Published: September 6, 2025
My name is Martina. I am a fifth-year student at the noble academy and an attendant apprentice to Lady Dietlinde. I reached my baptism ceremony after the second wife was executed, and after her son, Lord Bragius, was demoted from the senior nobility. Around that time, Lady Georgine, who was the third wife, began absorbing the faction of the second wife and increasing her influence.
Lady Georgine proposed marrying her daughter, Lady Alstede, to Bragius, who had been demoted to senior nobility, and suggested adopting the child born from their union into the lord family, thereby incorporating the second wife’s faction. The prominent next aub candidate at this time was Lord Wolfram, the only remaining male lord candidate and Lady Georgine’s son.
Lady Georgine began consolidating a faction opposing the principal wife, centered around Lord Wolfram. Since my mother was from Froebelthark, it was easier for me to belong to Lady Georgine’s faction rather than the principal wife’s. Also, there was little valuable information coming from my older sister Aurelia, who had initially sided with the principal wife’s faction. For these reasons, my father told me to join Lady Georgine’s faction.
...My older sister chose to become a knight because she’s not good at interacting with others or gathering information.
My sister has a stern face and a harsh gaze, making her appear well-suited for knighthood at first glance. However, she’s timid and shy by nature. She often keeps her distance and appears to glare from afar; my father constantly said she was “not very endearing.”
On top of that, since our mother was from Froebelthark, even though we were senior nobility, we faced strong criticism. My sister’s appearance and personality only made things harder for her. I made an effort to be bright and cheerful so I wouldn’t turn out like her.
Perhaps because of those efforts, Lady Georgine said, “Honest and hardworking children are cute. You shall become an attendant,” and appointed me as an attendant apprentice to Lady Dietlinde.
In truth, I planned to become a civil official to be a close aide to Lord Wolfram, the next aub candidate, but I’m not foolish enough to say that out loud. I smiled and accepted Lady Georgine’s offer, becoming Lady Dietlinde’s attendant apprentice.
However, by becoming Lady Dietlinde’s close aide, the flow of information about Lady Georgine to my father was minimized. Lady Georgine’s skillful management—pretending to assign me as a close aide to a lord candidate to prevent leaks and manage complaints—was impressive. Still, my father sometimes grumbled resentfully, muttering, “That Ehrenfest Kamevalein,” under his breath.
Just as everyone started to think that Arensbach would proceed centered around Lady Georgine and Lord Wolfram, the only male candidate and presumed next aub, Lord Wolfram, died in an unforeseen accident. This left Lady Dietlinde as the sole lord candidate in Arensbach.
Naturally, this caused an uproar. Lady Alstede, who had married into the senior nobility, could not be brought back into the lord family. The principal wife decided to adopt her own granddaughter, Lady Leticia, and brought her in from Drevannel, preferring her over Lady Dietlinde as the next aub.
Thus, power seemed to return once again to the principal wife, who had been leaning toward Lady Georgine. But the principal wife rapidly weakened and passed away soon after taking in Lady Leticia.
By Lady Georgine’s wishes as the new principal wife, my older sister Aurelia was sent to marry into Ehrenfest. The marriage between my sister and Bettina is known in Arensbach as a touching story of how Lady Georgine saved two pairs of lovers who were about to be separated due to circumstances within the territories.
Although my sister was actually sent to gather information on Ehrenfest, she never once sent any back. She didn’t connect with the nobles Lady Georgine had instructed her to contact and seemed almost trapped in Ehrenfest.