In Place of My Older Sister

In Place of My Older Sister

In Place of My Older Sister

This morning, right after breakfast, Father, Mother, and Uncle Ferdinand visited the northern building. I was called to my older brother’s room as well, where I was told the details of last night’s attack.

They had caught one of the culprits, but it was likely that even more people were involved behind the scenes. My older sister Rozemyne had almost died after being poisoned, and to dissolve her hardened mana, she would need to use a potion called a jureve and sleep for over a year.

My older sister, who had used her own guard knights to save me, putting her own safety on the line...

I started to sob, only for my uncle to scold me for wasting my strength. “There is no use crying when you could be working to repay her,” he said with a stern expression. “Crying is easy, and to be frank, it is a waste. I would much rather you dedicate your time and energy to filling the hole created by Rozemyne’s absence.”

Father warned Uncle Ferdinand that he was being too harsh, while Mother told me that Rozemyne would certainly not be happy to know that she was the reason for my tears.

I dried my eyes and looked up, at which point Uncle Ferdinand asked Wilfried and me to lead the winter playroom in Rozemyne’s place.

If he wants me to repay her, then I’ll do everything I can to take on her duties while she’s gone.

“As for the upcoming Spring Prayer, I would like to request Wilfried’s assistance,” Uncle Ferdinand continued. “He performed Mana Replenishment during the Archduke Conference, and Charlotte cannot help due to her inexperience controlling mana.”

This was no laughing matter; I was being removed from Spring Prayer right after steeling my resolve to repay Rozemyne. What else could I do now that I was being denied my best opportunity to repay her?

“Uncle, I can help! If all I need to do is get used to controlling mana, then I can practice during the winter, just as Wilfried practiced during the Archduke Conference. I too am a child of the archduke; please allow me to do what I can to make up for the absence of my sister, who was only poisoned because of what she did for my sake.”

My teachers had all said that I was more skilled than Wilfried, given how often he ran from his studies. By working hard, I could surely make up for Rozemyne’s absence.

“Charlotte, controlling mana is not easy,” Father said. “Learning will be a painful, arduous process. If that’s fine with you, then do as you wish. Being able to control mana and see with your own eyes what Rozemyne has been doing will surely be good for your growth.”

“Yes, Father.”

“I’ll go to Spring Prayer too!” Wilfried declared to Uncle Ferdinand with tightly clenched fists. “I can’t just let Rozemyne keep saving me without helping her in return!”

I stared at my brother, my eyes wide with surprise. This was not the Wilfried I knew—the Wilfried who was kind but lazy.

“Very well, you two. Practice controlling your mana by pouring it into the foundational magic over the winter. You will be supported by Bonifatius and the archducal couple.”

“Ferdinand...” Father began with a grimace, but my uncle simply grinned and gave him a diligent bow.

“May you assign them their duties for Spring Prayer, Aub Ehrenfest.”

After asking Father to take care of our mana practice and assign us to our duties for Spring Prayer, Uncle Ferdinand gave both Wilfried and me letters.

“These are from Rozemyne,” he said. “Written in them are schedules and plans for the winter playroom. I do not expect you to lead it as well as Rozemyne did, but please do what you can.”

“Right!”

And so came our first goal: leading the winter playroom. I hugged Rozemyne’s letter to my chest as I headed there with Wilfried. To make what was written a reality, my brother and I needed to work together.

Uncle Ferdinand had said that he would be sending Rozemyne’s head attendant and guard knights to the playroom, but her personnel were returning to the temple. He wanted us to use our own personnel well, and to take in the advice of those around us as we progressed.

Uncle said he didn’t think we could lead the playroom as well as Rozemyne, but she managed to do it when she was my age. I’ll show him that I can do just as good a job!

“Good evening, everyone.”

Since I had been told to get help from as many people as possible, I called over all of Rozemyne’s guard knights and attendants to show them the letters, starting with her teacher Moritz. The letters described having students of the Royal Academy gather information on duchies and take extensive notes during lectures to abet the creation of study guides. They would be rewarded for their work depending on the quality of the information and how detailed their notes were.

“What will they be receiving as payment, exactly?” one of the guard knights asked.

“Money, though I do not understand where Lady Rozemyne’s comes from,” Cornelius answered. “What are your budgets, Lord Wilfried and Lady Charlotte? Do they come from your head attendants, or would we need to speak with Aub Ehrenfest?”

I moved to explain my budget to Rozemyne’s apprentice guard knights, but before I could, another guard knight waved his hand in the air.

“Lady Rozemyne’s budget is handled by her guardian, Lord Ferdinand, as she often traveled between the castle and temple,” he explained. “She will determine the value of the information, so I think we should start by paying a small fee to all those who provide any. Lady Rozemyne can then pay them in full when she awakens.”

“I see. In that case, I would like for you and Brigitte to manage the information and handle the payments, Damuel. I’ll get the students at the Royal Academy to begin gathering the information and making their study guides.”

Rozemyne’s guard knights swiftly distributed the work between themselves. But for some reason, Angelica, who had shown such splendid initiative when rescuing me, seemed to be keeping her distance from the conversation.

“Can we expect the help of Lord Wilfried’s and your retainers at the Royal Academy, Lady Charlotte?” Cornelius asked.

“Why of course. Ernesta, I trust you to help them.”

“You may count on me, Lady Charlotte.”

Wilfried’s and my apprentice guard knights gave a firm nod as well, agreeing to fulfill Cornelius’s request.

“Lady Charlotte, I do believe that Cornelius and the others will handle this Royal Academy business just fine. What instructions did Lady Rozemyne leave regarding the winter playroom?” Rozemyne’s head attendant Rihyarda asked. I knew her well, since she had previously served as Father’s head attendant, so I could show her the letter without worry.

It said to continue having the children read and write based on their individual ability, since new picture books were coming soon; to increase the number of digits in their multiplication and division exercises; and to recover the picture books and toys lent out the previous year before going through the rental process again.

“Professor Moritz, will we be able to accomplish what Rozemyne did last year?” I asked.

“I will ensure that we do,” he said with a deliberate nod. “Last year, Lady Rozemyne handled the children with expert dexterity and motivated them to study through various means. I myself am a professor here—a teacher. I will use Lady Rozemyne’s methods as a reference to make it through the winter.”

“Yeah, I’ll help make up for Rozemyne’s absence too!” Wilfried declared, having experienced last year’s winter playroom firsthand.

Rihyarda fell into thought, then raised a hand to swiftly interrupt the discussion. “I hate to say this when you’re all so motivated, but once everyone has greeted Lady Charlotte, it would be best to explain Lady Rozemyne’s absence, simply state our plans for the playroom this year, and then conclude things for today.”

“Oh my, but why?” I asked. “I can do as the letter says just fine.”

“Everything requires preparation. Lady Rozemyne prepared sweets as a reward for the children who won last year, but could you ask the same of your chefs?”

I hadn’t planned for that kind of thing at all. As I faltered in surprise, Rihyarda looked up a little, as if recalling what Rozemyne had done.

“Lady Rozemyne had her personal musician help with harspiel practice, selected books for the children to transcribe based on their particular skill levels, organized the children into groups for karuta and card tournaments, and prepared sweets and the like to reward the winners. You would be hard-pressed to do the same so abruptly, especially considering that you did not see Lady Rozemyne work last year. It would be best if you instead spent today distributing the workloads and preparing for tomorrow.”

None of what Rihyarda had explained was mentioned in the letters.

“That’s easy to say, but we still don’t know what to do,” Wilfried interjected. “Do you, Rihyarda?”

“Oh yes, Wilfried my boy. I certainly do.”

At Rihyarda’s direction, Professor Moritz prepared tests to measure the abilities of those in the playroom, while we organized the workloads of our personal musicians and the like. Wilfried’s guard knights would work alongside the Knight’s Order to start training the children.

As I watched the others busily moving about, I received my first greetings from the children. I had been informed ahead of time which ones had tricked Wilfried during the autumn hunting tournament, and I needed to memorize their faces well. One of the challenges awaiting me this winter was carefully choosing how I interacted with them.

“Lady Charlotte, I was told that Lady Rozemyne would be resting for a very long time. May I ask just how long that will be?” a laynoble named Philine asked quietly, having been at the end of the line waiting to greet me. I could sense her worry about my sister in her wavering grass-green eyes.

“I am truly sorry, but I do not know the exact details either.”

“Lady Rozemyne said during the winter playroom last year that she would turn my mother’s stories into a book. This year, I worked hard and wrote the stories out myself instead of simply speaking them aloud for her to transcribe. I was hoping she would like to see them...” Philine explained before sadly lowering her gaze.

I was not capable of making a book for her; it was my very first day and I was already failing. My pride and self-confidence had swelled over my years of working hard to be worthy of my status, all the while being told that I was more competent than my brother, but now that assurance was starting to crack.

Our challenge began the next day. We started measuring the children’s knowledge using the tests that Professor Moritz had diligently written up overnight. Meanwhile, Wilfried relied on memory to put last year’s teams back together and set up games with the karuta and playing cards.

And we actually have sweets prepared today...

During the games, I was entrusted with looking over the group of newly baptized children. I needed to secure as many wins as I could here to establish myself as an unbeatable wall, just as my sister had done the year before.

Unfortunately, my resolve was shattered to pieces in the blink of an eye. The children had practiced karuta and cards with their siblings over the year, and they were now so good that I had no chance of winning. In comparison, I had only ever been able to practice during Wilfried’s occasional visits, so the children promptly demolished me.

As infinitely frustrating as it was, I couldn’t simply give up and accept defeat. But as I prepared for a second round, a guard knight named Damuel quietly called out to me. He wished to see my sister’s letters so that they could handle the study materials currently being returned.

“What exactly do you mean when you refer to returning study materials?” I asked.

“Lady Rozemyne lent out study materials in exchange for stories, for the sake of laynobles who could not afford them. Ah, yes—the list of borrowers is right here.”

The list of names that I hadn’t understood the purpose of turned out to be those who had borrowed study materials and the stories they had offered. Damuel requested that I summon them all together.

I called for the laynobles to return their study materials, and they promptly gathered with them in hand. A guard knight named Brigitte delicately put the materials into a wooden box while Damuel marked their names off on the list. As I watched their perfect teamwork, the games of karuta that the older children had been playing came to an end.

“The winners shall now be given sweets,” I announced.

“Yesss!” came the excited cries. “I’ve been waiting all year for this!”

With that, I distributed the sweets among the children who had won. They rejoiced and immediately began to devour them, but then their expressions changed. For the briefest moment, they looked at their rewards with a frown, then forced a smile back onto their faces and politely commented, “These are delicious.”

I tilted my head in confusion, at which point Wilfried stepped in. “Sorry, everyone... Rozemyne is sick this year, so her personal chefs aren’t here. They won’t be the same sweets as last year.”

It was then that I remembered the sweets I had eaten during my first tea party with Rozemyne and understood everything. They were all delicacies I had never eaten before, each one more delicious than the last. None of my personal chefs were capable of making them.

I sadly lowered my eyes, but as the sorrow swept over me, Philine quietly took my hands. “There is no need for you to feel so down, Lady Charlotte. The fact that there is a reward at all is more than enough,” she said. “I don’t get to eat sweets often at home, so I’m delighted to be rewarded with them.”

“That’s right, Charlotte. My personal chefs wouldn’t be able to make any of those sweets either,” Wilfried reassured me. “Rozemyne came up with them herself, so they’re special. Her attendants told me all about it.”

It seemed that Rozemyne had not only been making picture books, but sweets as well.

Will I truly be able to fill the hole that my sister left behind...?