Ascendance of a Bookworm: Part 5 Volume 12 Part 3
Ascendance of a Bookworm: Part 5 Volume 12 Part 3
Rozemyne fell unconscious upon completing her large-scale spell. Now it falls to Ferdinand to bring her back from the brink of death. If she succumbs to her lack of mana, her death will mean the worst for her loved ones and the country at large.
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I'm glad to see there are no more hiccups in Alexandria so far. Although the same cannot be said about the rest of Yurgenschmid going by Eglantine's constitution and Anastasius' increased worry. Oh well, you reap what you sow gremlin laughter
I'm quite surprised how shocked all these nobles are that Rozemyne and Ferdinand are not this head over heels couple they thought, I suppose they all let their inner shipper run wildhwith speculation instead of staying grounded in reality. The pair's reaction to their engagement stones probably undid all of that shock though, actions speak louder than words and they all just witnessed something that will probably be enough material for 5 volumes of Elvira's Love Stories on its own. I suspect Ferdinand miscalculated Rogemyne's reaction and is coming to the realization that henceforth he'll be known as a passionate romantic.
I was quite struck by Eglantine saying she owed Ferdinand and Rozemyne an apology, that there were things she hadn't realized before becoming Zent. WHAT THINGS? You can't drop a nugget like that and do nothing with it. 😂 Hoping it comes out in a side story then.
And then Rozemyne CAN WE STOP TALKING ABOUT WINTER PLEASE? Genius of Kazuki to make that her euphemism.
To be fair here Rozemyne's reaction to the suggestion she and Ferdinand did the deed Pre-Marriage would elicit a similar reaction in our world even as recent as 100 years ago so that's just perfectly understandable. Although I think it would be best for Rozemyne and Ferdinand to keep the details to themselves, I suspect a lot of what they did would be considered more than scandalous by the other nobles.
As recent as 100 years ago? Keep in mind that Rozemyne is a bit shy of 14 (and just 15 by our calender, if you calculate that their year has 400 days). That would be scandalous... and outright illegal in most of today's countries. I think the age issue is heavier than the pre-marriage "coming of winter" issue.
I put the focus on the pre-marriage part simply because underage marriage does not seem particularly rare among the nobility in Yurgenschmidt, pretty much how it was in medieval times here. I highly doubt Rozemyne being way too young for marriage by our standards elicits much of a response beyond "might be a bit young that one" from most of these nobles.
There is not a single example of an underage marriage in the entire story. Arranged engagements yes, but not a single noble pair married, before their graduation + coming of age. In fact we have been outright told that it's exceptionally rare for Detlinde to already marry just a single year after her gradation, when those plans were still on, due to just a single year of engagement being considered a rather rushed affair. That would have put her at 17, meaning that most nobles only marry at 18 or later. As in 18 their calender, which would be well 19 years old in a 365 day system.
Eglantine and Anastasius implied that underage marriage would be possible with the Zent's explicit approval
I'm not sure that means much either way. The zent has significant leeway to do whatever they want. Even if no underage marriage has ever happened, the Zent can still approve it, because the Zent's word is law.
In this particular case, I think there is a strong argument that could squash any icky feelings from nobles not close to Rozemyne: "when the divine avatar of Mestionora went to meet with the gods, they altered the flow of time and matured her into an adult".
This has the benefit of being almost entirely true. And anyone with a functioning intelligence network should be able to pick up on the implausibly fast growthspirt she underwent shortly before bestowing the G-book on the Zent.
Plus they should also be aware of the pragmatics of "well, there is not much we can do about her being an underage aub; she did conquer the duchy and repell foreign invaders. So I guess she needs a spouse to help with archducal duties. Maybe give her a few winters off of snow shoveling though"
I know has happened since part 2 but I do find it funny Ferdi mentioned Benno and Myne as potential lovers despite the massive age gap (both vehimently declining).
And here we are Ferdi and gremlin (with a masive age gap......).
If I have the numbers correctly in my head, Ferdinand is 13 years older than Myne (not counting the 2 year coma or age-shift for Rozemyne's fake noble birth), and Benno is another 8 or so years older than Ferdinand. While 13 is a lot, 21 is still quite a bit more... At least Ferdinand isn't old enough to comfortably be is future wife's father, which Benno is easily.
I totally forgot Benno was older than Ferdinand 🫠