Chapter 77
[I didn’t see it that way, but Riga’s being really mean! He’s not even mad at you, why would he try to turn you into a eunuch?]
Sika shuddered at Benny’s unexpectedly strong reaction.
[Huh? That’s right, I can’t be a eunuch.]
[Yeah, keep that until the end, okay?]
As Sika blinked his eyes confusedly, Benny shouted, “Answer!” and Sika reflexively replied.
[Okay!]
Still, Sika couldn’t figure out why he had to answer, so he just shook his head. Mark could only chuckle as he looked between an exasperated Benny and a bewildered Sika.
[By the way, I can’t feed him that thing again this time. What am I going to do?]
Benny muttered as she bit her nails. Mark, who had been laughing at the ground, wiped his tears and asked her.
[What?]
Benny shrugged. [I fed it to Riga. Usu pika.]
“Usu” means bear, but the next word refers directly to male genitalia. Sika gasped and clamped his hand over Benny’s mouth.
[Crazy girl! What do you think you’re saying so loudly, huh?]
Benny threw away his hand. [Oh, get off me! That’s not the point right now!]
[You really left me speechless, for real!]
Sika tore at his hair, and in the chaos, Mark barely managed to regain his composure and asked, [Wait, wait a minute. You got Riga to eat that? How? He’s so sensitive to the taste of food, he would have noticed something was different.]
Benny smirked and jerked her chin up. [I knew it, so I made Rigaina cook for him. There’s no way he’d refuse to eat something she cooked because he thought it tasted different. I noticed that he emptied his plate very clean afterwards, which of course had a good effect that day.]
What a mean, scary woman.
The two men looked at Benny and shuddered. Benny waved her hand to indicate that they should stop talking about it.
[Anyway, don’t you know anything? I mean, they two seem really serious this time.]
Mark sighed softly and thought back to the events of two days ago. The expression on Riga’s face had visibly changed since Asion’s visit that day. Even Asion, who had agreed to have a drink with him after the meeting, had gone home for some reason and hasn’t been heard from since.
‘Something must have happened in that conversation with him….’
But why would a conversation with him, who had just returned from Lysa, cause a fight with Rigaina?
[What do I know? I don’t know anything at all.]
[Then it’s your turn.]
[Huh?]
[Sika and I have done it before. So why don’t you do something this time?]
Benny and Sika were looking at him with sparkling eyes, making him feel very burdened.
[What, what can I do….]
[Why are you still asking? I’m telling you to do anything!]
Mark felt like running away for some reason.
***
Knock knock.
Rosetta didn’t turn around at the knock on the door; he hadn’t entered the room once since that day. This time, it wouldn’t be him either.
“Come in.”
Rosetta’s gaze remained glued to the window as she heard the door open, but then she heard singing from behind her.
“Princess with flowing honey-colored hair and emerald eyes. Whose breath has touched you to make you so lovely.”
The words were familiar. She had heard the fine, lilting voice before.
Rosetta slowly turned her head. When she saw the man standing in the doorway, she drew in a small breath.
“You are….”
“It’s been a long time, Princess Rosetta. Asion, the lowly jester, brings you greetings, Princess.”
He knelt on the floor and bowed his head deeply. And he didn’t move. He waited for Rosetta’s command to rise.
There are many other restrictions for those of lesser status when dealing with Lysan royalty. They are not allowed to look down on royalty, so they always keep a low posture, even in conversation. They are not allowed to initiate conversation until the royalty has spoken to them. Everything they do, from making eye contact to leaving the room, is dependent on the royalty command. It’s as if they have no thoughts or will of their own.
It was a custom Rosetta had taken for granted in Lysa. Until now, it had never even occurred to her that it was excessive, but the sight of Asion on the floor now, kneeling before her, somehow made her feel uncomfortable.
“This is not Lysa, so you can make yourself comfortable. Get up and sit in the chair over there.”
Asion got up and sat in the chair next to her, looking no different than he had when she’d seen him all those years ago. His long, wavy black hair hadn’t changed, nor had his warm brown eyes.
“Come to think of it, you told me you were from Arden, and I hadn’t realized it until now.”
Asion flashed a gentle smile. “To a wandering bard, origin is of little importance, for it is my fate to wander the world with my back to home, and I often stop here in passing.”
“…Was it you who told Rashid about me?”
Rosetta finally realized how Rashid had learned of her identity. Asion was the only Ardennese who had entered the royal palace of Lysa and seen the Princess’s face right in front of him. It was because of him that Rashid knew everything.
“I apologize, Your Highness.”
He looked genuinely sorry, and Rosetta shook her head.
“I didn’t say that to blame you, I just…. Yes, this is fate, too, that you returned just in time. And that you recognized me when you returned….”
Rosetta smiled bitterly. It would be easier to blame everything on fate this way.
“Actually, I’m quite surprised. I heard you were traveling to a nearby resort, and here you are.”
“How did you know I was traveling….? Did you come from Lysa, by any chance?”
“Yes, I went to the royal palace to sing for the royal family, and when I didn’t see you, Princess, I asked, and I was told that you were traveling for a while before your wedding.”
I hadn’t heard from my family in a long time, and I felt nostalgic.
“How is my family doing?”
“His Majesty the King and Queen, Prince Arman, and Princess Tanit are all well.”
“Before I left, my mother was suffering from frequent headaches, I wonder if she’s better.”
“Don’t worry. She said my song works better than any medicine. And as you know, Princess, when it comes to singing, I, Asion, am the best in the continent.”
Rosetta flashed him a faint smile at his attempt to lighten the mood.
“Yes, thank you. My mother is especially fond of your singing.”
Asion spoke carefully, “If there is anything I can do to help you, Princess, please let me know. I’ll help you with anything.”
Rosetta hesitated at the words, then spoke, “If you don’t mind, I was wondering if you could tell me what Rashid’s reaction was when you told him about me?”
At those words, Asion remembered what had happened a few days ago. When he’d said the Princess’s name, Rashid had just stared at his face for a moment. As if he had heard something really strange.
“…I’ve never seen him so flustered before.”
It was only when he said the name one more time that Rashid seemed to understand the meaning of the words: the only people on the continent who used three names were the royal family of the Lysa Kingdom. Other royal families could only have two names at most: first and last. Even so, the meaning of the ‘Lysa’ at the end of her name was all too clear.
And then he asked again, “Are you sure she is Princess Rosetta of Lysa?”
When Asion gave him information, he was always quicker than anyone else to sum it up and make the best choice. He’d never once doubted Asion’s information, and yet he seemed to want to deny it all.
He finally seemed to accept it, when Asion told him that he had seen the Princess right in front of him and had even written a song for her, so there was no way he could be mistaken. But then he looked a little stunned, and Asion asked him a question that worried him for the first time. “Are you okay?”
“… Is that so? I’ve never seen him like that before.”
Rosetta smiled a little weakly, but then her lips tightened, and her mouth trembled as she tried to suppress her emotions.
Asion’s heart sank as he watched her struggle to contain her emotions. He wanted to say something, anything, to comfort her.
“Princess, there is a saying in Arden. It says that those who are destined to be together once are destined to walk the same path again. Wrongly destined lovers walk the wrong path, even in rebirth, with similar results, similar deaths, as in their previous lives. Wrongly destined lovers are unlikely to be reunited in rebirth, barring a miracle. Fate is such a powerful thing that it does not change because a person tries to change it.”
Asion smiled faintly at Rosetta, who looked as if she might cry at any moment.
“But you and Riga must have had a good relationship in a previous life.”