Chapter 33: Arcana

Sigrid sat in the carriage and looked down at her knees without saying a word for a while.

Rowen Green also didn’t say anything.

After a while, Sigrid raised her head hesitantly. “Rowen Green.”

“Are you in the mood to talk?”

“Yeah.. your clothes are pretty today.”

Rowen Green raised her eyebrows, then burst into laughter hearing Sigrid saying those words without energy.

“You really, that’s right. Yeah, this is good. A conversation that starts with compliments is not bad.”

“It’s really pretty.” Sigrid was bewildered seeing Rowen Green laugh. She really meant it. It was the first time she saw Rowen Green in such a gorgeous dress. She should have said it earlier, but the timing was not great.

“Sigrid.”

Rowen Green put her arm on the window of the carriage while smiling at Sigrid.

“I won’t apologize for hitting you earlier.”

“Huh? Ah. No, It’s fine. I’ve also completely lost my mind...” if no one stopped her, she would have hit Morris. Besides, it was definitely better to be awoken than to lose her sanity and be vicious in front of other low-ranking people.

Rowen Green smiled bitterly and gently stroked Sigrid’s cheek with her gloved hand.

Sigrid shook her head. “This is nothing. I’m okay.”

It was not uncommon for Sigrid to get hit by a wooden sword when she exercised her fighting skill, so the slap wasn’t enough to say that she was hit.

But Sigrid also had something to protest.

“Why did you stop me?”

“What?”

“Pulling out that damn’s tongue.”

“I didn’t stop you. Morris did.”

“Rowen Green.”

Rowen Green leaned her upper body in the carriage chair when she see Sigrid’s eyebrows furrowed.

“I’m also like that, went to bat for someone. Count Oren’s personality is inherently bad.., but neither Morris and I are serf liberators..”

Rowen Green was mumbling, then she asked, “If I were to hold Morris hostage then I asked you to frame Marisuez, what would you do?”

“I can’t”

“You don’t want to? What if Morris died?” Rowen Green’s face became serious.

Sigrid shook her head after thinking for a while. “No, no. it’s not that I don’t want to do it, I can’t do it. False testimony, framing, lying, is not something that a knight should do.”

“Is being a knight more precious than Morris’ life?”

Sigrid opened her mouth. Her face was distorted. “It’s important, but—” while muttering for a second, Sigrid then replied. “Then, I’d rather die.”

Rowen Green smiled seeing Sigrid’s brightened face.

“That’s right. But Sigrid, not everyone is like you.”

Rowen green sighed softly.

“Not everyone is as strong as you. Sigrid you have to know that, not everyone lives by law, and many clearly avoid the law. Think about what happened today.”

Sigrid blinked.

“Why did that happen?” Rowen Green asked.

“Because he gave false testimony?”

“No, that’s a secondary problem. Why did he gove false testimony?”

Sigrid groaned. “Did Count Oren order him?”

“Yeah. that’s it. Count Oren prepared false testimony to frame you. Then, how did Count Oren make the person willing to testify falsely?”

Recalling Rowen green’s example earlier, the answer came easily in Sigrid’s head. “He was threatened huh?”

“Count Oren may have threatened, and maybe even offered money. Being a count is a high position that commoner would not even think of. There are a lot of people who have no choice but to put up with injustice.”

“So, what should I do to not be framed?”

Sigrid didn’t want something like that to happen again. She thought all she had to do was to change her life. A surge of fear slammed into Sigrid’s chest.

Rowen green rubbed her chin and sighed. “Now you’re still on the step one in human relationship. So, let’s think. What should you do to prevent something like today from happening?”

Rowen Green smiled. The first thing first was reviewing the basics.

Sigrid grumbled and wrapped her hands around his head. She didn’t know. She didn’t do anything wrong. What should she fix? With barely an answer, Sigrid opened her mouth. “That.. don’t save the girl?”

“Pretend to not know is one of the way. But can you do it?”

“But I don’t know.”

“What else can you do?”

“Well...”

Sigrid felt like her head was about to explode.

Rowen Green waited for a while, then said, “You can end it with a grentle conversation with Count Oren.”

“Huh?”

“You must be pushed the law and said ‘it’s your fault’ then left, right? Use your tongue to speak gently, that way the knife won’t go inside.”

Rowen Green said, “ah.” then nodded her head, seeing Sigrid staring blankly at her. “It may be a difficult skill for you.”

Rowen Green pondered. “Or having a power may be a way.”

“power?”

“Don’t you wonder the reason Count Oren turned away as soon as he saw me today?”

“He did back away”

“Why did he do that?”

“Because Rowen Green is the Marquis’ daughter?”

When Sigrid has an answer in relation to the word “status”, Rowen Green smiled. “That’s right. That’s why I came out dressed up like this. He who used his power to oppress the weak is weak to the people stronger than him.”

The words Rowen Green said, ‘weak to the strong, strong to the weak’, was ringing in Sigrid’s head.

‘Power.’

Sigrid tilted her head while thinking.

‘But before I died, I was quiet powerful. My backer was the Emperor. But in the end I..ah— I see. That backer betrayed me.’

Sigrid’s head began to work hard.

‘Come to think of it, when I was working under His Majesty in the past, even if I did somethin glike that, I’ve never had someone trip over me like this.. I thought it was because I did the right thing—’

So, was it because she had the power? A disappointing realization came.

Rowen Green looked at Sigrid who suddenly became silent. “Another way is having me as a friend.”

“Huh?”

“Don’t you think everything is solved because of me?”

“That’s right. Thank you. But..”

“Because I lied?”

“Umm..”

“That’s just one of many other ways. Sigrid, I like that you do the right thing. But don’t forget what you’re doing it for. I’m not trying to be a teleogist who would do anything for the sake of the outcome. But we need a little more flexibility.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Sigrid replied with a firm tone.

Rowen Green looked at Sigrid. “But I don’t want you to be like that.”

“Huh?”

“This may be a wish of a rather crooked person like me, but I hope you would continue to be upright like the way you are. Sigrid Ankertna. And I want you to go up, higher. Because, I hope you could save many people, just like you saved the commoner lady. But to do that, you need more power. To do that, you need to be strong.”

Rowen Green knew that was a high hope, but didn’t everyone want it? Someone good and powerful. And Sigrid was that person. If she could go up, it would be a good thing, especially if her inflexibility was fixed.

“It takes strength to do the right thing.”

As Sigrid spoke as if enlightened, Rowen Green laughed. “Rather than that, we need power. Because good people are more likely to be culled than bad people.”

So if the person in power is good, the more good people that are eliminated could exist.

“Of course, this doesn’t apply to the conversation whether good people truly exist or not. Well, let’s leave that argument to the philosophers. Because I even felt doing good thing was too much for my hand.”

Rowen green waved her hand.

Sigrid tilted her head, then nodded. There were times when she couldn’t follow Rowen Green’s talk well, but Sigrid knew that Rowen Green’s words were not without purpose. Marisuez even teased by saying “Rowen Green reads so much that it’s hard to get married.”

“Do you want to sleep at my house tonight?” Rowen Green asked.

‘Pajama Party!’

Sigrid’s eyes sparkled. When she recalled the night when the three of them, Marisuez, Rowen Green, and her, chatter together, her anticipation rose in an instant. But soon Sigrid shook her head.

“No, I would go home today.”

“Okay.”

“I told the maids I would come home and asked them to set up dinner.” then Sigrid added, “It’s hard to prepare food, so it’s kind of bad if I don’t eat it when I told them to cook.”

Rowen Green smirked. Should she say Sigrid was the strange one? Caring that much about her subordinate? But Rowen Green kept it to herself. She then dropped Sigrid in front of her house.

Sigrid said “Please contact to me later.” several times, which was replied by Rowen Green nodding her head.

After the carriage moved away, Sigrid pushed through the gate a few times as her shoulders seemed to be tightening.

‘It was a really tiring day.’

After dinner, soaking in warm water and rest were the only thing in Sigrid’s head.