Short Story Collection 1

This is the first volume of the short story collection.

Six years have passed since Urano began her new life as Myne, and so much has happened. She went from being a simple commoner to an apprentice shrine maiden, then she was thrown into the world of nobles as Rozemyne, the adopted daughter of an archduke! “But I’m not the only person with a lot going on! You can say the same for everyone else! Though, uh... I guess that’s mainly because of me.” This first volume of Bookworm’s new Short Story Collection is packed with previously unpublished chapters spanning Parts 1 to 4. Experience the lower city, the orphanage, the temple, the Royal Academy, and many other familiar locations through new eyes in twenty-one stories told from a plethora of unique perspectives. What do those in Myne’s (or Rozemyne’s) circle think about her actions, and what happens in the places she can’t see? Includes behind-the-scenes notes from author Miya Kazuki and more four-panel manga by You Shiina.


 * Chapter 1: Tuuli — My Little Sister’s Gotten Weird
 * Description: A previously unpublished chapter that appeared in the web novel around the time of Part 1 Volume 1. Tuuli muses that her younger sister has been acting strangely ever since recovering from her most recent fever. How did things seem from her perspective when Myne started making hair sticks, shampoo, and the like?
 * Author’s Note: Myne’s desperate for a bath but has to make do with being wiped down. Meanwhile, Tuuli struggles to understand why her little sister suddenly wants to wash every day. Please enjoy seeing the vast gap between their versions of common sense.
 * Chapter 2: Lutz — My Savior
 * Description: A previously unpublished chapter that appeared in the web novel around the time of Part 1 Volume 1. Lutz works with his brothers to gather parues, a very valuable winter fruit. These events didn’t appear in any of the light novels, since Myne wasn’t there to witness them, but they show how parues are actually collected.
 * Author’s Note: It wasn’t until this chapter that I properly fleshed out Sieg and Zasha; before then, they were just Big Bros 1 and 2. This was also the first chapter to show off the magical nature of the Bookworm world.
 * Chapter 3: Gunther — My Daughter’s About to Be a Criminal?!
 * Description: A previously unpublished chapter that appeared in the web novel around the time of Part 1 Volume 1. Gunther has to cope with Myne going to the forest for the first time after building up her stamina. He impatiently awaits her return, unaware of all the trouble surrounding her clay tablets.
 * Author’s Note: I wanted to describe Myne’s eyes changing colors from someone else’s perspective and ended up choosing Gunther to narrate. It was fun writing as him.
 * Chapter 4: Wilma — Servants of Sister Christine
 * Description: A previously unpublished chapter that appeared in the web novel around the time of Part 2 Volume 1. It focuses on how Wilma spends her days in the orphanage after becoming an attendant and provides an insight into how she sees Myne and the orphans. Also included is her conversation with Rosina about the latter’s future in the temple.
 * Author’s Note: Rosina started out as a troublemaker in Myne’s eyes, but that was because their views of the world around them were so contradictory. I wanted to write a chapter exploring Rosina’s perspective in a little more detail and ended up choosing Wilma to be the narrator, as readers were more familiar with the character and seemed to understand her better.


 * Chapter 5: Gunther — I’m Not Givin’ Up My Daughter!
 * Description: An original short story written for the 2015 anime adaptation, set around the time of Part 2 Volume 1. A troubled Gunther, upset that Myne’s position as an apprentice shrine maiden is keeping her from visiting the gate, is reminded that he’s not the only one feeling her absence.
 * Author’s Note: Leckle also appears in the Part 4 Volume 4 chapter “Preventing Destructive Reconstruction.” To those of you eager to know what he was like when he was a little less mature, here you are!
 * Chapter 6: Tuuli — Studying Literature and Picture Books
 * Description: An original short story written for a TO Books crossover in 2016, set around the time of Part 2 Volume 2. After helping Myne put together a picture-book bible from the temple, Tuuli decides that she wants to learn to read. She starts practicing on a stone slate, but progress is slow.
 * Author’s Note: Tuuli gets really weirded out by Myne’s perception of value, and understandably so! Money is regarded very differently in the lower city.
 * Chapter 7: Rihyarda — My New Lady
 * Description: A previously unpublished chapter that takes place between Part 2 Volume 4 and Part 3 Volume 1, and was originally posted online as part of a collection of disconnected short stories. After imprisoning Veronica and throwing the castle into chaos, Sylvester sends Rihyarda a summons. He wants her to serve Rozemyne, his soon-to-be adopted daughter!
 * Author’s Note: We received a lot of very passionate requests for a Rihyarda short story. As a result, to celebrate the release of Part 3 Volume 4, I wrote this chapter about the events leading up to her becoming Rozemyne’s head attendant.
 * Chapter 8: Hartmut — That Fateful Ceremony
 * Description: A previously unpublished chapter that takes place near the start of Part 3 Volume 1 and was posted online as part of a collection of disconnected short stories. Hartmut decides to attend Rozemyne’s baptism, despite his misgivings about Ottilie being assigned to serve her. To his surprise, what he sees there changes him completely.
 * Author’s Note: This short story was written to celebrate Suzuka-san’s birthday. She’s always so passionate when she speaks about Hartmut, and many readers requested a short story about his one-sided first meeting with Rozemyne, so I focused on just that! As it turns out, Suzuka-san actually likes Ferdinand more. Oops?
 * Chapter 9: Christel — A Tea Party with My Older Sister
 * Description: A short story that takes place after the harspiel concert in Part 3 Volume 1. After witnessing the grand event with her own eyes, Christel, a background mednoble in Ehrenfest, recounts the experience to her elder sister, who hadn’t been able to attend due to being married to a noble from the Veronica faction.
 * Author’s Note: I put this story together after three years of writing Bookworm, as a thank-you to my readers. It describes the changes Ehrenfest is going through from the perspective of a less important noble, something that is often difficult to fit into the main story.
 * Chapter 10: Lamprecht — Where My Path Leads
 * Description: A short story originally written as a sales bonus for Part 3 Volume 3. Lamprecht is given the chance to stop serving Wilfried, who is at risk of disinheritance, and decides to consult his family on the matter. Which path is the right one for him?
 * Author’s Note: Eckhart’s scathing remarks à la Ferdinand went through several revisions over the course of writing this chapter. They were originally so much worse, so what you see here is actually pretty tame. (Hahaha.)
 * Chapter 11: Eckhart — Travel Tales for Justus
 * Description: The original, scrapped epilogue for Part 3 Volume 3. Eckhart tells a very impatient Justus what happened while he was accompanying Rozemyne for Spring Prayer.
 * Author’s Note: Putting aside how these two characters always take things way too far, I ended up scrapping this story because it didn’t feel quite right for the light novel. The things I wanted to convey are the same in both versions, so comparing them might be fun.
 * Chapter 12: Wilfried — Time with My Siblings
 * Description: A short story originally written as a preorder bonus for Part 3 Volume 4. Wilfried visits his younger siblings Charlotte and Melchior while staying home for the Archduke Conference.
 * Author’s Note: This chapter really emphasizes how Wilfried was the only one among his siblings whom Veronica raised, despite them all sharing a mother. It was fun getting to write about pre-baptism Melchior; I wasn’t able to do that from Rozemyne’s perspective because they’re not siblings of the same mother.
 * Chapter 13: Cornelius — A Miserable Morning Full of Regret
 * Description: A previously unpublished chapter set near the beginning of Part 3 Volume 5, posted online in a collection of disconnected short stories. Cornelius, overcome with regret after failing to protect Rozemyne and catch the true culprit, has a thought-provoking conversation with his mother.
 * Author’s Note: This started out as the beginning of the preorder bonus for Part 3 Volume 5, but it got cut when the story became too long. As you can see, I ended up turning it into its own little chapter. You could (somewhat loosely) call this the first part of the next short story in this book, “To Protect My Little Sister.”
 * Chapter 14: Cornelius — To Protect My Little Sister
 * Description: The preorder bonus for Part 3 Volume 5. Cornelius finds out he isn’t the only one who feels responsible for Rozemyne getting attacked, and a secret conversation with Hartmut leads to a very unexpected revelation.
 * Author’s Note: I wanted to write about Cornelius’s friendships—something that isn’t really seen from Rozemyne’s perspective. This short story includes a conversation between her future retainers, as well as an illustration that I requested of them all when they were younger. They’re so cute! Oh, and if you’re reading these chapters in order, prepare for a little déjà vu; some of the dialogue that was originally cut from this story (and went on to become “A Miserable Morning Full of Regret”) ended up being worked into the lunch meeting scene.
 * Chapter 15: Hirschur — Special Accommodations
 * Description: A short story that takes place between Part 3 Volume 5 and Part 4 Volume 1, originally written as a sales bonus for the latter. Hirschur receives a special request from Ehrenfest, which brings to mind thoughts of her duchy and her disciple.
 * Author’s Note: How was Rozemyne’s long slumber seen by those not in Ehrenfest? In this chapter, I decided to write a bit about what dormitory supervisors do when they’re not, well, supervising their dormitories! I hope you enjoy seeing a side of Hirschur that Rozemyne doesn’t experience as a student.
 * Chapter 16: Roderick — She Who Saved My Heart
 * Description: A preorder bonus for Part 4 Volume 2. During a meeting in the Royal Academy, the mednoble Roderick faces another day of abuse from the other members of the former Veronica faction.
 * Author’s Note: Many of you wanted to know more about the nobles of the former Veronica faction living in the Ehrenfest Dormitory—so they’re exactly whom this story focuses on!
 * Chapter 17: Philine — Coming Home from the Royal Academy
 * Description: A previously unpublished short story. Philine returns home after finishing her first year at the Royal Academy. After leaving the castle, she once again has to face the harsh realities of being a laynoble.
 * Author’s Note: The preorder bonus for Part 4 Volume 3 ended up too long, so I took away the first half and turned it into this short story. Of course, this means there might be some overlap with the original, but this chapter focuses more on how retainers prepare for their returns home and the relationship Philine has with her attendant Isberga.
 * Chapter 18: Philine — My Knight in Shining Armor
 * Description: The preorder bonus for Part 4 Volume 3. Philine is ready to learn mana compression, but an unexpected turn of events complicates her plans. This short story covers so much of the day that Rozemyne wasn’t able to witness.
 * Author’s Note: Laynobles often lead tough lives, but Philine’s house ranks low even among them. Damuel might be from a laynoble house too, but his is richer, in part because of the Othmar Company’s support.
 * Chapter 19: Charlotte — A New Step Forward
 * Description: A previously unpublished short story that takes place near the start of Part 4 Volume 4. After being so abruptly denied a future as the aub, Charlotte has a tea party with her mother Florencia.
 * Author’s Note: I turned what I couldn’t squeeze into Part 4 Volume 4’s preorder bonus into its very own short story. This one focuses on Charlotte’s feelings and socializing between a parent and child in the archducal family.
 * Chapter 20: Charlotte — My Task
 * Description: The preorder bonus for Part 4 Volume 4, set around the time Charlotte was first assigned to participate in the printing industry as a member of the archducal family. In this story, she receives a request from Rozemyne, who is busy in the temple.
 * Author’s Note: The announcement of Wilfried and Rozemyne’s engagement had a pretty sizable impact on Ehrenfest’s factions and the atmosphere in the castle. Rozemyne doesn’t really notice, since she’s usually away in the temple and assumes the nobles’ squabbling is business as usual, but Charlotte feels the change a lot more keenly.
 * Chapter 21: Philine — I Serve Lady Rozemyne
 * Description: A previously unpublished short story that takes place halfway through Part 4 Volume 4. While helping out in the temple, Philine looks back on how she came to be Rozemyne’s apprentice scholar.
 * Author’s Note: Rozemyne and Philine’s meeting was cut from the main books because it was just too long to include, but I turned it into this short story to celebrate reaching 50,000 Narou points. You might notice that Philine’s relationship with Jonsara wasn’t always so bad.
 * Afterword
 * Bonus Manga

Characters are listed in order of appearance.

Differences from the original web novels:


 * The short story "A Tea Party with My Older Sister" is the same as the one in Fanbook 2.

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