Ascendance of a Bookworm

Volume 2, Side Story Collection: Hannelore’s grief

I’m Hannelore, an archduke candidate from Dunkelferger and freshman student at the Royal Academy.

…Everything went wrong because of me.

If we only look at mana capacity alone, then I have a befitting amount for an archduke candidate of Dunkelferger. But my timing is always terrible for everything and my family always scolds my actions and patterns of thought as being unbefitting of an archduke candidate. Since I’m always being scolded, I have no confidence in myself and I don’t think I can be like my brother.

… I’m always trying to avoid inconveniencing others as little as possible, so I have no idea how things turned out like this.

There were rumours flowing in the Royal Academy about large shumil-shaped magic tools helping Professor Solange in the library as well as rumours about the master of those magic tools being an archduke candidate from Ehrenfest. According to our dormitory supervisor Professor Rauffen, shumil-shaped magic tools belonged to the royal family but lost their previous master to the recent political purge and became inactive.

I like shumils, so after hearing the rumours I decided to go pay them a visit. I was a little relieved to see I wasn’t alone and there were many like-minded female students who also came to visit the large shumil-shaped magic tools.

Upon watching the very cute figures of the large black and white schumils helping out Professor Solange, I was extremely satisfied as I returned to the dorms.

Along the way, I turned to my attendant Cordura and muttered “So cute. I’d love to also be the master of shumils like these.” I really only intended it as a light topic of conversation. Usually, there would be no problem at all and Cordura would simply follow up my words with a “That sounds lovely, milady”.

But this time, my timing was bad since one of my brother’s retainers happened to overhear my words. Apparently that retainer then reported to my brother “Lady Hannelore wishes to become the master of the shumils”.

“In order to let milady become the master of the large shumils, Lord Lestilaut will raise an objection towards Ehrenfest. Apparently the idea is to improve milady Hannelore’s status by letting you become the master of the royal family’s magic tools.”

One day, as I was returning from the lecture halls, Cordura came to me with a troubled expression and told me about my brother’s mischief. Hearing her report, my eyes opened wide in surprise.

During the court etiquette lecture, I was told that I lacked confidence and composed myself with a gait unbefitting of the dignity expected from an archduke candidate of a great duchy. It’s impossible for someone like me to even think about taking away the title of master of the shumils from Ehrenfest. On the contrary, that kind of behaviour is more likely to result in people thinking that I’m disqualified as an archduke candidate for Dunkelferger.

…Brother, why are you trying to pick a fight with Ehrenfest!

“I have to stop Lestilaut right away!”

“…Just now, Professor Rauffen received an ordonnanz from Prince Anastasius summoning him to the scene. The situation is already out of the scope that milady can do anything about.”

Having been stopped by Cordura, I held my head in my hands. Lestilaut had already lead Dunkelferger’s apprentice knights out of the dorms. If I passed my lecture the first time around instead of today, I’m sure I would have been able to talk him down and stop him.

“Milady Hannelore, as always it seems your timing was off again.”

“Cordura, that doesn’t comfort me at all.”

As I was wondering about what to do, Prince Anastasius had already summoned the dorm supervisor. Even if I showed up now, I wouldn’t be able to change anything.

As a result, I nervously waited for everyone to return. When they finally returned, it was already almost dinnertime. Being told that the specific details will be relayed over dinner, I ended up anxiously waiting before heading off to dinner with my heart in my mouth.

Ehrenfest rejected Dunkelferger’s demands to hand over the position of master of the magic tools and just when it was about to become a brawl, Prince Anastasius arrived and intervened. The dorm supervisor was called over and in accordance to Professor Rauffen’s proposal, a ditter competition was held to determine who would be the master of the shumils. It seems like there are times when Professor Rauffen’s love for ditters could occasionally prove useful.

Afterwards, Ehrenfest defeated the perennial ditter powerhouse Dunkelferger, and the position of master of the shumils remained unchanged. I was truly relieved that we did not end up stealing away Ehrenfest’s rights.

“It’s infuriating that such a cowardly person would dare call herself a saint.”

Due to being defeated by Lady Rozemyne’s strategy, Lestilaut was enraged, but Professor Rauffen and the apprentice knights were excitedly talking about the match.

“If I may speak Lord Lestilaut, Lady Rozemyne is not a coward. Treasure-stealing ditter is all about using all means available to attain victory. The trick used this time was plenty exploitable and adorable in comparison to Lord Ferdinand’s schemes in the past.”

Rauffen spoke happily about the ditter match and started recounting tales of a great tactician named Ferdinand who had defeated Dunkelferger numerous times in the past. He then started making plans for a revised training schedule for the apprentice knights.

The apprentice knights started recounting tales that they heard from their own upperclassmen or older relatives about Lord Ferdinand’s numerous schemes and started to exchange information with one another. With greater zeal than usual, they pledged to win next time regardless of what tactic or scheme was thrown at them.

“We’ll maintain this attitude in training and apply for a rematch with Ehrenfest.”

“…Umm, Professor Rauffen? Please refrain from taking actions that will cause Ehrenfest any further trouble.”

“Lady Hannelore, this isn’t trouble. It’s a ditter match.”

Ditter matches might be Professor Rauffen’s favourite hobby but I don’t think there are very many female archduke candidates who would be happy to receive ditter rematch applications.

…That said, unlike me, Lady Rozemyne really is such a model archduke candidate.

She passed all her courses on the very first day, won a ditter match against Dunkelferger and was acknowledged by the prince as the master of the royal family’s magic tools. This year, she’s without a doubt the most attention-grabbing archduke candidate.

I heard rumours about her being poisoned and sleeping in jureve for about two years. Due to insufficient growth, there was even talk about her potentially being unable to attend the Royal Academy. But right now, there was no sign of anything like that ever having happened. In fact, she stood out even more since she looked like she had only just finished her baptism ceremony.

Despite looking young, Lady Rozemyne had a very beautiful tidy appearance with moon-like golden eyes and shockingly glossy indigo blue hair that was the colour of the evening sky and was always adorned with hair ornaments which no one had ever seen before.

Dunkelferger also had many female students who desperately wanted information and I was currently being put under a lot of pressure to finish my lectures and start socialising with other duchies.

…I need to meet Lady Rozemyne and invite her to a tea party but before that I need to first apologise for my brother’s rude behaviour. The incident this time must surely have given her a bad impression of us, so I need to think of a way to invite her with the utmost consideration.

It’s considered unsightly to repeatedly bring up things from the past but my careless actions ended up causing Ehrenfest a great amount of trouble. I won’t be able to get these feelings off my chest unless I apologise at least once.

…But how should I go about greeting Lady Rozemyne?

Since we’re both freshmen, normally we’d be able to meet during lecture hours. But Lady Rozemyne quickly finished all her lectures so I don’t have any opportunities to meet her there.

…Lord Wilfried also only shows up in the practical lessons for Schtappe usage. Even though they’re ranked 13th, Ehrenfest’s archduke candidates are truly exemplary.

Luckily, tomorrow we also have a lecture on Schtappe usage so I should be able to meet Lord Wilfried. I would like to ask him whether he can create an opportunity for me to meet Lady Rozemyne.

In the lecture on Schtappe usage, the current popular trend is to emblazon a coat of arms onto the Schtappe. It was something which Lord Wilfried started and everyone else had begun to copy him.

If you inscribe a coat of arms onto your Schtappe, it will be different to everyone else’s and since it’s your own family’s coat of arms, it makes it easy to identify. Many students who wanted a unique Schtappe had started to follow this trend.

“Wouldn’t Lady Hannelore’s coat of arms be an eagle since you’re from Dunkelferger? Are you not going to inscribe a coat of arms?”

“The coat of arms style Schtappe that Lord Wilfried thought up is wonderful, however, since I’m eventually going to marry into another duchy, I have no intention of inscribing a coat of arms onto my Schtappe.”

That was just a façade. I’m not used to controlling the flow of mana so I’m having difficulty even forming a simple Schtappe shape, let alone one with an intricate design. It’s impossible for me to inscribe something like a coat of arms.

“I see. That kind of problem also exists. Even if it’s just the coat of arms, I want to make my Schtappe unique so I’m going to spend a bit more time tinkering with the design.”

Wilfried brought out his Schtappe and began squinting at it with his dark green eyes. I only want to hurry up and finish my lectures as soon as possible and yet Wilfried is unsatisfied with the design of his Schtappe. I think his ambitious attitude is truly wonderful.

“Umm, Lord Wilfried. How is Lady Rozemyne feeling? Will she consider it a bother if I invite her for a tea party? My brother was terribly rude to her the other day so I wish to invite her to a tea party and formally express my apologies.”

Lord Wilfried thought for a little while before answering my question.

“Ever since finishing her courses, Rozemyne has been spending every day in the library. During this time she has also been having tea parties with Klassenberg and various teachers, so it shouldn’t be a bother for her. She will be honoured to receive an invitation to a tea party hosted by Dunkelferger.”

But just as I let out a sigh of relief, Lord Wilfried’s expression hardened slightly.

“However, Rozemyne is scheduled to return to Ehrenfest in time for the Dedication Ritual so you probably don’t have a lot of time.”

With the intention of socialising with Lady Rozemyne before she returns for the Dedication Ritual, I headed to the library when I finally had some free time. The reason why it took several days since hearing Lord Wilfried’s explanation was because unlike Lady Rozemyne, I was still not finished with my lectures and didn’t have a lot of free time.

I walked around the library in circles and sighed. In the end, I was unable to find Lady Rozemyne.

“It seems that today she’s having a tea party with Klassenberg’s Lady Eglantine. I remember receiving a report like that from an apprentice scholar.”

“I see. I wonder when’s the next time I’ll be able to come to the library?”

“That will be in 3 days’ time. Lady Hannelore, you’ll have more free time if you finish your courses with haste.”

Unlike theory lectures, I’m not very good at practical lessons. I’m still struggling to properly form the shape of a shumil for my highbeast.

Three days later, I finally had some free time and headed for the library again. However, on the way there, I encountered Lady Rozemyne following behind Prince Anastasius who was bringing her away. I once again slumped my shoulders in disappointment.

…Ah, I failed to apologise again. Goddess of time, Dregarnuhr, please grant me your blessings.

Seeing the pale expression on Lady Rozemyne’s face while she was being dragged away by Prince Anastasius made me realise it was an involuntary summons. I started to feel sick just by imagining myself being in her position of receiving summons from royalty.

The next day, I once again headed for the library but I couldn’t spot Lady Rozemyne. After asking my apprentice scholars to gather information, apparently Lady Rozemyne was bedridden due to illness.

“Lady Hannelore, how about we give up on meeting her directly and instead send an invitation to a tea party? The two of you are too incompatible in terms of timing.”

Even though I’ve attended the same lectures before, unlike other archduke candidates who I gradually got closer to through conversation, I’ve never even spoken to Lady Rozemyne a single time. On top of that, I even caused her a significant amount of trouble so I haven’t had any opportunities to casually talk to her.

At the very least, I would have liked to formally greet her before inviting her to a tea party but it seems like things won’t go according to my wishes. At this rate, Lady Rozemyne will return to Ehrenfest before I even find the opportunity to apologise to her.

“Cordura, please send a tea party invitation to Ehrenfest. I don’t have any personal relationship with Lady Rozemyne so please set the invitee as Ehrenfest’s archduke candidate.”

“As you wish.”

I entrusted the tea party preparations to Cordura and studied while praying for Lady Rozemyne’s quick recovery. After all, I wanted to increase my free time as much as possible.

“Lady Hannelore, I received a report stating that Lady Rozemyne went to the library.”

“Let’s quickly make our way there as well.”

I put away my textbooks and hastily made my way towards the library. Since archduke candidates need to be accompanied by attendants, apprentice scholars and apprentice knights, they usually don’t go to the library themselves.

…I wonder why Lady Rozemyne reads books in the library.

If an archduke candidate goes to a library, laynobles using the desks and accompanying retainers will all be troubled. Retainers also have their own lectures to attend so I think it’s difficult for them to accompany Lady Rozemyne on her daily trips to the library.

Could it be possible that all of Lady Rozemyne’s retainers have finished their courses just like she has? Otherwise, there’s also the possibility that to qualify as the master of the large shumils one would need to spend a lot of time in the library.

Now that I think about it, up until now, the master of the shumils had always been archnoble librarians from the Sovereignty so it might have been necessary to spend a lot of time in the library.

…That means it would have been impossible for me to become their master.

While thinking about such trivial things, I finally arrived at the library but couldn’t find Lady Rozemyne’s presence anywhere. Professor Solange approached me when she saw me wandering around aimlessly.

“Dunkelferger’s Lady Hannelore, is there something you are looking for?”

“I heard that Ehrenfest’s Lady Rozemyne had come here.”

“If you’re searching for Lady Rozemyne, she has already returned to Ehrenfest. Due to her health suddenly deteriorating, she returned earlier than scheduled.”

“…I see… Thank you ever so much for letting me know.”

…Why did this have to happen now!? I can’t believe Lady Rozemyne is going to return before I even have an opportunity to apologise to her. I might actually be cursed by Dregarnuhr.

I returned to the dorms like that while suppressing my feelings of melancholy.

Upon returning to my room, I gloomily curled up into a ball, prompting Cordura to comfort me by saying “It’s not your fault, milady” while shaking her head.

“Milady, there was nothing you could do. The timing was just unfortunate.”

“Cordura, that doesn’t comfort me at all.”

…Honestly, is there really nothing I can do about my bad timing?

After that, there were numerous events which made me even more depressed.

Firstly, the tea party invitation I had intended for Lady Rozemyne ended up being received by Lord Wilfried. It was impossible for Ehrenfest to reject an invitation from Dunkelferger.

It would have been great if I could cancel the tea party from my end, but I was burdened with expectations from female students who were interested in Ehrenfest’s fashion trends and I was unable to betray those expectations.

…Lord Wilfried, I’m really sorry!

Afterwards, when I learnt that Lord Wilfried also had an obligation to attend other people’s tea parties because of the precedent I set, I felt even more depressed.

Despite feeling uncomfortable as the only man in a tea party full of women, Lord Wilfried continued to smile and give replies which were devoid of substance. Seeing him like that, I once again wanted to apologise to him from the bottom of my heart.

…I never thought things would end up like this, Lord Wilfried!

When I heard that Professor Rauffen had applied for a ditter rematch with Ehrenfest without knowing about Lady Rozemyne’s absence, I could almost feel my soul leaving my body.

…Once again, I’m truly sorry for everything, Lord Wilfried!

Even just a little bit is fine.

All I want is a little bit, so Goddess of time, Dregarnuhr, please grant me your blessings.