CH 21

Taleia and Mia, the handmaids of Talia and Royina, hurriedly headed towards the forest behind the mansion upon hearing that the children who were playing in the library had disappeared.

Taleia often took naps here under the trees in the garden. She was a clever child who usually played well in places where her behavior was expected, so Mia did not feel the need to keep her inside the house.

“As expected, they’re here.”

As she anticipated, the two children were playing among the blooming flowers. Taleia made a flower crown and put it on Rayan’s head, and then started picking more flowers. Rayan quietly watched Taleia doing this.

Mia stopped approaching them and just stared at the scene.

“If Jin were still alive…”

When Mia was giving birth to her son, they heard news that a festival was being held in the neighboring kingdom of Selys to celebrate the birth of their first prince. It was only a difference of a week or so. If they hadn’t left so quickly, Jin would have become Taleia’s good childhood friend and would be playing with them right now.

“Well, if Jin were still alive, I wouldn’t have become the handmaid of a lady like you.”

At this point, she would have been living with her husband in the Enfield territory. She remembered her husband, whom she had been separated from for several years, but her immediate concern was taking care of the two children.

“Lady and Prince, it’s time for lunch.”

Upon Mia’s call, Taleia took Rayan’s hand and ran towards her. Although she had anticipated the secret passage in the library being open, seeing the two covered in dust and grass made her let out a laugh.

She brushed the dust and grass off Taleia’s clothes and put a flower crown on her head.

“Is this for me?”

“Yes!”

“Thank you, Lady. Let’s go eat now.”

“What about class?”

“The butler will take care of it, so there won’t be any problem today.”

Upon Mia’s words, Taleia smiled satisfactorily. She was a determined and ambitious child who always wanted to get what she wanted, but even if she were to be praised a hundred times, it wouldn’t be enough for what happened today.

I wanted to hug his small body and give him a soft kiss on his cheek, but Mia restrained herself and called Ryan with a calm voice.

“Your Highness.”

“…Huh?”

Ryan responded slowly, as if he didn’t expect someone to address him.

When Mia introduced herself yesterday, she remembered that Ryan hid behind Talaea, so she could easily infer that he was afraid of adults.

“If something happens, please tell Lady Tilia. She is a demon queen, and I am a subordinate of the demon king, just like you.”

“Wait, my nanny is my subordinate? Shocking.”

Talaea murmured with a surprised expression, and Ryan snickered as he saw her reaction.

“What about me then?”

“You’re a nanny, just a nanny. Even the demon king must have a mother and a nanny. No, I’m the demon king, so you’re the demon king’s nanny.”

Talaea answered as if it was obvious, and Mia nodded as if she agreed.

“Well then, Your Highness, you need to wash up before you eat.”

“But I haven’t seen Mom and Dad yet.”

“You can see them after you eat. Today’s snack is pudding, which you like. We can lay out a mat here, eat snacks with Your Highness, make crowns, and take a nap.”

“What about Lona?”

“I’ll leave Lona with another maid today. You felt a bit left out since I have been only with the baby, right?”

“Not really.”

Talaea replied sharply, but Mia thought it was a lie. When Loxanna rested, Talaea could focus only on her. However, since Loxanna started working again, they had to take care of her together, so they had to pay more attention to the young Lona.

Recently, Mia was still concerned about which of the two she had asked Talia earlier was better. She was certainly upset. It was just that she was quick-witted and kind-hearted, and she didn’t say anything. Didn’t she cry when she first saw Royina because she thought she was being taken away from her parents?

Nevertheless, seeing that Mia had been coming to visit Royina frequently these days, it seemed that she had accepted her little sister. Mia stretched out her hand to Talia, saying, “Let’s go now.”

Although she was sorry for Royina, Mia couldn’t help but love Talia more because of the time they spent together. Talia was her savior.

“It’s so fortunate for me to be the young lady’s governess.”

In fact, Mia Harrison was a character who did not appear in the original. She had died a long time ago and had no chance of becoming Royina’s governess.

She was a childhood friend of Roxana and one of the guests, destined to commit suicide due to the death of her son and the discord with her husband. However, when newborn Talia came to her, her fate changed. She could twist the original story a little bit by avoiding her fate of death.

However, only two people in this world know that fact.

Mia smiled innocently without knowing anything. With a small fern in one hand and a crown made by its owner in the other, she stood up.

The path back to the mansion was leisurely, matching the child’s footsteps, and the refreshing scent of flowers and grass that had just been picked clung to her hands.

Urien, Roxana, and Mia decided to preserve the crown that Talia had given them by pressing flowers on it for a long time.

Chamber looked sad, as if he was not able to receive one himself.

“But I am one of the young lady’s four heavenly kings.”

At Chamber’s words, the three people burst into laughter at the same time.

“Butler, I am the Great Demon’s governess, and the two of you are the Great Demon’s parents.”

“I see.”

“I had the lowest rank. Don’t worry about it.” Chamber wiped his monocle once and put it back on. He stopped joking and brought up the real purpose of the four gathering together to avoid the children.

“Here’s the personal information of the prince’s minions.”

“You even counted the number of teeth?”

“I even found out how many teeth were rotten, so don’t worry.” Urien started reading the documents handed over by Chamber, and Roxana gestured to Mia to talk separately.

The two who moved to Roxana’s office had fragrant flower tea…

When the teacup was about half empty, Roxana asked Mia, “Are you okay?”

“What? What do you mean?”

“When Chamber came looking for you today, he said he was scared.”

“Would the butler really be scared of me?”

“Well, you know how scary your mother can be.”

“….”

“I was just worried for no reason.”

“The Count was also angry like that. Who wouldn’t be angry?”

“Roxi.”

“….”

“Call me Roxi, Mia.”

“Okay.”

As Mia’s tone became more relaxed, Roxana smiled slightly. Mia stopped forcing a smile and clenched her teacup with a sad face.

“Roxi.”

“What?”

“Why did you choose me as your wet nurse? There was already someone chosen for that.”

“At that time, I thought you were going to die.”

“….”

“And your husband begged me to save you.”

“….Who is that person?”

“We keep in touch by letter. Until recently, we weren’t on good terms, but over time things have gotten better little by little.”

“….”

“Well, not really better. I realized too late that he was also grieving for my sadness. Even if our child had died, we had to keep living, and my husband forced himself to act as if everything was okay for my sake.”

Thud, Roxana put down her teacup.

“Are you going to reconcile with your husband now?”

“We didn’t get a divorce.”

“Well, anyway.”

“It’ll be difficult for a while. Lady Luna can’t even walk yet, and Lady Tilly is unpredictable. My husband is only a substitute lord, so he can’t leave Enfield Viscountcy.”

“I can find a separate wet nurse for Luna.”

“No, I’ll do it.”

Roxana’s low laughter echoed. Mia followed along with a smile and said jokingly.

“Youngju will ask someone else to do it, or tell her husband to come over here.”

“Huh? Can I cut your husband off?”

“It’s okay, I can manage. We don’t have much use for money anyway.”

“No, don’t do that. Why would you cut someone who does their job well?”

“That’s too bad.”

Mia had said this as if she knew it wouldn’t matter, but she seemed a little disappointed.

“If it’s because you’re stuck here because of Tilly….”

“No, that’s not it.”

“Really?”

“Of course not. I’m not satisfied because I can’t be by her side. She’s just so cute and smart.”

“Well, she’s your daughter, so of course she’s cute and smart.”

“And healthy.”

“Yes, health is the most important thing.”

“That’s why I’m grateful.”

“…….”

“When you asked me to take care of her, you said that although families with abilities have rare hands, thanks to baptism, their children don’t get sick, let alone major illnesses. I was so happy to see that even a common cold never hit her.”

“Isn’t it because you bundled her up too much in the winter? I thought she was walking around like a snowman.”

“She was cute and round, right?”

“Yes, she was cute.”

Thinking of Talia, who had stomped around, thrown her scarf, and gotten annoyed, the two laughed again.

“She’s so precious, that’s why. But I don’t understand how someone can do something like that to such a precious child.”

“We should just sell everything.”

“Roxy, when you say things like that, it doesn’t sound like a joke. And don’t say things like that in front of Tilly.”

“Okay, okay. But you want to do the same thing, don’t you?”

“Of course. Where would I have the nerve to hit a five-year-old child? I get angry with just one or two hits, let alone thirty.”

“You’re right about that.”

“…It’s a common thing, they say. Children dying.”

“Yeah.”

“Children are too weak, and the world is too dangerous.”

“That’s true.”

“So we should be sadder and cherish them more.”

“…”

“People don’t know that.”

Mia’s last words filled the empty air. Rosana emptied her tea cup and swallowed the truth that she couldn’t bring herself to tell her.

“It’s more common than a grain of sand, so it keeps happening. Why would people care about a grain of sand that isn’t their own child?”