Sigrid

Marie-Chez picked up the fallen sword again.

They returned to the starting position, bowed to each other, and began the first exchange once more.

Clang—

Again, the sword flew out of Marie-Chez’s hand. Sigrid’s face grew serious.

“Marie-Chez…”

“It, it was a mistake! Let’s do it again.”

Marie-Chez quickly retrieved her sword. This time, she gripped the handle with all her might. Lowengrin couldn’t bear to watch what would happen next.

Clang—!

With an even louder metallic sound than before, Marie-Chez’s sword flew from her hand, arcing through the air with a glint before plunging into the ground. Everyone stared blankly at the scene. Alkerto said, “Wow.”

“I’ve never seen a sword fly like that before.”

Morris frowned and smacked Alkerto on the head. Marie-Chez’s face turned as red as a tomato. Alkerto thought ‘Oh no,’ but it was too late to take it back.

Marie-Chez didn’t even pick up her sword and fled the training ground at full speed. Surprised, Sigrid quickly picked up Marie-Chez’s sword and followed after her.

“Marie-Chez, wait a moment.”

Marie-Chez dashed into the changing room and shower area set up in a corner of the knights’ quarters, slamming the door shut. Sigrid approached and knocked on the door.

“Marie-Chez? Can you open this door? Please?”

She tried turning the doorknob, but it was locked, and there was no answer from inside.

“Marie-Chez? It’s okay to drop your sword sometimes, everyone makes mistakes.”

“Go away!”

The shout from inside made Sigrid flinch. She then stammered:

“Oh, um, if you don’t want me here, I’ll go. I’ll leave your sword here…”

Marie-Chez stood pressed against the door, listening to the sounds outside. After a moment, when she heard the sound of Sigrid leaving the knights’ quarters, Marie-Chez slid down the wall to sit on the floor.

‘This is just too much.’

Tears of embarrassment pricked her eyes. To be humiliated like that in front of everyone. Couldn’t they have gone easy on her?

If I dropped my sword twice, couldn’t they have considered my pride the third time?

Is being good with a sword such a big deal? After all, she’s just a commoner who doesn’t even know how to dress up properly.

It’s so embarrassing, everyone will hear about it.

The whole knight order will gossip about it and laugh at me.

What should I do?

Marie-Chez buried her face in her knees.

Knock knock knock—

The knocking startled Marie-Chez.

“I said go away!”

“Isn’t it wrong to monopolize the changing room?”

The voice that came through sounded like it was scolding her, but it was cheerful. Marie-Chez made a small “ugh” sound.

“What are you doing here? Go away.”

Alkerto sighed outside the door, saying, “Oh dear.”

“Hey, I’m sorry if I said something wrong earlier.”

There was no response. Alkerto tapped on the doorknob and said:

“How should I put this… Sigrid is extraordinary, so even if you lost in one exchange, everyone will understand. I lost too… and so did Morris… It’s okay, it’s okay.”

“Are you an idiot?”

The sudden sharp words from inside made Alkerto frown and say, “What?” The next moment, the door flew open. Alkerto was thankful the door opened inward.

“That’s not what’s important!”

“Then—”

“What does it matter to others?! I couldn’t even last one exchange! Are you trying to rub it in?!”

“That’s—”

“Anyway, rumors will spread about me! It’s obvious what they’ll say at the ball!”

“They won’t—”

“You wouldn’t understand! You’ve never been the center of gossip!”

“Calm down—”

“No, rumors are always known by everyone except the person involved. Do you know what people say about you? Living in a crumbling house with your siblings, a pauper trying to fit in with…”

Marie-Chez stopped mid-sentence.

“Why? Keep going.”

Alkerto’s voice was cold. Marie-Chez stared at him blankly, surprised. She had never seen Alkerto angry before. She had always thought of him as a man with a good sense of humor who could take a joke. So she thought it would be okay to say such things—

‘I went too far.’

Marie-Chez realized her mistake with an ‘Oops,’ but she couldn’t say anything. She was angry too, after all. Alkerto said:

“Forget it. What can I expect from a noble lady?”

“What?”

At those words, Marie-Chez’s tone sharpened again, but Alkerto had already stormed out of the knights’ quarters. As Alkerto came out, Sigrid, who had been waiting nearby, approached him.

“How did it go? Did you talk—”

The word ‘well?’ didn’t come out. Alkerto’s teal eyes glanced at Sigrid.

“Was it you?”

“Huh?”

“Did you talk about my financial situation? Right, you must have, Sigrid Ankertna. You shouldn’t keep secrets from your friends, right?”

“What are you talking about?”

Sigrid was confused by this sudden, irrelevant outburst. Why was Alkerto’s financial situation suddenly being brought up?

“Of course, you’re not at fault. But does the absence of malice mean it’s not wrong?”

“Wait, Alkerto! What are you saying?”

“If not you, then who?”

“What?”

Sigrid shouted in frustration, and he just said, “Forget it,” before walking away. Sigrid started to chase after him. Noticing the tense atmosphere, Morris quickly approached.

“What’s going on?”

“Just reinforcing my prejudice against noble ladies.”

“Alkerto?”

“I don’t want to see your face right now either, so go away.”

“Sigrid?”

“I don’t know what’s happening either. Suddenly—”

Seeing Sigrid’s agitation, Morris twirled his finger, signaling her to go. Sigrid hesitated, then nodded and stopped in her tracks.

Morris grabbed Alkerto’s arm.

“Hold on, let’s talk.”

“I don’t want to.”

“Alkerto.”

“What would you know, being a noble?”

At those words, Morris frowned.

He could tell this was a turning point. They might cross a line they couldn’t come back from, or not crossing it might make it impossible to return.

“Then what would you know, being a commoner?”

Morris decided to cross it. Alkerto looked at Morris, dumbfounded, and he said:

“Tell me. If you don’t speak, how am I supposed to know? If you just draw a line saying ‘You don’t understand,’ what am I supposed to do?”

“Even if I tell you, you won’t understand.”

“Ah, right, because I haven’t experienced it, I might not understand. So if we just stay like this, will understanding come naturally? Or will we just remain distant forever?”

Alkerto flinched at Morris’s words, then sighed.

“Marie-Chez—”

“Yeah?”

“It’s…”

The words wouldn’t come out.

Saying with his own mouth that he was rumored to be a pauper was incredibly humiliating.

“She said there were rumors about me…”

“Rumors? What rumors?”

Morris tilted his head, racking his brain. Had there ever been any rumors about him?

“About my situation…”

Finally managing to squeeze out the words, Morris understood the situation.

“I’ve never heard such rumors though?”

“But she…”

“I see. So you think Sigrid is the source?”

“Who else knows about my circumstances? And you know Sigrid tells her friends everything.”

Morris couldn’t deny that. Alkerto let out a low sigh and rubbed his face.

“I’m leaving.”

Morris let go of his arm. Watching Alkerto disappear, Morris quickly turned back to Sigrid. She brightened when she saw him, having been waiting nearby with concern. Morris asked her in a low voice:

“Sigrid, did you tell Marie-Chez about Alkerto’s family situation?”

“No?”

“Really?”

“Alkerto said he didn’t want to reveal it, so I didn’t.”

“Ah, then why on earth—”

Morris patted Sigrid’s shoulder and headed towards the knights’ quarters. Opening the door, he found Marie-Chez changing clothes and gathering her things to leave.

“Marie-Chez.”

“What?”

Despite her curt response, Morris pressed on:

“Where did you hear that rumor?”

“What?”

“The rumor about Alkerto. Where did you hear it?”

“What are you talking about? What rumor?”

“The rumor you told Alkerto about.”

“Just, here and there…”

“No, I’ve never heard it.”

“It’s girl talk, so you might not know.”

Morris’s eyes narrowed.

“Or is the source you?”

“N-no!”

Marie-Chez jumped up.

“Marie-Chez.”

As Morris pressed her, Marie-Chez bit her lip. Her navy blue eyes darted around before she said:

“I just said it because I was angry at Alkerto! There’s no such rumor.”

“Then how did you know?”

“I found out by chance.”

Morris sighed. Marie-Chez said:

“I just said it because I was angry. I never spread rumors or told anyone else.”

“Right, not until you said it in front of the person involved.”

“Well, it’s not like I lied.”

“Marie-Chez.”

“I don’t know. I’m the only one who did wrong, I’m the only bad one!”

Marie-Chez shouted and brushed past Morris. As Morris stood there dumbfounded, thinking ‘What should I do now?’, a voice came from behind.

“Didn’t go well?”

Turning around, he saw Lowengrin smiling slightly. Morris groaned and said:

“If you were watching, why didn’t you come out and help?”

“Ah, that kind of emotional drain is a bit tiring.”

“You… you too, really…”

“Besides, I would’ve only made things worse, whether I took your side or Marie’s.”

“Well, that’s true, but…”

“Anyway, I’ll take Siri with me, so you go comfort Alkerto.”

“If I tell him, it’ll worsen his relationship with Marie-Chez.”

“It’s difficult to be close to someone who knows your weaknesses? Still, shouldn’t you tell him it’s not actually a rumor?”

“That’s true.”

“Things have gotten strangely tangled.”

“Somehow, I feel like I’ve been sighing a lot lately.”

With family troubles too—

“It can’t be helped.”

Lowengrin cut him off firmly and left, raising her voice, “Siri? Come here for a moment!” Morris thought he should buy a gift before going to Alkerto’s house.

Maybe things would improve a bit if he received a gift…

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

Lowengrin calmly sipped her tea. Marie-Chez silently glared at her teacup, while Sigrid still didn’t know what to do and kept glancing nervously at Marie-Chez.

“Have you cooled down?”

At Lowengrin’s words, Sigrid flinched as if about to jump up, and Marie-Chez glared at her friend. Lowengrin laughed and said:

“You seem to have cooled down since you accepted the invitation.”

“Sigrid.”

Marie-Chez called, and Sigrid turned with a “Yes?”

“Next time we spar, let me win.”

“Uh…?”

“You can let me win once in a while. Think about my pride too.”

“But… that’s cheating, isn’t it…?”

Sigrid looked at Marie-Chez in confusion.

“Everyone does it.”

“They do?”

Sigrid turned to Lowengrin, who tilted her head and said:

“Some people do.”

“You don’t have to lose in one exchange. You can lose by a narrow margin.”

“That’s…”

“We’re friends, right? Hm?”

Faced with this attack wielding the word ‘friend,’ Sigrid hesitated and then bowed her head.

“I’m sorry, Marie-Chez. I can’t do that.”

“What? Is winning a sparring match more important than your friend?”