IWBAACTWITOS Chapter 15

It had already been eleven days since Roxana left on her business trip. Even worse, yesterday Julian came home late at night and left again at the crack of dawn. The nanny, worried I might be upset, brought a pile of toys to tempt me.

"Miss, what should we play today?"

I stared blankly at the clear sky outside the window, then turned to look at her at her question. The nanny was shaking a doll that resembled Ann*belle, and I wrinkled my face slightly. Seeing my reaction, the nanny gave an awkward smile.

"D-don't you like this one?"

"Where's Rabbit?"

When I woke up this morning, there was one more strange thing. The rabbit doll I'd definitely left by my pillow had disappeared.

'Oh, now that I think about it, was it time to wash him? While they're washing him, I should ask them to stuff him more too.'

"Rabbit is getting cleaned so he can come back to you."

"Well, while he's at it, tell him to eat something too. He hasn't been very fluffy lately."

"Yes, yes. Rabbit will come back clean and fluffy very soon. How about playing with Miss Lilibel today instead?"

"Her name's Lilibel?"

"Yes, she's a popular doll seri— I mean, everyone's friend Lilibel."

I looked at Lilibel with an indifferent expression. For some reason I didn't understand, the fact that her name ended in "-bel" made me uncomfortable. Even though I'd been a horror movie fanatic, that didn't mean I'd ever wanted an Ann*belle doll.

"I don't like her."

"...I see."

The nanny made a dejected face—it seemed she'd prepared this doll quite ambitiously. I stared at the Lilibel the nanny was holding, then flopped down on the spot.

"Going to sleep again? Let's play together."

"Mmm, too much trouble."

"If we play together today, I'll make you that brown bread you like."

At those words, I sat bolt upright. The brown bread the nanny occasionally made with nuts tasted similar to bread I'd loved very much in my previous life.

When I gave in to food, the nanny smiled as if she couldn't help me.

"Without raisins."

"You need to eat a balanced diet."

"...It's not like I won't eat them. But I don't like lots of them."

"Alright. Today I'll specially make it without raisins."

"What should we play?"

"How about with Lilibel—"

"I said I don't like her."

I snatched Lilibel from the nanny's hands and sealed her at the bottom of the toy box.

Thanks to me sealing the cursed Lilibel, the nanny seemed freed from the doll's curse—she gave up cleanly and asked what I wanted to play instead.

I thought for a moment, then took out other dolls from the toy box, excluding Lilibel.

Most were animal dolls. I handed the deer doll to the nanny and picked up the lion doll.

"Listen carefully. I'm a lion."

"Yes, Miss Lion."

"And Nanny is a deer."

"Are the lion and deer friends?"

"What are you talking about? How could a lion and deer be friends?"

"Th-then?"

"Lions eat deer. For the deer to survive, she has to keep the lion full. Then the lion won't bother trying to eat the deer. And lions like bread."

In other words, hand over the bread. The nanny laughed as if exasperated and suggested a different game.

"Alright, then let's play pirates."

"I'm the pirate, and you're probably a good person with bread, right?"

"How did you know?"

"...You were planning to just get bread without playing from the start, weren't you?"

"Obviously."

The nanny stared at me, then sighed and stood up, saying she'd go make bread.

I called after her back to definitely leave out the raisins. Left alone in the playroom, I lay down again and looked at the ceiling.

I knew I was being too difficult. Normally I would have played along appropriately, but today I didn't feel like it.

I was rolling around the playroom when Royna's crying made me sit bolt upright.

My playroom and Royna's room were quite far apart, but Royna was a child with particularly loud crying. Plus, once she started crying, an hour was the minimum.

'As expected of Roxana's daughter—unbeatable in lung power and stamina.'

I forgot my annoyance and jumped up, heading to the nursery. The maid soothing Royna smiled brightly when I entered.

"Miss."

"Why's she crying again?"

"She's fussing about nap time. Baby, Baby, your favorite big sister is here. Should we open our eyes nice and wide and greet Big Sister?"

As if understanding the maid's words, Royna's crying gradually subsided. When the maid laid Royna in the rocking cradle, I went to its side and stared down at Royna, who was sucking her hands intently, slowly rocking the cradle.

"Tell Nanny I'll be playing here with Royna today. She'll be in the kitchen."

"Pardon?"

"I'll watch Royna, so hurry. Make sure to check whether she puts raisins in the bread or not."

After sending the maid away, I poked Royna's cheeks with my finger and made her dizzy by rocking frantically, playing with my hands.

Though Royna babbled irritably, the more she did, the more fun I had.

"Auh!"

Royna grabbed both my hands and held tight as if she wouldn't let go.

But she slipped because of the drool on them. Royna desperately tried to grab my hand again, but feeling grossed out, I pulled my hand away and wiped off the drool with a handkerchief.

When the irritated babbling gradually turned to whimpering, I panicked and brought a rattle, shaking it beside Royna.

After circling the cradle for a while, enthusiastically shaking the rattle to distract her, Royna was smiling again.

"Whew, just don't get ugly."

If Royna cried, the maids or nanny would definitely stop what they were doing and come running to soothe her.

So it was better for me to soothe her, even if it meant dancing meaninglessly. Not wanting to dance again if she cried, this time I just watched Royna without bothering her.

Warm air, the smell of formula, watching Royna slowly blink her eyes—I just closed my eyes too.

Splat. Something small and wet hit my face. It didn't hurt much, just annoying enough that I turned away to escape from it.

"Oh my, Baby. Big Sister's a sleepyhead, so we can't wake her."

The light presence beside me disappeared, and only then did I realize what had been hitting my face was Royna.

The drowsy feeling was so pleasant I tried to keep sleeping, but the dampness left on my cheek woke me.

'Wait, hold on. Did she just wipe drool on my face?'

Realizing this, I sat bolt upright. I rubbed my cheeks roughly with my sleeve and looked up at the nanny holding Royna.

'When did I fall asleep?'

That was the problem with a young body. Not being able to control sleep. Of course I liked sleeping, but it was hard to adjust to dozing off suddenly while playing.

Unable to pull myself together, I sat there dazed when the nanny brought up something to catch my interest.

"Miss, you asked me to make bread but then fell asleep here."

"...Bread."

"I made it without raisins."

"Give me bread."

"First you need to wash your hands."

"Too much trouble, so Nanny feed me."

When I opened my mouth, the nanny pinched my cheek gently and told me to wash my hands first, lifting me out of the cradle.

As if expecting to put me to sleep with her from the start, Royna's cradle was a super-sized cradle with plenty of room even with me lying in it.

I washed my hands with the water the maid brought, then stuffed the nanny's bread into my mouth.

"Miss, you know what? You'll have a friend staying with us for a while."

"I have friend already."

"Rabbit?"

"No, Asher."

My pronunciation got mushed because my mouth was full of bread. Thanks to that, Asher's name came out cute, making the nanny smile.

"This time it's a prince."

"Don't tell me it's the neighboring kingdom's Rabbit Prince?"

At the word "prince," I spat out the bread that was half in my mouth and asked. The nanny, who didn't know about my hostage situation, tilted her head at "Rabbit Prince."

"He is a prince from the neighboring kingdom, but not a rabbit. The prince will be staying at the ducal mansion starting today, so you'll be able to play together from now on."

"Wait, hold on. He's coming to our house?"

"Yes. You have to be nice to him, okay?"

At the news that the male lead would be staying at the ducal mansion, I understood the situation even less.

The male lead was supposed to stay at the imperial palace and become the only equal friend with the sub-male lead, Asher. That's exactly why I'd matched their ages.

Love for Royna was the biggest reason, but the male lead gives up destroying the world by joining hands with evil spirits because Asher, his only friend, never gives up on him.

And by handing over control of the Celis Kingdom to Asher, Asher becomes the continent's sole monarch, while the male lead and female lead become a duke and duchess and live happily.

'But why is he coming here?'

For now, I stuffed the spat-out bread back into my mouth and chewed, thinking. Between the engagement with Asher and this, things that could have huge effects on the original story kept happening. Why?

"Don't you want him here?"

"Mmm."

I couldn't answer properly because I was eating, but the nanny thought I said I didn't want him and made a dejected face. I hurriedly chewed and swallowed the bread in my mouth, then gave a positive answer to reassure the nanny.

"I'll meet him first."

Color returned to the nanny's face at my answer. She said I was so pretty and kissed my bulging cheeks while I ate, then poured me milk.

I knew she was taking advantage of this moment to satisfy her own desires, but since she'd been kissing me for more than a day or two and my throat was blocked anyway, I gulped down the milk without saying anything.

"But when's Mom coming?"

"When you were napping, we got word she'd be here soon, but she's later than expected."

"When's Dad coming?"

"His Grace leaves right on time."

"Only Mom's coming early?"

"Yes."

"With Rabbit Prince?"

"The prince isn't a rabbit. Your rabbit will be back very soon tomorrow."

I picked up another chunk of bread and put it in my mouth to hide my sigh. Royna, cradled by the nanny sucking her fist instead of bread, was staring at me intently.

"Now, Baby needs to eat too. Time for num-nums."

It was quite a peaceful time. While the nanny was distracted giving Royna her bottle, I held bread in both hands and had bread in my mouth too.

Normally I would have been scolded for breaking etiquette, but you're supposed to cause trouble when the nanny's not looking—that's when you're happiest.

Just then, a maid knocked on the nursery door, came inside, and informed me of Roxana's return.

"Miss. The Countess has— Oh my, Miss!"

At the maid's words, I shoved the bread in my mouth down, then slipped through the open door and started running.

Because I was holding bread in both hands, it was harder to balance than usual, but I still managed to come down the stairs safely.

Beside Roxana stood a boy with black hair and red eyes.

'The male lead.'