Answer Me, Please

Answer Me, Please – Chapter 17

“What do you mean?”

Rosetta couldn’t understand what he was saying. Why did the Lisa Kingdom plot everything behind the scenes?

She asked again, “What benefit did the Lisa Kingdom gain by doing that?”

“Let’s stop talking about it. It has nothing to do with you anyway.”

“No, I…”

Rosetta shut her mouth with a questioning face. She had been overreacting to the Kingdom of Lisa since earlier. He might be suspicious of this if she inquired further.

Fortunately, he went back to the original subject as if he didn’t notice anything else strange.

“That’s why I brought you and called you my wife. Because if you become a hostage…”

“…something terrible would happen. Like what happened today.”

Rosetta bit her lip, remembering what Krell had done. The man’s actions indirectly explain how the people of the Quat tribe viewed her. She was the enemy’s daughter, so no one cared how she was mistreated.

“Right. Because they want you to get the same revenge for what happened in the past. Because it is our iron rule to pay back equally.”

Rosetta looked into the blue eyes of the man with the long eyelashes. His bright eyes, as if not one impurity had been mixed, were still shining in the darkness. It is certainly of a kind rarely found among the Ardennes.

“The Basque chieftain, humiliated by being stabbed in the face while trying to hug that woman, threw her in a rage where the slaves were. His father must be one of the slaves there.”

Recalling Krell’s words, Rosetta involuntarily shrugged her shoulders a little. If that’s true, that would be terrifying. Although revenge is wrong, the hatred of the Quat tribe itself is understandable. Besides, wasn’t even the chieftain brutally killed trying to save his wife?

What if my father and mother had gone through something like that? Without a second thought, I would never have forgiven them.

“All I want is to break this marriage, that’s all. So you only have to stay with us until then. Do you understand up to this point?”

Rosetta quickly nodded her head. She had no choice but to admit now that she had no other impure intentions toward him.

“I plan to ask the Croa chieftain to marry another woman within a month. As soon as he is officially married, I will send you back to your father.”

As long as I did what he said, there would be no problem. It was originally a trip scheduled for a month. If I stay still like this for a month and then come back to Lisa, that’ll be enough.

However, now he doesn’t know about the change of bride. If he finds out about this later, what will he do?

“One thing for sure. I have never deceived you.”

Confused by the meaning of Rosetta’s sudden words, Rashid stared at her face.

She continued, “I definitely tried my best. Anyway, I’ll do as you say, so don’t blame me later.”

“…I don’t know what you’re talking about, but can I assume that you understand and accept my words?”

“Yes.”

“Okay then,” Rashid said curtly, making an expression as if it was all over.

On the other hand, Rosetta started to think about what to do next.

Clearly, Allen will do his best to save her somehow. And he was more likely to move first on his own rather than wait for someone from the royal family to come. The Allen she knew was not one to stay silent the moment he found out she had been kidnapped. Because he has the personality to let go of his intuition when he has to do something.

For now, it would be better to stay still until Allen arrives. This man didn’t seem too dangerous, and he could be in trouble again if I ran away recklessly.

So when Allen comes in later, better to explain the whole story…

“Ahh! What are you doing?”

Rosetta was horrified to find that the man suddenly took off his shirt. Rosetta crossed her arms and rushed backward, covering her shoulders.

“Hey! I said I would accept your opinion. I never said I would accept you!”

The moment he took off his entire top, the scratches on his shoulder and the scars on his side stomach from the duel earlier were revealed. Rashid then picked up the bandage that Shika had left behind.

“……”

Rosetta couldn’t say a word. It was because she realized belatedly that he had taken off his shirt simply for the purpose of treating his wounds.

The man looked at Rosetta, whose ears had been fully red in an instant, with narrowed eyes, and then shook his head with a short sigh. That made Rosetta even more embarrassed.

Rashid sat in a chair and examined his wounds. The wound on his shoulder wasn’t too bad, but the one on his side stomach was pretty serious. Even though his blood had stopped to some extent, the cut was deeper than expected. Rosetta couldn’t believe that that man had been talking casually so far with such a body.

Could it be that he doesn’t even feel pain?

Then Rashid tried to bandage his wound without properly cleaning it or applying medicine.

“Hold on!”

Despite being frightened, Rosetta approached him. Since she had spent a lot of time with doctors since she was young, and because Allen, who had once hoped to become a doctor, was always by her side, Rosetta has a bit of knowledge about medicine.

“If you don’t disinfect it properly, the wound may get worse later.”

But he didn’t listen to Rosetta at all. Seeing that he spread the bandage in complete disregard for her advice, Rosetta snatched it away from him.

“You need to pay more attention to the wounds from iron. Otherwise, you could die if you’re unlucky.”

“……”

It was only after seeing his stern expression that Rosetta realized that she had interfered too much. Now he may be offended that she is doing something presumptuous to him.

However, it was now impossible to return the bandage she had snatched away.

“…I’ll help you since you got hurt because of me. As a thank you for saving me.”

He furrowed his eyebrows. “There seems to be a misunderstanding, but I did not duel with Krell because of you. Krell insulted me, so I did what I had to.”

“I know. But it’s true that I was the cause.”

Rosetta brought a wet towel and started wiping the blood stains from his wound. This was her first time tending to someone else’s wound, but she was less reluctant than she thought.

After all the bloodstains were gone, she brought medicine to apply to the wound. The white powder appeared to be dried and ground plant roots. While pouring medicine over the wound, Rosetta discovered scars all over his body. He had serious scars that looked like he had gotten them during his swordsmanship training. The wounds he got today seem to be nothing.

After becoming a chieftain, why does this man have such scars? What kind of life does he usually live?

While looking closely at the wounds on his body, she felt a gaze piercing her head. Rosetta raised her head and made eye contact with him. Rosetta was unknowingly startled and pressed hard on his wound, causing the man to take a weak breath.

“I-I’m sorry!”

Rosetta hurriedly apologized and folded a clean cloth several times.

“I’m going to do the bandaging now, so hold on to this.”

Rashid’s long fingers grasped the cloth and Rosetta began to bandage his stomach. However, as this was her first time bandaging someone, it didn’t go as well as she thought. Besides, she didn’t know it when he put on his shirt, but his body was much thicker and harder than it looked. As Rosetta’s head moved back and forth while she was bandaging, her face repeatedly hit his body.

Every time her cheek brushed against his bare skin, her face turned bright red again. Rosetta thought she’d have to distract herself before he let out another unpleasant sigh.

“But what will happen to me when I go back?”

“Didn’t I explain it before?”

“No, not that. Am I going to be a woman who is abandoned after spending one night with you?”

Suddenly, his heart was beating fast. The wind blew away the bandage that had been painstakingly wrapped around.

“Don’t move!”

Rosetta gave a warning. Rashid rubbed his forehead and groaned.

“What are you talking about now…”

“That’s why I asked you before. Do you think that if I go back to my family, my life will go back to the way it was before?”

In fact, it was something Rosetta had been curious about before. He hadn’t actually done anything to her and said he wouldn’t, but he had already made it seem like they spent the first night. And that’s what people think.

Thinking about it, Rosetta felt really bad. If I go back to the Lisa Kingdom, I will do my best to ensure that what happened here won’t become known outside.

But she herself is not sure, maybe this will leak with Rosie as the kidnapped bride. Then the other royals and nobles would chatter a lot about this behind the scenes mockingly while pretending to be sorry.

After all, isn’t he responsible for that? No, he wouldn’t think about it at all.

“When you go back to the Basque, I will tell them that I never had any sexual contact with you.”