Episode 3
“But Butler, we’re also short-staffed…”
“Silence! The master will be back soon. Why is everyone whining so much?!”
The butler’s sharp rebuke silenced the guards’ complaints. Meanwhile, Mariela, who had been watching the scene with a frightened expression, met the butler’s gaze.
The butler’s fierce expression, which had been intimidating the guards, instantly softened.
“Hm. Anyway, that’s enough for now. Return to your posts.”
Waving his hand to dismiss the guards, the butler quickly approached Mariela.
The youngest miss of the household, barely three years old.
She was younger than the butler’s own grandchildren, whom he had left back in his hometown, and she had been raised without parents since birth.
“Young miss, what are you doing here?”
“Ralph brought me here. But then you got so mad, and it scared me, so I hid like this.”
Seeing Mariela still avoiding eye contact out of lingering fear, the butler spread his arms wide.
After a moment of hesitation, Mariela cautiously moved from Ralph’s arms into the butler’s.
The butler’s heightened sensitivity to the estate’s security stemmed from the fear that those who had grown accustomed to stealing valuables might harm the children of the family.
If wicked people were ever to kidnap the young miss and demand ransom…
The horrifying thought made the butler’s shoulders tremble.
Mariela, pressing her nose against his shoulder in playful curiosity, widened her eyes.
“Butler, are you cold? If Mariela hugs you tightly like this, you won’t be cold anymore, right?”
Until the master of the mansion returned, the butler, who managed the estate, was determined to protect the young miss and the young master.
Watching Mariela hug him tightly around the neck, the butler’s resolve grew stronger.
Mariela, nestled in his arms, began chatting in his ear.
“But Butler, you shouldn’t carry me anymore. Because…”
“Because the young miss is as heavy as a barbell now?”
“A barbell?”
“You mentioned it before, young miss.”
“I said that?”
Once again, Mariela blinked her big round eyes in confusion.
‘A barbell?’
The word felt familiar, but no matter how hard she tried to think, she couldn’t recall anything specific.
Watching Mariela silently move her lips in confusion, the butler couldn’t help but laugh.
“This old butler would carry the young miss even if she were as heavy as this entire mansion.”
“Really? Butler, you’re so strong!”
Even if she sometimes said strange things, she was still their adorable young miss.
No matter what, he had to ensure she grew up safe and sound.
With the master away and the madam gone, he would have to do his best, now more than ever.
As the butler silently reaffirmed his determination, he failed to notice Dietrich, standing at the top of the stairs, looking on with envy before quickly turning away.
***
The guards’ complaints weren’t entirely unfounded.
The butler had been furious over the theft of the madam’s keepsakes stored in the deepest part of the estate, but it was true they were short-staffed.
If that were the case, the butler figured he’d have to contribute his old body to night patrols.
Late at night, the butler slipped on a light coat over his pajamas and began walking the halls slowly.
‘We’ve moved the valuables.’
Previously stored in the madam’s toilette room, the valuables had since been relocated, as the thieves had already discovered that place.
With the help of trusted staff, the valuable items had been moved to the archive room and hidden there.
‘But I can’t trust anyone entirely…’
The butler couldn’t move everything alone, so he’d accepted help. Yet there was no guarantee that no thieves were lurking among the staff.
So, he decided to inspect the area secretly.
Walking almost noiselessly, the butler rounded a corner carefully.
The archive room was located near the children’s bedrooms, across from what was supposed to be their classroom.
It was an empty room no one would suspect of containing valuables.
‘The door’s properly closed.’
Perhaps moving the items had deterred the thieves after all.
As the butler, now satisfied, slowly opened the archive room door, he was met by one of the servants trying to leave the room. The servant’s face went pale as he stammered.
“B-Butler, I was just… finishing some cleaning I didn’t get to earlier…”
His words trailed off when he noticed the butler’s gaze land on a bracelet sticking out of his pocket.
After a brief silence, the servant suddenly shoved the butler and bolted out of the room.
‘Of all days, why today?!’
The servant had planned to stop stealing and leave the mansion for good after tonight.
With the money from selling this bracelet, he could pay off his debts and escape, but of all times, this meddling old man had decided to patrol tonight!
As he tried to dash down the stairs, the servant felt a strong grip seize his arm.
“Where do you think you’re going?!”
Despite his age, the butler had chased after him and grabbed hold of his arm.
“Everyone, come here at once! Quickly!”
The butler’s voice rang out loud and clear.
Realizing he couldn’t hold the younger servant for long, the butler wasted no time in summoning the household staff.
The thief’s ears caught the sound of doors opening one by one.
“Let me go!”
Despite the servant’s desperate struggles, the butler refused to let go of his arm.
“Let go of me!”
As the struggle intensified, the servant’s voice grew louder.
Naturally, the noise reached the sensitive ears of the children, and it didn’t take long for the sound to wake Mariela.
Suspicious sounds!
Still groggy, Mariela blinked her sleep-heavy eyes several times and first looked out the window.
Through the gap in the curtains, she saw that it was still pitch dark outside.
‘At night, you’re supposed to sleep, keep your eyes closed, and mouth shut. That’s what good children do, right?’
That’s what the nanny had told her before leaving her to sleep.
Who was making noise and ignoring the nanny’s words?
Hugging her pink rabbit doll, which matched her hair color, Mariela gently laid the doll on her bed and tiptoed to open her door.
“Everyone, come out here at once! Ralph, in here!”
That’s the butler’s voice!
Hanging onto the doorknob, Mariela peeked her head out through the crack in the door.
The commotion seemed to be coming from the staircase leading to the lower floor.
‘The butler’s angry again!’
Hadn’t he already scolded the guards earlier in the day?
‘Mariela has to save him!’
Whenever the butler got angry, with his eyebrows raised into a frightening expression, he’d immediately calm down the moment he saw Mariela!
The same went for the nanny.
Though both could be terrifying when angry, neither could stay mad for long in front of a three-year-old.
Mariela proudly puffed out her chest.
‘That way, Mariela looks cute!’
She didn’t know what was causing the commotion, but night was for sleeping.
She needed to tell everyone to stop fighting and go to bed.
Despite her determination, she found the loud noises frightening, so she cupped her ears with her hands as she cautiously approached the stairs.
The closer she got to the stairs, the louder the commotion grew.
“Let go of me!”
“I’ll never let go! Do you know what kind of keepsake that is? Do you understand how our madam died in the war…?!”
“You stubborn old man! Get out of my way!”
At that moment—
The two figures wrestling on opposite sides of the staircase railing became entangled and fell over the edge together.
Thud!
The sound was deafening.
“Ugh…”
Mariela froze, staring blankly into space as the butler groaned in pain below.
She saw the staff and maids who had come out after hearing the commotion, their faces pale with horror as they screamed or rushed toward the blood-stained floor.
‘There was a loud thud…’
As if entranced, Mariela leaned over the stair railing.
What she saw was the bloodied floor.
The sound of the crash echoed repeatedly in her mind.
A loud noise. A person dying.
A person dying…
No, that’s not it.
The sharp sound of brakes and the impact of her car crashing into the guardrail flooded her body and spun her vision.
‘I died, didn’t I?’
Mariela’s face turned deathly pale.
