Chapter 2
Chapter 2
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 2
Chapter Title: Core Workout Recall
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‘What was that core exercise again?’
There are moments like this sometimes.
Something so ingrained in the body that it feels familiar, yet when you try to recall it, you realize you've never actually heard or seen it before.
You explain it with ease, but in truth, you can't quite pin down what it really is.
Mariella tilted her head to the side, trying to delve deeper into what a core exercise might be.
But before she could, Ralph held out the candy he always kept tucked in his pocket.
“Candy!”
“I snuck this out just to give to you when I saw you, miss. It's a secret from the butler and the nurse, okay?”
“Got it. Thanks, Ralph!”
“Our little miss is just the cutest.”
The three-year-old couldn't even wait the few seconds it took for Ralph to unwrap the candy and started stomping her feet impatiently.
Ralph grinned at the adorable sight before popping the strawberry lollipop into Mariella's mouth.
As the sweet flavor flooded her mouth, Mariella instantly forgot all about core exercises.
“Is it tasty, miss?”
“Yeah. But why only me? You don't have any, Ralph. Sorry. I'll give you one too.”
Ralph was just about to console the suddenly crestfallen Mariella when a loud crash echoed from inside the kitchen, cutting him off.
Ralph jumped in front of the wide-eyed Mariella, snatching up a broom by the pantry entrance and peeking inside.
“Oh no, young master!”
A total disaster greeted Ralph's eyes.
The door of the upper spice cabinet had fallen off its hinges, and a sharp, acrid smell—like a pepper jar had shattered—stung his nose.
The floor was a mess of spilled powders too, of course.
Dietrich, his head dusted with sugar powder, sneezed a few times before scrambling to his feet.
“What kind of flimsy door is this?”
“Young master, why on earth would you hang from such a thin wooden door? Are you hurt anywhere?”
“Nah, I'm too nimble to get hurt.”
“No, seriously—why do you keep hanging from doors? If the butler finds out, I'm done for. And you'll get scolded too.”
“I-I was just trying to get some sugar, and the door fell off on its own!”
Dietrich had always preferred snacks over proper meals.
But after his front teeth changed from baby ones to permanents, the nurse had cut back on sweets to prevent cavities.
So, suffering from sugar withdrawal, he'd snuck down to the kitchen to steal some.
He'd jumped up to open the high cabinet door and ended up like this.
“I just can't catch a break. And when will we fix this door? At least the expensive plates didn't break.”
Dietrich felt a pang of guilt at the reminder. He'd once demonstrated discus throwing all over the house, only to smash an expensive plate set in the kitchen—and the butler had been furious.
“This time, I really wasn't messing around!”
“Yes, yes, of course. It's dangerous with all these shards, so go play somewhere else now.”
Ralph mouthed agreements but clearly didn't believe a word. And who could blame him? Dietrich's excuses of “it wasn't on purpose” after causing chaos like this happened far too often to count on two hands.
At least no one was hurt this time.
Dietrich caught on that Ralph didn't buy it.
He stuck out his lower lip, but then his eyes landed on Mariella sucking on her candy.
Everyone hates me! They only like Mariella!
Dietrich's lip jutted out even further.
They'd reduced his sweets because he needed to cut back, shrinking his cake from two slices to one!
And they give candy to that ugly little thing on the sly!
Come to think of it, it had been the same last night.
Unable to sleep, he'd begged the nurse for a pillow fight.
She'd played along for a bit, but the moment Mariella woke up crying alone, she'd ditched him and rushed to her sister's room.
The butler, the nurse, Ralph—they all only care about Mariella...
Dietrich rubbed his stinging eyes with his knuckles, as if on the verge of tears, and shot Mariella a glare.
“Move, you ugly!”
“Mariella not ugly!”
“Hah! You're the ugliest in the world!”
Dietrich vented his frustration at his innocent little sister and stormed out of the kitchen. He paused for a moment, then slyly cupped his ear toward the kitchen.
...Was calling her ugly too much?
Her chubby cheeks puffed out as she munched on the candy—she looked just like a squirrel.
Come to think of it, she wasn't that ugly.
“Ralph, Mariella not ugly?”
“Of course not. Our miss is the cutest in the world. The young master was just in a bad mood—don't mind him, okay?”
“Dietrich always gets mad seeing Mariella. Mariella bad?”
“Oh, no, miss! He's just, uh, starting to teethe lately, that's all.”
It's not teething—it's because Mariella really is ugly!
Worried she might start crying, Dietrich fidgeted while eavesdropping, then turned and bolted down the hall.
Ralph's an idiot!
No—all the servants in this house are idiots who only like Mariella!
After being called ugly by Dietrich, Mariella decided to hold Ralph's hand and head back to her room.
As they trudged along, her ears picked up a loud voice.
“What are you all doing, slacking off on guard duty like this?!”
Mariella, who had always been especially scared of loud voices since she was little, clapped her hands over her ears and hid behind Ralph.
“Oh dear...”
What a day—everything was piling up on this tiny miss.
Ignoring his back pain, Ralph scooped her up into his arms and patted her soothingly.
Only then did she peek out from his embrace, staring toward the source of the shouting.
It came from the mansion's entrance hall.
The guards being scolded with heads bowed low were ones she'd seen around often, and the man barking at them with furrowed brows was the family butler.
Such a scary face!
Mariella instinctively buried her face in Ralph's neck.
Her heart pounded.
The butler rarely made that face.
The last time was when Dietrich had shattered all the kitchen plates and two maids nearby got hurt—he'd looked just like that.
Remembering it, the three-year-old shivered.
“Dietrich mess up again?”
The upper cabinet door incident hadn't reached the butler yet.
Ralph had cleaned it up as best he could to spare the young master another scolding.
He shook his head after some thought.
“Dunno. Seems like it's about the mansion guards, not the young master.”
“Why everyone mad?”
Ralph fumbled for an answer until the butler's roar saved him again.
“This is the third necklace from the late lady this month alone! What will you say when the master asks where her mementos are?!”
Mom's necklace?
Mariella tilted her head.
Her mom—the lady of the house, Lucy—had died three months ago, they said.
It had been over a hundred nights since the funeral, where they'd buried an empty coffin because they couldn't even recover the body...
Mariella earnestly counted on her fingers, then quickly admitted she couldn't count higher than ten yet and looked up at Ralph.
“What's a memento?”
A three-year-old couldn't grasp the concept easily.
True to form for a child raised apart from her mother's embrace since birth, she'd just stood there blankly at the funeral.
Pitying the innocent little girl who knew nothing, Ralph hugged her tighter.
There was a reason all the mansion servants, himself included, doted on Mariella so much.
She was a three-year-old growing up without even knowing her parents' faces.
The purer she acted, the more their hearts ached for her.
“Contact the guards right now and report the lady's mementos missing! And from today on, all of you—shape up and stand watch properly!”
The guards, heads still low before the butler's bellow, lifted them slightly with looks of mild injustice.