Childcare Diaries - Chapter 55

‘No way…’

If his guess was correct, he would be really happy.

“The person I met in the garden then was Baroness Jake’s older sister.”

‘If it’s Jake…’

He was talking about Jayden’s father.

Marie pricked up her ears and began to listen to him.

“I called her here because she was a close friend of sister-in-law. I showed her the letter we saw. It’s been a long time since she exchanged correspondence with her. So, I thought she might recognize it.”

Kentrail smiled kindly and explained. It broke his heart while she was avoiding him, though it was because she was jealous. He honestly felt good..

‘Maybe, I can think that you have the same mind.’

Marie’s face turned red. She had misunderstood him. Even though she was happy, she was also embarrassed. For some reason, it seemed that he had noticed everything in her mind.

‘Uh… What should I do?’

“Jin Hae-rin.”

She lifted her head that was bowed deep. It was because of Kentrail who called her real name.

“Excuse… me, Count… So I…”

“I wish you could call my name instead of Count…”

At that, Marie felt herself getting hot in her ears. She didn’t expect to get permission to call his name.

“I—I…”

“Why? You don’t like me calling your name?”

He asked, seeing Marie failing to keep her words properly. She quickly shook her head.

There was no way she could hate it.

“Call me once.”

As Kentrail whispered, she became even more tickled, unable to speak. He begged her to keep calling him as if it was funny.

‘What do you mean begging…!’

It was her thought, but she was surprised. It was a feeling that she was arguing over titles between lovers.

“I… I—Later!”

The voice was louder than expected.

It felt like it resonated throughout the garden.

As Marie bowed her head, her face blushing. Instead of a voice, his laughter now filled the place. It was so good to hear that Marie, no matter how shy she was, stood still and she listened to his voice.

*** 

“Ellie.”

The Count called the child. She saw what happened last night in the garden. Both of them were talking in such a loud voice. Ellie, who had somewhat misunderstood her, went to the Count’s side.

“You called.”

“Yes.”

The butler placed the drink prepared for her on the table. It was Ellie who thought she was friendly with the Count, but it was the first time she had come into his office and talked seriously, so she was nervous.

“Drink your drink first.”

Ellie took the drink to her mouth as he persuaded. Cocoa was the best in the increasingly cold weather.

He opened his mouth after confirming that he had put the cup on the table again.

“Do you remember the people who tried to kidnap you?”

Kentrail was worried that he might be digging through Ellie’s wounds again.

“Yes.”

Fortunately, she did not show agitation. Still, he watched carefully.

“One of them is in jail now.”

Ellie’s eyes widened at the unexpected words.

“I want to ask you for an opinion before punishing him.”

Kentrail could have handled it himself. But the victim was Ellie. He thought he had to ask what she would like to do, as it was the child that has to carry the resentment and unfairness for the rest of her life.

“If you want, I can punish him myself.”

He hurriedly added in case Ellie might think that he was passing the punishment on her.

A moment of silence passed through the place, and finally, Ellie’s punishment came down.

“I can’t forgive him. That’s my punishment.”

It was the same with Kentrail. Even if Ellie asked him to forgive him, he would never allow it.

“And, I want them to be properly punished. I hope they never have contact with children like me again.”

“Yes. I will do that.”

Ellie clenched her fists in anger.

In her heart, she wanted to say a cruel punishment. Nevertheless, revenge only breeds revenge, and she wouldn’t be comfortable with it, even if she punished him brutally.

“That’s all I need. The Count will know better how to punish him, so please take care of it.”

He nodded.

“Are you over being angry with me now?”

“Yes?”

Ellie was perplexed. She didn’t expect the Count to ask this.

“I—that… that.”

How can she say she was angry?

She thought he would become her brother-in-law, although she couldn’t say it was because she felt betrayed when he was with the Marquis’ daughter. So, in the end, she just nodded her head several times.

Then, laughter was heard. As she looked up, she could see the Count smiling like last night.

“When I look at you like this, you look just like your sister.”

“Yes?”

Only stupid questions kept popping up.

At such Ellie, the Count remembered Marie last night and continued to burst into laughter.

*** 

Blood was dripping.

It was a terrible incident that took place in a mansion. People screamed in unison.

“The….The Lord!”

The maid, running out of the Lord’s room, found another person lying down. She had a major stab wound on her back.

“Ma… Madam.”

Her breath was suffocated. In the long hallway ahead, a man with a blood-stained sword was walking down the hallway. It was the last thing she saw, the maid who was the first to find the master and his wife dead, stunned and fainted.

And, he was named the strongest suspect…

Siege Kaylor.

The next morning, emergency reports were scattered everywhere. The Kingdom was in turmoil at the brutal murders of the Keylors. It was a murder case that occurred in a family, but it became a big issue as the culprit was identified as the second son.

Kentrail was also surprised by the newspaper the butler had brought.

There was a person who rushed to his office like this.

“Count.”

It was Marie.

“That’s not the name you’re supposed to call.”

“It’s not what’s important.”

He frowned once at her words that titles were not important, and then released it. It was because of her face that looked so urgent.

“What’s going on?”

“Newspaper, did you read the newspaper?”

“Yes.”

She must have been running here because of Siege Kaylor. He was also Barry’s friend and had been with their family for over a month, so it was natural for her to care.

“That kid… He’s never that kind of person.”

It was close to certainty. Kentrail would have said that if anyone else had done it, even though he had been with him for a while, he wouldn’t be able to figure out everything about him. But, that was what she was saying. He totally believed it.

“He must have been framed.”

Marie nodded her head violently.

“I think so. Still, it’s like this…”

“What?”

She nearly fainted when she read the newspaper this morning. She never thought that the fate of the male lead would be twisted in this way. His childhood was not given, but if he had been framed in this way, it would have been described in a word. It only said that he had a poor but smooth family life.

So, the death of the Kaylor family was a story that was different in the present from the original story.

“Everything… is twisted.”

Brielle lived. She didn’t know in what direction it would return as a boomerang. Since the Young Master lived, she lived with only the joy that the Count was also safe.

‘What was the problem?’

In what way did the threads of the relationship get entangled so that the child, Siege, entered into such a harsh fate?

When he saw her weeping, Kentrail thought this was her usual worry.

“Marie, don’t worry. I’ll help you.”

She raised her head.

“Really?”

“Yes.”

It seemed that it would take a little longer for him to let go of his position.

*** 

All the children were in shock.

In particular, Barry seemed to have lost his mind.

“Well… Then, where is Siege now?”

He muttered, stunned.

Ellie and Brielle looked in front of Barry. They didn’t even think Siege had done that. To the children, he was a good person. He wasn’t the kind of person to hurt anyone, although he was sometimes blunt with his words.

He must have been framed.

Barry got up and ran.

The only person who could best understand the situation was the Count.

“Co…Count.”

Kentrail, who was with Marie, saw Barry coming to him. His face turned white.

“Barry.”

Surprised by the look on her brother’s complexion, Marie got up from her seat and approached her brother.

“Siege couldn’t have done that. He must have been framed, so please…”

“Sit down for now.”

At the Count’s words, Barry was led by his sister’s hand and sat down on the sofa.

“We were also talking about that. For now, let’s send someone to the guard to find out where Siege is.”

He then called the butler and told him to call the knight commander.

“Will it be solved easily?”

Drinking the cold water in front of his eyes, Barry calmly asked as he had calmed down a little.

“Well, a witness and an alibi will be important. But I’ll do my best to help the kid get his name clean.”

When the Count said he would help, Barry’s face improved a little.

However, Marie had a foreboding that the case would not be resolved easily.

*** 

The only light in this place was the sparsely hanging torch in the black darkness.

Barry shuddered at the thought that his friend had been locked up in a place like this all day. He struggled to suppress his emotions and walked after the Count.

The wind blew in through the cracks in the building made of stone without a single mud.

With the weather getting colder, the nights were chilly enough to make you freeze. The further down they went, the more the smell of blood filled. It was the smell of people who had been hurt by all kinds of torture.

It was disgusting. The stench rose up to his neck, but he barely endured it. It felt amazing to see the Count just looking straight ahead.

“We’re almost there.”

The guard knights who had guided them pointed to one place. Siege was sitting there. Fortunately, he appeared to have no major trauma on the outside.

“Siege…”

Only Barry’s trembling voice resounded in this quiet place. His slowly closed eyes were revealed.

“Barry?”

An unbelieving voice rang out from his friend there.

“Huhuu…”

Barry tried not to show weakness, though tears welled up when he saw his friend calling from inside.

“You idiot, how the hell did you get here?”

“Count…”

It was then that Siege saw Kentrail standing behind him.

“I can’t stand up. I’m sorry.”

If they look closely, they can see that his legs were tied with iron shackles. Not only that, but the calf part was wrapped with rope.

Seeing this, Kentrail ordered the knight standing next to him.

“Release the things on the feet right now.”

“But, Chancellor…”

The knight who had resisted flinched at the Kentrail’s fierce gaze.

“If that child escapes, I will take responsibility. I will guarantee it.”

When the Chancellor of the country had even said this, the knight had no choice but to untie the rope and shackles.

Even after the heavy things fell, Siege stayed still for a while. It was because of the cramps in his legs, and he couldn’t move.

“Thank you.”

It was unexpected.

He did not expect that the Chancellor would do this for him, and he might be helping him because of his friend.