Sigrid Chapter 125

[ … words ]

Therefore, he has an excellent sense of balance. He’s good at managing relationships and can skillfully enjoy the push and pull of insincere interactions. He rarely missteps or loses his composure, and seldom loses his reason.

He smiled at Sigrid, whose eyes were shining with curiosity before him.

“Except when it comes to you.”

He stumbles, missteps, fumbles with his true feelings, loses his reason, his judgment becomes clouded, and the balance he’s so carefully maintained crumbles.

No one would believe that this Beramund Lunatil was experiencing his first love.

“Me?”

As Sigrid tilted her head, Beramund lightly kissed her lips. Being in the bathtub, her lips were hotter and more moist than usual.

“The bathwater will get cold. Let’s get out.”

“Beramund.”

“Yes?”

“For me, Beramund is always first, no matter what.”

Beramund’s lips parted slightly. Sigrid said, her cheeks flushing red,

“Because Beramund is… the best—”

“I know. And you’re my goddess.”

Beramund grinned. Sigrid felt her face grow even hotter. Really, how could this man say such things so easily? While she could only manage to say this much.

‘Should I practice something more?’

Sigrid pondered as she went through her dawn practice. The words Beramund whispers are sweet. Especially when she hears his praise during intimate moments, she feels as if she’s become a goddess of beauty.

Skin like pearls, a voice sweet as honey, hair like morning dew— it was amazing how he came up with such novel expressions.

Sigrid stopped her sword mid-swing. Her breath came out in white puffs in the winter air. Steam rose from her sweat-soaked clothes.

‘Come to think of it, Marie-Chez and Lowengrin will be here soon.’

Marie-Chez had angrily asked why they weren’t coming up when there wouldn’t be much territory work in winter, but Sigrid didn’t want to leave her still unstable territory.

There’s always a difference when the lord is present versus absent.

So Marie-Chez insisted on coming all the way to this northeastern region, in this winter. Sigrid was grateful for her sentiment but also worried, so she tried to dissuade her, but that seemed to have only added fuel to the fire.

—I have so much to talk about!

She replied, even setting a definite date for her visit. It seemed she was dragging Lowengrin along too.

‘Isn’t Lowengrin a newlywed too?’

Lowengrin had married not long after Sigrid’s wedding. Lowengrin had smiled and said,

“I want to do it quickly before the experience from doing it once fades away.”

True to her word, Lowengrin swiftly dealt with the attrition warfare Sigrid had gone through during her wedding—using the same vendors—and held her ceremony.

The groom, Viscount Hatien Illisaine’s heir, smiled at Sigrid and said, “It’s all thanks to you.”

‘I’m not sure what he’s thanking me for, though.’

Sigrid quickly wrapped her cloak around herself before her body cooled down.

As she was leaving her private training ground, a familiar sound brushed past Sigrid’s ears.

The sound of swords cutting through the air and clashing against each other.

Sigrid’s ears perked up. She quietly moved her steps. Not far from her private training ground was Beramund’s. The sound was clearly coming from there.

Sigrid hesitated at the entrance.

‘Is it okay to watch?’

Normally, of course, she would have entered without such thoughts, but this time there was an opponent. And Sigrid could tell who that opponent was without even looking.

‘The sound of cutting through the air is different.’

There was a strong, threatening sound, as if ripping through the air, completely different from a regular sword. This must be that scimitar.

‘I’m so curious!’

Sigrid fidgeted restlessly at the entrance. It’s against etiquette to watch someone else’s duel without permission. But, but—

It’s a duel between the Black Knight and the Wanderer!

The next moment, Sigrid spun around, extending her sword blade. Karsus was standing right in front of her.

‘So fast—!’

Sigrid swallowed her breath. Karsus looked at the sword Sigrid had extended and smiled.

“You’re quick. Usually, people get caught from behind.”

He slightly bent his upper body. The sword blade touched his neck.

“As expected of the pure white lady knight.”

Sigrid didn’t lower her sword. It’s different from before. The scimitar Karsus was holding was now definitely within killing distance. The moment she lowers her sword, he would swing.

“Stop fooling around.”

Beramund said as he came out from behind Sigrid. Karsus backed away, still smiling, and said, “Aw.” Beramund grinned and said,

“Siri, you could have just come in and watched.”

“It’s against etiquette to do so without permission.”

Sigrid lowered her sword but didn’t sheathe it as she spoke.

“Oh my, our secret duel dar—”

Before he could finish saying “darling,” Karsus stopped speaking. The tip of Sigrid’s sword was touching his Adam’s apple. The sword tip is sharp, and skin is delicate, so even a touch might normally cause a scratch or slight bleeding. But Sigrid was avoiding that by a paper-thin margin.

It was an impressive level of control. She opened her mouth.

“The only person who can call Beramund ‘darling’ is me.”

Karsus blinked. Beramund stared blankly at Sigrid, then suppressed a laugh. Though she’s usually shy, she occasionally makes such bold statements without hesitation.

It’s truly endearing beyond compare.

Karsus slightly raised both hands. His sword tip was lowered.

Taking it as a sign of understanding, Sigrid lowered her sword. Karsus said,

“Your sword skills are remarkable.”

“Because I’m a Master.”

“And it seems you’ve killed a person or two.”

“Because I’m a knight.”

“I thought Beramund wanted to marry a kind and gentle girl, not someone with the scent of blood.”

“—!”

Sigrid flinched. Just as Beramund was about to angrily ask, “Whose delusion is that?”, a cold voice settled in.

“I also wished for Siri to marry a kind and gentle man.”

“Arkana……”

Sigrid turned to look at her magician. Arkana looked at Karsus with irritated eyes. In that instant, Beramund mercilessly struck the back of Karsus’s head. It was an emotional blow, strong enough to make Karsus stagger forward.

“Hey, Bera—”

Karsus, who was about to protest with tears in his eyes, quickly shut his mouth upon seeing Beramund’s expression. Karsus swiftly turned to Sigrid and said,

“I misspoke. I apologize, Countess.”

“……I’ll accept your apology.”

After responding, Sigrid turned on her heel and started walking. Beramund shot Arkana a look that said ‘Don’t kill him,’ and quickly followed after her.

Karsus looked at Arkana with a troubled expression and said,

“It seems I’ve gotten off on the wrong foot from the start.”

“Did you have any buttons to fasten in the first place?”

Karsus swallowed a sigh. It wasn’t a simple master-servant relationship after all. It would have been better if he had more information; as expected, news travels slowly in the countryside.

“I’m Karsus Rian. Are you the magician Arkana?”

“I am.”

“Could we talk?”

At Karsus’s words, Arkana smiled and said,

“I don’t meet with anyone without Siri’s introduction. Well then, goodbye.”

He turned and left, leaving Karsus behind to swallow a groan.

Beramund called out to Sigrid, who was walking away with quick steps.

“Siri, Sig, Siri, my love, sweetie?”

When Sigrid abruptly stopped, he quickly approached her side. Sigrid spun around and hugged him tightly. Beramund hugged her back and said,

“I won’t give you to anyone else, I can’t.”

“That’s my line.”

Sigrid replied, nuzzling her cheek against his chest. Beramund chuckled and lifted her up in his arms. Suddenly finding herself lifted into the air, Sigrid’s eyes widened.

“Beramund—!”

“Sigrid is just too cute.”

Beramund supported her lower back with one arm. Sigrid felt a contradictory feeling of embarrassment and pleasure.

“Be-Beramund is—”

“Yes?”

Seeing his eyes filled with amusement, Sigrid recalled what Beramund had said in the morning.

‘Sigrid is my goddess, he said. So—’

“Beramund is my hus— husband—!”

After saying this, Sigrid’s face turned red.

No, that’s not it, she meant to say god. But saying male god sounds a bit strange.

Seeing her flustered, Beramund nodded.

“That’s right, I’m your husband. Yes, yes.”

Speaking with satisfaction, Beramund gently swayed Sigrid up and down as if soothing her.

“Ah— Master, Countess.”

It was Violet who greeted them with a slight bow. She was holding a tray with steaming teacups.

In a normal castle, it would be Master and Madam. But in this castle, Sigrid is the Master. The servants, who had been struggling with how to address them, quickly found new titles.

Beramund is ‘Master’, and Sigrid is ‘Countess’.

Beramund grinned and said,

“Did you bring tea all the way to the training ground on purpose? Well, our bodies must have cooled down by now.”

Beramund set Sigrid down. Feeling a twinge of regret as she left his arms, Sigrid took the teacup Violet offered. It was at just the right temperature, not too hot.

Beramund gently pushed Sigrid’s shoulder forward and said,

“Let’s go inside before it gets late. Why is there a mountain of work to do even in winter?”

Beramund sighed. In truth, people can’t be mobilized in winter. But plans can be made for the next year.

If they wait until spring to make plans, it would be too late, so they make plans in advance and put them into action as soon as the weather improves.

That was the best approach.

“Ah, speaking of which, Marie-Chez and Lowengrin are coming too—”

At Sigrid’s words, Beramund nodded.

“They said they’d arrive in a week, right? They might be even earlier than expected.”

“Oh, really?”

“There’s been less snow this year. The main road should be good for traveling.”

“I see……. Should we prepare?”

“We’re already doing plenty of preparation.”

“That’s right. We’ve aired out the rooms at least five times already.”

Violet nodded. As this was the first time welcoming noble ladies from the capital, the servants were also putting in extra effort.

They couldn’t let their Master lose face.

Sigrid nodded. After returning to her room and washing up quickly, Sigrid began her work after breakfast. Alex and Lilia greeted her politely and cheerfully.

At this point, about a year and a half in, they had gotten into a good rhythm with their work. After finishing the morning tasks and while waiting for lunch to be prepared, Sigrid was heading to her room when she found a man standing in front of her door. He was leaning against the wall, somehow looking forlorn.

“Sir Rian.”

“I’m not a knight, so there’s no need for ‘Sir’. Just call me Karsus.”

Karsus said with a smile. It was his characteristically seductive smile. If it weren’t Sigrid, one might think, ‘Is he trying to seduce me?’ with such a smile.

“I was chased out by your magician.”

“I see.”

Sigrid responded indifferently, without a hint of sympathy, and Karsus hunched his shoulders before letting out a sigh.

“He said he won’t meet anyone without your introduction.”

“That’s what he says.”

“Would you consider introducing me?”

“I haven’t had a chance to talk to Arkana yet. I said I would before, so I will.”

“You’re quite fair.”

“Am I?”

“You don’t let personal feelings interfere with official matters. That’s actually very difficult. It’s not easy for people to separate themselves from their emotions.”

Sigrid nodded. She herself couldn’t think straight when it came to matters related to Beramund.

“Well, that’s natural because we’re human.”

“It’s natural because we’re human, but it’s remarkable that you can separate public and private matters.”

Karsus said this and cleared his throat lightly.

“My statement this morning was inappropriate. I apologize again.”

“One apology is enough.”

“Since you’re a fair person, shall I try to be fair too?”

“……?”

“To be honest, I might have been a bit jealous.”

“Jealous, you say?”

Puzzled, Sigrid looked at him, and Karsus maintained his smiling face as he spoke.

“Just, having something so precious that you’d throw everything away to obtain it? I find that feeling creepily unpleasant……. But how should I put it, perhaps it’s a sense of loss, like losing someone I could rely on.”

As he spoke, Karsus let out a sigh.

“I’m rambling. I apologize.”

“Beramund is indeed someone you can rely on.”

Sigrid nodded. Karsus tilted his head and said,

“I don’t particularly like Beramund, and I’m sure he feels the same about me. It’s ironic that we can trust each other to watch our backs while thinking the other is beyond help in some ways. But, how should I put it, on the other hand, I’m glad you’re here.”

Karsus abandoned his smile up to now and suddenly flashed a smile that reeked of blood.

“I really hate Serios.”

He spoke as if calling out to a neighbor, so it took Sigrid a moment to realize he was referring to the current Emperor.

“You’re much better than that bastard I hate.”

Sigrid didn’t know how to respond to that. Karsus clicked his tongue sharply and said,

“To think he’d whine and say he can’t live without you.”

“Th-that, um, His Majesty—”

She felt cold sweat trickling down.

‘His Majesty? Did he really do such a thing?’

“Coming all the way to the battlefield where Beramund was fighting— it was really annoying.”

“Battlefield?”

“Ah, the Winter of Death. Serios came to find Beramund then. Didn’t you hear about it?”

Sigrid nodded.

“I see, so that was around the middle—I suppose? Anyway, at that time, although he hadn’t yet been appointed Crown Prince, it was obvious that Prince Serios would be appointed since there was no older brother, so he came to the battlefield with gifts.”

Even though they were called gifts, it wasn’t a large scale, but still, a member of the imperial family had come in person.

‘Hmm, I wonder if we’ll get meat dishes today?’

Karsus thought as he glanced at the luxurious carriage.

‘But it’s strange that the carriage belongs to the ducal family.’