Chapter 12.1

The carriage and its four inhabitants teetered slowly over the countryside road.

Bertram spent that time seeing the error of his narrow ways of thinking.

The lexical definition of carriage was ‘a wagon pulled by horses’.

In other words, even if your wagon was nothing but a wooden board with four pieces of railing fixed upon it, it would still be considered a carriage as long as there’s a horse pulling it.

Steering the horse, the village chief chuckled gleefully.

“You’re a young master, eh Bertram? How surprised I was when you saw this and said ‘where’s the carriage, this is a cart’.”

This was the thirteenth time he’d said the same thing.

Bertram, too, gave his thirteenth apology as well.

“I am sorry.”

“If you’re sorry, then watch out for our kids more carefully. Some b*st*rds appear from time to time in the city who only aim for country girls. Let’s help each other ‘til we part ways, is what I’m saying.”

“Of course, I will do my best.”

At the words ‘part ways’, the eyes of their fellow passenger, a young girl named Lara, widened.

“Anna, is that true? Is Mr. Bertram really going to leave? That’s so sudden.”

“I only knew about it this morning, too,” Anna murmured, her chin resting on her hand.

At her grumbling tone, Bertram spoke as if giving an excuse.

“I too heard of this situation this morning. Mrs. Carla said that ‘as I had paid back all my debt, I should leave with the Chief today’.”

“I did think Mom didn’t really like having you in our house, Mr. Bertram. I knew she’d chase you out one day, but I didn’t know it would be this soon.”

“Is that the reason you followed me under the excuse of selling your blood sausages?”

“……”

At Bertram’s honest words, Anna was speechless.

His second attack blew away even Anna’s incredulity.

“It appears to be difficult to cover the cost of staying in the city with the number of blood sausages you are planning to sell. Excuse my bad manners, but if I may, what’s the reason you decided to come despite having to suffer losses?”

He really had no tact whatsoever!

Lara pretended to organize the gemstones—the goods she’d brought to sell—while glancing at Anna and Bertram out of the corner of her eye. From the way her eyes sparkled, it seemed she was expecting some sweet-and-sour romance or something.

Anna shook her head resolutely.

“The, uh, what should I say? It’s definitely not anything like, well, sending you off like this would be a shame or anything.”

“I know.”

“……Yes. Of course, you do. Just a moment.”

Anna folded her arms.

Anna, too, had to think about the reason she had followed Bertram out.

Though she had built up a considerable affinity to him, as they had eaten at the same table for the past five days, that was no reason for her to make up an excuse to follow him here either.

It would have been enough to just say, ‘Are you going today? That’s sudden, but I guess we can’t help it. Travel safely!’ when they had been with Carla earlier.

But the reason she had chased him here until now was…..

“…… Mr. Bertram, you think you haven’t repaid the debt entirely, right?”

“…… Truthfully, yes.”

Bertram nodded.

“Hmm, and here I thought you would be more stubborn about this, Mr. Bertram.”

“We have gone off-topic. I asked you, Miss Anna, why you have followed me here.”

A cutting, cold remark.

Despite that, Anna only smiled as she responded to Bertram.

“Going off-topic? You mean I’ve hit the mark. You want to be more stubborn about this, right?”

“…..Is that how I looked?”

“Yes. I’m not sure if I should say this, but…..”

Anna looked around her surroundings.

The chief was busy driving, and Lara was now completely absorbed in organizing the gemstones she’d first started handling under the pretense of doing something else.

Still anxious that others might hear their personal matters, Anna sat crouching right next to Bertram and whispered.

Though no matter how much Anna lifted her chin, she could at most pour out her words to Bertram’s shoulder. However, there was no doubt that her voice reached his ear.

After all, what she said penetrated into the past three years of Bertram’s life.

“For some reason, Mr. Bertram, you looked as if paying back your debts was the sole goal left in your life.”

“…..How… No, why did you come to think that way?”

“Just by looking at your face?”

She was being honest.

When she’d looked at his face in the morning, she’d thought that he looked somewhat dejected and strained. Just like a farmer whose field had been seized right before harvest.

However, since she could not tell Bertram ‘it’s my gut feeling’, Anna made do with the things she remembered belatedly.

“If you think about it, it doesn’t make sense that you’ve been wandering around for three whole years since the war ended just to repay debts, right?. If it was me, I would’ve pretended to have died in the war and lived with my mouth completely sealed.”

“Miss Anna, you are an honest person, so you would not have done so.”

“Gah, no flattery! Anyway, this is what I personally think, but I’m wondering whether the debts you incurred during the war are the cause that kept the war fresh in your mind, Mr. Bertram.”

“….An insight so keen, I am speechless. I’d rather like to applaud you.”

“Please don’t clap with that serious face. It’s scary.”

Bertram obediently lowered his two hands, and Anna pounded on those huge hands as she laughed.

“Everyone carries a wound or two from the war as they live. Though I can’t solve your feeling of being indebted for you, I thought there was just one thing I could help you with. That’s why I came.”

“What is that?”

“Feeding you something delicious! Mental recovery begins with a full stomach. Even if you can’t taste it, if you can eat joyfully, then that’s good enough. I’ll take you to the tastiest places in this entire city!”

Anna grinned happily.

Today’s first big smile.

Only then did Bertram feel as if the day had just begun.