A noble had learned of Myne’s knowledge, seen the value in it, and made it his. It was hard to imagine the impact of such a move would be felt only in Ehrenfest. I gripped the documents and raced to Grandfather’s office.
“Something important has happened. Look at this.” I showed Grandfather the magic contracts with Myne’s name changed to “Rozemyne.” His eyes widened.
“...Myne signed with a noble? It isn’t unheard of for a Devouring girl to be adopted, but Myne?”
Myne had actively refused to sign with nobles, wanting to live with her family for as long as possible. She had said she would choose death over being separated from them, and yet now she had let herself be adopted by a noble.
I myself didn’t want to be a noble; I wanted to be a merchant. I wanted to spend my time doing business and counting money. When I told Grandfather that, he had found the ideal noble for me and signed me with him. Thanks to that, I would have a store in the Noble’s Quarter when I came of age, and until then I could live at home with family. I was satisfied with my choice.
...But what about Myne?
“Grandfather, please call Benno over. I am sure he knows something about this.”
Sylvester—Cleaning up the Mess
“We will take our leave, then.”
“Please take care of yourself, milady.”
“...Farewell.”
I just convicted my mother, then ripped apart another family with my own two hands. I could honestly do with some reassurance here. Someone lavish me with compliments. If I didn’t have people assuring me that what I was doing was the right thing, serving as archduke would be way too much for me, I thought, looking at the two parents kneeling in front of their own daughter.
“Thank you for coming today. I pray from the bottom of my heart that we meet again one day.” Rozemyne, while still standing, bent forward and lowered her head deeply as she said goodbye to those who used to be her family. It wasn’t a gesture I recognized. When showing gratitude to the gods, one would get on both knees and lay prostrate. I had never seen someone lower just their head while still standing. This was indeed a girl who held memories of living in another world.
Still, even though I didn’t recognize the gesture, I could feel the emotion it expressed whether I liked it or not. Anyone could tell that she was showing her gratitude for her family. I knew what I had done—I knew I had ripped a loving family apart—so seeing their heartfelt goodbyes sent a sharp pain through my chest.
The door closed, and Rozemyne was left standing alone, wavering unsteadily. I lowered my eyes in discomfort at the same time that Ferdinand abruptly stood up beside me. He quickly walked over to her, as if having predicted this, and embraced her just as she fell to the side. Then, he sharply shouted toward the door:
“Fran, inside!”
A gray priest who had been waiting outside promptly rushed in. I recognized him as Rozemyne’s attendant who had been so badly wounded by mana that just moving had made him twitch in pain.
“Sister Myne!”
I could see remnants of the blessing dusting his figure as he rushed over to her. Given that his wounds were gone, I could guess that Fran had received the same blessing Myne’s father had. The panic on his face showed just how much he cared about his master.
Even her attendant being blessed begged the question of just how far her lights of blessing had gone. As I had just seen myself, Rozemyne didn’t hesitate to recklessly wield an enormous amount of mana when those she cared about were involved. I would have to investigate and see just how many people her blessing had reached.
“It is nothing to worry about. She has simply used too much mana,” Ferdinand said, grabbing a nearby potion from his well-stocked cabinet and pouring some into Rozemyne’s mouth. That was probably the terrible, foul-tasting one. It was as effective as it was vile, but if you asked me, it was downright cruel to pour any of that junk into the mouth of an unconscious child. Ferdinand was once again proving to act more on logic than emotion.
Poor girl.
“Fran, take her to her room and get her in bed. I will come by tomorrow afternoon to explain what the future holds. Gather all of her attendants for me when the time comes.”
“Understood.” Fran picked up the limp, unconscious Rozemyne and left the room. That somehow reminded me of something I had seen before.
“Arno, some tea. That will be all.”
“As you wish.”
I eyed Ferdinand, who was giving an order to his trusted-yet-forgettable attendant, while murmuring to Karstedt in a low voice. “Hey, Karstedt. Is it just me, or is Rozemyne like the spitting image of Blau? Seriously.”
“Blau? Aah, the shumil you once kept as a pet.”
Shumils were easily domesticated feybeasts that made cute “pooey” noises. Plenty of nobles kept them as pets, myself included, but Blau was about the weakest creature I had ever seen. She had fur that was a color between black and blue, big round golden eyes, was always very weak, and seemed to like Karstedt more than me. In other words, she was exactly like Rozemyne in animal form.
I sought Karstedt’s agreement, but he just let out an awkward grunt. “You say she liked me more than you, but that’s entirely your fault. She was constantly on the verge of death from all of your teasing. You could say she only grew attached to me as a desperate measure to stay alive.”
“Hey, it sounds real bad when you put it like that. All I did was give her the love a pet needs.”
“You were even less delicate and considerate as a kid than you are now.
