Archduke Conference

The Archduke Conference (領主会議, ryoushu kaigi) is an annual political conference held each spring at the Royal Academy in the Sovereignty, attended by the archducal couple of each duchy and the royal family.

Most major decisions — including trade deals, engagements of prominent nobles, and duchy rankings — are settled during the conference, making it the most important political event of the year.

The Archduke Conference takes place in late spring, after the conclusion of Spring Prayer. The archducal couple of each duchy and their highest-ranking retainers travel to the Royal Academy through teleportation magic circles and reside in their duchy's dormitory during their stay. Students are not present, since the Royal Academy school term only continues through the winter.

While the archducal couple is absent, the responsibility of supplying mana to the foundation of the duchy is typically passed to any eligible archduke candidates or other members of the archducal family.

Each year, the duchies of Yurgenschmidt are ranked based on mana, political influence, economic power, new technology or trends produced, performance at the Royal Academy and other factors. The new rankings are announced during the Archduke Conference.

During the conference, requests for engagement can be submitted to other duchies to be accepted or refused, and engagements of archduke candidates and royalty are publicly announced.

When an archduke or archduchess dies, a time-stopping magic tool is used to preserve the corpse until it can be formally announced at Archduke Conference. There are often sizeable gaps between the death itself and the date of its public announcement.

After the person's death has been reported, the next Aub is selected during the conference and returned to their duchy. The funeral is held shortly thereafter, so that archdukes and nobles from neighboring duchies can be in attendance.

Unlike other nobles in Yurgenschmidt, members of the royal family are not debuted to noble society at their baptism. Instead they are debuted to the gathered archducal couples at the next archduke conference.

During the Archduke Conference, the marriages of royalty and archduke candidates are held in a separate ceremony from the general summer Starbinding for nobles. The ceremony is officiated by the Sovereign High Bishop.

Interduchy trade deals are expected to be conducted only during the Archduke Conference, where all duchies have equal opportunity to negotiate terms. The rule is in place to prevent high-status nobles from pressuring those of lower status into bad business deals.

While advertising products and expressing interest is acceptable, doing business outside of the conference is considered poor form. As a result of this rule, summer is the peak season for interduchy trade.


 * Because the Interduchy Tournament at the end of winter is the only other time of year that high-ranking nobles gather in one place, it is sometimes considered of the Archduke Conference.
 * When Rozemyne was asleep in her jureve, Sylvester and Florencia sought approval from the king during the Archduke Conference to allow her to enter the Royal Academy late, if needed. They brought doctor's notes from Ferdinand as proof.