Sigrid Novel Chapter 81

Rudinal's face brightened.

"I may have made a small mistake, but—"

"I'm alive, but all the others who guarded Your Highness are dead."

"That... I didn't kill them..."

At Rudinal's words, Beramund's face went blank, and Arkana burst out laughing. Arkana said with a chilling smile:

"Indeed. So if you didn't commit it directly with your own hands, it ans you didn't do it?"

"Who are you? How dare you!"

Ignoring Rudinal's outcry, Arkana looked at Beramund.

"What will you do?"

"I suppose we should hear the details first?"

Beramund said, pulling up a chair next to the bed and sitting down heavily.

"So, was it His Majesty's instigation?"

Rudinal rubbed his face and said:

"That... Father just wanted to regain so balance. We can't let the northern and western nobles get too out of hand... If I were attacked by them, they'd settle down for a while... And Father said Brother might send you to rescue . I— yes, honestly, I was jealous of you. But when I saw you fall off the cliff, I realized this wasn't right. I'm sorry, Beramund! I made a mistake."

"For such... for such a trivial reason..."

Beramund muttered like a groan. He thought of the soldiers, servants, and knights who had died.

And Sigrid.

"It was a serious matter for ."

"More than other people's lives?"

"They said they'd take care of them, but I never thought they'd really kill them! I was scared too!"

Rudinal shouted.

"You didn't think about it? Or you didn't want to? Honestly, you're shocked to see them dead, but do you actually feel sorry for them? After all, they're just expendables before the royal family, aren't they?"

Arkana said sharply. His green eyes glowed fiercely. Rudinal flinched and asked Beramund:

"Who on earth is this man—"

"I agree with his opinion."

Beramund stood up. He gestured for Arkana to leave the room. Outside, the two looked at the corpses. Beramund said:

"How pathetic."

"The prince? Or yourself?"

"Both. Rudinal is weak-hearted, but I thought that weakness was a good point."

"Until it becos self-justification, that is."

"Yes. To rein in the west and north, did he not know what that would cause? That it would lead to a purge of the western nobles? Besides, his own brother is in league with those western nobles?"

"It's like a child playing with fire. Not knowing what great disaster it might cause. The fact that a grown adult is doing this already suggests he's not in his right mind."

Arkana looked at Beramund and asked:

"Shall I kill him for you?"

"What?"

"If you're close, it might be difficult for you to kill him. Right now, I think I could kill that person quite happily."

"You've never killed anyone before, have you?"

Arkana said in a hard voice:

"Is that a problem?"

"No, then there's no particular need to kill, is there? This is my job, but how should I put it— murder isn't sothing I'd like to recomnd."

"That's hard to believe coming from the person who created these corpses."

Beramund shrugged.

"So what happens now? Do we take him back, have a tearful reunion between brothers, and cover up his 'mistake' because he's royalty?"

At Arkana's words, Beramund was silent for a mont before saying:

"It would have been better if it was ambition. Sothing like 'I'll beco Emperor.' Or at least if he understood the weight of what he'd done. Or if he was a strategist, planning to put his brother in a difficult position and use that as a stepping stone. Or if he was a fool completely deceived by His Majesty's honeyed words."

"It's none of those, is it?"

"No, it's none of them. Isn't it such a trivial reason? The danger we were all put in was just because— he wanted to put his brother in a bit of trouble. 'I didn't an for it to go this far.' Such words— it's infuriating."

"You'd be surprised how many people cause big problems for reasons like 'It won't be that big a deal,' 'It's not like I'm doing anything bad,' or 'I just wanted to make things a little difficult for them.'"

"It's idiotic."

"I agree."

"Alright. Let's take him back."

Beramund said, pushing off from the wall.

"To the Imperial Palace?"

"Yes. And make him face the consequences of his actions."

"I wonder what those consequences will be."

"For now—"

Beramund opened the door and entered the room. Rudinal looked up at Beramund with an anxious face. Beramund said, "Excuse ," grabbed Rudinal by the collar, and punched him in the face. Rudinal clutched his face and scread. Blood could be seen trickling between Beramund's fingers. The nose bone was probably broken, or teeth knocked out, or perhaps both. Beramund lightly dusted off his hand and said:

"First, I'll give him one punch."

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Sigrid examined herself in the black uniform from various angles. A gold sword-shaped brooch was attached to her chest, indicating she was a squad leader.

'Squad leader right after joining.'

It was natural since she was the only Master in that squad. And anyway, the higher her rank, the easier it would be to do what she needed to do.

Donning the matching long black coat over it, Sigrid went outside. Seria, who had followed her to the entrance to see her off, hesitated and said:

"Um, Sigrid..."

"Yes?"

As Sigrid turned to her, Seria said with a serious face:

"No, I'll tell you when you get back."

"Is it sothing serious?"

"No, it's not like that. Well, it is serious, but it's not like a problem has occurred or anything."

"I see."

Sigrid nodded and left the house.

She first headed to the Imperial Guard room in the palace and confird once again that there were no specific orders after the morning roll call. Sigrid asked Morris and Alkerto:

"Is it always like this? Just standing by without any particular tasks?"

"Yeah."

"I wish we were given sothing to do. It's nice to get paid well, but it feels useless."

Alkerto said, shrugging his shoulders.

'Pay...'

Sigrid muttered inwardly and asked Alkerto:

"How's your family? Are they all alright?"

"Huh? Yeah."

Alkerto shrugged and smiled.

"Once we start receiving the Imperial Guard salary, we'll probably move and be able to do other things too."

"I see..."

Sigrid nodded. Suddenly, her heart felt heavy. If the Imperial Guard were to be disbanded, where would all these people go?

'No, it's still better than that happening.'

She shook her head internally.

"Well, I'll be going then."

"Squad Leader, shall we go together?"

Alkerto said with a grin. Sigrid turned to him in surprise.

"Together?"

"Yeah. It's not like we have anything to do here anyway. You're going to guard the Third Prince again today, right?"

"Y-yes."

"Then let's go. You're coming too, right?"

As Alkerto turned to Morris with these words, Morris nodded. Sigrid wondered if it would be alright, but she nodded and said:

"If His Highness dislikes it, we'll leave imdiately."

"That can't be helped."

Alkerto nodded.

When the three of them arrived, Awen clung tightly to Sigrid and looked at the two n with wary eyes.

"Who are these two?"

"They're Alkerto and Morris, mbers of my squad."

"Squad mbers?"

Awen tilted his head and fiddled with her clothes, saying:

"I see. So Sigrid has joined the Achtschwietz too..."

Awen's expression didn't look very good, which made Sigrid curious.

"Your Highness?"

"It's nothing."

Awen shook his head. Instead, he lifted his chin and said:

"I did the morning exercises you taught , Sigrid!"

"Were you alright?"

"I felt a bit dizzy, but it was fine."

"I'm glad to hear that."

Sigrid smiled gently.

"Now that the tutor is here, do you have to teach

swordsmanship again after the lesson?"

"Yes."

Sigrid answered politely, and soon after the tutor arrived, Awen let go of her hand. Standing behind him as he received his lesson, Sigrid listened with a still-strange feeling. Then Alkerto leaned his upper body towards her and whispered:

"How did you do it?"

"Do what?"

"His Highness, I an. He completely adores you."

"I'm not sure."

Sigrid shrugged.

After the lesson ended, Awen even changed his clothes.

"I had the maid make it."

It was clothing easy to move in. The reinforced elbows and sleeves were noticeable.

"It's excellent."

"Now teach !"

"Yes."

The four of them trotted out to the garden.

Sigrid put him through basic training as before. Panting, Awen asked:

"When can I hold a sword?"

"At least until Your Highness can wield a weighted sword."

"I can swing one now."

"Yes, but you probably can't maintain the correct posture for many swings. Simply swinging isn't aningful."

At Sigrid's words, Awen thought for a mont and then nodded.

"Alright. But it's boring."

"Yes, but you've improved since we first started. When you get better, you'll enjoy it. Write down how many you can do each day. You'll see rapid improvent."

"Okay."

He nodded slightly. Awen glanced at Morris and Alkerto and asked:

"Hey, you two, are you Masters too?"

"No, we're not."

Morris and Alkerto answered politely, and Awen frowned.

"What? You're both terrible then."

Sigrid laughed and said:

"But both of them could handle Your Highness wielding a sword."

"Really? Really?"

He asked Sigrid, then turned to ask Morris and Alkerto again. Alkerto nodded and answered:

"Of course, Your Highness."

"To so extent, yes."

"Then let's try it!"

At Awen's words, Alkerto raised an eyebrow, then bowed his head.

"As you wish."

A mont later, after telling a servant to bring wooden swords, Awen grasped a wooden sword with both hands and swung it around. Alkerto smirked and said:

"Please go easy on , Your Highness."

"Hyah!!"

Without any starting signal, Awen swung the sword. But there was no way he could hit with a sword swung recklessly by a child. Alkerto dodged here and there, and Awen swung the sword with all his might. Sigrid tilted her head and watched the scene. Morris whispered to her:

"If Alkerto slips, it'll be embarrassing."

"Surely not. His lower body strength has improved a lot, hasn't it?"

"He's been working hard."

"It shows."

Sigrid nodded.

"Ah—!"

The next mont, the wooden sword Awen swung with all his might slipped from his hands. Coincidentally, the sword flew straight towards Sigrid.

"Siri!"

Alkerto shouted in surprise. Sigrid tilted her head slightly to avoid it and caught the flying sword with one hand. Awen watched the scene with his mouth agape.

"Now you understand why I said you need to build arm strength, don't you?"

Sigrid said, twirling the wooden sword and offering the handle to Awen. He took the sword, looking at her with sparkling eyes. Awen held the sword and grinned at Alkerto again.

"Let's go another round!"

"As many as you like, Your Highness."

Alkerto smiled.

With his sociable nature and experience with many younger siblings, he quickly beca familiar with Awen. When they switched shifts in the evening, Awen said goodbye not only to Sigrid but also to Alkerto.

As they left the prince's palace, Alkerto said:

"He's quite adorable, isn't he?"

"You think so?"

As Sigrid thought, 'Is he adorable?' Alkerto nodded.

"Yes, much more than my rascally half-siblings."

Morris said with a bitter smile:

"Sohow I feel left out."

"Oh, poor Morris. The two of us have monopolized His Highness's favor."

Alkerto teased Morris with a grin. Morris deliberately let out a big sigh.

"Indeed."

After returning to the Imperial Guard room and confirming there was nothing unusual, Sigrid felt a slight sense of impatience.