Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

He watched with concealed anger as Aub Klassenberg left the meeting room. They had just finished discussing the matter of young Eglantine. Again.

He had barely been in his new office as the Zent for more than a season, and Klassenberg was already trying to treat him as if he was their puppet who had to dance at their every whim.

He was now glad that he had not listened to Magdalena’s suggestion of making her his third wife instead of his first. The former Aub Dunkelfelger, who had retired this year, had not been pleased with their sudden starbind in the first place. But he had at least been pacified when he openly declared she would be his Goddess of Light.

Magdalena had protested quite fiercely at first, stating that she did not want to destroy the harmonious relationship he had with his other wives, but her worries were honestly unfounded.

Ralfrieda and Clementia had not been overly fond of their demotion, Ralfrieda more so than Clementia, but they had been nonetheless accepting enough in his opinion. Magdalena’s lineage as the daughter of the archducal family of Dunkelfelger, a greater duchy, made it obvious that she would stand above his other wives. They were just from the middle duchies, so it was an obvious choice to make.

At least Werdekraf, the new Aub Dunkelfelger, seemed accepting of the agreed upon arrangements. He even offered a few guard knights to join his own retinue, instead of just Magdalena’s. He returned the goodwill wholeheartedly, promising both Aub Dunkelfelger and Aub Drewanchel to find the Grutrissheit as soon as possible in an additional meeting. They seemed pleased enough when he extended his promise to abdicate, should someone beside himself find the all important book of Mestionora.

It was a wise decision in hindsight, as he could already clearly see the issues beginning to make themselves known. With his lack of access to the royal magic tool he could not fully fulfill his promises of giving his allies their due rewards for supporting him in the civil war. The losing duchies’ territories were split up between his supporters, but without being able to rewrite the borders they were apparently more of a hassle than they were worth. Some whispers even reached his ears that Aub Ahrensbach called them a burden. But to be honest, the greater duchy was an… unreliable subject at best. So their protests were far from the most important thing on his mind.

His preemptive promises at least worked to make both Dunkelfelger and Drewanchel his most steadfast allies, expanding his support base to more than just Klassenberg, Hauchletzte and Gilessenmeyer. It worked splendidly to reduce Klassenberg’s influence over him, much to their poorly hidden chagrin.

But he still had to make some concessions to Klassenberg, as his most steadfast supporters in the civil war, which had led to this meeting in the first place. He had reluctantly promised for young Eglantine to be offered the opportunity to rejoin the royal family. The young girl was apparently a surviving daughter of one of his departed brothers, so her claim was valid enough. He would maybe marry her to one of his sons, securing his chosen heir her hand and gaining Klassenberg’s support through this bond. This way his sons could focus their efforts on the remaining greater duchies.

“Adrian, I want you to bring me everything you can find about this young lady Eglantine.”

He should have ordered for this much sooner, but it had slipped his mind with all the events taking place right now. Adrian was originally from Drewanchel, an adoptive son of their Archduke. His service to him was part of Drewanchel’s proof of support, and Trauerqual had to admit that having such a capable scholar under him did much to alleviate his workload.

“As you wish, my Lord.”

He glanced at Loyalitat next, his current commander of the Sovereignty's Knight Order. Looking at the young man from Hauchletze reminded him of his former knight Raublut, who had sadly fallen in battle. His friend had used his own body to shield him from a desperate attack on the battlefield, paying for his loyalty with his own life, to save Trauerqual's. It was a tragedy that he would die in the very last battle, after surviving so many before. But that was sadly just the cruelty of fighting a war.

“Loyalitat, please do your best to assist Adrain.”

“Of course, Zent Trauerqual.”

He made his way back into his office, being faced with the huge stack of boards on his desk again. At least he had enough experience with effectively going through reports from his experience as a professor at the Royal Academy. But it was still such a chore…

He also had to visit the Royal Library again soon, he was still searching for clues regarding the lost Grutrissheit  and the location where it could be found. He could only hope that his search would yield positive results soon, before the country began to slide into even further ruin.

Chapter Text

He was sitting in his opulent office, but considering the stacks upon stacks of wooden boards, it just felt like a damn prison at the moment. Never did he regret anything as much as that cursed purge of those families from the losing side of the civil war he had ordered to be carried out. He had foolishly followed the advice from Klassenberg at the time. To make sure any remaining traitors were rooted out, as they had called it…

The consequences of his rash actions were now coming back to haunt him. He had admittedly simply lashed out at his supposed enemies in a rare moment of weakness, a pitiful act of blind revenge for the demise of his beloved daughter. Aub Klassenberg had used his momentary weak-mindedness and presented himself as Anhaltung. He suggested ordering whole families to be slaughtered in the name of peace.

It worked well enough to stabilize his reign at first, fear and the brutal removal of potential enemies made sure of that. But how many people had he driven to despise him in turn? Would his innocent daughter still smile her beautiful smile at him, knowing that he had ordered so many to be executed because of her?

This was different from fighting in a war where your opponent could kill you at every moment. He had ordered for defenceless women to be slain, young children too, some most likely not even in their summer yet…

And for what? The country was not stabilizing at all! If anything, his own actions were to blame for the mana drought ravaging the land in growing intensity! Surely, the decline of Yurgenschmidt was a direct punishment from the Gods in the heavens, as he had failed in his new role as their representative from the very start.

Exhaustion and regret were his new and constant companions these days. They had become so common that they felt like a second skin attached to his weary form. He just felt so tired…

He put away the board with reports of the state of the now steadily growing desolate territories of the former Werkestock. The shortage of mana was affecting the whole country. The members of the winning side of this damnable civil war were feeling the consequences of his foolish brother’s actions already.

But the losing territories were scarred all the more deeply. With the purge of their archducal family they had lost the knowledge of the way to their Foundations, causing all sorts of problems. The most obvious of all being the steadily rising death toll among their commoner population every season. Trying to further tax those starving peasants was completely unreasonable at this point in time, as it would only hasten their demise. It would make any form of recovery near impossible, and the thought of handing his allies desolate deserts devoid of any life as rewards for their support when the royal family got the Grutrissheit back in their possession was just…

Trauerqual felt another wave of helplessness wash over him. This cursed mana-drought was just another consequence of his actions…

‘Cursed be my brothers for starting this whole mess of a senseless conflict. And for what? Yurgenschmidt is tearing itself apart, and I am barely able to stop it from sinking into complete ruin.’

He could only curse his brother for killing Waldifried in his greed for the throne. But…

He was guilty as well. Maybe things would have gone differently if he had chosen to side with one of them sooner?

Trauerqual subtly shook his head to dismiss those thoughts. At this point, if he allowed himself to lament what had happened, he'd only waste his days spiraling. As a ruler he had to deal with what lay before him instead of dwelling in the past.

Having signed the board, he set it aside and took up the next. It was a small report of expenses from Sigiswald. His oldest son had apparently slightly overspent his budget. Again.

At least he did so for a somewhat understandable reason this time, citing how he was using the money to gain more intel about potential marriage candidates among the greater duchies. Thinking about his eldest son just gave him a headache – another familiar companion these times.

Sigiswald was just too self-absorbed at this point, his place as the oldest son of the reigning Zent having apparently gotten to his head and inflating his ego to barely containable proportions. But the worst part was that he failed to secure any meaningful alliances in his time at the Royal Academy.

His best efforts had only resulted in his recent marriage to Lady Nahelache of Hauchletze. Trauerqual had nothing against the young lady, but her home was already supporting his reign and was bound to support his son to keep their rank in any case. The Lady would have perhaps made for a good second or third wife, but Sigiswald should have focused more on impressing the greater duchies, bargaining with them to acquire a fitting first wife for his future reign.

But he apparently failed to leave any positive impact on them. What Trauerqual heard instead spoke of hubris and incompetence, a most dangerous combination. Which was only validated as he was presented with his oldest’s grades upon his graduation. It could be called average for an archduke candidate from a greater duchy, but for a member of the royal family and first prince, it was sorely lacking. It was a small relief that Sigiswald had hopefully realized some of his failings, and was now seeking to remedy his earlier mistakes, making courting the greater duchies for the hand of a suitable first wife his main concern.

Still, this board should not have been in this pile at all. He had to speak with his headscholar Adrian later. This way, he could gently admonish whoever had misplaced this board.

Taking on the next board, he wanted to sigh openly as it was a report about the actions of one of his other sons. Anastasius was similarly troubling, his growing rafel for Lady Eglantine sowing conflict between both of his older sons.

Maybe Sigiswald’s recent moves were due to worries and doubts regarding his ability to woo the lady? But coming back to Anastasius, he clearly told him to steer clear of only galavanting after Eglantine. Warning him that it would lead only to the conflict that was brewing right now.

He could only lament his own weakness as he was reminded once again of that stupid promise he had given Aub Klassenberg that day. Eglantine was the hidden daughter of one of Trauerqual’s deceased brothers, adopted into her maternal family’s duchy to become one of their archduke candidates. In his foolishness, he had promised that the young lady would be returned into the royal family, even floating the idea of her becoming the first wife of the next Zent. Now the lady’s mere existence was threatening to pull the country into another damn civil war without any fault of her own.

Anastasius’ grades were suffering because of his single-minded attempts to woo Eglantine. Being merely somewhat acceptable by royal standards would simply not be enough anymore! They needed to show the country that the new royal family was strong and capable, before he lost even more support for his reign.

If only he could have dealt with it somehow. But why were both his oldest sons so utterly incapable of following simple orders and directions? It was so damn frustrating, having to watch helplessly from the side again!

His youngest son Hildebrand had a superior position and bloodline in comparison to his older brothers, being from his first wife Magdalena who hailed from Dunkelfelger. However, he was simply too inexperienced to rival them at this point in time, seeing that he was not even baptized yet.

The greater duchies were watching Sigiswald and Anastasius with barely hidden frowns, not pleased at all with their behavior and actions. He only wanted to focus his time on stabilizing the country and finding the Grutrissheit, but instead this damned report from Oswin informed him that his son had just forced some first-year archduke candidate to attend a meeting with him. Alone. Without any of her retainers present! And for what? According to this board, he practically ordered the young lady to spy on Eglantine for him!

Not only was it a clear abuse of his royal privilege but a clear violation of Trauerqual´s direct orders as Zent! He did not even want to think about the headache that awaited him from the potential fallout…

He ordered Oswin to inform him immediately when he forced the poor girl to… report… her findings to his son.

He felt slightly disgusted that his son decided that bullying a ten-year-old girl was in any way acceptable behavior. Not to speak of the rumors that could possibly affect not only him, but the poor girl as well! It was embarrassing. He could only pray that the young lady was not from a greater duchy…

He could not suppress his exasperation when the message of his son having gone by himself to fetch her arrived just a few days later! Was he out of his mind?! Did he not not think about how it would look to everyone who witnessed it?!

Greifechan be praised that he had already prepared for the worst to happen, being able to postpone all of his responsibilities and making his way to his son’s villa immediately. He would free the poor girl from his son’s abuse and gently dismiss her from the room. Maybe order his scholars to clear things up from behind the scenes too, so the lady’s reputation was not affected. But first, he would give Anastasius his ultimatum, royal bearing be damned!

Arriving at the premise he saw an older lady in attendant clothes, accompanied by a few restless-looking students wearing ocher colored capes. His fury rose even more as he realized that Anastasius had dismissed the young lady’s entourage from the room again.

‘Does he simply not care how this will look?!’

The ocher capes before him at least told him that they hailed from Ehrenfest. Thank the Gods for small mercies. The young lady was from a somewhat irrelevant, middle-ranked duchy…

As he strode to his son’s room, he realized that all of them seemingly froze in dread upon seeing him. He simply waved them off as they began to kneel. Instead, he ordered for the door to be opened.

He stepped into the room to see a scene that caused his eye to twitch. His son… Anastasius was currently alone with a little girl, like he feared, excluding his own entourage. His informant and Anastasius’ head-attendant Oswin appeared to be holding in a grimace! There were none of the girl’s retainers present at all! What was his stupid son thinking?! If word of this meeting got out…

His only consolation was that they were at least just sitting at a table with tea and snacks, at a thankfully appropriate distance. He sent a prayer of gratitude to the Gods for small blessings from Greifechan in the face of Glucklitat’s trials. His son’s eyes widened in shock before he stood up, kneeling to offer him his greetings. At least he seemed to remember some of his education…

But his concern rose as the poor girl nearly fell out of her chair, swaying slightly as she began to kneel. What had his son done to make her so rattled? He glared at Anastasius, making him tense up.

“Anastasius, what are you doing attending a tea party with a young lady in your villa, with her attendants forced to remain outside?”

“Father, I- This isn’t-”

He dismissed his stammering son for a moment, directing his gaze to the poor girl instead of gracing him with any more of his attention. He could not openly say what he wanted with her present, so it was for the best to gently remove her from the premise first. Swearing her to silence about this whole debacle as well.

“I will hear your excuses in just a moment. Let your guest finish her own greeting first.”

“I am honored beyond words to be acknowledged by the Zent himself. I am called Rozemyne. May I pray for a blessing in appreciation of this serendipitous meeting, ordained by the harsh judgment of Ewigeliebe, the God of Life?”

“You may.”

“O’ Ewigeliebe, God of Life, may this meeting be blessed.”

He was very surprised by the size and beauty of the blessing he received from the young girl, watching in wonder as soft particles of sparkling mana rained down on him. She stood up with an alarming lack of steadiness, making it hard to hold his composure as he got his first real look at her.

She had midnight-blue hair which appeared unusually glossy at a second glance. Those silky tresses reached her lower back, swaying as if moved by a gentle breeze as she slightly wobbled on the spot. She appeared quite pale but still had a face he would dare to call pretty. It was concerning that her golden eyes seemed to be foggy, her gaze coming in and out of focus. 

But the most unsettling fact was that she looked just like a younger version of the Goddess of Wisdom Mestionora! He had seen the statue of her in the Royal Library just days prior, so there was no mistaking their likeness. But still she simply appeared… much too young to enter the Royal Academy. He would have taken her for barely past her baptism at best…

‘Wait. Is this a sign from the Gods?!’

This absurd thought was only more alarming as the condition of the young lady seemed to worsen with every moment. A disturbing similarity to the country as a whole.

“May I have your full name?”

“My deepest apologies… I am Rozemyne Tochter Linkberg… Adotie Ehrenfest… my Zent.”

So she was adopted? Curious. No, that was not important right now! Her stark resemblance to the Goddess of Wisdom, Mestionora, was a far more pressing concern!!!

Seeing the girl’s worsening condition, he chose to bury those concerns for now. Her state made getting her to her waiting retainers the first priority! Despite his piqued curiosity, he would still have to dismiss her first. Dealing with his unruly son could come after that. 

“It is regrettable to interrupt your dance of Grammaratur with my son, but I have important matters to discuss with him. I trust that you and everyone involved will invoke Verbergen’s cloak regarding the matter.”

“Of course… I will do… as you command, Zent.”

“Good. I pray that you-

Just as he was about to give her a polite farewell, the young lady dropped to the ground, fainting on the spot and making his mind screech to a halt for a moment.

There was only silence as everyone stared at her motionless body on the floor. Until-

“What?!”

“Get her attendants, now!”

He took control of the situation at once. Countless years of conflict made him able to deal with such situations much better than his paling son’s entourage.

One of his guard knights moved swiftly to follow his order, his veterancy of the civil war coming through as he wordlessly followed his commands.

Young Rozemyne’s retainers moved swiftly, fussing over their lady with obvious worry. The whole circumstance made those thoughts from earlier even more disturbing as the aging attendant excused their lady for her rude behavior, citing that she had a weak constitution. He made it a point that there would be no blame directed at them, seeing as Anastasius had apparently been warned beforehand and had simply insisted on having said meeting despite her derailing health.

Trauerqual sat down after they left, facing his unruly son with an open frown on his face.

“Anastasius, what by the Supreme Couple were you thinking? Dragging a young lady to your villa despite warnings of her weak constitution. Dismissing all of her retainers so she is alone in a room with you and your retinue?!”

“I…”

His son seemed incapable of answering, so he decided to continue his scolding.

“Do you not know what sort of an impression all of your actions give? You could have potentially ruined not just your own, but the young lady’s reputation as well! Is that the image you want to present as a member of the royal family? That we ruin the reputation of young ladies just for your own desire to galavant after Lady Eglantine?!”

Anastasius paled, clearly not expecting him to be aware of the motives behind his actions. His demeanor was similarly poor as he unloaded all of his growing frustrations on him, disregarding the fact what an impression it would leave on their retainers. He was already balancing on the edge of disownment in any case by clearly ignoring his orders to fulfill his rafel instead of doing his duty as a prince.

It was embarrassing!

Chapter Text

After tearing into his unruly son for who knows how long, he gave him his final warning before he was forced to take drastic measures. He was to direct all of his efforts to better his grades. Nothing else! The slightly fearful expression made him think that his son mayhaps finally understood. He could only hope.

After leaving the room, Trauerqual indicated for his head scholar to step closer.

“Adrian, I want every piece of intel about Lady Rozemyne of Ehrenfest that you can find. Act discreetly. Also, should there be any rumors developing about my son’s abhorrent behavior, do your best to stifle them.”

“Understood, my Zent. I will move under the cover of Verbergen.”

He received a nod and continued making his way back into his own palace. This meeting had left a bitter taste in his mouth, seeing his son push a young girl till she fainted before royalty and potentially destroying her future prospects…

At least there was one positive aspect about all of this in the end.

The young lady’s appearance was simply too suspicious to be a happenstance. Was it possible that young Rozemyne was truly a sign from the Gods? He would have to judge the matter more closely when he got word back about her from his scholars. Until then, there was still so much scholarly work to be sorted through, making him want to groan in despair.

It took a surprising amount of Dregarnuhr’s weaving until he received a detailed report from Adrian, just when he was about to retire from his office for the day.

The slight grimace on his trusted scholar’s face as he presented the tablets to him spoke of something foreboding, making him a bit uneasy. He directed for a sound-blocking barrier to be erected before he motioned for Adrian to begin his report.

“I apologize for taking so long, my Zent. But I had to verify some of the information I received on my own. Some of the things I’ve been told seemed… too outlandish to be true at first glance.”

“Oh? Do go on.”

What he was reporting truly was too outlandish to believe.

“Ehrenfest has apparently managed to raise the overall scores of their students for a while now, but the scope of it has escaped our notice so far. There were whispers that it was thanks to one of the newly baptized members of their archducal family, but it was largely ignored thus far. Most lower and middle ranking duchies still resent Ehrenfest regardless, for rising in the ranks by the sheer fact they remained neutral in the civil war. Surprisingly, Ahrensbach did not even try to chastise any of them for their actions despite their status as Asylum to Ehrenfest.”

He narrowed his eyes slightly at the last part. Were relations between those two mayhaps not as good as Ahrensbach made everyone believe?

“But what I learned next is even more astonishing, my Zent. It seems that every first-year of Ehrenfest has passed their exams on the first attempt, even laynobles. This has never occurred before, as far as I know. The teachers I extracted this information from were willing to share that some even beat out students from greater duchies. Lady Rozemyne especially stood above every student. Outclassing even Lord Ortwin, the archduke candidate of Drewanchel, with a notable gap.

The young lady was mentioned multiple times to be the driving force behind their sudden jump in skill, and is projected to become first in class without a doubt.”

That was a very impressive achievement, but if his earlier suspicions about her similarities to Mestionora were correct…

“It is worth mentioning that both Lady Rozemyne and her adoptive brother Lord Wilfried passed court etiquette on the first try. Her brother appears to be an excellent student in every other course as well, but there is still a notable gap between them. If they have had to compete in the Royal Academy curriculum in the days I attended, the young lord would at best have been… average. It came as a slight surprise to hear that Lord Wilfried is already named heir-apparent despite his age. I can only assume that it is because the young Lady was adopted by their archduke at her baptism. Maybe it was to counteract some internal matter we are unaware of? Or perhaps they adopted a tradition of demoting archduke candidates after graduation like their asylum Ahrensbach.”

So the adopted sister was much more skilled than her brother? Why was he named heir-apparent so early? Would it not be normal to have them compete and choose the most capable among the children as a successor? Of course it was preferable to have a man as your heir, but women were still an available choice after the child-bearing period was over. As far as he remembered, Aub Ehrenfest was quite young himself, so there was no need to hurry and name his heir yet, was there? Could he not wait to name his heir a few years before his retirement?

Trauerqual now remembered how Aub Ehrenfest had petitioned for one of his daughters to attend the Academy a year later, only to suddenly revert his plea at the last possible moment. And seeing her collapse right before him only reinforced the image that her health was not in a state allowing her to properly attend. And she was still beating everyone her age regardless of her weak constitution? It was very impressive, if nothing else.

“In the wake of investigating prince Anastasius’ sudden interest in Lady Rozemyne we managed to acquire a very interesting detail about her as well. Apparently Ehrenfest has begun spreading some new products, including something for shiny hair for ladies, a new trend for hair ornaments and a dish called pound cake. All of which have captured the interest of nearly every lady attending the Royal Academy currently. It seems that Lady Rozemyne is the creator of all of those products coming out of Ehrenfest.”

That was interesting, but he was not adept about the trends of the ladies’ side of society, so he could hardly judge their worth. But it was still a bit strange that all of this was credited to the young girl alone.

“There was also an incident in the Academy’s library which led to Lady Rozemyne becoming the new master of the magic tools that belong to the royal family. Those tools resemble shumils, and acted as assistants to the librarians before becoming dormant after the executions of the previous librarians who supplied them. Lady Rozemyne apparently petitioned prince Anastasius to transfer ownership back to the royal family, but she has remained their master under Prince Anastasius’ oversight so far.”

Right. He faintly remembered signing a report about some royal tools being supplied by an archduke candidate from his son. He doubted that it was more than an accident, considering the young lady seemed more than willing to give them back to their original owners. His eyebrows rose slightly as Adrian seemed to smile slightly, seemingly amused by something.

“There was actually a second incident concerning those tools, involving Dunkelfelger. Apparently their projected heir chose to confront her as she was returning them back to the library, challenging her to a ditter match with Prince Anastasius’ permission. It seems that Ehrenfest was able to beat them under Lady Rozemyne’s command, who apparently participated herself. Rumors say that Lord Lestilaut was unable to prevent Dunkelfelger’s loss, even when he was similarly forced to participate to not lose face.”

It took him a moment to overcome his stunned silence, before asking for clarification.

“She beat Dunkelfelger in a ditter match?!”

“Yes, my Zent. I was told that Ehrenfest lost in a rematch without her leadership. Quite badly, in fact. It was only because of her influence that they emerged victorious the first time. I discovered that the young lady is the disciple of Lord Ferdinand, a genius in many fields, including being undefeated in ditter. Her status as his disciple was apparently what drew the curiosity of Dunkelfelger to her to begin with.

“Anyway, it seems Lord Lestilaut has been quite vexed about his loss, but has since then simply kept an eye on Lady Rozemyne. I was told that most among Dunkelfelger have actually taken quite a shine to her after their defeat, similar to how they started to idolize her mentor. Professor Rauffen especially seems to be a big promoter of her entering the knight couse…”

Well, that was no big surprise. The land of fire was always a bit… Ahem, overly passionate about anything regarding ditter, and those succeeding in it. Who would have expected that giving Ehrenfest permission to supply those tools would result in something like this?

He smiled internally about the reaction of the young heir of Dunkelfelger. It sounded to him that the young man’s bruised pride could evolve into a growing rafel in the future. Watching his country’s youth was truly a wonderful thing. He only wished he was still able to simply teach instead of having to lead Yurgenschmidt.

The report continued about the royal tools in the library. According to Adrian’s report, those tools were known to require vast quantities of mana to operate. Being supplied by three adult archnobles normally. It was very concerning that the young lady was apparently the only supplier. Would she not need her mana for the more mana intensive classes in the years ahead of her? And if she was so sickly, was it even safe for her to spend so much of her mana in the first place?! Wait. Maybe she was given filled feystones by her parents? He doubted that the young girl had the mana to spare otherwise. 

More concerning was the fact that there seemed to be some sort of gag order in Ehrenfest about anything regarding young Rozemyne. What could move the young aub to issue such a decree?

“There is also the fact that the young lady seems to be close to Lady Eglantine. Well, close may be an exaggeration, but they did meet for a tea party at least. I would comment that this is highly unusual for Lady Eglantine, and that she seems to be quite taken by the younger lady as well. A fact that drew Prince Anastasius attention, no doubt.”

Trauerqual had no desire to be reminded about the recent incident with his son, but noted the information in his memories for later. Adrian looked even more uncomfortable now, causing Trauerqual to raise his eyebrow.

“There is… something else. But there are rumors going around that the young lady is apparently a Saint. There is talk of beautiful and enormous blessings, her love and compassion for children and even commoners. Prince Anastasius seems to have belittled her openly for those very same rumors at the fellowship gathering. Most likely he believes them to be created by herself to boost her reputation, but that is only the beginning…”

So his son started bullying the poor girl at their first meeting?! It should have been below him to even acknowledge such rumors. Still, Trauerqual noticed that young Rozemyne’s blessings were impressively large and beautiful, but to call her a Saint?

“This is sadly where the impressive rumors stop, and Ordoschnelli begins singing a much more revolting melody…”

He noticed Adrian took a moment to gather himself before he continued his report.

“According to multiple sources Lady Rozemyne was raised in… Ehrenfest’s temple. And still remains there most of the time as its High Bishop, except the occasional visits to the archducal castle.”

“What?!”

Trauerqual completely lost his composure. Why would Ehrenfest force such a talented young lady into their temple?! What, by the Supreme Couple, was such a promising young girl doing in that hideous place?

“There were… whispers of open abuse by her adopted family, my Zent. I was not able to inquire about the extent, but there was talk of attempted kidnappings and poisoning. One seemingly succeeded, as the young lady had been poisoned at just eight years of age, making it necessary for her to have an extended stay in jureve.”

Hearing this left an uneasy feeling in his stomach. What was going on in Ehrenfest that such a talented girl was treated in such a manner?

“I was told that she had to stay an extensive amount of time inside of her jureve. Two years, in fact.”

“T-Two years?”

Trauerqual felt slightly sick now. But it at least explained her small frame.

Aub Ehrenfest’s petition for her to attend a year later made much more sense now. But why was he forcing her to attend now, when she had lost two years of education?

But wait…

Those whispered accusations of abuse were maybe poisoned words of Chaocipher, spun by other duchy’s students who seemed to despise Ehrenfest. If she was given such expensive means for her passion of supplying the shumil tools, then she could surely not be scorned by her own adoptive family. Right?

Speaking of those tools. They may have been royal property, but were of second- or even third-rated priority at best. He saw no real issue with their use by others, honestly, if it made someone like this poor girl and other children happy. The young generation should be nurtured and cared for. Giving them something to lift their spirits was only par for the course. But leaving them purely in their hands without proper oversight was still inappropriate…

“She was treated like this, missing two years of her young life, and was still able to do everything she did?”

“It seems like it, my Zent.”

It was more than impressive. He felt not only sorry for her, but awed too. Having dealt with such a hard hand in life, and still managing to be an exemplary archduke candidate?

After confirming that this was everything, he thanked Adrian for his excellent work, before dismissing his entourage as he retired to his chambers for the night. He had much to think about now.

But first he had to contact the young lady about the ownership of those shumil tools.

Chapter Text

He ordered to send word to the Ehrenfest dorm the next day, specifically to young Rozemyne. He wanted to meet her in the Academy’s library in two days’ time. It was a rushed order, reminding him too much of his son’s actions, but he was admittingly simply too curious about the young lady. He would take ownership of the tools himself and relegate Ehrenfest students to suppliers if they desired to continue in such a role.

It took surprisingly long until he received a response stating their compliance, seemingly due to Rozemyne having returned back home on Aub Ehrenfest’s order. The reply only helped to grow the uncomfortable feeling in his stomach.

‘Was her condition so bad that it was necessary for her to return home? What about the socializing that would be expected from someone in her position? Or… is that another flaw her adoptive father wants to give her in an attempt to make his blood-related children look superior?’

His stomach churned slightly at such an abhorrent thought. For someone who loved to step into the role of Erwachlehren, it was just unfathomable to consider hindering such a bright child. Doing so instead of educating her to grow into her intended role reeked of an attempt to reduce her capabilities and opportunities which was very distasteful.

He entered the library at the time of their meeting, where the young girl and her retainers were waiting for him, kneeling on the ground to give him their greetings. He took a quick look around as the glittering particles of light from young Rozemyne’s blessing rained down on him. Was that small group truly the entirety of the girl’s entourage in the Academy? It was much too small for an archduke candidate from a middle-sized duchy in his opinion.

He began addressing the young girl when she stood up. It was relieving to see her stand without any apparent struggle, but the reminder that it was Anastasius’ action that had led to it was still leaving a bitter taste on his tongue. 

“I was informed that you are currently the master of the royal tools, Lady Rozemyne. As much as I appreciate the younger generation wishing to help ease the burdens of the royal family, I believe it inappropriate to let this duty fall on Ehrenfest alone. I will therefore take ownership of them myself, you may stay as their supplier if that is your wish.”

“You honor me and Ehrenfest with your leniency, Zent Trauerqual. I had pleaded with Prince Anastasius to take back ownership himself, but he denied my request and instead directed me to bear this privilege. I apologize that my actions have roused those in the highest heavens to intervene at all. I have since then poured as much mana into them as I could by myself, as a token of my honesty.”

He scrutinized the young lady as she replied to his words. Her retainers appeared nervous to face his presence, but the young girl’s composure seemed just the right mix of respectful and subservient. It could be argued that she held herself in the same vein as someone from a greater duchy would, far above her station. But it was honestly fascinating to see such confidence without the usual traces of arrogance from such a burdened child. She even wasted her mana by spending most of it on those tools to apologize?

“There was no reason to apologize, young lady. I was informed that it was merely an accident, and you followed the correct way of dealing with the situation by informing my son immediately.”

Maybe it was his remaining soft side coming through. All those years he was allowed to be Erwachlehren coming to the surface when seeing such a bright child trying to do her best. It gave him a pleasantly warm feeling in the cold darkness that was his reality, having to deal with ruling a declining country.

“Please forgive me for my assumptions then, Zent Trauerqual. But… I confess that it was a great relief to fill them with mana. I am of course more than happy to return them to their rightful owners, the royal family, so that they help and support Professor Solange in her duties of protecting this marvelous sanctuary of the Goddess of Wisdom, Mestionora.”

The young lady’s eyes seemed to sparkle slightly as she spoke about the library. It was honestly kind of adorable.

“I also apologize for taking more time than appropriate to answer the summons. I was bound to my bed so that I could recover, spending most of my time overseeing some projects. In addition, some of my duties in Ehrenfest had to be fulfilled before I could depart.”

There was so much to unpack with her statements. The young lady had supplied the tools by herself? Alone? It was a relief? And what did she mean she had to oversee projects and regulate things? What could a young girl in her summer possibly oversee? And all of this while she was bound to her own bed to recover?!

“There is no need to apologize, it was an abrupt summon in any case.”

“I am again most thankful for your leniency, Zent Trauerqual.”

He simply nodded at the girl, ignoring the steadily growing bad feeling inside his stomach. Instead, he directed her to transfer ownership of the tools.

He was surprised when the tools seemed almost sentient, replying that he had to become a supplier himself first, and then overwrite the already supplied mana. Professor Solange informed him that they would address him as “Milady”, a feature built in by their creator.

‘What a hassle my ancestors created. But oh well.’

He poured his mana into the tools, which were apparently called “Schwartz” and “Weiss”. But it took a concerning amount until he felt it was finally done. The amount of mana he just poured into those shumil tools was utter nonsense. He felt nearly as drained as he did after having to feed the country foundation!

There was no way that a young lady from a lowly duchy such as Ehrefest could possibly fill them regularly without feeling utterly exhausted. He felt slightly appalled that the poor girl had felt the need to expend such a ridiculous quantity merely to apologize for an unintended and frankly harmless mistake.

“I will allow Lady Rozemyne to supply mana to you both. She may also appoint anyone else she deems fit to supply as well.”

It was the least he could allow the poor girl for her service. Feeding her mana to those hungry shumils on her own was just ridiculous. But to his surprise, the white one called Weiss just tilted its head, instead of acknowledging his order.

"Milady already Milady. Trauerqual just supplier. May praise, but only Milady can order.”

‘What?!’

He barely held his composure. Did these shumil tools just say that young Rozemyne was still their master? That she had poured more mana into them than he just did? No. Surely it was because she supplied for a longer amount of time?

"Weiss, how long would it take me to override her mana?"

Weiss, tilted its head the other way now.

"Trauerqual barely filled half. Trauerqual cannot replace Milady. Need more colors, more prayer.”

He was completely stunned. Did this thing just say he supplied only half of what the young girl did? Not enough colors? Prayer? Was that meant literally? Did that mean there was some requirement for mana colors? He glanced to the side. The young lady was doing her best to not appear troubled, but it was obvious she was greatly concerned about his potential reaction. Some of her retainers looked close to fainting.

“So it seems.”

He gestured for a more elaborate conversation at a small table with a single seat nearby. There was obviously more to speak about now. After he sat down young Rozemyne kneeled before him, her arms crossed. Looking at her was only another reminder of her small frame. The sight nearly made him frown, but he controlled his expression to not agitate the poor girl any further.

“There is no need to fret. It was unexpected, but I do not see any reason to punish you for my ancestors’ curious choices in designing magic tools, young Rozemyne.”

“I am humbled by receiving your leniency once more, Zent Trauerqual. I never intended to steal anything from the royal family, rest assured!”

He waved her off. It was truly no big issue to him. The reveal of her apparently abundant blessings was much more important in his opinion.

“Again. There is no need to fret about it. But I am curious about the mention of colors. Would you be willing to tell me which ones you possess? You should have been told during your baptism ceremony. I can use that information to find a fitting replacement.”

It felt refreshing to speak to a young mind again. He so dearly missed those days when he could just teach as a Professor at the Academy. To his slight surprise, the girl looked even more anxious now.

“I… am unsure? It was never announced, nor explained to me how many colors I possess. I only know that it showed the colors of a rainbow when I stamped it, so I cannot truly answer you, Zent Trauerqual. I deeply apologize for my inability to answer your question.”

‘A rainbow? Does that mean she is omni-elemental?!’

His surprise must have shown, because the young lady looked slightly fearful now. He controlled his features again.

“I see. Nevermind my inquiry, it was just the curiosity of someone who enjoyed his time in Erwachlehren’s role. There will be no punishment for either you or Ehrenfest for failing to transfer ownership of the tools. But I will have to burden you with keeping control over them until a solution is found.”

“Of course, I am honored to act in such a role and lessen the burdens of the royal family and Professor Solange.”

What a well-meaning little lady. Still, it was a bit disappointing that the original goals for this trip turned out to be for nothing, but what he gained in return was arguably even more valuable. Young Rozemyne’s worth just became near immeasurable. There was much to think about now. 

“I appreciate your willingness to offer your support. It seems Dregarnuhr, the Goddess of Time, has woven today’s threads with exceptional speed and grace.”

The young girl looked relieved as she bowed her head to him with her arms still crossed, before standing up with grace.

“I thank you again. If there is any future need for my assistance, please confer with Aub Ehrenfest. I will be most busy with organizing Spring Prayer in the temple as the High Bishop.”

Trauerqual nearly lost his composure again. She spoke openly about her association with the temple?

Before he could say anything to her she had already turned around, beginning to depart with concerningly slow steps. But the appalled faces of his closest retainers mirrored his thoughts. Just what was going on in Ehrenfest?!

“Oh dear…”

He was taken out of his shocked state as the Librarian Solange looked as distraught as he felt, muttering her words.

He departed back to his palace, retreating to his own chambers to think. But he sadly reached only a slightly… uncomfortable conclusion.

He had to speak with Magdalena.

Chapter Text

Unfortunately, there was no opportunity to speak with his Goddess of Light before the award ceremony, seeing as both of them were swamped with work. He shuddered to think how dire things would have been without Drewanchel and Dunkelfelger’s backing, and the retainers that came with their support. Even with a small army of scholars they were still not able to fully complete the necessary preparations.

It felt as if he merely blinked, and suddenly Dregarnuhr had spun the weave until it was time for him to depart for the Royal Academy to announce the best students of their respective years.

Though little had changed from last year, watching the children beam with pride over their good grades was balm for his heart.

To his immense shock and exasperation, his son Anastasius managed to convince Lady Eglantine to be his escort for their graduation. The meeting they requested in haste with him and Sigiswald was similarly surprising.

Anastasius renounced any claims he had for the throne, essentially making Sigiswald the heir by default. In exchange, he requested that he would be allowed to marry Eglantine. All of them were slightly stumped at the sudden demand, until the young lady explained that she had no desire to bring further strife to the land. She had accepted his son’s rafel, and those shy looks exchanged between them were enough to convince him that Bluanfah had danced for both of them.

Sigiswald did not waste a moment before congratulating them for their decision, even if he could have been a bit more considerate in his choice of words. It was obvious that he felt this solution was much easier than having to work to acquire the young lady’s approval. He really had to sit down with his oldest son for a stern word in the future…

Still, it was decided that Anastasius and Eglantine would start a new royal branch family, acting in a more supporting role in the future. After agreeing that Sigiswald would be named heir, his oldest excused himself, citing that he had much to arrange now. Regardless of how much truth was in his words, could he not have at least tried to be polite and stay until the talks were done? It was a very rude and disrespectful gesture.

Trauerqual just added it to his list of things to talk about with him soon, being more focused on hearing his son’s and soon to be daughter-in-law’s reasoning.

It was very interesting when they revealed that it was mainly due to young Rozemyne’s influence. The young archduke candidate from Ehrenfest had apparently given his son the advice to speak plainly with Eglantine, exchanging their wishes and hopes for the future in person. Quite unorthodox, but the results spoke for themselves. How ironic that the young lady had essentially prevented the threat of a new civil war by trying her hand at playing Liebeskhilfe. It was only strengthening his belief in his chosen course of action.

Trauerqual considered involving Anastasius and Eglantine in his plans, but refrained for now. He would speak with the rest of his family after he had discussed things with Magdalena first, but those two lovebirds seemed oddly fond of the young Mestionora already.

As if to mirror his internal thoughts, it was time for those becoming honor students and first in class to be given their due rewards. He spoke from the heart as he praised their effort, doing his best to confer his honest feelings, even if he was restrained by noble etiquette.

That Rozemyne ranked first among the first years, even outstripping Drewanchel’s archduke candidate, was impressive but not unexpected. What unsettled him was the sight of the tiny girl’s slow climb up to the podium. Hopefully, she did not exhaust herself by having to climb all those stairs.

He heard a few barely audible gasps, originating from the ladies at his side, as the young lady stepped closer. A quick glance revealed that Ralfrieda and Clementia were looking at Rozemyne with barely discernible envy. Lady Nahelache was in a similar state even if she was a little bit worse at hiding it. Magdalena, meanwhile, had narrowed her eyes slightly, staring at the young Mestionora with a calculating eye. Eglantine was looking at the young girl with a very warm gaze, fondly caressing her own hairpin for a short moment.

He could only surmise that it was because of the young lady’s appearance, combined with her possessing similarly beautiful hair accessories to Eglantine. Ralfrieda had not held back in private, lamenting that she could not obtain an accessory as splendid as the one Anastasius had presented their new daughter-in-law upon their engagement.

At this point he had to wonder if his son was even aware that he was indebting himself up to his neck to Rozemyne, or if he just did not care what he had to do to stake his claim on his Geduldh like an overeager Ewigeliebe.

Aside from young Rozemyne’s walking speed, her composure and grace were absolutely flawless as she bowed down to receive her award. The proud joy dancing in her eyes reminded him almost painfully of his own departed daughter. She would have been of similar age…

He dismissed those bleak thoughts, focusing on the rest of his duties as Rozemyne descended to return back to her adoptive family. Or maybe tormentors would be a more apt term?

He just hoped that Magdalena would agree to his plans…

Chapter Text

He arrived at Magdalena’s villa two days after the award ceremony, being warmly welcomed by his Goddess of Light, a gesture he returned all too happily. The fact she began near immediately fret in her own way about his obvious tiredness was as heart-warming as always.

They spent longer than would be normal just speaking about mundane things, how his or her week had been. How his youngest son Hildebrand apparently caused another mischief, before receiving a fierce scolding from Magdalena. The amusing tale made him chuckle fondly. Truly, children were the greatest gift imaginable. But their leisure talks sadly had to come to a close, as there was the initial reason for this visit.

Trauerqual dismissed his retainers after the tea was changed. Magdalena followed his lead without question, until they were finally alone, and could speak without the necessary propriety they had to uphold constantly.

“My dear Dark God, would you tell me what burden lays on your shoulders? It is unusual for you to suddenly request a meeting with me. Not that I am not happy to receive you. It was unfortunate that Dregarnuhr played with our threads so vigorously…”

He tried to smile at her, but regardless how he worded it in his mind he was still about to upset her, probably. Magdalena seemed to pick up on his growing anxiousness, her back straightening just the slightest bit.

“I was indeed unfortunate. I would have preferred to talk with you sooner, my dear Goddess of Light. But there is still enough of the Goddess of Time’s grace left over, I think. I… please keep an open mind about this, Magdalena. But would you mind providing me with your council?” 

Her fiery eyes narrowed at him, an expected reaction honestly.

“Is that about the young lady you were so unusually focused on recently? The archduke candidate from Ehrenfest I saw at the award ceremony? Lady Rozemyne was it?”

His wife was as quick on the uptake as usual. He gave her a nod, confirming her suspicions.

“Yes, the very same young lady. I have… considered adopting her as my daughter, and I would be most interested to hear your opinion on this topic. It would be relieving if it was you who steps into the role of Wiegenmilch as well.”

“…You know that the royal family cannot simply steal an archduke candidate from another duchy, my dear Dark God. Why do you want to adopt her in the first place?”

That was such a loaded question he did not even know where to truly begin. He had to try though.

“There are a multitude of reasons. The start of my growing interest was as exasperating as it was worrying.”

“Oh?”

He was glad Magdalena seemed at least willing to hear him out first, if her curious gaze was anything to go by at least.

“I first met the young lady when I heard Anastasius tried to abuse his royal authority. He trapped the young girl with only him and his retinue in a tearoom of his villa, directing her to spy on Eglantine for him. Good Oswin informed me about this fact after his charge had ignored any advice given to him, and did it anyway.”

Trauerqual had to suppress a smirk at seeing Magdalena’s right eye twitch for a moment. She tried to appear regal about it, but his oldest sons brought no shortage of annoyance to her. He honestly didn’t know if he should feel resigned or amused about it, but that did not truly matter right now.

“So he willingly risked not only his own reputation, but the young girl’s too? What was he thinking…?”

After seeing the near disastrous process of his son’s courting for Eglantine’s hand, he began to doubt if his son was thinking at all when the lady was concerned.

“Oswin was quick to report to me after he was planning to force her into this situation for a second time. I personally interrupted their meeting to free the poor girl from my… overeager son. It was the first time that I met the young lady myself, shocking me quite fiercely as you can imagine.”

“…Yes, she looks just like a younger Mestionora. But that alone is no reason for wanting to adopt her.”

He nodded his head before continuing.

“Indeed. But I do confess it was what caught my initial curiosity. It got even worse when the young lady collapsed before I was able to give her permission to leave…”

It was not a memory he was overly fond of. Seeing a young girl being forced to her limit and succumbing to fatigue was just not right. It reminded him too much of his own daughter’s departure from the mortal realm…

“It was revealed that Anastasius ignored warnings by her attendants about her weak constitution, forcing her to attend the meeting when it was already necessary for her to take a potion before it even began. I scolded him quite fiercely for that, I admit.”

“As you should. But is it not concerning that the young girl was in the Academy in the first place? If she is liable to collapse from just a simple meeting? She looks much too young in any case…”

Magdalena made fair arguments. What parent would force their ill child to be exposed to such a thing?

“I have only suspicions… But I will come back to this later. I had Adrian gather information about her, and what he brought to me was… honestly astonishing.”

Trauerqual reclined back into his seat, getting more comfortable as it would take a while to name the girl’s merits.

“Despite her condition, she apparently managed to educate all of the first years of her duchy to finish their theoretical lessons on the first day and receive passing marks. The rumors that she would become first in class with top marks proved to be true as well. It gets even more impressive if you consider the fact that the girl was submerged in a jureve for two whole years.”

“T-two years?”

His wife had to prepare herself better if she was shocked by this much. It was still amusing that she reacted in exactly the same way as him.

“Yes, two years, my dear. It seems she fell victim to an assasination attempt with poison in her own duchy… but as I said, I will get to that… later.”

Magdalena’s expression softened as he stopped for a short moment. It was no secret that this coincidence hit a very sore spot for him. His own daughter had succumbed to poison after her kidnappers had been barred from any further escape. The horrific memory of her dying body when he helplessly cradled her in his arms as she lost her blessings from Dauerleben still haunted him sometimes.

He shook his head once to get rid of those dark memories, directing the conversation into much lighter territories.

“Did you know that she is also the source of all of Ehrenfest’s new products they revealed?”

Magdalena’s kind eyes narrowed slightly into a more serious expression again. It was no secret that those hair care medicines and hair accessories were revered among every lady after their reveal. He still remembered those envious looks from his wives at the young lady’s hair when Rozemyne stepped up to receive the prize for coming first in class. Not to mention that this new recipe called pound cake was bound to invade every tea party in a startlingly quick fashion, according to his scholars.

“Those products come from her alone? That is… a little bit too much potential influence for such a lowly duchy as Ehrenfest.”

He could practically see his Goddess of Light’s mind work overtime, no doubt calculating how much power would be in her hands should she become the girl’s adoptive mother. But he had still much more to reveal, so he spoke again to interrupt her speculations.

“The girl also became the master of the library shumil tools, which were inactive for a few years now it seems.”

“I have heard about them from my retainers in my own time at the Royal Academy, but placing the young lady’s trends obvious worth aside for a moment – you want to reward the girl for stealing the property of royalty, just to acquire some trends?”

He chuckled at his beautiful wife’s expression. She looked so confused right now it was actually quite endearing.

“Of course it is not only that, Magdalena. Even if it is a boon she already presents, it is of little consequence on its own. We do not have the mana to spare for those tools’ usage right now, so I permitted Ehrenfest to supply them if they so wished. But it seems there was some… miscommunication. Apparently, young Rozemyne supplied the tools on her own, without any help from others. She even told me it was a relief to dump frankly absurd amounts of mana into them.”

Magdalena’s eyes widened just a bit, seemingly picking up on the implications.

“You mean she has enough mana to… rival royalty?”

“Yes, possibly even more. I was unable to overwrite her ownership of the tools. I channeled nearly as much mana into them as I do into the country foundation, having to use a potion just after our meeting concluded. And it was still not enough. These shumil tools are apparently somewhat sentient. The one called Weiss told me to my face that I had just poured half as much mana into them as young Rozemyne. That I was not even qualified to take ownership from her in the first place.”

“What?!”

He couldn’t help but smirk at her open reaction. It was just so amusing to see her lose her composure.

“Their words were, and I quote: ‘Trauerqual barely filled half. Trauerqual cannot replace Milady. Need more colors, more prayer.’ I suspect that I lack an element required for them to function, which the young lady obviously possesses. After questioning her on this topic, she told me about the colors on her baptism medal…”

He took a moment to look as serious as possible at this wide-eyed Goddess of Light.

“She said it was rainbow-colored. So if she was not lying, which I doubt looking at all the facts, that means she possesses every color. She did not confirm my suspicion, being seemingly kept in the dark about this fact by those around her, but she is omni-elemental. It could also possibly explain why her blessings are so beautiful. You truly need to see what I mean by yourself. It is no wonder she is called a Saint in Ehrenfest. Those sparkling particles of light are quite something to witness for the first time.”

“A Saint? Wait, no… Are you saying a ten-year-old archduke candidate from a lowly duchy as Ehrenfest not only possesses a comparable mana capacity as you, the Zent, but is also omni-elemental?”

“Yes, and all of this, barely hidden by Verbergen’s shroud. I would have normally taken it as a poorly constructed attempt from Aub Ehrenfest to prop his daughter up beyond her station… But there are just too many contradictions for that to be the case, in my opinion.”

Magdalena looked as if her whole worldview was strained, which was more than understandable.

“There… is more to this, isn’t it? You wouldn’t be so focused on adopting the girl so quickly if that was all. She could simply become a candidate to become a third wife to one of your sons.”

And that was why Magdalena was his most favoured wife. She was quick on the uptake and deeply suspicious by nature, ideal for the role of first wife of Zent, in his mind.

“Indeed. There is also the fact she beat the heir of Dunkelfelger in a ditter match. I was told it was quite the spectacle actually, and the young boy seems to have had an eye on her since then.”

“Right! I remember one of my scholars informing me a first year student beat Lestilaut in ditter. My young nephew is sure to have his big ego cut into tiny little pieces.”

Magdalena looked much too gleeful for a proud aunt in his opinion. But his warrior queen had always been supportive of strong ladies, so it was hardly a big surprise.

“Still, it is much too soon to think about Liebeskhilfe when the girl has not even developed mana sensing yet. If all you have told me is the truth, then my poor nephew will be met by a challenging trial of Glucklitat to match the girl in any case. But I would still assume that my former home would not hesitate to try making her his third, or maybe even first wife… And that is not even taking into account her potential adoption by us.”

He questioned if Dunkelfelger the Second would offer young Rozemyne the role of becoming first wife of the heir. But his Goddess of Light was more familiar with her original home, so he was willing to take her word for it. If anything, it was something he had to keep in mind after he adopted young Rozemyne as his own daughter.

Chapter Text

He questioned if Dunkelfelger the Second would offer young Rozemyne the role of becoming first wife of the heir. But his Goddess of Light was more familiar with her original home, so he was willing to take her word for it. If anything, it was something he had to keep in mind after he adopted young Rozemyne as his own daughter.

“Sadly, that is where the good points end. The rest ranges from appalling to outright disgusting to me, and I do not mean anything being the poor girl’s own fault.”

“What do you mean? Is that about her constitution?”

Trauerqual felt a bitter taste in his mouth upon remembering the revolting details. Taking a deep breath, he started to outline his suspicions and the rumors surrounding young Rozemyne.

“Yes, it seems the poison attack forcing her into Jureve was just the latest incident. I shudder to think what she already had to go through in her young life. There are apparently multiple signs of either mistreatment, or outright abuse in Ehrenfest. Adrian was able to gather some more rumors surrounding the poor girl, and there seems to be a gag order from Aub Ehrenfest himself. But the words about abuse or exploitation run apparently rampant among students of the duchy regardless. It’s painting quite a bleak picture.”

Magdalena’s eyes had narrowed again, a clear sign she did not like what he said at all. But it was sad that even this was not the worst of it.

“But even all of this is not the worst. There were also rumors that she is connected with their… temple. And the young lady freely told me that she will be responsible for organizing Spring Prayer as their High Bishop!”

He clenched his fist at the memory of young Rozemyne declaring it openly to him in the library. With a smile on her face! Just what horrible forms of indoctrination was her supposed family subjecting the poor girl to?! How could any father willingly flaw his own daughter like this?!

“She was smiling innocently as she revealed her abuse to me with no apparent shame or worry present, Magdalena. It seems to me that she is wholly kept in the dark about things to flaw her. It’s abhorrent!”

“You cannot be… No, that…”

Magdalena paled, clenching her fists in obvious anger or horror. He could not really fault her for such a reaction. Flawing such a young sprout by sending her to that abhorrent place was revolting to him as well. Her status would at least protect her from having to participate in their… practices. Hopefully.

“Yes. As I said, the young lady does not even seem to be aware of what is done to her. But her obvious naivety at least hints at the fact she wasn’t exposed to their practices. The retinue I saw when I met her was also much too small in my opinion. I counted only eight of them in our last meeting before the award ceremony. And considering it was known to them that they would meet with me, they should have brought any non-adult retainer in her service along.”

Even a middling duchy such as Ehrenfest should be able to afford more retainers to their archduke candidates than what he saw. Adrian only confirmed that there were more than enough children of fitting age currently attending the Royal Academy from Ehrenfest. So why was she not given more retainers? If she truly was responsible for all of those trends, she should have even more than her siblings, shouldn’t she?

“There is also the most recent fact that Aub Ehrenfest has requested my approval of the engagement of Rozemyne and Lord Wilfried, the projected heir and her adoptive brother. I ordered my scholars to gently rebuke him, asking if he was sure about this decision. As far as I am informed, the young lord was an honor student, but Adrian called him average at best. I know that my head scholar tends to look down at the current curriculum of the Academy, which had to be adjusted because of the civil war. But in this context his praise for Rozemyne’s near perfect grades carry even more weight. Young Wilfried looks admittingly somewhat poor beside his much more capable sister.”

He did not fault the boy for this at all. Trauerqual himself was used to being overshadowed by his own siblings in his own youth.

“In any case, Aub Ehrenfest replied that he wishes for the sudden union regardless. I fear it is only to settle some internal strife, or to firmly bind Rozemyne to Ehrenfest. Which father would willingly do his best to flaw such a capable daughter and then engage her to his chosen heir? It’s absurd… All of this is why I decided on this course of action, and sought your counsel on this matter.”

Magdalena finally reclined in her seat as well, seemingly in deep thought. He busied himself with taking a sip of tea. He had spoken too much without enjoying it anyway.

“…Tell me something, Husband. Was there in any way mention of a Lord Ferdinand in your reports?”

The sudden question surprised him a bit, but he nonetheless answered his now suddenly angry looking wife.

“Yes, actually. It seems he is acting as her mentor and guardian, which caused the deep interest of Dunkelfelger to challenge her to a ditter match to begin with. I forgot to mention that bit.”

He thought Magdalena was angry before, but now she looked downright furious.

“I should have suspected as much! I will support your decision to adopt the poor dear as my daughter. If all you have told me is true, it is no wonder that she is treated like she is. That cold man has most likely groomed her until she was receptive enough to meet his abhorrent expectations! I shudder at the mere thought of what he did to the young girl until he was satisfied!”

He was unaware his wife still held such a deep animosity for the man. He now remembered that Lord Ferdinand was engaged to her before she broke the very same engagement by demanding proposal challenges from him. The memory of how she threw him to the ground, straddling him and putting a knife to his neck, was as amusing as it was embarrassing.

“Your obvious animosity to your former fiance aside, are you willing to step into the role of Wiegenmilch to Rozemyne?”

He had to make sure there was no misunderstanding between them, he liked their lovely relationship after all. Her nod was relieving to see.

“Oh yes, I will! Please, invite Aub Ehrenfest for a tea party. I will attend as well and we will… ask him politely about my Rozemyne’s circumstances, before we adopt her. I am curious what kind of excuses he will bring forth.”

It was heartwarming that his lovely warrior queen was already treating the poor dear as her own daughter. Seeing her so angry and passionate was actually quite charming.

“That is more than acceptable, my dear. Thank you. But we still need to speak about how we approach her adoption in a way that will not lead to an outcry among the other duchies.”

Magdalena visibly doused her sudden fire, looking deep in thought.

“You spoke with Eglantine about her marriage with Anastasius to create a new branch family, correct? Can we not use that somehow? It is so far only known to us.”

“I did, and she has indeed agreed to create a branch family together with Anastasius, much to my surprise. My son was more than willing to renounce his claim for the throne for his Goddess of Light’s hand in marriage. It was actually very interesting that it was apparently Rozemyne’s advice for my son, which caused this in the first place. But if we place Rozemyne in Eglantine’s old position, that would mean marrying her to Sigiswald.”

His wife scowled at his words. Clearly, his Goddess of Light truly didn’t like his oldest son at all. But she began to smile proudly after another moment.

“Not that, then. But seeing that it was thanks to Rozemyne’s influence that this potential crisis of succession was averted, it is only more reason to secure her as a princess as fast as possible. I have never heard of a first year managing to convince a prince to renounce his claim to rule. And even more impressive is the fact that Anastasius would even feel grateful and indebted to her as a result. This will become very useful for her as my daughter.”

Trauerqual could only agree with her assessment. If what Eglantine told him was correct, then Anastasius was only able to convince her to marry him because of Rozemyne’s advice. It was an enormous debt that he would have to repay, and which could be used to gain his allegiance to her without much effort required. Eglantine seemed to be fond of the young lady as well, so Rozemyne had most likely secured both of their backing with just two interactions. It was as impressive as it was terrifying to think about, considering the poor girl had been so sick she did not even participate in much socializing yet. Truly, she would make a wonderful first princess.

“Hm, what about using her reputation to our advantage instead? She is already known throughout the Royal Academy as a Saint, correct? We can simply use a few well-placed pieces of information, elevating her as a sign from the Gods. Her likeness to Goddess Mestionora, ownership of the library tools and her talents would make no one even dare to question it. It could also work to silence those annoying voices from the Sovereign temple, if we make her its High Bishop.”

He was taken out of his thoughts by Magdalena’s proposition. He leaned forward on his seat, his eyes narrowing at her, the uncomfortable feeling returning with a vengeance.

“I want to save the poor girl from being overly exploited and flawed by their archduke. And now you are suggesting that we do the very same?”

Magdalena raised her eyebrows at him.

“Of course not, dear husband. It will simply be a facade to justify the transfer into our care. We cannot declare her as a sign from the Gods and completely ignore the temple. I would of course never let my daughter stay in that filthy place! I will arrange for a room to be prepared in my palace, until she is sufficiently educated to act as a princess, and can move to her own palace.”

It seemed he truly had roused Magdalena’s motherly instincts if she was already planning which steps she had to take to care for Rozemyne.

“It will just be a move to gain control over them and use those rumors to justify the adoption. Her only association will be as a ‘divine’ figurehead. You said her blessings are beautiful, correct? We could have her execute the graduation ceremonies and starbindings in the Royal Academy grounds, perhaps? It would prove our seriousness about her ‘divine’ status, if nothing else. It could also work to lessen the impact of her previous association with the temple in the first place.”

That sounded much more reasonable to him. The Sovereignty temple was leaning into disrespect with their continuous outcry about the fact he lacked Mestionora’s guidance in the form of the Grutrissheit.

“She already is Ehrenfest’s High Bishop, so giving her the highest possible religious post of the country in addition to our full support, will make all those voices not even dare bring it up openly in a negative light. There would of course be some degrading rumors at first, but if what you said is true this is already the case anyway. Why not use them and make them work for us instead, turning them into a positive light as my daughter proves to them to be an outstanding member of the royal family?”

He leaned back again, contemplating her words. It was a bold plan to silence the potential outcries about stealing such a promising candidate from Ehrenfest. But the potential rewards were more than worth it. Rozemyne was surely already familiar with the duties expected of a High Bishop, including the necessary rituals. As tragic as this fact was, it was something he had to accept in his heart about his new daughter. Having her hold the occasional ceremony would indeed create a good foundation for their rhetoric, praising her as a sign from the Gods.

The young lady’s apparent adoration of the library in the Academy would only further paint her as an avatar of Mestionora. Even if it was a little bit strange for a future princess to go there herself, instead of sending retainers. But this could also work in his favor, honestly.

Because of his duties, he had no time to spare to search this library for clues about the Grutrissheit, being limited to the libraries of the royal palaces for the most part. Having Rozemyne comb through those old tomes in search of hints would be hardly a problem, and would most likely make her happy as well. He smiled at the mental image of seeing the young Mestionora sitting on a small table, surrounded by books, as she read with a peaceful smile on her face.

He was sure that there had to be a hint in one of those libraries in any case. They were searching for a book-like magic tool, after all. Where else would they find clues about it, if not in one of the libraries his ancestors made painfully sure were protected at the highest level possible? It was only logical.

“Proclaiming her as a sign from the Gods could work. Rozemyne became the master of those royal shumil tools through some unknown means. It would be easy to paint her as being in Mestionora’s favor, or even her avatar, from that fact alone.”

Now that he thought about it, it was a little bit strange that such highly valuable tools were placed there and not in their own palace libraries. Was this perhaps a hint where the way to the Grutrissheit was hidden?

“I will summon Aub Ehrenfest, and we will talk with him about her adoption.”

“Agreed. I will direct my scholars to gather as much information as they can in the meanwhile too.”

Both of them called their attendants back in, aligning their schedules to have a meeting with the young aub in five days. It should be more than enough time to gather everything required before the Archduke Conference.

Chapter Text

He could only stare blankly at the wooden board in his hands, dread slowly building in his stomach as a far too familiar ache was surging inside.

‘This cannot be right… surely.’

He read the contents of the board again, but to his growing distress the words remained the same.

“Is everything alright?”

He looked up from the delivered message, staring at Karstedt, who was in turn looking at him with concern.

“No. Everyone except Karstedt, clear the room.”

There was a round of surprised mumbles as his retainers walked out of his office. After everyone was outside, he did not waste anymore time, pulling out an ordonnanz.

“Ferdinand, this is Sylvester. Come to my office. Now!”

“Sylvester?”

He ignored Karstedt, watching as the small birdlike magic tool phased through the wall. He wordlessly handed him the board laying before him.

“Oh. I understand now.”

Sylvester buried his head in his hands, barely noticing the return of the magic tool.

“Understood.”

The single word of the message repeated itself until the bird turned back to its usual form, silence filling the room. He just sat feeling numb as Dregarnuhr spun the weave, until the door to his office burst open.

His reliable brother looked at him questionably, but Karstedt merely handed him the wooden board.

“…This is indeed concerning.”

“That is everything you have to say about this?! I have been summoned! By the Zent!!!”

He struck the table with his fists as he exploded on his brother, who appeared as unbothered as always.

“I can read, fool.”

“What did I do? What should I do?!”

Despair made itself known next. It was enough trouble that Rozemyne had made contact with both Klassenberg and royalty. His heart nearly stopped when Zent Trauerqual demanded that the little gremlin meet him in the library for those damn tools she had accidentally taken possession of. Sylvester had thanked every God or Goddess in existence when both Rozemyne and Rihyarda had assured him that Zent Trauerqual had decreed that nothing would fall back on Ehrenfest for the accident. There hadn’t been any further royal “request,” aside from that Ewigeliebe of a princeling’s desire to encase his Geduldh in ice, which was stressful enough to deal with but still manageable.

Things had been so calm on the royal front that they even allowed for Rozemyne’s presence at the award ceremony, despite Ferdinand’s concerns. In a moment of fatherly care Sylvester had actually overruled his worrywart of a brother for once. Rozemyne had become first in class. It would have been outright cruel to take the event honoring her accomplishments before the whole country from her. Everything had gone without a hitch too, laying their worries about the sudden royal scrutiny to rest.

But now the Zent himself was essentially summoning him? Why?!

“It is highly unusual in any case, a summons so close to the Archduke Conference. Did something happen that we were not informed of, or is it because of Rozemyne’s involvement with royalty?”

He felt a hand on his shoulder, lowering him back into his seat, before a cup with vize was pushed into his trembling hands. May the Gods bless Karstedt for being such a reliable friend and retainer! He took a large gulp of the liquid, fortifying his rattled nerves a little. He looked at Ferdinand, who was hopefully racking his genius brain for a solution.

“Perhaps there was something that we missed? Did something happen after Rozemyne’s contact with Klassenberg and royalty?”

“Nothing that I am aware of. I only sent my request for approval for Wilfried and Rozemyne’s engagement. I received a politely worded reply, questioning me if I was assured of my actions. But this in itself is nothing noteworthy. I had fully suspected such a reply, seeing as it is fairly early for an engagement to be decided between two children. But aside from that nothing comes to mind. It has to be because of that gremlin’s contact with the prince! Perhaps he didn’t like that hairpin or something?”

“…Without a doubt it’s about Rozemyne and her actions. But I doubt that it is about the presents for prince Anastasius. I was informed that he conveyed that he was pleased at their quality. Our low ranking doesn’t really allow us to gather much information either in an Academy term. I had actually hoped that your scholars could gather more information during the Archduke Conference. Regrettably, there is no way for us to know what the summon is about.”

Even his brother had no answer! His stomach churned painfully as he just wanted to cry!

“Good grief, get a hold of yourself, Sylvester! I will brew you a calming potion, take it before the meeting in three days. There is little we can do beforehand. We can’t refuse a direct order from royalty.”

Of course they couldn’t ignore it!!! He could only pray this ominous potion would truly prevent him from degrading himself…

After teleporting to the Royal Academy with his entourage, he made his way outside of the dormitory, following the guide sent to lead them to the palace of their King.

Sylvester could only swallow as he entered the opulently decorated room, doing his best to suppress his growing panic upon seeing the occupants of the room.

‘Why is Zent Trauerqual here together with Lady Magdalena!?’

After going through the usual greetings and sitting down, they were served tea and snacks. Lady Magdalena seemed especially intrigued by the pound cake that Rozemyne’s chef had provided him with in a hurry. It was a relief that it seemed to be to their liking. Lady Magdalena praised it openly, while Zent Trauerqual agreed with a nod.

Being given the chance to participate in even irrelevant smalltalk in the first place instead of being treated like a criminal was surely a good sign!

His nerves frayed slightly as the tea was changed and his entourage was dismissed from the room, leaving him basically alone with the rulers of their country and their respective retainers. A sudden feeling of comradery with his little gremlin of a daughter swept through him.

“I have heard that this delightful pound cake was invented by one of your daughters, Aub Ehrenfest. I hope the young lady is recovering properly. My dear Dark God told me that she seemed quite ill when he first met her.”

His blood chilled as Lady Magdalena began questioning him about Rozemyne with a polite smile while her eyes were piercing through him. He did his best to hide his nervousness with his own smile. Thank the gods Ferdinand’s potion was working.

“My dear daughter did indeed pioneer this excellent delicacy, Lady Magdalena. Rozemyne is currently still recuperating from her extended travels. I will be delighted to become Ordoschnelli and convey her your best wishes for a quick recovery.”

“Her extended travels, you say? Oh my, I do hope you did not expect her to fulfill any more duties after she collapsed multiple times in the Royal Academy already.”

He did not like the fact that the woman’s smile seemed only to grow.

“Duties like having to lead ceremonies in Ehrenfest’s temple. I heard she acts as your High Bishop?”

‘!!!’

His chilled blood froze him to the bone at such a question. At least he was now aware this meeting truly was about Rozemyne with absolute assurance. But how? How did they know about that?!

“Rozemyne is indeed acting as Ehrenfest’s High Bishop, but those ceremonies are gladly not requiring her to exert herself, so she has plenty of time to rest.”

It was better if he didn’t mention that Rozemyne was traveling all around Ehrenfest to oversee the printing industry…

“So it is true that you would force such a bright young lady into the temple, Aub Ehrenfest?”

Zent Trauerqual looked at him with a frown on his lips! Better to reveal a little bit about her made up history to silence any growing assumptions about mistreatment! He adopted his best distressed expression.

“My dear Rozemyne’s life is actually quite tragic, your majesty. She was originally the daughter of my cousin Karstedt, who was forced to hide her in the temple because of some unrest in his household at the time. He only managed to retrieve her shortly before her baptism, where she had already built a reputation for her saintly acts of kindness. Upon seeing her blessings firsthand at her baptism, I adopted her on my own, and have been treasuring her as my dear daughter ever since.”

“I see. That is indeed a most tragic circumstance. But why did you name her High Bishop then, instead of rescuing her from that filthy place altogether?”

He could not possibly reveal the true reason was mostly because of her abundant mana, or the fact that they tried to minimize her contact with other nobles to hide her commoner origin until she was sufficiently educated. They would surely show even more interest in her then! He had to present it without painting himself in a bad light.

“Rozemyne appears to be indeed abundantly blessed by the gods and goddesses above. Her upbringing in the temple made her a pious follower of them. She had no contact with the… ahem, darker side of their practices first hand. Her first act as the new High Bishop was indeed to cleanse those very halls from the stain of those abhorrent deeds under my brother’s guidance. Ehrenfest’s temple is now free of such taint.”

Terror filled his body as Lady Magdalena suddenly looked at him with fury and disgust!

“So you directed an innocent sprout to clean up the temple at the tender age of seven?! And under that… Under Lord Ferdinand’s ‘guidance’ as well?! How dare-”

“Magdalena, please calm yourself.”

Zent Trauerqual softly chastised his wife, but he did have a similar disgusted expression on his face! In his haste to spin a convincing tale Sylvester had completely forgotten that Lady Magdalena and Ferdinand were once engaged, and the lady had done her best to escape this very same engagement. He was unaware that she resented his brother to this degree though.

Wait… Was he going to be executed because of their misguided care for that gremlin?!

“I only feel reaffirmed in my decision.”

‘In what decision?!’

Sylvester stole a glance at the knights surrounding them, whose faces were either frowning or masks of neutrality.

‘Not good!’

“Aub Ehrenfest, I would request that you would revoke your adoption of young Rozemyne and allow us to take her under our care as our daughter.”

He stared blankly at Zent Trauerqual, the words merely filtering through his mind.

“I… Pardon me, Zent. But would you deign to repeat yourself?”

“My Dark God said that we would request to adopt the poor dear as our daughter.”

Lady Magdalena spoke instead of her husband, who simply nodded at her words in agreement.

‘They want to adopt that gremlin?! They want to make that crazy book fiend a princess?’

Rozemyne was already a menace as his adopted daughter. He internally shuddered in fear at the thought of what the power of the royal family in her hands could do to their country. She could potentially pull the whole country into ruin in her quest for more books! The thought of a former commoner rising to such an elevated position was also just ridiculous.

Of course, he would never reveal her true origins to them. Sylvester was not such an unthankful person! After everything that adorable little girl did for his family, including saving both of his blood children, it was the least he could do to defend her to the best of his ability.

“With all due respect, your majesties. I have to humbly decline your most generous offer.”

It was a little bit strange that his mind felt clearer all of a sudden, now that he was defending her. It made him feel truly like her father, instead of a failure.

“Oh?”

That terrifying woman’s eyes narrowed dangerously. But he only returned a stonefaced expression.

“I spoke the truth when I said that my adoptive daughter is pious, your majesties. Rozemyne doesn’t despise her position in the temple, so I saw no reason to force her away from it. She is blessed by the gods.”

He could see that Lady Magdalena was about to tear into him again when Zent Trauerqual took the reins of the conversation in her stead.

“I do not doubt your words about her blessings, Aub Ehrenfest. After seeing both her deeds and talents, I am of the opinion that your adopted daughter is a sign from the gods. Her resemblance to Goddess Mestionora is surely a sign to help us in our search for the lost Wisdom. Surely you would not place Ehrenfest needs above the whole of Yurgenschmidt?”

He could only swallow as Zent Trauerqual’s reply dismantled all of his potential arguments just like that. Ehrenfest would be branded as traitors should he even dare to argue against such a statement!

“Rest assured that we do not seek to rob the young lady of her cherished role of doing her duty to the gods. We wish to speak about any of her wishes with herself. And, of course, Ehrenfest will be generously compensated for their loss as well.”

There was really nothing he could even say at this point, was there? He felt like trash as he bowed his head in submission.

“If that is your wish, your majesties. May I ask when you intend to adopt Rozemyne?”

“It would be prudent to finish her transfer into our care as soon as possible. Magdalena needs to start educating her for her new role as a royal princess before the next year at the Royal Academy starts, after all.”

It was at least a small comfort that Lady Magdalena looked strangely… excited about those prospects. He could only hope that Rozemyne would find a good mother in her. At least the fact that they seemed under the illusion Rozemyne was mistreated meant that her lack of education would not cause any more damage to Ehrenfest, should she misstep in her talks with them.

“Rozemyne is currently resting in her chambers inside Ehrenfest castle. May I send word for her to join us, or would you want to meet at another date, your majesties?”

“We are of course aware of the abruptness of those changes. You may bring her to meet us tomorrow after fourth bell. I would like to speak with her about some things in peace for a while, before she returns back to Ehrenfest to assist in facilitating the move. Also, please ensure that all necessary parties are present at the coming Archduke Conference. We will make the announcements and sign the contract for her adoption there.”

They were that eager to secure her?!

“As you command. If you would allow me to depart? There is much to be arranged on short notice.”

“Of course. It seems Dregarnuhr, the Goddess of Time, has woven today’s threads with exceptional speed and grace.”

After being dismissed, he walked out of the room, being greeted by Karsted and the rest of his entourage.

“We are returning back to Ehrenfest.”

Most of them looked with questions in their eyes as he hurried back home. But he didn’t have enough spirit left inside of him to answer them yet.

After they teleported back, he was greeted by Florencia and Ferdinand, who had apparently both sat down at a nearby table in anticipation of his return.

“Sylvester, what-”

“Please wait a moment, my dear Goddess of Light.”

He directed for Rozemyne to be informed that her presence was required as soon as possible.

She arrived with parts of her entourage. Still riding inside her ridiculous highbeast, to no real surprise. He guided them to a nearby meeting room, dismissing all of their respective retainers.

“I have to make this very brief, seeing as Zent Trauerqual and his first wife, Lady Magdalena, are expecting our presence tomorrow.”

He looked at the soon-to-be first princess, seeing her shrink back slightly.

“Rozemyne… I am so sorry… please forgive me.”

“Um. What?”

It was only natural for her to react in such a way, but his conscience still demanded that he apologize first.

“What did the Zent say, Sylvester?”

His brother was apparently tired of his procastrating.

“It was not only Zent Trauerqual who greeted me, but his first wife Lady Magdalena as well. I tried to prevent it. But they were insisting on their decision, making it practically an order in all but name. They ‘requested’ that I dissolve Rozemyne’s adoption, and… they want to adopt her as their own daughter.”

Everyone looked stunned at him, even his brother’s eyes beginning to widen slowly in clear disbelief.

”So you will be a princess soon, Rozemyne. Congratulations.”

There was another moment of silence before-

“Wait, what?!”

“Sylvester?!”

Everyone looked at him wide-eyed, Rozemyne especially looked at him as if he suddenly acknowledged her highbeast as anything other than the grun it was.

“I didn’t even want to become an aub! Why am I suddenly bound to become a princess?!”

“Don’t blame me, you gremlin! It’s your own fault!”

The room erupted into chaos. It took a quarter of a bell until everything was properly explained. Seeing as there was literally nothing they could do against a royal order, it was agreed that they would begin to prepare for Rozemyne’s unexpected move to the Sovereignty posthaste.

“But I just wanted to become a librarian, not a princess…”

He pulled the sniffling incarnation of chaos up onto his lap. It was perhaps the most fatherly action he had ever done to her, but seeing his normally composed daughter so distraught pulled at his heartstrings.

“Look at the bright side. You will have free access to both the royal libraries and the library at the Academy.”

“But! But my… Exclusives. What will happen to them? What about my Gutenbenbergs and retainers?”

He sighed, pushing a privacy tool into her hands, petting her head with his remaining free hand.

“You can still take them with you as your exclusives, can’t you?”

“I can?”

Her hopeful sounding whimper nearly broke his composure. He shielded her from view with his cape, hiding her tears from the others who threw him understanding looks.

“Of course you can, Rozemyne. Your initial adoption by me will be canceled. That contract you all signed only works in Ehrenfest, but I will cancel it as well to make sure. So you are free to call them your family once more, even if you have to be even more secretive from now on. I doubt that your future parents will allow you much contact with commoners… if any at all. But that is for yourself to figure out, sorry.”

Rozemyne began to hug him, something she had never done before. It was adorable, but made him feel even more pathetic than before.

“Thank you so much, adoptive… No. Thank you so much, Sylvester!”

He just continued to caress her head until she had calmed down. He still felt like a failure of a father, acting at least once like he had seen her original family react was the least he could do.

After Rozemyne had calmed down a little, he wiped her eyes with a handkerchief containing Heilschmerz’s blessing, removing any traces of her crying. He let her sit in his lap for the moment as she returned the magic tool to him.

“You did not answer what will happen to my industries. What about my Gutenbergs, or my current retainers?”

“We will deal with how to handle all of that after your talk with the royals tomorrow. But you have to inform your own retainers tomorrow morning, not before, so they cannot leak anything before we are able to handle the situation.”

He looked at everyone inside the room next.

“Do not tell anyone about this sudden change. We will need to direct the narrative to our advantage.”

After dealing with the more emotional side, they began to prepare to move. First would be the results of the tea party between Rozemyne and Lady Magdalena as her future mother they would have to deal with. After that they had not only to prepare for Rozemyne’s departure reasonably quickly, but how to deal with Leisegangs’ inevitable outrage as well.

His stomach grumbled painfully already.