Chapter 12: 11

“Shika, looks like you are very free now, seeing you meddling even in trivial matters.”

“Riga, don’t you know that women have a hard time at first, unlike men?”

The boy named Shika did not give in at all and shouted with more fire.

“Please treat her well. We all know that you don’t like this marriage. But shouldn’t you at least show that you care for your wife so that others will see and learn?”

“Rather than that, what happened to the firewood I asked you to get?”

“That’s not the point now!”

“No, it’s very important. If you don’t get up and get the firewood right away, I’m going to set your ass on fire.”

When he lifted his knees, the boy jumped up in fright.

“A-alright. I’m on my way!”

The boy quickly disappeared into the forest, leaving only the two of them there. An awkward silence followed immediately. Rosetta unreasonably grabbed the grass from the ground and tossed it into the bonfire.

“Rashid.”

“Yes?”

He looked at Rosetta and said, “My name is Rashid. I think you should know that.”

Rashid?

Rosetta stared blankly at him. Surprisingly, she had heard the name before.

A few years ago, a bard from the Ardenn had visited the palace. It was a small banquet attended by only the immediate royal family and close royal family members.

The royals were excited about their long-awaited entertainment and were very interested in whom the bard would write poems and sing songs about.

Everyone expected the bard to praise the wisdom of the first princess or sing of the bravery of the second prince. It was because they were the two that were widely known in the world, while the youngest princess had little presence.

But unexpectedly, the one he chose was neither the first nor the second, but the youngest princess, Rosetta.

“Today I will sing for Princess Rosetta.”

The moment his fingers caressed the harp, the small drawing room was filled with clear tones. Soon after, a voice more beautiful than the melody of the harp rang out.

As rumored, he was a man with a heavenly voice. The elegant poetry became a song and sprinkled a brilliant light on Rosetta’s soul. The moment that seemed like a dream continued and everyone was soaked in ecstasy, then the song that seemed to last forever finally came to an end.

The bard named the song ‘The Light of Rashid’ and ended the day’s performance by saying that it was dedicated to the Princess of the Kingdom Lisa, Rosetta.

“Why is the title ‘The Light of Rashid’?”

The bard answered the king’s question that followed.

“If you read the name of the princess in the Ardennian way, it becomes Rashid[1]. If, by any chance, you were angry at me for changing the princess’ name at will, please forgive me.”

At that, the king laughed out loud.

“I can’t be angry. I am glad to know another name for my daughter.”

“Rashid….”

Rosetta put the name in her mouth.

What does it mean that the name of the man I met by chance in this strange land is Rashid?

Rosetta decided to put complicated thoughts aside for now. Now that she had heard the name, it was her turn to say her name.

“I see. Thank you for telling me. My name is Ro—”

“Rosie.”

She almost spat out her real name, but thanks to him saying it first, she avoided that mistake.

Rosetta nodded quickly, feeling fortunate that Rosie’s name has the same prefix as hers.

“T-that’s right. Rosie. That’s my name.”

“My subordinates will never treat you like they did yesterday. Whoever you are, since you are my wife, they have no choice but to acknowledge you.”

“Well, those are very reassuring words.”

Rosetta snorted. None of this would have happened had he not kidnapped her in the first place. However, when she heard the words that seemed to be giving her great consideration, deep down she was really uncomfortable.

“Should I say thank you or something?”

He didn’t show any different reaction to her sarcastic question. Instead, he warned of one thing.

“Make sure you know this one thing. The Quat tribe is different from yours. Whoever you are will be safe as long as you’re my wife, but the moment you break it yourself, they’ll start biting you right away. So be quiet until you go back to your family.”

“Are you saying that after going back to my family, I can just live like before?”

“It will be like that.”

“So you think my life can go back to how it was before?”

Rosie accepted this marriage for the safety of her tribe. However, on the day of the wedding, she was kidnapped by another man, so the marriage was already broken.

If Rosie’s husband-to-be is a good man, he may be able to handle everything and accept Rosie, but for now, that seems unlikely.

Rosie’s father, as seen by Rosetta, was also never a person who could take care of her injured daughter. He must have done a slap on the cheek blaming Rosie again this time.

So if Rosie were here instead of her, what would Rosie’s life be like now?

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Before she could rejoice at not marrying an old man, her life would probably take a turn for the worse. Because she had lost all her value as a bride for a political marriage.

“Rather, wouldn’t it be better to just leave me as a hostage? This marriage will be broken anyway.”

What I still don’t understand is why he chose to make me his wife instead of just keeping me hostage. If he did, he wouldn’t even have to do this kind of acting.

“Riga!”

Then Shika, who had gone to the forest to get firewood, came running with a loud cry. Unlike a moment ago, the expression on his face was unusual. Rashid, too, sensed something different and hardened his face.

“Shika, what’s going on?”

Shika pointed at the forest and shouted, “Monsters! Monsters have appeared!”

He continued, “People who went hunting were attacked and are now fighting the monsters. Riga, you must hurry up and help them!”

Rashid immediately grabbed his sword and spoke quickly to Rosetta. “Stay here and don’t go anywhere else. Monsters can’t get near fire.”

After that, everyone ran to the forest. In an instant, Rosetta was left alone.

And only after a bit of time had passed, Rosetta realized, that the moment of escape she had been longing for had come much sooner than expected.

 

***

 

“How many monsters are there?”

“There are five left!”

In a quick exchange of words, Rashid swung his sword, cutting off the monster’s arm at once. Monsters have the characteristic of continuing to live and move unless they are decapitated; therefore, he immediately cut its throat cleanly. 

“Put them to one side. Nell, Fahd, and Mui to the right. The others stop them from escaping.”

“Yes!”

The men moved in perfect order at his command. As they narrowed the distance and pressed on, the monsters screamed in strange voices.

In the West Continent, these ferocious monsters always appeared. It wasn’t a big problem for warriors trained in swords and martial arts, but whenever these monsters attacked the village, great damage followed. In particular, weak women and children often became the first victims and were eaten.

On the other hand, the Kingdom of Lisa, located in the East, was the only country that was not invaded by monsters. People in the world say that it is because the Kingdom of Lisa is blessed because it is a country ruled by the royal family, the descendants of God.

No one knows the exact story behind it. Is it really because they are descended from God that monsters can’t touch them? Or is there some unknown reason?

The mysterious power of the Kingdom of Lisa has always been shrouded in veils, and the royal family has never leaked it out. No one will ever know the secret until the kingdom is conquered and brought to its knees.

“Shoot arrows!”

Numerous arrows flew toward the monsters gathered in one place. As the monsters struggled with arrows stuck all over their bodies, the men rushed in and cut off their necks with swords.

Meanwhile, Rashid found a monster hiding in the grass. The monster was aiming for Nell, who was defenseless while shooting an arrow.

“Nell!”

Rashid warned of the danger, but Nell noticed the monster behind him only belatedly. When the monster rushed in and tried to bite him, Rashid threw the sword he was holding. As soon as the sword penetrated the monster’s neck, another nearby monster swung its arm at Rashid.

“Riga!”

This time, Shika’s cry of shock rang out.

Rashid narrowly escaped the attack, dodging sideways. However, it was impossible to stop the sharp monster’s fingernails from scratching his shoulders.

“Riga, take it!”

Shika picked up his sword that had fallen to the ground and threw it. As soon as Rashid grabbed it in the air, he slashed the monster’s head clean.

Soon after, all the monsters became dismembered corpses and rolled around the place.

-thud.

Rashid wiped the blood off his sword. Looking at the black blood soaking the ground, he frowned slightly. He hurriedly came to the first thought that he must return to the camp.

These days, there were times when monsters also acted unexpectedly like before, probably because their intelligence has increased. There have even been cases where some attacked from the front, while others went back and secretly attacked the defenseless humans.

Perhaps by now, monsters might have appeared in the campsite. It would be safe to stay near the fire, but that woman might get scared and run away if she encountered a monster.

“Let’s go back to camp.”

“Yes!”

At his command, all the men moved in unison. Shika came straight up to him and stuck close.

He grinned and asked, “Are you going back quickly because you’re worried about Rigaina?”

He added, “Still, I am relieved that you seem to take care of your wife in your own way. I knew you would.”

Rashid ruffled Shika’s hair with his big hand. “You couldn’t scold me before, so you got impatient and are doing it now?”

“That was something I deliberately told Rigaina to listen to. Don’t you think Rigaina will be relieved to know that she has at least one person by her side? When strangers come to a foreign land, the first time is the hardest.”

Rashid turned his head to look at Shika.

Shika shrugged and continued, “You know how it was when I first came to the Quat tribe. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be able to live here.”

 

[1] In Korean, Rosetta is written as 로제타 (rojeta), and Rashid is written as 라시드 (raside). Apart from that, the pronunciation of J&S and T&D is almost the same. Both names have the same three consonants, so you could say they have almost the same name.

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