Work Text:
Shumil's Ch.14 Hidden Room Conversation But It’s About Karstedt
One day, deep into the autumn after the trombe incident that got Shikza and his mom executed, Ferdinand called me into his hidden room. In the last weave, this was when Ferdinand read my mind. My dream world, the other weave, the lie about being Rozemary’s daughter… I was going to show him everything.
Though, I didn’t see the circlets anywhere.
“Rozemyne, it has been some time since your… reunion with Karstedt. As your guardian, I wanted to know your opinion of them so far.”
He’s not gonna read my mind? Aww, I did all that mental prep for nothing then.
“I don’t have any issues with them. Well, maybe other than…” I looked up at Ferdinand, hesitating.
“Speak your mind. We are in a hidden room.”
“I’m just worried you might say something to him. He already blames himself for my situation.”
He nodded. “So you have a concern regarding Karstedt. It is true that he has shown an inability to protect you so far-“
“No, it’s not that. It’s… I don’t like that he’s not taking responsibility for Nikolaus!”
Ferdinand blinked in surprise. That made sense. He hadn’t had much familial love in his life at this point after all.
Hmm, I can use this conversation to give Ferdinand another lesson about family!
I sighed. “I mean, Karstedt didn’t even know I existed a year ago, but he still took me in. Why can’t he do at least that much for Nikolaus?”
“Nikolaus is also Trudeliede’s son. You already know of her crimes?”
“Yes, she attempted to poison Heidemarie and got executed for it. Good riddance, but I don’t see what that has to do with Nikolaus.”
Ferdinand tapped his temple, and I waited patiently for him to organize his thoughts. “I understand you have a penchant towards mercy, but this is how the family of criminals are typically treated. In fact, without your intervention, Nikolaus would have likely met the same fate as Trudeliede.”
“But why? How can a two year old be guilty of anything?”
“It is the guilt by association through blood relations.”
“If nobles care about blood relations that much, how am I supposed to interpret Lady Elvira accepting me as her daughter?”
Ferdinand frowned. “That… is a special ca-“
“And if you think about it, my mom and da- I mean, my foster parents took me in and raised me as their daughter even though they knew I wasn’t related to them by blood!”
That was a lie, of course. Though knowing it didn’t stop tears from welling up. I looked down to hide my eyes before continuing. “They raised a sickly child that a coworker randomly forced onto them. They never expected me to live this long.”
All the pent-up emotions stored over the past few months started flowing out. I had been so focused on my planning and deception that we never even had a real farewell. It may not have been entirely necessary this weave, but still…
With tears streaming down my cheeks, I glanced back at Ferdinand. Both his eyebrows were raised, and he was looking at me with a strange expression.
“You know, the mana fevers I got - sometimes it hurt so much that I wanted to give up and let it swallow me. Mom, Dad, Tuuli, Lutz - they were the reason why I could push the fever back down. And they always nursed me back to health after. At any point, they could have just let me die and be better off, but they always stayed by my side. They always protected me, and now… and now…”
I couldn’t hold back the tears any more.
“Rozemyne, control yourself.” He knelt down in front of me, feystone in hand.
Before he could press it to my forehead, I leaped into his chest for a hug.
“Rozemyne!” He tried to push me away, but I grabbed on tighter. “This is not proper-“
“We’re in a hidden room!” I yelled, choking in my sobs. “Please! I haven’t had anyone to hug in months. I need this.”
He sighed, but I felt his arms around me a few moments later. I hadn’t realized how much I missed this from the last weave.
We stayed like this for several minutes as I calmed down. Afterwards, he healed my puffy eyes and Waschened the tear stains.
“Thanks, Ferdinand.” I said, sniffing.
“That was… unpleasant. Never do it again.”
“What? Don’t be so mean! Aren’t hidden rooms meant for emotional stuff like crying anyway?”
“You are correct that hidden rooms are often used as an outlet for a child’s emotions. However, it is done with one’s family, and usually only the mother.”
“But Ferdinand, you are my family.”
His eyes widened with confusion.
Oh yea, this was supposed to be a positive lesson about unconditional love or something.
“Ferdinand, you’ve been taking care of me more than Karstedt and the other Linkbergs. I can say with complete confidence that I view you as family. Which is definitely more than what Karstedt thinks about Nikolaus.”
He sighed. “That again? The situation is regrettable, but Karstedt did not have another choice.”
I scoffed and rolled my eyes. “Of course he does. He could’ve just kept Nikolaus. If Elvira didn’t want to be the mother, he could’ve been baptized without one.”
“Being the son of a criminal, a member of the opposite faction, and baptized without a mother would have made him an extreme political liability.”
There it was. My ultimate trap. I looked at him with the saddest face I could muster. “Then… if I became a political liability, would I be thrown away, too?”
His eyes widened. He didn’t answer, which hurt a little, even though it was entirely expected. At the very least, I could almost see the conflict brewing on his face, which meant progress had been made!
“I’m sorry,” I said, looking down in mostly feigned sorrow. “I shouldn’t have asked.”
Many moments passed in awkward silence. I put on an empty smile and looked back at him. “If you do not mind, I am feeling a little tired. May I retire now for Shlaftraum’s blessing?”
He stood up and walked me to the door. His hand rested on the handle, but then he paused. He was staring forward at the door.
“…Ferdinand?”
“Rozemyne. I cannot speak for anyone else, but I promise you this: I will never be one to abandon you.”
I was speechless. I couldn’t say anything as he opened the door and walked me out of the hidden room.
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(The rest of the conversation about Heidemarie, Elvira, and others was held a few days later when Ferdinand asked again about them specifically.)
—————————————————————————
Ferdinand, Sylvester, and Karstedt, some nights later
Ferdinand watched as Sylvester poured out three cups of vize.
“Aaahh, it’s been a while since we’ve had one of these together, huh? Last few months have been pretty rough.”
No one said anything in response, so Sylvester continued. “First the poisoning, then I find out about Karstedt’s secret six year old daughter no one knew of-“
Karstedt winced.
“-then some idiot decides to attack her when his father is right there-“
Karstedt winced again.
“-and now Bonifatius is rampaging all over the Knight Order.”
“As he should,” Ferdinand said. “The incompetence displayed at the trombe subjugation was truly staggering.”
Karstedt winced yet again.
Sylvester put a hand on Karstedt’s shoulder. “Woah, Ferdinand, have some mercy! Shouldn’t kick a guy when he’s down, you know.”
Ferdinand grimaced. “Of course you should attack when someone is most vulnerable. Besides, you are the one who ‘kicked him down’ in the first place.”
Sylvester cackled and downed his glass, then sighed as he refilled it. “Mother’s been livid, yelling at me about the Trudeliede’s and the Dahldolfs’ executions. She’s been telling me to exert my authority and such. And I think she’s noticed Rozemyne, too.”
Karstedt scowled. “If that woman ever threatens my daughter, I’ll kill her myself!”
Sylvester frowned. “Alright, enough about Mother then. Tell me about your daughter!”
Karstedt’s face softened. “She is like… a young Mestionora. Both in how she looks and in her intelligence. She’s like Cuococalura, too, with her recipes. And Greifechan, with her business skills. Ah, my daughter is blessed by many gods indeed.”
“Really? A six year old did all that?”
“Yes,” Ferdinand said, cutting off Karstedt before he could continue. “She has also been assisting in my paperwork and calculations.”
“Amazing!” Sylvester said. “She’s even impressed Ferdinand! I did hear a nasty rumor that she was raised by commoners though. Any idea where that came from?”
Karstedt grimaced.
Ferdinand decided to extend a little mercy. “It’s true. She was abandoned by Rozemary and raised by commoner foster parents.” He frowned, remembering the conversation in the hidden room. “She sought us to save her life from the mana, but staying away from her foster family has affected her.”
Karstedt looked up. “How so?”
“Commoner families seem to express their familial love much more… intimately than nobles do. The lack of such has caused her some grief.”
“Then we should move her to my estate as soon as we can, so that Elvira can help her.”
Ferdinand tapped his temple, wrestling with a dilemma. He wanted to tell Karstedt of Rozemyne’s disappointment regarding Nikolaus. It was surprising how deeply it had hurt her, and Karstedt, the dense fool, would probably never find out if no one told him.
On the other hand, Karstedt was already on the edge of a depression after several subsequent failures to protect Rozemyne. Perhaps it would be best to wait until he recovered some of his energy.
“Whatcha broodin’ over there for, huh?” Sylvester said with a smirk. “Thinkin’ about somethin’ interesting?”
Ferdinand sighed, sipping his vize.
If I became a political liability to all of you, would I be thrown away, too?
The pitiful look she had made when asking that - Ferdinand didn’t want her to make it ever again.
“Karstedt, I asked Rozemyne of her opinions on the Linkbergs and the situations surrounding Trudeliede.”
Karstedt sucked in a breath. “Wha- what did she say?”
“She displayed remarkable maturity about the rumors, saying it’s better to control the release of information to our benefit rather than hiding behind it forever.”
Sylvester nodded. “Hmm. She is quite smart then.”
“She was excited to meet Heidemarie to discuss the book gifts, displayed total indifference towards Rozemary, and praised Elvira’s arrangement of her quarters.”
Karstedt smiled. “I was worried about how she would like Elvira, but it’s good to see that they’ve already made good impressions on each other. But uh, what about me?”
Ferdinand tapped his temple. This was extremely bothersome.
“Damn,” Sylvester said. “Must not be good, huh.”
“Please tell me,” Karstedt pleaded. “Is it the trombe subjugation? Or has she held a grudge this whole time for me not having known about her? She hasn’t told me anything directly. I need to know!”
Ferdinand sighed. “Surprisingly, she doesn’t harbor any negative feelings about either of those issues, even though she probably should.”
“Then what is it? What do I need to do to earn her trust?”
I will never be one to abandon you.
Ferdinand nodded once, having organized his thoughts. “Karstedt, do you know what happened to Nikolaus?”
Karstedt nodded. “Yes. After Trudeliede’s execution, Nikolaus was sent to the temple. Wait, did Rozemyne-“
“It was done at her request of mercy to Elvira, yes.”
“I- that’s… what else could I have done?”
“Rozemyne has expressed… extreme distaste for the concept of guilt by association through blood relations, and she seems especially disturbed that a two year old child could have been deemed guilty.”
Sylvester grimaced. “That’s not really avoidable. At least not for us nobles.”
Ferdinand nodded. “I don’t disagree with the actions taken, and the fact that Rozemyne expressed her views privately likely implies an understanding. However, she was very… anxious over the fact that it could also happen to her.”
“What?!” Karstedt shouted. “I never - why would she think that?l
“Karstedt. She saw how easily you abandoned Nikolaus due to the difficult politics. In fact, Nikolaus had been established as your child for over two years longer than she had. If Rozemyne were to one day befall a similar fate, would you act any differently?”
“Of course! She’s my precious daughter. I would never abandon her.”
Ferdinand nodded. “She should hear those words from you directly. In addition, you must explain to her: why would her treatment be different from Nikolaus’s?”
“She’s not Trudeliede’s daughter,” Karstedt growled.
Ferdinand shook his head. “That is not sufficient. We have established that Rozemyne does not necessarily value such blood relations. Do you have an explanation she could accept?”
“I-“
“Remember, Karstedt, her only example of a father is the commoner who protected her while knowing they never shared a blood relation. The father who took an unnecessary burden upon himself in order to save her.”
Karstedt looked down, totally defeated. “I don’t have an answer. I just know that I would do anything for her, and I can’t explain it in any other way.”
Sylvester sighed. “As a fellow parent, I know exactly what you mean.”
“I think…” Ferdinand started. “…that could be what Rozemyne would like to hear, though she may still be disappointed that you did not feel the same way about Nikolaus. Either way, if you want to gain her trust, you need to make it clear that you will not abandon her.”
After a long pause and another cup of vize, Karstedt nodded. “I understand. I’ll do my best to earn her faith.”