Autumn Slips Away with Preparations

The urgent news delivered by a magical tool letter caused Georgine and Dietlinde to depart. Georgine's final smile and parting words—"We'll meet again soon"—left me with an ominous feeling.

"Adoptive Father, what was the urgent message from Ahrensbach?"

"It only said to return at once. Something must have happened that they don't want us to know about. Let's head to the conference room."

After saying that, Adoptive Father gave a slight wave. The leadership team that had seen the guests off filed into the conference room. It was a meeting to share information each of them had gathered.

"Did anyone find anything new?"

Information gathered through tea parties and meals with the leadership team was exchanged, and I listened to everyone's accounts with great interest. It seemed Georgine had been actively socializing, leaving Dietlinde's care entirely to the Chief Priest.

"Though I'm only guessing from her parting smile, I believe the tea parties and banquets she attended during her stay were quite significant. At the tea parties where many of the old Veronica faction gathered, she apparently heard quite a bit about how Lord Sylvester is rumored to be a terrible lord in other territories, and about Ferdinand's reputation as the man being brought in as a son-in-law."

Mother began her report.

"Georgine also seemed to be gathering information regarding books and printing. Since the majority of Ehrenfest's nobles believe that Ferdinand, Lord Rozemyne's guardian, is the mastermind behind the latest trends, Georgine likely reached the same conclusion."

"She probably did. Dietlinde asked me a question, too—how many of my personal retainers I planned to bring along when heading to Ahrensbach as a son-in-law."

"How did you answer?"

The Chief Priest chuckled lightly.

"I told her everything would be considered in accordance with the Great Landgrave's domain of Ahrensbach."

Depending on how you heard it, that could also be interpreted as "only as much as befits Ahrensbach," but the Chief Priest's true intent was undoubtedly "as few as possible, modeled after Aurelia's marriage procession." If he didn't bring personal retainers, wouldn't Ahrensbach—which had been scheming to adopt Ehrenfest's trends—be furious?

"Wouldn't it be better for Lord Ferdinand to have more retainers? Perhaps bring some artisans along..."

"No. There has been no royal decree, and we cannot afford to worry about how artisans from a commoner background might be treated in Ahrensbach. Ehrenfest's artisans should be used for Ehrenfest."

The Chief Priest's firm rejection of Mother's suggestion made me bite my lip. His words essentially meant he expected that he wouldn't even have the luxury of caring about the artisans who drove trends.

"I received some information from a lower-ranking noble of the old Veronica faction..."

Adoptive Mother furrowed her brow slightly and turned her gaze toward Adoptive Father.

"It seems that once Ahrensbach's situation stabilizes somewhat, there are plans to send the lord candidates back to Ehrenfest. This is because Ferdinand, who plays a crucial role in Ehrenfest's magic power and administrative work, would effectively be taken by Ahrensbach."

"What did you say?"

"The information came from a dinner where only the core of the old Veronica faction was gathered, and the lower-ranking noble who reported it didn't hear it firsthand. While its credibility is somewhat limited, it's the piece of information that concerns me most."

Everyone's faces grew troubled upon hearing Adoptive Mother's report. Looking at Ahrensbach's current state, stabilizing the territory was far from simple.

"When Ahrensbach stabilizes? When will that be? The fact that she can say something like that means my sister has some kind of plan, doesn't it?"

"What looks like stability from the outside and what Georgine considers stable could give a very different impression. And besides..."

The Chief Priest cut himself off there. I urged him to continue. "What is it?"

"No, it's nothing."

"No keeping secrets. Ehrenfest has to prepare for every possible situation."

When I said that firmly, everyone in the conference room nodded in agreement. Isolated and without allies, the Chief Priest reluctantly spoke.

"...I was simply wondering whether they'd even be returned alive."

"Please don't say such frightening things!"

"I tried to stop talking, but you were the one who insisted on prying it out of me!"

...That's true! He's absolutely right!

The Chief Priest's ominous prediction hung in the air of the conference room as several more pieces of information were exchanged, and the meeting came to a close.

After the guests from Ahrensbach departed, the Chief Priest threw himself into cramming the lord candidates with preparatory studies, and time flew by.

Before I knew it, at the summer Coming-of-Age Ceremony, I managed to get through it safely with Hartmut's assistance. Hartmut looked extremely satisfied with himself, which was a little unsettling. It gave me ample reason to resolve to become more capable on my own so I wouldn't need his help as much.

Shortly after came the autumn Baptism Ceremony, followed by a meeting to plan the Harvest Festival. This time Hartmut was also heading to the festival, so I had to console him through his lament of "I wanted to be with Lady Rozemyne," which was tedious, but it looked like the schedule would be much more relaxed than usual.

As always, I was supposed to collect the Gutenbergs at the Harvest Festival, so after visiting my direct territory, I headed to Liesegang as well.

"Now, this is something I heard from my grandfather..."

When I was invited to tea to receive the small holy cup, Giebe Liesegang himself told me about how Georgine had stopped in Gerlach on her way back from Ahrensbach.

"If they're traveling back to Ahrensbach by carriage, they would need a place to stay. There's nothing strange about stopping in Gerlach."

Liesegang had poor relations with the Veronica faction, so they weren't particularly close with Georgine either. Gerlach had built a much better relationship with her, so if Georgine were to choose a place to stay, it would be Gerlach.

"Even if the individuals themselves return by riding beast, there's still a carriage loaded with luggage, so it's perfectly normal for the carriage to stop at Gerlach."

Given the urgent message, they would have hurried back to Ahrensbach, and using riding beasts would be the fastest option. However, Georgine and Dietlinde, as nobles from another territory, couldn't pass through Ehrenfest's city barriers on riding beasts. They would need to leave the city by carriage first before switching.

"But my grandfather said that Georgine herself stopped at Gerlach."

"Isn't that important information? Why hasn't the Aub been informed?"

"I was in Ehrenfest because Georgine and Dietlinde were visiting. I didn't witness the moment Georgine stopped in Gerlach. Besides, my grandfather's claim has no basis, so if Gerlach denied it, I wouldn't be able to argue back."

The grounds for the claim, I was told, were that Giebe Gerlach had returned before the urgent notice arrived even though Georgine was still in Ehrenfest, and that even the commoners during harvest season hadn't seen the flock of riding beasts meant for Georgine and company's return to Ahrensbach. It was certainly a shaky piece of information to report to the Aub.

"I'll pass the information along to my Adoptive Father, including the part about lacking evidence."

"I would appreciate that."

I also heard from Liesegang about their printing progress. It seemed they had successfully set up a printing environment in the town of Fruhl.

"It appears they were able to make paper as well, and purchased additional paper from Ilgner for whatever they were short on. I've been told that the commoners are excited about doing printing together this winter."

During winter, the commoners would be snowed in, so printing had apparently become something of a recreational activity for them.

"I look forward to seeing what kind of books come out of Liesegang."

Then, after performing the Harvest Festival ceremonies in Fruhl, I collected the Gutenbergs and returned to Ehrenfest.

I immediately reported what I had heard from Giebe Liesegang to the Chief Priest, and sent word to Adoptive Father via magical tool letter. The Chief Priest murmured, "Maybe I should apply a little pressure there," and called for Justus.

"Now, let's hear the reports."

As soon as the Harvest Festival concluded, I summoned the Gilberta Company, the Plantan Company, and the Otmar Company for a meeting. Reports included the Gutenberg activities in Liesegang, the situation with merchants arriving from other territories, and, of course, the reception of the ordered hair ornaments.

From the Gilberta Company, which brought many boxes, came Otto, Theo, and Turi. From the Plantan Company came Benno, Mark, and Lutz. From the Otmar Company came the Guild Master, Frieda, and three attendants.

"How was Liesegang? I'd like to hear your firsthand perspective as a Gutenberg."

"Liesegang is in the breadbasket region, where everyone devotes themselves fully to farming and has little business acumen, so it had a very laid-back atmosphere. The printing industry is apparently seen as a way to earn a little extra money during winter—something like a hobby."

Even so, being in the breadbasket region meant the land was rich, and there were apparently many new materials, which delighted Heidi. The blacksmith determined early on that the fine detail work was beyond his capabilities, and made arrangements with the Giebe to purchase the type instead.

"On the papermaking side, there was a tree that seemed promising for new paper, but they said they couldn't afford to spend time researching it. They planned to sell the tree to Ilgner and have us study it instead."

Lutz and Damian were often exasperated by the complete lack of business sense, frequently screaming in frustration, "If you wanted to make money, you could make so much more! Why won't you!?" The Guild Master, who had been listening to Lutz's account, smiled softly, deepening his wrinkles.

"Liesegang isn't obsessed with wealth—they pour everything into fulfilling their role. That is precisely why Liesegang has been able to remain as Ehrenfest's food storehouse for so long... I once heard as much."

The Otmar Company had been in the food trade for a long time and had maintained a close relationship with Liesegang since ages past. The Guild Master said, while glancing at Benno, that to remain a major establishment, one couldn't be fixated on short-term profits alone.

"Gustav, what about the merchants from other territories? There are more than last year—could you handle them all?"

"Having learned from last year's mistakes, we made various improvements, so everything went more smoothly than before. Of course, there are still areas where we need to do better."

He described how trade with Dunkelfelger had increased overall volume significantly, how selling the Rinshan manufacturing method had reduced Rinshan trade, and how plant oil prices had also somewhat stabilized as a result.

"Benno, what happened with the merchant's daughter from Klassenberg who was left behind last year?"

"Of course, we forced her back by pushing her onto a merchant who came from Klassenberg this year. Her father, Karlin, was apparently placed in a rather difficult position due to our reduced trading quota this year."

They hadn't expected Ehrenfest's nobles to interfere in dealings between merchants, apparently. He said he'd been told he'd taken quite a bold stance against an upper territory.

"It was supposed to be a wonderful connection, but there you have it."

The Guild Master shook his head with a sigh. After shooting him a glare for that, Benno looked at me and grinned.

"The first impression is the most important. The Plantan Company, as Lady Rozemyne's contracted merchant and the one rumored to be behind all the latest trends, cannot afford to be taken lightly by merchants from other territories. It would affect Lady Rozemyne's reputation as well."

Hartmut was nodding vigorously. Catching sight of him in my peripheral vision, I turned my gaze to the Gilberta Company.

"Is the hair ornament for Lady Dietlinde that I'm supposed to deliver at the Noble Academy ready?"

"Here it is. What do you think?"

After saying that while looking at me, Otto shifted his attention to Brunhilde. I had been in the library and wasn't present when the order was placed, so Brunhilde had handled it.

Brunhilde examined the hair ornament quietly and nodded slowly.

"There are no issues. You've done well."

"Thank you very much."

Otto and Turi let out visible sighs of relief, their shoulders relaxing. Apparently Dietlinde had ordered something "more elaborate than Lady Adolphine's from last year."

"We told her we couldn't match what would be given to someone marrying into the royal family... Lady Dietlinde's attendants also suggested that, to show proper respect to royalty, perhaps she should lower the formality a bit..."

But she'd apparently dismissed everyone's advice with a smile, saying simply, "I am the next Aub."

Not only would the house using the hair ornaments—Ahrensbach—potentially be seen as failing to show proper respect to the royal family, but the next Aub especially would need to exercise restraint. Even Wilfried had backed this argument, but she apparently hadn't been willing to listen.

"So I made a proposal. What if we used multiple hair ornaments to create an elaborate effect?"

The idea was to prepare each piece at a slightly lower level of formality to respect the royal family, but compensate by using many of them together.

"Since both Eglantine and Adolphine wear only a single hair ornament, using several would naturally make the overall appearance more gorgeous," I had apparently said.

"She was satisfied with that proposal, so we ended up having five hair ornaments made. We were able to satisfy both the requirement of showing respect to the royal family and Lady Dietlinde's personal satisfaction."

The Chief Priest would have the most trouble being the one to foot the bill, of course, but when Dietlinde asked him for them, he had apparently smiled and said, "As you wish."

...Come to think of it, Father once said something like, "As long as peace of mind and family harmony can be bought with money, it's worth it."

Dietlinde had apparently been stung by something Adolphine said at last year's tea party, or harbored quite the grudge, because she chose the same flower types as Adolphine. Looking at the hair ornaments, designed to create a gradient from red to white when displayed side by side, I let out a sigh.

"Still, if she actually tried to wear all of them at once, her head would be in quite a state."

Honestly, I wanted to stick a "Warning: Overdressed" label on the box. Brunhilde smiled helplessly and nodded.

"When she puts on the hair ornaments or departs from the dormitory, the Aub and his wife will surely check, so she'll likely settle on a reasonable number."

They could reduce the number, so apparently it wasn't my concern how many she chose to pile on.

"Now, these are from the Second Prince's order, and these are from Dunkelfelger."

The merchants who came had apparently placed their orders. The items would be delivered at the Noble Academy. They were Eglantine's new hair ornament and the one Lestilaut would present to his escort partner.

Eglantine's new hair ornament was made with white phalanx flowers—a symbol of Evilyne's possessive desire to protect you from everything else. It was truly Anastasius.

Lestilaut's order was for flowers matching autumn's noble colors. The order form included an illustration with instructions on how they should be made. Since these were flowers I'd never seen before, they must be a combination unique to Dunkelfelger.

"You must have had a very difficult time since none of these were flowers you'd seen before?"

When I turned to Turi, she smiled and shook her head.

"Not at all—it was a lot of fun. The artisans gathered together and racked their brains over how to make them. I'm relieved they turned out even better than expected. Since flowers and color combinations like these don't exist in Ehrenfest, it was a tremendous learning experience."

...Whoever ordered these has excellent taste. Yes.

After receiving the orders from other territories, the next set brought out was the one Hartmut had placed—for Clarissa, apparently. The box contained yellowish flowers in a shade close to orange, which struck me as a little odd. I'd had the vague impression she was born in summer, with Leidenschaft's blessing.

"Surprising, isn't it? When I first heard Clarissa's birth season, I was quite puzzled that it wasn't summer."

Hartmut caught whatever expression had appeared on my face and said that with a small laugh.

After that, Turi brought out my hair ornament as well. It was designed for winter's noble colors—a slightly large red flower surrounded by smaller white ones.

"It's very wintry and adorable. I love it."

"I'm glad you're pleased."

The Plantan Company also handed over new printed materials. The first volume of the Dunkelfelger history book. It was far too much for a single volume, so it would need to be printed across multiple volumes.

"The Rozemyne Workshop will be kept busy with the Dunkelfelger history books alone for quite some time."

"They really do have a long history."

I handed the presentation copies for Dunkelfelger and my personal copies to Rodrick.

"Frieda, I'd like to request quatre-quarts again for the inter-territory competition. Would that be all right?"

"Yes. I'll prepare the cooks and ingredients. Also, these are dried loure personally ordered by Lady Rozemyne. Cosimo."

At Frieda's call, the Otmar Company's attendant Cosimo gently placed a bag on the table. Brunhilde inspected the contents, confirmed there were no issues, and handed it to me. Seeing the dried loure that looked remarkably like raisins filling the bag, I grinned.

...This should expand my cooking repertoire once more.

"The Italian Restaurant's reputation among merchants from other territories is very high, and during the summer months it was overwhelmingly busy. The number of cooks has been gradually increasing, and we've received many offers to poach them. Since they're merchants from a major territory, many of them are quite forceful..."

Since I was one of the co-investors, they were apparently refusing all such requests with "Please direct any chef transfers through Lady Rozemyne."

"With Lady Rozemyne reducing the number of trading merchants in response to the Klassenberg merchant leaving his daughter behind, there haven't been any forceful attempts at poaching so far."

If my name could reduce the danger, that was all the better.

"Frieda, are there fewer customers now?"

"Yes. The merchants from other territories have all returned to their respective territories before winter."

The shop had apparently only quieted down once the owner of a major establishment personally intervened. Now they were busy with winter preparations for the inter-territory competition—securing ingredients, gathering firewood, and the like.

"If it won't be too disruptive with fewer customers, I'd like to visit the Italian Restaurant soon. Before spring arrives, Ferdinand will be heading to Ahrensbach, and I'd like to treat him to a meal there."

My words made Frieda's face light up brilliantly.

"It would be an honor. Do you have any menu requests?"

"Anything besides a double consommé. I'd love to try Ilse's new dishes."

"Leave it to me."

After the meeting ended, I invited the Chief Priest to "let's go to the Italian Restaurant," only to be met with an icy glare and the words, "Are you an idiot at a time like this?" But precisely because he was so busy, delicious food to refresh the spirit was essential.

"I've arranged for an excellent double consommé to be prepared, and Ilse has new dishes as well. Before you head to Ahrensbach, shouldn't we enjoy a good meal?"

He said he wasn't bringing any cooks along, and the arrangement of sending food via a time-stopping magical tool depended entirely on Ahrensbach's willingness—there was no telling how long that could continue. No matter how much he wanted to send food, if he wasn't granted permission to visit like Aurelia had been, he might lose the ability to send it entirely.

"It's a farewell gift from me."

"A farewell gift, I see. Hmm. When you think about it, that could be considered quite fitting. Very well. Ten days from now."

The Chief Priest let out a deep sigh and set a date.

I wrote Frieda a letter informing her of the day I'd visit the Italian Restaurant. Behind me, a quiet battle among the retainers had begun over who would accompany me.