Please Answer Me - Chapter 124

“I didn’t mean to tease you. But let’s set that aside for now. I heard that Rosetta summoned Maiastra again. Is that true?”

“I saw him extinguish the fire that was started with the magic stones.”

“Fire started with the magic stones? Did you set it yourself?”

“Yes, I did. The Basque chieftain’s son and daughter happened to be in the Quat territory, so I attempted to provoke a conflict…”

Tanit chuckled softly. “But Rosetta put out the fire, so your plan failed. That’s just like you. You always prefer to solve problems without getting your hands dirty.”

After she stopped laughing, Tanit fell into deep thought and then muttered,  

“Excuse me?”

“I just recalled something I heard a long time ago.”

Tanit’s eyelids slowly lifted, revealing her deep green eyes. Iselle’s reflection was clearly visible in her gaze.

“When you meet with Rosetta today, she’ll likely tell you she’s decided to go through with the marriage.”

“What…?”

“As you said, she has probably come to realize the reality of the situation. For the sake of peace, everyone must sacrifice a little. She’s likely understood that by now.”

Noticing the lack of expression on Iselle’s face, Tanit tilted her head slightly. “I thought you’d be pleased, but you don’t seem too happy.”

“Because it means I have to be content with just the shell.”

“But hasn’t that always been enough for you? I thought you were quite satisfied with your position all this time.”

“……”

“Oh, so seeing Rosetta give her heart to another man has made you greedy? But Iselle, you can’t afford to be greedy like that. Rosetta may have regained her memories of you, but it seems she still doesn’t realize that you were her watcher. Consider yourself lucky.”

Iselle laughed harshly. “It seems you’ve made up your mind, Princess. Are you going to give up being the kind and gentle sister and instead choose to be hated by Rosetta?”

“Someone has to play the villain. Who else in our family could take on that role if not me? Our parents, who can’t bear to live without Rosetta? Or Arman, who knows nothing? It has to be me,” she said with a faint smile.

She continued, “Now, go to Rosetta, comfort her, and take care of her. People tend to rely on those who are there for them in their hardest times, so perhaps she’ll forget her painful first love sooner than you think. And don’t forget, your job is still to watch over Rosetta. Make sure she remains my dear little sister.”

“Of course. My greatest goal has always been to help Rosetta leave this wretched Lysa palace and live an ordinary life until her death.”

Iselle bowed and turned away without waiting for Tanit’s permission to leave. As she watched his retreating figure, Tanit’s gaze darkened.

***

“I will give you your first mission.”

The day after Iselle shot an arrow during the hunt and passed the king’s test, the king took him to the underground of the temple. There, a small girl was imprisoned. The king said that she was his granddaughter. Though the outside world believed the king’s granddaughter was away in a distant place recovering from illness, in reality, she had been confined in this underground space.

“From today, you will watch over and monitor this child.”

The king entrusted Iselle with supervising and managing the girl. Iselle’s task was to visit the place regularly and observe her, ensuring that she didn’t manifest any unknown abilities that could help her escape or that she didn’t fall ill or die. His main duty was to report such observations to the king.

“Think of her as something akin to a pet or livestock kept at home. I trust you won’t develop any human emotions toward her.”

The king was cautious about the girl’s existence becoming known outside and was extremely wary that someone might feel pity for her and try to rescue her. That’s why he chose Iselle, someone lacking human emotions, to watch over the girl.

The king’s judgment was correct. Iselle didn’t feel the slightest pity for the girl, who had been imprisoned underground at a young age for reasons unknown to her. He simply performed the task assigned by the king with diligence.

This relationship began to change slightly one day when the girl offered him some food. As usual, Iselle was mindlessly watching her eat when she suddenly held out a piece of bread to him.

“You must be hungry too. Let’s eat together.”

Of course, Iselle didn’t take the bread. Up until that point, Iselle had never responded to anything the girl said. Yet, during every meal, she would always set aside a portion of her food and offer it to him. Naturally, the food Iselle didn’t eat was thrown away.

After several months of this, one day, Iselle felt a rare pang of hunger. He thought nothing would happen if he took just one bite of the bread she offered. As soon as he did, the girl beamed with a radiant smile.

“You were hungry. Eat as much as you like. I have plenty of food.”

How could he describe it?

For the first time, someone who had never cared about other people’s emotions and had never been influenced by them found himself pleased to see someone else happy. The smiling girl looked remarkably beautiful and dazzling, as if light were pouring in from somewhere in the dark underground.

From that day on, Iselle began looking for ways to make the girl smile again. He picked flowers and brought them to her and sometimes secretly let her go outside to the garden. Eventually, he started thinking that it would be better for her to leave that place and live according to her original status.

“I’m trying to find a way to raise covenant bearers like they did in the past.”

However, the king wasn’t satisfied with merely using Rosetta’s power. Since it was impossible to predict when the next covenant bearer would appear after Rosetta, he experimented with various methods to restore the Lysa royal family to its former glory when covenant bearers always existed. He even considered having Rosetta bear children while confined here.

“I’m giving you that chance. When she becomes a woman capable of bearing children, you will claim her.”

The thought of possessing her in some way was appealing, but he didn’t want to keep her in that underground space. Iselle often thought of Rosetta while looking at the girls her age in the palace. He imagined dressing Rosetta up as prettily as those girls and taking walks together. He also thought about attending balls and dancing with her in front of many people.

It became clear that the king and Iselle had different desires. All that remained was for each to follow their own path.

Fortunately, the Crown Prince and his wife had deep affection for Rosetta. Having had their youngest daughter late in life, they cherished her dearly, only to have her taken away. They were prepared to do anything to find their daughter.

Even commit regicide. At that time, the increasingly severe tyranny of the king provided the Crown Prince with justification.

Whether it was Maiastra or not, the king was destined to die that day.

“Lord Iselle!”

The princess’s nanny spotted him entering the palace and rushed out to greet him warmly.

“Welcome. The princess has been waiting for you.”

Iselle softened his rigid expression and smiled gently. The nanny had been caring for Rosetta since she returned to the palace, and her wound from the arrow had almost healed. Rosetta had grown quite fond of the warm-hearted nanny, which gave Iselle a good reason to be kind to her as well. After all, it wouldn’t hurt to have an ally close to Rosetta.

“How is the princess?”

“I’m not sure. She has been keeping us outside, saying she wants to be alone…”

The nanny smiled awkwardly as she led him to the drawing room, explaining that the princess had been there alone since the morning.

Allen was standing guard at the door of the drawing room. He opened the door for Iselle without saying much other than a greeting.

Rosetta was sitting in a chair by the sunlit window. Iselle gazed at her golden hair, which gleamed like sunlight. Her eyes were as bright as emeralds in the height of summer, and her lips were a beautiful shade of red.

Back in the Lysa palace, Rosetta was adorned with the finest silk and covered in so many jewels that even the slightest movement made them jingle. The sunlight streaming through the window reflected off the jewels, making the entire area around her sparkle brilliantly.

This was the scene Iselle had always wanted to see. He wanted her to be dressed more splendidly than any other woman and to live a life more peaceful than anyone else’s. If he could see this, there would be nothing more to wish for.

In a way, it was fortunate that she had lost her past memories. She didn’t remember that he had been loyal dog of the king who had imprisoned her underground and made her sick. So he didn’t particularly hope that she would love him.

In truth, he didn’t even know what love was. He could only vaguely assume that it might be similar to the feelings he harbored for Rosetta. If so, then living a life where she was satisfied with what he gave her could ultimately be considered love.

“Welcome, Iselle. Come and sit here.”

Rosetta gestured to the chair opposite her. However, instead of sitting there, Iselle knelt at her feet. He rested his cheek on her lap.

“Iselle…”

Instead of asking why he was doing this, Rosetta gently stroked his silver hair with her hand. Her tender touch finally allowed Iselle to relax and close his eyes.

Tanit had asked him if he had become greedy. She wondered if he was no longer satisfied with just being married to Rosetta and having her by his side, now that she had fallen in love with another man.

She wasn’t entirely wrong. When Rosetta had shown no interest in any man in the world, this had been enough for him. But when he found out that she had developed special feelings for just one man, a wave of displeasure surged within him. And now, he realized that feeling was jealousy.