Sigrid Chapter 98

[ … words ]

“I think it’s best if Siri steps out of this operation now.”

“What are you saying at this point?”

“You’ve done well enough. We’ve been able to gather this much information thanks to you. But anything beyond this is dangerous, so take an extended sick leave and rest.”

“I refuse.”

“It’s an order.”

“I’m disobeying.”

Sigrid spoke with a growl. Her crimson eyes burned so intensely that they were visible even in the darkness.

“This is my duty. Even if you’re Lord Lunatil, you can’t exclude me from my mission.”

Lord Lunatil.

The words that seemed to push him completely away made Beramund take a short breath before speaking emotionlessly.

“I’m your superior, aren’t I?”

“The final approver for this operation is His Highness the Crown Prince. I believe he would approve of me carrying out this mission.”

“Lady Ankertna has already contributed enough to this operation. You’re not feeling well, so why don’t you just rest?”

At Beramund’s words, Sigrid swallowed. Looking at him with a pale face, she lowered her gaze to the floor and said.

“Am I of no use?”

‘No! Why is the conversation jumping there?!’

Beramund felt like biting his tongue.

To dissuade her from participating here, should he now answer, ‘Yes, sick people are useless’?

But he didn’t want to do that. He didn’t really want to hurt Sigrid.

Beramund exhaled deeply and said.

“No, you’re an excellent knight.”

Sigrid’s head snapped up. Beramund smiled bitterly.

“You’re capable, and you’re a Master, aren’t you? Why are you so unsure of yourself? Siri, if I had to entrust my back to someone, I’d choose you without hesitation.”

At those words, Sigrid’s eyes sparkled. But soon her face turned puzzled.

“Then why—?”

“Because I’m worried about you.”

Beramund slowly intertwined his fingers with Sigrid’s and sighed again.

“I don’t want someone precious to me going into danger. Isn’t that natural?”

“But……. still…….”

Sigrid became confused. She knew Beramund liked her. She knew he called her a precious person. And she knew that it meant something different from what she meant.

She knew, but she kept feeling like she might misunderstand.

Sigrid pulled her hand away and said.

“Please stop this.”

Indeed, this roundabout way of speaking or seducing didn’t suit her.

Marie-Chez was right.

The direct approach was the right way.

Beramund was perplexed by her action. His rejected hand grasped at the air before dropping.

“Siri?”

“I don’t like fake dating or playing at romance.”

She said firmly, and Beramund felt as if his heart had dropped out somewhere. He said in confusion.

“Did I, did I upset you—?”

“Yes.”

I’m affected by every little touch from you, but you treat me casually, like you would other women, and I don’t like it.

Thinking that you’ve done this with other women and will do it again made her feel bad.

Beramund said, “Ah, I see,” with a bitter smile and shrugged, putting his hands in his pockets. He opened his mouth, closed it, then opened it again. The words came out slowly.

“Then is the contract relationship over?”

Is it because of that Morris fellow?

The question rose to his throat, but he suppressed it.

“Yes.”

Sigrid nodded. She didn’t want a contract relationship, but a proper romance. Not just a good person, but to be the one special person.

“I…… was happy.”

At Sigrid’s words, Beramund bit his lip to hide his expression, then quickly smiled and asked.

“About what?”

“You said you wouldn’t do it for anyone else. When you, um, nursed me……”

“Ah.”

Beramund made a small sound. Arkana looked at the two of them, wondering ‘What on earth did you do?’ before clapping his hands once loudly.

The man and woman startled and turned to look at Arkana.

“Shall we finish our discussion before getting into that story?”

“Ah, yes, yes.”

Sigrid answered, nodding several times, and Beramund also nodded, clearing his throat. Arkana spoke to Beramund.

“I don’t think it’s good to exclude Sigrid from the operation. We don’t have anyone else infiltrating the Imperial Guard.”

“Arkana!”

“Arkana!”

Beramund called his name sharply, while Sigrid called it joyfully. Arkana reached out to pat Sigrid’s head as he spoke.

“Instead, I’ll cast a protection spell on her.”

“You’re the one who said magic isn’t omnipotent.”

“That’s right. But it’s better to keep her in plain sight.”

At Arkana’s words, Beramund finally said “Ah” and glanced at Sigrid once. When Sigrid looked at him with a ‘What?’ expression, he sighed, brushing up his bangs as he spoke.

“Alright.”

“Somehow, I feel like I can’t be purely happy about this.”

When Sigrid spoke with a sullen face, Beramund asked, “Then do you want to rest?” and she quickly straightened her posture.

“No. I’m fine.”

Beramund asked.

“So, what’s the exact location?”

“It’s a secret room located in the outer palace. To be precise—”

As Sigrid explained the location, Beramund tilted his head and asked.

“How did you find out about the secret room?”

“I received various… teachings.”

Sigrid smiled with a strange expression, and both Beramund and Arkana realized it was from before her return. Beramund reached out to touch her but stopped and lowered his hand. Instead, he sighed again and said.

“It’s okay. We won’t let that happen again.”

“Yes.”

Sigrid nodded. Arkana pulled out a scroll from his sleeve. As he unrolled it, they could see a magic circle drawn on it.

“This is data sent from the Magic Tower. Something similar to this should be drawn on the floor.”

The complex drawing was clearly magic-related at a glance. Arkana said.

“Just in case, don’t touch it even if you find it. We don’t know how it might be activated. Plus, we don’t know what might happen if an Aura user touches it.”

“Understood.”

Sigrid nodded. Beramund looked at it for a moment, then said.

“Don’t go alone, go together.”

“What?”

“I said don’t go alone.”

“But if two of us go at the same time……. Besides, Beramund…….”

Stands out.

He’s someone who catches the eye just by standing there in his knight’s uniform. Even in the supposedly empty outer palace, he’d likely be noticed nine times out of ten.

“Anyway, I’m not thinking of sending you alone. When entering enemy territory, it’s always two-person, one-team.”

Beramund said firmly. Arkana agreed, nodding. Sigrid finally surrendered and nodded.

“Alright. Let’s do that.”

Arkana took Sigrid’s hand in both of his. Sigrid looked at him with a puzzled expression, and Arkana smiled faintly.

“Protection spell.”

“Ah.”

Like a sandwich, Arkana overlapped his hands with Sigrid’s hand in the middle. He softly muttered an incantation. It was a language she had never heard before and couldn’t imitate. The sound of a stream flowing, wind brushing through tree branches, snow falling.

It was similar to those sounds. No, it also seemed completely different from them.

The next moment, light flowed out from between their overlapped hands, then bright branches of light quickly spread up her arm before slowly fading. Only motes of light remained, sparkling around them.

Sigrid blinked. Having suddenly seen light in the darkness and then returning to darkness, it took some time for her eyes to adjust. Arkana removed his hands and said.

“It’s a spell that will block one fatal blow, no matter what.”

From his voice, it was clear that this wasn’t an easy spell, as he sounded very tired. Sigrid moved her right arm, which showed no trace of the spell, this way and that before asking.

“Are you okay?”

Hearing the concern in her tone, Arkana nodded. Beramund looked at Sigrid’s arm with curiosity. A slight relief settled in his chest.

“Then I’ll tell Serios first. And in coordination with him, it would be best to raid as soon as we confirm that room.”

Sigrid nodded at Beramund’s words. Arkana also agreed, thinking it was better to move quickly in such matters.

Once they decided to attack, they should move as swiftly as possible.

“Then our discussion is over, I suppose.”

Arkana said, as if summarizing the situation. Beramund nodded.

“I’ll tell Serios now— or in the morning. Then meet me in the afternoon.”

Sigrid nodded at Beramund’s words. Arkana said “Alright” with a nod and continued.

“Then shouldn’t you two have a talk?”

“Huh?”

Sigrid looked at Arkana in surprise. Arkana smiled at her kindly.

“It seems like you need to talk, don’t you?”

“Oh, yes. We do need to.”

Sigrid nodded. Arkana turned his head and looked at Beramund with a cold face, speaking in a sharp voice.

“And you, try to restrain yourself a bit.”

“What?”

“Well then, I’ll be going.”

After glancing at Beramund, Arkana grasped Sigrid’s shoulders and lightly kissed her near the eye.

“See you later.”

“Okay.”

As she answered with a smile at the ticklish sensation, Arkana smiled back and then vanished.

‘Ah.’

Sigrid thought she understood a little now. When Arkana teleports with magic, the surrounding Aura shakes slightly. Very faintly, but still.

‘It’s different from Aura, but is the source ultimately the same?’

Although magic and Aura are called by different names, the root of both lies in the flow of nature.

As she was thinking, the candle flame flickered greatly as if caught in a breeze. The darkness stretched momentarily before returning to normal, and Sigrid snapped out of her thoughts to look at the person across from her.

‘Beramund.’

Was it because of the shadows? Or because they were alone?

Beramund looked even bigger than before. It was hard to find the smile from earlier. When their eyes met, he finally smiled faintly.

“What? Do you have something to say?”

“What? Y-yes—”

Sigrid nodded. Beramund glanced down briefly before speaking.

“Is that something you should say to someone who’s taken?”

“What?”

She looked up in surprise. Beramund laughed and said.

“I’m not sure, but isn’t it about dating?”

At those words, Sigrid flinched, and Beramund closed his mouth with an ‘I see’. Right, the honest and straightforward Sigrid might be confessing something like ‘I’m dating Morris’ to him.

If that was the case, he didn’t want to hear it, childish as it might be.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t think I can listen to that.”

At those words, Sigrid hunched her shoulders. Seeing this, Beramund felt a deep twisting in his gut.

“But does that person know?”

“What?”

“That you and I kissed.”

Beramund whispered, standing very close. Sigrid blinked, unable to understand what he was saying.

Hadn’t he just stopped her from confessing? Saying he didn’t want to hear that story?

And who was “that person” supposed to be?

Seeing Sigrid looking up at him with dazed eyes, Beramund smiled. He spoke again.

“I’ve decided to give up after all.”

“What?”

“Canceling the contract.”

“What? Hwa—?”

Beramund kissed her neck, making Sigrid jump. Beramund held her tightly so she couldn’t escape and whispered.

“Even if you say no, you’re mine for three months. You can call it forceful, you can get angry. But I won’t let you go.”

“Be-Bera- mmph—?”

His lips traced up her neck as if gliding. Sigrid tried to avoid it, but she couldn’t move an inch.

Even if she used Aura, he was an Aura user too, so it was impossible to overpower him physically in this situation.

“I like you, I love you, Sigrid. Siri, my Siri.”

Sigrid was stunned by the words whispered as he lightly bit her earlobe.

Now? What did he—?

Suddenly, it felt like her insides were heating up. She also spoke.

“I-I like you too.”

“Mmm— Not like that. I mean, I love you enough to do this, to become like this.”

Beramund pressed his lower body firmly against her, and Sigrid instantly understood what he meant. Her face turned bright red.

Beramund chuckled softly.

“Sigrid, your skin has gotten hot.”

“Don’t point out every little—!”

Sigrid cut off her shout and freed her arms to hug Beramund. He flinched in surprise, as if he hadn’t expected her to do that.

“I-I’m saying I like you too, Beramund.”

“Ah, are you interested in a purely physical relationship?”

Sigrid’s eyes widened at those words. Come to think of it, had they had such a conversation?

‘I understand why Arkana said we needed to talk.’

Sigrid took a deep breath and spoke. She meant to speak loudly, but somehow her voice came out softly.

“Beramund Lunatil, please date me properly. I don’t want a contract. I don’t want three months either.”

His movements stopped abruptly. Sigrid couldn’t tell if she was relieved or not that his caressing of her back and kissing had ceased.