Chapter 13: CH 12

She spoke and pursed her lips tightly.

Looking at her ears that were red at its tip, I bit my lips to hold back the laughter that was about to burst out. I wasn’t listening exactly to what she was practising, but clearly there was no need for me to do so.

It was amazing that a person who usually resembles a suit of armour, would also get embarrassed. The sight of the trivial and humane appearance, surprisingly, made me feel quite relieved.

She doesn’t seem to hate me.

“Aunty.”

I called her naturally, thinking that it should be alright since she had requested it first.

Hearing my response, her deep magenta eyes widened in shock. Those same round eyes that resembled Shuel’s lively ones. My face slowly relaxed when I saw her expression.

I slowly approached her and as I got closer, I could see her face that appeared to be frozen. I stopped right in front of her.

Hearing my greeting, Marius looked at me shyly and reached out. It was a slow and careful touch. She hesitated for a moment before a rough and handful of calluses gently ruffled my head.

Despite her rough hands, her touch was quite gentle.

“…Yes.”

I couldn’t help but laugh.

I guess I had forgotten for a moment that she was also a parent who had raised Shuel. Marius spoke in a tone similar to Shuel’s and smiled just like Kendrick. She looked a lot like her family. They were right. Marius was indeed a kind person.

I smiled and paused when I noticed there was someone behind Marius.

Kendrick stood there with a face as if the whole world had just collapsed.

“Just now, you said……aunty.”

Kendrick murmured sorrowfully. Then, he hurriedly strode our way. He quickly reached us despite being a distance away. Kendrick looked at us with a complicated expression.

Kendrick’s eyes glared, as if to accuse Marius for doing something wrong.

“Me too!”

“What?”

“Rwen, darling. Call me too, okay? Uncle. Uuncle. Uncle Derrick, like that.”

Kendrick, who was usually laid-back, eagerly tried to get me to agree to his request. Well…I was worried for nothing.

Still, the appearance of a large adult face who suddenly appeared right before me, was a little uncomfortable. When I shrank back, Kendrick turned to his wife.

“What did you do to Rwen? How come you’re the only one who gets to be called ‘aunt’?! I want to be an uncle, too!”

“Derrick. Do you realise what you’re currently doing is childish?”

Marius…it seemed that there was an emphasis at the end of her words. Was it just me?

At Marius’ calm but teasing remarks, Kendrick’s sullen expression returned. He turned and faced me again.

“Rwen, darling. Do you feel pressured? Really?”

Of course I do…..

“H-Hmm…”

It was a bit intimidating.

However, it wasn’t that I was feeling pressured from calling Kendrick ‘uncle’. Anyone, apart from Kendrick, would feel pressured to see a large face that was just 20 centimetres away from your own.

When I hesitated, Kendrick’s eyes became gloomy.

“Really?”

“Arwen. Go and play now.”

A hand reached out to my arm, gently pulled me out of Kendrick’s grip, and set me down.

Even without glancing at them, I knew it was Marius but I still looked up and stared at her face.

She was still expressionless to me, but now I knew there was warmth in her eyes. “Shu is probably crying again, so go and kick his butt.”

Marius joked in a quiet voice. She laughed in a tone that didn’t sound like a joke at all, but I still giggled.

Beside her, Kendrick muttered absurdly. ‘Rwen, uncle…..’ 

I stared at them in silence but nodded my head and turned around to run down the main staircase. Kendrick, who was still quite glum, warned me to not run down the stairs.

What I experienced when I came to the Duke’s residence were things I had never faced before…but I didn’t hate it.

＊ ＊ ＊

I headed to the garden in a good mood, but what stood waiting for me was anything but.

“He hit me first!”

“You hit me harder!”

I don’t believe that’s Shuel and Rieta…

I could not seriously believe that while watching the two children in front of me fight over food.

Don’t tell me…the kids who went out looking like porcelain dolls with combed hair and were neatly dressed. Why do they look like they have just come out of the jungle?

Their clothes were very wrinkled as if they had just fought and grabbed each other’s neck. I smiled vainly.

Should I praise her for not grabbing his hair? Should I scold him for ripping off the expensive satin frills on her dress?

No…first, someone please tell me the two children in front of me aren’t really Shuel and Rieta.

My brief escape from reality didn’t last long. I held my forehead. From the two sentences just now, I could roughly guess what had just happened.

While they were arguing, someone hit the other party, and they hit them back harder which then just escalated into a fight.

I didn’t even need to investigate it further. It was quite obvious.

“Shuel. You know it’s bad to hit other people.”

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I aimed at Shuel first, who was looking relatively mild. However, he swelled his cheeks up and displayed that he was extremely upset. It seemed useless to try to urge a reply out of him, so I then turned my head to Rieta.

“Rieta, you too. If your friend hits you, you should tell them they shouldn’t do that. How could you hit them back harder?”

“She’s not my friend.”

Shuel interrupted with swollen cheeks. Rieta’s lips trembled, showing a reaction.

“Y-you are not my friend either!”

I was startled by the sound.

No matter how many times she hit and fought with Shuel, Rieta only glared at Shuel with a cold look. For the first time, the said child made a loud noise.

Like me, Shuel widened his eyes in astonishment. At the same time, tears welled up from Reita’s grey eyes.

“You, huk*, you are not my friend! Hu, hukf. I…I also hate you! Y-you idiot!”

[*sobbing noise]

Rieta cried dejectedly. Her face crumpled up as if she had been enduring it for too long.

Worried that she would struggle to breathe from crying so hard, I reached out my hand to her but Rieta slapped it. Rieta stared at me, her small eyes full of anger and gasping for breath.

“I-I hate you too!”

To be honest, my heart ached a little from the words she cried out with a tearful face. Rieta. You gave me jam earlier because you liked me…..

“Rieta. How could you simply say ‘you’ like that to your unnie.”

“I don’t care!”

I stayed silent, but it only served to bring more tears from Rieta. I didn’t think soothing would help very much so I just stared at her silently. Shuel, who was standing next to her, his lips also began to quiver. It was a very ominous sign.

Oh god, please don’t start too.

I prayed desperately but in the end, Shuel also began to cry with a face that looked like a squashed dough.

“W-Why are you crying too?”

“Hingg…..”

I hurriedly reached out to sooth him, but Shuel also rejected my touch as well. My head began to hurt before my heart could ache from the second rejection.

Listening to the children’s cries in the garden, I became befuddled.

I want to cry too, kids….

“Oh, goodness me. Why is everyone crying so hard?”

Perhaps their cries were loud enough to be heard from all the way inside. The maids were startled and ran out from the mansion. Nanny Bessie, the first to arrive, gave me a puzzled look as if to wonder why the oldest child was the only one not crying. I smiled sheepishly.

Yeah. I needed to fix this quickly….

While I struggled to organise my thoughts, the maids approached Shuel and Rieta. I stopped them from trying to comfort the children right away.

“No, just leave them be.”

“But….”

“They’ll eventually stop. Just ignore them for now and please prepare some snacks. Don’t worry about them.”

As if to refute my words, the cries grew louder.

The maids were restless, but I shook my head firmly. Eventually, they left after hesitating for a while. 

Even as a picky eater, there were no children who wouldn’t get tired from crying and eventually become hungry. It’s better not to comfort them when they are crying after doing something wrong.

Children’s physical strength was also limited. Not to mention they were crying from anger, not because they were wronged.

When I silently stared at the children without saying a word, Shuel and Rieta looked back at me. Their crying gradually resided and now there were more sniffles than actual tears coming from the both of them.

After a while, the sniffles itself completely subsided.

The children whimpered a few more times before finally stopping. I sighed.

“Guys…”

Shuel and Rieta sniffled at my call and glanced at me. I didn’t miss the chance.

“If you don’t play, you lose. Rock, paper, scissors!”

The children were bewildered by my sudden words before hastily stretching out their hands. Shuel’s was a fist and Rieta’s was a paper.

Yesterday, I taught the children how to play rock-paper-scissors and suffered all day. But at this moment, I praised my past self.

“Let’s have a talk first, Rieta.”

“Why do you start with Rieta?!”

Once again, Shuel immediately interfered and asked furiously. The sentence ‘Let’s talk’ was a very meaningful phrase when an adult hears it but alas, these poor little lambs were impatient to talk with me.

“You two played rock, paper, scissors and Rieta won. This is fair, Shuel.”

Shuel flinched at my firm words. He continued to sniffle as if he still had a lot of complaints, but he couldn’t refute it.

I brought Rieta to the corridor and when I turned to face her, I almost burst into laughter.

Rieta’s face was puffy, looking like a pizza dough rising.

“I hate you!”

Oh, boy…

I smiled bitterly. Just because she got scolded earlier, my title now changed from ‘sister’ to ‘you’.

TL/N: arwen, the babysitter

pr/n: This picture is 10000% accurate.

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