Chapter 69
69
69. The Maid and the Young Master (3)
I returned to the room and laid Robert on the bed. He had been so adamant about going out, but now he was quiet. He buried his face in the pillow, fidgeted for a moment, and quickly fell asleep.
I gently turned his head to the side, worried he might suffocate, and his sleeping face looked sullen. His eyes were wet, so he must have been crying.
I wiped away the tear tracks and covered him with the sheet up to his chest. I stroked his head for a moment and carefully left the room. Joelly was waiting for me.
“It’s been a while.”
“Yes. Why didn’t you go back and stay here?”
“I was bored. Let’s talk.”
She smiled kindly and turned around. Was she telling me to follow her? I hesitated for a moment and then scurried after her.
“It must be hard dealing with Robert’s stubbornness, right?”
“Not at all.”
“Don’t say that. I saw you hesitating just now. Whether to let him climb up there or not.”
“……”
“I understand. He’s lonely.”
Nanny had said the same thing. I moved closer to Joelly and asked,
“Why does the young master want to climb the Iron horse statue?”
“He’s waiting.”
“For whom?”
Then something occurred to me.
Robert’s mother.
“For his mother.”
Ah, now I understood why Robert was so obsessed with the Iron horse statue. The reason he struggled to climb the Iron horse statue, which was difficult even for adults to climb, with his short legs, was because he could see out the window. The horse’s head faced the mansion gate, so he could see anyone coming in at a glance.
Robert had been waiting every day.
For his mother to come and see him.
“Has Ann heard anything about Robert’s mother?”
“I heard the general situation from Nanny.”
“Robert’s mother is a very busy person. She’s leading her husband’s family alone, so she doesn’t even have time to see her child. But she’s doing a good job of leading it. She’s a really amazing and strong child. Even when she was young, she looked fragile, but she was strong and bold inside.”
“……”
“But as a mother, she’s not very good.”
Joelly clicked her tongue. It was a cold assessment, but it wasn’t wrong. Robert was lonely enough to climb the dangerous and high Iron horse statue.
“Robert is hurting. His heart is empty, and it’s sad because it’s not being filled. He only says nice things and waits quietly, but the person he’s waiting for doesn’t come, and he can’t even get angry, so he’s just being petulant. People get annoyed when they’re sick, right?”
“Yes, I know.”
Whether it’s a physical or mental illness, it’s hard and annoying when you’re sick. You become petulant because you want someone to understand your pain.
“I know it well. I know what it’s like to be so lonely, to want someone to be by your side.”
I knew those people well.
The man who had lost his sight and was stuck in his room, fighting pain.
In that moment, a long-forgotten memory tried to take over my mind again. No. I instinctively pushed the memory away. Sadness was trying to trap me. I clutched my tingling chest and shook my head. Then, when I looked up, I realized that I had stopped walking. And Joelly was looking at me.
The hunting look had disappeared from her beautiful face. Her eyes were sharp. The relaxed atmosphere from just a moment ago suddenly stiffened. Did I say something wrong? I looked around, flustered, but soon Joelly smiled again.
“But he’s a good child.”
She patted my shoulder. I tried to smile, but I couldn’t bring myself to say yes. At least, he wasn’t a good child to me. Instead of shaking my head, I remained silent, and Joelly twisted her eyes mischievously, as if she had seen through my heart.
“Think of it as cute stubbornness and put up with it.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Hehe.”
It was the same advice I had heard from Nanny, but this time it resonated more.
“I’ve heard a lot about Ann from Nanny.”
“What kind of things?”
“Um, that you’re diligent.”
Nanny…! I was touched as I thought of her gently smiling face. She was secretly saying such things for me. The resentment I had felt for her being away at this time disappeared.
“And that you’re quite good at dealing with Robert. I heard that you bring dozens of spoons and hand them to him every time Robert throws one?”
Nanny… Her beautiful face shattered. The emotion fizzled out.
“Hehe. She said you seem like a fun person.”
“Yes……”
“I think so too.”
I sent her a look that asked what she meant, but Joelly just smiled. Then she waved her hand and told me to go. I tilted my head as I watched her walk away. Did she come to tell me to take good care of Robert?
After that day, Robert no longer insisted on climbing the Iron horse statue. Instead, he just stayed cooped up in his room, looking glum. He didn’t answer well even when I spoke to him, and he didn’t try to do anything. He became so quiet that it was as if his lively, almost troublesome, demeanor had been a lie.
I became anxious as this state continued for several days. If Nanny were here, I could try something, but she had gone out for some reason and hadn’t returned. So I had to face a difficult situation alone in a different sense. Robert was so depressed that I thought it would have been better if he had been stubborn.
Should I comfort him? I wondered what to do as I looked at his unusually small back. But I couldn’t think of a good way. In the end, I took out my secret weapon.
“Young Master, shall we go for a walk?”
“A walk?”
Robert asked with a gloomy face. I nodded. I remembered that he had said he wanted to go outside a few days ago. I couldn’t take him far, but I thought it would be okay to wander around nearby.
Robert seemed interested, and his eyes sparkled as he erased his gloomy expression.
“Yes! Let’s go for a walk!”
Seeing him nod repeatedly, quickly becoming cheerful, made me wonder if I had been tricked. But I couldn’t take back the words I had already spoken.
Instead, I decided to get permission. Nanny wasn’t here, but fortunately, there was another guardian of Robert in this mansion.
“Okay. Go and come back.”
Joelly waved her hand dismissively with a listless face. Today, she was almost naked again. Before the sheet that was precariously hanging on her shoulders fell off, she collapsed onto the bed. A bronze-skinned man who had spent the night with her was lying next to her.
With that permission, I held Robert’s hand tightly and left the mansion with peace of mind. Robert was grinning, happy to be going out.
“Young Master, you must hold my hand tightly. If you let go, we’ll go right back.”
“Okay, Ugly.”
Somehow, even that mouth of his was lively again. Can’t you stop calling me Ugly?
I walked slowly, holding hands with Robert side by side. After circling the mansion once, we walked the same path again, and then again, arriving at the mansion gate. After circling three times like that, the smile disappeared from Robert’s face.
“I want to go there!”
Robert, who had suddenly stopped walking, pointed to the forest. I shook my head firmly.
“No.”
“I want to go! I want to go!”
“Absolutely not.”
“I’m going!”
“Shall we go back to the room then?”
If necessary, I could carry him back on my shoulders. When I spread my arms, Robert, who had already experienced it once, shut his mouth tightly. But he stuck out his lips and frowned with his round eyes, expressing his blatant dissatisfaction. Pretending not to notice, I circled the mansion again.
But the excitement I had seen for the first time on Robert’s face didn’t return. Robert, who had been frowning, eventually looked up at me with a tearful face. The tip of his finger pointed to the forest again.
“Can’t I go there?”
“No.”
When I said it firmly this time, Robert was silent for a moment. I thought he was going to cry, but he suddenly hugged my waist tightly.
“Ann.”
What did you just say? I stared at Robert with wide eyes. I wondered what I had just heard.
“Ann, Ann.”
“……!”
Robert called me again.
Oh my god. I froze in shock. My name flowed clearly from Robert’s mouth. Robert peeked up and looked at me. His purple eyes, wet with tears, sparkled with earnestness. That sparkle pricked my skin.
“Let’s go. Huh? Huh?”
Robert rubbed his face against my stomach, shook his body, and acted cute. It was really ‘cute’ acting. He wasn’t throwing things or getting angry. It seemed like I could see the illusion of the rabbit ears sprouting from his blonde hair drooping. Robert was seducing me with an extremely cute expression.
“Ann, let’s goooo―”
“Ugh.”
Besides, I was weak against this kind of acting. It was easier to deal with someone who was angry.
Robert lifted his heels. The sparkle came even closer. I covered my eyes with my hand, but it was no use.
“Huh? Huh? Ughhhh?”
“Ugh, ugh.”
My composure crumbled under the cuteness that was poking at my skin.
In the end, I lost. I couldn’t stand the cuteness he was showing on purpose. I was weak against cuteness. Is this why Nanny puts up with Robert’s tantrums! If so, I understood her.
“Yay! Yay!”
Robert smiled brightly and looked around the forest. I held his small hand tightly and secretly sighed. This would be a big problem if I got caught. My heart was pounding with anxiety, and I couldn’t even look around properly.
“Ugly, let’s go there!”
Robert quickly changed his attitude. As if it were a lie that he had called my name earlier, he was calling me Ugly again. He’s cunning, so cunning.
“Let’s go!”
“Yes, yes. Let’s go slowly.”
I took a step, glancing back. I was only planning to go as far as a place not far from the mansion. But Robert kept urging me to go further inside.
“Let’s go further! Further!”
“No. If we go further, Nanny will scold me.”
“Woo.”
Robert puffed out his cheeks, but no meant no. I gauged the distance from the mansion again.
When I looked at Robert, he was looking at me earnestly with the same tearful eyes as before. The sparkle poured over me again, but I turned my head away to avoid it.
“No.”
Then Robert was silent. When I glanced at him, he was blatantly showing his disappointment with slumped shoulders. I clutched my chest and struggled. Should I give in? Or not?
‘He’s still young. Besides, he’s so… you know?’
Nanny’s voice, smiling kindly and speaking firmly, echoed in my ears. You know? You know? No, I don’t know. Please save me, Nanny. I’m weak against this kind of thing!
“Th, then let’s go just a little further. About ten steps?”
“Yeah!”
Robert smiled brightly as if he had been waiting for it. The listless look from just a moment ago quickly disappeared. Ah, I think I’ve been tricked again.
In the end, we went further than ten steps. Robert kept scanning the forest, and this time I leisurely looked around as well. But for some reason, the forest scenery had been familiar since a while ago. The trees that densely filled the sky and the lush grass around them, it was a common scenery, but I felt a strange sense of déjà vu.
It felt like I had been here before.
‘That can’t be.’
I shook off the unnecessary thoughts and stopped after moving two steps further than ten steps. Robert made a tearful face again, but this time I shook my head firmly. I didn’t give in to the sparkle that was pricking my skin. We were already quite far from the mansion.
“Let’s go back.”
I dragged Robert, who had started to be stubborn again because his cuteness didn’t work. He tried not to move, so I dragged him along. After being dragged for a while, Robert suddenly shook off my hand.
“I’m going!”
“Young Master!”
I ran after Robert, who was running into the forest. The child ran hard with his short legs. But he was still a child, so it wasn’t difficult to catch up.
The moment I grabbed his small body, I lost my balance because Robert struggled so hard. The side was a steep downhill. Robert and my body tilted towards the downhill. I instinctively hugged Robert tightly in my arms.
