I Possessed As A Childcare Extra Chapter 9

The laundry room said they were full and wouldn’t take it. And they had hot water…

Seeing Holly’s red hands made me resent the Mage Tower. If they had the technology to make hot water gush out, couldn’t they at least invent a washing machine?

“If it’s tea the young master pours, I could even take it with my own body. Ah, but only if it’s cold!”

Of course, Holly talking nonsense wasn’t the Mage Tower’s fault—it was mine.

She had pushed aside the mountain of chores she still had left and got dragged here just because she was close to me, so it was natural her mind would start drifting somewhere strange.

I said I’d do it alone, but Holly insisted she absolutely couldn’t leave. That if I went alone, I wouldn’t return until after sunset.

‘You know ghosts come out around this time. You’re scared of sleeping alone.’

She said that, but I knew she stayed for my sake.

“But you’re really brave. How did you say something like that to the young master? Ah… if it were me… I would’ve fainted the moment our eyes met…”

Holding her forehead as if dizzy, Holly let out a long sigh.

Since she preferred big, beastly-looking men, it definitely wasn’t romantic feelings. It was sheer awe and reverence.

I gave a bitter smile.

“Right? I should’ve just fainted…”

I hated myself—this awkward coward who acts tough and regrets it later.

“Annie, you don’t seem like it, but you’re secretly thick-skinned and strong-hearted. I like that about you.”

“I don’t like it… I don’t like this about me…”

“No, nooo. I like it, I like it.”

Splash, splash.

Matching the rhythm, Holly kicked the water and protected my fragile self-esteem.

“Hollyyyy…”

Tears welled up, but I didn’t want to cry like I did three years ago, so I forced myself to hold it in.

Sniff! Yes, I’m not alone today!

“Don’t ever go anywhere and live with me forever!”

Holly rejected my obsessive male-lead-style proposal in a heartbeat.

“Huh? No wayyy. I’m gonna live with a big, beastly man!”

And there was only one person around who even came close to that description.

Holly’s dad, Uncle Will.

He was almost two meters tall and big enough to hide two grown adults behind him, yet Holly wanted a man bigger than her dad.

“There is no such man! He does not exist!”

“Kyaahaah!”

As I shook Holly by the collar while she laughed without knowing my pain—

“What kind of man? What man?”

—came a pure voice from someone who wasn’t supposed to overhear.

There was only one person we could run into at the river wash station.

“Woaah, it’s Kyle! A beastly man who didn’t finish growing!”

“Huh?”

Kyle blinked his blue eyes like a deer stepping out of the bushes.

Holly shook her head in sincere pity.

“Aaah, tsk tsk. You should’ve eaten more when you were growing. What can you even do with that toothpick body?”

Holly’s standards were far from normal. Kyle was not a toothpick.

He was tall enough that I had to look way up, his neck was thick, shoulders broad, arms and legs long and sturdy—a perfect knight-in-training.

His clothes hid it, but I was sure his muscles were no joke. Maybe not enough for Holly’s standards, but still impressive.

Kyle chuckled awkwardly and protested weakly.

“I’m still growing, you know.”

“Then you should eat more, duh?”

“I’ll try.”

Kyle sat next to me and naturally picked up a brush.

Come to think of it, I wasn’t alone three years ago either. Kyle had been there.

“You two are washing something this big all by yourselves?”

Even a casual greeting got a gloomy response from me.

“Yeah…”

“Why are you giving our Annie such a hard time, hm?”

“Me? Did I?”

Surprised, Kyle asked again and leaned in with droopy eyebrows.

“Sorry, Annie.”

“No, it’s fine…”

I really needed to fix that habit of shoving my face close when I was cornered. Avoiding his unusually overwhelming presence today, I lowered my head.

“It was my fault, so…”

“No, noo. Annie did nothing wrong. Stop that.”

“What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

Could that even be called “something”?

I had run out of Narkis’s room carrying the rolled-up carpet on my back like a fugitive.

‘Annie, running in the halls? Have you lost your mind! Why in the world are you carrying a carpet around?’

I got caught by Ines, who always appeared like a ghost at times like this, and puffed and panted while reporting what happened.
Most of it came out as nonsense.

‘Young master Narkis spilled an entire pot of tea in front of you?’

Ines, who somehow grasped the core of the issue, also understood what that meant.

‘…I see. Then you’ll have to wash it. I’ll lay down a new carpet, so go on. It would be best to take Holly with you.’

A shadow of worry crossed Ines’s strict face. She had been the head maid since the days when Sara worked here and had watched Annie grow up.

‘Mind your behavior. Do you understand?’

Holding my hands, Ines repeatedly urged me.

As my reason gradually returned, I came to a realization—today confirmed it for sure.

As if being marked by that child-rearing-story brother wasn’t enough, now I had earned his hatred, too.

I stared at Kyle’s reflection wavering on the river surface. His blue eyes stayed clear and sharp even through the ripples.

‘Lord Narkis doesn’t keep around people who bother him. If he disliked you, he would’ve fired you by now.’

When Kyle said that, I had simply thought he was being naive. But now—what should I do? I had become someone who bothered him.

“Annie, is it hard to talk about it?”

“It’s nothing much, just…”

I felt bad for worrying Kyle, but I didn’t have the strength to bring that up again.

“When does summer end?”

Narkis, who attended the Imperial Academy, only stayed here during summer vacation except for big events.

Even though I was changing the subject, Kyle answered faithfully.

“Huh? About a month and a half from now?”

“A whole month and a half left…”

Kyle watched me closely but didn’t pry, instead going back to scrubbing.

“To finish this today, we should hurry.”

“Yeah, let’s. Let’s finish quick and go steal the leftover snacks from the dining hall.”

We finished washing before sunset. After sending Kyle off with the snacks we pilfered from the kitchen, Holly and I completed the rest of our chores.

By lights-out, I collapsed onto my bed. Listening to Holly’s soft, purring breaths as she fell asleep the moment her head hit the pillow, I curled up under the blankets.

A month and a half…

Could I endure until then?

Wouldn’t it be better to just get a recommendation letter tomorrow?

Sniff… my lady…

What do I do? My lady, your brother hates me. You might have to look for another attendant.

Despite crying myself to sleep, the next day Narkis did not seek me out at all.