Chapter 17: Sigrid Ankertna

Morris and Alkerto got off the wagon and their jaws dropped.

Alkerto shook his head. “Sigrid really lives here?”

“...this is the address in the invitation letter.”

It was a perfect middle-class mansion that looked perfect wherever it would be located. Of course, it was not enough to compare it to the nobles’ mansion, but it was a very nice commoner’s house.

The two, who opened the iron gate gently, passed through a neat garden and headed to the front door, beat the knocker. After a while, the door opened wide.

“Welcome.”

“Hi.”

“Thank you for inviting me.”

Sigrid smiled awkwardly and invited the two inside. At home, she still wore a shirt and pants, but she definitely looked better. Alkerto could even notice that her clothes had changed. Glittering trinkets in her neatly braided hair caught the attention of the two. Alkerto elbowed Morris lightly, and Morris responded Alkerto signed with nodd.

When they had reached the living room, Sigrid opened the terrace door leading to the backyard. “It’s my first time having a tea party, so i don’t know well, but thank you for coming.”

The terrace table had a simple set of tea sets and napkins. It was not in a usual tea party atmosphere, but the two men were comfortable with it.

Morris and Alkerto realized that there was no servant to accept their cloak or coats when they took off their outwear, so they looked around for a while and then found a hanger for hanging up the outwear near the front door. The two quickly hang their outwear.

“Does she live here alone?” Alkerto spoke in a low voice.

“I guess so?” Morris also answered in a low voice.

‘Then who is going to do the housework?’

The two men thought the same thing but did not spit out.

Sigrid sat Morris and Alkerto and said, “Thank you for coming. I’ll get the tea quickly.”

Uh-oh. Morris was flustered. Now he understood.

After a while, the real homeowner, Sigrid, began working on pouring the tea.

“Hey, Sig.” Morris asked Sigrid as she got into her seat.

“Huh?”

“So, maid.. Do you have one?”

“No.”

Sigrid felt like it was too much to hire a maid. Though she had money, she didn’t even know who to hire, how to hire, and what to do.

“How are you going to do all the housework on your own? The house here is also big.” Morris looked at Sigrid seriously.

“That’s true, but..”

Thinking about Sigrid being sick and managing her house by herself, Morris felt worried, but he swallowed his concern.

“If it’s because of the cost of hiring..”

Morris hesitated. Sigrid would be really angry if he tried to give her money.

“How about Morris lend you his maid?” Alkerto said while sipping his tea.

“Uh?” Sigrid was surprised and her eyes widened.

Morris hit his knee, that was a great idea. “That’ll do. I could lend you them for a while during the day.”

“But, that means they have a double amount of work. No. If I want to have them, I have to hire them.” Sigrid seemed to hesitate to say something, but she then opened her mouth. “But.. to be honest.. I don’t know how to hire them.”

Only then Morris realized and nodded his head. In fact, even among the aristocrats, it was tricky to find someone reliable. That was why it was hard for a person without a letter of recommendation to get a job.

“I’ll send you two candidates. They could come and take care the housework during the day without you. What do you think? That wouldn’t be that expensive.”

‘Can i do well?’

After contemplating for a while, Sigrid nodded her head. Morris and Alkerto sighed at her conviction.

“By the way Sig...” Alkerto asked with a lively smile as usual.

“Huh?”

“What a sudden change of mind? Buying clothes and even home.”

“Ah...” Her mind was blank for a while. She didn’t know what to say.

Morris stared at her without wanting to let her pass. Normally, he would say ‘if you don’t want to say it, it’s okay not to way it.’ but this time, he thought, he should get an answer.

“That is .. a little.. Change of mind.”

“Really?” Alkerto looked at Sigrid quietly.

Sigrid liften her sunset eyes to see Alkerto.

“I thought I hated dying while living that kind of life. So I decided to change it.” Sigrid laughed a little. “Strange isn’t it? I know, I felt a bit weird too.. I felt what is going on right now is like a dream .”

Sigrid seemed to be staring at a distant place, but her focus was blurred. Her mind grappled with what happened in the past. The two guys in front of Sigrid had a party with her, but in the past Alkerto was dead and Morris wandered around.

‘So, why did Morris leave the Second Knight Order?’

Alkerto tilted his head looking at Sigrid, then he reached out and shook her hand. At Sigrid’s surprised face, Alkerto looked at her with his serious face. “It’s going to be okay.”

“Huh?”

“It’s going to be okay.”

At that, Sigrid laughed unconsciously. “Yes.”

She didn’t know why he said those words, but somehow she could guess what he meant which made her laugh. While Alkerto and Morris...

‘As expected, she is dying.’

They were convinced.

Morris smiled as he looked at the garden. “The garden is really good.”

“Right? I always.. Umm.. wanted to do something like this.” Said Sigrid with her face smiling. Then she looked serious at Morris and Alkerto. “Thank you for coming. I.. I honestly feel a little out of place in the Knight Order, so I didn’t expect you to come. Thank you.”

Her face was blushing, her voice was a bit stuttered, but she looked straight to them and conveyed her heart.

Morris kicked his tongue. “We’ve been together since our first year as a knight, obviously we should come.”

“That’s right. And first of all, we’re a fellow, a fellow commoner.” Alkerto added while smiling.

The three of them then talked about the Knight Order while drinking tea and cakes that lacked decoration. Before dinner time, the two got up from their seats and said goodbye. Sigrid saw them off,? closed the door, stood for a while, and ran for a hooray.

‘I did it!’

She finally had a proper tea party. Of course, there were many awkward moments, but the two understood her well. She actually also wanted to do it with the ladies. But she felt a bit scared. Sigrid stopped breathing for a moment as she remembered Marischez’s big eyes.

“But one day..” Sigrid was determined and then began to clean the dishes.