Childcare Diary – Chapter 2

Translator Note: Wow, translating the second chapter was a lot easier than the first for some reason… ∑(O_O;) Maybe it’s because I worked out a translating method? And I think I was less strict about translating word for word and making direct translations, so it was easier this time around. Hopefully things still made sense!

^ This is how I imagine Briel looks like when his cheeks get squished together. (*¯︶¯*)

 

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“Alright, let’s practice walking today.“

“Me too, me too big sis!” 

Attached to Marie’s side was Ellie who had rosy cheeks and short hair tied up into two pigtails.

Although Ellie was Marie’s second younger sibling with a large age gap, she was also one of the key people who contributed to Marie’s role in becoming the nanny to the Count’s family. This child, who has lived within the mansion for a while, suddenly said that she wanted to take care of Briel.

‘It’s dangerous.’

There weren’t soft baby mats here like in Marie’s old world, so if Briel fell on his face, it’d leave a bump on his head.

“So that he doesn’t fall over, we can just walk and hold hands next time, okay?”

“Hmph.” Wanting to do it by herself, Ellie made a pouty face because she hated being told no, and she looked at Briel and Marie with an upset expression.

“Young master, your legs are quite strong now when getting up.” Every time he tried to put strength in his legs, the puffy diaper with the bouncing butt always put a smile on Marie’s face.

“Where? I want to see too!”

Thus, Ellie carefully poked Briel’s chubby legs with her finger. “Ooh~” Even though nothing could be felt because Briel wore fluffy pants, Ellie still marveled at the feeling.

Regardless of Marie and Ellie’s reactions, Briel held tightly onto Marie’s hand for a while despite having a hard time.

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The chubby butt swayed as he continued moving forward. Even though the baby was tired in the middle and almost gave up, he still moved towards the goal with a face red from exertion.

“Oh my, you’ve come so far, young master.”

Briel’s goal was his nanny.

Marie had left him alone to organize the cloth diapers for awhile, but she smiled at the baby who slowly approached her.

As he was slowly growing up, Briel would sometimes look for Marie like this.

When she quickly reached over to hug him, there was a burst of laughter from Briel’s mouth in satisfaction.

“How can you be so lovely~?” Such a happy Briel was so cute that Marie couldn’t resist rubbing his cheeks.

This wasn’t the only change in the 7 month-old young master. Just a month ago, he could only stand up still with all his strength, but now he could move his legs to waddle.

“The Count will be very happy seeing you grow like this.”

Although, since his tall uncle seemed to be of mixed genes, it seemed like Briel would also grow to become one of the tallest in the kingdom someday. Sadly, despite Briel growing so steadily, the Count hadn’t been able to come see him for a while. It seemed the Count was unable to leave the royal palace because he was busy trying to finish the accounting books by the end of the year.

“Young master, the Count is going to be so surprised when he comes back.”

Briel liked waving his fists as if he knew that she was talking about his uncle.

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The black horse raced and ran through the night.

“Welcome back.” 

After the Count finished his work, he finally returned to the mansion.

He nodded once towards the welcoming butler and asked while walking quickly. “Is he sleeping right now?” Although it was very late at night, he asked because he knew that babies sometimes had irregular sleep schedules.

Although the Count didn’t specify ‘who’ he was asking about, the butler quickly knew who his master was referring to.

“He is sleeping.”

The Count didn’t get to hear the answer he wanted. He had some hope that Briel might still be awake, but was now noticeably disappointed.

“I see.”

However, there was still someone to greet him. It was the nanny.

“You’ve returned.”

“Yes… Has he been well?”

“Of course. He’s asleep right now, but if you go in quietly, it should be okay to look at him for a while.”

When the Count had arrived at the mansion earlier, Marie had been smiling happily as she saw him from the window. Although he didn’t do much, his quick steps indicated how excited he was to come see his beloved nephew.

After she spoke, he took off his outer coat that was cold from being outside and carefully walked into the room where Briel slept.

“He looks like he’s lost weight.” As his eyes adapted to the dark room, the baby’s sleeping figure was a little more noticeable. Clearly, the belly that usually stuck out slightly seemed to be a little flatter than before. He spoke these words quietly to Marie while standing and observing his nephew’s face after a long time.

“It’s because he’s been very active recently.”

When she saw the Count reacting in a slightly unusual way, she looked forward to seeing how he would react tomorrow when Briel was actually awake.

‘You will be even more amazed to see how the young master has changed tomorrow.’

The Count continued to watch Briel’s sleeping profile in the dark for a while before reaching out towards the cheeks that were puffy and round.

“Please wait a moment, Count.”

His hand was once again blocked by her.

“If you touch him with your cold hands, he might wake up. Also, you haven’t washed your hands yet, have you?”

“Sigh…”

He had to be satisfied by just looking again.

Marie smiled at the obedient Count.

‘It seems the Count’s life has been getting a bit more difficult.’

Perhaps he was motivated to work hard because of Briel, but he seemed to be having a hard time at the palace.

‘But even then, he seemed to be more handsome.’

He survived the work hardships and seemed to have lost a bit of weight, making him appear even more masculine.

“Is something wrong?”

She had been staring at him in the dark, so she thought that he couldn’t notice her gaze, but when the Count turned his head to ask her, Marie panicked.

“Ah… Nothing! I just need to sing a lullaby to the young master…” She bit her tongue, realizing what a clumsy excuse it was to say that she needed to sing a lullaby to an already sleeping baby.

When the Count was silent, Marie could only sigh and began to lightly hum a lullaby. The face of the nanny was reflected in the moonlight that illuminated the room. Although she was clearly tired after a long day of taking care of Briel, the smile on her face was very warm. Enough to make one’s heart flutter.

He didn’t realize that a gentle smile was already engraved on his face when looking at her.

---

When Marie felt something warm near her stomach, she naturally hugged the warmth.

‘Ah, feels good.’

She had fallen asleep late last night and was chilled by the cold morning.

“Bububu.”

‘Huh?’

However, when she heard the familiar sound coming from the warmth in her arms, she opened her eyes with surprise.

“Young master. How did you get here…”

Sometimes, when she couldn’t always watch him closely, she would put the thick blankets on the floor as a make-shift bed instead of letting him sleep on the Western-style bed. Then she’d make a wall of fluffy cushions around him, but a few days ago, Briel grabbed at them, so it seemed that today, he was able to make his escape.

“Did you sleep well?” Marie greeted and asked Briel with a smile but then quickly changed to a strict expression. “You shouldn’t come over like that. You could have hurt yourself.”

For the sake of emergencies, the surroundings were laid with thick blankets, but Briel, who was still growing, could have hurt himself. 

“I should be a little more careful when making the bed next time.”

However, Briel seemed to notice her dissatisfied expression and began to enthusiastically cry out loud.

“Bububu! Ro! Bububu! Ro!”

Marie, who originally had a strange expression, smiled to appease him, and the baby’s babble finally stopped.

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“Okay, it’s time for breastfeeding.”

Marie wasn’t pregnant, so of course this was something she couldn’t do.

Every morning, there was a wet nurse who fed Briel, and this wet nurse was the middle-aged woman named Erin who Marie had seen when she had first opened her eyes in this world. Because she also had a baby, Erin couldn’t be entirely responsible for Briel, and because Briel was the Count’s heir, he couldn’t be left to just anyone. At that time, Marie had experience taking care of her younger siblings, therefore she was able to enter the mansion as a nanny.

Erin said that at first, she didn’t know what to do because Briel used to strongly refuse Marie. While Erin had been worrying about finding a new nanny, Briel suddenly became attached to Marie. That was the day she took over this body and came into this world.

“Bu-“

Although he didn’t like to fall off with Marie, Briel seemed to struggle in Erin’s arms for some reason.

“Wait a minute, young master.”

However, since he couldn’t overcome Erin’s strength, he was forced to breastfeed.

“Has young master Briel eating food well?” Erin, who was feeding him, asked Marie with a small sigh.

“Yes, I’ve been mostly giving him small bits of cabbage.”

Currently, Briel was also allowed to eat baby food on top of breastfeeding.

“That’s good. My child doesn’t want to eat, so it’s been a big problem.”

“Are you referring to your first child?”

“Yes.” Erin had two sons, the first one being four years old.

“Hm…How about making your child’s food into his favorite shape?”

“Favorite shapes?”

“Yes. For example, if he likes horses, then shape the food like horses, and if he likes bears, shape the food like bears.”

“Oh, that sounds like a good idea.” Erin wondered if this would actually work, but Marie’s words seemed to make sense, so she thought that there was nothing wrong with trying. Anyway, Marie had also raised two younger siblings. In a way, she was more of an experienced parent than Erin was.

“Oh? You aren’t going to eat anymore, young master?”

Suddenly, Briel, who had two small front teeth, rejected Erin and reached out to Marie.

“Bu! Bu! Ah! Ah!”

---

After Marie gave Erin a few tips on raising two kids and was hugging Briel while patting his back so that he wouldn’t get indigestion, the Count came into the room. As a man who only had his nephew in his eyes, the Count had stepped out today to take a break. Of course, he would eventually still need to look at the work that had been pushed back in the office.

“Count.”

When Marie noticed and called out to him, Briel’s head turned around.

“Bu!”

A smile appeared on the Count’s face as if Briel had called out to him. “Have you been having fun?” He couldn’t hold the baby, so instead, he touched the little hand that was on Marie’s shoulder. The soft feeling was addicting to touch.

Briel laughed happily as he was gently poked.

“Oh?” It was then that the man discovered something new about his nephew.

“Did you see it?”

“Yes. He already has teeth.” The Count was shocked at his nephew’s growth. “I have been too distant…”

He reflected on the fact that he had not known until now that Briel’s teeth were coming in. No matter how busy with work he was, there was nothing more precious than his nephew and now he regretted it.

When she heard his words from the side, she couldn’t say anything because she was actually hoping that he would reduce his work. However, she prepared something special to cure his fatigue.

“There’s one more thing to see.”

“Hm?”

“Please take a look.”

She carefully lowered Briel to the floor.

Then Briel briefly rolled over and pushed up to sit on his butt by himself.

“!”

Although his nephew who was able to sit up on his own reached towards Marie for her to hold him, the Count’s face still had the happiest expression that she had ever seen from him before.

‘Seriously, who was the person who said that the Count was a cold person.’ Marie looked at his happy expression and quietly thought this.

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Briel wanting to be picked up: