The Baptism Ceremony and Our Winter Debut

The Baptism Ceremony and Our Winter Debut

The Baptism Ceremony and Our Winter Debut

The situation was much like the Starbind Ceremony, except now there were far more judgmental gazes sizing me up as I walked down the middle of the hall. The tempo of the music being played made me feel as though I was being hurried on, and I desperately moved my legs to avoid falling behind Wilfried.

Among the audience I could see some wearing knight uniforms like Karstedt, others in the clothes of scholar-officials like Justus, and still others dressed in the attire of attendants. The rest were adorned in a variety of rich, frilly outfits.

My analysis of what people were wearing led me to believe that one’s placement in the hall was dependent on rank; laynobles were positioned closest to the entrance, while those of the highest ranks were by the altar. It seemed that the knights and scholars were together, but they were all accompanied by fancifully dressed women and children wearing their Royal Academy capes or otherwise just their best outfits. In other words, families were sticking together.

...I wonder if my brothers and Mother are together up ahead? I pondered. And it wasn’t long before I found Elvira up at the very front row near the center, with Eckhart right behind her. Lamprecht and Cornelius weren’t with them since they were on guard duty.

The altar was at the center of a stage, and Ferdinand was standing before it wearing his ritual priest robes. Sylvester and Florencia were to his left, facing the stage along with their guard knights and attendants. I noticed them both looking this way, along with Karstedt, so I gave a smile.

Rosina and the other musicians with their harspiels were to Ferdinand’s right, also facing the stage, and beside them were a number of nobles holding magic rings. Cornelius, Angelica, and Lamprecht were also close by, which told me that the nobles gathering were those related to the kids being baptized.

...Ah, I see. I’m the archduke’s daughter now, so Mother and Eckhart don’t get to be with my family or retainers.

Instead, they were both with the other regular archnobles. The fact that they weren’t able to be included in my family made me feel kind of sad.

...I wonder where Rihyarda and Oswald are? I thought, noticing that they hadn’t come in through the entrance door and weren’t beside the stage. I searched around for them and eventually saw them come in through another door. The crowd separated for them as they entered, and in no time at all, they were lined up by the stage as well.

When we stopped in front of the stage, Ferdinand gestured for us to climb up to the altar. We promptly obeyed and lined up before it.

Four children were to be baptized, among whom were those who lived so far away from the city of Ehrenfest that they weren’t able to invite a priest over during their birth season. While there were several kids, the whole process went just as it had during my own baptism ceremony: Ferdinand recited tales from the bible in his reverberating voice, then called each child by name.

“Philine,” he said, and a girl stepped forward. It was the same girl who had given me an uncomfortable look in the waiting room earlier. She gripped the magic stick that he held out—the same mana-sucking tool that I had held during my baptism ceremony—and once it began to shine, the nobles clapped in celebration.

I could guess that if one was so lacking in mana that they couldn’t make the tool shine, they wouldn’t be accepted as nobles. But babies had their mana measured at birth and throughout their childhood as they grew, so it was exceedingly rare for that to actually happen.

With that done, the magic tool was pressed against a medal to register her mana. A child was recognized as an Ehrenfest noble only once this process was complete.

Philine’s father stepped up onto the stage, then gifted his daughter a ring into which she could release her mana. “I bestow this ring upon Philine, my daughter who has been accepted by the gods and society.”

“May Philine be blessed by Geduldh the Goddess of Earth,” Ferdinand announced. And when his blessing rained down upon her, she filled the small feystone in her ring with mana and returned the blessing in thanks. A small red light bounced through the air toward Ferdinand, and the nobles clapped once again.

...Wha? Everyone’s happy with a blessing that tiny?

It was entirely different from the blessing that my guardian trio—Ferdinand, Sylvester, and Karstedt—had made me give during my own baptism ceremony. There had been two hundred nobles present then, and I had blessed every single one of them.

Well, that explains why the crowd freaked out so much! The blessing I gave was clearly abnormal! Had I known what noble baptism ceremonies usually looked like, I never would have done something so weird!

But no matter how much I regretted it, there was no going back now. Not to mention Ferdinand would have made me do it regardless to further his plot of establishing me as a saint. I couldn’t imagine a single reality in which I beat him.

Once the kids had all been baptized, it was time for the debut. This was a celebration for the kids who had been baptized during the year and accepted into the ranks of the nobles, where we would offer up music to the gods and pray that they continued to provide their divine protection. Each child would usually perform a song in honor of the god associated with the season they were born in.

We were moved to the left side of the stage while one of Sylvester’s attendants set a chair in the center. Then, Ferdinand called Philine’s name, signifying that she was to play first. Considering what Rihyarda had said earlier, this meant she was the lowest in status out of us all.

Philine wore a nervous expression as she sat down in the chair, at which point her music teacher stepped onto the stage with her harspiel. Philine took the instrument, then readied it.

...Wait, what? She’s not very good at all.

I had assumed that Philine’s poor playing was just a one-off case, but the next couple of children weren’t very good either. By the time we were halfway through the performance, all I could do was tilt my head in confusion. If this was the quality expected during a noble’s debut, then why in the world had Wilfried and I worked so hard? The level of artistry demanded from nobles was a lot lower than I had expected.

...Or so I thought. The second half were increasingly better, their talent seemingly proportionate to their status. There was a world of difference between how their harspiels sounded, and I immediately realized what was going on.

This is the difference that having more money to put into education makes.

The pieces had all come together. If the highest-status children performed first, then it would just be sad for the lower-status kids who had to play after them. Nobles were expected to be as good at playing harspiel as both their tutors and the quality of their instruments would allow, and that was why Wilfried and I were expected to play at such a high level; we wouldn’t be able to maintain our dignity and social position if we were raised amid the highest quality teachers and instruments, yet still couldn’t play better than those of a lower status than us.

The archnoble kids were as good as you would expect. They were slightly better than Wilfried, who had been practically whipped into shape overnight, but the difference wasn’t large enough that people would outright look down on him.

“...I bet you’re glad you practiced now, aren’t you, Wilfried?” I asked, and as he nodded with a stiff expression, Ferdinand called out his name. “Don’t worry. You’ve put a lot of hard work into this.”

I gave Wilfried an encouraging pat on the back, inspiring him to step up onto the stage and toward the center. Once he was seated, his music teacher brought him his harspiel. Wilfried took the instrument, readied it, and then began. The fact that he could play so well when it really counted and was able to stay calm despite all the judgmental eyes was probably a sign that Sylvester’s blood ran through his veins; he was regally playing the harspiel amid a massive crowd, the very image of an archduke’s son.

I glanced to the side and saw Florencia watching Wilfried with a smile, tears forming in her eyes. Her gaze was so full of dazzling motherly love that I couldn’t help but remember my own mom, and a pang of jealousy shot through my heart.

Wilfried stumbled a few times, but ultimately kept his cool and finished the song without issue. When he was done, he stepped down from the stage with the satisfied smile of a job well done.

“Rozemyne,” Ferdinand announced.

Just as the other kids had, I went to the center of the stage and sat down. From there, it was impossible not to see the huge crowd of nobles lined up in the assembly hall; I had heard that there were a total of eight hundred nobles across Ehrenfest, but it honestly looked like there were a lot more.

I looked around the hall and made eye contact with Elvira and Eckhart in the front row. They were both giving me calm smiles, showing their complete confidence in me. Justus was also there, positioned right beside Eckhart. It was actually Damuel and Brigitte who looked nervous, while Cornelius and Angelica were looking at me with anticipation in their eyes. Rihyarda gave me a smile and a small nod to help me relax.

While I was looking around the hall, Sylvester began explaining to the nobles the circumstances behind my adoption, going on to tell an even more exaggerated account of what had happened during my baptism to fuel the saint legend even further.

Stop it! Don’t hype them up! I exclaimed on the inside, all the while maintaining the calm smile of a noble. His embarrassing introduction ended just before the strange looks from the audience made me lose my composure, and Rosina walked up onto the stage with my harspiel.

“With your talents, you will do just fine, Lady Rozemyne,” Rosina said with an encouraging smile. “And don’t forget to smile and thank the gods,” she added in a whisper, before turning around and returning to her position.

As instructed, I forced a smile onto my face while readying my harspiel.

“Now then,” Ferdinand announced, “pray to the gods and offer them a song.”

Since I would be offering a song to the god associated with the season I was born in, I would be playing for Leidenschaft the God of Fire. It was a song that I was very familiar with and used to playing, but the small prank I had played on Ferdinand was backfiring big time.

...I’ve really dug my own grave here. The song he made me practice for this is the anime song I had him arrange! Forgive me, O mighty Leidenschaft! I’ll put as much heart into this as I can!

While apologizing silently, I began playing with all my heart so as to not disrespect the gods, pouring my absolute everything into the singing. But as the song went on, I could feel my mana being sucked into my ring, just as it would be when I said a prayer for a blessing.

Wh-What’s going on?!