Sigrid sat in the carriage and looked down at her knees without saying a word for a while.
Rowen Green also didnât say anything.
After a while, Sigrid raised her head hesitantly. âRowen Green.â
âAre you in the mood to talk?â
âYeah.. your clothes are pretty today.â
Rowen Green raised her eyebrows, then burst into laughter hearing Sigrid saying those words without energy.
âYou really, thatâs right. Yeah, this is good. A conversation that starts with compliments is not bad.â
âItâs really pretty.â 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.
âSigrid.â
Rowen Green put her arm on the window of the carriage while smiling at Sigrid.
âI wonât apologize for hitting you earlier.â
âHuh? Ah. No, Itâs fine. Iâve also completely lost my mindâŠ.â 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 Sigridâs cheek with her gloved hand.
Sigrid shook her head. âThis is nothing. Iâm okay.â
It was not uncommon for Sigrid to get hit by a wooden sword when she exercised her fighting skill, so the slap wasnât enough to say that she was hit.
But Sigrid also had something to protest.
âWhy did you stop me?â
âWhat?â
âPulling out that damnâs tongue.â
âI didnât stop you. Morris did.â
âRowen Green.â
Rowen Green leaned her upper body in the carriage chair when she see Sigridâs eyebrows furrowed.
âIâm also like that, went to bat for someone. Count Orenâs personality is inherently badâŠ, but neither Morris and I are serf liberatorsâŠâ
Rowen Green was mumbling, then she asked, âIf I were to hold Morris hostage then I asked you to frame Marisuez, what would you do?â
âI canâtâ
âYou donât want to? What if Morris died?â Rowen Greenâs face became serious.
Sigrid shook her head after thinking for a while. âNo, no. itâs not that I donât want to do it, I canât do it. False testimony, framing, lying, is not something that a knight should do.â
âIs being a knight more precious than Morrisâ life?â
Sigrid opened her mouth. Her face was distorted. âItâs important, butââ while muttering for a second, Sigrid then replied. âThen, Iâd rather die.â
Rowen Green smiled seeing Sigridâs brightened face.
âThatâs right. But Sigrid, not everyone is like you.â
Rowen green sighed softly.
âNot 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.â
Sigrid blinked.
âWhy did that happen?â Rowen Green asked.
âBecause he gave false testimony?â
âNo, thatâs a secondary problem. Why did he gove false testimony?â
Sigrid groaned. âDid Count Oren order him?â
âYeah. thatâs it. Count Oren prepared false testimony to frame you. Then, how did Count Oren make the person willing to testify falsely?â
Recalling Rowen greenâs example earlier, the answer came easily in Sigridâs head. âHe was threatened huh?â
âCount 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.â
âSo, what should I do to not be framed?â
Sigrid didnât 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 Sigridâs chest.
Rowen green rubbed her chin and sighed. âNow youâre still on the step one in human relationship. So, letâs think. What should you do to prevent something like today from happening?â
Rowen Green smiled. The first thing first was reviewing the basics.
Sigrid grumbled and wrapped her hands around his head. She didnât know. She didnât do anything wrong. What should she fix? With barely an answer, Sigrid opened her mouth. âThat.. donât save the girl?â
âPretend to not know is one of the way. But can you do it?â
âBut I donât know.â
âWhat else can you do?â
âWellâŠ.â
Sigrid felt like her head was about to explode.
Rowen Green waited for a while, then said, âYou can end it with a grentle conversation with Count Oren.â
âHuh?â
âYou must be pushed the law and said âitâs your faultâ then left, right? Use your tongue to speak gently, that way the knife wonât go inside.â
Rowen Green said, âah.â then nodded her head, seeing Sigrid staring blankly at her. âIt may be a difficult skill for you.â
Rowen Green pondered. âOr having a power may be a way.â
âpower?â
âDonât you wonder the reason Count Oren turned away as soon as he saw me today?â
âHe did back awayâ
âWhy did he do that?â
âBecause Rowen Green is the Marquisâ daughter?â
When Sigrid has an answer in relation to the word âstatusâ, Rowen Green smiled. âThatâs right. Thatâs 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.â
The words Rowen Green said, âweak to the strong, strong to the weakâ, was ringing in Sigridâs head.
âPower.â
Sigrid tilted her head while thinking.
âBut before I died, I was quiet powerful. My backer was the Emperor. But in the end IâŠahâ I see. That backer betrayed me.â
Sigridâs head began to work hard.
âCome to think of it, when I was working under His Majesty in the past, even if I did somethin glike that, Iâve never had someone trip over me like this.. I thought it was because I did the right thingââ
So, was it because she had the power? A disappointing realization came.
Rowen Green looked at Sigrid who suddenly became silent. âAnother way is having me as a friend.â
âHuh?â
âDonât you think everything is solved because of me?â
âThatâs right. Thank you. ButâŠâ
âBecause I lied?â
âUmm..â
âThatâs just one of many other ways. Sigrid, I like that you do the right thing. But donât forget what youâre doing it for. Iâm not trying to be a teleogist who would do anything for the sake of the outcome. But we need a little more flexibility.â
âIâll keep that in mind.â Sigrid replied with a firm tone.
Rowen Green looked at Sigrid. âBut I donât want you to be like that.â
âHuh?â
âThis 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.â
Rowen Green knew that was a high hope, but didnât 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.
âIt takes strength to do the right thing.â
As Sigrid spoke as if enlightened, Rowen Green laughed. âRather than that, we need power. Because good people are more likely to be culled than bad people.â
So if the person in power is good, the more good people that are eliminated could exist.
âOf course, this doesnât apply to the conversation whether good people truly exist or not. Well, letâs leave that argument to the philosophers. Because I even felt doing good thing was too much for my hand.â
Rowen green waved her hand.
Sigrid tilted her head, then nodded. There were times when she couldnât follow Rowen Greenâs talk well, but Sigrid knew that Rowen Greenâs words were not without purpose. Marisuez even teased by saying âRowen Green reads so much that itâs hard to get married.â
âDo you want to sleep at my house tonight?â Rowen Green asked.
âPajama Party!â
Sigridâs 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.
âNo, I would go home today.â
âOkay.â
âI told the maids I would come home and asked them to set up dinner.â then Sigrid added, âItâs hard to prepare food, so itâs kind of bad if I donât eat it when I told them to cook.â
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 âPlease contact to me later.â 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.
âIt was a really tiring day.â
After dinner, soaking in warm water and rest were the only thing in Sigridâs head.