05 Royal Library
The dorm had been separated into two sides with Emilia being assigned the side that was formerly used by a women. It was also decided that her servant would share the space with her, not only as a guard but because Emilia had not brought any handmaidens with her when she came to Arxia.
It would be necessary to make arrangements for Emelia's handmaiden as well… But the fact she was underage was a bit of an issue here, and it was not possible for her to come until Spring vacation had ended at the school. She would have to stay with Emilia as well. Fortunately, there were the two others, Tira and Ratoka who also acted as her handmaids.
Well, Ratoka would inevitably stare at her with her dewy eyes.
Until our belongings arrived from Kaldia, Emilia would stay at the Archduke's villa and I decided to stay at the residence that I had been until now. In the meantime, I packed in order to be able to move to the new residence from there, all the while thinking of a name for the orphan.
I am trying to think of a name that does not have a Jugfena ring to it.
Names in the Einsbark family have historically been taken from bishops and priests… Generally speaking, the names were mostly from religious figures who had been revered as saints. I don't know where the name Ergnade derived from, but this applied to both Volmar and Wiegraf's names.
However, borrowing the names of saints was considered rather unusual in Arxia, and it was nearly unheard of among those in high society. And so this naming convention was considered as a distinct feature of the Einsbark family.
But I had taken in the child in order to protect its existence from their relatives, so I could not give it a name that would give voice to suspicion.
However, at the same time, one day… When I considered that the child might one day return to the Einsbark house, I felt that I could not give a Jugfena specific name either. This was because the Einsbark family were not from the Jugfena region.
In that case, it was necessary to use the royal capital as a basis for choosing a name. Settling with a standard Arxia name would be the most preferable then.
…But, unfortunately, I was not very bright when it came to such matters.
"…Mrs. Heideman, I'm sorry to disturb you, but I need you to ready a horse for me."
"Of course. Where will you be going?"
"To the Royal Library."
I had no books near me that I could use as a reference for finding names, and I was not educated enough to be able to think of the kind of words that could help me. And so I took the safe course and decided to do some research.
The Royal Library was located in the western corner of the school grounds, specifically, it was just inside of the gate that faced the center of the town of nobles. It was not only the largest but also had the highest number of books of any facility in all of Arxia.
Students of the school were allowed free access, and could even borrow books on the condition that they would not be taken outside of the school grounds. Those who were citizens of the royal capital were also allowed access after paying an annual fee. This was why the school remained open even during Spring vacation.
There was also a modest reading room within the school itself, that was more than enough to find information pertaining to my studies, and so I had not bothered to go to the library until now.
…I had vague memories from the game about certain events occurring here, and so I had been somewhat avoiding it. Though, I didn't exactly remember what kind of events they were, specifically.
But it was wholly unlikely that there would be any books about names in the reading room, and so I had to give in to this irresistible force guiding me here.
I finished identification at reception and quickly grabbed a directory of nobles and several dictionaries that looked useful, and then moved over to the reading area where I took a seat.
Any likely names I found in the directory I would then look up in the dictionary. As long as I was offering a name to someone else's child, I wanted it to be a name thats meaning had been carefully considered.
As I continued in this for a while, the libraries visitors started to increase and the building had become rather loud before I knew it. But I paid it no mind and continued to immerse myself in my work.
"….Ah!?"
Apparently, I had been a little too immersed and had been unconsciously stacking books atop each other at random. The moment that someone had passed by, two or three volumes had shifted and then fallen loudly to the floor.
"I, I am so sorry."
I frantically picked up the fallen books. I shot a quick look at them, but they appeared to be undamaged.
I breathed a sigh of relief and raised my head, my eyes catching the other person who had frozen with surprise by the sound of the falling books.
"…Ah, um, no. I should be sorry, it was all my fault. Are the book alright, Lady Einsbark?"
The person who stood in front of me was none other than Emilia, who now wore an expression that combined a wincing embarrassment and a worry for the condition of the books.
I see. So she was the reason for the earlier commotion.
I wasn't sure about the underage students, but by now Emilia's face was starting to become known among everyone else at the school. But then again, she was living quite openly at the royal castle and the archduke's house, so that was to be expected.
"La-lady Emilia. What a pleasant surprise to meet you here… Please forgive my blunder. And do worry about the books."
"No, it was my own carelessness… I think that maybe the hem of my skirt got caught on it."
As soon as Emilia said this, a nobleman who happened to be sitting at the same desk as me quickly looked up in our direction.
This was unfortunate.
What Emilia was now wearing was not a Rindarl style dress with a straight skirt, but an Arxia dress which had a hoop under the skirt to give it some volume.
It was clear that Emilia had not really been thinking, but you couldn't blame a bystander for thinking that her words implied that, 'Arxia dresses were difficult to move in.'
"Well, well. That is most troublesome… But they do not have such basic lessons for ladies in this school."
"Huh?"
I purposely said this as if to push her away. Emilia's eyes widened a little as her confusion deepened.
The nobleman who appeared in the corner of my vision seemed to have been satisfied by this, as he returned his gaze to his book. The reason that there was a curl in his lip was probably due to the fact that he felt I was being a little harsh on Emilia.
"…It must be quite hard to have to live wearing such unfamiliar clothing. I will have some dresses that are closer to the Rindarl fashion prepared for you at the house."
This time I lowered my voice and whispered so that only Emilia could hear me.
I understood her, because I did not wear dresses very often myself. With Arxia dresses, even ones worn during the day were extravagant and used corsets, making them very difficult to move in until you grew more accustomed. The biggest issue was that the space between your body and the hem of the skirt was completely different, so you were constantly bumping into other things.
"Uh, oh?"
Emilia looked at me with an uncertain expression. She had stopped here a little too long now, and I could see several pairs of eyes were now being drawn towards us. Most of them had faces that twisted in contempt as if something about all of this was not amusing to them.
…Oh, well.
"What book were you looking for?"
I should quickly have her borrow the book she was after and send her back before this led to any kind of incident.
I was thinking this as I stood up, but Emilia's eyes widened once again, uncomprehending.
—I felt that this might have been the first time I saw her with an expression that fitted that of an Otome game's heroine.