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2025-03-12
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Verfruhmeer's tea party brings forth Liebeskhilfe and Angriff

Summary:

If there is anyone who enjoys a rags to riches underdog story, it's the ditterheads, or that's the creed that Rozemyne puts all of her trust in when she explains to Lestilaut why she refused. So she sits him down like a civilized person and tells him the truth.

Notes:

(See the end of the work for notes.)

Work Text:

He was in a foul mood, not angry, but rather resigned, tired. He had just a few days prior lost his only path to the girl who made Bluanfah dance so passionately in his chest, his one chance to make such a remarkable, industrious, intelligent and beautiful girl his wife. It was as if Dreganuhr had slowed her spinning and the Goddess of Light had retracted her shine on his world.

It was with that mentality that an Ordonnanz flew into his room, “Lord Lestilaut, this is Rozemyne, Since the Ditter match ended in a draw, do you want to hear the reasons for my refusal?” It then repeated the message twice more, her voice was hushed as if she didn’t want it to be heard by her retainers.

“ Why? ” He questioned the message, why would he need to hear the reasons, it was already set in stone that he would not obtain the hand of the one who stirred his heart… Yet the fact that she had reached out to talk at all… Maybe he should respond… “Lady Rozemyne, this is Lestilaut, what possible reason could you want to talk about it? You accepted a Ditter game bent on refusal.” He then sent it on its way.

The next several moments were agony, he held no false hope, but the wait felt unbearable, and a rush entered him when the Ordonanz returned and the message, “If you listen to my reasons under Verbergen’s veil, you may yet obtain that which you sought of me.” He had never been happier that the message of an Ordonnanz repeated three times, for he refused to believe what he heard. She had refused him, yet now alluded to potential marriage!? “ Just what is going on in that head of hers, she is an enigma and she torments me so…”

He looked at the stone and made an Ordonnanz, “Anhaltung compels me to listen, shall we say the customary three days?”

---

Rozemyne entered the Dunkelfelger tea room and did the usual noble greetings before taking a seat.

Lestilaut’s impatience made him forsake Grammaratur right from the outset,  “So, lady Rozemyne, you spoke of reasons for refusing my advances? Pray tell, what are they?”

“My refusal is that I do not want to be an object for any man to win, to be reduced to a thing that can be taken by force, and any man who thinks as such is not worthy of my attention.” She then signaled for a change in tea and an area-wide sound blocking tool was activated. She cleared her throat, “That’s the public reason that your retainers are allowed to spread.”

“I see…” Lestilaut looked around noticing how few retainers she had this time, “I see your fiance is not with you today, nor is your sister. Is it truly wise to meet me alone after you know my intentions?”

Rozemyne shrugged her shoulders, “They cannot be part of this conversation, they have a duty to report to Aub Ehrenfest and that’s what I’m hoping to avoid.”

His eyes narrowed, “So are the rumors true of his abuse, and favoritism?”

Rozemyne was silent, an unspoken rule that confirmed his suspicions, but before he could ask for the details, Rozemyne spoke again, “...Dunkelfelger prides itself on fighting, correct? Fighting to obtain what you desire, fighting to survive an ordeal, fighting against life’s unreasonableness?”

“That is correct, victory brings honor, be it against man, beast or circumstance.” Lestilaut proudly spoke of Dunkelfelger’s ideals.

“...I want you to keep that creed in mind as I tell you of my true origin, one that my siblings don’t know, one you cannot speak of to others… I was born a commoner.” Rozemyne saw his horrified expression and the processing error going through his head.

When he had regained his composure, the first words out of his mouth was, “But commoners don’t have mana.”

“I was born with the Devouring, and to survive it, I began mana compression at the age of five…By age seven I had more mana than Aub Ehrenfest, turns out my mana compression method is so much more potent than any other in all of Yurgenschmidt.”

“So you are not a noble at all…” Lestilaut’s spirit was crushed.

“This is why I told you to hold Dunkelfelger’s ideals in mind when you heard the news… I fought against the Devouring to survive, I forced myself to learn noble culture to survive, I used my mind to create products that became trends, so I could afford my commoner family to thrive…And it is because of my commoner family that I truly refused you…”

Lestilaut narrowed his eyes, what possible reason could her commoner family have to do with her refusal, “What do you mean by that?”

“I am under a magical contract with Aub Ehrenfest to comply with his demands if he is to spare my commoner family. I must release my industries through him so he can benefit, I must raise Ehrenfest’s grades, I must marry Wilfried to save his reputation so he can become the next Aub, I must be in charge of religious ceremonies. If I don’t uphold his demands, he will have my Geduldh executed. Being adopted by Aub Ehrenfest is very much like a white marriage, all duty… no love. As much as I love my noble siblings, they would report back to the Aub that I was talking about this contract with you…And guess what would happen to my Geduldh… gone.” Rozemyne’s voice was shaking just a little at the end.

“So THAT is the reason?” Lestilaut now knew the truth, that Rozemyne’s commoner family was being used as hostages to ensure her compliance, so they could leech off of her brilliance. He could just imagine the battles she had fought to survive, to keep her family safe against nobles… Truly her spirit of fighting against the cruel weave of Ventuhite, means she would have flourished in Dunkelfelger.

“He doesn’t threaten my family with words, but the threat is always lurking in the background because he holds their medals…So that’s my marriage task for you lord Lestilaut. If you can find a way to keep my commoner family safe from Aub Ehrenfest, I will accept your proposal…If Zent would approve that is. The royal family is forcing me to obtain Guttrisheit, and after obtaining it, I will be adopted into the royal family and probably be forced to marry that intolerable buffon Sigiswald.”

“THEY ARE WHAT?!” Lestilaut exploded with fury, so much that it startled Rozemyne slightly, his mana swirling in his eyes.

A flicker of annoyance washed over her face for just an instant before it was back under her noble mask, “I keep giving them hints on how to obtain it, but they refuse to do the necessary work and think it’s easier to get me to obtain it and then either take it from me or marry me to Sigiswald to control it…” 

“...But if you hold it, that means you’re the Zent Rozemyne. For what reason do they think they can just take it from you?” He completely forgot to address her properly.

“What other choice do I have? They are threatening my other Geduldh, Ferdinand.” He did not like to hear that that Ferdinand was her Geduldh, Ewigeliebe stirred within him, “They already banished him to Ahrensbach, to Lady Georgine who has namesworn Ehrenfest’s nobles to control us, to lady Detlinde that self absorbed incompetent hag, Ahrensbach is not even providing him with a proper room, despite him being engaged to that Talfrosch, he has no hidden room or workshop to make potions, and must be ever wary of poison. His position is already so precarious, how can I help him? It’s not like I have the political power to oppose the royal family…” Lestilaut could see the unshed tears in her eyes.

Lestilaut got up and approached her before kneeling before her, like a knight declaring their allegiance, “Rozemyne, when you obtain Guttrisheit, you will be the Zent…And Dunkelfelger is known as the Sword of Zent, so if you become Zent, you will obtain ALL of Dunkelfelger’s support. And I’m sure that with your inventions you can entice Drewanchel and Immerdink to support you. With Guttrisheit you can open the country gates and replenish the ocean for Hauchletze, Ossvault and Quandtreeb to gain their support. You’re from Ehrenfest, so I assume the Aub can be persuaded to acknowledge your ascension, and with his marriage ties to Frenbeltag they can be persuaded too. Neuhausen, Berschmann and Lindenthal opposed the royal family in the civil war, so talking to them would not be without merit.”

Rozemyne’s eyes went wide as she realized just how much support she could garner for the throne, to be Zent independently from the royal family, “...Right, right! with Guttrisheit I can even close the Duchy borders, I can rearrange the borders themselves to take land from my enemies and give to allies, I can close the teleportation circle to refuse that duchy’s candidates from ever learning the names of the supreme couple, making Entwincklen impossible for future generations of that Duchy. I can hold their current students hostage here at the academy to make them compliant. As Zent I can force Aub Ehrenfest to cancel the contract!”

Lestilaut was now slightly scared, excited and in love, but also scared. What manner of political beast did he just unleash upon the world…

That’s when she looked down at him kneeling in front of her, with a smile full of genuine affection she addressed him, “Thank you Lestilaut, I now know what path to take to save my family and Ferdinand.”

That smile made Bluanfah dance madly in his chest, but the mention of his name soured the dance’s purity, “Rozemyne, as Zent… Do you plan to take Ferdinand as your consort?”

“Bwuh?” She stuttered, looked at him funny, as if he just told a funny joke… But then it dawned on her… He was her family, he was someone she could start a new family with, her mana began rampaging ever so slightly, “I…um, I think I will? I need to do something to protect him, and I consider him my true family. He is the only noble in all of Ehrenfest who gave me affection, all the others just see my antics as problematic.

Affection. The word made Lestilaut’s stomach churn in agony, “So it’s like that… Bluanfah dances between the two of you, enough for you to have offered him flowers despite your age.” It was a grave accusation, and he didn’t want it to be real, he needed her to say that it isn’t true.

A look of horror was displayed on her face, “There is no way I did that! Have you seen my body? Despite being a year older than Wilfried, my body is so childlike, and sickly…Who could ever love a body like this? Especially in a romantic way.” 

Lestilaut saw just how disgusted she was with her own body, despite her looks being near divine, so despite his better judgement and the fact that she held a rafel for another lord, he broke noble protocol and rose from his kneeling position, embraced her in a hug and whispered into her ear, “Rozemyne, you are beautiful beyond words. You possess an ethereal beauty rivaling the goddesses… During whirling class, when your charms lit up, you took my breath away… Let me show you.”

He then turned his attention to both his and her retainers, only to discover that they all look mortified, angry and embarrassed, and only then did he become aware of what he just did and he was dyed Geduldh’s color. After getting over the initial embarrassment, he gestured to his attendant Tasserak to enter the sound blocking area, “I need you to bring me the painting I made of Lady Rozemyne’s whirl.” The attendant affirmed the order and left to pick it up, an uncomfortable expression on his face.

“ To think that I have it prepared because mother told me to show it to her as a punishment for me… but then it turns into one of my only hopes in getting Bluanfah to dance between us… Ventuchte truly weaves in mysterious ways.” He dared not look at Rozemyne’s face while he waited on the painting, he didn’t want to see what expression she wore, whether it be one of disgust, joy or indifference. He only hoped that she would have time to fix her noble mask by the time the attendant returned.

Tasserak finally returned with the painting in hand and gave it to Lestilaut, before withdrawing outside the sound blocker, Lestilaut then removed the binding cloth and showed her his masterpiece, “You may hate your own body Lady Rozemyne, but this is how I see you.” And he heard her gasp and when he looked, she had turned Geduldh’s color, and an unreadable expression on her face.

She put her hands up to her mana organ and her breathing became slightly erratic, “You… You really love me, don’t you?”

“I would not have challenged you to Ditter for your hand in marriage if I didn’t feel this strongly about you.” His voice thick with emotion, his eyes radiating desire.

She closed her eyes, her expression that of one making a heavy decision, “Lestilaut.” She wasn’t using an honorific, “When I become Zent, I will need more than one consort… Will you be-”

He could not wait for her to finish her question, “Yes! Not only will I marry you because Bluanfah dances, but also because it would be a huge honor for Dunkelfelger to have consort ties to Zent.”

“Then it seems our path is set, and we have much to do.” She put her hand tenderly over his, “I’m so glad we had this talk today.” she smiled a genuine dreamy smile at him, “I told you that you might obtain what you sought of me if we sat down and talked about it.”

Notes:

I realize it’s a little OoC, and she is not in love, but Lestilaut just gave Rozemyne a fix to all of her worries, there is no way she wouldn’t at least consider it politically. She doesn’t want to be Zent, but she would also rather not be pushed around by Royalty. The fic is inspired by Mestionora Plays Catch with Angriff, but since she doesn’t have future memories in this fic, she can’t escape the ditter… So in this, she sits him down afterwards and talks about it, like a civilized person and not a barbarian.