"Your Highness, everyone has gladly agreed to the matter of the attendants. They have already begun moving their things. The new attendants will come to greet you afterward. Since the men cannot go up to the third floor, they'll be introduced after the evening announcement."
Richarda returned after going to inform everyone about the attendant appointments and the post-dinner announcement.
Those who became attendants apparently had to move to the attendant rooms. Movement began bustling beyond the door. The attendants' move was likely starting in earnest.
"Lady Rozemine, shall I let them in?"
"Yes, please do."
Brünhilde was the first to enter, and she knelt before me.
"Lady Rozemine, I am most grateful for this opportunity to serve you. Please entrust me with the matter of spreading trends."
"I intend to ask Brünhilde to handle social matters. As you know, since I was asleep for two years, I am not well-versed in the finer details of domestic affairs or the connections between factions and territories. I expect you to assist me at social gatherings and to gather all manner of information."
"I shall leave it to me."
After Brünhilde's greeting,
"My entire family—no, my entire clan—owes its gratitude to Lady Rozemine for saving my elder sister, whose very progression through the
"Angelica told me that Lieseleta waited for my awakening in order to serve me. I'm delighted by that sentiment. I look forward to working with you."
"Yes."
Unlike scholar apprentices who could begin working right away with creating reference materials and helping with assignments once they could write the basic alphabet, attendants had to undergo a year of training so as not to displease their master before they could serve anyone as a dedicated person.
I was told that Lieseleta, who had been a first-year student at the Royal Academy when I had my
"Your Highness, I will teach the two attendant apprentices about our work in this room."
Richarda would be looking after Brünhilde and Lieseleta and teaching them, so there was no problem. When I nodded, Richarda began explaining the room's layout and the daily schedule.
I turned my gaze to the knight apprentices lined up. Eudite, who was kneeling, looked up at me with eyes still sparkling with excitement.
"I'm so happy I can serve Lady Rozemine. I want to become as strong as I can to be of use."
"I'm counting on Eudite's efforts."
Kneeling beside her was
If someone hadn't told me she was a knight apprentice, I never would have guessed. She had the appearance of a scholar apprentice.
"Lady Rozemine, thank you for appointing me as your guard knight."
"Leonore, I believe I'm asking a great deal of you. If any problems arise, I will help as well, but I'd like you to work with
Leonore turned her gaze to Angelica and Eudite, then tightened her expression and slowly nodded.
"I... will devote myself wholeheartedly to this task."
I breathed a sigh of relief that she hadn't refused, then called out to Angelica, who was smiling contentedly, looking equally pleased that "someone had been added to help think things through."
"Angelica, please explain the work in this room and the division of duties to the two of them."
"Understood."
Even if Angelica's explanations were poor,
Pouting my lips with a hum, I watched as
"Um, Lady Rozemine. I'm honored to have been appointed as an attendant, but is it truly alright for someone like me—a first-year lay-noble—to serve as one of your attendants?"
Philine asked with an anxious look. It was understandable to be worried, since it was rare for a lay-noble to be taken in by a lord candidate's household. However, Philine had sworn that she alone would gather stories from across the land for me. To me, she was an ally.
"What I'd like to ask of you, Philine, is essentially story collection. Besides, there are arch-noble scholar apprentices to support and guide you. Most importantly, if being a lay-noble causes you any difficulties, please don't hesitate to discuss it with me. I will deal with it, since I'm the one who appointed you."
"Thank you, Lady Rozemine."
While the others began their meeting as attendants, I decided to speak with Philine about the Academic Performance Committee.
"What exactly is the Academic Performance Committee?"
"Upon enrolling at the Royal Academy, all lord candidates were ordered by the Aub Ehrenfest to raise the academic performance of Ehrenfest as a whole. I must raise our grades during my time enrolled. This committee was created for that purpose. The chairman is
As I spoke, I spread out the documents
They were barely clinging to the middle, but Ehrenfest had originally been a small territory competing for the bottom with others, and it had only risen when the Chief Priest was enrolled, declining steadily after his graduation.
In other words, having just one genius wasn't enough. We needed to build a system that raised the performance of Ehrenfest as a whole.
"How do we raise our grades? I've heard that the card game and picture books helped quite a bit."
"The card game and picture books raised the lower-year students' grades. Those alone won't be enough for the upper-year students."
"Is that so?"
The lower-year grades had visibly improved mostly in their coursework. Beyond that, perhaps the practical music classes had been slightly strengthened.
"During the two years I was asleep, Brother Cornelius became an honors student. That was because he had been studying one year ahead together with Damuel while teaching Angelica her coursework. On top of that, he learned efficient magic compression and was trained by Grandfather—Lord
The grade improvement team had worked hard to protect Angelica's promotion, and as a result, the other knight apprentices' grades had improved somewhat by association, but there was still a significant gap compared to Brother Cornelius's improvement. And with Angelica's grades barely passing in coursework after everyone had helped her, there was nothing to do but scratch my head.
"If I recall, you were also the one who came up with the magic compression method, weren't you, Lady Rozemine?"
"Yes. When I return from the Royal Academy, there will be another lecture. Since the magic compression method requires the leadership's permission and money, I can't teach it here and now. If you want to learn it, Philine, you should start gathering stories and information now to earn money for yourself."
I said I would buy the stories from various regions, and Philine's eyes lit up like young leaves.
"I'll do my best. ...I'm glad there's a period for earning money, but if it's after returning to Ehrenfest, that means I won't be able to raise my magic right away?"
"That's right. What's effective for all the students here and can be done immediately is improving our coursework grades."
At the Royal Academy, first and second-year students took common subjects and were taught the basics. From the third year onward, they divided into specialized courses.
I had already been thoroughly drilled by the Chief Priest on all the coursework for first and second year. And he had told me to "pass the test on the first day." Above all, without that level of common sense, one apparently couldn't hold a proper conversation at the tea parties where arch-nobles gathered.
I heard Wilfried had already finished his as well. Lord candidates and arch-nobles who had older siblings were expected to pass the lower-year tests on the first day as a matter of course.
And they needed to allocate time for the practical and social activities afterward. I wanted to spend as much time as possible in the library. For that, I needed advance preparation. Since I wouldn't be able to visit the library until lectures started anyway.
My peers had been studying with the card game and picture books, so I thought the coursework related to magic up to about the third year would be manageable. Math wasn't a problem either. However, I thought the differences would be vast in history and geography. The subjects I knew the least about were also history and geography.
"Those who had older siblings probably have the wooden tablets, reference materials, and reference books they made or were taught with. I'd like to get those out and create an atmosphere where everyone works together to improve their grades."
For the knight apprentices, Brother
"I want to raise the grades of all of Ehrenfest, including the children of the former
"I also think it's best to raise everyone's grades regardless of faction. The children's room that Lady Rozemine set up in the winter assigned tasks matched to each child's level regardless of age or faction, and everyone worked toward the snack reward. I loved that atmosphere."
Philine narrowed her eyes and smiled nostalgically. During the two years I was absent, in the first year Wilfried had been ambushed by his schoolmates at a hunting tournament, and he had been openly hostile toward the children of the former Veronica faction.
But in reality, even now the former Veronica faction was kept at a distance when forming seating arrangements, and not only were they not selected as attendants, there was a general atmosphere of hesitation about entrusting them with important roles. Fixing this was urgent.
...Aiming for rewards and having everyone compete might be the best approach? And if we create a common enemy, they might band together a little?
I wanted to somehow recreate the atmosphere Philine had loved in the winter children's room at the Royal Academy.
"After dinner, please remain behind. I need to announce my attendants, pay two years' worth of information fees, and convey a message from the Aub Ehrenfest to everyone."
After saying this to everyone gathered in the dining hall, I took my seat.
The tables were roughly organized by faction. At the large tables that seated twelve, Wilfried and I sat with our respective attendants, while the others sat in groups of friends at four separate tables.
...Everyone already knew exactly who the attendants were, but apparently a formal announcement was still important.
"We give thanks to the Supreme God who rules the vast, lofty heavens and bestows upon us the countless lives that nourish us, and to the Five Great Gods who rule the wide, boundless earth. We offer our gratitude and prayers to the divine will of the gods, and receive this meal."
After Wilfried's prayer, everyone offered their prayers and began eating.
For the record, Wilfried and I had a different menu from everyone else. The others all ate the same dishes. "Different menu" was generous—it just meant we got dessert.
The others at our table were eating while wide-eyed with surprise.
"The food has gotten noticeably better over the past few years, but this year it's even more..."
"The highlight of the Royal Academy is definitely this food. I was shocked the first time I ate it last year."
The Royal Academy had been sending cooks from the castle, so the quality of the food had improved tremendously over the past three years. This year, with
"This year, my personal cook was also sent to the Royal Academy. It seems he's been practicing well during the two years I was asleep. Oh yes, the recipe book my attendants compiled is also scheduled for release at the end of this winter."
"Oh my, a recipe book—would it contain instructions on how to make things?"
Brünhilde covered her mouth and reacted with refined surprise. I needed to learn some of that elegance myself.
"It will be more expensive than a picture book, but I believe it will be worth it."
"Yes, Lady Rozemine speaks the truth. Recipes are very valuable. Are you also considering selling them in the central territories?"
"Spreading recipe books at the Royal Academy would be next year at the earliest, or perhaps the year after. This year, I'm thinking of introducing just one or two types of sweets at the tea parties to pique the interest of those around us. Changing too rapidly would invite too strong a backlash."
Brünhilde, who had spoken about wanting to spread trends, pouted her lips with a hint of dissatisfaction. I gave her a small smile.
"It's better to release trends little by little, Brünhilde. While I am indeed a lord candidate, there are differences among lord candidates as well. If you consider the royal family and candidates from the great territories to be arch-nobles, then we in Ehrenfest, a middle territory, are med-nobles. If med-nobles suddenly started broadcasting a flood of trends, what would the arch-nobles think?"
Brünhilde raised her head as if struck by a realization.
"You must carefully consider which arch-nobles to connect with and gain influence through the things you can spread as trends. There's no need to reveal all your cards at once—just release information gradually."
"Understood."
After finishing the meal this way, I formally announced my attendants. They were already sitting at the same table, so they could be identified at a glance, but apparently the formal announcement was what mattered.
"Now then, I will announce my attendants. The attendant apprentices are Lieseleta and Brünhilde. The knight apprentices are Angelica, Cornelius, Leonore,
The girls had already met in the room, but the boys were meeting some of them for the first time at the dinner table. They had exchanged introductions three years ago in the children's room, but so many people had greeted them at once that, honestly, they remembered almost no one except those on their blacklist of people to watch out for.
"It is an honor to serve Lady Rozemine."
Traugott came forward and knelt before me as he said this. He was twelve years old and a third-year upper-knight apprentice. I had heard he was the son born between Richarda's daughter and Grandfather's second wife, but he didn't look like either of them. With his dark gold hair and indigo eyes, he showed little expression and had a taciturn air.
The next to come forward was Hartmut.
"Ever since the order was given to gather information at the Royal Academy, I have been awaiting Lady Rozemine's awakening. I am honored to serve."
He spoke just like
After the introductions were complete, I had Richarda bring a bag full of money.
"During the time I was asleep, many of you gathered valuable information. I would like to express my gratitude by paying you the information fees."
I called out the names of the information providers and handed them money. Brünhilde's information on fashion and trends had earned high praise from my adoptive mother and mother, and Hartmut's information had delighted the Chief Priest.
I added a word about who had praised each person as I paid them, and everyone's eyes gleamed with pride.
"Also, Rodrik and Philine gathered many stories for my sake. Thanks to them, it seems I'll be able to create new picture books."
The two of them hadn't been enrolled at the Royal Academy, but they had gathered the information I wanted most. I made sure to pay them their information fees as well. That way, there was a high chance of new stories being brought in by others seeking money.
Philine happily came forward and accepted her payment, but Rodrik looked at me, the money, and his own hand with an expression of extreme confusion.
"...Am I really allowed to accept this?"
"Of course. This is for all the effort Rodrik put in."
He never expected to be recognized. With that look on his face, Rodrik stared at me and, for a moment, his expression twisted as though he were about to cry.
"I humbly accept."
"I have high expectations for Rodrik going forward. Please gather plenty of stories at the Royal Academy as well."
"...I will do my utmost to meet your expectations."
As Rodrik tightly clutched the money and returned to his seat, Wilfried watched with a sharp gaze directed at me.
"Rozemine, don't you know? Rodrik is..."
"Actions should be judged fairly, Brother Wilfried. Rodrik gathered many stories for me. I simply recognized that. Faction has nothing to do with evaluating accomplished results."
The table where the former Veronica faction members were gathered buzzed at my words.
"Lady Rozemine, then would you fairly evaluate the information I've collected as well?"
"Of course. Everyone has different values. Brünhilde placed importance on trends and fashion, while Hartmut focused on inter-territorial relationships. And the people who were pleased with that information were each different individuals. So if there is someone who is pleased with the information you bring, I will give it fair recognition."
"...I understand."
I had thought that perhaps their parents had forbidden them from bringing information, since none of the former Veronica faction members had brought any. But it turned out they hadn't been forbidden by their faction—they simply hadn't thought they would receive any recognition. Given Wilfried's attitude, it was understandable why they would think that.
"Now, I would like to convey the words entrusted to us by the Aub Ehrenfest. Starting this year, we lord candidates will be enrolled. After that, Charlotte and
At my words, Wilfried also stood up. Then, in a clear voice, he addressed everyone.
"He wishes for us to raise Ehrenfest's influence as much as possible during the roughly ten years that lord candidates will be enrolled. For that, he wants everyone to unite and work together."
"First, let's think about what we can do to raise Ehrenfest's grades."
Opinions came immediately after my words.
"If Lady Rozemine could teach us the magic compression method, I think that alone would greatly improve things. Please teach us as well, for the sake of improving our grades."
Indeed, Angelica, Brother Cornelius, and
"...I intend to gradually spread my magic compression method only to those I can trust. This winter, I will observe everyone's behavior at the Royal Academy, select who to teach, and after the Academy concludes, I plan to conduct lectures once I've obtained the leadership's permission."
"Is that really true?"
"Yes. But the selection of candidates requires the leadership's permission, and it will also require a significant amount of money."
I could see faces lighting up with hope, and others falling into resignation.
"Therefore, raising magic through the compression method will have to wait until spring at the earliest. This year, I want to focus on improving coursework grades. Raising coursework grades benefits you personally and benefits Ehrenfest as a whole. Regardless of faction, let's all work to raise our grades together."
Everyone raised their faces at my words. There were wary expressions here and there, as if wondering what I was about to say. I shrugged slightly and continued.
"First, we'll divide into teams."
"Teams?"
"First and second-year students, who only have common subjects, will be divided by year. Third-year students and above, who separate into specialized courses, will be divided by course. First-year team, second-year team, knight apprentice team, scholar apprentice team, and attendant apprentice team."
The team divisions had some variation in numbers, but each was roughly ten people. Considering the sharing of reference materials and information, I thought this was the most efficient way to divide.
But dissenting voices rose immediately.
"Rozemine, have you lost your mind!? If you're dividing into teams, it would make more sense to do it by faction..."
"That's right. We can't possibly cooperate!"
"Please consider the position of those who are looked down upon."
Negative opinions came from both Wilfried and the former Veronica faction, but this was exactly the factional atmosphere I wanted to fix. Dividing by faction would defeat the entire purpose.
As a chorus of complaints rose, I placed my cheek against my hand and shook my head with an exasperated expression.
"Ladies and gentlemen, you seem to enjoy your factional squabbles quite a bit, but within the kingdom, Ehrenfest itself is considered a backwater with nothing noteworthy—isn't that something you should all know? Is this really the time to be fighting among yourselves?"
"That is..."
"Have you forgotten that you were attacked!?"
At Wilfried's reminder, I sighed. I had thought Wilfried was being stubborn about factions, but it turned out he had been trying to protect me.
"I haven't forgotten, and I'm still angry about it. But here at the Royal Academy, we have no parents to rely on. Conversely, that also means there are no parents to monitor and compel us. We can leave factional disputes until we return to Ehrenfest. What we need to contend with are the excellent students from other territories. Please understand that first. If you're nobles, you must be able to think of your advantage in the moment, hide your emotions, and even ally with your enemies. Weren't you taught that?"
I muttered that everyone was so petty, and both Wilfried and the other children fell silent.
"It's hard to get motivated just because someone suddenly tells you to study. So, to bring out everyone's motivation, I've prepared a reward. The teams where every member passes the test and the teams with the most outstanding performers will receive the recipe for my original sweet, quatre-quarts. You can have your family cooks make it once we return to Ehrenfest."
I had told Frieda that the recipe could be made public, and I had mentioned it here and there, but everyone had tried to keep it secret, so the quatre-quarts recipe hadn't really spread very far.
For now, the only way to eat quatre-quarts was to visit the Noble District of Ehrenfest and buy it at the Guild Master's shop, or to be invited to the tea parties of my adoptive mother or mother.
If the recipe became a reward, they could eat it at home. They could serve it freely to guests as tea sweets. Everyone's eyes changed.
Wilfried and Brother Cornelius looked a bit troubled, but I'd have them make do with Ela's new creations.
"The lower years might all pass more easily, but since the difficulty is low, it will be hard to be selected as outstanding performers. For the upper years, if they put in the effort, they might produce many outstanding performers."
"Lady Rozemine!"
Hartmut, the scholar apprentice, raised his hand crisply and pointed out.
"The knight apprentices have multiple guard knights who know the magic compression method, and we have excellent reference materials given to us by Lord Eckhart. I think that's too much of an advantage."
Yes, yes—voices of agreement rose from the other teams as well. It was amusing how they could all agree regardless of faction at times like these.
"Reference materials could probably be obtained through siblings in other teams, but there's nothing we can do about magic alone. Indeed, some adjustment of difficulty is needed. ...Then, Angelica will be prohibited from using Stenluke during coursework."
"Huh!?"
"That would make it far too difficult!"
Cries like screams rose from the upper-year knight apprentices, but I looked straight at Angelica, who was pale and holding her breath.
"Over these past two years, Angelica has come to rely on Stenluke so much that she has stopped thinking for herself more than before. This won't do. Use your own head, think, and commit things to memory. You could do it two years ago. You should be able to do it this year as well."
"Oh, Lady Rozemine..."
A fragile demeanor and a tearful expression wouldn't work. She had become a beautiful girl looking sadly distressed, but Angelica must not be deceived by her appearance. This was the face she made when she didn't want to think.
"Does Lady Rozemine hate me?"
"Not at all. I wouldn't make someone I dislike a guard knight. I wish for Angelica's growth. Stenluke, you heard that. Cheating will not be permitted."
Seeing Angelica stroke the magical stone of her magic sword as if seeking help, I spoke to Stenluke. Having copied the Chief Priest's personality and manner of speech, Stenluke replied in a clear voice: "I understand."
"Cheating is not something a knight does. Above all, wishing for my master's growth is something I feel as well."
"I'm glad Stenluke understands too."
"Stenluke! Lady Rozemine!?"
Laughing encouragingly at Angelica's cries of despair, I looked around the dining hall.
"Then, each team should work out their own strategies, cooperate with one another, and take on the lectures. ...Now then, Brother Wilfried. When will the first-year strategy meeting begin?"
Wilfried, who had been staring intently at Rodrik and the former Veronica faction's table, stood up with a clatter.
"Tonight, everyone is to confirm the lecture content you heard from your older siblings and the reference materials you have. Tomorrow morning, right after breakfast, we will hold the strategy meeting. Victory shall be ours!"
And so, the Ehrenfest Academic Performance Committee was launched, and the struggle to achieve results began.
--- The Academic Performance Committee came from Rozemine's calculation that if everyone could cooperate with each other, her own effort would be lessened and everyone's grades would improve.
The cast of characters has grown considerably all at once, but their time to shine will come gradually. When they appear from time to time, please consult the book-lover's setting collection managed in the series.
Next time: the promotion ceremony and the social gathering.