Episode 2
‘What even is core exercise?’
There are moments like this sometimes.
When something feels so ingrained in your body, but when you trace your memory, you realize it’s something you’ve neither seen nor heard of before.
A moment when you explain something naturally, yet you’re not entirely sure what it is.
Mariela tilted her head, trying to delve deeper into what ‘core exercise’ actually was.
But before she could ponder further, Ralph, who always carried candy in his pocket, offered her one.
“Candy!”
“I brought it secretly just for you, miss. Please don’t tell the butler or the nanny.”
“Okay! Ralph is the best!”
“Our little miss is just too adorable.”
The three-year-old couldn’t even wait for Ralph to unwrap the candy and stomped her feet impatiently.
Ralph chuckled at her cute display and popped a strawberry-flavored lollipop into her mouth.
As the sweet flavor spread in her mouth, Mariela immediately forgot all about core exercises.
“Is it tasty?”
“Yeah. But what about you? You don’t have one? Sorry. I ate the last one.”
Just as Ralph was about to speak to comfort the suddenly dejected Mariela, a loud crash from the kitchen interrupted him.
Startled, Ralph quickly grabbed a broom leaning against the pantry and peeked into the kitchen, shielding Mariela.
“Oh no, young master!”
Before Ralph’s eyes, chaos had unfolded.
The door of the upper spice cabinet had fallen off, and the smell of pepper stung his nose—perhaps a jar had broken.
The floor was a mess, littered with powders of all kinds.
Standing amid the wreckage, covered in sugar powder, Dietrich sneezed a few times before getting up.
“Why is the cabinet door so flimsy?”
“Young master, what strength could that thin wooden door possibly have? Are you hurt?”
“Well, I’m agile, so I didn’t get hurt.”
“Why on earth do you keep hanging off the cabinet doors? If the butler hears about this, I’m done for. And you’ll get scolded too.”
“I-I just wanted some sugar, but the door fell on its own!”
Dietrich preferred snacks over meals.
However, after his two front teeth transitioned from baby teeth to permanent ones, the nanny had cut back on his snacks, fearing cavities.
Craving sweets, he snuck into the kitchen to steal some sugar.
But reaching the high cabinet required him to jump and hang onto the door, which led to this fiasco.
“I can’t take this anymore. When will this cabinet door get fixed? At least the expensive plates weren’t broken this time.”
Dietrich winced, guilt gnawing at him. Memories of when he demonstrated discus throwing all over the house flooded back.
In one instance, he had shattered a set of expensive dishes in the kitchen, earning the butler’s furious wrath. Thinking about it still sent chills down his spine.
“I’m telling you, I didn’t mess around this time!”
“Okay, alright. I got it. The broken glass is dangerous, so why don’t you go play over there?”
Though Ralph replied obediently, he didn’t believe Dietrich’s excuses in the slightest.
After all, Dietrich had caused trouble like this countless times before, only to excuse it as unintentional.
At least no one was hurt this time.
Dietrich, realizing Ralph didn’t believe him, pouted his lips. His eyes wandered over to Mariela, who was sucking on her lollipop.
‘Everyone hates me! They only love Mariela!’
Dietrich’s pout deepened.
They’d even started cutting down his snacks—reducing his cake from two slices to just one—all for the sake of moderation.
‘And yet, they sneak candy to that little brat!’
Come to think of it, it happened last night too.
When he couldn’t fall asleep, he begged the nanny to have a pillow fight.
The nanny seemed to indulge him for a bit, but as soon as Mariela woke up crying, she abandoned Dietrich and dashed to her room.
‘The butler, the nanny, even Ralph—they all favor Mariela…’
Feeling tears well up, Dietrich furiously rubbed his warm eyes with his hands and glared at Mariela.
“Move aside, you ugly brat!”
“Mariela’s not ugly!”
“Oh, please. You’re the ugliest thing in the world!”
For no reason, Dietrich snapped at his little sister, storming out of the kitchen. But after walking down the hall, he stopped and pricked up his ears.
‘…Maybe calling her ugly was a bit much?’
She did look like a chipmunk, with her puffed cheeks munching on candy.
On second thought, maybe she’s not that ugly after all.
“Ralph, is Mariela ugly?”
“Of course not, miss! You’re the cutest little miss in the whole world. The young master was just upset. Don’t take it to heart, alright?”
“Dietrich always gets mad at Mariela. Does Dietrich hate Mariela?”
“Oh no, not at all! The young master is, um… oh yes, he’s just teething these days, that’s all.”
It’s not the teething; it’s because Mariela really is annoying!
Nervously eavesdropping from the hallway to see if Mariela might cry, Dietrich finally turned and ran down the corridor.
Ralph is an idiot!
No, the entire household staff is full of idiots who only love Mariela!
***
After being called ugly by Dietrich, Mariela decided to head back to her room holding Ralph’s hand.
Still sulking, Mariela trudged along until a loud voice caught her attention.
“What are all of you doing, neglecting your posts like this?!”
Mariela, who had been scared of loud voices ever since she was very young, instinctively covered her ears and hid behind Ralph.
“Oh dear…”
Today seems to be especially eventful for this little lady.
Ignoring the pain in his back, Ralph scooped Mariela into his arms and gently patted her back.
Only then did Mariela seem to relax. She peeked out from his arms, gazing toward the direction of the loud voice.
The sound was coming from the mansion’s entrance.
With their heads bowed, the people being scolded were the guards Mariela had seen around the mansion. The man furiously raising his eyebrows in front of them was the household’s elderly butler.
‘Such a scary expression!’
Mariela instinctively buried her face into Ralph’s neck.
Her heart thumped loudly.
It wasn’t often the butler looked this furious.
She remembered a similar expression when Dietrich broke all the kitchen plates, injuring two maids nearby.
Recalling that incident, the three-year-old shuddered.
“Did Dietrich do something wrong again?”
The butler likely didn’t know about the upper cabinet door falling off yet. Ralph had done his best to clean it up to avoid Dietrich getting scolded again.
After thinking for a moment, Ralph shook his head.
“Well, it doesn’t seem to be about the young master. The butler appears to be discussing the mansion’s guards.”
“Then why is he mad?”
Before Ralph could think of an answer, the butler’s thunderous voice broke the silence again.
“This month alone, three of the late madam’s necklaces have gone missing! What will you say to our master when he asks about the whereabouts of her keepsakes?!”
Mother’s necklaces?
Mariela tilted her head in confusion.
Her mother—Lucy, the madam of the house—had passed away three months ago.
The funeral was held with an empty coffin since her body couldn’t even be recovered.
It had already been over a hundred nights since then…
Counting on her fingers, Mariela quickly acknowledged that she couldn’t count past ten. She turned to Ralph for clarification.
“What’s a keepsake?”
At just three years old, Mariela couldn’t grasp the concept of keepsakes.
Raised apart from her mother since birth, she had only stood quietly with a blank expression during the funeral.
Feeling pity for the clueless little girl, Ralph held her tighter.
There was a reason why every servant in the mansion doted on Mariela.
She was a three-year-old child who had never known her parents’ faces.
The more innocent Mariela acted, the more the staff’s hearts ached for her.
“Contact the guards immediately and report that the madam’s keepsakes have disappeared! From now on, stay vigilant and guard this estate properly!”
The guards, bowing their heads under the butler’s stern reprimand, raised their heads with slightly resentful expressions.
