The woman, with her brown hair neatly tied up, was clearly looking at me.
âIâm Princess Rebeccaâs nanny, Giselle.â
Strangely enough, the nanny seemed to have no intention of holding the child.
âI see.â
At that time, the maid who read my expression approached me with a smile.
âWeâll hold her for you, Lady Leona.â
With a very different expression and voice than before.
My forehead naturally frowned because they gave me a friendly feeling.
âWhat?â
The faces of those people, who flocked around me as if they were forming a circle, were strange. Their eyes were twinkling.
People, who smile, are scarier. As I was feeling uneasy, Rebecca, who was still in my arms, stretched out her arms to the maid.
I had no choice but to let the child go to the maidâs arms.
Worried about me holding her again, Rebecca wrapped her legs around the maidâs waist.
âBoo Hoo~ How dare you touch me!â
âOf course Iâll touch you. Itâs still too early for you to be happy for being able to escape from my arms once, Rebecca.â
When Rebecca went down to the floor, she stuck her tongue out and quickly ran through the dolls, then burrowed herself into one of the rabbit dolls.
Nobody stopped her as if it was a familiar sight.
âFrom now on, if you let âthatâ thing come close to me, Iâll kill you all.â
Donât worry, âthatâ thing has no intention of coming close to you.
After looking at Rebecca, who was throwing a tantrum, I slowly swerved my gaze at the room.
There was a long table that didnât suit the childâs taste inside the room.
Then I sat down at the table that was piled up with the books that Rebecca would never touch during her leisure time.
I didnât do anything in particular.
I just wanted to see how stubborn Rebecca is. Thatâs how the time passed by.
Perhaps she thought that I was going to hug her again, so Rebecca kept burrowing herself inside the rabbit doll and didnât come out for a long time. Because of that, the room was filled with nothing but terrible silence.
After a long time passed, Giselle approached the rabbit doll and kneeled.
âMiss, how about coming out now? Itâs hot in there.â
âQuiet! How dare you order me around! Do you want to be kicked out?â
A brusque voice streamed through the rabbit doll.
âHoweverâŠ.â
âMore than that, nanny. Iâll stay here until âthatâ gets out of my room! Iâm so annoyed, and Iâm in a bad mood!â
âOh, noâŠ..You have to eat, Miss. What if you get a fever?â
âJust leave me alone.â
As I watched it, I casually took a book that was piled up on the table and opened it.
âHow can you say that, Miss? Itâs not that I was worried about you, butâŠ..â
âIf you werenât worried, you wouldnât care whether she went out or not.â
The nanny, who was trying to get the child out of there, stared at me keenly.
âIf youâre trying to raise a child by spoiling her like that, sheâll only grow worse.â
If you do everything that she asks for, there will be no end. In the end, itâs not for the childâs sake, but only a shortcut to destroy the child.
ââŠ.You sound as if you really become the princessâ mother.â
The nannyâs body, which was reacting sharply like a hedgehog, slowly turned towards me.
âFirst of all, that was indeed my duty. Even if youâre her nanny, it would be great if you follow what I said.â
It was difficult to refuse my orders as long as the Duke branded me as the âmotherâ of the princess. She knew about that, which made the nannyâs face become red.
The nanny, who was gritting her teeth, finally took a step back.
Soon enough, the icy sensation lodged in my head. Ignoring her gaze, I pretended to read the book thoroughly.
Meanwhile, the wind blew gently through the door that was slightly open.
Thanks to that, the pages of the book that I was looking at went over and over again.
Itâs a tranquil time that only I could feel. The maids around me asked several times about bringing tea in order to get out of this situation, but I only spent my free time ignoring their words.
Eventually, Rebecca couldnât endure it anymore. As one of the piled-up dolls fell, Rebecca pulled out her head from the doll.
âEnough! Why arenât you going yet? Open the window! Itâs hot. Hot!â
After being together for a short time, I already felt intense fatigue.
As I looked around, I was amazed by the appearance of the maids who refused to give up even when they were worn out.
I can feel how much they had suffered all this time.
So I stopped the maid who went to open the window right away.
âNo. Donât open the window. Itâs easy to catch a cold if you open the window in this cold weather.â
âHey!â
After âthatâ, âthat thingâ, and âget lostâ, is it âheyâ this time?
Rebeccaâs face was revealed more than before. I could see that her eyebrows and bangs were completely soaked in sweat.
The more she made a fuss, the stronger I would teach her a lesson.
As if I couldnât hear her tantrums.
âNow itâs time for a meal. I donât think the child wants to eat, so bring mine.â
âYes? B-ButâŠâ
It was the nanny who stopped me again this time.
âThatâs enough. Are you trying to tease the princess?â
Leaving the bewildered maids behind, the nannyâs face stiffened.
I almost nodded when she asked me if Iâm trying to tease Rebecca.
âTease her? No. Iâm just trying to teach her properly.â
âWhat do you mean? It sounds like youâre trying to say I didnât properly take care of the miss?â
The nannyâs tone gradually increased.
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Then, as if she finally exploded after enduring her anger, Rebecca made a commotion again.
âNanny! Get out! If not, Iâm going to collapse here! Huh?â
âA truly sick child doesnât threaten to be sick.â
âYou donât know anything about Miss Rebecca!â
Eventually, the nanny, who was unable to withstand Rebeccaâs urging, screamed at me. Only then did the child stare at me with a nod.
âI donât know anything. But I am sure of one thing, you are the most responsible as to why the child behaves like that. Iâm sure the Duke brought you in because youâre competent and entrusted his child to you.â
Her lips trembled because she couldnât refute my words.
âI believe you are competent. Because youâve been taking care of another familyâs child all this time. But because youâre competent, you wouldnât be able to admit that your parenting method was wrong. You must have known itâs wrong.â
Unknowingly, my eyes narrowed.
A child may not be able to change the nature that they were born with, but they can change their character while growing up.
It depended on the caregiverâs parenting method. This is why I was even angrier.
âIf it wasnât for that woman, it wouldnât have escalated this far.â
The nanny, who had been listening to me, lit up her eyes, her face flaming red.
âThe master has completely entrusted her to me! Iâm proud to raise her properly.â
âNot anymore. So if youâre going to refute my words, get out.â
âHa? Youâre asking me to leave when I was the one who raised the princess ever since she was a baby?â
Her lips were trembling incessantly, unable to control her feelings. So I just nodded to her.
âYes. If you donât follow what I said, get out of here.â
ââŠThat word, youâll regret it.â
âMaybe. But if you truly want to make Rebecca feel better, even for a little bit, you must get out. If you donât get out even after I said this, Iâll consider you as someone who wants Rebecca to be in a mess more than anyone else.â
After that remark, the nannyâs fierce expression didnât falter.
Rather, she moved past me and looked at Rebecca, who was inside the rabbit doll. There was no particular conversation between the two, but I felt a strange atmosphere.
Considering Rebeccaâs personality, she would be annoyed, but strangely the child only kept eye contact with the nanny for a long time without saying anything.
âMiss, do you really want me to go out?â
âWas it because of her words, or was it because the nannyâs gaze emphasized something unspoken?â
Rebecca pulled her head out completely after a long time.
âWhy are you trying to kick my nanny out! You get out! You get out!â
âIf you want me to go out, you have to talk to me properly, Rebecca. Iâm your mother.â
âMom? As if! Get lost!â
âYou need to say âI sincerely ask you to leaveâ. If you do so, Iâll get out. And if you donât want me to drive your nanny away, you need to ask me properly. You need to get out of there and say that to me.â
Rebeccaâs appearance somehow overlapped with mine, who grew up in an orphanage. With countless children I met there. So I was even more determined.
Now that Rebecca has enjoyed everything, she has to learn how to give up.
âAt least for Rebeccaâs future. No, it was for my future.â
I glanced at Rebecca, who didnât respond to my question, then moved my gaze towards the door.
âUnfortunately, I didnât get the answer I wanted from the child. So you can get out now, nanny. Unless you want to get dragged out.â
ââŠWho do you think I am? I was the nanny of this family for more than five years! Iâm a much higher aristocrat than you!â
Eventually, the nanny blew up, and instead of going out, she stood right in front of me.
She was so furious as though she was going to do something right away, but she only stared at me dryly.
Of course, she looked down at me because I was sitting down, and I looked up to her.
âAre you sure you wonât regret what you just said?â
I shook off her hand, which was holding me, with all my strength.
âWhat?â
âYou donât realize that if you disregard me, youâre disregarding the duke who chose me to be the mother of Princess Rebecca, do you?â
âAre you trying to blackmail me with that? What a joke. I guess you donât understand the situation right now?â
While snorting, she gritted her teeth and lowered her head towards me.
âIf you really want to live in this house and be treated like a madam, then wake up. A lady of a noble family, huh? If you just listen to me, you can enjoy everything you want like everyone else.â
Are you underestimating me? The nanny snickered and put her hand over my head.