Lord Ortwin gave me a reassuring smile. “Fear not, Lady Hannelore; we will not be chastised.” He then let go of his sound-blocker and turned to Professor Anastasius. “It is our right as top-ranking archduke candidates to emulate royalty.”
“Indeed, which is why I chose not to interrupt you sooner,” our teacher shot back, then gestured to our desks with an intense grimace. “Your mana should have regenerated by now. Go back to your places.”
From their interaction, I assumed that then Prince Anastasius had proposed to Lady Eglantine during one of their classes together.
Lady Eglantine must have found that most troublesome.
Many noblewomen dreamed of such a proposal; it was straight out of the stories we so eagerly consumed. I, too, had treasured the thought, but receiving even a taste of what Lady Eglantine must have gone through had made me realize how uncomfortable it was to be in such a situation without retainers to rely on for help.
“I thank you for looking the other way,” Lord Ortwin said. “And thank you as well, Wilfried. It was because of you that I got this chance to speak with Lady Hannelore.”
“Did it go well...?” Lord Wilfried asked.
“Who knows? I took her by surprise when her father has already chosen her suitors. Not to mention, I do not intend to press her for an answer; what happens next is entirely up to her.”
“Alright. As long as you aren’t being a pest,” he said, concerned for my sake.
Lord Ortwin clapped a hand on his friend’s shoulder and gave him a light push back to his desk. Then he reached out to me, silently requesting my sound-blocker. I watched Lord Wilfried go as I relinquished the tool.
No sooner had the weight of the sound-blocker left my fingers than Lord Ortwin took me by the hand and pulled me toward him. I could only stare at him, taken aback by his sudden move. His light-brown eyes carried the intensity of someone driven into a corner, and seeing them so much closer than expected prompted me to gasp.
“For now, my feelings might not be returned, but I have the patience and determination to wait for that to change.”
Come again...?
So surprising was his declaration that I could not respond. I stared at him, attempting to discern his intentions, at which point he started and placed a hand over his mouth.
“Ah. Allow me to escort you to your seat,” he said, adopting a more neutral expression as he led me by the hand. His eyes wandered about as if searching for a way to ease the tension.
“Um, Lord Ortwin...” I muttered.
“My apologies. I should not have said that—not at this juncture. I would rather you focus on the advantages we could provide for both our duchies,” he said, speaking much faster than usual. He kept his head down such that his reddish-purple bangs fell over his eyes, evidently regretting his mistake.
So strong was his discomfort that it spread to me as well.
U-Um... Could it be that he proposed for more than just his duchy’s sake?
My heart was racing, perhaps out of surprise. I spent the rest of my lesson with my head in the clouds.
“Cordula...” I said, “matters have become even more complicated.”
“I see you have regained the power of speech, milady. You had not said a word since your return,” my head attendant replied, her voice tinged with exasperation as she set about preparing tea. “Kenntrips was convinced that something drastic must have happened to render you in such a state. Might I ask you to elaborate? You did not accidentally upturn your garden, did you?”
“I would never make such a blunder. Rather, um... Lord Ortwin of Drewanchel proposed to me during class.”
“Excuse me? He proposed?” Cordula repeated, speaking sharply.
“Not formally with a feystone, but he put the idea forward,” I said at once. “He is not rushing me to answer; he said simply that he wishes to know how I feel. How I... feel...?”
From the start, Lord Ortwin had asked only about my emotions; he had paid no mind to how our marriage would potentially benefit our respective duchies. Slowly but surely, the pieces were falling into place.
“Cordula... might I be as blind to the feelings of men as Lady Rozemyne?” As nobles, we were trained to mask our emotions; I should have seen the truth of the situation as soon as he brought up bride-stealing ditter.
Or, no... Perhaps when he said my eyes move every time the word “ditter” is spoken.
“You seem emotionally moved, milady... Might you be tempted to accept?” Cordula asked, crossing her arms with a contemplative frown.
“N-No! Not in the slightest! And in any case, the matter of my fiancé is far too complex to be decided purely based on my own wishes. It is just that... this is the first time a man has harbored feelings for me. I was taken aback, is all.”
“The... first time?” Cordula’s eyebrows almost touched above her nose. “Goodness, what a clumsy child you are.”
“Erm, Cordula?” It was rare for her to speak so harshly.
“It matters not. Forget I said anything. Still, you did not refuse him on the spot, did you? Though he insisted that you were in no rush to answer, there is a chance that he mistook your hesitation for interest. Your father might have chosen your candidates, but an archduke candidate of Drewanchel would be more than—”
“I responded exactly as you taught me to,” I said, wary of the lecture to come. “But because of Raufereg’s proposal, he seemed to assume that anyone could throw their hat in the ring. He spoke much of how Drewanchel was immune to Korinthsdaum’s pressure.”
Cordula pinched her brow and shook her head, her displeasure on full display. “You are the friend of the divine avatar, and the daughter of the top-ranking duchy’s first wife. We feared that many would attempt to propose to you here; to think that not even the aub’s selection of suitors would stop them. First Lord Raufereg, now Lord Ortwin... Men truly are unpredictable.”
It seemed a stretch to lump Lord Ortwin with Lord Raufereg—the latter had proposed to me purely because he wanted to stay in Dunkelfelger and play ditter to his heart’s desire—but I agreed with the overall sentiment. The events of my recent practical had come as such a surprise that my heart still pounded in my chest.
“For these men to have proposed out of the blue, Liebeskhilfe the Goddess of Binding must be intent on playing tricks around you.”
Liebeskhilfe...?
In an instant, I recalled my appeals to her, and the blood drained quickly from my face.
“Cordula... Something has occurred to me.”
“Milady?”
“Now that you mention it, I prayed to Liebeskhilfe before coming to the Academy. I, um... did not request a romance as dramatic as those in the storybooks, but I did ask for more choices.”
My head attendant said nothing.
“And in the time since, I have received an increasing number of propositions, despite Father’s plans. Perhaps this truly is the work of a goddess.”
Given all we had witnessed, no one could claim that the gods were mere fantasies. Praying at the Royal Academy was known to cause great beams of light to shoot up into the air—and if not even that sounded convincing enough, Lady Rozemyne had obtained the Grutrissheit and undergone a stunning transformation through the power of Anwachs.
“I never thought this would happen,” I said, my eyes brimming with tears. “Whatever should I do, Cordula? I do not wish for any more choices.” My hands were full enough without Liebeskhilfe’s trickery bringing me yet more propositions.
Cordula looked thoroughly troubled as she considered my predicament. “This might not be much of a solution, and for that I apologize, but perhaps you could pray in gratitude to Liebeskhilfe and state that your desires have been met in excess. If that does not change things, then you could pray to Verfuhremeer the Goddess of Seas.”
“R-Right,” I replied with a nod. “I shall pray to them both, if necessary.”
O Liebeskhilfe, Goddess of Binding! I thank you ever so much for the blessings you bestowed upon me. You have done enough! Because of you, I now have more options than I ever thought possible. I do not require any more.
“Praise be to the gods!” I exclaimed just as an ordonnanz shot into the room. The white bird settled in front of me.
“Lady Hannelore, this is Rozemyne. Have you returned to your dormitory? I intend to have my head attendant, Lieseleta, stop by with your hairpin order.”
I watched the ordonnanz repeat its message twice more, then looked to my head attendant. Because of Lord Ortwin’s proposal, I had forgotten about Lady Rozemyne’s promise entirely.
“We attendants shall go to the tea party room and make welcoming arrangements,” Cordula said. “You may inform Lady Rozemyne that the room is open, then join us there at once.”
On that note, she departed, taking several of my attendants with her. I tapped the feystone with my schtappe and replied to Lady Rozemyne before going to the tea party room with the rest of my retainers.