CH 17

When the three of us entered the nursery, the nanny greeted us with a smile.

“Your Grace.”

“Nanny, did Ronah cry a lot today?”

“No, she didn’t cry much today. Miss Tilly was by her side the whole time. The baby really likes Miss Tilly.”

“That’s right. Our Ronah really likes her big sister.”

As Roxana left to change and freshen up, the nanny gestured for me to come closer.

“Why?”

“Miss, earlier I couldn’t tell you, but as Nunui said, you shouldn’t run when you have food in your mouth. You’re still young, so you could choke or vomit. You should sit down and chew slowly and carefully one by one. Do you understand?”

“I got it.”

With my simple reply, the nanny gave a subtle and complicated expression, then smiled at Layan, who was staring at Royina.

“Nice to meet you, Your Highness. I am Mia Harrison, the nanny of the noble ladies.”

Layan, who was distracted by Royina, belatedly regained his composure and hid behind me.

“Hey, that’s cute.”

As I stepped aside, Layan looked at me in confusion, as if he didn’t know what to do. I almost had a fangirl moment, but I managed to keep a poker face thanks to my decades of fangirling experience.

“My precious baby, I want to bite and suck you.”

Although I would become a difficult person to deal with in the future, due to my unfortunate personality that would never easily let my guard down, no one could believe it was because of my upbringing.

But since she was still a child, her reactions were so cute.

“Nanny, she became my first Four Heavenly Kings earlier! She’s the No.1 subordinate of this Demon Lord.”

“Oh my, then who are the other Three Heavenly Kings?”

“The butler grandpa. The other two are currently recruiting.”

“How about adding baby Rona to the vacant Four Heavenly Kings seat?”

“Wouldn’t that be nepotism?”

At the sound of the phrase “corruption in the family,” Yumo burst into laughter, an unusual sight for her.

Startled by Yumo’s laughter, Royina widened her eyes and looked at Yumo. Drool dripping from her mouth without being able to close it was a given.

I wiped the drool off Royina’s neck with a handkerchief.

“So, Miss. What are you going to do with the Four Heavenly Kings? World domination?”

“Why bother with such a bothersome thing?”

“Then why did you recruit the Four Heavenly Kings?”

I looked at Royina in bewilderment at Yumo’s question. I couldn’t tell her that I didn’t like the stares of people who couldn’t even look each other in the eye, and that’s why I suggested the Four Heavenly Kings. So I gave a vague answer.

“She doesn’t want to be my friend. So I told her to become one of the Four Heavenly Kings.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yeah. So, you’re okay with being her friend?”

“…Yeah.”

“But the recruitment for friends is over now.”

“…”

“So from now on…”

I was about to say something more definitive, but I shut my mouth.

‘What am I doing with a five-year-old?’

“You’re the first of the Four Heavenly Kings, so don’t say anything is okay. As the Demon King, I care.”

So I wanted to look at her face when talking, but that would be another imposition on Yane.

I forced a smile and swallowed my sigh.

Royina looked at me with her head up, then slowly nodded.

‘Is it you that I have to rescue?’

I didn’t feel anything when I realized why I came here through As.

Furthermore, the problem was that if I, who knew the future, saved him now, this world might be destroyed.

Even if I postponed my personal dilemma of not wanting to change the original flow, that was the biggest problem.

World destruction.

It may sound like an unrealistic story, but this world was based on the destruction of the world by demons.

If I save the current Ryan and change the original, I won’t be able to eradicate the demons and the world will be destroyed.

If I let the original story flow, As and Lona will save him from the demon after 17 years, and Ryan will destroy the demon.

If it goes as the original, I can have a happy ending without needing my intervention.

“But 17 years? That’s a long time.”

It seemed very long, maybe because it was a child’s body, but how long is 17 years?

Does it mean to watch Ryan’s abuse during that time?

As I stared at Ryan without saying anything, Yumo intervened between us.

“Miss, should I introduce Lona to our newly formed Four Kings?”

I finally noticed Ryan who was looking at me. I returned to clueless Taleia and smiled at Ryan again.

“Oh, right. That’s why I came. Yan, come here and see my little brother.”

“Yan?”

“It’s hard to pronounce your name. So, I’ll just call you Yan.”

It was an excuse to say it was hard to pronounce. He seemed happy with the nickname he was called for the first time and approached me again.

I stroked Yan’s head and told him he was kind.

“He’s small.”

“He’s still a baby. He’s only six months old.”

“He looks just like you.”

“What are you saying? I’m prettier! Ronah is still a baby, so you can’t say she’s ugly.”

“That’s not true, you’re pretty.”

“You look pretty now because you’re quiet. But if you start crying…”

Jan stared at me intensely no matter what I said next. Royina also stared at him with big eyes blinking.

Seeing their faces, I closed my mouth. I felt a strange sensation.

“Miss, what’s wrong?”

Regaining my senses at the nanny’s call, I smiled at Jan and the nanny, meaning that there was nothing wrong. The story hadn’t even begun yet.

This meeting was not in the original story, but I felt like the gears were starting to turn as planned.

“Don’t think too much about it. They could have met in their childhood. They won’t even remember each other.”

A child’s memory is truly fleeting. Especially if Royina meets Jan later, she won’t remember him.

Royina observed the newly appeared Jan, tilting her head. Jan also tilted his head in the opposite direction while observing Royina.

At their sight, I and the nanny held our breaths.

“Crazy, they’re so cute.”

Thump thump, thump thump.

My heart was shaking with the rhythm of a traditional Korean tune. The nanny didn’t know the tune, but it was clear that she was also following a similar beat as me.

“I want to bite them and say ‘wararara’.”

They were so cute that I wanted to bite them. For a moment, I forgot my worries and enjoyed the happiness.

Today was the day I met the two main characters.

****

I looked up at the ceiling of the bathroom, steaming with the scent of fragrant oil mixed into the water.

I had washed and changed before returning home, but when I saw Talaea’s smile, I hurried to the bathroom, thinking that there might still be the smell of blood on my body.

As Talaea had anticipated, Lyan’s plan was to bring him to the dukedom.

Although Phileas and Julian were bewildered by the sudden change of plans, both agreed that it would be better for the child to be in a ducal estate rather than the palace after seeing Lyan’s condition.

Thanks in part to Roksana’s direct rescue of Lyan, they were able to easily negotiate with the prince’s agents.

While Julian conducted negotiations that were almost like a compromise, Roksana interrogated the captured attackers. They only got a statement that they knew nothing, and in the end, it was treated as an incident in which they were coincidentally attacked by robbers.

If the outcome was already predictable, I should have left it to the subordinates. I regretted having stayed with Lyan as a guard under the pretext of a security detail.

“The more I think about it, the more annoyed I get. They starved the child because they were too busy with negotiations?”

Although I wanted to punch Matilda in the face, even one punch could have killed the skinny woman.

Even if Roksana did as she pleased, Julian would handle the aftermath, but she had no intention of stirring up trouble.

“Damn three families.”

“Your Lordship, is the water not too hot? Shall I pour more cold water?”

The maid noticed that Luxanna’s skin was turning red and pointed out the temperature of the lukewarm bathwater. She was also the one who had added Talia’s favorite fragrance oil to the bathwater. Luxanna let out a deep sigh and asked for a bowl of cold water.

As Ruxanna washed her face with the cold water, she thought about the time when she held both Rian and Talia at the same time. When she held only Rian, she didn’t realize it, but now it was clear that Rian was much lighter than Talia. Moreover, seeing Rian gobble up his bread as if he were afraid of being deprived of it, she realized that he must have been starving for a long time.

“Tell the chef to consult with the doctor and change the diet. Tilly is not a picky eater, so I just fed him whatever was available, but we don’t know the prince’s eating habits yet, so make sure to finely chop and mix in the vegetables that the child might dislike. And… make sure to cook enough food, even if there is some left over. We need to let him know that he can eat as much as he wants without feeling embarrassed.”

“What about the leftover food?”

“Throw the leftovers in the annex from now on. We can’t afford to waste food.”

“Yes, I will convey that.”

For now, Luxanna’s priority was to feed Rian well enough to fatten him up like Talia.