Life in the Temple

Life in the Temple

Life in the Temple

In the end, Ferdinand made it exceedingly clear that I was to show him anything I wrote going forward, since my common sense was apparently “anything but common.” I agreed, of course, and put my oh-so shameless novel in a sealed box after he left. He had ordered me to burn it, but perhaps one day it would see the light of day.

“Fran, summon Ella and Hugo from the kitchen,” I said. “I wish to speak to them about what was just decided.”

“Lady Rozemyne, I would rather you communicate with the chefs through an attendant...”

“My apologies, Fran, but I think it’s best that I speak to them directly. You and the other attendants know very little about marriage, no?”

Fran went to the kitchen, unable to protest further. He and the others could speak for me in matters of work, but their lack of knowledge about life in the lower city put them at a loss when it came to marriage.

“Excuse us,” Ella and Hugo said respectfully as they entered, very clearly tense. Fran explained that I would be speaking to them directly and then stepped down. Since Ella and Hugo were commoners, my two guard knights were standing close behind me.

“You have both served me well in the Royal Academy,” I said. “I imagine that making so much food every day has been quite the challenge. The students were all overjoyed to eat it. You will most likely continue to accompany me whenever I return to the Royal Academy, and I look forward to your continued good service. Now, as for your marriage...”

Upon hearing this, their faces stiffened and they swallowed audibly.

“There is no problem with the marriage itself,” I continued, smiling in an attempt to ease their concerns. “If you are to be wed this summer, you have my blessing.”

“Thank you very much!”

“That said, we must discuss your living arrangements. There are married servants in the castle, so I will request quarters there for your use, but I cannot create a room for a married couple here in the temple. You will either have to stay in separate rooms as you have been or rent a room in the lower city and commute from there, as arduous as that may be. I should note that if you do choose the latter, you will not lose your rooms in the temple, so you may still rest here during busy periods.”

I glanced at Fran, signaling him to bring over the money we had prepared for them. Hugo inhaled with wide eyes when he saw the bag and heard the clinking of the coins inside.

“This is your pay for having worked so hard all throughout winter in the Royal Academy, and a gift from me to celebrate your marriage. May it help pay for your wedding.”

“...You’re giving us this much?” Hugo asked.

“Naturally. Since you are going to be accompanying me during Spring Prayer as usual, Hugo, you shall get time off work from tomorrow until then. Ella will have time off during Spring Prayer. It is not an especially long vacation, but use it to prepare for your wedding. I would have liked to give you time off together; however, that was not an option. My apologies.”

“No, thank you. Your consideration is more than we could ever ask for.”

Preparing for marriage was really quite something. Ella and Hugo needed to rent and furnish a room, as well as prepare for the upcoming winter. The Starbind Ceremony was deliberately held in the summer to give newlyweds time to ready themselves—one could sleep without needing a blanket during the warmer months, and food was in enough of an abundance that wages could be used to stock up on firewood.

Ella and Hugo already had rooms in the castle and the temple, so if they focused on preparing their bedroom in the lower city and nothing else, they would most likely be able to manage in time. Newlyweds needed cloth for their sheets, comforters, and mattresses, so the fiancées would normally weave it themselves as the start of their winter handiwork—hence why being good at sewing was necessary for one to be considered a beauty.

“Because you were working at the Royal Academy, I assume you did not have time to prepare any cloth. Is that correct, Ella? Are you going to be okay?” I asked.

“My mother said she would weave some for me.”

Ella’s mother had evidently decided to help out of concern for how focused her daughter was on her work. If what she ended up making didn’t suffice, Ella would make do with secondhand cloth. Hugo had made a point of noting that it didn’t matter to him either way, since he wasn’t marrying a “generic sewing beauty.” Their abrupt lovey-doveyness was amusing to watch, but it was also heartwarming to see them working to prepare for their new life together.

I wonder whether I should gift Ella a hairpin the divine color of summer? She’d probably be happier to receive new cooking implements...

Ella had spent her coming-of-age ceremony in the Noble’s Quarter, so she hadn’t attended the one in the temple. She would be wearing her fancy outfit for the first time this coming Starbind Ceremony, something her mother was no doubt looking forward to. Since Ella was a member of my personnel, the very least I could do was gift her a not-so-expensive hairpin.

Once our conversation was over, Ella and Hugo left. Next on my agenda was a pre-meeting with Fran, Zahm, and the others on the upcoming ceremonies. There was a week between the winter coming-of-age ceremony and the spring baptisms, and I was pretty sure I could use that time to relax in the temple.

“How is the orphanage? Has Konrad adjusted to living there?” I asked Monika. She was normally the one sent to discuss things with Wilma, so she visited the orphanage more than any of my other attendants.

After meeting my eyes, Monika stepped forward and began her report. “According to Wilma, for the first few days, simply hearing footsteps was enough to send him into a panic. Despite having been raised as a noble, he does not seem to have any attachment to power and authority as many blue priests do; rather, he seems relieved to have come to the orphanage.”

The abuse he had suffered in his previous home truly must have been terrible. I sighed, recalling Jonsara and the way Konrad had recoiled upon seeing a schtappe.

“I could ask for nothing more than for Konrad to live even a bit more peacefully than before. Monika, I would like to see the orphanage and workshop myself. Can you inform Wilma and Gil that I will be visiting tomorrow afternoon?”

“As you wish.” Monika nodded and then disappeared to do just that. Meanwhile, I took out my notes, scanned over what I needed to do here, and then passed a page containing notes on Spring Prayer to Zahm.

“I have discussed the splitting of the Central District with Wilfried and Charlotte. Please convey the results to the High Priest; the sooner we know of any potential problems with our schedule, the better. The two of them need time to prepare as well.”

“As you wish. I will also take this opportunity to discuss who will accompany Lady Charlotte for Spring Prayer. As you are here this year, Lady Rozemyne, Fran will not be available for her.”

“Yes, please do.”

Once Zahm had gone, I started looking over the letters that had accumulated on my desk. There were some from the Plantin and Gilberta Companies, and even one from Gustav of the Merchant’s Guild. The latter detailed his results after gathering thoughts from traveling merchants about the state of the lower city, as well as notes on his struggles as he attempted to beautify the place.

“I should also report this to Ferdinand and send a reply as soon as possible. Perhaps I will set aside time for that while assisting with his paperwork tomorrow. Fran, I am going to be writing letters to the Plantin Company, the Gilberta Company, and the Merchant’s Guild. Could you ask Gil to deliver them for me?”

Fran, who was standing beside my desk, paused for a moment in thought. He then shook his head. “Lady Rozemyne, should you not spend today resting? You do not look well at the moment. If you are looking for something to keep you busy, perhaps you could try exercising without your magic tools?”

I had thought I was doing fine, so Fran’s statement took me by surprise. I placed a contemplative hand on my face, wondering how Ferdinand would respond to me falling sick despite having returned to the temple and ending up unable to give blessings at the coming-of-age ceremony. In the end, I decided to obediently accept Fran’s proposal.

“Very well. I will spend today resting quietly. Please bring me all the new books that were printed over the winter,” I said, requesting new material to read. Fran sighed and then obeyed, although he made sure to reiterate that I needed to rest.

The next day marked my return to normal temple life after quite some time. Following my breakfast, I practiced dedication whirling and the harspiel until third bell.

“Lady Rozemyne,” Fran said, “it is time for us to go to the High Priest’s chambers.”

Leaving the harspiel cleanup to Rosina, I departed with Fran, Zahm, and Monika. Angelica and Damuel also accompanied me as guards; the former guarded the door with her life, as per usual, while the latter busily took care of all the jobs he was given. It seemed that Ferdinand was buried in a mountain of work after having been away from the temple for so long.

“Ferdinand, I am sorry to give you yet more work, but I received this letter from the Merchant’s Guild,” I noted, handing him the letter in question. “I believe a prompt response is in order.”

The contents of the letter explained that duchies other than Ehrenfest had something resembling a sewer system, using the wriggly slime things found in the toilets in the Noble’s Quarter. Said sewer system had been invented decades ago, and its growing popularity had resulted in an Extreme Makeover using the same near-instantaneous method used to construct Hasse’s monastery. It seemed that the wisest option was to modify the lower city in a similar manner, assuming that doing so wouldn’t be too disruptive, but such construction magic could only be used by the archduke; it wasn’t a decision the commoners could make on their own.

“Considering that this system is already being used in the Noble’s Quarter, it seems that only our lower city is decades behind the other duchies,” I observed.

“So it would seem... I will pass on the suggestion to the castle,” Ferdinand replied. He then wrote out a list of questions—asking when the Noble’s Quarter had initially been remodeled, whether the blueprints were still available, how much mana it would require to repeat this process with the lower city, and whether they even had enough power to spare—which he handed to me along with an ordonnanz feystone. “Send this to Elvira and Charlotte. Elvira is the one responsible for these matters; I can do nothing more than support you as your guardian.”

I accepted the feystone and sent the ordonnanz, as instructed. Charlotte and her retainers would presumably do their best investigating the questions.

Tch. I wish I was being asked to research things in a book room...

I returned to my room at fourth bell, had my lunch, and then started writing my response letters. Monika informed me when it was time for divine gifts to be sent to the orphanage and all the necessary preparations were complete, at which point I headed over there with her, Gil, and my guard knights.

Monika and Gil opened the wide set of doors which led to the dining hall, where gray shrine maidens were kneeling in wait.

“Wilma, I request a report on what has happened over the winter,” I instructed. “Everyone else may return to their duties.”

I was informed that not much had happened prior to Konrad arriving in the orphanage. Some of the children had caught minor colds, but they had recovered soon after without suffering any worse symptoms.

“How is Konrad doing?” I asked.

“The other gray shrine maidens and I feared he would not fare well in the orphanage after being raised as a noble, but there have been no problems worth mentioning. He was stiff as a board on his first day, but thanks in part to Dirk sticking with him and teaching him about life here, he now smiles quite regularly.”

Dirk had only ever really interacted with babies who were barely able to stand or apprentices who were already baptized and working in the workshop, so he had gladly welcomed Konrad, a boy who was actually his age. By this point, they were running all over the place like two peas in a pod. Delia was apparently having quite a hard time keeping up with them.

“I would like to check up on Konrad,” I said. “Could you summon him and Dirk for me?”

“As you wish.” Wilma looked at a nearby gray shrine maiden, who then left to speak to the children reading picture books in the corner.

Dirk stood up, his reddish-brown hair bouncing as he grabbed Konrad by the arm and rushed over. Delia followed after them.