I Possessed As A Childcare Extra Chapter 16

What is this hot thing rising in my eyes? If I cry here, will Aeon get annoyed and throw me out? He’d probably release killing intent and yell, “How dare you cry in front of my daughter?”

“Master, Sir Esteban has arrived.”

Just when the tears were about to spill, the attendant announced a visitor.

Sir Esteban—had to be a knight. The aristocratic aura dripping from his name meant he was undoubtedly from a prestigious house.

“Let him in.”

The door opened, and heavy boots thudded across the floor.

In that moment, I wiped my tears. Whoever you are, thank you for showing up at the perfect time.

To my left, stood Sir Esteban, clad in black armor and a cloak.

“You called for me.”

…Why did that voice sound familiar?

“Kyle Esteban.”

Who?

“As of today, you are dismissed from the position of Commander of the 1st Central Battalion.”

Excuse me what? Commander of what battalion?

“You will take charge of my daughter’s escort.”

“I accept your command.”

His profile, with fist to his chest in salute… was VERY familiar.

Kyle… you bastard, weren’t you supposed to be an apprentice knight?

Staring at the ground, Kyle clearly had no intention of meeting my eyes.

 

 

****

 

 

 

“Daddy, how wong awe you going away?”

“I’ll return as soon as I can.”

In the front garden of Moon-Mist Castle, a heartwarming parenting scene played out across waves of white edelweiss.

Aeon lifted the Young Lady with one arm and grumbled.

“If the Emperor hadn’t pestered me…”

“The Emperor?”

“Repeat after me, Edel. The Emperor is a sly, black-hearted snake.”

“The Empewor is a swy, bwack-heawted snake!”

“You must never trust him.”

“Nevew twust him!”

“Good girl.”

Why are you teaching that to a child?

The Young Lady, who might have had the same thought as I did, was dutifully tagging along as the adorable youngest daughter.

So this whole mess was the Emperor’s fault?

While Aeon stayed in the territory, the Young Lady didn’t need an escort. No one would dare harm her in a place that was practically Aeon’s palm.

But because of the Emperor, Aeon had to leave for the capital, and an escort became necessary.

A perfect excuse to appoint a lady-in-waiting too.

Thus the chosen escort and the chosen lady-in-waiting were now walking behind father and daughter at a respectful distance.

“Daddy, Daddy! Put Edel DOWN!”

When the Young Lady swung her legs and begged, Aeon gestured that he would join her shortly.

A sign they were about to disappear into their own little world.

“Edel caught you! Daddy’s it!”

From under the shade of a tree, we watched the bizarre game of tag in which the Young Lady flitted through the flower field while Aeon pretended to barely miss catching her.

“…I’m sorry, Annie. I didn’t mean to deceive you.”

Having only one escort assigned meant that person was exceptionally skilled.

And that “exceptionally skilled” escort had deceived me for three whole years under the title of apprentice knight.

“I didn’t plan to keep lying forever. I just thought you might feel pressured…”

Kyle had been Aeon’s direct knight since the very beginning.

But what was that? Appren—tice knight??

The moment Aeon and the Young Lady walked far enough not to hear us, Kyle apologized. At least he had the decency not to shove his face into mine.

“…Are you very angry?”

Kyle Esteban, Aeon’s direct knight from the start.

And yet he’d pretended to be an apprentice knight this whole time?

Kyle kept sneaking glances at me. When I ignored him, he got desperate.

“Annie, won’t you please forgive me…?”

Pretending I didn’t hear, I exaggeratedly looked around.

“Oh my! Sir Knight, were you speaking to me, by chance?”

“Huh?”

I bowed deeply in mock-servility.

“What would I possibly know, good sir? A great knight has no reason to apologize to a lowly maid like me!”

“Don’t do that…”

“What do you mean, sir? Please pay me no mind! Do whatever you wish, sir knight!”

“Annie…”

A petty revenge for making a maid worry about the career of Aeon’s direct knight.

How ridiculous must I have looked? And he hid it so well! Listening silently even when I badmouthed Tricen people! No wonder he kept taking my side! Deceitful thing! Shameless creature!

If the truth had come out, I’d be a dead, but I chose to trust in his noble knightly honor.

I had no intention of forgiving him easily—he could endure my three years’ worth of irritation.

“Annie, what can I do to make it up to you?”

Kyle, who never knew when to give up, asked earnestly.

This pattern… this was it! The same thing he’d been doing for three years!

I quickly held up a finger.

“Facial attacks are forbidden!”

“What…?”

At that moment, the Young Lady, having played to her heart’s content, dashed over with open arms.

“ANNIEEE!”

“Miladyyy!”

I lifted her high into the air.

Oops. Was I treating her too much like a little kid?

Contrary to my worries, the Young Lady flapped her arms and laughed. Almost seven now!

Kyle, who clearly had much left to say, fell silent with a sulky expression.

Hmph! I won’t give you a chance to butt in!

The Young Lady enthusiastically joined my plan.

“Let’s go! We hafta tell evewyone!”

“Huh? Tell them what?”

“That Annie is my lady-in-waiting!”

“Ah…”

That wasn’t exactly what I wanted.

 

 

*****

 

 

 

The Young Lady held my hand tight and dragged me all over the castle.

I’d planned to endure everything until tomorrow morning’s assembly, when I’d be publicly executed.

But I couldn’t pretend this wasn’t happening.

Ines gathering everyone to say, “Annie has become a lady-in-waiting.”

vs.

The Young Lady personally dragging me to every single person saying, “Annie! My lady-in-waiting!”

Those two were drastically different.

Being the biggest social butterfly in Moon-Mist Castle, the Young Lady attracted servants wherever she went.

Even on forest paths.

“Oh my, Lady Edel! Out for a walk?”

“Yesh! With my lady-in-waiting!”

In the garden.

“Our dear Lady Edel, please try this.”

“Yesh! Give shome to my lady-in-waiting too!”

At the stables.

“Lady Edel! What brings you to a humble place like this!”

“I came to show off my lady-in-waiting!”

Even in the knights’ training grounds.

“We offer infinite loyalty to Lady Tricen!”

“Yesh! Gweet my lady-in-waiting too!”

“We greet the lady-in-waiting of our Lady!”

When I received the group salute of knights who outranked me, I wanted to cry. Please don’t look at someone like me……

Places where I didn’t know anyone were manageable.

But when we ran into co-workers? Ten times worse.

“Young Lady, why are you going around with Annie?”

“Gweet her, Jessi! Annie ish my lady-in-waiting!”

“A… lady-in-waiting? Not a maid?”

“Yesh! Annie became my lady-in-waiting today!”

“Oh……”

The expressions of the maids I worked with at the main building darkened.

“Hello, Cynthia! Greet my lady-in-waiting!”

Meeting the upper maids—who were close to the Young Lady—needed no explanation.

“A lady-in-waiting, Young Lady? But that girl is—”

As if she’d heard a ridiculous joke, Cynthia moved to correct her, but the Young Lady proudly declared:

“Lady-in-waiting! Yesh! She became my lady-in-waiting!”

“……Not a personal maid?”

“Yesh! My lady-in-waiting Annie!”

“Since… when?”

“Today!”

She even put her hands on her hips, bursting with pride.

Sharp stares stabbed into me like bullets.

Was she… tormenting me? A thoughtless Young Lady might do that unintentionally.

But I was a petty creature who completely misunderstood her intentions.

“If I do this, they won’t pick on you, wight? ‘Cause I’m showing evewyone how much I wuv you!”

When we reached her room and she dismissed all servants, she solemnly declared this.

I had to press a fist over my mouth to stop myself from sobbing.

“My Lady…!”

And I didn’t even notice! I, a mere extra…!

Sunlight poured through the windows and lit up the Young Lady like a halo.

“I’m gonna pwotect Joo-eun—ah, no, Annie!”

She corrected herself after glancing at Kyle.

Kyle only smiled contentedly.

“Ahem, Kyle.”

“Yes, my Lady.”

Clearing her throat, the Young Lady spoke grandly:

“I’m vewy, vewy safe wight now. So wait outside.”

“Understood.”

“Not by the doow!”

“…Pardon?”

The Young Lady grabbed Kyle’s hand and yanked the door open.

“There! Aaaaall the way ower there! At the end of the haww!”

Kyle looked baffled as he stared at her energetic pointing.

“But…”

“My daddy’s not gone yet! I’m safe!”

The Young Lady raised a small clenched fist. Kyle, unable to refute, obediently stepped back.

“Yes. I will stand over there.”

“Yesh!”

Beaming, she waved at him.

Kyle—who always seemed a bit scatterbrained—gave a formal bow and left.

Maybe it was the cape? The way it fluttered suddenly made him look like an actual dignified knight.

“Haaah……”

Letting out a sigh far too heavy for her age, the Young Lady murmured:

“I didn’t know Kyle was gonna be my guard.”

“Does Kyle appear in the original story?”

I only asked casually, but she nodded.

“Yesh. He was Seraphine’s guard. Kyle ish a Sword Master.”

“…I’m sorry, what?”

“Yesh. This one and that one, everyone’s a Sword Master. I hope they can’t hear us.”

The end of the hallway was easily three hundred paces away. A Sword Master might hear us, but I didn’t care anymore.

I… threw a tantrum in front of a Sword Master? Talking about sword aura and breath attacks? Aaaaugh!

“Joo-eun? What’s wong?”

“It’s nothing……”

“Do you and Kyle know each other?”

“Well… you could say we do? I didn’t know he was a knight, and I definitely didn’t know he was a Sword Master……”

That bastard pretended to be a “weak little trainee” in front of me. And I—fool that I am—worried about his future career.

“Wight. You wouldn’t have heard the rumors.”

The Young Lady climbed onto a chair with a “heave-ho!” and swung her legs as I sat across from her.

“Rumors?” I asked.

“Tricen’s Cwuew merciless war hound!”

“Excuse me? Merciless war hound?”

“A cold-heawted demon whose blood has frozen!”

“Frozen blood? A demon?”

“A heartless demon with bwue eyes!”

“Which demon now?!”

I stared at her, stunned by the parade of terrifying nicknames.

“So all of those are…?”

“Yesh! They’re Kyle!”

The merciless war hound of Tricen.

The cold-hearted demon with frozen blood.

The emotionless blue-eyed devil.

= My friend Kyle, who pretended to be a trainee knight for three years.

“Wow……”

“Amazing, wight? I was shocked too. It was exactly like in the original.”

“That’s… actually in the original? Wow……”

His two-faced nature, after acting like some fragile, innocent deer, was terrifying. He wasn’t a deer—he was a nine-tailed demon fox.