Today was a tea party with the music teacher. Very few students had finished their lectures at this time of year, and since
This was, apparently, the teachers' way of being considerate, saying that they simply wished "to hear the new composition, and it would be best to keep Lady
What music teachers were happiest about was new compositions, so the sweets I brought were quatre-quarts, the same as last year. It was an occasion to debut the new composition that
...After all, I am a reliable older sister.
"Welcome, Lady Rozemyne."
I glanced at Rosina and gave her a slight nod to begin playing, then introduced the new composition to the teachers.
"This is a composition dedicated to the Water Goddess."
"Lady Rozemyne, you really do compose nothing but pieces for the gods. Won't you write anything else?"
Pauline tilted her head gently as she asked. I smiled sweetly and answered.
"I was raised in the
To be precise, Rosina—raised in the Temple herself—was the one composing and arranging, so when rewriting lyrics, it was safest to base them on myths.
At my signal, Rosina lifted the fechspiel and began to play. The piece dedicated to the Water Goddess had a relaxed, soothing quality, evocative of a healing effect. It was based on a classical composition.
"In a few more years, Lady Rozemyne, won't you move on from compositions for the gods and start writing love songs instead? You're engaged to Lord
"The engagement has been decided, but I'm not sure how that connects to writing love songs. Imagining such things in the future is rather difficult for me."
I smiled through the teachers' gentle laughter. If Rosina ever fell in love, there was a possibility she could write a love song, but given her current situation—devoted entirely to her instrument and shuttling back and forth between the Temple and the castle with me—she never seemed to meet anyone, and the risk was that she would pass her prime without ever doing so.
...Of course, writing a love song myself was out of the question.
Rather than having Rosina do it, it would probably be better if I didn't attempt a love song either. Even a romance novel had earned me a reprimand from the Chief Priest for indecency, so writing love lyrics without truly understanding what they meant, only for someone else to call them indecent, would be disastrous. It wouldn't just be me—the reputation of Ehrenfest itself would be tarnished.
"Setting that aside, Ehrenfest has certainly been improving its standing. I was quite surprised by last year's results. This year as well, didn't the second-years all pass on the first day?"
"I've heard that Ehrenfest was the only one to produce passers in social studies."
"The efforts of the younger lower nobles in music have been impressive as well."
In music especially, there were significant disparities between teachers and instruments, so lower nobles had generally received mediocre evaluations in the past. However, among Ehrenfest's younger students, even lower nobles could play the fechspiel rather well. I was praised that the overall level had risen.
"The lower nobles of Ehrenfest all say the same thing—that it's thanks to Lady Rozemyne. What exactly did you do?"
Asked with great interest, I smiled softly.
"I merely proposed raising the overall baseline. It was Aub Ehrenfest who decided to implement it, and it was my brother Wilfried and Charlotte who carried it out while I was asleep. It is by no means my achievement."
To deflect further questioning, I steered the conversation toward recent events in the
The teachers' eyes lit up with excitement as they told me about the state of music in the Sovereignty.
"Oh yes. The compositions Lady Rozemyne created spread with astonishing speed. I imagine it was because Prince Anastasius and Lady Eglantine were at the center of it all."
"We've heard them at various tea parties, and we too were invited to many gatherings because people wanted to hear the new compositions."
"Among them, the most popular piece is the one dedicated to the Light Goddess. It's been spreading as the song Prince Anastasius used to win Lady Eglantine, along with their love story."
It seemed that Anastasius's declaration—choosing Eglantine over the throne, and proclaiming that the two of them would support
"Those who had supported Prince Anastasius were surprised, asking why he had let Lady Eglantine slip through his fingers. And it's been decided that Lady
It turned out that the person Sigiswald had escorted at the graduation ceremony was a lord candidate from a middle-ranked province. They had married from the start with her as Second Wife, leaving the position of First Wife open. Once Eglantine became engaged to Anastasius, the need to take a First Wife from an arable territory in order to claim the throne meant that Adolphine was chosen.
"After all, many women of Prince Sigiswald's age are already married."
"Quite a few people were surprised that Prince Anastasius deferred to Prince Sigiswald, but even more were relieved that the struggle for the throne was avoided."
Both Sigiswald and Anastasius were sons of First Wives, close in age and with roughly equal magic power, making them difficult to rank. Since both had been expected to desire the throne, it was widely feared that the succession would trigger another fierce power struggle.
"Prince
"If only the succession could proceed smoothly like this..."
When Pauline said this and let out a soft sigh, the other teachers nodded in agreement. If Anastasius had stepped down from the race and Hildebrand had been raised as a retainer from the start, there seemed to be no particular problems.
"Are there any other concerns?"
"The Holy Book fundamentalists in the Sovereignty's Temple are a bit of a nuisance. But they're the only ones loudly objecting, so it's not really a problem."
"For nobility, the words of the Temple hold little meaning. What nobles listen to is the words of other nobles."
Pauline looked at me, smiled sweetly, and sipped her tea.
"A wonderful result, Lady Rozemyne."
After the tea party ended and I returned to the dormitory,
"Lady Rozemyne, who was raised in the Temple—whether she might be a Holy Book fundamentalist. Teacher Pauline seemed to be subtly probing for that, but since Lady Rozemyne showed no reaction at all, she appeared to be relieved," Brünhilde reported.
I tilted my head at her words.
"Um, what exactly is a Holy Book fundamentalist? I've never heard the term before..."
It didn't seem to be a familiar term. While everyone looked puzzled, Richarda pressed her fingers to her cheek as if searching her memory, tilting her gaze slightly upward.
"I don't know the details either, but my understanding is that it refers to a group that claims the contents of the Holy Book are the absolute truth, and that even the king should follow its teachings."
Apparently, whenever political upheaval among the royal family caused turmoil, this group would emerge as if remembering it existed, fighting to expand the Temple's influence however they could.
"If Lady Rozemyne, who was raised in the Temple, is not aware of them, they must be a group with no connection to Ehrenfest's Temple."
In the end, the conversation concluded with the sentiment that these were merely the words of those who could not become nobles, and there was no need to heed them.
"I'll compile the information gathered from tonight's tea party with the music teachers and send a report to Ehrenfest."
"Yes, please do."
I assigned the task of reporting to Ehrenfest to Hartmut and Filine, who were both apprentice scholars.
"If you pass this afternoon's practical exam, Lady Rozemyne, you'll be able to go to the library?"
"That's right. I absolutely must pass today's practical."
Starting in the afternoon was the practical exam for potion-making. This would determine whether I could go to the library.
I changed into my potion-making attire and entered the small hall, where
"Now then, today we will study the method for creating a magic stone used in proposals."
As she spoke, Hirschur projected the potion-making procedure onto the white cloth.
"It's needed both when making a proposal and when receiving one. Since everyone will need this at some point in the future, please craft it carefully."
Today was practice, so quality wasn't the focus, but for an actual proposal magic stone, one would first prepare the highest-quality magic stone available, then saturate it with one's own magic.
Into the magic stone dyed with one's own magic, one would pour the magic of the other person's attribute. If it was the same attribute as one's own, this step was largely unnecessary, but if one didn't possess the other person's attribute, one had to gradually blend it in through potion-making.
...I have all attributes, though.
Today, for practice, the rule was to add at least one attribute. After completing the attribute fusion, one would inscribe words of courtship. The magic stone would be made to display the words as if they were floating. It was similar to how the engagement ring that my mother in the days of
I had dyed magic stones with my own magic many times before, so I quickly finished that step and headed to the table where the potion-making pot was set up. Compared to dyeing the magic stones for creating jureve, dyeing one of the quality used in a lecture was trivially easy.
"You've already finished dyeing it?"
When Hirschur blinked and said this, I showed her the blue magic stone I had dyed with my own magic. Hirschur leaned in to examine it and murmured, "It truly is dyed."
"It's small and not particularly high quality, so it doesn't take much time."
"It takes quite a while, normally."
I arranged yellow magic stones for adding attributes and a piece of parchment with the inscribed words next to the potion-making pot. I had all attributes, but I prepared a wind-attribute magic stone for practice purposes.
"What kind of words will you write, Lady Rozemyne?"
Hirschur asked brightly, reaching for the parchment.
"When you say what kind of words..."
There were standard phrases—commonly used expressions—that I could simply inscribe. Something like "To my Darkness God" or "I wish to be your Light Goddess"—those seemed like safe bets. When Hirschur saw the words "To my Darkness God" written on the parchment, she let out a profoundly disappointed sigh.
"Lady Rozemyne, unless the words strike at the heart of your intended, I cannot so easily grant you a pass."
"What!? It's practice—as long as the magic stone is completed, isn't that enough?"
"No. We have plenty of time, and since Lady Rozemyne already has a fiancé, please think of words of courtship as if you were presenting them to Lord Wilfried."
...What!? You want me to come up with love words right now?
"I wish to see words that are characteristically yours, Lady Rozemyne. With all the books you've read, it shouldn't be so difficult. Lady
...Aaahhh! I can't exactly admit that I skimmed through all the love words and romantic scenes the gods kept throwing at me because I couldn't understand them! Someone, please give me some wonderful words of love!
This was harder than any potion-making the Chief Priest had ever drilled into me. For the first time in a practical exam, I was stumped.
...Wh-Wh-What do I do!? "I love you" and "I really like you" are the standard love words, but I have no idea if they'd be okay without consulting the Chief Priest first!
In my Mestionora-era life, they would have been standard, but I had no idea how they would be received here. I understood that metaphorical expressions and the roundabout language nobles favored would be appreciated, but what those words actually were, I simply couldn't determine.
"You look like you're having quite the struggle, Lady Rozemyne."
"I think it's wrong to ask a child like me to come up with words of courtship."
"Why not start by thinking of words of courtship that you yourself would be happy to receive, Lady Rozemyne? It might serve as a useful reference." Hirschur said this with a chuckle, so I set about thinking of courtship words I would be happy to receive.
...Hmm, maybe something like "I want to eat miso soup every morning" or "I'll give you a library of your own"?
I ran the words that came to mind past Hirschur, but she immediately rejected them with a bewildered expression.
"Lady Rozemyne, what kind of food is omisosiru? Is it another new dish from Ehrenfest?"
"It's a dish that doesn't exist in Ehrenfest, but one I'd very much like to taste."
My answer drew a deep sigh and a head shake from Hirschur.
"I understand what words would make Lady Rozemyne happy, but would those words make Lord Wilfried happy?"
...Well, the one who wants miso soup is me, and I certainly can't picture Wilfried brother getting excited about receiving a library.
"But you said you wanted words that were characteristic of me, Teacher Hirschur."
"Words that are characteristic of Lady Rozemyne, yes—but also words that would make Lord Wilfried happy. Show me a little more effort toward delighting the young gentleman."
Having a romantic history equivalent to my age, this was far too difficult. If I were the type of high-femininity girl whose mouth naturally produced words that delighted men, I would have had at least one boyfriend in my Mestionora-era life, and Shu-chan would never have called me hopeless.
People had always told me I was utterly lacking in the humility to say things like "I'll become the kind of woman you desire," that I charged too headstrong down my own path. Honestly, "I'll dye you in my color" might be the most characteristic courtship phrase for me.
...Humility, huh.
"Please dye me in your color—would that show enough humility to make a gentleman happy?"
"Oh my, oh my!"
Hirschur's eyes gleamed with tremendous delight and amusement. It was eerily similar to the expression my mother wore when she latched onto a romantic story.
"Lady Rozemyne, you're quite the eager little thing. You're at the age where you want to seem more grown-up. I understand that feeling, but please don't present a magic stone inscribed with those words to Lord Wilfried until you're an adult. For today, let's make it with the first words you thought of."
She said that since she was dying to see Wilfried's reaction, I should use those words for the real thing and give them to him after coming of age. Judging by how enthusiastically Hirschur had latched on and her expression, perhaps they weren't the sort of words one couldn't share with others.
...After coming of age means—wait, could it be indecent? The kind that would anger the Chief Priest?
"Teacher Hirschur, they aren't words that would get me scolded if I showed them to
When I asked timidly, Hirschur paused briefly to consider, then slowly curled the corners of her lips upward.
"Lord Ferdinand will never see them. Words of courtship are devoted to the other person alone."
...If they can't be seen, it's fine—which means they're words I'd definitely get in trouble for if they were seen!
"Lady Rozemyne, time is running out. You're planning to pass today, aren't you?"
Snapped back to reality by Hirschur's words, I hurriedly set about the potion-making. Who was it that had interrupted me to say "think up love words"? I wanted to protest, but I swallowed the complaint and drew my staff.
I had practiced attribute-blending during jureve creation, so the potion-making itself went off without a hitch.
Golden characters rose to the surface inside the deep blue, marble-like magic stone.
"Lady Rozemyne, you pass."
...Yes! Now I can go to the library!
"Brother Wilfried, I passed. Now I can go to the library."
"...That was fast. I'm still struggling to dye mine with magic."
Wilfried said this while glaring at a magic stone that refused to absorb his magic.
"When you're dyeing, it's more efficient to pour in as much magic as possible in one go, rather than the slow approach used in potion-making."
Dyeing a magic stone was less about time and more about the volume of magic you could pour in at once. Forcing the magic in with enough force to overwhelm the stone's resistance took less time and ultimately required less total magic. Lower nobles with less magic had no choice but to take their time, but the higher-ranking nobles and lord candidates present here should manage.
"...Teach me that sooner, Rozemyne. I've already used up quite a bit of magic."
"Then today you'll just have to focus solely on dyeing the magic stone. Unless you completely saturate it, the magic is gradually pushed out, so do your best not to waste any."
The surrounding students blinked in surprise and looked my way. Having always used Magical Tools to dye their magic stones, and having only ever handled the dud-quality stones that would crumble in my hand, the other students apparently didn't know that magic would be pushed out unless the stone was completely saturated. I hadn't known either until Daumel told me.
...Well, I had been instructed to dye them as quickly as possible on the spot after harvesting.
"As much as possible in one go..."
I could see Wilfried concentrating and pushing magic into his stone.
"I did it!"
The first to cry out joyfully was Hannelore. Truly a lord candidate from an arable territory. Her magic capacity must have been considerable. She showed me a red magic stone in a hue that closely matched her eyes.
"It's all thanks to your advice, Lady Rozemyne."
"It was your magic capacity and skillful handling, Lady Hannelore."
"I'm honestly not very accustomed to handling magic, so I don't think I would have finished without your advice."
I was happy that my friend was pleased. I shared several tips about the nuances of potion-making with her. I wanted to work together as library attendants as soon as possible, so I was fully committed to helping Hannelore pass.
I spent the remaining time before the practical session ended giving Hannelore continuous advice, which caused Wilfried to sulk a little.
"...Rozemyne, do you have no advice for me?"
"Let me see. I think you should become a library attendant too, Brother Wilfried."
"What kind of advice is that!?"
Incidentally, when I sent a letter to the Chief Priest asking "What does 'Please dye me in your color' mean?", the reply arrived in a sealed envelope marked "Personal" consisting of three pages sealed with extreme care.
...It was apparently quite the direct invitation to the bedroom. Indeed, indecent. Teacher Hirschur had said to use it for the real thing, but I decided I would not.
And with that, the lecture ended smoothly.
Next, I'm going to the library.