Answer Me, Please

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Prologue

 

It was an endless stretch of flat land.
Purple wildflowers in full bloom in a sunny field.

There was a carriage running along the narrow winding road above it.
Moments later, the window swung wide open and a woman poked her head out.
A low admiration soon flowed from the woman who was looking at the blue sky, dense forests, and flowing river streams.

The beautiful scenery and unfamiliar scents of a midsummer meadow.
These were all the strange things she — who had always lived in a limited place until now — experienced for the first time.

“Miss Rosetta, you’re going to get a bug in your mouth.”

Hearing her words, she burst into laughter.
Rosetta looked back at her as she ran her bright golden hair behind her ears.
Her eyes, resembling summer, gleamed brightly.

“Come on, nanny, get some fresh air too.
Then your motion sickness will go away.”

“Gosh, motion sickness or whatever, I feel like I’m going to die right now.”

The nanny’s face was already pale.
It was because of severe motion sickness throughout the trip.
Rosetta looked at the nanny, who was almost half lying in the chair, with a sad expression.

“That’s why I told you not to follow me.
Traveling at your age would be hard.”

“It’s not like that.
By the way, why did you suddenly change the destination?”

“Because there is no sea there.
I made it clear from the beginning that I wanted to see the sea.”

“But does it make sense to suddenly come to this barbarian land?”

“What do you mean barbarian land? The Basque country is under the kingdom now.
Why are you still saying that?”

“Still, naturally, this is a land of barbarians.
Blood doesn’t lie.”

The nanny snorted harshly.
When Rosetta was about to speak again, the nanny opened her mouth first.

She said, “Anyway, don’t even think about leaving this old woman.
Even if I die during the trip, I will follow you to the end.”

“Don’t keep saying that you’re going to die in front of me.
Allen!”

At Rosetta’s call, the carriage slowed down.
One of the men on horseback approached the window.

“Yes! Is there anything you want me to do, Princ–no, Miss Rosetta?”

“If you have any other medicine for motion sickness, would you give it to me? I need it for my nanny.”

Allen let out a sigh as he looked at the dying nanny through the window.

“I have already done everything I can.
Even if my grandfather is here, there’s nothing he can do now.”

Allen’s grandfather is a famous doctor in the kingdom.
Allen turned down his grandfather’s offer to study medicine and took his place, and instead, he chose another profession, but he still knows how to do basic medicine.

“Allen, you quack! After taking the medicine you gave me, my stomach got worse!”

But the nanny swung her fists and scolded Allen harshly.
The nanny, whose condition worsened after taking the motion sickness medicine Allen gave her, trusted Allen perfectly as a quack.

Allen smiled and teased the nanny.
“Nanny, I told you to eat before you get into the carriage, didn’t I? This all happened because you didn’t listen to what I said.
Now, make your choice.
Get out of the carriage, or listen to me from now on.”

“You spoiled brat! What did you just say?!”

“Oh, I feel sad when you say that.
Do you know how much I like you, nanny? So, from now on, will you listen to me?”

Before the nanny exploded any further, Rosetta quickly cut off the conversation.

“I would rather take a break for a while.
Allen, see if there’s a place to rest around here.”

Allen quickly looked around.
All around was just a vast field, but in the distance, he could see a lake and trees to hide from the sun.

“There is a lake in front.
Then let’s rest there for a while.”

 

***

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The two sat down by the lake to rest while the men checked the carriage and drew water.
The lake surrounded by greenery was clear enough to see everything inside.
Above the water’s surface, the blue sky and flowing white clouds are reflected like a painting.

Drinking cold water from there and resting, the nanny’s complexion became much better than before.
When Rosetta took off her hat and tried to fan her nanny’s face, she stopped her in a hurry.

“Don’t do that.
I am fine.”

“Do you think you can live even for a while?”

“Yes, I do really think I will live now.
I knew traveling would be tough at my age but I really didn’t expect it to be this much.”

“It’s going to be hard.
Did you follow me because you thought I might run away because I didn’t want to get married?”

At Rosetta’s teasing question, the nanny corrected her sitting posture and asked back, “Don’t tell me you still don’t want to get married?”

“No way.
I told you I’d get married as soon as I got back from this trip.”

“Sir Issel is a really nice person.
He will surely love and cherish you for the rest of his life.”

“Yeah, yeah, you know him so well.”

The nanny raised her eyebrows at Rosetta’s rude answer.

“What’s wrong with you? So is this trip.
Why did you insist on a trip that you didn’t have to go on if you were going to stay quiet and get married?”

Rosetta le