Greetings Before Funeral

“Now, Aub Ehrenfest, please wait here until it’s time to enter.”

Once we arrived at the Ahrensbach funeral, we were guided to a waiting room. Inside were royalty, aubs from neighboring duchies, and people personally close to the late Aub Ahrensbach, Gieselfried. Now is the time to socialize, but seeing Prince Sigiswald sitting and greeting others, and the smiling archducal couples from other duchies, made me weary.

Prince Sigiswald, Dunkelfelger, Drewanchel… I know that greetings are in order, but this really feels like we are at the Archduke Conference.

As an archduke, I understood it was unavoidable, but maybe because Ahrensbach was hotter than Ehrenfest or because I was expecting a barrage of inquiries about Rozemyne, I was just not in the mood. Watching the Frenbeltag archducal couple greet the royal couple, I started to line up behind them.

When we stayed for several days and met multiple times, like during the Archduke Conference or funerals, we would kneel and greet each other at first, but then just nod afterward. If everyone greeted each other formally every time they met, it would take up too much time. Being guided to the waiting room before the funeral was a way to get the greetings out of the way early on so as not to disrupt the proceedings.

I guess I’ll greet Prince Sigiswald as if I haven’t met with him yet.

In actuality, I had already met and greeted Prince Sigiswald the day before. He came as the Zent’s representative to check if Ferdinand had his own chambers and a hidden room. He had even invited me to dinner.

I didn’t need to greet him again, but skipping the greeting would signal to the others that we had spoken before the funeral, and someone would certainly inquire about my relationship with the royal family. I wanted to avoid that.

“Oh, Aub Ehrenfest. Last night was enjoyable.”

As the Frenbeltag archducal couple and their attendants stood up and we moved forward, Prince Sigiswald smiled and looked at me. His overly familiar greeting, as if we were relatives, drew everyone’s attention, causing whispers of surprise in the waiting room.

What is he doing?!

It would be understandable if it was public knowledge that Rozemyne was going to become the king’s adopted daughter, but we had agreed to keep it secret until the next Archduke Conference. At present, it was impossible for me to respond to the prince with the same degree of familiarity. Seeing his first wife, Lady Adolphine, standing next to Prince Sigiswald turn around in surprise, made it clear that this greeting was the prince’s independent decision.

What is Prince Sigiswald thinking?! Is this revenge for Rozemyne’s rampage in the underground archive?! Or payback for Ferdinand’s snide remarks last night?!

◆

After checking Ferdinand’s hidden room last night, we had dinner together. During the meal, Prince Sigiswald had commented, “Rozemyne must care deeply for Ferdinand to insist on a hidden room and demand better treatment for him as a royal decree.” He was definitely probing into their relationship.

Recently, even in Ehrenfest, more people had been speculating about Rozemyne and Ferdinand’s relationship. For this visit, I had to bring a lot of extra luggage for Ferdinand. I glanced at him, curious about how he would respond.

Ferdinand tilted his head in confusion and said, “If that is what Rozemyne insisted, then someone must have told her that my life was in danger. Without a threat to my life, she would definitely prioritize reading over me.”

”…Huh?”

Prince Sigiswald was speechless, taken aback by Ferdinand’s calm and straightforward response. He looked shocked, but Ferdinand smiled and continued.

“Once, Rozemyne saved starving temple orphans that haven’t been baptized yet. Whether it’s me or a commoner, or even a pre-baptism child, Rozemyne cannot stand the idea of a life being lost. She will employ any means at her disposal to save them.”

”…What?”

Prince Sigiswald looked completely baffled, unable to comprehend that Ferdinand and temple orphans were being spoken of in the same breath.

“Furthermore, she saved the orphans just so she could enjoy her reading without feeling guilty. She was probably told my life was in danger and realized she couldn’t focus on her books if something happened to me.”

Wait! Was that really the motive behind Rozemyne’s rampage?!

Ferdinand’s reasoning came to me as a shock, as it was completely unrelated to the Grutrissheit. While she claimed it was to save his life, it had never occurred to me that books would be the hidden motive behind it.

But it makes sense. Looking back at her past actions, it fits.

While I was reflecting on Rozemyne’s past behavior, Ferdinand smiled again.

“I’m more interested in what she offered in exchange for my hidden room. I doubt a royal decree would be issued just because Rozemyne made a fuss.”

“I’m forbidden to discuss it by the Zent’s orders. But it will be revealed at the next Archduke Conference.”

Prince Sigiswald also smiled. It was clear he couldn’t openly discuss the conditions placed on Rozemyne, including becoming the king’s adopted daughter.

“At the next Archduke Conference… Be careful not to provoke Rozemyne. Those who do often suffer unexpected and severe consequences.”

“Is that a threat towards the royal family?”

“No, it’s just an observation.”

◆

That was Ferdinand’s doing! Don’t drag me into this!

Unable to find a reply to Prince Sigiswald’s greeting, I stared at him wide-eyed. Now that he had brought up last night, I couldn’t perform a regular greeting, but I couldn’t get away with a silent nod either. Lady Adolphine, who stood next to Prince Sigiswald, stepped forward and smiled.

“Yes, last night was truly worthwhile. We not only learned more about the Dedication Ritual at the Archduke Conference, but also about other rituals Rozemyne is performing. We must spread the importance of these rituals throughout Yurgenschmidt.”

I didn’t expect Lady Adolphine, who hadn’t been at the dinner last night, to come to my aid. I quickly followed her lead. If I could just maintain the impression that we had discussed the religious rituals Rozemyne did at the Archduke Conference and other useful ceremonies, no one would suspect anything about her becoming the Zent’s adopted daughter, Ferdinand’s hidden room, and everything else that best remained unknown.

“If the importance of offering mana through prayer during the Dedication Ritual becomes widely recognized throughout every duchy, we can further increase the harvest yields. If you would convey to Rozemyne that the royal family understands this, she will be pleased, especially after having performed the ritual at the Archduke Conference.”

“Yes. I hope to hear more from Rozemyne next time.”

Thanks to Lady Adolphine’s quick thinking, I managed to avoid any awkward familiarity due to Prince Sigiswald’s greeting and maintained my position as the archduke of a middle duchy. Lady Adolphine asked me to arrange a tea party with Rozemyne, and I agreed, relieved it didn’t escalate further. Smiling, I bowed to Lady Adolphine and quickly distanced myself from the royal family.

“Aub Ehrenfest.”

Immediately after, I was approached by the archducal couple of Dunkelfelger. Their land bordered Ahrensbach’s, and they co-managed former Werkestock. It made sense for them to be here.

“Our daughter Hannelore often talks about how much Lady Rozemyne helps her. After seeing her outstanding performance at the Dedication Ritual during the Archduke Conference, we had been hoping to speak with her. But she was very busy from the Starbind Ceremony to the Dedication Ritual, wasn’t she?”

I didn’t want them to probe into what happened in the underground archive under the pretext of chatting about our daughters. I could tell they were trying to get information from different angles, mentioning how much the royal family relied on Rozemyne and how even the third wife of the Zent, Magdalena, was impressed.

“My, it seems everyone really holds Lady Rozemyne in high regard! Could you convey my thanks to her as well?”

This time, it was a representative from Drewanchel who came to the rescue. She married into the Drewanchel archducal family from Ahrensbach and was the late Gieselfried’s daughter. It wasn’t surprising she was in the waiting room, but I couldn’t guess why she was speaking to me or what Rozemyne might have done.

“I don’t remember seeing you at the Interduchy Tournament. Do you know Rozemyne?” the first wife of Dunkelfelger asked, sounding curious. The Drewanchel representative smiled.

“Yes, my daughter Letizia is currently being educated by Ferdinand and also gets support from Rozemyne. Let’s talk more about this over there, Aub Ehrenfest. There’s a wonderful view to the country gate above the sea.”

“This is the first time I’ve seen an open country gate.”

I managed to escape from the Dunkelfelger’s archducal couple and followed her out to the balcony. The sunlight was so hot it hurt, and I could see the blue sea stretching out far. A long, black ship was heading towards the border gate among the white ships.

“I consider us like family. I hope we can have more interactions in the future.”

My grandmother, Gabriele, was once part of the Ahrensbach archducal family, and my sister Georgine married into Ahrensbach and became the first wife. So, I was related to Gieselfried’s family.

It doesn’t feel like we are family at all though…

“My husband and I were called to the Royal Academy urgently during the graduation ceremony to record our voices onto a magic tool for Letizia. We were very surprised but thankful to hear the details from Sergius when he brought the magic tool to us.”

Now that I think about it, Ferdinand mentioned making several recording magic tools on the night of the Interduchy Tournament.

Rozemyne’s scoldings that were recorded on the dark blue shumil plushie were so firm in my memory that I didn’t even realize those recorders could be used for anything else. I had no idea she spared a magic tool to let Letizia hear her parents’ voices.

“It might be due to my adoption of Rozemyne, but she values her relationship with her real family more than most people. I’m sure she wanted Letizia to cherish the connection she has with you as well.”

You should have reported this to me, you fools!

I scolded Ferdinand and Rozemyne in my mind, but outwardly, I kept my response neutral. I didn’t want to get too involved. Drewanchel was also a greater duchy that certainly sought to form connections with Rozemyne, so it was best to cut the conversation short.

“The sun is a bit too strong for me here.”

Feeling like I might get entangled with Drewanchel, I quickly went back inside.

“It’s been a while, Sylvester. You’ve become quite close with the archducal families of greater duchies.”

“It’s not my doing, Constanze. It was Rozemyne’s.”

Back in the waiting room, I hurried over to the archducal couple of Frenbeltag as soon as I heard them call out to me.

I sighed in relief at the familiar faces. Finally, I managed to retreat to my own sister and Florencia’s brother, the archducal couple of Frenbeltag.

“How is Florencia?”

“She is doing well, but the long trip by carriage would have been too much for her, so she stayed behind. She likes to keep busy, so her attendants have a hard time keeping her from overworking.”

Florencia was set on completing as many things as she could, perhaps hoping to lessen the load on Charlotte. She even wanted to get involved in the entwickeln of Groschel. It had reached the point where the people around her were anxious for her well-being. Her brother, however, chuckled at my report.

“I was worried when I heard you were taking a second wife, but it seems everything is fine.”

“As I explained at the Archduke Conference, Brunhilde is—”

Before I could finish, the waiting room doors opened. Everyone turned to look and straightened up.

“It’s time to enter the ceremony hall.”

One by one, we were guided to the ceremony hall. The lower duchies went in first, with the royalty entering last. Frenbeltag was called in relatively early, so my sister and her husband moved towards the door with their attendants. Following the custom from the Royal Academy, people started grouping by duchy, ending conversations with those from other lands.

Karstedt, my guard knight, gave me a sympathetic smile, and said, “We’ve made it through the greetings, at least.”

I glared at him in response and said, “Whose daughter do you think caused this?”

“Your adopted daughter.”

I was already exhausted even before the funeral started, thanks to Rozemyne. Little did I know, there would be more trouble during the funeral.

---

I got tired of the Q&A’s, so I spontaneously picked up a scrapped story idea. It wasn’t planned!

The suspect denied all the allegations, insisting it was an impulsive crime. She is expected to return to organized work in the future.