Answer Me, Please

It was difficult for him to understand what this little woman was thinking. Even though she was told that he would kill her father, she offered some vague consolation, and her outward reactions were transparent enough to be seen throughout. He didn’t know what to say to a woman like this.

Until now, most of those who had been by Rashid’s side were either trying to kill him secretly or using him for gain. The sudden death of the tribal chief occurred just a few generations after the tribal chief began to be determined by lineage.

In the midst of the confusion, the only child left by the tribal chief was in a situation where even his legitimacy was questioned. There was no way the clan chiefs would overlook this. This was both a crisis and a good opportunity for one of them to reclaim the position of tribal chief.

They seemed to think they could achieve their goal by insulting the newborn as an illegitimate child. However, with the death of Rigaina and the coming to the fore of the maternal clan, which gave him power, they ultimately failed to remove the infant from the position of chieftain.

However, that did not mean the danger to his safety had completely disappeared. The next thing they did was to clear Riga’s seat. They realized that it was easier to kill him while he was still a helpless baby than to force him down.

Assassination attempts continued until he reached adulthood. The food he ate and the water he drank were often poisoned. If it wasn’t for Thelma, his nanny, and the power of his mother’s family, he would probably have died long ago.

Then, after becoming an adult and performing a ritual, he was officially recognized as Riga. The ritual was to win a duel with anyone who objected to him becoming a Riga. Then, after becoming an adult and performing a ritual, he was officially recognized as Riga. The ritual was to win a duel with anyone who objected to him becoming a Riga. 

With the establishment of the hereditary system, he had almost become a tribal chief naturally, but those who disliked him used this as an opportunity to bring him down once more. Only after he had proven himself with several victories did the demand for rituals cease. Krell’s challenge was a duel that hadn’t been done in a long time.

Living this way, he had only two goals in life: to survive to the end without dying and to repay his people for the damage his parents’ poor choices had done.

His father had been so reckless and had caused so much damage to the tribe. Without thinking about the safety of the tribe, he jumped into the enemy camp alone and died, so the Basques invaded their territory, killing people and stealing their property.

If his father had been a little more rational and chose to take his wife back through the war later, such misfortune would not have happened.

But what he did was not a failure. It was the dumbest thing anyone who didn’t know any better could do.

As Rashid gazed at the sleeping woman’s face and thought about the past, he sighed softly. It wasn’t worth dwelling on her words for too long; what was more important was to make sure she didn’t try anything reckless in the future.

Rashid blew out the candle and lay down next to her. As he closed his eyes and tried to sleep, he suddenly realized that it had been a long time since he’d felt the warmth of someone’s body. He hadn’t felt that way since he was a child, when he’d stumbled upon an injured wolf pup and taken care of it.

Wild wolves never gave human space even after a month of birth. But somehow this wolf, separated from the pack, was only wary of him at first, but when he fed it a few times and healed its wounds, it approached him before long and leaned quietly at his feet, and fell asleep in his arms at night.

It was the first object he poured his affections into, and the only creature to come to him with no strings attached. As a child, he wanted to keep the wolf, but his maternal grandfather’s words forced him to give up.

His grandfather told him that wolves are happiest with wolves and that if he didn’t return it now, it would never be able to join the pack for the rest of its life.

It was short-lived, but the warmth of its embrace at night stayed with him for a long time, and funnily enough, he’s feeling it again now.

Rashid sighed again and pulled the blanket over the woman. He closed his eyes and wished he could sleep quickly.

***

When Rosetta opened her eyes, she was alone in the tent again. It was still dawn, judging by the reddish light all around her.

Rosetta threw off the blanket and pushed herself up. In the kingdom, she always woke up late in the morning, so this time she woke up very early than usual. Even so, the man had already left. She wondered what time he usually woke up.

Yawning and rubbing her eyes, Rosetta noticed a bowl of water next to the blanket, and a towel next to it. Rosetta used it to wash her face, as she was now accustomed to doing. It didn’t seem any different than when she was in the palace, though the location was different. Even there, the maids had always brought her a bowl of water when she woke up. And by the time she was done, they would bring her breakfast.

No sooner had Rosetta finished washing her face than the tent door opened and Rashid entered. As soon as he appeared, Rosetta’s nose wrinkled at the savory smell that filled the tent.

This smell is definitely…

“Bread?”

He set the plate down and Rosetta rushed over. To her surprise, there was indeed bread on the plate, soft and fluffy as if it had just been baked. There was also freshly made soup, fresh butter, jam made from raspberries, and fruit.

Rosetta tore off a piece of bread and stuffed it into her mouth. She hadn’t had proper bread since she started traveling. The milk and butter were delicious here, but the bread was coarse and unappetizing compared to the Kingdom of Lisa. It was the first time she’d had bread this good since she left on her trip.

Rosetta, mindlessly inhaling her food, suddenly felt a gaze on her and looked up. Rashid was standing there with his arms crossed, looking down at her with a strange expression on his face.

Suddenly, Rosetta felt uneasy.

“…didn’t you bring this for me to eat, or is this actually your food?”

He shook his head.

“Then why are you looking at me like that?”

“…just, for some reason, you remind me of an animal I had for a while.”

“An animal? What animal? A puppy? A cat?”

“A wolf.”

Rosetta’s brow narrowed sharply. “A wolf? Are you telling me I look like a wolf?”

Not any other animal, but a vicious wolf. Is he cursing me or what?

“Where in the world do I resemble such a beast?”

Instead of answering, he gave a short laugh. That really irritated Rosetta. No matter how she looked at it, it didn’t seem to mean anything positive.

“Why are you fighting in the morning? Didn’t we finish talking last night? You said you would cooperate until the chief of Croa gets a new wife.”

“Cooperate? That’s a word for an equal relationship.”

“Well, it’s cooperation, because I understand and accept what you’re saying, and you will behave.”

Rosetta shrugged. “And, well, actually, now that I think about it, it’s just as well, because it’s unconscionable for an old man thirty years older than me to try to marry a younger, pretty, attractive woman, and I’ve always thought it was shameless.”

Rosie is beautiful and brave, and it’s a good thing she wasn’t sold into an arranged marriage with an old man.

“Pfft!”

Then he burst out laughing. It was a spontaneous laugh that came out without him realizing it.

“Are you telling me that you consider yourself young, pretty, and attractive?”

“No, I am not…”

Rosetta wanted to tell him that she meant the real Rosie, and that she was never overly confident, but she couldn’t say anything. She couldn’t tell him the truth now.

“Well, think what you will.”

Rosetta grumbled, picked up a fig, and took a bite, accidentally chewing the flesh of her mouth together.

“Ouch…”

It hurt so bad that tears welled up in her eyes. As she was about to finish her bite, her chin was suddenly grabbed.

The man grabbed Rosetta’s chin and started examining every inch of her face. Rosetta’s eyes widened in surprise.

After staring at her for a long time, he soon let go of her chin.

“You look fine, but are you still sore from where you were hit last night?”

At that, Rosetta shook her head quickly. “No, that’s fine, just a little tingling, but nothing too uncomfortable.”

She couldn’t say she chewed the flesh of her mouth. Then he pulled something out of his arm and handed it to her. It was a small, round barrel made of wood.

“What is this?”

“I went to the village for food and met an old woman who made and sold medicine. She said it’s good for bruises, so put it on the sore spot.”

Rosetta was surprised that he had gone all the way to the village to get this food, and again surprised that he had brought this medicine with him. Although he spoke bluntly, it would not have been easy for him to do this if he hadn’t been paying attention.

“T-thank you…”

Just as Rosetta was receiving it, a booming voice rang out from outside.

“Riga, we’re ready to leave!”

Rashid turned to Rosetta and said, “Come out when you’re done eating. There’s no need to rush. There’s still time.”

Rosetta nodded. As he left the tent and she was about to finish her meal, she suddenly realized.

It dawned on her that he had prepared all of this for her, when it was he who suffered the greatest wounds because of last night, and she hadn’t even asked him if he was okay.