Excuse me?! This is all too sudden!
I was glad to know Lord Ferdinand had not given in to desire, but the truth was even more harrowing. I had just given Lady Rozemyne my name; if she ascended to the distant heights, I would be going with her.
“Aah! Hurts...!”
“Lady Rozemyne,” I said, “you must not move your arms around.”
It was hard to remove Lady Rozemyne’s elaborate ornaments when she would not stop squirming and screaming. Each time I pulled up her sleeves, searching for the clasps I would need to undo, she swung her arms and obscured my vision with billowing cloth.
“Could you keep her arm in place?” I asked. “I cannot find the clasp. Take her wrist like this, and...”
“Like this?”
I instructed Lord Ferdinand on how to keep Lady Rozemyne still and eventually managed to remove her ornaments. They were beautiful and covered with tiny rainbow feystones.
No sooner had the ornaments come away—they landed on the ground with a light clatter—than light rained down from above and enveloped Lady Rozemyne like a cocoon. It was nothing like the divine power radiating from her. More than anything else, I was stunned to see that I had not been deceived; a goddess genuinely had descended.
The light surrounding Lady Rozemyne then leisurely ascended into the air. I sighed, taken with the divine sight, while Lord Ferdinand rose to his feet.
“Lady Eglantine, take your distance and kneel,” he said. “The goddess smites those who are insolent.”
Are you speaking from experience?
Now that Gervasio was absent, Lord Ferdinand was the only one who had experienced Mestionora’s previous descent. I took his advice, stepped back, and went down on one knee as he did.
“The original purpose of the Zent was to mediate between mankind and the gods,” Ferdinand informed me. “Take care not to be overly obedient. Do not make undue promises that will distort society as we know it.”
I swallowed dryly. In my mind, the Zent was simply the person who ruled Yurgenschmidt; their purpose was to balance the needs and wishes of each duchy while providing the entire country with mana. The desires of the gods had never factored into it.
That must be even more lost knowledge.
Only a Zent with the Grutrissheit could carry out their purpose—that was something I would need to remember. By receiving the holy book from Mestionora’s divine avatar, I would accept the burdens of the throne until the day came for me to pass the torch on to a new generation of Zent candidates, who would obtain their Books of Mestionora through their own power.
The ways of the gods and the ways of men... Two cultures, worlds apart.
There was so little that I understood. I was studying the ancient language, but my knowledge of the deities was mediocre at best; some things had to be seen to be believed. Considering that I would soon become the Zent, it was perhaps a blessing that I was here to witness the descent of the goddess.
“Quinta, what have you done to Erwaermen?” Mestionora asked immediately upon taking Lady Rozemyne’s form.
Erwaermen? From what I remember, he was a subordinate of Ewigeliebe who earned the God of Life’s ire for protecting Mestionora and Geduldh’s subordinates. Was he the former god who became Yurgenschmidt’s core? And who is Quinta...?
I searched my memories as best I could, unable to hide my shock that a name I had encountered only in lectures and old books had come up so naturally in conversation. Judging by the anger in Mestionora’s voice, Lord Ferdinand must have done something to Erwaermen. I continued to kneel, holding my breath and staring intently at the white ground while I awaited his response.
“First, tell me what the gods have done to Rozemyne,” Lord Ferdinand said. “How convenient that only the descent of a goddess could keep her from the distant heights.”
That is not how you answer a goddess!
I stared quizzically at the pair. Lord Ferdinand was still on one knee, but he raised his head and glared into Mestionora’s eyes.
“Goodness,” she replied. “As insolent as ever, I see. It is such a terrible shame that Terza never returned. He was far better suited to becoming a Zent than you or Myne.” She was not even attempting to hide the regret in her voice.
I furrowed my brow. The goddess had mentioned even more names that were unknown to me, but one did not need expert powers of deduction to realize she meant Lord Ferdinand, Lady Rozemyne, and Lord Gervasio.
I wonder why they have secondary names. Is one given a special title upon receiving the Book of Mestionora?
Unsure what to think, I could only stay silent as the debate between man and goddess continued.
“The moment I arrived,” Lord Ferdinand said, “I was informed that Rozemyne was on the verge of succumbing to the gods’ power and that I would need to remove her charms to save her. I do not consider it ‘insolent’ to ask how she ended up in such peril to begin with.”
He spoke politely and continued to kneel, but that did not change the fact he was arguing with the Goddess of Wisdom. I grew dizzy as I pondered whether this counted as sacrilege.
“You would take that tone despite knowing how easily I could dispatch you?”
“Would it really be so easy? Rozemyne wished for my survival and lent you her body at the cost of her most precious memories. Taking my life while using her form would violate a promise made between gods and men.”
There were many stories about the breaking of such promises. In each one, the culprit was punished, be they man or god.
I raised my head just enough to see how the goddess would respond. Though she had taken Lady Rozemyne’s form, one could tell at a glance that she was not the same person. She levitated in place, for a start, and exuded the most spectacular light. Her eyes were a brighter gold than those of her host, and simply witnessing their ferocity compelled me to submit. I could not risk meeting her gaze, so I returned to facing the ground.
“How irritating... And if we put Myne’s life on the scales instead? She is important to you, is she not?”
“Rozemyne is too important for the gods to lose. The lives of everyone in Yurgenschmidt capable of reaching the foundation are bound to her.” Lord Ferdinand wore a smile even in the face of a threat from a goddess. He had given his name to Lady Rozemyne—and urged me to do the same—for leverage against the gods. “Moreover, while the gods seem to think Gervasio was suited to becoming the Zent, no one poses a greater threat to Erwaermen and Yurgenschmidt.”
“Oh? I refuse to believe there is anyone more dangerous than you.”
I wanted to concur; Anastasius had told me about the recent battle, and we had both been present for Lady Rozemyne’s meeting with the royal family.