Childcare Diaries - Chapter 49

“Marie, what are you doing?”

“Oh, Young Master, you brought it?”

“Huh.”

Marie was digging a pit, sitting under a large tree hanging from Brielle’s treehouse.

Brielle, Ellie, and Barry followed her instructions and brought items they cherished, but no longer needed.

“I’m going to bury this here.”

The three looked puzzled at Marie’s words.

“Here?”

At Ellie’s question, Marie just smiled.

“Come on, take one here.”

Marie then handed out the papers one by one.

“Go to your room and write down what you want to say to the future you.”

“The future me?”

“Um… It’ll be about five years. You just need to write down what you want to say to yourself in five years or what you want to have accomplished by that time.”

The kids thought it would be fun.

“Okay. So, are you going to put this paper inside, too?”

“Yes. We’ll all dig this pit together in five years. Then, there will be things we’ve accomplished and things we haven’t achieved, but it’s going to be meaningful as a memory.”

As Marie added an explanation to Ellie’s question, the children quickly ran to the room.

She gazed at their backs with delight.

She came up with an idea about how to instill hope for the future in children who have been forced to not go outside because of the dangers surrounding them.

Maybe five years later, it will be a strong memory for the children…

With that thought, Marie picked out the stones from the pit.

*** 

The first person to run into the room was Brielle.

As he hated his young and incompetent figure of the present, he had the highest expectations for the future.

‘Aren’t you supposed to be much taller by then? May I ask if you have become like uncle? No, it will be a little bigger in five years.’

He kept on thinking various thoughts on his own.

‘Is the swordsmanship increased a lot? It would be nice if it was a skill that everyone recognized like Barry.’

Brielle’s future letters were mainly in interrogative form.

[ Did your swordsmanship increase a lot? How is your height? And… Are you helping uncle? ]

The last one was the one he wanted to ask the most.

Considering other families, he would be educated as the successor from around that time and was gradually learning the work of his uncle’s.

‘Oh, I should ask this too.’

[ Of course, Marie is always by my side, right? ]

Not long ago, the little boy became even more anxious when he heard that Jayden’s nanny had gone down to the countryside. In addition, a sigh escaped the young mouth when he thought of his own family recently.

[ No one gets hurt anymore, and everyone is happy, right? ]

Although it was a small piece of paper, the sincerity of the child was firmly pressed into it.

*** 

The first person to come to Marie was Brielle. As he was the first to run, he was the fastest.

And, it was Kentrail who followed him.

“Count.”

“I heard from Barry that you were doing something fun.”

There was also a piece of paper in his hand. Even when playing in the water, he secretly played along well with the children.

“Can I do it, too?”

“Of course.”

Marie took the paper from him.

Then, Brielle, who was next to him, lit up his eyes.

“What did you write, uncle?”

“Well, it’s a secret. I’ll show you when we dig together later.”

“Huh.”

At that, Brielle had no choice but to appease the disappointment.

“Sister.”

“Sister.”

Next, Ellie and Barry arrived. The back of the paper was full of the words all the children wrote down.

“Come on, let’s put it in.”

In the glass bottle that Marie brought, she put the papers and the items the children had brought.

“Huh? This is a fairy tale book for dragons.”

It was a memorable thing. Brielle nodded his head shyly, giving her what he had brought. Fortunately, since it was a large glass container, a thin children’s book could fit easily.

“Then, I’ll bury it now.”

After Marie put the letters they had brought and closed the lid, she put them in the pit she had dug.

And so, they all joined forces and covered the soil again.

They hoped that in the distant future, everyone would gather in the same healthy state as they are now and open this up.

*** 

Time passed really well.

The hot summer has come again. Barry could not return to the academy in the end and applied for a leave of absence.

And, that night, he trained with Kentrail.

A lot of stories came and went there, and Barry was shocked.

‘There is a force that is targeting the Young Master…’

Kentrail told the whole story, except about Marie. Barry was outraged when he heard that the Young Master’s loss of parents was no mere coincidence.

The Count was sorry that Barry had even taken a leave of absence because of them, though that never had to be.

Barry promised to serve young master Brielle himself. The Young Master is in danger, how could the knight go? Rather, the decision to take a leave of absence was a good one.

‘I can’t lose the Young Master who runs around laughing like that even now.’

Not knowing what Barry was thinking as he looked at him, Brielle was excited to play.

For summer, Marie made a special ride.

It was made with the maids as the children seemed tired of being confined to the house. They took a large portable bathtub and placed it under the slide they had made before and then filled it with water.

Brielle was excited to ride the slide.

Ellie said she was a little tall, and she just watched the master from the side with delight.

“Won’t Ellie ride?”

Then, she asked if Brielle felt sorry for Ellie for not playing.

“Well, shall I ride, too?”

She made the excuse that she couldn’t make the young master sad, and Ellie was excited and went down the slide.

‘It was great that I made it big.’

Marie was trying to make a slide for the children, but she thought she did a good job by asking to make a large frame so they could ride it when they get big.

‘But, time flies really well. They will grow up soon… Things should be resolved quickly.’

She lifted her head and gazed in the direction of Kentrail’s office.

*** 

Brielle’s exasperated laughter came from outside.

Kentrail, who had been looking at him happily, sat down at his desk again. It was a report of the reliable knights and what Derek had found out.

“Ha…”

He tapped the desk with his finger.

It was one of those habits while thinking.

‘There is nothing suspicious about Brielle’s maternal grandfather. Then, who the hell swapped the letter?’

At first, he thought he was just suspicious, though recently, he realized that the letter had definitely changed.

However, the missing maid wasn’t the culprit.

‘If we only found out the identities of those who attacked Barry, things would be easier.’

Rather than the one on Ellie’s side, who left the evidence, he chased those sent to Barry. Nevertheless, Kentrail had a hard time finding clues.

Two seasons passed like that.

But, it wasn’t without achievements. It was the result of Kentrail’s head-on breakthrough after going to the Queen’s Palace a while ago.

*** 

“It’s been a long time, I think there will be a day when you come to my palace.”

The Queen told Kentrail, who had come to the Queen’s Palace, to take a seat.

As he sat down, the maid next to him pulled out the tea.

“It smells good. It’s hard to find.”

Kentrail looked at the tea poured in front of him. It was filled with green tea.

[ She bought a lot of tea that was good for the skin. ]

Derek’s report flashed through his mind. Is this tea good for that skin?

A sigh came out.

The queen first took the teacup and brought it to her mouth. She looked closely at her cousin, who had come to her after a long time. He had never been to this place since she entered the palace. She wondered what was going on.

Then, she remembered her father and frowned slightly. What else has he been up to, now?

Every time she thought of that, her heart pounded. She honestly wasn’t worried about her cousin in front of her eyes.

It was only that she was concerned that she would become more distant with the King again…

‘By the way, did he say that he invited Brielle’s nanny to this party?’

She did not know the King’s intentions. Although he was a husband who did not enjoy being in love, she did not know the future of other people.

‘I have never heard of a rumor about the Count’s nanny.’

The rumors circulating about the Count’s nanny were mainly that the relationship with the Young Master was like a mother, the Count’s trust was considerable, and the policies and techniques for raising children were good.

Perhaps, the person in front of her controlled the rumors.

‘If he went to the King and asked the nanny’s siblings to also attend, it must have been saying that the nanny’s position in the County was beyond normal.’

The Queen pondered hard until Kentrail picked up the tea and put it in his mouth.

“This is the reason I came here.”

He wet his mouth lightly with tea before pulling out from his arms what he had found from those who had attacked Ellie.

“This…”

She was taken aback by the unexpected. She couldn’t believe it, so she didn’t think it was something like this.

“Since it is written by my uncle, the Queen must know it. Do you know where I found this?”

Kentrail watched to observe the Queen’s expression. She thought her father had caused an accident. Both of her eyes were tightly shut.

She answered, trying hard to come to her senses.

“Well, how would I know that?”

“Did you know that there was an attack on the County not long ago?”

“….”

“This was found there.”

It can’t be…

Though she thought that her father couldn’t possibly do that, she thought that it could be possible if it was her father’s character. He was attacking the Count’s nanny’s sibling, though the Queen didn’t know the details.

It was her personality that she didn’t care about things outside of her interests.

“Someone must have framed him. I don’t know who brought it, but it has nothing to do with us.”

He stared into her eyes, and it seemed to be true.

Kentrail guessed from the Queen’s attitude, not asking that the County had been attacked. He didn’t know about his uncle, but at least the Queen didn’t seem to have anything to do with this.

“I’ll figure it out for now.”

She doesn’t know if he believes in her or not, although the Queen was relieved by Kentrail, who didn’t ask any more. She thought she should call her father and ask him when he left.

“But, do you still drink this kind of tea?”

At those words, the Queen felt guilty.

“What?”

“I don’t think it’s a tea that’s good for health.”

“I drink it just because it smells good.”

“You’ve lost a lot of weight. It’s better to see you in good health as before.”

“….”

The Queen looked at her cousin, whom she had never known to give her such advice, with her eyes wide open.

“This is nosy as a cousin to say. Cherish yourself more.”

After saying that, he got up from his seat. As if she couldn’t find words to say to him, her mouth twitched, as Kentrail walked away after a greeting.

He got out of there without hearing an answer.