"I've been made into a body that's unfit for marriage to the Chief Priest!" ...or so I'd been insisting, rejecting any talk of a political marriage, planning to hole up at my parents' house for the rest of my life.
Those were my thoughts going into the health checkup, and the results told me I had died once before.
Yeah, I know. I used to be on death's door all the time, so I wouldn't be surprised if someone told me I'd died more than once.
But my father let out a startled voice.
"What do you mean you've died once before!?"
Oh, right. Normal people would be surprised by that. Still, I was more confused about the part about magic power being crystallized. I can move it around inside my body whenever I want, so even being told it's "crystallized" doesn't really sink in.
"
"Hmm? Yes, of course. The place that becomes the magic stone, you mean?"
Father nodded as though it were the most obvious thing in the world, but I blinked in confusion.
Wait, I don't know anything about an organ that stores magic power? Huh? Is the human body structure different from what I thought? They look the same, so I assumed everything was identical...
If you cut the skin, blood comes out. If you cry, tears come out. You eat from the mouth and excrete from below. Plenty of people have bizarre hair and eye colors, but I'd always believed without question that the underlying body structure was the same. An organ that stores magic power? I had no idea.
"Since
After having diagrams drawn for me and receiving various explanations about the condition, I came to understand that the organ storing magic power was probably the heart, based on its location. And the "crystallization" of magic power felt very much like arteriosclerosis, in terms of the general vibe.
"I believe Rozemyne's body has poor circulation due to the crystallized magic power in various places, which is why she collapses so easily. When she gets excited, the flow naturally tries to speed up, but it can't circulate properly, so to protect the body, she loses consciousness and her emotions are suppressed."
"Then she must train to control her emotions. It's a necessity for living as a noble. This is actually quite convenient."
It's a defensive response—when I get too excited, consciousness kind of... drifts away. But I find it hard to believe that I, someone who collapses at the mere sight of the Library, could pull off anything as sophisticated as emotional control.
"Chief Priest, if I keep the magic power in my body low, it should be fine even if I get a little excited, right?"
"You said yourself that reducing it too much makes you unable to move, didn't you? In your case, if there isn't enough magic power, it can't push past the crystallized clumps, and your body stops working. That's why you need to keep your body properly filled with magic power at all times."
Hmm, I thought magic power was like blood, but it seems like it's actually a bit different. Not the same as the human body I know.
"Rozemyne, do you know when you died?"
"Huh? Um..."
At first, I collapsed after cleaning the room, and I ran out of breath just going to the well. It seems I was already frail even before I became Mine, so it's possible the magic power crystallization was already present. Honestly, I have no idea when I actually died.
"Um, I first gained consciousness when I was five, so I probably died around then. But if the crystallization is what caused my frailty, then I was told I'd been sickly since birth, so I don't know when the first near-death was."
"It's your own body. Don't make such a nonchalant face about it."
The Chief Priest gave me a sour look when I said I wanted detailed examinations, but I really don't think the exact timing of my death matters that much.
"Because, honestly, when I died or how many times I nearly died doesn't matter. I'm alive and moving right now. What matters to me is whether this can be cured or not. Chief Priest, can you make a medicine to fix it?"
When I looked up at the Chief Priest, he furrowed his brow deeply.
"It's not impossible. But it's extremely difficult."
I was hoping some Magical Tool could wrap it all up quickly, but apparently not. Magical Tools are surprisingly unhelpful.
Perhaps my thoughts showed on my face, because the Chief Priest pinched my cheek.
"The difficulty isn't on my end—it's on yours."
"Mine...?"
Huh? Does that mean he could make it if he wanted to? Just how omnipotent is the Chief Priest?
"In principle, you'd use a medicine designed to revive someone from suspended animation. There are medicines that prevent magic power from crystallizing and that dissolve existing crystals. The problem is obtaining the necessary ingredients."
"Is it so expensive that even a Lord's adopted daughter can't afford it?"
If it's the kind of medicine that brings you back from death's door, it must be incredibly rare and valuable. But even as a Lord's adopted daughter, am I still going to struggle with money?
"Ohhh," I groaned, clutching my head, and the Chief Priest shrugged.
"No, it's not the price. You have to gather them yourself. Collecting the ingredients requires your own magic power."
"Making someone on death's door go gather ingredients themselves... that's a pretty harsh medicine."
I pouted, thinking such a medicine would be useless in an emergency, and the Chief Priest looked at me with an expression of utter disdain.
"Are you stupid? Most upper nobles make this medicine in advance during their healthy years at the
Apparently, for upper nobles, it's practically a staple medicine to keep in stock.
"I don't exactly have any 'healthy years,' so what should I do in that case?"
Eager to learn from the wise Chief Priest, I asked my question. He let out a soft sigh.
"That's why I said it's difficult for you."
"Having the frail Rozemyne do the gathering is..."
Father stroked his chin, looking troubled as well.
"If we send knights to secure the area and gather everything, and only have Rozemyne do the final collection step, it might work. But for that, she'd need to be able to ride a bewitched beast on her own first."
"Mm. After the
Ugh. In addition to upper-noble etiquette and common knowledge, now there's intensive training too? Honestly, I'm pretty sure I'll die before I even get my hands on that medicine.
"If we can finish gathering everything before Rozemyne goes to the Royal Academy..."
"Huh? It takes that long?"
"Yes. A year if things go well. Several years if they don't."
I still have three years before I'm ten and enter the Royal Academy. But even so, it sounds like there's no guarantee the ingredients will be collected in time. If it takes that long, wouldn't the ingredients rot or spoil by the time they're gathered? That thought flashed through my mind. But if the ingredients are meant to take over a year to collect, there must be some method of preserving them.
"Ferdinand, what about the winter ingredients? There are well-known gathering spots around the Royal Academy, but you can't exactly march into the center territory with knights—it'd be an outright declaration of war. Where do you plan to gather them?"
"We'll have to find suitable ones within this territory. There are several candidates. And for the other ingredients as well, considering the quality needed, what we've used up until now won't quite cut it."
"Is that so?"
"Yes. Her magic power has been crystallized since before she can even remember. If the quality isn't high enough, I don't think it will work."
The two of them kept talking, diving deeper and deeper into the conversation. It was about me, yet I was completely left behind.
"I-I have a question! How is quality determined? How do I get my hands on high-quality ingredients?"
I raised my hand sharply and asked. They both looked down at me with expressions that said "Oh, you're here?" I really had been forgotten—too short for either of them to see in their line of sight.
"Quality depends on how rich in magic power the gathering location is. It also depends on the amount of magic power the ingredients have absorbed."
"If you want high-quality ingredients, you have to carefully choose the gathering date, the location, and what you're gathering. Naturally, it also depends on the gatherer's own magic power."
"When you say 'naturally,' that doesn't help me understand at all."
I asked for a more detailed explanation, and the Chief Priest shook his head with an extremely exasperated look.
"There's no time right now. I'll make the arrangements on my end, so stop overthinking things and focus on getting through the Baptism Ceremony. You're moving to the Noble District in three days."
He gave me a light wave to shoo me away, telling me to go change under the shade of the tent.
The two of them had been discussing what to gather where, weighing quality and efficiency, debating the best ingredients to target. But as soon as I finished changing, I was ushered out of the room and told to go practice my FeSchpiel. Same as always—completely on the outside looking in.
"What did the Chief Priest want to talk about?"
Once I was outside the Chief Priest's room,
"I heard that Lady Rozemyne—ah, no, that Lord Rozemyne—would be moving to the Noble District in three days. Was it about that?"
"Yes. It seems my room is ready. I'll be saying goodbye to Dahrmul until after the Baptism Ceremony... well, goodbye to Dahrmul, I should say."
Dahrmul had received healing magic and apparently returned to the Knight's Order right away. And while I was in the Noble District, he'd be undergoing retraining there.
Father had told me that once I became the Lord's adopted daughter, Dahrmul would serve as my personal guard. It's reassuring to have someone I'm familiar with. But with our positions having been reversed, we're both struggling with how to address each other.
"They also diagnosed whether they could make a medicine to cure my body."
"Ah, the Chief Priest had mentioned before that nothing could be done without parental consent. Now that Lord Karstedt has become your father, they must have carried out the diagnosis."
I certainly can't imagine my own father agreeing to a diagnosis that involves stripping his daughter down and making her stand on a magic circle. He'd probably say something like "Don't do anything weird."
The words a doting father might say flickered through my mind, and a small smile escaped me involuntarily. Immediately after, a deep sense of loneliness filled my chest.
...I really want to see him.
Until the Baptism Ceremony is over, I'm forbidden from going to the lower city and from meeting anyone from the lower city, including the
My current source of comfort is my new Attendants.
"Welcome home, Lady Rozemyne."
When I returned to my room, Monica greeted me. Her emerald-green hair was pulled back without any frills into a single tight bun at the nape of her neck. Apparently she adores
Her first words to me had been, "I will serve as Lady Rozemyne in place of Wilma, who cannot leave the orphanage."
Her dark brown eyes had a sharp, intelligent look about them, and her demeanor gave off the vibe of a serious class president. She and Fran get along wonderfully—two serious personalities alike—and she's been working hard to study so she can take over
"I'm home, Monica.
"Welcome home, Lady Rozemyne. I'll have tea ready right away."
That was Nicola, who beamed with a bright smile and headed off to the kitchen. She wore her abundant orange-red hair parted in two and braided into three plaits. A lively thirteen-year-old who loves delicious food. I secretly call her "Cheerful Nicola" in my head.
She's taken over all of Deria's former duties and is looking forward to assisting Ela.
Both of them had spent the winter coming and going as kitchen assistants, which probably helped, but they've already settled into the room and are working smoothly. These two are my current comfort.
Going up to the second floor, I found Rosina. Fran had piled work on her that needed to be finished before the move to the Noble District.
It was the selection of furnishings to be brought into the High Priest's room. She needed to compile a list of what kind of colors the new room should have, what kinds of items would be required, and so on. Even a single desk required specifying the appropriate size and height, and she had to write out the size and number of drawers—it was a lot.
Father would use that list to select materials and designs and then place orders for the items.
"Lady Rozemyne, while you were away, a gift arrived from your father. It's the outfits for when you move to the Noble District."
The outfits for moving to the Noble District had arrived as a gift from Father. Not just for me, but also for Rosina the musician and Ela the cook.
"The Chief Priest told me I'll be moving to the Noble District in three days."
"Then we'll have to finish up quickly."
Rosina glanced at the FeSchpiel, her eyes lighting up. She was overjoyed at the prospect of finally being able to take on the role of a musician.
Before I knew it, the day of departure had arrived, with Rosina's intense training to make me look more like a proper young lady in the meantime.
Breakfast finished, I prepared for the move to the Noble District. I was dressed in the outfit Father had sent, and I put on cloth shoes. For the Hairpin, I used the ornate ceremonial one.
Ela and Rosina were changing in their own rooms, so Monica, Nicola, and Wilma helped me get dressed.
"I'll be taking Ela with me, and
My words made Wilma furrow her brow slightly with a troubled look.
"Mine—ah, if you're not making things in Lady Rozemyne's room, the blessings of the gods that we send to the orphanage will decrease too, so it would really help if you could do your best."
"Leave it to me, Wilma."
"We practiced a lot over the winter, so I'll make sure to cook delicious meals."
The two of them, having only just transferred from the orphanage, knew all too well how drastically the blessings of the gods would drop with the loss of even a single blue-ranked priest or shrine maiden.
"I've told Fran to purchase ingredients with the same budget as before, so don't hold back."
"Thank you, Lady Rozemyne."
Monica and Wilma spoke in unison, wearing very similar smiles. The way Monica genuinely adores Wilma was palpable, and it was incredibly endearing.
"I'll do my best to have lots of recipes ready by the time Lady Rozemyne returns."
"I'm looking forward to it, Nicola."
Once everyone was dressed, we headed down to the first floor, where Fran,
"Fran, I'm counting on you to manage everyone and handle the handover of the High Priest's duties. Regarding the furnishing of the High Priest's room, I'm fine with keeping the current furniture as it is, but..."
"No. The furniture currently in the High Priest's room has absolutely nothing feminine about it. The Chief Priest has instructed that everything be replaced."
The thought that it seemed wasteful to spend that much was probably my commoner sensibilities showing. Apparently, for nobles, appearances are critical, and a woman's furnishings must be elegant and lavish.
This room, which was used as a meeting place for people from the lower city, had been agreed upon with the existing furniture left as is. But the High Priest's quarters would be visited by blue-robed priests and nobles alike, so appearances mattered. The idea that the daughter of an upper noble would use hand-me-downs from a criminal was apparently out of the question. Even though furniture itself is innocent.
I had zero knowledge about the kind of furniture an upper-class noble's daughter would use. My first request—to fill the room with bookshelves and books, just like the Library—had already been shot down. At this point, I'd given up entirely and left everything to my Attendants, the Chief Priest, and Father. The furniture selection, the costs, all of it.
"Gil, while I'm gone, there will be inspections of nearby towns, correct? Try to act together with the people from the Gilberta Company as much as possible. The Chief Priest has informed the civil officials that you're acting as my proxy, but I don't know how the difference in status will play out."
"I'll be careful."
My becoming an upper noble's daughter meant Gil had received thorough coaching on his speech and mannerisms from Fran. Now that I was the Lord's adopted daughter and the High Priest, he might not be able to casually pat my head anymore. I patted Gil on the head and told him, "Gil, you've been working really hard."
Then, standing in front of the two cooks who were, unusually, present in the first-floor hall.
"Both of you, thank you for the wonderful meals every day. The next time we meet will be at the
"It would be our honor."
Father came to the front entrance of the Temple to escort me out. The Chief Priest, dressed in noble attire, climbed into the carriage with us.
Rosina and Ela took the separate carriage meant for Attendants. The moment the Attendants boarded, their carriage set off ahead of us—to open the gate to the Noble District.
"Well then, I'll be off. Fran, I'm leaving things in your hands."
"We eagerly await your swift return."
The carriage glided forward smoothly—nothing like the jolting ride I'd had with
The Noble District's gate was already wide open. We passed by the stationary Attendant's carriage and entered the Noble District.
We drove past the plaza where knights had assembled during the Trombe subjugation, and the carriage ran along the pristine white stone pavement that stretched on endlessly. It looked as though parks lined the road, but each was part of an aristocratic estate. Apparently, the further you went from the gate, the more exclusive the residences became. Just like in the lower city—the further from the gate, the wealthier the area.
The carriages that passed by were spotless, but I couldn't see anyone walking. Adults used bewitched beasts, and when young children were involved, they took carriages, so it was said that virtually no one walked the streets. In the lower city, walking on foot was the default, so it felt very strange.
"Hm?"
The buildings were large, but I could see a district where houses with modest yards stood in rows, somewhat like a Japanese residential area. We'd already traveled quite far from the gate, so this area should have been more upscale than the area near the gate.
"There are houses with large gardens and houses with small ones. What's the difference?"
"Homes that are only used in winter don't need vast gardens. This area belongs to nobles who were granted land by the Lord—it's their winter estates."
Noble families who spent the season from the Dedication Ritual to the Harvest Festival in the rural domains, then returned for the winter social season. Certainly, with everything buried in snow, a vast garden would be unnecessary. The estates of nobles who served the Lord and lived in Ehrenfest, on the other hand, had large gardens.
"Is everything up to that wall part of the Noble District?"
I could see a tall wall at the far end of the Noble District. I pointed at it and asked, but Father shook his head slightly.
"No. Beyond that wall is the Lord's castle."
"You'll be going there after the Baptism Ceremony."
Near that tall wall stood what would soon become my home. As the carriage moved through the expansive garden—bigger than a park—I could see a pristine white building, perhaps made of the same material as the Temple and the wall.
"Living here are my first wife,
A line of people stood before the entrance, and the doors opened the moment our carriage arrived. From inside, a woman emerged at a leisurely pace.
"This is Elvira, my first wife. She will be your mother from now on. Get along well with her."
This woman who was to become my mother wore her deep green hair pinned up in an elaborate arrangement and was dressed in a gown with multicolored embroidery and flowing drapes. She appeared to be in her mid-thirties. Even standing still, her posture was impeccable, and every movement was graceful and refined. She was so different from every other woman I'd seen in this world that I couldn't even think of what to say.
"Um, when you say 'get along well,' I don't really know how to do that. I have no idea how to get along with an upper noble's wife."
The Chief Priest narrowed his eyes helplessly and exhaled.
"Elvira has only been blessed with sons. For now, wouldn't it suffice if you were an obedient daughter? She's not so foolish as to mistreat a child she knows will become the Lord's adopted daughter. That said, it would make your life easier in female society going forward if she took a liking to you."
Tea parties and social gatherings that were women only—even as my guardian, Father and the Chief Priest wouldn't be able to set foot in them. I apparently needed an ally in the all-female noble social world. The difficulty level had just shot up.
"She was excited to dress her daughter up and had been preparing the room and outfits, so I think you should humor her as much as she wants."
"I understand. I'll do my best to play the part of a doll for now."
If she'd been eagerly preparing outfits, maybe I could win her over with accessories, hair ornaments, and tea party sweets. I'd have to start by finding common ground for conversation.
"Welcome home, Lord Karstedt. And welcome, Lord Ferdinand."
"Yes, Elvira. This is Rozemyne, who will be in your care from now on."
A light push from the Chief Priest and Father sent me stepping forward.
I knelt down as slowly as I could, just as I'd practiced numerous times at the Temple.
"It is a pleasure to meet you. My name is Rozemyne. Please allow me to offer my blessings upon this auspicious meeting, guided by the pure flow of the Water Goddess
"You have my permission."
Apparently, this was a blessing that every noble gave to express joy at a new encounter. I was told it was the same one the Chief Priest had bestowed upon Benno when they first met.
"Water Goddess Flutrane, I offer blessings upon this new encounter."
Just as I'd practiced, I channeled a small amount of magic power into the magic stone of my ring, and soft green light drifted down like a gentle rain.
Elvira received the blessing and smiled warmly.
"Welcome, Rozemyne. From this day forward, I am your mother."
It seemed my greeting had earned a passing grade.