IWBAACTWITOS Chapter 3

Thalia, who had been looking at Mia with a strange expression, began struggling to pull her arm free from Royna's grip, finding it difficult to support herself on the edge of the cradle. While it wasn't particularly hard to free her arm from the young baby, the challenge for Thalia was that the cradle was a bit too high for her.

Her bottom wiggled as she flailed about, trying somehow to get her feet onto the chair. The sight of that small, chubby bottom swaying before her eyes was so adorable that Mia momentarily forgot about rescuing Thalia and just watched the scene unfold.

After trying to manage on her own, Thalia finally asked Mia for help, her face completely flushed red.

"Nanny, help me out."

Only then did Mia grab Thalia's waist and lift her out of the cradle. Thalia took a deep breath, glared at Mia, then turned her head away with a sharp motion.

Thalia had a tendency not to ask for help easily, struggling desperately with her child's body to accomplish things beyond her capabilities, only reluctantly accepting help at the very end when she had no choice. This time too, she seemed displeased that she had to ask for help herself.

Since fostering a child's independence was important, Mia usually watched and provided subtle assistance, but today she felt sorry because her selfish desire had led her to not help until Thalia asked directly.

'But how is it that even our young miss's sulking is so adorable?'

Looking fondly at Thalia's puffed-up cheeks full of resentment and her triangular eyes, Mia couldn't contain herself and hugged Thalia, rubbing their cheeks together.

"How can our young miss be so cute and lovable?"

"Babies are naturally cute."

After accepting the affection briefly, Thalia seemed to get annoyed and pushed against Mia's cheek while saying this. Thalia was the least baby-like baby among all the babies Mia had seen. Yet her reaction, as if she knew very well that she was still a baby, was quite amusing.

"You're the cutest and most lovable among all the babies I've seen."

"What about Royna?"

"Of course, baby Royna is cute and lovable too."

At Mia's answer, a mischievous thought seemed to cross Thalia's mind. She widened her eyes and asked with feigned innocent eyes:

"Then between Royna and me, who do you like more?"

It was a variation of the classic "Do you like mommy or daddy more?" question.

"Hmm..."

"The nanny spends all her time with Royna these days, so you like Royna more, right?"

"No, no! It's just that the baby needs more attention because she's so young."

"Then you like me more?"

"...Actually."

"Actually?"

Mia knew that Thalia was teasing her. However, since she couldn't avoid answering, she whispered softly into Thalia's ear.

"I like Miss Tilly more."

When Mia gave a sincere answer to what was meant as a playful question, unmistakable joy bloomed on Thalia's face. Since she had answered, now it was Mia's turn to get revenge for being teased.

"For now."

"...What?"

"Well, I've spent four years with Miss Tilly, and I've only just met the baby, so naturally I like Miss Tilly more. But I'll grow to like baby Royna more and more too."

"..."

The corners of Thalia's eyes began to upturn again. Mia giggled inwardly as she continued teasing Thalia to the end.

"So you'll stay a good child until the end so you don't lose my love, won't you?"

"Nanny, that answer earns you fifty points."

"Pardon?"

"Even though it says to write your own thoughts, the grader has already decided what they want to hear and doesn't actually care what you think."

"...Um, yes?"

Mia, who had expected Thalia to throw a tantrum, couldn't understand her cold verdict. Seeing Mia's bewildered face, Thalia chuckled and said:

"But don't worry. If you get fifty more points from Royna later, your combined score will be a hundred. When Royna can talk, ask her for fifty more points."

Thalia, who didn't mention that the average would still be fifty points according to the harsh reality of South Korea's grading system, giggled while watching Mia, who was still tilting her head in confusion.

From that laughter, Mia realized she had wrongly provoked Thalia's mischievous side. Before getting into a difficult situation, she needed to improve Thalia's mood, so despite there being some time left before snack time, Mia asked a maid to bring Thalia's snack.

"Young miss, say 'ah.'"

Though she didn't understand the story exactly, the nanny seemed to have noticed that I was disappointed by her playful additional answer. It was a belated attempt to earn points, but I graciously accepted the bribe.

"Delicious."

"Is it tasty?"

The nanny wiped the cream from my mouth and smiled contentedly.

"Our young miss eats snacks well, eats meals well, and is so pretty."

I opened my mouth asking for another bite. It was definitely a sinfully delicious taste that would make me gain weight, but with my child passive ability, I wasn't gaining weight yet, just expanding my stomach capacity. In preparation for getting fat later, I was in the process of constructing the excellent path of a pig. To the nanny, who didn't know my grand plan, I was just a pretty child who didn't pick at bell peppers or carrots.

"What will you do after your snack?"

"I'm going to sleep. Sing me a lullaby."

At the mention of sleeping, the nanny smiled, but the worry contained in that smile was clearly visible. She seemed concerned about me sleeping too much. One day, she had even called a doctor to ask why I slept so much. The doctor answered that there was nothing seriously wrong with my body and that I might just naturally need a lot of sleep.

Since then, she didn't particularly interfere, but sometimes when I slept too long, she would wake me up out of concern. On those days, no matter how much I showed irritation and sulked about having my deep sleep disturbed, the nanny would just accept it. I wanted to tell her not to spoil a child and ruin their character, but since I was the one making a fuss, I couldn't say anything.

'Well, she's usually strict.'

And since I was already mentally grown up, there was no chance of my character being ruined.

Having dismissed my concerns about the nanny, I was thinking the trivial thought of 'what lullaby should I ask for?' while chewing, when I suddenly looked at the clock and had to change my plans.

"Young miss, what's wrong?"

"I won't sleep. I'm going to play house with daddy."

Today was a holiday, and thanks to that, I could visit Julian anytime as he worked on estate business from home. I had finished my snack, and it had been over four hours since Julian entered his study, so it was time to drag him outside for some exercise.

So today I planned to teach Julian what real house-playing was. Originally, house-playing wasn't about mom, dad, and baby, but required a villain, a hostage, and a hero.

"Daddy, hello!"

When I barged into Julian's study without any warning, Julian looked startled at first, then saw me and smiled brightly.

"Tilly, did you come to see daddy?"

"Yes, let's play with me."

"Our pretty one wanted to play with daddy. Where shall we go play?"

"The garden."

Julian seemed to want to carry me, but I threw a tantrum saying I would walk on my own feet, then dragged my rabbit doll to the garden. After taking a quick look around the garden, I tied the rabbit doll to a suitable tree branch using its ears, then climbed onto a rock with the branch and shouted to Julian:

"I have kidnapped your rabbit! If you want to get the hostage back obediently, you must obey my words!"

Julian, who had come out to the garden briefly from his work to play with his beloved daughter, seemed a bit flustered at suddenly being threatened. For now, to play along, he asked what he should do.

"Run."

"...Pardon?"

"Do warm-up exercises and run around this mansion once. Understood?"

At my command, Julian turned around to check the ducal residence. The ducal residence was divided into the main building and an annex, and we were currently in the central garden. Behind the annex were a lake and forest, so running around once was nearly impossible. Especially for Julian, who had been chronically lacking exercise.

"...Here?"

"Hey! Don't you want to get the hostage back?"

When I threatened by pointing the branch at the pitiful rabbit's neck, Julian looked at me with even more puzzled eyes. It might look like I was just playing pranks on Julian because I had no friends, but actually my intention wasn't simple mischief.

During Roxana's pregnancy with Royna, Julian had rapidly gained belly fat from eating together with her. Unlike Roxana, who recovered her original body condition not long after giving birth to Royna, Julian showed no signs of wanting to exercise.

I, who sat on his lap every day, knew. That from sitting for long periods while working, fat was accumulating in his belly and thighs. Just like during my senior year of high school. And such fat doesn't come off easily.

"I have a question, um, so..."

"Call me Great Demon King."

"Yes, Great Demon King. First, what kind of rabbit is that rabbit?"

"It's a neighboring country's prince."

"...What reason do I have to rescue the neighboring country's rabbit prince?"

"Because the neighboring country's rabbit prince has utility value for daddy's country."

"What? Then even if the rabbit prince is rescued, it's not particularly good for him?"

"That's how the world originally works."

When I shouted confidently with both hands on my hips, Julian began laughing while holding his belly. Actually, this story was quite realistic for Julian's current situation. As he said, it would mean taking on unnecessary responsibility, but if done well, it could provide justification for intervening in the Celis Kingdom.

Julian never does anything at a loss. Even though he might seem tearful and foolish in front of family, he was capable enough to steal the real power that nobles had held for hundreds of years in just ten years. It was just that the scales hadn't tipped yet on whether this matter would bring more loss or gain.

Julian's eyes sharpened for a moment, but when they met mine, he smiled foolishly again and raised his hand to ask:

"Then let me ask just one more question, Great Demon King. What benefit would I gain from rescuing that hostage?"

"Simple. You would gain the neighboring country."

"I don't want the neighboring country, Great Demon King."

"Then just give the kingdom to the prince. There's nothing bad about becoming friends with a neighboring country's king."

"Hmm..."

"If it's to rescue a friend, I'll specially allow you to run around the garden instead of the entire mansion."

I puffed out my chest and spoke as if being merciful. Actually, I never intended to make him run around the entire mansion unreasonably from the start. While I did have the intention of guiding things to flow according to the original setting for the male protagonist, the most important thing was the exercise and health of my pot-bellied chancellor daddy.

Julian, who had been pondering the condition of running around the garden once, readily accepted my threat. I ran alongside Julian under the pretext of surveillance. Julian was faster, but I had better stamina. After completing one lap, Julian breathed heavily as if tired.

"Now you'll release the rabbit prince?"

"Yes!"

I untied the rabbit and approached Julian, touching his belly fat. Now that he had started exercising once, it was time to give him shock therapy to keep exercising consistently.

"Daddy's belly fat is bigger and squishier than the rabbit prince!"

At my words, Julian looked at me with a shocked expression, and I withdrew my innocent smile and said firmly:

"Lose weight."

"Yes, Great Demon King."

Today too, the Great Demon King in the house-playing game protected family peace and happiness through hostages and threats.