On the silver ship encased in ice, four figures were visible:
"Lady Letizia, thank goodness you're safe. Are you injured?"
After Ferdinand let me down from his riding beast, I moved to approach Letizia.
"Could that be... Lady
Letizia looked at me with blinking eyes. It seemed my growth had made me unrecognizable.
"I heard from
"Lady Letizia."
Ferdinand cut off her words by calling her name. Letizia turned to look at Ferdinand with an expression of utter disbelief. Beneath that shock, there also seemed to be deep relief, and I could see the tension draining from her body.
"So you were safe after all, Lord Ferdinand. I was told by Lady
"That is thanks to you delivering word to
Ferdinand interrupted Letizia's words with a smile. But that smile carried a sharp edge—even from the side, I could tell he was silently saying "Be quiet." It must have gotten through to Letizia, too. She pressed a hand over her mouth and fell silent.
"Having obtained the cornerstone and become Aub Arensbach, Rozemyne has stated that she wishes to save you, knowing everything."
Letizia looked at my face in surprise. Her attendants wore similar expressions. They probably hadn't imagined that Rozemyne, who had come to save Ferdinand, would also save Letizia, the very person responsible for what happened. Nor would they have expected that the one who had seized the cornerstone by force would save the former ruling family.
"But, Lord Ferdinand. I..."
"Until we arrange a proper setting for discussion, you will say nothing unnecessary and maintain the appearance that nothing has happened. Can you follow my instructions this time?"
Letizia looked up at Ferdinand with a pale face, clutching tightly at her chest, and nodded firmly.
"...Understood. I am truly grateful for your and Lady Rozemyne's compassion."
"We will now close the Gate so that no more Lanzanave ships can enter. Lady Letizia, please ride with Dunkelfelger's knights back to the castle ahead of us, and have your attendants prepare the great hall for the knights to rest, as well as set up guest rooms."
Ferdinand began issuing instructions to Letizia, who had only just been rescued, and I was so startled that I couldn't help but stop him.
"Lord Ferdinand, Lady Letizia has been held captive and needs rest as soon as possible! Giving her instructions like that is..."
"She was merely sitting on a ship, whereas I was poisoned by Detlinde, and you came from Ehrenfest, colored the cornerstone, and expelled Lanzanave. Lady Letizia still has more physical strength and Magic Power remaining than either of us."
"That may be true, but please consider her mental state as well!"
When I quietly protested Ferdinand's efficiency-only thinking, he gave a huff and, looking down at Letizia, began to explain.
Apparently, with the nobles in a state of confusion, having it stated by Letizia—an Arensbach noble—that she had been saved by Dunkelfelger and by me, the new Aub, and that the danger of Lanzanave had passed carried enormous significance.
...It would certainly be more convincing than hearing it from someone at Dunkelfelger or Ehrenfest.
Additionally, if the young Letizia, clearly in mental distress, showed admirable resolve, she would easily gather sympathy from those around her, which would help in her own recovery. At the same time, seeing that Letizia from the ruling family had been saved would give others hope that they might be saved too. And if young Letizia was doing her best, the adult nobles who had been victimized would be spurred to action as well.
"Besides, unless one is exceedingly carefree and oblivious, wouldn't it be more mentally taxing to go about as usual during this emergency, with no punishment or role assigned?"
At Ferdinand's words, Letizia stepped forward and knelt before me.
"Lady Rozemyne, Lord Ferdinand is right. If there is anything I can do in my current state, I want to do it. ...I simply cannot sit still."
"Very well. Then I leave it to you, Lady Letizia. Please prepare a place where everyone can rest."
"Understood.
Letizia stood and turned around to look up at her attendants, calling out, but then froze with a strained expression. A young girl who appeared to be an apprentice—her hair still unstyled—gently touched Letizia's shoulder.
"I will call the attendants, Lady Letizia."
"Feuerle..."
From the somber expression and their exchange, I could guess what had happened to Roswitha, Letizia's attendant.
"Leonore, please ask Dunkelfelger's knights to escort Lady Letizia and her party to the castle with full courtesy."
Leonore immediately went to arrange this with the Dunkelfelger knights. Meanwhile, the girl called Feuerle approached Ferdinand.
"Um, Lord Ferdinand. May I ask just one question?"
"You may."
"...Did my father manage to protect the Arensbach nobles?"
The hands clenched in front of her trembled slightly. Her father, who had tried to protect the city and its nobles, overlapped in my mind with my own father protecting Ehrenfest's city, and I couldn't help but look up at Ferdinand as well.
"From what I've heard in brief,
Her eyes glistened with relief as she said, "Thank you so much." Feuerle knelt once, then was called over by a Dunkelfelger knight who had summoned a riding beast, and headed off with Letizia and the others.
I watched Letizia's group depart, but Ferdinand headed toward the Dunkelfelger knights who were retrieving magic stones and Magical Tools from the ship.
"Hyschitz, have the Dunkelfelger knights strip the silver garments off the Lanzanave soldiers. There's a high chance they'll be used in the battles ahead in Ehrenfest and the Central District."
"Yes, sir!"
"
As he spoke, Ferdinand handed Eckhart a Magical Tool for eavesdropping prevention. I couldn't hear what he said, but he seemed to be issuing some kind of order. Eckhart nodded with a stern expression.
After giving the Dunkelfelger knights their various instructions and exchanging Ordonnanz messages with the knights conducting salvage operations near the Border Gate, Ferdinand summoned his riding beast and called to me.
"Rozemyne, we're closing the Country Border Gate."
"But closing the Country Border Gate is..."
"You're the only one who came to Arensbach using the Country Border Gate. I heard from Justus while you were changing."
...So he wasn't going to let anyone know about the Book of
To prevent anyone from seeing Ferdinand close the Country Border Gate, my presence was indeed necessary. I climbed onto Ferdinand's riding beast, and we headed for the gate. The ship struck by
"Lanzanave soldiers are heading toward the Country Border Gate."
"Let them. Even if they reach the teleportation circle, those without enough Magic Power to teleport on their own, or those without the permission stone, won't be able to transfer. They'll either be repelled by the silver garments or crash into the white land on the other side of the border."
When I had arrived, it had been the dead of night, and I had charged toward the city with my back to the Country Border Gate, so I hadn't seen any of this. But now that the sun had risen and we were flying toward the gate on a riding beast, the view was quite clear. Beyond the rainbow-hued Country Border Gate stretched the same white desert as the landscape beyond Ehrenfest's own Country Border Gate. The sea ended abruptly as if cut away by the gate's teleportation circle, and beyond it lay a white world. It felt like I was looking at an optical illusion.
"Rozemyne, did you leave the top of the Country Border Gate open?"
"...I didn't have the luxury of closing it."
The roof of the gate had been left wide open so that a Lesserbus could pass through. But when I'd arrived, I had been tense and on guard against whatever attack Arensbach's knights might launch, so the thought of closing it leisurely afterward had never even occurred to me.
"Well, fine. That saves me the trouble of opening it. Rozemyne, raise your right hand high so it's visible to everyone, and bring out the Holy Book. We're going in just like this."
"Yes."
As I answered, Ferdinand's right hand came to rest in front of my stomach. From the outside, it would probably look like he was holding me in place with a safety bar.
"
As my voice rang out, Ferdinand murmured "Grutrissheit" in a voice so quiet it was barely a whisper. His Book of Mestionora appeared in front of my stomach, where no one else could see it.
...Ferdinand's Book of Mestionora is quite large. I wonder if I could read mine, too.
With the attention of everyone around us fixed on the Holy Book I was holding aloft, our riding beast dove into the Country Border Gate. Only those carrying a Holy Book could enter from above. Leonore, who couldn't follow and was repelled by the barrier, called out in an alarmed voice.
"Lady Rozemyne, Lord Ferdinand! Please come back for a moment!"
Once inside the Country Border Gate, Ferdinand dismissed the Book of Mestionora and the riding beast as if their purpose was served.
"Rozemyne, close the gate's roof. We can't close the Country Border Gate like this."
Looking up at Leonore and Angelica circling overhead, I heard his words and affixed my Book of Mestionora to the gate, sealing the roof shut.
"While we have a convenient moment, let me ask—what do you want to do after this?"
"I was thinking of resting first, then heading to Ehrenfest, but..."
"After that."
Asked while looking up at the closing roof, I found myself at a loss for words.
"You colored Arensbach's cornerstone tonight, eliminated the threat of Lanzanave, showed everyone the Holy Book, and closed the Country Border Gate. This has made it known that no more Lanzanave ships will come, and that you are a qualified candidate to become Zent—giving rise to a new set of options."
Ferdinand slowly raised one finger at a time as he laid out the options.
One: Surrender Arensbach's cornerstone to someone else, and go through with the originally planned marriage into the royal family, swallowing the unpleasantness and living on.
Two: Surrender Arensbach's cornerstone to someone else, then after becoming the royal family's adopted daughter, I would reign over
Three: Hand the Grutrissheit to the royal family and remain here as Aub Arensbach.
Four: Hand the Grutrissheit to the royal family, surrender Arensbach's cornerstone to someone else, and return to Ehrenfest.
"There are four main options. Tell me which one you want before we finish closing the gate. Your choice will change how we proceed."
As he spoke, Ferdinand confirmed that the roof had closed completely, then looked down at me with a venomous smile.
"You were the one who told me I had better be happy going to Arensbach, or you wouldn't forgive me, weren't you?"
"Y-Yes."
"Then you have no reason to choose a nightmare marriage that lowers your living standards when other options exist. Correct?"
Having a giant nail hammered into me with my own previous words, and being forced to answer by a smiling-without-the-eyes expression, there was really only one possible response.
"You are absolutely right, Lord Ferdinand."
"Good. Then what about the second option? To complete the Book of Mestionora, you either need to kill me or register as royalty and obtain the Grutrissheit from the underground library. ...However, you who are emotional and all too willing to sever ties with your country for the sake of someone dear to you are completely unsuited to becoming Zent. I have my doubts about making you Zent. If you choose the path of becoming Zent, I will resist with everything I have. Choose it only with the resolve to exchange it for my life."
"How could I ever choose such a terrifying option?!"
"As expected."
Having saved Ferdinand, Yurgenschmidt's safety was important, but I had no particular attachment to becoming Zent myself. Still, Yurgenschmidt absolutely needed a Zent who possessed either the Book of Mestionora or the Grutrissheit.
"Ugh... Isn't there an option where Lord Ferdinand becomes Zent? I'm not the only one with a Book of Mestionora, you know."
"You want me to kill you?"
Glared at with those piercing eyes, I frantically shook my head. If Ferdinand made up his mind, my life would be in danger. Without even looking hostile, Ferdinand was perfectly capable of killing me.
"No, that's not what I mean! I was thinking that if I became the royal family's adopted daughter, I could hand the Grutrissheit over to Lord Ferdinand..."
"That may be possible, but do you want me to become Zent?"
Stared at intently as he asked, I considered the idea of Ferdinand as Zent. It wasn't that he'd be unsuited for it, but Ferdinand himself had said he didn't want to become one.
"No. I want Lord Ferdinand to retire quickly, return to Ehrenfest, and live out his remaining years in peace and quiet."
"Don't treat me like an old man."
"Ireluff!"
When I proposed a happy life dedicated to research, he pinched my cheeks—seriously. It actually hurt.
Tearing up and holding my cheek, I looked up at Ferdinand.
"Um, Lord Ferdinand. Since I can't become Aub Ehrenfest, I said I can't return to Ehrenfest, didn't I? So from the beginning, isn't there really only one option?"
Ferdinand said "Well then..." and brought out the Book of Mestionora.
"You're free to choose any option you like. But the others aren't exactly bad choices, are they? Arensbach is territory I had originally considered acceptable to destroy. It would serve perfectly well as your playground."
...Playground!?