Childcare Diaries - Chapter 52

“What are you looking at like that?”

Siege approached Barry, who was looking around.

“You…!”

When it was just the two of them, Barry raised her voice.

“What the hell happened. Did you really take a leave of absence because you were bored?”

“Oh, you probably haven’t seen it before. Our family… it’s more complicated than you think. The earlier you graduate, the worse everyone will like it.”

As Barry looked around, vigilant to see if the enemy was hiding in the palace, he found members of Siege’s family.

Unlike them, who were laughing together, the atmosphere in Siege’s family was strange. Obviously, all four of them were smiling, but everyone seemed to be like a particularly isolated island.

A feeling that they cannot blend together. For some reason, it seemed like something his friend wanted to hide, so he turned his eyes away.

‘As expected, you know I was watching you…’

Barry was just apologetic.

“Don’t make a face like that. The fact that you noticed is because you’re interested in me.”

It was one of the reasons Siege didn’t trust people’s liking. It was so clear that Barry, who had seen it once, noticed it, though they only saw what they wanted to see. They didn’t make anyone aware of their own domestic feuds.

Just a happy looking family. That was all they saw.

“Still…”

Nevertheless, Barry wasn’t feeling good, by how hard it would have been for his seemingly fine friend to become like that.

Meanwhile, Marie was watching Barry from afar. She was in the process of locating Barry, who was not beside her. She then found Siege.

She, too, like Barry, noticed that his family was strange.

‘By the way, Siege’s childhood didn’t appear before the original story began. It seemed to have been taken out as a side story, although I hadn’t read it.’

In the original story, Siege had inherited the family. She had no idea what was going on inside that family.

‘Come to think of it, it’s time for the original story to start.’

Looking at it from a distance, she could see how much Barry and Siege had grown.

Now, the name of the boy was no longer insignificant.

*** 

Marie turned her gaze away with a little sigh.

Then, the Queen and her eyes met.

She quickly bowed her head and raised her greeting. It was a greeting she did not know how many times she had done it this day.

Moments later, someone approached Marie. It was a maid. She said that the Queen wanted to see her.

Hearing those words right next to him, Kentrail stopped her.

“I’ll refuse. Tell the Queen that she is not feeling well.”

“Count, I’m fine. I’ll be back in a while.”

Convinced that the Queen was not their culprit, Marie wanted to see her up close. So, Kentrail, who tried to stop her once more, finally allowed it. There was no way he could beat her.

Marie whispered asking for Ellie, and followed the maid.

*** 

Following the maid, Marie headed up the stairs she had climbed earlier, then entered the building. When she turned around, she saw an outdoor scene she had never seen before.

‘It’s really gorgeous.’

When she turned her head straight away, she could see expensive items scattered all over the place.

‘The Count walks around a place like this every day.’

Thinking it was a hallway he might have walked once, she looked more attentively.

After walking for a while, the maid stopped in front of a large door.

“I brought her.”

“Come in.”

A voice slightly different from the Queen’s voice that Marie had heard before came to be heard. As she took a trembling step into the door the maid opened, the person who seemed to be the owner of the voice caught her eye. It seemed to be the maid chief.

A little further back, the Queen, who was shining in the sunlight, was watching Marie come in.

“I have been called.”

“Yes, come closer.”

Following the Queen’s words, Marie went a little deeper.

“Sit down.”

She took her seat, taking care not to wrinkle her clothes. Even though Marie wondered why the Queen had called her, she sat, averting her gaze a little, lest she looked arrogant.

“I was curious.”

“Yes…?”

Marie asked in a bewildered voice at the Queen’s voice. Turning her head, the Queen and her eyes met.

“It’s because the Emperor personally invited you.”

The Queen continued to wonder about Marie. She was worried that maybe he had visited the Chancellor’s house without her knowledge and fell in love with the nanny. Usually, a nanny would be married and has children, but she was told that Brielle’s nanny was unusual and that she was never married.

“Ah…”

‘Even to others, the excuse the King gave is like a lie.’

Inside, Marie wondered what the real reason was, though she just bowed her head again.

The Queen was puzzled to see Marie. Of course, she was pretty, but at this level, there were many other nobles. Appearance wasn’t everything, but there were limits to her thoughts that were instilled throughout her life.

‘Did he really call his close friend’s nephew’s nanny to congratulate her for raising the child well?’

But, he wasn’t that kind. An unknown nervousness devoured the Queen.

“I… are you all right?”

Marie thought the Queen’s condition was strange. Her face was gradually turning white as if she was sick somewhere.

When she came to her senses, the Queen raised her hand to show that she was okay, and she worked hard to control her expression.

Seeing her closely, Marie grew even more convinced that the Queen was not so capable of committing evil deeds. Apparently, the reason she called Marie here was simply because she was curious about the woman her husband had invited.

It was a pity. The Queen could have been a little more confident, nonetheless, Marie put the thought aside, as she thought it was just a guess of someone she didn’t know much about.

She just wished she would be happy if the Queen really had nothing to do with the Count.

*** 

Ellie diligently brought the food and ate it.

Even in the mansion, she ate a lot of delicious food. However, she rarely had a chance to eat sweet food without restrictions.

It was because she was restrained by her sister because it was unhealthy.

Looking around, it seemed that her sister had gone and the Count was busy.

Ellie, holding her plate, began looking for Taylor as her sister had instructed. The young master must have been around him.

As she carefully picked up her plate, people stopped in front of Ellie as she moved.

“Oh my, who is this?”

It was the children she thought she would meet if she came here. Ellie recalled her painful memories of the days when she had to be slapped in the cheek just because she was a fallen noble.

“Move.”

But, she said that she had no reason to be beaten by them anymore, and she had no room to be hurt. Ellie was invited to this place by the King.

“What?”

At Ellie’s words, the noble children were perplexed. They wondered if she, who had been hesitant and wandered around, could be so different. Nevertheless, she didn’t like the way they looked at her. So, she inquired and said that she lives in the County.

Most of these were children of barons and viscounts. They couldn’t stand Ellie, who lived with someone higher than them.

One came out and took the plate from Ellie’s hand.

“What are you doing now?”

She wanted to scream right away, but Ellie, who had made a firm promise not to cause an accident with her sister, asked painstakingly, suppressing her upset and resentment.

“To punish someone for attending such an inappropriate place and stealing like a rat.”

They also tried to take Ellie to a more distant place as if they were conscious of the gaze around them.

Ellie, pushed by the number, quickly looked around. Her brother must be near, but her small stature was obscured by the grown-ups, so she couldn’t see him properly.

‘I’m in trouble.’

She wasn’t afraid to be surrounded by them because she won’t stay still either. She was only anxious to think of her older sister, who would be upset.

‘What do I do…’

The children surrounded Ellie’s sides and pushed her with force. It only looked as if they were tired of partying and took a break for a while with her close friends. Perhaps, that was why even though the adults saw them, they did not restrain them.

Ellie was nervous. She really thought she was going to be dragged around like this.

“What are you doing now?”

Then, the voice that rescued her flew in.

Those who were going to drag Ellie turned their heads immediately in search of the owner of the voice. She also looked at who it was.

It was Derek.

“With friends….”

The children, who were trying to make excuses in a hurry, saw Derek’s clothes and stopped. And then, he rather asked whether they thought that she had a lower status than them.

“We are children of noble families. Who are you? I don’t think you’re in a position to dare to attend a party like this.”

They looked Derek up and down.

Derek was surprised. Even as the times changed, the suffering he had been through kept repeating. He was even more angry that the target was Ellie.

He didn’t want to put his own family name on his lips, though that was the only way he could get their attention here and make them never bother Ellie again. Although he was an illegitimate child, his identity was valid as his father recognized him a few years ago.

“Young Master Brielle’s escort.”

For a moment, Ellie opened her mouth first since she thought Derek was in trouble. Ellie, who knew he was different from ordinary knights, was vaguely guessing that Derek was a commoner.

The children opened their eyes and looked at Ellie. It was to judge the authenticity. When it came to guarding, most of the escorts were knights composed of nobles.

In addition, they thought that if it was the Chancellor’s family escort, they could suffer if they made a mistake. The children who had finished grasping the situation, left Ellie in an instant and ran away.

Seeing their back, Ellie swung her arms in anger.

“Are you okay?”

“Derek.”

He looked at Ellie. He felt bad for her because it seemed that only hateful things were happening to her.

“What happened before…”

He chose the words so that he could speak without hurting Ellie.

“I’m upset.”

“Huh?”

But, contrary to his thoughts that she would be hurt and depressed, Ellie had an angry voice.

“This place is no less than the streets.”

He was relieved when he saw Ellie shouting that she had let them go this time.

It was a relief.

“Yes. Next time you see them, please do it. I’ll do the backing.”

There was nothing to go to his master about. If status was an issue, this time, he would be Ellie’s shield.

*** 

It started to rain heavily.

It had been a week since she went to the party. The children each went into their rooms to study, and Marie was alone looking out the window.

‘It’s raining a lot.’

Not only was the amount of rain heavy, but the rain was pouring rapidly. The soil was almost lost.

‘Right. Time capsule.’

Marie, watching the dirt running off, hurriedly ran outside.

She ran to the bottom of a large tree planted with the time capsule. Her clothes were all wet, although the priority was to protect the time capsules that had been buried by the children.

When she looked under the tree, again, part of the lid was sticking out.

It looked like it had been buried in a very shallow place last time.

Marie sat down and started digging around the time capsule again. It was to keep it a little deeper and tighter. However, she could not do the wet ground with her bare hands. Marie looked around, finding a tool to dig it up.

‘I’ll do it with that stone.’

The sharp one seemed suitable for digging the ground.

“Huh…?”

Picking up the stone, Marie noticed something strange. When she looked closely, it was like part of a tomb.

‘What. Whose here…’

Once Marie took it out, she re-buried the time capsule. After she finished clearing the land with her feet, she picked up the tomb.

‘I have to show it to the Count.’

When she entered the mansion holding the tomb, the butler, surprised to see her return like a drowning rat, prepared a large towel for her.

Marie went in for a quick wash with the hot water she had kindly received. There was also a wooden box.

‘I think it’s important to see someone buried there.’

It felt even more unusual as it was found under a tree that the previous Countess loved to prune.

Curious about what was inside her, she quickly washed and changed her clothes.