Please Answer Me - Side Story 2
Lavender is Blue
“That’s not it. You have to lift that side!”
“No, I’m telling you, lift this side first!”
“What are you talking about? You need to lift the heavy root side to make this side move!”
The two men had been arguing over a tree in the garden for quite some time now, but the problem was that in their bickering, no actual progress was being made.
Rosetta, hands on her hips, looked at the two men with a disapproving gaze. Benny, who was standing to Rosetta’s right, was the first to speak.
“It seems Sika finds more joy in arguing with Allen than with Uncle Mark nowadays.”
“You’ve noticed that too?”
As Rosetta agreed, Rosie, who was standing to her left, chimed in. “Allen’s mental age is about the same as Sika’s. Don’t worry about them. I’ll take care of these two, so you ladies can go inside.”
With that, Rosie gently pushed the two women toward the building. As Rosetta was ushered along by Rosie, she called out, “But we need to clean up once they’re done moving the tree!”
“Don’t worry about that! I’ll make sure those lazy idiots do it all!”
In the end, the task of relocating some of the trees in the garden fell entirely to Allen and Sika. With Rosie overseeing, there was no doubt that the work would be completed without any issues.
Rosetta and Benny entered the house with a light heart. As they opened the door, the two babies who had been playing on the floor simultaneously turned their heads, bright smiles lighting up their faces.
“Mama!”
Iskar was the first to toddle over and cling to Rosetta. Dian quickly followed, crawling rapidly into Benny’s arms.
As the room filled with the sound of the babies’ laughter, Thelma stood up with a smile. “You see? Didn’t I tell you they would start calling for their mothers more as they grew older?”
When Iskar first started to speak, his first word was neither “Mama” nor “Dada,” but “Papa.” Rosetta had eagerly anticipated that Iskar would soon say “Mama,” but disappointingly, he only said “Papa.”
Most children usually say “Mama” first, so why did Iskar call for his father instead? When Rosetta, feeling a bit hurt, expressed her frustration, Thelma reassured her that soon enough, Iskar would be calling for his mother so often that she’d want to push him away.
As Thelma had predicted, Iskar now easily called her “Mama.” Rosetta gazed lovingly at her laughing child.
He had black hair like his father and deep green eyes that resembled Rosetta’s. He was generally mild-mannered, but when he got stubborn, there was no changing his mind. When Rosetta joked that Iskar must have inherited Rashid’s temperament, Thelma had promptly retorted,
“That’s not something you should say, considering you’ve been mild-mannered your whole life, only to stubbornly insist on going on a trip, Lady Rosetta.”
Rosetta was at a loss for words. To think she’d be labeled stubborn just because of one decision in her life!
Still, she defended herself by saying that it was the best decision she had ever made. Everyone in the room, including Rashid, who was laughing cheerfully, agreed.
The nanny, who had initially been skeptical of Rashid, had become one of his most ardent supporters over the past year. Whether it was due to Rashid’s charm or his efforts to win her favor from the start, she now often took Rashid’s side during their occasional disagreements.
They say you can’t trust anyone in this world, but who would have thought that, of all people, even the nanny would act like that…
“Dian?”
At that moment, a voice drew everyone’s attention to Dian. The child was standing up on his own, without holding onto anything.
“Oh my goodness, Dian!”
Benny scooped up Dian, her voice filled with excitement.
“Did you see that? Dian stood up all by himself for the first time!”
Experiencing the milestones of a child’s development—from rolling over to speaking, standing, and walking—was far more precious than Rosetta had ever imagined. She had felt just as overjoyed when Iskar had first stood up on his two little legs.
Rosetta smiled and gently patted Dian’s soft hair. “Soon, you’ll be running around with Iskar, causing all sorts of trouble. We’ll have to be prepared.”
Dian was born a month after Iskar; he was the child of Sika and Benny. After Rosetta returned to Arden, the two had grown closer and eventually had a child together. As a result, Iskar and Dian were growing up like brothers.
But suddenly, Rosetta realized something curious. “Benny, when did you conceive Dian? It doesn’t seem like there’s much of an age difference between him and Iskar.”
When Dian was first born, Rosetta assumed that he had been born prematurely because Sika had been seriously injured and bedridden for almost a month, and then he had crossed over to Lysa with Rashid to bring Rosetta back. Naturally, she had thought the child was conceived after that.
However, Dian’s development wasn’t much different from Iskar’s, and he wasn’t particularly small at birth either. In fact, now the two children seemed to be about the same size.
“Did you conceive Dian before I returned? But wasn’t Sika recovering from his injury at that time?”
Rosetta’s innocent curiosity left Benny speechless. Benny hesitated, glancing around nervously, but Thelma spoke up.
“Oh dear, you didn’t know? Instead of nursing Sika back to health, they were…”
“Th-Thelma!”
“One night, I heard a loud crash and went to check, and…”
“Ahhh!” Benny quickly covered Thelma’s mouth, her face bright red, and hurriedly escaped the room with Dian in her arms.
“Oh…” Finally, Rosetta understood and nodded. “Young people these days are so quick.”
Thelma narrowed her eyes at Rosetta. From Thelma’s perspective, Rosetta and Rashid, who had become inseparable within a month of meeting, were just as bad, if not worse.
“How is the nanny doing?”
The nanny had caught a cold and had been resting since the previous day. As she was no longer young, Rosetta had been especially concerned for her. But there was someone even more worried than Rosetta, and that was Thelma.
“I’ve instructed the kitchen to prepare a special meal, but I’m not sure if she’ll like it. If she needs anything else, please let me know at any time.”
Seeing Thelma’s worried expression, Rosetta smiled. “Thank you, Thelma, for taking good care of my nanny.”
Given their strong personalities, Rosetta had been concerned about Thelma and the nanny’s relationship at first. As expected, they had clashed in the beginning, but now they had become rather close, often looking out for each other. The nanny, who had been rather lonely in her later years, didn’t seem to mind having a friend.
Rosetta suddenly realized how much the nanny had devoted her life to her and Allen. Apart from them, the nanny had few close friends.
“Hmph, I’m just doing my job,” Thelma replied, looking slightly embarrassed. She then quickly grabbed Iskar and rushed off, saying it was time for a snack.
Left alone in the room, Rosetta realized it was nearly time for Rashid to return. He had left early in the morning to handle some business related to the mines. Unless something urgent came up, he always returned home before dinner to spend time with his family.
Though she thought about going to greet him, there was something else she needed to do first.
***
Mark was busily tidying up the stable, sweeping and cleaning with great care. As he went to fetch water for the horses, he hummed a tune. He planned to enjoy some of the alcohol he had stolen from the underground storage a while ago once his work was done. The thought alone made him hum cheerfully.
However, when Mark returned to the stable, he found Rosetta standing there, holding all the alcohol he had hidden.
“R-Rigaina?”
Rosetta looked at his stunned expression and smiled wickedly. “Mark, I’m confiscating this.”
Mark’s jaw dropped. “Confiscating it?”
“I warned you that I would take it all if you didn’t cut back on your drinking.”
“But, but!”
“From now on, you can only drink once a week. Oh, and I’ve had all the locks changed in the kitchen and the cellar, so don’t even think about stealing any more.”
“……”
Rosetta grinned at the utterly defeated Mark. “I want you to live a long, healthy life with us, so I’m taking care of this.”
Rosetta returned to her room and set the confiscated alcohol aside. Recently, Mark had been drinking more than usual, taking advantage of Thelma’s preoccupation with childcare. At first, she had only advised him to cut back, but after seeing the usually healthy nanny suddenly fall ill with a cold, Rosetta became genuinely concerned for Mark’s well-being. She sincerely wanted him to live a long life with them. Rashid, who held a deep affection for Mark as his father’s friend, would be heartbroken if Mark’s drinking led to an early death.
But then again, alcohol…
Seeing the collection of bottles reminded her of the time she and Rashid had visited the sea last summer. They had talked about sharing a drink together, but she hadn’t had the opportunity due to nursing. Now that she was done nursing, she thought it might be nice to finally have that drink together.
Just then, the door opened, and Rashid entered.
“Rashid!”
Rosetta dashed toward him and threw her arms around his neck. This daily routine was something Rashid had grown accustomed to, so he easily caught her and planted a few light kisses on her lips before setting her down.
“I just met Mark at the stables, and he was asking me to…”
“If he’s asking you to return the alcohol, the answer is absolutely not!” Rosetta stepped back and declared firmly.
Rosetta had dealt with this while Rashid was away, fearing he might side with Mark. She continued, “Letting him continue as he always has is unacceptable. Someone needs to intervene to help him cut back.”
Rashid studied her for a moment before nodding. “It seems Mark has finally met his match.”
Mark, who had lived his life largely ignoring what others said, had a particular weakness for Rosetta. Rashid figured that with her firm stance, Mark would have no choice but to cut back on his drinking.
“Did everything go well?” Rosetta asked.
Rashid nodded. “There was a minor issue with one of the middle managers attempting to embezzle. It’s not clear what the magic stone does, but it’s valuable enough to be worth stealing—just like during the last fire.”
Recently, there had been an incident where magic stones were being smuggled out of the mines. Given that these were not just ordinary gold or jewels but magic stones, the situation was serious. A careless mistake could have led to significant harm.
“I’m glad it was resolved, but we’ll need to be more vigilant with our management. These are dangerous objects.”
“We will,” Rashid replied, gently stroking Rosetta’s cheek with his fingers. “The magic stones were part of the price I paid to be with you, so I’ll be sure to keep a close watch.”
Rosetta, moved by his words, hugged him tightly. Although things had gone relatively smoothly since she came here with her mother’s help, it hadn’t all been easy. From what she had heard, Tanit was furious, and Arman was equally outraged, insisting that Rosetta be brought back immediately. Her father also believed that taking Rosetta in this manner was not the right approach. But fortunately, her mother had managed to persuade her father, and the situation had been resolved.
To ensure a more lasting resolution, Rashid had proposed selling the magic stones at a reasonable price. Lysa, in desperate need of magic stones, had little choice but to accept Rashid’s offer. Even without that, they knew Rosetta was capable of anything, so they had to settle for a compromise.
But that had been one of Rashid’s most unfavorable deals to date. Selling the magic stones at such a low price was practically giving them away. Rosetta found it curious that Rashid, who was well aware of the incredible power of magic stones, had chosen not to use that power. Surely, he knew it would have been far more profitable.