Childcare Diaries

Chapter 117

Once Upon A Time (1)

Kentrail got up on the bed.

He wore cotton slippers on his small feet, about the size of an adult’s knuckles.

‘I have to go to brother quickly.’

Today was the day he decided to go fishing with his older brother. It was called ice fishing, so he had never done it before. Needless to say, he had been looking forward to it so much for several nights already.

“Young Master, you woke up early.”

The butler welcomed Kentrail down to the first floor.

“Yes, but what about brother?”

“He went to the annex for a while to check his fishing gear.”

“Really? Then, I’ll go as well.”

“Haha, I know you’re excited, but why don’t Young Master prepare something you need before you go?”

“I already did it.”

“It’s still dawn. When did you prepare it?”

“Two days ago!”

Hearing Kentrail’s excited answer, the butler made a strange giggle and laughed.

“Can we go now?”

“Sure. First, wrap yourself in this blanket and go.”

Looking at Kentrail, who was wearing thin clothes, the butler handed him a blanket. It was a blanket used by adults, so it reached the tips of his toes.

Dragging the long blanket, Kentrail ran toward the annex.

* * *

“Brother!”

Kentrail’s older brother, Kranteil, already knew that his younger brother was coming by the sound of small footsteps walking on the stones.

“You woke up so early.”

“Yes, I woke up early because I was so excited.”

As he crouched down, Kentrail gazed at the tackle his brother was tidying up.

“Are you doing it yourself?”

Kentrail was curious and asked his older brother, who was inspecting the fishing gear himself, on behalf of the servants.

“Yes. Brother likes to fish, but it’s fun to do maintenance like this.”

“I see.”

Listening to his words, he stared at his older brother as he put his tools in a large bag with hands two inches larger than his own.

“Fortunately, the ice seems to be frozen. The commander of the knights inspected the nearby lakes.”

“Wow! The Ice Fairy granted my wish.”

“Huh? Ice Fairy?”

He was six years older than Kentrail, so the expression of ice fairy was unfamiliar and funny.

“Why?”

“No… that’s right, the ice fairy granted Kentrail’s wish.”

“Of course. I prayed every night.”

“Prayed…?”

“Yes. I want the ice to freeze up quickly.”

“Then, what did you give the fairy in return?”

He played a joke on his younger brother, who spoke with his black eyes shining and his white cheeks flushed.

“Payment? Is there such a thing?”

“Of course. For example, give them hair or give them precious dolls.”

“Gasp. I didn’t say I’d give them anything. What if they take my hair… is that why the butler doesn’t have hair either?”

“What?”

Kranteil, who felt sorry for the butler who had started to lose hair, uttered with a smile.

“Well, I don’t know that. They might take the most precious thing from you.”

“That’s not allowed…”

His expression, which had been full of smiles from a week ago, darkened in an instant. That wasn’t the only thing as Kentrail started to cry. Seeing him like that, the eldest Charant, startled, took out his handkerchief from his chest and hurriedly held it out.

“Don’t cry. Why are you crying all of a sudden?”

“They will be taking the most precious thing… Then, will be taking Brother?”

“….”

His young brother’s words warmed his heart, maybe it was because he didn’t know that Kentrail thought of himself as the most precious thing. When Kranteil didn’t say anything, the child’s cries grew louder.

And as if he heard that sound, the butler came running from the mansion.

“Young Master, what is wrong?”

Both the eldest and second son of the Charant family seemed that they were shocked at something, so the butler wondered if something was wrong.

“Butler… huwaaa.”

Kentrail started to cry a little harder.

“Yes, Young Master.”

The butler hugged him.

“What if the ice fairy takes my most precious thing? I’d rather they take my hair like the butler.”

“…What?”

…Hair? He looked puzzled as he wondered if Kentrail was talking about his hair loss.

“Young Master, to wish to have hair loss. How could you think of such a thing…”

Looking at the butler, Kranteil felt sorry for playing with Kentrail.

“….”

After hearing the explanation from the eldest son, the butler put on a dejected look. It was because he was very worried as he was surprised by Kentrail’s cry.

“Don’t worry, Young Master.”

“Huh? If you give the ice fairy a gift of sweet chocolate tonight, they’ll take it.”

“…Really?”

“Yes, of course.”

Saying so, the butler and Kranteil winked at each other and exchanged signals.

“What a relief.”

Soon, Kentrail wiped his reddened eyes with a handkerchief.

“I’ll tell the chef to prepare some warm soup. You’ll be out fishing all day today, so you’ll be so exhausted…”

The next moment, the butler hurriedly rose from his seat, and with a quick pace, he headed towards the mansion.

“Kentrail, are you calmer now?”

Kentrail nodded his head at his brother’s words.

“Yes. I’m so glad. It’s not time for this. I’ll have to go to the chef and ask him to prepare a lot of chocolate.”

“Okay.”

Answering, he passed the handkerchief to his brother and hurried off.

“Kentrail, you’ll fall. Be careful.”

“Okay, brother. Don’t worry, I will protect you. I won’t let the ice fairy take you away.”

As Kentrail grew farther away, his brother’s voice grew quieter. The friendship between the two brothers of the Charant family made everyone around them burst into laughter.

* * *

On the ice, Kentrail was excited.

He barely kept his feet next to his brother when he was told to be careful. He would fall if he did something wrong, but his heart was like, ‘I can run on the ice.’ At the same time, he looked like a snowman standing on ice because the butler had covered him as thickly as possible.

“Put a small hole here…”

He listened intently to his brother’s explanation. The knight made a hole with a sword according to the explanation, as the lake water began to reflect under the ice.

“Wow, that’s amazing.”

Meanwhile, Kentrail listened with admiration as his brother explained it.

“I’m going to send the thread with the food down through this hole.”

However, as soon as he explained the food, the child’s expression, which was looking curious, darkened in an instant.

“Uh!”

Everyone looked at Kentrail, who was moving away with a strange sound, with an expression of why.

“It’s gross.”

Soon, he saw the earthworms that had become bait, and Kranteil laughed.

“I can’t help it. It’s the most popular food for fish.”

Kentrail, who had a conflicted expression at those words, shook his head. Still, the disgusting appearance of the earthworm did not change.

“I’ll just watch you fish.”

Saying that, Kentrail even declared that he would give up fishing, despite how much he expected it. Everyone who came out fishing together was taken aback by the child’s remarks.

“What?”

“I will do what I like next to brother.”

After saying that, he lifted his bag that was lying among the fishing bags. Then, he started taking out a sketchbook and painting.

“I want to draw brother and the knights fishing.”

“Are you really not going to fish?”

Seeing him like that, Kranteil asked after seeing his younger brother, who said that he had come all the way here only to draw a picture.

“Yes. Look forward to it, everyone. I’ll draw it nicely.”

Kranteil, yielding to his brother’s insistence, nodded his head.

“Yes. I can’t help it, then. I’ll catch you a big fish for dinner tonight.”

“Um…”

However, Kentrail’s expression softened when he heard his brother’s words.

“Why? Don’t you want to eat dinner with the fish you caught?”

“…There must be earthworms in the belly of the fish.”

Hearing Kentrail’s words, the knights could no longer hold it in and laughed out loud. A child’s way of thinking was really cute.

“Why are you laughing? Seriously! You’re going to eat earthworms…”

If Kranteil didn’t convince him here, he really wouldn’t even eat fish.

“I’ll tell the chef to take the worms out of the belly and cook them.”

Kentrail, relieved then, nodded.

“Okay. Then, you have to catch a fish this big.”

The child extended his arms wide and drew a circle. His nose turned red and his face turned white, and people looking at him smiled.

The fairy of the white snowfield seemed to be Kentrail.

“Okay. If my younger brother says so, then I should. Let’s make a bet on catching fish together with the Sirs. Whoever catches the smallest fish cleans the training ground for a week.”

“Yes!”

Everyone was excited by the Young Count’s words and started fishing. Meanwhile, Kentrail returned to them and sat down in a chair to paint.

It was the Charant’s daily life.

* * *

The people were excited on the white snowfield and the transparent ice. A picture of dynamic movement was placed on the desk next to Kentrail’s bed.

“Butler, did you bring it?”

“Yes.”

And next to it, Kentrail placed the chocolates he had received from the butler on a pretty plate.

“If I pray now, the Ice Fairy will take this, right?”

“Of course. They’ll take them all when you wake up tomorrow morning.”

“Huh? Then, why don’t they take it tonight?”

“What..? Oh, right. They will only take it when the young master falls asleep.”

“Why? I really want to see the fairy.”

The butler’s face, which he hadn’t expected that question until now, changed into an embarrassment. Even though he had to protect the young master’s innocence, there was a setback.

“…Fairies are very shy. That’s why they don’t want anyone to see them.”

“I see… I can’t help it. I don’t want anyone to see me when I’m embarrassed sometimes.”

The butler stroked Kentrail’s hair as he heard the child’s words. Although he was a young boy from a noble family, he was a child who thought of others.

“Then, I’ll take my leave. Have a good night, Young Master.”

“Yes. Sleep well, butler.”

Seeing Kentrail lying on the bed, the butler blew out the scented candle before he quietly closed the door and left.

‘…Ice Fairy, thank you for granting my wish. I didn’t know I had to give something so I prepared the chocolate belatedly. Please enjoy your meal. Hehe.’

As soon as he finished his prayer, Kentrail quickly fell asleep as he had played outside to his heart’s content. Soon his two fairies, his older brother and the butler, entered his room late at night and ate all the chocolates.

Once Upon A Time ( END )