Sigrid Chapter 124

[ … words ]

Wrapped in a large towel and laid on the bed, Sigrid burrowed into the blankets. She felt comfortably tired and drowsiness washed over her.

“Beramund.”

“Hmm?”

Beramund, who was preparing for round three, tilted his head to look at her, and Sigrid said,

“You promised to tell me earlier.”

“Ah—”

Only then remembering, Beramund retied the waistband he had been undoing and quickly flopped down beside her. Sigrid peeked out from under the blankets, using the towel as a robe.

“So? The Winter of Death— I’ve only heard stories, I didn’t experience it……”

Besides, it was when he was young. Beramund had been in his mid-teens then…….

Finding it strange, Sigrid asked,

“But did your family allow you to go to such a dangerous place?”

“They were against it. But I was in my rebellious phase then. I left half-forcibly.”

Beramund grinned as he looked at her. Beramund in his rebellious phase—it was both imaginable and unimaginable. Beramund let out a low sigh and said,

“So, I was about fifteen? Or sixteen? It started around then. There were reports of magical beasts continuously appearing in the border region. Naturally, the empire dispatched soldiers and knight orders— and I was among them. Although I was the second son of the Lunatil ducal family, I participated as one of the knights. But it happened to be winter, so it was truly hellish.”

He grimaced, then laughed lightly.

“Come to think of it, they were all there.”

“Who?”

“Me, Utulu, and Karsus.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

Beramund nodded. He pondered where to start, then recalled when he met Karsus.

At first, he thought Karsus was a girl.

His beauty was enough to cause such a misunderstanding. He soon realized that wasn’t the case, though. Karsus, with his deep blue hair neatly tied back and dressed in leather and fur, was standing atop a fallen magical beast.

“Did you take it down?”

At Beramund’s question, Karsus grinned and nodded lightly as he jumped down from the beast.

“Yes.”

“Impressive.”

Beramund was genuinely amazed, thinking, ‘The hide of this beast is so tough that even swords have trouble piercing it.’

“Karsus Rian.”

At Karsus’s words, Beramund tore his eyes from the beast and replied,

“Beramund Lunatil. But why are you alone? Where’s your main unit?”

“Lunatil. Ah, so you’re the Young Master of the Lunatil ducal family.”

As Karsus spoke teasingly with a grin, Beramund frowned, then smiled broadly in return.

“Yes, I’m that precious Young Master. So, where’s your main unit?”

At Beramund’s smile, Karsus seemed to lose interest and turned his gaze away, pointing north with the tip of his sword.

“That way.”

That sword caught Beramund’s attention. It wasn’t the double-edged sword commonly used in the empire, but a curved blade.

“I’ve never seen a sword like that before.”

“It’s called a scimitar. Mainly used by southern barbarians.”

“Hmm. I wonder if it’s easier for beginners to learn? Since it only has one edge? Though with such a strong curve, it might actually be more troublesome—”

Karsus chuckled at Beramund’s muttering.

“No other questions?”

“About what?”

“Like, ‘Are you mixed with southern barbarian blood?'”

“Ah— Are you mixed?”

At Beramund’s lackluster question, Karsus asked back, “What do you think?” and Beramund answered honestly.

“I’m not sure. Actually, I’ve never even seen southern barbarians before.”

Karsus nodded, saying, “I see.”

Beramund was more perceptive than other boys his age going through their turbulent years. Growing up to be perceptive is by no means a happy thing, but that doesn’t mean it’s not helpful.

So Beramund discerned that his answer had pleased Karsus, and that although Karsus asked casually, he was actually concerned about it.

“Being alone here is just perfect for getting killed. How about coming back with me?”

At Beramund’s suggestion, Karsus nodded and smiled brightly.

“Alright.”

Though his tone suggested he was doing Beramund a favor, Beramund didn’t mind.

When the two returned to the main unit, they received a stern warning about their independent actions and were ordered to skip dinner as punishment.

But that night, Karsus visited Beramund’s tent carrying meat.

“Where did you get that?”

To Beramund’s question, Karsus replied while tearing into a rabbit leg,

“I caught it.”

“You’re quite skilled.”

To catch a rabbit in the dead of winter. Karsus grinned and tossed the rest to Beramund. Beramund caught the meat. Though lean due to the winter, it was still a decent size.

“What about the orders?”

“Who cares about that crap.”

Karsus spat out sharply. Beramund spoke while tossing a piece of meat into his mouth,

“If you’re hungry, you can’t muster strength. Without strength, you can’t wield a sword, and then you’ll die.”

At Beramund’s words, Karsus chuckled and said,

“If I could, I’d eat it right in front of their faces.”

“If you did that, we’d probably end up hanging upside down from a tree, so I’ll pass.”

“True enough.”

As Karsus nodded, Beramund asked,

“If you hate rules so much, why are you in the army?”

“Money.”

“Money?”

“I’m participating as a mercenary.”

“Ah, so that’s it.”

“No matter how you look at it, I’m not a knight. A knight.”

“I thought that might be the case.”

But he was too well-groomed to be a mercenary, which made it a bit confusing.

“Wait a minute. Isn’t that grounds for a court-martial?”

Sigrid suddenly interjected. When Beramund responded with a “Huh?”, Sigrid snuggled closer into his arms and said,

“Disobeying orders, I mean. Plus, acting alone in such a dangerous place, it’s surprising that skipping dinner was the only punishment. And then to disobey even that.”

“Ah, well, I was the precious Young Master of an important family, after all.”

At Beramund’s words, Sigrid frowned, then nodded with a sigh.

“I see. They didn’t want to subject the scion of the Lunatil family to a court-martial. It goes against fairness. But why were you both alone? Both you and Rian.”

“For me, it was out of competitiveness, and after that, we stuck together well. As for Karsus— he hates all rules.”

Beramund hugged Sigrid tightly as she nestled into his arms. Sigrid laughed cheerfully, her throat vibrating. Nuzzling and kissing her hair, Beramund said,

“Can we move on to the next part now?”

“But I want to hear more of the story.”

When Sigrid said this, Beramund swiftly turned his body, placing Sigrid on top of his stomach. Suddenly finding herself sitting on hard abs, Sigrid looked down at Beramund with wide eyes.

“If you’re curious about the next part of the story—”

As Beramund spoke with the corner of his mouth turned up, Sigrid brushed back her long hair and tilted her head, asking,

“Should we do some up and down movement first?”

The towel she was wrapped in fell silently with a soft thud. Sigrid leaned down, smiling, and kissed him, while Beramund caressed her back and returned the kiss.

Sigrid’s eyes suddenly opened.

‘Ah……. I ended up falling asleep after all.’

She always loses to Beramund’s stamina first. It’s unavoidable given their physical differences, but why does it still feel frustrating?

She reached out and pulled the cord to raise one side of the bed curtain. Winter dawns are late, so it was still dark.

“You’re up already?”

Beramund asked in a mumbling voice, and Sigrid turned to look at him with an “Ah.”

“I got up to wash. Keep sleeping, it’s still dawn.”

“Let’s wash together.”

Beramund sat up. Sigrid made a troubled face and said,

“After doing it all night last night, in the morning too……”

“No, how could you think of your husband like that. I mean, I am that kind of person, but I wouldn’t necessarily do anything just because we’re in the bathtub together, right?”

Somehow it seemed contradictory, but— Sigrid nodded obediently. It would be a hassle to heat the water twice, after all.

It was common for married couples to enter the bath together, so the servants followed the instructions without comment and quickly moved away from the bathroom area.

The most luxurious bathroom in the count’s mansion was this one attached to the couple’s bedroom. The rectangular pink marble bathtub was spacious enough for two people. The extravagant aspect of this tub was that it wasn’t pieced together, but carved from a single block of marble.

Beramund ran both hands through his hair. Droplets of water fell from his dark blue-black hair. Sigrid watched this and asked,

“So?”

“Hmm?”

“After you met Rian, what happened next?”

His clear blue-green eyes widened, then filled with amusement.

“Are you that curious?”

Nod, nod.

Sigrid nodded her head silently. Beramund narrowed his eyes and asked, “Hmm—”

“About my past? Or about Karsus Rian?”

“About Beramund.”

At her immediate response, Beramund grinned and said, “Then shall I tell you?” He fell into thought for a moment before opening his mouth.

“You’ll die at this rate.”

Beramund said, exhaling rapidly. Such shallow breathing wouldn’t produce proper resonance. Without resonance, he couldn’t cut through the magical beasts, and if he couldn’t cut through them, his sword would bounce off, and since it was a double-edged sword, he’d end up hurting himself.

Of course, being overwhelmed by the magical beasts was a given.

So he tried to breathe deeply, but exhaustion was exhaustion. Karsus was in a similar state. Panting like a dog in summer, Karsus retorted,

“Who cares if I die.”

“Ah, if you’re going to do that, don’t do it in front of me. It’s annoying because I’ll have to save you.”

As Beramund spoke, taking a deep breath, Karsus laughed.

“You’re strangely kind, you know.”

“Unlike someone, I was raised in a proper family?”

It was a merciless jab, but having heard ‘Young Master’ so many times that he was sick of it, Beramund spat out the words with irritation.

“Is a family that treats their child’s life as a spare considered proper?”

Karsus was equally ruthless.

“Still, thanks to that, I have better social skills than you.”

That was true, so Karsus just shrugged. In fact, Beramund was popular with others. He was perceptive, good-looking, and quickly found his balance among people, integrating smoothly. Whatever his true feelings, his affable and appropriately glib manner made him extremely popular among both soldiers and officers. Beramund clicked his tongue as he tried to clean the blood off his sword. It was mixed with oil and wouldn’t come off properly.

“Both of you, enough.”

At the deep voice, Beramund turned his head with a grin.

“Hey, Utulu.”

“Oh, our shield.”

As Karsus spoke in a sing-song voice, Utulu furrowed his brow. He spoke towards Karsus,

“I can’t understand why you keep rushing to the front lines.”

That’s right, that’s right, Beramund nodded, and Utulu turned to him and said,

“You too, stop chasing after him immediately.”

“Am I getting scolded too?”

Beramund complained, but Utulu didn’t respond. Though still a teenager, Utulu was already larger than most grown men.

Karsus laughed.

“But you come chasing after us too. You’re kind, Utulu. Kind. Or is it because I’m pretty?”

At those words, Utulu’s face contorted mercilessly, and Beramund said seriously,

“Ah, maybe we should just let him die after all.”

“I agree.”

As Beramund and Utulu turned abruptly and started walking away, Karsus quickly chased after them.

“Aw~ Wait a moment.”

“You, seriously, stop it. I’ll really kill you.”

Beramund growled, rubbing his arm where goosebumps had risen. Karsus pouted, saying “How cruel,” then spoke,

“I think Beramund is too accustomed to the second-place position.”

“What?”

“You don’t try to be first in anything. Look at you here too. You’re not even trying to earn merits.”

At those words, Beramund stared into space for a moment, then said,

“Is that so? But try experiencing that kind of pressure in the family you grew up in. You can’t be first, don’t be first, do your best but you must be second. Your talent should only go that far. But you can’t be third. If the first disappears, you must take that place. But the first is your brother, so don’t covet that position. Don’t even dare to look at it. Don’t think about winning.”

After speaking in a stream, Beramund looked at his blood-soaked sword and grinned.

“But not with the sword.”

This alone is mine.

This one sword that divides life and death on this battlefield, this alone is mine.

Karsus blinked at those words, then closed his eyes and smiled.

“I see. That’s good then.”

“It would be better if you showed that more.”

Utulu grumbled discontentedly. This man, strict in all things, disliked how Beramund had such a serious side yet concealed it with a casual demeanor. Beramund laughed lightly.

“That won’t do.”

“Why not?”

“If you’re truly desperate, you shouldn’t show that appearance. The second son should be a playboy, put in moderate effort, not dare to covet the heir’s position, and not raise any alarms— ‘The second son of that family is fine too, but of course, the first son is more reliable.’ That’s the kind of talk I need to generate.”

“I don’t understand.”

“That’s why you can’t be a central noble.”

“Are all central nobles like that?”

“Well— to some extent?”

“How annoying.”

To Utulu’s words, Beramund nodded, saying, “I agree.”

Beramund thought.