#sylvester aub ehrenfest

[nefertittythegreat]

I love for Sylvester for a lot of reasons but they all basically boil down to

[tired-reader-writer]

Meme credit to @ming-sik

We're the Sylvester professors. We're the only ones that Get him.

[transdimensional-void]

"ascendance of a bookworm" and the centrality of education

something "bookworm" recognizes that i think a lot of other isekai miss is that myne's greatest advantage from her past life isn't her knowledge of certain technologies or products. it's her education.

this is obviously true in the lower city, where most of the people around her have received zero formal education; but it is even true among the highest levels of nobility, where the standard amount of formal education is six terms at the royal academy. that's three months of the year for six years, and nobles intentionally budget their time at the academy to spend more of it on socializing than they do on education. outside of the academy, many nobles receive some form of private tutoring, but the quality, quantity, and consistency vary widely from person to person.

compare that to urano's university-level education in modern-day japan. she spent a minimum of sixteen years attending school for most of the day for most of the year. and it shows.

one of the moments from the series that has really stuck with me is the scene where ferdinand reads myne's memories and experiences, from her point of view, what her education was like: year after year, across her entire childhood, with many different teachers, in many different subjects, in many different classrooms, surrounded by other children her age. the way seeing that allows him to finally grasp why she seems so uniquely capable of being taught compared to other people he knows. it's not that she's some sort of unparalleled genius. it's merely that she's been conditioned to perform academically and that she's been taught how to learn.

and each time myne "ascends" within jurgenschmidt society and is forced to perform in a new environment with minimal time to learn its ways, this conditioning serves her well. she knows how to sit down at a desk, crack open the books, and study until she's got it. equally, having received a comprehensive education puts her far ahead of the average jurgenschmidt citizen in terms of being able to synthesize information from a variety of sources and see how disparate phenomena are interrelated. when she arrives, she may not know anything about jurgenschmidt's economy, government, social structure, etc., but she knows that they exist, are worth learning about, are having a huge effect on her own life, and can be manipulated to her own ends.

what's more, her belief in the fundamentality of education is the single force driving the greatest amount of change within jurgenschmidt. yes, the printing press is the most revolutionary technology she introduces, but her educational reforms will have more immediate and farther-reaching effects.

by the point in the story we're currently at in the english translation (p5v7), she has improved educational access and outcomes for the following:

specific people in the lower city of ehrenfest (lutz, tuuli, kamil, those wealthy enough to purchase her picture books and toys)

those in the ehrenfest temple orphanage (said to receive a level of education equivalent to the average mednoble)

members of some farming villages of ehrenfest (those who have been visited by gray priests over winter hibernation)

all noble children of ehrenfest (through the winter playroom and better grades committee, as well as her educational materials)

some nobles in other duchies (those who have gained access to her picture books and educational toys, and those who have been personally influenced by her, such as hannelore and hildebrand)

commoners with the devouring in ehrenfest like dirk, who can receive funding from the aub to receive a noble education

no, she hasn't yet introduced mandatory, free public education, but she's laid the foundation for it. she has introduced educational reform at multiple levels of society and, more importantly, impressed its importance upon key authority figures, such as sylvester, charlotte, and melchior. that ensures that her reforms have staying power.

this is one of the things i adore about this series: the realism of the societal changes myne brings about. a lesser story would have shown her introducing free, compulsory education for all commoners within the space of a few years. that would have been nice, but it wouldn't have felt real. instead, myne has achieved every small reform through sheer bull-headedness, with blood, sweat, and tears, with immense effort. and that makes her accomplishments feel meaningful in a way an easy win would not. and yet we see widespread change, inertia that we can envision snowballing into the kind of education system urano enjoyed in japan somewhere in the not-to-distant future.

myne's societal reforms feel earned, and it all begins with the story's recognition of the immeasurable value of the education she received back in japan.

[monster-gender]

This was originally going to be a more general post about how people have bad takes about Sylvester and Florencia, but it kinda got away from me because I started realizing that the Rozemyne/Wilfried engagement is probably the thing that's caused the most misunderstandings about him.

First of all, it was literally Ferdinand's idea originally. Seriously, look at the "Year One: Complete" chapter in p4v3. Such a simple detail, but it seems like a lot of people forget it.

Second, it did not happen because Sylvester favors Wilfried. In fact, Wilfried is basically just a means to an end in all of this. It happened because Sylvester prioritizes *Florencia*. Sylvester doesn't care if "commoner blood" or Ferdinand or whoever else becomes the next archduke. He cares about cementing Florencia's place as the mother of the next archduke. And on top of that, Sylvester was trying to grant Rozemyne's wish of staying in Ehrenfest. Mostly because obviously she benefits the duchy, but also he literally says that he still felt bad about tearing her away from her loving family and wants to at least grant her wish of staying near them.

Wilfried in particular benefiting from the engagement was just an extra little bonus in all of this. If Charlotte was a man, or Melchior was older, the engagement would've been with them instead. How do we know this? Because Sylvester and Florencia already gave up on the guaranteed Aub thing after the Ivory Tower incident, and if Charlotte or Melchior were an option then they'd be much more secure candidates than Wilfried (even completely disregarding skills and whatnot, Charlotte and Mechior not being criminals would give the Leisegang's much less leverage).

Which brings us to the final piece of this: "Sylvester is such a bad father! He didn't let Wilfried step down even though he wanted to!!" Let's remember the situation here: Wilfried picked quite literally the worst possible moment to start backing out, which Sylvester points out. Sylvester even said that he would've let Wilfried step down and take responsibility for Rozemyne himself, but Wilfried didn't change his mind until it was too late. Remember, he wasn't suffering silently wanting to step down the whole engagement: he changed his mind *after* his conversation with Ortwin, which was *after* the FVF purge.

Don't get me wrong, Sylvester has a lot to be criticized for, but this the way people try to erase the complexity of layers that Kazuki-sensei weaves into her characters is so maddening.

[ming-sik]

Please please PLEASE I need to know your thoughts on the characters that got shafted by both the narrative and fanfics. Sylvester. Magdalena. Florencia. Charlotte. Kinda sorta Hannelore (poor girl gets reduced to cutesy cheerleader for Myne to fawn over or smth in fics).

fool that you are, you have unsealed pandora's box and happened upon a topic i have a lot of thoughts about. i haven't read much aob fanfic so this is going to be mostly complaints i have with canon.

the main complication in my thoughts towards charlotte and hannelore is that there's a difference between rozemyne the character and the narrative of ascendance of a bookworm. rozemyne as a character has a LOT of internalized misogyny which compounds with an attraction to women and a disconnection to being a girl herself into the unique maelstrom of her more or less viewing other female characters through how good they are at being a cute girl/how much they like her. this means that while she's very complimentary towards charlotte and hannelore, she's also completely uninterested in them outside of their 1) being cute, 2) liking her, and 3) liking books. when her and wilfried's engagement is first announced she's shocked that charlotte is upset because rozemyne said she would support her because it just didn't occur to her that charlotte might want to aim for the archducal seat. rozemyne puts in a ton of legwork to rescue wilfried and put him back on the path to success, but she doesn't even consider trying to find a solution that allows charlotte the archducal seat without wilfried being ruined. i get that she doesn't want him in the temple initially, but after he improves you really think she would at least try to see if having him serve as the high bishop was an option especially at the dozen or so points in the story where everyone is despairing over the lack of manpower. charlotte is florencia's daughter so she wouldn't jeopardize florencia's position, she's better suited to the role, has no stain on her record, the leisegangs don't actively hate her, and, most importantly, she's the only one who actively shows interest in being the aub! and rozemyne not only doesn't try to help her achieve her dream, she doesn't even take enough of an interest in charlotte to notice it, let alone anything else about her except that she's a cute little sister. in fact, she actively diminishes charlotte's accomplishments and likes feeling superior to her.

the thing is that i have not yet started criticizing the story. rozemyne is allowed to be a deeply flawed character who is sometimes actively cruel to likable characters, but my problem lies with the fact that this cruelty doesn't go anywhere. i genuinely don't think aob realizes that rozemyne is mistreating charlotte or that as it currently stands the ehrenfest archducal family spent like the entire royal academy arc following step by step instructions for Georgine 2. having charlotte just grudgingly accept this because she admires rozemyne and doesn't think she has another option until the engagement gets canceled is, i guess, accurate to ascendance of a bookworm's setting where systemic misogyny means that only evil female characters get pissed off if they're screwed over, but that's... bad, both narratively and if you want your stories to treat women like people. i want charlotte to snap! in my rewrite i would give her and sylvester a running conflict where charlotte's mirroring georgine shows that sylvester still doesn't understand why georgine is the way she is and forces him to either reexamine his sexism or deal with the fact that this time he can't wholly blame the monster he created on veronica. i want them to fight! and i want her and rozemyne to fight, i want charlotte to challenge rozemyne's view of her and force rozemyne to choose between reexamining the way she treats cute girls or losing her adoring little sister. the fact that neither of these conflicts happen mean that charlotte as a character really just doesn't get to do anything. they do not let her cook a single time. she's sitting on the bench with the mountain of really interesting character conflicts and story conflicts she could have had as the first sympathetic major female character who is actually trying to become the aub(which i would have additional machinations for in my extensive "what if aob was communist" AU but that's not relevant right now), and instead everyone's like "let's check in on how wilfried's doing, does anyone wanna see wilfried continue to be bad at a job he doesn't even want".

hannelore gets basically the same treatment from rozemyne, and similarly my problem is basically that hannelore has no problem with this. her being a cute petite shy girl despite being from the ditter duchy is at best an interesting starting point for a character, but aob has decided to explore systemic misogyny in feudalism by reducing the majority of its female characters to props who really only exist in relation to their male family members(or rozemyne), which, again, i find boring! i just think it's very convenient how despite rozemyne saying over and over how aggressive dunkelfelger women are, the only active dunkelfelgerian female character for the majority of the story is really meek and quiet. genuinely i would almost entirely write out lestilaut and give the majority of his stuff to hannelore since he's mainly acting on what he thinks hannelore wants anyway. in my mind hannelore's first major character action is to challenge rozemyne to ditter for the ownership of schwartz and weiss, rozemyne takes her lightly because she's a cute girl, and then nearly gets crushed until she pulls out the lord of evil strats before collapsing, after which point hannelore freaks out and it's revealed that she's not an antagonist, she just thought the shumils were cute and wanted to be their owner, at which point rozemyne invites her to join the library committee. in general dunkelfelger having less of a sharp gender divide than ehrenfest because both men and women are expected to be muscleheads is like the most gimme way to actually show cultural differences between duchies and actually iterate on yurgenschmidt's society allegedly prioritizing skill and mana over gender(and this keeps almost being implemented only for aob to never really go anywhere with it). rozemyne keeps trying to fit hannelore into the box of a cute feminine girl by her standards which provides friction between them because hannelore IS a cute feminine girl by dunkelfelger standards. she doesn't have to actively fight with rozemyne over this the way i want charlotte to, but i really wish she had more of a presence in the story and also EVERYONE in dunkelfelger thinking that rozemyne loves ditter and the only reason she has to refuse is because of her physical weakness would be so much funnier if the primary source of misunderstanding is that she keeps not realizing she's agreeing to play ditter until it's too late because she's blinded by hannelore's cuteness. everyone else is like "rozemyne you have to stop accepting her challenges rozemyne you're going to lose trade rights to rinsham" and rozemyne is like "i didn't realize a 'summer tea party' was a dunkelfelger womens' euphemism for ditter :(". this is the only rewrite that i think wouldn't require a total overhaul of aob's structure and that fits with the series' overall comedic tone.

florencia has the unfortunate problem that she exists entirely in relation to sylvester and elvira, which means that when the two of them have their interesting edges sanded away her stocks crash through the floor. florencia serves as the bridge between sylvester and the world outside of the eye of veronica's storm, she is simultaneously the only person he fully trusts and someone who felt the full force of veronica's abuse, so you really think that'd go somewhere and that his arc would involve him realizing there's aspects of her that up until now he hasn't been forced to deal with and her arc would exist. instead mostly she's just written as either elvira's bestie or sylvester's handler, to the point that when aob goes all in on child marriage during brunhilde's proposal florencia isn't even in the room. the end of the stick she gets is so short it can only be seen by a microscope. i don't even really understand how you could hate her aside from i guess wanting wilfried's neglect to be her fault? which it isn't! it's, for the most part, sylvester's.

and oh boy sylvester. his squandered potential is unmatched and i will never not be mad about it. what they did to my man is a crime and if it isn't it should be.

like okay firstly i re-read the brother sylvester segment recently and i was NOT imagining it, there's no way in hell sylvester was always meant to only be against pedophilia because he's a wife guy. during his introduction when myne asks if he's going to the orphanage to look for flowers he is specifically upset that someone her age is thinking about that, and counters it by saying that he's skilled enough to find girls in the noble's quarters. the second part is relevant because it means that it's not the wife guy thing, which leaves only the first thing. firstly, his reaction being disgust implies that this is a moral issue for him, and his citing her age specifically makes it clear that's his sticking point, which rules out it being that it's sex outside of wedlock or that he finds temple girls unclean(in fact it also implies that he only wants girls with equal or greater social status to him who can therefore say no). the reason this is interesting to me is that this is very weird in noble society. ferdinand actually spells this out at one point when benno is similarly disgusted by rozemyne being implied to be his lover, where he says that it's a normal age gap in noble society and that it must not be among commoners, which benno doesn't contest, implying that this is true, and it appears to be! from the pairings we see, it seems that overall, commoner marriages are almost all unrelated adults, which makes sense, because most people do that unless systemic forces incentivize them to do something else, and implies that aob is commenting on the fact that pedophilia/incest in historical political marriages were not naturalistic, but instead something that was mandated by the specific way the system of hereditary feudalism works where marriage is a tool to connect political pieces and therefore you can't afford to be picky about how well those pieces match and in fact the power gaps that come with that are often actively useful to prevent bonds from being broken. that's what i meant when i said awhile ago that i was willing to see where aob was taking things! which made it all the more interesting when sylvester showed up and seemed to be showing that this was going to be a conflict that was explored in more detail.

to go all the way back to foundations, my reading of the prior gen archducal family is that sylvester as a character is the way he is primarily due to the fact that the aggressive favoritism veronica raised him with shielded him from a lot of the abuse their system mandates at the cost of harshening the abuse on everyone outside of him, which puts him in a really paradoxical position. on the one hand, he's fervently idealistic and puts almost no importance on his archducal status, so he's basically never intentionally cruel, but he's also ignorant to a lot of issues and is incredibly bad at reading people specifically because nobody whose life he can ruin is able to chew him out for doing that. he understands noble euphemisms, but the level of emotional concealment that everyone under him has to preserve combined with the fact that veronica actively disincentivized him from learning how to read people means that he doesn't realize when he's hurting people, and almost nobody can tell him. sylvester's quiet "sorry for not noticing" when rozemyne tells him that his attempt to cement her position by spreading printing as fast as possible was actually making things worse is probably the most direct the story gets about this.

so sylvester is a good guy! although he's irresponsible and ignorant, when it's actually revealed that he's hurting people he always tries to rectify it, and is clearly willing to sacrifice for the good of other people... but he's also the archduke, which means that regardless of his intentions, he's in control of a lot of peoples' lives, and no mistake he makes is victimless. the way their society works means that his obliviousness has a body count, including his sister.

his relationship with georgine had so much potential. georgine had her life ripped away from her after being severely abused in service of a future she's been cut off due to the existence of a completely innocent and goodhearted kid and is then forced to watch him grow up in bliss, wrecking the lives of everyone around him in the process. this is veronica's fault, obviously, but it wouldn't have felt that way. we unfortunately don't really get to see her perspective on the training she tried to give him(was she really trying to prepare him? was she trying to drag him down to her level? was it both?), but the thing is that they are both entirely justified in hating each other. sylvester was the recipient of an enormous amount of privilege that he wasn't even aware of and that came at the expense of everyone around him. simultaneously, they're not inherently bad people. there's every chance that if they were born in a different world or even as commoners, they would've been completely normal siblings. and yet they weren't, so they aren't. the first time we hear about georgine from his perspective sylvester actually says that he understands that georgine got screwed over when she was married into ahrensbach, but either that also got retconned or he didn't really understand the weight of it because for the rest of the series he just treats her like a flat antagonist. (which i think is because it was added in the LN, so maybe it just wasn't canon in the webnovel?)

i already mentioned him a lot in charlotte's section but yeah mostly i just want to give the man an actual character arc instead of having him just slowly flatten into "goofy wife guy". have his disconnect with noble society go somewhere! instead of having him realize that despite his intentions to raise his kids in the safety bubble he was raised in, the cycle of abuse is inescapable so long as the nobility persists, and instead of deciding "aw dang i guess the cycle of abuse is just inescapable then" have him question if we should have nobles! i genuinely don't get why people say aob isn't preachy. it is, it's just very conservative so its preaching is "the divine right of kings is fine but we should add capitalism" which is the default for medieval fantasy. which is bad. like is it so crazy to have his reaction to learning that there's no inherent difference between nobles and commoners through rozemyne's mere existence followed by the revelation that even orphans can become literate and skilled enough to match nobles be deciding that this distinction is perhaps completely arbitrary? when rozemyne is explaining how widespread lower class literacy revolutionized the world to ferdinand and she's like "oh but here everyone relies on nobles for mana and nobles can just use it to preach about how awesome they are" i thought that was going to be subverted because as a commoner with mana who understands that the devouring means that mana is not inherent to nobles she should know that's as false as the intelligence argument. but then it just wasn't. i will stop that for now though as i'm currently lying to you about not sneaking in an additional rant about how i would make aob communist.

back on topic, as soon as rozemyne joins noble society, aob panics and starts introducing a bunch of reasons why child marriage is actually totally ethical(i guess freida explaining why being a mistress is actually her best case scenario was supposed to be like "oh phew what a relief" and not "well that's horrifying") but because sylvester(and benno who actually gets the exact same thing done to him) has already expressed disgust at this despite having prior experience with it, suddenly it's that sylvester is just a wacky silly weirdo who only wants to be married to florencia because he just loves her that much. although he is obviously in complete agony when he says that if she and wilfried can't put up with each other she'll have to marry him, why is apparently not worth going into. in fact, it'll never be worth going into again! rozemyne will continue being kinda grossed out by huge age gaps and a lot of other characters seem kinda reluctant to marry kids, but this also never goes anywhere and now that sylvester is just a Wife Guy she agrees with everyone saying that he should just take a second wife. fermyne is its own thing(SEPARATE RANT), sylvester only seems to really care about their potential relationship insomuch as it affects their reputations and by p5vol12 he's been reduced to cutesy teasing them about rumors of their love. really though the nail in the coffin on this front was brunhilde's proposal. firstly, sylvester doesn't even really do anything during it! brunhilde initiates it and rozemyne is the primary opponent(with her objections all knocked down easily and treated as ridiculous), sylvester just kind of sits there outside of being upset at the implication that he'd abuse brunhilde, and then he agrees to it and that's that. tbc i do find this morally abhorrent not least because brunhilde turns to the camera and more or less goes "you might have some objections, but let me explain why marrying a teenager is actually a great idea", but then to add insult to injury it's also narratively really weak.

and while i do think that his final scene with georgine where he's begging her to explain why she hates him when he never did anything to her and she's got "the best life a woman can have" is really impactful and i think better than him already knowing why she hates him, it's actually really weird when outside of that he hasn't had any kind of character arc and his realizations that he's been perpetuating a lot of the harm that veronica and noble society have normalized for him are shut down(mainly by ferdinand which ideally would've GONE SOMEWHERE). and then it's dropped again to go back to the boring action climax, pursued by deus ex machina. it really needed to be a turning point in sylvester's arc where he's forced to accept that georgine does not want to reconcile with him and his never needing to understand her motivations is a big part of why. if he's supposed to be a tragic character he can fail to improve, and keep convincing himself that georgine is just a simplistic force of evil who hates him for no reason, but if he is going to improve he needs to figure out why she hates him by putting effort in himself and being willing to accept that he's not a kid being bullied by his big sister anymore, he's an adult who's responsible for his own actions, a lot of which made the situation worse.

to tie things back into charlotte, the lost potential between charlotte and sylvester is staggering because HE'S DOING IT AGAIN!!!! he's doing EXACTLY what veronica did with opposite intentions, in his attempt to keep wilfried from being abused the way he was by making his future secure he ends up neglecting and exposing charlotte to veronica's abuse and then continuing to neglect her. through his inability to understand what his childhood abuse was actually caused by, he ends up abusing and neglecting all of his children, but especially charlotte. this isn't even really explored through wilfried outside of people being frustrated that sylvester is busting his ass trying to keep the incompetent wilfried as the future aub because it's the best way he can see to keep him from suffering despite it actually harming him more which IS interesting but not the way it's implemented, and rozemyne's specific situation means that she generally interacts with him like he's a boss she's on relatively friendly terms with and doesn't view him as or need him to be a parent(which also shields her from basically all of this). but despite charlotte having unquestionably the most fraught relationship with him, aob again just has her put up with this. sylvester is one of the most well fleshed-out and sympathetic abusive characters i've ever seen so it's really frustrating that charlotte, his most affected victim, just gets shoved to the side because if we had to deal with the fact that despite his good intentions sylvester spent the vast majority of the story leaving her out in the rain to focus on his golden children then he'd have to be a textually morally complex character.

although to try and speculate on why things ended up this way, a lot of this is explained by the fact that afaik aob's webnovel was solely from rozemyne's perspective without a lot of the short stories so basically everyone except rozemyne and ferdinand had all their character development patched in for the LN which is probably why nobody except them has any semblance of an arc so because rozemyne as a protagonist is so disinterested in other people, you kinda can't give characters really detailed arcs onscreen because she either zones out or stubbornly tries to keep fitting people into her boxes. it'd be different if the original story had other POVs and therefore characters could do things that she doesn't care about or that it would be weird for her to be present for(like sylvester and charlotte definitely need to clash on their own; it'd mess with the tone a lot if rozemyne had to be sitting awkwardly on the sidelines so the audience could witness it). it is possible to give characters detailed arcs that the unreliable narrator doesn't pick up on and stories with deep worlds tend to have a lot of characters doing things when the narrator isn't looking, but it's REALLY hard to have entire character arcs that the narrator doesn't pick up on work because you run the risk of either not making it so the reader can actually see that's what's happening or you make it so obvious that the unreliable narrator has to be cartoonishly wrong to avoid just being a narrator accurately describing things. i'm told there's a hannelore spinoff which might be more interesting but this series has torched so much of my goodwill towards it that after the main story wraps up i'm putting my foot down and listening to this excellent advice:

[stardustizuku]

Part 3: A Criticism on Wilfred

Okay, Wilfred is an interesting character. I would go as far as to call him “a deconstruction on the paragon of a fantasy hero”.

He’s the heir to this duchy, who by the evil doing of others has been stripped away from the right of succession.

Despite it all, he’s hardworking and with natural talent, capable of overcoming all hurdles through putting his all into it. He’s nice, he’s kind, and has a positive outlook on life that makes him great to lead big teams and unite them under him. People around him look up to him, and believe in him. In fact, when he arrives at the Academy he realizes that, despite his duchy’s position, he’s able to fight side by side with powerful Greater Duchies. In any other story, he would be the hero.

But Ascendance of a Bookworm is not his story. And while he (and his retainers) sees him as this amazing heir that’s faced nothing but problems since a young age - everyone else sees him for what he truly is.

A spoiled kid, who never learned to become an archduke.

But this is only hinted at in Part3, and doesn’t implode on itself until (again) Part5.

You see, in Part 3, Rozemyne serves as a buffer to paint him in a much better light. She applies a lot of the logic we have from our world. “He’s a kid, he shouldn’t be dealing with so much work”, “he may be lazy but he’s well meaning and wants to become a better person”, “it’s unfair to compare him to me, an adult”, and “I would make the same mistakes he has, so his situation is unfortunate”.

Because of Rozemyne’s coddling, we see Wilfred as this kid who is trying. Who deserves the position because, for one, Rozemyne would be even worse than him at it, and he really, really wants it.

But this changes in Part 4, when we meet way more nobles around their ages, and critically: We know about Charlotte.

Charlotte is so important. People who justify and try to make excuses for Wilfred, have either not read in depth Charlotte’s chapters (which granted, the most powerful one of them “A New Step Forward” comes from the Side Story Collection), or have swallowed Rozemyne’s Kool-Aid when it comes to why Wilfred is being treated unfairly.

The truth is, from another noble’s perspective, we realize that Wilfred being given his title of heir is pretty much the definition of getting spoiled rotten. In any other duchy, HELL, even Ehrenfest before Sylvester, such a thing wouldn’t fly. The succession is a competition. If you think of it that way, and see how Wilfred is behaving - you realize how badly he’s losing. There’s no way that, as he was before Rozemyne, he could have become a decent archduke.

This could have changed, if at any point, Wilfred stopped perceiving himself as the legitimate heir who had his title stolen. Because that’s not what happened. He was meant to fight with his siblings for it. But because of pure luck, he was given it without even having to prove himself. When the people around him failed to train him, that title was temporarily removed. (Emphasis on temporarily because Sylvester had every Goddamn intention to keep Wilfred as the heir)

And we don’t really see him, ever, acknowledging his siblings as any sort of threat. While on paper, he has been stripped from the title, he never has to truly internalize it. It's shameful, yes. But Melchior is straight up too young. He knows Rozemyne won’t be given the title of archduchess, that Sylvester won’t ever allow it.

And something to note about: We know why: She’s a commoner.Sylvester will never let her be Aub for that simple fact - BUT

Wilfred does not know that. He should know that Rozemyne is the “best” candidate, from early on. That’s just a fact. But Sylvester purposely shields him from that harsh truth.

Objectively, Wilfred should know that it is only through luck and Sylvester BLATANT favoritism that Rozemyne isn’t a threat. But because he does not register until FUCKING PART 5, that he is fact, inferior to Rozemyne, he gets baited by Lestilaut. He almost loses Rozemyne, because of his own ego.

And with Charlotte, my poor girl, he doesn’t even registers her as a threat. When Charlotte straight up tells him “I would have beaten you, had I been granted the same privilege you have” aka, being born a man - Wilfred never understands this as a warning or even taunt. He still thinks he’s better than Charlotte. He still thinks that, were things leveled, he would have beaten her. And that couldn’t be further from the truth.

If you haven’t caught up on it yet, Wilfred is a blatant criticism of sexism and the patriarchy.

He has a privilege he does not recognize, and because of it, he acts he’s entitled to a position in power - that anywhere else, it would be UNTHINKABLE for him to have.

He’s literally surrounded by women three or four times more competent than him, yet for the simple fact that he’s a man, and Sylvester likes him more, those women will NEVER come to have the power they deserve.

AND, when he does come the realization that, perhaps, Rozemyne truly is a better suited candidate: he lashes out.

When Lestilaut points out she would be a better archduchess than him, his first instinct is to lash out (and quite aggressively I must add) at the heir of a GREATER duchy, who he does not even get along with! Again, Hannalore and Rozemyne are close friends but Lestilaut and Wilfred are NOT.

This is the society that constantly berated Rozemyne for showing a hint of emotion. She held back even as Royalty itself threatened her most beloved Ferdinand - and Wilfred cannot even handle taunts.

He only calms down when she straight up declines. Stating that she wants to be a first wife. Lesitalut retorts that she could very much be a Dunkelferg first wife.

This sort of snaps Wilfred out of a trance. But interestingly enough, the idea confronted is no longer “Rozemyne is better than me”, but “Rozemyne may actually be a good wife candidate”. Again, the fight isn’t centered, at that point, in who’s better suited to be archduke - because Rozemyne herself smashes apart that idea.

It gets shifted to Lestilaut informing Wilfred that Rozemyne is a coveted first wife candidate, that he’s not using properly. Which is a much easier truth to swallow.

He does not come to terms with “Rozemyne is better than me”, which she objectively is, but with “she’s actually a valuable fiance”.

Sylvester, on the other hand, was very quick to realize that Rozemyne was a valuable asset. Someone who he couldn’t let go of, and adopted because of how vital she was to improving the duchy. Again, while he does care for her, he’s aware that regardless of that - she’s worth it. If she causes him headaches, it’s worth it. If she causes a problem, it’s worth it. She’s running the temple, she’s running their new main export and economy, she is rising their ranks like nowhen before.

It took Wilfred, Lestilaut literally shouting it to his face, for him to realize this. To start seeing Rozemyne as valuable, instead of troublesome. And the moment he realizes, oh, maybe she’s more than competent enough - he’s forced to confront the truth: She’s a better candidate than him. And his current title is only uphold because he’s married to her.

His lashing out in Part 5 Volume 4 is a direct result of him having to confront that he’s a nepo-baby that was only given this position because he’s a man. And instead of owning it, or making sure that despite it all he’s still deserving of the position - he throws a tantrum.

When Charlotte realized that the odds were stacked against her favor, she cried, yes. But she had to maintain appearances. She continued to smile, she continued to support her brother, and worry for the other members of the family. She even had to support Sylvester, despite the fact his obvious favoritism was constantly hurting her.

When Wilfred realized that someone else was better than him, namely Rozemyne, he lashed out. I’m mostly keping up with the Translation Light Novels, so most of his internal turmoil isn’t being shown as of yet. We see it through Charlotte, Sylvester, Rozemyne and other retainers. But suffice to say, that while Rozemyne finds it simply a teenager being a teenager - everyone point out how incredibly damaging his little outburst is.

Unlike other kids, Wilfred is set to become the Aub, and while it’s been promised to him, he still has to work for it. And unlike other kids, such a tremendous amount of power, is not something to wield freely. He is not like any other kid, and cannot be measured in those terms - precisely because of the title he’s set to have. With great power comes great responsibility. If he were to be a commoner, yeah, he wouldn’t have to deal with this. He would be allowed to be just a kid. But if he’s set to become Aub, which he WANTS, he has to play the part. Act like a noble, respect the rules. Just like Rozemyne was forced to do, just like Charlotte trained all her life to do.

He has to learn to manage his emotions, his workload, etc, just like his sisters have. Neglecting to do so, is putting the brunt of his emotional labor unto them.

Here’s where PART 5 does its job wonderfully - because by this point, we’ve seen that the kids of greater duchies, have to work their asses off to support their duchy. Things like feelings, and desires are thrown out. You do not decide who you’ll marry, you do not decide if you become aub or not, you do not decide basically anything in your life. There’s a sacrifice to be made if you want power. You have a role to play, and you either stick to it to perfection, or you get the short end of the stick.

Charlotte has grown with this mentality, she understands it. She plays her role, and does her best to support her duchy.

Wilfred, does not.

He expects everyone to want him as an Aub because, thanks to Veronica, that’s everything he’s ever been promised.

Patriarchy is poisonous because it promises men power. And when capitalism tells them they can’t have it, their first instinct is to blame women.

Much like Wilfred has done, by blaming Rozemyne. For “not being a good enough fiancé” or “for trying to steal his rightful position”.

Wilfred is, unfortunately enough, an antithesis of one of Rozemyne’s core values. Meritocracy. He’s the definition of nepotism.

And if Wilfred represent the corruption of Meritocracy, Veronica represents the corruption of Family.

Veronica corrupts it in a very interesting way that almost parallels Rozemyne.

Veronica was the daughter of a first wife, who loved her husband. Said husband, however, only loved his second wife. This caused her mother great anguish, something she had to witness. She lost her older brother, then lost her mom during childbirth. Finally, her only baby brother was taken to the temple by the second wife she hated. This leaves her with an obsession to keep her blood related family safe, and a disdain for second wives.

In a way, having her family torn from her, and wanting to protect them even from afar, to the point or bending and breaking rules to do so - is very much a Rozemyne thing.

But while Veronica did it by ignoring most of Noble's ways and via corruption, Rozemyne is constantly kept in check from doing as much.

Wilfred is a direct result of the generation trauma Gabrielle imparted. Veronica grew obsessed with making sure her bloodline was better off - at the cost of the suffering of anyone who wasn’t.

She saw everyone as an enemy, someone to subdue. Because if she let them fester, maybe they would take her baby brother away. Maybe they would hurt her kids. Maybe she would lose her mother again.

Ironically, it was this unwillingness to let them grow that eventually rotted them. If she hadn’t let Bezewanst do whatever he wanted, Sylvester wouldn’t have told Ferdinand to get rid of him. If Wilfred had grown with the proper education, he wouldn’t have been as easily tricked.

Veronica and Wilfred also serve as a reminder to Rozemyne of what, even well intentioned, toxic love can do. It’s better presented when she refuses to meet Kamil, even when she absolutely could, because it isn’t safe to do as much.

To add, Rozemyne sees family entirely different from her, and Wilfred for this matter.

Family to Rozemyne isn’t something bound by blood. Her family doesn’t begin and end with that of the lower city. Her retainers from the temple, Cornellius, Charlotte, and most importantly, Ferdinand, are family to her. They deserve her unconditional protection. She cares and loves them.

Contrast it with Veronica who saw Florencia and Ferdinand as threats to her family. And said view of the world is translated to Wilfred.

He sees Detline as family. And after Ferdinand get married, he stops fully perceiving him as such. This is again, likely due to Veronica and her faction. We saw that during Rozemyne’s two year slumber he grows really close and reliant on Ferdinand.

But when the issue of worrying for either Detline or Ferdinand came up - he chose Detline.

Someone he knew almost nothing about, but has his blood and Veronica’s looks. Instead of Ferdinand, someone who supported him for more than three years.

What’s more, he stopped seeing Rozemyne as an ally in Part 5 Volume 4. He could never fully trust her because, again, she’s adopted. Yet, he did go to Charlotte for help, expecting her to help. Likely, because he sees her as actual family, and therefore in his side.

Rozemyne isn’t blood family. Therefore, expendable.

Veronica’s corruption reached him. He tainted one more of Rozemyne’s core values.

All this said, he’s not an irredeemable monster. If anything, the LNs make it clear that despite all this, he’s still a good kid, who given the time and training could become a good archduke.

(Again though, Charlotte wasn’t even offered “time and training”, she was dismissed from the title despite her qualifications for much less)

It’s actually made quite clear that he could be great. Instances of Part 4 shows just how he’s a really nice kid, capable of propping others up, conscious of his actions, asking for help when needed and a natural leader. In this case, his environment has corrupted him - yet he’s not beyond salvation.

He is not an irredeemable monster, since he’s had time to grow, change and better himself. I’m looking forward to how exactly they’ll handle his character in coming novels.

The same, however, cannot be said of Sisgwald.

PREV << MASTERLIST >> NEXT

[orii-blogs-stuff]

“Where is Charlotte?” Willfried asked, “I thought you said we will be introduced for the first time?”

Florencia sipped on her tea, as if nothing was wrong. Currently, Sylvester was here to tell Wilfried about Charlotte’s adoption into another Duchy, using this convenient excuse, she held a tea party so she could see her eldest son once - how long has it been since she last saw him? One month? Two months? The days blurred together, even more so after Charlotte had left.

Sylvester looked like he had aged by ten years, ‘ Good. ’ Florencia thought to herself, ‘ He deserves to feel a portion of the despair I had felt ever since he took my children away from me. ’

“I was not.” Sylvester said, “I sent a message for a tea party so we could talk about Charlotte.”

“Why should we even care about that girl?” Florencia’s grip around her cup tightened as she heard that voice, “She will not become Aub! My adorable little Grandson would~!”

Florencia kept a calm face, it was becoming much harder to do so these past few weeks, her lips twitched downwards for a moment when she saw Wilfried smile at the woman, “Yes grandmother~!”

Florencia had trouble staying present in the room, not in the physical sense, however, she did find herself drifting off into her own mind, thinking fantastical scenarios. Why had Sylvester given her children away? Why could he not stand up to his mother? Why did he have to be so weak? He was the Aub was he not? He should have been able to come up with a plan so she would have been allowed to keep her children close to her- 

“My Lady?” Florencia was snapped out of her trance, “Are you alright?” Leberecht asked, “Shall I get you a cup of tea?”

Florenica could not remember the meeting nor what had been discussed, that was not to say she did not remember glimpses and flashes of what had occurred - she could only remember the way Wilfried looked at Veronica, how Veronica looked at her . Her vicious, victorious smile, almost as if she was saying, ‘ I won, your son is mine while you only have Sylvester’s lip service, you should try talking to Wilfried, although, I doubt he would recognise you as his mother. ’

“My Lady?”

“I am feeling well… Leberecht.” Florencia said with a smile, “I was… Simply thinking about some things.” She… She wanted that horrible woman gone , not for the first time in her life, Florencia wished she did not marry Sylvester, she wished Sylvester had not been an out-of-season Ewigeliebe so she could have gotten more marriage proposals, whilst she did love him - in the beginning at the very least - she wished her husband was stronger so she would not have to feel the pain of being separated from not one, but two of her children, she wished she had the strength and could have shed the last bits of pride she had as an Archduke candidate from a higher ranked duchy to ask her brother for refuge for herself and her children. ‘ I wish I wish I wish ’, “I wish her dead.” 

“Is that an order?” Leberecht asked.

For perhaps the twentieth time today, Florencia was broken out of her trance, “Excuse me?”

Leberecht bowed and crossed his arms, “My Lady, I am your humble retainer, it is my duty to make sure you are comfortable and it is my duty to make your aspirations come true, I have and always will do whatever you wish of me. When you ask me to jump, my only question could be ‘how high?’. Therefore, My Lady, as your faithful scholar I ask you. Shall I deal with the problem?”

“Give the child to me!” Her Feybeast-in-law said once upon a time, “I shall raise him!”

“Sylvester please!” She begged, still weak from the pregnancy so she could not walk out nor run to her hidden room with Wilfried in her arms.

“Mother I-”

“I raised THREE Archduke candidates! One of them is the Wife of the Greater Duchy of Ahrensbach and the other is you! Aub Ehrenfest! Do you actually believe the second daughter of a third wife is as capable as I am to raise the next heir of Ehrenfest?”

“My Lady?” Leberecht asked.

“Sylvester…” Florencia said, “Please…”

“Promise me.” Florencia said, “Promise me you will not get caught.” She could not bear to lose another person close to her so soon.

“I am sorry…” Sylvester took her baby from her arms and gave him to the Goddess of Chaos incarnate, “Please Mother, take good care of him…”

The Feybeast smiled, “I will.”

Her thoughtful retainer smiled, “I will.”

[aubdrewanchel]

I'm having the Catholic version of my "coming of age ceremony" soon. And guess who's the saint I'm gonna choose as my patron. It's frigging st. Sylvester I. (Aub Ehrenfest absolutely isn't my favourite character *cough cough*, absolutely not obsessed with AoB).

[tada-no-honzuki]

Ascendance of a Bookworm (29) Part 5 Volume 8 Chapter 1 

This translation is not supposed to replace the official releases of the light novel series and is purely made for my own entertainment. Please purchase the official light novel when it becomes available!

Joining forces

After finishing my discussion with Dunkelfelger and discussing the treatment of Justus and Eckhart with Sylvester, I left Sylvester's office and joined Cornelius, Hartmut, and Lieseletta. Since I wasn’t feeling confident yet that I would be able to walk swiftly with the elegance expected of a young lady, I formed my highbeast and got in. We were in a hurry.

"I have secured Dunkelfelger's assistance. We are leaving tonight.” I declared, before asking, “Oh, and before I forget, do you know what became of the archducal family meeting?"

Cornelius nodded and quickly explained, “Florencia required all the attendants and knights in attendance to sign a magic contract that prohibits them from further spreading the confidential information you accidentally spilled in the spur of the moment. As people were signing the contract, we received an ordonnanz from Aub Ehrenfest relaying that you secured Dunkelfelger’s assistance and would be leaving for Kirnberger at midnight and that he would be leaving for the Royal Academy at once. I presume something else happened on your end?”

I nodded, "I shall explain the details later, but it's not bad news."

It would be foolish to discuss the arrival of Justus and Eckhart right here in the hallway. After skillfully preventing Cornelius from making any further inquiries with a smile, I turned my gaze to Hartmut, who was walking on my other side.

“Hartmut, please inform my guard knights to gather in my room at once.”

“I presume you wish to hold a strategy meeting?” Hartmut asked with a calm and collected face. “I have already contacted everyone. I informed them time is of the essence, so even those who were stationed at the temple should be arriving about now. I told Roderick and Philine to stay as they are.”

Somewhat taken aback by his efficiency, I involuntarily did a double take at Hartmut.

"...w-well done."

“I am glad to be of use to you, Lady Rozemyne.”

As Hartmut had predicted, everyone was already there when I returned to my room. However, it did not escape my eye that the knights who had rushed over from the temple still seemed slightly out of breath.

“Um, Lady Rozemyne. Hartmut informed us there was some kind of emergency…”

"Yes,” I said. “I know this comes rather suddenly, but I'm going to attack Ahrensbach’s foundation tonight.

"……excuse me?"

The situation had changed considerably since this morning. It was not something I could have predicted either, so their reaction was to be expected. I quickly explained the current situation to those who hadn’t attended today’s meeting. That Ferdinand lay collapsed in Ahrensbach’s replenishing hall, that Georgine would likely use this opportunity to invade Ehrenfest, that I would be going to Ahrensbach tonight to rescue Ferdinand, that I secured Dunkelfelger’s assistance with the help of Sylvester, and that Justus and Eckhart had arrived at the Royal Academy and would join us later.

There was no denying it, this was an emergency. As everyone's face tightened, I started giving instructions. There was little time until departure.

"First of all, for my attendants, I ask that Lieseletta and Gretia accompany me to my Library. Ottilie and Bertilde, please stay here and pack my highbeast-riding clothes, shoes, and any feystones and magic tools in this room I might need. Also, since I shall be taking dinner and a nap at my library, please arrange to move my personal chefs as well.”

“Lady Rozemyne, how many people shall be having dinner at the library tonight?” Ottilie asked. “I believe it would be wise to prepare extra ingredients as well……”

As I looked around and started counting, Lieseletta quickly stepped in.

“Ottilie, please pack as many ingredients as possible. I shall check with the chefs at the library. If it turns out we don’t have enough, I shall contact Lady Elvira. It seems Lord Eckhart shall be returning, so I’m certain she will be happy to cooperate."

Ottilie and Lieseletta had quickly divided the work between them. So, I moved on.

"When you are done, I would like you to assist Florencia, Charlotte, and Brunhilde to collect information and prepare for Georgine’s invasion.”

"Understood," Ottilie smiled. “Better not waste any time then”, and immediately got to work. Bertilde, yet unaccustomed to my reckless behavior, hurried after Otillie in a fluster.

“Then, Lady Rozemyne,” Lieseletta asked. “Would you like Gretia and me to go to the library and assist Lasfam with the preparations to receive our guests?”

"Yes, indeed,” I replied. “You are very perceptive, Lieseletta. Eckhart and Justus shall be having dinner with us and taking a nap as well. I will leave the preparations to you."

"Understood. Since there is little time, we shall go ahead,” Lieseletta said, then added, “Oh, and please don’t accidentally send all your retainers off on errands. Be sure to keep a guard knight to accompany you to the library.” before leaving the room with Gretia.

"Hartmut and Clarissa, I would like you to distribute the magic tools and rejuvenation potions you have made so far, and after that..." I began, but I was interrupted by Clarissa.

"Please rest assured!” she enthusiastically declared. “We have prepared enough magic tools and rejuvenation potions to last us. So, we can leave at any time. Once we have distributed everything, Hartmut and I shall take turns to take a nap."

Setting aside Clarissa, a scholar of the sword from Dunkelfelger, it surprised me that she thought Hartmut would be included as a member of our invading party as a matter of course.

“It will be difficult for you to manage the magic tools and potions loaded inside your highbeast by yourself,” Hartmut pointed out. “Even more so if you wish to distribute them to Dunkelfelger as well. So, please allow me to tag along, so you may focus on rescuing Lord Ferdinand."

"...I appreciate the offer,” I replied. “But I do not believe this battlefield is a place for scholars to go." As I folded my arms and slightly tilted my head, contemplating whether he would do all right on the battlefield despite lacking any ditter experience, a smile appeared on Hartmut’s lips.

“Oh, do you truly believe that to be the case, Lady Rozemyne?” he asked in an amused tone. “Aren’t you an archduke candidate and a scholar apprentice yourself?”

"Ugh... Time is of the essence, if you slow us down, I will leave you behind!” I declared in frustration, unable to argue with him.

Hartmut smiled calmly in response, “That won’t be a problem since I will be riding inside your highbeast, Lady Rozemyne, to manage the magic tools.”

"Just leave it to us!” Clarissa proclaimed. “…I suppose it’s time to fully demonstrate my true strength. I have traveled from Dunkelfelger to Ehrenfest without rest once before!"

……NOOOO! That’s not something to be proud of!

Since I wanted to increase our stock of antidotes as much as possible before departure, I decided to let Hartmut and Clarissa do as they wanted and sent them off to the library. Then, I looked around at the knights who would be accompanying me to Ahrensbach.

"Laurenz, since you are still a minor, you have a choice,” I said. “Would you prefer to come with me or stay here?"

“I have given my name to you, Lady Rozemyne,” he stated with a bitter smile. “Please do not leave me behind.”

As if on cue, Judith’s hand shot into the air, "I don't want to be left behind either!"

However, as things were, I could not give her permission to accompany me. Knight apprentices were not allowed to work outside the noble’s quarter to begin with. For my sake, Sylvester had made an exception and included the temple to be within their scope of action. He had also given permission to bring them along should I be visiting their birthplaces for work. However, invading another duchy was most definitely not on the list of allowances given.

"Judith, since this is an emergency situation, you will need your father's permission. I cannot bring a minor to fight a battle in another duchy without their parent’s approval.”

"Why! ... I will send him an ordonnanz at once, to get his permission!" Judith exclaimed with teary eyes, before rushing out of the room.

I took this opportunity to give orders to my guard knights.

“I would like all of you to take turns going to the knight’s dormitory to have dinner, take a nap, and prepare for departure. Damuel will be the only adult knight to remain in Ehrenfest.”

My guard knights gave Damuel a surprised look, then gathered to discuss their rotation schedule. Damuel was left to stand on his own. I softly tugged on his cape and handed him a sound-blocking magic tool.  

"I want you to stay here, because there is something only you can do."

“Lady Rozemyne?” Damuel asked cautiously.

“Please protect my family,” I said. “They are more important to me than anything else in Ehrenfest. Georgine and her lackeys kept contact with the former high bishop. So, there is a chance she knows about my family and their whereabouts in the lower city. She may have realized they are my greatest weakness.”

If one carefully studied the circumstances surrounding my entering the temple, Charlotte’s rescue, my connections in the lower city, my choice of exclusive craftspeople, and my trends, it would be abundantly clear who were the most important people in my life. Considering that Georgine was planning to sneak into the temple and seize the foundation, as the high bishop, I was probably the biggest obstacle in her way. Objectively speaking, taking my family and the Gutenburgs hostage would be the most effective way to block any resistance on my side.

"Damuel, I cannot ask this of anyone else. You are the only one who knows. Please."

“Understood.” Damuel sighed. “… I made the same promise to Lord Ferdinand after all.”

"To Lord Ferdinand?"

As the question left my lips, Damuel gazed into the distance, presumably in Ahrensbach’s direction.

“Before he left for Ahrensbach, he told me I would become the only one who directly knew you from your shrine maiden days.”

Both Sylvester and Karstedt knew that I was a commoner as well, but when I was still an apprentice blue shrine maiden, we had only met face-to-face a few times, not daily. Even though Ferdinand had given them reports on my life in the temple, they likely did not fully understand how much I cared about my family.

“Therefore, he ordered me to protect your heart, Lady Rozemyne,” Damuel continued. “He also told me to keep tabs on Hartmut’s information-gathering activities, to keep him from stepping out of line. A truly unreasonable request, if you ask me."

Damuel looked down at me with a bitter smile. I suddenly realized his face was a lot closer than it used to be. Back in my shrine maiden days, our eye levels had been completely different.

......when we first met, I only reached up to Damuel’s stomach. I couldn’t look him in the eye unless he kneeled.

As the thought crossed my mind, Damuel kneeled before me. Rather than making eye contact, however, I could only see his brown hair.

"I suppose that as your guard knight, I should advise you that staying here in Ehrenfest is the safest option…" Damuel paused for a moment. Then he raised his head and looked me in the eyes. “Take care, Lady Rozemyne. Stay true to your desires and be sure to save Lord Ferdinand. May you have the blessing of the gods.”

"Thank you, Damuel. You are truly a knight of the finest sort."

As Damuel returned the sound-blocking tool and left the room, Cornelius gave me a curious look.

"Where is Damuel off to?"

“He is off to protect my most important things. Damuel is a guard knight too, after all,” I smiled. “Have you decided in what order you will take your naps?”

After confirming the knights' rotation, I headed to the library.

“Lady Rozemyne, I have been waiting for your return. I heard about Lord Ferdinand…”

As soon as Lasfam finished his greeting, he quickly came over to inquire after Ferdinand. He must have heard about it from my retainers who had arrived earlier. Anyone would get anxious upon hearing that their Lord was on the verge of death far away in another duchy, let alone a name-sworn retainer. Until now, I had rarely seen anything but a smile on his face, but today Lasfam’s expression was stiff, his green eyes betraying his inner turmoil.

“I understand your concern, Lasfam. However, I have obtained permission from Aub Ehrenfest to invade Ahrensbach to rescue him, and secured assistance from Dunkelfelger. I also expect Justus and Eckhart to arrive here by sixth bell."

As we walked toward my room, I inquired Lasfam about the status of the preparations.

“Are the guest rooms for Justus and Eckhart ready? The number of people eating dinner here has increased significantly, are there enough ingredients? Have the chefs arrived yet?”

As I rattled off my list of questions, Lasfam assured me the preparations were proceeding smoothly.

"I was hoping to have everything ready before they arrive,” I said, then added, “And if I inquire after the situation in Ahrensbach over dinner, that should leave sufficient time to prepare any additional things we may need.”

"Understood. I will have everything ready by sixth bell."

I noticed the tinge of unease had disappeared from Lasfam's voice. So, I added another task to the list.

“Also, if possible, please contact Eckhart and Justus’ family homes to see if any of their clothes are still left in Ehrenfest. I presume they did not have the chance to bring any.”

Lasfam nodded, “In that case, I shall prepare a change of clothes for Lord Ferdinand as well. He may need it.”

As I entered my room, Lasfam energetically walked off, his mind focused on what needed to be done. Since my retainers were all busy taking care of preparations, I knew I would only get in their way if I started wandering around. So, I decided to do what I could while staying in my room.

First of all, I sent an ordonnnanz to Brigitte in Illgner to inform her that it was highly likely that Ahrensbach would use Ferdinand’s incapacitation to invade Ehrenfest, and that Georgine was likely to operate in the shadow. I also told her about the silver cloth, requested she gather information from the commoners in their province, and reminded her to stay in close contact with the other Giebe.

“Grandfather is ready to provide backup at any moment. If you notice any irregularities at the border, contact us at once.”

Brigitte immediately sent a reply, “We received an ordonnanz from Lady Florencia earlier, but she didn’t relay nearly as many details. I would like to thank you for the additional and valuable information. We shall keep in contact with the other Giebe and ask our citizens to keep an eye out.”

Realizing that the Giebe’s of the border provinces hadn't received much information, I sent an ordonnanz to Florencia telling her, “Please share more details with the border provinces, and request Giebe Gerlach and Giebe Gardun to have their knights tighten their defenses.”

With the ordonnanzes taken care of, I entered my hidden room and searched the book of Mestionora for a map of Ahrensbach. I hoped to learn the location of the border gate and the temple. My efforts were rewarded, as I found a map of the duchy and the blueprint that was used to build the temple, thus learning everything I wished to know.

……it went through hell to get it, but I'm glad I did. It's amazingly useful! Thanks be to the Gods!

I copy-pasted the map and blueprint each onto a sheet of magic paper that Clarissa had prepared, thoroughly pleased with the results of my search. Understanding maps wasn’t exactly my forte. I always had trouble figuring out my current position and the location of my destination, but I was sure that at least one of my knights would be able to read it.

With high hopes, I searched for a blueprint of the castle too, so I might determine the location of its replenishing hall, but unfortunately, nothing popped up.  Since a castle’s floor plan would rarely be revised, about the only opportunity to see a blueprint of the entire castle was when Entwickeln was performed. Maybe it was in the part of the book that Ferdinand had?

“Seriously, why am I missing the most crucial information!?” I grumbled to myself.

There was no point in crying over it. Besides, Justus and Eckhart probably knew its location, so it didn’t really matter. So instead, I decided to copy-paste some magic circles that might come in handy.

After a while, the summoning tool glowed, indicating someone outside wished to speak with me.  As I exited my hidden room, Judith reported, “I was told to stay in Ehrenfest.” with a disappointed face. Considering a parent’s feelings, I hadn’t expected anything else.

"If you think that accompanying me to Ahrensbach is the only job expected of my guard knights, you are mistaken. It is also their job to protect the people important to me who I cannot bring with me."

"That's true, but..." Judith’s voice trailed.

Invading another duchy probably seemed like a spectacular job to a knight. The difference in mindset between Damuel, who was working hard on a humble job, and Judith could not be clearer.

“To allow me peace of mind, Damuel has promised to stay behind and guard my loved ones,” I said. “Judith, I want you to work with Damuel to protect the temple and the lower city. My Gutenburgs will be essential if I ever hope to expand the printing industry. They are indispensable to me. Tell yourself, “I shall not allow Georgine in.” Do not compromise on that determination as you protect the temple and Ehrenfest.”

Judith had good eyesight and specialized in ranged attacks. Stationing her at the temple, and having her attack with bug bombs, should give even a noble-born lady like Georgine a good scare. That silver cloth would not protect her.

"Understood,” Judith acceded. “I shall guard the temple.”

As I continued preparing as I saw fit, sixth bell rang. Soon after, Justus and Eckhart arrived. I immediately left my room to welcome them.

“Justus, Eckhart!”

"...L-Lady Rozemyne?"

Seeing me all grown up, Justus froze in place, left at a loss for words. Apparently, Sylvester had not informed them. However, unlike Justus, Eckhart quietly turned his blue eyes to me and softly murmured, “Rozemyne, is that you?” Then, immediately moved on and questioned me on the current state of our preparations.

……Eckhart certainly cares more about whether we can save Ferdinand and how far our preparations have progressed, than my sudden growth. No surprise there.

His lack of reaction was refreshing and reassuring.

“We have already prepared everything you just mentioned,” I told him. “I also acquired Dunkelfelger’s assistance, and we shall leave to rescue Lord Ferdinand tonight.”

“Just as I would expect from my little sister,” Eckhart replied. “It’s clear you were educated by Lord Ferdinand."

Hearing the honest praise and seeing the sparkle of hope in his eyes made me very happy. Eckhart only ever praised me whenever I was exceedingly useful to Ferdinand. In short, I was doing an amazingly good job right now.

"...Aub Ehrenfest said you have some kind of plan. Is that true?"

"Yes, brother,” I answered. “I do have a plan. And with you and Justus here, the odds of success have significantly increased."

My biggest worry was that I didn't know the location of the replenishing hall, but with their help, I should be able to get there without getting lost. Eckhart nodded in reply, “Good.”

“Eckhart, how can you completely ignore how much Lady Rozemyne has changed?” Justus asked, exasperated.

“I do not care how much she changes on the outside,” Eckhart answered. “As long as she still cares about Lord Ferdinand on the inside, I am good.” Showing no interest in the situation whatsoever, he walked over to Lasfam. In his hand, he held a metal cage containing a single name-swearing stone. I guessed it was probably Lasfam’s.

"Even then, doesn’t it intrigue you?"

Unlike Eckhart, it seemed Justus wanted to hear more details about my rapid growth. His brown eyes were gleaming with curiosity, and he started squirming in place. He clearly wanted to know more, but was unsure how to broach the subject in our current state of emergency.

"Lady Rozemyne, what happened to your body?” Justus eventually asked. “I have never heard of anyone growing that much in such a short period of time, and into such a beautiful young lady not to mention."

As Justus slowly approached me, Hartmut slipped between us, saying, "I am glad you asked." His orange eyes were gleaming with anticipation, sending a shiver down my spine.

"I doubt anyone other than Lady Rozemyne shall ever be bestowed the privilege of a miracle like this. It proves beyond a doubt how truly blessed she is by the gods. This was a miracle granted by Anwachs, the god of growth! Please allow me to explain in great detail the workings of this wonderful miracle."

“Certainly, but do stop when Justus gets tired of listening," I said.

I expected even Justus would soon get tired of Hartmut. He was in the habit of looping same-sounding compliments and overreferencing the gods, making his explanations hard to understand. In fact, my closest retainers kept dismissing him, saying, "No thanks, you already told me that before.”

……unfortunately, their evasions only motivate him to come up with new ways to express his excitement, infinitely increasing the number of unnecessary compliments.

[ojamajoprincess]

I finished drama cd 1. I love how they made a catch up episode for the entire seiries up to part 4. It made me nostalgic for the jureve ingredient gathering arc. That was such a good arc.

I’m currently reading p5v4 and the side stories collection 1, and the whole business about Wilfried’s being manipulated into entering the marble tower and the supposed consequence is him losing his guaranteed position to become the next aub of ehrenfest— that bugs me because it never really affected anything. Charlotte was never in the running, because everyone wanted to prop up Wilfried soooo badly. And it is annoying that the whole point of adoption by an aub is to promote those nobles worthy into archduke candidacy, but Rozemyne is never teally a true candidate because of her background. No matter How Much the Leisegangs want or other duchies think that Rozemyne is best suited to the aubship, no matter that the Veronica faction is purged, or that Rozemyne doesn’t want the aubship, its so dumb that they keep wanting Wilfried. It’s like it’s preordained or something. And it feels like the boy is getting propped up before the girls for no reason. Even though it’s supposed to be a gender equal thing.

So idk what consequence Wilfred even had when he was so ready to turn on Rozemyne— Meanwhile he’s turned on her all over again after the chess/gewinnen game!

And poor little Melchior can go to the temple I guess, because he’s what— too little? Meanwhile Sylvester doesn’t need a successor that badly so soon. Why isn’t Melchior considered? Do aubs get replaced as soon as their eldest kid comes of age? Obviously not. Besides the fact that Detlinde over here can postpone it even when there’s literally a vacancy so she can go on a research project quest for the throne.

Anyway it’s fun to see how young Angelica is here though. She’s what— a second year? Same as Judith was when we first met her in the academy? So cute!

[nefertittythegreat]

So I'm reading P5V6 and the part that really just stuck out to me is how the current generation of the Ehrenfest Archduchal family directly parallel to the previous generation. Sure, the ages are mixed around but we have a perfect Archduke candidate who is perfect in everything but her sex; A young genius brought late into the family, who despite being the most gifted lacks the ambition to be heir; A lighthearted, strong personality who lacks the temperament to be Archduke but favored by thier father anyway; and the sibling who just wants to stay out of it and focus on the present.

The adult members of the family find themselves looking at an unforgiving mirror. It's why characters like Sylvester try to replicate the past, but at the same time defy it. Slyvester adopted Rozemyne to be a minister for Wilfried, just like how Ferdinand was brought in to boost him up. Sylvester is following in his father's footsteps and making the same mistakes that got the family in this position in the first place, except the new generation won't let him.

Despite the similarities, Rozemyne is not Ferdinand(she's not going to coddle Wilfried like Ferdinand does Sylvester). Charlotte is not Georgine(despite her frustration, she loves her siblings). And Wilfired is not Sylvester because, unlike Sylvester, Wilfried can admit that he is not the best option to be Archduke.

The most selfish thing Sylvester does is "keeping" Wilfried as heir. By making Wilfried heir he simultaneously removed his son's choice and trapped him in position that in the eyes of the other nobles he could never earn and whats sad is Sylvester's own father had done that to him...

Because what if someone had told Sylvester when he was young that he didn't have to be aub? What if he was allowed to have a choice? What if he'd admitted that Ferdinand and Georgine would have been much better Archdukes?

History is not repeating itself because the young refuse to let it. Wilfried will not be trapped by the seat of Aub, Rozemyne will not just be someone's minister, and Charlotte will support her siblings.

And that's the beauty of the current arc.

Because Sylvester and the others are learning from their children and learning from their mistakes, and together they are breaking generational curses.

[tired-reader-writer]

Sylvester is dog-coded. You understand.

[ahb-writes]

Book Review: 'Ascendance of a Bookworm' #16

Ascendance of a Bookworm #16 (4.4) by Miya Kazuki, You Shiina

adventure

fantasy

magic

library sciences

librarian

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Back to the grind.

Travel for seasonal prayer offerings. Business meetings to organize and expand the printing industry. Arguments with the nobility over the importance of cleaning up the lower city ahead of the duchy's planned growth. ASCENDANCE OF A BOOKWORM v16 slips into a more stable narrative pace that sees Lady Rozemyne returning to form as a businesswoman whose eccentricity yields surprises around every corner.

Nothing particularly dramatic or exciting happens in this volume, but as readers know well, sometimes, it's the little things that give Rozemyne's story the attention and flair it deserves.

For example, a journey up north to the province of Haldenzel proves enlightening. It's supposed to be a simple trip, during which Rozemyne and her Gutenbergs will check on the progress of Haldenzel's workshop. But a simple visit turns into a kind of festival, and an impromptu celebration turns into a miracle-inducing blessing for the history books. This blue-haired daughter of the aub may feign innocence ("I didn't want to get in trouble for blasting out blessings like some kind of party trick," page 214), but it's getting tougher to hide the fact that wherever this young woman goes, peculiar things follow (Angelica: "I think you're the most unusual of all, since you're the one who makes all these unusual things happen," page 229).

ASCENDANCE OF A BOOKWORM v16 also introduces a few nifty bits of overdue character growth for Rozemyne, including her direct tutelage under Ferdinand. The High Priest teaches the High Bishop a dash of magecraft and potion-making (or, "Professor Ferdinand's Brewing Lessons," as a certain someone calls them). The result of this educational effort is a clever (and dangerous) application of a startlingly common tool of craft.

Another bit of character development involves Rozemyne stepping deeper into the role of advisor and instructor to her own retinue. When Judithe (apprentice medknight, second year) proclaims her admiration for Angelica's competitiveness and focus, Rozemyne immediately chides the girl for ignoring her own strengths in lieu of chasing the unattainable. Judithe excels in ranged combat, why waste time working on sword skills? Know what you're good at, work hard to excel in that craft, and prove your worth with the knowledge and experience you've gained. Upon hearing this advice, the room goes silent.

Sylvester's report from the Archduke Conference is perhaps the largest plot point of the book. Here, Rozemyne learns who to keep track of, who to watch out for, and who to cozy up to during her next term at the Royal Academy. Can the young woman navigate such nuance when it counts? It's anyone's guess. The same goes for all of those marriage proposals that are flying about, whether for Rozemyne or for her siblings. If the Duchy of Ahrensbach can angle its claws around the throat of Ehrenfest, how long until the rogue duchy tightens its grip? And will Rozemyne and her allies discern Ahrensbach's target before it's too late?

❯ ❯ Light-Novel Reviews || ahb writes on Good Reads

[transdimensional-void]

let’s not forget that it was SYLVESTER’s idea to adopt myne and make her an archduke candidate. ferdinand’s plan stopped at making her karstedt’s daughter. but sylvester, AUB EHRENFEST, looked at this little commoner girl from the slums, pinched her cheek a few times, and was like, “yeah, i’ll raise her as my kid.” ????????????????? ALL ON HIS OWN!!! that was his own idea!!!! incredible

[a-few-of-my-favorite-mangas]

Honzuki no Gekokujou / Ascendance of a Bookworm

Official Fan Book Volume 02 Illustrations - Part 3 / 3

Story  ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆   ||   ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆   Art

- - a few more interesting answers - - 

      Q: Why didn’t Ferdinand kill Veronica with poison or something?

      A: Veronica was his father’s wife; it would have been too risky for Ferdinand to kill her while his father was still alive. Subsequently, killing her around the time his father died would have been considered a declaration of war against Sylvester. Ferdinand joined the temple during that period, and it would have been far from wise to throw Ehrenfest into a panic after having withdrawn from politics—especially considering that there were overwhelmingly more nobles benefiting from Veronica than there were nobles benefiting from Ferdinand. He could have gone rogue and assassinated her on his own, but he wouldn’t have done something so reckless.

      Q: Why is Karstedt an archnoble despite being Bonifatius’s son? Are all children of archduke candidates archnobles by default?

     A: When the next archduke hasn’t been decided, the children of archduke candidates are also raised as archduke candidates in the event that one of their parents become the aub, since their parents would subsequently need a successor. Karstedt is an archnoble because, while the aub had already been decided, his children were all girls and he didn’t plan to take a second wife. As a result, Karstedt remained an archduke candidate until Sylvester was born.

      Q: When one comes of age and becomes able to sense those with an equivalent amount of mana, do the people they sense also have to be of age?

      A: Yes, both people need to be of age to be able to sense the other’s mana. Also, they can only sense mana quantity. To check someone’s attributes, they would need to look at the color of their mana.

[ming-sik]

georgine is such an interesting character and she was such a good villain and im. so conflicted on her last scene. the detail of sylvester begging for her to explain why she's doing this and georgine refusing to even tell him, because it's so obvious if you understand her at all, and the fact that he's never needed to is part of why she's so agonized by losing the archducal seat to him of all people that if she can't have ehrenfest, nobody can, is so good. it's narratively foreshadowed so early too, really it's foreshadowed when ferdinand tells rozemyne that it's obvious that the child with the most mana should become aub before more and more worldbuilding elements are introduced that explain why women are nevertheless mostly shut out of the position even when they want it, and it makes perfect sense that that would drive you absolutely insane. it's such a well-done take on fantasy governmental misogyny that, even though i find that trope devastatingly boring and often stemming from regular misogyny on the part of the creator when it's positioned as a matter of course, i really like georgine! i wish they let her cook a little more!

i think what i'm most unsatisfied with especially at the climax is how much of her spotlight is taken up by detlinde who i can only describe as "the generic villainess character the protagonist reincarnates as in villainess isekai manga" and gervasio who got his schtappe yesterday. so little of the admittedly complex plan to trap georgine even is shown onscreen and her actual plan is foiled by sylvester happening to leave the foundation at the correct time. i wish sylvester and the woman whose life he stole and georgine and the man who stole her life got to fight over the duchy that they were each meant to protect and that forced them into this position, in like a cooler way. the fact that even though everything was working against it being satisfying their actual conversation still got me is a testament to the strength of their dynamic.

in conclusion:

me explaining what georgine could've been