As a Member of Rozemyne-sama's Entourage

「Simply wonderful, wouldn’t you agree? The splendid blessing that overflowed from the prayer to Mestionora, the Goddess of Wisdom! The sparkle and majesty were the exact same as the blessings we have seen before, but it still feels refreshing. Rozemyne-sama’s blessings are……」

「Hartmut, you’ve said that already. I’m in the middle of discussing with Traugott about the escort plan for after Rozemyne finishes her lectures, so please shut up for a moment.」

This is the kind of attitude many of my colleagues have been getting lately when I praise my master, Rozemyne-sama. Cornelius, in particular, has been very rude.

Rozemyne-sama became the master of the library’s magic tools with the blessing during her library registration. This must have been the guidance of Mestionora, the goddess of wisdom. Yet Cornelius, who is her brother, does not understand Rozemyne-sama’s charms and seems to consider the blessing as a nuisance.

……What a pity.

I let out a light sigh. Rozemyne-sama’s blessing is slightly different from the blessing we give during introductions. It is not just an emission of mana, there is a mysterious sparkle within.

I have not seen this many times. There were only two other occasions: when Rozemyne-sama returned the blessing at her own baptismal ceremony, and when she played the harspiel at her unveiling. In both cases, Rozemyne-sama prayed to Leidenschaft, the god of fire. The blue blessing, the noble color of Leidenschaft, spread out from the ceiling and poured down on everyone with a mysterious sparkle.

If you looked up, you could see that the blessing of Rozemyne-sama contained a fine rainbow-colored light scattered within the primary color. The same happened during the library registration. Her blessing included not only the colors of Mestionora, the Goddess of Wisdom, but also these fine sparkles.

……Why does only the mana of Rozemyne-sama look so different?

I can’t help but wonder, and even though I am fascinated by the mystery of it, others don’t particularly care when they see the same blessing.

「Do you truly feel nothing after seeing that wonderful blessing? Good grief…… I wish I had a colleague to share Rozemyne-sama’s beauty with.」

「Hartmut, if you are going to disturb us any longer I would rather you to go back to your room……」

Cornelius waves his hand to get rid of me, and Traugott agrees. I can’t leave yet, so I have no choice but to keep my mouth shut.

Traugott and I were currently gathered in Cornelius’ room. The third floor of the dormitory is off-limits to men because the women’s rooms are on that floor. We, the male members of Rozemyne-sama’s entourage, are not allowed in Rozemyne-sama’s room, so we gather in Cornelius’ room when we discuss among ourselves.

Today they are discussing their free time and the assignment of escort duty in case Rozemyne-sama says she is going to the library after her lectures.

When Rozemyne-sama, an archduke candidate, goes to the library after her lectures, she must be accompanied by a guard knight. One of Angelica, Cornelius, Leonore, Traugott, and Judithe must accompany her.

However, they have many lectures and cannot be assigned to guard duty during them. Unlike Rozemyne-sama, a first-year student, the older students are required to attend lectures. They are not able to pass everything on the first day like Rozemyne-sama managed to do.

「I can pass the lectures quickly because I have prepared myself to be able to teach Angelica. I can make myself available in the morning, but it is not easy to pass the practical lessons. I want someone from the even-numbered grades to pass the lectures as soon as possible, so that they can escort her in the afternoon.」

Cornelius said as he stared at everyone’s schedules. This year, the first, third, and fifth-year students will take lectures in the morning and practical training in the afternoon. The second, fourth, and sixth graders will have practical training in the morning and lectures in the afternoon.

「Angelica is doing better than last year, but it will be difficult for her to finish before Rozemyne goes to the library.」

Rozemyne-sama woke up just before winter, and the decision to join her entourage was made after she entered the dormitory. It was impossible for the mednoble Judithe to pass all the classes on the first day without any preparation, even if she had been ordered to do the preparatory work or had some kind of plan for it. Besides, being a member of an archducal family requires more than just a passing grade; it also requires a good grade.

「Traugott, you should have received adequate education as an archnoble, unlike Judithe. You will pass the exams early, right?」

「……There’s always Leonore for the even year grades.」

Traugott frowns a little uncomfortably. Cornelius sees this and shrugs his shoulders with a slightly annoyed look on his face. Compared to Leonore, who is a fourth-year student, it is easier for Traugott, a second-year student1 who has not yet been divided into specialized courses, to complete his lectures.

「Leonore is trying her best, but aren’t you still in the early years?」

「That’s true, but……」

I felt annoyed at Traugott’s curt response and his attitude of avoiding Rozemyne-sama’s escort duty.

「You have the privilege to be in Rozemyne-sama’s inner circle. You should be thankful for your good fortune to be able to serve her and put your duties as her close associate first. From your attitude, it seems that you want to abandon the guard duty.」

I don’t think he’s worthy of being Rozemyne-sama’s guard knight apprentice. Cornelius looked at me in dismay as I glared at Traugott coldly.

「Hartmut, that is too extreme.」

「I simply wish to spend more time training my abilities as a knight for the future, it’s not like I’m not giving up my guard duty. Hartmut, you would be annoyed too if asked to prioritize Rozemyne-sama over your own studies in the Scholar’s wing, right?」

Traugott let out a frustrated sigh and asked me for my sympathy, though unfortunately I did not have any.

「Serving Rozemyne-sama is much more important than my research. Isn’t it natural that everyone wants to serve Rozemyne-sama as much as possible?」

「Hartmut, you need to take your research seriously! Your reputation correlates to Rozemyne-sama’s reputation, you know.」

「Such trifles can be done in between the more important things. Do you have any idea how hard I’ve been working to get close to Rozemyne-sama? It’s been three years. Three. Years.」

When I was so moved by Rozemyne-sama’s baptismal blessing that I expressed my desire to be her aide, Mother said to me, “I won’t introduce you to her for a year. Cool your head for a bit.” One year later, with Mother’s permission, I was going to make a proposal to join the entourage in the winter children’s room, but Rozemyne-sama was attacked and immersed in Jureve just before the meeting. Don’t underestimate my persistence, which has been building up all this time.

「I understand Hartmut’s situation, but archduke candidates don’t go to the library casually, do they? An archduke candidate accompanied by their entourage would disturb other users, and it would be a heavy burden for the entourage to accompany them. I wish Rozemyne-sama would consider the inconvenience to others.」

Traugott’s eyes naturally turned cold as he talked about the way a “normal archduke candidate” should be. Traugott was not a Leisegang noble and was good friends with Wilfried-sama. I still could not trust him as a close associate because I thought he would become Wilfried-sama’s guard knight. I doubted if he could serve Rozemyne-sama to the best of his ability.

「You say it is a nuisance, but Rozemyne-sama simply wants to read a book in the library. I would admonish her if her desire was foolish enough to harm the duchy, but this is such a simple desire. Besides, according to Rihyarda, Rozemyne-sama can only go to the library after completing all the lectures and before returning to the duchy for the ritual.」

Even after hearing my words, Traugott lets out a light exhale. He did not change his expression.

「If it’s such a short period of time, can’t you stop her from going to the library by borrowing books in advance?」

What use is an aide if he can’t even fulfill such a small wish? Why did you think Leonore and Brunhilde are going through all that effort to check the library? Before I could say a word about what I thought, Cornelius waved his hand.

「Not happening. Traugott, you underestimate Rozemyne’s desire for the library. We may be able to fill her free time until we are done with our practical classes, but she won’t stop visiting the library just because someone else gave her a book.」

Cornelius talks about just how eager Rozemyne-sama is to enter the library, and Traugott gave a disgusted look, saying, “Such a troublesome master.” I scoffed lightly as I watched them.

「……The both of you don’t understand Rozemyne-sama’s brilliance in the slightest.」

「Hartmut, I repeat, we are not talking about that right now. You’re just getting in the way of our escort plan, so go back to your room.」

Cornelius sends me away and I go back to my room. I also have no desire to talk further with someone who refuses to understand Rozemyne-sama’s brilliance. I’d better find someone who does understand her.

Her overflowing blessings and the amount of mana are remarkable, but that’s not all there is to it. Her brain is also remarkable for bringing a new industry to the duchy, coming up with interesting and innovative ideas right after her baptism. Her amount of knowledge is simply staggering.

Although this was hidden behind the fact that all the first-year students passed the first day of classes, no one thought that after two years of sleep at Jureve, Rozemyne-sama would be able to excel with excellent grades. The entire entourage initially concerned themselves with assisting Rozemyne-sama in just successfully completing her first year.

……Rozemyne-sama is also responsible for the success of all first-year students and for the growth of the other grades in classroom studies.

Most of all, I am focusing on her ability to rewrite the conventions in one fell swoop. At Rozemyne-sama’s suggestion, the children’s room is now a place to learn while playing cards and karuta with delicious sweets as prizes. The tutors and musicians at the castle now educate everyone in the children’s room together.

In addition, she broke down factional divisions and brought them together within the Royal Academy. Those who said that they could not study together with members of different factions when the grade improvement committee was established are now competing in courses regardless of their factions. It has been less than ten days since Rozemyne-sama arrived at the Royal Academy dormitory, but this is now an everyday scene.

……If Rozemyne-sama becomes the next archduke and leads the duchy in the future, Ehrenfest’s position will surely improve.

I truly want Rozemyne-sama to be the next archduke. There is no one in Ehrenfest who is more qualified to be the next archduke than Rozemyne-sama. In fact, Rozemyne-sama has clearly shown her abilities in the year after her baptism and in the half month since she woke up from Jureve. The nobles must have realized by now that Rozemyne-sama’s two year absence was no meaningful hindrance.

……So why? Why do they not push her for the seat of archduke?

Cornelius says that Rozemyne-sama does not want to be the next archduke, and the same seems to be true for Karstedt-sama and Elvira-sama. It may be that she is considering the position of Florencia-sama, the first lady of the archduke, but isn’t that just pushing Rozemyne-sama to do what is in someone else’s best interests?

Florencia-sama, as the first wife of the archduke, and Rozemyne-sama, as a member of the archducal family, should put the improvement of the future Ehrenfest as a top priority. If she never intended to make her adopted child the next archduke, she should not have adopted her from the beginning. Her current position means little but having her mana leeched.

……If Rozemyne-sama herself desires to be the next archduke, I will do my best to arrange it.

That’s what I thought, so I asked her directly. “Rozemyne-sama, do you want to be the next Aub Ehrenfest?” was my question.

I stare at her, trying to detect even the smallest lie or deception, so as not to miss even the smallest response. Rozemyne-sama looked at me with a puzzled face and shook her head with a smile.

「I have never wanted such a troublesome position. I want to be a librarian, not Aub Ehrenfest. My ambitions for the future are either to stay in the temple as a saint of Ehrenfest and make the temple library my own, or to help with the archduke’s work and make the castle library my own.」

It seems that Rozemyne-sama is serious about not becoming the next archduke. This is a terrible loss for Ehrenfest. I need to somehow convince Rozemyne-sama to show interest. Would it be possible to induce Rozemyne-sama to aim for the next archduke by making good use of books and libraries?

……Hmmm. This might be a worthwhile endeavor.

  1. Possible mistake by the author. Traugott was supposed to be a third-year student at this point in time. ↩

View the latest chapters at seeker142.github.io