Ascendance of a Bookworm

By the time the children had grown accustomed to the schedule of their classroom, the adults’ information gathering seemed to have reached a pause, and now the focus shifted to socializing in order to expand their network of connections.

This year, especially, with the lord’s mother being confined and stepping down, the balance of power within the territory changed drastically. As a result, everyone was scrambling to seek new ties, strengthen their factions, or protect themselves.

“Today’s requests for meetings are as follows,”

Reading through the letters requesting meetings, brought by Richarda, had become part of my daily routine over the past few days. I skimmed each letter, but only those authorized by the lord and the chief attendant could meet with either myself or Wilfried.

Still, having the letters shown to me allowed Richarda to teach me which individuals were connected and which factions required caution.

For now, the person I had to be most wary of was apparently a relative of Rosemary, who was said to be my biological mother. It seemed she was going around saying at the winter social that “Rosemine is her niece.”

Since her requests for meetings had been repeatedly denied, those around were skeptical, but no one knew what approach she might take to make contact.

“Is there anyone you would like to meet, Your Highness?”

“I would like to accept Mother’s invitation to the tea party. I promised to report on the accounting for the Fischpiel concert.”

Since Florentia, my foster mother, was part of Mother’s faction, permission would likely be easy to obtain.

“Understood. I will report this to Sylvester. Is there anyone else from today’s meeting requests you would like to meet?”

“...Let’s see. I would like to meet Henrik.”

I picked up a letter that caught my attention.

“Henrik is Darmel’s older brother, is he not? The purpose is an apology and thanks to me...”

The letter expressed gratitude and apologies regarding Darmel’s promotion to Guard Knight after the Trombe incident last year, and he wished to express thanks in person if possible.

“Also, I would like to meet Brigitte’s older brother. I heard Ilkner is known for its forestry. Perhaps we can discuss something useful for papermaking.”

There might be differences in tree species between Ehrenfest and Ilkner. I hoped to find new materials for making paper.

As I spoke enthusiastically, Richarda took a letter from among several.

“Your Highness, it seems you will also need to meet with Angelica’s relatives. Otherwise, it would be the odd case where the Guard Knight’s relatives all meet except Angelica’s, which might cause displeasure or suggest a lack of trust.”

Although there were reasons to meet my Mother’s faction, Henrik, and Brigitte’s brother, from an outside perspective, it looked like meetings were only with the Guard Knight’s relatives. If Angelica’s relatives were excluded, it could be seen as a negative.

“...Then, shall we meet Angelica’s relatives as well? However, I know less about Angelica than the others, so this might need to wait.”

Without some background information, conversation would be difficult. Richarda nodded, “Understood.”

“Hey, Richarda. Don’t you think it’s also necessary to meet relatives of the attendants, not just the Guard Knights? What do you think?”

“My relative who would eagerly volunteer is Justox, so it’s unnecessary. He’s a peculiar person who collects trivial matters with passion.”

Justox, who was passionate about collecting information and materials, was apparently a problem child in Richarda’s eyes.

Since there was no particular need or reason to meet other attendants’ relatives, Richarda judged that meetings should be limited to the Guard Knights’ relatives.

Naturally, the first permission granted was for Mother’s tea party. Although permission was quick to come through, Mother’s tea party was the largest gathering of her entire faction, so the date was quite far off.