Sigrid Novel Chapter 69

"It's not."

Sigrid replied. Rudinal said:

"I— I didn't know it would all turn out like this."

"What do you an?"

"That they would all die like that..."

At those words, Sigrid felt sothing was off.

'Co to think of it...'

Surely Rudinal must have known that the knight couldn't be killed. He must have known it would move again even after being destroyed, yet he said nothing. Sigrid tightened her grip on Beramund as she carried him. She started crossing the bridge at a run. Glancing back, she gritted her teeth.

At so point, Rudinal had returned and wasn't crossing the bridge. Instead, he was slashing at the rope supporting the bridge with his sword. Sigrid gathered her last bit of strength and leaped towards the opposite cliff.

'Just a little, just a little more—'

She stretched out one arm towards the opposite cliff. But her hand didn't reach. A mont of suspension in mid-air, and then the fall began.

In an instant, the cliff grew distant. Sigrid's view caught Rudinal looking down at her.

'I had forgotten.'

Sigrid saw his face filled with fear. For so reason, that face was clearly visible.

'That you were also a discarded piece.'

This prince had committed suicide before.

Realizing this belatedly, Sigrid squeezed her eyes shut. At that mont, Sigrid felt arms wrapping around her. Beramund, panting, whispered in her ear:

"Wrap your entire body in Aura."

Sigrid could see the ground getting closer with each passing mont. If they fell like this, Beramund, who was embracing her, would hit the ground first and—

"—!"

Sigrid struggled.

"Siri, please."

He whispered again. The fierce wind was deafening, and there was no way such a whisper could be heard, yet why did it sound so clear?

She hugged Beramund tightly. Trying her best to envelop herself entirely in Aura, she closed her eyes.

Thud—!

Suddenly, the wind stopped.

"Siri?"

At the voice that shouldn't be audible right now, Sigrid opened her eyes. She saw the ground right below, and the person standing there with a surprised face was...

"Ah, Ar..."

Sigrid's voice failed her. Arkana carefully set Beramund and Sigrid down on the ground. As soon as she touched the ground, Sigrid pushed Beramund away, stood up, and threw herself into Arkana's arms.

Beramund smiled bitterly and let his body go limp.

"Ah, Ar, Arkana—"

"Siri? Are you okay? Why—"

Sigrid jerked her head up and pulled Arkana's arm. She dragged him in front of Beramund, pointed at Beramund, and said:

"Heal him."

Not 'Can you heal him?' but 'Heal him.'

At her look that said 'You can do it, can't you?', Arkana smiled.

"Of course, my knight."

Arkana knelt beside Beramund on one knee and frowned. He had never seen such severe injuries. Beramund muttered:

"So you're not a gardener, I see."

"I'm a part-ti gardener."

Arkana clicked his tongue at Beramund's ntal fortitude, neither fainting nor struggling, and stretched his hand over the wound. Golden light flowed from his hand. After a mont, Beramund sat up, clenching and unclenching his now-healed left arm.

'My goodness...'

As he stared blankly at his arm, Arkana, who had also healed his thigh, stood up.

"There, all fixed."

"You healed it?"

"Yes."

Beramund grinned and showed his arm to Sigrid.

"It's completely hea—"

Before he could finish, Sigrid embraced him.

"Oof—"

At the muffled sound, Beramund softly called, "Siri?" and Sigrid burst into tears.

"Uhuhu, Bera, mu, hic, I thought, I thought you were going to die— Uhuhuhu, hic, sob, sob—"

Sigrid cried loudly and hugged him tightly.

"Your arm, your eye— hic, because of, because of — Uhuhuhuh—"

"It's okay, I'm all better now. Okay? Siri, Siri."

Beramund patted her back. Tears fell from Sigrid's eyes in large drops. It seed unbelievable that she had managed to hold them back until now.

"It's okay."

Beramund said this several tis, smiling. Sigrid shook her head and kept burrowing into his embrace.

She really thought he was going to die.

She really, really thought Beramund was going to disappear.

"Sigrid, your eyes will freeze. Stop crying. Okay?"

Even as he soothed her, Beramund couldn't hide the satisfaction in his voice.

"But..."

Sigrid sniffled, burying her face in his shoulder and carefully touching his left face with her hand. There was blood, but no wound. Beramund let her check the wound to her heart's content. After a while, Sigrid, finally calming down, raised her head.

"Are you feeling better now?"

At his question, Sigrid nodded. She rubbed her tear-stained face with the back of her hand. Beramund smiled faintly at that face that looked so young. Just then, Arkana reached out his hand. Sigrid obediently took it, stood up, and hugged Arkana again.

"Thank you, thank you, Arkana. My magician."

"It's nothing."

Arkana wiped the remaining tears from her face with his hand and said:

"So, what exactly happened?"

He looked up. The cliff top was dizzyingly high. Beramund stood up, dusting himself off, lightly moved his arms and legs, and said to Arkana:

"Thank you."

"Don't thank , thank Siri. I'm her magician, after all."

At those words, accompanied by a grin, Beramund narrowed his eyes and then said to Sigrid:

"Thank you, Siri."

Sigrid shook her head vigorously from within Arkana's embrace. Sigrid exhaled a shaky breath and extricated herself from Arkana's arms.

"How did you get here, Arkana?"

"I went ho, and they told

you'd gone for treatnt because of the western flu."

Arkana frowned.

"When I asked where you'd gone, they said they didn't know. You'd been gone for two weeks without any contact. I was worried, so I flew here."

Teleport—to Sigrid Ankertna's side.

It was quite a dangerous move given that he didn't know where Sigrid was, but if he hadn't moved, he would have found Sigrid shattered.

"So, what exactly happened?"

Arkana asked again. Beramund and Sigrid looked at each other.

"I'm not sure where to start explaining."

At Beramund's words, Arkana said firmly:

"Let's start from the beginning."

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The group returned to their original position. Pieces of shattered armor were scattered everywhere, and Arkana picked up a broken sword.

"Can you see this?"

He pointed to a stone embedded in the middle of the sword hilt.

"A decorative stone, I suppose it's not just for show."

Arkana nodded at Beramund's words. He looked at the letters engraved on the blade with a hard expression.

"There must have been soone controlling it."

"Nearby?"

Beramund narrowed his eyes, and Arkana shook his head.

"No, they were probably watching through sothing like a crystal ball."

"You an it was the work of a magician?"

"That's highly likely."

"And that jewel-like thing?"

"An extracted Aura Core."

Sigrid flinched and placed her hand over her chest. Beramund lightly clenched and unclenched his fist.

"It can't be an Aura user from the Empire, right?"

At Sigrid's words, Beramund said:

"If an Aura user went missing, rumors would spread quickly."

Arkana nodded, tossing away the sword hilt as if discarding sothing dirty.

"Let's watch for when those rumors start spreading. And what are you going to do about Rudinal?"

There was no need to use honorifics for soone who had tried to kill Sigrid. Beramund's expression darkened. Sigrid said:

"His Majesty must have instigated this."

Arkana looked at her. Sigrid sighed and looked at Beramund and Arkana. She said to Arkana:

"I want to tell everything to both of you here."

Arkana understood what she ant. Beramund looked between the two and asked:

"What is it? Sothing I don't know?"

"Let's move sowhere else to talk. Where should we go?"

At Arkana's words, Sigrid looked at Beramund, and Beramund lightly pressed his forehead before saying:

"Sigrid, can we go to my house? Everyone there keeps their mouths shut."

Sigrid nodded. Arkana asked Beramund for the location of his house, and soon the three of them found themselves in Beramund's room. Arkana let out a long breath.

Teleportation was one of the most mana-consuming spells. Especially long-distance teleportation without coordinates like this.

"Are you alright?"

At Beramund's question, Arkana nodded. But his complexion was so pale that Sigrid quickly offered him a chair.

"Then, I'll be right back."

Beramund quietly left the room, suppressing his presence. As soon as he left, Sigrid quickly turned to Arkana and said:

"Did you receive your magician's appointnt? Are you a real magician now?"

"Yes and no."

At Arkana's ambiguous answer, Sigrid frowned.

"What does that an?"

"Siri."

"Yes?"

"If I can't receive formal appointnt, am I not a magician?"

At his words, Sigrid blinked and then shook her head.

"No, Arkana, you're always, forever, my magician."

"Then, that's enough."

"Did sothing happen?"

At Sigrid's question, Arkana let out a long sigh. As he was about to open his mouth, the door clicked open. Beramund said:

"I've had a bath prepared. Who wants to wash up?"

Sigrid raised her hand quickly, making both n laugh.

Sigrid nodded unconsciously before snapping back to her senses. After splashing her face with water a few tis, she looked up at the ceiling.

'I'm sleepy.'

Soaking in the hot water made her fatigue rush in. To be honest, she just wanted to dive into a soft bed right away, regardless of any conversation.

'No, I can't.'

After lightly patting her cheeks one last ti, Sigrid got up from the bath. If she stayed any longer, she might fall asleep and drown. Drying herself with a fluffy towel, she couldn't feel any better. Sigrid yawned deeply as she put on the clothes Beramund had prepared.

Long hair was inconvenient at tis like this. In the Lunatil ducal residence, maids would flock to dry her hair, but Beramund's mansion didn't seem to have that many servants.

Wrapping her hair in a towel like a turban, she left the bathroom.

"All cleaned up?"

Arkana, who had been waiting in the room, said with a grin.

"Yes..."

She answered, nodding. With her cheeks flushed and her eyes full of drowsiness, Arkana pushed her seat closer to the fireplace.

"Sit down."

"Thank you."

"Are you cold?"

"Yes, but it's really warm here. Coming to the central region after being in the north, I can really feel that it's spring."

Sigrid said, glancing at Arkana before smiling.

"How did you ti it so perfectly?"

"Because I'm a magician?"

"I see."

"No, that was a joke, so don't take it seriously. I was lucky."

"Yes, you were lucky. But luck is also a skill."

Sigrid nodded. If Arkana had been even a few seconds late, she and Beramund would have been flattened.

It wasn't a pleasant thought.

Sigrid shook her head to ward off drowsiness and asked Arkana:

"What happened with the magician's appointnt?"

"It's been postponed."

"Postponed?"

Surprised, Sigrid sat up straight. Her drowsiness vanished completely. She growled:

"Why? For what reason? Who do they think they are?"

Looking as if she might rush into the Ice Tower and shake the elders by their collars at any mont, Arkana laughed.

"No, I sowhat agreed to it too..."

At Arkana's words, Sigrid carefully examined his face. After working so hard, was it really okay not to beco an official magician?

"Are you okay with that?"

At her careful question, Arkana nodded and said:

"If you call

a magician, that's enough for ."

"Arkana is a magician. An excellent one who even saved my life."

At those words, he smiled.

"That's all I need."

Still, he had worked so hard. It would be nice if others recognized him too.

Sigrid thought this as she swallowed a regretful sigh.

"What exactly is the problem?"