Chapter 6
Chapter 6
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 6
Chapter Title: Curtain Calamity
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Again.
This time, too, the nurse had been snatched away by Mariella.
"The nurse prefers Mariella over me too..."
Everyone in the mansion adored the baby, who was soft and fluffy like a cotton ball.
Compared to Mariella, Dietrich was nothing but a troublemaker who caused accidents every day.
His hair wasn't a sweet-looking pink but a dull black, and his build was much larger than his peers...
Come to think of it, there wasn't a single cute thing about him.
His rival, Mariella, was four years younger than Dietrich and still a precious baby who reeked of milk.
Unable to hold back his resentment, Dietrich's lips jutted out far for a long while.
"Ow."
As he did so, he must have unconsciously clenched his fist again, because a stinging pain shot up from his still-healing palm.
Looking down, he saw that the scab had fallen off, exposing raw, red flesh halfway.
Yet this time, no one paid any attention to Dietrich.
Everyone was busy with their own tasks.
Even the nurse he trusted had spotted her, lit up with joy, and come running—only to completely miss Dietrich as she headed straight to Mariella's room.
Dietrich endured the pain and clenched his fist once more.
"Last time I got hurt, everyone came rushing over in surprise."
It wasn't just the time he'd hurt his palm.
When he'd been throwing a disc and shattered an entire set of kitchen plates with a crash, the butler had scolded him, but he'd still come running to check Dietrich over from head to toe.
And even earlier, when he'd been running down the hall and smashed his forehead into a door handle, splitting the skin above his eyebrow.
Or when he'd hung from the balcony railing out of boredom.
"I need to do something way, way, waaay more eye-catching than Mariella!"
He had no confidence he could beat his sister with cuteness alone.
Mariella could waddle around with her belly puffed out like it was stuffed full of cotton and draw gasps of admiration from everyone, but he was already seven years old.
But Dietrich had a secret weapon that even the young Mariella didn't possess.
His overflowing stamina.
Dietrich was unusually large and strong for his age, so he could cause accidents on a much grander scale.
When it came to raw power, Mariella—who wasn't even half his size—could never catch up.
"If I pull off something amazing like ta-da!, everyone will like me."
Dietrich quickly scanned his surroundings.
The first thing to catch his eye was the deep green curtain covering the glass door to the balcony.
Ever since the last accident he'd caused, they'd locked the door to the balcony.
They'd even drawn the curtains fully to block his view and keep him from getting ideas...
Dietrich quietly recalled the day he'd hung from the balcony railing.
The butler and nurse who'd come dashing over, frantic that he might get swept away by the wind and fall.
And all the staff who'd turned pale.
As he pictured everyone stomping their feet and staring at him, the corners of his mouth curved up in a goofy grin.
The door was locked, so he couldn't go out to the balcony...
"But if I hang from this curtain and swoosh through the air like I'm flying, that'd be super cool, right?"
Dietrich recalled the illustration of the flying squirrel from his picture book.
With cloth as thick as this curtain, he was sure he could spread his arms wide and soar through the sky.
The moment he decided, Dietrich reached out, grabbed the curtain, and began climbing it like a squirrel.
This damn persistent fever.
I lay there with the wet cloth the nurse had placed on my forehead, groaning softly.
Ever since my past life's memories started mixing with those after reincarnation, the fever wouldn't break.
I thought all the memories had come back, but forgotten scraps kept emerging one after another without end.
"The fever should go down soon anyway."
I'd never reincarnated before, so I couldn't be certain, but I had a vague feeling it would.
The nurse and maids, unaware of my reincarnation, wore worried frowns the whole time.
"Nurse, what should we do?"
"Has she taken her medicine?"
"Yes, just now."
"The doctor's been sent for, so let's wait. It might break while we're waiting."
"Got it. But will a doctor from this little town be enough? Shouldn't we fetch a renowned physician from a bigger city? Fevers are dangerous for babies if they linger."
"We already called the local one, so let's hear what he says first."
I couldn't exactly call it "backup integration pain."
Feeling sorry for worrying them needlessly, I rubbed my cheek against the nurse's hand as she checked my temperature, letting that serve as my apology.
"Don't worry, miss. They said the main house is sending a good doctor along."
Main house?
I vaguely remembered the old butler once explaining our family lineage.
Racking my brain...
"Our house is a branch of the Kalenberg Duke Family."
Dad, who's away at the war front right now, was the eldest son of Duke Kalenberg.
Though the firstborn, he'd been passed over for succession and set up this branch family instead.
If the main house was sending a doctor, that meant the duke—Grandfather—was behind it?
I wasn't the only one curious. Betty, sitting beside me, tilted her head and asked.
"The main house, as in the duke's family?"
"Yes."
"They never interfered in our mansion's affairs before, right? There was that unpleasant business at Madam's funeral... Why send a doctor now?"
The nurse glanced at me and lowered her voice.
"They must have heard the butler left after getting injured."
"Ah..."
"Word is, they're sending a new butler, suitable staff, a doctor, and even guards."
"The duke really... He cut ties with the master, but he must still worry about the young master and miss."
Dad and Grandfather had practically severed ties?
This was new information.
I squeezed my eyes shut under the wet cloth, pretending to sleep, and perked up my ears to listen to the maids' conversation.
"Watch your words. Main house staff will arrive in a few days. What if you slip up in front of them?"
"Sorry, Nurse."
"This time, the main house is openly extending grace. With no master here to handle things in this mess, and both young ones still so little."
"The main house people are all bad luck, but better than nothing. Honestly, the guards were so few it was getting scary."
The nurse reached out and flipped over the wet cloth on my forehead.
Meanwhile, Betty kept chattering away.
"There was just too much work lately. Even when the young master or miss wanted to play, we were swamped..."
"True. It pains me that I couldn't pay more attention to them."
"You did your best, Nurse. Besides, has Young Master Dietrich been causing any more trouble?"
"He's been behaving lately."
"That's just because he hurt his palm last time."
"It hurts my heart seeing him like that. We should have watched him closer."
Mixed into their talk came what sounded like "Nurse!" I cracked my eyes open narrowly.
"Wasn't that just Young Master Dietrich's voice?"
Chewing over whether it was a hallucination from hearing his name, a louder "Nuuurse!" rang out.
This time, the nurse and maid heard it too and whipped their heads toward the door.
"Did you hear Young Master too?"
"Yeah. Don't tell me he's up to something again today...!"
Seeing them jump to their feet, I sat up as well.
The nurse looked a bit startled that I'd woken, but there was no time to hesitate.
The calls had grown more desperate.
We flung open the door and rushed into the hallway without a word.
"Nurse! Help!"
Turning toward the voice, we saw Dietrich dangling precariously from the curtain in front of the balcony door at the end of the second-floor hall.
The ceiling wallpaper was tearing away with a rip, and the curtain was on the verge of total collapse.
Why is he doing that!
The curtain fabric had twisted around his ankle, trapping him so he couldn't move up or down, just hanging there.
The nurse didn't hesitate and bolted straight for Dietrich suspended in midair.
"Young Master, don't move!"
Every time Dietrich twisted, more wallpaper tore, and the curtain sagged into a bizarre shape.
The moment the nurse grabbed him, the curtain came crashing down completely.
She was thrown back against the balcony glass door, which shattered with a deafening crash, shards scattering everywhere.
"Ah... ugh..."
A faint groan escaped.