Childcare Diary – Chapter 3

Translator Note: So I was reviewing some of the Korean with my friend and realized that I had mistakenly translated that Marie had two younger brothers! Google Translate’s auto-translation of ‘동생’ (dong-saeng) is ‘younger brother’ which isn’t correct because the term is actually non-gendered. So this entire time, I didn’t bother thinking twice and thought that she had two younger brothers, which isn’t correct because Ellie is her younger sibling and Ellie is a girl! I had been so confused about Ellie for the longest time too… I was like Who is this kid… lolol.

Anyway, hope you’re looking forward to some cute quality bath time with baby Briel, Marie, and the Count ~

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“Bu bu bu!!!”

Briel stretched his arms towards Marie, and his feet stomped on the floor excitedly.

He seemed to know that Marie had brought snacks just by seeing the familiar bowl she brought out.

“Wait.”

Placing the bowl aside as she fixed the pillow comfortably around Briel to support him, his small head followed the movement of the bowl.

“I prepared an apple today.”

The young master Briel’s snack changed every day. Among the various snacks, Briel’s favorite was sweet or sour fruit.

When he put in a little bit enough to fit in his small mouth, he scrunched his nose into a small grimace and blinked his eyes.

“So cute.” Marie exclaimed without a doubt.

She thought that Briel would stop eating because he turned his head and gave her a look like he was confused why such a taste existed in the world.

“Bubu!”

However, when the initial sour taste finally passed, Briel seemed to be addicted to it just as he was seemingly addicted to making that cute frowning expression.

She scooped up another spoonful and put it in his mouth as soon as he asked for it.

Then he seemed to not know what to do again after tasting it for the second time, so he merely opened and closed his eyes in response.

“Is it yummy?”

“Eu! Eu!”

Now at eight months, Briel was trying to communicate in other words besides his usual babbling noises.

“Are you trying to say ‘Yes’?” [T/N: earlier he said 으으 here which is one character away from 응응 which means ‘yes yes.’]

Marie didn’t know if that was what Briel was actually saying, so it was only a matter of her own understanding.

“Okay, this is the last bite. Ah~”

Briel opened his mouth like a baby bird and frowned while winking both his eyes at the last taste of sourness.

‘It’s too bad I can’t take a photo.’

Marie shook her head as she thought it was unfortunate that these cute expressions would remain only in her mind.

After unexpectedly eating everything in the bowl, Briel’s head began to slip slightly to the one side.

Since he had eaten all the snacks, it was time to take a nap.

Marie gently hugged Briel and hummed an unfamiliar tune.

‘Eventually, if I play music for him, it’ll be good to do it for a few months… What would be a good way to do this here…’

For a brief moment, it seemed that he knew Marie’s thoughts about him, and Briel’s light snores and breathing seemed to harmonize with her song.

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“Count.”

The Count increased the time he spent in the mansion after that time when he witnessed Briel being able to sit by himself. Since seeing Briel at that time, he decided that he wasn’t going to miss any more of his nephew’s precious first moments.

But when he arrived at the mansion, despite having to leave do some work, he raised his head at Marie’s call.

Then his gaze turned to his nephew in Marie’s arms. He had a slightly distressed expression as he noticed the way his nephew looked at him.

“Wait a minute, please come over here.”

In a rushed voice as though Marie was in a hurry, she moved quickly without giving him any time to greet Briel.

He wasn’t aware, but Marie kept on rushing only because he had been waiting today.

“Where are you going?”

She didn’t respond to his words and continued walking forward as he came near.

“Here… Why… ”

The place where the three people soon arrived was the room adjacent to Briel’s bedroom. There was a large portable bathtub prepared.

“Please come closer.”

Marie spoke as she started to take off Briel’s close, leaving the Count confused.

“Are you trying to give him a bath?”

The Count curiously asked while next to the bathtub.

“What is this?”

The bathtub wasn’t just water. Something black was floating around also.

“Seaweed.”

Marie said it in a casual way, but she actually had secret expectations. She prepared it for Briel and was excited when imagining him playing with it.

She wanted to give Briel the touch-play she’d done as a kid at the community center once, but she was struggling to find a way to do this properly. Even if this was a Count’s home, she was concerned because she wanted to use a little food to help with Briel’s development despite being in an era where there were starving people outside.

Therefore, she was finally able to find something in the kitchen while looking around with the possibility of discovering some insignificant surplus ingredients.

Seaweed strips.

It was a seaweed that she hadn’t expected to find because this novel had a medieval western setting, but it seemed that this seaweed was used as a cooking ingredient. Maybe because it was in a novel, there were some differences with the seaweeds from her world and this world.

When Marie saw that the chef was going to throw away the seaweed after boiling it in the water, she offered to take it and then brought it here. Afterwards, a portable bathtub was prepared as well.

Perhaps it was because the Count was at the mansion, but she didn’t know if that was why she was more worried than usual. Maybe she was actually worried that the seaweed would go bad or something.

Despite this, when she heard that he was going to do work at the mansion, she prepared this bathtub-seaweed combination.

It was her own scheme to bring the Count and Briel closer by having them do touch-play together.

He had been dragged along without knowing anything, and when he opened his mouth to say something, the nanny put more seaweed in the bathtub. In addition, he became speechless at her casual response.

“What are you doing right now?”

After previously seeing the nanny’s peculiar method of having Briel practice flipping over on the bed, he had sheathed his sword while feeling extremely embarrassed at the misunderstanding, so this time, he inquired with as little emotion as possible.

“Touch-play.”

“What…? Touch-play?”

“Yes. It’s good for muscle development. It’s also good for emotional development.”

“But how do you play with this…”

He frowned because he thought this sort of play was incomprehensible.

“Just like this.”

And then just as she was immersing Briel in the bathtub, he stopped her in a hurry.

“You just need to let the young master enter the bathtub and play with the seaweed. It’s better if you play with the seaweed from the side.”

“Oh… no, but… ”

After hearing Marie’s explanation, he realized that it wasn’t a dangerous game. He knew that the seaweed was harmless, but the worrisome visuals made him hesitant to immerse his nephew Briel in the bathtub.

“Aiya*, please take a look carefully.” [T/N: she says 아이참* which is like an exasperated expression lol]

As he briefly hugged the baby, she pulled a small piece of seaweed out of the bathtub. Then she made caterpillar eyebrows for Briel.

“How’s this?”

Briel was curious about the slippery sensation and grabbed the seaweed eyebrows with his hands. Then he waved his arms back and forth in an excited manner.

“Then let’s get started in earnest.”

Carefully handing Briel back to Marie, the nanny was finally able to put the baby in the bathtub.

“Bububu!!”

When warm water was added, Briel laughed, raising his voice.

“Then, just like this. Please try doing it, Count.”

Finally settling Briel into the bathtub, Marie gave the Count a demonstration of the seaweed.

He looked at the seaweed in his hand.

‘There’s nothing he can do since Briel likes it so much.’

Following Marie’s example, he gently rubbed the seaweed on his nephew’s body. Ticklish, Briel’s babbling became even louder as he waved his arms excitedly.

“Do you like it, young master?”

She unfolded a handkerchief she had set aside, soaked it in the warm water, and covered Briel’s upper body with it.

“Why is this…”

“So that he doesn’t get too cold.”

“Ah… ”

He reflected on her meticulous consideration. While he worried by himself about the issues of playing with seaweed, the nanny was happily playing with Briel.

As the Count lightly splashed the water in front of Briel, the excited baby enthusiastically waved his arms towards his uncle. Thanks to that, some of the water in the bathtub splashed onto the man.

“Are you okay?”

His front body was soaked wet.

Marie handed over the towel she had placed aside, and she blushed when she saw his transparent white shirt clinging to his broad muscular chest.

‘How do you even have the time to exercise.’

He didn’t look like someone who sat at a desk all day. The towel in her hand lost its direction due to her hurried glance. Marie’s hand reached past his outstretched hand and moved close to his shoulder. This, she lost her sense of balance.

Marie, who was suddenly trapped in his arms, panicked. “Sorry.”

He was also speechless with embarrassment and didn’t know what to do. At that moment, Marie’s consciousness returned at the sound of Briel’s laughter which had broken up the subtle flowing atmosphere that surrounded them.

“Cough…”

He cleared his throat and hurriedly resumed playing with Briel. The Count’s face was a little red as Marie moved away to clean up the water that Briel had splashed around.

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“What are you making?”

A few days had passed since they did the touch-play. Ellie, who came to Briel’s room, asked what Marie was making.

“A doll.”

It was actually an doll that could help with attachment issues. When thinking about the time a child’s period of attachment began, she felt that it was a little late, but she still wanted to make it for Briel with her own hands. It took longer than expected to make it while using Briel’s nap time.

“No way… that’s for the young master?”

Marie, who laughed secretly after hearing Ellie’s words, stroked the child’s hair. The young girl was a rather precocious child, but when Marie saw this, she felt that Ellie was just like any other child.

Suddenly sulking, the child turned her gaze away from the stitches Marie had placed and looked at the floor.

“Yep.”

Ellie was so cute when asking that Marie held back and only replied with this one word despite seeing the child’s cheeks pouting.

‘She’s going to go cry. I just couldn’t resist playing a prank.’

“The young master’s doll is going to be a bear.”

“Y-Yeah?”

Ellie’s face turned back towards her. What Marie was clearly making was a rabbit doll however.

“Then…this one?”

When the voice full of anticipation turned to her, Marie spoke with a bright expression. “Of course, it’s yours. But I’m going to make this part bigger, so you have to wait just a little longer. Do you think you can wait till then?

“Yeah!”

She could see how excited Ellie was by the way she quickly nodded her head and answered.

Marie was reminded of the shock she had received when she returned home with Ellie for the first time since arriving in this world. It seemed that the only thing the younger siblings possessed in that house were clothes resembling rags.  There weren’t any dolls or toys at all.

Marie felt sorry for the children when thinking that the body’s original owner only used the money she earned from the Count’s family on basic clothes and food for the two children without ever thinking of making dolls like this to give to her younger siblings.

Tears fell when she looked at the lovable Ellie. But she quickly wiped her tears away so that the child wouldn’t see.

“It wasn’t scary last night?”

“Not scary. It was okay because the knights were guarding outside.”

There had been one more thing she had been surprised about after entering this world. Since Briel was still young and she had to spend most of her time at the Count’s mansion, only the two younger siblings were left at home.

After discovering this, Marie asked the Count if she could stay with her siblings in the servants’ quarters, and he was kind enough to allow it.

Thanks to this, Marie’s family of three were able to stay in the mansion.

Marie remembered her gratitude for this favor and returned to sewing.

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A sudden crisis appeared in the usually smooth daily life of Briel and Marie.

The cause was a diaper.

“Now, young master. Let’s try to lie down.”

“Bu! Bu! Ro! Ro!”

She didn’t know why, but he started making a fuss whenever she laid him down to change diapers.

Even now, he turned over and crawled away to escape. He was so fast, it seemed like she spent the entire day chasing him around the room.

“Young master, look at this.”

Thus, Marie’s method was to distract him with an interesting object. Fortunately, he seemed to like the bear doll she made quite a bit. But even when he hesitated after seeing the doll, he still ran away.

“Okay, shall we lie down with the teddy bear?”

And at that time, Erin, who was quietly waiting by the side, managed to catch the childish young master.

“Bu! Ah! Bu!”

Although Briel was flustered, he struggled angrily but there was no way he could outdo Erin’s strength. Eventually, he was forced to lie down and wear diapers.

Briel stared at the teddy bear waved in front of his face and then looked at Marie with an annoyed expression but it was no use.

Marie gently poked the creased forehead on the young master who looked at her with a serious expression. Then he turned his head away decisively. When Marie and Erin burst into laughter, Briel’s brows furrowed even deeper.

When he did this, he looked so much like his uncle Count.

“There, now you’re all done.”

And because he was afraid that Erin wouldn’t let go, Briel quickly embraced the teddy bear and buried his face there.

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Briel’s face when he was caught: