The Start of Social Week

"Finally, Rozemyne! What took you so long?"

When I returned to the dormitory of the Royal Academy, Wilfried was standing with his hands on his hips, waiting for me with a stern posture. He looked and sounded so much like my adoptive father when I'd gone back to the castle that I couldn't help but think, "They really are alike."

"I have returned, Wilfried brother. …However, the return schedule was set by Aub Ehrenfest and Ferdinand, so there's no point getting angry at me."

"But your absence made things incredibly difficult over here!"

Social season had officially begun, and tea party invitations had increased to an unprecedented number. Wilfried had been attending every tea party he couldn't refuse—particularly those hosted by higher-ranking duchies—and giving inoffensive responses on my behalf.

On top of that, gatherings for each rank and position had seen far more invitations than usual, with an overwhelming number of questions to field.

The increase in tea parties was tough enough, but the surge in attention had been even worse. Scouts and snide remarks from duchies of similar rank had become unbearable. Ehrenfest's apprentice retainers, who had never drawn much notice before, had been at a loss for how to handle the situation, running around in a panic.

The dormitory supervisor Hirschur, whose role was supposed to involve helping with exactly these matters and offering guidance, had locked herself in her laboratory and refused to come out. And even sending questionnaires to Ehrenfest involved a time lag before answers came back, so that wasn't much help either. Everyone had felt completely isolated and unsupported.

…But come to think of it, isn't this partly Hirschur-sensei's fault, not just mine?

"Because you've been building connections with Prince Anastasius and Klassenberg and such…"

"It's not like I went out of my way to cultivate those connections. When you're invited, you have no choice but to attend. Could you have refused, Wilfried brother?"

"That's exactly the problem—I couldn't!"

Now that word had been sent about when I would return, social engagements with the higher duchies had been temporarily put on hold.

Rihyarda smiled wryly as Wilfried desperately tried to convey just how much he'd struggled.

"Wilfried, if you wish to talk, perhaps you should do so in a proper room rather than standing here in the hallway. Don't the others also have many things they'd like to discuss with her Ladyship?"

"That's right! I have so much to tell Rozemyne."

Judithe, the only one of my knight apprentices who had remained at the Royal Academy, stepped forward with a "Welcome back." She had originally planned to return to Ehrenfest immediately after finishing her classes to resume her guard duties, but as my attendant she'd gotten swept up in the Academy's social whirl, been challenged to a rematch in ditter by Dunkelfelger, and been unable to leave.

"I passed my exams properly, you know! And yet I wasn't given permission to return to Ehrenfest, so I couldn't take up my guard duties under Rozemyne!"

Wilfried glanced sideways at Judithe as she desperately pleaded that she wasn't a failure, then gave a slight shrug.

"…You say you passed properly, but every Ehrenfest student has already passed, hasn't they?"

The flood of inquiries and tea party invitations had surged so dramatically that Ehrenfest, with its small numbers, had needed everyone to pitch in. This meant everyone had to finish their classes as quickly as possible, and they had all been pushed to tackle the exams with full force.

"Now, now, take long conversations to the multipurpose hall. You must prioritize her Ladyship's health—if she collapses again, things will only get worse. I'm going to go organize the luggage."

Rihyarda nudged Wilfried along as she headed off to deal with the baggage. I followed behind Wilfried and the others with my retainers in tow.

As I idly watched Rihyarda ascending the stairs, I noticed someone descending in the opposite direction. It was Justus, his brown eyes bright and lively, his expression thoroughly cheerful. Beside him was Traugott, looking thoroughly exasperated and being half-dragged along.

"It has been too long, Rozemyne."

"I've heard that you went to great trouble on my behalf regarding the Plantin Company, Justus. You worked so hard while I was asleep. Thank you—I'll continue to rely on you going forward."

"Your Ladyship always provides me with invaluable experiences. I shall do my utmost to meet your expectations."

While I spoke with Justus, Traugott's gaze wandered aimlessly as if he didn't know what to say, eventually settling on the floor. The confident, cheerful expression he'd worn before had completely collapsed. It seemed his relatives in Ehrenfest had given him quite the scolding.

As I was wondering what to say to him, Justus jabbed Traugott in the side with his elbow. It was a swift move, and the grunt that escaped Traugott's mouth suggested it had hit a rather tender spot.

Yet Justus narrowed his eyes and glared at Traugott as if he hadn't noticed any of this.

"Traugott, you have something you need to say to her Ladyship, don't you? What are you spacing out for?"

Gritting his teeth and guarding his side, Traugott slowly knelt before me.

"…My foolish behavior was a terrible insult to Rozemyne. I am truly sorry. Please accept my deepest apologies."

The moment I opened my mouth to accept Traugott's apology, Justus narrowed his brown eyes sharply and stopped me.

"You need not forgive him, Rozemyne. What he did is not something that should be pardoned easily."

The retainers around me nodded in agreement. I had been about to reflexively say "It's fine," but I silently thanked Justus for stopping me.

"Now then, your Ladyship. Ferdinand recently instructed me to also conduct civil official training. What exactly would you like this training to involve?"

"I want to train people who will carry forward the printing industry going forward. For that, I need people who can work with Commoners—what to watch out for in negotiations, how to advance the business… But before that, I'd like someone to evaluate whether the apprentices can function as civil officials."

As I discussed civil official training with Justus, I entered the multipurpose hall. Since Justus, an Attendant, was walking beside me in conversation while Traugott followed behind, the master-servant dynamic between these two had been completely reversed.

Being assigned a supervisory role, Traugott probably couldn't complain. Or perhaps he'd already complained and been shut down.

"Welcome back, Rozemyne."

"We have been eagerly awaiting your return."

When I entered the multipurpose hall, the students in the dormitory greeted me with radiant expressions. Just as Wilfried had said, this year's social season had clearly been extremely demanding.

"I've returned, everyone. Wilfried brother told me how difficult things have been—could you tell me what happened after I left Ehrenfest?"

Just as I did when receiving reports from my Attendants at the Temple, I listened to each person in turn regardless of year or faction.

"To be honest, we still haven't been able to hold a tea party to invite archduke candidates from other duchies. It can't be helped, since the only archduke candidates who needed to return to their territories for the Dedication Ritual were from other duchies, but still…"

It turned out that since I—a female archduke candidate—existed, upper-class nobles hosting tea parties to invite archduke candidates from other duchies would be seen as looking down on those duchies. Last year, when no archduke candidates were present, the female upper-class students had been able to host Ehrenfest tea parties, but since that was now impossible, socializing with archduke candidates had stalled.

"…Couldn't Wilfried brother have hosted the tea parties?"

"Hosting tea parties is essentially women's work, so I'm not familiar with it. And I had my own male social obligations to attend to. Just participating in the tea parties I was invited to by the higher duchies was overwhelming enough."

Apparently, for men, socializing involved small hunting parties or holding game tournaments like Gevinnen among nobles, demonstrating one's strength while exchanging information over drinks. Tea and sweets were served and could become conversation topics, but unlike women's tea parties, they were merely an afterthought.

Wilfried had been incredibly busy attending women's tea parties from higher duchies that he couldn't refuse while also showing up at male social events.

"You've all had a truly difficult time. Then we need to tackle the social obligations head-on. The first thing I need to do is… go to the library and supply Magic Power to Schwartz and Weiss. After that…"

When I said this after hearing everyone out, eyes around the room went wide and people spoke up simultaneously.

"Wait. Why would that come first? A meeting with Prince Anastasius is the top priority."

"We've also been asked to inform Klassenberg of your return. There have been many inquiries from other upper duchies as well."

"Once Lufen-sensei learned you were back, we received a ditter rematch challenge."

"We need to host at least one tea party with archduke candidates from other duchies under Ehrenfest's banner."

Task after task was piled up before I could even set foot in the library, and I felt dizzy. Having to finish all of this before the Interduchy Tournament and the graduation ceremony seemed like an impossibly tight schedule.

I turned to consult Rihyarda, then remembered she'd gone to organize the luggage. I scanned the multipurpose hall but realized the only person I could turn to was Justus.

…A little nerve-wracking, but he's the Chief Priest's Attendant, and both Lutz and Benno said he was highly capable. It should be fine to ask for his advice, right?

"Justus."

"Yes, your Ladyship?"

Justus, who had been standing behind Traugott, raised his eyebrows slightly, stepped forward, and knelt.

"What should I do first? How would Ferdinand approach this?"

"May I speak freely?"

"I don't have a dormitory supervisor to turn to. Could you advise me not as Traugott's Attendant, but as Ferdinand's civil official?"

Justus agreed immediately. He peered at the schedule that Hartmut was holding, murmured "Civil apprentice, the upcoming schedule," then lowered his gaze slightly in thought.

"The first thing we need to determine is how many people we can mobilize for the remaining social obligations. Has the preparation for the Interduchy Tournament been completed?"

I swept my gaze around the room. Wilfried and his retainers, along with Hartmut who was standing near Justus, all looked troubled.

"…No, honestly, we haven't had the bandwidth for that."

"We've made some progress, but I wouldn't say the preparations are anywhere near complete."

Justus counted off the days on his fingers and murmured, "That's going to be extremely tight."

"Then let's have everyone other than your Ladyship and her immediate retainers focus on Interduchy Tournament preparations as the priority—preparations that the other aubs will also be evaluating. Wilfried and his retainers will lead that effort."

"Understood."

After Wilfried and his retainers gave firm nods, Justus turned back to me.

"Your Ladyship's top priority is the social obligations that have piled up. First, submit a meeting request to the prince. Then send ordonnances to the higher duchies that have made inquiries, informing them of your return and that we will be hosting tea parties. Once the prince's meeting date is confirmed, set the date for Ehrenfest's tea party and send invitations to every duchy. By getting as many duchies as possible to attend, we can wrap up the bulk of the social obligations at once."

Being told to batch everything together and get it over with made me feel significantly lighter. With this approach, I should be able to carve out at least a little time for the library.

"In the gaps between engagements, you can go to the library to supply Magic Power. Obviously, you'll only be supplying the Magical Tools—there won't be time for reading."

"Ugh…"

"Even after deciding on a tea party, you might be summoned by a higher duchy at any time. And considering how few people we can spare for Interduchy Tournament preparations, Ehrenfest simply doesn't have the luxury of you taking a large entourage to hole up in the library. Understood?"

"…Yes."

Whenever I went to the library, it meant bringing a large group of retainers. I couldn't just slip away lightly on my own.

Wilfried stared wide-eyed at how easily Justus had restricted my library visits, then looked at me with an expression that clearly said, "Are you going to be okay?" Under the circumstances, I could certainly manage to hold back my library habit for a while.

…I brought books to read in the dormitory, so I'll be fine. I really wanted to hole up in the library, though.

"Justus, what about the rematch challenge from Dunkelfelger?"

"Such a thing isn't even worth considering. Naturally, we decline."

Justus raised one eyebrow slightly and said this in response to Wilfried's question.

"Lufen-sensei has been obsessed with nothing but ditter since his student days, but challenging Rozemyne to a rematch—isn't that some kind of misunderstanding? Unlike Ferdinand, your Ladyship isn't even a knight apprentice and, as a first-year, wouldn't normally participate in ditter matches. Ditter is a knight apprentice's competition, so we simply need to decline. Fortunately, the Interduchy Tournament is right around the corner."

Justus, who was Lufen's contemporary, stated bluntly that "There's no need for a rematch." I thought this was absolutely the correct reasoning, but turning down a request from a higher duchy must have been quite difficult.

"It's a request from Dunkelfelger. How exactly do you decline?"

"Leave it to Hirschur-sensei. That's what the dormitory supervisor is for, and she has plenty of experience declining Lufen's challenges on behalf of Ferdinand from his student days. No problem at all."

…Come to think of it, Justus had said he was the Chief Priest's Attendant.

"But Justus, how do you get Hirschur-sensei to do it? She never leaves her laboratory."

"Offer her Ferdinand's souvenirs in small increments as an exchange, and she'll work quite diligently. Hirschur-sensei has the ability to enter the sovereignty—she's a very capable person, depending on how you use her."

It seemed that during the Chief Priest's student years, Lufen had challenged him to ditter so frequently that a "declining contest" had emerged between Hirschur, who wanted to use the Chief Priest as a research assistant, and Lufen, who wanted to fight ditter. Apparently, leaving it to Hirschur would work fine.

"…You know, Justus, you suddenly seem incredibly reliable."

"Oh my, how did you evaluate me until now?"

…As an eccentric who would rush headlong into whatever caught her interest, cross-dress if necessary for intelligence gathering.

As if he'd heard my inner thoughts, Justus shrugged with an amused expression and muttered, "Intelligence gathering is my job, after all."

I had always assumed Justus's intelligence gathering was a complete hobby that just happened to overlap with his work. Honestly, I was stunned by how capable he was. I'd been underestimating the fact that, eccentric or not, Justus was valued highly as the Chief Priest's Attendant.

"Then, your Ladyships, please adjourn to a separate room to discuss the meeting request to the prince, the tea party you'll be hosting, and your upcoming social schedule."

At Justus's words, Lieseleta left the multipurpose hall to secure a room for the meeting.

"The rest of you, organized around Wilfried's retainers, should split into knights, civil officials, and Attendants to discuss Interduchy Tournament preparations. There's no time to waste, so think carefully before you act."

Everyone began moving in response to Justus's instructions, which he delivered with the same air of authority as the Chief Priest. I never realized how reassuring it was to have an adult who could give clear directions.

By the time Lieseleta came to tell me the room was ready, the knight apprentices, civil official apprentices, and Attendant apprentices had already divided up and begun their discussions on the Interduchy Tournament. As I watched them buzzing with the same energy as festival preparation committees, I left the multipurpose hall and moved to a nearby sitting room.

There, I discussed preparations for the large-scale tea party with my retainers until Rihyarda finished organizing the luggage.

"Since we're inviting all duchies at once, it will be quite large-scale. On the day, we'll need Wilfried's help as well—Rozemyne alone, with almost no familiarity with the other students, would find it overwhelming."

"If it's just for the day, he should be willing to help."

When Rihyarda entered the room after finishing the luggage, I consulted with her on how to phrase the ordonnance without giving offense to royalty, then sent one to Anastasius requesting a meeting to report my return and deliver the hair ornament.

While waiting for a reply, I informed Hartmut and Philine that my mother and I would be leading Ehrenfest's new printing industry venture. I told them that Justus would be training the civil official apprentices in preparation for this.

"Since this is a new venture, we want the next Aub to be involved. So Wilfried brother, Charlotte, Melchior, and my civil official apprentices will coordinate the civil officials sent from the provinces and those we've previously worked with to move the project forward."

"…Rozemyne, I'm going to be involved in such a major undertaking?"

Philine, the lower-ranking noble, went pale as she listened, her voice trembling with fear. Her green, leaf-like eyes wavered with anxiety. Come to think of it, Damuel had mentioned that despite being a lower-ranking noble, becoming my guard knight had attracted a great deal of jealousy due to his expanding Magic Power. Philine would likely face similar difficulties.

"If you're afraid of being involved in the printing industry, I can request that you be reassigned to another department."

"…No. I decided to make books with Rozemyne. I will never go back on that promise."

Her clenched fists still trembled slightly with unease. But Philine said this with clear determination. I couldn't help but soften at the sight of her resolve.

"Hartmut, I'll be keeping an eye out too, but please make sure Philine doesn't have too miserable a time among the civil officials."

"Understood."

I was telling Hartmut and Philine that they would be groomed as my key aides for expanding the printing industry, and that they should learn civil official work from Justus during this short period, when the ordonnance returned.

"Come at the fifth bell tomorrow," Anastasius's voice announced three times before the ordonnance reverted to its yellow magic stone. He wanted to deliver the hair ornament to Eglantine as soon as possible.

I sent my acknowledgment, then looked toward Brunhilde and Lieseleta, who were taking turns sending ordonnances to the archduke candidates who had made inquiries.

"If my meeting with Prince Anastasius is tomorrow, when can we hold the tea party? We'll need to coordinate the invitations to everyone, won't we?"

"In five days—no, four days would work. I think the sooner we wrap up the tea party, the better. Not only for us, but the guests also need to prepare for the Interduchy Tournament. …Besides, Angelica will need to prepare for the graduation ceremony as well, won't she?"

When Brunhilde turned to Angelica, Lieseleta nodded in agreement. But the person graduating herself merely tilted her head in puzzlement.

"I've brought my outfit, so I don't think any further preparation is necessary."

Brunhilde's eyes shot up at Angelica's response.

"How can you not polish your appearance even a little for such an occasion!? You're blessed with a beautiful appearance, Angelica—so you must adorn yourself beautifully with accessories and hair ornaments and spread Ehrenfest's trends!"

"Sister, Father and Mother told me there are still many decisions to be made regarding hairstyles and makeup, not just the outfit. You've been using your guard duties at the Temple as an excuse to escape the discussions, haven't you?"

At Lieseleta's pointed observation, Angelica lowered her eyes slightly with a sad expression. Her long lashes cast shadows on her face, creating the picture of a beautiful girl deeply wounded—but I'd learned by now that this was her "this is so troublesome" face.

Naturally, as her sister, Lieseleta also noticed Angelica's expression and let out an exasperated sigh.

"I'll choose what suits you for your hairstyle and such, so at least on the day, please sit still and let me do my work."

"If Lieseleta is going that far, I suppose I have no choice. I'll behave on the day."

Angelica nodded with what was truly a dejected expression. She looked like a princess reluctantly submitting to a political marriage, but in reality she was simply annoyed by the hassle.

Incidentally, while she found formal wear troublesome, she threw herself wholeheartedly into reinforcing her knight uniform with magic stones and embroidering magic circles onto her cloak.

"I know you don't like adorning yourself for anything other than combat, Sister, but if your appearance at the graduation ceremony is half-hearted, won't it embarrass the person escorting you?"

At the words "the person escorting you," I blinked several times and looked at Angelica. It wasn't "Father" or "Uncle"—which meant there was actually a specific person lined up.

"Who is Angelica's escort? Based on the way you're putting it, it can't be a relative, can it?"

"Huh? Rozemyne, you didn't know? …Sister, you haven't reported it?"

"I haven't heard anything…"

Lieseleta looked at me, Angelica, and then around the room. When she saw Angelica tilting her head as if it were someone else's problem entirely, Lieseleta's eyebrows drooped with a troubled expression before she composed herself with a forced smile.

"Since no one seems to know yet, let's save it for the day itself."

…I wonder who Angelica's partner is. I really want to know.