Chapter 3
Perhaps because I’d fallen asleep while holding a fussy baby all night, every muscle in my body ached.
And where on earth had the nanny gone? She never showed up.
Rubbing my sleepy eyes, I looked down to find the little bright-eyed boy reaching toward me.
He smacked my lips and cheeks with his tiny palms while giggling happily.
“So you’re having fun, huh?”
To think this little munchkin would grow up to become Hayden—the male lead I’d adored most among romance fantasy novels.
Unbelievable.
Apparently he’d slept enough.
He climbed to his feet, grabbed onto me for support, toddled a few steps…
…and promptly tumbled forward.
“Oh, my poor body…”
Stretching my sore muscles, I stood up and scooped him into my arms.
“Ungh… Mama! Mama!”
“You want breakfast?”
“Mama! Mama!”
What is your nanny doing that she still isn’t here at this hour—
“Kyaa—… Mmph!”
I nearly screamed before catching sight of the little boy and clamping my mouth shut.
Have I lost my mind?!
I actually spent the night here?
The sun is already up!
Everyone who needed to know I’m here must know by now!
Maybe the nanny hadn’t failed to come.
Maybe she’d already come and gone.
…Wait.
Then why didn’t anyone wake me?
Completely bewildered, I held my head.
The little boy, oblivious to my inner turmoil, merely wriggled excitedly.
“Mama! Mama! Mama!”
“All right, all right. Breakfast first.”
Judging by the two little teeth on the bottom and two on the top, he must already be eating solid baby food.
I wonder what kinds of weaning foods exist in this world.
No matter how confused I was…
The baby still needed to eat.
Holding him securely against my chest, I climbed out of bed.
How am I supposed to explain this?
That my body somehow rolled itself into this room?
That I opened my eyes and found myself here?
That I genuinely had no idea how this happened?
I bit my lip.
But what exactly had I done wrong?
The baby had been crying so hard he could barely breathe.
All I’d done was comfort him.
The thought suddenly filled me with confidence.
Carrying the little boy—who was enthusiastically smearing drool all over my cheek while chanting “Mama”—I stepped out into the hallway.
After spending one night together, the future male lead had apparently decided I was his favorite cuddle toy.
Just as I took my first step…
A woman appeared at the far end of the corridor.
She crossed her arms and glared at me with sharp, flashing eyes.
“Good morning, Your Grace.”
Her dress was far too extravagant for a nanny.
Her makeup was far too heavy.
And her fingernails were far too long.
Hmm.
Definitely not what I’d imagined a nanny would look like.
“Who are you?”
“…Excuse me? Did you just ask who I am? Can’t you tell by looking? I’m Young Master Hayden’s nanny! My name is Diane!”
“Oh.”
So nannies dressed like this in this world.
For some reason, my sister-in-law from my previous life came to mind.
Back then, if I so much as wore a little BB cream, she’d throw a fit.
My nails always had to be cut short.
No makeup whatsoever.
Clothes with no decorations.
If I broke any of those rules, she’d burst into tears in front of my mother, insisting I was going to kill her baby.
…Was she simply the strange one?
I don’t get it.
How is she supposed to change diapers with nails that long?
“So?”
She let out an incredulous laugh.
“I can’t believe this! I came to tell you that you’ve stolen my job! Because of you, I was scolded by His Grace over something I shouldn’t have been blamed for!”
I let out a small sigh.
Ever since transmigrating here…
I’d decided I was done silently enduring everything.
After putting up with abuse at home and literally working myself to death…
I thought I’d earned the right to stop being a doormat.
Besides…
If I was the Duchess and she was merely the nanny…
Then technically, I was her employer.
Taking slow measure of the woman glaring at me while breathing heavily, I studied her carefully.
In the original novel…
After Roana stole the family’s fortune and fled, there were people inside the ducal household who slowly hollowed the family out from within and filled Hayden’s future with hardship.
Much later, Hayden wiped them all out in one stroke.
The heroine had been the one who exposed all of their corruption.
The nanny reached out to take Hayden from me.
I turned away to avoid her hand.
“Go bring his baby food. He’s hungry.”
“I’ll handle that myself! Just give Young Master Hayden to me and go see His Grace. He’s been waiting for you.”
His Grace?
Cheres?
The moment I heard his name…
All the confidence I’d just gathered evaporated.
I swallowed nervously.
“…You’re right. I should go see the Duke.”
“Then hurry along. Give Young Master Hayden to me. His breakfast is already long overdue.”
The nanny spoke sharply before forcibly taking Hayden from my arms.
As she stomped away down the hallway, Hayden reached desperately toward me.
“Mama! Mama!”
His tiny voice echoed pitifully through the corridor.
Cheres carefully organized his thoughts, wondering how he should begin the conversation.
At nine o’clock that morning…
Roana finally appeared, looking as though she’d only just woken up.
He silently observed her.
She gave him an awkward little smile.
A deep pillow mark was still imprinted across her cheek.
She looked exactly like someone who had crawled straight out of bed.
“…Good morning, Your Grace.”
“So it is.”
The moment Cheres rose to his feet, Roana visibly stiffened.
Before he could speak…
She hurriedly spoke first.
“First of all, I’m truly sorry for breaking our agreement, Your Grace. I really didn’t intend to. But the baby was crying so hard in the middle of the night that his cries echoed through the hallway, and no one came to check on him. Not for quite a while. I couldn’t just leave a child crying until he could barely breathe.”
“…”
“So I only meant to comfort him. I never imagined it would turn out like this. While soothing him, I accidentally fell asleep too… But Hayden cried quite a lot during the night. Is he always like that? And the nanny never came even once. I honestly think that’s a serious problem.”
“So your conclusion is?”
“That this whole incident happened because the nanny abandoned her post…”
Roana, who had spoken nonstop until then, suddenly smiled.
Then, in a much softer voice, almost like a whisper, she said,
“So… I’d like you to take the circumstances into consideration just this once.”
A quiet laugh escaped Cheres.
Everything he’d prepared to say seemed to vanish from his mind.
Looking at her innocent expression…
Even his determination to reprimand her disappeared.
Letting out a slow breath, Cheres walked around the desk.
Truthfully…
He’d already heard everything he’d wanted to know.
Why she’d approached Hayden.
Why she’d broken their agreement.
She’d answered every question before he’d even asked.
He sat down on the sofa and gestured toward the seat across from him.
“Sit down. Let’s talk.”
“Yes.”
Roana cautiously took a seat.
“I have another question.”
He looked at her steadily.
“How did you manage to get Hayden to sleep? According to the nanny, he’s unusually fussy. She said he hardly sleeps at all. Once he starts crying in the middle of the night, he simply won’t stop. How did you calm him down?”
“As far as I know, babies around that age often go through phases like that. Sometimes they’re having growth spurts. Sometimes they’re teething. Isn’t there really only one way to comfort a baby? They can’t even tell you what’s wrong. You simply soothe them until they settle down. Growing is hard work for them.”
“So… you just held him until he stopped crying?”
She nodded.
Cheres wore an unusually serious expression.
“Yes. It’s only temporary. Once this stage passes, he’ll be fine. Besides, Hayden was actually very easy to care for once he’d calmed down. He seems sensitive to body warmth, but once he falls into a deep sleep, he hardly wakes up again. He’s a very good baby.”
Cheres silently considered her words.
They were completely different from everything the nanny had told him.
According to her…
No baby cried as much as Hayden.
He was exceptionally difficult to raise.
She had insisted babies needed to be raised firmly.
That some crying should simply be ignored.
She’d confidently declared that, as a professional, he should leave everything to her.
That only she was capable of caring for Hayden.
She claimed to have worked as a nanny in the capital for ten years.
He had even paid an enormous sum to hire her.
And yet…
Why did Roana—who had spent only a single day with Hayden—seem far more trustworthy?
Was it because she’d appeared before him wearing nothing but simple pajamas and a robe, without a trace of makeup, completely unconcerned with her appearance?
Or was it because, as they say, people naturally favor those close to them…
…and hearing someone call Hayden “a good baby” simply pleased him?
Or perhaps…
The nanny’s attitude had been quietly bothering him all along.
