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I was so relieved when news came of Lord Ferdinand’s engagement to Lady Detlinde. Finally, my friend has been rescued from Ehrenfest! My heart swelled with pride at how well we had all managed to coordinate and convince the King to bring Lord Ferdinand out of a duchy which had so long abused him.
Today was Lord Ferdinand’s first Interduchy Tournament as an Ahrensbach archduke candidate. Now that he didn’t have Ehrenfest holding him back, there would certainly be no issue with staging a ditter match between old friends.
“I refuse.”
The words coming out of Lord Ferdinand’s mouth shot me through the heart. “You don’t even know what I’m here to ask!” I exclaimed, and Lord Ferdinand fixed me with a sharp glare.
“You are here to drag me into another pointless game of ditter, are you not?”
“Eh…? Pointless?” I shook my head. I didn’t understand. Now that Ehrenfest no longer had him shackled, he should be free to play ditter whenever he wished. Unless Ahrensbach was likewise mistreating him. But that couldn’t be—they had also worked hard to free him, after all.
Lady Detlinde, who had been sitting quietly next to Lord Ferdinand, looked up at me with a haughty smile. “Sir Heisshitze, if we win, what will you give Ahrensbach in return?”
Lord Ferdinand’s eyes flashed and his features settled into an unreadable expression. I grinned. “Lord Ferdinand is always wanting Dunkelfelger ingredients for his potions and magic circles, right?” I said, dangling the best bait I could think of in front of Lord Ferdinand. “He was always a bit of a mad scientist back in our Royal Academy days.”
“Oh my,” Lady Detlinde replied, laying a hand against her cheek. “Is it not unbecoming of an archduke candidate to be brewing all the time? We have scholars and attendants who can handle such menial tasks.”
Lord Ferdinand kept his neutral mask fixed firmly in place, though the beginnings of an almost evil smile were starting to curl up the corners of his mouth.
I blinked at Lord Ferdinand in surprise. “I thought surely you would finally have your own lab in which to work.” Now that he was no longer confined to the temple, it seemed obvious that he would have time for important hobbies, like ditter and brewing.
Lady Detlinde shook her head. “He has more important matters to attend to, now that I am going to be the Archduchess.” Her lips turned into a pout as she stared up at me. “Don’t you have anything of value to trade? We are willing to offer that cape that you so covet in exchange.”
A sharp grin froze in place on Lord Ferdinand’s face. That gave me hope. Maybe he really did want to challenge me to a ditter match, but just wasn’t used to his newfound freedom. If that was the case, it was my duty as his friend to free him of the shackles on his soul, not just his body.
Besides, Lady Detlinde was right. I really wanted that cape back. “We have recently received a massive import of sugar. If you are interested, I could see about securing some for your chefs to use. Now that Lord Ferdinand is your husband, I’m sure your chefs know all of the most popular Ehrenfest recipes.”
This time, it was Lady Detlinde’s smile which froze on her face. Her eyes dropped, eyelashes resting prettily against her cheeks. “Unfortunately, none of Lord Ferdinand’s chefs were able to accompany him out of Ehrenfest.
And he couldn’t very well teach chefs how to cook himself, as an archduke candidate.”
I just barely kept my brow from furrowing with puzzlement. I thought Lord Ferdinand had been behind all those trends coming out of Ehrenfest. Surely he could provide recipes he invented to Ahrensbach chefs. Unless…it actually was Rozemyne who was responsible for all that?! I didn’t even want to consider it. “Then we’re at an impasse, unless there is something your heart desires, Lady Detlinde, that we can provide?”
Lady Detlinde settled into thought. While she was thinking, I looked at Lord Ferdinand. Whoa! Is it just me, or did his expression just get a whole lot happier? It had been too long since I’d seen such a genuine, heartfelt smile on Lord Ferdinand’s face. “It seems as though Ahrensbach has truly been your Flutrane, Lord Ferdinand,” I commented, using the usual noble euphemism to ask if his new life was going well.
Lord Ferdinand’s smile deepened so much I thought his face would split in two. “Dregarnuhr has certainly chosen to weave my thread with Ahrensbach’s,” he replied noncommittally.
I had expected gratitude. Or at the very least, relief, at having escaped Ehrenfest. Not this blatant attempt at dodging the question. I wanted to press, but just then, Lady Detlinde announced that she had decided on what she wanted from Dunkelfelger. “I would like a promise from Dunkelfelger that they will marry one of their female knights to one of my attendants.”
I stared at Lady Detlinde with wide eyes. That was a really boldfaced request for someone from Ahrensbach the Sixth to make of Dunkelfelger the Second. “I am afraid that is not a decision I can make without the Aub.” I looked over at Lord Ferdinand, disappointed. With such a request, there was no way I was gonna get to battle it out with Lord Ferdinand like old times.
So instead, I said the usual lengthy noble farewells and headed to Ehrenfest’s section of the Interduchy Tournament. I had been instructed to observe how they were faring without Lord Ferdinand’s support, as well as gauge how Lord Ferdinand’s influence had impacted Ahrensbach. It was still too early to say what effect his moving to Ahrensbach was having on the duchy, but Ehrenfest would surely be suffering without Lord Ferdinand’s inventions.
I approached Ehrenfest, noting that the archducal family was divided between three tables. The archducal couple sat together and were speaking with Aub Klassenberg about trade. Meanwhile, Lord Wilfried and Lady Charlotte were speaking with other archnobles, and Lady Rozemyne… ah, yes. There she was, seated next to her red-haired archscholar, Hartmut. At first glance, everything seemed peaceful, though it was painfully obvious that Lady Rozemyne’s worried gaze kept wandering towards Ahrensbach’s section.
Lord Ferdinand and Lady Detlinde were too far away to make out from this distance, however, so it was rather pointless, in my opinion.
Shouldn’t Lady Rozemyne be sitting with her betrothed? I wondered, raising a brow as I looked between the two tables. Maybe Lord Wilfried considered Lady Rozemyne capable enough as his future first wife to handle guests on her own.
Since no one was speaking with Lady Rozemyne at this moment, I decided to approach. We exchanged our lengthy noble greetings before she offered me a seat.
“Have you seen Fer—Lord Ferdinand today, Lord Heisshitze? Did he look well?” Lady Rozemyne asked almost immediately, bypassing all sense of propriety to ask about her former guardian.
I glanced over at her archscholar, but he merely wore a blissful smile, allowing her to continue.
“Er, yes,” I replied. “I’ve never seen him wear a bigger smile. He must truly be blessed by the gods.”
A hint of worry creased Lady Rozemyne’s brow and her eyes dropped to her lap. I don’t think she intended for me to hear her mutter, “He is doing that badly, then?” When she looked up, she had done a passable job of wiping the worry from her face and fixed me with an intense stare worthy of any archnoble. “So, what is your business with Ehrenfest today?”
“I am here to ask about what trends you intend to put forward this year, and whether you have any new goods to sell to Dunkelfelger.”
“As I am sure you are aware, Ehrenfest has long been working to create books through a new method called ‘printing,’” Lady Rozemyne replied, enthusiasm bubbling up through her otherwise genteel speech. “We have several copies on hand today, but we will make the bulk of our sales during the Archduke Conference. Why, has Lady Hannelore requested a copy of anything in particular? We have already ensured that your Aub receives a copy of the simplified Dunkelfelger history books we printed.”
While she spoke, Hartmut spread out a series of books in front of me. Each was bound simply with string, and there appeared to be several copies of each. I frowned. “If these are books, where are the covers?” I asked.
Lady Rozemyne smiled knowingly. “Hartmut?” she said, and her attendant immediately produced another book, bound in ornate leather. Lady Rozemyne took the book and opened it to show me how the manuscript bound in string had been glued to the binding. “We allow our customers to customize the covers of their books based on their own preferences and budgets. This makes books affordable both to your average layscholar and your richest archnoble.”
“Lady Rozemyne wished for books to be available to all, regardless of circumstances or status,” Hartmut interjected. “Is she not truly a saint?”
I looked between them with growing unease. They really were making it sound like this had all been Lady Rozemyne’s idea, and not her teacher’s. If she were his disciple, was it possible that he had already managed to impart all of his knowledge to her? It was easy to forget that the girl in front of me was in her third year at the Royal Academy, and not a newly-baptized child.
“I thought when we encouraged the King to suggest the engagement between Lady Detlinde and Lord Ferdinand, Ehrenfest would struggle to find its footing again,” I mused aloud. “But I am glad to see that this has not been the case.”
I nodded appreciatively as I turned over the leather-bound book between my hands, paying little mind to Lady Rozemyne and her attendant as I thought of all the important information I had gathered for Aub Dunkelfelger.
“Lady Rozemyne, please calm yourself,” Hartmut suddenly said with an urgent and worried tone.
I looked up to see that his hands had gone to cover her eyes, and I took a step back at the frightening rictus grin which was spread across Lady Rozemyne’s lips. “What is this?” I asked, an edge of anger slipping into my voice despite my best efforts to maintain a calm exterior. I could feel mana radiating off of her like ripples in water.
“I apologize, Lord Heisshitze,” Hartmut said, though his own voice did not sound very apologetic. “It is just that you may have let slip that you were the one responsible for removing Ferdinand from Ehrenfest.”
Ah, crap, I thought, realizing my mistake. I had heard before that Lady Rozemyne spoke in such an open and honest way that it was difficult not to do the same. A slip-up like this was bound to have dire consequences. But, ah well, I couldn’t take back what was already said. “But you yourself have also suffered because of Ehrenfest, have you not?” I said, trying to smooth things over. “I wished only to free Ferdinand from the shackles which bound him in your duchy.”
“Hartmut, please remove your hand. I am perfectly calm now,” Lady Rozemyne said in a cool voice very reminiscent of the Lord of Evil’s. But true to her word, when Hartmut’s hand came away, a deathly calm had settled over her features, and I could no longer feel the weight of her mana pressing uncomfortably against mine.
Almost on instinct, my hand went for my schtappe. Her gaze held me transfixed.
“So it is you who are the Ewigeliebe who has trapped Geduldh in ice,” Lady Rozemyne said with utmost calm. “You are a fool if you think Lord Ferdinand is happier now than he was in the temple, where he could do what he pleased and experiment to his heart’s content.” Her eyes grew sharp. “Instead, he is now betrothed to a woman who resembles in every way the very woman who was his tormenter in Ehrenfest, and abandoned him to the temple in the first place.”
Her words struck me like several blows to the gut, and by the end of her speech, I felt as though I had just battled and lost in a lengthy ditter match. Does she mean that…Ferdinand is even more unhappy now, and it’s my fault?!
“Lady Rozemyne, I do not believe it is wise to be speaking so plainly,” Hartmut said, though there was no tone of admonishment behind those words. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say her attendant was garnering some sort of pleasure from this.
I looked up imploringly towards Lady Rozemyne and fished a sound-blocking magic tool from my pocket. Wordlessly, I passed one to her and another to Hartmut, then took the last one into my own hand. “Please, Lady Rozemyne. If I have somehow made matters even worse for Lord Ferdinand…I could never forgive myself. Speak plainly.”
Before she could open her mouth, however, Hartmut cut in blithely, “How do we know that what she says now won’t be used against Ehrenfest in the future? Lady Rozemyne is still young, and despite being a third-year Royal Academy student, she spent two years in a jureve and frequently misses out on opportunities to socialize due to her temple work. On top of that, she was also raised in the temple. Without Lord Ferdinand here to advise her on when to speak and how much to say, she is likely to say things she later regrets.”
I nodded my understanding, even as Lady Rozemyne protested, “I never regret defending family.”
It seemed she and Lord Ferdinand had been close. “I promise that no word of what we speak now will reach Aub Dunkelfelger’s or the Sovereignty’s ears. You have my word as Lord Ferdinand’s friend.”
Hartmut seemed unconvinced of my sincerity, but Lady Rozemyne eyed me with a calculating expression before nodding. “I trust his word, Hartmut.”
Finally, her attendant acquiesced. “Explain to this Dunkelfelger knight, then, exactly how terrible a mistake he made.”
Lady Rozemyne fixed me with a harsh glare that reminded me so strongly of Lord Ferdinand, I couldn’t help wondering if they truly were father and daughter. “You are correct that in the past, Lord Ferdinand was sent to the temple as a punishment, and that he received terribly harsh treatment at the hands of Lady Veronica. However, that is no longer the case, and has not been for quite some time.”
“How do you mean?” I asked, puzzled. Lord Ferdinand still lived in the temple and performed temple duties, so surely he was still suffering.
“Lady Veronica no longer has power within Ehrenfest, and the temple has consequently become a much more comfortable place for the both of us. He can return to the castle whenever he wants, but he chose to stay in the temple because he prefers it. Additionally, Lord Ferdinand does not want or seek power. He is much happier when he has the time to work on his inventions or brew his potions without worrying about faction politics.”
I nodded my understanding, urging Lady Rozemyne to go on. I regretted that I had promised not to share this intel with the Aub, as it would have been invaluable. But Ehrenfest would know if I went back on my word, and that could spell disaster for any trade agreements between our duchies.
“He was finally starting to relax, you know? Let his attendants take some of the work off his plate. He wanted to stay in the temple to help with our mana shortage, too, so that Ehrenfest would prosper. The Aub never forced him into it.”
Here, her gaze hardened again. “But now, you have sent him straight into enemy territory. Ahrensbach is where Lady Veronica comes from, and she abused him so badly that Lord Ferdinand still won’t trust most people. And now, he’s being forced to marry a girl who is the spitting image of Lady Veronica and live in a duchy which despises his very existence. Will his suffering never end?”
Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes as she mumbled, “Can’t everyone just leave Ferdinand alone and let him be happy?”
Hartmut quickly stepped between me and his crying lady, trying to help her save face. “I believe you have heard enough now to understand the situation, yes? I cannot forgive someone who has caused the Saint of Ehrenfest such grief as you have done, but Lady Rozemyne would never trust me again if I did anything to harm you or tarnish your reputation, so if you will take these—” he handed me the sound-blocking devices from himself and Lady Rozemyne “—and be on your way. The day will most likely never come when Dregarnuhr the Goddess of Time weaves our threads back together, but I pray that you live in peace with the divine protection of the gods.” He delivered this last farewell with an icy smile.
I was still reeling from the information I had just received as I mumbled my own farewell and wandered off in a random direction.
We truly were lacking on information about Ehrenfest to have so terribly misjudged the situation there. While I couldn’t understand why anyone would choose to stay in the temple, it would be just like Lord Ferdinand to make the unconventional choice.
Despite Lady Rozemyne’s clear anger, there was still no evidence that they were planning to make a move against Ahrensbach for stealing away Lord Ferdinand. And perhaps because of his presence there, Ahrensbach would be saved from such a conflict.
I gripped my stomach, feeling suddenly sick. We had thought we were acting in Lord Ferdinand’s best interest, but now that I thought about it, he had declined the engagement with his own lips. We’d assumed Ehrenfest was forcing him to decline, but now it seemed obvious that the archduke had simply been trying to prevent Lord Ferdinand from entering an undesired union.
As thoughts of my own failings swirled around in my head, the Interduchy Tournament came to a conclusion. I couldn’t even bring myself to enjoy the ditter matches that were played.