Sigrid

“That’s true. But perhaps at this very moment, Prince Rudinal’s life is hanging in the balance…”

“Conversely, if we don’t rest now, we might make a wrong judgment due to fatigue and miss the chance to reach the prince when his life is at stake.”

Beramund nodded, leaning his head back. Through the cloak, he could faintly feel the cold chill of the snow wall.

“Do you know anything about Prince Rudinal?”

At Beramund’s question, Sigrid fell into thought for a moment. When she had been falsely accused of conspiring with this prince to kill the crown prince, she remembered seeing his pale face in the accusation document.

“No.”

Sigrid shook her head. In the pitch-black darkness, the only signs of each other’s presence were their soft breathing, the warmth of their touching shoulders, and their voices.

“You know that there’s a big age gap between Serios and Rudinal?”

“Ah, I do know that.”

Sigrid answered with a triumphant voice, having heard it from Lowengrin. Beramund couldn’t help but laugh. She must have learned it quite recently.

“Then what about His Majesty and the former Empress?”

“…I don’t know.”

Sigrid answered, hugging her knees and resting her chin on them.

‘Come to think of it, I don’t know anything about His Majesty either.’

She had thought she was so close, right by his side…

But now, looking back, she realized she knew nothing about His Majesty.

‘How foolish. How stupid you were, Sigrid Ankertna.’

“What kind of relationship did they have?”

When Sigrid asked softly, Beramund was silent for a moment before answering.

“His Majesty’s father took quite a hard line against the nobility. But before he could achieve everything, he passed away when His Majesty was ten years old. Since His Majesty was young at the time, His Majesty’s mother, the Empress Dowager, acted as regent on his behalf…”

Beramund chuckled lightly.

“The Empress Dowager had a lover. And there were nobles who looked down on the young emperor. His Majesty grew up in such a situation, caught between his mother’s lover and the nobles who were trying to manipulate him in any way they could.”

Sigrid swallowed.

“That’s… But now His Majesty is—”

“Right. He wields unprecedented power. What scares me about His Majesty is that— when he turned sixteen, he married the Empress, and it seemed like his temperament might soften a bit. Serios originally had an older brother with quite an age gap. A very capable person, perfectly suited to be the empire’s crown prince.”

“Had?”

“His Majesty, feeling threatened by the capable crown prince, killed his son.”

“…What?”

In the darkness, Sigrid was surprised to hear her own voice flip up. But she couldn’t help but ask.

“You mean the Crown Prince?”

“Yeah, of course, he didn’t say ‘You’re capable, so die.’ There was an uprising in the western region at that time. He sent him to quell it, then found fault with how he handled the situation and made him take responsibility. The Empress fainted over the incident and her health deteriorated… She passed away not long after giving birth to Prince Rudinal. She hemorrhaged, and no physician came.”

The sarcasm in Beramund’s tone was so thick that even Sigrid could pick up on the nuance.

“His Majesty didn’t send a physician.”

“That’s right.”

Silence fell in the darkness. Sigrid recalled all the missions she had carried out.

Killing, stealing, threatening, burning—

She remembered every single one without exception.

‘Come to think of it, there were quite a few western nobles.’

First the west, then the north, followed by the east and south.

‘Looking back now, it was a purge.’

Any noble who was a great aristocrat or could become a focal point was mercilessly eliminated. But being a focal point or a great aristocrat meant they were that capable, and without capable people, a country is bound to decline. Even two princes had died along with her.

‘If Awen becomes the Crown Prince…’

Sigrid let out a long sigh.

‘Does it mean he doesn’t care what happens to the empire after him?’

That’s a bit sad.

Sigrid closed her eyes.

What on earth did I pledge my loyalty to that person for?

Why did I want to be loyal to and recognized by the royal family?

And Sigrid realized a surprising fact and opened her eyes.

‘Now… I don’t think I need the royal family’s recognition that much anymore…’

The conclusion she reached after seeing up close the family that had seemed so great was that they weren’t particularly different.

—The scale had tipped further.

Sigrid clenched her fists. She preferred Arkana’s recognition over that of Emperor. The sword Beramund gave her was better than the one bestowed by the Crown Prince. She enjoyed chattering with Lowengrin and Marie-Chez more than having tea time with the Crown Princess. Being with Alkerto and Morris was more enjoyable than being with her high-ranking Imperial Guard colleagues.

‘Of course, I’m a knight, and I won’t stop striving to become an excellent knight.’

And she would set her own standards for what makes an excellent knight and what the right thing to do is.

Her heart pounding, Sigrid clutched her chest tightly.

I govern myself.

Taking a deep breath, Sigrid shifted her thoughts. Emotion is emotion, and reason is reason. She asked:

“Then why is His Majesty trying to dispose of Prince Rudinal now?”

“You know that Prince Rudinal went on an inspection tour, right?”

“Yes. I heard it was for encouragement.”

“It seems he gathered opinions about Serios and practical business matters there.”

“Isn’t that information shared with His Majesty as well?”

Surely the prince wouldn’t record that content alone, and the emperor would have sent several recorders along.

“It is, but even so. Hmm— Rudinal is Serios’s closest confidant, isn’t he?”

“Not you?”

At Sigrid’s words, Beramund burst out laughing and said:

“No, I’m still an outsider. Rudinal is his brother, isn’t he?”

“Is that so?”

Sigrid tilted her head. Looking at Morris, it seemed that brothers could often be worse than strangers. Well, maybe these two could be different. Alkerto, too, didn’t seem to have a bad relationship with his siblings. He was even struggling to take responsibility for his half-siblings.

“Anyway, think about it. If Rudinal dies, who would want to side with Serios?”

No one would want to be on the side of someone who couldn’t even protect his closest confidant—his brother.

“I see how that could be a consideration.”

Sigrid nodded. But something still felt off. There was something, something that seemed like it should come to mind, but she couldn’t grasp it.

After pondering for a while, a thought suddenly occurred to Sigrid and she asked:

“Come to think of it, you have an older brother too, don’t you, Beramund?”

“Yeah. I have a capable older brother.”

At his answer, Sigrid tilted her head and asked:

“Don’t you like your brother?”

Feeling Beramund’s shoulder, which was touching hers, flinch, Sigrid turned her head towards him in the darkness—though she couldn’t see him—and said:

“Did I say something out of line?”

“No. You hit the nail on the head. No, it’s not that I don’t like him—”

“But…?”

Beramund sighed and said:

“My brother is so capable that I became too carefree in comparison. Actually, I’m happy about it because I like to have fun.”

He added with a snicker, and Sigrid leaned towards him, almost putting her weight on him.

“Siri?”

“I know well that Beramund is making an effort.”

She whispered so close to his ear that he swallowed hard.

“It might look like you’re just playing around, but I know you’re actually working ‘hard’. And though I don’t know much, I think your brother probably knows too.”

“Why do you think so?”

“If Beramund doesn’t dislike him, he must be a good person, and if so, I think he surely knows.”

At those words, Beramund laughed and then reached out to touch her face.

“You’re really too close again.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes.”

At that, Sigrid obediently returned to her original position. Beramund didn’t comment further on what she had said. But he did reconsider his thoughts about his brother.

After a while, Beramund said:

“I know. My brother is a good person. When I became an Aura user, he was so happy for me that it was surprising.”

“I see.”

“Actually, I was compared to my brother every day. While being compared, I was constantly told that I should never be more capable than him… But swordsmanship was an exception. I was glad it was an exception. I was happy when I became an Aura user and created my own position.”

Still, the rumors that the second son of the Lunatil ducal family was a good-for-nothing didn’t disappear, and to be honest, it would be a lie to say he didn’t enjoy those rumors.

“I was happy too when my sword skills were recognized. When I grab my sword, all sorts of problems just disappear. As if they were nothing but background noise.”

Sigrid nodded in agreement. Beramund said with a hint of laughter in his voice:

“I told you, we’re similar.”

“When you put it that way, maybe we are—”

Sigrid mumbled. Beramund sighed and said:

“Of course, I don’t mean to compare the whining of a ducal family’s frivolous second son with your hardships.”

“I don’t intend to compare the magnitude of our misfortunes either.”

She cut him off and added:

“By the way, this is nice.”

“What is?”

“Talking like this.”

It felt like they were becoming real close friends, which was incredibly exciting.

Friends who know each other inside out!

Maybe because they were spending so much time together, they had more to talk about…

‘It’s only natural that we became best friends first.’

It was only natural that they shared more as they spent more time together.

“I like it too.”

At Beramund’s words, Sigrid smiled brightly.

‘It’s nice to be in sync with a friend.’

She was close with Arkana too, but since she always saw Arkana at home, it felt more like family. Sigrid tilted her head at this newfound realization. It seems not all friends are the same, even if they’re called friends.

Friends who are like family, cute friends, reliable friends, and so on.

Even if they’re all called friends, they’re all slightly different, she nodded. It’s always enjoyable to discover new things.

Awooooo—

Hearing a wolf’s howl in the distance, Sigrid and Beramund reflexively grabbed their sword hilts at the same time. The simultaneous clinking sound made them fall silent before bursting into laughter. Beramund said:

“Alright. We need to go out searching early again tomorrow.”

“Yes. Sleep well.”

“Good night.”

Due to the cramped space, they were in a sitting position, but being able to sleep in any posture, in any place, was one of Sigrid’s virtues. After sleeping for a while, she slightly opened her eyes, feeling a weight on her.

‘Ah.’

Beramund had fallen asleep, leaning heavily against her.

‘He must have been tired.’

She was tired too, of course, but his mental fatigue from worrying about Rudinal and being on high alert must have been worse. Sigrid, grunting softly, carefully propped him up and closed her eyes again in that position.

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The second day of tracking.

As the traces became clearer, Beramund’s words and laughter diminished.

The number of bodies that had clearly been cut down while resisting was starting to exceed double digits. When they confirmed the body of an Imperial Guard member, Sigrid thought Beramund might curse, but instead, he examined the body with an expressionless face.

“Look.”

Beramund showed her the sword in the corpse’s hand. The sword, broken in half, had a smooth cross-section rather than a jagged break. Sigrid narrowed her eyes.

“The sword was cut along with the body. It’s an Aura user.”

“An Aura user indeed.”

Beramund said heavily as he stood up. Sigrid fell into thought for a moment.

“Who could have done this?”

“First, rule out all the Imperial Guard members.”

“Why’s that?”

“If it were an Aura user in the Imperial Guard, I would know all their positions. They were all staying in the capital.”

“And we should exclude the western region too.”

“Right.”

That greatly reduced the number of suspects. But even among those remaining, there was no Aura user who seemed capable of such assassin-like deeds.

‘Maybe the old me could have…’

Sigrid thought as she lifted her head to look at the snow field. Beramund stood up and said:

“Let’s hurry.”

“Yes.”

The formal speech slipped out reflexively at his commanding tone. Beramund smiled as if to release tension and poked her cheek.

“Try to get used to speaking casually now.”

“Ah, okay.”

Sigrid nodded and started walking, following the now clear horseshoe prints. The sunlight reflecting off the plain was dazzling. Sigrid put on the goggles she borrowed from Beramund and asked:

“Are you okay, Beramund?”

“With what?”

“Your eyes.”

“I’m fine. I have good eyesight.”

“Wouldn’t good eyesight make it more of a problem?”

“I’m telling you, I’m really fine.”

Sigrid sighed and said:

“I never thought the snow field would be this bright…”

No wonder all the western knights had goggles. Sigrid regretted not getting a pair for herself.

Since the goggles weren’t cheap either, Sigrid handled them carefully. Beramund started walking ahead but then stopped.

“Look at the horseshoe prints.”

As he pointed to the footprints, Sigrid bent down to look and said:

“The depth has become shallower.”

“That means the rider got off.”

“Then they probably didn’t go in the same direction as the horse…”

Sigrid examined the snow surface closely.

“This way. There are traces of running heel prints left.”

“It doesn’t seem like they were left intentionally.”

At Beramund’s words, Sigrid carefully examined the traces and nodded. Beramund muttered: