Published: September 6, 2025
Having finished the civil official course exam, I immediately sent Brynhildr to Dunkelfelger. “I’d like to schedule a tea party—how does that sound?” I asked.
There were various factors to consider: the progress of lectures by Restiraut and Hannelore, the advancement of Clarissa, who wanted to attend, and the response from Aub Dunkelfelger regarding our joint research. So I told Brynhildr not to rush for an answer.
“It seems they can’t reply immediately. They haven’t received a response from Aub Dunkelfelger yet. Once they have it, they’ll inform us of available dates,” Brynhildr reported.
After dinner that day, Brynhildr returned with a reply from Dunkelfelger. Realizing the tea party wouldn’t happen right away, I turned my gaze to Liselotte.
“Liselotte, starting tomorrow, I will be commuting to Professor Hilsure’s research lab. Could you prepare for that?”
“Leave it to me. Especially the cleaning tools—I’ll prepare those thoroughly. Lady Rosemine must be able to enter Professor Hilsure’s lab, after all.”
Liselotte eagerly began sorting the cleaning supplies. Soon, Leonore left the room to check on the Guard Knights’ schedule. Such dependable close aides they are.
Feeling their preparations for tomorrow in motion, I decided to write a letter to Ferdinand, to be passed through Raimund.
“I’m going to seclude myself in the secret room to write this letter.”
There was too much to write using disappearing ink for me to do it where the attendants were. After locking myself in my private secret room, I filled several pages with dense writing using the ink Ferdinand had entrusted to me.
I wrote down everything I had done and the matters discussed, in chronological order. But rereading it, it seemed a bit confusing.
“In the blessing ritual, I ascended to the heights where the supreme deity resides. The blessings increased so much they exceeded the stave’s tolerance, causing blessing spam to be a real problem. To fix it, I’m limiting mana compression and trying to use more mana. Is there any better way? ...Will this get across? Ferdinand will surely understand!”
Reassuring myself it was fine, I spread out the letters on my desk to dry.
Then, to test how much difference there was in delivery time between letters sent via Raimund and those sent via Fraurelm—and whether they would even reach Ferdinand—I tried adding a bit of disappearing ink to the letter sent through Fraurelm. “This letter is via Professor Fraurelm. Did it arrive safely?”
After drying overnight, the ink should vanish. I’d then have to write something innocuous over it.
...What counts as innocuous? That’s a tough one.
“Well then, Charlotte, I shall be off to the lab.”
The next day, Wilfried had already left for lectures, so I called out to Charlotte, who was in the multipurpose hall. Although she hadn’t finished all her practicals yet, she had no lectures today and was discussing research on demon tree paper with Marianne.
“...It hardly looks like you’re getting ready for the lab, my older sister,” Charlotte said, blinking at the luggage Liselotte had prepared. A wagon was loaded with various items, like for a tea party outing at the library. I smiled wryly, thinking it was too much for just going to the lab.
“It’s cleaning tools and some refreshments from me.”
The people in that lab didn’t have much of a life. As I told Charlotte about the grim state of Professor Hilsure’s lab, Richarda sighed, “It’s not like a princess who neglects her life due to reading can say that, you know.”
I laughed it off and left the dormitory. The hallways were quiet, with few people around since lectures had already started. My companions today were my attendants Liselotte and Richarda, civil official apprentice Roderich, and two Guard Knights, Matthias and Theodore.
“It’s my first time entering the civil official specialty building,” the two knights said, looking up at it. Inside, Matthias muttered, “Unlike the knights’ building, there are many private rooms.”