TBMRB 14

Chapter 14

When I let go of his chubby cheeks, Dietrich covered his cheeks with both hands and backed away a couple of steps before sitting down.

“Nanny said that our father is a very tall man. So she said I’ll grow really tall too. Laura thinks so too, right?”

“Of course.”

When Laura nodded, Dietrich scooted right up beside her and his eyes lit up.

“I was so young when I saw Father that I don’t remember him very well. Is he really as tall as Nanny says? Even taller than Ralph, who works in the kitchen?”

Ralph was the kitchen servant who boasted a build nearly as large as the little side door next to the kitchen.

Perhaps because he carried sacks of flour and ingredients every day, his muscles were nicely developed, making him the biggest of all the employees in our household.

Laura stopped even the hand she had been using to polish a vase and thought carefully for a moment before answering decisively.

“If you mean Master, then yes. He is much taller and stronger than Mr. Ralph.”

Taller than Ralph?

Then just how tall was our father?

Looking at Dietrich’s development, which was already much more robust than that of an average seven-year-old, I began to think that it really might be true.

But Dietrich snorted.

“Come on, that’s a lie! Ralph is the biggest person among all the employees in our estate!”

“I never lie. You’ll be able to see His Lordship for yourself soon, so you can check then.”

This was the first I’d heard of that.

Perhaps blood really was blood, because Dietrich and I tilted our heads to the left at exactly the same time.

Then, without either of us planning it, we questioned Laura together.

“Father?”

“Papa?”

Laura smiled as if we were adorable, then lowered her voice and whispered.

“I only heard about it in the newspaper this morning. The war Master went to fight has definitely ended. The Holy See officially declared the end of the war.”

“The Holy See?”

“The highest priest of the state religion we believe in is called the Holy King. The Holy See is where His Holiness the Holy King and the high priests reside.”

If the war was over, then Papa would be coming back soon.

Papa…

Unlike me, who felt troubled thinking about a person I couldn’t remember at all, Dietrich’s eyes sparkled as he asked,

“Who won the war? Of course Father won, right?”

“Of course. They say the Northern Army never suffers defeat.”

“As expected!”

I had heard about the Northern Army’s reputation too.

That was because the employees from the main family who wandered around our estate would talk about the Northern Army whenever they had the chance. They called it the strongest military force in the empire.

They even went on and on about how Grandfather, the Duke, had practically lived on the front lines in his prime, protecting the borders of the empire.

And apparently my uncle, the heir, held an important position under the military as well.

‘Monsters and heretics…’

Even though they had won the war, the more I heard about it, the more unnerved I became, and I shuddered once.

The heretics and the monsters they controlled might have surrendered, but other monsters would surely be born again when the year changed and migrate south.

Would Papa go back to war again then?

“Are you cold?”

Betty, who had been tending to the fireplace, somehow noticed me shivering and immediately came over with a blanket.

I wasn’t particularly cold, but I appreciated her concern, so I wrapped my arms tightly around Betty’s neck.

I still felt a little bad about what Yasmin had done to her, too.

Though it seemed Betty had already shaken it off.

“I wike Betty.”

“Lady, what about me?”

“Wawwa too!”

After giving both maids, who were even younger than I had been in my previous life, a tight hug, I happened to meet the eyes of Dietrich, who had been standing there all by himself.

Hmm.

It didn’t seem very nice to leave Dietrich out.

“Ditty… I don’t hate you.”

I reluctantly opened my arms, and Dietrich approached me with an incredulous laugh.

“This is for your big brother.”

“Eee!”

Dietrich came closer and began squishing my cheeks mercilessly, causing a ridiculous sound to escape my mouth reflexively.

“What? You don’t hate me?”

“Because you do dis!”

It’s because you’re bullying me like this!

Dietrich looked at my cheeks puffed out like a fish and snickered, then continued pressing and squishing them for quite a while.

The person who eventually rescued me from his torment wasn’t one of the maids. Instead, it was Yasmin, who had been standing off to the side rather than mingling with us and the other servants, fixing my hair ornament.

“It’s already getting late. It’s time to return to your room and go to sleep, Young Master.”

Yasmin glanced toward the darkening window and spoke in her usual composed tone.

Dietrich’s face immediately brightened, and he released my cheeks.

Then he sprang to his feet, ran over, and grabbed Yasmin’s hand.

…When did those two get so close?

Strictly speaking, Yasmin was my nanny, so there shouldn’t have been any reason for her to become that close to Dietrich.

“Sleep well, Baby Ella!”

Why did he look so excited when it was merely time to go to bed?

“I’ll escort you to your room.”

“Okay!”

Still holding Yasmin’s hand, Dietrich left the room with a light step.

There was something slightly strange about his overly cheerful attitude.

…Was Dietrich really the kind of child who obediently went to bed as soon as the sun went down?

I didn’t remember him being like that.

On days like today, when he had skipped his exercise and therefore had plenty of energy left, shouldn’t he have dragged his feet and refused to go to bed, playing in my room for quite a while longer?

“Lady, you should go to sleep now too, shouldn’t you?”

Betty scooped me up into her arms as I sat there, tilting my head in confusion.

Even after I was lying in bed and being gently patted in a steady rhythm, the question refused to disappear.

“You have to close your eyes tightly and go to sleep. If you stay up late, Nanny will give you a scary look.”

I reflexively squeezed both eyes shut, then slowly opened them into a slit.

“But Nanny went where?”

I’m not resisting because I don’t want to sleep yet.

I’m genuinely curious.

Nanny, who had always been by our side, had barely been around for the past few days. I wondered if something had happened to make her especially busy.

If she had gone on vacation, she wouldn’t have left without telling either me or Dietrich.

“Nanny became very busy because of the news of Master’s victory.”

“Nanny busy?”

“Right now, the butler still can’t access Master’s treasury, so Nanny, who has the authority to do so… Hmm, I think that might be too difficult to explain to you, Lady.”

“Explain it more simply.”

No, I could understand all of that!

But an ordinary three-year-old obviously wouldn’t understand things like treasuries or access privileges.

When I pouted my lips, Laura smiled and explained it more simply.

“Nanny has been very busy lately repairing the estate and buying new things that Master needs.”

So normally, that would be the butler’s job, but it seemed the current butler hadn’t yet been granted authority by Papa to manage the finances.

Well, Nanny had worked at our estate for a long time, after all.

Our estate had been short on staff for a long time, with the adults away, so there were actually repairs needed all over the place.

For the time being, I should play as quietly as possible so Nanny wouldn’t have to worry about me.

She was busy enough already.

“Lady, they say Father will be coming back soon.”

“You must be happy, right? When your father returns, he’ll love you very much, Lady.”

With neither the strict Yasmin, who insisted on proper etiquette, nor Nanny, who strictly made sure I went to bed on time, around, the two maids stayed beside me and kept stroking my hair.

Honestly, those two doted on me way too much.

“When Father returns, he’ll also find tutors for the Young Master and Lady.”

I don’t like that. I have to study again at this age?

“He’ll bring lots of spoils of war, too. Perhaps we can even make an even bigger trampoline.”

I don’t like that either!

I understood that they were the rewards for Papa fighting so hard, but monster corpses were a little too much.

“But it’s sad that Madam won’t be coming back. She was such a wonderful person…”

“Betty!”

“I-I’m sorry, Lady!”

It seemed Betty had been close to my mother.

I said nothing and simply squeezed my eyes shut, letting out a yawn.

Whether it was my mother or father, they were both strangers to me anyway, so there was no need for me to make them worry about my feelings.

I still thought it was strange that Dietrich kept gaining weight.

Perhaps the problem was that lately, I hadn’t been paying much attention because Dietrich had been managing his own exercise routine even without me.

‘Let’s think about my personal training clients from my previous life.’

Among them, there had been someone who deliberately kept paying for expensive personal training because whenever he exercised alone without a trainer, he would keep slacking off and doing everything half-heartedly.

I thought Dietrich might be the same.

‘It’s also about the time when repetitive exercise starts to get boring.’

So today, I should personally supervise Dietrich’s workout and teach him one more new exercise…

“Aaaah!”

That voice…

Wasn’t that Dietrich?