Chapter 54
“Are you sure you want to sweep everything under the rug? Are you really going to pretend it never happened?”
After speaking with the chieftain, they gathered in the room. Allen was still fuming; he should’ve had the bastard half-dead, and he was frustrated that he’d only gotten one kick.
“No, you’ve done very well,” the nanny spoke quickly, in case Iselle changed his mind. “Right now, it’s best to handle this quietly. There mustn’t be any unsavory rumors about the princess.”
Allen knew the nanny was right. For now, he had to put personal feelings like revenge on the back burner and decide what was best for the princess.
“But do you really think he’ll give her back so easily? What if he’s already discovered her identity?”
This plan could only work if the Quat chieftain didn’t know the princess’ true identity. If he already did, he would grab the gem that rolled to him and never let go. He would be playing to Lysa’s weakness.
Iselle sighed softly. “The princess must have tried to hide her identity somehow, knowing full well that once it was revealed, things would get out of hand, and I don’t think he knows yet. If he knew the bride was a fake, he would have already made some sort of move.”
“Still, I’m uneasy. He’d certainly find it odd that they’d let him steal the bride at first, and then suddenly try to get her back. I’ve heard that Nazar Quat is quite clever.”
Nazar Quat.
It was a name Iselle had heard before. The young Quat chieftain who was said to be uniting the northern Ardennes and recently extending his influence to the lands to the east and west. His blue eyes have led to unflattering rumors of illegitimacy, but with such leadership, he must be no fool.
The Quat is a tribe whose symbol is the wolf, so while he may be known as the Blue-Eyed Wolf, he is actually a cunning fox. Otherwise, no one with a flawed legitimacy would be able to lead a tribe so successfully and without infighting. Typically, such leaders rule by harnessing fear, fiercely suppressing dissent, or expelling those with a weak base.
Iselle said quietly, “I wouldn’t trust the Basque chieftain either.”
Allen leaned closer to him. “You have something else in mind?”
“Yes. Apart from getting the bride back, we’re going our separate ways. Allen, how much do you know about this man, Nazar Quat?”
“Probably not much more than you, only what I’ve heard through the grapevine.”
The nanny spoke up cautiously, “Then how about asking Miss Rosie? She’s a local, and would know best.”
“I suppose so,” Iselle agreed.
As the nanny had said, it was best to hear what information the chieftain’s daughter had for now.
“Then I’ll go get her,” Allen said.
He added, “I just happen to have something else to tell her.”
Then Allen rushed to the door.
Allen asked a maid passing by for Rosie’s room and headed there. It was true that he had something to tell her. He wanted to say it when he met her.
Thank you for helping us.
Actually, he’d been a little suspicious of Rosie. It had been a while since he gave the bracelet to her so that she could mail it to Iselle, but he had not come. It was a valuable bracelet and Allen wondered if Rosie had sold it.
If it hadn’t been for Rosie today, he and the others would have been dinner for the hungry wolves by now. He had escaped death because Rosie had brought the Duke to him.
In retrospect, without her, he would have been eaten by a monster long ago. Though he was still somewhat upset about the last time she’d taken the nanny hostage, she’d been the one to lend a helping hand from the start. She did it for the people she cared about, so it wasn’t completely unreasonable. If the roles were reversed, Allen would have done anything for the princess.
As he approached the room the maid had mentioned, he heard a loud bang coming from inside. There were thumps, bangs, and breaking noises.
Allen tried to go inside, but the soldiers guarding the door stopped him. “You can’t go in now.”
Allen said, “I thought your job was to stop her from getting out, not to stop me from getting in?”
“That’s because… Master Fertan is inside right now.”
At that, Allen glared at the door. So he was the one making these sounds? Why am I hearing these noises in a room where his sister is with him?
“Move,” Allen growled low, and the soldiers flinched, stepping aside. They didn’t have the guts to stop him, the escort knight of the Princess of Lysa.
Bursting through the door, Allen saw a man mercilessly beating Rosie.
“You ungrateful bitch! I told you to go and get yourself pretty, and now you’re betraying us by sticking with the Duke?”
He kicked Rosie in the stomach, and her tiny body curled up even smaller. He grabbed her by the hair this time and began shaking her. “Did you think you’d be okay after that? Did you think you’d be okay after betraying us?”
Just as he was about to kick her again, Allen snatched him up with both hands and threw him against the wall.
“Argh!”
His body hit the wall with a thud and rolled across the floor. He scrambled to his feet, but Allen crushed him with his foot.
“W- what the hell…”
He flinched a little as he recognized his opponent to be the princess’ escort knight, but soon shouted in indignation, “W- what are you doing? You may be the princess’ escort, but I am the man who will be the next Basque chieftain. How dare you show me disrespect– Ack!”
Allen spun him around with his foot crushing his throat and kicked him hard in the ass, sending the man’s large frame sprawling toward the door.
“Get the hell out of here. Or I’ll kill you with this holy sword, even if you’re the son of the chieftain.”
Fertan jumped to his feet as Allen lifted the sword at his waist a little, then bolted from the room.
“Are you okay?”
Allen walked over to Rosie, who was lying on the floor. Her face looked unharmed from the dodged blow, but her body would be bruised and battered.
“Get up, I’ll take a look at what hurts–”
-slap!
The moment Allen held out his hand, Rosie slapped it away, and then looked at him with tear-filled eyes.
“Don’t act like you care. You don’t give a damn what kind of shit I take for helping you. Why? The Duke called for me? He needed some information? Otherwise, you wouldn’t have bothered to find me. You only care about your princess, not whether or not I get beaten to death by my father and brother!”
Allen didn’t know what to say in response; everything she said was true. He hadn’t thought about what would happen to Rosie if she became a traitor to her tribe in the midst of devising a plan to rescue the princess.
“You know what? I’m so sorry. You helped us even by sacrificing your horse. Had you just pretended not to notice, you wouldn’t have gone through all this…”
Rosie barely held back her tears and began to tie up her disheveled hair. “Okay, fine. If you need information, I’ll give it to you. Who knows, maybe this will give you a way out?”
Rosie stood up, staggering toward the door. As he watched, Allen strode over and swept her up in his arms.
“What- what are you doing?!”
“Stay still. You’re hurt. I’m just trying to help.”
With that, Rosie turned her head without further protest.
As they walked down the hallway without saying another word, Allen spoke up, “Yeah, to be honest, I’m not the least bit worried about you, because the princess’s safety is the most important thing to me. If anything were to happen to her, I probably wouldn’t be able to live anymore.”
That was something Rosie already knew. How much they love her. That the princess is truly loved. Even the Duke, who seemed to be made of ice, seemed genuine to the Princess.
And she envied the princess for being so loved by everyone, for having a life so different from her own.
“That doesn’t mean I’m going to pretend I don’t know you.”
Rosie’s head snapped up at the sudden words. “What?”
“If you need help, you can call me. If your brother beats you up like he did today, I might even kill him.”
“You put it so easily. You think I’m going to take pleasure in you killing someone from my tribe, much less my family?”
“What kind of family is that, anyway? You’re the one who should have left them.”
What the hell? Says a stranger who’ll leave when he’s done here. Rosie snorted.
“And if you want, I’ll help you get out of here.”
“What?”
“Come with me to Lysa. You’re smart and brave,and you’ll have a much better life there than here. I’ll take responsibility and help you.”
Rosie stared at his face, dumbstruck. Looking up at his innocent face, she realized that he had no idea how much of a misunderstanding he had just made.
“…Is this how Lysa men are?”
“Huh? What?”
“Being so sweet to a woman…”
“Sweet? Me? I’ve never heard that before in my life!”
Rosie tilted her head in disbelief at Allen’s reaction. “But you don’t hit me and instead hug me like this.”
“Why would I hit a woman? It’s normal not to, it’s just that your father and brother are weird! What the hell have you been through…”
He cursed in anger as he spoke. Rosie couldn’t help but laugh at the sight.