Chapter 43
“By fiancé, you mean the Croa chieftain?”
At Rashid’s question, Rosetta nodded hastily. “Uh, yes, although not anymore, of course.”
As Rosetta stammered, a voice called out.
“Riga!”
Everyone in the stable came running. Someone must have seen them fall from the horse and informed them.
“Are you two okay?”
Mark looked at them in surprise. At first glance, Rosetta seemed unharmed, but his gaze soon turned to Rashid, who was still sitting on the ground.
Rashid quickly stood up, dusted himself off, and said with a nonchalant expression, “It’s nothing, don’t worry about it.”
“No, but did you really fall off a horse? What an embarrassment……”
But Rashid’s eyes immediately narrowed at Sika’s next words.
As Rashid glared at him sharply, Sika coughed loudly. “I apologize, sir. I was just worried about you using your cruel ways, so I didn’t realize……”
“……my cruel ways?”
“Yes. What? No, it can’t be, you must have heard something wrong.”
Sika let out an awkward laugh. But it didn’t do much to lighten the mood.
“Rigaina, are you okay?”
Benny turned to Rosetta just in time. Without Rashid’s knowledge, Sika sent a signal to Rosetta. The way he extended his index finger and twirled it, it was like he wanted her to say something to distract Rashid.
“Oh, well. Now that I think about it, I feel a little dizzy……”
Rosetta pretended to be dizzy and held her head. This time, Sika gave her a thumbs up, and that’s when the other three, except for Sika, spoke up.
“You feel dizzy?”
[Did you hurt your head when you fell?]
“Could it be a concussion? I’ll get a doctor right away!”
The conversation quickly turned into an emergency. Mark was scrambling to get a doctor, and Benny was putting her hand on Rosetta’s forehead. But the biggest problem was Rashid.
He approached her, his hands outstretched as if to scoop her up in a hug. Rosetta shrank back.
“No, it’s not that bad, I just need to rest!”
Rosetta remembered the last time she had been carried by him from the kitchen to his room. And all the burdensome stares they’d gotten as they passed. She didn’t want to be the center of attention again.
But he seemed to think otherwise.
“A concussion isn’t something to take lightly. You need to see a doctor right away.”
“But you’re the one who got hurt, not me, and you’re the one who needs to see a doctor!”
“Even so, you’re the one with the concussion symptoms and you need to see a doctor first.”
Eventually, he grabbed her by the shoulders, and just as he was about to lift her up, she squeezed her eyes shut and cried out.
“I- I’m sorry, I was just pretending to be dizzy, I’m fine!”
To her surprise, he burst out laughing. Suddenly, Rosetta realized that Rashid had already seen through the lie, even if no one else had.
Alas, she was caught again!
Rashid suddenly turned and stomped toward Sika. Sika stumbled backwards, gasping.
“Riga, what, what’s wrong– Ouch!”
Rashid grabbed Sika by the ear and lifted it up. Sika squirmed in his arms and legs.
“Let go of me, it hurts!”
“Let’s finish what we were talking about earlier. Sika, what did you see about me?”
“I didn’t say anything– Ouch! No, I was just saying that Riga seems to be a little less good at teaching others than other brilliant talents!”
Mark, who was watching the scene, interrupted, “No, Riga, what he said was that you as a teacher are the worst. He said there must have been a time when you were first learning swordsmanship, but you acted like you were born with a sword in your mouth, and when you were teaching, you were so self-centered and arrogant. He said who in the world needs a teacher like you?”
Rosetta quietly looked away. It was nice to see that Sika’s experience matched hers so perfectly, but she didn’t want to show it now.
Completely outplayed, Sika hurriedly said, “Ri- Riga, do you know how those two reacted when I said that? They didn’t try to stop me, they said that they really thought it was going to happen. I swear!”
Mark and Benny’s shoulders slumped at the same time. Judging by their reactions, he wasn’t lying.
What followed was a long series of revelations. Rashid let go of Sika’s ear, but this time, Mark pounced on him. Sika hid behind Rosetta, who was the most benevolent here. Mark and Sika began to spin frantically in circles with Rosetta in the middle.
Thelma watched from a distance. Rashid’s face was uncharacteristically beaming, his gaze occasionally lingering on the woman, and Thelma watched with mixed feelings.
[Thelma.]
Then a man came up behind her.
[The Lord is looking for you again, Thelma.]
[Go tell him I’ll see him soon].
[The Lord asked me to make sure to bring you with me this time.]
[……]
Thelma let out a long sigh. She had already turned him down a few times, but now she realized she couldn’t hold out much longer.
She followed the man out the gate. A short ride on horseback brought them to a mansion in the middle of nowhere.
The manicured garden in front of the mansion was full of flowers. The main house was built in traditional Ardennes architecture, but the garden was more typical of the Lysa Kingdom. A fountain was placed in the center of the garden, filling it with cool water, and marble statues dotted the grounds.
The mansion was actually quite familiar to Thelma. Not surprising, since she had lived here for 15 years.
[Thelma.]
The servants who recognized her gave her a somewhat awkward greeting. It’s understandable, she was of a lower class than them when she lived in this mansion, but now she’s Riga’s nanny and one of his most trusted confidants. They can’t treat her as casually as they once did, and they can’t serve her as they once did.
Thelma didn’t bother with the greeting, as it was something that happened every time she came here anyway. She went straight to a room in the deepest part of the mansion and knocked on the door.
“Come in.”
The door opened and an old, gray-haired man sat at a desk, writing. Thelma walked up to him and bowed her head in greeting.
“I heard you were looking for me, Elder.”
“How long have I been looking for you, and you come only now?”
“Things have been happening in the castle.”
“I’ve heard the rumors. There was a disturbance in the castle. A woman tried to save the cloth Elysia left behind from burning.”
Elysia. The moment the name left his lips, Thelma’s mouth tightened.
Thelma lifted the stiff corners of her mouth and said, “If you’re so well-informed, I shouldn’t have to come here.”
His scribbling hand paused. Raising his head and staring into Thelma’s face, he slowly rose from his chair and suddenly slapped her across the cheek.
-slap!
Her head turned immediately. A cold voice spoke to her as she covered her cheek with her hand.
“This bitch. How dare you, you and no one else, say that?”
A momentary twisted laugh escaped Thelma’s lips.
“How dare you say that after what you did to Elysia!” his voice still filled with rage.
I know. Who Elysia died for. Who the venomous bitch was who repaid her favor with enmity.
It was none other than herself. She was the one who brought Elysia, who had taken her out of the pit of hell and thought of her as her sister, to a miserable death.
“What do you think will happen to you if I say just one word? Do you think Riga will care for you as much as he does now after he finds out what you did?”
And it was the threat he always used: If Rashid knew what she’d done, you’d be thrown out immediately, and you wouldn’t like it.
Thelma straightened up. Then she bowed her head deeply. What he said should never happen. She must stay by Rashid’s side no matter what, to fulfill her last promise to Elysia.
“I was wrong, and now you can stop being angry and tell me why you called me.”
His eyebrows raised, but he didn’t vent any more anger.
“What kind of woman is Rigaina?”
At his question, Thelma pictured her, Rigaina, in her mind. In truth, she hadn’t noticed anything special about her when she first saw her. Her lack of nervousness was a bit unusual.
But now I have a different opinion.
Thelma knows best what kind of man Rashid is; he has never been one to give his affection to others gratuitously; the only people he has given it to are Mark, who is like a father to him, and Sika, whom he has raised as his own little brother.
He’d even washed her feet himself, which she’d assumed was just a special circumstance because it happened while retrieving one of his belongings. But what if it wasn’t a coincidence?
“To me, she’s just an ordinary person. I didn’t see anything special about her.”