Our Talk at Karstedt's House, Part 2

Once the embarrassingly public confession was over, Angelica, Lieseleta, and Leonore had reached the time when they needed to head home, so our discussion came to an end. I saw the three of them off at the entrance as Cornelius and my grandfather split up to escort them.

"Mother, I'll be returning to my room now."

"Wait, please. Come chat with me in your room for a bit."

Mother said this and headed for my room. My time actually using my own room in this house had been really short, but I was genuinely grateful that she kept it prepared for me to use whenever I wanted.

"Rozemyne, you haven't registered the hidden room here yet, have you? Come this way. Once you reach the proper age, a hidden room isn't something you'd use together with your parents, but let's at least do it once. You'll need to know the method when you go to register with your own children someday."

...I registered the hidden room in the Temple together with Ferdinand, so I'm perfectly fine, but I probably shouldn't mention that. It felt like a memo pad was about to materialize from somewhere at any moment.

Mother's eyes lit up so obviously that I could picture it easily, so I simply said "Thank you very much" and left it at that, performing the hidden room registration without saying anything extra. As I placed my hand on the magic stone of the door at the back of the bed and we flowed magic power together, Mother narrowed her eyes fondly.

"Truthfully, before the Baptism Ceremony... when you were brought to the new home and became emotionally unstable, I had wanted to prepare this as a mother. But Ferdinand came to check on you every two or three days, and thanks to that, even though you had come to an unfamiliar home and had to call strangers 'family,' you didn't show any unusual signs of distress. You seemed more at ease with Ferdinand than with me, a mother who had only just become one, so I ended up never getting around to creating it."

Mother's hand, resting on top of mine, was warm. With a vaguely embarrassed feeling, I watched the magic power threads race along as the hidden room took shape. I realized anew that even back when I first came to this house, Mother had truly been preparing herself to accept me as her daughter.

We had two chairs and a table brought into the newly created, spartan hidden room by the attendants, and tea was prepared. A tea party for just the two of us in the hidden room.

"So, where shall we begin? ...Well, let's start with something we didn't discuss earlier—about Damuel and Philine."

"Damuel and Philine?"

I tilted my head, not understanding why she hadn't brought it up at that moment. Mother smiled.

"If I had spoken about it there, I felt it would become a done decision. The task of choosing retainers belongs to their lord, after all. I'm merely conveying my own preferences, so you must judge for yourself."

Speaking in a somewhat casual tone, Mother then said, "I wonder if you might let Damuel and Philine stay in Ehrenfest?"

"There are several reasons, but the one they share is that there are almost no lower nobles in the Royal Academy, so their situation would be even more isolated than in Ehrenfest."

According to Mother, among the retainers that upper or middle nobles take with them, there are some lower nobles, but you never hear about lower nobles who went to the Royal Academy as knights or civil officials. And for them to become retainers to royalty—there were virtually none.

We were already planning to move the Gutenberg group after surveying the situation in the Royal Academy, so apparently it would be better to do the same for these two lower nobles.

"Also, I want to keep people who can communicate well with the commoners' district and who have mastered your ways for as long as possible. There's a great concern that with you gone, the nobles' attitudes might revert to the way they used to be."

There still weren't many nobles who could communicate well with the commoners' district and understand my methods. I had been thinking about handovers over the past year, but it was difficult to shift the nobles' mindset quickly, and according to Mother's assessment, relying on Brunhilde alone as the Aub's second wife to maintain frequent contact with the commoners' district would be challenging.

"The same goes for the handover at the Temple. It makes a big difference whether Damuel and Philine—who spent the longest time by your side assisting Ferdinand's work—stay on extra or not. Under the current arrangement, the burden on Melchior and his retainers would be too great."

To minimize the burden, I was planning to leave my own retainers with Melchior, and the blue priests like Kanfel and Fritact had become quite capable of handling their assigned tasks. Performing religious ceremonies would be hard for Melchior, but I thought the administrative work would be manageable. At my assertion, Mother gave a wry smile and shook her head.

"You grew up in the Temple, Rozemyne, so you might not think much of it, but considering noble pride, having the retainers of the lord's family ask for instruction from blue priests is rather difficult. They're lower nobles, yes, but still nobles, and asking instruction from fellow retainers of the lord's family wouldn't meet nearly as much resistance..."

I, who had originally been a commoner, simply didn't have the sense that blue priests were so far beneath me that asking them for instruction was unthinkable. Mother pointed out my lack of noble awareness and admonished me that for a smooth handover, consideration for Melchior's side—who would be receiving the responsibilities—was essential.

"I also considered whether we could keep Hartmut, since he held the position of High Priest, was an upper noble, and could easily command respect from other nobles, just as Ferdinand had taught him. But an upper civil official is needed by Rozemyne, and he completed his oath of service first thing this morning, so there's no asking for that anymore."

...I never expected Hartmut had outmaneuvered Mother...

"Even with all those reasons, if Rozemyne still wants to keep the two of them by her side, how about having Damuel and Philine head to the Royal Academy together with the Gutenberg group, timed to coincide with your coming of age?"

"Huh?"

"The Gutenberg group can't be moved right away, so during that time, wouldn't it make a big difference to have even one person in Ehrenfest who knows your true feelings, when it comes to protecting your real family?"

The phrase "real family" slipped out so casually that I caught my breath with a sharp gasp. Seeing my reaction, Mother raised her eyebrows and smiled.

"What kind of expression is that? From the moment I took you in, I knew you were a commoner's daughter. I couldn't tell you exactly whose daughter or from where, but if you investigate the commoners you particularly cherish, you can more or less figure it out."

"Huh? Huh?"

Nobody had told Mother about that. I had been desperately trying to act like a noble, so learning that she had known I was a commoner all along was a shock.

"You're planning to move them together with the Gutenberg group, aren't you? So until then, I think it would be best to have Damuel protect you."

"...Why until I come of age?"

I understood that we needed to assess the situation in the Royal Academy, just as Mother said, but I wanted to move the printing industry there as soon as possible. Coming of age was still three years away. Even accounting for a year of handover, waiting the remaining two years felt far too long.

"What do you mean, why? You... *sigh*, Rozemyne. Given how you've lived up to now and the Aub Ehrenfest's leniency, it's easy to forget, but normally, minors aren't given responsibility for major businesses. Don't assume you'll be able to run a business in the Royal Academy the same way you did in Ehrenfest."

My adoptive father had let me do as I pleased since the businesses were originally mine, but normally they would be treated as duchy enterprises and taken away—it wasn't work that could be entrusted to a minor.

"Besides, I've heard from Lord Karstedt that you're currently the next Zent candidate closest to obtaining the Grutrissheit. If that's the case, shouldn't there be many things you need to do before moving the printing industry to the Royal Academy?"

"Oh!"

That was a blind spot. My plan had been to obtain the Grutrissheit, hand it over to Zigsvalt, and once Ferdinand was saved, do whatever I wanted. But of course, I would need to receive an education as royalty.

"Rozemyne, are you truly all right becoming the King's adopted daughter?"

"I-I..."

When Mother directed a skeptical gaze at me, my shoulders slumped. I couldn't honestly say I was fine with it myself, but the momentum was already building. There was nothing I could do.

"There's another reason for waiting until you come of age. Your coming of age coincides with Philine's, so if she moves after coming of age, she can relocate to the Royal Academy without having to make an oath of service. The oath of service isn't something you do as a means to get to the Royal Academy, and frankly, I'm concerned about you taking on any more lives to protect than you already have."

She said that seeing how I had taken on the orphans from the orphanage and the retainers who had given me their names—I carried too much and worried far too much about them all.

"But I was the one who recruited Philine as a retainer and brought her out of her family home. I can't very well tell her to go back to that."

Sending Philine back to a home with her father, his new wife, and their children was out of the question.

"Philine's father married into the family, so originally Philine is the rightful heir. I suppose you could send her back, but if you can't, I could look after her the same way I did with Myuriera. However, if she's going to the Royal Academy, she'd need a fiancé to protect her. ...What do you think about having Damuel and Philine get engaged, Rozemyne?"

"Wha—!?"

I let out an absurdly loud voice, completely caught off guard. Mother watched my rolling eyes with amusement and said that once they went to the Royal Academy, there would be no lower nobles around them, so eventually they would be each other's only option.

"There are plenty of nobles who would want to get close to your retainers, Rozemyne, so Philine isn't a concern yet. But I think that at this rate, Damuel's bride candidates will completely dry up."

"Huh? Um... is it impossible for Damuel to marry into a middle noble family? I heard that in terms of magic power, he's somewhere around the bottom of the middle tier, so I would think it's possible..."

Hoping that perhaps I could help raise his status, I asked Mother, and she stared at me, blinking rapidly.

"There's no middle noble who would want to take a damaged lower knight with a poor external reputation—one whose position could be cut off by you at any moment—as a son-in-law, no matter how highly you evaluate him or how capable he is. Brigitte was a miraculous match because the family head approved on account of multiple factors: she herself had a blemish from having her engagement broken and having frequented the Temple; she had had the opportunity as a colleague to know Damuel's true character well; Gieb Ilgner desired a connection with you; there were no other suitable bachelors near Brigitte's age; and the family was eager to increase its numbers."

I was told not to think of Damuel's marriage prospects based on my relationship with Brigitte, so I considered the combination of Damuel and Philine. Philine was certainly fond of Damuel—I had even wondered whether she harbored a faint, delicate affection for him, even if it was merely the innocent flutter of a first crush.

...But Damuel...

"Previously, Damuel mentioned that the person Philine had her eye on was Rodrick, so... wouldn't that be a bit difficult? He clearly treats Philine like a child and doesn't see her as a potential fiancée at all."

"I see. I thought it would be rather romantic—a knight who gets engaged to protect a lonely girl who has cut ties with her family and wishes to follow her lord, supports her until she comes of age, and together with her, guards their lord's wishes..."

"Mother, is that a concept for your next story?"

I puffed out my cheeks, complaining that she was using my retainers as material too much. Mother's dark eyes sparkled, and she pulled out a writing board and began jotting things down, saying, "It's important to write things down before you forget what you've thought of."

As she wrote, Mother continued.

"Rozemyne, please let Damuel know that I made such an overture to you. I was merely introducing a potential bride candidate, and I only expressed personal preferences regarding how to handle the two of them. The final decision isn't mine to make. Each of you must take responsibility."

I thought about Mother's words. It seemed she could also take Philine under her protection. But there had been no mention of doing the same for Damuel.

"Mother, won't Damuel's position become unstable when I'm gone? Will you protect him the same way you would for Philine?"

When I asked, Mother said, "If he's Philine's fiancé, then I would protect him, but..." and looked up.

"When it comes to men, it's best to leave it to other men, Rozemyne. How about entrusting him to Bonifatius? To maintain his position as a retainer of the lord's family, if he's going to the Royal Academy he'll need further training, and if he continues his training and his trips to the Temple as before, he'll be less likely to have hurtful words thrown at him by other nobles."

"I see. Understood. Depending on Damuel's answer, I'll ask Grandfather for his help."

Relieved that Mother had apparently considered Damuel's situation as well, I felt a small measure of ease. But then Mother's dark eyes flashed brightly, and she looked at me with a smile identical to the one Cornelius had used to tease me just earlier.

"Just as I asked Lieseleta earlier, if you ask him sweetly and prettily, Bonifatius will agree right away."

"Mother!"

I glared at Mother, who was laughing teasingly. But she just giggled and let it slide, lowering her gaze back to her writing board.

After quickly finishing her notes on the writing board, Mother took a satisfied sip of tea and let out a slow breath.

"...I never imagined I'd be able to live peaceful days where I could devote myself to my hobbies. Rozemyne, I truly am grateful to you."

"Huh?"

"It was hardest for me before you came. Hey, Rozemyne—would you indulge me in some reminiscing?"

Mother began to speak slowly. I had heard bits and pieces here and there, but I had never really listened closely to Mother's own life story.

It started with the political marriage arranged to protect her from Veronica's harassment, a husband-and-wife relationship where duty and role always came first, the struggles between the second and third wives, Eckhart's oath of service, Ferdinand entering the Temple, Eckhart's marriage and the death of his wife who had just been confirmed pregnant, Eckhart becoming half a ghost after losing both lord and wife, the power struggle that erupted when Wilfried's retainers were approached at such a time, Nikolaus's birth and Veronica's scheme to make him Karstedt's heir...

"Having grown up watching his two older brothers get jerked around by their lord, Cornelius said he didn't want to have a lord of his own, and he became the kind of child who did just enough in his studies and everything else. As a mother, it was infuriating to watch him refuse to try his best when he was perfectly capable."

...Come to think of it, Cornelius hadn't been particularly exceptional at first either.

If I remembered right, before he formed the "Team to Raise Angelica's Grades," his attitude had been that anything above a score befitting an upper noble was good enough.

"After the previous lord's death, Veronica's power only grew while the situation at Haldenzel, our home duchy, became increasingly dire, and the Leisegangs steadily lost their influence. The only prediction we could make was that Mother and her sons would be crushed by Veronica, and we spent our days in a state of gloom. ...Then suddenly, Veronica was brought down. Lord Sylvester, who had all but given up and accepted that this one would choose Veronica's puppet, finally made his move."

He was reportedly absent for days on end after announcing agreements regarding other duchies' nobles, causing a stir in the Noble District as people wondered what had happened to the Aub. Then he abruptly returned during a Lord's Conference, dismissed the High Priest whom Veronica had long sheltered, denounced Veronica's corruption, and confined her in the Tower of White.

"Lord Karstedt, who should have been attending the Lord's Conference, suddenly returned in the middle of it and began rushing around Ehrenfest dealing with the criminals. Even after hearing the explanation, I couldn't understand it right away."

...Hearing it put this way, from the noble perspective, it really does sound incomprehensible. Like, what is the Aub even doing in the middle of the Lord's Conference?

"In the midst of all that chaos, Lord Karstedt announced that he would have the commoner blue shrine maiden apprentice—the cause of Veronica's downfall—go through the Baptism Ceremony as his own daughter. He told me that he would be officially adopting her with the Aub immediately, so it shouldn't be too much of a burden for me."

"Huh?! Even if it was an immediate adoption, you were taking in a biological child—there's no way it wouldn't be a burden on you, Mother!"

"Exactly. This is why careless men are so troublesome."

However, she said she agreed to take me in because I was the cause of Veronica's ousting, possessed the magic power that the magic-power-deficient Ehrenfest desperately needed, was a child under Ferdinand's protection, and had been personally requested by Ferdinand himself.

"That was quite a brave decision. Taking in a commoner as your own daughter..."

"I did struggle with it. But Lord Karstedt said Ferdinand would be returning to the castle as well, and Eckhart was looking forward to serving as Ferdinand's retainer again. I saw Eckhart's smile for the first time in a long while. For Ferdinand and Eckhart's sake alone, that was reason enough to take you in. But you gave me so much more than that."

Just as expected, Eckhart regained his vitality and threw himself joyfully into serving Ferdinand at the Temple. By saving Wilfried from disinheritance, his guard knight Lamprecht was saved as well. By launching trend after trend, the women's faction was able to scatter the Veronica faction in the blink of an eye. Cornelius drastically raised his grades by tutoring Angelica.

"I was able to devote myself to my hobbies through printing, and I brought tremendous benefits to Haldenzel as well. Truly, from the moment you became our adopted daughter, everything suddenly started going well. ...Even our marital relationship improved—once we began talking about how to handle Rozemyne, we finally achieved an emotional connection that wasn't merely obligatory."

Until I heard Mother's story today, I had assumed theirs was a reasonably functional political marriage, but apparently that wasn't the case.

Because Ferdinand visited the estate every few days, Karstedt also spent more and more time at home. And while he could brush off his own children's questions rather casually, he couldn't easily ignore the words of a young child whom Ferdinand had entrusted to them and who was to become the Aub's adopted daughter. To answer my questions about noble customs that seemed second nature to them, Father ended up spending more time talking with Mother.

"I was grateful to you and wanted to support you as a mother. However, you seemed more comfortable at the Temple and with Ferdinand, so I felt there was no need to force myself into the picture. Besides, Florentia, your adoptive mother, was also at the castle."

It seemed Mother had been watching over me with the sense that she was my ultimate safety net. As long as Ferdinand was there, there was no need for worry. And yet, Ferdinand was ordered by the King to leave for Ahrensbach.

"I was worried about you after Ferdinand—your emotional support—left, and at the same time, it was difficult to judge how far I should interfere given your age. If you could have managed a proper farewell during the preparations for Ferdinand's departure, that would have been enough, but..."

After Ferdinand left, the Noble Academy began almost immediately, so she had to gauge whether the children could bounce back on their own while spending time together, whether Wilfried as your fiancé could serve as a substitute support, or whether as a mother she needed to step in.

"But the departure to Ahrensbach was moved up, and I was entrusted with the groundwork that Ferdinand had been laying to manage the Leisegangs during the purge. Winter social season began, and just as we started making contact with the Leisegangs, information arrived from the Noble Academy and the purge was unexpectedly accelerated too? We hadn't finished our groundwork to keep the Leisegangs in check, and the purge began, which sent the Leisegangs into an uproar."

Once it was decided that Brunhilde would become the second wife, they agreed to cooperate and suppress the Leisegangs together, and that much went smoothly. Right after the purge, the Leisegang elders were excited and riled up, but with time they should have calmed down somewhat.

But in the midst of all that, Wilfried declared he was going to approach the Leisegangs to secure their cooperation.

"I immediately told Lamprecht to stop Lord Wilfried from going to the Leisegangs, since they hadn't been properly calmed down at all, but in the end he couldn't stop him and Wilfried went anyway, didn't he?"

He apparently came back having poured oil on the fire. When word came from Gieb Leisegang that "the old folks are excited to the point of being disruptive," Mother went pale.

Just as they were starting to discuss how to keep the Leisegangs in check with Brunhilde, the Lord's Conference began, and by the time it ended, it had been decided that I would become the King's adopted daughter.

"Before I could even begin to understand what was happening, the situation kept changing on me. I don't know how Ferdinand managed to cope with it all."

In normal times it would have been one thing, but during a period of chaos requiring follow-up after a major purge, the absence of Ferdinand—who had single-handedly handled all the coordination—left a gap that was far too large.

"If only Rozemyne had gotten engaged to Ferdinand instead of Wilfried, you could have avoided going to Ahrensbach—I thought that so many times."

It was too late to say anything now, Mother said with a sorrowful smile. I nodded once and took a small sip of tea.

"I don't think it ever really occurred to me to get engaged to Ferdinand. I was consumed with worrying about what I would do if something happened to him in Ahrensbach."

"And the result was avoiding collective punishment? I think you did wonderfully."

Mother said this while reaching out to touch my cheek. Her fingertips touched me gently, almost hesitantly, and I leaned my cheek into her hand of my own accord.

"That's... the first time I've been praised for avoiding collective punishment."

Feeling the warmth that gradually seeped through, I gently lowered my eyes. Tears fell of their own accord.

"On the surface, it would come across as charity toward someone from another duchy, so no one would openly praise you for it, and I imagine very few people even think it was necessary. So this may be the only time I can say this. ...But I am truly happy. By avoiding Ferdinand's collective punishment, you saved three lives."

Mother listed the names: Ferdinand, Justus, and Eckhart. *Lasafam is there too,* I thought to myself, and nodded repeatedly.

"You were the one who took action and saved them. Be proud."

"Mother..."

"When you hear that they've been sent far away and their lives are in danger, it's natural to worry. Whether you show it or not is a separate matter, but I was worried about Eckhart and Ferdinand. Richelda is surely worried about Justus too."

In Ehrenfest, I had felt as though no one was worried about the three who had gone to Ahrensbach, but there were people who genuinely cared. Knowing this, the tension drained from my body.

"I was told not to worry about Ferdinand and the others, and no one worried together with me. It felt so sad—as if it meant Ferdinand and the others weren't worth worrying about. If nobody else was going to worry about them, then at least I had to—I became almost stubbornly insistent on that."

Mother looked at me, her eyes glistening, and lowered her gaze.

"Hey, Rozemyne. Once we leave this room, I will become the mother who proudly boasts of a daughter who has become royalty and a son promoted to a royal retainer. But for this moment, while we're in this hidden room—please allow me to grieve for my children who are being sent far away."

"Mother..."

This was the first time I had seen a noble who showed her true emotions only in a hidden room. The mother who had worn a refined noble smile even while recounting her memories now twisted her face in pain.

"I'm worried about those who went to Ahrensbach, but I'm also worried about you, Rozemyne, with the future of all of Yurgenschmidt resting on these small shoulders."

The tear that fell with a soft plop conveyed Mother's worry with a clarity that was almost painful.

Whether I could obtain the Grutrissheit, and what to do afterward—the royal family had been discussing that. After I left, how to guide Ehrenfest—the lord's family had been discussing that. But how many people had actually worried about me, the one who would have to obtain the Grutrissheit with my own hands?

"Mother..."

I reached out toward Mother. Nobles weren't supposed to be so dependent, and until now I had always thought it futile to extend my hand—but I reached out the way I would when clinging to my mom.

My hand was properly grasped in return.

She squeezed firmly, so I would understand: *There is someone here who takes your feelings seriously.* "Rozemyne, from this point on, I won't be able to carry the burdens that fall on your shoulders alongside you. So at the very least, I will help ensure that you can go without worrying about Ehrenfest. Move forward without losing what makes you Rozemyne. When you obtain the Grutrissheit, don't let yourself be swept around by great power—seize the future you desire. You can do it. You're my daughter, after all."

--- For the first time, I had a heart-to-heart with my mother in the hidden room.

It was our first true mother-daughter moment.

I cut quite a bit of Mother's reminiscing.

Perhaps someday I'll put it up as a side story.

Next time, it's the Temple.