Episode 12
Recently, I’ve been banned from eating cake for a few days because the nanny said I’ve been eating too many desserts.
Feeling slightly down, I explained the situation.
“There’s no cake for Mariela. The nanny said I can’t have it.”
“Why?”
“Because… I ate cake the day before yesterday. If I eat it too often, my teeth will hurt…”
I spoke as seriously as I could, but Yasmin covered her lips and chuckled softly as soon as she heard me.
“It’s alright, young miss. You don’t need to worry about what the nanny said. I’ll let you have as much cake or cookies as you like if that’s what you want.”
Huh?
But isn’t the nanny technically my superior? And Yasmin’s telling me not to worry about her words?
I suppose it’s because Yasmin is from the main household, so even if the nanny holds a higher rank, it would be difficult for her to issue commands one-sidedly.
Still, if Yasmin doesn’t follow the nanny’s orders, that would cause its own problems.
‘I do want to eat the cake, though.’
But the nanny is still my nanny, and her authority needs to remain intact.
Ugh, trying to balance all these things is exhausting!
It’s nice that the main household sent over so many staff members to help, but having to consider the hierarchy and dynamics between the main and branch households is giving me a headache.
In this case, a straightforward approach might be best.
I don’t like to overthink and take roundabout actions.
“Listen, Yasmin.”
“Yes, young miss?”
When I tugged her hand, Yasmin slowed her pace and looked down at me.
“Betty is kind. All the other maids are kind too. So from now on, don’t hit them. If you just explain things to them, they’ll understand. They’ll say ‘Yes, I’ll do that.’”
My gaze locked with hers as I finished speaking, her expression unreadable.
After a moment of silence, Yasmin slowly nodded, almost imperceptibly.
“I’ll do as you say, young miss.”
I wasn’t done yet.
“And I like the nanny.”
I looked up at her with a warning, silently telling her not to disregard my nanny’s words.
Yasmin gave me a faint smile, but there was a trace of discomfort in her expression.
“You seem to have grown fond of the existing staff.”
Her tone didn’t quite match her smile; it felt oddly cold.
Almost as if I had misheard her.
We stood still, maintaining eye contact for a moment.
The subtle tension in the air was broken when Yasmin turned her gaze toward the door.
“The young master is already outside. Look over there, young miss.”
Well, if Yasmin wasn’t going to push this matter further, I’d let it go too.
If I were twenty-three years old, I might have brought it up, but as a three-year-old, any complaint would just come off as childish whining.
Following Yasmin’s lead in changing the topic, I leaned my head toward the door.
“Baby! You’re late!”
Dietrich, leaping onto the trampoline with a loud bounce, waved at me enthusiastically.
…That traitor!
We were supposed to jump on the trampoline together, yet he went ahead and started without me?
Fueled by a surge of indignation, I let go of Yasmin’s hand and dashed forward.
“Dietrich!”
“Baby Ella, this is super fun!”
Well, of course, it’s fun!
“You started without me. Traitor!”
“Sorry, sorry. I’ll help you up. Come here and let’s jump together.”
Dietrich, who had been bouncing vigorously on the small child-sized trampoline, plopped down, finally stopping the trampoline’s vibrations.
Taking the chance, I struggled to climb up, but Dietrich grabbed my hand and pulled me up with a mischievous grin.
This doesn’t feel good…
“Want me to show you something fun?”
“No!”
“Look at this. If I jump like this, I can almost reach the top of the nanny’s head!”
“Noooooo!”
Just as I was about to steady myself, Dietrich made a huge jump, and I was launched into the air like a popcorn kernel.
“Dietrich, sto—!”
“Look, baby! I can even flip backward from here!”
Backflips or whatever—just let me get up first!
Dietrich, full of excitement, performed tricks and stunts on the trampoline, completely drowning out my words.
For what felt like ages, I had to roll around on the trampoline like a roasted bean.
I want to jump on the trampoline too!
***
“Waaahhh! Nanny, Dietrich, Dietrich…!”
“It’s alright, young miss. I’ll make sure to scold the young master properly.”
Dietrich’s stamina, built up from constant exercise, didn’t seem to falter even after bouncing on the trampoline for so long.
In other words, I had to roll around like a pebble on the trampoline until the nanny finally stepped in to save me.
‘How humiliating!’
If only I had muscles, I wouldn’t have lost my balance and tumbled around like that!
I never even got the chance to jump properly on the trampoline and spent the whole time rolling instead!
After the mortifying ordeal, I was finally cradled in the nanny’s arms, letting out a delayed wail of frustration.
“Young master, how could you jump so vigorously without considering your little sister at all? I’m very disappointed in you today!”
Good job, my nanny!
“Ah, no, I didn’t mean to… I didn’t know the baby was this weak…”
Did you just call me weak?
To think that I, who was a gym enthusiast and master of all kinds of sports in my past life, have to listen to a seven-year-old call me a frail baby!
Overcome with sorrow, I started crying harder, with more tears and snot flowing. Dietrich, who had been anxiously watching me, tentatively stretched out his hand.
When I turned my head sharply and swatted his hand away, the dejection on his face was almost palpable, even with my back turned.
“I’m sorry, baby. I’ll give you all of my snacks today, okay? So, don’t be mad, alright?”
Do you think you can soothe my anger with snacks?
“As if that would… sniff… make me forgive you… waaahhh…!”
“Ugh, sorry! I’ll give you tomorrow’s snacks too—or better yet, all of this week’s snacks. I just thought we’d have fun playing together, that’s all.”
If you jump for fun one more time, you’ll probably bounce high enough to tour Seoul!
“You know how delicious the snacks Zeke makes are, right? This week, he said he’d make apple pie, and you can have all of it.”
Zeke, our sous-chef, is famous for his desserts.
Even with his incredibly stoic personality, his desserts—especially his signature apple pie—earned him the position of sous-chef. That pie was said to be so good it could make a crying child smile.
Hearing Dietrich’s genuine offer to give me all of it started to calm me down, and slowly, my more mature thoughts returned, easing my anger.
Sensing my softened mood, the nanny quickly began rocking and comforting me.
“Young miss, it seems the young master is truly sorry. Isn’t that right, young master?”
“Of course! I swear I didn’t do it on purpose!”
“Then this time, can you hold the young miss hand and play gently together?”
“Huh? Nanny, can I really get back on the trampoline with Ella? For real?”
How simple-minded Dietrich is.
It seemed he was scared of receiving a lifetime trampoline ban, but his voice brightened the moment he received the nanny’s tentative permission.
…Well, it’s his first time on a trampoline, so I guess I can understand.
He might have assumed that all kids are as sturdy and strong as he is.
“But if you make the young miss cry again, you’ll be banned from the trampoline for a whole week. Do you understand?”
“Of course! I won’t make her cry, ever!”
The nanny carefully lifted me back onto the trampoline first.
Following close behind, Dietrich scrambled up like a little monkey.
As I braced myself for Dietrich to start bouncing vigorously again, he held out his hand toward me.
When I took his hand, he began bouncing lightly and carefully, a much calmer approach than before.
The gentle rhythm of the trampoline swaying back and forth…
‘This is actually really fun…!’
My mood instantly flipped.
“Dietrich, bounce higher!”
As my voice grew louder with excitement, Dietrich jumped a little higher.
“Alright! Hold on tight!”
The rebound sent me soaring higher than before, and I let out a crow-like laugh of pure joy.
“Kyaaah! This is so much fun!”
How long did we play like that?
After what felt like ages of laughing and bouncing on the trampoline, we were both about halfway drained of energy when the nanny called out to us.
“That’s enough playing for today. Let’s go have some snacks.”
Snacks!
Out in the garden, a table was already set up, as if it had been waiting for us.
A couple of servants were wheeling a cart loaded with plates of snacks toward us.
