Sigrid
Chapter 4

Sigrid returned to the realtor’s office. Marigold, who had been waiting for her, looked at her carefully.

“How was it?”

“It’s haunted, isn’t it?” Sigrid asked.

Marigold despaired. That was the biggest reason the house wouldn’t sell. Any attempt to clean it had been interrupted by ghosts, which meant it had stayed in its tainted, neglected state. The neighbors on either side had complained about their house prices falling because of it, but there had been no simple solution.

“I will buy it if you give it to me for cheap. The rooms need renovation, and the furniture has to be removed.”

“But I’m already offering it at half price,” Marigold said, giving a troubled smile.

Sigrid considered, then said, “Then subtract the costs of cleaning, replacing the flooring, and getting new windows.”

After a bit of haggling, Sigrid was able to buy the house at around 40 percent of the average market price such a house would usually cost. Frankly, Marigold was happy to be rid of that haunted place. She had been happy to buy it on the cheap when it was auctioned, but it’d been a source of concern for her since no one was willing to take it off her hands. Sigrid paid the down payment on the spot, signed a contract, and received her keys. As Marigold saw her out, Sigrid found herself bewildered about what she had done.

Is it really all right to buy a house like this?

Suddenly, she was afraid. Even though she had decided to change most of her life, this purchase might have been too impulsive. The price had been very low, of course, but it still had cost a pretty penny. Now, half her savings were gone. Sigrid felt the bronze keys in her hand, then shook her head.

No. I made up my mind. This was a good decision. What does it matter if it turns out to have been foolish? I can live with that.

Sigrid once thought she had lived a good life, only to end up being put to death. Living in accordance with one’s desires had turned out not to be very easy.

The reason being… I don’t even know what I want.

She had always suppressed her desires, and she found it difficult to look within herself and figure out what she truly wanted.

A… house…

Sigrid considered while spinning the keys in her hand as she walked. Then she noticed the sign for a boutique. Behind the glass were paintings of women in fancy dresses. Sigrid gulped, pushed open the door confidently, and stepped inside.

“Welcome!”

“Hello, my lady!”

The employees shouted their greetings at the same time. One of them, Etois, looked Sigrid up and down and smiled.

“How can I help you? Would you like to see a new dress? Or…”

Sigrid gazed at the hanging fabrics and the half-complete garments. She had no idea what to buy. So, she decided to put aside her pride and tell the truth.

“The only clothes I own are a uniform and two shirts. I’ve never given much thought to what I wear, so I’m not even sure what I should buy… But I would like to expand my wardrobe.”

“Ah,” said Etois, smiling and gesturing her new customer into a seat. With glittering eyes, she studied Sigrid. “The uniform you’re wearing must mean you are a knight.”

“Yes.”

“All right, then. I suppose pants would be more comfortable for you than a dress. The shirts you mentioned. Are they just regular shirts? Where did you buy them?”

“They’re standard issue.”

“Oh, dear me…” Etois said.

This knight did not have any of the feminine frailty or slenderness normally found in noblewomen, but she looked tough and fleet like a doe. Etois saw potential—great potential. She felt a spark light up her mind.

“Let us start with a shirt, then. May I inquire as to your budget?”

Sigrid didn’t know anything about clothing prices, since the stuff she wore was very cheap.

“I don’t know how much clothes cost. Could you explain it to me?”

“Of course,” Etois said, bringing over multiple large catalogs. She showed Sigrid pages full of fabric samples and explained, “Usually, this 150-thread-count cotton is seen as quite luxurious. Would you feel it? It’s cotton, but it feels very soft. On the higher end of the scale, there is this one here, with a bit of a sheen. Smooth, isn’t it? Yes, indeed. That’s actually 30 percent silk. Well, I think you have taste! That one has a three-hundred thread count. It’s expensive, but it feels great when you wear it.”

Etois explained the fabrics and their prices eagerly, and Sigrid found herself gasping at the unimaginable numbers.

I didn’t know clothing could be so expensive!

And the prices could soar depending on the material of the buttons too. Sigrid’s hands trembled. She wanted to scream, “Never mind!” and run out of there, but she suppressed the urge.

My life needs to be different. But still… At these prices…

Etois noticed Sigrid’s expression mid-conversation and quickly swapped out the catalog for a less expensive one.

“These are not so bad, either,” she said.

Although the prices were cheaper, the clothing in the catalog was still expensive. Sigrid felt she couldn’t leave without buying anything, and because this was her first time getting anything like this, she had to fight the temptation to let Etois’ skillful explanations tempt her. She ended up ordering two shirts and a pair of pants. She was measured a few times, and after she chose the styles of her collars, buttons, and even the cuffs, she paid a deposit. Then she left the boutique.

I feel dizzy…

Sigrid never wanted to do that again. She had to buy a new cloak, hat, and boots to go with her clothes, but she didn’t feel up to the task.

I’ll do it next time.

She returned to her old, cramped room. After telling the owner that she was moving out, she sat on a rickety wooden chair and slumped over the desk.

This place is much more comfortable for me.

Sigrid had found her new house, its garden, and the fancy boutique very awkward. She preferred to drink cheap tea, lie in her bed that smelled of flea treatment, and cycle through her two old sets of clothes. She suddenly wondered if she should just cancel her purchase of the house and the clothing. However, she’d already applied for her leave, and she’d also made a down payment. Since she was accustomed to always following orders, she found it extremely difficult and painful to do something of her own accord.

It’s all right. You can do this, Sigrid. You can do it.

After an attempt at encouraging herself, she changed into her pajamas and sank into bed, tired to the bone. The day had been more difficult than training. The next morning, Sigrid opened her eyes just as the roosters crowed, as if awoken by an alarm clock. After washing her face, she changed into her uniform, only to realize she did not have to work for a long while. Sighing, she put the uniform back on the rack and changed. Then she strolled slowly to her house in District 2.

My house.

The words felt unfamiliar, and Sigrid smiled wryly to herself. After arriving, she began by purifying the entire house. Her body became exhausted from that task alone, since she still didn’t have an aura core, and she instantly devoured the bread and water she’d brought with her. Still, she could sense how much cleaner the air was, which made her proud.

Then she went to Marigold and requested some cleaners be sent over. The realtor seemed worried that the cleaners might run away in the middle of the job—it had happened before. Sigrid shook her head.

“The ghosts aren’t coming back,” she said.

“They aren’t?”

“No.”

Marigold seemed doubtful, but she promised to send the cleaners the next day. Sigrid nodded before she left. She had been planning to buy a cloak that day, but she’d tired herself out that morning, instead choosing to head to the bookstore. The owner of the bookstore looked at Sigrid like she was a drunk, refusing to acknowledge her presence—it was always the knight’s wont to visit the store but never actually buy anything.

That day, Sigrid was different. She picked up multiple magazines, and some books on gardening and home interiors, then headed to the counter. The owner processed the purchase with a look of surprise, and Sigrid walked out, the heavy books under her arm. She debated whether to take a carriage, but that still felt wasteful to her.

Instead, she walked along with the books in hand, entering District 3. She had tea with milk and sugar for dinner, then opened her new purchases. Books were expensive and a luxury that she had never indulged in, but since she’d bitten the bullet, she was determined to make full use of them. As Sigrid read, she reconsidered her desire to replace all the furniture in her new house.

I didn’t know furniture was so expensive…

Most of the pieces were perfectly fine. Instead, she would clean them so she could use them properly. She recalled that the tableware had also been left behind. Most of the valuables had been sold off at auction, but the rest had been untouched. Or maybe everyone had given up on taking anything else because of the ghosts. She thought the latter was more likely, what with the bloodstains that had been left behind. Sigrid resumed reading, thinking she’d keep anything she could.

My rental period will end this month…

Hers was a small room with no deposit. Unless she renewed her contract every month, she would be moving out. Sigrid decided to move her things one by one over to the new place. On the second day, she woke up early, like usual, and headed to the house. The cleaners seemed to have arrived at the same time she did, and they were looking anxiously at her.

“Are you sure this is safe?”

“You must pay us even if the ghosts come back and we don’t get to finish.”

Sigrid agreed and opened the door. The cleaners walked inside warily, but nothing happened. So, the cleaners began to work, curious.

“Shall we throw out all the furniture?”

“No. Please don’t throw away anything that isn’t soaked with blood or damaged.”

“All right.”

The workers destroyed the unusable furniture and put the pieces in a cart. The bloody wooden flooring was broken apart with axes and pulled out. The wallpaper was removed, and the blood was cleaned from the stone walls. The cleaners worked until sunset, throwing out the garbage and sweeping the entire place. By the time they were done, the house was immaculate.

Sigrid ordered new windows while she was at it, and the cleaners left, promising to return the next day to finish the job. She looked around the clean house with satisfaction. The flooring of the living room on the first floor was gone, but it still looked luxurious. There was a kitchen and a servant's quarters in the back. On the other side was the bathroom, which was Sigrid’s favorite part of the house. The marble tub and copper faucet made her ecstatic. She also liked the bathroom brazier, which stood to one side and was meant to heat the water. The backyard was quite grotesque at the moment, but it would turn out amazing once she pulled out the weeds and trimmed the unruly trees.

The second floor isn’t so bad, either.

Two of the three rooms on the second floor were bedrooms, and the third was a study. Only the bookcases remained in the study, without a single book, but that was enough for her.

This is my home now.

Sigrid walked around some more—she opened and closed doors, ran her fingers along the various features, and so on, for some time. She still couldn’t believe it.

Will this be enough? Will buying a house like this change my life?

Sigrid lay on the cold floor and looked up at the ceiling.

“Your Majesty,” she said out loud, thinking of the man who had once been her liege.

“Die for me.”

Those words grated on her.

I would have died for you.

Sigrid would have willingly given her life for her liege, the emperor, but not in the way she had ended up doing. She hadn’t wanted to be accused of treason and tortured under false charges before having her head cut off with a guillotine. Since she’d been killed for treason, her body had probably been left to hang naked outside the walls. Her head was also likely left there to rot for passersby to throw stones at.

Why was I accused of treason?

Sigrid combed her memories. There was a limit to her knowledge, since she had refused to see or hear anything other than the emperor’s commands. Still, she could clearly remember her trial.

I was accused of killing the crown prince. I tried to take the throne along with the second prince… But how was that something that benefited the emperor?

How did it benefit the emperor for the crown prince to be killed, and the second prince executed for treason? It was a bad thing for the imperial family for two potential heirs to be killed, was it not?

There were other princes besides them, of course, but still. Oh, my head hurts.

Sigrid had never thought about such things and it gave her a headache. However, she was now back in a time before her execution, and she refused to stay ignorant of the reason for her death. Now that she thought about it, it was absurd that she didn’t know why she had been killed.

And even worse…

Sigrid smiled bitterly, covering her face with her hands.

I was disposable to him.

The thing that made Sigrid the most miserable was discovering that she hadn’t been worth more to the emperor. She had wanted acknowledgment, to be someone precious and valuable. Mocking laughter escaped her lips, which soon turned into sobbing. The misery shook her frame. The fact that all her efforts had been to no avail made her feel wretched, and the tears refused to stop. Only when Sigrid was exhausted from all the crying did she feel somewhat refreshed.