Sigrid Chapter 134

[ … words ]

“Yes, my lady.”

One of Marie-Chez’s maids scurried over. She sat Sigrid on a stool, and Jenny skillfully began to brush and braid her hair.

With small hands, she quickly and tightly braided Sigrid’s hair, swiftly twisting it up and securing it with one of the accessories laid out.

“Do you like it, my lady?”

Jenny smiled, showing Sigrid a round mirror. Sigrid nodded. It was delicate and neat without being overly ornate.

“Yes, it’s pretty. Thank you.”

“It’s my pleasure.”

Jenny held her head high, as if showing off to Sigrid’s maids, before bowing deeply to Sigrid. As Sigrid stood up, she said:

“Well then, I’ll be going now.”

“Alright, work hard.”

Marie-Chez saw Sigrid off with a bright smile, and Sigrid discreetly avoided the pleading gazes of her maids that seemed to say, ‘Help us, Countess,’ as she escaped the room.

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

Arkana was a bit surprised.

He hadn’t expected the prince to actually come that day.

“Prince Awen?”

Awen asked hesitantly as he entered Arkana’s office.

“Do you have time?”

“Yes, that’s fine.”

Arkana put his pen in the holder, closed the inkwell, and stood up. He was well aware that Awen was intimidated by him. He didn’t particularly feel the need to correct that.

But for him to come alone like this?

Puzzled for a moment, Arkana then thought of Alkerto. That man might have encouraged Awen in various ways. So perhaps he had gathered the courage to come.

“What brings you here, Your Highness?”

“This morning… you said you could teach me magic…”

“I didn’t say I’d teach you, but that I could give you books about magic. Would you like them now?”

“Yes.”

Awen nodded.

“Are you really thinking of learning magic?”

Arkana asked as he slowly walked towards the bookshelf. Awen nodded.

“I thought you were more interested in swordsmanship. Please come in further. It’s cold by the door. Sit near the fireplace.”

“The Empire… values swordsmen more highly…”

Awen said hesitantly. He quickly moved towards the fireplace. Arkana paused as he was examining the books and turned to look at Awen.

“But you say you want to learn magic?”

“I know my position well enough.”

Now Arkana turned his body completely towards Awen. It was a gesture indicating he was ready to listen, so Awen couldn’t meet his eyes and continued speaking while looking at the fireplace.

“My brother—His Majesty’s child is still young, and a daughter. If something were to happen to His Majesty now… I’d be dragged into an unwanted conflict, and if His Majesty has a son…”

Awen looked at the flickering flames and took a light breath before exhaling.

“I’m an obstacle. Father, no, the former Emperor is said to have committed suicide, but everyone knows that’s not true. And my second brother will likely never leave the monastery. I’m the only one left. For now, I’m young…”

Awen clenched his fists tightly. His fingers turned white.

“So, magic might be better… I could enter the Ice Tower and never come out…”

Being good at swordsmanship isn’t very good.

The Empire practically worships those who are skilled with the sword.

It’s not for nothing that debates in taverns about who’s stronger between a Dark Knight and a Berserker often turn into fistfights. The people of the Empire love strong knights.

But magicians are different.

There was even an attempt by the former Emperor to pursue immortality using magicians, so naturally, becoming a magician would distance one from the position of Emperor.

It means not being a competitor.

Awen didn’t want to die, nor did he want to become Emperor.

After hearing all this, Arkana let out a deep sigh. Awen’s shoulders flinched at the sound.

He might be scolded for wanting to learn magic for such reasons.

But Arkana silently took out a rather thick book and approached Awen to hand it to him.

“I’m not sure if you’ll be able to understand it, but this is the easiest book I have. And Prince Awen, if I may say one thing—”

Awen hesitantly raised his head to look at Arkana. Arkana’s green eyes were uncharacteristically warm.

“His Majesty cannot harm you. Not as long as Sigrid is alive.”

Awen hugged the book tightly to his chest.

“But Sigrid is a loyal knight…”

“Yes. But she made a promise, and she never breaks her promises. You don’t need to worry about that.”

“B-but if Sigrid gets hurt because of me…”

Arkana laughed coldly.

“If the Emperor’s head is on straight, he won’t make an enemy of the Ankertna County.”

Awen flinched at that laugh, then relaxed his shoulders as if relieved.

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“But I am interested in magic, so I’ll take a look.”

“Understood.”

Arkana nodded, and Awen quickly went towards the door as if escaping, then stopped and turned around.

“Thank you, Arkana.”

“It’s nothing.”

Awen flashed a smile and opened the door to leave. After he left, Arkana smiled bitterly.

A normal child wouldn’t think such thoughts.

‘Come to think of it, we’re similar.’

He too had witnessed his parents being murdered around that age. Awen had also seen his mother being murdered before his eyes.

Feeling a surge of sympathy, Arkana swallowed a sigh.

Karsus was walking on the snow.

Without snowshoes, using his aura to maintain balance, he was walking slowly when he sensed someone’s presence and turned around. Alkerto was trudging through the snow, approaching with determination.

Karsus quickly walked towards him and said:

“You could have called for me.”

“No, I’m in the position of asking a favor.”

The two had become comfortable speaking casually to each other overnight.

“What favor?”

“That method of becoming rich, can you tell me?”

“Did you change your mind overnight?”

Alkerto had seemed surprised by his words the night before, then refused, saying:

‘No, I think suddenly acquired wealth might not be good.’

Alkerto glanced towards the mansion briefly before looking back at Karsus and speaking.

“No, I felt pathetic for pushing a child forward while taking a step back myself.”

“Is it pathetic to not want to be rich?”

At Karsus’s words, Alkerto grinned.

“I realized it’s not right to back away from a sudden stroke of luck.”

“I see.”

Karsus started walking, and Alkerto began to retrace his steps back through the path he had cleared. When they reached the cleared road, Karsus lightly touched down on the ground and said:

“Then I’ll set a condition.”

“A condition?”

“If you can win even one round against me, I’ll tell you.”

“One round.”

Alkerto’s face hardened. But he soon nodded.

“Alright.”

“Good. But we can’t go on indefinitely, and I have business to attend to— so let’s limit it until I leave this mansion when my work is done.”

“When will that be?”

“It depends on the magician, so I don’t know.”

Karsus shrugged and smiled. Then he added coldly:

“And sorry, but I won’t go easy on you.”

“I wasn’t expecting you to.”

“Shall we try then?”

“Now?”

“Or is there something we need to wait for?”

At Karsus’s question, Alkerto shook his head.

“No. But the chances aren’t limited, right?”

“You can try as many times as you like.”

Karsus said in an irritatingly relaxed tone. Alkerto nodded and said, “Alright.”

“Then we’ll need to borrow the training ground first.”

Karsus said as he started walking with a light step.

He had been bored to death, but now he was in quite a good mood as something interesting had come up.

Karsus reached Beramund’s study in no time.

Beramund, who had been wondering why this guy had come, frowned when he heard Karsus’s request.

“A duel?”

“Yes.”

“Between you and Alkerto?”

“Yes.”

“You’re not under some strange threat, are you?”

When Beramund asked Alkerto, he smiled and shook his head, then said:

“It’s not that, I just want to try.”

“He said he’d tell me how to get rich if I could win even one round against him.”

At Karsus’s words, Beramund said to Alkerto:

“The method of getting rich that this bastard teaches might be completely nonsensical.”

“Still, if there’s a chance, I want to try.”

“Alright. If you insist.”

Beramund sighed and granted permission to use the training ground. Then he said to Alkerto:

“If I were you, I’d be careful of my face.”

“My face?”

“Yes.”

“Understood.”

Alkerto nodded deeply.

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

Marie-Chez was humming a tune. Lowengrin chuckled and said:

“You seem to be in a good mood.”

“Of course I am~ I’ve sorted out all of Siri’s clothes, ordered new ones to be made, and now we’re going sledding!”

After checking her shawl and cloak, and preparing gloves and a muff, Marie-Chez grinned.

“I should ask Alkerto to come along too.”

“Hasn’t Siri already invited him?”

When Lowengrin tilted her head and asked, Marie-Chez quickly moved towards the door and said:

“I’ll invite him myself.”

“Alright~”

Lowengrin nodded willingly. In normal social circles, this might be considered improper, but this is Siri’s house, and it’s not a social gathering.

Marie-Chez walked down the corridor and stood in front of Alkerto’s room. First, she touched up her hair, took out a small mirror to check her face, and then—

Knock knock knock.

She lightly tapped on the door. After a moment, with a small click, the door opened, and Marie-Chez’s brightly smiling face instantly froze.

“Oh? Whoa, Marie?!”

A startled Alkerto covered his face. He had thought it was the maid coming back with medicine; he never imagined Marie-Chez would be knocking on his door herself.

“Ah, Al, your face—”

“No, it’s not as bad as it looks—”

Marie-Chez’s lips trembled.

“But, that—”

“Come in for now.”

Alkerto grabbed Marie-Chez’s arm and pulled her inside. It wouldn’t look good to be like this in the corridor.

After pushing Marie-Chez into the room, Alkerto locked the door.

“Look, I’m fine. What’s wrong? Just—”

Alkerto’s words were cut off. Tears were falling from Marie-Chez’s eyes.

“Marie…”

“H-how did you— get hurt— uh—”

Alkerto lowered his hand that was covering his face. He tried to grin but realized his lip was split and only managed an awkward smile.

“I just got a bit hurt during a duel. It’s not that serious. Don’t cry, okay?”

Alkerto reached out and gently wiped her eyes. Marie-Chez looked at his face and said:

“How is it not serious when your eye is cut and your lip is split?”

“I might have some bruises tomorrow, but it’s not serious.”

“Who were you dueling with to end up like this? Was it with Beramund?”

“No, with Karsus.”

“Why were you dueling him? You can’t win. He’s a Master—”

As Marie-Chez was scolding him for doing something reckless, Alkerto said in a low voice:

“I will win.”

“But—”

“I will win.”

“…So you’re going to duel again?”

Marie-Chez’s voice became sharp.

“Yes.”

“You’re crazy!”

“You’re right. I am crazy.”

Alkerto’s ready admission left Marie-Chez’s mouth agape. She was about to say something more, but when she met his turquoise eyes, she couldn’t speak further.