Sigrid - 6. Misunderstanding

“Ah—”

Morris Deforest finally realized and nodded. In truth, finding trustworthy people was a delicate matter even among nobles. That’s why it was difficult to get a job without a letter of introduction.

“I’ll send you a couple of candidates. They’ll come during the day when you’re not there to take care of the housework. How’s that? It shouldn’t be too expensive that way.”

‘Will I be able to handle this well?’

After pondering for a moment, Sigrid Ankertna nodded. Both Morris and Alkerto breathed a sigh of relief at her agreement. Alkerto, with his usual vibrant smile, asked:

“By the way, Sig.”

“Yes?”

“What’s with the sudden change of heart? Buying clothes and even a house.”

“Ah……”

Sigrid’s mouth opened and closed, not knowing what to say. Morris stared at her intently. Normally, one might say, ‘You don’t have to tell us if you don’t want to,’ but this time, the desire to hear an answer took precedence.

“Well… I changed my mind.”

“Oh?”

Alkerto quietly observed Sigrid. She raised her sunset-colored eyes to look at Alkerto.

“I decided I didn’t want to die living like this. So I made up my mind to change.”

Then Sigrid gave a small smile.

“It’s strange, isn’t it? I know. I feel a bit strange too… It feels like a dream right now.”

Sigrid’s focus blurred as if gazing into the distance as she traced her past. The dead Alkerto and the wandering Morris, now having a tea party with her.

‘Come to think of it, why did Morris leave the knight order……?’

As she tilted her head in thought, Alkerto reached out and took Sigrid’s hand. Surprised, Sigrid looked at Alkerto as he spoke with a serious expression.

“It’s okay.”

“Huh?”

“It’ll be alright.”

At those words, Sigrid found herself smiling without realizing it.

“Yes.”

Though she didn’t understand why he said that, it somehow felt like he knew something, and it made her smile. And Alkerto and Morris…

‘It must be a terminal illness!’

They were convinced. Morris smiled as he looked at the garden.

“The garden is really nice.”

“Isn’t it? I’ve always… wanted to try something like this.”

Sigrid said with a smile. Then suddenly, with a serious face, she looked at Morris and Alkerto and said:

“Thank you for coming. I… I’m a bit of an outsider in the knight order… I didn’t think you’d come. Thank you.”

Sigrid stumbled over her words, her face reddening, but she raised her gaze directly and conveyed her feelings. Morris clicked his tongue and said:

“We’ve known each other since we were squires. Of course we’d come.”

“That’s right. And we’re peers after all, commoner peers.”

Alkerto added with a smile. The three shared stories about the knight order while drinking slightly bitter tea and eating cake that was somewhat lacking in decoration.

The two men stood up, saying they should leave before dinner time, and after Sigrid saw them off and closed the door, she stood there for a moment before jumping up and cheering with her arms raised.

“I did it!”

She had properly hosted a tea party. Of course, there were many awkward moments, but the two men had been very understanding of Sigrid.

‘I want to do this with the female knights too.’

But it’s a bit scary. Sigrid held her breath for a moment, remembering Marie-Chez’s piercing gaze.

“Still… someday…”

Sigrid made a firm resolution and began clearing away the dishes.

Chapter 2: Misunderstanding

Marie-Chez gaped in disbelief.

“A tea party~? What? And she bought a house?”

“That’s what I said.”

Sigrid’s eccentricity (?) quickly spread as rumors within the 2nd Knight Order. Alkerto nodded and said:

“It seems like she’s definitely ill somewhere. She might have a terminal illness……”

At his gloomy addition, Marie-Chez closed her mouth with an “Ah.”

‘Come to think of it, she did say something strange when she came to buy clothes.’

Marie-Chez suddenly felt sorry for lashing out at her when they met at the boutique.

‘I thought she had suddenly changed. A terminal illness, huh.’

Lowengrin Alsekidna, who was leisurely brewing tea in one corner of the knight order room, looked up and asked Alkerto:

“Should we pay her a sick visit then? Have you reported this to the captain?”

“No, if Sigrid herself isn’t saying anything, I can’t talk about it.”

“I suppose you’re right.”

Lowengrin muttered softly as she poured the tea.

“But shouldn’t we go see her at least once?”

Marie-Chez said to Lowengrin with a troubled expression. Lowengrin chuckled at her expression. She found Marie-Chez cute, softening at the mention of death when just until recently she couldn’t stand Sigrid.

Normally, when someone you hate is said to be dying, wouldn’t you clap your hands and say ‘Serves them right’?

‘Or not?’

Lowengrin tilted her head and asked, holding up the teapot:

“Anyone want tea?”

“Me! Lowengrin’s tea is really delicious.”

“Then I’ll have a cup too.”

At Marie-Chez and Alkerto’s words, Lowengrin smiled again and poured tea into other cups.

“Then should we send Lady Ankertna an invitation? For a tea party?”

“Ah, that’s a good idea.”

Alkerto slapped his knee as he picked up his teacup.

“I’m sure she’s never been to a tea party before. If she had been to even one, there’s no way she would have hosted a tea party like that.”

Lowengrin nodded and looked at Marie-Chez.

“You’ll come, right?”

“Yes, but what if she refuses?”

“Then we’ll just have it ourselves.”

“Sounds good.”

Marie-Chez clapped her hands cheerfully in delight. Lowengrin always found Marie-Chez fascinating. Things that weren’t particularly joyful or sad to her elicited such easy reactions from Marie-Chez.

‘Isn’t it tiring?’

Since emotional consumption is extremely tiring, Lowengrin always found it strange that Marie-Chez constantly badmouthed Sigrid. She didn’t want to waste energy on disparaging Sigrid.

‘But that’s also what’s good about her.’

Marie-Chez’s charm, in Lowengrin’s eyes, was that she possessed qualities Lowengrin lacked.

“Alright, then I’ll prepare some delicious cakes and tea. Hmm, given her personality, it might be better to keep it small.”

Alkerto nodded. At times like this, Lowengrin was a reliable ally.

“Thank you, Lowengrin.”

“Don’t mention it.”

Answering with an elegant smile, Lowengrin mentally drafted the invitation.

‘It would be strange to approach too familiarly.’

Exactly two days later, Sigrid received an invitation made of heavy, high-quality paper.

‘An invitation? For me?’

Surprised and flustered, she checked and found that it was, incredibly, an invitation from ‘Lowengrin Alsekidna’.

‘From Lady Alsekidna? To me?’

Her mouth fell open involuntarily. Quickly tearing open the seal and opening the letter, she found an invitation to a light tea time written on sweetly scented stationery.

‘Lowengrin…….’

She had been the most favorable female knight towards her. She would respond when spoken to and didn’t hurl insults when passing by.

‘What happened to her? I think she didn’t get married?’

Her memory was hazy as she hadn’t seen her since joining the Imperial Guard.

‘For some reason, I thought she was a difficult person to approach.’

She didn’t even mind the female knights who insulted her or deliberately frowned whenever they saw her. But for some reason, only Lowengrin was difficult to deal with.

It’s strange.

‘Why was that?’

Frustrated at not understanding her own inner thoughts, Sigrid frowned. She wasn’t used to thinking for herself, and it was difficult. She wanted to entrust all judgment criteria to someone else like before.

Deciding to put off thinking for now, Sigrid took a deep breath.

‘I should go.’

In truth, there was a slight reluctance to go. She didn’t know what to talk about when she got there…

‘But you wanted to do this, didn’t you? A tea party. They’ve taken the initiative to invite you.’

Sigrid wrote a reply accepting the invitation.

“Come to think of it… I don’t have a dress.”

Would it be okay to go in her knight attire? Or was this the opportunity to get a dress fitted?

‘…Let’s get one fitted.’

Honestly, she wanted to wear one.

A dress.

Quickly finishing the invitation, Sigrid headed to the boutique to mail it. Now a regular customer, she was greeted with smiles by the shop staff. Sigrid had become quite accustomed to the atmosphere here and spoke comfortably. Etoile asked with a bright smile:

“Are you here to get another shirt fitted today?”

“No, um… I came to get a dress fitted.”

“Oh my—!”

Etoile clasped her hands together, beaming. How should she put it, it was enjoyable to see Sigrid’s progress.

‘It’s like watching a baby who’s just started standing take its first steps.’

Thinking this, Etoile quickly seated Sigrid.

“What kind of dress did you have in mind— No, it might be difficult for you to choose, so I’ll show you a few options. Oh, but when do you need it by?”

“I need to wear it next Tuesday.”

“Hmm, that’s not much time……”

Etoile pondered for a moment, then said “Ah!” and scurried into the back. She soon returned with a cobalt blue dress.

“I think this dress would suit you perfectly.”

It had a neat appearance with little decoration on the upper body, but the waist was heavily pleated to create a full skirt, with subtle silver thread embroidery shimmering at the bottom.

“Actually, this was made for an order, but the person who ordered it couldn’t pay. I’ll give you a discount instead. We can definitely alter the size in time for the tea party.”

“Alright, I’ll take this one.”

She liked that it wasn’t too extravagant.

Sigrid tried on the dress for alterations. Etoile busily pinned various parts and then helped Sigrid take it off, asking:

“Do you have a corset to wear underneath?”

“No, I don’t.”

“Shall we fit you for one then?”

“Yes.”

She’d need one to wear the dress anyway. Etoile nodded.

“Then we’ll need to fit you again after you put on the corset.”

Etoile guided Sigrid to the back and helped her into a corset.

“You have such a slim waist, we don’t need to tighten it too much.”

“…It still feels tight though.”

“That’s the point of wearing it. Hmm, good. We didn’t tighten it much. Your waist has reduced by about 5cm.”

Etoile answered with a bright smile.

‘Oh? But I don’t have anyone to help me put on the corset, do I? Can I ask the maid who comes during the day? Should I offer her a bit more money and ask?’

The maid Morris had hired for her was incredibly helpful. The luxury of not having to prepare meals herself but having them served was like opening a new world.

Laundry and cleaning were different from when she did them herself, keeping the house always comfortable.

‘If Morris is okay with it, I’d like to hire her permanently.’

Though they were still at the stage of awkward greetings.

Bidding farewell to Etoile’s cheerful goodbye, saying she didn’t need to pay the usual deposit since she was a regular customer, Sigrid left the shop.

‘Should I stop by Morris’s place while I’m out?’

Thinking it was a sudden visit and she should bring a gift, Sigrid stopped at a shop and bought some high-quality tea leaves. Though she had only been to his house once, once was enough for her to remember. Sigrid knocked on Morris’s door without getting lost.

Hearing that Sigrid had arrived, Morris put down his book and went down to the reception room.

“Sig?”

“Ah, Morris.”

Sigrid rose from the sofa in the reception room and gave a light knight’s salute, placing her hand on her chest. Morris returned the gesture reflexively.

“What brings you here?”

“I had something to talk about, so I stopped by. Sorry for the sudden visit. This is a token of apology……”

The attendant standing nearby quickly received the box she held out.

“You didn’t have to bring anything.”

“It’s nothing.”

“Have a seat. What would you like to drink? Tea? Or some wine perhaps?”

“I’ll have tea.”

At Sigrid’s answer, Morris grinned and ordered tea for her and wine for himself. Sigrid frowned.

“The sun hasn’t even set yet.”

“A bit of wine won’t get me drunk. It’s like water, water.”

Sigrid barely suppressed the automatic lecture about a knight’s conduct that was about to burst out.

‘Let it go.’

Morris can do whatever he wants.

“Aren’t you going to lecture me?”

Morris was curious about Sigrid, who was looking at him with eyes full of disapproval but keeping her mouth firmly shut.

She’s not the type to hold back like this.

“I’m not going to. I’ve decided not to do that anymore.”

“Then why don’t you just have some wine too?”

He offered, but after a moment’s hesitation, Sigrid shook her head in refusal. While she could tolerate others doing it, doing it herself was still too much.

“Morris.”

“Yes?”

“I’m grateful for your kindness. Thank you for sending the maid too. I like her so much that I’d like to hire her permanently on my side, but I’m not sure how to go about it……”

Morris nodded at her puzzled words.

“If you want to transfer her… She doesn’t seem to dislike it, so I’ll talk to her about it. But you’re not planning to hire just one person, are you? You should hire both of them.”

“Is that how it works?”

“Of course.”

It’s completely different working alone versus working with a partner, isn’t it?