The day after the
"
"Brother
"I wanted to check on your condition.
He'd clearly been scolded thoroughly — Brother Lamprecht came to see how I was doing before heading to work, looking thoroughly dejected. The way his usual bright and cheerful demeanor had deflated made my chest ache thinking about just how much Father and the High Priest must have chewed him out.
If I'd been a normal child, it would have ended with nothing more than a scraped knee. It wouldn't have become trauma.
"It was only because Lord
"Lord Ferdinand is someone who can perform both medicine and healing on his own, so he probably figured that as long as it was within his line of sight, it would be fine — that must be why he permitted such a reckless move. You were rescued immediately, so a lecture was enough this time, but what if the same thing happened at the castle and no one who could use healing was nearby? If you had been lost at that point, the wound to Wilfried's heart would have been far worse than anything now."
Hm? Wait, the demonic, pragmatistic High Priest actually sounds like a really decent person when put that way.
"In the first place, this was something I should have known and informed you about, without burdening Lord Ferdinand."
Brother Lamprecht seemed to be reflecting deeply, but if anyone should be reflecting, it was the High Priest, who'd left such widespread trauma in his wake. I wished he'd be a little kinder to me and those around me.
"Well then, as long as both Brother Wilfried and you, Brother Lamprecht, are more careful from now on, that will be sufficient."
"Rozemyne, even after being put through a near-death experience, how can you be so magnanimous..."
The brightness returned to Brother Lamprecht's brown eyes, and what looked like surprise and admiration appeared on his face.
Oh no. I had a feeling he was getting emotionally moved in a weird direction.
"No, no, that's not it. I'm simply accustomed to being in that sort of state, so a single failure isn't particularly—"
"I see. How merciful."
That's not what I meant at all... But he wasn't listening. Oh well.
"Brother Lamprecht?" I asked, and he produced a book wrapped in cloth. "I asked Lord Ferdinand what would be good to bring as a get-well gift, and he handed me this, saying it was the most suitable option."
Brother Lamprecht unwrapped the cloth and pulled out a single book.
"A book!"
"He told me it was an amount you could definitely finish reading in one day, and that you hadn't read it before, but can you really read a book this thick?"
Brother Lamprecht looked between me and the book with suspicion, but something like this was a piece of cake.
"I can read it! I'll read it! Brother Lamprecht, I'm truly grateful!"
"If it brings you that much joy, then I'm glad. Well then, I'm heading to the castle. Make sure you rest properly. Got it?"
"Yesss."
The High Priest may be a demonic pragmatist, but he's a truly wonderful person. The fact that he was expecting me to use illness as an excuse to not return to the
...Thank you, High Priest!
I spent the day truly resting for the first time in a while, reading a book about the fundamentals of military operations — something the Temple library didn't have. Since magic is used in military operations, I had no idea what was going on, and it was a lot of fun with my constant reactions of "Wait, why does it work that way?!"
Between the combined effects of the High Priest's healing and medicine, plus the chance to rest all day while reading, my condition was excellent. I had Ela and
After finishing breakfast, my guard knights
"Good morning, Lady Rozemyne."
"I'll be returning to the Temple starting today. I'll need you to accompany me."
"Yes, ma'am!"
Once the greeting was finished and they stood, I moved to rise as well, but Brigitte stopped me.
"Lady Rozemyne, please remain here a moment. I'll be sending an ordnance to Lord Ferdinand."
Brigitte took out a glowing tact, tapped the yellow magic stone lightly, and whispered "ordnance," whereupon it transformed into a bird. "Lady Rozemyne is now heading to the Temple," she said, and with a flick of the tact, the bird flew off.
After a short while, the bird returned and repeated "Acknowledged" three times in the High Priest's voice before reverting to a magic stone. I'd been absolutely amazed the first time I'd seen this, but lately I'd come to feel that having magical tools around was fairly normal. Even as someone who'd experienced it, I felt my rate of adaptation was remarkably fast.
The carriage was already prepared, and I was escorted into it by Damuel and Brigitte. Ela and Rosina would be heading to the Temple together in an attendant's carriage, so they rode separately.
"Please send my regards to Lord Ferdinand. You must work diligently, you hear?"
"Yes, Mother."
Father and Brother
The carriage glided smoothly into motion, racing through the snow-white streets toward the Temple.
"Brigitte, have you never been to the Temple or the lower city before?"
"It's my first time going past the Noble's Gate."
Brigitte was the sister of Viscount Ilkner, who held territory to the south of this city, so she had been outside before — but only by riding a transformed fey beast that flew over the lower city. She'd apparently never actually set foot in it.
Damuel, who had the unique experience of having been dragged through the lower city to accompany me, shrugged with an indescribable expression. "...The Temple aside, I think the lower city is rough for women, but do your best."
"Welcome back, Lady Rozemyne."
"I've just returned, Fran. Is everyone doing well?"
"Your room has been changed, and
"That sounds exciting. Brigitte, this is Fran, my head attendant. Fran, this is Brigitte, my guard knight."
After introducing them, I headed to the High Priest's room. It was located in the back of the noble section, and I had a vague memory of passing in front of it several times during the Winter Offering.
"Monica and
Fran opened the door, and I entered the new room. Based on the list Rosina had drawn up, the room had been redecorated so that the High Priest's room now looked like a woman's room. It was done up in reddish tones with a whimsical floral pattern, with almost no trace of the original room's design.
Well, when I said "no trace," the shelf designs were different, but there was a display shelf with a thirty-centimeter-tall statue of a god, a Holy Book, and candles arranged in near-perfect symmetry around the Holy Book. This must be the altar required for the High Priest's room.
Now that I thought about it, the High Priest had told me that "normally, one would make an oath to serve the gods and the Temple in front of the altar in the High Priest's room, and receive the bestowing of robes" when I became a blue shrine maiden apprentice. In other words, going forward, when more blue priests or shrine maidens were added, the oath ceremony would take place here. ...Could I pull that off?
"What a lovely room. It suits you perfectly, Lady Rozemyne."
Brigitte nodded several times, clearly impressed that the Temple had spent this much money on a room.
This redecoration had been paid for entirely by Father, so my own purse hadn't suffered at all. Perhaps I should consider handing over some of the workshop's profits to Father for living expenses.
"The High Priest has instructed that, as it may be necessary for guard knights to stay overnight, the rooms adjacent to the High Priest's chamber should be prepared as male and female knight rooms. Please let us know if there are any inconveniences or shortages."
At Fran's words, I went to inspect each room.
The male knight's room was furnished like a guest room, but it was a very simple room with absolutely nothing superfluous. According to Damuel, it was "just like the Knight's Dormitory." It seemed to have been created based on Father's concept that "a familiar environment is best."
I had assumed the female knight's room would also be like the Knight's Dormitory, but when Father had investigated the women's quarters for this occasion, he'd found that women kept changing their rooms to suit their tastes, so he couldn't even tell what the original looked like. Father, not wanting to overthink it, had apparently chosen "something similar to what Rozemyne has, so no female knight of any rank would complain."
In other words, it was designed for girls. The theme was based on the
"It's certainly quite... lovely..."
She used the same words as when she'd seen my room, but this time they carried a hint of surprise and bewilderment. Perhaps it was so cute that she was at a loss.
"Brigitte, if you don't like it, I can—"
"Lady Rozemyne, there's no need for you to worry. It's a guest room, and as long as I can sleep, that's fine. There's no need to go out of your way to exchange it, so please don't give it a second thought."
She gave a soft, gentle smile with her amethyst eyes, and I let out a breath of relief at the cool woman's kind words.
When I returned to my room, Monica had come back from the kitchen. Ela had arrived, so Monica had handed Nicola the assistant role and returned to her regular duties.
"Welcome back, Lady Rozemyne."
With help from Rosina, who had finished setting up the feypaper and unpacking, and Monica, I changed into the High Priest's robes. These had apparently been commissioned by the High Priest from the
"There wasn't enough time, so the ceremonial robes of the former High Priest were quickly remade," Monica explained.
I nodded — that made sense. There was no way they could have sourced this quality of fabric from scratch in such a short time. The former High Priest, whose mother had been the Lord's sister, used the finest fabric. The texture was wonderful, and the cloth felt light and pleasant.
However, instead of the emblem I'd come up with for the Mine Workshop, it bore the crest denoting the Lord's child of Ehrenfest — the same as the High Priest's.
...I really liked the workshop's emblem, though. As I pouted slightly and fiddled with the emblem's edge with my fingertip, Monica looked troubled.
"I know it may be unpleasant to put your arms through something the former High Priest wore, but please bear with it."
"No, Monica. I was simply a little disappointed because I was fond of the previous emblem. Don't hate the person, hate the clothes. As long as what I and those around me wear isn't shameful, it doesn't matter whose robes these were remade from."
I'd been wearing secondhand clothes for years now. If I were to object to wearing something someone else had put their arms through, I wouldn't have been able to wear secondhand clothes at all. Compared to the rag they'd once forced me to wear — a rag stitched together from dust cloths for soot-collecting — complaining about such beautiful clothes would be asking for punishment.
"Lady Rozemyne really is a remarkable person. Just as
Monica's eyes sparkled with admiration, but I had no idea where those words had come from.
After thinking about it for a moment, I suddenly understood. Fran and Gil knew me from when I'd been wandering the lower city in rags, but Monica only knew me as a blue shrine maiden apprentice within the Temple and as the Lord's adopted daughter. She was imagining a high-ranking noble girl who was always dressed in new clothes, gritting her teeth and making do with the former High Priest's hand-me-downs. With Brigitte present, there was no way I could correct this misunderstanding, so I let out a quiet breath and let it slide.
"The sizing is fine. Now then, let me explain today's schedule."
After Fran gave my ceremonial robes a quick once-over, I was directed to the desk and received an explanation of the day's itinerary. The High Priest would be coming to this room afterward to go over the installation ceremony, which would be held starting in the afternoon. The following day, a meeting with the Gilberta Company was apparently scheduled.
...I'd be seeing
Just as Fran's explanation was wrapping up, the High Priest arrived. Technically, I outranked him now, so from here on, the High Priest would generally be the one coming to my room.
I expressed my gratitude for everything — the get-well book from Brother Lamprecht, the preparation of the ceremonial robes, the arrangement of the knights' rooms, and so on.
"Even so, you're holding the installation ceremony in quite a rush."
The installation ceremony was an internal affair held only within the Temple, so apparently there was very little to prepare. After confirming the procedures, I asked about the urgency of holding the ceremony on the very day I returned to the Temple.
Since blue priests who were nobles had to be gathered, I would have thought there should be at least a few days of leeway.
"As long as you'll be using the High Priest's room, it's a necessary ceremony. And until you're officially installed as High Priest, I can't give you the key to the library."
"That's quite the incentive. I'd better hurry. ...But that's not the only reason, is it?"
The library key was important, but I couldn't imagine the High Priest actually caring about my library interests. There had to be something else behind this.
"The blue priests have already been notified several days in advance, so that's not an issue. It was decided that your condition would be recovered through medicine and healing. ...Besides, you're the one who can't afford to waste time on an internal ceremony like this, aren't you? If you don't get started on what
"What Lord Sylvester told me?"
Had something happened? When I tilted my head in confusion, the High Priest tapped his temple with his fingertip and glared at me irritably.
"Were you not listening? The expansion of the printing industry and the dining facility."
"I know about the expansion of the printing industry — Lord Sylvester mentioned at the Baptism Ceremony about building workshops at orphanages in nearby towns. But what dining facility?"
I knew from
"Benno received a written order from Sylvester. He's been commanded to meet with the civil officials, go on an inspection tour, compile a report, and present it at the Italian restaurant before the Star Binding Ceremony — an absurdly demanding set of tasks."
"Wha—!?"
"Even so, it's too much for Benno to shoulder alone. Because you became the Lord's adopted daughter, the deadline has been moved up, so help him as much as you can."
It must have been truly unreasonable if even the High Priest was moved to sympathy and kindness. The blood drained from my face and my head spun. I needed to get through this installation ceremony quickly and start helping as soon as possible.
The installation ceremony was an internal affair held within the Temple. All the blue priests and their attendants, along with every gray priest and gray priestess who had completed the Baptism Ceremony, were gathered in the same chapel where I had performed the Baptism Ceremony last year, for what amounted to a debut ceremony for the new High Priest.
The High Priest served as master of ceremonies, briefly explaining the change in High Priest and announcing that, per the Lord's instructions, a new High Priest had been selected.
Meanwhile, I waited behind the door for the High Priest to call me.
"...and so, in accordance with the Lord's wishes, it has been decided that the new High Priest will be Rozemyne, the Lord's adopted daughter."
As the High Priest's voice announced this, the door before me slowly began to open. Once it was fully open, I could see the gray priests lined up neatly in the chapel.
The High Priest stood on a raised platform.
"Pray to the gods and welcome her together! Pray to the gods!"
As I was led by Fran toward the center, I found myself feeling a strange sense of nostalgia at the sight of the massive sea of faces — despite everything.
Climbing the raised platform, I got a clear view of the chapel.
In the front row, about ten blue priests stood in a line, but only a few of them changed color upon seeing me. I suspected some of the blue priests simply didn't know what Mine looked like.
Those who didn't quite get it had expressions like "Oh, so this is the new High Priest," but those who had passed me in the corridor and made snide remarks, or those who had crossed paths with me when I was Mine, had their eyes wide open. The difference was stark and easy to spot.
"I'm grateful to everyone for gathering here. On this glorious day graced by the radiance of the Fire God
"The Lord's adopted daughter? That's impossible! She was a commoner!"
At the cry of one blue priest, the High Priest delivered the same explanation Lord Sylvester had given at the Baptism Ceremony. But even so, unable to accept it — unable to swallow it the noble way — the priest shouted with enough force to send spittle flying.
"If the High Priest, who is the Lord's half-brother, truly was a high-born daughter of the nobility, then the former High Priest must have known! He wouldn't have said she was a commoner! Something is wrong here!"
"The former High Priest, who claimed to be closest to the Lord and of the most noble birth, didn't know something that I supposedly did? I hardly think that's likely."
There it was — the ultimate technique: "It's all that person's fault!" The former High Priest was the perfect scapegoat.
Not only Sylvester but even the High Priest was deploying his ultimate move. Thanks to this, whether or not the other blue priests were truly convinced, they at least seemed to have absorbed the situation and its circumstances.
The gray priests, who were already accustomed to receiving orders from above, simply accepted it with a "Well, I don't really get it, but that's how it is."
The gray priests and priestesses who heard this explanation would in turn tell the children at the orphanage that "the former High Priest had said Mine was a commoner, but she actually wasn't — she became the Lord's adopted daughter, so Lady Mine became Lady Rozemyne." In this way, I would be treated at the Temple as the high-born noble's daughter I now was.
"If you doubt that I am a high-born noble's daughter, please confirm it with either the Commander of the Knight's Order, who is my father, or with my adoptive father, the Lord."
In other words, I was telling him to shut up — albeit indirectly. I then delivered a speech about my future aspirations in beautifully polished language, concluding with a prayer and gratitude to the gods.
"Let us offer our prayers and thanks to the Supreme God who rules the vast, towering heavens, the Five Great Gods who rule the broad, expansive earth — the Water Goddess
Reacting to my words, the priests took their stances in a wave.
"Pray to the gods! Give thanks to the gods!"
Once everyone had offered their prayers together, my exit began.
I was led down the steps by the High Priest and started walking, but midway through my exit, I noticed one blue priest who was looking slightly downward and trying to avert his gaze. I stopped in my tracks.
"Oh, you..."
"Do you know
"He's the one who ransacked my library, isn't he?"
I gave a small laugh — "Found you~" — and without any intimidation on my part, Egmont's face turned completely white.
"A-Ah, that was... well, you see..."
As he stammered, his gaze wandered in search of help. Spotting the High Priest, he seized on it and blurted out his excuse.
"That was on the former High Priest's orders! It wasn't my own intention!"
There it was again — the ultimate technique: "It's all that person's fault!" The former High Priest was quite popular.
But that ultimate move didn't work every time. The crime of ransacking the library was severe, and my anger when it came to books was persistent. Blaming the former High Priest wasn't going to make it disappear.
"I see. It was the High Priest's instruction."
"That's right!"
At my words, Egmont broke into a relieved smile. His face showed nothing but joy at having escaped my anger — not a shred of reflection, not even as much as a fingertip's worth.
I chuckled and gave a light display of intimidation while I was at it. "I'll let you off with one debt. Don't think there'll be a second time."
I had shown remarkable restraint and ended things as civilly as possible without drawing blood, but the moment I returned to my room, the High Priest scolded me for "going too far." I couldn't understand why.
"That's strange. Didn't the High Priest himself teach me that implanting trauma in the heart and hammering it into the body is the most rational and optimal method?"
"...That's for when the other person won't listen to reason."
The High Priest said this with a bitter expression, but I didn't want to bother confirming whether someone would listen or not — and if they didn't, and the library was ransacked again, that would be the far bigger problem.
"Whether they listen or not doesn't matter at this point. As long as every single blue priest remembers not to lay a hand on my library, that's all that matters. It was very rational, wasn't it?"
When I gave a smug grin, the High Priest matched me with a stiff, forced smile of his own.
"Your rationality is quite terrifying precisely because it's driven by emotion. There's no telling where or how it might have an impact."
"My, my. But the High Priest's rationality is quite broad and deep in its impact because it's so methodical, isn't it?"
We shared a laugh — and then I suddenly remembered something important. Now was not the time to be laughing with the High Priest.
"Come now, High Priest. The Baptism Ceremony and the installation ceremony are both complete. The dangerous element has been removed. Give me the library key. I need to read as much as possible before meeting Lutz and the others tomorrow."
I thrust my hand out demanding the key, and the High Priest shut his eyes tightly, clutching his head.
"If you collapse today, there will be no medicine or healing for you."
I have returned to the Temple after a long time.
I was the trembling blue priest at the installation ceremony.
Next time, a long-awaited reunion.