Richard prolonged Brunhild’s life with skillful wordplay. But there was a limit to the power of words. The most he could do was grant her a temporary reprieve. Even if Richard’s words convinced Sigurd for the moment, the king’s irritation would build the moment he observed Brunhild’s attitude once more.
Richard’s glib tongue only worked on Sigurd for two years.
“I’ve made up my mind,” said Sigurd. “I’m going to kill Brunhild. What makes her so distant toward me? Her rudeness is intolerable.”
Richard understood Sigurd could no longer be convinced. He gave up and said, “So then let us kill her.”
Sigurd looked quite pleased to see his servant agree.
But before Sigurd could speak, Richard continued, “But even if we’re to kill her, you must maintain your nobility as a king. Resorting to barbaric methods of execution is out of the question.”
“There’s no nobility or ignobility to killing, but I will listen to you.”
By this time, Richard had secured a certain degree of trust from Sigurd since he had been seeing to the other boy’s needs since returning to the castle. Richard also handled the miscellaneous matters and social tasks Sigurd didn’t wish to attend to. On top of that, Richard had also taught Sigurd the comportment and refinement appropriate for a king. He was only so earnestly devoted to the other boy in order to make the lie of himself being Sigurd’s servant seem true, but it seemed Sigurd saw Richard’s actions as proof of loyalty.
“We shall exile Brunhild. She’s a young girl. She doesn’t have the ability to live on her own. If you send her away, that’s essentially a death sentence,” Richard explained. “Exile is the most dignified method of execution, and the royal family has carried it out since ancient times.”
Sigurd let out smothered laughter, quite amused. “Richard, you’re quite the knowledgeable man.”
For a tyrant such as Sigurd, this was rare praise to give a retainer, but privately, Richard was seething with anger. Even if Brunild had escaped execution for the time being, his sister could no longer escape walking a path of great hardship.
And so, Brunhild was exiled.
She was neither allowed to take anything with her nor permitted to bring along a single servant.
Richard somehow managed to find the opportunity to sneak something into the pocket of her clothes: a small vial with a drop of the Miracle of Life in it, just in case she was wounded or fell ill, and a gold coin for her journeys. He really would have liked to give her many things, but this was the most he could do.
Brunhild left the castle.
Richard wanted to go after her. He wanted to be exiled along with her. But his concern for his sister kept him from following her. Richard was the only person the king trusted. If he were to vanish, then Sigurd would attempt to track him down by any means necessary. And if he found Richard with his sister, the two would surely be executed.
All Richard could do was see Brunhild off.
Richard would never forget the expression of utter despair she had worn right before leaving and how small she looked as she trudged off.
This was the precise moment Richard came to loathe Sigurd.
While working as Sigurd’s confidant, he searched for Brunhild’s whereabouts. He was deeply relieved to learn she had somehow survived and taken up residence in a place called Tauber Village.
After that, Richard would go to Tauber Village once a year. As Sigurd’s favorite, he was incredibly busy, but even so, he would make sure to go to Brunhild’s hut in the forest on her birthday.
Despite this, he couldn’t actually reveal himself to Brunhild. He had failed to protect her. Even if it had been to save her life, he had been the one who had recommended her exile. He couldn’t bear to face her.
All he could do was give her gifts.
He would lay a flower and a gold coin in front of her hut.
The flower was meant to be a celebration of her birthday.
He would watch from a distance as Brunhild came out of her hut and picked up the flower and coin, and then he would leave the village.
Richard would do this each and every year.
With the passage of time, Brunhild became a beautiful woman. Richard’s annual trip to her hut became the thing he looked forward to most.
However, it did make him feel uneasy that Brunhild had been living this whole time on her own. Whenever he observed her, she always seemed isolated and alone.
Finally, however, things changed.
On her sixteenth birthday, as usual, Richard traveled to Tauber Village to leave a flower and a gold coin on Brunhild’s doorstep. But this time, things played out differently from before. Brunhild emerged from the hut with a man. Richard watched Brunhild’s expression as she spoke with the man, and he could tell she had been freed from her solitude.
Now she would surely be all right. His sister would no longer need his help.
This year would be the last time he took gifts to his sister. With that thought, Richard returned to the castle.
Not long afterward, Sigurd went to Tauber Village.
By the time Richard learned of everything, it was too late. Sigurd had slain the dragon and almost killed Brunhild, too. Richard just barely managed to save her life, but it came at a terrible price: Brunhild, who had inherited the dragon’s power, would be forced to wed Sigurd.
Why did his sister have to meet such an absurd fate?
To be chased out of the castle, to have her family killed.
Had his sister done anything to deserve such miserable treatment?
No—absolutely not.
She had never rebelled against Sigurd’s orders, not even once. Despite that, however, her whole life had gone wrong due to the whims of a single man.
Though the king never noticed, the heart of his retainer had been smoldering with hostility for his lord all this time.