Childcare Diaries

Count Charant’s Residence.

All of the knights stopped training. They, too, knew what was going on today. Even though they were moving as usual, their mind was elsewhere.

A chilling sensation rose up on the nerves that were still bristling with tension.

The knights took their swords in perfect order. Then, holding their breath, they grasped the signs of those who came to raid the mansion. It seemed that they had been preparing for a long time, and there were quite a lot of signs.

Some of the knights of the Charant family were in the royal palace, and some were in the Caveran family, so it was certain that they would be outnumbered.

“Group 1 standby at the back door, Group 2 at the side door, and the rest follow me to defend the mansion.”

Taylor shouted out the prearranged group and instructed.

“Yes, Deputy Commander!”

Looking at the knights running to their positions, Taylor headed towards the children. Since everyone said they would play together today, there was a high probability that they would be in Brielle’s room.

‘…What Master feared has happened.’

He had to hold on until the knights in the palace and the knights on their way to Caveran came back.

“Teacher!”

Taylor climbed the stairs and bumped into Berry.

“What about the Young Master?”

“He is in his room. I’m going to pick up sister. I’ll be back.”

“Yes.”

Saying so, the two abruptly parted ways. The sound of the two’s rapid breathing informed the manor’s urgency. The sound of the knights evacuating the employees according to Taylor’s instructions resonated everywhere.

By now, the enemies would know they had noticed the surprise, so they felt more impatient.

As Brielle’s door burst open, the sword was aimed at the tip of Taylor’s chin, who entered without knocking.

“Siege.”

“Sir Taylor.”

Taylor was stunned by Siege’s ability. The distance between him and his sword was no more than a little finger. Meanwhile, Siege retracted his sword. He then turned to Brielle and Ellie. The two children were frightened, and their faces were white.

“What’s going on at the mansion?”

Brielle asked while looking at Siege and Taylor.

“Young Master.”

Taylor put on a hesitant look, wondering what to say.

“Sir Taylor.”

Brielle stopped calling him friendly until now, and he instead called him ‘Sir Taylor.’

“Yes.”

“In a situation where the head of household is not around, who should you be led by?”

“It’s the Young Head.”

“Then, who am I?”

“…”

Taylor looked at the child, who was talking with a pale face. It was only the color of the face that was like that, but not in those eyes, there was not a pale light.

Rather, he resembled the strong count.

“The Young Head.”

Taylor opened his mouth to Brielle, who was glaring at him for no answer. Eventually, he explained what was happening in the mansion.

“So, those who raided us now are the Caverans. They’re our relatives.”

“Yes.”

“How many knights are left in the mansion?”

“About fifty.”

“Yes. How many raiders?”

“I think there are about a hundred people.”

“If I step out, it’ll do more damage to the knights. Even if I look cowardly in the eyes of others, I’ll hide in a safe place as much as possible.”

At first, he thought that Brielle would insist that he, too, could fight, but the young master was a man who put the lives of his knights ahead of his own reckless courage.

“…Thank you.”

Taylor prostrated. It was a salute to the Young Head. Siege, who was admiring Brielle in his heart, watched the scene.

“Young Master! Ellie!”

Brielle’s door opened again, and Marie jumped in.

“Sister!”

“Marie!”

Marie hugged the two children tightly.

“You can’t get away from me from now on.”

She warned the two with a determined face.

“Of course. Marie, don’t leave us.”

“Yes, of course.”

She stroked Brielle’s hair. Watching the scene, Berry listened to the signs coming closer and closer.

“Is there a way to sneak out of the mansion?”

He asked Taylor.

“For defense reasons, all but the front and back gates are closed.”

Taylor shook his head. While contemplating whether to hide the children in the kitchen storage, Ellie suddenly said.

“If you have any daggers, could you give me one? I think I need to get one.”

“Ellie…”

Even though Taylor gave her a dagger, he was hoping that the child wouldn’t have to use it as much as possible. The child smiled gratefully as she took it.

There was no more time to be like this.

“Come on, let’s move.”

Taylor led the way, and Barry and Siege took the rear. As they looked around as best they could, everyone ran towards the kitchen at high speed.

* * *

Caveran was looking at the Charant family mansion with shining eyes like a hyena.

‘Foolish.’

He laughed at Kentrail, who headed for the Palace, even though Kentrail knew he was obviously targeting the mansion.

Caveran thought he knew Kentrail well.

With a blunt expression and no words, the person seemed heavy and thought-out, but when he got to know him, he thought Kentrail was nothing more than a foolish person who trusted others well. So, Caveran didn’t even think that he would cause a rebellion in the Palace.

“How is it?”

“As expected, the mansion is empty. More than half of the regular knights have disappeared, and it seems that many of the knights who train are also away.”

It was worth choosing the right time.

Today, he planned to take Brielle’s life, whom his nephew loved. Then, he would negotiate with Kentrail over the body of the child.

He gave a malicious laugh.

“It seems that the other side noticed us, too.”

The voice of a nervous knight came from the side.

“Nothing to worry about. Rather, chasing them will be fun.”

Caveran ordered the knight he usually brought with him to find Brielle first when he entered the mansion.

“Yes.”

He was already looking forward to it when he thought of Kentrail, who would return to the mansion that had become a mess. He regretted not being able to see his face in person.

* * *

The kitchen storage was small enough for three people, Marie, Ellie, and Brielle, to hide. Taylor hadn’t expected it to be this small, as he had never had a chance to look closely at the storage in the kitchen.

A puzzled look passed over his face.

If only three people were left in the warehouse, there would be no one to protect them in case something happened later.

“I’ll hide somewhere else.”

Ellie looked at Taylor and uttered.

“Ellie, what do you mean?”

Marie quickly interrupted the child. Why would she rather hide herself somewhere else?

“Sister, you have to protect the Young Master. Besides, since I’m smaller, it’ll be better to find somewhere else to hide.”

The child’s words were so reasonable that there was a moment of silence.

“Ellie. Then, I will go with you.”

Barry nodded his head and grabbed Ellie’s shoulder.

“Don’t talk nonsense. You have to go in there together with them. Sir Taylor has to direct the knights of the mansion, so you’d be better off with them there than Siege.”

Nonetheless, Barry, who couldn’t let his little sister go alone, no matter how true it was, shook his head.

“There’s no time for this right now. We need to find a place to hide quickly. In addition, there’s a high probability that Caveran won’t even know I exist here.”

“Ellie, it’s not like that. You saw the enemies who were aiming for you the other day.”

“Still, I’m not the top priority in this mansion.”

As time went on, everyone in the mansion was at a disadvantage.

“I’ll make sure to protect her.”

In the end, Siege uttered to Barry. He knew Barry’s concerns like a brother, but for now, Ellie’s words were the best thing to do.

Inevitably, Marie and Barry could only nod their heads.

“Ellie, you have to hide well. Whatever happens, don’t come forward.”

“Yes. Don’t worry.”

As Brielle gazed at her with concerned eyes, Ellie stroked his hair once.

“I’ll stay by your side safely until you surpass my height.”

Ellie smiled lightly as she looked at Brielle, who had almost caught up to her own height before she knew it. Soon, the rest left the kitchen except for Brielle, Marie, and Barry.

* * *

“I think we can hide here.”

Siege took her hand and led her.

There was a small space under the stairs leading to this floor. Ellie nodded her head and went inside first. Through the cracks in the stairs, she could see the floor below. They could see the top of Taylor’s head, who was running.

“I’m very nervous.”

When Siege looked at her, Ellie nodded her head a few times and hugged the dagger to her chest.

“It’s going to be okay. The County’s knights are strong.”

Knowing what Siege said was true, Ellie tried hard to calm herself down.

While the two were talking, there was a commotion on the other floor. The shouts of the knights, the sound of clashing swords, and the screams of the employees echoed. Some of them were captured by the Caveran family knights. They asked where Brielle was and cut anyone who didn’t know with a knife.

The sound was terrible, so Ellie covered her ears.

She hoped that the sound wouldn’t reach the kitchen where his sister and Brielle were. Otherwise, Brielle might live with guilt for the rest of his life because they died because of him.

There was the sound of the door slamming and opening and closing.

Ellie thought for a moment that her sister and the Young Master should have been hiding upstairs rather than in the first-floor kitchen.

In addition, there were also knights who came up to this floor. Sensing the knights passing right in front of them, she lowered her hand that had been covering her ears, closed her mouth and nose, and suppressed her breathing.

An unfamiliar crest was engraved on the armor.

‘…That’s the crest of the Caveran family.’

Ellie trembled with rage as she put that crest into her eyes.

They must have searched all the rooms on this floor as she saw them go up to the third floor. Fortunately, there was yet to be a knight from the first floor going to the kitchen. As she was breathing a sigh of relief, a few knights were seen cutting down the Charant knights and going to the kitchen.

Ellie’s heart fluttered.

For a moment, she was confused as to what to do. She then looked at the room in front of her.

‘There…’

* * *

The three people hiding in the kitchen were also feeling the noise in the mansion. As Marie covered Brielle’s ear with her hand, he took her hand tightly.

He hoped that his uncle would return soon.

Hearing the thumping sound, it was as if they were searching the mansion. Then, he could hear a voice saying that the first floor had all been searched. It was just a short distance away.

“What about the kitchen?”

A strange man’s voice rang out.

“Could they have been hiding there?”

“I still don’t know. Let’s go inside.”

When three or four voices were heard, Barry held the sword in his hand.

Four knights… He had to get rid of them no matter what. Even if they were going to die…

“There is a warehouse here.”

And finally, they put their hands on the door of the warehouse.