Epilogue

Epilogue

Epilogue

Lutz stretched, having returned to the Plantin Company after Rozemyne’s meeting in the temple. It was always tense when her retainers attended such gatherings. He had to wonder how the other Gutenbergs were able to endure it when they had even less experience speaking with nobles than he did.

“Whew. Talk about exhausting...” Benno grumbled.

“We are fortunate that none of the craftspeople earned the nobles’ ire,” Mark added.

They both stretched as well, then returned to their rooms to change; the formal clothes they had to wear when dealing with nobles always made their shoulders ache. Lutz had only needed to dress in his usual apprentice uniform, so he prepared tea while waiting for them to return to the office.

“Speaking of which... Master Benno, have you been told more about Rozemyne’s move?” Lutz asked. Very few details had been shared during their earlier gathering at the temple, but Benno had met with Rozemyne in advance of the meeting. Maybe he had learned something then.

Benno waved away the question and said, “The most I know is that she’s going to the Sovereignty.” He had also been told not to spread that news, especially to the laynobles they were working with in the printing industry.

“It seems like she’s caught up in something big...” Lutz commented.

“Still, don’t tell anyone , whether you’re here or at the temple. Who knows how it might spread.”

Lutz nodded; he was used to keeping secrets about Rozemyne.

“Also,” Benno continued, “plans involving Rozemyne always end up being accelerated. Accelerated and expanded. From today onward, make sure you’re ready to leave at a moment’s notice. The call could come whenever.” He was speaking from experience.

Lutz nodded again, sharing the same concerns; on plenty of occasions, they had suddenly found themselves with much less time than anticipated. Anyone who was used to being Rozemyne’s personnel knew to always be two steps ahead.

“After we leave, I plan to entrust business with the temple’s workshop to Damian and Milos,” Benno explained. “They’ve been taking care of your work whenever you’ve been away on business, so the handover should be a breeze. I’ll need you to give the place a thorough inspection, though. Make sure the right person’s still in charge and that everyone will continue to work well together. You never know when a noble might worm their way inside.”

Compared to the lower city’s workshops, the temple’s workshop was special in that it sometimes received visits from nobles. Hartmut was the most prominent example, but Justus had once frequented the place as well. Even the archduke had managed to sneak inside, though few actually knew this. A single mistake could easily lead to disaster.

“If you and Mark are both moving to the Sovereignty, who’s going to take over the Plantin Company?” Lutz asked.

“My little sister Milda. She moved back to Ehrenfest in the summer”—he gestured above them to the rooms where the employees’ families often stayed—“and we’ve already started handing things over to her.”

Benno had two younger sisters: Milda and Corinna. The former had married outside the city so that she wouldn’t be engaged to one of the guildmaster’s sons, but Benno had called on her right before Lutz’s baptism, when establishing a paper-making workshop in another city. From that point on, she had assisted in furnishing the Hasse monastery and welcoming merchants from other duchies, while also lending a sympathetic ear. Benno had ultimately decided that she and her husband could be trusted with the Plantin Company.

Lutz had met Milda several times before. She looked similar to Corinna and came across as very sweet, but a smile like Benno’s spread across her lips the moment she caught the scent of profit.

“Focus on your own move,” Benno said. “Rozemyne mentioned that her personnel can bring family with them. Speak to yours and find out what they intend to do. Once we’re gone, who knows when we’ll next have a chance to return to Ehrenfest.”

Lutz took a moment to let those words sink in. He really was leaving his home duchy to go somewhere entirely new. Being able to explore Ehrenfest’s cities as a Gutenberg was already a dream come true, but the thought of venturing beyond the duchy’s borders was enough to revive his boyhood aspirations and made him tremble with excitement. The path ahead of him was broader than ever before.

“No matter what happens, I will convince my family and accompany Rozemyne,” Lutz declared, his fists clenched in a show of determination. “Especially if Tuuli and her family are going. I won’t lose to them!”

Benno gave his enthusiastic leherl a flick on the forehead while Mark watched them with a wry smile. “I get your resolve and your determination to go all out, but have a real conversation with your parents, okay? I don’t want you throwing another tantrum and getting us summoned to the temple again.”

“Come on, that’s ancient history! How long has it even been now? One, two... Seven years! That whole thing was seven years ago !” Lutz found it immensely embarrassing that an event from right after his baptism was still getting mentioned, especially when he was due to come of age next summer.

Benno blinked a few times, either oblivious to Lutz’s frustration or merely ignoring it. “Seven whole years, huh? Feels as though it happened only the other day...”

“Because we have been so busy ever since, I would assume,” Mark ventured. “Months start to blend together when you spend all of your time working. That said, a simple glance should tell you how much Lutz has grown. He was so much shorter when that incident occurred.”

From there, Benno and Mark began to reminisce about the days before and after Lutz’s baptism. Myne had been an apprentice blue shrine maiden instead of the noble known as Rozemyne, and the duchy’s High Priest had been Ferdinand, not Hartmut. Looking back, Lutz’s height was far from the only thing that had changed.

Lutz wanted to close his ears to the entire conversation; now that he was a merchant, he understood just how insane his antics with Myne had seemed to Benno and the others. He couldn’t even protest about the incident with his parents, since his tantrum had gotten them involved in the first place. The atmosphere was as awkward as being watched over by an uncle.

“Please let it go already...” Lutz groaned. “I really have grown a lot since then. My mom and dad actually respect what I’m doing now.”

“I don’t doubt that,” Benno replied with a smirk. “I mean, why else would they have let a runt like you get engaged prior to coming of age?”

Lutz glared at him. In the lower city—especially in the poorer districts—it wasn’t uncommon for girls to get engaged before or just after coming of age. Boys, on the other hand, normally had to wait until their income was stable. Lutz had only managed to buck the trend and get engaged to Tuuli so soon because of their personal circumstances and the fact that he was already on a good salary.

“I’m gonna give you some time off work,” Benno said, “so have a proper conversation with your parents, okay? Oh, and before you go home—drop in on Tuuli, would you? I don’t think you’ve seen each other once since your engagement.”

Benno and Mark knew all about the couple’s family circumstances, both because they were aware of the Myne—Rozemyne situation and because they were providing all manner of support when it was needed.

“Have you prepared those presents for her?” Benno asked.

“Yeah. Everyone kept pestering me about them.”

For various reasons, the engagement had been arranged in a hurry—there was no knowing when they would need to leave Ehrenfest—but that didn’t make it any less legitimate. Everyone had told him time and time again to prepare gifts for his new fiancée.

“Be sure to keep her happy,” Benno teased.

Lutz rushed out of the room to escape their torment. His recent business trip with the other Gutenbergs meant he now had some time off, but that wasn’t the case for Tuuli—she was probably working hard to make new hairpins and clothes in time for Rozemyne’s return to the Royal Academy. Or maybe she was already preparing for her move to the Sovereignty. In any case, she was bound to be at her workshop, so that was his destination.

“Oh, Lutz. You’re back,” the receptionist said as soon as he entered. “Here to meet your cute little bride?”

“Can you get her for me? I need to give her a few things.”

“Oh my! Gifts? It really is adorable how close you two are. I’m so jealous!”

Even here, Lutz was getting teased. In the past, he would have argued that they weren’t actually together, but that wasn’t an option anymore. After all, they really were engaged.

It must be rough for Tuuli. She’s had to endure this nonstop.

Lutz hadn’t received much teasing at all since their engagement, owing to his being in Kirnberger, but poor Tuuli had probably been tormented on a daily basis. He was contemplating her trials and tribulations when footfalls drew him from his thoughts.

“Welcome back, Lutz,” Tuuli said, waving as she approached.

He took a sharp breath. Tuuli might have sounded the same as he remembered, but she was almost unrecognizable. She was wearing her hair up rather than in a braid, and dressed in a longer skirt. They were simple changes, but they made her look drastically more adult.

“Lutz,” she whispered, evidently conscious of the grinning receptionist, “I’m on my break, so why don’t we go outside? Heading to the plaza sounds like a good idea.”

Lutz was used to Tuuli leaning close and whispering to him, but on this particular occasion, the experience made his heart race. Maybe he was still at a loss after seeing her as an adult for the first time. As he was unable to remember what she had said to him, the best response he could manage was “Yeah. Sure.”

Tuuli waited not a moment longer before taking Lutz by the arm and dragging him out of the workshop. As they went, he couldn’t help but notice the pale nape of her neck, which was no longer obscured by her hair.

Huh? Something about this feels... strange.

Tuuli had grown quickly as a child—plus she was one year his senior—so Lutz had always needed to look up at her. Now, however, he could have sworn that he’d closed the gap. Had she stopped growing? Or was he going through a growth spurt of his own?

Are we the same height now? Or am I a bit taller?

As he continued to stare at her, he hoped it was the latter.

“Lutz, is your head in the clouds or something?” Tuuli suddenly asked, examining his face. “Is anything the matter? You aren’t falling asleep on me, are you?”

Lutz recoiled as he suddenly came back to his senses. At some point, they had arrived at the plaza, but he had been so absorbed in his thoughts that he hadn’t even noticed. Only now was he registering the sea of noise.

“I, um... I’m fine,” he replied, scratching his cheek. “I was just a bit surprised, that’s all. This is my first time seeing you, uh... with your hair like that.”

“Hm? Oh, I guess you’re right. An entire season has passed since I came of age, so this just feels normal to me now.”

Everyone who had seen her after the ceremony had apparently said she had “transformed into an adult overnight” and that she was now “clearly of marriageable age.” By now, however, everyone had already said their piece.

Tuuli giggled, her cheeks flushed, then pinched up her long skirt and bashfully asked, “Do I really look that much like an adult?”

“You do. For a moment, I didn’t even recognize you.”