An Audience and Nullification of Magic Contracts

“Lutz, no matter what happens, don’t let it show on your face.”

I pressed the point once again as we rode the carriage towards the castle. Most of the nobles Lutz had met so far had at least been willing to listen, even when dealing with commoner merchants. That was largely because many nobles were trying to get involved in the papermaking and printing businesses started by the archduke’s adopted daughter, and because Rozemyne had carefully chosen which nobles she entrusted with her exclusive Gutenbergs. She had also warned them to listen to our opinions and treat them with respect.

“The nobles in the castle… especially those who want to profit by having us nullify the magic contract, will seize on even the smallest mistake and use it against us.”

“That would cause trouble for Lady Rozemyne, right?”

I nodded in affirmation at Lutz’s words. “That’s right.”

Rozemyne had gone from being a temple-raised archnoble to the archduke’s adopted daughter. There were nobles who resented her rise in status, and now that she stood in a position to influence the duchy’s future as a member of the archducal family, she had been drawn into factional strife. Above all, there was no telling how her two-year absence had been taken among the nobility.

“Understood.”

“Be extremely careful with your expressions. Don’t do anything that would put her in a tight spot.”

Strength filled Lutz’s eyes. Seeing the firm nod he gave, I felt reassured that he would be fine. There was not a trace left of the agitation he had shown when he’d learned about them dissolving the magic contract, back in the orphanage director’s office.

…Things seemed fine on this end, but what about her?

As I recalled the sight of Rozemyne—her face wearing a properly noble expression while her hands trembled—the castle came into view through the carriage window.

“With these documents, we can decide both where to establish the next printing guilds and how the paper-making workshops will need to be prepared, Thank you.”

“I am glad to have been of service to you, Lady Rozemyne.”

In order to expand the papermaking and printing industries within the duchy, I had compiled a list of what the giebes who would be accepting them needed to prepare in advance. Assuming that anything not written here would not be prepared, I had gone into considerable detail when writing it up.

The discussion at the castle itself was proceeding according to plan, but the uncomfortable feeling came from the many nobles who were closely watching even the smallest exchanges. Lady Rozemyne’s and Lord Ferdinand’s retainers, and the scholars who would apparently be involved with the printing industry from here on out—being scrutinized by so many unfamiliar nobles with sharp gazes was something I had expected from the start, but knowing that did not make it any less nerve-racking.

…So this was the kind of environment I would have to work in from now on.

It was going to make things much harder.

Until now, Lady Rozemyne had always taken the lead and also been the most powerful person involved, which was why we had been able to work with such relative ease—I realized that all over again. As I wondered whether my involvement with her would grow more distant from here on out, I turned my gaze toward her and saw her speaking with Giebe Ilgner, wearing the composed smile befitting the archduke’s adopted daughter.

…She really looked nothing like the person she was in the hidden room of the temple.

It was impressive, truly.

When I thought that this tense atmosphere was simply part of Rozemyne’s everyday life, I found myself feeling that it was fine for her to cling to Lutz and complain, “I’m tired!” in the hidden room of the temple. Considering that she had been asleep for two years, it might look childish—but it seemed less like an expression of affection and more like a way of reassuring herself that her relationship with us had not changed since the days when she was still “Myne.”

…I should confirm that while I still have the chance.

Before that, even if our magic contract were nullified right in front of Aub Ehrenfest, would Rozemyne be able to keep her expression composed, and would her hands and voice not shake like they did the other day?

“Will the magic contracts be nullified?”

When I checked once the discussion had come to a pause, Rozemyne smiled gently and affirmed with a “Yes,” then began explaining the amount that would be paid in exchange for nullifying the contract and how the Plantin Company would be handled going forward. There was no sign of instability in her smile.

…At this rate, she should be fine too.

“Benno, does everything seem good?”

The Guildmaster and Otto, the representative of the Gilberta Company, were shown into the castle’s waiting room in preparation for the afternoon audience and took seats across from me as they asked the question. I nodded and replied, “It’s fine.”

With their arrival, all the merchants who would be granted an audience with the Aub at that time were finally present.

“I’ve never been this deep inside the castle before. What kind of person is Aub Ehrenfest? You’ve both spoken directly with him at that Italian restaurant, right? Ugh, I’m getting nervous…”

Otto, who rarely looked so pale, started to clutch his head, only for his aide Theo to hurriedly stop him. Causing a scene and disheveling his hair inside the castle would be a disaster.

At Otto’s almost petulant outburst, the Guildmaster frowned and pressed a hand to his stomach.

“True, I have received words from him directly before, but this is my first time being formally summoned to the castle by the Aub himself. I’m just as nervous. This is nothing like handling the required procedures at the castle entrance.”

The Guildmaster was right. Shop owners who served the nobility would sometimes come to the room near the castle entrance to complete necessary procedures. Even purchasing ink for contract magic required coming to the castle.

However, in those cases, the person they dealt with was a scholar. Not the archduke himself.

“So even the Guildmaster gets nervous, huh? Benno, you’ve been to the castle plenty of times, so you’re used to it, right? The Plantin Company sells educational materials in the castle’s children’s room at Lady Rozemyne’s invitation, after all.”

“Compared to you, I’ve spent more years as a shop owner, so I’ve come to the castle more often—but there’s no way I would ever get used to it! Especially not when the matter at hand is this.”

Being asked to hear directly from commoner merchants about a new duchy-wide enterprise was something that never would have happened without Rozemyne. On top of that, we would be nullifying magic contracts as well. Thinking about how the nobles would look at the Plantin Company—who had monopolized the profits until now—was enough to give me a headache.

…The actual profits weren’t even that big yet!

Both papermaking and printing were still new industries. There had been heavy upfront costs before they became profitable, and it wasn’t as though the giebes fully covered the expenses of transporting and housing the Gutenbergs when they traveled to their lands. Even so, she appeared far removed—familiar, yet distant. Watching her stand quietly with a graceful smile, no one would ever guess that she had been born among the poorest of commoners.

“First, please allow me to explain the papermaking and printing industries within Ehrenfest. Under the contracts up to this point…”

The discussion itself ended very simply. With the archduke present, it was merely a matter of confirming what had already been discussed beforehand. We were not permitted to speak directly; we only listened as the scholars relayed the decisions as settled matters.

“Now sign this.”

What was presented was a parchment for dissolving the magic contract. It contained only the two numbers representing the magic contracts in question and a brief passage declaring that they were to be annulled.

Just as we had when entering into the contracts, Lutz and I wrote our names while being closely watched by the nobles, then pressed our blood seals onto the parchment.

…We were only doing the same thing we had done when entering the contract, and yet—why did it feel so hollow?

**I swallowed the sigh that threatened to escape and yielded my place to Lutz. The tips of his fingers trembled slightly as he reached for the pen, and I could tell he was desperately holding his emotions in check so they wouldn’t show on his face.

…It’s all right. No one else can tell. Just gotta keep it together like this until we’re back at the store.

If I could, I would have liked to give his shoulder a reassuring pat, but Lutz’s atmosphere was so rigid it felt as though he might collapse if I did anything unnecessary. And in an audience chamber filled with this many nobles, there was no way I could make such a casual gesture. I settled for cheering him on silently in my heart and turned my gaze toward Lady Rozemyne.

…She was better at hiding her emotions than we were.

She wore a faint, properly noble smile, with no sign of anxiety or sorrow. Even so, I could tell that her eyes shifted ever so slightly, following Lutz’s movements.

Finally, Rozemyne signed the contract. The moment she did, the parchment was enveloped in golden flames and began to burn. In just a few fleeting seconds, the precious bond between Lutz, me—and Rozemyne, who had become a noble—was consumed and vanished.

Even I, who knew that we would continue to be connected through business, felt an overwhelming sense of emptiness that I could not shake. Thinking about how turbulent their emotions must have been, and how desperately they were suppressing them, was almost unbearable.

I suddenly realized that someone was looking our way. Wondering who it might be, I lifted my face just slightly and shifted my gaze. My eyes met those of Aub Ehrenfest, who was quietly looking down at us from his chair. His deep green eyes, fixed on me as though testing something, were the same as the ones I had once seen in the temple.

“Someday Myne will become a noble.”

Back then, Lord Sylvester—clad in the blue robes of a priest—had said those words while staring straight at me with those deep green eyes. They had been the same eyes that had made it painfully clear he was weighing whether the Gilberta Company should be eliminated or not.

“Do you have the resolve to support that girl? Once she becomes a noble, what she gains will not be limited to benefits alone.”

“I appreciate your concern, but it has never been only about benefits, even until now.”

I explained that, anticipating Myne would eventually be absorbed into noble society, I had entered into a magic contract that prioritized bonds over profit before she had even entered the temple.

Because she had the devouring, if Myne became ever too emotional, she could easily die. Even if she were abducted by nobles seeking profit, I had created a situation where they could not gain anything unless Myne, Lutz, and I were all present together.

“So it wasn’t for profit, but the result of a commoners’ ingenuity—so that you could at least maintain a minimum line of communication—and that was why the magic contract was created.”

…You’re the one saying you’ll make Myne into a noble, but don’t you dare crush her in the pursuit of profit.

I remembered looking straight back into those deep green eyes, those thoughts firmly carried in my gaze.

Even now, with those same feelings in my heart, I looked back at the archduke who had demanded the dissolution of the magic contract. There was no way to know how turbulent Rozemyne’s future might become, or in what form those storms would come. The ones who should support her through that were her noble family.

…So do your job properly, as her adoptive father.

Sylvester’s lips twitched upward ever so slightly when he met my gaze. That expression was the same one he had worn back then—“I see. Looks like he’ll still be useful even after that girl becomes an archnoble,” and “Support her for me. To be honest, the things Myne wants are often so outlandish I can’t make heads nor tails of them,” before dumping the responsibility squarely on my shoulders. It seemed he intended to keep doing the same with Rozemyne from here on out.

…Yes, yes. As if anyone could go against Aub Ehrenfest anyway.

Once the Plantin Company began spreading the papermaking and printing industries throughout the duchy, there was no longer any possibility of withdrawing from work that involved the archducal family. I had no way of knowing how much interference might come from unfamiliar scholars, but continuing our relationship with Rozemyne within the bounds we were permitted was also a form of self-preservation.

…Even after the magic contract is dissolved, we will continue to support her.

Within the limits of what we could do.

I had certainly thought that continuing to support Rozemyne would be a role imposed upon the Plantin Company going forward. I had thought so—but I had not expected Gil to burst into the shop early the very next morning.

“Sorry for coming so early! The High Priest sent orders by magic letter—he said to summon the Plantin Company…

It looks like Lady Rozemyne is coming back, and he told us to prepare the orphanage director’s office…”

Seeing Gil, who had come running at full speed from the temple and was now gasping for breath, it was clear that this was an emergency. Something serious must have happened.

“Lutz, go to the temple first with Gil. We’ll make preparations and head over after.”

“Right! Let’s go, Gil.”

Mark and I hurriedly changed our clothes, prepared a carriage, and headed for the temple. What on earth could have happened for us to be summoned the very day after the meeting at the castle?

When we rushed over in a panic, the reason turned out to be something as ridiculous as “Rozemyne had a bad dream,” and I couldn’t help but shout at them in anger. However, Rozemyne’s mana fluctuations had been severe enough that the High Priest judged it dangerous and decided to rush back to the temple.

“Give me a break.”

At least allow me to complain a little in my head.

…Seriously you nobles, support her properly!