Chapter Text
The broaches had been distributed, the transportation circle charged, my supplies packed away, and my outfits for the next week carefully selected. And yet, as Gretia carefully brushed out my hair for bed, I still felt like something was missing.
“Oh! Did you tell the cooks to begin preparation for the new varieties of poundcake?” I whipped my head around to look at Lieseleta in panic, wincing as the brush tugged my hair.
Lieseleta returned my look of alarm with a calm smile. “Of course, Lady Rozemyne. All of the preparations have been seen to, so please try to relax and rest well tonight.” She gave me a worried look. “If you are feeling poorly, Lord Ferdinand did provide a preventative supply of-”
“I am totally, absolutely, definitely fine, Lieseleta!” I interrupted hurriedly. I had no doubt that over the next week Ferdinand would push me to drink some of his extremely effective restoration potions, but I had no intention of being forced to consume them before the conference even started. To convince Lieseleta, I turned back to the mirror and took a deep breath. Relax. We’ve been working nonstop to make sure the conference goes well. The least you can do is trust that Ferdinand thought of anything you missed. I did succeed in making myself relax, and after Lieseleta gently bundled me into bed, my eyes fell shut in just a few breaths.
The morning was a hive of activity. Attendants and other staff had been using the transport circles all week to move supplies to the Royal Academy, but even so there had been several last minute additions to our plans. When I arrived at the transportation room trailed by my guards, Ferdinand was already there, supervising the transfer of the last of the scholars. We had eaten breakfast separately in our rooms to reduce the burden on the castle staff.
“Good morning! How is the transfer going?” I asked cheerfully as we neared him.
Ferdinand turned, and I saw a small amount of his tension ease as he scrutinized me. “Ah, Rozemyne. Excellent. How is your health?” He approached me before pausing with a frown. I knew he wanted to do the usual morning check-up, but there were far too many people around for it to be appropriate.
“Perfectly fine.” I said quickly.
Behind me, Lieseleta coughed pointedly and I winced as she moved off to confer privately with Justus. I am fine! It is entirely normal to be on edge before going back to the same place we fought a war so recently! I had been trying to conceal that my nerves were not so much about preparation for the conference as they were about maintaining the deception that absolutely everything was fine after fighting against the invaders from Lanzenave and nearly dying from mana toxicity. I shivered a little and Ferdinand narrowed his eyes. Oops.
At the very least, I was determined to do my best to support Alexandria, since Ferdinand was clearly taking on way, way too much of the work. I leaned closer, copying his suspicious expression. “I should be asking how you are feeling instead! You look like you didn’t sleep at all last night!” I said, biting my lip.
Ferdinand coughed and looked away. “You need not concern yourself with me. The only thing that matters is that the conference goes well for Alexandria - and you.” He said firmly. I opened my mouth, wanting to protest, but he turned away to recharge the transport circle, giving me a look of ‘We can continue this later.’
I sighed, resisting the urge to puff out my cheeks in exasperation. I need to think of something really good to give to Ferdinand after this… Maybe some kind of relaxing lotion? Hmm, I wonder if I could convince Justus to look into a few types of feyplants for me… I pulled my thoughts back to the present as Ferdinand recharged the circle for the final time. We had put out that Ferdinand had developed a magic tool to register himself magically as a “Supplementary Aub,” to be able to work the transport circles and whatnot, but it was a total lie. Lucky we have the same mana, or I would be stuck in bed with a fever after using it so frequently right before all this socializing. I sighed. As convenient as it was, I needed to make sure it didn’t make Ferdinand work himself to death in my stead.
Ferdinand turned and held out his hand to escort me onto the transport circle, where Cornelius joined us. The world dissolved into black and gold swirls, before solidifying into Alexandria’s now-familiar transport room. Eckhart and Leonore were waiting already, but we paused for the rest of our guard knights to join us before exiting into the main room of the dormitory. There, the assembled attendants, scholars, and knights knelt to greet us.
“Thank you all for the hard work you have put in to make this year’s Archduke Conference a success for Alexandria.” I said formally, stepping forward to address our retainers. “I know this next week will be a busy time for us, but I have faith that Alexandria will embrace our role as a leader in this new era of Yurgenschmidt!” I felt a swell of hope from the crowd and smiled with relief. More and more nobles in Alexandria seemed to be embracing the reforms I had begun to implement. Alas, sometimes I suspected that it was less enthusiasm for my plans and more… brainwashing from a certain subset of my retainers?
On cue, Hartmut stepped forward. “Lady Rozemyne, Lord Ferdinand. We have prepared a private tea room if you would like to retire to receive reports on the preparations,” he said, gesturing to a nearby door.
Oh Hartmut, please stop terrorizing my subjects with your fanaticism, as useful as it occasionally may be…
I retook Ferdinand’s arm as he escorted me to the tea room. It was becoming second nature, since he pretty much escorted me everywhere these days. As expected, immediately after Leonore shut the door to the private tea room, Ferdinand beckoned me forward to make up for the missed check up. I closed my eyes as he rested a cool hand on my forehead before sliding it gently under my hair to press against the nape of my neck. After a moment, he pulled back with a heavy sigh. I opened my eyes in confusion as he firmly pressed a sound-blocking tool into my hand while checking my pulse.
“Please at least try to maintain a neutral expression.” He muttered, frowning.
I squinted in concentration, trying to fix my expression before giving up. “Not possible. Please just bear with it.”
He looked up and heaved a sigh when I gave him a sunny smile in return. Lately we had been so busy with preparations for the conference that even these few minutes of time together were precious to me. I noticed the tips of his ears redden as he looked away and I gave him a smug look as I passed the sound-blocking tool back to him.
Now who can’t maintain a proper noble facade?
The check-up completed, he delicately released me and moved back to the other side of the table as our aides converged to set up the tea. Hartmut stepped forward and began to detail the progress our retainers had made setting up for the conference. As the report concluded, he passed a board to me.
“Lastly, as arranged, Aub Ehrenfest and his wife have agreed to meet this afternoon to discuss joint arrangements with the printing industry. They also delivered the first shipment of The Battle for Alexandria, Volume I from Haldenzel, as requested.” He held out a copy and I accepted it eagerly, opening the volume to examine the contents. One of Ferdinand’s first moves after the initial clean-up in Alexandria was to ask me if he could borrow Roderick to co-write a book with him. I had accepted of course, but I had not yet read the final manuscript. From what Roderick had passed along about their progress, it was a mildly fictionalized account of the war, designed to make my takeover more palatable to the nobles of Alexandria as well as the other duchies. I hoped dearly that Hartmut had not been given too large a role in the planning.
Alas, before I could get much beyond the first paragraph, the book vanished from my hands. I looked up to see Ferdinand frowning down at me. “There will be time to proofread the book later. For now, pay attention to the end of the report.” He said firmly, handing the book to Lieseleta.
Noooooooo! My precious, brand-new, never-before-read book! I sighed, switching my attention back to Hartmut as the book vanished into Lieseleta’s pocket. Hartmut concluded his report with a few more logistical announcements about our meeting with Sylvester and Florencia that afternoon. I perked up upon hearing that Elvira had wrangled permission to attend as well. I knew that her team of writers had been working furiously ever since the coronation and my engagement ceremony. Can it be? Will I get TWO new books today instead of one!? I caught Ferdinand giving me a ‘stop daydreaming, you fool!’ look out of the corner of my eye and I schooled my face back into seriousness.
The rest of the morning passed quickly while Ferdinand and I oversaw the organization of the remaining goods we were bringing as trade examples. After a short break for an early lunch, the fourth bell rang, signaling our guests’ arrival.
“Welcome, Aub Ehrenfest,” I said politely. It felt odd to stand while Sylvester, Florencia, and my parents knelt to greet me. After we exchanged spring greetings, I ushered them to the table. Today, Karstedt was attending as my father, not as Sylvester’s guard knight, so he took a seat as well.
“Well, you two look a lot better than I thought you would.” Sylvester began cautiously, looking between Ferdinand and I. “Engagement treating you well, eh Brother?” he said with a teasing smile.
Ferdinand returned his look with a glare. “In contrast, you look perfectly awful, Sylvester. I suppose losing both of us as suppliers has paid a toll?”
Sylvester groaned. “Yeah. Combine that with trying to help out with Spring Prayer before the conference, since the kids left over from the purge still can’t do more than a province or two on their own. Fortunately, Charlotte and Melchior picked up most of the slack.” He sighed. “Brunhilde is helping out some too,” he murmured with a guilty glance at Florencia. In contrast, she merely sipped her tea without a word. I gathered that Florencia was probably glad for the help managing the worst of Sylvester’s impulses.
“Well, I’m glad to see you so… productive with your time.” Ferdinand said sharply. After a moment, he sighed, dispelling the chilly atmosphere. “In any case, Rozemyne and I have adjusted well to life in Alexandria. I think the conference will serve as an excellent stage for just how far the duchy has progressed under Rozemyne’s oversight.” I felt a warm rush of joy at his words. Although much of his feedback on my ideas tended to be critical, he had pushed to implement almost all of them to various degrees, and it made me happy that he was proud of our progress.
While I was savoring the rare praise, I felt the tickle of someone staring at me. Opening my eyes, I met Mother’s fervent gaze as she glanced between me and Ferdinand. Oops, oops. Don’t get the wrong idea, Mother. I’m just happy Ferdinand is proud of my Library System, nothing more. Sorry! Although I was looking forward to Elvira’s stories, I was a little nervous about reading some sort of epic love tale between me and Ferdinand. I mean, there’s nothing actually going on! We’re just family! I nodded to myself mentally a few times before refocusing on the conversation.
After exchanging a few more pleasantries, we moved on to the main topic of the meeting: the moving progress of the printing industry and how we would be splitting profits for products debuting during the upcoming conference.
“The most recent report I received from the merchant Benno indicates that your artisans and craftspeople will be ready to depart three weeks after the end of the Archduke Conference. Is that acceptable?” Sylvester looked up from the board he was consulting to focus on me. Ufufu! Just wait until you see the house we picked out for you, Mom! I fought to keep my rush of excitement off my face. I wonder when Ferdinand will install the teleportation circle? Uggghhhh, I can’t wait to see Mom and Dad and Tuuli! I wonder how much Kamil has grown since his baptism? Oooh, I want to hear him call me ‘Big sis!’
Seeing that I was lost in my daydream, Ferdinand answered for me. “Yes. Accommodations and craft workshops should be finished within the month, so that timeframe should work well. Please tell them that Alexandria will be sending a compliment of knights to escort them from the border gate to the capitol. The countryside is still a little, er, lively after Rozemyne’s intense mana restoration.” I looked away guiltily, sipping my tea. The truth was that the Knight’s Order in Alexandria was running themselves ragged hunting the feybeasts popping up one after the other from the newly revitalized countryside. Well, what was I supposed to do!? The farmers would have starved and I would have collapsed otherwise! The Knight’s Order has just had it easy for a few years since the land was nearly sucked dry of mana!
After logistics were taken care of, the conversation shifted to product rights. Ferdinand had sent The Battle for Alexandria to be published in Haldenzel since they were the only functioning printing workshop not planning to move in the next few weeks. Despite cutting the text into smaller books for ease of printing, I was sure the workshop had run themselves ragged to finish the order in such a short timeframe. Sorry, sorry! We’re paying a rush delivery fee though, so hopefully that makes up for it! Sylvester also passed on that Melchior’s retainers were furiously being trained to run the orphanage print shop after Fran, Gil, and the others moved with my family to Alexandria.
Sensing her moment, Elvira leaned forward to join the conversation. “Indeed. Printing is going well. We sent the first shipment this morning-” She looked up at me and I nodded in confirmation, “but the second will likely not be ready for several weeks.”
I straightened. “That’s fine. We are planning to sell the first set as a limited edition copy anyway, and take orders for future print runs.” Elvira nodded thoughtfully, taking furious notes on the boards in front of her. I shifted my attention to Sylvester. “I propose a 70-30 split on profits for books we pay to be published in Ehrenfest.” I said primly.
Sylvester nearly spit out his tea. “Only 30%!? At the prices you charge for books? Are you insane?”
I sighed. Ferdinand and I had discussed this at length and I had finally caved to his reasoning. “We will increase the price to be relatively on par with traditional books of similar size. Unlike the children’s bibles or textbooks I have been writing, The Battle for Alexandria is a largely historical story. The majority of buyers will be purchasing it not as entertainment, but for the valuable information contained within, so they are effectively paying a scholar’s premium for the collected intelligence. Although I expect Lady Eglantine will release a report on the attack at the Royal Academy during the conference, information on the events in Alexandria will be available to those outside the duchy solely through this series of books.” Sylvester goggled at me while I sipped my tea. Ferdinand brought up a good point. By mixing a little exaggeration in with the truth, it could deter would-be opportunists from perceiving Alexandria as weakened by our recent conflict. We released a formal report to the aides we trusted, but some details are better left unsaid. I mean, I’m not too worried since we’ve got Eglantine as a backer, but I guess you never know.
Finally, Sylvester caved and we signed a contract. All the books I had written, like the children’s bibles and recipe books would see their publishing rights switch to Alexandria, but the novels coming from Elvira’s group of writers would stay with Ehrenfest. I could practically feel Mother vibrating across the table. I suppose, released from any lingering threads of Ferdinand’s oversight, she was eager to get started ramping up her ‘fanfiction’ publishing.
Sylvester sighed as the contract went up in flames. Aside from those in the romance industry, his duchy had just lost all of its most prolific writers. Good luck Sylvester! I hope you foster many, many new writers to work towards my dream of a library-linked world!
Just before we finished up, Elvira presented the first volume of her new series, My Captive Geduldh. I gulped a little, eyeing the cover. Why do I get the feeling that this tells the same story as Battle for Alexandria but for a very, very different audience? I handed off the volume gingerly to Lieseleta, resolving to read it only when there was absolutely no chance Ferdinand could interrupt me.
As the tea party wrapped up, Ferdinand and I stood to escort them out. Before she reached the door, Mother gently pulled me aside, clasping my hands. I felt the gentle press of a sound blocking tool as she leaned closer, even though most of our aides could read lips. “I am sorry we did not get more time to talk, Rozemyne. Tell me truly though. Are you happy in Alexandria?” She peered into my face, sounding uncharacteristically serious.
I closed my eyes, savoring the warm press of her hands. As I opened them, I gave her a genuine smile, letting it peak through my polite mask. “Happier than I have ever been, Mother. Truly.” She sighed with relief, and after a moment’s squeeze, gently pulled away. As the door shut behind them, Ferdinand leaned down beside me and lightly brushed a wisp of my hair behind my ear.
“I’m glad.”