Chapter 9

Chapter 9

“I told you so. Do you think Miss Rebbeca would lie?”

He breathed a deep sigh at the brazen attitude of the nanny.

“So, according to the nanny, Rere would come here whenever that woman wasn’t looking?”

“Yes!”

“And you’re telling me that woman hit Rere a little while ago?”

“That’s…co-correct!

“Daddy. That’s right. That woman hit me.”

“Yes, Rere. Your cheeks are red as if you just got hit, but your nanny didn’t hit you, right?”

“Yes!”

“How strange. How did you say that woman hit Rere when she stayed with me the whole time?”

“Huh…?”

Do I come out now?

I had no choice but to jump over the wall and landed with a ‘thud’ sound.

“Unfortunately, I’ve been here with the Duke, and the nanny is lying again.”

“…Oh, no! Daddy! My nanny is right! That woman over there hit me.”

“Rere, stop it. Lying is a bad thing. You keep lying to me.”

“I’m not lying!”

“You’re not? Then how did she hit you?”

Only then did Rebecca bow her head and purse her lips in a pout.

“I don’t know! She hit me! If I say that, then that’s it.”

“…Rebecca. Have you done this before?”

“…..”

“Did you do what she told you like a puppet?”

He put Rebecca down and shook her shoulder.

“Tell me.”

“…I don’t know! I said I don’t know!”

“Right…What do you know? It’s all her fault.”

Only then did his eyes turn to the nanny.

“…You better explain yourself.”

“That…Uh…that…It’s true that I fabricated today’s incident, but that woman continued to abuse miss…”

But before she completed her words, the Duke glared at her fiercely.

“You hurt my daughter, right?”

“…Your Grace. This…all of this…is according to miss Rebecca’s wishes.”

“Why are you making such an excuse? Since when did you think I’ve been listening to your conversation?”

Only then did she raise her head and make eye-contact with the Duke.

“Pa-Pardon?”

“From the very beginning. I’ve heard the conversation from the other side, and it’s driving me crazy. I want to strangle you to death right away, but I can’t do that.”

“Yo…Your Grace…! It’s a misunderstanding….”

“Misunderstanding? Are you kidding me? I saw you abused the child with your own mouth, yet you dare to say it was a misunderstanding? You even mentioned the child’s mother.”

Only then did the nanny lie flat on the floor.

“Fo-Forgive me. Forgive me. I’m…..”

At that moment…

The Duke drew the sword from his waist and thrust it into her hand at once.

“Gyaah-!”

“Does it hurt? My daughter would have been hurt more. My daughter who couldn’t even speak…..If I followed my mind, I would’ve slit your throat right away, but I endured it, so shut your mouth and stay still.”

“Please…no. Please…hear me out…”

“I don’t need to hear any more.”

He continued to show an agitated expression.

“Ha…To think that I put someone like you next to my daughter.”

“Daddy. Don’t do that. She’s my nanny! Don’t bully my nanny!”

“I’m not bullying her, Rere. Why on earth did you not say anything? That she has been abusing you?”

“For the child, the nanny must have been her whole world. She’d rather trust her more than you.”

I couldn’t stand it and squeezed myself between the two.

“Ha…”

At my words, the Duke clenched his fists.

“…Is it because she doesn’t trust me enough?”

“Kind of.”

“…..”

“So it’s only right to keep her away from the child now. There are plenty of opportunities to punish her.”

Rebecca, who only looked at the situation, opened her eyes wide.

“What are you saying! What are you going to do with my nanny!”

“…Stop it, Rebecca. Anyone who makes a mistake must be punished. If I can, I’d like to finish her life right away…but for now, I can’t do that, especially in front of you…”

Rebecca hurriedly ran in front of the nanny and shielded her.

“No! My nanny will be by my side! She will be with me until the very end! You can’t take my nanny away!”

But he was adamant.

The duke, who held Rebecca in his arm, grabbed the nanny’s arm with his other hand.

“Just follow me.”

“Your Grace…I…I can’t go like this. I still have my duty here. So please don’t kick me out.”

“Shut up. It was your hand before, but next time, I’ll pull out your tongue.”

“Ahh…”

The nanny helplessly followed the Duke’s footsteps.

“No! Don’t bother my nanny. I said don’t bother her!”

The struggling Rebecca even shed tears, but it was futile.

***

The nanny was replaced.

I don’t know the details, but according to May, the Emperor took the nanny and said that he would personally punish her.

I then heard that the nanny was the one that the Emperor directly chose and sent to the Duke.

He said that she would take good care of Rebecca because the nanny was competent.

For that reason, the Emperor was angrier over the fact that the nanny caused all this trouble, but the matter was concluded discreetly.

The nanny that came in afterward was certainly different from the one before.

To be exact, the new nanny was originally a maid from here.

She was Rebecca’s exclusive maid from her childhood days who was forced to step back from her position and assigned to do laundry due to the nanny’s harassment.

The nanny refused to leave because she was worried about Rebecca. Her name was Daisy.

“Lady Leona!”

Fifteen days after Rebecca’s nanny was replaced, it’s been a month since I became her stepmother.

“Ah, nanny.”

“I was unsure about what to give, so I followed Lady Leona’s advice to serve all kinds of dishes for Miss Rebecca, but she only ate a spoonful.”

Unlike Rebecca’s former nanny, this nanny was gentle and good-natured. She had her hair neatly tied up, her clothes were made of soft cotton, she had no accessories, and her nails were short.

Perhaps because the Duke was very shocked by the attitude of the previous nanny, he thoroughly chose the nanny himself this time.

“She won’t eat?”

“Yes. What should we do? Maybe, if Lady Leona goes…she will eat.”

“…Okay, let’s go.”

Instead, things have changed between Rebecca and I.

Regardless of what the nanny had done to the child, for Rebecca, the nanny was her whole world.

I expected the child to hate me, but her rebellion was more intense than I thought. The child, who has been screaming to bring the nanny back, was sick for three days after the nanny left.

Every time she saw me, she would throw a fit by yelling and screaming as if she was having a seizure, so I had no choice but to see the child who didn’t want to eat for a short time.

Of course, the sympathy disappeared after a few days.

From that day on, I became a tool to feed the child.

I will go out if you eat. I won’t go out if you don’t eat. Using this strategy.

But that can’t be done every time.

Even worse, I was often told that Rebecca did not eat well.

Eventually, I intervened with the child’s meal because I felt like I couldn’t bear to watch this any longer.

“Rebecca.”

“Why are you here again!”

Her response did not deviate from what I had expected. As soon as Rebecca saw me, she had all sorts of tempers.

The child sat in the farthest seat and glared at me.

“Get lost.”

The child, who was endlessly fuming and struggling, let out a curse as soon as she got down from my arms.

Rebecca Petri. That was the name of the child who was cursing flawlessly at me. For that reason, it would make one wonder if that really came out from a 5-year-old girl’s mouth.

This young girl was an outstanding prospective villainess. She would poison the woman who persistently thrived to become the Crown Princess. And I’m the third stepmother of that child, Leona Selen.

“I said get lost!”

“Yes, Rere, but you should eat first. I’ll get lost after you eat, so let’s just eat this, okay?”

I wanted to clean up the meal because the child said she didn’t want to eat. But this child is a powerful young noble, and I had to pacify such a difficult child because I’m her stepmother.

Thanks to her, it feels like I’m at war every day.

Who said that a child’s very existence itself is wonderful? To some extent, I could agree, but Rere is an exception.

While I swallowed my pent-up anger inside, Rere couldn’t withstand her temper and began to throw things.

‘That’s a relief, there’s nothing dangerous here.’

I was relieved for a moment because I thought I wouldn’t be in a dangerous situation enough to get hurt, but…

One of them hit me right in the face.

Tak-!

“Ah.”

I spouted a single groan at the unexpected pain. A wooden block bounced under my feet and then rolled around. I cleared out all the dangerous things away, but it was still there somehow. I couldn’t even feel the pain due to my perplexity.

At first, I thought I was okay. But the next moment, something trickled down as my forehead got hot.

‘It’s not blood, is it?’

When I wiped my forehead with my hands, warm blood was smeared all over my hand.

“…”

It’s red blood. For a moment, I was wondering if this was a dream. At that time, the startled Rere ran to me belatedly.

“Blo-Blood…! Th-That’s why I told you to get lost!”

She’s not even apologizing. Damn it.

Stepmother or whatever, should I just give up on it and smack her harshly before running away?

I wiped my forehead with my hands without even thinking about taking out my handkerchief because I was dazed. There is so much blood leaking out that even if I wiped it off, the blood kept getting on my hands. It was so dreadful.

Then, Rere came close to me.

“Won’t you…get angry?”

“…What?”

“Why are you not angry!”

It’s me who should be angry, but why are you getting annoyed?

Don’t worry about it, Rere. I was about to get angry.

What should I do with you? Would it make you feel better if I took you somewhere and smacked your buttocks?

“…Why are you not angry. Why!”

“That’s…”

I want to hit you. I have been thinking about this for more than a hundred times. I think the people in this family have spoiled you too much. If I hit your butt 100 times, will you wake up?

As I was immersed in my thoughts, along with the sound of the door opening, there was an unfamiliar voice.

“…It’s the first time. You are the first person who did not get angry at the child’s behavior.”

“Pardon?”

At the stern voice of the man, I raised my head hurriedly. He was Rere’s father, the head of the irrevocable dark family, and the Duke, Ian Petri.

“No matter what she does, are you trying to raise her with love?”

My body flinched at the stern man’s words.

“Your Grace, that’s not what I mean…”

The moment I was stiffened by his taciturn gaze, Rebecca approached me.

“Hey, you…”

“Huh…?”

Just you wait, Rere. I’ll give you a little bit of spanking later.

But Rere pulled the hem of my clothing towards her.

“…I didn’t mean it. Sorry…”

Huh? This is not right.

Unlike my expectations that she would utter profanity and scream, Rere rushed to me with tears flowing down from her beady pair of eyes.

What’s wrong with you?

“You’re acting a little bit different…”

The Duke is acting strange, too.

Hey, that’s not it!

Things are starting to turn strangely.

Can you not be sorry…?

Eventually, I received medical treatment from the doctor that was commissioned from outside.

Although I wasn’t seriously injured, the doctor said that he should wrap my head with a bandage because of the torn wound.

A white bandage wrapped around my head.

I couldn’t refuse that.

I thought I’d bleed if I didn’t cover it up. There was no other choice but to have a white bandage wrapped around my head.

So by the time the treatment was over, Rebecca, who rushed into the room, screamed.