Chapter 66
66
66. Paula of the Strange Baron family (4)
I finished wiping the window and rinsed the rag in the water-filled iron bucket. The water was already dirty. I lifted the handle of the iron bucket to fetch fresh, clean water.
I ran into Johnny while walking down the hallway. As soon as I saw his face, I frowned. He looked exhausted, with dark circles under his eyes, as if he hadn't slept in days.
"You look tired?"
"Really bad?"
Johnny touched his face.
"Yeah. What happened?"
"Just, you know, work is tough."
He forced a smile. He must be suffering a lot.
"How's it going with Alicia?"
"Not bad. She even answers when I talk to her these days!"
Johnny grinned. His tired face suddenly lit up.
Before coming to the Baron family, Alicia would only smile when Johnny spoke to her, never even responding. He didn't realize it because she always had a friendly smile, but Alicia didn't want to associate with him. She thought responding would give him false hope.
When I was taken off Joelly's detail and Alicia took over, Johnny got an 'opportunity.'
Recently, Alicia learned that Johnny was the scruffy guy who had a crush on her. I told her. She was so shocked when she heard it. Anyway, since then, she's been a little more receptive to Johnny, subtly reacting to him.
'Oh, hello. Alicia.'
'Yeah. Hello.'
I happened to see them talking the other day. Alicia's voice was prim, but she smiled, her eyes crinkling slightly. Johnny stared at Alicia's face as if he could see right through it. Anyone would mistake them for a couple just starting to date. Knowing the inside story, I was beyond dumbfounded. The obvious power dynamic was so heartbreaking.
Well, it's better not to know the hidden story. Sometimes, secrets are more beautiful when left as secrets.
"Try to get closer to Alicia this time."
"W-w-what are you talking about? How could I?"
Why is he so surprised? You'd think I told him to confess.
"Just talk a lot. How long are you going to suffer alone? You have to seize the opportunity when it comes. If you miss it now, when will you ever have another chance to be alone with her? Right?"
"That's true, but..."
"This might be your last chance."
"Last chance...?"
Johnny murmured, looking dazed. I raised my clenched fists. Johnny nodded in response to my encouragement and steeled his resolve.
"Well, do your best."
I offered some casual encouragement and parted ways with Johnny.
I was walking down the hallway again when I rounded a corner. There was a woman and a man standing in the middle of the hallway. They were looking up, anxiously tapping their feet. Urgent voices rang out in unison.
"Please! Come down!"
"It's dangerous!"
"Yes, it's dangerous!"
"Yes, it's dangerous, so you need to come down!"
Wondering what was going on, my gaze naturally followed theirs upward. Suddenly, something flew past me and hit the wall. Startled, I looked to the side, and with a thud! something fell to the ground, rolled, and stopped at my feet.
A horse? I picked it up to examine it and saw that it was a wooden horse statue. Where did this come from?
Looking ahead again, I could see the situation more clearly. Opposite the two men and women was a large Iron horse statue, and someone was riding on it.
The Iron horse statue swayed as the rider shifted. The man grabbed the Iron horse statue in alarm. His face was pale. The woman was screaming and looked like she was about to burst into tears. Only the feet dangling below the Iron table were moving playfully.
And those feet were so... small.
"Kyahaha!"
Soon, a clear laugh rang out. I slowly approached them. The small feet kicked the horse's body, and the rider bounced on the saddle. I caught a glimpse of blonde hair before it disappeared.
"Please come down! Okay?"
"My heart is pounding! Please!"
"Giddy-up! Giddy-up! Haha!"
Wondering what was going on, I moved closer, and I saw the small feet tilt to the side. As soon as I realized it, I dropped the iron bucket and ran towards them. A small body popped out from the left. By the time the man belatedly stretched out his arms, I had already caught the small body in my arms and was sliding.
A sharp scream echoed. I slid on the floor and collided with the Iron horse statue. With a thud! my vision flashed.
"Kyaa! Young Master!"
"Oh no! Are you alright!"
The two men and women who had screamed rushed towards me. I was still lying on the floor, groaning in pain. It hurt so much I wanted to cry. As I groaned, I felt something wriggling on my stomach, trying to get up.
Only then did I awkwardly raise my upper body and examine the person I had caught. It was a child in my arms. A boy who looked about four years old. The child with scattered short blonde hair and violet eyes stared blankly at me.
Who?
"Young Master, are you alright?"
"How are you feeling?"
The two men and women checked on the child in my arms. Only then did I realize they were servants.
But Young Master? I was bewildered by the unfamiliar presence, but the child's eyes were fixed on me.
Then the child tilted his head to the side. Plump, red lips moved.
"Who are you?"
That's what I want to ask. Who are you?
"Young Master, please come down. Even if she is a servant, it's rude to be on top of a woman like that."
At the man's signal, the woman grabbed the child's body and lifted him off my stomach. Only then was I able to sit up straight. I suddenly coughed. My chest and stomach were throbbing, probably because the impact was absorbed as I shielded the child's body when I fell.
"Are you alright?"
"Yes. I'm fine."
The man offered me his hand. I took his hand and got to my feet. I straightened my crumpled clothes and coughed again. My head was throbbing, and my back especially hurt. The impact from the fall must have been considerable, as the pain was hitting me late.
As I was feeling my back, the man said with a worried expression.
"You should get checked out, just in case."
"I'm fine, so you should check on him first. I caught him, but there might have been an impact."
I didn't know who the child in front of me was, but since they were calling him Young Master, he must be a noble. So I added politely, and the man nodded.
Even then, the child's clear eyes were fixed on me. Then he tugged on the woman's skirt next to him and called her Nanny.
"Who are you?"
"Well, I've never seen her before either."
The woman's gaze was also fixed on me. She looked apologetic.
I waved my hand, which had been feeling my back, and shook my head to indicate that I was fine. Then I realized my hand was empty. I quickly looked around. I saw the iron bucket I had thrown earlier lying on the other side of the woman's shoulder. And the dirty water that had soaked the area around it.
"Ugh."
It was already spilled water by the time I got there. I picked up the overturned iron bucket and swept the wet floor. I sighed.
"Oh no, what should we do? I'll help you."
The woman said, looking at the water spilled on the floor.
"It's okay. I was the one who threw it."
I squatted down and wiped the floor with the rag, squeezing the water into the iron bucket. As I repeated wiping the water off the floor and squeezing it into the iron bucket, the woman insisted on helping and wiped the water off the floor with her skirt. I stopped her from doing that. The quick-witted man said he would get more rags and quickly ran down the hallway.
In the end, I surrendered to the woman's insistence on helping and started wiping the floor again, when suddenly a small foot appeared in front of me with a splash, pressing down on the end of the rag. I looked up and saw the child glaring at me with a sullen face.
"Ugly."
What?
I was taken aback by the sudden insult and froze, when a small hand pointed directly at me.
"Ugly! Ugly! You're Ugly!"
"Y-Young Master."
The woman looked at the child with a troubled expression. I wondered what I had just heard. But as if to dismiss my worries, the child continued.
"Ugly, who are you?"
"Y-Young Master, why are you doing this? Please don't."
"I'm asking who you are!"
He said, pressing down harder on the rag. Each time, dirty water splashed and soaked my hands.
I was so surprised that I couldn't answer right away. I still didn't fully understand what this little brat was saying. Out of nowhere, he called me Ugly? I heard that right, didn't I?
The woman tried to stop the child in embarrassment, but it was no use. As I didn't answer, the child seemed to get stubborn and shouted, asking who I was. He was determined not to back down until he got an answer. Then the child pouted.
"It's an order!"
"Young Master!"
I didn't know who the child was, but I knew this much.
He's a prickly, arrogant, and obnoxious brat!
As I grasped the child's personality, my mind quickly calmed down. Yes, that's right. Getting excited and flustered is what immature people do. I'm an expert at dealing with obnoxious people. Besides, I've experienced even worse situations. A man who was more prickly, more arrogant, and more obnoxious than this child.
"Young Master, please don't do that and move your foot..."
"Young Master."
I calmly moved my lips. The child's eyes sparkled as if he had been waiting for it. The Nanny looked at me in dismay.
"Although I may be of humble status, I know how to show respect. If you want to know who someone is, it's polite to introduce yourself first."
I explained each word clearly so that the child could understand. The child just blinked. He seemed to be thinking about what I meant. Only the woman, who understood properly, didn't know what to do.
"Order, must obey!"
The child shouted, as if he didn't fully understand what I meant but felt unpleasant. The child's ability to use sentences was excellent, but his pronunciation was inaccurate, so even when he shouted, he was just cute. There was no sense of dignity at all.
"Unfortunately, I have no answer to that order. I ask that you please withdraw that order. And that foot too!"
As I said that, I grabbed the end of the rag under the child's foot and shook it. It was meant to tell him to move his foot, but the child didn't seem to understand and didn't budge. In the end, just as I was about to carefully pull the rag out from under his foot, a small hand suddenly pushed my shoulder hard.
I fell on my butt on the floor. At the same time, I heard a splash. I looked up and saw the child lying on the floor. It seemed that the child had lost his balance and fallen over because the rag was pulled out suddenly as my body fell backward.
The woman was startled and quickly picked up the child, but his face and the front of his clothes were already soaked with water.
The child looked like he was about to cry. Tears welled up in his big eyes, ready to burst. The woman didn't know what to do and pressed the child's wet face with her skirt.
I, I mean, I told you to move your foot. I got up in a panic. The man who said he would get more new rags hadn't returned yet, and I felt like I shouldn't be here any longer.
"T-This small rag is not enough to wipe up all this water. I'll have to get a large mop. Leave it to me."
I babbled and turned around immediately. A loud cry erupted from behind me as I ran away.
"Uwaaaah!"
Of course, I didn't look back.
I was definitely running away.
He looked like a precious young master, and I was belatedly worried that I would be punished for making him cry. So I hesitated to go down to the kitchen to get a new rag. When I came back, fortunately, the child and the woman were gone.
As I finished wiping up the dirty water on the floor, I felt uneasy for no reason, even as I massaged my throbbing back. I made a child cry and ran away, should I apologize? But I didn't know who he was, and I didn't want to make a fuss by finding him. It wasn't a pleasant encounter.
After wiping up all the dirty water, I went to get fresh water in the iron bucket, massaging my aching back. And I soon forgot about that day.
But it wasn't long before I met that obnoxious brat again. As usual, I was cleaning my area when I was called by Audrey and went to Joelly's room.
"He's my nephew. He's staying here with me for a while."
Next to Joelly stood a small, familiar child. I couldn't forget that face with the short blonde hair and mischievous expression. Violet eyes sparkled as he looked at me. I was silent in front of him.
"This child was talking about you. He said he really wanted to meet you."
I was doomed. I forcibly suppressed the urge to run out of the room. But I was prepared to run out if necessary.
"Who are you."
"Robert, you have to say hello first."
"Hello. Who are you?"
The child clearly remembered who I was. He also seemed to know very well what the situation was.
"...I'm Ann."
Finally, the child, Robert, who had heard my introduction, smiled happily. Of course, it wasn't a pure smile at all.
"From now on, Ann will be helping Nanny to attend to Robert."
"Me, me?"
"Yes."
"Me?"
"Yes. Ann."
Joelly smiled brightly. Robert smiled even more happily next to her. The Nanny, who was standing behind him, forced a smile and gave me a pitiful look. Alicia, who had been attending to Joelly, glanced at me with a displeased expression.
"Please take care of me."
In the midst of all this, I just wanted to cry.
