by Miya Kazuki
“...It does not bother me. Many times before I have wished that I had a daughter with Rozemary before she passed.” As it turned out, he actually did have a third wife who had apparently died after being bullied by his other wives.
Am I going to get bullied the second I become a noble?
“Ngh. Well, if you’re fine with that, Lord Karstedt, I am as well. But wouldn’t it be weird to introduce a child so long after their birth? Don’t people celebrate children when they’re born?” When Kamil was born, the first thing we did was throw a party and show him to everyone we could. I heard this was so as many people as possible would remember when he was born, since this world didn’t have birth records, but maybe nobles were different.
Karstedt was the one who replied to my question. He put a hand on his chin and narrowed his eyes a bit, as if thinking things over from as many perspectives as possible. “We celebrate the births of children from first wives, but it is common not to bother informing others of births among second and third wives. In noble society, it is only at their baptism that children are introduced as members of the family. Few know just how many children anyone else has unless they are particularly close.”
“Oh, I see.” I nodded to myself, at which point the High Priest continued with a thin smile.
“Reason being, children that lack the mana befitting their family are adopted by lesser families before their baptism or sent to the temple. The higher a noble is ranked, the less reason there is for them to announce a birth before they are sure the child has enough mana for them.”
...Holy cow! Noble society is actually terrifying! It seemed to be built entirely around having mana, and my upbringing in the lower city would be entirely irrelevant there. There was a lot of culture shock just from joining the temple, but I could already tell joining noble society would be far worse.
“So yeah,” Sylvester added, “if you want to raise your kid as a noble, the latest you can wait to reveal them is their baptism. Karstedt will use your baptism to announce that you were born with an extraordinary amount of mana, just like your mother, and that I’m adopting you. That way he could give his beloved daughter the status she deserves while protecting her from his wives... And that’s the story. Got all that?”
I nodded, thinking over everything he had just told me. “So noble society really is just like a (soap opera). Can I turn this story into a book?”
“You can include it in your autobiography if you ever write one.”
“...Ngh. I think I’ll pass, thank you.”
I’m just a very weak little girl who likes to read books. I’ll never write an autobiography. I rejected the idea immediately, earning me a grin from Sylvester and a comment that, since he had gone out of his way to think up the story, we might as well spread it across the world.
“Anyway, point being, we’ll hold your baptism ceremony this summer. It’ll happen in Karstedt’s mansion, and we’ll announce your adoption to me at the same time. Karstedt, when’s a good time for you?”
“How does right before the Starbind Ceremony sound? We’ll need time to prepare for the baptism—outfits, food, invitations, and the like,” Karstedt said.
The High Priest fell into thought, then shook his head. “I believe it would be better to plan the ceremony for a few days earlier rather than right before the Starbind Ceremony. Considering Myne’s poor health, we can never be sure when she might end up bedridden. We need extra time to keep an eye on her.”
“I see, we’ll need a time buffer in case she gets sick. Hm. Preparing early will make things difficult,” Karstedt said with a troubled frown.
“Karstedt, invite as many people as you can to the baptism ceremony. Given that we’ll be announcing the adoption at the same time, the more people who are in attendance, the better.”
“Ah, that reminds me—you would do well to assign her an etiquette tutor before the baptism, Karstedt. She knows the fundamentals thanks to the instruction of her attendants, but she has never had a proper teacher.”
The three of them were ignoring me, steadily advancing their plans while I sat there, stunned.
“Um, but I already had my baptism ceremony a whole year ago... Won’t this mean we’ll be lying about my age?” Baptisms were held at age seven, and mine had happened a full year ago.
I don’t want to have another and go back to being seven years old. That feels like being held back a year in school.
I pursed my lips in a pout, and Sylvester glared at me with his deep-green eyes. “Don’t whine about a single year’s difference. This is to ensure you fit right into noble society, and considering how young you look, we could honestly even get away with pushing the baptism back an entire year, no problem.”
“An entire year? Now you’re just being mean. I am getting bigger, you know...!”
Since it was essential for me being accepted into noble society, going back to the age of seven was already set in stone. They ignored my frustration and continued the discussion.
“Anyway, about your life after the baptism... You’ll be participating in noble affairs as the daughter of the archduke—me—and when nothing’s going on you’ll be spending your time in the temple. Just like Ferdinand, really.”
“Bwuh?!” That sounded like such a busy lifestyle that I actually felt my face twitch in fear.
“With all of our mana problems, it would be putting too large of a burden on Ferdinand to take you completely out of the temple. Not to mention your workshop. The plan is for us to take on your book production as official duchy business, but it’ll be people in the lower city who actually make the books. It’ll be easier for me to make things happen if you keep your existing connections to the lower city. I’ve already talked this over with the Gilberta Company,” Sylvester said with the sly grin of someone who had a ton of irons in the fire.
When did that happen?! I thought, then remembered Benno being dragged away by Sylvester during his workshop tour and how thoroughly worn out he had looked after. Good luck, Benno. You have my support!
“Umm, so in short, after my second baptism I’ll be playing three roles at once? I’ll be the archduke’s daughter, a blue apprentice shrine maiden, and a forewoman? That’ll be exhausting,” I said while counting my roles on my fingers.
Sylvester shook his head. “Not quite. You won’t be an apprentice shrine maiden anymore. You’ll be the High Bishop.”
“What?” I asked, tilting my head at Sylvester. I had probably just misheard him. I had definitely just misheard him. Ahaha, silly me, I really need to work on my hearing.
As I attempted to avoid reality, Sylvester let out a sigh. “Nobody’s going to want to succeed a High Bishop who abused his power and ended up getting executed. Everything they do will be under scrutiny, meaning no room for any legally questionable behavior. It’s a job with nothing to make it worthwhile. On top of that, it comes with the archduke’s daughter and half-brother—who would take up the job knowing it’d wear on their sanity more by the day?”
“Um. Um. But in that case, shouldn’t the High Priest be the High Bishop? He’s much better suited for the job than I am,” I said, shooting a glance towards him, but Sylvester just gave an exasperated shrug.
“From an outside perspective it doesn’t really matter which one of you takes the job, but the actual work that’s expected of you both is entirely different. Ferdinand is at his best doing the nitty-gritty work and holding all of the priests together. You would never last as a High Priestess, Myne.”
It was true that the High Priest’s duties covered a lot of ground. If you asked me whether I could do his job, the answer would be a firm no. But the High Bishop was the highest authority in the temple; those were shoes too big for me to fill.
“I can’t be the High Bishop. I’m a kid who only had her baptism last year.”
“My failure of an uncle managed it. You’ll be fine. All you have to do is sit around and let things happen. Honestly, considering that all my uncle ever did was break the law, you�
�ll be a better High Bishop than him just by doing nothing at all. Sure is nice to be following up a failure,” Sylvester said, but I didn’t think that was the problem.
As I floundered about nervously, the High Priest tapped his temple and began to speak. “It certainly will be a great deal easier to work without that oaf getting in my way; that alone is enough for me to welcome Myne as High Bishop. I myself will be handling the majority of the difficult work, but Myne is always more than willing to help when asked. I would much rather have her here than a certain someone who pushes all of his work onto others and then vanishes,” he said, all the while glaring directly at that certain someone.
Sylvester snorted and said he could feel free to keep working me to the bone like he had been already. I ignored Sylvester’s rude comment and decided to just thank the High Priest for his kind praise.
“Myne, you really think you should be treating me like that? I was gonna let you keep using the director’s chambers as thanks for taking on the job, and I was gonna turn a blind eye to you sometimes meeting commoners there, but I’m not so sure now.”
“Lord Sylvester, I love you.” I curled my fingers into a heart in front of my chest, eyes shining.
Karstedt poked Sylvester in the side of the head. “He’s making it seem like he’s doing you a favor, but don’t be fooled. He’s just planning to turn the temple into his base so he can wander around the lower city.”
“Bwuuuh?!”
“Karstedt, you make it sound so much worse than it actually is. I’m adopting my cousin’s beloved daughter. Why wouldn’t I want to come visit her?” Sylvester asked with a serious expression, but on significantly closer inspection it was written all over his face that he just wanted to go hunting again. No doubt his plan here was just to make it easier for him to go and play around in the lower city.
“Sylvester, you’re going to let Myne deal with commoners? I would think that is too dangerous, considering she’ll be Karstedt’s daughter,” the High Priest commented warily.
“If we’re going to grow book-making as a government business, we need connections with the Gilberta Company. Do you know how much work it would be to crush that store and build up a new one from scratch?” Sylvester replied casually.
“Um... You’re going to crush the Gilberta Company?”
“Don’t jump to conclusions. I’m not planning on doing anything to them. Their owner is quick on the uptake, and he knows how to keep a secret. Shockingly few people know who you really are, Myne, and most of those who do are Gilberta Company employees. Everyone else thinks you’re either Benno’s daughter or just some rich girl, so there won’t be any problem with us saying you were a noble all along.”
Although the books would be produced under the authority of the archduke, it would be my Gutenbergs who actually made them, with me at their center. As such, it was more convenient to keep a place that commoners were able to enter freely than to constantly have to summon them all to the Noble’s Quarter.
“You can meet commoners in your chambers just like you have been,” Sylvester said, and my face lit up. “But you will not be allowed to meet your family as family. You will become Karstedt’s daughter and my adopted daughter. It’s important that you leave your old family so that you might join ours; if you can’t do that, I can’t allow you to meet your family ever again.”
My face darkened again. It was like a chill had been sent through my heart. I wasn’t sure whether I should be happy that I was allowed to see them at all, or fearful that doing so would just make it hurt all the worse.
“There won’t be a problem with your soldier father accompanying you as a guard while you travel, or having your older sister get involved with making paper. Work relationships are fine. But I will have you swear through a magic contract that you will no longer call each other family,” Sylvester said. He looked at me with hard eyes, and I could feel my heart thumping painfully in my chest.
Ripped Apart
“If you are to be baptized as Karstedt’s child, you will need a new name,” the High Priest prompted, breaking the silence that had fallen over the room. I blinked in confusion, not following his logic.
“A new name?”
“Yeah, your current name doesn’t sound too great,” Sylvester agreed.
Apparently nobles needed to have long names, not short ones, which meant that all of the nobles I would soon be meeting against my will would have long names. Honestly, I had no faith that I’d be able to remember them all.
But I remembered all of those long god names, so maybe I’ll be fine? ...At least, I hope I will be.
“Ideally it’ll be something that can be shortened to ‘Myne’ as a nickname. That will help explain anyone from the Gilberta Company using her old name by accident. Myne, any preferences here?” Sylvester asked.
I tried to think of a new name that incorporated “Myne,” but sadly, nothing immediately sprung to mind.
“...All I can think of are terrible names like ‘Mynenigou,’ ‘Aratamyne,’ and ‘Akaimyne.’”
“Those all sound quite strange. I imagine they each have some particular meaning to you?” the High Priest asked with a confused frown. As he expected, I was using the Japanese from my Urano days, so nobody understood what I was trying to say.
“They mean ‘Myne Two,’ ‘New Myne,’ and ‘Red Myne,’ respectively.”
“Why is ‘Red Myne’ one of your suggestions? Your color would be blue based on your birth, midnight blue based on your hair, or gold based on your eyes. Where are you getting red from?”
“I don’t really understand this myself, but red versions of people tend to be, like, stronger, or faster.”
Sylvester gave me a weird look, but I was basing that off of something my childhood friend from my Urano days had told me, so I didn’t really have a strong grasp on the concept myself. My mom was completely sold on the “red underwear is lucky” boom of her day, so that was probably one of the reasons I subconsciously associated the color with strength.
Incidentally, red underwear was supposedly good to wear when the stakes were high. My mom had given me a pair for my college admission exam, but I was too embarrassed by her motherly love to actually wear them. I luckily passed the exam anyway, and while that made my mom’s faith in red underwear grow even deeper, I had actually been wearing light-blue underwear at the time.
I’m sorry I was such a bad daughter.
As my thoughts wandered, Sylvester’s eyes shot open in shock at my statement. “Hold on a second! I’m the one who’s confused here. Red is a strong color?! If we’re talking about strength, what else is there but blue, the divine color of Leidenschaft?!”
Karstedt rested a hand on his forehead, and his face seemed to cloud over a little. “Red is the divine color of Geduldh, the Goddess of Earth. It represents warmth and compassion, which is feminine, but not exactly what you seem to have been going for.”
...Yeaaah, okay. I guess that’s what happens when you have two different cultures that have developed independently.
My goal had been to envision a new me, stronger and healthier than ever before, but that didn’t get through to anybody.
The High Priest glared at me, tapping a finger against his temple. “You should know that strength and speed are ill-fitting for a woman’s name. Your lack of common sense astounds once again. Need I remind you that this is the name you will be using for the rest of your life? Think harder, fool.”
“...I’m sorry. But honestly, I don’t really know what kind of names nobles usually have, or in what manner they’re given, so I’m kind of at a loss here.”
When coming up with names in Japan, we would sometimes borrow parts of a parent’s name, have the local temple decide, or base the name on some personal family tradition. I had no idea how names were decided here, and when I asked for details, Sylvester, Karstedt, and the High Priest all seemed thrown off.
“Some people take names from their ancestors or great people of history, but there aren’t
really any rules beyond that,” Sylvester explained. I nodded, intrigued, as Karstedt rubbed his chin in thought, then raised his head to look at me.
“If we were to borrow from the name of one of your parents... what if we took inspiration from the ‘Roze’ in ‘Rozemary’ and named you ‘Rozemyne’?”
“Wow! Now that sounds like a noble girl’s name. I like it a lot. It’s much cuter and more feminine than anything I could have ever come up with.”
“It seems you will need to work on developing a better sense of aesthetics, Myne,” the High Priest said with a quiet laugh before standing up. It seemed he would be writing up both the magic contract to change my name and the previously discussed contract before my parents arrived.
Not long after he finished, we heard the tingling of a small bell outside.
“You may enter,” the High Priest permitted, and an attendant who had been waiting outside opened the door. Fran guided the visitors inside as Arno announced their arrival with long noble phrases. Tuuli was holding hands with Dad, and Mom was carrying Kamil in a sling.
“Myne!” Tuuli let go of Dad’s hand and raced toward me, positively beaming as she jumped into my arms.
“Tuuli.” I hugged her back, and after a tight squeeze, she let go of me and started to make sure I wasn’t hurt anywhere.
“Dad was super hurt and came to get us with a scary look on his face. He even said Mom had to bring Kamil to the temple, so I was really scared something had happened to you, Myne. I’m so glad you’re safe.”
Tuuli, in all her innocence, was just glad to see that I was safe, but Mom understood the situation as soon as she saw the High Priest and the other nobles in the room. She shut her eyes in anguish as she knelt down, Kamil in her arms.
“Tuuli, there are nobles here. You need to kneel,” Dad said, plopping a firm hand on Tuuli’s shoulder as he did so himself. Tuuli blinked in surprise and looked around the room, and the moment she saw the three well-dressed men sitting calmly at the table, she hurriedly knelt down as well.