Chapter Text
“Would it be acceptable for me to write to Ferdinand, or is that restriction still in place?”
I had just announced the end of Rozemyne’s engagement to my son, and that was the first question out of her mouth. Even after everything, she was still thinking of my little brother.
Once again, I wanted to travel back in time and kick my past self for not even trying to convince Ferdinand to marry Rozemyne. She obviously loved him, and I’d never seen him care about anyone else as much as he did her. Instead, I’d engaged her to Wilfried to keep her in the duchy and make him Aub Ehrenfest.
In the end, Rozemyne was being taken by the Sovereignty, Wilfried would be lucky to escape the White Tower if I died before the Leisegang elders, and Ferdinand had been stolen by Ahrensbach. All that nonsense my brother had spouted about how he’d become the next aub if he married Rozemyne seemed silly from this side of the weave. Who cared if he became aub? It wasn’t like he’d be bad at it, and he and Rozemyne would have been able to stay in Ehrenfest. Besides, it wasn’t like either of them would hurt my children with Florencia, and knowing my brother, he would come up with a plan to avoid taking my seat long before it came time to make that decision.
Once my kids left the office, I stared at the ceiling and sighed. There were so, so many decisions I regretted. It felt like each one had landed me further and further into the worst weave. Maybe in another weave, I made the right choices, and my family was all together, each one bursting at the seams with happiness.
What I wouldn’t have given to go back and change the worst decisions I had ever made.
I woke with a start and sat up, clutching my aching head and swallowing against my parched throat. Dread settled in my stomach as I thought of the day that lay ahead of me with the preparations I needed to make for my adoptive daughter’s departure.
“Sylvester?”
I turned to Florencia to assure her I was fine and froze. She was so young! Had Rozemyne come up with a new beauty product to reverse aging? If so, it worked on the body just as well as the face.
No, that can’t be it. Florencia’s hair is dry as a bone.
I reached out and took a lock between my fingers and rubbed it. How long had it been since it had been so coarse? “Florencia,” I said, “I’m going to ask a ridiculous question.”
She gave me an indulgent smile. “Yes?”
“How old is Wilfried?”
Her smile vanished, but she answered, “He’ll be a year next season.”
I balked at her and then held a hand against my forehead as I tried to make sense of my situation. I had just spoken with my thirteen-year-old son about his future yesterday, and today he wasn’t even a year old?
“It was all a dream…?” I murmured to myself.
No, that can’t be right. It was way, way too vivid and detailed. It all progressed too logically to have been a trip in Schlaftraum’s realm.
Florencia’s warm hand rubbed my forearm as she asked, “Did you have a nightmare?”
“Something like that,” I sighed, rubbing my forehead as my head continued to pound. That must have been it. A vivid, logical nightmare was far more believable than reversing the weave. Trying to set what felt like actual memories aside, I started to prepare for my day. When I came face-to-face with the Veronica-faction retainers I had dismissed in the dream, I hid the instinctual bitterness behind my aub mask. Dream or not, their uselessness was all too real. I would have to replace them sooner rather than later and take more neutral and Liesegang nobles into my retinue.
———————
When I started for the aub’s office, my head attendant asked, “Where are you going?”
“Huh? To my office. Why?”
My retainers exchanged troubled looks as they said, “That is the way to the aub’s office.”
I froze as their words sank in.
My father’s still alive.
A mixture of joy and vertigo-induced nausea slammed into me, and it was all I could do not to stagger. He’d always been sickly, so it wasn’t strange that I would have dreamed he’d died when I was still too young to be an effective aub, but the vividness of the false memories made it feel like I’d just gotten him back after nearly a decade.
Without saying a word to my retainers, I picked up the pace, heading towards the office. An ordonnanz flew by my ear, likely alerting the aub of my impending arrival. When I reached the door, my father’s guard knight made me wait outside, and I had to forcibly push down the rush of frustration.
I’m not the aub. That was just a dumb dream. I’m the one in the wrong for coming unannounced.
It didn’t help my annoyance, but it at least kept me from unloading on the guy. A part of me wondered if I would be able to crush him if I lost my temper, but with how my mana compared to what I had access to in the dream, I wasn’t so sure.
Okay, it was definitely a dream. There’s no way a just-baptized commoner had more mana than the future Aub Ehrenfest.
Even the little girl’s mana compression method was absurd. Just to prove it, I started compressing as I waited, and…
I suddenly had more space in my vessel. My mana moved exactly as it had in my dream, though it wasn’t as difficult to complete the steps as it had been when I’d first learned the method.
Huh. Did my brain come up with this insane method and figure out how it would feel? Nah, I’m definitely not that level of genius. So then–
My thoughts were interrupted as I was finally permitted to enter. Inside, I found my father sitting at his desk. He was thin, pale, and looked like he had no business being out of bed. He gave me a tired look as he asked, “What can I do for you, Sylvester?”
“I came to help,” I said. “I’m the future aub, after all. I should take every opportunity to learn, right?”
The entire room froze.
I looked around at everyone and then gave a sheepish smile. “My apologies. I didn’t realize you were working on something that I shouldn’t see.”
“N-no, not at all!” Father said. “I was just surprised. Johannes, give some work to Sylvester to complete.”
I went to the desk that was set aside for the future aub and shuffled through the stack of boards that was handed to me. As I started to divide them out, I realized that the people I was planning to pass them off to weren’t in my retinue and that by and large, the people that were couldn’t handle the work.
Yeah, I’m going to have to do something about that, I thought as I gave up the idea of delegating and picked up the top board. My dream had evidently prepared me for this because I breezed through it. Suffering for a year without Ferdinand, even in Schalftraum’s realm, had increased my paperwork skills. My father’s retainers regarded me with shock as they took the completed documents and handed me more.
After a while, one of the guard knights from the door stepped in and said the Knight Commander was there with his weekly report. Father admitted him, but instead of Karstedt, Ferdinand walked in.
Good gods, he’s so young!
My little brother had looked haggard and a good ten years beyond his age when he was in Ahrensbach. He was practically indistinguishable from a Royal Academy student now, though, with his fresh face and long blue braid. I couldn't help but gape at him, which caused him to send me a confused, if annoyed, glare before he knelt in front of our father and gave his report. There was nothing noteworthy, just updates on how the training was going. After a long pause, he asked, “Aub Ehrenfest, will you continue to keep your neutral stance in the civil war?”
I held back a gasp. Is the war still going? With a shake of my head, I reminded myself that it was merely a dream that the Grutrissheit-less fifth prince won and started his reign with a massive purge only to take my adoptive daughter ten years later because he was unable to gain his Wisdom himself.
Father gave a pained grimace for just a moment as he looked at Ferdinand and then shook his head. “We will not join the war,” he insisted. “You are dismissed.”
Once Ferdinand took his leave, I stood and handed my father a sound-blocking tool. He took it with some unease, and I asked, “Why do you want to maintain our neutral stance?”
With a bitter frown, Father answered, “I cannot afford to lose the Goddess of Time’s guidance.”
What the hell does that mean?
I knew when I wasn’t going to get anything more from my father, so I took back the tool and sat at my desk to take on the next stack of boards.
I really need to get better retainers…
—————
“Sylvester!”
I blinked as I heard my mother’s voice coming from within my audience chambers. I turned from my head attendant and saw her sitting at a table across from my wife, little Wilfried in her arms. Florencia looked stricken. It was the beginning of summer. My son had only recently turned one.
Wait, I know this scene…
“Mother? To what do we owe the pleasure?” I asked as I carefully took a seat next to my wife.
“Your son is weaned now, yes?” she asked, a wide grin under her thin veil.
I glanced to Florencia who nodded.
“Then I shall give you a boon and raise the future Aub Ehrenfest. You can’t expect the daughter of a third wife–”
I mentally finished the sentence with her, ...to know how to raise a proper aub.
My face paled as a horrible realization washed over me.
This wasn’t merely similar to my dream.
It was exactly the same.
My dream hadn’t been a dream.
Mother was going to take Wilfried, and he would fail his debut without Rozemyne’s intervention.
The fifth prince was going to win the war.
Father was going to die soon, Mother would increase her attempts to murder my brother, and I would send him to the temple.
Uncle Bezewanst would conspire with my mother to have an Ahrensbach noble try to kidnap a commoner girl with the Devouring that I had resolved myself to adopt.
My adoptive daughter would find the Book of Mestionora and be taken by royalty.
My brother would be taken to Ahrensbach where he would surely be forced up the towering staircase.
“No.”
Mother stared at me aghast as Florencia’s eyes widened with a mixture of shock and heart-breaking hope.
“What?” Mother asked. “What do you mean, ’no’?”
Straightening my back, I replied, “I mean, ‘No, you can’t take my son.’ Florencia is going to raise him.”
The look she gave me would have made my knees buckle had I not already been sitting. After so many years of her being locked in the White Tower, I had forgotten just how suffocating and controlling she’d been. While this woman had spoiled me as a child, she’d made no effort to hide that her love was completely conditional and that she held the reins for my powerbase. I hadn’t noticed at the time, but looking back, I realized that every single day, she had drilled into me that I was nothing without her. She’d raised me to be completely dependent on her, nothing more than a puppet dancing at the end of her strings.
As my mother began to screech that Florencia had corrupted me and turned me against her, Wilfried began to cry. Trying my best to close my ears to the vitriol she spat, I steeled my nerves, rounded the table, and wrenched Wilfried from her claws. As she continued to scream, I handed our bawling son to my wife and said directly into her ear, “Take him somewhere quiet to calm down.”
Florencia gave me a grateful smile before rushing from the room. When Mother got up to chase after her, I stood in her way.
“You unfilial child!” she spat. She pointed to one of her retainers and yelled, “Go! Retrieve the boy from that woman!”
As the man started to move, I said, “Take one more step, and I’ll have Karstedt kill you where you stand for attempting to kidnap the heir apparent.”
Karstedt stepped forward, his schtappe in hand. The man paled and looked back at Veronica pleadingly, but she refused to rescind her order. Trembling with fear, he kept moving forward, only to have a blade held at his throat. Closing his eyes, he tried to step around it. Karstedt looked to me for confirmation.
“Ah, he’s name-sworn,” I said. “Cut him down. He’s going to die either way.”
“Wait!” the man cried just before he met his end.
Mother shrieked, “How dare you! How could you let that vile, lowly daughter of a third wife–”
Five years ago, I would have cowered under my mother’s verbal assault. Now, however, while it still pained me to hear her abuse, the memories of discovering what she’d done to Wilfried hurt far more. I leaned down to her eye level and said, “Do not speak of the future First Wife of Aub Ehrenfest in such a disrespectful manner again. Now, allow me to forgo Grammaratur’s dance - you will not take my son from me. Do I make myself clear, Mother?”
She paled as she stared into my eyes, but she gave no answer. Eventually, I got tired of waiting and left. The death of one of her name-sworn stood as a stronger testament to my commitment to cut my strings than anything I could say, anyway.
That night, Florencia cried herself to sleep in my arms from the sheer relief of not losing Wilfried to her mother-in-law, and I was overcome with guilt. I had been too afraid to move against my mother in the past. She’d held far more power as the First Wife who had the aub wrapped around her finger than I did as heir, and I had no support base without her. Now, though, I knew I could survive without the Veronica faction. It wouldn’t be easy, but it would be better than reliving all my worst mistakes.
The next day, I began firing all my useless and name-sworn retainers, finding replacements among the neutrals and Liesegangs. Father summoned me over my “unorthodox” behavior, likely at Mother’s behest, but I held firm that the ones I had let go were unfit to serve the next aub as I was unable to delegate even simple tasks to them.
“More importantly,” I said, “what have you done to curb Mother’s wrath against Ferdinand lately?”
“What do you mean?” he asked. “We spoke with her years ago.”
I scoffed and shook my head. “Father, you think merely telling her one time was enough to grant Verfuhremeer’s blessing on her fury? Leave your office. Go watch his retainers and see how vigilant they are. Even now, they’re constantly on guard against assassination and poison.”
Father’s mouth drew into a grim line before he finally muttered, “I will…talk with her again.”
Ah, I get it now, I thought bitterly as I turned away and stormed from his office. He doesn’t love my brother. He never did. Ferdinand was never anything more than a convenient tool to prop me up. If Father didn’t care about him, why did he bother to take Ferdinand from his mother and baptize him in Ehrenfest? Of course, I knew nothing about my brother’s mother. It could be that she’d climbed the towering staircase, leaving him without any guardians.
Even if that were the case, I couldn’t allow Ferdinand to give everything for a man who didn’t care about him. He’d promised Father to support me and protect Ehrenfest. That was why he had gone to Ahrensbach and resolved to throw his life away to kill Georgine at my command. His life isn’t worth so little, I thought, but how do I convince him of that?
———-
I didn’t have a chance to put any plans into place. Father had suddenly become very ill, and I had to take on the full responsibilities of Aub. This left me battling both my mother who kept trying to hold sway over the office and my own grief at losing my father a second time. Just as I had done in the past, I had turned to Florencia for comfort, and Charlotte was born that winter. Soon after, Father ascended to the distant heights, and just like before, Mother’s attempts on Ferdinand’s life redoubled.
I sat in my office one afternoon a few days after the Feast Celebrating Spring waiting for Ferdinand. When he arrived, I had the room cleared save for Karstedt, our cousin and confidant. Fighting the urge to hold my head in my hands, I told Ferdinand the same thing I had last time - that for his own safety, he should withdraw to the temple.
Just like last time, his face went blank.
“I need you to do two things for me while you’re there,” I said. “First, I need you to gather evidence against Bezewanst. I’m sure he’s embezzling funds and abusing his authority, among other things.”
My little brother nodded. “What else?”
Taking a deep breath, I said, “This is the real reason I need you to go to the temple. I have a gut feeling that you would not be able to safely carry out this task from the castle. You are to come up with a plan to depose my mother.”
Ferdinand’s eyes widened as Karstedt grunted with surprise.
“We can’t assassinate her,” I said. “I suspect she has far, far too many name-sworn in Ehrenfest. Her death may well cripple the duchy. We can, however, put her in the White Tower. I just need irrefutable evidence to lock her up so that her faction doesn’t rise up against me.”
Narrowing his eyes, my brother said, “Her faction is your support base.”
“I’m aware.”
“You’ll be cutting yourself off at the knees.”
“I’m aware.”
Silence stretched between us as he weighed me for several moments before he finally nodded. “Very well. I will contact you when I have a plan.”
When he left, I dropped my forehead to my desk, choking on my guilt. I didn’t want to send him to the temple this time, but I had no choice. Ferdinand wouldn’t come into contact with Rozemyne otherwise. If I didn’t send him, she would throw herself into my uncle’s hands to get a chance at that bookroom. Death would be a mercy compared to whatever Bezewanst and his associates would subject her to.
The next time I saw my brother, his braid was gone. I immediately went to my mother and demanded she hand over Ferdinand’s cape and hair ornament. When she tried to deny she had them, I ordered her as Aub Ehrenfest. While shrieking about my unfaithfulness, she went into her hidden room and returned with a smashed lump of metal and ochre tatters.
My vision turned red as I had my attendant take the items from her. “You are no mother of mine,” I growled. Ignoring whatever protests she raised, I stormed out of her chambers and had my wife summon her seamstresses and jewelry crafters. According to them, neither item could be salvaged.
When my attendant offered to dispose of them, I shook my head and instead had them placed in a box and stored in my hidden room. One day, there would be a gremlin that would rampage into our lives with her insane ideas gleaned from a life in another world. I had faith that she would be able to work a miracle for my little brother.
————
Father’s death was announced at the Archduke Conference, and that summer, Georgine came to the funeral. Ferdinand attended as a blue priest, so he wasn’t able to meet her properly. Instead, I was left to my own devices with her.
Well, if I learned anything from Rozemyne, it was how to go on a rampage.
I invited her for tea, and naturally, she couldn’t really turn down the invitation as a third wife. We exchanged the typical small talk for a bit until I called for the tea to be refreshed, and the sound-blocking barrier went up. Georgine eyed me with guarded interest as I stared at her for a long moment.
“Georgine,” I said, “what our parents did to you is unforgivable.”
She quirked an eyebrow at me as if to say, Oh? Do go on. Please tell me what you, a privileged little brat, know of my circumstances.
“You’re talented. You worked hard. You deserved to become Aub.”
Georgine scoffed as her red, red lips pulled into a sardonic grin. “Your words warm my heart, Little Brother. They shall give me strength as I languish in Ahrensbach.”
“‘Languish’?” I asked. “Such words don’t suit the sister I remember. I find it hard to believe the girl with the resolve to poison her little brother would simply sit quietly when she’s been put in the perfect position to take revenge.”
“Are you asking me to poison you again and take your duchy?” she replied, her smile turning bitter.
I laughed. “Why take revenge on me when you could strike against those who actually took the seat of Aub from you?” Leaning forward, I said, “Can you imagine the look on Mother’s face if you became Aub Ahrensbach and she had to kneel before you?”
Georgine’s eyes widened but then narrowed. “My, Sylvester, I can’t believe you just suggested I assassinate my own husband.”
“Who said anything about assassination?” I asked with a shrug. “He’s old, and all you have to do is take the foundation upon his death.”
“Oh, is that all?” she scoffed.
“Indeed. That’s all.” Shrugging again, I said, “I’m not saying it would happen tomorrow, but knowing how smart and patient you are, I’m sure you’ll be able to find an opportunity. But think about it - taking the duchy she loves so dearly and remaking it according to your whims until it becomes completely unrecognizable… Whether you raise it to new heights or drag it to the bottom of the rankings, it wouldn’t be the Ahrensbach she idolizes anymore. Can you imagine how devastated she would be?”
“Mother must have done something terrible to upset you so thoroughly,” Georgine said as she took a sip of her tea.
“I don’t like when people touch what is mine,” I said, my gaze hardening.
Georgine seemed to take the hint as she gave me a smirk and dabbed at the corner of her mouth with a napkin. “I see. May Angriff bless you so that you can protect what’s yours.”
“And may Mestionora bless my enemies so they have the wisdom not to try me.”
That gave her pause, and she weighed me with her scrutinizing gaze before giving a reluctant nod.
Good. Maybe she’ll keep her meddling out of my duchy and take her name-sworn back home with her.
—————-
Wilfried was growing up to be strong and willful just like before. Unlike last time, however, I assigned Rihyarda to him from the beginning, so I expected him to pass his winter debut without intervention. If I could keep him out of the White Tower as well, then he wouldn’t have to fear the Liesegangs coming for his head upon my ascent to the towering heights. I held no illusions about him becoming aub. He was too trusting and too easily manipulated. As such, I decided not to name an heir. That alone would keep Wilfried’s retainers from getting complacent and Charlotte’s spirits high.
Of course, I had other problems to worry about. The purge was going to happen soon, and I needed to prepare. We were going to lose most of our blue priests, meaning our harvests were going to start dropping off.
Part of that preparation was having Ferdinand investigate the chalice distribution. As soon as he gave me the report, I went to the temple and confronted my uncle.
“What’s this about certain provinces having their chalices withheld?” I asked, slapping the board with the damning evidence down on the table between us.
“W-Whatever are you talking about, Dear Nephew?” Bezewanst stammered.
“You will address me as Aub Ehrenfest. Now, explain.”
He paled as sweat started trickling down his forehead. “W-Well, you see, we only have so much mana—“
“You have an archduke candidate in the temple,” I said. “Try again.”
Taking out a handkerchief to dab at his face, he said, “Those provinces have always stood in opposition to the aub. It’s only natural that they be punished.”
“Under whose authority?”
“Pardon?”
I leaned forward and growled, “Under whose authority? I know I issued no such order, nor have I seen any evidence of opposition that would call for something so heinous. Tell me who authorized you to do this.”
Naturally, he pawned it off on my father since he was dead and couldn’t refute the claim. I knew it was Veronica, though. Still, there was little I could do at this point since Bezewanst refused to speak against his protector.
“I see,” I said finally. “Then as Aub Ehrenfest, I order you to distribute the chalices fairly. You are not to refuse any chalices from Ehrenfest. If I find that my orders have been ignored, I will hold you personally responsible and have you executed for treason. Do I make myself clear?”
He nodded vigorously as his face turned alabaster. No matter what Veronica said to him now, he would ensure the Leisegangs got their chalices. That would help us weather what was coming.
That winter, Giebes Leisegang and Haldenzel thanked me for having the chalices returned to their provinces. Apparently, Ferdinand had volunteered to deliver them out of season and made sure they knew I was the one responsible. I felt like I was stealing the credit from Rozemyne, but I accepted their gratitude regardless.
Between that and taking on Leisegang retainers, I had earned quite a bit of support from the Florencia faction. At the same time, however, standing up to Veronica and getting rid of so many retainers had distanced me from her faction, which was the largest in the duchy. Since we weren’t involved in the civil war, we didn’t have a common enemy to unite everyone, either.
Still, I was in a better position than in the last weave. At least I would still have some support once the Veronica faction abandoned me entirely.
At the next Interduchy Tournament, I went to the library to access the Underground Archive since the arch librarians would be purged before long. Sadly, I didn’t have my brother’s memory, so I needed to find the information about the stages and write it down again. I wouldn’t give it to the northern giebes yet, though. I had no explanation for how I would know the ritual, nor did I have the political capital with them to convince them to follow along with my crazy suggestion.
Besides, Rozemyne’s blessings had always been different. I wasn’t sure how much of the Haldenzel Miracle’s revival was due to her influence. For all I knew, the women would just get drained of mana but wouldn’t have enough to activate the magic circle. I didn’t even want to imagine what accusations they would throw at me then.
—————
As the last two princes fought over the throne, I considered throwing our support behind Trauerqual, but that would require sending him knights and aid, neither of which I had the leeway to provide. Even worse, as a winning duchy, we would be expected to send even more support after Trauerqual won, and I was under no illusions that we would be treated well regardless. Considering what they’d done to Ahrensbach, they would undoubtedly make us bend over backwards for joining the war so late. It was far better to remain a disregarded neutral party than an abused ally.
While Trauerqual and the fourth prince carried on the fight, I focused on matters at home. Wilfried was at that age where he needed to start learning harspiel in earnest, and to motivate him, I made time once each week to come to his lessons and play alongside him. It wasn’t long before Charlotte asked me if she could join, and I couldn’t say no to that adorable begging face. It disgruntled Wilfried at first to have to share attention, but he soon fell victim to his little sister’s adorableness. She couldn’t play yet, so she sat and watched. At the end of the first shared session, Charlotte complimented him, and he was a goner.
Veronica was less pleasant to deal with. She’d exploded when she heard about the chalices, yelling that the Leisegangs didn’t deserve mana and kept reminding me that they were responsible for all her suffering.
“Silence!” I barked at last. “I’m not going to let people in my duchy starve over your personal grudge!”
“You unfilial child! Have you no pity for the grievous wounds your mother has had to bear?!” she screeched.
“Karstedt,” I said, “please escort the former first wife from my office.”
“How dare you! I am your mother! I—“
We were surrounded by our retainers and workers, so I couldn’t say what I wanted. Instead, I turned to one of my attendants and said, “The former first wife seems to be unwell. Please see her to her room. I don’t trust her attendants to attend to her needs since they allowed her to appear before the aub in such a state.”
My attendant nodded and followed Karstedt, who escorted her from the room. At least she had the sense to stop yelling when the door was opened.
She’s going to snap soon, I thought. I needed her to hold on a bit longer, though. Once she was put away, I wouldn’t have any justification for keeping Ferdinand in the temple, and it would be another three years before Myne was baptized.
To keep her from ruining my plans, I banned Veronica from the aub’s office and ordered her to keep to her wing of the castle. She didn’t take it well, of course, but I warned her that if she disobeyed me, I would put her in the White Tower. After everything else I had done, she believed me.
I thought that would completely sever my connection with the Veronica faction, and while it did, it soon was no longer the largest faction. It was composed mostly of mednobles, and they shifted any way the wind blew, so several switched to either the neutral or Florencia factions. The ones that didn’t were most likely name-sworn, so I had one of my scholars take note of who they were. I knew several on the list were actually sworn to Georgine, but there wasn’t much I could do about it until they made a move.
—————
It was autumn, and during one of the drinking sessions between me, Ferdinand, and Karstedt, my cousin said with a wide grin, “Don’t tell anyone just yet, but it seems I’m going to be a grandfather.”
Ferdinand didn’t look the least bit surprised. Eckhart had probably told him before his own father.
Suddenly, through my pleasant buzz, a memory resurfaced. “Karstedt,” I said carefully, “you should warn your daughter-in-law to be extra wary of poison while she carries Geduldh’s burden.”
Furrowing his brows, Ferdinand asked, “What makes you say that?”
“It’s a gut feeling,” I said, and both men nodded their understanding.
The next summer, Heidemarie gave birth to a healthy boy. I was a little relieved it wasn’t a girl. The Linkbergs had been enamored with Rozemyne partially because they had no little girls in the family. I didn’t want to dampen any of the positive feelings they had towards her.
The birth of Karstedt’s first grandchild wasn’t the only event that occurred. Trauerqual had finally won the war and executed the purge. The blue priests and shrine maidens of sufficient mana were taken from the temple either by the center or their families, and Ferdinand had to become High Priest. On the brighter side, it put him in a position to gather evidence easier. On the other, it meant more work. I was hardly sending him any from the castle, though, since I had a decent entourage this time who could properly assist me, and I’d gotten used to not relying on him in the previous weave.
Georgine was promoted to Second Wife after the previous one’s execution. I wondered if she would follow the previous weave and eventually become First Wife with designs on Ehrenfest or if she would take the advice I’d so graciously given her. If she did decide to invade, I would have to kill her, and I didn’t relish the idea. Besides, where would that leave Ahrensbach? Detlinde was too empty-headed to be an archduchess, and Letizia would be too young to take the seat. The commoners would likely start coming to Ehrenfest in droves seeking refuge, which would create more demand on our already strained resources.
Either way, they would be looking for an archduke candidate to marry Detlinde, and I fully intended to have Ferdinand engaged before they started sniffing around. My concern was Wilfried. She’d made overtures at him before, and he would be ripe for the taking. I could perhaps find another partner for him before they went to the Zent, but there was no guarantee I could make it happen in time. If worse came to worse, I would demote him to archnoble and set him up to be the future Knight Commander. That was a far better fate than what would await him in Ahrensbach.
—-----------
As Veronica’s house arrest dragged on, Florencia began to flourish. She’d already been more proactive than in the previous weave since my stance against Veronica had given my wife more power. Working closely with Elvira, she steadily grew her faction and her powerbase. This gave her a confidence boost that allowed her to hold her own at the Archduke Conference where we were constantly belittled for our undeserved rise through the ranks. She still wasn’t quite strong enough to say no to her older brother when he asked us to fill his chalices, but I’d already had that conversation before, so I turned him down with the same excuse as last time - we simply didn’t have the leeway since we were barely able to fill our own chalices. I did mention, though, that one of our archduke candidates was helping in the temple, so perhaps they should consider having someone of similar status assist with Spring Prayer at least.
They didn’t seem to take my advice to heart. That was too bad for them.
Our children grew wonderfully under Florencia’s care. Wilfried could read, do math, and play harspiel at least at the level he had for his winter debut in the previous weave, but Charlotte was looking ready to surpass him. I hadn’t noticed it before, but she really was more talented than her older brother. Had Rozemyne not come along, she would have been considered a truly outstanding archduke candidate and a strong contender to become my successor, provided she could find a suitable spouse.
For better or worse, however, Florencia had to step away from politics shortly after the conference to give birth to Melchior. Elvira filled the gap while she was recovering, but it hadn’t escaped me that that was the role of a Second Wife, not a member of a branch family. I had resolved to marry Brunhilde in the last weave to get control of the Leisegangs, but the political landscape was completely different this time. If I took a Leisegang wife, I would further alienate the dwindling but powerful Veronica faction. If I took a Veronican wife, I would cause strife with the faction that was my main support base. The safest option was probably a neutral wife, but she might struggle to have any meaningful impact on either major faction.
In the end, I decided to put the decision off for a while longer. I would still need to support Florencia and Melchior with my mana for a while, and Myne was soon to start rampaging through our lives.
—----------
Ferdinand had been in the temple for four years, and he’d yet to come to me with a plan to depose Veronica. I thought that he would have thrown himself at the task and had a solution within a season, but it seemed he was instead favoring meticulousness over expediency. Then again, by the time I had adopted Myne in the previous weave, he still hadn’t taken down Bezewanst, so I shouldn’t have been surprised.
The summer of his fourth year in the temple, he came to my office to inform me of a Devouring child who wanted to become a shrine maiden solely so she could read books.
Ah, there she is, I thought with a smile. “How much mana does she have?”
Ferdinand grimaced as he answered, “At least low-archnoble level.”
“That makes sense,” I said with a nod. “To survive until baptism, she either would have very little mana, or she would have had to compress a lot. I’m assuming that’s not the only exceptional thing about her?”
He shook his head. “She offered to donate a large gold coin as though it were pocket change. Her dress suggested she was well-to-do, but for a child to be able to flaunt that level of wealth…”
Buddy, you’ve got no idea, I thought as I chuckled to myself. “So what do you want to do with her?”
Ferdinand explained his plan to give her blue robes and have her help with the Dedication Ritual and Spring Prayer, saying no parent of such means would allow their child to don gray robes.
I pretended to ponder the request before I gave my little brother a smile that made him grimace. “Alright,” I agreed, “but if she’s as rich and powerful as you’re suggesting, then it’s only a matter of time before someone in the nobility takes notice. Keep an eye on her and see if she’d be suitable to be adopted.”
He nodded. He’d probably thought about taking her into the nobility the moment he saw she had so much mana.
“To that end, make sure you never refer to her as a commoner. In fact, call her parents her protectors, not her family. Basically, pretend you know that she’s a noble's daughter in hiding, but you’re not allowed to say anything.”
His eyes narrowed. “Just what are you planning?”
“Exactly what I said,” I replied. “If all goes well, she’ll be adopted into the nobility. It’ll make things much easier if everyone thinks she’s actually a noble, right? Anyway, I want to meet her after she settles in. Let’s say when Leidenschaft lays down his spear.”
He reluctantly agreed.
—-----------
Things proceeded much like they had in the previous weave, and I couldn’t help but chuckle at the thought of little Myne Crushing my brother whose mana was on par with the gods. I received frequent reports of her antics, all of which made me laugh because none of it was my problem yet. I knew I had several headaches waiting for me in the future, so I took every opportunity to enjoy the suffering of others.
I derived endless amusement from Ferdinand’s exasperation. One week, he would come into my office and say, “I only just gave her a harspiel, and she’s composed songs. Songs, Sylvester. She even came up with one on the spot while I was sitting in on one of her lessons.” The next, he’d rub his temples and complain, “She wanted to take all the gray robes on as attendants. All of them. Do you know why? So they could go galavanting into the forest.” Each time, I couldn’t help but think, Get used to it, buddy. She’s going to be your problem forever. I’m definitely going to make you marry her this time.
Of course, it wasn’t all fun and games. Bezewanst’s mouth was as big as ever, and he was spreading Myne’s true origins among his associates, complaining of all the trouble she was causing him. On the one hand, it didn’t bother me too much because Ferdinand had been playing his part spectacularly. When we claimed she was Karstedt’s daughter, anyone who knew about her from the temple would take Ferdinand’s “peculiar” actions as proof that what we said was true. It would certainly be cleaner than last weave with his, “If the High Bishop didn’t know, how would you expect me to?”
On the other hand, it made me extremely nervous. The rumors he spread had been the reason Count Bindewald had come to Ehrenfest and attempted to kidnap Myne. Had Ferdinand been a heartbeat slower coming out of his hidden room, Myne would’ve been put under a submission contract, which would have been a real pain to deal with. I didn’t want to trust luck a second time.
I wondered if the gods would give me a choice.