The Reason Why the Forsaken Fake Returned Chapter 129

Her heart dropped, and all the blood in her body seemed to run cold. Was this how a hunter would feel, stepping into a sleeping bear’s den without even realizing it? As if she were standing right in front of the beast, its hibernation disturbed, its jaws gaping open to bare razor‑sharp fangs.

 

“…Milady?”

 

Because Caleb had spoken in a voice so soft that only Shailoh, sitting right beside him, could hear him. Rose still hadn’t grasped what was going on and looked completely lost.

 

When he lifted a hand and took off his mask, Rose’s eyes flew wide. Then her face flushed scarlet as she stared at the frozen Shailoh and called to her again. “Are you alright?”

 

“Ah…” Only then did Shailoh seem to register Rose behind her. Like a rusty hinge that hadn’t been oiled in years, her neck creaked as she turned. “I’m fine. More importantly, Rose.”

 

“Yes?”

 

“I think we’re short on bandages… Could you bring some? Without anyone noticing.”

 

“Pardon? But if I do that…” Still looking dazed, Rose shot a sidelong glance at Kay. She’d assumed the mask was just for security or some rule about anonymity, but to hide a face like that behind a mask was, in every sense, a terrible waste.

 

That mysterious platinum hair, those teal eyes. The face revealed before her was so handsome it was hard to believe, even as she stared at it. She had never in her life seen a man that good‑looking. At the same time, a story she’d once overheard suddenly came back to her. A man so handsome he stole every gaze the moment he walked into a room, and who had once been the lover of ‘Sasha Griche.’ If her memory was right, then this man was… The realization hit, and with it a shock that turned her mind blank.

 

While Rose fumbled, at a complete loss, Shailoh pressed her, voice firm. “Please, it’s urgent. Rose.”

 

“Ah… yes. Understood.” Looking distinctly uneasy, Rose nodded, sprang to her feet, and left the room.

 

The door closed without a sound, and the footsteps faded until they could no longer be heard. A heavy silence smothered the room. No one dared speak. No one met anyone’s eyes. Shailoh was the one avoiding eye contact.

 

She wished, with everything in her, that this moment was just a dream. That it was only an extension of the nightmares that had been tormenting her lately. But no matter how hard she tried to deny it, the man in front of her was Caleb. No one else. The man she’d seen up close for years. The man she had once truly loved, the man who had once been closer to her than anyone else in the world.

 

“Don’t you have anything to say?” In the end, it was Caleb who broke the long silence.

 

Shailoh hid her trembling hands under her skirts. Then she forced herself to lift the gaze she’d kept fixed on the floor. Contrary to what she’d expected, he wasn’t seething with rage, nor was he radiating that icy killing intent. As the terror ebbed, confusion rushed in to take its place.

 

Shailoh murmured, almost to herself. “…Why?”

 

“…”

 

“Why did you come all the way here?”

 

“I came to find you.”

 

With a look that said, ‘Why are you asking something so obvious?’ Caleb reached out. His fingers brushed her cheek. Shailoh went rigid, like a deer caught in a trap. Her skin was even softer and warmer than he remembered. It was the face he had ached for so desperately, and yet now that he was finally facing her, his mind went completely blank. No words would come, like some awkward boy, flustered over his first love.

 

“Sasha.”

 

Caleb hadn’t expected her to welcome him. If anything, this reaction felt only natural. He thought of the letter she’d left him. At the time, he’d been so furious he’d torn it to shreds. But looking back now, he could understand her, at least to a point.

 

Her heart was used and treated like a game piece. And then, as if he were doing her a favor, he’d offered her the position of second queen. From Shailoh’s point of view, it was more than enough to leave her stunned and furious. The amount of time he had spent acknowledging that fact now seemed as precious as gold slipping through his fingers.

 

“I didn’t come here to hurt you. I want to make that absolutely clear.”

 

“Really?”

 

“Really. If that had been my intention, do you think I would’ve protected you back at the hut?”

 

“…” Shailoh swallowed hard. Then she nodded.

 

Caleb looked at her like a teacher watching a quick‑witted student and spoke calmly. “Right. I didn’t even need to go that far. Once your maid led me to your room, I could’ve come for you any time.”

 

Rose’s face, the maid who had spoken to him so familiarly and called him ‘Kay,’ naturally surfaced in Shailoh’s mind. “Since… when?”

 

“Let’s just say I’ve had my doubts from the very beginning. The first time I stepped here, there were two figures standing off in the distance, watching me warily. That was you and your maid.”

 

“Ha…”

 

A breath like air leaking from a punctured bellows slipped out of Shailoh, half a laugh. She’d thought she was deceiving him. Thought she’d hidden herself without a single gap. But the one who’d been fooled was her. Like a fool who covers their eyes with both hands and thinks they’ve hidden the whole sky.

 

Shailoh calmly thought of the people of the territory who had welcomed her so warmly. Her brother, Rose, even the butler. At that, a wave of anxiety surged up, and her hands began to shake again.

 

“Please forgive me, Your Majesty.” She sank from the couch to her knees on the carpet and bowed low, almost flat to the floor. This was not the time for pride, or fear, or anger. She had to set all of that aside.

 

This was not truly her home. It was the homeland of the northern vassals who had settled here for hundreds of years, the land her brother and father had tended for generations, their sacred roots. She could not, must not, be the one to destroy it.

 

“The people here know nothing. They don’t know who I really am… They’ve treated me kindly as a noble lady, simply because the lord brought me here.”

 

“Sasha.”

 

“So please… don’t harm them. You can do whatever you want with me. Drag me away and torture me, execute me, whatever you wish…” Her voice broke into a sob as Shailoh fought desperately to hold back the surge of emotion.

 

It was a clear, crushing defeat. She had never imagined Caleb would still be searching for her this desperately. At first, she’d thought he would be furious, that her letter would sting his pride, and that he’d hunt her down with fire in his eyes. But she’d also believed that, in time, he would forget. That his feelings for her, his will to find her, would weather away like a rock worn down by the wind. But he had been wrong.

 

He’d come all the way here himself. No one wanted to find her more than Caleb did.

 

“I was wrong… So please…”

 

When no answer came, Shailoh’s sobs deepened. Hot tears streamed down her cheeks. The trembling that had started in her hands spread through her whole body until she shook as if with a feverish chill.

 

“Sasha. Look at me.”

 

Just when she thought she couldn’t bear it any longer, his low voice pierced her ears. When she didn’t move, frozen in place, Caleb reached out, took her by the chin, and slowly lifted her head.

 

“I haven’t decided anything yet.”

 

“…What? What did you say?”

 

“I said I haven’t decided anything.” Repeating himself, Caleb flicked his eyes toward the space beside him, a signal for her to get up and sit.

 

Staggering a little, Shailoh rose and sat down next to him.

 

“Sasha.” He breathed out her name like a sigh and clenched his teeth. His chest throbbed at the sight of her face, drained of all color as if every drop of blood had been sucked out. She was shaking so hard she couldn’t even lift her eyes, like someone facing down some vast catastrophe.

 

Caleb felt like a monster. A terrible, terrifying monster that stormed into peaceful places, smashed them to pieces, and left them in ruins. He’d thought that telling her he hadn’t decided anything would reassure her. Instead, she only grew more ashen and clung to him in panic.

 

“Then what are you going to do with me now? What about my brother? If you drag me away by force…”

 

“Sasha.” He grabbed her arm. Her pupils were unfocused, her whole body taut with agitation. “I wanted to see you.”

 

“…”

 

“I saw you in my dreams. Wherever I went, I thought of you. Even when I was eating, even when I was meeting other people.”

 

Caleb didn’t know if this was simple hatred, or longing, or some other feeling he hadn’t even been aware of. That was why he’d become so obsessed with finding her. He’d thought that if he could just face her, he’d get his answer. And that answer was more hopeless than anything.

 

“I…” Caleb swallowed several times, searching for the words, when a shocking question hit him like a blow.

 

“Do you hate me that much?”

 

“…What?” With his brows twitching, Caleb froze at her question.

 

Shailoh’s face had gone strangely resolute, as if she’d made up her mind about something. In the next instant, she snatched the sword at his hip.

 

“Sasha!”

 

“If you hate me and loathe me that much, then cut me down. Right now.”

 

“What on earth are you doing?” His voice dropped low, a growl edged with menace. Anyone else would have flinched at the killing intent in it, but Shailoh only answered him more boldly.

 

“What do you mean by what am I doing? I don’t believe you, Your Majesty. You’re the kind of person who can smile at someone and then, once they’re no longer useful, purge them without a second thought.”

 

Just before he could wrench the sword away, Shailoh turned the blade and pressed it to her own throat.

 

“I was nothing but a bird trapped in a cage, unable even to escape, used for your purposes. I sang only for you, and I flew only for you. After finally managing to escape from your side, you come all the way here and tell me that you ‘wanted to see me’… Is that really what you have to say to me?” Her final question was more like a scream.

 

Rather than being dragged away, Shailoh would rather die here.