the Rozemyne faction and had three children. He married his Second Wife from the neutral faction, a strong laynoble that learned the Rozemyne Mana Compression Method. He had two children with his Second Wife, both sponsored by the Aub.
Raimund, though technically a retainer of Lord Ferdinand, was also pressured to marry quickly. He married a First Wife from the Ferdinand faction, an archnoble lady that he had two children with. His Second Wife was a strong mednoble of the Rozemyne faction, that he had three children with. His Third Wife was a strong mednoble from the Neutral faction, who learned the Rozemyne Mana Compression Method, that he had two children with.
Even my sister, Angelica, had a child with Lord Eckhart. It seems my sister really did not want to retire from service as a knight, especially for any extended period of time. She only had a single son with Lord Eckhart, Lord Heidelferd. To be honest, it was surprising that she agreed to have children at all given how blatant she makes her lack of interest in the typical duties of a noblewoman. Perhaps she wanted to meet the expectations of our lady and the appeal she made for more children from her Ehrenfest-born retainers. Eckhart seemed genuinely pleased to have a child and was extremely protective of Angelica during her pregnancy. Quite the turnabout from his usual aloof attitude. Their marriage was not necessary one of love but it was one of understanding and partnership. In a lot of ways, it was quite similar to Hartmut’s and Clarissa’s marriage, though less outrageous in the resulting actions. Lord Eckhart was encouraged to take an archnoble First Wife from Alexandria to socialize on behalf of the household in place of my sister. Lord Eckhart had two children with his First Wife who was from the Ferdinand faction. I had tried to ask him once if he intended to take a Third Wife but he cryptically responded that he already had three wives. I wonder what that means? Does he have a mistress? He’s really not the type for that though. Maybe he means he’s married to his work in service of his master? I tried to ask Angelica once, but to no avail, I should have known better that it was clearly a waste of time from the beginning to even try and ask her. I suppose it will forever remain a mystery, the identity of another wife to Lord Eckhart.
When it came time for me to have children with my husband, I took my lady’s wishes into consideration for the number of children I would have. I planned to have two children, three at most. Though I was now an archnoble I married into another family and could not depend on the resources as the heir of my parents’ household in Ehrenfest anymore. With the Aub encouraging all of us to have more children and with Angelica unlikely to have many children, I pushed myself to have five children to compensate. It was extremely exhausting and my last pregnancy was beyond concerning. I was worried if I could even make it through that final pregnancy towards the end, never mind actually give birth to a child with the appropriate mana capacity. My mother travelled from Ehrenfest to support my last pregnancy in Alexandria during the final months. With her support, and additional mana contribution from my husband, I was able to safely give birth to our fifth and final child. Unsurprisingly, the child’s mana attributes lean closer to my husband’s than to mine after I struggled to keep supplying mana towards the end. We had three daughters and two sons, all of whom had archnoble mana and three to four attributes. I raised all my children as attendants to ensure that the saviour of our household could have another generation of high-quality attendants for her own children.
Even though my husband married an archnoble wife from Alexandria, a Letizian aristocrat that was intended to take the position of First Wife. It seems that her status was not enough to displace my position given that I was now an archnoble and the Head Attendant of the Aub. Moreover, my elder sister is married to the eldest brother of the Aub, meaning I am now a relative of the Aub herself. I cannot have my children inherit this household because its loyalty lies with Lady Letizia and not with Lady Rozemyne. For the time being it is not a major issue but, in the future, I cannot allow divided loyalties among my children to my mistress. Officially, I will remain the First Wife, but in practice, the Second Wife will take on the responsibilities of First Wife, and one of her children will inherit the household. My husband had already agreed beforehand to provide adequate resources to support the establishment of a new household for my children in Alexandria.
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The biggest surprise among all the Ehrenfest-born retainers though was not actually that Angelica had a child, it was that Gretia had married. I had always gotten the impression that there was more to her story than what she publicly shared, even at the Royal Academy she had chosen to swear her name to Lady Rozemyne despite the fact her family was not executed during the former Veronica faction purge. Whatever the situation was, she said it to Lady Rozemyne in private and with the use of an anti-eavesdropping magic tool. She conspicuously avoided men and their potential romances. The Aub also never spoke to encourage her engagement either. But, as the number of single retainers among Lady Rozemyne’s retinue began to decrease, Gretia increasingly became the focus of attention as an eligible lady for marriage. As a mednoble with archnoble levels of mana, from learning the Rozemyne Mana Compression Method, her status was one that made it difficult to continuously reject the advances of archnobles in Alexandria. She eventually decided to become engaged with Lord Justus. It seemed to be likely more of a public cover to reject further proposals, as it seemed to also benefit Justus who was receiving endless proposals himself from power hungry mednoble and archnoble ladies. The two even attended their own starbind ceremony to quiet down rumours that their engagement was just for show.
We were all shocked once again, when nearly a decade later Gretia and Lord Justus had a child together. An archnoble son, Lord Berwin, who would be trained as an attendant like both of his parents. Gretia never had another child and Lord Justus never married again either. They were technically married but their relationship was more business-like than anything else. Perhaps Lord Justus, like Gretia, had no interest in love or marriage, despite being the only son of Lady Rihyarda and a close relative of the archducal family. At his age he had no children nor wife, but now with Gretia, the two had fulfilled their duties as nobles and could fade into the background of noble society.
We all became quite concerned when we heard that Lord Justus was teaching his son his unique ways of collecting information, by cross-dressing… why did Ehrenfest have so many strange eccentrics?
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The Children's Magic Tool Hunting Squad became a very popular fixture in the dominant factions of Alexandria. Lady Rozemyne originally organized some of her knights, scholars, and attendants into a gathering squad to collect the materials needed to create children's magic tools which would be provided to those of her Ehrenfest retainers who did not have enough for their own children or extra children that were desired. It served a dual purpose of training the younger knights to better protect the scholars and attendants with them, while pushing the scholars and attendants to develop their abilities to protect themselves or even fight back against feybeast attackers, when necessary. It was very reminiscent of when Lady Rozemyne took the apprentices along with an excited Lord Bonifatius to the noble forest in Ehrenfest, to go material gathering while training them to become better protectors and defenders.
This hunting squad expanded greatly in scope and started being used to create children's magic tools for the Rozemyne faction at large. Though not for free anymore but at a much smaller fee than otherwise would be accessible for most nobles, allowing even laynobles to have an additional child or two. This drew many nobles towards the Rozemyne faction with yet another priceless offering to the members of the Aub's faction; mana compression, preferential temple access for divine tool mana dedication, participation in important trends and industries, and now even less expensive higher quality children's magic tools. Nevermind the fact that the head of the faction was the Aub herself and the Incarnation of Mestionora. The nobles continued flocking to the Rozemyne faction in large numbers. The Letizia faction decided to follow suit and provide a similar offering to those of their own faction. Such an offering would only be possible for members of an archducal family who can collect resources in great numbers and direct scholars to create high quality magic tools.
Ehrenfest was the first to pick up on and hear about this trend when Lady Rozemyne and Lady Charlotte were having a sibling tea-party. Lady Charlotte, as the current Aub Ehrenfest, thought it was a great idea and worked to form a similar small hunting party among her own retainers, including those of Lord Sylvester and Lord Melchior as well, to continue drawing new members into their unified faction. But also, like Lady Rozemyne's intention, to grow their faction by having more children born into it from their strongest supporters.
Before long this became a popular trend among the higher territories which had the resources and personnel to dedicate towards creating these hunting parties, among the archducal retainers. Especially after the drop in noble population from the civil wars and acts of terrorism following them, many duchies were sorely lacking in nobles. This trend was a popular and practical one to catch on like many of Lady Rozemyne's trends. Alexandria had gained great acclaim from the Zent, for founding such a system and sharing that knowledge with other duchies to promote the recovery of the nobility across Yurgenschmidt. It also provided a major tool to archducal families to forevermore increase their support bases within their duchies. Though this trend was most effectively carried out by the higher territories with the most resources and personnel to spare, even the middle and lower territories put archducal resources towards these hunting parties. This was both to be in fashion by following the trends of higher territories and to recover their own noble populations which were severely underpopulated. This lack of noble population is also preventing these middle and lower territories from stabilizing and recovering.
It's no surprise that this trend brought forth by Lady Rozemyne, in addition to all the redevelopment, new industries, and research being performed in Alexandria, led to Alexandria rising to the ranking of Fourth from the Sixth, during the reign of Lady Rozemyne as the First Aub Alexandria.
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7: The Rise of the Leisegang
Lord Melchior became the first publicly known Zent Candidate of the new generation following his graduation from the Royal Academy. He came to visit Alexandria and his beloved elder sister Lady Rozemyne. It’s actually really sweet how he still idolizes his sister to this day, regardless of the fact that she was an adopted sister, she is still his elder sister to him. During their tea party in the castle, Lord Melchior made a shocking request of Lady Rozemyne. He asked milady to adopt a child of Lord Cornelius or Lord Eckhart as an Archduke Candidate of Alexandria with the intention of making that child the First Wife or Husband of the next Aub Ehrenfest. It was unreasonable to ask for a child born to Lady Rozemyne given that the archducal family of Alexandria was still concerningly small. This was to finally bring the blood of the Leisegang into the Ehrenfest archducal family and make good one the former Archduke’s promises to the Leisegang faction, made in exchange for their support.
The logic behind the request certainly makes sense but it is more complicated than it would seem. This request would be arranging an engagement, and eventual marriage with the expectation of heirs, between children that have not even been baptized as nobles yet and who’s mana capacities may or may not be compatible in the future. As the princess of the Leisegang, Lady Rozemyne has always been their hope, so it shouldn’t have been shocking for a request like this to be heard. Moreover, with the status of an Archduke Candidate of Alexandria, it will be near impossible for another noble to displace them from the position of First Spouse of the next Aub Ehrenfest. Lady Rozemyne conditionally agreed to the request pending a conversation with her brothers, Lord Cornelius and Lord Eckhart, about adopting one of their children.
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Lady Rozemyne invited Lord Cornelius, Lord Eckhart, Leonore, and Angelica to a tea party to discuss the matter. When she explained the request of Lord Melchior, Angelica practically leapt out of her seat with excitement. The fact that Lady Rozemyne and Lord Ferdinand would raise her child to be clever, competent, and powerful like themselves, was the most exciting prospect for her. Likewise, Lord Eckhart seemed extremely pleased with the idea of his child learning and growing under his master, Lord Ferdinand. Only I knew that Lady Rozemyne was really hoping to adopt the daughter of Lord Cornelius and Leonore, to raise her to be the First Wife of Aub Ehrenfest and pull her away from the muscle head knight energy of her brothers, father, and grandfather. Leonore looked contemplative at first and Lord Cornelius turned towards her, indicating that the choice was hers to make. He really respected her position as his First Wife and allowed her to make the final decision on household matters. Leonore agreed to the adoption of one of their children and suggested their daughter, Lady Rozelyne, since Lord Eckhart only has a son.
As a member of the Leisegang faction herself, Leonore clearly understood the importance of this adoption and why it really needed to be her child, and specifically her daughter, as the First Wife of the next Aub Ehrenfest. She was a pure blooded Leisegang while Lord Cornelius was a Leisegang on both sides with archducal blood from Lord Bonifatius on his father’s side and the First Giebe Groschel on his mother's side. While Lord Eckhart shared that pedigree, Angelica was a neutral faction noble with neither Leisegang nor archducal blood. If the promise to the Leisegang isn’t honoured it could lead to a civil war within Ehrenfest in the near future. A civil war next door would also be bad for Alexandria and likely necessitate the intervention of Lady Rozemyne and Lord Ferdinand as former Ehrenfest Archduke Candidates. It would be a net benefit for her daughter and for her family in Alexandria and Ehrenfest if the Aubs of all future generations are related to Leonore and Lord Cornelius through blood. Though she likely never thought that her child would become an Archduke Candidate.
Lady Rozemyne stated that she would treat the adoption of the children very similarly to her own adoption into the Ehrenfest archducal family. Choosing to adopt the children after their noble baptisms. This would allow Leonore to still act as her daughter’s mother, socialize with her, and invite her home on occasion to spend time with their family. It was truly an ideal scenario. Angelica seemed excited about being able to train alongside her son as he got older with Lord Eckhart promising to plan and oversee family training exercises.
Lord Cornelius and Leonore decided they would assign one of their sons to be a guard knight of their daughter after she was adopted into the archducal family, like Lady Elvira had done for Lady Rozemyne. Likewise, Lord Eckhart would assign one of his younger sons with his First Wife to be a guard knight to his adopted Archduke Candidate son. I also decided to assign one of my sons to be an attendant to my sister’s son, Lord Heidelferd, for general concern about developing his ability to think, unlike my sister.
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Eventually Lord Heidelferd would become the Knight Commander of Alexandria while maintaining his status as an Archduke Candidate, much like Lord Bonifatius did in Ehrenfest, formally rising to the position during the reign of his adoptive brother as Third Aub Alexandria the Lord Archimedes. Lady Rozelyne married into Ehrenfest to Lord Melchior’s son, Lord Mynehardt the next Aub Ehrenfest and became the First Wife of Ehrenfest. Her future child would be selected as the next Aub Ehrenfest after her husband finally creating a new line of Ehrenfest Archdukes with Leisegang blood.
All the children of Lady Rozemyne’s Ehrenfest-born retainers would also become retainers to her four Archduke Candidate children with Lord Ferdinand, and her two adoptive children from her brothers. The few remaining retainer positions were filled by nobles of Alexandria who had proven trustworthy to the archducal family. The massive baby boom in Alexandria within the Ehrenfest-born retainers of the Rozemyne faction and the retainers of the Letizia and Hildebrand faction, created a solid foundation of nobles to support the new archducal family of Alexandria. There was a total of sixty-one children birthed into the Ehrenfest-born retainer group ensuring that Ehrenfest blood would spread across Alexandria and become a dominant heritage of the duchy within the next two generations. Though there were high resource costs attached to raising additional children beyond the typical capacity of the Ehrenfest-born retainer’s noble houses, the impact and benefit was undeniable.
Lady Letizia and Lady Rozemyne agreed to marry their children together to unite the archducal bloodlines of the former Ahrensbach and the new Alexandria. Lady Rozemyne’s son, Lord Archimedes, married the daughter of Lady Letizia, Lady Euphemia, as his First Wife and became the Third Aub Alexandria. The Rozemyne faction and the Letizia faction have finally merged into a unified faction, now supporting the children of the Archduke and Archduchess of Alexandria. Finally, there is a significantly large majority of the Alexandria noble population actively supporting the archducal family’s rule. Future factional conflicts will be fought over First, Second, and Third Wife positions, retainer positions within the archducal family, and coaxing marriages with the children born from the collateral branches and not in opposition to the archducal family itself.
Chapter 10: Sovereign Nobles of the New Era: The Rebels Punishment
Summary:
A central nobles POV on punishments of the rebellious nobles. The main chunk of this short story is about Detlinde. There's some content on the punishments received according to the will of the gods to not directly kill anyone. There's a section that covers Alstedt, Martina, and Raoblut.
-------Content Warning. Lightly covers childhood neglect, brothels, and mistreatment--------
Chapter Text
1: The Punishments
After the ending of the conflict started by Lanzenave, the former Ahrensbach, and some of the central knights, there was a great change in Yurgenschmidt. A new legitimate Zent with the Glutrisheit was crowned, Lady Eglantine the daughter of the deceased Third Prince of the previous generation. The former Zent and Lord Sigiswald became Aubs in the rebellious territories from the previous civil war. Even the gods had intervened to cease the conflict through the Incarnation of Mestionora, Lady Rozemyne. The will of the gods was that there was no more blood be spilt from those seeking refuge in Erwarmen’s garden, the nation we call Yurgenschmidt. It’s difficult to disobey the will of the gods especially once we learned that they truly exist and observe our actions. Thus, we needed to decide on alternate punishments for the traitors and their collaborators, instead of executions.
It was decided that we of the remaining Sovereign nobles would be tasked with reading the memories of all the traitorous nobles to determine their level of guilt, and thus inform the extent of punishment necessary. This will certainly be uncomfortable as we’ll likely need to force the criminals to synchronize their mana and minds with our own.
There were a series of punishments decided on based on the criminal’s level of guilt. The best option was becoming a blue priest or shrine maiden in the temple with a typical blue robe lifestyle allowed. The worst option was to become a living mana battery imprisoned and restrained in a tiny prison cell with only enough food to be kept alive while continuously having one’s mana repeatedly drained. With several other options in between.
The punishments given to the foreign invaders and rebels were from the following, from the best treatment to worst treatment:
1) a submission contract blue robe in a duchy temple
2) a submission contract concubine
3) a submission contract brothel resident
4) imprisoned in a much lower quality white tower like cell with mana regularly drained
5) imprisoned and restrained in a tiny cell as a living mana battery not treated as even human
There was a clause in the submission contract of the blue robes that stipulated the submission would end if the gods themselves heard their sincere prayers and chose to intervene to end the submission contract. The intention being, the submission contract blue robes should pray to the gods for forgiveness and with an earnest heart of repentance. It’s unlikely the gods would intervene to that extent to remove the submission as those individuals would not be killed anyways, as per the wishes of the gods.
The still living non-magical Lanzenave invaders were aggressively interrogated and their nation's knowledge in non-magic and anti-magic technology was extracted for the benefit of Yurgenschmidt. These individuals were then handed over to Dunklefelger to be treated however they wished, as these individuals did not require the grace requested by the gods since they were not mana-wielders seeking refuge in Erwarmen’s garden. Dunklefelger could execute them, use them as slaves, or work them to death, the choice was left to Aub Dunklefelger.
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2: The Foolish and Pitiful Criminal Lady Detlinde
When I first saw Lady Detlinde, I thought she was a pleasing woman to look at, but when she opened her mouth to speak, I only felt frustration. I suppose she accepted that she cannot escape and will be punished regardless, as she did not reject the process of having her memories searched. I placed the memory searching magic tool upon her head and it shrunk to fit her. She fell asleep after consuming a synchronization potion I had prepared. It is unfortunate that I need to share mana with her like this which I had only hoped to do with my wife, but there is a need to determine her level of guilt. Though, as the daughter of one of the main conspirators I expect she will be quite involved. As I touched the circlet to her head I looked into the memories of her past.
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I saw her as a child, it seems she was close with her a young man named Wolfram who would visit her often prior to her baptism. He would play with her and teach her about the things that he was learning during his lessons. This was the highlight of Lady Detlinde’s childhood it would seem. She was otherwise ignored by her parents, her other siblings, and even her retainers and attendants were not overly enthused about her care. I suppose it's not completely surprising given that she was the youngest child of the Aub’s Third Wife. From what I can gather, it appears like Lord Wolfram is her elder brother from the same mother. They also have a sister named Lady Alstedt who is between them in age, but she receives attention from their mother, just like Wolfram. I wonder why it is that their mother only ignores Lady Detlinde? Isn’t she a central pillar of her designs for Ahrensbach?
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Looking through memories from another day I can see that Lady Aldstedt and Lord Wolfram are both present with Lady Detlinde but they’re not speaking directly with her, instead they’re having a conversation with one another.
“Brother, why are you spending time with the abandoned genus of Geduldh? They have no power under the harsh eyes of Ewegeliebe”
“Alstedt, the genus of Geduldh does not lose their power simply because of Ewegeliebe, the goddesses can find protection underneath another if given the opportunity”
“Such actions only invite the wrath of Ewegeliebe who has become increasingly fascinated with Chaoschipher”
“One only needs the guidance of Verbergen to avoid the harsh gaze of Ewegeliebe”
“I have warned you, brother. You know that she does not look upon her visage with favour”
“Is looking similar to grandmother such a demerit that the genus of Geduldh can never find protection?”
“I hope that the harsh gaze of Ewegeliebe never befalls you, lest you end up like the children of Geduldh”
Alstedt then excused herself and left the room with only Lady Detlinde and Lord Wolfram remaining. It seems the young Lady Detlinde could not understand the conversation between her elder siblings. But essentially, Lady Detlinde was in great disfavour with her mother Lady Georgine because of her similar appearance to her grandmother, Lady Veronica. Lord Wolfram was apparently working behind his mother’s back in an attempt to support the young Lady Detlinde, who was helpless and unaware. I wonder what would happen to Lord Wolfram if Lady Georgine were to find out? It certainly sounds like there would be a serious punishment for him.
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Today Lord Wolfram is teaching Detlinde her letters and numbers because the retainers assigned to her actively ignore her. There is potential for the young lady but if no one ever nurtures her ability she will never be able to grow. It really just seems like she wants attention from her parents, her siblings, and retainers. Maybe less attention and more just acceptance and support.
Lady Detlinde has a close relationship with her elder brother but an ambiguous one with her sister Lady Alstedt who doesn’t seem to hate her sister, but certainly avoids her. It seems for the time being she is getting the care and attention she needs from the covert visits with her brother, Lord Wolfram.
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One day, as Lord Wolfram and Lady Detlinde are covertly spending time together yet again, an adult noblewoman walks into the room. She announces that her lady wishes for Lord Wolfram to join her for tea this afternoon. It appears that Lady Detlinde does not recognize this noblewoman, but for someone to have the status to enter an Archduke Candidates’ room and insist that Lord Wolfram join her lady for the tea it could only be the Wife of the Aub, his mother, Lady Georgine.
Lord Wolfram had a strict expression on his face and lightly trembled but he complied with the request from the noblewoman. He bid farewell to Lady Detlinde promising to visit again in the future. I doubt she understood that he’s going to be punished by their mother. What that punishment is though, I do not yet know.
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After that, Lady Detlinde never saw Lord Wolfram again. He was likely punished and kept separate from her. She was alone again. Her mother did not come to visit her. Her sister did not visit her. And her retainers went back to mostly ignoring her, only doing what was absolutely necessary to maintain the dignity of an Archduke Candidate. Well, at least in appearance that is.
That’s a challenging childhood for a lady. I suppose instead of growing from such an experience she only became more foolish given where she’s ended up today.
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After being baptized, Lady Detlinde moved to the area in the castle where all Archduke Candidates live after being baptized and before marriage or coming of age.
She ran into Lady Alstedt shortly after she moved into her new quarters. She asked her sister where Lord Wolfram was as she had wanted to see him all these years but was told that he’s busy. Lady Alstedt shook and froze up. She looked at her younger sister and was lightly trembling, not so much that most people would notice but enough that I could tell she was unsettled seeing through Lady Detlinde’s memories.
Lady Alstedt responded.
“He has climbed the towering stairway.”
“What? When? …How?”
“A few years ago. He was caught up in the fascination of Chaoscipher and seems to have brought the wrath of Ewegeliebe upon himself.”
“He angered the gods?”
Lady Alstedt glared at her younger sister.
“I do not wish to speak of this anymore. It is not good to invite the attention of Ewegeliebe, lest you be cast out like the children of Geduldh.”
After speaking Lady Alstedt left.
Did Lady Georgine kill her own son? Was it because he met with his youngest sister or from the disobedience of that action? Did it happen that day he was called away? Or later? What a terrifying woman Lady Georgine was. Though to create the massive conflict she instigated, I suppose one needs to be at least that deadly. Inspiring such fear in her own children, how frightening.
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Lady Detlinde was continuously ignored by her retainers and thus became increasingly foolish, prone to outbursts as she sought attention from those around her. She was ignored by her father, her mother, and even her elder sister. Though her elder sister likely does so out of personal safety after the tragedy of their brother’s untimely death likely orchestrated by Lady Georgine herself. The reasoning still remains unclear though.
Her elder sister, Lady Alstedt seems to have married her half brother Lord Blazius, the son of the Aub’s executed Second Wife. There must be some behind the scenes maneuvering on Lady Georgine’s part to earn increased political support. I believe the Aub’s Second Wife was originally from Werkestock. Did this decision earn her the support of that faction after the death of the Second Wife during the purge?
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Lady Detlinde ended up as the only remaining Archduke Candidate after her elder brother died and the children of the Second Wife were demoted to archnobles to avoid their deaths in the purge. I suppose Lady Detlinde will finally start receiving the training, education, and attention that she needs. Truly she needs it with her lack of awareness for what has been happening around her.
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Despite her rise in status to the presumed next Aub Ahrensbach as the last Archduke Candidate standing, she received a moderate increase in attention from her parents, but they were mostly disappointed. Her father, Aub Ahrensbach, found her incompetent and began looking for other options, while her mother begrudgingly placed a smile on her face to interact with her daughter. Clearly Lady Georgine was grooming her daughter to become a puppet, and due to the lack of proper education she had received up until this point she will most likely became exactly that.
Lady Georgine rose to the status of Second Wife automatically upon the death of the previous Second Wife. Her power increased and her stranglehold on Lady Detlinde became stronger. The walls were closing in around her, but Lady Detlinde was none the wiser. She only focussed on the new warmth and attention she was finally receiving from her mother that previously ignored her. Her mother does not truly care for her any of her children and is only using all of them as pawns. I know that it’s common to treat others like pawns when it comes to noble politics but to this extent is an extreme level. I don’t know if Lady Detlinde can be considered guilty so much as incompetent. She couldn’t lead a rebellion even if she wanted to. What a truly pitiful and foolish woman.
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When Lady Detlinde entered the Royal Academy, she began to increasingly flaunt her power for attention. She thought people liked or cared for her, but they only feared her power and status. Those above Ahrensbach in the rankings did not even feign politeness when she crossed them leading to a public takedown of Lady Detlinde by the Drewanchel Archduke Candidate at the time, Lady Adolphine.
The contempt all those around Lady Detlinde have for her is palpable but she’s truly unaware unless someone directly and clearly voices their displeasure.
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When Lady Detlinde activated the magic circle for Zent selection at her graduation, she thought her fortunes were finally turning around. Surely many men will be interested in her and everyone will have to pay attention to her if she rules over Yurgenschmidt. Even if she becomes Aub Ahrensbach she will need to follow the will of her mother. But if she can become Zent, then no one could interfere with her. She could punish all those who embarrassed her, acted against her, and even ignored her.
In consultation with her mother, she decided against becoming Aub Ahrensbach and dying the foundation to instead work towards becoming the Zent. Lady Alstedt stepped in to dye the foundation and become Aub Ahrensbach in place of Lady Detlinde. Though Lady Alstedt had married an archnoble, she wouldn’t technically lose her Archduke Candidate status in Ahrensbach until a new Aub is enthroned. Thus, she remains technically eligible under Ahrensbach’s rules but a bit of a stretch in the interpretation given she married into another family that was banned from maintaining their Archduke Candidate status as a Werkestock direct descendant.
This was clearly the manipulation of Lady Georgine who would prefer the compliant yet competent Lady Alstedt to rule Ahrensbach instead of the compliant yet incompetent Lady Detlinde who might create conflict in her grand designs for a major conflict.
It’s hard to believe all this was happening around Lady Detlinde and she was unable to pick up on most of what was happening, but as a third-party viewer of her memories who can see everything I understand the subtext of what has been taking place.
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Finally, even leading into the conflict, Lady Detlinde cannot even carry out basic orders properly. She was instructed to kill Lord Ferdinand but she failed instead leaving him in the foundation supply room. Yet she told her mother she had taken care of him, implying she killed him. But she did not. She went to the Sovereignty through the palace of Adalgisa and ended up being caught by the Incarnation of Mestionora and the Lord of Evil, Lord Ferdinand himself before she could take any serious actions. She was arrested along with all her retinue.
Truly she is such a foolish woman who had taken many petty actions throughout her life. But ultimately, she’s not an inherently evil woman she’s just a neglected woman hoping to see Blanfah dance in her life and find her God of Darkness.
Somehow, I am both irritated with her foolishness but also feel pity for the neglect she experienced and her desire just to be loved. The beginning of her downfall was being born looking like her grandmother, the exact reasoning of this is unclear but it must be related to why Lady Georgine attacked Ehrenfest and attempted to steal the foundation.
Idiot or not, she’s still a criminal and needs to be punished, even if she’s an incompetent criminal because she’s a central figure of this entire plot.
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When Lady Detlinde awoke, she had tears in her eyes. I suppose seeing everything together and with some of my commentary because of the synchronization she’s finally begun to understand how pitiful her situation has always been. That her mother probably killed her beloved elder brother. And that her life was truly hanging by a thread at the beginning because of her appearance.
I cannot stop her from being punished, but I do want to help her a bit. Maybe if she had a different environment she could have been a different person. I could tell from the synchronization that she didn’t truly wish for the plots she was caught up in she was just too foolish to recognize what was going on or maneuver herself out of it. I suppose if she could her mother might have killed her or married her off instead to use one of the other children as a puppet.
Given her involvement, the punishment Lady Detlinde should receive is being kept in an underground prison similar to but less accommodating than a white tower, where she will exist as a living mana battery. However, I will give her an opportunity. The nobles lost because of the civil wars is still quite high and the nation is facing an ongoing mana shortage so we need more nobles. The moderately guilty nobles will be placed into a brothel to produce high mana children with some having the option to leave and become a concubine after a certain amount of children. Others will end up in a slightly more comfortable white tower like prison.
I informed Lady Detlinde that she two options, she could go to the brothel as a moderate criminal or be locked up in a prison cell as a living mana battery as a heavy criminal. She was shocked and ready to cry but it was obvious which choice was better. Still finding her a bit pitiful I offered her a mutually beneficial deal if she chooses to enter the brothel. Normally the punished noblewoman needs to produce at least five children to be freed from the brothel into a different prison accommodation; however, I was willing to set her quota to three children and even take her as a concubine afterwards.
If she agreed to bear me two children, I would allow her to live quite similarly to a typical archnoble’s Third Wife and surround her with attendants who would treat her well. She could live with her children for a few years but they would be baptized as the children of one of my other wives and raised apart from her. Obviously, we couldn’t publicly acknowledge their heritage to avoid the black stain that it would create on their reputation. It was to the benefit of all parties.
I would gain high mana children from the daughter of an Archduke which would normally be above my station. Though I am an archnoble I could never hope to marry a prominent Archduke Candidate from a greater duchy, even from a Third Wife. I became a Sovereign noble based on my own ability not my background.
Lady Detlinde agreed to enter the brothel and give birth to three children and then become my concubine.
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The nobles who ended up in the brothel were not only female but also male. There were two choices for the punished nobles in the brothel; first, they could produce children with another already in the brothel; second, they could produce children with a noble interested in visiting the brothel. There are many noblemen who would be willing to get the opportunity to accept flowers or even take custody of resulting children. But there are also ambitious noblewomen from laynoble, mednoble, and even archnoble families who want higher mana children to increase the rank of their noble houses over time or even to secure better marriage alliances with higher mana children. There was a serious demand for both the punished noblemen and noblewomen within the brothel. The conditions available depended on level of guilt, some had a choice of visiting nobles or punished nobles for their evening relations while others had none. Some could leave after producing five children either becoming a concubine afterwards or being transferred to a white tower like prison. Some were to remain during their entire reproductive life either dying in the brothel or being transferred to the lower quality white tower like prison afterwards. Punished nobleman were required to father at least twelve children to be allowed to leave the brothel.
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It was five years later, Lady Detlinde gave birth to three children while in the brothel and was released into my custody as a concubine. Her children were adopted into various archnoble families at the Zent consort’s discretion. He thought dealing with the brothel below the dignity of the Zent and decided to manage it himself. Though he disliked the brothel itself it served a practical purpose that was direly needed in the current and slow to recover Yurgenschmidt. Having more nobles would ultimately benefit and reduce the burden on his beloved wife, the Zent Lady Eglantine.
Lady Detlinde moved into the annex of my mansion in my home duchy’s noble’s quarter. As promised, I made her accommodations like those that a typical archnoble’s Third Wife would receive. I assigned her competent attendants and some educators as well to improve her lack of awareness. I would be concerned if she taught any future children to be foolish as her previous self during their early years. While I was away in the Sovereignty during the warmer seasons, my First Wife would supervise her activities to ensure she was contained. Though she was now my concubine, she was still a criminal and was not allowed to leave the estate. Ever. This was the agreement I made with Zent Consort the Lord Anastasius, and indeed an agreement all nobles who take a criminal concubine must follow. There were also stipulations regarding minimum treatment standards and promises that no “mysterious death” will occur.
When I returned to my home duchy the first winter that Lady Detlinde became my concubine, she had improved a significant amount in terms of intellect and awareness. It seems she’s finally starting to understand truly how foolish she had been. According to her, despite being technically detained in the annex her life has never been better. She seems to really like the attendants I have assigned to her and she appreciates the opportunity to properly learn.
She became pregnant over that winter with our first child together. I had already had children with my First and Second Wives, so it was good timing to have a couple with my concubine. Lady Detlinde gave birth to daughter the following year, she had blue hair and bright green eyes. We went on to have another two children together despite only intending to have two in total. While she was a foolish and pitiful woman, she certainly was lovable. She truly pined for my attention and blushed quite easily at the lightest of compliments. I had grown to truly care for her ever since I synchronized with her memories and experienced her own emotions as my own. She wasn’t a bad person, just a foolish and easily manipulated one.
Two of her children were baptized as those of my Second Wife and the last child was baptized as the child of my Third Wife. I allowed Lady Detlinde to raise the children until they turned five years old since we could then measure if their mana capacities were appropriate for archnobles or if the children would be adopted into a lower ranked family. All the children were born with high levels of mana that would likely exceed the mana of my own children. I married her daughter, baptized as my Second Wife’s, to my eldest son and heir of the household, as his Second Wife. I married another daughter as the Third Wife of an Archduke Candidate who would not inherit the seat of Aub. Her son was able to marry a strong archnoble lady and establish his own household with the support of her family and with the resources gained from his own hard work.
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Lady Detlinde was able to occasionally catch glimpses of her children from the annex windows when they were coming and going from the other buildings, but I prevented further contact with them after they were baptized as children of my official wives to avoid potential political plotting on her part. Though she was foolish once, Lady Detlinde has begun to gain the competence of a noblewoman from a middle-ranked territory, though still not quite the higher territory she came from, but progress is progress.
Her children knew they were born from a criminal and so chose to live quietly in the household and even still after their marriages. This allowed them to get along relatively well with my legitimate wives and children by knowing their place, I did not allow them to be actively mistreated for no reason but I did ensure they would not threaten the stability of my household.
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Lady Detlinde lived out her days quietly in the annex of my mansion. Though we no longer intended to have children, I genuinely developed an affection for the hopeless Lady Detlinde and would still visit her a few times every winter. Though Lady Detlinde never got to see her children again herself, she could watch over them from the annex windows during their comings and goings. She also heard stories from her attendants about the children and even grandchildren as the years passed on. I chose to surround her with commoner-status noble-born attendants, and used magic contracts to avoid leaking information about her presence in the mansion and the true heritage of her children. Moreover, because those attendants wouldn’t have been raised as nobles, they would not be aware of who she truly was or the crimes she's associated with.
One couldn’t say Lady Detlinde had a good life, and she certainly did not get off lightly with her punishment either, I could tell her time in the brothel had left scars in her heart. She had to be punished for her actions and involvement as a central figure in the rebellion. Though, I am pleased she got the opportunity to live in a different environment and allow her genuine character to shine through and develop. She became a little less foolish and much less pitiful. She was certainly still haughty, but it became sort of endearing the more you saw it, she would easily blush and I could see her ears twitch whenever she received compliments even if it was from her attendants.
The depth of her care was seen with how she raised our children. Even though she knew they would be taken from her, she spent all the time she could with them. Teaching them properly herself. She let them know she loved them and wanted better for them. She told them when the time came to forget her and to live well. I wanted to respect that care she had given, especially after her childhood of neglect, so I ensured our children would be protected from behind the scenes. Though I did not elevate their status above my other legitimate children.
Lady Detlinde, the criminally foolish and pitiful woman, her actions speak for themselves, but people are not static and she chose to accept her punishment and rise above the situation to break free of her shackles. I wonder if the care Lord Wolfram showed her gave her a foundation to rebuild from. She’s certainly not a good person but she’s a better person and she freely shows her affection for those she cares for.
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3: The Grace of the Gods
Lady Martina, the daughter of a Third Wife to the former Aub Ahrensbach’s younger brother. She was not truly culpable in any actions taken and only sought to limit the damage caused by Lady Detlinde herself. Fortunately for her, she received the lightest punishment. She was made a submission contract blue shrine maiden and was allowed to live similar to other blue shrine maidens. But she had to work in the temple’s administration of the duchy she was handed over to to support herself. She also received a small stipend from her new duchy’s Aub. As she was a blue shrine maiden with archnoble mana like that of an Archduke Candidate, it was a huge benefit to the duchy she was placed in. She filled most of the chalices during the winter dedication ritual on her own as no one could match her mana capacity in the temple. She was also given large amounts of territory to bless during the spring prayer ritual but only received the tithe for half of that land during the subsequent harvest festival, as the other portion of her tithe was requisitioned by the High Bishop under the rationale she was a sinner seeking penance.
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Lady Alstedt was not truly guilty of anything besides supporting her duchy. She was scared of her mother and followed her will to the extent necessary to avoid suspicion, but also remained out of almost any criminal acts herself. She supported the greater duchy of Ahrensbach alone for nearly nearly a year. Her punishment was decided as a submission contract brothel resident until she produced five children, afterwards being able to become a concubine to a nobleman if one was willing to take her.
It took her about fifteen years before she could finally leave the punished noble’s brothel. She was taken as a concubine to a nobleman in Blumefeld, secretly arranged by Lady Benedicta, her daughter by birth. The nobleman who took Lady Alstedt under his care as a concubine was forced to sign a further intensified magic contract that stated he would not allow her to leave his estate under any circumstances under penalty of death for him and his household. He agreed. Lady Alstedt was likewise ordered to follow those rules.
It was surprising that Lady Alstedt was allowed to move to Blumefeld at all, having married a descendent of the former Werkestock archducal family previously, even having a daughter. However, it seems the request was covertly made through Aub Alexandria at the behest of her adoptive daughter Lady Letizia from her own adopted daughter, Lady Benedicta. Given the time that had passed when Lady Alstedt finally met the conditions of her current punishment it was decided to allow her to become a concubine in Blumefeld to a former Werkestock nobleman. Lady Alstedt was allowed one meeting with Lady Benedicta. When she met her daughter, she finally understood why she was able to end up where she had. She thanked her daughter but also couldn't bear to see her given the differences in their circumstances and all she had experienced. Lady Benedicta was saved and raised well while she had to suffer under Lady Georgine and was still punished in the end.
She was treated extremely well and given a high standard of living in the annex of the noble mansion where she remained on house arrest forevermore. Lady Alstedt had one more child while a concubine in the household of the former Werkestock noble. The child was raised as archnoble of that nobleman’s Second Wife. Many years later she would be accepted as the Third Aub Blumefeld’s Second Wife; this to repay the favour of the former Werkestock nobleman secretly accepting Lady Alstedt as a concubine. Her father’s family received all the benefits that came with being in-laws of the Archduke’s family. This action also helped to bring greater unity within Blumefeld, completing the integration of the former Werkestock nobles into the new Blumefeld with the former Royalists and Dunklefelgers, as a single greater duchy of nobles.
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Lord Raublut, the former Sovereign Knight Commander, was among the most rebellious of nobles who received the worst punishment. After having seen his memories, his designs for the conflict, and his own subsequent purge which would have been even worse than what could be imagined. If anyone should have been executed, it surely was him. But we cannot defy the will of the gods. Thus, Lord Raublut was locked inside a tiny prison cell and restrained at all times. His body was restricted with magic tools to keep him quiet, still, and maximizing his mana production. He was drained of mana every single day and truly came to embody the definition of “living mana battery” in the truest sense of the term. He was fed the bare minimum to keep him alive and producing useful quantities of mana. But beyond that he was not even treated as human, whether that be a noble or even a commoner. Even a slave would receive better treatment.
His anger kept him alive for quite some time though. It was nearly three decades later that he finally died after the rise of a new Zent who had obtained Glutrisheit on their own and had the support of the nobility of Yurgenschmidt.
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The various remaining criminal and rebellious nobles were sorted across the various punishments. Very few were truly light in their level of guilt and involvement, leading to relatively few gaining the opportunity to live as blue robes. Most were imprisoned either in a low quality white tower like room or as a living battery and treated as less than human. The next greatest amount of punished nobles were placed in the brothels and dedicated their mana when not actively conceiving a child or with child.
Most of the former noblemen never had the opportunity to escape the brothel until their use as fathers of high mana children ended. They needed to have at least twelve children sometimes as high as twenty children to be allowed to leave. Moreover, with visiting noblewomen who became pregnant it was difficult to confirm whether or not the child truly came from the brothel former noblemen.
Truly, the treatment of the men was worse than the women in the brothel, as the women needed to maintain a healthy state to conceive, carry, and give birth to healthy high mana children. The men were used as playthings by noblemen and noblewomen alike who had frustrations or shameful desires that couldn't otherwise be expressed. This was a particularly popular service available for those nobles who lost someone they cared about in the previous conflicts for the throne. Those punished former nobleman who weren’t the most desired to procreate and produce children and had the highest levels of guilt in the brothel, were terribly mistreated by the angered nobles with the only stipulation being not to kill them and to heal them to a proper state before leaving.
The brothel became a worse punishment for nobleman than the imprisonment. While for the women it allowed a path to the status of a nobleman’s concubine, and more freedom. Though several of the punished noblewoman had died by the time they had or could have given birth to at least five children.
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The new punishments that arose during Zent Eglantine’s reign under the auspices of her Zent Consort the Lord Anastasius, could often be seen as worse than death itself in many cases. Though, most of the nobility was not aware of the extent of the punishments received, those who were aware thought the gods truly did not understand mortal circumstances. The Zent clarified that most administration of justice will continue to be left to the Aubs according to the established laws; however, large scale punishments would need the Zent's approval and sufficient evidence to justify depending on their extent. Beyond that, if foreign mana wielders appeared in the nation, the nobility needed to be accept them and inform the Zent of their presence. If they commit a crime requiring serious punishment it had to be done under the auspices of the Zent themselves to ensure the will of the gods is followed.
Chapter 11: Child of Sin or Loved by the Gods: Gretia’s Journey of Self-Discovery
Summary:
This a Gretia POV that focusses on life in Alexandria, particularly on the the archducal family and their retainers.
Notes:
In response to a few comments I realized that romance and the tension of personal interactions is part of what makes the bookworm story so great. I was attempting to just tie up lose ends by focusing on the politics but the personal is important to. I am certainly not the best at writing romance but I have taken a real crack at it with this chapter in trying to expand upon some of the relationships identified in the Lieseletta chapter. I have even included some content on Fermai and their children. I will try to develop my romance writing and personal interaction skills more for future chapters, including those of the forthcoming main series "Scholar to the Gods".
Chapter Text
1: Attendant in the New Alexandria
As if blessed by Greifechan, the God of Fortune, my fate in life really changed for the better with the purge of the former Veronica faction, the great change brought by pure flows of Flutrane swept away the hopelessness from my life.
Though I did not have to swear my name to the archducal family I begged Lady Rozemyne to accept my name to escape my noble family.
I was born from the shameful encounter of a blue priest and blue shrine maiden, and because I was born with a useful quantity of mana not expected from my birth mother, I immediately turned into a pawn for political marriage. I was adopted into the main family as a daughter of the First Wife. I was not treated well behind closed doors and I knew a tragic marriage was all that awaited me in the future. I had no hope.
That all changed with the opportunity presented by the purge.
I decided my one and only chance was to swear my name to Lady Rozemyne and separate from my family to avoid a future as an unhappy Second or Third Wife, or worse yet, a concubine with no status.
Lady Rozemyne agreed to my request of not being forced into a political marriage, or even having to marry at all for that matter. After the constant harassment from my adoptive mother, I thought I would never find happiness in this life or even be allowed to hope for it.
I became used to neglect, poor treatment, and my wishes being ignored. Now I cannot handle the attention of others, especially those with a higher status than myself and whom I cannot easily refuse. I am very grateful to Lady Rozemyne for her understanding and protection.
After the great chaos brought about by Lanzenave and the former Ahrensbach, my lady became the Aub of the reborn duchy, Alexandria, created from that rebellious territory. I became an attendant to Lady Rozemyne, the new Aub of Alexandria, under the guidance of Lady Lieseletta, now the Head Attendant of the Aub.
While Lady Lieseletta kept her finger on the pulse of all activities within the castle, I focused on ensuring the day to day needs of my lady were being met and that her surroundings were comfortable under her direction as the Head Attendant of the Aub.
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Lady Rozemyne had revived the duchy of Alexandria almost overnight as she took over rule its rule from the former Ahrensbach before coming of age. Her monstrous mana capacity allowed her to recover the dwindling mana of the duchy with a grand ritual performed from the foundation of the duchy.
Not just that though, she transformed the economy of Alexandria from the ground up. The duchy could no longer rely on trade with Lanzenave for the importing of sugar to sell across Yurgenschmidt. She created an endless stream of new trends in fashion, cuisine, music, and technological innovations. She used her exclusive craftsmen to spread the inventions she already made in Ehrenfest, which allowed her to further strengthen her position with the duchy of Alexandria.
She established a co-operative relationship with our home duchy of Ehrenfest. The paper-making and printing industries were imported into Alexandria to create an Alexandria-Ehrenfest collaboration of book production and paper distribution. While Ehrenfest paper and books were becoming popular as trends in the Royal Academy and across the higher duchies, the nobility started to gain awareness of the value behind the printing industry. Though Ehrenfest has increased in status in recent years, it was still a middle-sized duchy that could easily fall susceptible to the influence of the greater duchies and higher territories.
With Alexandria as their collaborator and political ally, it ensured that the printing industry would remain safely in the hands of Alexandria and Ehrenfest for generations to come.
The axis of the two duchies would ensure that the printing industry could not be snatched away by a higher territory that wanted to further expand its influence before the industry could establish itself in Ehrenfest and Alexandria.
Regardless, any duchy that would attempt to steal or crush the printing industry would face the wrath of our book-loving lady who would likely not hesitate to wipe an entire duchy off the map for such a transgression. I heard that in her youth, my lady threatened to host a ‘bloody carnival’ for anyone who would dare damage her beloved books. I can only imagine the fates of those poor souls who have mistreated books and invited milady’s ire. I am not sure even the reforms on punishment brought forward by the current Zent could protect their lives. A crime can only occur if there is evidence of such an action and surely Lady Rozemyne would leave none. Even if she did, it’s almost certain her God of Darkness, Lord Ferdinand, would eliminate anything that earned the displeasure of his Goddess of Light.
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Alexandria slowly became a territory that collected all means of printed material in their archive known as the Grand Library of Alexandria, created by the Archduchess herself. Alexandria did not just print the stories of Ehrenfest, but focused on cultivating authors of their own who could collect and write stories.
Our duchy became a fountain of knowledge fit to be ruled over by the Incarnation of Mestionora.
Over time, Alexandria gained the largest collection of books in all of Yurgenschmidt. Even greater than that of the Royal Academy Library and the Zent’s Library in the Sovereign Palace. All knowledge was stored and protected within the Grand Library of Alexandria, which only expanded its collection with the passing of time, requiring the creation of annex buildings and various magical secret storage stacks to contain the ever-increasing knowledge.
It became common practice for a member of the archducal family to become a guardian of knowledge and protect the collections of printed books and written materials stored within the Grand Library of Alexandria each generation. The Head Librarian of the Grand Library of Alexandria was a highly respected position within the duchy, that even held influence across the whole of Yurgenschmidt itself as the protector of the largest collection of knowledge within the nation and a descendant of the Incarnation of Mestionora herself.
Even the head and senior librarians of the Royal Academy Library increasingly all came from Alexandria as the duchy with the foremost store of knowledge and expertise in all matters related to books and libraries.
Though the duchy collected knowledge mainly due to the whims of Lady Rozemyne and her obsession with books; it also produced a great amount of knowledge thanks to the research of Lady Rozemyne and Lord Ferdinand. Lady Rozemyne tended to focus her research around a narrow set of topics related to paper, books, and libraries. While Lord Ferdinand focussed on various topics centered around spice production, unique properties of feybeasts and feyplants, and magic tool creation.
Lord Ferdinand often catered his magic tool production to the whims of Lady Rozemyne in support of her goal to create her ideal library. Lord Raimund was often dragged into the mix as well to reduce the mana consumption of the various tools created for and deployed to the library, to ensure those of us with typical mana capacities could still operate them. It was also important to ensure that her future descendants could maintain the mana expenditure for the library, lest it collapse into dust.
Though Lord Ferdinand claims to always be flustered with the Aub’s one track mind for books, he never looks happier than when he’s catering to her whims with an exasperated expression hiding a faint smile.
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2: Marriage and Love, the Archducal Retainers
After the Aub made her declaration about wanting her retainers to find marriage partners in Alexandria to continue building an Ehrenfest faction who could support her reign and protect the lineage of all our descendants, I was extremely concerned that I would need to also marry. Did she forget my desperate request all those years ago? Would I now need to seek out a political marriage within Alexandria?
However, my fears were allayed, my lady had pulled me aside afterwards to inform me that there was no pressure for me to marry.
She respected my will and would not force marriage onto me if I did not want it.
Though, if I ever changed my mind, she would be more than happy to help me find my God of Darkness. I see she still delights in finding where the sprouts of Bluanfa can blossom into Efflorelume among her retainers.
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Though all the retainers of Lady Rozemyne and Lord Ferdinand were desirable as marriage partners, the first ones to get engaged to Alexandria nobles were Lieseletta and Matthias. Not surprising given that both of them had archnoble level mana capacities.
As the archnobles among the archducal retainers were already engaged there were currently no opportunities for the Alexandria nobility to offer marriages to form connections with them. Thus, the archnobles seeking connections with the new ruling archducal family sought Lieseletta and Matthias as marriage partners.
Liseletta welcomed the courting of an archnoble from the Letizia faction. The two quickly became engaged in time to be married shortly after at the next starbind ceremony.
Lady Lieseletta wanted to be the Head Attendant of Lady Rozemyne, but now that she had become Aub Alexandria Lady Lieseletta required the status of an archnoble to hold that position within the castle. I believe she and her husband do care for one another but their marriage seems to have been more so decided on political convenience than the dance of Bluanfah in their hearts.
Lady Lieseletta became the First Wife of an archnoble upon marriage and formally secured the position of the Aub’s Head Attendant.
As for Matthias, he courted and was encouraged to court many noble ladies. There was some difficulty at first as the archnoble families wanted Matthias to marry into their house instead of having their daughter marry down and descend to a mednoble.
It was not common knowledge, but Matthias descends from a household with an Ahrensbach archnoble ancestor. Moreover, if his first child is born with the mana of an archnoble it would be the third generation and his entire household would ascend to become archnobles. An archnoble lady who married Matthias would become an archnoble again at the baptism of their first child. It was a very strategic choice on his part to not openly share this information to avoid those noble families which would seek to control and manipulate him as a son-in-law of their household, depending on their archnoble status for status and protection. By becoming an archnoble is his own right no one can interfere in the affairs of the Archduchess, Lady Rozemyne, through him.
He eventually began courting a rescued noblewoman of the Letizia faction that was among those kidnapped during the Lanzenave invasion. Sadly, she had been having difficulties securing a good marriage partner as several archnoble families felt that her capture and confinement created a stain on her reputation as a noblewoman. It was similar for several other previously kidnapped noblewomen who were now in an unfortunate position despite ultimately being rescued.
Matthias and Lady Lauren were comfortable conversing with one another. Her family belonged to the Letizia faction, which was the main reason for her abduction in the first place. This allowed her access to the castle as an apprentice attendant, and now adult attendant, to Lady Letizia.
When Lady Letizia was formally adopted by Aub Alexandria after her starbind ceremony to Lord Ferdinand, Matthias began to regularly see Lady Lauren during tea parties as retainers to the archducal mother and adopted daughter.
It came almost unexpectedly, at least to me, when Matthias proposed to Lady Lauren during the noble matchmaking period for eligible nobles after the formal starbind ceremony. He presented her with a high quality feystone asking her if she will brighten his world as his Goddess of Light with a series of very romantic phrases like that in Royal Academy Love Stories. The expression on her face was serene as if she had both expected this but also did not believe it could happen.
Is this a matter of wishing for such a reality while being unsure if such a situation is even possible? Nonetheless, she accepted the proposal of Matthias.
The public proposal for an engagement served to restore the reputation of Lady Lauren as a marriage partner sought by a retainer to the new ruling archduchess. A position many families sought after and many more were certainly displeased she secured, especially now that Lady Lieseletta and Matthias are not available to form connections through marriage.
I am sure that I’ll likely be among the next of milady’s retainers desired for a political marriage. Well, myself and Laurenz, as mednobles who could potentially match an archnoble.
Roderick almost certainly cannot match any Alexandria archnoble, as prior to learning milady’s mana compression method he barely had the mana level appropriate for a mednoble of Ehrenfest, nevermind an archnoble. He should be free from the pressure of marrying into an archnoble family.
Though, he might still end up the son-in-law to a mednoble family serving one of the archnoble families who wants to use him to gain influence with the new Aub.
As the first to offer his name to Lady Rozemyne I am sure he has the resolve to avoid any marriage that would threaten the wellbeing of our lady.
…. the Aub is allowing her emotions to show through her noble expression again. She’s grinning at the engagement of Matthias and Lady Lauren. I wonder if she had any part in encouraging this? As the daughter of Lady Elvira, a prominent author of love stories published in Ehrenfest, I am certain she gave Matthias a strong push to make a flashy proposal using flowery language. Many noblewomen in the audience hall also swooned at Matthias’ flowery proposal. Though I am certain most would not have accepted knowing they would marry into his household.
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Despite being an archnoble herself, Lady Lauren married into Matthias’ family becoming a mednoble upon their starbind ceremony. She did not seem unhappy with marrying down to a mednoble and was in fact much happier than I had seen her in years. I never realized marriage could actually make one so happy… I thought at best one would have a marriage like Lady Lieseletta, a political marriage with partnership and respect, but not love. She retired from service to Lady Letizia immediately after her marriage to Matthias.
The couple purchased a larger mansion in the noble’s quarter that was closer to the castle than one would expect for a mednoble household. No one could openly complain about what they believed to be the brazen actions of mednobles not knowing their place despite their strong desire to do so.
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Several years later, at the baptism of their first child together, a son named Lord Marcellus, Lady Lauren and Lord Matthias demonstrated that their first child had the mana of an archnoble. Their entire household ascended to the rank of archnoble. The nobility of Alexandria was shocked. They were hoping to build connections with his future children by marrying them up into their own households as archnobles and creating a debt of gratitude. However, the Alexandria nobility was not aware of Lord Matthias’ history. He was already the second generation of mednoble with archnoble level mana in Ehrenfest which was why he insisted on marrying an archnoble into his own household instead of marrying into another. Upon the baptism of his first son with archnoble mana, his household became archnoble in its own right.
Now, as an archnoble and guard knight of the Aub, his household had become one of the more powerful houses within Alexandria. It is only likely to grow in influence to as each generation passes. It was a major miscalculation on the part of existing archnoble families in Alexandria. It was likely Lord Matthias intention all along to determine who could be trusted and could not based on their treatment of him not knowing he would become an archnoble on his own.
Despite claiming to despise his deceased father, Lord Matthias seems to share more than a few traits with the sneaky former Giebe Gerlach. At least he’s dedicated to my lady so that his talents are directed towards supporting her rule.
Lord Matthias had three sons with his First Wife, he trained his first two sons as knights and his youngest son as a scholar to prepare them as retainer candidates to the archducal family.
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2.1: Laurenz the Lovestruck Scoundrel
I was happiest when Laurenz finally got engaged. He enjoyed teasing me to no end, and I found it quite the stressful experience.
Lady Rozemyne had to intervene on my behalf in the past and instruct Laurenz to control his behaviour.
I am not used to the attention of men nor do I particularly enjoy it. To this day I cannot tell if he was attempting to court me, which I would have rejected anyways, or just enjoyed seeing how I struggled. Like Verbergen, the God of Concealment, Laurenz had the affections of a few noble ladies and had a selection of potential marriage candidates. However, I am doubtful many of them, if any, could contain his behaviour.
Therefore, I decided to intervene myself, secretly of course. I needed to find him a partner who could hold her own against his silver tongue, keep him in line, and also be willing to marry him. Clearly any of the existing ladies around him were not up to the task. I sought out a lady within the Rozemyne faction who I had the most convenient access to interact with. There was a beautiful mednoble named Nerissa, she seemed to have the appeal necessary to capture Laurenz attention.
I socialized with her for a while the first day I noticed her.
I learned that she took the knight course at the academy. Perfect. A fierce lady, exactly the type who could keep a tight hold on Laurenz. She wanted to be a guard knight to Lady Rozemyne before she retired to marry and have children. She had thought to offer her service at the Royal Academy, but Lady Rozemyne already had a retinue of battle schumills to protect her. Thus, making the need for additional knights unnecessary. Well, the easiest way to become a retainer to the archducal family is to marry someone who’s already serving them…
I arranged a private tea party and invited Nerissa to join me.
As a direct retainer to Aub Alexandria, she would likely accept my invitation without hesitation. And she did. As we sat, I took a sip of tea and a bite of the new deserts introduced by Lady Rozemyne recently to show they were not poisoned. Then the tea party could properly begin. We started our discussion around the new desserts, Nerissa really seemed to enjoy them. I explained it was a new trend of Lady Rozemyne that she has begun to spread but only a limited number of nobles have tried it so far.
She lamented that she wished she too could taste such things sooner by being in the presence of Lady Rozemyne once again.
Yes! Now my plan should work out smoothly.
“Is that so? Well, the quickest way to become an archducal retainer is usually through marriage. Like Lady Clarrisa when she proposed to Lord Hartmut.”
“Marriage? But with whom? Roderick? Or perhaps Raimund?”
Oh no! She didn’t even mention Laurenz.
Does she also know that he’s difficult to handle? This won’t do, he needs to get married and stop bothering me… I mean Lady Rozemyne would be ever so grateful if he would just marry already…
“Perhaps, but neither are knights so they might not be able to assist you with becoming a guard knight to the Aub…. But there is Laurenz. He is a knight and has yet to propose an engagement.”
I mentioned casually, as if I just remembered him as a possibility.
“That one doesn’t seem particularly interested in being engaged right now. Isn’t he under the guidance of Verbergen the God of Concealment?”
Ughhh. She totally knows. How am I supposed to convince her?
Then the lady sitting across from me started to carefully evaluate me with her eyes.
“I always thought he was waiting for you to be amenable to a proposal from him? Aren’t you quickly approaching the upper limit of the marriageable age?”
Me? Married? That’s the one thing I will not do. Is he truly waiting to propose to me? That cannot be true, he’s just mischievous. He’s enjoyed teasing me since we were young. Even if that isn’t all there is, I do not think I ever want to be married.
“I am not interested in Laurenz as a marriage partner. Also, aren’t we trying to help you become a retainer to the Aub?”
“I see. Well, I suppose I could try to seek an engagement with Laurenz then.”
Yes! I’ve convinced her.
“I think that’s an excellent idea. You seem like a good match for him and it would bring you closer to serving Lady Rozemyne.”
She looked at me with bright eyes but there was a hint of a question and uncertainty hiding behind her expression.
I hope she does not change her mind.
I worked with Nerissa to facilitate her meeting with Laurenz during socializing events. He expressed interest in her but she was not seeking the blessing of the God of Concealment.
After several weeks there was no real progress being made between them. The two had many interactions, seemingly good conversations, and appeared compatible enough. I noticed that whenever I was in the same room during their interactions with one another, Laurenz would often stare at me. Did he notice that I was paying too much attention?
After that he began to seriously court Nerissa. What a surprise! He has not formally courted a lady in Alexandria before. Finally, he can stop bothering me!
Or so I thought. He would always tell me about Nerissa and how lovely she was. Why is he talking about her to me? He should be leaving me alone now that he’s got a goddess to accept his affections, or more like a goddess of the Sea, Verfurmeer, who I planned to calm his overflowing heat of energy.
“Will you say nothing if the god of darkness is stolen away by Chaoscipher?”
“God of darkness? Whom?”
Who is he talking about? Who’s God of darkness is going to be stolen? Is someone trying to attract the affection of Lord Ferdinand? Only a fool would attempt such a feat.
“Is this the guidance of Glucklitat? No matter how Grammalatur blesses me, Bluanfah will never dance in your heart, will it?”
Me? Does he think he’s my god of darkness? Does he believe his foolish antics would make Efflorelume bloom in my heart? All these years he’s known me and still doesn’t recognize I have no interest in men?
“Even with the guidance of Duldsetzen, the Goddess of Sprouts will not dance in my heart. If I am the goddess of light, then the god of darkness should seek his goddess of water to be welcome the blessing of Liebeskuhilfe”
“I suppose Sterrat will never bind our stars….”
Laurenz walked away with a stone-faced expression.
It’s the first time I have ever seen him look so serious. Did he truly wish to marry me? For what reason? I have never expressed interest in him. I never wanted to be married in the first place. Did he think I was not getting engaged because of him?
A few days later, Laurenz formally proposed to Nerissa. She accepted his proposal.
The couple decided to delay their wedding as his fiancé desired to become a guard knight of Lady Rozemyne. Laurenz recommended his future wife for the role. I also recommended her as a guard knight. She was an exceptional knight to begin with, but more than that, Lady Rozemyne will require additional female knights on an ongoing basis as her existing female knights retire to marry and have children.
Lady Rozemyne and Lord Cornelius accepted our recommendation for an additional female medknight. Lord Cornelius was probably beyond excited to be allowed to start having children with Lady Leonore, now that there was another female knight to enter the Aub’s service. Plus, she was already of the Rozemyne faction and a fervent supporter of Lady Rozemyne.
Love is strange to see among noble marriages but increasingly less rare in those surrounding Lady Rozemyne and Lord Ferdinand.
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Laurenz would glance at me from time to time with a serious expression, almost hopeful, but at least his teasing stopped altogether. I knew that Nerissa could reign in his behaviour. Did he truly wish to marry me or was it another one of his pranks gone too far? He seemed serious enough but I can never really tell with him…
The summer before Nerissa turned twenty years of age, she and Laurenz finally had their starbind ceremony.
Even after her marriage she did not immediately retire from Lady Rozemyne’s service. It wasn’t until Lady Rozemyne herself became pregnant with her first child that she retired from service and started to have children of her own with Laurenz.
The couple welcomed three children together, all daughters. They were trained to be knights like both of their parents. It was decided that the eldest daughter would inherit the household in the future and welcome a son-in-law. All the children were born as high mana mednobles but not quite within the realm of a typical archnobles mana capacity.
Laurenz and I were able to develop a more cordial relationship as two retainers serving the Aub after I finally crossed the threshold of marriageable age. He seemed concerned that I never married but at the same time he also seemed pleased that I never married anyone.
The proposals over the years were becoming increasingly tiresome, especially as I was on the verge of turning twenty, but now they have mostly dropped off. I have a bit of a sour reputation in noble society as a foolish lady who failed to marry as there are all kinds of rumours as to why I could not marry. But I do not care so long as I can continue to lead a comfortable life.
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2.2: The Shy Roderick and Fierce Philine
Roderick, the favoured novelist among Lady Rozemyne’s retainers. He’s not really qualified as a competent scholar in the traditional sense, though he becomes increasingly capable each season under the harsh eyes of Lord Hartmurt. Our lady appreciates him most for his ability to bring her new stories.
He was often surrounded by several noble ladies during the socializing after the starbind ceremony. As one of only two male mednobles among the Aub’s retainers, he was highly sought after as a marriage partner for the more populous mednoble and laynoble families of Alexandria.
Moreover, it was known that he was a favourite among the Aub’s retainers for his story writing ability. Especially in the new Alexandria that centers its industries around books and printing. His importance would only grow within the duchy over time, and his wealth would increase to match. But he had yet to offer a proposal stone to any noblewoman. Likely Lord Hartmut was harshly evaluating all of Roderick’s potential matches and using the courting process as another method to test his ability and growth as Lady Rozemyne’s scholar.
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Eventually though, he was not the one to propose, but was proposed to by a lady from the Rozemyne Faction who had joined hands with the Aub during their years together at the Royal Academy. It seems she had been interested in Roderick for a while but he failed to take proper notice and propose to her. Instead, she took inspiration from Dunklefelger like many of the women surrounding the Aub already; Lady Clarissa proposed to Lord Hartmut and Philine proposed to Damuel. It seems the influence of Dunklefelger continues to spread throughout the duchy in the strangest of ways.
I wonder if Lord Hartmurt also encouraged Illianna, to propose in this way? It was certainly a shock for Roderick but Lord Hartmut and Lady Rozemyne were grinning from across the room.
It seems Roderick had more than a mutual interest in this lady but was paralyzed in fear of his decision-making ability in his attempt to please Lord Hartmut and rise to the expectations of Lady Rozemyne. It seemed he still carried many emotional scars regarding the white tower incident with Lord Wilfried back in Ehrenfest all those years ago.
He happily accepted the engagement to Illianna and the two arranged for a formal exchange of engagement feystones at a later date.
More material yet again for Lady Elvira to use in her romance stories. I wonder if part of the inspiration to push for all our marriages was truly to extract the love stories for new books? While it is true that Lady Rozemyne would benefit from stronger political support among the nobility, who could truly oppose the Incarnation of Mestionora and her rule? It’s the only thing keeping this rebellious duchy in tact.
Lord Hartmut certainly approved of Roderick’s partner recognizing her to as a strong supporter of Lady Rozemyne and being a fan of stories about the Aub’s divinity as the incarnation of a goddess. Roderick cared a great deal for her to.
It was painfully clear when their first child had been born because he was always smiling like a fool and staring into space all day. Does love turn people into fools? Is it really such a wonderful thing?
It seemed Roderick could not keep his hands off his new wife as he requested children’s magic tools from Lady Rozemyne. This was not necessarily unusual as Lady Rozemyne herself stated she would provide magic tools for additional children born beyond the means of her retainer’s household. But did Roderick already have multiple children? His first child was born just the other year and has not even been baptized yet. He’s a young mednoble establishing his own household in a new duchy without any familial support. What is he even doing?
He requested two magic tools from the Aub. TWO. He already purchased a single magic tool for his first child, but he’s had two more since and requires additional magic tools? He really needs to give his wife, and his finances, a break.
Roderick had two daughters and one son with his First Wife, who was a mednoble of the Rozemyne faction. His daughters were trained as knights to become retainer candidates to the archducal family in the future. His son was raised as a scholar talented in both writing stories to be made into books and in the skills expected of a traditional scholar.
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Perhaps the most endearing marriage of all was that of Philine and Damuel.
I heard that Philine proposed to Damuel herself as soon as she could sense his mana. He also remained in Ehrenfest to protect his developing raffle and future Goddess of Light. It’s quite the sweet love story. Despite the anonymity provided by Lady Elvira in her stories, its often obvious who the characters are based on. The Philine and Damuel story is pretty famous among Ehrenfest nobles and the archducal family retainers so when their story was among those released in a new collection, they received many grins for quite some time. Philine was proud of her love story but Damuel was shy and often the target of the light hearted teasing.
Philine married Damuel the first summer she arrived in Alexandria. The couple purchased a mansion in the noble’s quarter and set about re-establishing Philine’s household in their new duchy. As the only heir to her mother’s household, Damuel married into her household as the second son of his own house.
Two sons and one daughter were born into the laynoble household but all with mednoble levels of mana and multiple attributes.
Even I could sense the mana capacity of Damuel prior to learning milady’s compression method, which means that a laynoble compressed his mana enough to increase to that of a typical mednoble. Philine had to compress her mana at least enough to match Damuel, but now her mana capacity has become even greater than his own, likely because she learned the compression method during the beginning of her growth period.
It seems reasonable to expect the ascension of another mednoble family in Alexandria in the future.
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3: The Alexandria Archducal Family
Lady Rozemyne and Lord Ferdinand always had a very close relationship but it wasn’t known if Lady Rozemyne could have children, given her past ill health. It was expected that a child of Lord Cornelius or Lord Eckhart may need to be secretly adopted as an archduke candidate of Alexandria. Of course, only if the Aub could not safely bring a child to term with the appropriate mana capacity.
Fortunately, there was no real need for such concern as Lady Rozemyne became pregnant and safely gave birth to several children. She welcomed four children into the archducal family with her husband Lord Ferdinand.
The eldest child of Aub Alexandria was a daughter named Lady Gwendolyn. She had very powerful mana from birth requiring the use of numerous feystones and eventually even the divine instruments to safely contain her mana until the archducal couple could properly gauge it and create appropriate magic tools for her. Lady Gwendolyn’s mana capacity grew at a rapid pace, often requiring the young archduke candidate to continuously dedicate mana to the divine instruments brought back and forth from the temple of Alexandria. We were originally concerned that the child might not have enough mana, now it’s so much that it takes frequent dedication her us to manage it.
The eldest daughter was born with silver white hair that appeared to be blessed by the God of Life Ewegeliebe and golden eyes blessed by the Goddess of Light. Her big golden eyes looked just like those of Lady Rozemyne but her silver white hair was more reminiscent of Lord Ferdinand. She was a beautiful child with an ethereal and almost divine appearance. As expected from the child of the Incarnation of Mestionora. I wonder if the mana left behind from the goddess’ descent has had an impact on this child?
The second child of the Aub was another daughter, Lady Novatuuli. She had lovely turquoise green hair, that looked like a mix between Lord Ferdinand’s light blue hair and Lady Elvira’s dark green hair, with bright blue eyes reminiscent of the Aub’s father, Lord Karstedt.
The Aub seemed to favour the appearance of her second daughter quite a lot, frequently looking at her with nostalgia.
Did she miss her mother, Lady Elvira, that much? I suppose she is continuously separated from her family by extenuating circumstances. First when she was hidden away in the temple for safety, then when she was taken from the Knight Commander’s family to be adopted by the archduke, she even almost became the King’s adopted daughter. Now she’s the Aub of the greater duchy of Alexandria and is separated from her family by an even greater distance.
I am grateful if the appearance of her child brings her comfort and reminders of our home duchy Ehrenfest, not that I have any positive memories of it myself.
A son was finally born to the Aub. Her third child, Lord Archimedes. He looked to be the second coming of Lady Rozemyne herself. At least in terms of appearance. He had the same dark blue hair as she, as if blessed by the God of Darkness, and her bright yellow eyes, as if blessed by the Goddess of Light.
Truly the gods loved Lady Rozemyne and her descendants. It was expected that the first daughter and eldest child was going to become the next aub, but with traits so similar to the Aub and as a boy, he might emerge as a serious contender in the future.
Though, the eldest daughter has such a massive mana capacity already that her gender shouldn’t be much of a barrier to claiming the seat of Aub if she desires it.
The second son, the fourth and final child born to the Aub was named Lord Gideon. He had silver blue hair, quite a bit paler than even Lord Ferdinand’s falling somewhere between his and the eldest daughter Lady Gwendolyn. He had deep green eyes reminiscent of the former Aub Ehrenfest, Lord Sylvester, likely a keepsake from the Sixth Aub Ehrenfest.
Is this another child influenced by the God of Life, Ewegeliebe?
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Lord Ferdinand was ever the doting husband during the pregnancy of his All Goddess, Lady Rozemyne. He was brutal to anyone who dared to approach his wife, but when the couple welcomed their first child, he had an expression of awe and bewilderment when he first gazed upon Lady Gwendolyn’s visage. I had never seen him make such an expression before. He usually maintained quite a solid noble expression that I could rarely ever recognize his true emotions, but now it was clear he didn’t know what to do. He was obviously happy but he also seemed scared to hold his own child.
The massive mana capacity of the first child was both a blessing and a curse. We were all grateful that an heir had been secured for the seat of Aub and that the bloodline of the Incarnation of Mestionora would continue. We needed an heir with the mana capacity befitting an archduke candidate of a greater duchy.
Even Lady Rozemyne was not certain if she child would be born with the appropriate mana capacity with her sickly nature. But perhaps that led to her contributing mana to the upper limit of what was safe during her pregnancy. Now the child had so much mana that we couldn’t find appropriate magic tools to contain it. This quickly became a danger to the child as she grew and Lord Ferdinand became distraught. In his own way of course.
She was too young to dedicate mana to the foundation. She could not be given magic tools to actively expel her mana or perform magic as she much too young to have the skill to do so. Black feystones worked for a while but her capacity kept increasing.
Eventually, Lady Rozemyne had suggested creating the highest quality children’s magic tool possible for the archducal couple and using the divine instruments to contain her mana beyond that. Lord Ferdinand and Lady Rozemyne would pray together with their daughter touching a divine instrument to relieve her mana on a regular basis. The mana would then be used to fill various magic tools in the castle and in the temple. Time passed this way until her fifth birthday when Lord Ferdinand and Lady Rozemyne could more clearly determine the trajectory of her mana growth. It seems likely that her future mana capacity would be even greater than that of her parents.
We can only hope there are suitors born with, or able to develop, appropriate mana capacities to match.
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Lady Rozemyne was a lot more careful with her mana contribution to her second child, who was born with a massive mana capacity as well but one more in line with what we were expecting for Lady Rozemyne and Lord Ferdinand’s child. She had noticeably less mana than her elder sister at the same age, but she more than enough for an archduke candidate of a greater duchy and enough still that she could reign as a female Aub without question.
Lord Ferdinand was much more composed with his second child; I noticed his noble façade easily restored compared to the birth of Lady Gwendolyn. I could no longer see hints of his hidden emotions. The magic tool for this child was effective from the beginning and it was not necessary to use the divine tools to contain her mana. The archducal couple, and we the retainers of the archducal family, were grateful for this. We were quite stressed of how we would manage to contain the overflowing mana of two archduke candidates who were too young to be taught to properly control of even contain it.
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The third and fourth children all seemed to have mana capacities similar to that of the second child. Thankfully, there was no more overflowing mana from the archducal family.
Lord Ferdinand complained that their first daughter was definitely like Lady Rozemyne, as she would always allow her mana to overflow as a child as well. We can only hope, and certainly pray, that the eldest daughter is not popping out blessings all over the place and turning common sense on its head like Lady Rozemyne.
Perhaps, with her siblings to guide her she will become a responsible child like Lord Ferdinand.
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Lady Rozemyne and Lord Ferdinand were quite the affectionate parents with behaviours not often seen in noble society. Especially among the higher nobility. It was mostly the Aub herself with various signs of physical affection and encouragement to her children which required some reigning in from her husband. Lady Rozemyne wore down on Lord Ferdinand over time as well, encouraging him to be more affectionate and supportive towards their children.
It was clear as day that the couple cared for their children greatly in their own ways, but their individual quirks actually helped balance out one another quite well, meeting in the middle in terms of a noble parenting style. Lord Ferdinand encouraged Lady Rozemyne to more proper and maintain the appropriate behaviour to equip the children for noble society. Meanwhile, Lady Rozemyne pushed Lord Ferdinand to be a little more flexible and actively praise the children to help build their self confidence.
I most enjoyed watching Ewegeliebe’s ice melt from the words of his All Goddess. Only Lady Rozemyne, or their children, could cause Lord Ferdinand to smile so sincerely.
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The one son, and only child, of Lord Eckhart and Lady Angelica was born with silver blue hair and blue eyes. He was called Lord Heideferd. He had a high mana capacity as Lady Angelica placed a lot of effort into giving birth to a powerful future knight that her master could be proud of. Lord Eckhart also contributed a lot of mana to child during their child’s development, he seemed to greatly welcome the pregnancy and kept watch over Lady Angelica like a hawk the entire time.
The child was born healthy and looked just like Lord Eckhart but with Lady Angelica’s traits.
Their son was adopted by Lord Ferdinand and Lady Rozemyne as an archduke candidate of Alexandria. Despite being an adopted child, his hair colour made him look like a natural born child of the archducal family with the similarities to the archduke, eldest daughter, and youngest son of the Aub.
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The daughter of Lord Cornelius and Lady Leonore was born with violet hair paler than her mother’s and dark green eyes like her father’s. Lady Rozelynne was adopted as an archduke candidate of Alexandria who would be engaged as the First Wife of the next Aub Ehrenfest.
Truly, the original purpose of Lady Rozemyne adopting any of her brother’s children as archduke candidates was to give a Leisegang blooded noble the status of a greater duchy archduke candidate at the request of Lord Melchior. The goal being to avoid her status being threatened by a higher-ranking wife as what happened with Lady Gabrielle all those years ago.
However, Lord Eckhart and Lady Angelica were so excited at the prospect of their child being raised by their master and mistress that Lady Rozemyne found it difficult to disappoint their hopes. Therefore, she adopted one child each from her brothers. The Alexandria archducal family was still small and only recently established that every additional member truly helped.
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Currently, there was the Letizia branch of the former Ahrensbach archducal family and the Rozemyne branch of the new Alexandria archducal family. It was now possible to have enough candidates to support a future marriage between the two branches and unite them into a single archducal family, a bloodline of the old and new.
Lady Rozemyne did not care much for the political marriage aspect but Lord Ferdinand and Lady Letizia recognized the importance of political stability through marriage and bloodlines for all the future Aubs of Alexandria. Milady wished for her children to marry for love but Lord Ferdinand pointed out that their children’s high mana capacities would severely limit the pool of available candidates and that love was not always enough to make a noble marriage succeed.
Lady Rozemyne stepped down as Aub Alexandria following the baptism of her youngest child and second son, Lord Gideon. Her adopted children were already baptized upon adoption to maintain their connections with their noble birth families and clearly establish their bloodlines. Lady Rozemyne and Lord Ferdinand raised their children in the castle in a warm environment that was a bit chaotic, given their parents obsession with books and research respectively.
Their children, by birth and adoption, took on the various traits good and bad of the archduchess and archduke, leading to a concerning combination of highly competent children with high authority and a tendency to go on rampages to pursue their interests.
The future of Alexandria is bright even if the future its archducal retainers looks grim trying to contain the rampages of the loveable gremlins they serve.
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4: The Eccentric Called Justus
Though I have passed the marriable age, as the only remaining retainer serving the archducal family who has not married, I received a constant barrage of marriage proposals and increasing pressure even from various archnobles to marry as their Second or Third Wives. I am supposed to take it as a great favour that they would even be willing consider marrying an old maid like me. But I do not even wish to be married.
Well… technically I am not the ONLY archducal retainer who isn’t married. Lord Justus also chooses to remain single despite receiving marriage proposals from power hungry archnoble and mednoble ladies. From my understanding he was married before to a noblewoman of the former Veronica faction in Ehrenfest, but he divorced her. There were no children from their union as far as anyone is aware. As a divorcé he has a stronger excuse than I to deflect such proposals, yet proposals for him still appear on a regular basis.
Eventually it started getting to a point where the nobility dared to question the reputation of the Aub for keeping around a shameful unmarried retainer like myself. Some malicious nobles upset with my constant rejections began to spread rumours that I was staying unmarried to seduce the men of the castle. How foolish. I have no interest in men to begin with but I cannot effectively serve the Aub with my reputation being dragged through the mud like this.
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I approached Lord Justus with a request. I of all people asked for an engagement with him, a political one of course. He was shocked, but I expressed that it was a mutually beneficial arrangement. He was being harassed by noble ladies seeking to build an inroad with the archduke while I was being hounded still by proposals from noblemen who wanted to get closer to the archduchess. Arranging a political engagement would silence all those annoying nobles and we could allow the engagement to carry on for as long as necessary for our own peace.
Even if we did eventually need to marry, we could just be business partners in a marriage of convenience to silence our surroundings.
Lord Justus didn’t exactly seem to leap at the opportunity. As an archnoble with archducal blood he has a high enough status already that it makes it difficult for any nobles other than the archduchess or archduke themselves to pressure him. However, he accepted nonetheless as the inconvenience to Lady Rozemyne would eventually lead to an inconvenience to Lord Ferdinand, which he did not care to allow.
He seemed interested in discovering why I had not married up to this point. Not that I would clearly explain why. That would place me in a disadvantageous position and I was already a mednoble daring to negotiate with an archnoble. I couldn’t afford to be in any weaker of a position.
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We had a series of courtship activities to satisfy the eyes of noble society and then Lord Justus formally proposed with an engagement feystone. I accepted. Lord Justus is more than twenty years my senior but he’s an archnoble and retainer to the archducal family as well, a status that will allow me to reject all other noble suitors.
We never explained our relationship to the other archducal retainers. Only Lady Rozemyne and Lord Ferdinand understood that we were in a political engagement.
Just like that, Lord Justus and I allowed our engagement to remain static for several years. But the nobility began to question whether our engagement was real or just an excuse to continue avoiding their proposals. We claimed that was not the case and we were just focused on serving our lord and lady, but that excuse was becoming increasingly insufficient as evidenced by proposals once again flooding in. Even more so as the nobility assumed we were finally open to and interested in marriage.
The two of us decided to make our marriage official at next summer’s starbind ceremony.
I married Lord Justus and became an archnoble. We had been engaged for four years before finally tying the knot in our starbind ceremony.
Justus and I continued to focus on our work serving the archduchess and archduke.
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When I saw Laurenz for the first time after the engagement with Lord Justus was first announced he had a cold expression on his face. I thought we had finally developed a good working relationship after many years of not knowing what to do with his irresponsible words.
Even though he was already married with children, he made his displeasure clear. He no longer spoke to me after that. That was what I always wanted but it did sting just a little bit.
Have I become interested in how other people see me? After all these years of being surrounded by the loving relationships of the archducal family and retainers in the castle? Do I also crave happiness?
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It was the twenty-eighth year of my life.
When I ran into Justus in our mansion, I asked him to join me for a conversation. After our attendants served the tea and snacks, I set up a sound blocking magic tool.
“Did something happen?”
Justus had a concerned expression on his face. These actions on my part are very out of character for me and not part of our usual arrangement.
“I have a request. You are free to deny it of course.”
“A request? What kind of request?”
He looked at me with suspicious but interested eyes. I knew of his various eccentric hobbies and didn’t much care about it. He probably thought I wanted him to collect information or share it if he already had it.
“…I want to try and have a child.”
Justus froze and looked at me.
“A child? Isn’t this a political marriage? I thought you didn’t want anything from me?”
“It is a political marriage. But that’s because I never thought noble marriages could bring happiness. After seeing Lady Rozemyne and Lord Ferdinand, I began to think differently. All those around them to. I see a lot of ways for noble marriages to be.
The biggest reason of all though, is the love and care they all have for their children. I too want to experience this. I just want to experience it once. Raising a child. I will take care of them and you don’t need to be involved with raising them if you do not want to be. I am already asking a lot of you beyond what we originally agreed to.”
The expression on Justus’ face showed surprise for a second then moved deep into thought. It seemed like he discovered something because he finally started speaking again.
“I would be willing to grant your request if you grant me something in return?”
Grant him something in return? Could I possibly have something Justus would want?
“If there’s something that I have that you seek I would be glad to give it to you who has already indulged my requests to this extent all these years.”
Justus smiled.
“Why did you not want to marry from the beginning? It is unusual for a noble never to marry, especially a noblewoman who is highly eligible as a young retainer to a new Aub of a greater duchy? You must have had many proposals. Why did you not even consider them? I always thought you would get engaged to Laurenz but then you never did. Why?”
This time I froze. I had completely forgotten. Justus did mention all those years ago that he was curious about why I never married and part of agreeing to my request was to figure out my reasoning. Has he never been able to dig up that information in all this time? Though I do not want to reveal my dark past I cannot see him agreeing my request without trading something valuable in return.
“You cannot share this information with anyone. I always thought I would climb the towering staircase with this information when it came time for me to meet the gods.”
“Of course, I will never tell anyone if that is your wish. But now I really want to know.”
I mentally prepared myself and began to explain.
“I am a child born of sin. My mother was a blue shrine maiden and my father was a blue priest. They fell in love with each other in the temple and conceived a child. My father wanted to marry my mother and requested the support of their families, only to be locked away in their family homes to hide their shameful actions. I am sure my mother’s family intended to raise me as a servant or pass me into some other horrible fate.
But I was born with much more mana than they ever expected. More so even than any of the other children in the family. Whether it was the influence of the gods or the great effort of my mother who wished for me to even have the slightest chance at a future as a proper noble, my large mana capacity for a mednoble it was saved me.
I was raised as a proper noble and baptized as the child of my maternal uncle and his First Wife. Of course, she did not care for me much and reminded me daily that my existence was a sin. They were only raising me to form a connection with a more powerful noble through a political marriage.
Well, I might not even have gotten a marriage, it was just as likely I would be sold as a noble concubine. She would tease me mercilessly about how I would become the play thing of an old nobleman to increase the authority of her family. She reminded me that I needed to know my place and be grateful I was able to live as a noble at all.”
Justus’ expression showed clear signs of shock and concern. It’s not surprising that these things can happen in noble society but it was likely not was he was expecting to hear. I continued.
“I hated the idea of marriage but accepted that I didn’t have a choice. At least if I was married as an official wife, I could live a semblance of a normal and respectable existence. But, if I became a noble concubine, I would need to have a high mana child and ingratiate myself to the nobleman I was sold off to if I wanted even a semblance of comfort.
When the purge of the former Veronica faction happened during the winter of my fourth year at the Royal Academy, I was actually extremely grateful. It was a blessing from the gods above. I could finally escape from those awful people.
I volunteered to dedicate my name to Lady Rozemyne even though it wasn’t necessary as my family was not severely punished. But I wanted to break away. I explained my circumstances to Lady Rozemyne and she accepted me as a namesworn retainer and promised she would never force me to marry. This is why Lady Rozemyne has not intervened to this day when it comes to forcing the issue of my marriage despite the prodding she likely receives from the nobility.”
Justus quickly restored his noble expression but his body language was indicative of his willingness to continue listening. I decided to move forward to my current request.
“After my experience in that family, I never wanted to be married. I wanted my freedom. I was afraid of men and their attention if I am to be perfectly honest. I was never allowed to express my own opinions and thus was not equipped to handle a nobleman’s attention. Even in jest. I was constantly stressed by my interactions with Laurenz to the point my mistress even felt the need to intervene on my behalf and warn Laurenz to contain his pranks.
I was committed to never being married. But the realities of noble society are not so idealistic to allow that wishful thinking to continue on given my position, much like yours. Though I imagine you have more leeway to reject their petty proposals.
Our marriage has been perfect for me. All the surface level requirements to please the eyes of noble society without the terrifying expectations I was raised to fulfil. Truly you’ve been an ideal husband Justus.”
“I would barely call myself a husband. But, then… what changed?”
“I wanted to experience love. The love of a child, the love of being a parent, guiding a child with love instead of shame and hate. I want to pass the wish of a better future that my mother dedicated to me to my own child. Proof that she existed. Proof that both of my parents existed. My father was likely killed by his family. And my mother died after giving birth to me. Whether she died from exhaustion or was intentionally killed I can never know but I never saw her once in my life.
I want to experience the love that caused my parents to risk everything to try and be together, to raise me as a family with them. The happiness Lord Ferdinand has with his children, the joy Lady Rozemyne expresses. The other Ehrenfest retainers seem like their children bring them so much joy.
Justus, please, I ask that you help me to have a child.”
Justus looked at me with a probing expression but seemed to give up at some point.
“…hoooo. Your requests are never simple my wife. Very well, I will help you to have a child. Though you will need to seriously focus on your mana compression as I can just barely sense you.”
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Two years later, Justus and I welcomed our first and only child. A son, Berwin. I retired from Lady Rozemyne’s service and took the primary responsibility of caring for our child. Now that our child was born, I did not expect anything more from Justus other than standing for the child’s baptism as his father. I spent my time raising the child and guiding his growth.
Unexpectedly though, Justus would often drop by to check on Berwin and ensure he was developing well. Not quite a full-time father but not uninterested in our child either. When Justus stood for the baptism of our child during the spring of his seventh year, Alexandria welcomed a new archnoble child, Berwin, with four attributes; darkness, water, wind, and fire.
Everyone was shocked to see that we had a child. Particularly the retainers who served the same lady and lord. But even Lady Rozemyne and Lord Ferdinand were surprised when we informed them of the upcoming baptism. I can only imagine what the reaction of the nobles at the winter debut would be. I smiled. I was happy. I loved my child, truly.
I don’t think I will ever fully understand my parents’ situation but I feel I can understand some of their love and sacrifice for me. I wonder if my mother’s prayers to the gods were answered and that’s why I was saved and allowed to live such a comfortable life?
As the years went on, I began training my son as an apprentice attendant. Justus would occasionally be involved with educating Berwin in his strange methods of information gathering as a scholar-attendant, and though some of his lessons are quite eccentric in nature I let it be as I am pleased that he’s involved with our child at all. It goes beyond the agreement we made.
When our son entered the Royal Academy, I returned to the service of Lady Rozemyne as an attendant once again. She had already retired from her position as Aub in favour of Lady Letizia as the Second Aub Alexandria, now she spent most of her time as the Head Librarian in the Grand Library of Alexandria. It was a long journey there, but it seems my mistress has finally achieved her goal of becoming a librarian.
Though, myself and Liseletta have to work hard to ensure she doesn’t spend her entire day in the library. That she takes proper breaks to eat, rest, and spend time with her children. I am certain Justus and Lord Eckhart also struggle to pull Lord Ferdinand from his research now that his responsibilities as the Aub’s Consort have fallen to Lord Hilebrand as the Aub Consort to Lady Letizia, the Second Aub Alexandria.
I hope that my son will become an effective scholar-attendant to one the archduke candidates born to Lady Rozemyne in the future. I never thought I could find happiness like this but perhaps the prayers of my parents at blue robes in the temple drew the interest of the gods, allowing some of their favour to fall upon me. Praise be to the gods above.
Chapter 12: Virtues of a First Wife: Leonore Tochter Leisegang Frau Linkberg
Summary:
A Leonore POV focussed on her life in Alexandria, her relationship with Cornelius, and her trip through Ehrenfest with her Archduke Candidate daughter. I have been working on fitting in more personal conversations, interactions, and moments but also moving through the content I was hoping to express. Only a few chapters left before I move on the main series!
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
1: Life as the Aub’s Guard Knight
As an adult retainer to Lady Rozemyne, now the Aub of the greater duchy Alexandria (formerly Ahrensbach), I chose to continue supporting my lady in her new role with my fiancé, Cornelius. Among the retainers who are joining Lady Rozemyne she is still severely lacking in female guard knights, with only Angelica and myself to fill that gap. However, it is expected that I will temporarily retire from service as a knight in the coming years to marry Cornelius and start having children together.
It was not always the case that women rushed to have children immediately after marriage but under the current Yurgenschmidt, which is severely lacking in nobles and mana, it is strongly encouraged to do so. As archnobles of Ehrenfest with some of the highest mana capacities, the pressure is that much greater upon us to have children and specifically to have as many high mana children as possible.
I still feel like I am floating in the skies above because of the engagement with Cornelius. I was always interested in him as a potential marriage partner but I was convinced that he would end up marrying Angelica. As close guard knights to Lady Rozemyne, and as Lord Bonifatius’ favoured disciple, I believed she and Cornelius would end up together. I was so pleased when I first joined Lady Rozemyne’s service when she informed me that Cornelius did not see Angelica as a potential marriage partner and he only made up for what she was lacking to follow the wishes of his beloved sister.
Moreover, Lady Rozemyne further stated she wouldn’t favour any candidates in the courtship of her guard knight brother. Though she claimed that she offered the advice to me to behave as Lady Elvira does as she is the perfect model for an ideal First Wife, and the wife of a Knight Commander.
Cornelius was quite the suave and debonair gentleman with such a romantic flair, I suppose that shouldn’t have been surprising from a son of Lady Elvira. Though he seems shy about the attention he receives due to his mother’s stories he could also confidently say such embarrassing, but heart-warming, lines to me with all the poetic language of the Royal Academy Stories, as if blessed by Glammaratur, the Goddess of Words, herself. It wasn’t much time after that when we started formally courting one another. Cornelius worked exceedingly hard to keep this information from his family, specifically Lady Rozemyne and Lady Elvira. I was somewhat grateful for this as I did not want to become a story for the Royal Academy Love Stories while I was still attending, but I think Cornelius being so shy about it was quite cute and endearing.
Cornelius is loveable in so many ways. Not the least of which are the ties to his younger sister that he guards closely, despite the distance of status separating them now as a guard knight and his mistress. It is clear that both of them care for one another and they often continue to act like siblings in more private spaces. He’s a powerful archnoble descended directly from the archducal family but he maintains an approachable and respectful atmosphere, except for those who seem to approach his lady with less than pure intentions. He was one of the top students even before Lady Rozemyne entered the Royal Academy and only improved further with her presence despite the additional time required to guard her between and after classes.
Most of all, he always knows the right words to say to make me blush and my heart flutter. It’s almost criminal with how smooth his words are he truly makes me swoon every time. I am ever so grateful to have found a compatible match in more ways than just mana.
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After Lady Rozemyne graduated from the Royal Academy and formally married Lord Ferdinand as her Aub Consort and Archduke she became a true Aub and ruling Archduchess in her own right. She formally adopted Lady Letizia as the first Archduke Candidate of Alexandria, granting the former Ahrensbach Archduke Candidate a position in the line of succession of the successor duchy, Alexandria. Lady Rozemyne encouraged all of her retainers who were not yet engaged or married to immediately seek out mana compatible partners for marriage within Alexandria.
A politically expedient move for the free love minded Lady Rozemyne, I imagine the underlying decision was pushed by Lord Ferdinand who’s a more cunning political operator. Ultimately, it does make sense to encourage blood ties where possible within the reborn duchy of Alexandria to continue building political support for Lady Rozemyne and her new archducal line. While her status as the Incarnation of a Goddess would protect her rule for quite some time, it’s impossible to say what the foolish power-seeking nobility might do overtime to restore their lost influence. Even if her own rule continues without issue, who’s to say what might happen to her children or grandchildren attempting to rule in the future. It's sensical to reward close factional ties with marriages and greater influence with the Aub and the archducal family.
Fortunately, Cornelius and I already married one another a little while after my coming of age and subsequent move to Alexandria. We purchased a mansion in the rebuilt noble’s quarter directly beside the castle in a location similar to Lord Karstedt’s mansion in Ehrenfest. The only other nobles with a position as close as ours is Lord Eckhart and Angelica, not quite surprising as the two elder brothers of the Aub it makes sense for them to have the highest position after the archducal family and thus have mansions closest to the castle.
The remainder of Lady Rozemyne’s retainers were pressured to find an engagement and get married as soon as possible. Though, her female retainers were asked to postpone having children and retiring from service immediately. As a female Aub she required a minimum number of female retainers to maintain her dignity and enter noblewomen only spaces. I am the highest ranked female guard knight in her employ and one of only two female guard knights in total, the other being Angelica. Even among her close attendants and scholars there’s only Lieseletta, Gretia, Clarissa, and Philine. She is sorely lacking in her number of retainers as an Aub, nevermind her female retainers as a ruling Archduchess.
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Upon Lady Letizia’s graduation from the Royal Academy, we welcomed her fiancé, Lord Hildebrand, to Alexandria as the son-in-law of the archducal family and husband to our duchy’s only Archduke Candidate. It seems that Lady Rozemyne had a private conversation with her adopted daughter, Lady Letizia, where the two decided to stagger the births of their children and their female retainers’ children with Lady Letizia going first and Lady Rozemyne following afterwards. The premise of this plan was to avoid removing all their close and trusted retainers from the castle at the same time, during a period where both Lady Rozemyne and Lady Letizia were trying to continue cementing their political support within the factions.
Lady Rozemyne also proposed a peculiar arrangement where her female retainers could return to service part-time before their children attended the Royal Academy to avoid delaying the birth of children to her adult retainers but also allowing us to remain involved in castle and duchy politics. This would certainly be beneficial for us former Ehrenfest nobles but I wonder if it’s too forward thinking of an idea. It completely upends noble tradition. Lady Rozemyne always has such shocking ideas and her ideas always end up making a great impact in society, I can only pray to the gods above that it doesn’t cause any problems.
Given that Lady Rozemyne had been able to secure a few trustworthy female guard knights over these past few years, I feel comfortable temporarily retiring from her service to have children with Cornelius. Especially now that there’s the option of returning to service on a part-time basis if I am needed. As some of the highest ranked archnobles in Alexandria, we also have more than enough resources to bring in additional support to supervise and raise our children if both our presences are required in the castle.
Thus, shortly after Lady Letizia graduated from the Royal Academy and married her husband, I decided to retire from Lady Rozemyne’s service. Cornelius and I would finally be able to start having children.
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2: Wrapped in Ewegeliebe’s Ice
In the bedroom of our mansion, Cornelius and I are sitting with one another. We exchanged synchronization potions to bring our mana qualities closer together and make a pregnancy more likely. We have been wearing each other’s mana for years in the form of our engagement feystones, though our mana is still a bit different. As a direct descendent of the archducal family, Cornelius has more attributes and blessings than I do, but his potion doesn’t taste bitter. It’s definitely not sweet but its comfortable, familiar.
Now we are staring at one another as our cheeks begin to blush and I feel the heat rushing beneath my skin. We touch hands and exchange our mana. The sensation tingles just as it did all those years ago beneath the gazebos within the Royal Academy. Cornelius, always the bold romantic, stares deep into my eyes and leans towards me. He places his lips atop mine as our mouths intertwine, I can feel even more of his mana as our saliva meshes together. I completely collapse within his arms. I have been waiting for this moment for so many years. I am sure Cornelius has as well. It’s all we can do to contain ourselves, before I know it my hair is cascading over my shoulders and Cornelius’ mana is feeling ever more appealing as the potions bring us even closer. We embrace one another and fall into the passion of Brennwarme.
“I love you Cornelius”
“I love you, Leonore, my Goddess of Light”
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Cornelius and I embraced one another on many evenings now that we had the freedom of time and conscience to do so. It wasn’t long until I became pregnant with our first child. I followed the advice I received from my mother to dedicate as much mana as I could to the child without pushing it too far. I was gifted a magic tool that helps one practice how to dedicate mana to a child in the womb, it’s fortunate to have such a device especially as someone with a lot of mana after learning an advanced compression method from Lady Rozemyne.
Cornelius would regularly spend time with me and the baby in growing belly, dedicating his own mana as well to ensure that our child would have a mix of mana attributes from both of us. Truly it was such a peaceful pregnancy. Alexandria was peaceful under milady’s rule and the country was remaining calm in the aftermath of the events leading to a new Zent. Despite having risen to the Knight Commander of Alexandria under Lady Rozemyne’s rule, my wonderful husband still had time to be around the home and support me during the pregnancy. My mother from Ehrenfest also joined me in Alexandria towards the end of my first pregnancy to ensure I had the support and guidance necessary to safely give birth to my child.
A few months later I gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. Our first child was a handsome boy that looked just like Cornelius. What an adorable child. His green hair and dark green-almost black eyes. He’s so lovable. I am so happy. I thank the Supreme King and Queen Gods of the skies above and the Five Eternal Gods who rule the mortal realm. I am ever so grateful for this slice of happiness I have been blessed with.
“Praise be to the Gods”.
I murmured these words a little louder than I had intended. Cornelius looked at me with a concerned face.
“Is this the influence of my sister? That little gremlin is rubbing off on others even after their service has ended?”
He seemed exasperated but also smiled with an expression that essentially said “what can I do?”. I suppose he has also embraced her behaviour after all the time. I mean, she was the vessel for a goddess so she couldn’t be wrong in her actions as far it relates to the gods, the temple, and its rituals.
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With Lady Rozemyne’s encouragement, we all endeavoured to have another one or two children more than we originally planned. Honestly, in my case it’s a bit difficult for Cornelius and I to contain our passion for one another. I have had two more children with my beloved husband, more sons of course. I am likely to be raising my own unit of knights at this point. I will have to ensure the thoughtless influence of Lord Bonifatius and Lord Karstedt is minimized though, they need to be thoughtful knights like myself and Cornelius in order to properly serve the children of the Aub as retainers.
I am pregnant with my fourth child. Truly, I didn’t know carrying a child could be so wonderful. Though giving birth is quite an ordeal in itself I truly am excited to meet the new lives birthed from the love between myself and Cornelius. It’s actually quite rare to find romantic love within a noble marriage especially for the marriages of higher nobles who often have limited marriage prospects with compatible mana. Perhaps it is because Lady Rozemyne is so blessed and favoured by the gods, that those around her have also been blessed due to the nature of the involvement with our lady.
While Hartmut and Clarissa have a… unique relationship, their partnership is founded in mutual interest and a shared love. Even if that love isn’t necessarily for one another. The marriages formed between and among the retainers of Lady Rozemyne and even Lord Ferdinand have blossomed into true partnerships and not just political matchups. Even Lieseletta and her husband have grown to deeply care for one another, despite initially marrying for political convenience and mana compatibility. Lady Rozemyne herself has begun to face her true feelings of romantic love with Lord Ferdinand.
That has been the longest time coming. We could all tell from the moment she invaded Ahrensbach to save Lord Ferdinand that she cared about him as more than just a guardian, but we tried to humour her. Though she herself admitted that he was a perfect match she didn’t embrace the deeper meaning of it. Certainly, from the first time Lord Ferdinand saw the grownup Lady Rozemyne he was smitten. Even Cornelius started to feel bad for Lord Ferdinand as the years carried on when his younger sister was too slow to realize her own feelings.
She got there eventually though. Lady Rozemyne has welcomed her first child with Lord Ferdinand, though it has not been publicly announced yet. I heard from Cornelius that it was a baby girl with silver hair and bright yellow eyes with a high mana capacity. The future of Alexandria seems secure with a mana appropriate Archduke Candidate born to the Aub and her First (and only) Husband.
I wish that I too could have a daughter like Lady Rozemyne. We could bond over their cuteness, while indulging ourselves in beautiful and feminine fashions to support our daughters. It would truly need to be the grace of the gods though as women are exceedingly rare in the Linkberg family with Lady Rozemyne the first daughter born over two generations.
I sincerely pray to Greifeichan, the God of Fortune, and Geduldh, the Goddess of Earth and Fertility, that I be blessed with a daughter like Lady Rozemyne.
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After delivering my fourth child, Cornelius and I were shocked to learn it was a daughter. Our first and only daughter. She had lovely violet hair like me and dark green eyes like Cornelius. She was born with four attributes much like our other children. She has the attributes of darkness, fire, wind, and earth. A pleasing mix of both my own and Cornelius’ attributes though I wish she was born with five like Cornelius but she instead had four like me.
It must have been the grace of the gods that we were able to give birth to a daughter. I am so excited! She could likely be a guard knight for Lady Rozemyne’s daughter, the first Archduke Candidate of her and Ferdinand’s bloodline.
We decided to name her Rozelynne in honour of Lady Rozemyne and the grandmother of Cornelius.
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3: The Promise of Aub Ehrenfest
I was called to the castle with Cornelius for a tea party with Lady Rozemyne. Not as a guard knight but as a guest. When I arrived at the tea party room with Cornelius, there was Lady Rozemyne, along with Lord Eckhardt and Angelica. When we all sat down at the table Lady Rozemyne took a sip of the tea served by Gretia and a bite of the sweets to test them for poison, we all then proceeded to have some as well. We started the conversation on casual topics like those being raised during socializing at noblewomen’s tea parties and what fashions are becoming popular. Finally, Lady Rozemyne’s expression shifted and she activated a range specified anti-eavesdropping magic tool. Gretia stepped back to stand outside of its range.
We all had a look of concern on our face after being summoned to the castle for this private tea party with just her brothers and their spouses.
“I received a request from Melchior as the next Aub Ehrenfest.”
Lady Rozemyne looked at all us as she explained.
“He seeks to keep a promise with the Leisegang faction made by the former Aub, Lord Sylvester, and to demonstrate the archducal family’s sincerity by bringing about the birth of an Aub with Leisegang blood.”
Bring the blood of the Leisegang into the bloodline of the main archducal family? While there was Lady Brunhilde and her children, it was exceedingly unlikely that her son would ever be selected for the position of next Aub while Lady Charlotte reigns as Aub Ehrenfest and Lord Melchior remains. Moreover, as the only known Zent Candidate in Yurgenschmidt it would be difficult for the Second Wife’s child to displace him.
Then who would marry into the archducal family? The recently risen Ehrenfest would have a difficult time rejecting brides from higher ranked territories as had occurred with Lord Melchior’s First Wife from Dunklefelger and his soon to be Second Wife from Klassenberg. Does he want a child of Lady Rozemyne? That’s quite an outrageous ask only made possible because Lady Rozemyne favours her adoptive siblings so…
“Melchior stated he knew it was too much to request a child of the Incarnation of Mestionora and instead requested that I adopt one of my brother’s children to be married into Ehrenfest as the First Spouse of the next Aub Ehrenfest after Melchior.”
She glanced at all of us, almost as if she was asking a question. She wants to adopt one of our children? She would raise one of our children to the status of Archduke Candidate of a greater duchy? Would our children even have enough mana to justify such a position? Though Cornelius and I have compressed our mana we still cannot even come close to Lady Rozemyne or Lord Ferdinand. Moreover, though Lord Eckhardt learned Lady Rozemyne’s compression method he learned it after already completing his growing period and having married Angelica it’s unlikely their child will reach the appropriate mana capacity of an Archduke Candidate of a greater duchy without serious compression and a great number of blessings from the gods.
Lady Rozemyne’s stare began to settle on Cornelius and I. She invited all of us here, but she’s clearly hoping that she can adopt a child of ours. A child of Angelica and Eckhardt would be loyal but unthinking, likely not having the political acumen necessary for the First Spouse of an Aub. Moreover, as a direct relative of Giebe Leisegang, my children with Cornelius have a clearer Leisegang heritage than a child of Lord Eckhardt and Angelica, a former mednoble who belonged to the neutral faction of Ehrenfest. While neither of us have Ahrensbach blood in our direct heritage its obvious who the better choice would be.
“I did not immediately accept Melchior’s request but said I would consult with my brothers and their wives about this decision. If you are willing, I would adopt one of your children as an Archduke Candidate of Alexandria who would be raised to become the First Spouse of the next Aub Ehrenfest after Melchior. As an Archduke Candidate of Alexandria the Fifth, their status would be high enough to prevent them from being displaced by a higher ranking spouse.”
She continued.
“There would be an agreement that a child of the First Spouse from Alexandria would become the next Aub Ehrenfest after Melchior’s child, ensuring for the Leisegang that Ehrenfest welcome an Aub from their bloodline.”
As I was thinking, Cornelius looked towards me with an expression that seemed to say he would follow my will on this decision. But before I could even respond or ask questions, Angelica already excitedly responded.
“Oh, please Lady Rozemyne, adopt our son!”
Eckhardt looked at Angelica and smiled then turned to Lady Rozemyne to respond as well.
“Yes sister, I would be grateful to have my child raised under the auspices of my master Lord Ferdinand. It would be an honor to have our child become an Archduke Candidate raised under the guidance of the ones we have dedicated our lives in service to.”
Lady Rozemyne looked a little surprised and also a bit concerned. Was this not the response she was expecting? She was probably nervous to rely on a child of Angelica to manage interduchy politics and hold together a faction. Lady Rozemyne continued without directly responding to either Lord Eckhardt or Angelica.
“If such an adoption was to move forward under your acceptance, I would adopt them after their baptisms like when I was adopted into the Ehrenfest archducal family. I do not wish to separate young children from their parents. The adopted child would be raised as an Archduke Candidate under our guidance but allowed to remain close to their birth families by clearly establishing their heritage at their baptism.”
Hmmmm… that’s a much easier situation to handle. We are not required to give up one of our beloved children. Though we may be separated to an extent the honor of having one of our children rise in status to Archduke Candidate of a greater duchy would be huge. Moreover, if our child becomes the First Spouse of the next Aub Ehrenfest after Lord Melchior we could build even closer relationships with Ehrenfest and further cement our alliance. Though I came of age during a time of Leisegang dominance within Ehrenfest, I remember the frustration in my family members eyes under the reign of Lady Veronica and their joy at her downfall. I must protect my family both here in Alexandria and in Ehrenfest.
I believe I should put forth my daughter for adoption into the Alexandria archducal family. It would be easiest to teach and support her to be an effective First Wife to an Aub. With her rise, we would see the archducal families of Ehrenfest, Alexandria, and Frenbeltag dominated by Leisegang blood. The First Wife of an Aub from a higher ranked territory is an option that would typically be unavailable for my daughter should she remain only an archnoble.
I looked at Cornelius, nodded, and smiled.
“Lady Rozemyne, I would be ever so grateful if you would adopt my daughter, Rozelynne, and raise her as an Archduke Candidate of Alexandria. It would be our honour to raise the future First Wife of Ehrenfest and bring the grudge between the Leisegang faction and the Ehrenfest archducal family to a close. As one of strong Leisegang blood this is my wish.”
Lady Rozemyne’s expression brightened. She was clearly relieved. But how will she reject Lord Eckhardt and Angelica? They look so hopeful and excited?
“I am relieved that I can give a positive response to my dear younger brother’s request. I was uncertain if either of you would accept an adoption of even one of your beloved children. We will adopt one of each of your children. Heidelferd from Eckhardt and Angelica as well as Rozelynne from Cornelius and Leonore. I thank my gracious elder brothers for lending their strength to Alexandria and our archducal family.”
Eckhardt and Angelica seem very satisfied. Cornelius smiled at Lady Rozemyne and then looked at me. It was clear from the beginning that our mistress was interested in adopting our daughter the most. But she clearly wasn’t going to force us if we were loathe to part with our children. Our lady was very thoughtful in considering the interests of those with a lower status than her despite her prerogative to insist on an adoption as the Aub, with or without our consent.
“I will adopt your children after their respective baptisms and formally bring them into the archducal family of Alexandria as Archduke Candidates. Of course, the intention is to raise the two adopted children into spousal candidates for the future Aub Ehrenfest.”
We continued our conversations a bit more afterwards before leaving the tea party room. When we arrived home Cornelius asked me if I was truly okay with this decision and he would respect my will.
“We couldn’t secure a better marriage for our daughter than the First Wife of an Aub with existing political support in the form of the Leisegang Faction and the entire duchy of Alexandria. Though unlikely, if the son of Lord Eckhardt and Angelica is selected as the First Husband of the next Aub Ehrenfest then our daughter would have various options of duchies to marry into or even seeking the position of acting Aub during archduke conferences and emergencies.”
“That is true. I believe we should also assign one of our elder children as a guard knight to Rozelynne to ensure she’s protected within Alexandria and when she moves to Ehrenfest. It will be much harder for us to find Ehrenfest retainers for our daughter amongst the existing pool who will first seek to enter the service of Lady Rozemyne and Lord Ferdinand’s children. We will need to carefully investigate Alexandria nobles for potential retainers. Fortunately, I have experience with this from when I first joined my younger sister’s service as a guard knight.”
Cornelius had such a serious expression while he was deep in thought. He quickly moved from confirming the decision into how to protect our daughter. I can already tell he will be even more protective of her than he was with Lady Rozemyne. How adorable. He makes it so easy to fall in love with him over and over again.
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Over the past few years since that fateful tea party with the Aub, Cornelius and I have been raising our youngest daughter with the skills and knowledge necessary for a future Archduke Candidate. As she was too young to understand when we agreed to her future adoption, we chose to withhold that information from her until she turned five years old. We raised her with great care to ensure she would always have a place to feel comfortable at home with her family and to understand she could always rely on us. We decided to select her youngest elder brother, Lienhart, as a future guard knight assigned to her service. This was an ideal choice given their close sibling bond having grown up with a relatively small age gap compared to her remaining elder brothers. Furthermore, this will allow them a larger overlap when the two attended the Royal Academy in the future.
As my daughter grew older with each year, I realized the pressure such an adoption, engagement, and future marriage would place on her shoulders. It is the responsibility of all nobles to marry and have children in the future, however, there is often a greater degree of flexibility and certainty when such decisions are made in the future. My child will have greater status when she rises to the position of First Wife of a higher territory but her path is limited because of it. What if her mana is not great enough to marry the next Aub Ehrenfest? What if her mana is too great? Does she have any choice in which of Aub Ehrenfest’s sons to marry? Or will she be forced into an unbalanced engagement much like Lady Rozemyne was with Lord Wilfried? The future is too uncertain and while I understand the rationale behind this choice it does not make it any easier to pass off on my young child’s shoulders.
I only accepted this adoption and future engagement with the understanding that it was the best decision politically for Ehrenfest, Alexandria, and those of the Leisegang faction within Ehrenfest. If Ehrenfest falls into chaos once again it will have a great impact on Alexandria. I must support my daughter as much as possible in the future, both in Alexandria and Ehrenfest, to ensure that she has a strong foundation for her future. I will wait until she is older before informing her of the engagement. Once she becomes an Archduke Candidate her marriage partners would be limited regardless as she would only marry another Archduke Candidate. Perhaps if I facilitate her building close bonds with Ehrenfest she will naturally be pleased with a marriage into our former duchy.
Regardless, I will be certain to manage her burden such that it is never too great. I will always stand by her side if she needs me. I never knew the love of a parent could be so deep but I am grateful to have experienced it. The romantic love I have with Cornelius. And the parental love with my children, especially my daughter.
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Having previously informed my daughter’s attendants that I would be visiting for a tea party, I stopped by Rozelynne’s room. I often made time to have tea parties with her to teach her through example about proper the behaviour, etiquette, and speech for a noblewoman. These types of socializing experiences will be extremely important for her in the future, as an Archduke Candidate and then a First Wife of a higher territory.
“How are your lessons going Rozelynne?”
“Ever so well, mother. I have been learning the names of the gods from picture books.”
“That’s wonderful. This knowledge will be extremely important in the future for making sincere prayers to the gods and gaining their blessings.”
“Are the gods truly real mother?”
“Of course, Rozelynne. It was your aunt, the Aub of Alexandria, who reminded all of Yurgenschmidt of that.”
“The Aub seems to be a wonderful person! You and father always praise her. I hope that I can meet her one day!”
I smiled. This seems like as good of a moment as any to tell her. I brought a range specified anti-eavesdropping magic tool and placed it on the table. All of our attendants stepped back and out of its range.
“Mother. What magic tool is this?”
“It is a sound-blocking magic tool to prevent eavesdropping by others when important information needs to be discussed. Even if we trust our attendants or retainers, it is better to always be cautious to important information does not leak out. These will be exceedingly important in the future. However, as you are still young, I have chosen to use a range specified magic tool that I can provide the mana for instead of an individual one. You will need both.”
“Then, is there something important we need to talk about?”
Rozelynne looked a little nervous but fascinated at the same time. Probably fascinated at seeing the magic tool but nervous that I wanted to use one.
“Yes, Rozelynne. I need to tell you something very important. It’s about your future.”
Rozelynne looked confused but she was listening intently.
“Rozelynne, my dear, you are to be adopted by your paternal aunt, Aub Alexandria, and become an Archduke Candidate of Alexandria.”
Rozelynne looked a little upset when I said this.
“Does this mean I have to leave our family? Will I not be a child of this family? Have I done something wrong?”
My heart ached. I will not abandon my child but I wonder how this seems to her. Should I explain everything? Or will that be too much for such a young child?
“You have done nothing wrong. You will always be a member of our family. You are my daughter whom I love. I am sure your father and brothers feel the same. You will be adopted by the Aub after your baptism so all of noble society will know that you are a child of the Linkberg family. Your adoption by the Aub is to allow you to become an Archduke Candidate.”
“An Archduke Candidate? What is that exactly? Why do I need to be one?”
“An Archduke Candidate is a noble with the qualifications to rule a duchy. To become an Aub in the future one must first be an Archduke Candidate. You will be trained as a noble with the skills necessary to rule a duchy. As to why you need to be one, there are complex political decisions involved. The Aub requested to adopt a child from each of her brothers as Archduke Candidates.
The Aub, Lady Rozemyne, is the first Aub of a new archducal line as she took the foundation of the duchy in her youth and became the Aub by force. She requested support to expand the archducal family and bring in more Archduke Candidates from her bloodline. As a female ruling Aub she only has a single consort and cannot expand the archducal family herself this generation.”
I tried to carefully explain to my daughter without lying to her but avoiding telling her that her entire future has already been decided.
“The Aub has chosen to adopt you after your baptism so that you do not need to be separated from our family. All of Alexandria will know that you are the child of mine and your father. That will also allow us to publicly support and assist you in noble society so that you’re never alone. Moreover, we have decided to assign your elder brother Lienhart, as one of your guard knights.
Once you are formally adopted by the Aub you will move to the castle and select retainers to enter your service as an Archduke Candidate of Alexandria. You will also see your cousin, Lord Heidelferd, who will be adopted by the Aub as an Archduke Candidate as well later this year.
We will never abandon you. Rozelynne, you will always be my daughter and I will do everything I can to support you.”
Looking at my daughter, I could tell she was overwhelmed. She was happy to know she wouldn’t stop being a part of our family but scared to enter the unfamiliar castle and be surrounded by new people. It was the right choice to not inform her of everything at once. I will gradually share the information and guide her in a path that will allow for her to find her own happiness.
“I understand, mother. I will become an Archduke Candidate you can be proud of. I am ever so grateful brother Lienhart will be joining me. I can feel relieved to have a familiar face.”
“Do not worry my child. Your father and I have been carefully selecting your retainer candidates for quite some time. You may even bring one of your attendants from our home to the castle with you to manage your chambers.
Beyond that, you may come and visit home whenever you wish. So long as it does not interfere with your duties as an Archduke Candidate. Please get along well with your cousins in the future.”
Rozelynne smiled. I believe the disruption in her heart has finally calmed down. Though this information must have been shocking, she still has two years at home with all of us before she’ll be adopted. We must learn from the troubles endured by Lady Rozemyne after her adoption in Ehrenfest to ensure the same mistakes are not repeated here in Alexandria.
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4: Welcome A New Child of Alexandria
It was the day of my youngest child’s baptism. My lovely daughter, Rozelynne. The Aub herself was in attendance. This has already created some shockwaves within the guests as she had adopted Lord Heidelferd just a few years before. I wonder if people already sense that the same thing will happen again.
Rozelynne was born in the autumn so her baptismal outfit was embroidered with yellow thread to match the divine colour of Schutzaria, the Goddess of Wind. She looked absolutely lovely. I was happy and sad at the same time to see my final child growing up.
We walked down the aisle with our daughter slowly following behind before taking our seats. Rozelynne continued to the stage, climbed the steps to reach the top, and greeted the High Bishop, Lady Letizia.
The baptism proceeded as all the gathered noble guests watched with interest. Lady Letizia handed Rozelynne an intricate stick magic tool that glowed brightly when she grabbed it. Everyone clapped their hands to celebrate a child with the appropriate level of mana being baptized. Rozelynne then pressed the intricate stick magic tool onto a registration medal that glowed into multiple colours.
Lady Letizia announced.
“Four gods have granted you their divine protection: darkness, fire, wind, and earth. If you dedicate yourself to becoming worthy of this protection, you will surely receive many more blessings.”
As Lady Letizia placed her medal in the box, Cornelius rose to the stage and handed our daughter a yellow feystone magic ring.
“I grant this ring to you, Rozelynne, now recognized as my child by society and the gods.”
“I thank you ever so much, Father.”
Lady Letizia moved to bless Rozelynne.
“May Schutzaria the Goddess of Wind bless you, Rozelynne.”
A bright light burst forth and fell upon my daughter. To be blessed by the High Bishop is quite the honour these days. Especially since it’s an Archduke Candidate and Lady Letizia.
I watched as Rozelynne poured mana into her ring with the yellow light of blessing gently floating over to the High Bishop.
Everyone applauded again at the final step of the noble baptism. But of course, it didn’t end there.
A smiling Aub Alexandria stood and gently rose to the stage. There was quite a stir in the room but those in attendance were somewhat expectant of this action.
“Congratulations Rozelynne. You have been recognized as a child of Alexandria.”
She turned to the audience hall with a flare not unlike Lord Sylvester. Why did she only pick up eccentric habits from her guardians?
“I shall adopt Rozelynne, my beloved niece, here and now as an Archduke Candidate of Alexandria.”
Rozelynne stood there with a gentle smile not showing a speck of the nervousness she was likely feeling. I am glad I carefully prepared her for today and gave her the additional training she would need.
The nobles in attendance worked exceedingly hard to place themselves in my daughter’s good graces after learning she would become an Archduke Candidate. But we had already decided who we would or would not allow closer to her.
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After my daughter’s adoption by Aub Alexandria she moved to the castle to begin her training as an Archduke Candidate. It had become common practice in the Alexandria archducal family to have the Archduke Candidates participate in temple rituals, specifically the Spring Prayer and Dedication Ritual. However, the children were also encouraged to dedicate mana to the divine instruments for which they were lacking an affinity for. Thus, it was likely our daughter would be dedicating her mana to the Goddess of Light’s Crown, Flutrane’s Staff, and Ewegeliebe’s Sword. Will she be able to gain attributes she didn’t already have? Will she become all attributes? I suppose only the sincerity of her prayers and the whims of the gods would decide that.
We only selected a few retainers for our daughter to ensure she had the minimum required service necessary to support her and maintain her dignity as an Archduke Candidate. It was important that she had the space to select her remaining future retainers herself without having all the positions filled. Especially given that she’s almost certain to move to Ehrenfest she must be surrounded by people she can trust and who bring her comfort.
Like always, Lady Rozemyne refused to teach her mana compression method to children before they had attended their first year at the Royal Academy. I should be grateful my daughter won’t be at risk of her mana running wild but it is clear that the adopted children from Eckhardt and Cornelius have noticeably less mana than their cousins, the birth children of Aub Alexandria. I suppose I will have to encourage Rozelynne to direct her efforts into prayers and mana dedication to the divine tools to increase her attributes and blessings. She might not have as much mana as her adoptive cousins but if she can gain more blessings than her mana efficiency should balance that out.
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Prior to my daughter’s first year at the Royal Academy, I petitioned Aub Alexandria to be allow me to take my daughter on a tour of Ehrenfest. The intention was to begin building a foundation of support for her future position as First Wife and cultivating a familiarity with the duchy in my daughter. Though the Aub was happy to approve my request there were some complications with moving around a foreign duchy with an Archduke Candidate. We also needed approval from Aub Ehrenfest. Furthermore, even though Rozelynne would be travelling in her capacity as my daughter, she was still an Archduke Candidate and therefore required additional protection for the journey.
We brought as small of a selection of guard knights we could trust within the Knight’s Order of Alexandria. It was still not public knowledge that Rozelynne would become the First Wife of the next Aub. If it was, many power-hungry nobles would likely target her to prevent her from taking up the position.
Though the faction politics have settled down to a degree in Ehrenfest, there were some in the former Veronica Faction who were interested in using a child of Aurelia as a figurehead to rally around once again. As the niece of the deceased Aub Ahrensbach she has strong archducal blood. Those proud of their Ahrensbach heritage were displeased to have their ancestor’s duchy taken over by a Leisegang descended Archduke Candidate. Those foolish nobles should be grateful for the kindness of Lady Rozemyne and the Ehrenfest archducal family. If not for the mana shortage surely Aub Ehrenfest would not have been so willing to accept Lady Rozemyne's kindness towards the rebels.
I will have to investigate Ehrenfest closely to ensure the safety of my daughter. If necessary, I will intervene behind the scenes to ensure the nobility of Ehrenfest will not oppose my daughter in the future.
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6: A Journey Through Ehrenfest
The first province we visited on our trip to Ehrenfest was, of course, my home province of Leisegang. As the center of the Leisegang faction, this was province and its rulers are whom the Ehrenfest archducal family are attempting to build inroads with. My daughter will need their support most of all to be politically successful as the First Wife. If she cannot gain their support than she will have little influence and fail to meet the original intent of her engagement at all. While I am excited to visit my family whom I haven’t seen in almost a decade I need to focus on securing their support.
As we flew over Leisegang on our high beasts, I held Rozelynne in my arms while pointing out the scenery of my home province. There were farms, forests, and greenery as far as the eyes could see. Leisegang is the largest province in Ehrenfest with only Haldenzel coming close to it, but all of the province of Leisegang is fertile land while Haldenzel is usually frozen. It has always been the breadbasket of Ehrenfest, even when it was formerly Eisenreich, we were an important family for securing the duchy’s food system.
Our luggage was sent by carriage ahead of time with our attendants to ensure we could comfortably make the journey. We arrived at Count Leisegang’s mansion just a bit after the carriages containing our luggage. We were greeted by the current Count Leisegang, my uncle, and his First Wife plus my mother and father. I introduced my daughter, Rozelynne, and my son Lienhart, who had joined as her guard knight.
My children and I were greeted with blessings, as higher ranking archnobles and an Archduke Candidate of a greater duchy, from our Leisegang family members. We entered the mansion and prepared for a grand banquet among the local members of the Leisegang faction.
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We arrived at the large banquet hall. My daughter arrived separately with her guard knight and entered the hall to the wide smiles of all those in attendance. To have an Archduke Candidate of Alexandria with pure Leisegang blood and close familial ties must have brought them great joy.
It wasn’t that long ago when the Leisegang faction was oppressed under Lady Veronica and lost face with the introduction of her mother, Lady Gabrielle. Now, not only have those of the Veronica faction lost power, Ahrensbach itself was collapsed and reborn underneath their great hope, Lady Rozemyne. While they likely hoped she would have become the Aub of Ehrenfest, they are just as pleased for her to become the Aub of a greater duchy like Alexandria while crushing the former Ahrensbach. The source of their disdain.
With Brunhilde’s daughter set to marry into Frenbeltag and my daughter set to become the First Wife of Ehrenfest, the Leisegang faction will have close blood relations to three archducal families all within bordering duchies where they can exert their influence.
Though, only the most important members of the Leisegang faction were directly aware that my daughter was being groomed to take the seat of First Wife, I am sure many others found her adoption curious and were interested to see the implications of it. Those who played close attention could tell the Ehrenfest archducal family was attempting to gain greater support from the Leisegang.
After delighting in the meal and conversation with one another my daughter retired for the evening. This was when the real politics of the evening would begin. I need to ensure uncle will support Rozelynne.
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“I am pleased to see so many familiar sights in Leisegang. It seems despite all the great change during this era some things are able to remain constant.”
My uncle responded.
“Certainly, it looks the same but Leisegang has changed a lot. Our influence has only increased and the respect we receive from the archducal family is much greater than it was been for the past few generations.”
I nodded. I suppose Leisegang wouldn’t look different to maintain its role as a breadbasket but their influence must have greatly increased with the fall of the former Veronica faction and the numerous actions since.
“I suppose that is true. Lady Charlotte made a great many changes as Aub, now Lord Melchior has risen as the next Aub Ehrenfest.”
“That is true. Lady Charlotte was always our preferred Archduke Candidate of Lady Florencia’s children. She made a great many changes to improve Ehrenfest but worked much harder than her father to build back respect and trust with us Leisegangs. Lord Melchior worked diligently as High Bishop, especially during the Spring Prayer and enriching the duchy's land with mana. We are hopeful that this represents a new chapter in the relationship with the archducal family.”
My family all nodded together with the slightest of smiles on their faces. My uncle continued.
“Lord Sylvester was truly an incompetent Aub when compared to his children. But I suppose at least he did something when he removed his mother from power. He always took two steps forward and one step back.
He removed his mother from power but kept his son as the heir. He adopted Lady Rozemyne but forced an engagement with Lord Wilfried. He removed his son from the next Aub and appointed the more competent Lady Charlotte, but then assigned him to be Giebe of an enlarged Gerlach rivaling the size of our own Leisegang. While I am sure the burden on Lady Charlotte was great, I was pleased to see Lord Sylvester step down early.
Truly the only thing that makes having Lord Wilfried as a neighbour tolerable is his brilliant wife from Drewanchel. It is thanks to her guidance that his various blunders been all but eliminated or at the very least contained before anyone is the wiser.”
I was a bit shocked at my uncle’s blunt evaluation of the archducal family but I imagine he’s just venting frustration at the unnecessary suffering Lord Sylvester’s inaction caused on all of Ehrenfest and on the Leisegang’s in particular. It was against the natural order of society that a group of mednobles and laynobles could oppress the archnobles of a duchy, as almost all archnobles were related to the Leisegang in some way.
I tried to redirect the conversation in a more positive place.
“Surely Lord Melchior will continue to build a unified Ehrenfest that includes an important role for the Leisegang. We have gained the support of Dunklefelger and Klassenberg in Ehrenfest as Lord Melchior’s First and Second Wives. There is no longer any reason to suppress the Leisegang. I have heard that Lord Melchior has made a few promises to the Leisegang to demonstrate his sincerity and to make good on Lord Sylvester’s promise.”
Not just my uncle, but his First Wife and my parents smiled. Lord Sylvester certainly created just as many issues as he solved, but he also created a turning point that allowed his children to walk a better path as leaders.
“That is true. Lord Melchior has made a number of promises to us. He will marry an archnoble lady from Leisegang as his Third Wife, while appointing Lord Clement as his right hand and proxy Aub during the Archduke Conferences. Truly demonstrating the trust he has for the Leisegang faction to allow someone of our bloodline to rule, even temporarily.”
This is the first I heard about Lord Melchior taking a Third Wife from Leisegang but I was aware he was exceedingly close with Lord Clement. I wonder if his doting on his younger siblings was influenced by Lady Rozemyne at all. We still hadn’t reached the point I was hoping to discuss.
I set out a range sound-blocking magic tool in the dining hall. It surrounded the table such that only myself, my uncle and his wife, and my father and mother were within it. Everyone looked at me.
“It seems Lord Melchior made a further promise for which he requested support from Alexandria to fulfill.”
Everyone’s eyes grew wide as I continued.
“Lord Melchior approached Lady Rozemyne to request the adoption and marriage of a Leisegang blooded Archduke Candidate to the next Aub Ehrenfest among his children. While there was concern about mana compatibility, Lord Melchior promised to appoint whichever child was most compatible with the Alexandria Archduke Candidate. Furthermore, the next Aub after that will be selected from the children of the Alexandria Archduke Candidate who marries in Ehrenfest.”
Everyone had surprised expressions.
“Does that mean… Lady Rozelynne was adopted to become the First Wife of the next Aub Ehrenfest?”
I smiled.
“That is correct. Lord Melchior considered marrying a regular archnoble as the First Wife but he was concerned their status wouldn’t be high enough to avoid being displaced by a higher-ranking wife from an overzealous territory. He also couldn’t appoint a child of his future Leisegang Third Wife without earning the ire of Dunklefelger. By having my daughter raised as an Archduke Candidate of Alexandria the Fourth, it would be near impossible to have her position threatened as happened with Lady Gabrielle.”
Everyone was silent for a moment. There was both understanding in their eyes and clear awe at the straightforward thinking of their new Aub. This was quite an efficient solution to ensure a Leisegang blooded Aub would come to power without receiving blowback from Dunklefelger.
“Will you support my daughter as the future First Wife and ensure that she has a solid political foundation? She will need a number of retainers and supporters that cannot all be brought from Alexandria.”
Everyone’s eyes started gleaming! Their expressions were too excited.
“Of course, I’ll support my great niece! It is only natural that I support a daughter of Lady Leonore and Lady Rozemyne.”
My uncle responded clearly in the positive.
“We will of course provide our greatest support to our granddaughter. I am sure you can count on Lady Elvira and Lord Karstedt to offer their support as well. It may not have been their daughter, but it seems ultimately their descendant will become Aub Ehrenfest.”
Both my parents were also strongly in favour of my daughter. What a relief. I imagined that they would agree to support her but it’s not always certain. I was worried they might feel again like a greater duchy was impeding on their jurisdiction. But it was an unfounded worry.
“I have yet to inform Rozelynne of her impending engagement. I wish to keep it a secret for now to keep her protected from malicious intentions and reduce the burden on her shoulders.”
Everyone agreed to keep this information quiet for now but to also begin making moves for her to inherit the support of the Leisegang faction.
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We left from Leisegang the next day to continue our journey through Ehrenfest.
We stopped in Groschel to meet with Countess Groschel, Lady Bertilde and her archnoble husband from Klassenberg. Groschel has been transformed into a bustling mercantile center welcoming merchants from Frenbeltag and the duchies beyond it. As a city on the way to Ehrenfest it is perfectly located to help alleviate pressure from demand in the capital. Ehrenfest has only been growing in prominence and popularity, especially thanks to Lady Charlotte performing numerous Entwickelns to increase trade capacity of various cities across multiple provinces during the beginning of her reign.
Lady Bertilde was thriving as Giebe Groschel and the province has also thrived under her rule. She has become quite politically powerful, having built close connections in the castle and through her husband’s family in Klassenberg. The wealth brought in by her province is likely nothing to scoff at either. The city of Groschel is grand and beautiful almost like a slightly smaller Ehrenfest.
After having a celebratory dinner in Groschel with members of the Leisegang faction present in the region, I had a private conversation with Giebe Groschel. After having explained that my daughter would become the future First Wife of the next Aub Ehrenfest she seemed quite pleased. I was always close with Brunhilde but I wasn’t able to spend much time with Bertilde before coming of age and subsequently moving to Alexandria. Thus, I was a bit surprised at her excitement and immediate support. I wonder if Brunhilde would mention me to her sister?
She agreed to support my daughter as the First Wife in the future and join her faction as a supporter when the time came. She further expressed that Brunhilde would almost certainly support Rozelynne’s future role in Ehrenfest as well.
Again. What a relief. Though I was confident in receiving support from members of the Leisegang faction, support is never guaranteed. My daughter is also still young. I will need to ensure she grows to meet their expectations.
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I went to Haldenzel next to greet Cornelius’ relatives. Who are Rozelynne’s relatives as well. Giebe Haldenzel is approaching the age of retirement and will likely pass the position to his heir in the coming years. Nevertheless, I will ask for his support.
I introduced Rozelynne to Giebe Haldenzel and his First Wife. He was pleased to meet her and thought she was very reminiscent of myself but her eyes looked just like his sister Lady Elvira. She was already a favourite in his eyes. He was reminded of Lady Rozemyne who was also adopted by Aub Ehrenfest and was curious about the circumstances surrounding her adoption but he did not push the subject too much in her presence.
After dinner I sent my daughter off to bed before starting the real conversations with the adults once again. I explained the reasons for Rozelynne’s adoption as an Archduke Candidate of Alexandria and asked if Giebe Haldenzel would support her as the next First Wife of Ehrenfest. He looked a bit shocked but he quickly welcomed the idea of his great niece joining the archducal family. Not only would a member of Leisegang join the main branch of the archducal family but a direct relative of his would become the Archduchess.
His province would not be oppressed again but would instead thrive. The grudges of the past were slowly melting away like the Goddess of Light melting Ewegeliebe’s ice, my daughter could wash away the melting grudges like the waters of Flutrane. And like Heilschmerz she could finally heal Ehrenfest from its tragic past.
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Next, we visited the city of Ehrenfest itself. We would be staying with Lord Karstedt and Lady Elvira before being granted an audience with the Aub and the archducal family.
When we were flying towards Ehrenfest I noticed that the city looked a little different. It seems that Lord Melchior had expanded the city upon rising to the seat of Aub. With all the marriages into Ehrenfest that took place towards the end of Lord Sylvester’s rule and the beginning of Lady Charlotte’s, the number of nobles in Ehrenfest started to expand a rapid rate.
An entwickeln must have been performed with some land modification as well. The city was already relatively close to the water, so it seems that the river was pushed back a bit further east to increase the land availability on the shore next to the city. Two additions were added on to the eastern and western sides in the form of long and narrow trapezoids. This expanded the noble’s quarter mainly south of the castle and the mainly in the north of the lower city.
The wharf received a complete transformation expanding the areas of the piers and increasing the number of storage buildings and shops that now had their bases made from ivory. The new western gate appeared a lot more fortified as did the eastern gate. I imagine after the attack on Ehrenfest from the former Ahrensbach the city needed to overhaul its security functions to a greater extent. The wharf is probably maintained by the mana of another archducal family member to prevent it from interfering with the Aub’s barrier over the city.
We landed at the eastern gate and proceeded with our carriages into Ehrenfest. We had the advanced approval from the Aub and were therefore able to easily pass through the gates. Thankfully there is no longer a putrid smell in the lower city, that was always the worst part of needing to pass through when I was a child. We made our way through the temple gates to proceed to the noble gate. It seems the temple received a bit of an expansion as well and some additional fortifications. Seeing as the foundation of the duchy is located here it’s not surprising that it would receive various renovations to increase security.
We made our way to Lord Karstedt and Lady Elvira’s mansion. Once we arrived, we were greeted by Lady Elvira at the doorstep with her attendants and a young noblewoman next to her. We received blessings from my mother-in-law and the young woman next to her.
When we entered the mansion, Lady Elvira informed me that Lord Karstedt would join us for dinner later. It seems he was still acting as Lord Sylvester’s guard knight. We sent an ordonanz to the castle to inform them of our arrival and to hopefully arrange a meeting in a few days time.
We sat down for tea. After Lady Elvira tested the tea and the sweets, she had prepared we began the casual afternoon tea party. I learned that the noblewoman that was with Lady Elvira was Lady Adelheide, the daughter of Lord Lamprecht and Lady Aurelia. It seems that Lord Karstedt and Lady Elvira asked to adopt her to raise her as the heir of Karstedt’s household in Ehrenfest. Since Lord Lamprecht moved to Gerlach to follow Lord Wilfried and Cornelius and Eckhardt moved to Alexandria to continue serving their masters, there was no one left to inherit the Linkberg household in Ehrenfest.
Though, I am sure it was Lady Elvira who moved behind the scenes to make such an adoption possible. She informed me that the purge of the former Veronica faction eliminated most of the threat combined with the name dedication of the most dangerous members. However, there was still much anger among certain segments of those remaining. Despite Lady Rozemyne becoming the Aub of Alexandria in the former Ahrensbach territory, many within the former Veronica faction could not accept it. There was hope to raise a child of Lady Aurelia to be the head of a reinvigorated Ahrensbach faction and to have them takeover the Alexandria archducal family or take the foundation altogether. Restoring their believed noble Ahrensbach blood to its former place.
Lady Elvira acted to protect the children of Lamprecht and Aurelia to prevent the foolish members of the former Veronica faction from getting anymore crazy ideas. She also adopted Adelheide to be the heir of the household. She encouraged Lamprecht and Aurelia to continuously reaffirm their support for the Florencia faction and to facilitate the transition of members of the former Veronica faction to the neutral faction. At that point in time, it was still too great a task to incorporate those nobles into the Florencia faction.
Though their children could be brought into the new Ehrenfest youth faction started by Lady Rozemyne, continued by Lady Charlotte, and maintained by Lord Melchior.
Lady Elvira also informed me that Gerlach would be split into two provinces upon the retirement of Lord Wilfried as giebe. Though Lord Sylvester had intended Lord Wilfried and his new province to act as a check on the Leisegang’s influence that action only created further distrust. Lady Elvira met with Lord Wilfried’s First Wife Lady Genevieve to discuss the matter. She also recognized the continued subtle antagonism from Leisegang and the two came up with a plan to partition the territory again and assign a second giebe from among Lord Wilfried’s children. One province will maintain nearly the original bounds of Gerlach while the second province split off will compose former Bessel and the western portion of former Joisontak with a tiny bit of central territory added to the mix. The new province would be named Gemmel and the two provinces will be ruled by archnoble children of Lord Wilfried and his First Wife.
It wasn’t difficult for Lady Genevieve to convince Lord Wilfried that this was for the best. He had grown to understand and trust that his wife was acting in his best interest and that of their family. It seems that the children of Lord Wilfried’s retainers will be divided between the two provinces including the children of his Second and Third Wives. Gimmel will remain a production center for paper, books, and ink while Gerlach will become another mercantile center focussed on the sale of products from Gimmel to merchants entering from the Alexandria boundary gate. Both provinces will engage in moderate amounts of farming as fertile southern territories but their focus will be on their production and mercantile activities.
I learned a lot about the changes happening in Ehrenfest. I was a bit concerned about what would happen with the former Veronica faction but it seems like Lady Elvira was already managing it as the former head of the Florencia faction turned Sapphira faction. The main faction of the First Wife will once again be passed from mother-in-law to daughter-in-law to ensure continued stability in Ehrenfest. I suppose in the near future it will become the Rozelynne faction.
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Lord Karstedt joined us for dinner. After our meal I handed out sound-blocking magic tools to Lord Karstedt and Lady Elvira. They took them in their hands but before I could even start speaking Lady Elvira spoke.
“Of course, Karstedt and I will support our granddaughter as the First Wife of the next Aub Ehrenfest. I suppose since our daughter couldn’t become First Wife it’s only natural for it to be our granddaughter.”
I was surprised. How did Lady Elvira already know? Did her family members tell her during my visit?
“You seem quite surprised Lady Leonore. I have known for quite some time that your daughter would become the First Wife of the next Aub Ehrenfest. In fact, I was aware of her impending rise to the status of Archduke Candidate before it had even occurred.”
I was even more surprised. One must always fear Lady Elvira’s information gathering abilities. She wasn’t the leader of a faction for no reason.
We continued our after-meal conversations on lighter topics. Lady Elvira was grilling me about the love stories of all Rozemyne’s retainers and various nobles in Alexandria. She has really settled into her role as a popular love story novelist. Though I will have to sacrifice my friends on the altar of embarrassment to avoid mine and Cornelius’ story from becoming another book.
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I received an ordonanz accepting a meeting with the Aub and archducal family a few days later. I arrived at the castle with Rozelynne where we greeted by the Aub’s Head Attendant, a nobleman I had not met before. I wonder if he comes from Frenbeltag?
We entered a small private room where we greeted the Aub, Lord Melchior, and his First Wife, Lady Sapphira, and their children. Myself and Rozelynne greeted them in turn with a blessing. Lord Melchior seemed excited to meet a daughter of his beloved elder sister Lady Rozemyne, even if she was an adopted daughter. He seemed very pleased with her.
He suggested that his children show their cousin, Lady Rozelynne, around the castle where her adoptive mother grew up. I nodded and agreed to the suggestion. The archducal children left with their entourages of guard knights and attendants.
It was just Lord Melchior, Lady Sapphira, and I left in the room.
“Congratulations on your ascension to Aub, Lord Melchior.”
“Thank you, Leonore.”
“Though, I must admit I am a bit surprised. I thought you would seek to become the next Zent? You are the only known Zent Candidate and thus Lady Eglantine’s only heir.”
“While that is true, I believe there are others more worthy of becoming the next Zent. If no other candidates arise, I will take the seat of Zent in a middle-reliever capacity but I believe that won’t ultimately be necessary.”
He smiled nostalgically. I wonder if he intends to support the children of Lady Rozemyne, or Lady Rozemyne herself in rising to the position of Zent? I must admit though, I too believe that a child of Lady Rozemyne is most fitting for the position of Zent. Especially Lady Gwendolyn, she is overflowing with mana and blessings. She already had all attributes at her baptism. She is clearly a likely candidate for Zent even before entering the Royal Academy.
“I find myself in agreement with that. I too look forward to seeing the rise of future Zent Candidates.”
“Your daughter already seems like a very competent Archduke Candidate despite her young age. I must express my gratitude for allowing your only daughter to be adopted by Aub Alexandria and welcoming the path of her becoming the First Wife of the next Aub Ehrenfest. I wish to show the Leisegang faction that the archducal family are trustworthy, keep their promises, and will prevent a repeat of Lady Gabrielle and Lady Veronica.”
“I am ever so grateful for your thanks Aub Ehrenfest. I felt this was the best decision for Ehrenfest and Alexandria. Moreover, as an archnoble by birth becoming an Archduke Candidate and future First Wife of an Aub is a great honour for my daughter. Though, I am curious, have you informed your children yet that she will be the First Wife?”
“I have informed my two sons that she will be the First Wife and that they must court her properly to secure an engagement. Moreover, they will need to match her mana, especially as an Archduke Candidate of a greater duchy so they have been working hard on their mana compression studying various techniques from the underground library at the Royal Academy.”
What a surprise. I didn’t expect him to place all the power in my daughter’s hands. Though, this is beneficial for her if she has a stronger position in this arrangement. I wonder if my daughter would have more mana than a true born Archduke Candidate though? I will need to ensure she receives the most blessings possible and learns Lady Rozemyne’s mana compression method as soon as she returns from the Royal Academy.
As the conversation turned away from my daughter’s future engagement. Lord Melchior informed me that the archducal family has been working on bringing the archnoble provinces closer to the Aub by encouraging marriages of archduke candidates and those with thick archducal blood to the provinces.
Reunwalt and Kirnberger were able to receive marriage partners from among Lady Charlotte’s three children. When a daughter is born to his future Leisegang Third Wife, Lord Melchior’s daughter will be wed to the next Giebe Leisegang as First Wife to create reciprocal blood connections between Leisegang and the archducal family. Haldenzel will also be welcoming a bride from among Lord Clement’s archnoble daughters in the near future. With that, every archnoble province will have archducal blood making the archnobles of Ehrenfest not just closely related to Leisegang but also closely related to the Aub.
If a giebe family should rise from mednoble to archnoble in the future then the Aub of that era will work towards arranging a marriage between them and a close relative to continue keeping the archnobles close to the archducal family.
After our private tea party conversation, we separated from one another to prepare for dinner. I rejoined Rozelynne and heard all about her tour of the castle. It seems she really had a nice time and the two dashing Archduke Candidates were very impactful on her. I imagine they’re already working to win her affections. It seems this trip to Ehrenfest was very worthwhile. We have gained the support of various giebes and factions across Ehrenfest while my daughter has developed a very positive view of her future home.
We had dinner with the archducal couple and the children of his First Wife. It was a very pleasant dinner where we reminisced about the past in Ehrenfest and all the things that have changed for the better. Lord Melchior still seemed to see Lady Rozemyne through rose-tinted glasses ignoring all of her faults but the genuine love he has for his adopted sister gives me confidence that Rozelynne’s cousins, and adopted siblings, will see her just as much as a sibling and provide support for her from Alexandria.
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The next day we said our goodbyes and left Ehrenfest. This trip had really gone better than I could have hoped. Perhaps we should make this a somewhat regular occurrence. I noticed a lot of things while I was in Ehrenfest; the new trading cities that have sprung up along the boundary gates between duchies, the production and mercantile centers added near the border gate to another country in Kirnberger that finally opened once again, and the major increase in nobles across the duchy. We originally struggled as a middle duchy with a noble population close to that of a lesser duchy, but that is no longer the case. Despite Lady Rozemyne, Lord Ferdinand, and all of their retainers leaving the Ehrenfest noble population has grown from eight hundred nobles to around eighteen hundred nobles and a greater number of archnobles than ever in the history of Ehrenfest. The ratio is approximately 1:3:2 archnobles, to mednobles, to laynobles compared to a ratio of 1:4:3 almost two decades ago. Ehrenfest has truly earned its place as a higher territory, now the Sixth, even without Lady Rozemyne's continued leadership.
After returning to Alexandria, I reported the success of the trip to Aub Alexandria. We decided it might be a good idea to have the trips every year until Rozelynne graduates from the Royal Academy. I agreed.
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7: The God’s Listen to Sincere Prayer
My daughter has been continuously growing stronger and more competent as an Archduke Candidate of a greater duchy. Though she started out having much lower mana than her cousins, after learning the Rozemyne Mana Compression Method her mana capacity began to catch up to that of her cousins and adopted siblings. While it’s hard to say exactly how close or far apart they are before their mana sensing starts the fact that its hard to say these days shows how her capacity has grown.
She has been racking up an appropriate amount of achievements to show that she deserves to be a member of the Alexandria archducal family. The participates regularly in temple rituals and constantly dedicates mana to fill in for attributes she does not have.
After her third year we learned of the fruits of her labour when it comes to prayer and her work in the temple. She gained twenty-seven blessings from the gods and their subordinates as well as gaining the attributes for light and water. Rozelynne now has six attributes only missing the attribute for Life. The most difficult and rare attribute to obtain.
Moving forward she need only focus her efforts on dedicating mana to Ewegeliebe’s Sword to obtain the attribute of Life. However, as it’s the most difficult to obtain as its hard to gain the favour of Ewegeliebe she may not be able to do so before obtain her schtappe.
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During her Fourth Year at the Royal Academy my daughter, Lady Rozelynne accepted an engagement from Lord Mynehardt the eldest son of Aub Ehrenfest and his First Wife Lady Sapphira. It was not a huge shock as the two had grown quite close over the years. His younger brother seems to have given up becoming Aub himself, accepting the position of his brother’s right-hand man and the proxy Aub during the Archduke Conferences.
My daughter was the escort of Lord Mynehardt at his graduation where the relationship between the two was made clear. Though my daughter was an adopted child of the Aub, she was still a sought-after marriage partner as an Archduke Candidate of Alexandria which has not allowed many external engagements aside from Lady Benedicta to Blumefeld and another Lady to Drewanchel. Both were the daughters of Lady Letizia, the Second Aub Alexandria.
Lord Mynehardt received an all attribute schtappe at his graduation from the Royal Academy. Many were curious if Lord Mynehardt would become a Zent Candidate just like his father. After performing the shrine tour, it was a few weeks later at the Archduke Conference where Zent Eglantine publicly proclaimed the birth of another Zent Candidate. Though this did not help with dispelling the idea that the Zent should be a hereditary position, he was fortunately not the only Zent Candidate.
The eldest son of Lady Hannelore of Dunklefelger also became a Zent Candidate. Not surprising for the Second Incarnation of the Goddess. While there wasn’t many Zent Candidates there was no longer a fear that no heir to Lady Eglantine would appear. There were expectant eyes on the children of Lady Rozemyne who were approaching graduation from the Royal Academy. It had become well known that both Lady Rozemyne and Lord Ferdinand had all the attributes thus it was reasonable to expect all or most of their children were born with all attributes or could easily become all attributes.
If there is another conflict for the seat of Zent it will be the first test of the rules put in placed by Lady Eglantine to prevent unnecessary bloodshed. Will she have the power and influence to contain the losing coalitions in such a case? We can only hope for the future.
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In my daughter’s final year, she reperformed her blessing acquisition ceremony prior to the interduchy tournament and graduation ceremony. She had impressively gained the attribute of Life, however, according to her the blessings from the attribute of Life were the weakest in the pillar. Though she had become all attributes she struggled intensely trying to gain blessings from the God of Life and his subordinates. She seemed to be working exceedingly hard to gain the Life attribute to be as compatible with Lord Mynehardt as possible and maintain her dignity as an Archduke Candidate from a greater duchy.
She was escorted by Lord Mynehardt to her graduation from the Royal Academy. She participated in dedication dance as the Goddess of Light as the highest ranked female Archduke Candidate. She received an all attribute schtappe but she was not able to gain enough blessings from the gods to obtain the Glutrisheit. She performed the shrine tour and received a bit more support from the other gods but she could not noticeably increase her blessings in the attribute of Life.
Nonetheless, my daughter had major accomplishments. She was baptized with four attributes and gained three more attributes through her own actions while also achieving a mana capacity appropriate for an Archduke Candidate from a greater duchy despite being born an archnoble. My daughter had built close relationships with her cousins and adopted siblings. She has a strong foundation in Ehrenfest and growing political support ever since her engagement become public. Thanks to the groundwork I laid during our trips to Ehrenfest, the Leisegangs and archducal family were able to quash any discontent before it could even rise.
My daughter moved to Ehrenfest with my youngest son, her guard knight, after her graduation from the Royal Academy. She married Lord Mynehardt and he was formally declared the heir to Aub Ehrenfest.
I was worried that I had limited my daughter’s future by agreeing to her engagement so young but I was able to guide her along a path where she could find her own happiness. With the support of the Aub, Lord Melchior, he also encouraged his sons to build a genuine connection with my daughter. It’s fortunate that their marriage will be based on affection and mutual understanding.
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Despite Lord Sylvester’s previous attempts to contain the Leisegangs, they ended up becoming the most powerful faction spanning three adjacent duchies. Lady Rozemyne ruled Alexandria, the daughter of Lady Brunhilde became the First Wife of Frenbeltag’s next Aub, and my daughter become the First Wife of Ehrenfest. All future Aub’s will have blood ties to the Leisegang and will likely work to maintain close connections. Not to mention the engagement of Lord Melchior’s daughter with his Leisegang Third Wife to the next Giebe Leisegang as his First Wife.
The Leisegang have become powerful in a way that no one could have predicted. Their concern is no longer just duchy politics but also interduchy politics. While Dunklefelger and Klassenberg oppose each other to ensure both of their interests are maintained in Ehrenfest, Leisegang focusses on maintaining the peace of Ehrenfest and on interacting with Alexandria and Frenbeltag. An archnoble family has produced Archduke Candidates with high mana capacities across two middle duchies and a greater duchy. This will be the era of the Leisegang.
Notes:
FAN ILLUSTRATED MAP OF EHRENFEST PROVINCES RELATED TO FAN FICTION STORY
https://www.reddit.com/user/nViroGuy/comments/ykm2bb/ehrenfest_factional_province_split_post_giebe/
https://www.reddit.com/user/nViroGuy/comments/yklzf2/ehrenfest_factional_province_split_end_of_aub/ALT LINKS
https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/903605112711707583/
https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/903605112711707602/
Chapter 13: Lord Kentrips: First Husband to the Incarnation of Dregarnuhr
Summary:
Kentrips POV of Dunklefelger. We don't ever see an internal monologue from him or many scenes for him so it felt I could shape his internal thoughts a bit with this short story.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
1: The Tricks of the Goddess of Time
She was always a shy young lady who was afraid of confrontation. Despite being an Archduke Candidate of a greater duchy and daughter of the Aub and his First Wife, she never displayed that confident headstrong attitude expected from a noble of Dunklefelger. It was actually very refreshing in a sense. She did not truly require anyone’s protection or intervention if I am to be honest. But there was always something endearing about her that inspired everyone around her to want to protect her.
Dunklefelger, the greater duchy of knights has existed since the founding of the country, where all nobles aspire to be powerful knights. However, very few nobles actually qualify to become knights by passing the knight selection exam in Dunkelfelger to actually take the knight course at the Royal Academy. Though many young nobles are disappointed to never become knights, if we did not limit the number of nobles taking the knight course, we would not have the necessary talent to properly run the duchy. That could quickly lead to our great duchy’s decline, which is unacceptable.
I would have been happy to be a knight but I am also quite pleased with being a scholar. Though I may not be a knight I can certainly use my combat knowledge to create more effective magic tools that inflict maximum damage on the enemy. Even though I am a close relative of the archducal family, that is not enough to pass the knight selection exam alone. I will be a knightly scholar to my liege and cousin, Lord Lestilaut, who is slated to become the next Aub Dunklefelge. Lord Lestilaut is more than qualified to be the next Aub whether it be mana, ability, or background as the son of the Aub and his First Wife.
On the other hand, Lady Hannelore was the most eligible young lady in all of Yurgenschmidt, even more so when Dunklefelger rose to the First position after the coronation of Zent Eglantine. Lady Eglantine was already widely expected to marry into the former Royal Family, as was Lady Adolphine of Drewanchel. Thus, Lady Hannelore was the only Archduke Candidate of a top ranked territory who was even available to be married into another duchy in the first place.
Though, she quickly became a valued existence that Dunklefelger could not afford to part with. A close personal friend of the Incarnation of Mestionora, Lady Rozemyne, who had gained the favour of the gods themselves. Lady Rozemyne acted as a divine emissary to present the Glutrisheit to Lady Eglantine and save the nation of Yurgenschmidt by returning to the proper rule with a return of the old ways.
If that wasn’t enough to highlight her importance, during her 5th year, the Goddess of Time, Dregarnuhr, descended into the body of Lady Hannelore to summon Lady Rozemyne to save the nation of Yurgenschmidt once again. It was impressive to say the least that Lady Hannelore could host an actual goddess inside of her body, becoming the Second Incarnation of a Goddess. Her body maintained the divine aura of Dregarnuhr for quite a few days after the descent imposing a strong pressure on all those in Lady Hannelore’s presence. While we were still waiting for the aura of the Goddess to fade after she had awoken, Lady Hannelore accidentally pressured all those around her with the crushing divine aura when her emotions became too disturbed, thankfully we had received much advice from Lady Rozemyne and Alexandria on how to prepare.
Chaos swept through Yurgenschmidt once again. Lady Rozemyne disappeared when she appeared to answer the call of the Goddess. Lady Hannelore was left unconscious when the Goddess of Time disappeared with Lady Rozemyne, while a mad scramble erupted from all the duchies now seeking her hand in marriage with increased fervour. An all-out bride-stealing ditter was requested from various duchies seeking the increased authority of Lady Hannelore, now as an Incarnation of a Goddess. Unfortunately for them, Aub Dunklefelger had already decided to have Lady Hannelore remain in the duchy to maintain the connection with the new Alexandria ruled by the underage Lady Rozemyne, since she was a close personal friend. Now with the descent of the Goddess into her body, Lady Hannelore became even more important to Dunklefelger. We would never let her go. …I would never let her go.
Even without the descent of the Goddess or Lady Rozemyne, I had always cared for Lady Hannelore. I always wanted to protect her; the shy cry baby of an Archduke Candidate. I was so grateful when I was selected as a fiancé candidate for Lady Hannelore by the Aub. I was certain I could easily win against Lasantark as well. But I was always worried about binding her to Dunklefelger, she clearly did not enjoy the intensity of her home duchy despite being raised there and she didn’t seem particularly excited about my status as a fiancé candidate. It would have been better for her to marry Lord Ortwin and move to Drewanchel as its First Wife where she could be surrounded by books and calm rational minds.
When we first arrived at the Royal Academy during our 5th year, she could not or would not, make a clear decision between myself and Lasantark as her fiancé. I tried to show my indifference and push her towards the Drewanchel Archduke Candidate, Lord Ortwin, for her own happiness. It could be argued that it was treason to secretly oppose the wishes of our Aub, but I just wanted her to be happy. Though, after she awakened following the advent of Dreganuhr into her body she had changed quite significantly. She was more certain and much more confident that she had ever been before. She looked at me with different eyes that seemed to recognized my deep longing for her.
I thought I had hidden it so well.
Was it divine insight? What did she see or learn during her times with the gods? What inspired such a great change within her? Whatever it was, she awakened as a true Archduke Candidate of Dunklefelger the First. She reined in the outrageous behaviour of her half brother Lord Laofereg. She tamped down the excitement of all the knights in the dorm. She even had a meeting with the Zent and pushed for the interests of Dunklefelger to be respected in the bride-stealing ditter.
The shy crybaby Lady Hannelore pushed for all this herself without poking or prodding from anyone else. …She had become quite fierce.
She pushed back against all the duchies who sought to steal her hand in marriage for their own interests. Especially Lord Sigiswald of Corinzdaum, who she noticeably disliked for his attempt to bind Lady Rozemyne, despite the fact she had much more mana than he did. She was more than happy to share with all of us that the courtship tool Lord Sigiswald had made for Lady Rozemyne disintegrated within hours of her wearing it. He was no match for Lady Rozemyne, and he is certainly no match for Lady Hannelore either.
Lady Hannelore accepted the declarations of war brought forward by all the duchies who wished to challenge the orders of our Aub. The Zent provided a warning about the danger of challenging Dunklefelger in this ditter and what it meant to do so by clarifying Dunklefelger’s position as well as the meaning of the ditter. Many duchies were terrified not understanding what it meant to participate. For those who were still too confident in overpowering the Sword of the Zent, Dunkelfelger the First, Lady Hannelore mercilessly crushed every challenger who stepped forward who would defy her father, the Aub.
She clearly learned quite a lot from the real treasure stealing ditter she participated in when Lady Rozemyne took the foundation of Ahrensbach. Lady Hannelore was extremely impressive. Honestly, I felt she had just as many qualifications as her elder brother to become the next Aub, if not more. Though, she did not want to rule and actively chose to support her elder brother as the next Aub.
Even more wonderful than all of that was when Lady Hannelore chose ME as her fiancé!
I did not know that I would be so fortunate. I had entirely given up on us ever having a future together when I encouraged her to seek a marriage with Drewanchel, but she surprised me by selecting me as her fiancé. She thanked me for always noticing her as she was, not as a someone else I wanted her to be.
At the end of our 5th year, I was formally engaged as Lady Hannelore’s husband to be. Aub Dunkelfelger decided that Lady Hannelore would remain a member of the archducal family and my marriage would allow me to join the archducal family as well, though I chose to remain as a scholar to Lord Lestilaut. Mine and Lady Hannelore’s future children would be recognized as proper Archduke Candidates of Dunklefelger who could compete for the seat of Aub, if they so chose and had the qualifications to do so.
I hope that my mana and attributes won’t be a limitation for our children in the future. Could I be a proper match for an Archduke Candidate who could host a divine existence within her mortal body? One of only two Archduke Candidates currently within the nation and possibly all of its history...
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2: The Library Committee is for Life
Lady Hannelore and I married a year after her graduation from the Royal Academy. Given that Lady Rozemyne was set to marry Lord Ferdinand immediately after her own graduation from the Royal Academy so that she could properly rule over Alexandria as a female Aub, Dunklefelger thought it would be best to keep the two marriages separate. In fact, all Archduke Candidates chose to avoid marrying the year that Lady Rozemyne and Lord Ferdinand had their stars officially bound.
Just like when Lady Rozemyne married Lord Ferdinand, there seemed to have been stronger blessings from the God of Darkness and Goddess of Light than usual for our starbinding ceremony, even compared to when Lady Eglantine began performing rituals at the Royal Academy as Zent. The gods must have directly blessed our union, or at least greatly blessed and favoured Lady Hannelore. Either way I am glad to not have the gods oppose our union.
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Lady Hannelore and I purchased a mansion right beside the castle in the noble’s quarter, establishing our household while also being established as formal members of the Dunklefelger archducal family.
Lady Hannelore was assigned to take over the position of High Bishop of Dunklefelger because of her personal connection to the gods as the Second Incarnation of a Goddess.
Of course, there was a serious amount of ‘cleansing’ and restructuring of the temple that needed to happen before she formally took over the position. Fortunately, we had a great amount of support from Lady Rozemyne herself and Lord Melchior on how to better structure the temple to be appropriate for an Archduke Candidate to visit, and even temporarily reside within. As her husband, I chose to take over the position of High Priest and supported her in her role as the High Bishop, instead of one of her retainers.
Lady Rozemyne had invited Hannelore and myself to Alexandria to learn more about temple rituals and how to be effective as the High Bishop and High Priest of Dunklefelger. Lady Rozemyne had set up many interesting systems within her duchy’s temple, ones that go beyond just making it an acceptable place for nobles to set foot. A temple school was opened within the orphanage, run by highly educated grey priests and shrine maidens, teaching to wealthy commoners, laynobles, and even some mednobles altogether with an education level on par with a typical mednoble. It even covered music, teaching the student how to play the harspiel, and noble etiquette.
According to Lady Rozemyne, she believes that it’s important for nobles and commoners to form personal connections to facilitate effective communication. It seems that in Ehrenfest the nobles would often crush the commoners with unreasonable demands, unaware of whether or not what they were asking for was even feasible. Dunklefelger knows how to effectively use our commoners, moreso than Ehrenfest did clearly, but Lady Rozemyne’s temple school idea brought forth an even stronger path to developing nobles with productive relationships with commoners who could communicate what is feasible and what is impossible.
Ultimately, in trade deals with other duchies even if we punish the commoners for their failings, its still a stain on our reputations among the nobility which we might never recover from so its in our interests to always be open to methods of more effectively mobilizing commoners to accomplish our goals.
Lady Rozemyne ensures that the temple was a proper religious space run very much like an archduke’s castle. The majority of the paperwork is handled by the blue robed clergy of the temple while the High Bishop and High Priest focus on performing ceremonies that require mana.
She even highlighted the breakdown of donations, payments, and determining how who goes where in a duchy influences the tithes received by the blue robed clergy. Lady Rozemyne seems to very much enjoy business matters it would seem.
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The major rituals we needed to learn were the Spring Prayer, Baptism Ceremony, Coming of Age Ceremony, Starbind Ceremony, Harvest Festival, and the Winter Dedication Ritual to ensure the base functioning of the temple and the duchy. However, it is likely that there are many more temple rituals unique to various duchies and geographies that have been lost to time. Lady Rozemyne described the ritual to call for spring when she was visiting the cold northern lands of Ehrenfest while the High Bishop of Ehrenfest, she learned about the need for cylindrical stages that were lost to time, songs and arrangements that were meant to invoke the gods but had become reduced to folk songs without any of their original power.
It is quite shocking to realize truly how far the nobility have fallen when it comes to the source of magic, proper prayers and rituals, and the gods.
We were fortunate that Lady Rozemyne allowed us to visit several times over the year to witness each of the rituals being conducted by her as High Bishop of Alexandria, that we would need to repeat ourselves in Dunkelfelger. Thanks to her support we were able to quickly reform the temple of Dunklefelger, reorganize the blue robed clergy, and make the temple a place appropriate even for nobles and the archducal family to step foot in.
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3: The Temple’s Importance Lost to Time
After Lady Rozemyne bestowed the Glutrisheit upon Lady Eglantine, she had revealed at the subsequent Archduke Conference that the foundation of each duchy was actually located beneath their duchy’s temple.
No one had been aware of this information prior and all the expressions of all the Aub’s in the room apparently turned dark immediately as they all rushed to gain possession of their temple’s scripture key. High Bishop’s were being replaced with trusted Archduke Candidates across Yurgenschmidt within hours to maintain the protection of duchy foundations.
Though, many duchies were in a difficult position having left their temples to decay for centuries, if not millennia. The temples were exceedingly mismanaged and contained primarily low mana blue robes clergy. Numerous rituals had been lost. Knowledge had been lost. The connection to the gods has been lost.
Alexandria, and Ehrenfest by extension, only grew in importance as various duchies recognized the immediate need for temple reforms. The nobility would not immediately accept the appointment of Archduke Candidates to the position of High Bishop in every duchy as all Aub’s chose not to publicly disclose that their duchy foundations were located beneath the temple. Thus, the biggest reason to assign an Archduke Candidate to the position could not be properly explained despite there need being quite real.
Despite being the Zent, Lady Eglantine was not as effective at temple reform as was Lady Rozemyne. The Dunklefelger temple had more effectively and more quickly implemented the necessary reforms than did Klassenberg or any other duchy besides Ehrenfest or Alexandria who were the examples to follow.
Lady Hannelore prayed to the gods everyday, dedicate her mana during various rituals, gave true blessings to commoners and nobles alike, and she would even travel the duchy during Spring Prayer to bless the land within the central district directly with her own mana. The harvests of Dunklefelger began to flourish like we had never seen before.
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Lady Hannelore revealed the ongoing results of the joint research conducted with Ehrenfest, and now Alexandria, about increasing blessings and attributes. Sincere prayer and mana dedication could catch the attention of various gods and increase a noble’s attributes and blessings beyond that which they were born with.
It was even possible to target specific attributes that were not already present at birth through prayer to specific gods and dedication of mana to the divine tools in the temple. Within a few years, the administration of the temple by an Archduke Candidate became required across all duchies to keep their nobility in check. There was only a single set of divine instruments within any given duchy and all nobles wanted to dedicate mana to increase their attributes or gain more blessings.
For once, lesser and medial duchies actually had a major advantage over greater duchies. Their smaller noble populations allowed for greater access to their temple’s divine tools, whereas greater duchies with larger noble populations made it difficult for everyone to easily access the divine tools for mana dedication. Technically any noble could pray within the temple and dedicate mana to the divine tools, however, that access pretty quickly became prioritized based on status to ensure that Archduke Candidates and archnobles could access the temple and its divine tools. All nobles increased their attributes but archnobles gained the most attributes with their greater mana capacities and greater access to the divine instruments.
In the future, it is likely that nobles from lesser and medial duchies will have a greater number of attributes and blessings on average than nobles from greater duchies with their smaller noble populations vying for access to the limited single set of temple divine instruments. This likely means that greater duchies will no longer hold an automatic advantage over the lesser and medial duchies and will likely struggle trying to ensure their laynobles and mednobles do not get looked down upon compared to the laynobles and mednobles of lesser and medial duchies. The impacts of Lady Rozemyne’s actions to restore the old ways will likely be felt for many more generations to come.
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Hannelore gained all the attributes during her time as High Bishop after participating in a blessing reacquisition obtaining the Life attribute, I grew to have six attributes myself despite only being born an archnoble. I could not obtain the Life attribute myself, unlike my lovely wife.
I am sure my work as the High Priest greatly helped with gaining the attention of the gods. Lady Hannelore even taught me a mana compression method she herself learned in the underground library of the Royal Academy, accessible only to Archduke Candidates registered as foundation supplies within their duchy. She wanted to ensure that our mana capacities would remain as closely compatible as possible and produce high mana children.
We also decided to carry out a temple shrine tour to improve the quality of our schtappes as much as possible since we obtained them in our First Year, like many other of our generation. Despite having gained more attributes we could not strengthen our schtappes with the additional attributes we had been blessed with as those were not present during our original schtappe acquisition.
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4: Dunklefelger’s Goddess of Fortune
Though Hannelore would make a perfect proxy Aub for her brother during the Archduke Conference, she would actually regularly attend the Archduke Conference each year as a representative of Dunklefelger, despite not being the heir nor married to the Aub as his First Wife.
She was extremely effective at socializing with Lady Rozemyne, the most influential Aub in all of Yurgenschmidt despite her duchy not being ranked the First.
Alexandria was accomplishing all kinds of impressive feats. Particularly Lord Ferdinand with his research on the spices that were previously imported from Lanzenave, who we will never connect our border gate to again. Hannelore learned that Alexandria was coming close to creating a strain of sugar that could be grown in Yurgenschmidt and had subtly negotiated a deal for Dunklefelger to grow the sugar developed in Alexandria.
Honestly, it was thanks to Hannelore that Dunklefelger benefited as much as it did from a close connection to Alexandria.
We were the first duchy to receive temple reform assistance from Lady Rozemyne. We had exhibition treasure stealing ditter matches between the knights and apprentice knights of our two duchies. We were able to gain access to all the new trends continuously being released from Alexandria. And now, we’re even getting the opportunity to grow sugar in Dunklefelger when we all of Yurgenschmidt griped that it would be lost forever.
Hannelore is truly the Goddess of Fortune, Greifechan, for Dunklefelger.
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Hannelore spent a significant portion of her time as High Bishop focussing on integrating the territory of the former Werkestock properly into Dunklefelger. Though the Aub tried his best to properly manage the territory assigned to them by the former Zent after the previous civil war, it was difficult to effectively manage territory that was not properly joined into a single duchy. The archducal family could not directly enrich the land of the former Werkestock and had to rely on the blue priests to do it instead with temple rituals.
With the rise of Lady Eglantine as Zent, the former Werkestock territory could finally be rebounded into Dunklefelger properly. After its addition, the mana demands on the archducal family increased immediately to compensate for the years of undersaturation of mana in the land. There was still a lot of work to wet the land with mana during the spring prayers to restore the proper functioning of the land. It was too great a burden for the abandoned blue robed clergy of the temple to fill the former Werkestock lands with mana. Even though the archducal family collectively stabilized the land from degrading further by continuous dedications to the foundation, it was up to the High Bishop, a member of the archducal family herself and an incarnation of a goddess, to perform that work.
Lady Hannelore quickly became extremely popular in the former Werkestock territory rebounded to Dunklefelger. The land had been abandoned for so long and the nobles still held quite a lot of hostility towards the ruling family of Dunklefelger even though it wasn’t their fault they couldn’t properly rule the land without a legitimate Zent.
The former Werkestock nobles began to openly welcome Lady Hannelore, who was widely known as being favoured by the gods. And who’s close friend, Lady Rozemyne, was directly responsible for allowing their territory to be protected by an Aub once again. Moreover, Lady Hannelored seriously dedicated her mana to reviving the land and performing various temple rituals to enrich the territory once again.
A lot of knowledge was gained from Lady Rozemyne on non-standard rituals and those lost to time that she had gleaned from her own Glutrisheit. She freely gave this information to Hannelore to implement in the former Werkestock, reducing her the strain on her time dedicating mana inefficiently which subsequently led to more bookworm tea parties for the two friends.
Once again, many nobles were calling for Hannelore and not Lord Lestilaut to become the next Aub Dunklefelger.
She was clearly favoured by the gods. She was best friends with the most influential Aub in Yurgenschmidt. And she had even gained the strong favour of the former Werkestock, a territory of rebellious nobles who’s rage, it was believed, would take generations to quell. Even Lord Traurequal, the former Zent, was struggling with the lands rebounded to his new duchy that belonged to the former Werkestock.
If he could have, I am sure Lord Traurequal would have requested Lady Hannelore’s hand in marriage for his own heir to gain the support of the nobles within the former Werkestock lands. As the target of the former Werkestock nobles rage he would likely have an exceedingly difficult time governing that land and gaining any support during his reign.
It is thanks to Hannelore that Dunklefelger was able to peacefully integrate the nobles of the former Werkestock into Dunklefelger and for us all to be able to welcome one another as proper nobles of Dunklefelger.
To maintain peace within the duchy and the current line of succession, it was announced that Lord Lestilaut will act as a middle-reliever Aub this generation, as one who was forced to obtain their schtappe early much like the entire generation of post-civil war young nobles. The next Aub would be selected from among Lord Lestilaut’s children and the First Spouse would be selected from among mine and Hannelore’s.
This announcement was enough to quiet down the nobles for now but it’s uncertain how long that solution would last.
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5: Family Ties
Once Hannelore had settled into the position of High Bishop and successfully built strong relations between Dunklefelger and the new territory gained from the former Werkestock, she had become pregnant with our first child. She stopped actively participating in ceremonies that required any significant amounts of mana and I took over the main responsibility for the Winter Dedication Ritual and Spring Prayer that year. My lovely wife would remain the High Bishop throughout her pregnancy. Towards the end we decided it would be best for her to spend most of her time in the estate until after the birth and subsequent weening period for our child.
I still remember the first time we welcomed the arrival of winter. Truly I did not expect Hannelore to be so aggressive, she was always a shy crybaby but now I found myself being wrapped up in the ice of Ewegeliebe as if staring at his Geduldh. Hannelore had such a deep affection towards me that I had never before recognized. Beyond comfort and familiarity there was desire. Has she always had a feybeast inside her waiting to breakout? Well, I suppose I am the one to be devoured and not her. We shared numerous wonderful evenings together.
She never elected to tell me everything about her time with the gods but I knew of the Goddess of Time’s tricks. Whatever Hannelore had learned during that time allowed her to settle her decision on me and pour that passionate energy into our bond. I am so grateful to the gods for their guidance!
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I received irritated looks from Lord Lestilaut for a few years after my marriage to Hannelore despite my fiancé candidate status being decided by his father, the Aub. I suppose he still had a very big soft spot for his adorable sister that he’s struggling to hide it despite everyone in Dunklefelger already knowing that he adores her. He’s a total siscon. It’s cute in its own way how he tries to pretend that its not the case. Though, his looks did sting for quite a bit after Hannelore quietly announced her pregnancy to the archducal family. It was quite difficult to be in Lord Lestilaut’s presence after that.
I chose to spend the majority of my time in the temple as the High Priest under the very real excuse of Hannelore needing my support since she was pregnant. I was even able to extend my time in the temple after the pregnancy until Hannelore finished the weaning period with our newly born son.
Fortunately, Lord Lestilaut was excited enough by the birth of his first nephew, the son of his beloved little sister Hannelore, that he shifted his focus from my evening relations with his sister to our adorable child!
It presented a new issue though as he always wanted to stop by our home to spend time with our child. He was MY SON not Lestilaut’s. But I dare not question my liege or his actions. Despite being a member of the archducal family now, my status is really only for show to maintain Hannelore’s position as an Archduke Candidate of Dunklefelger. I am very much the subordinate of Lord Lestilaut.
I admire my liege, which is why I accepted to serve him even before being engaged to Hannelore, but he interferes too much in my relationship with my family! I’ll need to redirect his attention towards marrying a First Wife from a higher territory…
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Hannelore gave birth to a healthy baby boy with quite the strong mana, which was a bit unexpected to me. We needed various high quality magic tools to contain his mana and prevent it from harming him since his birth. As a higher territory, and a greater duchy at that, with a rich history; we had more than enough resources to manage his mana. Though, it was shocking nonetheless.
It was not common for children to be born with this much mana very often these days. It must be the blessings of the gods themselves. Or possibly the divine influence of Dregarnuhr that likely remains in the corners of Hannelore’s body, however slight that might be.
Our son, Bhaltair, was recognized as an Archduke Candidate and would be expected to move to the castle upon the completion of his baptismal ceremony. He would be allowed to return to our home whenever his duties as an Archduke Candidate did not require him to remain in the castle.
Hannelore was such a beautiful mother. Of course, she was a beautiful woman. But how she cared for and interacted with our child was so heart warming and truly beautiful. It had me falling in love with her all over again. When I saw her with our son I was reminded of her formerly timid and cry baby personality. This stood in stark contrast to the bloodthirsty reputation she built for herself after the bride-stealing ditter against the duchies of Yurgenschmidt in her 5th year at the Royal Academy.
Hannelore and myself went on to have a total of three children together. Our first son, Bhaltair, a second son, Ingvar, and a young daughter, Geraldine. All of our children were recognized as Archduke Candidates of Dunklefelger.
I was happy that my children had gained a greater status than even what I had but I was a bit sad that their time was primarily spent in the castle after their baptism. I had used the excuse of needing to be in the temple as the High Priest to support Hannelore and the children too much that Lord Lestilaut pushed me to spend most of my time as an acting High Bishop, so that he could spend more time with his sister and our children in the castle.
I know my children are adorable but please allow me to be see them more to!
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6: The Future of the Dunklefelger Archducal Family
Between the birth of our first and second child we were in the process of seeking a First Wife for Lord Lestilaut. The rankings of the higher territories were jumping around quite a bit after Lady Eglantine’s coronation as Zent. As a courteously, it was necessary to temporarily raise the rank of Corinzdaum and Blumefeld as the next highest ranked territories after Dunklefelger.
Truly the First Wife of Aub Dunklefelger, Lady Sieglinde, was clever to insist our duchy be ranked above Klassenberg, becoming the First.
As Corinzdaum and Blumefeld dropped in the rankings, Ehrenfest and Alexandria only rose. The positions of the higher territories began to stabilize with Dunklefelger the First, Klassenberg the Second, Drewanchel the Third, Alexandria the Fourth, Hauchletze the Fifth, and Ehrenfest the Sixth. We decided to pursue a First Wife from Drewanchel for Lord Lestilaut. Obviously, Lady Adolphine was not an option to court as a former Royal turned Giebe of her own territory to the size of a lesser duchy. Instead, we focussed on Lady Ediline.
Drewanchel is an ideal territory for us to connect with, especially as one of the only territories that actually knows the full story behind the foolish actions of the former Royal Family. These secrets were protected by Dunklefelger, Alexandria, Drewanchel, and Ehrenfest.
Despite Klassenberg having actually protected and raise the current Zent, Lady Eglantine, they had no role to play in the conflict that led to their Archduke Candidate rising to the position. Klassenberg had always raised her to become a Queen, and she fulfilled that role, but now she was the ruler herself not the wife of a ruler.
Ehrenfest might be an option for a First Wife candidate one day, but without Lady Rozemyne there are no Archduke Candidates left to court for marriage as Lady Charlotte has been identified as the next Aub Ehrenfest.
I worked with Lord Lestilaut’s retainers to push for a courtship and hopefully a quick marriage to push my liege to focus on his own wife instead of mine. If I can move along his engagement and marriage, I can finally spend more time with my adorable family again!
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Lord Lestilaut was several years older than his fiancée from Drewanchel. It couldn’t be helped as he married his Second Wife first, an archnoble from Dunklefelger, so that she could support the future First Wife in learning the ways of our duchy. However, thanks to Lady Ediline being several years younger than my liege, she was able to increase her blessings and attributes quite noticeably prior to receiving the highest quality schtappe possible for her in her final year at the Royal Academy.
Any children born to her will likely have high mana capacities and abundant attributes.
It seems we have to thank Ehrenfest for Lady Ediline being interested in a marriage with Dunklefelger and being courted by our next Aub. She had read the knight tales published by Ehrenfest with their special paper and curious books that do not have covers. She even purchased all of the volumes of the modern vernacular of Dunklefelger’s history from the book that was loaned to Lady Rozemyne all those years ago.
Having enjoyed the stories of Dunklefelger on her own so much, she quickly settled into the history and traditions of our duchy, fully assuming her role as First Wife without the need for major lessons from the Second Wife.
After her marriage into the duchy, Lord Lestilaut had less time to bother me and keep me in the temple all the time. Hannelore began spending more time in the temple once again. I was able to spend more time with her at our estate as well, since the demands on my time decreased with her increased presence in the temple.
But before we could find a nice balance, she had become pregnant again. I received yet more glares from Lord Lestilaut, but at least they looked a little less intense than during her first pregnancy. Progress!!
Perhaps we can finally come to an understanding about all this.
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Years down the line, Lord Lestilaut would marry an Archduke Candidate Third Wife from Hauchlutze, Lady Zemirah.
It was important for Dunklefelger to build and maintain close connections with the more powerful duchies in their geographic sphere of influence. Hannelore brings us a strong connection to Alexandria. The future First Lady of Ehrenfest, Lady Sapphira, brings us a blood connection to that rising duchy. The previous generation’s Dunklefelger Archduke Candidate, Lady Magdalena, is married to Blumefeld with one of her son’s set to become the next Aub Blumefeld and her son Lord Hildebrand having married into Alexandria as the First Husband of Lady Letizia the presumed next Aub Alexandria. Bringing us further connections to Blumefeld and Alexandria.
The marriages to Drewanchel and Hauchletze will help us to secure our western flank with strong bonds of blood encouraging cooperative relationships between the duchies and hopefully avoiding any serious conflicts.
Moreover, as a fellow duchy with a border gate to another country, Dunklefelger benefits from preferential access to the unique goods that flow into Hauchletze now that Lady Eglantine has begun opening all the border gates again.
Hopefully, Lord Lestilaut’s wives keep him busy so that I can spend more time with mine!
Oh, my cute sweet adorable Hannelore, I am coming!
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Our oldest child, Bhaltair, was inaugurated as the High Bishop of Dunklefelger after turning eight years old. He took over the position from Hannelore, after we had selected his retainers and a one-year period of training to properly take over the position.
I would also transition out of my role of High Priest at the time to make way for one of Bhaltair’s retainers to step into the role.
I am endlessly grateful to Lady Rozemyne. Thanks to her showing us the temple of Alexandria and directly supporting our reformation of the Dunklefelger temple it practically functions on its own with only minor oversight from the noble High Bishop and High Priest.
Thus, the handover for Bhaltair was relatively easy as he only needed to perform the major temple rituals and ensure with his retainer High Priest that the temple would continue to function properly. Authority was always helpful for keeping nobles in line and the presence of an Archduke Candidate in the temple made it a welcome place for nobles to enter to try and increase their influence.
This was also a perfect role for our child to increase his attributes, blessings, and socializing skills while working in the temple.
I will encourage all of my children to act as blue robed clergy to participate in the major ceremonies as is proper and traditional for an archducal family to do. Lady Rozemyne is truly a fountain of wisdom fit to the Incarnation of Mestionora, the Goddess of Wisdom herself.
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7: A New Duchy is Born
The mana demands on the archducal family to maintain the added territory from the former Werkestock did not become much easier despite Hannelore’s work to fill the territory with mana. Unlike Klassenberg which was mostly a frozen wasteland, all of Dunklefelger was warm fertile land that could be used for agriculture, and abundant feybeasts that required regular hunting.
The mana demand of a middle duchy sized territory of tropical land was a burden on the mana needs of the duchy’s foundation.
Klassenberg had already decided to “return” the lands belonging to the former Eiesenreich to Ehrenfest, the successor duchy, in a sign of good will and an expression of trust from the home duchy of the Zent. But as a duchy that has also received a significant portion of new territory, we know that it was likely that the mana demand on the archducal was too great.
Perhaps in the future when blessings, prayers, and rituals are fully restored once again there would be enough overflowing mana to manage even larger duchies than now. But, for the current Yurgenschmidt, the demand is too great, even for the greater duchies and top ranked territories.
The Aub and Lord Lestilaut decided that a lesser duchy should be split off from some of the territory of the former Werkestock lands that were added to Dunklefelger to reduce the burden on the foundation suppliers. Only a total of seven contributors could be registered as foundation suppliers at any given time, between he Aub and his wives, Lestilaut and his two wives, and Lady Hannelore, there is just barely enough. Without splitting off the territory the whole of Dunkelfelger could end up in disarray, not to mention it’s almost impossible to properly develop the added former Werkestock territory.
Dunkelfelger will stabilize the territory as much as possible and create a large lesser duchy called Nachtkrieger bordering Blumefeld, Alexandria, and Dunklefelger. The duchy would represent around a third of the territory of the former Werkestock at the furthest edges in the Northeast, with its size somewhere in-between that of the current Lortzing and Neuhausen. An Archduke Candidate will be assigned from the Dunkelfelger archducal family, preferably a child of Hannelore, who already has strong relationships with the nobles from her work as High Bishop, making her families rule of the territory unimpeded.
This was also a strategy to placate the nobles of who wanted to see Hannelore, and her bloodline as the Second Incarnation of a Goddess, become the rulers of Dunklefelger to increase the authority of the whole duchy and cement its position as the First ranked territory.
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My second son with Hannelore became the first Aub Nachtkrieger when the lesser duchy was split off from Dunklefelger. He courted a daughter of Lady Benedicta, First Wife of Blumefeld, the last remaining direct descendant of the former Werkestock archducal family. She was able to bring the former Werkestock nobles to her side upon her marriage into Blumefeld and finally unify the nobility of Blumefeld into a single duchy. A greater duchy that contained the former lands of Schaffer, Werkestock, and the former Sovereignty.
It was a perfect marriage in terms of the politics. Her children were of Dunklefelger heritage through Lady Magdalena, former Royal heritage from Lord Traurequal, with Ehrenfest, former Werkestock, and Alexandrian heritage through Lady Benedicta. As a lesser duchy bordering three greater duchies, it would be important for its archducal family to have strong blood connections to the surrounding duchies to maintain its influence and protect itself.
The archducal couple of the nation’s newest duchy dedicated great efforts towards developing their territory. A major trade hub was built within Nachtkrieger that traded in goods from the three greater duchies surrounding it and produced specialized ritual charms for nobles. Thanks to the guidance of Hannelore and myself, all our children had a great awareness of the gods, sincere prayer, and temple rituals.
Nachtkrieger decided to specialize in producing charms dedicated to particular gods for nobles to pray and dedicate mana towards with the goal of gaining the support of the charm’s patron deity. These were really popular among mednobles and laynobles of duchies as the archnobles of various duchies began to monopolize the divine tools of their duchies to increase their blessings and attributes. Particularly in the greater duchies and populous medial duchies where the limitations of a single set of divine tools were felt even more greatly.
Thanks to their efforts, Nachtkrieger was ranked as the 11th duchy in their first official ranking, which made it the highest ranked lesser duchy in all of Yurgenschmidt.
The newly installed Aub Nachtkrieger would go on to marry an archnoble from Alexandria as his Second Wife born to Lady Clarissa, formerly of Dunklefelger, and Lord Hartmut named Lady Mathilda. Years later he would also welcome an archnoble Third Wife from Dunklefelger. This would allow the Nachtkrieger archducal family to create and maintain strong blood relations with all the surrounding greater duchies that bordered its territory.
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Hannelore would remain a member of Dunklefelger’s archducal family while her second child became the First Aub Nachtkrieger and her daughter was courted by the next Aub Dunklefelger, to become his First Wife. Though it was traditional to seek a First Wife from a powerful foreign duchy to improve interduchy politics, there were exceptions where a Dunklefelger born noblewoman was made the First Wife.
As the daughter of the Second Incarnation of a Goddess who many in Dunklefelger wanted to become the next Aub, her courtship and eventual marriage to the next Aub was strongly supported among the duchy’s nobility.
I love my daughter greatly and wish for her to be happy in her marriage but as an archnoble by birth, and a retainer to Aub Dunklefelger no less, it is not my place to question the decisions of the archducal family. It is for Hannelore and her brother to decide the marriages of their Archduke Candidate children.
Though I am grateful that Aub Lestilaut strongly encouraged his son to properly court my daughter to ensure a strong foundation for their future relationship. She’s just too cute, just as adorable as my lovely wife and could surely have any husband in Yurgenschmidt that she desired! Especially since Dunklefelger the First still reigns above all other duchies. I bet she could even court or be courted by a son of Alexandria the Fourth born to the Incarnation of Mestionora.
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8: My Goddess of Light
Hannelore and I lived a happy life together while actively supporting the archducal family of Dunklefelger. Though Lord Lestilaut often sought to interfere in our blissful family life he didn’t truly despise me he just struggled, like always, to express his overflowing feelings of affection for his adorable little sister.
I honestly cannot blame him; Hannelore just makes you want to protect her or poke her cheeks with your finger.
When Lady Rozemyne stepped down from the position of Aub Alexandria in favour of her adopted daughter, Lady Letizia, Hannelore and I both took a step back from duchy politics. We would no longer attend the Archduke Conference and our work in the temple has long ended since our children have taken over the important positions.
She may not have been able to escape the duchy of muscleheads who love to ditter but thanks to her becoming the High Bishop, reforming the temple, and being involved in interduchy politics, almost like the First Wife of an Aub, she never really had to deal with managing the ditter fools any longer.
I too once wanted to be a valiant knight but I think that dream became less and less important the more I thought about Hannelore and the time I spent with her. Eventually her opinions on the whole thing rubbed off on me. Well …mostly.
I certainly enjoyed watching the exhibition ditter matches between Alexandria and Dunklefelger. I had given Hannelore the excuse that I was selecting promising apprentice knights as candidates to be guard knights for our three Archduke Candidate children.
I don’t really know what happened to Hannelore in the world of the gods as she only ever shared it all with Lady Rozemyne and the Zent, but I am grateful for whatever it is that she learned because we could finally have our stars bound together. I never thought I could be this happy, but I truly thank the Supreme Gods who reign in the skies above for making our love possible.
“Praise be to the Gods!” I yelled standing with my arms to the sky and one foot raised off the ground.
Notes:
FAN ILLUSTRATED YURG WORLD MAP RELATED TO FAN FICTION STORY
https://www.reddit.com/user/nViroGuy/comments/ykm5j6/yurgenschmidt_dunkelfelger_splits_a_lesser_duchy/ALT LINK
https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/903605112711707519/
Chapter 14: Raimund the Scholar: Disciple of the Lord of Evil
Summary:
Perspective of Raimund on Research Projects in Alexandria, the new Aub's Policies, and the Challenges of Being a Popular Marriage Partner.
Notes:
My plan for this chapter kept switching, probably because Raimund is a difficult character to write from the perspective of. Particularly because we don't have a lot of translated information on his point of view or background yet. It took me a while to write this chapter for that reason. It ended up becoming more of an informational chapter to establish settings for the main series. The next and final chapter for this prologue series will be a Dirk perspective chapter on Ehrenfest.
Chapter Text
1: The Unseen Mednoble
I was never that well liked in my family, being a low mana mednoble with practically a laynoble’s mana capacity. I always knew to keep my head down, be quiet, and not to complain. I knew that I was lucky to have the opportunity to be raised as a noble at all and that without the purge, I would most likely have been sent to the temple. I wonder if my life would have been more peaceful if I was just sent to the temple.
While attending the Royal Academy I discovered a passion for research on mana efficiency in magic tools and magic circles. Rather, Professor Hirschur discovered that talent within me and decided to nurture it. Having little mana myself it seemed a natural direction for me to pursue improvements to mana efficiency, that would allow me to use a wider variety of magic tools and magic circles that might otherwise not have activated for me.
I began coming across research on various magic tools left in the lab from one of Professor Hirschur’s previous disciples, Lord Ferdinand. Everything he invented was so innovative and interesting but it was impossible for me to activate any of the magic tools he had left in the care of Professor Hirschur. I set out to simplifying the components within the magic circles, separating unnecessarily combined elements, and focussing on the core functions of the tools. It quickly became a very enjoyable challenge for myself as I tinkered with the magic tools under the guidance of Professor Hirschur.
My time at the Royal Academy was truly my greatest reprieve and I enjoyed it very much. I was always sad to return to Ahrensbach because I was separated from the research and materials that I so enjoyed. In the beginning, my family did not appreciate my research or the hard work I was putting in.
I was lucky to be raised as a noble at all, so I was lucky to only receive their neglect and indifference.
All that started to change when I met a curious young noble lady who looked very much like a schumill. With dark navy hair, bright golden eyes, and a small frame, she was a very curious character. She was an Archduke Candidate of Ehrenfest the Tenth, the same duchy that Professor Hirschur hailed from and a disciple raised by Lord Ferdinand himself.
I was beyond excited to meet her when I learned this information. However, when her retainers learned that I was a noble from Ahrensbach the atmosphere of the room shifted immediately. It seemed that Ahrensbach and Ehrenfest were having some major inter-duchy issues. That seemed surprising to me given that the two archducal families are close blood relatives with one another. With the hostility in the air I thought I would forever lose the opportunity to learn from Lord Ferdinand.
Surprisingly though, the young schumill-like Lady Rozemyne was unbothered. She called for her retainers to calm themselves and continued to interact with me. After she left, she even reached out to Lord Ferdinand who came to the Royal Academy personally to meet with Professor Hirschur, reclaim his forgotten research materials, and offer assignments to me in support of my desire to learn from him.
Truly, it was more than I could have ever hoped for. Lady Rozemyne is very deserving of her title of Saint.
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It would only be a few short years later that I would come to understand the reason for Lady Rozemyne’s retainers’ hostility towards me when they learned I was from Ahrensbach. Indeed, it became painfully clear why Ehrenfest was protesting the actions of my duchy and doing their best to keep us at bay.
Lady Georgine, the Third Wife of the previous Aub Ahrensbach, had been plotting to overthrow Ehrenfest, Ahrensbach, and the whole of Yurgenschmidt itself for that matter. I was too careless. I focussed only on my own problems and never realized the flames of rebellion rising up around me. If not for the kindness of Lady Rozemyne, it is very likely a massive purge would have been carried out across Ahrensbach and the duchy itself would have been collapsed into pieces.
Ultimately, we were all saved by Lady Rozemyne. With a contingent of 100 knights from Dunklefelger and her own retainers, she was able to take the foundation of Ahrensbach within a single bell, also saving Lord Ferdinand from Lady Detlinde’s attempt on his life. She went on to defend Ehrenfest with the knights of Ahrensbach and Dunklefelger, eventually moving to the Sovereignty itself to head off an invasion of foreign nobles from Lanzenave. She became the incarnation of Mestionora by hosting the goddess within her own body and brought the Glutrisheit to the former Royal Family, crowning a legitimate Zent in the form of Lady Eglantine.
Lady Rozemyne ultimately decided to reign over the rebellious former duchy of Ahrensbach as its new Aub, renaming it as Alexandria. She was the first underage Aub in the history of Yurgenschmidt and likely to be the last after the Aubs at the Archduke Conference decided to raise the age of schtappe acquisition to the sixth and final year at the Royal Academy. The sole purpose of this decision being to prevent another underage Aub.
This was actually a great boon to all future nobles as they would be able to obtain the highest quality schtappe possible in their lives by focussing on their mana compression during the growth period, attaining more mana attributes, and increasing their blessings through sincere prayer.
I remained a retainer to Lord Ferdinand though I am not nearly as capable as Lord Eckhart or Lord Justus. I was personally directed by the archducal couple to continue my research on mana efficiency in magic circles and focussed on the research aspect of scholar work.
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2: The Mana Efficient Scholar
While a student at the Royal Academy, the research that I was working on with Lady Rozemyne and Professor Hirschur actually received a lot of attention. The whole of Yurgenschmidt was experiencing a massive mana shortage due to the extensive purges that were carried out after the end of the civil war over the succession to the throne.
Even duchies who had ended up on the winning side of the civil war were struggling because of the added responsibilities of supporting the Zent’s reign and managing the rebellious territories who lost their archducal families.
My research was praised throughout the sovereignty, and the nation itself, for improving the efficiency of mana usage within magic circles leading to a decrease in the amount of dedicated mana to operate various important magic tools.
For the next several years, it was research related to increasing mana or reducing mana consumption that were the most popular research themes, winning great favour and recognition at the interduchy tournament.
Thanks to Lady Rozemyne, I started making a fortune from the sales of the magic technology that sprung forth from my research. Instead of buying the research outright, she only offered limited rights in use and reproduction depending on the fees the various nobles or entire duchies were willing to spend. She had quite a strong acumen for financial matters and making deals with other duchies. This allowed the Aub to dominate at the Archduke Conference and interduchy socializing despite her youthful age, she was an eccentric for sure but she was also a highly effective Aub.
My family had started to gain more interest in me as my political and financial fortunes rose. I was taken as a retainer to Lord Ferdinand, I was praised by the Zent for my research, I was directed to remain in the Sovereignty fulltime to continue said research, and my success continued into the reign of Lady Rozemyne as Aub of Alexandria.
But I needed to separate from my family to keep them from interfering with Lord Ferdinand or Lady Rozemyne, though I agreed that such a move was wise it was ultimately Lord Eckhart and Lord Justus who directed me to do so. I never cared much for my family and was not cared for much in return, we have all served our usefulness to one another.
I sent them a portion of the funds I raised from my research and informed them that I would be formally separating from the house. As a child not born to the First Wife and one with little mana there was no future for me unless I created my own anyways. The funds were offered as compensation to avoid their incurring a loss from raising me at all or for me coming across as ungrateful. It was to allow for a clean break.
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The Sovereignty, under Lady Eglantine and Lord Anastasius, regularly purchased the rights to use the results of my research and have the sovereign scholars implement them across the central territory. The scale of the deals were so large that it was necessary to be formally arranged at the Archduke Conference each year by the Aub and her Consort. It was not just my research either, the research conducted by Lord Ferdinand and Lady Rozemyne was also popular and purchased as well.
Lady Rozemyne had performed various large scale magic rituals across Alexandria before formally taking office as Aub. Part of her massive entwickelns, included creating a research institute on the castle grounds for Lord Ferdinand with one building focussed on feyplants, a second building focussed on feybeasts, and a third building focussed on sea feybeasts. That is in addition to the massive library she created as its own stand alone building. It’s grander than even the libraries of the Sovereignty. I suppose no one will begrudge the incarnation of Mestionora, the goddess of wisdom, for having such a thirst for knowledge.
All the magic tools Lady Rozemyne created for her library were often bought and implemented into the Royal Academy’s Library as well. I, of course, always worked with the Aub to simplify the magic circles she uses in her tools because only she is able to active them with brute force given her massive mana capacity and expansive blessings.
I had heard that within Alexandria not a single noble could sense either Lady Rozemyne or Lord Ferdinand. I certainly could not. It was therefore extremely important that I worked with both of them to ensure that their creations could be activated by others. Especially for their descendants who would not be guaranteed to have as much mana as either of them.
Lady Rozemyne replicated all the tools within the Royal Academy that she was aware of and adapted them for her Grand Library of Alexandria. I supported her in making the magic circles within them as efficient as possible. From there she used her extensive knowledge to add more magic tools to her library and even create new magic tools that hadn’t ever been used before. She implemented her Rozemyne Decimal Classification System in Alexandria and within a few years it was already implemented within the Sovereignty as well. It made finding desired books and scrolls much easier but it wasn’t formally implemented in the Royal Academy Library until after professor Solange retired so as to not complicate her work.
Lady Solange enjoyed exceedingly high influence and personal popularity with Lady Rozemyne throughout the rest of her life.
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3: The Most Eligible Bachelor
I learned the mana compression method of Lady Rozemyne as a member of Lord Ferdinand’s faction. I wanted to increase my mana capacity as much as possible to allow me to continue working on various research projects for longer before I needed rejuvenation potions or to stop for the day altogether. Though I didn’t get to start learning as early as many of Lady Rozemyne’s retainers, I was able to start after my fifth year in the Royal Academy. Still allowing for time to maximize its impact as I was coming towards the end of my growth period.
I quickly started to gain the mana level appropriate for a mednoble by the time I graduated from the Royal Academy. My capacity kept improving slowly but surely even after, becoming that of a strong mednoble often seen in Giebe families. Finally, a few years after learning the Aub’s compression method, my mana capacity peaked reaching that of a weak archnoble.
It was shocking. I could not believe how much my mana had increased. I mean, I had heard stories from her retainers about their own journey with compression from their original or family mana capacities to where they are now. Laynobles increasing to mednobles, mednobles increasing to archnobles, and archnobles reaching archduke levels.
I did not fully believe it when they said so, but it really does work that effectively.
Lady Rozemyne only chooses to share this compression method with members of her faction who have agreed never to become her enemy. But if she shared it more widely it could turn all of Yurgenschmidt noble society on its head. The mana differences between noble classes would immediately become blurred and in some cases, non-existent. Waiting three-generations for a noble house to increase in rank might also be a short-sighted rule in the face of her advanced compression method.
Perhaps it’ll take a few years for the dust to settle around this.
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The peace did not last very long. Or at least my peace didn’t.
I wanted to continue focussing only on my research but according to the Aub I needed to find an engagement partner and get married.
I tried to protest given my original familial situation and status but the Aub did not want to hear it.
Apparently, with the fortune and influence I have amassed from my research I cannot be allowed to remain unmarried. Moreover, now that I have a mana capacity compatible with some archnobles, I was told the nobles of the duchy are unlikely to leave me alone. I never cared much for getting married and was completely okay with a politically arranged marriage, if I could even have one. Just as long as I could continue focussing on my research and not get pulled into any inconvenient matters.
I was eventually approached by an archnoble lady of the Ferdinand faction, which was a small offshoot of the Rozemyne faction itself. It was more comfortable to court a lady who believed in the same master as I did, the genius inventor and prized disciple of Professor Hirschur, Lord Ferdinand, than more power-hungry nobles of the Rozemyne or Letizia factions. She was born the daughter of an archnoble’s Second Wife and though she had the necessary mana to be an archnoble herself, she was on the weaker end of that spectrum. It seems she would have a difficult time becoming the First Wife, or even Second, of an archnoble and instead decided to seek out a mednoble to avoid becoming an older nobleman’s concubine.
Though her family did not particularly dislike her, she had low mana and needed to marry well for the sake of her household. In the current Yurgenschmidt, it’s practically unthinkable for archnoble or mednoble women not to marry and have children. The loss of nobles from the civil wars, political unrest, and expansive purges have been catastrophic for the nation with the effects being felt everywhere. Compared to the past, nobles that would normally be sent to the temple or raised as servants are increasingly being raised as proper nobles instead to try to quickly address the lack of mana.
That was the same for my own situation prior to learning the Rozemyne Compression Method. My family would likely not have raised me as a noble during normal times. Lady Eleanor could not afford to remain unmarried.
She seemed to really appreciate my research as its topics were focussed on mana efficiency. Like myself, she was trained as a scholar and sometimes had difficulties activating magic tools that were not expected to tire a noble of her class. She was a few years younger than me so she greatly benefited from the popularity of my research. It was extremely trendy to remake and refine magic tools to be extremely mana efficient to reduce the burden on the nation struggling with a lower than normal noble population. It made her life easier and gave her an area of research to focus on and strive for. She was not quite the dedicated researcher that I was but she was a proper scholar and understood the benefits of my work. She seems an ideal partner to respect my passion for research and the demands my work at the castle’s research institutions would create.
I decided to formally court Lady Eleanor. We were engaged not too long after that.
Her parents easily assented to our engagement after proving our mana capacities matched with the colour matching ceremony. Though she was descending in status to mednoble she was happy to become the First Wife of a young nobleman. Her family was also pleased to form a connection with my household, given the popularity of my research and my status as a retainer to the archducal family. It was also very likely that our household would rank up to an archnoble household in the future given our mana capacities.
The nation is lacking archnobles and mednobles after the purges tended to eliminate the highest status members of the rebellious duchies of the losing factions. The extent of the previous purges was so wide-spread that uninvolved nobles who had married into other duchies, even the victorious ones, were executed as well.
It was a blunt instrument of action with wide-ranging consequences.
Thanks to the Aub’s mana compression method it seems that various new archnoble and mednoble households will be created within Alexandria, from nobles of previously lower ranks at that.
I married Lady Eleanor at the next starbind ceremony and we purchased a mansion in the noble’s quarter to formally establish our own household. I had intended to remain unmarried for the rest of my life and just research but now it seems like I will have to become a patriarch.
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I had two children with my First Wife Lady Eleanor, a daughter and a son born with weak archnoble mana who we intended to train and raise as scholars. I did not need the sponsorship of the Aub to raise my children as nobles but I decided to take advantage of the magic tool hunting squad to purchase high quality children’s magic tools, essentially at cost. If my children work hard at compression in the future their mana capacities could become truly monstrous.
Alternatively, as a household that specializes in mana efficiency research it might be completely unnecessary for them to compress their mana that intensely at all.
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Even though I married a wife and had two children it seems that Liebeskuhilfe would continue to bless me. My research only became more popular and important with each passing year causing myself and my household to attract ever greater levels of attention. It wasn’t long before I was received marriage proposals for the position of my Second Wife. I was a mednoble, and not even a Giebe, but nobles were offering their archnoble daughters to me for marriage. If that was not enough, the Aub also encouraged me to take a Second and eventually Third Wife in the future.
I married strong mednoble ladies as my Second and Third Wives.
Fortunately, with support from the Aub’s information network I was able to avoid the particularly power-hungry nobles and form marriage connections with the more good-natured noble houses. I left the management of my household entirely to my First Wife. I was not interested in political conflicts and strongly encouraged all my wives maintain the peace as there was more than enough resources for them and our children to live well.
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I named my First Wife’s daughter as the heir to the main household as the most capable scholar researcher with the most mana.
Using the vast fortune I gained from my research I supported my children in creating two branch houses, one for my First Wife’s son and one for my Second Wife’s children. The rest of my children were married into other noble houses.
The rise of more households with a noblewoman as head during the reign of Aub Alexandria, Aub Ehrenfest, and Zent Eglantine created an increasing demand for son-in-laws within various households.
It wasn’t just daughters but now also sons, who could be used to form connections through political marriages. That said, I greatly respected my children’s opinions and preferences when it came to their marriage partners, hoping to avoid any tragic circumstances for them. Our household had more than enough wealth, influence, and mana, that there was no need to sacrifice their happiness or wellbeing.
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4: The Great Reformer Aub Alexandria, Incarnation of Mestionora
The aub decided to implement one surprising policy after the next as she carried out her campaign of reformation across Alexandria. The archducal retainers, including myself, worked very diligently to try to blunt the impact of her policies that were completely counter to how noble society had operated for centuries. Moreover, as a highly influential and innovative aub it was not surprising when her policies were mimicked by duchies across Yurgenschmidt wishing to ingratiate themselves to her and to take up her trends.
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To empower her existing retainers and quickly establish the influence of her faction, Lady Rozemyne decided to accelerate the transition of noble houses to the next rank under a special policy. Instead of having to wait three generations with the first child of a noble house being born with more mana than their current rank, she decided to allow the rank up immediately if the parents and first child at their baptism had the mana benefiting of the next noble rank.
The three generations rule wasn’t eliminated completely. Instead of waiting three generations to rank up now the household would be required to maintain a first-born child at the new rank’s mana level for the three generations. If that first child is born without the appropriate mana level in any of the succeeding three generations, then the household will immediately drop in rank. Normally, if the household ranks up through the standard procedure, they would need to have three continuous generations of first-born children with lower mana to drop the household rank back down.
The decision to use this accelerated special policy comes at the sole discretion of the reigning Aub and previous Aub’s selections cannot be overturned. The standard procedure remains in place for all other noble houses regardless of the Aub’s favour.
This decision directly led to my household becoming an archnoble household upon the baptism of my first child. Thanks to this special policy, Philine’s household became mednobles and Laurenz’s household became archnobles. Lord Matthias’ household became archnobles as well but their status was more secure as the rank up was according to the standard procedure.
Lady Rozemyne used the special policy to support the ascension of various members of her faction, particularly those she befriended while at the Royal Academy, allowing her supporters to quickly join the ranks of the mednobles and archnobles. Given that Lady Rozemyne had taught her highly effective mana compression method to those trustworthy members of her faction, essentially anyone who learned it would become eligible for the special policy upon marrying a noble with a matching mana capacity and the birth of a similar child.
There was some resistance from the existing nobility outside of the Rozemyne faction but at the rate of the Aub’s reform implementation and her status as the Incarnation of a Goddess, it was difficult for them to keep up or even properly oppose it.
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The next policy the Aub implemented required my involvement as a scholar who creates mana efficient magic circles. She worked with me to develop a magic circle that could absorb mana and automatically direct it into the land. She intended to set it at a level that could effectively absorb a laynoble’s mana but would become less effective the higher the user’s mana level was. It was a strange development process but she wouldn’t clearly state the intended purpose of before creating them.
After the development process, she performed a minor entwickeln creating statues of the supreme Gods and the Eternal Five around the lower-city of Alexandria. She then had the magic circle engraved onto all the statues. For what purpose she would place magic circles into the lower city I could not fathom but as a noble raised in the temple the placement of statues dedicated to the gods makes more sense.
The Aub had summoned her merchants to the castle and had a private meeting with her scholars regarding the statues, it seems. Perhaps she was instructing them to pray as well to offer thanks and gratitude to the gods? Later, the Aub had made an announcement at winter socializing regarding the fate of mana-wielders.
She said it was counter to the wishes of the gods to allow those with mana to perish from it over-flowing. Erwarmen created the garden of Yurgenschmidt to protect mana-wielders.
Thus, the death of mana-wielders from overflowing mana could not be allowed to continue. The Aub was specific in her language of “mana-wielders” and not just “nobles” highlighting that she was referring to unbaptized children who were not yet considered people.
Informally though, I learned that her policy extended even further than that.
Through her information network the Aub disseminated that mana-wielders are occasionally born among the commoners and that they to must be protected from death due to their overflowing mana. The gods had told her about their wishes and the gods made no distinction between nobles and commoners but only saw mana-wielders regardless of status.
She directed the nobles to accept commoner mana-wielders, those with the devouring, to be protected according to the benefits they could offer and the interests of the given noble. For example, a wealthy commoner’s child could be adopted and raised as a noble if their birth family could bring enough benefits to that noble family.
She established a system for identifying and streaming commoner mana-wielders.
The identification system would be through the statues placed across the lower city. Their purpose was two-fold; one, was to bring the commoners closer to the gods and encourage prayer even among those without mana, and two, to give commoner children with mana a means to survive. It seems information was spread through the Aub’s commoner merchant associates that the statues could relieve a certain type of sickness in children. The hand of the child should be placed on the statue and if their symptoms were relieved the parents would know that their child had the devouring. If the symptoms were not relieved, the child was likely afflicted by a different ailment.
For those who benefit from the statues some could live their whole lives only requiring intermittent interaction with the statues to maintain their health. But for others, their mana level would be too high for the statues to effectively relieve their overflowing mana. Such children would need to be directed to the merchant’s guild for noble contracts or to the temple orphanage.
Commoners with wealth or connections would be directed to the merchant’s guild where the wealthy and well-connected merchants would identify potentially interested noble parties and negotiate the best terms possible for the mana-wielding child. Those without connections but some wealth could request the merchant’s guild to intervene on their behalf but the terms of their agreement would be lower, making it unlikely their mana-wielding child would be raised a noble. Finally, commoner noble families with no connections or wealth could give their child to the temple orphanage where they would be raised as a grey robe but given the necessary means to survive through mana dedication to the divine tools.
It seems the Aub had previously decided on a mana threshold of those mana-wielders who could exist on their own in commoner society and those who would be required to enter the fold of noble society in one form or another. It was decided that strong laynobles to weak mednobles would have too much mana to be left to their own devices and could represent a great risk to society to have untrained mana-wielders wandering about. Thus, the statues will preserve the lives of commoner mana-wielders with low capacities in line with the will of the gods but only extend the lives of higher capacity mana-wielders, facilitating their eventual movement into the noble world.
The process was well thought out and very sensical, though completely unorthodox at the same time. It was unheard of for nobles to bother with saving the lives of commoners but as a spokesperson for the gods it must have been their wishes that inspired Lady Rozemyne to act.
Yet the realities of noble society are likely why she announced this information in a cryptic manner publicly and chose to release her true intentions more subtly through informal channels.
The Aub eventually spread the statues across the entire duchy, placing ones of the Supreme Couple and the Goddess Mestionora in the capital of each province.
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Another policy in her series of reforms was the temple. It wouldn’t be accurate to call the policy regarding the temple a single policy but more a collection of policies seeking to overhaul the benefit and use of the temple in noble society.
The Aub decided to model the new Alexandria temple after the changes she had implemented at the Ehrenfest temple during her tenure as its High Bishop.
In effect, this meant that blue robed clergy needed to actively engage in the proper management and administration of the temple. The positions of High Bishop and High Priest would always be held by nobles. Removal of the prevalence of flower offerings within the temple as much as possible and complete elimination for visiting nobleman. The orphanage was overhauled by adding a temple workshop and temple classroom. The temple classroom taught a curriculum in non-mana related subjects up to the level of a mednoble. The expectation was to raise all orphan pre-baptismal children to the level necessary to become apprentice attendants by their baptisms and increase the overall ability of all the grey robes, so as not to dissatisfy their future noble masters.
The temple classroom attendance was opened to wealthy commoners and laynobles alike, in addition to the orphanage children. This was a profitable decision for wealthy commoners who could never buy the level of education offered at the temple on top of having the opportunity to interact with and be educated alongside laynobles. The laynobles would benefit from receiving an inexpensive mednoble education in the temple and could form connections with the wealthy merchants, which would likely secure for them future positions as key scholars in the printing industry. The orphanage children would also benefit from potential connections that could allow them to receive recommendations for jobs in the lower city or form connections with the laynobles to be bought as servants in the future.
With the temple reforms brought forward by the Zent and Aub Alexandria it was revealed that in the past, before history was distorted, it was normal for noble children to become blue robed clergy and offer prayers to the gods in the temple from their baptism until their graduation from the Royal Academy.
Furthermore, thanks to Lady Rozemyne’s research as a Royal Academy student it became clear that sincere prayer directly led to greater blessings and an increased number of attributes. It also became common knowledge that it would be possible to recreate divine tools with one’s schtappe after dedicating mana to a given divine tool enough times, such that its magic circle fully appears in one’s mind. The Aub encouraged nobles to regularly participate in temple rituals, offer prayers, and dedicate mana to the divine tools.
The children of the nobility began entering the temple in droves, greatly expanding the ranks of the blue priests. The baptized children of nobility who became apprentice blue robed clergy focused their mana on the Winter Dedication Ceremony and filling the divine tools with mana. The Archduke Candidates would personally travel across the central district to perform the Spring Prayer and Harvest Festivals. The adult blue robed clergy would continue to perform the Spring Prayer and Harvest Festival in the provinces, given that this represented an important stream of income for them. Old rituals that were revived were carried out by the noble apprentice blue robed clergy with the support of the adult blue robed clergy.
Most nobles, particularly those of higher status, did not become residents of the temple only remaining long enough to carry out specific prayers, rituals, or duties. Those nobles of a lower status, on occasion, would become residents at the temple when not attending the Royal Academy. Resident apprentice blue robed clergy received funding from the Aub and could participate in the Spring Prayer and Harvest Festival rituals if selected by an adult blue robed clergy to attend with them.
The resident apprentice blue robed clergy status for taken up by lower ranked nobles allowed their households to save costs or even raise another child in some cases. Noble children who prayed in the temple and participated in rituals always had more blessings and attributes than those who did not participate.
While the reputation of the temple increased among the nobility greatly from a place of scorn to one of respect and reverence for the gods, there was still a somewhat lacking reputation attached to those who lived in the temple full time by a noticeable segment of noble society. There was still a reputation of being abandoned attached to those who remained in the temple, especially as the temple still remained a place where low mana children who would not receive a noble baptism were placed. Moreover, it was still used as a place of punishment for baptized noble children and criminal adult nobles to remain in for the rest of their lives to repent to the gods.
Thankfully, resident apprentice blue robed clergy who graduated from the Royal Academy would see their reputations recover after leaving the temple and could still expect to receive near comparable marriage and career prospects for those of the same rank. In some cases, their prospects could be even greater depending on the connections formed in the temple and their own personal achievements.
The temple was also used as a place to conduct duchy business between nobles and commoner merchants or artisans, particularly for those whose manners were too lacking for a visit to the castle. The retainers of the archducal family and nobles of the castle often conducted business related to commoners on behalf of the Aub in the meeting rooms of the temple.
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The Aub instituted a special policy among her female retainers to encourage and allow them to work part-time while raising their children. It was not uncommon at all for noblewomen to return to working after their youngest child entered the Royal Academy, but for a ruling Archduchess who needed female retainers this was not an ideal situation. Her retainers working part-time in the castle after their children passed the weening period allowed them to keep a pulse on duchy politics while overseeing the revolving number of female retainers who entered the service of the Aub before retiring for marriage.
This policy quickly spread among the archducal retainers, including those of Lady Letizia. Not too long after, it became a trend among archnobles and high status mednobles. It was a sign of wealth and influence for a noblewoman to return to work part-time before all her children entered the Royal Academy.
It had a noticeable impact on the influence of noblewomen who could participate in the Knights Order or return to the castle for work as a scholar or attendant. There were many examples of high-status noblewomen returning to work with young children including; the Zent Lady Eglantine, Aub Alexandria the Lady Rozemyne, and even Aub Ehrenfest the Lady Charlotte. This trend was quick to spread out among the duchies since being started by one of the most influential nobles in all of Yurgenschmidt.
Moreover, there was an increasing prevalence of female heirs becoming the head of households, including those of Giebe and Aub, after the rise of Lady Eglantine, Lady Rozemyne, and Lady Charlotte. The prevalence of wise female rulers narrowed the gap between male and female heirs. Previously a female heir might have been selected less than twenty percent of the time and usually only if no male heir were available. Female heirs were no longer seen as a last choice option and could more easily compete with their male counterparts compared to the past. Their selection increasing in frequency to about thirty-five to forty percent.
Pregnancy and child-rearing still worked against noblewomen attempting to be selected as an heir but higher status noblewomen were less restricted thanks to the Aubs policy and trend of noblewomen returning to work part-time.
It was even preferable in some cases for a female heir to ensure that the familial bloodline is preserved and to reduce competition among heirs by having fewer children from the start.
Thus, for the competition for Aub across duchies in Yurgenschmidt, female Archduke Candidates could easily overcome their gender bias by securing engagements with a high-quality son-in-law.
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The Aub announced that the Grand Library of Alexandria would protect the knowledge of Yurgenschmidt in parallel with the Royal Academy Library. Librarians of the Grand Library of Alexandria will be expected to swear an oath to Mestionora as Protectors of Knowledge.
Alexandria was announcing it would not allow the destruction of knowledge once it entered its library, no matter how inconvenient. It was important to have a source of knowledge outside of the Sovereignty to act as a repository and backup. A future Zent and their Royal Family could restrict access to information at any time or destroy it altogether as was the case in the past. Thus, this announcement was part of the process to ensure knowledge of the gods and the old ways would not be lost again. The Zent offered her enthusiastic support to Aub Alexandria for this initiative.
Privately, the Aub and Zent came to an agreement where the Grand Library of Alexandria must always retain its status as a Protector of Knowledge and could never be collapsed. Should the duchy ever turn traitorous again the library itself and its status must be preserved. A new archducal family can be installed within the duchy that hosts the library but they will not be able to interfere with the library which is under the purview of Mestionora herself.
Over time, the senior librarians of the Royal Academy came almost exclusively from Alexandria. As the duchy known as the Protector of Knowledge and having had the Incarnation of Mestionora as its First Aub, there was no duchy more qualified to hold the positions of Royal Academy librarian.
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The magic tool hunting squad was another strange yet inventive policy brought forth by the Aub. It was exceedingly practical. Even I benefited from such a policy though I didn’t need it to begin with. That said, had the results of my research not been so profitable and widespread I might have truly needed such a policy in earnest.
Essentially, the Aub agreed to give children’s magic tools to any child that her retainers could not afford to purchase them for, she would even sponsor additional children’s noble lifestyle expenses. This was to benefit her mainly be quickly expanding and establishing a faction of her trusted retainers by encouraging said retainers to birth and raise additional children. In repayment, the children would join the temple after baptism as resident apprentice blue robed clergy contributing their mana to rituals and maintaining order within the temple during its reformation and transition.
This policy extended to selling children’s magic tools at cost for members of the Rozemyne faction. This was particularly beneficial because even with enough funds nobles could not always purchase children’s magic tools or the materials needed for them without the proper connections, influence, and reputation. Interestingly enough this also contributes to the Aub’s policy of not allowing mana-wielders to die from overflowing mana by making children’s magic tools more affordable and accessible.
This was particularly effective as this policy was carried up by Lady Letizia who offered the same benefits to her faction. Aub Ehrenfest the Lady Charlotte, also took up this policy after a tea party with her adoptive sister during the Archduke Conference. This quickly became a trend across the archducal families of Yurgenschmidt to increase the number of nobles in their duchies and have more nobles born within their own factions of support, further creating incentive to join their ruling factions.
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Lady Rozemyne was truly creating one popular trend after another. She was able to stabilize Alexandria by the time she graduated from the Royal Academy despite the fact it was previously the declining duchy of Ahrensbach. It came as no surprise then when Alexandria began to rise through the ranks.
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5: Sugar, Spice, and Everything Nice
I supported the Aub and her Consort in establishing the magical green houses to support the growth and establishment of Lanzenave spices, in the hopes of developing Yurgenschmidt variants. I was responsible for establishing the magic circles to ensure that the internal conditions could be maintained with the least amount of mana possible. As we did not know the best conditions under which the spices would grow there were different climate zones of green houses with more tropical, humid, arid, and savannah like conditions to name a few. My magic circles also needed to account for creating these conditions based on the range of climate conditions that are possible to find within Yurgenschmidt.
Alexandria, though recovered thanks to Aub Alexandria the Lady Rozemyne, was still lacking in personnel and couldn’t afford to use mana unnecessarily. Leading to my involvement in numerous projects to optimize mana usage, particularly on important projects expected to represent key industries in the future or projects important to the Aub.
I was directed to work with Lord Hartmut in replicating the magic circles that maintain temperate conditions, even in winter, at the gathering sites found around the Royal Academy. Lord Hartmurt was quite knowledgeable, competent, and even helpful… the downside was his endless praise for the goddess Lady Rozemyne. While I certainly like and respect the Aub, I don’t share Lord Hartmut’s fervour about it. I tried to work through this project as quickly as possible, as Lord Hartmut would ask endless questions about my private interactions with the Aub and if she had done anything “saint-like”.
The intensity in his eyes was too much.
I was already being dragged around across so many projects and state secrets I would have much preferred not to be involved with in the first place. I am lucky that I have only needed to sign the magic contract for learning the Aub’s mana compression and have not had to swear any more serious forms of loyalty for everything that I know.
I was certain I would need to at least swear my name at some point.
But I am not any safer, I am sure one slipped word could lead to my untimely demise… ‘accidentally’ of course. While I endlessly admire Lord Ferdinand it is clear that he is strongly influenced by Ewegeliebe and will tolerate nothing that threatens his Geduldh.
After establishing the climate zones with the Royal Academy gathering spot magic circles, we planted seeds from all the spices we still had samples of. It took a number of years and careful research but we were slowly and surely able to develop Yurgenschmidt varieties for all the spices we previously received from Lanzenave.
The first was for sugar as that was our main focus. We learned that tropical climates similar to Dunklefelger were ideal for growing the sugar variety, as Lady Rozemyne had suspected. Fortunately, Dunklefelger was a close ally of ours with Lady Hannelore and Lady Rozemyne being the best of friends.
I am certain the Aub will negotiate a beneficial trade deal for sugar production in Dunklefelger.
While we could certainly produce sugar in Alexandria, and we likely will, the conditions aren’t exactly ideal for mass production. We would need a series of greenhouses to grow the sugar which will require the involvement of nobles to provide mana. We could likely sell the technology involved and the seeds to the Giebes that are allies of Lady Rozemyne, creating a small production for local distribution within Alexandria.
Depending on the number of nobles and land involved we might even be able to export a bit but we could certainly never supply all of Yurgenschmidt on our own.
After the supply of sugar was cut-off from Lanzenave the nobility has been desperate for more, only able to accept the small amounts produced each year through our experiments. The stable production of sugar will further elevate Alexandria’s already rising reputation.
We were able to create Yurgenschmidt varieties of Lanzenave spices one after the other. Not all of the spices were as popular outside of Alexandria like sugar was, so the majority of the spices were distributed within the duchy. Though, I am sure in the future through the Aub’s creative mind and her future children’s attendance at the Royal Academy it will be possible to create demand for these other spices. By that time, we should have their production processes secured.
The Aub went about creating all kinds of strange new recipes as we developed the spices and as soon as we were ready to produce greater amounts. She began spreading her newly invented dishes through the castle, her tea parties, and especially during winter socializing. Her new recipes, and the spices used to create them in turn, became extremely popular once again.
It’s endlessly impressive how the Aub comes up with trend after trend even in unrelated areas. I suppose this is the level of innovation expected from the archducal family and archnobles at large. I’ll need to continue working hard at my research to continue spreading my own trends in magic circle efficiency.
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6: The Future of Alexandria
I became an instructor to the Alexandria Archduke Candidates born to Lady Rozemyne. Not a Royal Academy instructor, the Aub and her Consort would never let me go the sovereignty so easily.
I was in charge of teaching the children about magic circles and magic tools, particularly creating mana efficient magic circles. Despite all the time I had invested in my research to create the most efficient magic circles possible there were numerous magic circles I could never work on given that I was not an Archduke Candidate. The most mana demanding magic circles of all would be those used by the ruling nobles like the Zent and the Aub. While I could work on some aspects of magic circles related to Giebes there was a limit as some of that crossed over into Archduke Candidate or higher territory.
All that to say, the archducal couple wanted their children to have knowledge of efficient magic circle creation to reduce the burden on the Aub and archducal family. Only an Archduke Candidate, Aub, or Zent can research magic circles related to the foundational magic and other greater magics.
Thus, I became an instructor to the archducal family.
Unsurprisingly, the children of Lady Rozemyne and Lord Ferdinand were quite bright and capable able to understand my lessons easily. Though, their application was more difficult as they possessed massive mana capacities like their parents. They probably felt it strange to learn about minimizing mana use when all of them had more than enough, but I am certain it will benefit them in the future.
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It became clear over time that the archducal family of the old and the new had come to an agreement about uniting their two bloodlines. At first, most only thought that extended to the Third Aub Alexandria and their Consort who were each among the children of Lady Rozemyne and Lady Letizia. However, that arrangement seemed to spread to the archnoble children of the remaining Archduke Candidates born to Lady Rozemyne and Lady Letizia.
While the Archduke Candidate children established their own households after marrying Archduke Candidates from other duchies, their archnoble heirs married into the opposite archducal bloodline. An heir born from Lady Rozemyne’s bloodline would marry a First Spouse from Lady Letizia’s bloodline and vice-versa. This included the brothers of Lady Rozemyne whose heirs both married an archnoble First Spouse from Lady Letizia’s bloodline during the same generation as the others.
The households established by the Archduke Candidate children of Lady Rozemyne and Lady Letizia were considered the collateral archducal family branch houses and all equal in status with one another. These were the highest status households in Alexandria after the Archducal family themselves. Second and Third Spouses for the Aub would be selected from these households when an Alexandrian archnoble was to be married into the archducal family.
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The next generations of Archduke Candidates in Alexandria were married into another duchy for diplomacy purposes whenever possible or dropped in status to archnoble and married into another household within the duchy. The establishment of new households for remaining Archduke Candidates was discouraged within Alexandria after a couple generations, as the noble population of Yurgenschmidt recovered. Fortunately, with the high status of Alexandria and the popularity of bloodline descendants from the Incarnation of Mestionora, Archduke Candidates from Alexandria were considered among the most eligible marriage partners in all of Yurgenschmidt for generations upon generations.
Chapter 15: Dirk the Derrick, Medscholar of the Former Veronica Faction: An Innocent Criminal
Summary:
Final Prologue Series Chapter, Dirk POV on Ehrenfest.
Notes:
This chapter is a bit more focused on establishing details again, as I will now shift my efforts to writing the main series: Scholar of the Gods. These short stories were originally meant to be the prologue for the main series to establish world building details but ended up taking on a bit of a life of their own. I have learned a lot from writing this prologue series that will improve my approach to the main series. I will be investing a lot more effort into developing the characters and their relationships instead of just establishing details of the plot. Thanks for sticking with me to the end of this short story series!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
1. Ascendance of a Commoner to the Nobility
After pushing my body to its limits over and over to meet the requirements to receive a noble baptism as a mednoble, I passed the final interview with Aub Ehrenfest and will be baptized a noble of the former Veronica faction with the Aub as my guardian. I will continue to use the name Dirk as a nickname but my name will formally become Derrick.
The reasoning behind my name, at least the unofficial story, was that my birth parents likely intended to raise me as a servant shortening my name from the long noble ‘Derrick’ I had originally used to the short commoner-like ‘Dirk’ to reflect my new planned status. I don’t understand why nobles need to have long names in the first place but I have been told by Bertram that this is how it needs to be and not to question it. I want to protect my elder sister Delia and repay her for raising me all these years. I also want to protect everyone in the orphanage from the whims of the blue robes and nobility.
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I attended my noble baptism at the castle during the winter, along with a few other children not from the orphanage. When I faced the High Priest, Lord Hartmut, he handed me an ornately carved stick that I was to grab. Once I had it in hand it brightly flashed and the audience clapped, Lord Hartmut pressed the stick against a white medal and it shined yellow. It seems that I have received divine protection from the wind attribute and I should continue with my prayers so that I could receive many more still.
I smiled.
Aub Ehrenfest stepped forward and explained that I was an orphan from the former Veronica faction who would be baptized under his guardianship. He handed me a ring with a red feystone. Many of the audience members suddenly glared in my direction with harsh expressions after I was revealed as an orphan child of traitorous nobles that had been purged.
I continued with the ceremony knowing that I would receive hatred but resolving to face it all to protect what was important to me.
Lord Hartmurt then showered me with a blessing.
“May Derrick have the blessing of Geduldh, the Goddess of Earth.”
A red light popped out of Lord Harmurt’s ring and rained down upon me. I focussed on what I learned during my previous practice to properly return the blessing myself.
“May the High Priest have the blessing of Geduldh, the Goddess of Earth.”
A small red light jumped out of my ring and floated towards Lord Hartmurt.
I succeeded!
I turned to face the audience once again but only received a lukewarm response now that my status was revealed. I was grateful nonetheless given that I was not born a noble to begin with. I wonder how much colder their response would have been if they knew I was actually born a commoner instead?
I stepped down from the stage and allowed Bertram and the others to perform their own noble baptisms as well. I needed to prepare myself for the debut ceremony that would begin shortly.
Bertram’s baptismal experience was very much like mine, with the audience looking at him with tepid enthusiasm. It seems he would have the divine protection of two attributes rather than just my one. He was likewise told to sincerely pray to gain more blessings.
After the rest of the children were baptized, we moved onto the debut ceremony. It proceeded according to status once again and I was made to play in the middle of this year’s baptized noble children. I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to perform better than the laynobles at the beginning and would create problems for myself before I even truly started my life as a secret commoner turned noble. However, the laynobles at the beginning were significantly less experienced compared to Rosina and the teachers in the orphanage. That allowed me to play my own piece confidently. I did a proper job that was appropriate for a mednoble and received slightly more enthusiastic applause compared to the end of my baptism.
It seems I have passed, for now, as a mednoble.
After this point I would socialize a bit in the ceremony hall and then return to the temple to work as a blue robed priest until I could attend the Royal Academy. It seems that Lady Rozemyne has asked Bertram to watch over me to avoid my façade slipping and subsequently being caught. I thought I worked hard to show her my resolve to become a noble and protect the orphanage.
I suppose I am still a small existence to the Saint of Ehrenfest, Lady Rozemyne.
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I returned to the temple after the baptismal ceremony and debut to begin my work as an apprentice blue robe priest. I was able to furnish my chambers with furniture appropriate for a mednoble based on what was available in the temple storage and requisitioned from the purged and punished nobles of the former Veronica faction. Including from my supposed parents, now deceased. When the new apprentice blue priests went to the orphanage to select attendants, I chose Konrad as one of mine based on what we had previously discussed.
We would work together to protect the orphanage and serve Lord Melchior. As the child of a punished noble, I would need to swear my name to a member of the archducal family upon graduating from the Royal Academy. I decided that I would swear my name to Lord Melchior.
I continued to work in the temple for several years, falling under the guidance of an adult blue priest who would mentor me on the proper operation and administration of the temple. I was excited when I was able to travel around Ehrenfest during the Spring Prayer ceremony and the Harvest ritual. I never thought that I would get to leave the city like this but I am exceedingly excited!
The blue priest who I worked with regularly tried to gain my favour since I was a baptized noble who could benefit his future, though if he paid any attention to the goings on of the temple he should’ve been aware that I was born a commoner. But most of the blue robes do not appear to involve themselves with the orphanage or its residents, besides for selecting attendants.
I suppose all of that matters little considering that now I am a baptized noble and of a higher status than he, regardless of my status at birth.
I participated in all the ceremonies of the temple and sincerely learned all the necessary prayers for the rituals. I really started to understand how much more impressive Lady Rozemyne was, more so than I had ever realized before. Also, how impressive Lord Melchior was to flawlessly perform the rituals as Lady Rozemyne had done. I developed a closer relationship with Lord Melchior while in the temple as I would be name-sworn to him in a few years time.
I became closer friends with Bertram as well, or at least I would like to think I was. He always seemed a bit annoyed with me but he nonetheless joined in on various activities together. He was a clear example of the proper behaviour expected of a mednoble, being the legitimate child of a high mana mednoble giebe. I probably wouldn’t otherwise have had the opportunity to become close with such a person. Over the years he finally stopped acting like he couldn’t be bothered with me and fully embraced our friendship. Though he was embarrassed when I noticed, swinging between hot and cold with his attitude.
Bertram would always complain about my thoughtless actions that clearly reflect my commoner origins but I personally don’t believe it’s as bad as he says. He feels annoyed and irritated with me nonetheless, saying that Lady Rozemyne is no Saint to burden him with the care of a foolish person such as myself. The rest of noble society sees us akin to siblings with all the time we spend together and as fellow orphaned children of the former Veronica faction baptized in the same year.
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Before attending the Royal Academy, I decided that I would choose to take the scholar course. As a mednoble in the temple who spent time in the orphanage, I had developed close relationships with commoner merchants connected to the printing industry and could thus become an effective scholar for the key industry of Ehrenfest. Moreover, it wasn’t like I had the connections to be an attendant or the confidence to become a knight. Lady Rozemyne, Lord Hartmut, and Lady Philine had all trained to be scholars themselves so I feel more confident in making the decision to become a scholar as well. That is the easiest way I can repay the archducal family without earning anymore ire from the Ehrenfest nobility.
The nobility doesn’t act outright hostile to us children of the former Veronica faction’s sinners, but they certainly do not welcome us into noble society either. Even those of the former Veronica faction have turned neutral, largely ignoring our existence since we do not have our parents as backing anymore and do not appear to be worth the trouble of helping.
At least, that’s what Bertram tells me.
The orphan children of the purged former Veronica faction have formed their own mini-faction among the expanded neutral faction to protect ourselves and support one another. Especially as we move towards the day we must swear our names to the archducal family and become members of the Florencia faction, or leading archducal faction of that time.
Bertram was the one who originally suggested that we create a faction of sorts to look out for one another, particularly as we move through the Royal Academy where the vision of the Aub will not extend since adults are prevented from interfering.
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2. Temple Changes and Reforms, the Disappearance of the Tragedy of Flower Offerings
When I returned to the temple after attending the Royal Academy each year there was always so much that I wanted to share with my close friend and apprentice attendant Konrad. However, there was a hard limit on what I could teach to Konrad about mana and magic without committing a taboo or potentially getting us both into serious trouble. What I did decide to teach him about was a little bit of mana control. He already had and used mana, so it surely it should not be too big of an issue to help him in that regard. Konrad was planning to become a blue priest in the future once his mana finished growing and he had enough to support his rise into the ranks of the noble blue robes.
I decided to teach Konrad about mana compression without specifically teaching him any particularly advanced methods. I wanted to do what I could to support him in living his future lifestyle as a blue priest, especially since I couldn’t remain in the temple forever as one who was required to swear their name to the archducal family. I explained that it should be relatively easy and safe for him to perform mana compression, as he already had a low amount of mana.
The difficulty actually increased the more mana one had, meaning laynobles had the easiest time and archnobles had the hardest with mana compression. I explained some of the methods the teachers suggested with Ehrenfest’s Professor Hirschur describing boiling down a potion while Dunklefelger’s Professor Rauffen suggested just “push push pushing” your mana with pure willpower. There was no single way to compress one’s mana but compression during the growth period was the most ideal to optimize one’s capacity for life.
Konrad seemed really grateful for the lesson and I was happy to help my closest friend.
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I still watch over Delia in the orphanage. After Lady Rozemyne left for Alexandria to become its First Aub, several of her temple attendants left as well after serving Philine as the orphanage director for a time. Wilma was a major loss for the orphanage, as such a kind and experienced grey shrine maiden. Fortunately, Delia was there to naturally fill the hole that was created by Wilma’s departure. Delia was never able to leave the orphanage to become the attendant of a blue robe or be purchased as a servant as part of her punishment from the Aub.
I had to ensure that no nobles or blue robes went to the orphanage to harass the children or non-attendant grey robes. Though she never spoke of it to us, I was aware that various grey shrine maidens were concerned about flower offerings and did whatever they could to avoid such situations.
Thankfully, flower offerings became less and less of an issue within the temple thanks to the reforms brought about by Lady Rozemyne and the need for the archducal family or other high-ranking nobles to move about the temple. The position of High Bishop will henceforth always be held by an Archduke Candidate or the Aub themselves, meaning the position of High Priest will usually be assigned to one of their retainers, to ensure proper administration of the temple. In the beginning, there was an unofficial system within the orphanage where grey shrine maidens who were willing to offer flowers and be concubines, were assigned as attendants to those blue robe priests likely to request such things. While those who were completely uninterested were never forced to do so.
With all the nobles now in the temple after its rediscovered importance for increased blessings and attributes from the gods, the ranks of the blue robes have noticeably increased. Many nobles choose to act as blue robes only transiently for specific rituals and dedication to the divine instruments. However, there was not an insignificant amount of new resident blue priests either between the former Veronica faction orphans or less wealthy laynoble and mednoble children. This meant that there was great demand for grey robed attendants to serve the resident and transient new blue robes. It was even necessary for the Ehrenfest temple to purchase young orphans from village orphanages outside of the Ehrenfest capital to train as additional attendants with a preference for pre-baptismal children who could more easily adapt to temple customs.
The grey robed attendants serving the less wealthy laynoble and mednoble blue priests were often purchased as servants for their estates after their blue robe master’s tenure ended, given that all orphanage children had received a mednoble level education in manners, mathematics, reading, writing, and sometimes even the fine arts. Higher class nobles would usually be served by other nobles, but middle- and lower-class nobles often couldn’t afford to be served by other nobles themselves but only by commoner servants instead.
Though the orphan grey robes became more expensive with their higher levels of education, they had become highly valued servants for middle- and lower-class nobles further improving the reputation of the temple and reducing the stigma against orphanage grey robes.
The high cost of grey robes for purchase as servants and the limited number of attendants within the temple led to a further decline in the prevalence of flower offerings, even among the willing grey shrine maidens. The temple was now a holy place for communing with the gods, educating the younger generation, enriching the duchy with mana, and building connections within noble society. It was no longer seen as a brothel, with those caught requesting flower offerings looked down upon in noble society and a critical eye from their surroundings.
That isn’t to say that flower offerings no longer happen at all within the duchy. They just no longer happen very often within the temple, but now in the estates of nobles instead. These activities now occurred under the auspices of a household’s First Wife, who would monitor the activity of her husband with a close eye.
Highly educated grey shrine maidens were the preference as a nobleman’s concubine so as to not cause discord within a noble estate or embarrassment with their behaviour. The tragedy of offering flowers had essentially disappeared entirely with the rise in value of grey robes and the selection of upwardly mobile grey shrine maidens for sale as concubines. Moreover, with the regular purchase of young orphans from village orphanages outside the capital to fill out the ranks of the grey robes, there was even less tragedy across the entire duchy even for those born outside the direct sight of the temple, and by extension the archducal family itself.
Village orphanages can only sell an orphan up to the point where they come of age as they will enter their community as an adult, whereas the temple is able to sell an orphan grey robe at any age as they will always remain in the temple for life. Thus, temple orphans were the preference for noble purchase.
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A temple school was formally opened to wealthy commoners, laynobles, and mednobles to teach a basic curriculum of manners, mathematics, reading, and writing at the level of a mednoble, with select pupils even receiving musical education. The temple school was opened based on the proven success of teaching the former Veronica faction orphans enough to receive a noble baptism and the increasing quality of grey robed priests. Apparently, it was always Lady Rozemyne’s intention to open a temple school and there were a lot of plans in place that allowed this to occur quickly. It seems Alexandria has likewise opened a temple school further encouraging Ehrenfest to move forward with the project.
Lord Melchior and Lady Charlotte were insistent on maintaining the changes Lady Rozemyne made to the temple and its administration. She was, and still is, their beloved elder sister. The temple is also frequently used for business meetings with commoners as only a select number have the manners and reputation required to enter the noble’s quarter or even the castle.
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The temple orphanage began to regularly receive devouring commoners with strong laynoble mana or higher thanks to a system that was implemented by Lady Rozemyne in Alexandria and replicated by Lady Charlotte in Ehrenfest. It allows commoners to identify the devouring within their own children and make an informed decision to secure their child’s life and future by forming contracts with nobles or giving their child up to the temple.
There was a set of informal rules established for devouring commoners or noble born children who end up in the temple’s orphanage. Mana-wielding orphans could be adopted prior to their commoner baptism to be raised and baptized as nobles. However, mana wielding orphans who received a commoner baptism could only be purchased as servants, teachers, or concubines for noble households after coming of age. Mana-wielding orphans baptized as commoners could rise to the status of apprentice blue robe before coming of age if their mana capacity was high enough and they were skilled enough to support themselves. Blue robes could not be purchased from the temple regardless of their former commoner birth status, but those of noble birth could be forced to return home according to the will of their noble households.
The blue robed clergy still remained overwhelmingly populated by those of noble birth, but those of devouring commoner birth have reached around five to ten percent of the temple blue robe population. All of blue robed clergy of commoner birth act to protect to the orphanage and its residents from interference and mistreatment from noble born blue robes and the nobility. The commoner blue robe clergy tend to be among the most important administrators of the temple, since they need to earn their own funds to maintain the minimum lifestyle expected of a blue robe absent support for a noble birth family.
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Fritz became the manager of the Rozemyne Workshop in the temple after Gil was purchased and left for Alexandria. Thanks to the actions of Lady Rozemyne, the orphanage would continue to be able to provide for itself regardless of the whims of the blue robe clergy. Moreover, there was a formal income sharing agreement with Lady Rozemyne herself, the orphanage, and the temple so none of the blue robes or nobles could act to interfere in its operations without earning her ire. Especially as an industry under the direct purview of the Aub and the archducal family. Fritz formed close relationships with the new Ehrenfest leaders of the Plantin Company and regularly held meetings to ensure successful continued operation of the temple workshop.
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3. Graduation and Marriage of the FVF Orphans and a New Mednoble Household
I worked hard as an apprentice blue priest dedicating mana to the divine instruments and participating in every single temple ritual. Even beyond that, I regularly prayed to the gods for their favour to protect what was important to me. I learned that my prayers were definitely heard after performing the Blessing Acquisition Ceremony in my sixth year at the Royal Academy. I received fifteen blessings and gained two new attributes. I now had the attributes of wind, water, and earth in my mana. I always had the wind attribute but I suppose I received water and earth attributes because of my participation in the Spring Prayer and Winter Dedication rituals. Those are the most mana intensive rituals conducted by the blue robes specifically, with the High Bishop conducting various other key ceremonies themselves.
I even worked hard at mana compression based on what I learned from the professors in the Royal Academy. I found Professor Hirschur’s example the most helpful, she focussed on boiling down potions but I imagined the boiling down of soups from the temple orphanage. I remember Lady Rozemyne highlighting that our experiences in the orphanage would be unique and could strongly influence our visualization of magic in ways that typical nobles would never consider. I went from a typical mednoble mana capacity to a strong mednoble mana capacity.
When my mana sense awakened I could even sense some archnobles, though it was mainly the mednobles. I acquired a schtappe and graduated from the Royal Academy as a medscholar in future service to Lord Melchior.
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Bertram married a mednoble of the Charlotte faction, formerly the Florencia faction, at the direction of Lady Elvira who was working to find matches for the orphans of the former Veronica faction. As nobles who swore our names to the archducal family, we were de facto members of the ruling faction led by Lady Elvira and thus had fallen under her protection to an extent.
We were all grateful for Lady Elvira’s guidance in helping us find partners for marriage that wouldn’t cause issues within Ehrenfest.
I was formally introduced to her as a potential match by Lady Elvira. I married a strong mednoble of the former Veronica faction who was likewise trained as a scholar and swore her name to Lady Charlotte. Despite being the children of sinners of the now much despised former Veronica faction, Lady Elvira worked diligently to find the best possible matches for us. We were surprised but grateful.
That was until the next story was released by Lady Elvira regarding the tragic love stories that were clearly based on some of the stories of the former Veronica faction orphans and her efforts to match them with marriage partners. It was quite embarrassing for many of us to say the least. However, there was a surprising effect that led to various nobles warming up to us, whether that was pity from our love stories being blatantly written about or understanding from others who had also become material for Lady Elvira’s stories.
We were beginning to find a place in Ehrenfest.
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I became an important medscholar in the printing industry given my close relations to the commoner merchants built during our interactions in the temple and my relationship with Lord Henrik of the Bernett laynoble household. Apparently, Lord Henrik, the elder brother of Lord Damuel, was asked by his younger brother to watch out for me if it was possible. In that sense, it was a mutually beneficial relationship as I had higher status as a mednoble, while Lord Henrik was a prominent printing industry scholar with connections to Aub Alexandria.
I worked hard as a scholar for several years, along with my wife. We both chose to live and work in the castle while putting off having children until we could afford to purchase our own estate with the Ehrenfest capital. This was particularly challenging for us as we had to pay back the expenses we incurred from Lord Sylvester to raise us as nobles while also building the foundation for a first generation mednoble household without familial support.
It wasn’t until we reached our mid-twenties when we could finally leave the castle dormitories and purchase our own estate in the Ehrenfest capital. We were fortunate that the capital was expanded with an Entwickeln by Lord Melchior to mark his ascent as the Ninth Aub Ehrenfest, which lowered the cost of an estate with tens more being created, providing additional options for us to choose from.
We finally established our own household with permission from Aub Ehrenfest the Lord Melchior.
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My wife retired from her work as a scholar a few months later when she became pregnant with our first child. I was so excited! I wish Delia could be here for this but she cannot leave the orphanage. I don’t have the same freedom to see her either now that I am no longer an apprentice blue priest. Perhaps I’ll send our children to be resident blue robes in the temple to save on costs and create an excuse for Delia to see her nieces and/or nephews…
We had two children together, a daughter and a son. We raised both of the children as scholars since we did not have the necessary connections to raise them as knights or attendants. Our daughter, being the eldest, was designated as our household’s heir; though it was a bit more of a strategic choice to pick her instead of our son. That is because we could receive a higher quality son-in-law than we could a daughter-in-law.
Daughters always have fierce competition for their hands in marriage, especially those with higher mana. However, there is often an excess of sons who will not inherit anything and potentially not even marry at all, given limited family resources. Thus, with our daughter as heir, there will likely be many mednoble men, and potentially even some archnoble men born to Second or Third Wives, who will seek out our daughter as a marriage partner. Unfortunately, we do not have the resources to establish a new household for our son so he will only be able to marry if he leaves the capital for one of the provinces.
At our recommendation, our son married into Dalhdolf to the daughter of a strong laynoble household who serves the Giebe family. This was the most ideal marriage that we could secure for our son as the children of sinners from the former Veronica faction. Though our treatment has improved over the years as we’re increasingly judged for our own merits and actions, there is still a bad reputation attached to us.
Giebe Dahldolf is the only remaining land-owning noble of the former Veronica faction and he did not escape unscathed either as his father and step-mother were executed by the Aub. Our son would be at too much of a disadvantage if we tried to marry him elsewhere in Ehrenfest where the Leisegang continue to increase in power, with some still seething for revenge.
Though he’s marrying into a laynoble family, our son should be treated well in Dahldolf and his wife’s family should be very pleased at securing a mednoble marriage partner. He will be able to develop connections with the Giebe since his in-laws serve the Viscount as retainers. It’s not the most ideal marriage but it was the best we could do given our positions and still benefits all those involved.
We were more fortunate when it came to our daughter’s marriage partner. We welcomed an archnoble son-in-law from Lindenthal who formed a relationship with our daughter in the Royal Academy and who otherwise would likely be unable to marry. The influence of Lindenthal has only been decreasing with the impact of losing in a previous civil war and losing a trade route to the former central territory, with the new sovereignty only included the lands of the Royal Academy.
I actually feel a bit remorseful that our son-in-law is not only dropping in status to that of a mednoble but also marrying into a household that is still seen with disfavour in the current Ehrenfest. Though, according to my daughter, he was fully aware that she’s the grandchild of criminals and our household is not particularly powerful or influential. It was still worth it in his family’s opinion to form a connection with Ehrenfest, a duchy that continues to cement itself as a higher territory. As a noble from a criminal duchy himself that opposed the previous Zent, he nor his family was in any position to look down upon our household for descending from traitors.
He was prepared to overcome the Trials of Glucklitat with his beloved new wife in Ehrenfest. This marriage was still a net benefit for his household and, in fact, his whole duchy. It seems Aub Lindenthal strongly supported this marriage to gain an inroad with Aub Ehrenfest, no matter how small the opportunity.
I should discuss this with the other orphans of the former Veronica faction to create more mutually beneficial marriages and connections with weaker duchies, like Lindenthal. Some within the faction have more than enough money and resources, but still have such a poor reputation that marriage within the duchy is difficult and various nobles work to sabotage marriage prospects with other duchies of note. It will likely take another generation or two before the Ehrenfest nobility finally accepts our households back into the fray and several more generations after that before the black mark on our reputations stop disadvantaging our descendants.
That said, with this marriage to an archnoble, we might be able to become an archnoble status household a few generations from now. A higher status will definitely work to protect our descendants and ensure the survival of the household. I want, and need, more influence to ensure that Delia, Konrad, and those like them in the temple orphanage will continue to be protected every single generation. I will ensure that my descendants always become resident blue priests to support the temple and protect those without power. Though life certainly hasn’t been easy for me as a noble I do not regret the decision I made as only those with power can protect what’s important to them.
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4. Frieda and the Rise of the Othmar Company’s Noble Granddaughter
Freida rose to prominence as a significant figure in Ehrenfest’s noble society despite being a commoner-born concubine of a laynoble. Normally, she would be nothing to pay attention to or even be aware of but her abilities and connections are what drove into center stage.
Her birth family ran the prominent and historied Othmar Company marking her as daughter from one of the wealthiest commoner families in Ehrenfest. The Guildmaster of the Merchant’s Guild was her grandfather who held a significant amount of influence in the lower city and even in noble society. She is also the owner of the Italian Restaurant, famed for its high-quality food fit for noble consumption that was founded with support from Lady Rozemyne.
Though she was not a Gutenberg, Freida was considered important personnel collected by Aub Alexandria during her younger years. If that all wasn’t enough, Freida married into Lord Henrik’s household, the elder brother of Lord Damuel a guardknight to Aub Alexandria and now a mednoble himself. She regularly received requests from Aub Ehrenfest to support additional capacity for meals and deserts during the Interduchy Tournament each year from chefs at her Italian Restaurant. She was also vastly and independently wealthy from all her merchant activities greatly enriching Lord Henrik’s household.
Freida was much more important that her status would otherwise suggest.
Normally, she would be a target for exploitation but her subordination contract with Lord Henrik and connections with both Aub Ehrenfest and Aub Alexandria greatly protected her. Despite being a devouring commoner there was almost no one in the Ehrenfest capital who wasn’t aware of who she was as the years carried on. She clearly had a weak mednoble – strong laynoble mana capacity as those laynobles or mednobles who interacted with her could sense it. It was surprising to those unaware that commoners could be born with mana, and as much mana as she had; sometimes noble children weren’t even born with that much mana.
It is believed that Freida went on to have children with Lord Henrik but it was unclear which ones, if any, were hers given that all children were baptized under his First Wife, Lady Julianne. However, among the children was a high mana daughter with pink hair similar to Freida’s, leading many to believe this was her daughter. If that was true, then the highest mana child of the household was actually born to a commoner concubine. It would be a shock to the world and a disadvantage to her child if she stood for the noble baptism as the mother, despite being from a wealthy and well-connected commoner family.
As the years carried on, many nobles were able to determine with a high degree of confidence that the pink-haired child was, in fact, born to Freida though it was never publicly acknowledged.
Indeed, Lady Henrietta was raised as a proper noble and received high quality products for her upbringing. She had the most privileged upbringing of all her siblings given that she was born later and funded in large part by her presumed birth mother, Freida. She would go on to attend the Royal Academy as an apprentice scholar working with the merchant’s guild and key Ehrenfest industries to gain her experience. She eventually married as a First Wife into a mednoble family that wanted closer connections with her father, Lord Henrik, and presumed birth mother, Freida.
Thanks to Lord Henrik’s prominent position in the printing industry, his connection to Aub Alexandria the Lady Rozemyne through his younger brother Damuel, and even his concubine Freida’s massive wealth, the Bernett household was able to welcome a noblewoman with weak mednoble mana as the First Wife of his heir.
With their increasing influence, connections, and mana the Bernett laynoble household will likely rank up to become a mednoble status household within the century.
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5. The Ehrenfest Linkberg Household and the Power of Haldenzel
There was great concern about who would become the heir of the Ehrenfest Linkberg household as the archnoble family with the closest blood relation to the archducal family. Lord Eckhart and Lord Cornelius moved to Alexandria to follow their masters the new Archduchess and Archduke of Alexandria, Lady Rozemyne and Lord Ferdinand. Lord Lamprecht moved to Gerlach to continue serving his own master, Lord Wilfried now Giebe Gerlach. Further, Lord Nikolaus was not an acceptable choice given his former Veronica faction connections and the punishment of his mother.
Various nobles wondered if Lord Karstedt would take another wife or seek the child of one of his now Alexandria son’s children.
As it turns out, the Ehrenfest Linkberg couple did adopt one of their grandchildren. The daughter of Lord Lamprecht and Lady Aurelia of Gerlach, in Ehrenfest’s south. She had a particularly symbolic heritage as a noblewoman closely related to both the Ehrenfest archducal family through her father and the former Ahrensbach archducal family through her mother. She was baptized as the child Lord Lamprecht and Lady Aurelia but then adopted by her grandparents to be raised as the heir of the main family household. Lady Elvira was excited to raise Lady Adelheide and train her in factional politics to handover faction leadership in the future.
When Lady Rozelynne was engaged to Lord Mynhardt while at the Royal Academy her apprentice knight, and elder brother, Lord Leonidas was engaged to his cousin Lady Adelheide. She would be the heir of the household, adopted and raised by Lord Karstedt and Lady Elvira, while he would marry in becoming an Ehrenfest Linkberg after formerly being an Alexandria Linkberg. Lady Elvira must have been aware of the planned engagement between her granddaughter and the Tenth Aub Ehrenfest having been prepared in advance to engage her grandchildren to one another and secure another generation of their household.
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Lady Elvira’s influence continued to grow with the rising importance of her home province, Haldenzel.
The province’s printing industry was one of the wealthiest in the duchy with the ever-expanding popularity of Lady Elvira and her faction as authors. But Haldenzel also rose to prominence for its preservation of widely forgotten temple rituals. The spring calling ritual in particular. The other colder provinces of Ehrenfest had all destroyed their ritual stages with only Haldenzel preserving theirs and the attached rituals. Haldenzel was able to increase its harvest, gain notoriety for lost rituals revived by Lady Rozemyne, and ever-increasing wealth from their printing industry.
With Lady Elvira’s influence many nobles within her faction were highly concerned about who would step into the position after her.
The population of Haldenzel finally starts to increase after decades of barely surviving under Lady Veronica. There are now more noble children born being born into the province and nobles from other regions of Ehrenfest desiring to marry into Haldenzel. The commoner population also begins to grow increasing the number of hunters, farmers, and artisans available to work in Haldenzel’s key industries.
Haldenzel received an entwickeln to expand its underground city to support the new growing population and create additional facilities for expanding its key industries. More farming villages have even appeared within Haldenzel, now that its growing season could match that of the southern provinces. On the advice of Giebe Haldenzel the boundary gate to Klassenberg was removed from the province completely now that the former Zausengas has been formally rebounded to Klassenberg, taking over the boundary gate connected to Reunwalt.
Now there is a boundary gate between Ehrenfest and Klassenberg that is accessible for most of the year and the pressure on Haldenzel to maintain a safe trade route through the province is removed.
Haldenzel rose from being one of Ehrenfest’s weakest provinces struggling to just barely survive to a powerhouse more than holding its own weight in the new Ehrenfest. Haldenzel would continue to produce powerful knights that would battle the Lord of Winter each year. The province received further acclaim for its blood connections to Lady Elvira a major faction leader, Lady Rozemyne the First Aub Alexandria, and Lady Rozelynne the First Wife of the Tenth Aub Ehrenfest.
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6. Renewed Relations of the New Ehrenfest and Leisegang
After the retirement of Lord Melchior’s brother as Giebe Gerlach the Lord Wilfried, the enlarged province neighbouring Leisegang was divided into two archnoble provinces to be ruled by the children born to the Count and Countess of Gerlach. The province of Gerlach was returned to its original boundaries while the new province of Gimmel was created from the constituent parts of the former Bessel, Joisontak, and some of the Archduke’s Central District.
The provinces worked to evenly divide the children of Lord Wilfried’s retainers between the two provinces to ensure that both can successfully function after the separation. Gerlach will continue to focus on paper production while Gimmel will refocus as a mercantile center in the South selling the products of Gerlach.
The division of the province of Gerlach was to calm the wrath of the Leisegang who were frustrated at the direct challenge to their power and influence by easily placing a large province next to them ruled by the disfavoured Lord Wilfried and his descendants. Apparently, it took the Leisegang centuries to collect all of the land that they did into the large southern province, through strategic marriages and hard work under shifting political realities. The creation of the enlarged Gerlach right next door was said to be a slap in their face that ignored all the sacrifices made to achieve the modern Leisegang. It demonstrated to the Leisegang, that the archducal family could have easily helped Leisegang at any point but chose to make an example to challenge their influence instead of respecting their historical position as the breadbasket of the duchy.
Lord Melchior had taken many steps to build bridges with the Leisegang after decades of mistreatment following the introduction of Lady Gabrielle but it was the Tenth Aub Ehrenfest Lord Mynehardt who removed this final thorn in their relationship. Despite the intentions of the Seventh Aub Ehrenfest Lord Sylvester, many of his plans related to resolving the conflict with the Leisegang ended up backfiring more often than not. Thanks to successive generations of his children, and now descendants, the relationship between the archducal family and Leisegang can now finally be said to be that of loyal allies and partners in ruling the duchy.
Despite efforts from some archducal family members to suppress the Leisegang faction it has become the central faction of Ehrenfest-born nobles.
The Leisegang faction and Ehrenfest archducal family have been tied together several times over through blood at this point in time, their interests are those of Ehrenfest and the interest of Ehrenfest are those of the Leisegang. Especially with the marriage of Lady Rozelynne into Ehrenfest as the First Wife of the Tenth Aub Ehrenfest Lord Mynehardt. Lady Rozelynne is the grand niece of Giebe Leisegang Emeritus and second cousin to the current Giebe Leisegang, while the First Wife of Giebe Leisegang is an Ehrenfest Archduke Candidate and daughter of the Ninth Aub Ehrenfest Lord Melchior and his Third Wife, a Leisegang archnoble lady. Thus, the Eleventh Aub Ehrenfest will be blood related first cousins with the next Giebe Leisegang.
The First Aub Alexandria is the Lady Rozemyne who saved the Leisegang from destruction and founded a new archducal family of Leisegang blood with all future Aub Alexandria’s related to them. The Second Wife of the Third Aub Alexandria is an Archduke Candidate daughter born to the Ninth Aub Ehrenfest Lord Melchior and his Third Wife, a Leisegang archnoble lady. With the marriage of the Seventh Aub Ehrenfest’s daughter born to his Second Wife the Lady Brunhilde, into Frenbeltag as the First Wife of their next Aub the archducal family of Frenbeltag will now have all their Aubs connected to the Leisegang main family. The Leisegang have also been strategically marrying their bloodline into every single archnoble province within Ehrenfest ever since their return to power.
Through Lord Clement, the Leisegang Archduke Candidate son born to Lady Brunhilde and the Seventh Aub Ehrenfest, the provinces of Gimmel and Gerlach now had First Wives with Leisegang blood. The northern provinces created from the territory gained from Klassenberg have two Leisegang faction giebes assigned from the children of Lord Clement and his Drewanchel First Wife. Moreover, the First Spouses for the new Klassenberg descended northern giebes were selected from the remaining children of Lord Clement’s Second and Third Wives. Thus, the majority of archnoble provinces in Ehrenfest are now blood related to Leisegang and three archducal families now having their main bloodlines connected to the Leisegang as well.
Overtime the unified Ehrenfest faction fully overlaps and unites with the Leisegang faction. The descendants of the former Veronica faction are fully absorbed into the Ehrenfest-Leisegang faction, creating a single unified faction for all nobles with Ehrenfest heritage. The natural order of status-based rule was restored with the Leisegang faction re-establishing its position as the natural governing partners with the archducal family, now their blood relatives, after the decades long disturbance created by Lady Gabrielle.
The Ehrenfest-Leisegang unified faction ends up as the mediating faction within the duchy as foreign archducal wives and husbands marry into Ehrenfest from other duchies. For example, mediating between the Dunklefelger faction of the Ninth Aub Ehrenfest’s First Wife and the moderate Klassenberg faction of his Second Wife. The Ehrenfest-Leisegang faction now operates as a neutral faction that supports the rule of the archducal family to promote unity and stability within Ehrenfest the Fifth now one of the highest ranked territories within Yurgenschmidt.
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7. New Archnoble Provinces
There are now fourteen archnoble provinces within Ehrenfest compared to the five that existed during the reign of the Sixth Aub Ehrenfest. These are the provinces of Eisenlekt, Gerlach, Gimmel, Groschel, Haldenzel, Hirschel, Kirnberger, Kaltfelt, Leisegang, Nachtwachter, Reunwalt, Ritterkampf, Schneeslecht, and Wasserhaffen. There are twelve new mednoble provinces connecting the lands between the six newly created archnoble provinces of the north granted by Klassenberg from the lands of the former Eisenreich. The giebes for the new mednoble provinces of the north were selected mainly from the Leisegang faction with the remainder selected from the neutral faction to ensure only a moderate faction would form in the north, and one loyal to the Ehrenfest archducal family.
The province of Hirschel was reformed from the mednoble provinces of Hirsch and Joisontak when the Leisegang negotiated with Giebe Hirsch to form a rebounded archnoble province with new Joistontak. The Leisegang faction hated the name Joisontak as the criminal who almost killed their saviour, Lady Rozemyne. With the justification of creating a new province they could gain more territory and justify a name change for their new province. As the strong mednoble Giebe Joisontak was the second generation to be born with archnoble level mana one more generation would allow the entire household to rank up to archnoble.
Thus, the Hirsch Giebe family married their son to the heir of Joisontak Giebe family to guarantee an archnoble mana level child and renamed their new province Hirschel. The newly combined Hirschel Giebe family pushes the husband of the First Giebe Hirschel to massively compress his mana before having children to ensure strong mana children are born to support their ascent to archnobles.
After the birth and baptism of the first child of Giebe Hirschel and her husband Viscount Hirschel the entire household rises to archnoble becoming Count and Countess Hirschel an archnoble province connected to Kirnberger that hosts Ehrenfest’s Country Gate. A new archnoble family was created in Ehrenfest without any direct blood connection to the archducal family.
It is likely the Tenth Aub Ehrenfest Lord Mynehardt will marry one of his children into Hirschel as the only remaining archnoble province without a blood connection to the archducal family.
There are now approximately forty-five provinces in Ehrenfest ruled only by archnobles or mednobles with the only previous two laynoble provinces, Blon and Glaz, collapsed back into the Archduke’s Central District after their giebes were purged for treason in connection to Lady Georgine.
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Thanks to the efforts of Aub Ehrenfest the Lord Sylvester, the Lady Charlotte, and the Lord Melchior the duchy of Ehrenfest has stabilized its position and grown extremely powerful. It has finally become fully united under the reign of the Tenth Aub Ehrenfest Lord Mynehardt and his First Wife Lady Rozelynne. There are now various merchant cities and production centres across Ehrenfest which has massively expanded the trade potential of the duchy. Now Ehrenfest produces goods various duchies across Yurgenschmidt and even nations beyond the Country Gate found in Kirnberger. The Country Gate opened during the reign of the Eighth Aub Ehrenfest Lady Charlotte allowing Ehrenfest to fully benefit from this action thanks to the various entwickelns that were performed by the Aub.
Notes:
FanFiction Maps of Changes within Ehrenfest
Middle of Aub Melchior reign (new north provinces)
https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/903605112711707803/End of Giebe Wilfried (Gerlach split):
https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/903605112711708269/End of Aub Melchior reign (factional split):
https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/903605112711707602/
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