The Royal Academy’s Dedication Ritual

The Royal Academy’s Dedication Ritual

The Royal Academy’s Dedication Ritual

Hildebrand and his entourage took their leave, then we did the same, entrusting the remaining preparations to Hartmut and returning to the Ehrenfest Dormitory.

While I was getting changed into my ceremonial robes, I received an ordonnanz from Hildebrand, who had since finished his report to the king. We were being summoned to explain the circumstances of the ceremony to the king himself, meaning we had to make our way to the auditorium sooner than planned.

And so, we started down the halls once again, Wilfried and everyone else looking sick to their stomachs. We met up with Dunkelfelger along the way.

“Oh my,” Hannelore said, surprised. “Lord Wilfried and Lady Charlotte are wearing temple clothes as well, I see.”

“These are formal outfits within the temple,” I explained. “My siblings have their own, since they perform religious ceremonies back in Ehrenfest. Under normal circumstances, all participants would need to be dressed in such robes, but we have relaxed the standards due to a lack of time.”

Hannelore merely blinked at my response.

Not long after we arrived at the auditorium, we met with the royal family and the Sovereign Knight’s Order.

Aren’t there a few too many royals here?

I could recognize Eglantine, Anastasius, and Sigiswald, for obvious reasons. Adolphine was also participating as the fiancée of royalty. However, there were two royals whom I was meeting for the first time. The first, an older man, was the king. The second, a younger woman, was presumably Sigiswald’s wife.

“Lady Rozemyne, Prince Hildebrand informed me that—”

“I understand your impatience, Raublut, but stand down,” the king interjected. “Greetings come first.”

The Sovereign knight commander clearly wanted to interrogate me, but nobles took formalities very seriously. First-time greetings were the priority.

Dunkelfelger performed their greetings, then those of us from Ehrenfest knelt before the king. I was acting as our duchy’s representative, since I was in charge of our joint research.

“Zent Trauerqual, may I pray for a blessing in appreciation of this serendipitous meeting, ordained by the harsh judgment of Ewigeliebe the God of Life?”