Chapter 5
Chapter 5
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 5
Chapter Title: The Banister Mishap
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Down at the bottom of the stairs, a bunch of servants had gathered.
As I got closer, I could see the floor was a mess of sharp shards from the shattered vase, spilled water, and crushed flowers.
It felt like I'd seen a scene just like this a few days ago.
Sure enough, the culprit was Dietrich. He stood there with an awkward expression amid the flurry of maids sweeping up the vase fragments.
"What happened here?"
"You're here, Nurse? Well... the young master was sliding down the stair railing on his butt and bumped into Laura. She was carrying the vase at the time."
Oh no, the nurse is mad.
Her lips pressed tightly together into a thin line, the nurse stared at Dietrich, who was standing there stiffly with his hands awkwardly clasped behind his back.
"Master Dietrich Kalenberg."
Calling him by his full name meant the nurse was seriously angry.
Even Dietrich, who had been trying to play it cool, flinched, his shoulders twitching as he instinctively checked her expression.
But then he spotted me in the nurse's arms and glared at me on purpose.
'...What?'
He said he was worried about me, but this was how he acted?
Of course, seeing Dietrich glaring at his little sister only made the nurse's face harden further. Careful not to startle me with any loud voices, she gently set me down on the floor.
Dietrich, you're done for.
"Please explain properly what all this commotion is about."
"No, it was..."
"Didn't you see Laura carrying the vase down below?"
"I did see her. I saw her, but!"
"Does that mean you deliberately slid down the railing to hurt Laura?"
"That's not it!"
Dietrich, who had been hemming and hawing through the nurse's interrogation, suddenly jumped and raised his voice in surprise.
"I just... Laura was carrying the vase so seriously, so I thought I'd slide down the railing coolly and go 'Ta-da!' to surprise her."
"What do you mean by that?"
"You know, like in fairy tales and stuff. The knight shows up all cool with a 'Ta-da!' I wanted to do that too..."
"Laura was just diligently doing her job. And you're saying you tried to harass her for some ridiculous reason like that?"
"I wasn't harassing her! I just felt like she wasn't paying any attention to me, always fussing over the ugly—no, Mariella..."
Dietrich's voice grew smaller and smaller, like an ant's.
"Because of your prank, Laura almost got seriously hurt. And so did you, young master."
"I absolutely wasn't trying to hurt Laura! L-Look at this! I got hurt way worse!"
Feeling wronged, Dietrich unclasped his hands from behind his back and held out his palm.
He must have pressed it into the vase shards when he fell—there was a thin cut across his palm, blood seeping along the lines.
The nurse gasped in shock and knelt down.
Matching Dietrich's eye level, she took his hand and carefully inspected it to make sure no glass shards were embedded.
The maids nearby murmured and crowded around Dietrich.
"Thank goodness nothing's stuck in it, but we should still have the physician look at it right away."
She sounded quite upset, her voice trembling a little.
"At least it's not deep. That's a relief, young master."
"From now on, when you see me, call my name. Then I'll finish up whatever busywork you're doing quick and play with you."
"Yes, please. Sliding down the banister like that out of nowhere is way too dangerous."
"And that railing was just repaired. You nearly caused a real disaster."
As people chimed in one after another, Dietrich's expression twisted into something strange.
Kind of... happy?
"Hah, this is nothing! Doesn't even tickle! I'm a Kalenberg young master, after all."
Dietrich, puffing up with pride, locked eyes with me as I stood alone behind him.
He stuck out his tongue at me with a "Bleh."
...What?
Why did he keep doing stuff like that to me lately?
Last time in the kitchen, he wouldn't leave until he yelled "ugly" at me.
As I stood there frozen in bewilderment, the nurse glanced back at me.
"The young lady..."
"N-Nurse, my hand hurts!"
The moment her gaze shifted to me, Dietrich hurriedly waved his hand to pull her attention back.
Aha.
Now I could kind of see what was going on with Dietrich.
'He wants more attention than me.'
I knew a thing or two about older brothers getting jealous of a new baby sister.
'They say when a sibling is born, even an older brother who used to eat fine suddenly demands a bottle.'
Or whines to be carried for no reason.
Back at the nursery, kids would get jealous whenever a new baby showed up and stole all the director's and teachers' attention.
If that's what was up with Dietrich, maybe if he just got the attention he wanted, he'd settle down?
'Dietrich grew up separated from his parents too, and he's only seven.'
If the servants were doting on baby me more and it hurt his feelings, I could just step back a little so he got plenty from now on.
I was used to fending for myself anyway...
"Me Betty room go bye. Nurse Ditri hand fix. Owie hurts."
Right on cue, Betty poked her head in, carrying a wet cloth and basin as the nurse had asked.
I grabbed the hem of her skirt, and the nurse nodded.
Dietrich wore a triumphant, victorious grin as he led the nurse away.
For the next few days, Dietrich enjoyed some unusually pleasant times.
All because his cut palm had the entire mansion's staff worrying over him.
Such a thing was rare.
The old butler or his mom-like nurse might have, but...
The other servants usually eyed him warily whenever he approached, like he was an unstoppable bundle of trouble.
'That was the first time they looked at me with real worry.'
Dietrich shook his head, but he couldn't stop the corners of his mouth from turning up.
A little cut on the palm—what was that?
Thanks to it, even washing his face was something the nurse now did personally.
It felt babyish and embarrassing, but not bad.
'Mariella, though...'
The only thing nagging at him now and then was his baby sister, Mariella.
Was she fully recovered?
She wasn't scampering around the mansion like a hamster anymore, like she used to.
His sister had been so shocked by the butler incident that she'd gotten sick for a while, so it was natural to worry.
'But she's got other maids, right?'
Dietrich shook his head vigorously to shake off the creeping concern for her.
There were tons of people in the mansion who adored Mariella.
He'd heard the maids were taking turns looking after her lately.
So couldn't they spare one nurse for him?
'The other servants don't like me much.'
They'd worried briefly about his hand, sure, but basically, whenever he wanted to play, they all scattered.
After begging a few times and getting rebuffed, Dietrich's pride wouldn't let him ask the servants anymore.
'So the nurse is all I've got.'
The one person who truly loved him.
Mariella could get love from others without the nurse, but he couldn't.
As he ran down the hall, shaking his head, Dietrich spotted the nurse talking with some maids.
He started to call out loudly but toned down his footsteps to make a surprise entrance like a gift.
"Nurse, the young lady seems feverish again. We should probably call the physician."
"What? Fever again?"
"Last night, she had nightmares the whole time she slept. She called for the butler, and someone called 'Director'—no idea who that is, but..."
Dietrich quietly eavesdropped.
Mariella was sick again?
Then what about the nurse?
Then... what about me?
"I can't leave it like this. Starting today, I'll tend to the young lady myself again. You all look after the young master in my place."
Dietrich bit his lower lip hard.