Sigrid

Sigrid Ankertna nodded in understanding at his words.

“If that’s the case, I’ll do that.”

“While you’re at it, why not hire a kitchen maid separately? The quality of food really improves, you know?”

“Three maids……”

Isn’t that a bit much for someone living alone?

“For your reference, I employ four maids, four manservants, and one butler. While living alone.”

Morris Deforest added, as if he had read Sigrid’s mind.

“…That seems a bit strange.”

“It’s not strange at all. Everyone lives like this, you know?”

As Morris frowned and spoke, Sigrid shook her head.

“No, I don’t mean you’re strange. It’s strange that I’ll have nothing to do. With no laundry, cleaning, or dishes to do, I feel like I’ll have too much free time.”

“You’re buying your time with money. You can do what you like with the extra time, can’t you?”

“Oh, I see. You’re right.”

Sigrid nodded at his words. Indeed, as she had more time, her sword training time had increased. The speed at which her Aura Core accumulated had also accelerated, and now a diamond-shaped core the size of a fingernail was clearly visible between her breasts.

Buying time.

‘It’s a concept I’ve never thought about before.’

But being able to devote more time to swordsmanship was good.

‘I see.’

If you have money, you can use your time entirely for what you like.

She didn’t dislike cooking or laundry, but she didn’t particularly enjoy them either.

‘And sword training is also a knight’s basic duty. This might be okay.’

Watching Sigrid’s wavering expression, Morris got a sense of how to talk to her.

“Building your body is also an important part of being a knight. Diet management is crucial, isn’t it?”

“That’s certainly true.”

Sigrid honestly felt that her strength had increased lately. Both her strength and speed had improved considerably, and she had wondered why, but it seemed that eating well was a big factor.

‘My stamina has increased compared to before.’

“Then should I hire them…?”

“I’m telling you to do it.”

Morris urged Sigrid with a grin.

Isn’t it quite enjoyable to watch others spend money, even if it’s not your own?

“Alright then. I’ll hire them.”

When Sigrid spoke plainly, Morris was surprised, but he quickly hid his reaction.

“Well done, well done. You need to eat better. No matter how frugal you are, how can you gain strength eating only thin oatmeal and weeds? People need to eat meat.”

“That’s true.”

Sigrid answered with a bitter smile.

“You should take care of your health while you’re healthy.”

Morris spoke seriously as he observed Sigrid’s expression. He carefully continued:

“Even if your health deteriorates, don’t give up quickly. It’s best to see several doctors. Don’t just listen to one person. If you’re not feeling well, I could introduce you to my family’s physician. He’s quite skilled.”

“Thank you.”

Sigrid replied with a faint smile. While she didn’t know why Morris had returned then, or why he believed in her, having someone show such kindness was far more joyful than she had imagined.

“If you need anything from me, let me know too. Though all I’m good at is swinging a sword.”

“That’s amazing in itself.”

Morris said with a grin. It was true that she was strong. Probably, excluding the Captain and Vice-Captain, Sigrid was the strongest in the 2nd Knight Order. Although she disliked showing her training, so her skill could only be gauged during the regular sparring sessions, she was undoubtedly strong.

After bringing it up, Sigrid suddenly wondered if she should tell Morris about her Aura Core, but she kept her mouth shut. She didn’t want to tell anyone yet.

‘And there are no secrets that just the two of us know.’

She couldn’t stay in the 2nd Knight Order forever, but she hadn’t decided what to do yet. She wanted to keep it a secret until she made up her mind.

“It seems like swinging a sword alone isn’t enough.”

Sigrid added with a strange smile as she stood up.

“Anyway, thank you, Morris.”

“Don’t mention it.”

Morris stood up to see Sigrid off.

‘Swinging a sword alone isn’t enough, she says.’

He was tired of being surprised at every little thing now.

‘People really do change.’

Morris regretted not pushing harder for her to see his family’s physician.

⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱

With a tense face, Sigrid alighted from the carriage. Jumping out of the carriage all dressed up without an escort was full of incongruity, but Sigrid was too nervous to notice.

“Welcome, my lady.”

A servant greeted her politely and guided Sigrid to the greenhouse. As soon as she entered the greenhouse, she felt a wave of warmth and thought, ‘I didn’t need to bring a shawl after all.’ Inside the lavishly decorated greenhouse was an equally lavish table.

“Sigrid.”

Lowengrin Alsekidna, the hostess, rose from her seat to greet her.

“Thank you for inviting me.”

Sigrid said, giving a knight’s salute, and despite her mistake and the gesture’s unsuitability for her dress, Lowengrin simply guided her to her seat with the same smile.

“Welcome.”

Marie-Chez was already seated. Sigrid bowed her head reflexively at the elegant words accompanied by a gentle flutter of a fan. Marie-Chez fanned herself a bit faster as she spoke:

“Such greetings aren’t necessary between us, are they?”

This was a double entendre meaning “Aren’t we on such bad terms that we don’t even need to greet each other?”, but Sigrid could hardly understand such elegant speech. With an awkward smile, Sigrid said:

“Ah, indeed? Since we’re peers, should we be more casual?”

Marie-Chez gaped, and Lowengrin stifled a laugh. Marie-Chez sighed.

“Right, that’s the kind of person you are.”

“Marie.”

When Lowengrin called her name as if to say ‘We didn’t come here to fight, did we?’, Marie-Chez sighed.

‘She seems quite lively for someone who’s about to die.’

“Your dress is pretty.”

Marie-Chez blurted out, blatantly looking Sigrid up and down. The deep blue dress with almost no embellishments perfectly revealed Sigrid’s slender figure. It complemented her clean skin and silver hair well.

“Is it? I’m glad. I know nothing about clothes, so I just bought what the shop assistant recommended.”

“Oh my, really? I can’t wear anything that doesn’t have my personal touch. You know, there’s such a thing as individual sensibility?”

“Ah, I see. I’ve always thought the clothes you wear suit you well and look pretty.”

Sigrid spoke honestly, awkwardly fidgeting with her fingers. Marie-Chez, who had been sarcastic, was caught off guard and lost for words. She snapped her fan shut with a loud click.

Meanwhile, a servant set up a cup and plate in front of Sigrid. Lowengrin asked:

“I’ve prepared two types of black tea, which would you prefer, Alishan or Black Walker?”

Both names were unfamiliar to Sigrid. As she hesitated to speak, Lowengrin kindly said:

“Alishan is a bit lighter, while Black Walker is stronger.”

“Then I’ll have Alishan, please.”

“Alright.”

At Lowengrin’s slight finger movement, a waiting maid approached quietly, filled the cup, and returned to her position.

“If there’s any snack you’d like, just say so.”

As Lowengrin pointed to the three-tiered tray, Sigrid was surprised to see many pastries she had never seen before. They were so beautiful that Sigrid wondered if it was alright to eat them. As she stared at the tray unable to order, Lowengrin asked:

“May I recommend something?”

“Ah, yes.”

As Lowengrin chose a cake, a servant placed it on a plate and set it in front of Sigrid. Suddenly remembering her own tea party, Sigrid felt her cheeks flush.

What nerve did I have to call that a tea party?

As Sigrid carefully lifted the visibly expensive teacup and took a sip, even she, a tea novice, could tell it was high-quality from its aroma and taste.

“It’s delicious.”

Sigrid said with wide eyes, and Lowengrin’s eyes widened before she smiled.

“Thank you.”

Marie-Chez thought ‘How unsophisticated,’ but didn’t voice it. Sigrid fiddled with her teacup. The reddish tea swirled inside. She had practiced and worried about what to say and how to apologize when she came here, but strangely, she found it difficult to open her mouth.

“I heard you bought a new house?”

Lowengrin threw out a question, and Sigrid looked up.

“Yes, I bought one in the 2nd District. It might be too big for living alone, but the garden is nice.”

“It must have been quite expensive.”

“I had some savings… And because something unpleasant had happened there, I was able to buy it cheaply. It cost about the same as a country house outside the capital.”

“Oh my, that’s not bad then.”

Lowengrin nodded. Sigrid nodded as well. Lowengrin continued with another question:

“Aren’t you going anywhere for fun during your vacation?”

“I… hadn’t thought about going somewhere for fun……”

Surprised by the question, Sigrid answered slowly without realizing it. Marie-Chez couldn’t hold back and said:

“Usually, when people take a long vacation, they first plan to travel somewhere far.”

“Is that so? I see.”

Sigrid realized a new fact. Lowengrin chuckled and said:

“Since you’ve never played, you don’t know how to play, do you?”

“Really—”

Marie-Chez’s navy blue eyes glared at Sigrid before she spoke:

“What are you doing tomorrow?”

“Nothing in particular……”

“Then come with me to the opera tomorrow.”

“Huh?”

“Since you don’t know how to have fun, I’ll show you.”

“Th… Yes… Thank you.”

Watching Sigrid bow hesitantly, Marie-Chez was overcome by a truly strange feeling. Seeing someone she genuinely disliked become so docile after being struck with a terminal illness gave her an indescribable sensation.

“And……”

Sigrid looked back and forth between Lowengrin and Marie-Chez and took a deep breath. It seemed like the right time to offer the apology she had been preparing.

“I want to apologize for the insulting remarks I’ve made until now. I’m sorry.”

As Sigrid bowed deeply, Lowengrin asked:

“Why?”

“Huh?”

“Why did you change your mind?”

“Lowengrin.”

Marie-Chez called her name softly, surprised.

‘Weren’t we pretending not to know about her illness?’

Sigrid looked at Lowengrin and then nodded.

“Lowengrin’s question is valid. I, I thought a knight should be like this until now. Having a certain framework, thinking that’s how it should be. But now that I think about it, because of that framework, I ignored the things I wanted and didn’t do any of them. Because I thought they were bad things. But when I thought about it, I wondered ‘Is it really bad?’ If it’s bad, I don’t know ‘why’ it’s bad.”

“Hmm.”

Lowengrin looked intrigued. Sigrid sighed.

“So after thinking about it, I concluded that ‘it’s not bad.’ That’s why I’m apologizing for my previous statements.”

“Interesting.”

Lowengrin smiled. Marie-Chez thought once again that Sigrid was truly a strange person.

“So you followed a standardized notion, but upon reflection, you realized that notion wasn’t right? Well, it’s interesting that you’ve only now realized that your idea of a knight was quite biased.”

It wasn’t that she was spending all her money and living recklessly because she was about to die, but rather that facing death had made her think deeply and change her own perceptions.

“Sigrid is Sigrid.”

If she hadn’t changed her perceptions, even facing death, she would have lived and died the same way.

“I’ll cooperate too.”

At Lowengrin’s words, Sigrid tilted her head and said “Huh?”

“I mean about having fun. I’m not particularly interested in just having fun, but I think changing a person’s ideology is quite enjoyable.”

“Sometimes I think Lowengrin lives thinking too complicatedly.”

Marie-Chez grumbled as she dropped a lump of sugar into her tea. Lowengrin laughed and said, “Maybe so.”

“Can’t you just live doing things you enjoy? Sigrid, what do you enjoy doing?”

“Sword training…?”

Marie-Chez’s face crumpled at Sigrid’s answer.

“Rejected. Something else.”

“Something else……”

Even if asked for something else, she didn’t really know. After struggling for a while, Sigrid said:

“Ah, buying clothes is complicated and difficult, but wearing pretty clothes is enjoyable. And having meals prepared and served… Having the cleaning done…”

“…What kind of life have you been living?”

Marie-Chez muttered, dumbfounded. Lowengrin tilted her head and asked:

“How’s the 3rd District? I’ve heard the public safety there isn’t very good.”

“Well, since they know I’m a knight, no one really messes with me. The size of the house is… about this big? Like that small carpet over there.”

“…Are you living in a closet?”

At Marie-Chez’s mutter, Sigrid laughed.

“Well, now that I think about it, it is about that size.”

“Sounds claustrophobic.”

“It’s not that bad. There’s a window too. But it’s true that the public safety isn’t good. There are a lot of noisy people late at night… But it’s normal since people live there.”

As she spoke, Sigrid unconsciously gripped the skirt fabric on her thighs.

—It’s normal since people live there.

She was the one who had set the fire.

If the lord says they’re vermin, then they’re vermin, not humans but pests.

Total incineration strategy.

Seeing Sigrid suddenly turn pale, Marie-Chez became flustered.

“Sigrid? Are you okay?”

As Marie-Chez looked at her, inwardly worrying ‘Is she having a seizure?’, Sigrid struggled to shake her head.

“Yes, I’m fine……”

“You don’t look fine at all. Could someone bring some cold water?”

At Marie-Chez’s words, a servant quickly brought a glass of water. Sigrid drank the water, trembling.

Can evil deeds committed under orders be forgiven?

She had never once thought of it as an evil deed. Until today, until this moment.

‘It’s okay. Calm down, calm down. It hasn’t happened yet. No one has died yet. Sigrid, Sigrid Ankertna.’

Barely managing to steady her trembling hands, Sigrid looked up.

“I’m sorry for showing such an unsightly appearance. I suddenly felt a chill……”

Marie-Chez and Lowengrin secretly exchanged glances.