Vacation in Another World

It was a beautiful day outside. The Archduke Conference happened last week. Several good news were received in Ehrenfest. As he waited in the High Bishop’s chambers, Ferdinand could not help but remember everything that had happened since winter.

Their first headache was when Rozemyne went to the Farthest Hall to acquire her schtappe. She disappeared. Ferdinand knew that damned old tree did something, but could not act harshly. Considering the task they forced the girl to bear, they would not be so foolish as to harm her.

Not more than Mestionora already did.

She came back almost two bells later. The reports were bizarre, saying she had grown. According to her entourage, it would create a lot of problems. Many of her retainers begged them to send someone who could put a leash on Cornelius.

After Rozemyne finished all her classes and came back, they understood why. She grew, maybe too much. She was closer to a twelve-year-old girl, which was not unreasonable considering her biological age was eleven; an early bloomer. Cornelius came with her, and it seemed like he would kill any non-related male who looked at Rozemyne for more than three seconds.

She wanted to talk to Elvira first, because the gods said she should. Ferdinand did not know what Linkberg’s first lady heard, but it was more than clear that the woman was furious. He could only discover what happened two days later, as their meeting could not be held because Elvira was unsure if she could remain composed enough not to kill Ferdinand.

Only Karstedt, Sylvester, and he were attending, apart from Elvira and Rozemyne, of course. It took some time to start as Cornelius was against leaving Rozemyne in the same room with Sylvester and Ferdinand. Eckhart had to bind his younger brother and take him away.

“Why is he like that?” Yurgenschmidt’s densest girl asked. 

‘Because you are too pretty.’ Ferdinand thought, but did not say out loud, fearing the way Elvira stared at him. The other adults looked troubled, but did not say anything.

“Let’s talk about it later. Rozemyne, what happened?” Sylvester began.

“You see… what Mestionora did to me was basically adoption. I became her adopted daughter.” Their eyes widened in surprise. “But because she is underage, they changed the contracts. I became Geduldh and Ewigeliebe’s daughter, and then I was adopted by the Supreme Couple, much like the goddess of wisdom herself. She wanted to be my big sister since she could not be my mother.”

What would be her full name right now? Rozemyne Totcher Linkberg Adoptie Ehrenfest Adoptie Geduldh Ewigeliebe Adoptie Supreme Couple? Or we could shorten it to Rozemyne Totcher Linkberg Triadoptie Ehrenfest Geduldh-Ewigeliebe Supreme Couple.

“Apart from officializing my adoption,” she said a little troubled, as if she could not digest that she was adopted once again, “the gods helped with my body. I’m relatively healthy and won’t have problems containing divine mana. Controlling it is another matter…”

‘Couldn’t they give her a less beautiful appearance?’ He was particularly annoyed for some reason.

“What about your wardrobe?” Karstedt asked as he noticed his daughter wearing clothes of such quality that even Royalty might not match. The actual Royal Family certainly does not.

“That was what took most of the time! Since I was adopted, both my divine mothers and my divine big sister wanted to give me new clothes, as the ones I had would not fit. However, to them, only clothes personally made by Wendtutchte, the Goddess of Weaving, were good enough for my new status…” She sighed, remembering the amount of trouble in the heavens. “It took a lot of work for them to tune it down, but they refused to go lower than this. The first models were so gorgeous that Yurgenschmidt as a whole would look like crap.” Then, she commented, “Well, to me it is already a savage, barbaric, and backwater country anyway.”

“So, you came to get new measurements for new clothes?” Sylvester asked, but he was undoubtedly thinking about Rozemyne’s random comment like other adults in the room.

“Yes. I also came here to create greenhouses. Now I can communicate with my other self in Hogwarts. It is brief and has a huge cooldown, but I could get a few plants. I want to cultivate them before the Interduchy Tournament. It will help us to get a Dunkelfelger wife for Sylvester.”

“Why did you disregard Drewanchel out of the sudden?” While he advised Dunkelfelger and Drewanchel not just because of their characters but also due to his connections, Ferdinand was surprised by her abrupt choice.

“The gods advised that Dunkelfelger could protect me better. I don’t know why the ‘me’ is there, but it was clear they would not accept a wife from anyone else. Well, they said that after complaining about how mortals lost their ways, as the gods are monogamous and only marry out of love.” She sighed, likely agreeing with the divine. “I will create a few new industries with these plants.” 

“What industries?” Sylvester asked, emphasizing the plural.

“Well, mainly it would be a sugar industry. But [Sugar Cane] does not grow in Ehrenfest’s climate, so we must create an artificial place for it. Don’t worry, the gods will help me naturalize these plants for this world.” She explained while everyone was flabbergasted at her words. ‘Does she know how to make sugar?’ Interpreting their silence as an incentive to continue, she said, “The others are fruits and ingredients for culinary. I brought [Cocoa], [Coffee], [Strawberry], [Banana]. Oh, I also got [rice], but that was more of a personal whim.” Rozemyne explained. She talked about rice with such a shameless, beaming smile that it bothered Ferdinand. He was not happy that others were seeing that expression, especially with her new appearance.

“Yo-You know how to make sugar?” Elvira was the first to break the silence.

“Oh, yes. The most important types of sugar.”

Are there different kinds of sugar?

“Not just that, the seeds I brought have already been cultivated, and when asking the gods to naturalize them to Yurgenschmidt, I will also ask them to improve their qualities. Ahrensbach’s sugar is not of a high quality to my standards.”

Only Dunkelfelger could protect Ehrenfest if she succeeds.

“Urgh… there is no way she can go back to the Royal Academy without discussing engagements,” Sylvester said, holding his stomach.

“Indeed, it is better to define something before she goes back,” Karstedt said, frowning as his hands moved as if he were strangling someone’s neck.

“There is no need for that.” Elvira’s voice echoed in the room as the temperature plummeted. “What she told me when she arrived is more than enough to choose her partner.”

‘I wonder what made her so angry that she even forgot to ask Rozemyne about what happened with her.’ Ferdinand wondered as Elvira evidently did not know about the plants.

As they all looked at the girl, she cocked her head confused. “Mother, what does the mark have to do with marriage?” 

The room’s temperature sank even further as Elvira replied with her hand in a bag of feystones, “I will explain it later once I am stable enough.”

Rozemyne nodded and began, “The gods said that when a mortal comes close to death many times, they start the process of turning into a feystone. This is called the Mark of Ewigeliebe. It can only be reverted with a jureve.” For some reason, a sense of dread exploded within Ferdinand. “Devourer mana is a little special. It’s mana in its purest form and especially pliable. Its colors, however, are a bit complicated. Devourers are between having all seven colors and having none, but it can be classified as a faint omini-elemental.” 

In a pause, she waited for the information to be digested by them. This time, it was Ferdinand’s stomach churning.

“In my first five years, not only did I have many fights with death, but there was one time my mortal body actually died. So I carry the mark. When Ferdinand gave me that sweet potion to read my mind, I was permanently dyed by him.”

A heavy silence hovered in the room. The men’s eyes widened as Elvira closed hers, likely trying to get hold of her emotions. Unaware of what was happening, Rozemyne continued, “If not for Mestionora ‘adopting’ me, my mana would be like that, and the gods would not recognize me. If not for the change in curriculum, I would not be able to obtain a schtappe, and even the Supreme Couple’s names would be the same as Ferdinand’s because, in the eyes of the gods, I would be Ferdinand. To them, doing so is an unforgivable sin, as you would be erasing a person’s existence. I don’t understand why Mother is so angry about it, though… The gods said that divine mana works differently in the situation she is angry at, so they told me to ask Mother about it.”

Ferdinand never felt so bad. He knew he would have to hear an earful from Elvira. What made him feel worse was his memory of Rozemyne talking about shadow clones. Ferdinand understood in an instant the missing puzzle to the creation of the shadow warriors and why the gods would see it as an unforgivable sin. It made him disgusted with himself. 

“Wa-wait, Mestionora changed your mana, right? It’s not dyed anymore, right?” Sylvester’s voice was brimming with hope, especially when he noticed the bloodthirsty gaze Elvira directed at his little brother.

“No. My mana has now colors that can make me different from Ferdinand, but being permanently dyed is another matter and not mutually exclusive.” She replied. After a small silence, she whispered under her breath, but everyone could hear, “Now that I think about it, after the gods were angry about it, Ewigeliebe said that even he is not this wicked. Chaocipher said the same.”

If Elvira’s gaze could kill, Ferdinand would have been killed a thousand times.

“I-I’ll ask the Zent’s permission. It doesn’t change much, as I would propose Ferdinand to be her fiancé.” Sylvester broke the silence.

“Indeed,” Karstedt nodded, admitting he would give the same idea.

“A pity my adopted daughter would not be properly proposed…” Ehrenfest’s greatest romantic sighed.

“A noble proposal?” She cocked her head, trying to imagine how it would be. Her curiosity softened Elvira’s expressions, even if just a little, as she explained to her daughter.

“Noble proposals should be different from what you are used to. There are many types, but they usually use the name of a goddess in the speech.” As if remembering something, she said with reddened cheeks, “Some might be more direct and ask for your mana.”

If any god is willing to listen to me…

“Like when Ferdinand asked for my mana in exchange for his library in his hidden room after gathering my jureve’s spring ingredient?” She asked innocently. Elvira was stunned as Sylvester and Karstedt broke into laughter.

“My dear daughter, your meeting with Benno and the Guild Master will start soon, right? Why don’t you go there? I believe you will have much to discuss, and, considering the tight schedule, the tools for the new industry would need to be made with haste. I’ll join you in the next one, okay?” Her smile was beautiful, but how she eyed Ferdinand would make even the Lord of Winter shudder.

He looked at his brother and cousin, and it became apparent to him. Elvira might be the adult with the lower status in the room, but neither Aub Ehrenfest nor Ehrenfest’s Knight Commander dared to say anything. After Rozemyne went to the temple, Elvira scolded the three idiots for a long time.

Rozemyne stayed in Ehrenfest for two weeks. She took care of the existing industries and the one in the making. Apart from that, she resurrected Heidemarie and her unborn son. When asked how, she only said she cried as she listened to the story and unconsciously pleaded the gods for aid.

Maybe because she is now one of them, her magic became even more bizarre.

On the day of her return to the Academy, she had a report of everything they knew about Dunkelfelger and wore a courtship jewelry from Ferdinand. He planned to make a hairpin for her with seven omni-elemental feystones.

I must ask her why she took the bible’s key to her hidden room.

Of course, the time until the Interduchy Tournament was far from a headache-free period. Rozemyne awakened royal heirlooms, beat Dunkelfelger’s heir in ditter, became friends with ladies from the top three duchies, helped Prince Anastasius to court the hidden princess, all while visiting Ehrenfest a few times to check the sugar industry progress.

Her scholar, Hartmut, gathered plenty of information about Dunkelfelger and what they think about Ehrenfest and Ferdinand. That was a great move as there were many misunderstandings. Rozemyne said to embezzle the truth like Sylvester’s corrupt scholars embezzled the duchy’s money.

In Rozemyne’s story, Ferdinand was sent to the temple so that Veronica’s attention on him would diminish. That way, he could search for solid proof about her crimes. The purge gave them a lot of problems since the temple would not work without Ferdinand there. The previous High Priest, who did both his job and the High Bishop, moved to Sovereignty, and the burden went to Ferdinand. With the low amount of blue priests, they also needed his mana to the land.

The only good news was that Karstedt could send Rozemyne to him, afraid that Veronica would try to poison his and Elvira’s youngest daughter. That was the hook to explain how she was almost trafficked as a devouring soldier and their relationship with Ahrensbach. 

“But you are publicly Rozemary’s daughter.” He pointed out the error.

“Oh, not at all. I asked the gods to change it. All portraits about her changed appearance, her name is now Pamella, referring to [Poison Ivy] and her role as a poisonous woman. Apart from Ferdinand, Sylvester, Eckhart, Justus, Mother, and Father, no one else will know about Rozemary.”

Elvira’s noble mask cracked for a moment, but the glee in her eyes and the smile on her face were shining bright.

As Rozemyne planned, the talk with Dunkelfelger was smooth. They were surprised learning that only Veronica and her (many) thugs truly hated Ferdinand, and how Sylvester was quite a doting brother. They became incensed about the forced name-swearing and marveled at Rozemyne’s sugar.

“This dessert is very interesting. Was it your creation, Lady Rozemyne?” Sieglinde asked.

“Oh, yes! I created Red Velvet to have more options to feed Ferdinand. It was a bit tricky and I had to stay a bell in the kitchen, but it was well worth it.”

“You went to the kitchen?” Lestilaut was surprised. Ferdinand was not fond of how he looked at Rozemyne or how Dunkelfelger’s heir always tried to start a conversation with her. “Was it not made by your chefs?”

At least it’s better than that second prince…

“Of course I went to the kitchen! What’s the problem? Cuococalura is the God of Cooking. If a god likes to cook in the kitchen, who am I, a mere mortal, to be ashamed of that? I would publicize it as Rozemyne’s chief’s invention if it were made by my chiefs.” She said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. The custom of siblings giving credit to the heir was a low-ranked duchy, although Ehrenfest took it to another level. However, even in greater duchies, it’s somewhat standard to credit the noble for a new recipe that their chiefs created. 

“You made other recipes for Lord Ferdinand as well, Lady Rozemyne?” Aub Dunkelfelger asked, curious about it.

“Oh, yes. He does not have the option to skip his meals anymore since his retainers would force him to eat. If he refuses, they would call me, and I would force him to eat. I create some recipes tailored to his preferences to make his meals tastier. Now that I think about it, I have schtappe now. I can just bind this unhealthy man to his chair.”

“Oh, am I the unhealthy one here Miss I Used To Pass Out Just By Breathing?” He mocked her.

She rolled her eyes and mocked him back, “I am much healthier now, thank you. Not to mention, I was born sick because of poison. You live unhealthily because you are a fool.”

He scoffed proudly, “I would rather use my time better for research.”

“How funny you can proudly say that when your greys have to go to the High Bishop’s chambers to fetch a sick little girl to pull you out of your workshop by the ear so you can eat and sleep like a living being!”

And they continued their bickering. Dunkelfelger’s archduchal family was surprised at how those two bicker and nag at each other like a couple with a few decades in a marriage. A very happy and lovely marriage. Werdekraf looked at Sylvester, silently asking about it.

The man sighed and said in a teasing tone, “Welcome to Ehrenfest’s daily life.”

“Milord, Milady, we are in a meeting with another duchy, could you please flirt later?” Justus joined the fray with a smirk.

“We are not flirting!” Ferdinand and Rozemyne said in unison. The former was as red as Geduldh’s color all over his body, with the danger of attracting Ewigeliebe’s wrath. The latter was closer to pink, but mostly her face.

Apart from those two, everyone laughed.

A hand on his shoulders brought him back to reality. It was Eckhart. Heidemarie was by his side, holding their son Reinhardt. Ferdinand’s relationship with Heidemarie was a little awkward. Much like Elvira, she fell in love with Rozemyne. Once she learned about the dyeing…

“Milord, you cannot really fault Mother here. Anyone, men or women, would feel disgusted by what you did.” She said with a grimace. The scholar was trying her best to downplay how much his image fell to her. “The only reason my little sister does not feel like we do is because such things did not exist in her previous world. Therefore, while she can understand our reasoning, she cannot completely grasp it.”

At least she stayed as his retainer. ‘Maybe if she had survived that day, I would not have made Rozemyne suffer so much… No. There is no need to think about it, I could have asked for Elvira’s help…”

“Milord, it’s time for the vacation. Aub Ehrenfest has arrived.” Eckhart’s voice helped him to force those memories and thoughts down.