I Possessed As A Childcare Extra Chapter 8

‘H-he’s a psycho? Narkis?’

When I brought up the blanket incident from three years ago,

‘Ah, right! That’s truuue…….’

And when I said I’d recently been called over and told he was annoyed that I kept running away like a scared little mouse,

‘R-really? That’s sooo scary…….’

Narkis was the endlessly kind older brother to lady Edel, just like he was to Serphine in the original story.

But even she had no choice but to admit it. Because she had “watched every single thing, line by line,” that Narkis had done for his precious little sister.

How he trapped and slaughtered those who framed Serphine.

How he put his own blood, Delia, on the guillotine and didn’t feel even a single grain of sympathy as her head fell.

And then she herself became the one being executed.

‘Yeah, he’s a psycho, definitely…….’

I felt relieved as the young lady agreed. No matter how innocent Narkis acted, he couldn’t fool us.

How did he even overhear that?

Of course, it had been just the two of us in that room. We’d tested how much sound leaked beyond the door and even checked the decibel level.

Plus, we’d mixed in words from our past life’s language.

Proper nouns, certain verbs, polite curse-words.

‘Crazy guy’, ‘short-fuse’, ‘psycho’.

Security level: top-tier. Yet that childcare-genre older brother guy had S-rank stalking skills.

“Edel and you called me ‘psycho’ together.”

How did he even understand that? This childcare-genre brother seriously needed a balance patch.

“Well, that’s… it means you’re like a spiritual guide.”

I blurted anything, and he gave me a flat look.

“I’ve never heard that language before.”

I couldn’t say, “Because it’s an isekai language, of course.”

“Well, it’s… something the young lady and I made up… like a code……”

“Edel made a code with you?”

“Y-yes… yes. She was really into that sort of thing at the time, haha… ha.”

I cut off the awkward laugh myself.

Because the way he stared at me was burning holes in my face.

“Annie.”

“Yes, young master.”

“You have a habit of repeating words when you lie.”

Am I screwed?

“Should I cover up your sloppiness?”

Should I beg him to please cover it up?

Should I pretend I don’t know what he’s talking about?

Which one has the higher survival rate?

“Answer.”

“Well… um……”

I ended up proving his point.

I mean, doesn’t everyone do this? How many maids can talk normally in front of him! They don’t even get dragged in one-on-one like I do!

I missed Holly, who had patted my shoulder saying she was jealous when I got summoned by Narkis. Please, take my place here.

“Hmph.”

Hmph?

Hmmph?

Did he just laugh at me?

Because I couldn’t answer?

Fine, laugh all you want.

Even the snort that would’ve sounded like, “Ha! So dumb!” if I did it sounded classy when a noble did it.

Is this what it means to be high-born from the start? I flinched at the thought.

Is this… slave mentality? Is that why being a maid suited me so well?

Well, in my past life I wanted to sweep courtyards rather than wear fancy titles anyway. As long as someone picked me, I could’ve done any job.

“When did you become that close with Edel?”

Narkis tossed me a new problem.

I thought he would enjoy watching me squirm to the end. Did I think too lowly of a fifteen-year-old?

“Well…….”

No. Speak clearly.

“I’m the type that’s popular among girls her age, haha… ha.”

This time the laugh stopped because of external force.

Narkis stood up from the sofa, walked right up to my face, and tilted his head.

Since my growth had stopped and his had just begun, our eye level was almost the same.

In the space where I’d only seen the red carpet, a pale, slim jawline and bright red eyes appeared. Save this maid, please……

“I—I don’t really know either. I don’t know why the young lady calls for me so often……”

“You don’t know.”

“Y-yes……”

Please, can’t you just let this go……

I lowered my gaze so our eyes wouldn’t meet and silently begged. Hopefully Narkis didn’t have mind-reading powers.

It wasn’t even a complete lie.

I was a boring person. I wasn’t talkative, and my reactions were plain. Other than being the young lady’s secret diary, I wasn’t useful.

Yet she called for me every chance she got… was it a perk of being transmigrated?

Was it even a perk?

I told her we should leave, but the one I wanted to leave was her.

I still didn’t want to get caught up with the main characters. I was just waiting for the right time.

Anyway, I may have transmigrated, but I wasn’t even good at acting cute. Why she kept me so close was a mystery.

Usually the main character uses the people around them. Was the young lady acting so sweet to me just to use me?

Her bright face as she welcomed me floated up in my mind.

‘Joo-eun! You’re here?’

‘Try this! Aeon bought it and it’s sooo good!’

‘Hmm? You can’t eat it? Why? If you do you’ll die…? Where’s that written……?’

 

……Honestly, I wish she’d just throw me away after using me.

“Edel shows you sides of herself she doesn’t show us.”

“Y-yes?”

While my thoughts were leaking everywhere, Narkis finally changed the subject.

“Her expressions, behavior, tone. She’s different with you than with us.”

So what? Are you upset she treats you differently? Even though she acts cute and smiles at you all the time? Sure, I get that surviving means you have to do whatever works.

I held back the urge to say, ‘Of course she’s different. I’m someone she doesn’t need to walk on eggshells around.’

“Well, I guess… you act differently with family and with others.”

“Because we’re ‘others’.”

“Y-eees……”

Narkis folded his arms slowly. Ominously.

“Raise your head.”

Even if my neck hurt, I wanted to be a turtle-neck in front of him.

I slowly lifted my head, afraid he’d grab my chin like last time. My eyes stayed glued to the ground. My eyelids twitched but I couldn’t help it.

“You can look at me.”

I really don’t want to.

“How can someone so lowly—”

The moment I opened my mouth, Narkis’s lips curled upward.

“You don’t want to?”

“No.”

I tried as hard as I could to blur my focus, but it didn’t matter. Narkis had stepped right into my personal space and filled my entire view.

A face far beyond normal human limits, seen at zero safety distance, did something weird to my body.

It wasn’t just “beautiful.” “Eye-opening” wasn’t enough either.

It was like my eyes were being burned by holy light while my neck was being squeezed. Basically an assassination attempt.

It wasn’t even the first time, yet I couldn’t move. With the added side effects of forcing myself to look, I froze with my chin tucked and my eyes half-open.

Narkis looked at my pathetic state as if nothing was wrong and spoke.

“Tell me why Edel finds you easier to be around than her own family.”

“I’m not sure……”

“As much as you know.”

“……Anything?”

I shouldn’t have opened my mouth.

Narkis narrowed his eyes halfway. His clear crimson eyes looked down at me.

“Yes. Anything.”

I knew that if I said the wrong thing, I was dead.

“The way you, the master, and the second young master scare her… it’s similar……”

“……”

“P-probably.”

But three-years-old grudges didn’t miss a chance to mess with Narkis.

“Y-you did say I could say anything……”

“……”

“……Sorry.”

Stop smiling like that if you’re mad… please…

Narkis, lips pulled wide to the sides, asked:

“Why apologize?”

“Because I got above myself……”

With a sound that might’ve been “Mm-hmm” or “Ahh,” something only nobles could pull off, he cut off my words and turned away.

“That was a good answer.”

The smile I’d just seen absolutely did not match that meaning.

“Have some tea before you go.”

Only then did I notice the tea set on the table.

It was for one person. The young master didn’t serve tea to maids.

“Summer days are long.”

His pale fingers lifted the teapot.

Tea poured into the empty cup meant for Narkis. Trickle…

Past the proper amount, it kept going.

And going.

Until it filled to the brim, spilled over the saucer, soaked the table, and dripped down.

“The carpet’s soaked now.”

Narkis calmly set the teapot down and smiled like a painting.

“What should we do about this?”

According to the rules, carpets were replaced all at once during the spring cleaning. They were large and used on the floor, so they weren’t washed often.

The red carpet soaked with tea just held the moisture. If I wiped and dried that spot, no one would even notice.

But the intention behind pouring the whole teapot was clear.

In the silence, someone’s breathing grew rough. Mine.

Staring at the damp carpet, chest rising and falling, I suddenly moved like someone pressed a button.

I pushed the table aside, then the sofa.

The metal decorations on the legs scraped across the plush fiber, making a screeching, marble-scratching sound.

Feeling for the edge of the carpet, I grabbed it and lifted.

As I rolled the two-meter-wide carpet, what I met was—

Narkis’s shoes.

“……”

“……”

I stared at the spotless black shoes.

Narkis was surely looking down at me.

While my breath was ragged, Narkis didn’t even make a sound.

We might stay like this for hours. As soon as that thought crossed my mind—

His shoe moved.

He rolled the carpet all the way up. There was nothing left for me to clean.

I didn’t wait for permission to leave. I ran away.

 

 

 

 

*****

 

 

 

“Sorry, Holly.”

“I said it’s fine!”

Holly shook her head wildly and shouted bravely.

“A carpet that Young Master Narkis spilled tea on—this is just thrilling!”

Even a reaction I couldn’t relate to was something I accepted solemnly for now. After all, she had to wash a giant carpet because of me.

We sat by the Larque River wash station, scrubbing the carpet. Even in midsummer, the river water carried the chill of the snowy mountains and felt icy cold.