Even on Earthdays, Dunkelfelger’s archducal retainers were expected to train. That held true not only for knights but for attendants and scholars as well, whether they were of the sword or not. Those serving Lord Lestilaut, Lady Eineliebe, Lady Hannelore, Lord Raufereg, and Lady Lungtase were required to attend, but a suddenly scheduled tea party with Aub Alexandria meant that all of Lady Hannelore’s retainers were absent.
“Lady Lungtase’s retainers, conclude your rest and start coordination training with Lord Raufereg’s retainers! Lord Lestilaut’s retainers, rest in their place!”
I sat at the edge of the grounds, waiting to be analyzed. We always began our rest periods with a review of our performance. In this case, we apprentice knights were taking the lead and serving as attackers for the apprentice scholars and attendants to defend against. Our aim was to teach them what to focus on when they had to defend their lord or lady.
“Put more thought into your attacks, Rasantark. This might only be training, but your moves are far too predictable.”
As the oldest of the knights still enrolled at the Academy, Vestaert was the highest authority. He specialized in thinking up all sorts of surprising attacks, and this was far from the first time he had put me through the wringer. My mana capacity was greater than his, yet he almost always claimed victory in our duels.
“Codenest, learn to counterattack more,” he continued. “It’s one thing to be cautious, but you were practically standing still.”
Codenest was a second-year apprentice attendant, and not one “of the sword.” He was the son of one of Aub Dunkelfelger’s brothers, which made him Lord Lestilaut’s cousin in the same fashion as Kenntrips and me. To my knowledge, he had not become a retainer by choice; although he took no issue with attendant work, he made it clear that he hated combat training. He had a wealth of mana—as expected of someone from a branch family—but used it for his own defense more than anyone else’s.
As long as Codenest helped us keep our lord safe, I didn’t much care about his shortcomings—but Vestaert was not satisfied. I had once heard him grumble about how much he envied Codenest’s mana, insisting that he could put it to better use.
“I see Lady Hannelore’s retainers are all absent,” said Gulaheld, a fifth-year apprentice attendant. He turned his gaze to the grounds entrance. “What drove her to schedule a tea party on one of our training days? I cannot help but wonder what she is discussing with Lady Rozemyne.”
Gulaheld had ample reason to be concerned; Lady Hannelore would never usually organize a tea party when she knew her retainers had training.
“It was arranged rather suddenly, was it not?”
“Lady Hannelore gave the invitation, so I doubt Alexandria means to request anything of us.”
The balance of power in Yurgenschmidt had shifted—three new duchies had arisen, and Dunkelfelger, now first in the rankings, would receive more favor from the Zent than even her home duchy of Klassenberg. It was no wonder, then, that far more students were clamoring at Dunkelfelger’s heels than usual: those from duchies desperate for connections to the top ranks, who wanted as much intelligence as they could get, and who sought to have their requests heard by the Zent. Even during the Archduke Conference, Lady Magdalena had petitioned Dunkelfelger to support Blumenfeld, and Lord Lestilaut had warned that Korinthsdaum was after Lady Hannelore.
It would not have been strange if Lady Rozemyne wished to make a request of Dunkelfelger through Lady Hannelore—in fact, many nobles anticipated it. She was an underage aub whose archducal family had only one adult in Lord Ferdinand. Her blood relatives lacked the status to adequately support her, and one could expect she would face hardships in ruling a greater duchy.
“The worst part is that none of us were allowed to attend,” Gulaheld said with a heavy sigh.
Something unexpected was bound to happen whenever Lady Rozemyne and Lady Hannelore came together. In an effort to prepare ourselves, we had requested that one of Lord Lestilaut’s or Lady Eineliebe’s retainers be allowed to attend, only for Cordula to refuse. She would report on the events of the tea party, as the aub had instructed her to observe Alexandria and Ehrenfest, but she had no intention of allowing anyone else’s retainers to join them.
“She said it would prevent Lady Hannelore from relaxing. How could we argue with that?” Kenntrips asked, doing his best to console Gulaheld.
After the bride-stealing ditter match held during my third year, a chasm had opened up between Lady Hannelore and those of us who served Lord Lestilaut. Things had improved thanks to her participation in true ditter and Lord Lestilaut inheriting the foundational magic, securing his place as the next aub, but some wounds had yet to heal.
“You’re her suitor, Kenntrips—you really should do more to act the part,” Vestaert said, slapping him on the back. “It’s up to you whether we can learn anything from her at all.”
I raised my eyebrows. Kenntrips wasn’t her only suitor, so why was he the only one getting words of support? “Give me some encouragement too, Vestaert!” I cried.
“To what end? You have no hope of gathering any meaningful intelligence.”
“Ngh...!”
As an apprentice scholar, Kenntrips had me beat in that regard, but it still frustrated me to be treated as the inferior suitor.
“Why does nobody support me?!” I cried. “I clearly love Lady Hannelore far more than Kenntrips does!”
“Calm down,” Gulaheld said. “No need to have a jealous fit. At this rate, she’ll end up with you no matter what.”
What does he mean?
Kenntrips and everyone else seemed to understand. But how, when I was completely in the dark?
“Gulaheld,” I said. “Explain.”
“As it stands, Lady Hannelore will fail to convey her feelings to Ehrenfest. Not only has she experienced the damage that acting on her emotions can do to her duchy and reputation, but she also knows that the other party does not seek her hand in marriage.”
Even so, why would she end up engaged to me instead of Kenntrips? I scanned the others’ faces, my nerves all the more intense, but they merely shook their heads at me.
“If you think about Lady Hannelore’s character and the way she acts, it should be obvious,” Vestaert said, clapping me on the shoulder. Then, with a wry smile meant to end the conversation, “Even if you don’t get it, that’s no problem. You just need to wait.”
“I don’t want to wait! I’m going to court Lady Hannelore and win her over properly!”
“Try all you like, but you’re so bad at ‘courting’ that she didn’t even know how you felt until something completely unrelated brought it up. I’d advise you to use your head outside of practice too.”
“Nghhh...!”