Silence dominated the room as everyone wondered what to say to Hildebrand, who was weeping with his head in his hands. Ferdinand soon lost his patience and gave an annoyed sigh.
“A crying child is unwelcome here. Take him away if he cannot keep his composure. Though we have the entire evening ahead of us, that is not much time for everything we need to discuss. Rozemyne, if you would continue.”
I thought there were better ways to deal with a crying child, but Ferdinand taking the cold approach didn’t surprise me in the slightest. Besides, he was right—we still needed to decide a date for the transference ceremony, what information we would reveal to the duchies, how to treat the prisoners, and which royal would take care of which deposed duchy.
Magdalena took Hildebrand out of the room.
“As we have decided on the new Zent, let us begin discussing the future,” I said, then turned my attention to the man still restrained on the floor. “Prince Sigiswald, I would rather you return to your seat. We cannot leave a future aub bound while we are discussing the new territories and their borders.”
“You would allow him to become an aub after he was so disrespectful toward you?” Trauerqual asked, looking at both Ferdinand and me. “Are you certain, Lady Rozemyne?”
I smiled and nodded. “Prince Sigiswald is royalty. I, on the other hand, am only a member of an archducal family. A goddess might have dyed my mana, but the prince’s uncouth behavior toward someone of lower status is not worth punishing. If we did take action, we would need to punish both his wives as well, would we not? I would rather avoid that outcome.”
I’m sick of women being disciplined for the actions of their husbands.
If we charged Sigiswald with a crime, his wives would end up in a position even worse than being demoted to archducal family members. Letting him become an aub made the most sense to me. Anywhere he fell short, his spouses would surely do their best to educate him.
Or so I thought. Adolphine looked exceptionally concerned, like she wasn’t best pleased with the future I’d proposed for her.
“As we have seen, Prince Sigiswald does not know how to respect his superiors,” she said. “Would becoming the aub of a deposed duchy not be too great a burden for him?”
I shook my head. “We promised to grant your family the Grutrissheit in a way that hides its involvement in the recent conflict. Moreover, though Prince Sigiswald was deemed unfit to take the throne, he has not committed any crimes of note.”
“I see...”
Adolphine raised her head just enough to look at me. I could tell she was quietly contemplating something. Her searching amber eyes reminded me of Eglantine’s moments before she had volunteered to become the next Zent.
“If the first prince causes problems after becoming an aub,” I said, “the new Zent will punish him accordingly. He will not find it easy to adjust to his new life, but I trust he will quickly learn how to carry himself.”
“You truly are compassionate.”
Trauerqual untied Sigiswald while instructing him to be grateful for my kindness. The first prince must have realized how much his status had changed after watching the discussion proceed without him, as he carefully thanked me before taking his seat. Magdalena returned around the same time, having handed Hildebrand to his retainers.
I’m not acting out of compassion, though.
If we had kept Sigiswald tied up, it would probably have delayed our plan for the royals to become aubs of the deposed duchies. And the more time Ferdinand spent trying to work around that, the less time he spent on Operation: Library City. I wanted to sort out this conversation, hand over the Grutrissheit, restore my memories, and get started on my new project. That was all.
“Let us discuss the details of the transference ceremony,” I said. “Nobles from every duchy have gathered to gain intelligence, so I must ask Lady Eglantine to make her name stone as promptly as she can. Once it is ready, we shall perform the transference ceremony for presenting the Grutrissheit and the acknowledgment ceremony with the aubs.” Because the aubs were already at the Academy, we could take care of all the ceremonies necessary for the crowning of a new Zent.
“Is there a need to hurry?” Eglantine asked. “If we inform the aubs that the Divine Avatar of Mestionora is granting me the Grutrissheit, the ceremonies can wait until the Archduke Conference. We might not have time to prepare the auditorium any sooner.”
Ferdinand shook his head, his gaze stern. “The goddess’s mana will not last that long. Besides, Rozemyne is to be recognized as an aub during the coming Archduke Conference. She cannot act as one while her mana remains dyed, which is already causing her problems with the creation of registration brooches, among other things. At this rate, Ahrensbach will not be able to participate at all. Would you have me spend another year working there without a proper aub, knowing all that I endured under that incompetent fool of an archduke candidate?”
“Of course not... I thought preparing the ceremonies at such short notice might be too great of a burden. But I see now that Ahrensbach views the situation quite differently.”
Eglantine had wanted to ease the burden on her retainers, the Sovereign nobles, and the aubs who had gathered so abruptly. That wasn’t a bad thing—many would thank her for encouraging a more reasonable pace—but if she overruled us using her status as a royal, Ahrensbach would end up in a truly awful situation.
“You can cause great problems for others simply by voicing an opinion,” Ferdinand said. “The word of the Zent bears that much weight. For now, we shall prioritize the needs of the Divine Avatar of Mestionora over those of the royal family.” His expression said it was time for the royals to put someone else first for a change.
Eglantine nodded, wearing a solemn expression.
“Prepare the stage and altar in time for the transference ceremony,” Ferdinand continued. “It should not take long if the Sovereign scholars and priests work together. As you are soon to be the Sovereign High Bishop, Lady Eglantine, I would advise that you ask your husband to support you.”
“Am I going to the Sovereign temple again...?” Anastasius muttered, his face contorting in a grimace. He must have expected it, though, as he agreed without much resistance.
“As I recall, the suggestion was made during last year’s Archduke Conference that Rozemyne be made the Sovereign High Bishop. I see no reason why Lady Eglantine or Prince Anastasius cannot perform the role.”
The couple glanced at Sigiswald, removing any doubt about who within the royal family had proposed the idea.
“Lady Eglantine—once you are the Zent, the current Sovereign temple will start being dismantled, and the one in the Academy will need to be restored. Do what you can to make it accessible. You are to become its High Bishop and set an example for the duchies to follow.”
Ferdinand was saying that if the royals disliked the temple so much, this was their chance to rebuild it to their preferences. The two of us had been restructuring Ehrenfest’s temple ever since Bezewanst died, so there was no reason a Zent couldn’t do the same.
“And as for you, Prince Anastasius, there is nothing to worry about,” Ferdinand continued. “Any negative associations with the temple will dissipate. Soon, every aub in the country will clamor to reconstruct their temple.”
We planned to reveal the foundations’ true locations and the role of the bible during the upcoming Archduke Conference. Once that happened, it was hard to envision anyone looking down on Eglantine for visiting the Sovereign temple.
“Furthermore, heading to the Sovereign temple will give you an excellent opportunity to inform the priests of the temple’s closure and their transfer. The blue priests and shrine maidens taken from the duchies after the civil war will get a chance to return home, should their aubs desire it. The Royal Academy’s temple will not need too many of them once prayer becomes more common among the students. Of course, the same cannot be said for the gray priests tasked with manual labor.”
Every single duchy was facing a mana shortage to some degree, so I doubted many aubs would refuse to take back their blue priests and shrine maidens. The change would also free up some of the Sovereignty’s budget.
“You make it sound so simple, but what about the Zent’s living quarters?” Anastasius asked. “There is nowhere at the Royal Academy for Eglantine to stay.”
Ferdinand smiled. “Are you forgetting the villa Rozemyne was to receive as the king’s adopted daughter? The furniture and overall decor are fit for a princess, at the very least.”
“You cannot be serious...”
Ferdinand gave an even broader grin, indicating that he was indeed serious. Anastasius gritted his teeth in response while Eglantine blinked in confusion.
As all the men of the royal family went pale, I gave a smile of my own. “King Trauerqual and Prince Sigiswald prepared the villa for me; it should do as a temporary residence until the country is more stable and you have enough excess mana to perform an entwickeln for yourselves.”
We were using the villa to move between Ahrensbach and the Royal Academy and to hold various criminals, but we intended to have the Ahrensbach Dormitory up and running before the Archduke Conference, and our captives could just be moved to actual cells in the Sovereignty. They could even bring the bedding and such they were already using with them.
“As we have concluded that there are, in fact, living quarters on the Royal Academy’s grounds, let us move to the next topic,” I said. “Lady Eglantine will need to dye the foundation swiftly upon inheriting the Grutrissheit. If she does not finish in time for the Archduke Conference, we will not be able to redraw borders or punish criminals. There is far too much that cannot be done with the Grutrissheit alone.”
Eglantine nodded and muttered, “First the name-swearing. Then the transference ceremony. Then dyeing the foundation.”
“I should also note that Gervasio, the leader of Lanzenave’s invasion force, is currently imprisoned within Gilessenmeyer’s country gate,” Ferdinand interjected. “He will, at some point, need to be retrieved.”
“Is that task not best suited to Lady Rozemyne, who can teleport between the gates?” Anastasius asked. Though he spoke politely, he was openly glaring at Ferdinand. He must not have wanted us to unload any more work on him.
“I am forbidden from leaving the dormitory in my current state,” I said. “As you have seen, when I am not wearing silver cloth, unexpected problems can arise.”
“Moreover,” Ferdinand added, “Lady Eglantine has achieved nothing of worth since the war began. She should at least capture the enemy leader, no?”
Though she had likely been defending her villa, that paled in comparison to Anastasius fighting in the auditorium and Magdalena smiting Raublut. Having a clear, meaningful accomplishment to her name would play a crucial role in convincing the country’s nobles to accept her.