IWBAACTWITOS Chapter 21

Mia, the nanny for Thaleia and Royna, hurried toward the forest behind the estate when she heard the children had disappeared from the study.

Thaleia often napped here besides under the garden tree. Thaleia was a clever child who mostly played in predictable places within expectations, so Mia didn't bother keeping her confined indoors.

'Just as I thought.'

As she'd expected, the two children were playing where flowers bloomed in profusion. Thaleia made a flower crown and placed it on Rayan's head, then started picking flowers again. Rayan watched her quietly.

At the sight, Mia stopped approaching and stared blankly at the scene.

'If my Jin had lived...'

When Mia had given birth to her son and was recovering, she'd heard news that a festival was held in the neighboring Celis Kingdom to celebrate the birth of the first prince.

Only about two weeks apart. If he hadn't left so soon, he would've been Thaleia's good playmate, joining those two right now.

'Well, if Jin had lived, I wouldn't have become Miss's nanny in the first place.'

By now she'd be living with her husband in the Enfield territory, the three of them together. She thought of her husband, separated for several years now, but her immediate task was caring for the two children.

"Miss, Your Highness. Time for lunch."

At Mia's call, Thaleia grabbed Rayan's hand and ran over to her. She'd suspected as much from the moment she found the study's secret passage door open, but seeing them both covered in dust drew a sighing laugh from her.

As she brushed dust and grass from Thaleia's clothes, Thaleia placed the flower crown on her head.

"For me?"

"Yeah!"

"Thank you, Miss. Let's go eat now."

"What about lessons?"

"The butler handled it, so there'll be no problems today."

At Mia's words, Thaleia smiled with satisfaction. A cunning child who'd mastered getting what she wanted. But this time, she deserved a hundred, a thousand praises.

Mia wanted to hug that small body and kiss those soft cheeks, but she barely restrained herself and called Rayan in a calm voice.

"Your Highness."

"...Huh?"

Rayan reacted a beat slow, as if he hadn't expected to be addressed.

Remembering how Rayan had hidden behind Thaleia when Mia introduced herself yesterday, she could easily deduce that he feared adults.

"If anything happens, please tell Miss Tilly. Our Miss is the Demon Lord, and I'm a subordinate of the Demon Lord just like Your Highness."

"...The nanny was my subordinate? Shocking."

Thaleia muttered with a surprised face as if just learning this, and Rayan burst into giggles at her expression.

"Then what am I to Miss?"

"A nanny is a nanny. Even a Demon Lord would have a mother and nanny. No, since I'm the Demon Lord, the nanny is the Demon Lord's nanny."

Thaleia answered as if it were obvious, and Mia nodded as if that made sense.

"Then, Demon Lord, you need to wash before eating, so let's go."

"I haven't made ones for Mom and Dad yet."

"You can come back after eating. Today's snack is the pudding Miss likes. We'll spread a mat here, have snacks with Your Highness, make flower crowns, and take a nap."

"Royna?"

"I'll leave Baby Royna with another maid today. I've been stuck by Baby's side lately—you were lonely, weren't you?"

"Not really."

Thaleia answered curtly, but Mia thought it was a lie.

When Roxana rested, she could focus solely on Thaleia.

But after Roxana returned to active duty, caring for both meant inevitably paying more attention to Royna, who was still young.

Mia still worried about what Thaleia had asked some time ago—which one she liked better.

She must be lonely. She just didn't say anything because she was perceptive and kind.

Hadn't she cried when she first saw Royna, thinking her parents were being stolen?

Still, seeing how she often visited Royna lately, she seemed to have accepted her sister. Mia held out her hand to Thaleia, telling her to hurry.

She felt sorry for Royna, but apart from their time together, Mia couldn't help loving Thaleia more. Thaleia was her salvation.

'You have no idea how fortunate I am to be Miss's nanny.'

Actually, a woman named Mia Harrison was a character who never appeared in the original. She was supposed to die long ago, never having the chance to become Royna's nanny.

She'd been Roxana's childhood friend and one of her vassals, destined to commit suicide after her son's death and discord with her husband.

But when newborn Thaleia came to her, her fate changed. Freed from the destiny of death, she could twist the original story, even if slightly.

But only two people in this world knew that fact.

Mia smiled brightly, knowing nothing. She stood up holding a small hand in one of hers and the flower crown that hand's owner had made in the other.

The walk back to the estate, matching a young child's stride, was leisurely, and the fresh scent of flowers and grass, picked not long ago, clung to her hand.

Julian, Roxana, and Mia decided to press the flower crown Thaleia gave them so they could preserve it for a long time.

Chaemberg looked glum, sad that he hadn't received one.

"But I'm one of Miss's Four Heavenly Kings."

At Chaemberg's words, all three burst into laughter.

"But Butler, I'm the Demon Lord's nanny, and these two are the Demon Lord's parents."

"I see."

So I ranked lowest. Chaemberg cleaned his monocle once, put it back on, then stopped joking and brought up the real reason the four had gathered away from the children.

"Here's the personal information on the prince's attendants."

"You counted their teeth, right?"

"Don't worry—I found out how many are rotten too."

Julian began reading the documents Chaemberg handed him, and Roxana gestured to Mia, suggesting they talk separately for a moment.

Moving to Roxana's office, the two began brewing and drinking fragrant flower tea.

When the teacup was about half empty, Roxana asked her.

"Are you okay?"

"Huh? About what?"

"Chaemberg said you were so scary when you came fuming in today."

"As if that butler would be scared of me."

"Mothers are scary by nature."

"..."

"I got a weird feeling."

"Your Grace was just as angry as me. Who wouldn't be angry?"

"Roxy."

"..."

"Call me Roxy, Mia."

"Okay."

When Mia's tone became more comfortable, Roxana smiled slightly. Mia stopped forcing a smile and touched her teacup with a sad expression.

"Roxy."

"Yeah?"

"Why did you make me the nanny? Someone else was already designated."

"Back then, it looked like you might die."

"..."

"And your husband begged me to save you."

"...That man?"

"Do you contact him?"

"We exchange letters. Until I came here, we were on really bad terms, but as time passed, things got a bit better."

"..."

"No, not better. I was just so drowning in my own grief that I realized too late he was grieving too. Even though our child died, we have to keep living, and my husband understood that and forced himself to act okay for my sake."

Clink. Roxana set down her teacup.

"So will you reunite with your husband now?"

"We weren't divorced."

"Anyway."

"It'll be hard for a while. Baby Royna can't even walk yet, and Miss Tilly is a handful. My husband is the acting lord, so he can't leave Enfield County."

"We can hire a different nanny for Royna."

"No. I'll do it."

Roxana's low laughter rang out. Mia laughed along, then said jokingly:

"Make someone else the acting lord and have my husband come here."

"Huh? Can I fire your husband?"

"It's fine since I earn well. Not much to spend money on either."

"No way. Why would I fire someone who works well?"

"That's a shame."

Though she'd said it knowing it wouldn't work, Mia looked genuinely a bit disappointed.

"If you're only being held here because of Tilly..."

"No."

"Really?"

"Of course. I'm dying to stay by her side. She's so cute and smart, really."

"She's Yuri's daughter, so naturally she's cute and smart."

"And healthy."

"Right, health is most important."

"That's why I'm so relieved."

"..."

"You said it when you asked me to be the nanny. The three families with abilities rarely have children, but thanks to the baptism, the kids don't catch even colds, let alone serious illnesses. I was so happy seeing she really never caught even a common cold."

"Isn't that because you bundled her up like crazy in winter? I thought a snowman was walking around."

"She was cute waddling around, right?"

"Yeah. She was cute."

Remembering Thaleia waddling around then throwing off her scarf in frustration, the two burst into laughter again.

"Children are that precious. So I don't understand how anyone could do that to such a precious child."

"We should drown them all."

"Roxy, when you say things like that, it doesn't sound like a joke. And don't say things like that in front of Miss Tilly."

"I know, I know. But you want to too, right?"

"Of course. Who hits a five-year-old child? Even one or two hits would make me angry, but thirty?"

"Tell me about it."

"...They say it's as common as grains of sand. Children dying."

"Yeah."

"Children are so fragile, but the world is so dangerous."

"True."

"So we should grieve more and cherish them more."

"..."

"But people don't know that."

Mia's last words filled the empty air. Roxana finished her tea and swallowed the truth she couldn't quite tell her.

'It's because it's as common as grains of sand. Why would they care about grains of sand that aren't their own child?'