She quickly put the seal down on the bed and took the sword. Serios smiled.
"It seems you prefer the sword to the estate."
"I'm honored."
Sigrid replied with a blush. Serios found it curious to see this indomitable lady knight acting shy, raising an eyebrow.
"Well then, I'll be going."
Serios, who had burst in like a storm, disappeared just as swiftly. Marie-Chez finally straightened her back, and Seria rose from her seat. Sigrid unsheathed the sword. Beautiful patterns rippled across the black surface.
"It's beautiful..."
She murmured as if sighing. Marie-Chez approached and said:
"Take care of the seal ring first."
She was anxious just watching. At those words, Sigrid finally sheathed the sword and picked up the ivory box instead.
Click. When she opened the box again, the seal ring inside was visible. She picked up the ring with a puzzled expression.
"A lily?"
The lily was the imperial family's crest. Currently, only the Lunatil ducal family, who were closely related to the imperial family, used the lily crest.
"It's a modified version of the imperial crest. In other words, it shows the imperial family's trust in the Ankertna county."
Beramund explained with a sigh. Marie-Chez looked at the seal ring with sparkling eyes, then at Sigrid, and said with a regretful tone:
"Ah, if Siri were a man, I'd propose an engagent right away. A young count, a master, with a bright future ahead."
Sighing deeply as she spoke, Sigrid laughed. Beramund looked at Marie-Chez with a blank expression at those words, then said to Sigrid:
"Well then, I'll be going for now. I'll co back tomorrow."
"Alright."
Sigrid nodded. Beramund brushed her bangs aside, kissed her, then left after flashing a smile and greeting Marie-Chez.
Watching his retreating figure, Marie-Chez made an odd "Hmm~" sound and said:
"Now Lord Lunatil needs to be on his toes."
"Why?"
"Because you'll beco Countess Sigrid Ankertna, the center of high society! A rising star! n's proposals will co flooding in!"
Marie-Chez's navy blue eyes twinkled like stars.
"Ugh."
Sigrid made a sound like she'd stepped on a frog at those words, but Marie-Chez paid no attention.
"And I'll catch one of the decent people who flock to Sigrid's side."
Marie-Chez grasped Sigrid's hand tightly.
"I'll cooperate fully."
"But, no... I have Beramund..."
"A little stimulation is good for couples, you know?"
Marie-Chez said with a grin.
Later, when Lowengrin ca to visit and heard about this plan through Sigrid, she burst out laughing.
"That's so like Marie."
Sigrid let out a deep sigh. Lowengrin continued:
"But dressing up nicely and a bit of stimulation aren't bad things, like Marie-Chez said."
Besides, hadn't he already hurt Sigrid?
Even if it was a misunderstanding, Lowengrin hadn't forgotten Sigrid crying her eyes out, saying she'd been rejected. If Beramund found it troubleso, he wanted to support that as well.
"Is that so?"
With even Lowengrin saying that, Sigrid was intrigued.
It's true that I've never shown Beramund a beautiful side of myself.
Lowengrin stood up and lightly kissed Sigrid's cheek as she sat on the bed.
"I'm glad you're safe, Siri. Really."
"Thank you for worrying about ."
Sigrid said with a smile. It was always fresh, ticklish, and pleasant to receive her friends' concern.
"And congratulations on becoming a countess. The Conwills region is a good place."
"Have you been there?"
"No, but I've heard about it. Co to think of it, you'll need to visit your estate too. You'll be busy."
"I'm not sure if I can properly govern an estate."
"The first task would be gathering vassals, I suppose."
Lowengrin said, tilting his head. The Alsekidna viscounty also had several vassals serving the viscountal family.
Sigrid let out a groan. Lowengrin said with a smile:
"You'll do well."
"Yeah. I hope so."
Sigrid nodded.
In any case, she had received a title, and she had to accept the responsibilities that ca with it.
If she was to be a lord, she wanted to be a good one.
Of course, that would be more difficult than being just an average lord.
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The roses in Sigrid's mansion had started to bud.
In that rose garden, Arkana responded to Sigrid with a puzzled expression.
"You're not taking
with you?"
Surprised by those words, Sigrid asked back:
"Huh?"
". You're not going to take
as your vassal? I thought for sure I'd be your chief magician."
"But, but, Arkana, you're close to His Highness the Crown Prince, aren't you?"
"We just cooperated briefly, we're not close."
Arkana said firmly, making a clipping sound with the garden shears. Sigrid looked at him and said:
"Of course, I'd be happy if Arkana ca with , but..."
"Then you're taking
as your magician, right?"
"Arkana has always been my magician."
"Then it's settled."
Arkana neatly wrapped up the situation. Then he hesitantly added:
"Can Seria co along too?"
"Of course! But is that okay? Didn't she say she was going to learn cooking from Sam?"
"But by the ti you settle in your estate, she should be settling down too."
"I see. You're always welco, of course."
Sigrid nodded. Arkana smiled gently.
Arkana, as a magician, had quickly beco known among the nobility. People were desperate to et him, the magician, but Arkana didn't et or interact with anyone.
It was well known that he was staying at Count Ankertna's mansion, so everyone whispered that they might be in an illicit relationship. Even so, no one could imagine marrying a magician, so everyone was still curious about who would beco her husband.
Sigrid finished her preparations to return to duty.
Since the Achtschwietz was gone, she was to return to the 1st Imperial Guard. In fact, now that she had beco a countess, there was no need to join the guard, but Sigrid needed it.
Being a knight was still part of her life, and she had no intention of giving up her knighthood.
Putting on the dark blue uniform of the guard, she smiled slightly, feeling like she was back to her old self. And as soon as she arrived at work, for the first ti, she thought she wanted to run away.
Beramund smiled when he saw Sigrid enter the guard room.
"Hello, Siri. Good morning."
"Good morning."
"Impressive, isn't it?"
At his aningful words, Sigrid answered, slumping her shoulders:
"Why are people surrounding
when this isn't even a social gathering?"
"That's because you're a celebrity."
Beramund answered brightly. Nas looked at Sigrid and said:
"You'll suffer quite a bit for a while."
"Oh, no."
Sigrid buried her face in her hands. She felt like fainting. She sighed and raised her head.
"It can't be helped. I'll just have to endure."
Nas nodded. Beramund said:
"You know that guard mbers left for the Achtschwietz, right? Most of them were punished or died in battle. So the guard is being reorganized these days."
"Congratulations on your promotion."
At Nas's words, Sigrid responded with a "What?" Beramund looked at Nas and said:
"It's a sha to lose a Vice-Captain like you."
"I'm glad to be leaving."
"You're leaving?"
"Leaving just ans becoming the Captain of the 2nd unit."
At Nas's words, Sigrid quickly said "Ah" and saluted.
"Congratulations."
Nas replied "Thank you" and continued:
"So I plan to hand over my duties to you for a week before I leave."
"Hand over?"
"Didn't I just say it? Congratulations on your promotion. Congratulations on becoming the Vice-Captain of the 1st unit."
"What?"
Sigrid's eyes widened. Beramund said with a smile, "Congratulations, Siri." Sigrid groaned, "Vice-Captain..."
It felt like everything was spinning these days.
She glared at Beramund and said:
"It would have been nice if you had told
in advance."
"Surprise, isn't it nice?"
"It's not."
Sigrid sighed heavily. Nas gestured to her.
"Then follow ."
"Yes."
Sigrid politely replied and followed Nas. It was a hectic day, receiving the silver pin that was the mark of a Vice-Captain, taking over docunts, listening to precautions.
'I was going to visit Awen...'
It's impossible today.
'No, I should still go. I promised I'd visit when I returned to duty, so he must be waiting.'
Sigrid collapsed on her desk with a pile of docunts and groaned. Just then, she heard footsteps. Familiar footsteps, so Sigrid didn't move an inch.
"Siri, are you sleeping?"
"I'm not sleeping."
Beramund reached out and stroked her hair as she lay face down. Feeling ticklish, Sigrid raised her head.
"Are you very tired? Want to rest a bit?"
"No, I'm fine."
Sigrid shook her head as she answered. Beramund chuckled and slowly traced the contours of her cheek with his fingertips.
"It tickles."
Sigrid giggled, shrugging her shoulders. Beramund slowly bent down, and Sigrid looked away before squeezing her eyes shut and raising her head. A gentle kiss mixed with laughter softly touched her lips.
After pressing his lips lightly against hers, Beramund raised his head. Sigrid still had her eyes tightly closed. Seeing how tense she was, Beramund gently caressed her nape and said:
"Relax."
At those words, Sigrid slightly opened her eyes and said:
"I'm, I'm trying."
"If you're this tense, we can't move on to the next step, you know?"
"......"
Sigrid, who had been staring at him blankly with her mouth open, soon turned bright red.
'Oh, she understands.'
Beramund thought it was unexpected, but soon recalled her days as a squire. Instantly, a wave of unpleasantness washed over him.
He thought it was childish, but he wanted to know how far that bastard had gone with her. Had they kissed? Had they slept together?
'No. It's not my first ti either.'
Beramund tried to push away those thoughts and kissed her again. Sigrid accepted the kiss more gently than before.
"Sigrid is mine, you know."
"Why am I yours?"
"Aren't you?!"
"I belong to myself."
Sigrid said proudly. Beramund laughed and lightly pinched her cheek before letting go and saying:
"But you're my girlfriend."
"...That's true."
"Why is your voice getting smaller?"
"Because I'm embarrassed."
"Why are you proud about that?"
Beramund said incredulously, then growled:
"For the next ball, your escort is definitely, absolutely . . Don't even think about giving it to anyone else. Not Arkana, not anyone. Absolutely not."
Beramund was already concerned about Arkana. In salons and clubs, rumors were circulating that the two were lovers.
Beramund couldn't shout, 'That's not true! I'm! I'm Sigrid Ankertna's lover!' in response to that. The only way was to show it.
"I understand."
Sigrid nodded.
"Good."
Beramund smiled with satisfaction and kissed the back of her hand.
'It's still too familiar.'
Sigrid made a displeased face. Beramund asked "What?" and she shook her head.
"It's nothing."
"It doesn't seem like nothing."
"It's not."
Sigrid said firmly, so Beramund thought 'Well, for now' and let go of her hand. He turned his gaze to the docunts and said:
"Is the work okay? Can you manage?"
"I'm dying. To be honest, I want to hand it over to soone else. I'm already overwheld with just the county work..."
"Haha, right. It might be better to go down there directly. You have a mansion caretaker anyway. It was imperial property, wasn't it? So the managent might have been a bit neglected, but they should still be trustworthy people."
"I hope so."
Sigrid muttered, grasping at straws. Beramund stared at her intently.
"What is it?"
Sigrid asked, tilting her head. He chuckled and said:
"No, it's nothing. You should clock out for today. You're going to et the Third Prince, right?"
"Yes."
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