A More Private Meeting

A More Private Meeting

A More Private Meeting

The meeting ended, and the room began to buzz as people started speaking among themselves again. A lot had happened, and it was clear that Ehrenfest was undergoing great change, so everyone exited with bright expressions.

“Rozemyne, Ferdinand, follow me to my office,” Sylvester said. “I need to speak with the High Bishop and the High Priest.”

Our retainers came with us, and what immediately caught my eye when we arrived was a fancy-looking book with a letter resting atop it. As I gazed upon its magnificence, Sylvester glanced over with a raised eyebrow.

“Those are from Dunkelfelger,” he informed me. “Have an apprentice scholar carry them to your room, but be especially careful with the book.”

AAAH! LADY HANNELORE, I LOVE YOUUU!

As I trembled with excitement, Hartmut and Philine delicately wrapped the book in some cloth given to them by one of Sylvester’s scholars.

“We need to talk about Ehrenfest and the Starbinding to be performed at the border gate. Retainers don’t need to hear about the ceremony, so you can all step outside for a moment,” Sylvester said. He cleared the room of not just my retainers, but his own as well, such that only he, Ferdinand, Karstedt, and I remained. The door shut with a click, and once the footsteps had faded into the distance, Sylvester collapsed forward so suddenly that he smacked his head against his desktop.

“Sylvester?” I asked.

“I’m exhausted, Rozemyne. That was the most exhausting Archduke Conference I’ve ever been to. It was even friggin’ worse than the first one I ever attended.”

He went on to explain that he had maintained the dignified persona of an archduke during the Archduke Conference and even proclaimed to his scholars that he was pleased to be so busy because it meant the duchy was rising through the ranks. In other words, he had completely hidden his exhaustion. Now that the retainers were gone, however, Sylvester’s archduke attitude had vanished. He started grumbling and whining to himself, all the while rubbing his forehead against his desk.

“Ferdinand, telling me to get the king’s approval for the marriage before the business talks began was the best advice you’ve ever given. I thank the gods that I followed it to the letter. Klassenberg’s next archduke came asking to take Rozemyne as a second wife, Drewanchel very heavily implied we should deepen our bonds since our daughters and sons are so close, Frenbeltag suggestively mentioned that Rudiger’s around Rozemyne’s age, and Ahrensbach was apparently trying to wed Wilfried into their duchy. If not for the king having already approved the engagement, I never would have been able to shake them all off.”

The situation really did sound tense. Karstedt was working his shoulders and scratching his neck, noting that he was exhausted and sick to his stomach just from watching.

“Klassenberg apparently learned about Rozemyne being the source of the trends and a composer through Lady Eglantine’s reports,” Sylvester groaned. “I have to admit, greater duchies are just as threatening as I thought. To think they’d pick up on Rozemyne’s abnormality and try to suck her into their fold despite having had barely any contact with her... It’s crazy. Rozemyne, when the hell did you even socialize with Drewanchel...? Justus barely mentioned them in his report.”

“I can’t speak for Wilfried, but I hardly socialized with them at all,” I replied. “There was an occasion when Lady Eglantine introduced me to Lady Adolphine at a tea party we were hosting. She seems as though she’s going to provide her protection moving forward, so I definitely wish to continue socializing with her.”

Sylvester slumped his shoulders and let out a heavy sigh. “Even more duchies to deal with, huh...? Drewanchel’s scholars are exceptional, and their duchy tends to produce innovative magic tools. Aub Drewanchel and his retainers were pretty interested in our verification paper. Seems like it has a pretty low mana requirement as far as magic items go. They also liked that laynobles can make it and even commoners can use it without issue.”

They were highly interested in learning who had invented it and quite insistent about receiving some. That wasn’t an option, however, because with enough investigation, they would eventually work out what it was made from. Sylvester had defended it to the death, maintaining that it was created from some rare material and that he only had enough for doing business with Klassenberg and the Sovereignty.

“We didn’t give them what they wanted, so I assume Drewanchel are gonna start approaching you a lot more once you return to the Royal Academy,” Sylvester concluded.

“Would it be bad for me to become friends with them...?” I asked.

Ferdinand placed a contemplative hand on his chin. “No, it would actually be wise. There is much value in developing friendships with Drewanchel, Dunkelfelger, and Klassenberg. Can you manage that?”

It was a pretty direct question, and considering how many people had made it clear that the sight of me socializing sent chills down their spines, I could hardly respond with a confident yes. But I couldn’t say no either, so I remained silent for long enough that Ferdinand began tapping his temple.

“We cannot be certain how Ahrensbach will move once the two brides are here. The more strong allies and sources of information we have, the better. One cannot fully trust their allies, of course, but they will still serve as strong tools,” Ferdinand said.

Sylvester nodded in agreement. “What you need to watch out for, Rozemyne, is the fact that Dunkelfelger knows your one weakness: books. Their aub went through the trouble of personally bringing me this expensive book, all so that he can use your friendship with his daughter to his advantage during next year’s business negotiations. I expect that this Lady Hannelore is one cunning strategist to have put this in place.”

In other words, Sylvester was telling me to remain conscious of my tendency to take any bait that came in the shape of a book. I had no way of knowing whether Hannelore really was forming devious plots beneath her peaceful exterior, but that didn’t matter to me; I still wanted to spend more time with her during my next year at the Academy.