Von Is Not a Surname, Desu Wa!
Von is not a surname, desu wa!
I gathered the letters Eliza had brought me and opened them one by one.
The letters from Natasha and Milena were brimming with news of the winter preparations that had unfolded over the past few weeks.
Natasha's letter was written meticulously in a neat, precise hand.
The Volkov household pledges its full cooperation with Baron Trofimov in securing our food supply.
Should Baron Trofimov's cattle breeding program go well, we will be able to produce far more dairy products. I am told a cow's gestation period runs roughly three hundred days. I find myself quite looking forward to the cows bearing the Mountain King's calves. (haha)
The documents attached to her letter were densely packed with exact quantities and expected arrival dates for every line item — wheat and barley, salted meats and smoked fish, down to dried fruits and nuts. The immaculately organized list seemed to lay Natasha's personality bare on the page.
Milena's letter, by contrast, was livelier and considerably longer-winded.
Winter preparations are in full swing here in the Sokolov domain as well! The shipyards have set aside merchant vessel construction for the moment and turned their hands to warships instead.
On top of that, the fishing boats are being refitted — reinforcing them so they can venture out into deeper waters to fish. The plan is to secure as large a catch as we possibly can before the sea freezes over.
Having read both letters through, I felt a quiet surge of pride. The winter countermeasures I had proposed were actually being put into practice across every corner of the Eisenmark Grand Duchy.
And there on my desk, as it happened, lay the winter readiness plan for the ducal demesne that I had been reviewing only moments before.
The document was crammed with tables projecting each village's expected food consumption against its stockpiles, the storage capacity of every granary, and preservation timelines sorted by food type — the section covering the districts around the Eisenfels citadel alone ran past thirty pages.
"Progress is going more smoothly than anticipated, I see."
Eliza remarked, studying the documents with careful attention.
"It is, isn't it? The Volkov domain's stockpiling plan in particular is running more than twenty percent over projections, desu wa."
"How much food do you expect to secure in the end?"
I turned to the last page of the plan, where the summary report I had drafted myself awaited.
"At the current rate, the demesne alone should manage to store a minimum of eight months' worth of provisions. Factor in the countships as well, and—"
Then it struck me that there was an error in the calculation. Could the food listed in these documents really keep that long?
We had to account for losses to rats and pests, and for spoilage rates as well. Granted, preserved goods wouldn't rot easily — but still.
"...In practical terms, it would come to about seven months, I should say. If you factor the loss rate into the figures."
Eliza raised one eyebrow slightly, then gave a nod.
"That should be more than sufficient. An ordinary winter lasts barely four months."
"All the same, I'd rather stockpile more, desu wa. Winters have been growing steadily longer these past few years, and if a true deep freeze comes, the next harvest will suffer for it too..."
I was poring over the winter readiness plan once more when Eliza, who had stepped out of the room for a moment, returned and cleared her throat delicately.
"My lady, a visitor has just arrived. A noblewoman of the Empire, going by the name of Edel von Ravendel, has requested an audience."
'Von...?'
It wasn't one of those fictional surnames I'd run across on the internet in my past life. Judging by the prefix, she was either a high-ranking figure of the Empire or, at the very least, a member of some family that ruled territory of its own.
"An Imperial noblewoman, arriving without so much as a word of advance notice..."
Vigilance stirred within me. The Imperial legal officers who had hunted Hildegard, and the Grand Duke's daughter... ahem, ahem.
Only days had passed since the Imperial legal officers and the identity-unknown Captain Eisenmark had come to armed blows. There had been no reaction whatsoever from the Empire over my banishing them, so the timing of this visit felt far too convenient. So convenient, in fact, that I couldn't help suspecting the woman had been sent by the Imperial government itself.
'No — if she were an emissary, she'd have formally declared her identity upon arrival. This woman did no such thing.'
"Do you know anything more about her? What sort of person she is, why she's come?"
Eliza shook her head.
"I don't have the details. I can only say that her carriage was quite ordinary, bearing no family crest of any kind. She had no more than two escorts."
"Rather unassuming, isn't it? And what business could someone like that have with me?"
"She declined to elaborate. She said only that it was a personal matter."
I sank into thought. Was this connected to the legal officers who had pursued Hildegard after all? Or something else entirely?
"Please send word to Hildegard, desu wa. She's from the Empire too — her counsel may prove useful."
Before long, Hildegard arrived.
"A noblewoman from the Empire, you say?"
"Yes. They say her name is Edel von Ravendel. Does it mean anything to you?"
Hildegard tilted her head.
"Ravendel...? That's not one of the elector families, and I don't believe it's any house above a count, either. I have no memory of it. It may well be a cadet branch, or a minor baronial house at best."
"I see. Well, I'll meet with this noblewoman for now. Eliza, please show her to the parlor, desu wa."
With Hildegard in tow, I made my way to the parlor.
The moment the parlor doors opened and we stepped inside, the woman standing by the window turned with practiced grace.
Bathed in the sunlight, she looked like nothing so much as a painting. The soft glow of evening light streaming through the window caught her silver-white hair, casting it in a mysterious halo.
"You must be the Grand Duke's daughter of Eisenmark. It is an honor to make your acquaintance."
She offered an elegant bow. Her voice was clear and gentle, yet beneath it ran a subtle current of certainty and authority.
"I am called Edel von Ravendel. I beg your forgiveness for this abrupt visit."
I studied von Ravendel closely. An age somewhere between her late teens and early twenties, flawless silver hair, and distinctive lavender eyes.
Her attire seemed to reflect the very latest fashions of the Empire — an impeccably refined design, stripped of excessive ornament or gaudiness.
What caught my eye was the ring set with a lavender gemstone, worn on the index finger of her left hand. It shimmered strangely whenever it caught the light, drawing the gaze whether one wished it or not.
"Would you tell me the reason for this sudden visit, desu wa?"
I asked point-blank. Von Ravendel smiled and inclined her head.
"Of course. My thanks for your directness. The frankness of the North is always refreshing."
There was a subtle nuance in her words that nagged at me endlessly. It carried the air of someone granting a concession: the northerners are ill-mannered, but that is simply their nature, so I shall overlook it.
"I have come to study the lengthening winters and the measures taken against them. I thought that if we shared our knowledge with one another, it would profit us both. And beyond that, if I might take the opportunity to tour your far northern lands, so much the better, would it not?"
'What. How does she know we're preparing for the Little Ice Age?'
The deep-cold countermeasures underway across the Eisenmark Grand Duchy were a comparatively recent undertaking.
Granted, it wasn't as though the projects were being conducted in absolute secrecy. Even so, word of them reaching as far as the Empire struck me as decidedly strange.
"And what sort of countermeasures do you believe we're putting in place, desu wa?"
Von Ravendel smiled faintly and let her gaze drift around the parlor.
"A food management system, the construction of underground storehouses, measures against disease... I understand you have been making quite systematic preparations."
'She even knows about the underground storehouses and the disease-prevention measures?'
The reach of her intelligence network unsettled me. This wasn't the level of mere rumor.
"And where, may I ask, did you hear such things, desu wa?"
"A great deal more information passes between the Empire and the North than one might expect. The news, for instance, that large-scale underground storehouse construction began in the Volkov domain last month... intrigued me greatly."
At that point Hildegard carefully interjected.
"Ravendel. Which region of the Empire is that territory in, if I might ask? To my knowledge, no such place name exists."
It was, from a certain angle, a rather rude question — but von Ravendel, without a flicker of discomposure, smiled softly.
"Ravendel is the name of a small village. It lies in the southwest of the Empire, along the upper reaches of the Silverheim River. It is also where my mother was born."
Her explanation was seamless, without any obvious crack. And yet I could not shake the feeling that something was off.
"Then is the reason you've come all this way to the Grand Duchy truly nothing more than discussing measures against winter?"
She answered with elegant poise, smoothing a stray lock of hair with one fingertip.
"Partly, yes. And... I also wished to speak of the movements of Sergen. The threat that the Unifier Kurgan will bring cannot be the northern Grand Duchy's problem alone."
At those words, my suspicions only deepened. Von Ravendel knew far too much about the Grand Duchy's internal affairs.
"Hmm. Wouldn't matters of that kind normally be handled through official diplomacy, desu wa?"
Von Ravendel smiled and looked me straight in the eye.
"Sometimes the most important matters are never settled in official halls. I trust you understand that better than most, my lady."
Her lavender eyes seemed to see straight through me. But I did not avert my gaze either.
In the end, I gave a cautious nod. It was difficult to judge whether this girl called Edel had truly come to discuss winter preparations and Sergen, or whether she harbored some hidden purpose. Of one thing, however, I was certain.
She knew far more than she showed on the surface.