Chatper 3: Informing Charlotte and returning to the Academy
It was early in the morning. Mother had lent me Sofia to help me with my preparations, and I was pretty much ready to go—wearing my black uniform and having my ingredients packed. Though, there was still time till my departure. The Dedication Ritual had ended sooner than expected. Even my most optimistic estimate for my return had been set for this evening. It probably didn’t matter, since it wasn’t like my shared room with Gretia had stopped being maintained, but I knew how annoying sudden changes of schedule were to the attendants.
Besides, I still had some work to do on the topic of divine protections.
Yesterday, I had sent an ordonnanz to Vanessa, requesting a private meeting with Charlotte before my departure. I wasn’t her retainer yet, but she was taking her previous words of support quite seriously, granting me the arrangement on such short notice.
As such, I hastily ate my breakfast and set off towards the castle. We were short on time to get through the meeting before the playroom opens.
After I entered Charlotte’s chambers, Vanessa led me behind a divider where Charlotte was waiting with a sound-blocking tool.
She was giving me a noble smile, but I could feel hidden worries under the facade. It was understandable. A short notice with a vague justification was usually cover for trouble. So, I went straight to the business, dispelling any imaginary fears.
“A student managed to gain a divine protection from Angriff despite lacking Fire, which resulted in them gaining a new color,” I began with a smile.
“Are the protections not granted only to those who possessed the particular colors from birth?” Charlotte seemed hesitant.
Personally, I had always been under the impression that it had been just harder—like with the blessings. So when Henrietta had gotten hers, it hadn’t clashed with my image of the world. It was probably more difficult to reconcile for the other nobles.
“That’s prevailing wisdom.” I smirked. “But wrong, of course.”
Charlotte’s indigo eyes widened for a moment, as if she had been worried that someone had gotten offended by the claim.
“More importantly,” I continued, “The student was granted the protection after praying for Angriff’s blessing and offering their mana. If one prays genuinely and offers mana, they can gain protection of other gods as well,” I kept divulging with a confident voice.
“You are making all those assumptions based on one result?” Charlotte frowned a little.
Well, I couldn’t fault her on her thinking, though I merely gave her a conspiratorial smile. “This is, of course, a story for the public. It will be confirmed next year when current second-years undergo their ritual.”
Charlotte’s grip on her sound-blocker tightened, and she moved a bit closer despite it having no effect on the sound between us.
“Beyond this, you cannot speak of any further information to anyone, not even to your own retainers or parents. Otherwise, I will get executed,” I said solemnly.
“What?” she burst, eyeing me with confusion, before adding hastily, “You have my word.”
Despite her promise, nothing changed about her confused look.
“Alright,” I nodded. “I know for a fact that praying to gods honestly while offering mana will grant their protections. However, yesterday I learned that we have much less time than I had thought. When you get your Divine Will, it is locked onto your current colors and mana capacity. Hence, I would like for you to gain as many protections as possible before your schtappe acquisition. That way, the control of your schtappe won’t suffer.”
“But… that…” Charlotte staggered, she seemed to struggle with so many revelations at once.
“It’s fine, take your time.” I smiled.
Because I had weeks to process this stuff, it was sometimes easy to forget that the implications weren’t clear. I had disclosed more of the sensitive details to Charlotte than Erenit because I knew my sister—if her training with enhancements was any indicator, she would give it her all without any further nudging. Not to mention, she had already been using various prayers with great success.
Unlike her, Charlotte was bound by her position. Sure, she could lean on her experience from dedicating to the duchy’s foundation and the temple rituals—that should help her a lot—but I couldn’t exactly hijack her whole schedule. Without the hidden knowledge, her retainers might dissuade her from prayers in her spare time. This was something Charlotte had to push by herself, navigating her training regimen despite the noble culture around. As such, I really needed to sell this to her.
Charlotte made a few heavy breaths before refocusing on me. “Isn’t the divine protections ritual after the acquisition of the Divine Will?”
“That’s the part that might get me executed.” I smirked, hiding my nerves. Disclosing this made me tense from dismay. “I have a way for Ehrenfest students to do the ritual sooner.”
“You already did it before?” Charlotte uttered in sudden realization.
“Sadly, only after,” I smiled bitterly.
“So your own schtappe…”
“Yeah,” I sighed before giving her a proper smile. “That’s why I hope for you to do well on my behalf.”
“Mila…” Charlotte said quietly, unable to continue.
“I mean, I already told my little sister to try hard in this regard. You don’t want to end up with fewer colors than a mednoble in your own year, do you?” I asked teasingly.
I planned to goad them so much against each other. Or should I goad them against Rozemyne? She was the head of the temple… Nope! Rule number one: don’t compare yourself with Rozemyne. I immediately scrapped that thought.
Charlotte nodded with a big smile. Her eyes got a bit teary.
“Lady Rozemyne already knows the public story, so I expect her to push for prayers in the curriculum,” I mused out loud.
“You didn’t tell her about the rest?” Charlotte got shocked.
Nope, too close to Ferdinand. I shook my head.
One slip of the tongue in his presence, and Estelle and I would have been done for. Charlotte didn’t interact with Ferdinand so closely that a random slip-up could occur. And, similarly to Erenit, it wasn’t like Rozemyne needed to be persuaded to take praying seriously against the noble culture.
Rozemyne will learn about it at the proper time. Probably the last day before the schtappe acquisition though, when we would conduct the ritual for all the future first-years. Good thing Ehrenfest has such high grades in theology, heh.
Still, I instructed Charlotte to introduce the prayer for the divine protections ritual as a part of our theology curriculum in the playroom. It was best to start early and avoid any possible struggles with cramming during the first week of the Academy.
I really didn’t want anyone to end up impaired for the rest of their life just because they failed to memorize a prayer in time.
“Ideally, you should use this opportunity to gain favor with everyone in the playroom, and by extension, their families. The distaste towards the temple is strong. Since I won’t provide solid proof, I expect quite a bit of pushback against this undertaking. However, everyone whom you do persuade to follow this path of praying will be in your debt once we get the official confirmation next year. You can lean on Lady Rozemyne and Erenit, who will try to spread this as well.”
I definitely would have been grateful if someone had warned me and helped me to gain more colors, I thought bitterly.
“You can count on me,” Charlotte declared, with strong determination in her face.
“Now, I wonder how to break this information to Lord Wilfried,” I scratched my chin.
“Absolutely not!” Charlotte erupted.
I was surprised by her intensity.
She looked at me firmly. “You cannot share such sensitive information with him. Your life is on the line; he might blab to his retainers.”
“How would you go about it, then?” I wondered, suppressing my amused smile.
I found her firm look too adorable.
Charlotte bit her lower lip before speaking in a silent voice, “To be honest, I really wish to just conceal it.”
“Putting him in position with a handicap which he could do nothing about despite his best efforts?” I asked somberly.
My question was too on the nose. Charlotte understood immediately where I was aiming.
“He would at least know how it feels.” She pressed her lips in exasperation.
“Was he the one who decided which sex you were born with? Or the norms for the selection of the heir? Or your parents' attitude?” I nudged her with my eyes.
“No, he didn’t do any of those things.” Charlotte sighed.
“Then it wouldn’t be much retribution, would it?”
“Are you disappointed? Knowing my thoughts?” She lowered her head.
“Lady Charlotte, my very first thought after finding out was to gain 79 protections myself, ensuring to be ahead of everyone. Everything else was just an afterthought.” I shrugged with a smile. “Though, it is true that I associate sabotaging others with some of Lord Wilfried’s retainers rather than with you. I see you as a hard worker; it’s something that impresses me. I cheer you on because I want to see it rewarded. The world is just an unfair place, so I want to see fairness strive when it’s within my power.”
Charlotte nodded weakly, her eyes watching the floor.
“Isn’t a fair competition something to your liking?” I widened my smile. “And by fair, I mean that you have two years to go, while your older brother has only one. I still expect you to gain way more protections.”
“I haven’t even thought about it.” Charlotte put her hand on her chest. She thought for a while, then looked at me. “It feels awful to complain about my position when yours is even more unfair because of your age.”
“It is fine.” I smiled coolly.
I wished every bad news was brought to me by Charlotte. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but it was so soothing to hear her talking about my problems. When she did that, those problems didn’t even bother me that much.
“Very well. I will set up a meeting with Wilfried at once,” Charlotte declared and went to make the arrangements with Vanessa.
It was a surprisingly quick process. Just a few minutes later, we were already waiting in a meeting room downstairs. I was invited as well, holding a sound-blocker hidden under my long sleeve. Charlotte had insisted.
I mean, I do trust you. I glanced at her awkwardly.
I didn’t exactly need proof of her actually informing Wilfried. It made me feel like a bother to her. Still, if she felt more certain with me knowing, then maybe it was worth the hassle.
A couple of minutes later, Wilfried turned out with Linhardt and Lamprecht. I appreciated the lack of Oswald. Had they known I would be present?
Wilfried grabbed his sound-blocker almost by a reflex. “Have I said something dumb again?” he asked.
I almost snorted. Wow… well, I did tell Charlotte to talk to him openly, but still, wow.
“I invited Mila to listen,” Charlotte remarked nonchalantly, which caused Wilfried to straighten up.
Wait, is she imitating me when talking with him privately? I didn’t know how to feel about it.
“She is risking her life to provide this information for you, so listen very carefully…” Charlotte went on to highlight how he had only one year left to gain as many protections as possible. She also asked him to cooperate in aiding the future students in the playroom. To my surprise, she even began listing the hurdles she wanted to address, like providing struggling students with rejuvenation potions.
We haven’t even discussed this. I smiled.
Sure, it was surprising, but I was proud of her taking charge on her own. Maybe that was why she wanted me to listen.
As I watched Charlotte and Wilfried discussing the new curriculum, it looked like I didn’t have to worry about the progress here in Ehrenfest. Yep, delegating for the win.
Even when one delegated to the archduke candidates.
Once they formed a solid plan, I followed them to the playroom and observed as they presented their conclusions to Rozemyne. As expected, she was excited about the proposition, since it was yet another avenue for improving the temple’s reputation. She had a lot of ideas as well.
And once Rozemyne was added to the mix, the proposals were rolled out instantly.
It wasn’t long before the archduke candidates summoned everyone in the playroom to present their new educational plan, even adding practical demonstrations to spice things up. The whole show turned out better than expected as the children were really thrilled to try magic. Erenit placed Steifebrise’s blessing on several kids, improving their movement speed, and the room devolved into utter chaos. To the dismay of all the teachers and attendants alike.
I mean, try to calm down the room when it is the designated heir running around in circles. I watched the whole spectacle in amusement.
Wilfried was really selling it to everyone, even prompting Rozemyne to give one of her large blessings, which filled the whole playroom with lights.
“Mila, I see you have already reached both Charlotte and Wilfried,” Rozemyne approached me, while the rest of the room was distracted by the effects of her blessings.
Well, Damuel still kept his watch over her, but on the flipside, his frame provided a bit of additional cover for us.
This whole time, I had been watching from the sidelines to detract no credit from the archduke candidates, especially when Charlotte had been so proactive in this regard. But naturally, Rozemyne had been there yesterday for the whole argument, so it was obvious to her where the original source lay.
“I had a bit of time.” I smiled.
“About yesterday…” Rozemyne hesitated for a moment.
Without a sound-blocker, we couldn’t go into much detail. If anyone had overheard us, it would have been a disaster.
I widened my smile. “If it wouldn’t be too much to ask, give my apologies to Lord Ferdinand.” My request made Rozemyne smile as well. “Preferably, when Lord Eckhart is around.”
By now, I was pretty sure that his demand for an apology yesterday wasn’t for himself.
“Eckhart?” Rozemyne looked at me, confused.
I shrugged. There wasn’t much I could add.
After a bit of staring, she eventually shrugged as well. “I will do my best.”
This sucks. I really wished we could have spent like a bell in a hidden room, to discuss this openly. But alas, that wasn’t possible.
After the playroom ended, I was handed Charlotte’s correspondence by Vanessa. Yeah, it feels safer to deliver this in person. I suppressed a grimace and put it in my bag.
Erenit escorted me to the teleportation room, where Estelle was already waiting. I joined her on top of the circle and turned around.
“I look forward to everyone’s return,” our little sister declared before my vision got blurred by black and gold colors.
Back in the Academy. I exhaled with a smile.
My brain was already in overdrive, putting together a plan. The first thing to do was to spread the news about “an unknown student” acquiring Fire after praying. After all, I needed to get in sync with my claims back home about students already working on their prayers and preparing for the next year’s ritual.
Estelle and I left the magic circle and moved to the adjacent room, where Caroline and Celina waited for us.
“Lady Mila, welcome back.” Caroline smiled, taking my bag filled with ingredients from home.
“In the end, it really was a short stay.” I smiled as well. “Has anything happened during my absence?”
“Indeed. You have received an invitation for a meeting of future medscholars. It takes place the day after tomorrow.”
“Oh, I will be replying too late.” It was frustrating.
I didn’t want to be rude.
“I have already accepted for you. You do not have to worry.” My attendant seemed quite proactive.
“Quite risky, with my schedule.” I smirked.
“You were going to return, were you not?” Caroline remarked confidently. She really believed in me. “Not to mention, it is an event for multiple attendees, so your absence would not ruin the preparations of the other parties.”
OK, so maybe not that much believing. I pressed my lips.
“You really need to properly socialize as much as possible,” Caroline continued without acknowledging my expression. “Especially with mednoble peers. Being hosted by an archnoble from a greater duchy might be quite an honor, but in the end, it is a mere oddity.”
“True,” I nodded.
My original plans had been ruined by those commoner rumors, but this situation was nothing new for me. I had already dealt with that during my first winter in the playroom. Just by interacting with my peers, the other kids had gotten used to me over the course of that season. It would have been nice to repeat that and be on friendly terms with the foreign students as well.
Caroline headed upstairs with my bag while I managed to come across Ernesta at the door to the common room. Vanessa had said that I could relay her letter to any of Charlotte’s retainers, so I went with the most convenient option and gave it to Ernesta. After reading it, she immediately began arranging a meeting for students who were already in Charlotte’s service or joining soon.
After dinner, we headed towards one of the meeting rooms. Honestly, it was a bit silly how fast I had been moving through all these meetings. Had we acted the conservative way, I would have been still in Ehrenfest, waiting for Charlotte’s initial reply to my request to meet.
“So Lady Charlotte intends for you to become her headscholar?” Marianne remarked after reading the letter.
“Was such a thing actually written there?” I furrowed my brows, eyeing the letter.
“Not directly.” She pressed her lips. “But if she informs everyone about your scholar position, it is pretty much implied. Besides, you have already organized multiple endeavors.”
“Lady Charlotte’s job description for my position goes contrary to the headscholar’s.” I shook my head.
I mean, I was promised a lot of vacation and free time for research. Charlotte couldn’t be on top of her information network if her headscholar spent so much time away from the castle.
“But you managed to pass everyone in our classes,” Marianne protested.
I looked at her knowingly. “What are your thoughts on the competence of Professor Hirschur?”
Marianne narrowed her eyes, probably thinking that it was a trick question. Though, after a moment, she just shrugged. “I was told she is an exceptional scholar who publishes groundbreaking research on behalf of Ehrenfest.”
I nodded. “If you had to choose between literally any student in the dormitory and her to entrust the administrative task of running the dormitory, who would you choose?”
“Oh,” Marianne uttered.
“I mean, I do answer my ordonnanzes, and I can do administrative work properly. However, as retainers, we should organize in a way to properly utilize everyone’s strengths. How exactly does it benefit Lady Charlotte’s information network that I conducted a healing ritual or taught the first-years schtappe transformations?” I turned my hands upside down. “You should be the one utilizing me as an asset, not the other way around.”
“But so far, you are better at organizing as well.” Marianne crossed her arms.
“So far,” I reiterated with a firm look. “You intend to continue learning and practicing, do you not?”
“I do.” Her eyebrows furrowed.
Good. “I would like for you to surpass me in these matters by the time Lady Charlotte enrolls in the Academy at the latest.”
Marianne gave me a tense look.
“Good luck.” Natalie smirked her way.
That’s like two years from now, plenty of time. I didn’t know why they treated it like some kind of a big hurdle.
“And what is this part about us helping with prayer practice?” Marianne asked after regaining her composure.
I smiled. “A student managed to gain Angriff’s protection despite lacking Fire, improving that color in the process. The protection was granted after the student had offered their mana to Angriff in the form of a prayer, to cast his blessing. It’s the same Angriff’s blessing that Lady Rozemyne cast on the Knight’s Order in their fight against the Lord of Winter.”
None of them had witnessed that, but they should have at least heard about it. In the past, it had helped me to broach the subject to the knights in Joisontak.
Hey, all those knights back home who complained about their lack of Fire should be able to get it through Angriff. I liked being the messenger of good news.
“That’sincredible,” everyone in the room whispered, though they frowned as they tried to comprehend all the ramifications.
“Naturally, it applies to all gods and their domains. I am pretty sure that the healing ritual in our gathering spot had a similar effect. Offering mana to the gods will help one to gain protections,” I kept nudging them in the proper direction.
“You are basing that on just one example?” Marianne narrowed her eyes at me.
“Well, I plan to have a lot of examples next year, after the divine protections ritual. Lady Natalie, Lady Kathrein, do you not wish to gain some?” I looked their way.
“It is an intriguing proposition.” Natalie smiled cautiously.
Kathrein nodded along.
“I see this also as an opportunity to improve Lady Charlotte’s standing. We will spread this information and try to persuade as many students as possible to take this seriously. Once it gets confirmed through the next year’s ritual, we will harness a lot of goodwill.”
If they are at least half as thankful as I am angry about the thing, then we will be adored. My fist clenched.
“And if it gets disproved?” Ernesta wondered.
“Trust me on this. I have experience from the temple, especially when it comes to ceremonies.” I smiled confidently.
“Alright.” She shrugged. “But this applies only to current first-years and second-years. Older students have already gone through the ritual.”
Ernesta’s expression was mostly neutral, but Rudolf—an apprentice knight who had already done the ritual a few weeks back—was giving out quite a defeated smile.
“I will try to research the ritual,” I declared, keeping my confident stance. “There’s bound to be something, either in the library or the castle’s archive, or maybe in the temple’s bookroom. Who says we cannot eventually conduct it on our own, just like the healing ritual at the gathering spot?”
I was successfully channeling the approach from Ferdinand’s school of thought, musing out loud about all sorts of possibilities, while already having the ritual ready at Hirschur’s lab.
“You think such a thing is even possible?” Ernesta raised her eyebrow.
“Why not?” I replied with a relaxed smile. “Alternatively, the Sovereignty might allow students to repeat the ritual after we publish these findings as Ehrenfest’s research. I bet the other duchies would push them heavily in this regard if that meant gaining access to those protections.”
I already knew that the ritual could be repeated, so there was nothing to stop this from happening. Especially if Ehrenfest students got more protections than the rest of the country, with our head start. The others would definitely want to level the playing field.
“Either way.” I widened my smile. “The best course of action is to start now so our students are ahead of everyone. If we pull this off, we might end up with credit for groundbreaking research, grateful students with their new protections, a good name among other duchies, and, on top of everything, alleviate the mana problem throughout the whole country. With such a feat, we pretty much secure Lady Charlotte’s position in Ehrenfest.”
I thought it was a pretty neat plan, though, everyone else just stared at me with plastered smiles.
Then finally, Natalie put her hand on Marianne’s shoulder. “Really, good luck surpassing that,” she said with a wry smile. “I pray to Greifechan and Duldsetzen to help you in this endeavor.”
I meant surpassing me in administration and organizing, not hidden magic rituals! I don’t want to be surpassed in hidden magic rituals.