The Reason Why the Forsaken Fake Returned Chapter 146

“Your Grace!”

 

Rohan opened the meeting room door, panting for breath. At the same time, everyone seated around the round table rose from their seats. Declen, who had been seated at the head of the table, was no exception. He sprang to his feet and looked at Rohan. Suddenly finding himself the focus of more than a dozen pairs of eyes, Rohan caught his breath as he approached Declen and held something out to him.

 

“What is this?”

 

“A telegram that arrived in a hurry at dawn today. Apparently, it was delivered by a hawk with a note tied to its ankle.”

 

Declen took the note and, with anxious hands, unfolded the crumpled piece of paper. While Rohan and several other vassals held their breath, waiting for Declen’s reaction, he stared at the note in silence for a while before abruptly announcing, “We leave for Sigurd Plateau at dawn tomorrow.”

 

“What?”

 

“There are three people there.”

 

Shailoh, Caleb, Kianan. No one needed to say who they were. Everyone knew. In the tense air, every vassal swallowed dryly and clenched their fists.

 

Looking in turn at the men seated on either side of him, Declen calmly announced, “We will suppress the bandits and rescue those who have been captured.”

 

“Yes, Milord!”

 

To remain still like this would bring shame upon the North. Retribution against those who had dared to abduct the young lady without fear had to be carried out. When the resounding answer came back, Declen began quietly explaining the operation.

 

“Each of you will prepare your troops. At daybreak tomorrow, take your private soldiers and wait outside the outer fortress.”

 

From the opening words to the end of the operation briefing, not a single vassal blinked as they listened intently to their lord’s orders.

 

* * *

Even though they were party to request cooperation, no one in this dwelling welcomed Shailoh and Caleb, people from the Yesiol household, a faction with whom they had been at odds for a long time. Moreover, since even Kurd’s proposal was something known only to those involved, everyone remained on edge and kept a close watch on the two. They were not bound at the wrists and shackled at the ankles as they had been when dragged here, but the two were confined together in an abandoned shed.

 

“It used to be a storage shed for a long time, so it’s rather shabby. But please forgive us for that, Lady. Hoho.”

 

“…”

 

“The moment you show even the slightest sign of trying to escape, I’ll report it immediately, so behave yourself.” One of the bandits sneered as he looked back and forth between the two figures in the darkness, then slammed the shed door shut and locked it.

 

As darkness descended all at once, Shailoh took a deep breath. There was only one old window, slanted upward toward the ceiling. Relying on the faint moonlight, she looked around, and before long her eyes adjusted to the darkness enough for her surroundings to become visible. Though everything still felt stifling. A pile of straw was stacked to one side. If they spread it out on the floor and lay down on it, it seemed they could at least get through the night.

 

“Hey.”

 

Shailoh approached the straw and struggled as she tried to pull it down. It was heavier than she expected, making it difficult to lower. After a long struggle, she let go and had no choice but to call Caleb, who sat leaning against a wall in the corner.

 

“Hey.”

 

His eyes were closed, but he didn’t seem asleep.

 

Shailoh sighed and called him several more times, but there was no answer. Already frustrated by their situation, she became even more irritated when the person trapped with her remained stubbornly silent. Finally, she put her hands on her hips and called sharply. “Caleb!”

 

The moment she called his name, Caleb suddenly opened his tightly closed eyes, as though he had never ignored her at all.

 

“So you were pretending not to hear me after all.”

 

“My name isn’t Hey.” Caleb answered as though that should have been obvious, then got up and approached her. “It’s really difficult to get you to call my name even once.”

 

“…” Instead of answering, Shailoh turned her gaze away and pointed at the straw. “I’d like to bring this down. I think it would make a suitable substitute for a bed for one night.”

 

“Sure.”

 

Before she could even finish speaking, Caleb reached out, pulled down the straw at the very top, and placed it on the floor. Shailoh untied the bundle of straw on the floor and spread it out so they could lie on it. Once the cold dirt floor was covered with even a layer of straw, it became somewhat tolerable.

 

While Shailoh spread the straw evenly across the floor, Caleb pulled down another bundle and frowned. “I think that’s the only usable straw.”

 

“What?” Shailoh tilted her head and examined the second bundle to confirm what he meant. Just as he had said, it was damp.

 

“It must have been left out on a day when it rained heavily. Except for the one on top.”

 

“…I see.”

 

The straw was just enough for one person to lie down on. Shailoh nodded blankly and was about to speak again when Caleb strode back to where he had originally been sitting.

 

“Caleb?”

 

“I’ll get some sleep here, so you lie down there.”

 

“…”

 

They had both brought the straw down, and they were both trapped here together. She could not possibly lie on the straw just to make herself comfortable while leaving him on the cold ground. Clenching her lips, Shailoh shook her head. “No. It would be better if you slept here. You need to be prepared for tomorrow.”

 

“If you sleep on the cold ground and catch a cold, you’ll only get in the way.”

 

“I’m not that fragile.”

 

“Enough. Sleep there. It’s the bed you prepared.”

 

“I’m telling you. You should sleep here…”

 

After arguing back and forth, Caleb rose from his seat. Shailoh thought perhaps he was finally going to listen to her. But instead, he strode toward her, lay down on the straw, grabbed her arm, and pulled her into his embrace.

 

“W-What are you doing? Are you crazy?” Taken completely by surprise when he suddenly pulled her arm, Shailoh ended up lying with her head on his arm and stammered in confusion. “L-Let go of me…” She tried with all her might to escape his embrace, but it was futile.

 

With his other hand, the one not serving as her pillow, Caleb wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her even closer, resting his chin on the crown of her head. Then he declared. “Then the only option is for both of us to sleep on the cold ground. I’m not going to sleep here alone and leave you behind.”

 

“…”

 

“Sasha.” Caleb held the struggling Shailoh tightly and whispered, “You choose. Either you quietly get some comfortable sleep like this, or we both spend the night uncomfortably on the cold, damp dirt floor.” Although framed as a suggestion, it was no different from a threat.

 

Dumbfounded, Shailoh struggled a few more times before finally losing her strength and giving up. She could feel his warm breath against the back of her head, and the hand wrapped around her waist felt strangely intimate. Though she didn’t want to be conscious of it, with their bodies pressed so closely together, her body naturally recognized him.

 

Caleb was the man with whom she had shared her body countless times in the past. Her first man, and the only man. The man to whom she had shown everything. The man she had met when she was at her lowest, who had been beside her when she shone most brilliantly, and who had then plunged her into an even deeper abyss than before.

 

It was when she fidgeted a few times, uncomfortable with their bodies pressed so closely together. Caleb, whom she thought had quickly fallen asleep, tightened his grip on her waist.

 

“If you move any more, things are going to become difficult.”

 

“…”

 

Understanding the warning immediately, Shailoh drew in a short breath and closed her eyes. Like a rabbit that hides its head in a box and thinks that, because it can no longer see anything, it has hidden completely, she pretended to be asleep.

 

Caleb gave a quiet chuckle and moved his hand up her waist, patting her shoulder. The touch was like a parent soothing a child, or an older brother comforting a younger sibling. As he patted her shoulder and stroked down her back, all the nerves and muscles that had gradually stiffened began to relax, and her eyelids started to grow heavy.

 

Fighting the drowsiness washing over her, Shailoh asked slowly. “Tomorrow… when my brothers set out with troops, we’re going to the plateau with Kurd, right?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“We’ll rescue Sir Kianan… and drive away the Gorgon, too.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“I hope you don’t get hurt…”

 

“…”

 

The hand stroking her back stopped moving. Caleb looked down at Shailoh, waiting for what she would say next. But Shailoh had already closed her eyes and was fast asleep, breathing softly.

 

“Sasha.”

 

After gazing down at her sleeping form for a long while, Caleb gently cupped her cheek. Her face had filled out somewhat after coming to the North. But as he looked at her, it overlapped with the face of the woman who had been wasting away at the villa.

 

Those were days when he had locked her in a cage, making her look only at him. She was a bird that should have enjoyed freedom and flown high in the sky, yet he had tried to tame her like a pet and keep her trapped in the cage. Simply because he feared she might fly away to someone else and fold her wings there. The most terrible thing was that even now, he still wanted to keep her locked away.

 

If only time could stop like this, and the two of them could remain forever alone in this shabby, dark shed… But that would not happen.

 

“…I love you.” Caleb clenched his teeth and placed a brief kiss on Shailoh’s forehead. It was not a kiss filled only with lust and desire, but one imbued with reverence and respect.

 

“…”

 

After pulling her back into his embrace and trying to sleep again, Caleb eventually drifted into a light sleep. Then Shailoh, who had been pretending to sleep, slowly opened her eyes. On his smooth cheek was a scar he had received while protecting her. She simply reached out and gently touched the wound.

 

If Shailoh hadn’t loved him so deeply, she couldn’t have hated him so fiercely. The feelings she had thought had completely burned away without leaving even ashes still remained in some corner of her heart, aching faintly. For a long while, she gazed up at the man holding her in his arms before falling asleep once again.

 

Before long, the sun began to rise above them.