Chapter 67
67
67. The Maid and the Young Master (1)
I became a maid to that unlucky young master. Every day, all day long, I was stuck by the child’s side.
The young master, Robert, was no ordinary child. As if to prove he was a noble’s son, the child knew exactly that I was his inferior.
“Bring it.”
The child snatched the spoon from Nanny’s hand and threw it on the floor, then abruptly ordered. He pointed at the spoon on the floor, looking directly at me.
“Young Master, you mustn’t do that.”
Nanny gently scolded him and tried to get up. But Robert grabbed her waist, preventing her from rising, and commanded again in a clear voice.
“Ugly, bring it.”
“……”
“Young Master!”
Nanny looked at me, flustered. I smiled to reassure her and picked up the spoon. I wiped it with my apron and was about to hand it to Nanny, but before she could take it, Robert snatched it and threw it back on the floor.
“Dirty!”
“……”
“Young Master, why are you doing this!”
Ah, I’ve seen this somewhere before. Who does this remind me of?
A sense of déjà vu crept into my mind.
“Mother said not to use things that have fallen!”
“Then I’ll get a new one.”
“No! Don’t go!”
Robert grabbed Nanny’s waist again, clung to her, and shouted, looking straight at me.
“You go!”
I gritted my teeth, forced a smile, and moved. I didn’t drop the smile until I stepped out of the room. Of course, I let out a silent scream as soon as I was outside.
The situation repeated itself even after I returned with a new spoon.
“New one!”
Robert only ate a few spoonfuls of soup before throwing the spoon again. Nanny looked at me, flustered. I forced another smile and went down to the kitchen.
As soon as I entered the kitchen, I hardened my expression and looked around. Soon, I grabbed a clean, dried cloth that was lying nearby, spread it out, put all the spoons in it, and wrapped it tightly. I hid it behind my back, took one spoon, and returned to the room. Not long after, the same situation occurred again.
“Young Master!”
Nanny scolded him, but Robert didn’t seem to hear. I told her it was okay and stopped her. Then, I took out the white cloth I had brought from the kitchen from behind my back. Her eyes widened, but I smiled brightly and unfolded the cloth.
“I have plenty prepared.”
I chose one of the dozens of spoons and handed it to Nanny. I added that she should tell me if she needed more. Nanny received the spoon with an admiring look. Robert stood next to her, looking dazed.
But Robert’s misdeeds continued even after that.
“Bring that!”
“Don’t touch it!”
“Ugly!”
Wow, who does this remind me of? Some man, or a master with a terrible personality, or a son of a bitch.
But I had no intention of losing. Believe it or not, I was once a servant to a master with a terrible personality. I’m confident in my persistence and patience.
If he threw something like a spoon, I would bring dozens of them and have them ready in advance. If it was something I couldn’t do that with, I would bring it back and hand it to him a few times, and if he went too far, I would throw it far away and not hand it to him. I pretended not to hear him when he asked for it. If he told me not to touch it, I touched it while wearing gloves. If he said I was ugly, I put a paper bag over my face and appeared, scaring Robert.
“I hate you!”
“Thank you for the compliment.”
I even developed the ability to interpret bad words in reverse.
But Robert was also quite stubborn. The child was a bit, or rather, very cunning.
When I couldn’t hold back my rising anger, he would somehow notice and burst into tears, saying he was scared. Anyone would think I had really done something. I was dumbfounded by Robert’s acting skills.
The more I looked at him, the more Robert resembled someone. Someone bigger than Robert, a man with an unyielding stubbornness.
Good heavens. To think there would be another person like that man. This is a tragedy.
As I brought back the twenty-third item Robert had thrown, I regretted coming to this mansion for the first time. With a tired face, I stared blankly at the twenty-fourth item flying through the air. If I picked it up again, he would just throw it away again. Should I just not pick it up? Nanny patted my shoulder as I struggled with the dilemma.
“He must like Ann.”
Where exactly? Anyone can see he’s retaliating for what happened last time.
But since I had already become the maid of this little young master, all I could do was serve him diligently. Besides, there were times when I had to handle things alone when Nanny was away. The reason Joelly specifically assigned me as Robert’s maid was because Nanny often visited her family home.
But lately, I’ve had other thoughts. Could it be that she just wanted to make me suffer? I wondered if I had done something wrong. Couldn’t she just tell me directly…?
“Ugly, bring it!”
I was feeling stuffy from being in the room, so I came out into the hallway for a light walk. Robert stopped and pointed at a wooden horse statue he had dropped. I stretched my eyes wide. Even though I had told him my name, Robert always called me that. It was definitely intentional.
“Ugly, Ugly.”
Ugh, I want to punch him.
But I was a maid serving this unlucky young master. I couldn’t punch that little head. I forced a smile and picked up the fallen wooden statue, handing it to Robert.
“Young Master is 4 years old?”
“No! I’ll be 5 soon!”
“Yes, you’ll be a wonderful 5-year-old soon. Then…”
“Yeah, Ugly. I want to climb up there.”
Robert interrupted me and pointed upwards. I barely suppressed my rising anger and calmly looked up. Robert was pointing at the large Iron horse statue that he had almost caused an accident by climbing on last time.
“You mustn’t.”
“I want to climb up!”
“It’s dangerous. Let’s go back to your room.”
“No! I’m going to climb up!”
“Shall we walk in the hallway then?”
I grabbed his hand and pulled him to divert his attention. Robert screamed that he didn’t want to go and was dragged along. He struggled even during the short walk. He hit me repeatedly with the horse-shaped wooden statue he was holding in his small hand, then suddenly threw it away.
The wooden statue hit the wall and fell to the floor. When I picked it up and handed it to him, he threw it away again.
“I want to climb up!”
“Absolutely not.”
Robert stubbornly shook off my hand and grabbed the legs of the Iron table, clinging to it. Even though he was young, he was surprisingly strong and tried his best to hold on. The way he pursed his lips and stubbornly refused to give in made it seem like he wouldn’t back down easily.
“I want to climb up!”
“It’s dangerous.”
“No! I want to go!”
“Yes, then shall we go back to your room?”
I suddenly picked Robert up and hugged him. The child’s eyes widened in surprise. But he soon frowned and flailed his body. Before his struggles could intensify, I quickly ran to Robert’s room.
By the time I arrived in the room, I was drenched in sweat. It was because Robert had been going crazy the whole way. Suddenly, everything felt exhausting.
“I hate you!”
I leaned my tired body against the wall, and Robert puffed up his cheeks and glared at me.
“You can hate me, but it can’t be helped.”
Then his chubby cheeks puffed up even more. I calmly made a face that said, “What are you going to do about it?” Robert suddenly looked like he was about to cry.
“My toy…”
“Yes?”
“Toy! Toooooy!”
His booming voice was threatening. I was flustered and asked what he was talking about, but Robert just kept shouting “toy.” Then I remembered the wooden horse statue that Robert had been holding and throwing around since our first meeting.
“You were just throwing it around.”
“Toy!”
“Yes. Stay here.”
I blocked Robert from running out and quickly left the room. Robert was banging on the door from inside the room. He couldn’t reach the doorknob, so he couldn’t open the door.
The sound echoing from behind me made my pace quicken. I ran back down the hallway and reached the Iron horse statue. After searching the area thoroughly, I found the wooden horse statue that Robert was looking for.
“If it’s so precious, you shouldn’t throw it.”
I looked at the horse statue from side to side and thankfully found that nothing was broken. Robert had many toys in his room, but he always held this statue in his hand. It must mean it’s something he likes a lot, but he treats it so carelessly.
Should I just tell him he lost it? For a moment, I had that thought, but I shook my head.
“I’m really going after a child.”
I chuckled to myself and turned around. Then the large Iron horse statue, which the child liked second best, caught my eye. The Iron horse statue placed on one side of the wall was made of iron, and its surface was smooth and sturdy. I playfully tapped the body.
Why does he want to climb up there so badly?
I stared blankly up at the Iron horse statue. Then I looked around, placed my hand on the body, and hooked my leg over it. But it was quite high. How did Robert climb up here with his small body? After struggling and pulling myself up, I was finally able to climb onto the Iron horse statue’s saddle.
I let out a heavy breath and straightened my body. It was a dizzying height. I put my arms around the horse’s neck and looked down, and the long hallway came into view. If I raised my head a little higher, I could even see the scenery beyond the window. I could see who was coming.
“It’s a good place to watch.”
Since he’s still small, he might find high places fascinating. Or maybe he likes looking down. I leaned more towards the latter.
I was mostly one to look up. So looking down like this was refreshing. I dangled my legs and enjoyed the air of the high place.
“What are you doing there?”
I was startled and looked down to see Robert’s Nanny standing there. I was enjoying myself so much that I didn’t even notice someone coming. She was looking up at me as if I were a very strange person.
I silently and obediently climbed down.
“I thought you went out, but you’re back.”
“Yes. Where is the Young Master?”
“He’s in his room. He dropped this, so I was on my way to take it back.”
I shook the wooden statue in my hand. Nanny nodded.
“It’s something the Young Master cherishes.”
“I see.”
“The Mistress gave it to him as a gift, so he never lets it out of his hand.”
So it really was precious. I looked at the worn-out horse statue. I had ignored him a few times out of spite when he deliberately threw it and ordered me to pick it up again. I remembered Robert picking up the wooden statue himself at that time. I felt strangely strange.
“But just now?”
“……”
I closed my mouth and turned my body. I felt a questioning gaze on my back, but I pretended not to notice. After that uncomfortable companionship, we arrived in front of the door.
I couldn’t feel any particular movement from inside the room. I thought he was tired and was about to open the door when I was startled. The small body lying face down in front of the door with both arms hanging down was Robert, who had been banging on the door until just now.
“Young Master!”
Nanny approached the fallen child. I quickly looked around the room. I looked to see if a strange person had broken in or if he had tripped over something, but there were no such signs.
