Chapter 48
4. The Sweetest Thing
The Quat’s banquet was not much different from Lysa’s. The hall was brightly lit by candlelight, and the long tables were filled with more food than could be eaten. The invited guests took their seats and began to drink, eat, and converse while dancers swayed to the music of the musicians.
The only difference was that while the purpose of the banquet was centered on personal socializing in Lysa, here it was much broader in scope. There was no such thing as men and women exchanging glances as they danced. Their conversations included not only personal matters but also discourses such as politics and economics.
Few people spoke to her as Rashid had said they would. No, apart from the initial greetings, none of the invited guests had spoken to her.
It was odd, considering this was a welcome banquet, but not unexpected, given their antipathy toward the Basques.
In any case, Rosetta was relieved. If anyone had asked her more questions about the Basques, she wouldn’t have been able to answer them properly.
At first, she had hoped they would realize she wasn’t the real bride, but now her goal was to keep quiet until she could return to Lysa. To reveal her true identity now would only cause more trouble.
“Rigaina, you should try this. It’s really good.”
Instead, Rosetta found Sika sitting next to her, still chattering away. Normally, Sika’s seat would have been quite a distance away, but it was as if he’d been put there out of consideration for her.
This allowed Rosetta to watch the banquet without being bored. Rashid had to keep talking to people, so he couldn’t attend to her alone.
“You should try the wine. It’s ten years old, and it tastes great.”
“I’m fine, I’m not a fan of alcohol.”
“You can’t even take a sip?”
“No.”
Rosetta gulped down the strawberry juice instead of the wine.
The first time she took a drink after her coming-of-age ceremony, she had no memory of it, and when she woke up the next day wondering what had happened the night before, her sister, brother, and Iselle shouted at the same time. “You must never take a sip of alcohol.”
“But, Sika, that man, Elder Perce.”
Rosetta asked Sika what she had been wondering about earlier. “He keeps glaring at me, why is that?”
The old man who had introduced himself as Elder Perce earlier in the banquet had glanced at Rosetta with an unfriendly glance.
Sika, who was now excitedly ripping into a turkey leg, swallowed hard and answered, “That’s Krell’s father, and if he keeps staring at you, it’s because of what happened last time.”
“Ah…”
Suddenly, Rosetta understood the animosity Elder Perce was showing her. Having caused his son to be crippled in an instant, it would be hard for him to harbor good feelings toward her.
‘But it was his fault in the first place.’
Rosetta stared at him with a look of disapproval. Instead of taking responsibility and remorse as a parent, he blamed the victim. And it was a wonder that he was still here, undisturbed, when his son had done such a wrong.
In Lysa, anyone who raised a sword against the King would have been decapitated and bequeathed to the city walls. And their families would have been killed together or, if they were lucky, enslaved.
I wonder what happened to Krell after that. I haven’t heard a word about him since I came to the castle.
“What happened to Krell after that?”
The turkey he’d been eating was already reduced to a pile of bones, but as if that wasn’t enough, Sika reached for the fruit.
He answered, “Anyone who loses the ritual and doesn’t die is banished to another land. Krell was supposed to be banished already, but I believe Riga postponed it until Krell’s wound healed due to Elder Perce’s request.”
“I see…” Rosetta nodded, thinking it was very Rashid-like behavior.
And the more she thought about it, the more she didn’t understand the man. If Rashid had gone out of his way to be so considerate, he should be grateful for the favor, but instead showed signs of discontent.
“By the way, are you all right, Rigaina?”
Rosetta turned to Sika at the sudden question.
“Huh? What?”
“That Riga didn’t kill Krell and let him live like that.”
“Why is that?”
“Aren’t you angry after what he did to you?”
Of course I was angry. To be honest, I wanted to go over there right now and end Krell’s life myself.
But I am a stranger in this place. This place has its own rules, and I don’t want to interfere with them for someone who’s about to leave.
“If I were Riga, I wouldn’t have let him live for touching my woman.”
“You mean you would have killed him?”
“Of course, I would have killed him in the most painful way possible. I would have cut out his tongue, then his eyeballs, and then I would have cut off his limbs one by one, very slowly…”
“Ew, Sika, if you ever have a lover in your life, don’t ever say that.”
At Rosetta’s shuddering reaction, Sika asked innocently, “Why?”
“Because it’s so cruel, and if a girl hears that, she’ll be scared of you and run away.”
“Even if she did run away, do you think I’d let her?” Sika shouted, over-excited.
Rosetta felt like teasing him a little. “What would you do if she ran away?”
“I’ll chase her to the ends of the earth and get her!”
“And after you get her?”
“And then… well, we’d need to have a good conversation…” Sika trailed off.
Rosetta couldn’t help but laugh. “But Sika, don’t you think you should get a girlfriend first? It’s completely useless for you to be thinking about this when you don’t even have a girlfriend.”
Sika looked at Rosetta with genuinely hurt looks in her eyes and muttered, “That’s too much.”
While she was laughing at Sika, Rosetta suddenly heard Rashid’s conversation with the elders. Or, more precisely, certain words in their conversation.
“So, Riga, how’s the investigation into those Lysans coming along?”
The Lysans?
Rosetta pretended to eat her food and listened quietly to their conversation.
“Nothing definite yet, but one thing that’s bothering me is that what they were trying to do was grave robbing.”
“Grave robbing?”
Rashid nodded. “We found one of their abandoned wagons near the western part of the capital, and there were pickaxes, shovels, and other things in it with dirt on them, so I’m guessing they’re secretly mining minerals somewhere.”
“Minerals… But it’s a bit puzzling that they would travel to another country to secretly mine it.”
“I know. It’s not like Lysa is short on minerals in the first place.”
Lysa has been rich in mineral resources for generations, and the technology to mine them is highly developed, which is why it has been able to build the civilization it has today. In the past, Lysa colonized the Ardennes because they needed grain, salt, and textiles, not because they wanted the minerals.
“For now, I’d like to do some more research around the area where the wagon was found. If they were really trying to steal, finding out where that area is would be a priority.”
“You’re right about that, Riga, and it sounds like it’s something we need to look into further.”
“One other thing, there was something odd about the wagon.”
Rashid drew a line on the table with his finger. “It was a specially designed wagon. They sealed all the cracks in the wood outside with tar, and even lined the inside with black cloth, like they were trying to seal it off from sunlight or water or something.”
Calante tilted his head, stroking his beard as he listened. “That’s certainly a bit odd. What kind of minerals were they carrying, and why were they so heavily guarded? Was there some reason they had to transport them that way?”
-clink.
Just then, the loud sound of metal hitting the floor rang out. Dozens of pairs of eyes turned toward Rosetta at the same time. Rosetta was frozen in place as she dropped the glass she was holding.
She soon mumbled in embarrassment. “I- I’m sorry, I accidentally dropped my glass…”
“Rigaina, are you okay?”
Rosetta nodded at Sika’s surprised question. Fortunately, the juice hadn’t gotten on her clothes, but it had spilled and stained the floor. The maids rushed over and cleaned up the floor, bringing her a new glass. Staring at it, Rosetta clutched her skirt tightly.
‘No. No way. It can’t be…’
If it was a mineral that needed to be transported in complete darkness, Rosetta already knew. But it was something that should never be known to the outside world.
Rosetta’s fingers trembled slightly as she gripped her skirt. Rashid looked at it through narrowed eyes and suddenly turned to face the others. “It seems like we’ve been talking too seriously at this banquet, so why don’t we have a little fun?”
Loud laughter erupted from all around. Then someone asked him, “We’ve already seen the dancing, all that’s left is the singing, and we don’t have any bards today, do we?”
“Then one of us will have to sing.”
Rosetta’s face immediately paled at the words. No way, is he going to make me sing?
Rosetta looked at Rashid and shook her head ever so slightly. Her singing skills aren’t that good. To top it all off, the thought of singing alone in front of so many people was truly terrifying.
‘No, no. If you humiliate me here, I won’t leave you alone!’
As Rosetta inwardly cried out in desperation to him, Rashid walked over to the musicians on one side of the banquet hall and was handed a lute by one of them.