Childcare Diaries

“Sir Taylor.”

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“Nanny.”

The two met after a long time.
Wherever he had been, Sir Taylor was nowhere to be seen.
Instead, there were other knights protecting Brielle, though they weren’t that reassuring, so she wondered when he would return.

“Where have you been?”

“Yes, I will only tell the nanny.”

He sharply lowered his voice and whispered in her ear as if telling a secret story.
“I received the Count’s order.”

“Oh, yes.”

It didn’t seem like much of a secret.
All knights follow the command of the Master, so Marie wondered why he was saying it like that.

“Taylor!”

He began to laugh when he heard a loud voice.
Of course, the main character of this voice was Brielle.
He was kidding because he thought that the Young Master he had not seen in a long time was still wary of him.

It wasn’t long before he realized that Brielle was jealous of him.
So, from that day on, whenever he had a chance like this, he often joked around.

“What did you talk to Marie about?”

“It’s a fun story.”

At those words, the boy huffed.
When Marie saw him joking to Brielle that his nostrils would widen if he made such an expression, she wondered when the two became so close.

“What did Marie say?”

Brielle changed the subject of the question.
He then walked over to the nanny, took her hand, and gave Taylor a look that he shouldn’t do this.

‘Neither of them could be so childish,’ thought Ellie as she looked at the scene from the end of the hallway.

“We didn’t talk much.
I had not seen the Sir for a while, so I was asking where he’s been.”

“Where have you been?”

When Sir Taylor was nowhere to be seen, Brielle was worried inside, so he asked Marie.
If he had asked him directly, he would most likely say because it was a secret.

“I won’t tell you.”

“Hmph!”

Hearing that, he snorted at those words.

“I really missed it.
The sound of the Young Master’s snorting.”

Those words made Brielle even more angry.
The child released his hand from Marie and ran to him.

“You seem to have gained a lot of stamina while I was away, but who looked after your training?”

Two figures ran down the wide hallway.

Had the maid chief seen it, she would have grabbed the nape of their necks right away.
The two people’s tagging ended only when they reached the end of the hallway where Ellie was standing.

“Ugh, childish.”

Whether or not the two were in shock after hearing those words, Ellie walked leisurely into her sister’s room to study.

 

***

 

“I’ve returned, Master.” Taylor greeted Kentrail.

“You seem to have been well.”

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“Yes.”

Kentrail knew right away that he had returned because of the noise in the hallway already with Brielle.

Taylor looked so serious in front of him, yet he knew how he was playing with Brielle.

“Shall I make a report?”

“Yeah, sit down on the sofa in front of you.”

He couldn’t keep the knight who had traveled far away, standing.

“Then, I’ll sit down.”

The report began as Kentrail got up and came to the sofa.
The place he went to was Brielle’s mother’s house.
He went to check if there was anything left by his brother-in-law before he died.

“Is he doing well?”

It was about Brielle’s maternal grandfather.
He was worried about his age.

“Yes, he’s the same as before.”

“That’s a relief.”

“I asked if he felt anything strange or if he had heard anything last time, and he showed me the letter.”

“Letter?”

“Yes, these were the letters from the former Countess who kept asking for their regards while she was here.”

“I brought some of the things she sent him just before she died.”

He pulled out a small box from his arms, then added his words.

“He said he didn’t notice anything strange.”

“Yes.”

And so, they took the letter, took a deep breath and exhaled.
Considering that it was his sister-in-law’s last letter, he could not easily open it.
Perhaps as the knight in front of him brought this letter, Brielle came to mind, so Taylor must have found the child before himself.

“I’ll leave then.”

Taylor, who was quick-witted, stood up right away.
Kentrail didn’t say anything and only stroked the letter.

Looking at that figure, Taylor went outside quietly.

 

***

 

“Did you call me?”

Marie visited his office.
The sun was already setting.
It seems as though Kentrail has been sitting there ever since Taylor left.

“You can sit there.”

“Yes.”

Marie looked curiously at the letters he was holding.

“These are letters that Brielle’s mother, my sister-in-law, sent to her parents’ homes.
They were left just before she died.”

“Oh…”

The sincerity was felt from the addresses written outside the colorful envelopes.

“Can you open it with me? It’s because I don’t have the courage.” Marie said as her nose twitched at his words.

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“Is it really all right if I see it together with you?”

“Yes.
I think my brother-in-law would rather like it.
Aren’t you the one who raised Brielle on his behalf?”

Hearing his words, Marie carefully picked up one of the letters and opened the envelope.
A lot of time had already passed, the letter was slightly faded.

Kentrail crossed over and sat down next to Marie, who was sitting on the long sofa.

The two looked through the piece of paper together.

“I think this was sent shortly after the Young Master was born.”

He felt a different emotion from the diaries his brother left behind.

It contained the gratitude towards her parents, which she felt only after she became a mother.
And, there were stories that she decided to name him Brielle.

Although Marie herself was hurt so much, she thought that the Young Master seeing this would make him even sadder.
She seemed to be able to show it only when he was old enough to accept sadness a little more.

The two of them, unable to take their eyes off the letter they had opened for such a long time, put the letter aside and picked up another envelope.

Everyone was choked up and couldn’t say anything.

After reading several letters, Marie stroked the letters.
Now, only one last letter remains.

She hadn’t even thought of opening them up.
Tears welled up on Marie’s cheeks.
Slowly, Kentrail quietly embraced her and comforted her.

Tears were running through his chest as well.

“Maybe I’ve been too bad for the Young Master.”

“No.
There is no nanny who can raise Brielle better than you.”

“Still…”

The words didn’t come outright.
Compared to the fervent maternal love in her letters, she seemed so inadequate.

“Rather, it was me who was lacking.
As you know, I was a complete beginner in parenting.”

“The Count did his best.”

The same thing could be said for him as well.
Kentrail did his best to raise Brielle, but he kept thinking that it was not enough compared to his older brother and sister-in-law.

“Now, there’s only one letter left.”

“Yes.
This is the last letter my sister-in-law sent.”

Like other letters, the name of Brielle’s grandfather was written on the outside along with the address.

“Shall we open it?”

“Yes.”

Unlike the rest of the letters, this one was clean.
It doesn’t look like it’s been through a lot.
It was because the grandfather could not read the letter again.

Marie opened the letter with a careful hand.

There was neatly written handwriting.
It was clearly the same as the other letters, though she felt a strange sense of incongruity.

‘…What is it?’

The two read the letter with their eyes open.
The contents of the other letters were similar.
It was mainly about Brielle’s growing up.
Other than that, the daily routines were also listed.

“Huh…?”

“Why?”

“No… wait a minute.”

At that, Marie got up quickly.
She then ran to her own room.

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‘As I recall… Though why is it written like that?’

She hurried into her room and pulled out the Young Master’s parenting diary that she had kept in her drawer.
She quickly opened the page where she wrote the Young Master’s body details.

‘My memory was right.
But, why… Did I write it wrong…?’

“Marie?”

Kentrail was chasing Marie, who ran out.
He finally stood in the room with her and called for her.

“Count…”

“What’s going on?”

“That’s… the location of the spot written—it’s different…”

“What?”

“When he was born, the Young Master had a big spot on his left leg.
I remember it because it had an unusual shape.
But, the letter said right.
Maybe I was mistaken…?”

Kentrail stared at the contents of the letter he was carrying.
Marie was right.
It said ‘right’ there.
It was written to the grandfather about Brielle’s peculiarities.

“Something else… Is there anything wrong with something else?”

Marie accepted the letter again at his request.
Her eyes quickly descended as she read the following text.
Although she didn’t find anything odd about it.
The general contents were of babies at that month’s age.

She shook her head and Kentrail pondered.

“The handwriting looked like any other letter.”

“I felt the same way.
However, when I first opened the letter, something was different…”

“What?”

“But it’s really just my feeling…”

If someone forged the letter, his sister-in-law’s last letter would be a great clue to catch the criminal.
He was just heartbroken and felt that this was a little weird, but thought it was worth checking out.

“I’ll find out.”

“Yes.”

Marie read the letter carefully once more, but she couldn’t find anything out of the ordinary.

 

***

 

“Sister, what’s wrong?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

Ellie asked as she lay on the bed and looked at Marie, who was still thinking.
It was because the last letter from a while ago was still in her heart.

“Ellie, do you remember the thing on the Young Master’s leg?”

She didn’t expect much since Ellie was young, but she still asked.

“Of course.
I kept making fun of the Young Master.”

Brielle’s spot is unusually heart-shaped, so Ellie used to tease him.
Back then, as if Brielle could understand what she was saying, he would pull on her hair.

“Do you remember which one?”

“Of course.
Hold—well…”

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Ellie was lost in thoughts.
A little time passed.

“Left.
Yes, it was the left.”

The child remembered accurately, contrary to what Marie had expected.
Because of that, more doubts arose.
As he wrote the letter, he must have thought of the Young Master, but the question arose as to why he could write it the other way around.

‘Am I being too sensitive…?’

“But, why?” Ellie looked at her sister and asked.

“I just suddenly remembered…”

It was a questionable answer, but Ellie thought Marie would tell her when the time came to tell her.

“By the way, can I go out?”

“Go out? Where do you want to go?”

Ellie would be frustrated because she had been locked up in the mansion for a long time.
No matter how spacious the mansion was, she would be cramped compared to how she roamed outside.

“I think my friend is going down to the countryside.
I got a letter.”

“Yeah?”

After not going out for a long time, Ellie starts sending letters to the children around the county to play.
At first, the knight found that she was wandering around, not even thinking of sending a letter to a high aristocratic family.

From then on, she has gained courage and has been sending letters to the children.
It was now natural for the County’s letters to contain Ellie’s name.

“Then, I’ll ask the Count.”

“Hmm!”

Marie suddenly had a question.

‘Why isn’t Ellie asking anything?’

She’s a kid who likes to go out and play more than anyone, though she obeyed the instructions not to go out.
She didn’t think it was strange that Marie still had to ask the Count’s permission.

‘She must know something.’

“Ellie.”

“Huh?”

“Don’t you wonder why you shouldn’t go outside?”

In the end, Marie asked.
Ellie turned her body and lay down on her sister’s side.
“There is someone who is aiming for the County, isn’t there?”

Marie was startled.
She didn’t know that Ellie knew so well.

“At first, I thought it was the knight who broke the window in the study, but I guessed it wasn’t because we were still banned even after he was caught.
Am I wrong?”

“No, that’s right.”

She lay down next to Ellie, then pulled the blanket close to the child’s neck and covered her.

“I think sister only looked at you as too young.”

“You realized that now?”

Marie glanced at Ellie, who spoke bluntly, with a look as if she didn’t like it.
“Still, you don’t have to be too big.
You know?”

“Huh.”

At the look of the sweet sister’s eyes, Ellie was held in her arms.
Now, no matter what anyone says, her sister was the best in the world.

“Come on, let’s go to sleep.
You’re going to doze off in class tomorrow after this.”

“Okay.”

So, the two sisters fell asleep, holding each other in their arms.