Please Answer Me - Chapter 140

Rosetta’s lips quivered, but she couldn’t bring herself to respond. Rashid wanted to say something more scathing, but the look on Rosetta’s face was too much for him to bear.

At that moment, the hoot of an owl sounded from outside. Rashid realized that time was running out.

“I’ll give you a choice.”

Rosetta lifted her head at the sudden proposition.

“You can either leave with me another day, safely and elegantly, or you can be tied up and abducted right now. The choice is yours.”

Rosetta’s mouth fell open as she stared at him, disbelief written all over her face. “Are you insane?”

“Of course, I’m insane. Why else would I climb the walls of Lysa Palace and break into a princess’s room? Do you think a sane man would do such a thing?”

He grabbed the rope that had been wrapped around his waist. As the rope unraveled and fell to the floor, Rosetta recoiled in shock. Rashid deliberately didn’t mention that the rope was actually meant to be used to climb down from the room. At this moment, he needed to use any means necessary to quickly change Rosetta’s mind, even if it meant using threats.

“I’d prefer you choose the former. Even for me, climbing down with you in the dead of night isn’t easy. We might both fall.”

“Are you threatening me right now?”

“You’re just realizing that?”

Rosetta’s face filled with confusion. “…Why are you doing this all of a sudden? You’re not usually like this.”

Given how he had behaved like he would kneel and beg at her slightest word, her reaction was only natural. Except for their first meeting, he had never been forceful with her.

“Yes, Rosetta. I’ve been unusually soft with you.”

Rosetta had no idea what he was like before meeting her. He wasn’t as kind and refined as she believed. He was someone who operated based on strict calculations and would hunt down anything he desired until he obtained it.

The position of chieftain wasn’t something that could be maintained by simply being good-natured. Even the mercy he showed his enemies was meticulously calculated.

“You probably think my nickname, Nazar Quat, comes solely from the fact that the Quat tribe’s symbol is a wolf. But there’s another reason behind it.”

Rashid moved closer to her on the bed, a calculated move to apply pressure. As expected, Rosetta pushed herself backward with her feet, trying to create more distance between them.

“Wolves hunt by cornering their prey, driving them toward a trap. The prey, terrified, runs in a frenzy, but in reality, it’s only running toward the trap the wolves have set. At the end of that path, another wolf awaits in ambush, and the hunt ends when its fangs sink into the prey’s throat. I earned the nickname Nazar Quat because my methods resemble those of wolves. I’ve never missed a target I set my sights on.”

“Are you comparing me to prey now, a mere hunt? How dare you!”

“It wouldn’t matter even if you were a god. Why would a princess be any different?”

His words, laced with mockery, made Rosetta’s eyes widen. With him closing in on her like a hunter, Rosetta was now trapped against the headboard of the bed, with nowhere left to run. Their faces were now so close that they could feel each other’s breath.

Fear flickered in Rosetta’s eyes as she looked at him. It was a sight he was unfamiliar with.

The sharpness in Rashid’s voice softened a little. “I know you’ll eventually come to me of your own will. Didn’t I tell you that I overheard your conversation?”

“Don’t twist the conversation I had with my sister to suit your narrative.”

“The Crown Princess seemed to think you made the magic stones lose their power for my sake. How do you plan to explain that?”

“That…” Rosetta searched for an excuse but ultimately remained silent.

“The only reason I let you go in the first place was because I felt guilty about your family and your betrothed.”

He had taken their daughter as his wife without their consent. If someone had done the same to his daughter, he would have felt his blood boiling and would have been determined to chase the man to the ends of the earth to kill him. The same went for her betrothed.

But the truth he discovered was that her betrothed was a wicked man with a dark soul, and her family, who should have protected her, was instead threatening her.

There was no way he could leave Rosetta in such a place any longer.

“Now that I know there’s no need to feel guilty, I’ll take you with me this time, regardless of your will.”

“…You heard everything, so you know. My father was directly involved in your parents’ deaths.”

Rosetta’s shoulders slumped in defeat. Only then did Rashid realize that this was what she had been worried about, and he let out a small, bitter laugh.

“So what? I accepted you even when I thought you were the daughter of the Basque chieftain. That man personally killed my father, threw his body to the beasts, and made sure we couldn’t even find his remains.”

“Maybe your father already knew everything and made that choice deliberately.”

Rosetta voiced the thoughts that had been haunting her since hearing them from Tanit.

“Maybe he knew that Lysa was directly involved and would continue to be, and instead of planning something for later, he decided to go to the Basque lands alone, even if it was a reckless move.”

Perhaps he had foreseen Lysa’s intentions. Perhaps he knew that if he waged war against the Basque tribe for the sake of his wife, Lysa would immediately send their army under the pretext of protecting their ally.

The Quat tribe had already faced the brink of destruction from the Basque invasion alone. If Lysa had officially entered the war, the Quat tribe would have been wiped off the map by now. Lysa’s ultimate goal from the beginning had been to destroy the Quat tribe and seize the magic stones.

Rosetta was well aware of how Rashid’s father was perceived within the Quat tribe. He was largely regarded as a foolish chieftain who had abandoned his tribe because of his obsession with a woman. But what if his father had known everything and sacrificed himself to save his wife and his tribe?

“…Maybe that’s true. Or maybe it’s not. We’ll never know what my father was thinking when he went to the Basque lands. But what does it matter?”

Rashid looked at Rosetta with unwavering eyes.

“Do I need to tell you again that it doesn’t matter what the truth was back then? Or, before that, did you not know? My grandfather forced my mother to commit suicide.”

“…What?” Rosetta’s eyes widened at the revelation.

“After leaving the Forest of Monsters, my grandfather came to me and told me himself. He gave my mother the noose and ordered her to take her own life. Originally, my mother planned to flee with me, but in the end, she couldn’t, and she had to comply with my grandfather’s words.”

A long time ago, Rashid had briefly mentioned his mother. At that time, he had expressed bitterness, saying that maybe dying as the chieftain’s wife was more important to her than living by her son’s side. But that wasn’t the truth.

“Even Thelma was involved in my mother’s death. Did I ever seem to hate or avoid them after learning the truth?”

Rosetta hastily shook her head. She had never noticed a change in his attitude. He still cared for Thelma and respected his grandfather.

“I accepted them after coming to terms with the past. I kept close the two people who were responsible for my mother’s death, so why wouldn’t I embrace you?”

“…I’m different from them.”

Rosetta clenched her fists tightly. This wasn’t something that could be resolved by his magnanimity alone.

“It’s not just about keeping me by your side. My family will never approve of our marriage. Because of the power I hold, they will do everything they can to prevent me from leaving with you.”

“That’s why I’m here, Rosetta.”

His voice was warm, and Rosetta looked up at him.

“You told me, didn’t you? That if you tried your hardest but still couldn’t do it, I should come and get you.”

“I never asked you to come and get me…”

“Your letter said you wanted me to come.”

Her voice trembled as tears welled up in her eyes. “Don’t lie. When did I ever write that in the letter?”

“That’s how I read it. You were saying it was too hard, and you were begging me to come and take you away.”

With that one sentence, the defenses she had painstakingly built up collapsed in an instant. Just as he said, everything she had gone through up to now had been too much for her to handle alone.

The memories of the past that she had regained had been difficult enough, but realizing that Iselle, whom she thought was closer to her than anyone, and her family, weren’t the people she thought they were, had caused her even greater pain.

The betrothed she had once found kind was actually terrifying, and her family, in whom she had taken pride, was nothing but despicable and cruel. She realized for the first time how much more painful the wounds inflicted by those close to her could be compared to those caused by strangers.

But she couldn’t confide in anyone. She had only kept it all bottled up inside, trying to endure it alone…

Tears began to fall from Rosetta’s eyes. Despite trying her best to run away, she felt as if she had finally reached the trap that had been set for her, just as Rashid had described. Instead of biting her neck with his fangs, Rashid spoke softly to the now-defenseless Rosetta.

“So, Rosetta, give me your answer. What color did the silk I sent through Sika appear to you?”

Rosetta, her vision blurred with tears, answered, “Deep, deep blue.”

Her voice was now shaking with sobs. “The deep blue of the sea, the most mysteriously glowing color in the world, a color I had always longed to see just once.”