Farewells and the Coming-of-Age Ceremony

Farewells and the Coming-of-Age Ceremony

Farewells and the Coming-of-Age Ceremony

The next day of the Interduchy Tournament was the coming-of-age and graduation ceremonies. Gretia came to wake me a little before second bell.

“Lady Rozemyne, it is time to get up.”

“Gretia?” I asked, rolling over to look at her. “You rarely come to wake me up in the morning. Is Rihyarda busy?”

“I realize it is still quite early, but the aub has sent word for you to have breakfast with Lord Ferdinand. Rihyarda is preparing everything in the tea party room.”

I leapt out of bed. I’d previously been told that I couldn’t have breakfast with Ferdinand, since it would take too long to clean up the tea party room afterward.

“Even after sharing drinks with the aub and speaking with him about a variety of topics, Lord Ferdinand decided to delve into some research documents. You have been asked to wake him up.”

As it turned out, Sylvester had ordered me to get up early so that I could see Ferdinand off. Having three archduke candidates’ worth of retainers would also make the cleanup that much faster.

Woo-hoo! Thank you, Sylvester!

Gretia and Brunhilde quickly helped me to change my clothes. Lieseleta and Leonore weren’t here at the moment, since they had already headed off to eat breakfast. As graduating students, they needed to eat and wash before their parents arrived.

“Graduating students sure do have a lot to prepare for,” I said with a giggle, remembering how Angelica had done pretty much nothing for her own graduation, forcing Lieseleta and their parents to do everything for her. Then, I took out my ordonnanz feystone. “Good morning, Ferdinand. I am awake and about to make my way to the tea party room for breakfast.”

Upon exiting my room, I found Charlotte waiting outside, also ready to leave. We went downstairs together and met up with Wilfried, then the three of us headed to the tea party room. The attendants greeted us when we arrived.

A quick look around the room was enough to see that the space for retainers was gone, and the bench had been moved to welcome the graduating students. The retainers’ luggage was nowhere to be seen, so it had probably been moved to the area where Ferdinand was staying.

“I see you have almost finished cleaning up,” I said.

“Indeed,” Rihyarda replied. “Breakfast is over here. Come now, my boy, miladies. The rest of you, go eat in the dining hall.” She sent our underage retainers away while guiding us three archduke candidates to the table.

Ferdinand must have heard our arrival, as he came out from behind his screen. He was dressed, but he definitely hadn’t gotten enough sleep.

“Good morning, Lord Ferdinand.”

“Yes, good morning.”

“You still sound half asleep. Were you up too late reading those research documents?” It was exceedingly rare to see him so dazed; he looked just as exhausted as when he had visited the Royal Academy two years ago and stayed up all night with Hirschur.

“That was a contributing factor, but not the largest one. This bench was more comfortable to sleep on than I expected.”

“Then it was well worth bringing. Shall we have it transported to Ahrensbach when you send for the rest of your luggage?” His move had come so abruptly that he only had the bare necessities, and this would continue to be the case until his wedding to Detlinde. The goods for spring and the gifts from other nobles that had gathered over winter were still sitting in Ehrenfest.

“No need,” Ferdinand replied. “I am still in a guest room.”

“I mean when spring comes and your Starbind Ceremony has concluded.”

He paused for a moment and then said, “I will consider your offer after I obtain my own chambers.” It was an unusually half-baked answer from someone who usually thought so far ahead, but I could see why he wouldn’t want the furniture when he had nowhere to put it. I told him to let me know when he needed it.

Ferdinand nodded, took a seat, and then gestured me over. “Come here, Rozemyne. Has your fever gone down?”

“It feels like it,” I said, obediently standing in front of him. He started checking my temperature and pulse, at which point Charlotte spoke out in surprise.

“Sister, were you unwell...?”

“I was a little exhausted after the tournament, that’s all. But I took my medicine, and my fever was gone by the time I woke up this morning.”

“Be silent, Rozemyne, and close your mouth,” Ferdinand said. “You are making it hard to measure your pulse.”

“Sorry.”

In the end, my standard checkup came back mostly clear; my fever had gone down, but I needed to avoid overexerting myself. I sat back down.

“Rozemyne no longer collapses as often as she used to,” Charlotte said. “I did not think she would end up falling ill.”

“I assumed it happened because I was so moved to be attending my first awards ceremony,” I replied while beginning to eat breakfast. “How was dinner last night, Charlotte? We didn’t have a chance to ask Sylvester, since he sent us away the moment he returned.”

Charlotte explained that it had been very enjoyable. Apparently, the students were all very excited about how many honor students Ehrenfest had produced.

“Incidentally, Ferdinand... what did you and Sylvester discuss after we went to bed?” I asked. “It was your first time sharing a drink in quite a while, so you must have had a lot to catch up on, right?”

He cast his eyes down, then said only one thing: “Go ask Sylvester.”

After breakfast, our plates and such were cleared away, and Justus placed three things on the table: a bag and two sound-recording magic tools.

“This is for you,” Ferdinand said, sliding one of the tools over to me. “As per your attendants’ wishes, I have included many words of warnings.”

“Did you honor my request?”

“Who can say?”

“So mean...”

I puffed out my cheeks, then activated the magic tool. Just as Ferdinand had said, the first message was admonishing: “It is time to eat. I do not know what you are doing but stop at once.”

I wonder what the others say...

“That is enough, Rozemyne,” Ferdinand said with a grimace. “If you wish to listen to the rest, wait until you are back in your room. I do not much care for listening to my own voice.”

I elected to heed his warning; something told me he would confiscate the tool from me if I refused. He then gave me the bag, which was made of special leather that didn’t conduct mana. Inside were another magic tool and some paper.

“Last night, you registered one of the magic tools to Sergius and added some messages to it, correct?” Ferdinand asked. “Since we were able to brew four in total, I thought we could put one of the others toward furthering our research. Use this magic tool according to the instructions and inform me of the results. You may send your update by letter.”

I nodded and accepted the leather bag. This was part of a joint research project, so refusing wasn’t an option anyway.

“As for the last remaining tool, might I take that as a backup?” Ferdinand continued. “I am sure I could think of various uses for it before next winter.”

I nodded. “You made and paid for it, Ferdinand. Use it as you wish.”

As per Sylvester’s orders, we had gotten Ferdinand out of bed and eaten breakfast with him. From here, he would need to change into his formal attire and go welcome Detlinde. We had completed our duties and there was nothing else for us to do here, so it was time for us to return to the common room.

“Rozemyne, Rihyarda—Sylvester informed me that you both put a lot of effort into preparing this room for me,” Ferdinand said. “Because of you, I spent last night in great comfort. You have my utmost gratitude.”

For him to be expressing his thanks like this, he really must have been comfortable. All of the thought Rihyarda and I had put into laying out the room had been recognized—and considering that I hadn’t received any compliments last night, that made me doubly delighted. At the same time, however, my happiness was marred by sorrow. Ferdinand and I were going to have to say our farewells and separate once again.

“At times like this, a simple ‘thank you’ will suffice,” I said, being snarky in an attempt to push my sadness from my thoughts. I expected Ferdinand to respond with his usual sardonic smirk... but instead, he gave me a kind smile, which I seldom ever saw from him.

“Thank you, Rozemyne, Rihyarda.”