The Baby Who Regressed Refuses Childcare - Chapter 13

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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As expected, Wendel rescued me from fairy tale hell.

We came outside together to take a walk in the East Wing garden.

‘This is cheating! This is cheating! How can you steal Lady Annellia away like this?’

‘Mi, Miel. Calm down. The young lady wants to take a walk with Sir Wendel too.’

Of course, Miel expressed her disappointment by biting her handkerchief.

But she couldn’t overcome my stubbornness.

‘Annellia needs to walk. I ate too much bread and I’m full!’

That statement was somewhat true.

Strangely, for the past few weeks, my meals had always been bread, no, nothing but bread.

And they were extraordinary types of bread I’d never seen before in my life.

Fish placed on top of bread, candied fruits also placed on bread…

‘Still, bread tastes the best anyway.’

To be honest, I really liked the bread in this manor.

I felt that the overly fancy dishes didn’t suit my taste, but the bread was fine.

Moreover, lately the kitchen seemed to be developing new recipes on their own, making the bread taste even better.

“…Bread is the best.”

“You seem to enjoy your meals.”

Wendel asked while adjusting his hold on me.

“Yes. The Head Chef and Aunt Marenese treat me really well.”

“I see.”

Wendel had been treating me with even more respectful courtesy since I became Abner’s official ward.

“But did you really miss me?”

I glanced up at him.

“Yes. I couldn’t see you often. Not yesterday, not the day before, not the day before that either.”

“His Grace had business to attend to throughout the estate. I was away from the manor accompanying him.”

“I see.”

An awkward silence fell.

During the few weeks I’d spent in the East Wing, winter had completely disappeared.

The garden was full of budding green sprouts and early blooming flowers.

Wendel muttered again, barely audibly.

“By the way, I’m four years older than Miss Miel.”

My eyes widened at the sudden statement.

“Huh?”

Wendel avoided my gaze and cleared his throat.

“I know Miss Miel is eighteen years old. So I’m twenty-two.”

“Oh, yes…”

Wendel looked at me.

“…You call Miel ‘sister’ though.”

His voice was even smaller than before.

I blinked blankly.

“Huh?”

What does his age have to do with Miel…?

“Well. What I mean is, Miss Miel is ‘sister’ but I’m…

“…”

“Why am I ‘mister’…”

I was at a loss for words.

“Oh my, oh my. Sir Wendel really!”

Miel giggled as she pulled the blanket up to my neck.

“So what are you going to call him from now on?”

I furrowed my brow and thought hard.

“I’m thinking about it. For now, since he doesn’t like ‘mister’…”

“Right, the knight is too~ handsome to be called ‘mister.'”

“Then how about ‘uncle’?”

“Oh.”

Soya’s eyes widened.

“U, uncle! That sounds good.”

“Right, uncle sounds really nice.”

I smiled brightly without realizing it.

“Right? Uncle is perfect, isn’t it?”

“Yes! How are you so smart, Lady Annellia? Sometimes, you really don’t seem like you’re four years old.”

“Hehe…”

Feeling a pang of guilt, I quietly turned my gaze to the ceiling.

Soya tucked my arm under the blanket.

“When you went for a walk today, the Butler came to see us.”

“The Butler?”

“Yes. He said you’ll be moving your bedroom to the Main Manor soon. When they find a tutor, you’ll also be taking some classes…”

My eyes lit up at the mention of classes.

“Classes? I’m going to take classes?”

“Yes. You must be upset, right? You probably want to keep playing…”

“No, I’m so happy!”

Soya and Miel looked at me with surprised faces.

I sat up completely in bed.

“I’m learning magic, right? What about pharmacy? Will I learn from the basics?”

Sharon Abner already knew that I was special.

But that didn’t mean I should display my abilities without restraint.

‘If I reveal the magic formulas I perfected in my previous life at this age…’

I’d definitely be misunderstood as having used black magic or forbidden sorcery.

‘So I was curious when they’d assign me a tutor.’

Whatever the case, I had to learn first and then show what I could do.

‘I wonder what kind of amazing person they’ll assign me? A professor from the Academy of Pharmacy? Or someone from the Magic Tower?’

I continued excitedly.

“Usually, you learn basic formulas first in magic studies. Then you learn applied formulas, and after that…”

Then I stopped speaking, sensing something strange.

The silence that filled the room was unusual.

Sure enough, Miel and Soya were frozen in place with dumbfounded expressions.

“Young lady. Do you know about magic…?”

“Where did you hear about pharmacy?”

I rolled my eyes and gripped the blanket tightly.

And I gave the answer I never failed to give whenever such difficult situations arose.

“At the orphanage…”

Miel staggered in her seat.

“Wait, just a moment.”

She began speaking incoherently.

“I think I heard something. That there’s a genius at the southwest end of the Abner Estate.”

“…”

“That, that genius was also four years old, you know? Still so young but memorizing magic dictionaries and pharmacology books by heart…”

Miel’s gaze slowly turned toward me.

Soon I heard a voice filled with disbelief.

“That’s the young miss?”

“…”

“It is! It’s the young miss!”

Miel jumped up from her seat.

“I wondered why you spoke so well! I wondered why the master suddenly decided to sponsor a child!”

“Oh, young miss. Do you know how to read?”

I hesitantly nodded my head.

“H-how much? Can you read all the difficult words too?”

“Um, at the orphanage I read books to my siblings every day…”

Miel slumped down onto the bed.

“So this morning with the poop, that picture book…”

“Oh, no wonder. You seemed uninterested…”

Both their faces were swept with shock.

“Young miss! Why didn’t you tell us!”

“R-right. Someone who has memorized all the basics of magic, and we gave her a poop book of all things…”

I noticed the guilt spreading across both their faces and shook my head vigorously.

“No! I like picture books!”

“Young miss…”

“Really! I like playing with you both.”

Soya waving dolls in front of me and imitating fairy voices.

Miel bringing me piles of picture books, saying she’d read to me.

Though she said it was bothersome, it actually wasn’t that unpleasant.

“Picture books have things to learn from them too!”

“…”

“Children who read lots of picture books step by step can read difficult books later too.”

“I-I see?”

I hugged Miel and Soya tightly with my short arms.

“I like you both.”

Perhaps it was such a sudden confession, as Miel’s eyes widened.

Soya also stared at me intently.

But I didn’t care and put all my strength into the arms holding them both.

‘These two are so important to me.’

In this vast manor where countless people came and went, I knew what it was like to be left alone.

But how many people could be this kind to a commoner child who suddenly rolled in one day?

“The blankets smell so nice every day. And the room is spacious. And you give me food every day, so I’m so grateful…”

Miel and Soya showed abundant affection toward me in every small gesture.

‘So I need to treat them well while I’m still here.’

I absolutely had to.

Just in case I fell out of Sharon Abner’s favor.

In my previous life, when something similar happened, I had no one on my side.

So when I became alone, I couldn’t figure out what to do.

‘Even if I loved research, I shouldn’t have just holed up in my room like that.’

Over my memories from my previous life, the image of Hiana, who was the complete opposite of me, overlapped.

“Wow, Wet Nurse! What’s this? It’s so pretty! What would I have done without you?”

Kissing the cheek of the wet nurse who cared for her without hesitation,

“Cory, Selene, Maya, thank you all so much. I really love this dress for the banquet! You three are my wings, you know?”

She was endlessly sweet and affectionate even to the maids who helped dress her.

‘I… don’t have the confidence to go that far.’

I steeled my resolve.

‘But I should at least do something in between.’

I looked at Miel and Soya with the brightest smile I could manage.

“So let’s keep playing together from now on, okay?”

Miel, who had been frozen, soon nodded her head.

“Of course. This Miel will always play with Lady Annellia. I’ll read you a hundred books, no, a thousand picture books.”

“M-me too, young miss.”

I smiled brightly with genuine joy.

In doing so, I failed to notice the serious glances the two were exchanging.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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