Childcare Diaries - Chapter 64

Chapter 64

Kentrail took Brielle to the room and found Marie.

“Count?”

“Could you give me some time?”

He said he was going to see the stars with Brielle, though he appeared with a weak look. Seeing that, she hurriedly left the room and stood in front of him.

“What’s wrong?”

“Let’s walk for a moment.”

He walked in step with Marie. However, it seemed he was slower and more tiring than usual.

Worried, she continued to stare at his face.

‘Usually, you would notice my gaze and turn around, but what happened..?’

The two went out of the house and went to the flower garden. He paused there for a moment to catch his breath and opened his mouth.

“I showed it to Brielle.”

“Yes…? What?”

“I showed him the portraits of my brother and sister-in-law.”

When Marie heard that, she could see why he was in this state now. She asked, fidgeting at the thought that Brielle would be in a more serious condition.

“How about the young master? How is he? Did he cry a lot?”

“Yes. I thought that now was the time to show it, but haa…”

A long sigh escaped his mouth.

“You said you were going to see the stars.”

“That’s right, Brielle first brought up the story of my brother after seeing the stars. So…”

“Ah…”

It must have been that Brielle didn’t ask because he wasn’t curious. With that thought, she recalled Brielle, who had never brought up her parents before.

“I see… You would have to show it someday.”

“That’s right. But seeing him crying, I think it’s for nothing.”

“No, you did well.”

Hearing her firm voice, Kentrail raised his head to face her. Her confident voice reassured him, although he also wondered how she could be so sure.

“Actually, there are things I didn’t tell you.”

“What?”

“The Young Master, there were times when he secretly drew pictures.”

These were the things that Brielle thought he had secretly done from Marie.

“But, it was strange to say that he was painting us… .so I thought that maybe he missed his parents and painted it.”

He was shocked when he heard the story for the first time.

“Is that so?”

“Yes. I was going to tell the Count, but no matter how much I look at it, it seems that the Young Master wants to keep it a secret. He won’t even know that I saw it.”

“….”

Kentrail sighed. It was out of regret that he couldn’t fill the vacancy of his brother.

“Count. Don’t blame yourself too much. This isn’t something we can fill in. It’s like that for me. It’ll be the same for the young master as well as Ellie and Barry.”

This was something that Marie, who had always felt sorry for the children as she came here and continued to live here, realized one day.

“We’re not the children’s parents. It would be great if we could fill that void with us, but that’s not possible, and it’s absurd to do so. Plus, we’re not real parents of the children, so there will be moments when we feel sorry for the children for the rest of our life. Still, I can’t live with blaming myself every time. Instead, just do good. I wish the Count would do the same. I do my best in what I can do for the children in the future rather than have time to blame or resent.”

Saying so, Marie hugged him.

“I’m not very talkative, so I don’t know if my feelings were conveyed properly.”

Kentrail seemed to know what she was trying to say.

He also raised his arms and hugged her.

‘What would have happened if I didn’t have you? I must have been living in hell…’

He gave a little more force and held her.

*** 

“Marie, Ellie.”

Brielle came to their room.

Both of his eyes were swollen.

Last night, Marie, separated from the Count, sneaked into Brielle’s room. The cheeks she touched were moist as if he had fallen asleep crying. She had come out wiping the child’s cheek with the handkerchief she had.

“Young master.”

Marie didn’t reveal the fact and called Brielle. Brielle came in front of Marie and hugged her tightly.

Seeing this, Ellie came to the side and hugged the two of them tightly.

“Suffocating, Ellie.”

“Be patient.”

Even though Ellie must have known nothing, she was hugging silently. How long had they been like that, Brielle held the two of them together.

“I can’t hold you any longer because I’m short of breath.”

Then, he pouted his lips and complained.

As Ellie pressed Brielle’s cheek, the child’s eyes widened and he opened his mouth, “Ellie. What are you doing?”

“Haha. Like a carp.”

“Boooo—? What is that?”

After releasing his cheek, she brought the fish encyclopedia from her room and showed it to him.

“It’s like this.”

At that, Brielle was furious with Ellie.

“From where I looked, to look like this!”

“Is it the same? Can I get you a mirror?”

Ellie, who teased Brielle, opened the door and started to run away.

“Stop there…!”

“It doesn’t look like the Young Master?”

Brielle also ran after Ellie. Seeing this, Marie began to ponder whether Ellie knew something and was doing that.

*** 

‘The world has not abandoned me.’

That was Jaz’s idea. He was in touch again from a place he lost contact with a long time ago.

“Do I still have the drug? Of course.”

He pulled out a bag from under the bed he had caught while escaping. What he brought with him just in case, could be used.

‘Hopefully, I can feed it to that guy Siege as well.’

He laughed like a madman, determined that he would make him regret having dared to make himself a murderer and make his face uncarryable.

‘Can I get access to that stupid nanny again?’

Finally, he remembered the face of a woman he had seen in the woods.

Jaz had lost his client’s trust because she didn’t keep her promise when she only got her money.

“Then, I had to get revenge…”

It was a pity that he missed the opportunity to take away her family, whom she cherished the most. At best, he had manipulated the letter about the meeting.

“She broke the deal while she said she was disappointed with whoever broke the deal, too?”

He recalled what he had told his client about the nanny’s other younger sibling. They planned to capture all and to give this medicine to the Chancellor’s nephew, but failed. And, for a while, he lost contact with his client.

“I knew I was going to find this drug again. There’s no other drug that can kill a person at the right time as naturally as this one.”

He knew very well that he was going to use it on his brother.

“Siege, is he lucky or bad?”

Writing an answer to his client, he mumbled to himself.

*** 

Jayden visited Brielle after a long time. He had come to meet with his father, Baron Jake and Kentrail’s meeting.

“Hey, long time no see.”

Jaden greeted Brielle, waving his hand.

“What’s going on?”

“I came with my father. How have you been?”

“So so.”

Brielle spoke quietly. Nevertheless, finding him a little emaciated, Jayden asked again, “Really? You look like you’re not feeling well.”

At the friend’s question, Brielle just laughed.

‘As expected, we’re still friends. He recognized something difficult.’

The child, who had only been told by his uncle about the death of his parents, had trouble sleeping for several days.

“But, there was a stranger in the mansion?”

“Who?”

Brielle thought of a person whom Jaden had seen for the first time. Since Jaden didn’t know all the knights of the family, he wasn’t referring to Derek, but to Siege.

“He’s very tall, has a really good physique, and his hair is completely smooth? I’ve never seen such a handsome person in my life since the Count.”

“I see you’re talking about brother Siege.”

Brielle’s guess was correct. He seemed to have seen Siege practicing swordsmanship with Barry outside.

“Who was it? Why was he here?”

“You don’t know? There was even an article in the newspaper?”

“Am I the type to read newspapers? He must be a great person to be in the newspaper.”

At the friend’s words, Brielle shook his head. Still, he wondered if one could be so ignorant of the news.

“You say you want to be an overseer? My uncle reads the newspaper every morning, every morning? Can you do that?”

“…Probably…because my father doesn’t know much.”

Saying that, Jayden was also embarrassed and scratched his sideburns once.

“Introduce me.”

“To brother Siege?”

“Huh. Even swinging a perfect sword, we can’t shine like that.”

Brielle was a little surprised. It was because there was no one around who had such a crush on Siege as soon as he saw him. Rather, they were on guard.

“Okay. Let’s go after swordsmanship training with Brother Barry.”

At Brielle’s words, Jaden stood in front of the window where Berry and Siege could be seen clearly.

“Wow, both of them are cool. It seems that Barry has also improved a lot, isn’t it?”

Jayden, who had been close with Ellie since childhood, knew Barry well.

“Yes. That’s right. Brother Barry is a melee attack type. How strong is his…”

Brielle was busy bragging. He continued talking to Jayden as if he wanted to spread the word around the town that his older brother was such a person.

“After all, if you go to the academy, your chances of learning will increase.”

Jaden thought Barry’s skills were thanks to the academy. With those words, Brielle thought of the academy. However, soon, he shook his head.

‘I can’t go even if I want to go…’

He had to pass a rigorous exam, but it seemed more difficult to get out of the mansion than that.

“What is your father doing to meet my uncle?”

“Well… I don’t know.”

Jaden answered, keeping his eyes fixed on Siege, who was still practicing swordsmanship.

*** 

“Long time no see.”

Jake, who greeted Jaden similarly, went to the sofa Kentrail pointed to and sat down.

“It’s the same no matter when you come here. It’s a very desolate interior. If you can, why don’t you bring some flowers?”

“It’s nice because it’s neat.”

“Neat… Just by looking at it, it looks like you don’t have a lover and aren’t married.”

“What? Where?”

Kentrail, who recalled Marie from the word lover, asked with a rage.

“Usually, if you have a lover who witnesses a bleak office like this, she’ll give you something to bring to the office. It could be flowers and brightly colored cushions.”

“The lover may have the same taste as mine.”

Seeing Kentrail, who replied that way unconsciously, Jake’s eyes widened.

“You… you… did you have a lover?”

He was embarrassed by the reaction that even Kentrail, who was like stone, finally had a lover. So far, she wasn’t a lover yet. He just confessed to her without her knowing it.

“Don’t talk nonsense. Is there time for me to have a lover?”
“Well, then you’ll be single for the rest of your life. Though, what do you mean time to have a lover? What’s wrong with you?”

At the voice of his worried friend, Kentrail looked at the distant space for a moment.