When I stepped away from
"What do you mean you've already experienced Magic Power repulsion,
"Oh, I experienced it with Lady Hannalore."
"Lady Hannalore!?"
The unexpected reaction caused a murmur to ripple through the surroundings as everyone's eyes turned to Hannalore. She flinched at the attention and looked at me cautiously.
"Lady Rozemyne, I have absolutely no memory of that, though..."
"During our research on the dedication ritual with
As I explained the time I felt the Magic Power repulsion, Hannalore's expression softened with recognition. "Ah, that time," she nodded.
"The Magic Power you released was only a small amount, and I was merely startled — it had no effect whatsoever. Just as Professor Hirschur said, the influence of another's Magic Power fades quickly, so please rest assured."
When Hannalore smiled gently, the surrounding students let out deflated, disappointed sighs. "So it was nothing..." they muttered.
"Rozemyne, the way you phrased that was quite misleading in various ways. It made it sound to everyone around as though you had taken this potion and been dyed by me."
...But wait, why isn't Brother Wilfried worried about himself!? He drank it too when Father was about to peek into our memories!
Then it hit me. Right — in Ehrenfest, quite a few people had been made to drink this potion. It wasn't just me and Wilfried.
"...I truly am sorry for the misunderstanding that almost spread about Brother Wilfried, but there are quite a few users of this potion around me as well. It's only natural to worry about what happens to one's Magic Power after drinking the potion, isn't it?"
"Quite a few, you say?"
"Yes. To avoid naming names, several children from the former
My carefully worded explanation made Wilfried pause in thought. "There were indeed several," he admitted.
"I also felt sorry for the knights who, despite it being part of their duty, were forced to cooperate with criminals."
I figured the ones pulling disgusted faces at that were the higher-ranking knights. Even though the memory-peeking Magical Tool only required one to flow their own Magic Power into the other person, it certainly wouldn't be pleasant.
"Rozemyne, such concerns are unnecessary. This potion's effects don't last that long. Before the influence completely fades, it would take a month at most, I'd say."
"Is that so? Then everyone's Magic Power is fine."
...A month or so. Oh. I worried for nothing.
I'd been panicked thinking
The day after I finished the somewhat reckless potion-making, there was a morning session of desk study, and the afternoon was devoted to lectures for the ducal candidates. As before, a stepping stool sat in front of my desk this year too, and Hannalore was beside me.
"Let's work well together, Lady Hannalore."
"It's helpful sitting next to Lady Rozemyne, as you can offer all sorts of advice."
We exchanged soft laughs before Egglantine entered the small parlor — which served as a classroom — in her capacity as lecturer.
...Huh?
Her gracefully flowing movements, the lavish gold hair, the amber eyes that never lost their gentle smile — they were all just as I remembered. But something was different. She seemed much more beautiful than before. It was as though an inner radiance had grown, or she had relaxed her shoulders and become more natural — it was hard to put into words, but she was undeniably beautiful. There was an intriguing quality about her that drew the eye.
"It's been a while, everyone. The models are being brought in now."
The assistants set the models on the tables. One was placed before me — a model of a duchy, with a Magical Tool replicating the foundation magic nestled inside a box filled with pure white sand.
After all the models had been distributed and the assistants had left the room, Egglantine instructed everyone to dye the models. A student who had spent a long time dyeing the miniature garden during last year's lecture groaned slightly. "Do we really have to dye it from scratch again?"
"Yes, that's right. No one can maintain the Magic Power of their miniature garden for an entire year, so every year you must dye it anew."
It was true that re-dyeing from scratch required less Magic Power than maintaining it. I accepted this readily, but for ducal candidates with Magic Power that was barely enough, having to dye the model over and over was a real burden. The students stared at their models with gloomy expressions as Egglantine watched them.
"If you hesitate to dye a Magical Tool of this size, you'll never become an Aub. The real foundation isn't this small. Dyeing and maintaining it as an Aub is far more difficult."
Egglantine said this with a sweet smile, pointing at the miniature garden model. Ducal candidates aimed to become Lord — that was their purpose. And it was true that ducal candidates should be able to dye a model of this size without difficulty.
However, given the current Magic Power shortage, in losing or small duchies, the ducal candidates who remained were those with barely enough Magic Power — the kind who would actually be better off dropping to the nobility to supply the foundation's magic with as much power as possible. For ducal candidates who weren't meant to be the next Aub but instead served as Magic Power suppliers to the foundation, I thought this was an exceedingly difficult situation.
"Then, please begin."
At Egglantine's signal, I drew my Schtappe and touched the foundation magic of the miniature garden, flowing Magic Power into it. The Magical Tool began to dye, Magic Power flowed through it, and the white sand gradually turned into dark soil as small flecks of green began to sprout.
"Lady Rozemyne is as fast as ever, I see. If you can dye this model with your own Magic Power, this year we'll create a Magic Stone for registration and a room for supplying Magic Power to the foundation."
"Yes, ma'am."
The Magic Stone used to register in the supply room could only be created by an Aub. And the number of people allowed in the supply room was fixed at seven. Since the place where Magic Power was supplied was limited to spots marked with the symbols of the Supreme God and the five great gods, no more than seven could enter.
Of course, as many registration Magic Stones as needed could be made. Drewanchel had many adult ducal candidates, so minors didn't supply Magic Power frequently, but I'd heard from
...Having so many ducal candidates really is nice.
"Whatever is the matter, Lady Rozemyne? You have such a troubled look on your face..."
"No, I was just thinking about who can supply Magic Power to the foundation. I was feeling envious of places like Drewanchel, which have so many people. Ehrenfest only has three, excluding minors..."
Hannalore's expression clouded slightly at my words. "That does sound difficult."
"
*And my brother has come of age too,* Hannalore murmured. Apparently, the second wife's child would be entering the
"I really envy how rich in human resources you are, truly."
"But if a middle duchy like Ehrenfest finds that number difficult, then
Hannalore's remark made me catch my breath. The only adults in Ahrensbach who could supply Magic Power to the foundation were Dietlinde and
...Using Lord Ferdinand like that is terrible! — Well, I still think that now, but I completely understand the desire to borrow someone else's help.
I wanted to groan, but just then, the Magic Power had fully permeated the miniature garden. It was a sensory thing — the stream of Magic Power I'd been continuously flowing was suddenly pushed back, and I could feel it.
"Professor Egglantine, I've finished."
"Then let's create the supply room. Is the Magic Stone ready?"
"Yes. I've already saturated it with Magic Power, so I'll turn it into gold dust next. Is this the correct magic paper for drawing the design?"
I'd prepared in advance under Ferdinand's guidance, so I knew what to do. I took out the tools I'd been told to prepare for the lecture and began confirming the steps.
"Yes, that's fine. While looking at this magic circle, please draw it with the stylus."
I converted the Magic Stone I'd brought into gold dust, then studied the magic circle needed to create the supply room. The magic circle, packed with the symbols of all the gods, was extremely complex and difficult to draw.
...Can't I just copy and paste?
I tapped a starting point and endpoint with my finger. Not a speck of Magic Power came out. Apparently, it didn't work. My copy-paste magic was disappointingly limited. What a waste. I gave up and began drawing the magic circle on the magic paper with my stylus.
...Tch, and here I wanted to take an easy route.
By the time I finished drawing the magic circle, Hannalore had also finished dyeing her miniature garden and was diligently working on making gold dust — squeezing a Magic Stone tightly to pour Magic Power into it.
"Have you already finished drawing, Lady Rozemyne?"
"Not 'already' — it took a very long time and I'm quite exhausted."
"But I think it was very fast and beautifully drawn..."
Hannalore said this as she peered at my magic circle. I looked down at it too. I didn't think it was particularly well-drawn. Seeing it from a slight distance like this, I could tell that several of the symbols were slightly skewed.
"That so? Ferdinand would always scold me for being too slow, for having uneven symbols, and for lacking elegance. I imagine this one is probably borderline whether it passes or not."
When using complex and difficult magic, even a slight misplacement of the symbols in the magic circle could reduce efficiency. Since I was drawing by hand, Ferdinand had made me redo it over and over until he was satisfied.
"You're stricter than my mother," Hannalore said with mild surprise. Apparently the first wife of Dunkelfelger was strict as well. I couldn't help but laugh softly.
"Lady Hannalore, Ferdinand's instruction is extremely strict, but if you receive it repeatedly, you gradually learn where the passing line is. Once you find that, you can aim for just barely passing and work on increasing your speed. You should try finding the passing line too, Lady Hannalore."
I offered this advice, though I warned that if you pushed too far, the passing line would get raised, so be careful. Hannalore stared blankly for a moment, then let out a quiet breath.
"...Lady Rozemyne, you seem surprisingly composed even under strict instruction."
...Eh? Not at all? I was always at my limit because I wanted to read the next book as quickly as possible.
Now I had so little composure that I couldn't even take proper reading time, yet to everyone around me, I must have seemed composed.
"Lady Rozemyne, when you're ready, please create the supply room."
"Yes."
I created a Magical Tool for supplying Magic Power using the same method as Entrwidkeln, then connected it to the foundation magic. I made seven Magic Stones for the supply. Having done it once before during my preparation, I shouldn't have made any mistakes.
...Is this about right?
When I showed it to Egglantine, her eyes widened. "How wonderful." Apparently, the speed and quality were beyond her expectations. It was all thanks to Ferdinand, but I also realized that looking composed precisely because I had prepared in advance was probably why troublesome duties like the dedication ritual got pushed onto me.
"After this, we'll learn how to create registration medals for the commoners, and then perform registrations and disposals. We've run out of time today, so we'll do it next time."
Listening to Egglantine's explanation, I felt a wave of gloom wash over me. Disposing of registration medals — that was the execution I'd witnessed Ferdinand perform in
...The execution scene from Hasse is coming back to me, and it's making me feel sick!
What we did in the lecture was simply registering the Magic Power of magic stones — standing in for commoners — into medals, then disposing of the stones along with the medals. If I hadn't witnessed the execution in Hasse, I probably could have finished the lecture without a second thought.
But the sight of the magic stones crumbling away brought that execution scene flooding back. It made me feel sick and my mood sank for a while.
...It's fine. They're just magic stones. Nothing scary. Nothing scary.
The bell signaling the end of the lecture rang. As everyone quickly packed up and filed out of the classroom, Egglantine smiled and called out to me.
"Lady Rozemyne, could you stay behind? I have something to discuss with you."
"Of course, Professor Egglantine."
I gave a light wave to Wilfried and Hannalore, who glanced back several times with worried expressions as they left the classroom. Then I stayed behind as Egglantine had asked. Once everyone had departed and the assistants had finished putting away the miniature garden teaching materials, only Egglantine and I remained.
"What did you wish to discuss, Lady Egglantine?"
"You mentioned that something might happen during the dedication ritual, didn't you? What exactly might happen? Could you please tell me in as much detail as possible?"
It was the same content I'd exchanged via the ortswinze. Just as I'd originally intended, I answered, "Even I cannot predict what might happen."
"You can't predict it, but you do know that something will happen?"
"Yes. To become a Zent, you need to pray, don't you? You must pray to the gods, erect a pillar of light, and offer your prayers at the shrine..."
Egglantine nodded at my words. The fact that one had to circle around the shrines in the Royal Academy while offering prayers was written on the white Slate in the underground archive.
"So I thought that if we held the dedication ritual in the innermost chamber and everyone offered their prayers together, something might happen. The innermost chamber is a prayer room built for offering prayers, so I don't think absolutely nothing would happen, but I can't predict what it might be."
"Last year, you held the dedication ritual and nothing changed, though, did it?"
Egglantine tilted her head curiously. A red pillar of light had appeared, but within the Royal Academy, that was a commonplace phenomenon. I also hoped that nothing too dramatic would come of it.
"Last year, we didn't pray toward the altar. We didn't pour Magic Power into the altar either — we only filled the Holy Cup with Magic Power."
Besides, I hadn't circled the shrines, and no giant magic circle had appeared in the sky. In various respects, the conditions this year were very different from last year.
"Just as a strange phenomenon occurred when we used the divine instruments during the Starbinding Ceremony, something strange might happen if we pray toward the altar. I informed you so that you could at least prepare yourselves mentally."
When I told her that
"Understood. I'll report this to the Zent as well so we can prepare ourselves mentally. Now then, Klassenburg's new ducal candidates have enrolled. Lady Janice has not yet undergone Magic Power compression, so she will be attending the dedication ritual for the middle-ranking nobles. Wilfried will be handling the middle-ranking nobles, correct?"
"Yes. Since performing the dedication ritual three times would be too burdensome for me, he proposed that we divide the work."
When I smiled, Egglantine smiled in return.
"Your two attendants clearly care very deeply about their lady. They keep saying over and over that they don't want to be a burden to Lady Rozemyne."
Egglantine gazed at me with a look of fond admiration. Then she said that she had actually wanted to invite both Janice and me to a tea party before the dedication ritual, and asked if I would take Janice under my protection. Protection and joint research were two different things in my mind, but perhaps my understanding was off.
...If she'd asked me to teach Janice about the dedication ritual, I could have agreed readily. But Klassenburg, the first-ranked duchy, being protected by eighth-ranked Ehrenfest? Wouldn't that be the opposite?
"Once I become royalty next year and stand above Lady Janice in rank, I'll be able to offer her protection. But for this year, I don't think it's possible."
"Oh, Lady Rozemyne. You don't need to think so hard about it — simply inviting her to tea parties and accepting her invitations is quite enough to build a good relationship."
"If that's all that's required..."
If it was just about having tea together, I could manage. The hard part was finding the time.
...Research on the Magical Tools in the library — will I be able to do that? That's what I want most. Hmm...
"I'm delighted you'll accept. Lady Rozemyne, let's have a wonderful joint research collaboration."
At her words, I tilted my head. Being told to have a wonderful joint research collaboration was confusing. It was supposed to be joint research with Klassenburg, not with Egglantine, and I mostly felt like I was merely cooperating with Klassenburg's research rather than leading anything.
"When you say joint research, what exactly does Klassenburg intend to research?"
"Hm?"
"I haven't been told anything about it, and from Ehrenfest's perspective, there's nothing particular to research during the dedication ritual. We were asked by royalty and a higher-ranked duchy to cooperate, so we're simply performing a religious rite. What exactly will Lady Janice of Klassenburg be researching?"
Egglantine looked surprised, covering her mouth. I watched her with a puzzled feeling — even the research theme hadn't been decided, and apart from preparations for the dedication ritual, no discussions had been held. Being told to "have a wonderful research collaboration" left me at a loss for how to respond.
"I was told last year that joint research was the domain of students, so no special permission from an Aub was needed. However, the joint research with Klassenburg originated from a proposal by the Aub, was confirmed through Lady Egglantine's backing, and all discussions and planning have been conducted without any students present."
Egglantine looked at me as though struck by a realization. But it was genuinely true that no students were involved at all. Aside from Janice, whom I'd greeted at the social gathering, I couldn't recall a single face of a Klassenburg student.
"Without even asking for our input, the dates and order have been decided, and we haven't even settled on a research theme. How exactly are we supposed to conduct research on something like this?"
I had no objection to cooperating with the dedication ritual for the sake of increasing the students' divine blessings, spreading knowledge about religious rites, and allowing royalty to gain more Magic Power. But being told it was "joint research" didn't resonate with me at all.
"There are many advantages, so I think conducting the dedication ritual is a good thing. I'd like Klassenburg to do their best, and this year I'll comply with the higher-ranked duchy's request. However, once I become the King's adopted daughter, I intend to end the joint research with Klassenburg, since it offers nothing particular to Ehrenfest. To be perfectly honest, spending our limited free time during the already demanding first half of lectures to conduct the dedication ritual is extremely inconvenient."
Just as Egglantine had intervened, I would intervene as well and bring the joint research to an end. This wasn't something Ehrenfest should be doing — not when it meant burdening Wilfried and
"Isn't contributing to the royal family a benefit for Ehrenfest?"
Egglantine said that by having Klassenburg support and lead the dedication ritual, Ehrenfest could contribute to the royal family. It was true that Ehrenfest needed to show its loyalty to the royal family as a winning duchy.
But this wasn't something that had to be done in partnership with Klassenburg, and my becoming royalty was already supposed to count as Ehrenfest's contribution. I didn't need any additional burden.
"Lady Rozemyne, without Ehrenfest's cooperation, the dedication ritual cannot be held. There is no one else who can perform religious rites. If it was that much of a burden, you should have told me sooner..."
"That's a problem," she said, pressing a hand to her cheek. I gazed straight at her and shook my head.
"I was only told that it had already been decided at the start of winter, and no one asked for my opinion, so I had no way to voice it. The moment Lady Egglantine intervened, it became a royal order, and Ehrenfest had no grounds to refuse."
The moment Egglantine, as royalty, had intervened, it was no longer just a student joint research project from Ehrenfest's perspective. Joint research decided through discussions between Aub to Aub simply didn't happen normally. And I had no intention of continuing something so abnormal.
"If Klassenburg plans to hold the dedication ritual again next year, then they should study this year's ritual thoroughly and ensure that Klassenburg's students can perform religious rites. Oh, why not make that this year's research theme?"
Wilfried and Charlotte had already learned to do it, and I'd heard that
"If they put in serious effort for half a year, performing religious rites is entirely possible. Yes, please convey that to Aub Klassenburg, Lady Egglantine."
And so the lectures for the ducal candidates proceeded, along with my conversation with Egglantine.
No matter how much she talked about joint research with Klassenburg, Rozemyne just wasn't having it.
Egglantine, who thought everything was going smoothly thanks to her own coordination, was in for a shock.
Next: the dedication ritual.