Episode 8
Dietrich hesitantly but steadily followed behind me.
He wasn’t a bad kid by nature, just unable to control his overflowing energy.
He must have been feeling a lot of guilt over injuring the nanny.
‘Well, we’ve grown quite attached to each other, anyway.’
When the butler got hurt last time, even though he was just a seven-year-old child, didn’t he stand in front of me to block my view?
He did it so I wouldn’t have to witness the gruesome scene.
Since he fainted right after, I couldn’t even properly thank him after that.
It was the first warmth I had felt and the first help I had received since recalling my past life’s memories in this world.
“Anyway, I came out since you called me. But still, you fool.”
I was truly grateful back then… wait, what did he just say?
“If I’m a fool, then Dietrich is a fool too!”
“What? Why am I a fool?”
“Look at your face right now. You were bawling your eyes out just a moment ago, and now your eyes are completely swollen like a frog’s.”
“I-I wasn’t crying! I didn’t cry at all!”
Even though his eyes were still red, he said that with such conviction…
Anyway, he had obediently followed me earlier since the nanny was around, but it seemed he didn’t want to follow my instructions so easily now.
I pouted and glared at Dietrich, who stood in front of me with a sulky expression.
“Because of you, Dietrich, the nanny got hurt.”
Those words left Dietrich with no choice but to tightly press his lips together.
“Every time you cause trouble, it’s me, the nanny, the other servants, and the maids who have to clean up after you.”
Like that day when he broke the flower vase.
Even though Laura said it was nothing and that she wasn’t hurt, she ended up with a small scratch on her finger.
I was the one who blew on her wound and apologized on his behalf.
On top of that, the nanny, who was already busy covering for the butler’s duties, had to take care of fixing the kitchen cabinet door.
Does that make any sense at all?
‘Soon, the workers our grandfather sent from the main house will arrive.’
The workers who had been with us since the beginning knew me and Dietrich from a young age, so they were lenient toward us.
They had a lot of affection for us, after all.
But the workers from the main house would be different.
The nanny warned Betty to be careful around them so she wouldn’t be reprimanded.
That meant if Dietrich caused trouble, it would be reported to our grandfather through the workers from the main house.
Unlike the workers who had been with us from the start, those workers wouldn’t overlook his actions.
If Dietrich kept causing trouble in front of people who had no affection for us, he would surely fall out of their favor.
‘No matter how much we are the ‘owners’ here, Dietrich is only seven, and I’m just three.’
If we fell out of favor with the workers, even living a normal life would become difficult.
After all, he was still my brother and just a child.
Knowing what would happen, I couldn’t just leave Dietrich like this.
“If you keep causing trouble, people will start to hate you, Dietrich.”
“What do you know, you little brat!”
Whether it hit a nerve or not, Dietrich shouted at me.
“Dietrich is tall and strong.”
Without backing down, I suddenly started complimenting him.
His face, which had been angry, froze in confusion as he stared at me.
Physical ability is a gift.
To be honest, I was surprised earlier when he climbed up the curtain to the ceiling.
It’s not easy for an ordinary kid to climb that high without any equipment.
If this were South Korea, and I were an adult, I would have tried to find his guardian.
Then, I would have advised them to raise him as a climbing prodigy.
If a kid like Dietrich, with such remarkable athletic talent, grew up as just another troublemaker, it would be a loss for him too.
“Since you’re strong, you’ll probably be good at sports. If you get good at sports, people will praise you instead of scolding you, saying ‘he’s amazing, he’s amazing’.”
Dietrich needed positive attention.
It’s much better to receive attention for being good at sports than for causing trouble.
Plus, it would help him burn off some of that excess energy.
“I don’t like it when you keep causing trouble, Dietrich. You might get hurt.”
Children desperately seek attention, even getting themselves hurt in the process.
I remembered my childhood self, and I felt sorry for Dietrich.
Just as the director had guided me in sports back then and showed me how to gain positive recognition from people, I wanted to do the same for Dietrich.
Dietrich stood still, looking down at his feet for a long time.
“Mariela… Do you really think I can do well in sports?”
“Yup.”
“Why? I always cause trouble… What makes you think that…?”
“Because I saw you climb the curtain earlier, remember? Dietrich is strong.”
When I gave him a concrete example, his face turned bright red.
“T-Then… what should I do first? If it sounds boring, I won’t do it!”
Dietrich grumbled as if he didn’t care, adding unnecessary words.
Good. No matter what he said, the important thing was that Dietrich had become cooperative with the idea of exercising.
Before he could change his mind, I quickly blurted out the first exercise that came to mind.
“Squats!”
Of course, when it comes to bodyweight exercises, you have to start with squats!
They strengthen the thighs and glutes and are simple enough for anyone to learn.
“S-Squats? What’s that?”
“Before doing squats, you have to loosen up your hands and feet like this.”
Stretching is essential before starting any formal workout.
I demonstrated for Dietrich how to stretch his wrists, ankles, and knees, and how to do a simple full-body warm-up.
Stretching might seem boring, but it’s like a preventive shot. It helps avoid injuries that might occur during exercise.
Following my instructions, Dietrich fully stretched out his legs and perfectly relaxed his lower body muscles.
“Is that all I have to do? This is easy.”
Seeing naive little Dietrich, I grinned like a devil.
“Alright, now I’m going to teach you something really fun.”
If the warm-up felt too easy for him, it was time to move on to anaerobic exercises.
I immediately spread my feet to be shoulder-width apart.
Squats were a routine exercise I used to do all the time in my past life.
All I had to do now was lower my body…
“Ahko!”
“Hey! Why’d you suddenly stick your butt out like that?! What if you get hurt!”
Strange. This shouldn’t be happening.
After falling on my butt, I got up with Dietrich’s help and tried to get back into position.
This time, I made sure to focus on not sticking my butt out and slowly lowered my body…
“Ahko!”
“Are you… an idiot?”
“I’m not an idiot! I was just trying to show you how to do squats, but the gravity is too strong… Hngh…”
My muscles! Bring back my muscles from my past life!
With nothing but baby fat on my body and the fact that I had been sick for several days, this three-year-old body couldn’t handle squats.
The moment I tried to bend my short legs, I tumbled backward.
Unintentionally, my lips started to pout as frustration and sorrow welled up inside me.
Dietrich, who had been watching me, quickly covered his mouth.
“Pfft.”
He was barely holding in his laughter, his neck flushed red from the effort.
Even his shoulders were trembling as he tried to suppress it.
“Don’t laugh!”
When I snapped at him, Dietrich couldn’t hold it in any longer and burst into laughter.
He bent over, laughing for a long time.
I glared at him, annoyed by how smug he looked, but it was no use.
“I’m not the only one who can’t handle gravity! You probably can’t do it either, Dietrich!”
“What? You mean sitting down like I’m on a chair? Nah, I think I can do it.”
“No, you can’t! No, you can’t! I bet you can’t do it either, Dietrich!”
“Nope, nope! I’m not a fool, and I’m the big brother, so I can do it right away!”
Having had enough of teasing me, Dietrich took a horse-riding stance and slowly lowered his hips.
It seemed he was naturally athletic because, with just one rough demonstration, he managed to get into the perfect squat position.
“See? I did it! This squat thing isn’t a big deal.”
As he boasted, I ground my teeth in frustration.
“Wow, you’re good. Since it’s so easy for you, let’s just do 100 squats.”
“…What?”
“No talking back to the instructor. I clearly said 100 squats, didn’t I?”
If squats were so easy, then doing 100 should be no problem.
I placed my hands on my hips and grinned wickedly at Dietrich.
His face paled slightly, and he slowly began his journey into the hellish task of 100 squats.
“Hold on until I count to ten! Eight, nine, nine and a half!”
“Hey! That’s… ugh… not fair!”
“Ah-ah. If your knees go forward, I can’t count to ten. Keep your knees back!”
With a face on the verge of tears, Dietrich managed to correct his posture.
