TBMRB 06

Chapter 6

Again.

Once again, Dietrich had lost his nanny to Mariella.

‘Even Nanny likes Mariella more than me….’

Everyone in the mansion adored the fluffy little baby.

Compared to Mariella, Dietrich was nothing more than a troublemaker who caused accidents every single day.

His hair wasn’t pink and sweet-looking like hers, but a dull black, and he was also much bigger than other children his age…

Come to think of it, there wasn’t a single cute thing about him.

Meanwhile, Mariella was four years younger than Dietrich, still a tiny, adorable baby who smelled faintly of milk.

Unable to overcome his sadness, Dietrich’s lips jutted out in a pout.

“Ouch.”

He must have unconsciously clenched his fist, because a stinging pain rose from his still-healing palm.

When he looked down, the scab had fallen off, exposing half-healed, reddish flesh underneath.

Even so, no one paid any attention to Dietrich this time.

Everyone was busy with their own work.

Even the nanny he had trusted hadn’t noticed Dietrich running toward her happily after spotting her. She had gone straight to Mariella’s room.

Dietrich endured the pain and clenched his fist once more.

‘When I got hurt last time, everyone was so surprised that they came running to me.’

And it wasn’t only when he injured his palm.

When he had broken an entire set of dishes in the kitchen while throwing a discus, the butler had gotten angry, but he had still rushed over and carefully checked Dietrich from head to toe.

Even earlier than that, when Dietrich had been running through the hallway and smashed his forehead into a doorknob, splitting the skin above his eyebrow.

Even when he had been hanging from the balcony railing because he was bored.

‘Then I have to do something much, much, muuuch more noticeable than Mariella!’

There was no way he could beat his little sister in cuteness.

Mariella was the sort of baby who could make people sigh in admiration just by walking around with her cotton-stuffed-looking belly sticking out, but Dietrich was already seven years old.

However, Dietrich still possessed one secret weapon that his young sister did not.

An abundance of stamina.

Dietrich was unusually large and strong for his age, which meant that even when he caused trouble, he could make the accidents much more spectacular.

When it came to strength, Mariella, who wasn’t even half his age, could never compete with him.

‘If I do something really cool—ta-da!—then everyone will like me.’

Dietrich quickly looked around.

The first thing that caught his eye was the dark green curtain covering the glass door leading to the balcony.

Ever since Dietrich’s last accident, the door leading to the balcony had been locked.

They had even drawn the curtain all the way down so that Dietrich wouldn’t become interested in that area…

But Dietrich quietly remembered the day he had hung from the balcony railing.

The butler and nanny had come running in a panic, terrified that he might be swept away by the wind and fall.

And the servants had all turned pale with fright.

When he remembered everyone staring at him anxiously, practically stomping their feet in worry, the corners of his mouth curled upward into a broad grin.

The door was locked, so he couldn’t go out onto the balcony…

‘But if I hang from this curtain and fly through the air like whoosh, that’ll look really cool, right?’

Dietrich recalled an illustration of a flying squirrel he had seen in a fairy-tale book.

As long as he had a thick piece of cloth like a curtain, he felt that he could spread his arms wide and fly through the air just like one.

The moment he made up his mind, Dietrich reached out, grabbed the curtain, and began climbing it like a squirrel.

This miserable fever.

I groaned as I lay there with the wet towel my nanny had placed on my forehead.

My fever still hadn’t gone down because my memories from my previous life and my memories after reincarnation were continuing to mix together.

I had thought all my memories had already returned, but forgotten fragments that even I had lost track of kept coming back one after another.

‘In any case, the fever will go down soon.’

I had never reincarnated before, so I couldn’t be certain, but I had a vague feeling that it would.

The nanny and maids, however, who had no idea that I had reincarnated, remained worried the entire time.

“Nanny, what should we do?”

“Did she take her medicine?”

“Yes, just now.”

“We’ve already called a physician, so let’s wait for now. Her fever might come down while we’re waiting.”

“All right. But will a physician from such a small place really be enough? Shouldn’t we go to a larger city and bring back a renowned doctor? A fever that lasts this long can be harmful to a baby.”

“We’ve already called a physician. Let’s hear what they have to say first.”

I couldn’t exactly tell them that this was something like a kind of ‘backup pain’ from my memories.

Feeling sorry for making them worry for no reason, I apologized by rubbing my cheek against the nanny’s hand whenever she checked the heat in my cheeks.

“Don’t worry, young lady. They said the main family would choose a good physician and send them along with him.”

The main family?

I remembered hearing something about our family lineage from the old butler once.

If I searched through my memories…

‘Our family is a branch of House Kallenberg.’

My father, who was currently away at the battlefield, was apparently the eldest son of the Duke of Kallenberg.

Although he was the eldest son, he had been pushed out of the position of heir and had instead established a branch family and moved out to live separately.

If the main family was sending a physician, then it must be the Duke—in other words, my grandfather—who was sending them, right?

It seemed I wasn’t the only one who was curious.

Betty, who was sitting nearby, tilted her head to the side and asked,

“The main family? You mean the ducal family?”

“Yes.”

“The main family hardly ever interfered in our household’s affairs, though, did they? There was also that unpleasant incident during Madam’s funeral… Why are they sending a physician now?”

The nanny glanced briefly in my direction before lowering her voice.

“They must have heard about the butler being injured and leaving.”

“Ah…”

“They sent word that they would also send a new butler, suitable servants, a physician, and even guards.”

“The Duke certainly is something. Even though he and our master are practically estranged, I suppose he still worries about the young master and young lady?”

My father and grandfather were practically estranged?

That was new information.

I squeezed my eyes shut beneath the wet towel and pretended to be asleep, listening more carefully to the maids’ conversation.

“Watch what you say. The main family’s servants will be arriving within a few days. What are you going to do if you say something careless in front of them?”

“I’m sorry, Nanny.”

“This time, the main family is clearly showing us a great deal of kindness. There’s no master here right now who can handle this situation. And both young masters are still children.”

“The main family’s servants are all so unpleasant, but I suppose having them is better than having no one. Honestly, I was already getting nervous because the number of guards had gotten so low.”

The nanny reached out and flipped the wet towel resting on my forehead over.

Meanwhile, Betty continued chattering.

“Honestly, we’ve had so much work lately. Even when the young master or young lady asked us to play with them, we were just so busy…”

“That’s true. I feel terrible that I haven’t been able to pay enough attention to the two of them either.”

“You did your best, Nanny. Besides, the young master certainly caused quite a few accidents, didn’t he?”

“Still, he’s been behaving himself lately.”

“That’s only because he injured his palm last time.”

“It breaks my heart when the young master acts like that, too. We should have paid more attention to him.”

A voice calling, “Nanny!” seemed to mix into their conversation, and I narrowed my eyes slightly.

‘Wasn’t that Dietrich’s voice just now?’

Perhaps I was imagining things because we had been talking about Dietrich.

But just as I was thinking that, the voice came again, louder than before.

“Nannyyyy!”

This time, the nanny and Betty seemed to hear it as well, because they abruptly turned toward the door.

“Wasn’t that the young master’s voice?”

“You heard it too, Nanny? I did, too. Don’t tell me he’s causing trouble again…!”

When the two of them suddenly sprang to their feet, I sat up as well.

The nanny looked slightly surprised that I had gotten up despite thinking I was asleep, but there was no time to waste.

The voice calling for help had become even more desperate.

Without waiting for each other, we opened the door and hurried into the hallway.

“Nanny! Save me!”

I turned toward the direction of the voice.

At the end of the second-floor hallway, in front of the door leading to the balcony, I saw Dietrich dangling from the curtain.

The wallpaper on the ceiling had been ripped open with a loud tearing sound, and the curtain looked as though it was about to collapse completely.

Why was he doing that?!

The curtain fabric had twisted around Dietrich’s ankle, leaving him hanging there, unable to move in either direction.

The nanny didn’t hesitate.

She immediately ran toward Dietrich, who was suspended in midair.

“Young master, don’t move!”

Every time Dietrich twisted his body, more of the wallpaper tore away, and the curtain sagged further into an increasingly strange shape.

The moment the nanny grabbed Dietrich’s body, the curtain completely collapsed.

The force knocked the nanny backward, and her back slammed into the glass balcony door.

Then, with a tremendous crash, the glass shattered and scattered everywhere.

“Ah, ugh…”

A faint groan escaped.