There’s one thing that’s been going through my head recently. As an archduchess, Rozemyne is expected to have three husbands. Granted with the mana monster Ferdinand as her almost asured first husband, there’s probably less need for multiple husbands than for the average archduchess, but it’d still be a sensible idea.
On a different note, we learned that by Sigiswald no longer being the crown prince, the contract with Adolphine was broken, since she was married to the successor of the throne.
If we look at Hildebrand’s engagement with Letizia the same way, wouldn’t that contract also be in violation? It was meant to marry the third prince down to the Aub Ahrensbach following the interrim Aub.
But Hildebrand is now an archduke candidate, not a prince, Ahrensbach will soon not exist anymore, since it’ll be Alexandria and the archduchess following the interrim is Rozemyne, not Letizia.
So where does that leave Hildebrand? Does he still have to marry Letizia, does “he have” to marry Rozemyne (as a second husband probably) or is the whole engagement voided and he’ll get new choices (or rather Trauerqual gets the choices, since it’s usually the parents who decide) for marriage?
With Hildebrand starting mana compression unusually early, I’d say he might still have a small chance to get into mana-sensing range with Rozemyne, even if that’s going to cause troubles with his insufficient schtappe, but that’ll probably happen either way, unless praying at the small shrines helps the schtappe in a similar way that the large shrines did for Rozemyne’s schtappe.
I don’t think Hildebrand has a chance.
His mana is capped by his shtappe and like Roz in her 3rd year he can have too much to handle. And unlike her he can’t readjust by circling the shrines.
I think Lisleaut could possibly wriggle himself into position, but he would need a lot to do.
I don’t feel like Kazuki-sensei would want to write a story like that.
Fanfics on the other hand could explore some interesting plots.
Lestilaut is the next Aub Dunkelfelger, there’s no way he’s going to became even a first husband to an archduchess, much less second or third.
Hildebrand can still circle the small shrines, since they are specifically made for people not omni-elemental. The question is, whether the small shrines have a similar effect on the schtappe as the large shrines do. Because if they do, getting the feystone from all 84 shrines to the subordinate gods should boost his schtappe’s capacity quite considerably.
He also knows at least a little ancient language, so it’s not out of the question they might have him help in the underground archive, and allow him to visit the smaller shrines in exchange, even before enrolling at the academy. Assuming they still need to translate anything from the underground archive. With the magic tool Grutrissheit being written out on 300 pages of physical paper, I doubt it would also contain the full knowledge of all dead royals, archnobles and high-capacity mednobles, plus potentially a couple of devouring commoners since the beginning of the country, so keeping up the translating efforts seems sensible. At least until Eglantine can finish getting a true Grutrissheit herself, as she swore.
But what’s going to happen to Letizia now? Since she’s no longer absolutely needed in not-anymore-Ahrensbach, she could return to her family, if Aub Drewanchel allows it. Alternatively Rozemyne and Ferdinand could adopt her I suppose, but with her having a normal archduke candidate mana capacity, if Rozemyne ever has a child, male or female, chances are, that child will have a considerably higher capacity and thus be near guaranteed to become the successor.
I guess if Letizia and Hildebrand’s engagement was not written out in terms of positions like Adolphine’s engagement was, she could marry into Werkestock and become Hildebrand’s first wife over there. With Hildebrand being the only one of Trauerqual’s children who isn’t an Aub somewhere else, he’s the default choice to succeed his father as Aub Werkeshock, even if his schtappe can’t be fixed, unless Trauerqual adopts someone. But with the kind of wringer the boy was put through already, Trauerqual is probably a least a bit reluctant to take yet something else away from him.
I suppose with the next book series turning around Hannelore, there’s always the chance she will marry into Werkestock to become Hildebrand’s first wife… though I’m still holding out a little hope that she’ll somehow be able to marry Wilfried, as she seemed quite happy to do, until their brief engagement was quickly voided again. It’ll be a hard sell for the only daughter of Aub Dunkelfelger and his first wife to marry someone who won’t become an Aub, but it’s not entirely impossible.
What’s up with the names of the fishermen? Ankh is clearly an Egyptian theme, which is fitting considering Alexandria is also in Egypt, Sekt could be either the German word for sparkling wine or come from Set/Sutekh/Seth or Sekhmet/Sachmet, both of which are Egyptian deities. But then there’s Furt, which is the German word for ford, and Fina, which is a female first name in German speaking countries. I can’t think of any Egyptian origin for either name. And I have no clue what Jiffy might be from… apart from the English “I’ll be done in a jiffy” phrase.
So Ahrensbach’s lower city is actually physically lower than their noble’s quarter. ^^
Eglantine being thrown into ice cold water with her suddenly having to converse with gods directly is plenty funny, I feel a bit sad for her but she’s only suffering the consequences of schemes not unlike those she herself used in the past so my pity is limited.
I also have a feeling that after her showcase of divinity in Alexandria the common folk is going to be a lot more accepting of her antics than they would otherwise. Public education when?
Watching Ferdinand aggressively challenge the gods themselves is flat amazing.
I’m so looking forward to the establishment of Alexandria, but also so sad that the next one is the last volume.
Seeing a story end is always a bit weird, on one hand I crave moar bit on the other I acknowledge that at some point everything has been told. Here’s to hoping for plenty of spin-offs
The commoner story was so cute! Rozemyne needs fish. Get fish for Rozemyne.
Hartmut of course keeping the propaganda flowing.
