I Became the Nanny Instead
Even for a transmigration, it had to be 7:32 in the morning. I hadn't slept at all. Fucking hell! The damn morning sunlight squeezing through a gap in the curtains completely wrecked my monitor's refresh rate. On the screen was the web novel viewer for a 19+ major platform. Ha... If it had been some straight-up erotica, I could've rubbed one out through seventy chapters and passed out happy.
The last chapter of a novel titled I Became the Lover of the Mama's Boy Northern Grand Duke was open. The title alone reeked of landmines. “Haaa……” I rubbed my bloodshot eyes. I'd stayed up all night. I'd sacrificed sleep that was worth more than gold on this trashy pile of letters.
Bang! I'd been glaring at the Completed mark at the bottom of the screen until I finally couldn't take it anymore and slammed my fist on the desk. What the fuck! It ends here? Are you shitting me?! Crumbs from the instant ramen I'd been stress-eating scattered across the desk.
“Ah, that stings, damn it!” Some even flew into my eyes. This was bullshit. Nothing was going right.
I Became the Lover of the Mama's Boy Northern Grand Duke. We just called it MamaBoyArchLover for short. At first glance it looked like a standard romance fantasy, nothing that would compel a full read-through. I'd only planned to read the free chapters and drop it. But one thing in those free episodes had hooked my expectations.
The real charm of this novel was the thick, taboo tension flowing between the male lead, Lucian, and his biological mother. The male lead was an extreme yandere mama's boy, and his mother was a legendary villainess who gaslit him while twisting him around her finger. I kept reading solely for that dark, filthy anticipation—When are these two going to cross the line? When will they show me the ultimate taboo?
Ah, when is the male lead's mom finally going to cross that line? She's totally going to jump her own son at this rate. I scrolled with that exact expectation every chapter. During scenes where the male lead cried while clutching his mother's skirt... the text would read, Lucian sought his mother Carla's womb once more. And when the mother stroked the male lead's cheek with a strange smile... Carla licked her lips as she turned Lucian's earlobe bright red. I'd swallow hard.
But the actual main story was completely different from what I wanted. It focused on the female protagonist—a modern-day transmigrator—proudly refusing to yield to her mother-in-law's oppression and striking back with refreshing “cider” moments. And worst of all, the female lead never really suffered. In the process, the male lead Lucian just kept flipping: he'd fall completely for whatever his mom said, then completely for whatever the female lead said.
What is this, a turn-based RPG? And even in turn-based games the second mover has an advantage—how is this balanced? It was always the same pattern. The mother-in-law would strike first, then the female lead would swoop in with her overwhelming charisma and steal Lucian away. After endlessly repeating that bland cycle, the story couldn't even cross the 19+ platform's own censorship standards. The two of them reconciled like it was nothing and the male lead ended up with the female protagonist.
They never crossed the line. The taboo? Thrown to the dogs. My money! My time! My sleep!! The resentment was driving me insane. The sin was missing my chance to drop it. I should have stopped around the middle when I thought, Why did the story suddenly turn into this? But the damn platform had run a special 70% off bundle sale for the 100-chapter collection... and like an idiot I'd paid. The sunk-cost fallacy forced me to choke down every chapter, and this was the result. It felt like I'd given myself an ulcer that punched straight through my stomach lining.
Agh, the author, seriously... If I knew the address I'd go grab them by the collar. If it's 19+, then go all the way with that 19+ flavor. What's with this sudden wholesome family love? Are you insane?
The sense of futility and exhaustion from staying up all night hit me like a wave. I slumped deep into my chair and stretched toward the ceiling. Every joint in my body screamed. I had to go to work this afternoon. I was screwed. I should at least try to catch some sleep. With that thought, I started crawling toward the bed.
That was when—
Flash—!
The world outside the window suddenly turned pure white, as if the end of the world had arrived. Every shadow in the room was erased in an instant.
“Huh……?”
And then.
Kwaaaaaang—!!!
A thunderbolt from a clear sky that tore through my eardrums smashed straight through the window and struck me. There wasn't even time to feel pain. Before my brain could register the heat, the pressure, or any physical sensation whatsoever—
“Gweeeh!”
I died. An absurd, hollow instant death.
……How much time had passed before consciousness returned?
My vision brightened again. But I wasn't in my room. I was floating in an unrealistic white space. I existed within an infinitely expanding pure-white void where even the concepts of up, down, left, and right were ambiguous.
Wh-where am I? Didn't I just get struck by lightning?
I tried to speak, but the sound didn't vibrate through the air—it only echoed inside my mind. I frantically looked down at my body. And I was horrified.
……Fuck, what the hell happened to me?!
I had no hands. No feet. No torso worth mentioning. The form that entered my field of vision was a large round head attached to a long, thin tail. It looked familiar. Something wiggling its tail and swimming through empty space……
A sperm. Holy shit!
It perfectly matched the sperm cells I'd seen hundreds of times in biology textbooks.
It's a sperm?! Why the hell did I become a sperm! Is this the route where you get struck by lightning, die, and reincarnate as a sperm?! Fuck, where's the egg?!
While I flailed in panic, my tail flapping wildly, something caught my eye in the middle of the white space.
What the—?
A small, square object was floating there. A yellow sticky note.
What's that?
Instinctively using my sperm body, I wiggled my tail and swam toward the sticky note. After reading the words written on it with my squirming form, I saw:
My bad. Killed you by mistake when it wasn't your time.
Special perk: I'll let you possess any character you want from the last story you read.
I was furious. Don't fuck with me!!!!
The handwriting itself was infuriating—messy scrawl with zero sincerity. And “My bad”? You kill a person by dropping a lightning bolt from a clear sky and all you can say is “My bad”?
Who the hell are you!! A god? An administrator? Go kill yourself, you crazy bastard!! Give me back my 28 years of life!!
I poured silent rage into the empty space, but……
“....”
No answer came. The indifferent yellow sticky note simply fluttered mockingly.
After rampaging for a while, reason finally began to overtake anger. Wait. Getting mad is just a loss for me. I'm already dead, and it doesn't look like they'll bring me back.
In that case……
I focused on the second sentence of the note.
I'll let you possess any character you want from the last story you read.
The last story I'd read. I Became the Lover of the Mama's Boy Northern Grand Duke.
……Huh? Wait a minute. This… isn't bad?
The anger boiling in my head cooled rapidly. The shitty novel's setting was burned vividly into my mind. I'd read it all night and had just finished dissecting, tearing apart, savoring, and cursing the ending.
It said any character I want, right? Then the target is obviously decided.
My target. Without question, the male lead—Lucian Gestein.
In the original story Lucian had been a yandere mama's boy gaslit by his mother, but that was purely a mental issue. In terms of specs alone, he was the strongest on the continent. An alpha male with overwhelming martial prowess and a powerful household. The ruler of the North. A Sword Master. Sculpted appearance and overflowing wealth. If a normal mind like mine entered that perfect physique?
Since she isn't my real mother anyway, who cares if I commit a little taboo! To be precise, the biological mother of this “me” who would become Lucian's core wasn't actually my mother. Biologically it might be a problem, but mentally there was no issue at all. I would make that sticky tension a reality myself.
Or I could just use the Northern Grand Duke's power to build a harem and live a sweet life!
Guilt? Why would that even appear! It was perfect. The moment my consciousness entered the alpha-male Northern Grand Duke's body, this trashy third-rate romance fantasy would transform into a god-tier, stimulating, refreshing masterpiece.
Alright. The possession target is definitely Lucian!
The moment I made up my mind, my sperm-shaped soul began to tremble violently before gaining propulsion. Like a rocket launching. Like a sperm instinctively charging toward an egg. I tore through the white space and shot toward the dimensional gap that had opened before my eyes.
Shwoooooosh—!!
At tremendous speed, the scenery of the original novel's world—the Gestein Grand Duchy—flashed past my eyes. It seemed I could even adjust the timeline at will.
The period before the original story begins would be good, right? Most of the tragic events happen around that time.
The timeline kept rewinding until it stopped at a point well before the original story, when Lucian was still a two-year-old baby.
Possession as a two-year-old baby? Even better! If I block the mother's gaslighting from such a young age and completely cut off the seeds of the damn tragedy, that solves everything!
Everything was flowing according to my plan.
But.
In a truly fleeting instant. The moment my soul pierced through the outer walls of the Grand Duke's castle.
Now that I think about it……
One piece of the original setting flashed through my mind.
An important figure that could never be omitted when talking about Lucian's childhood. A name deeply and stickily entangled with the original work's tragic events.
Wait. At that time, there was one woman even more important than his biological mother……
Lucian's nanny, Sena.
The moment that name surfaced, one corner of my chest turned icy cold. But I couldn't stop. My soul was already hurtling at the speed of light toward the target—the center of the nursery inside the Grand Duke's castle.
Kwaaaaaang—!
My soul finally entered the warm, luxurious nursery deep within the castle. There was a lace-trimmed cradle, and inside it a two-year-old baby Lucian—already containing the talent that would one day devour the continent—was sleeping peacefully.
Perfect, my new body! Alpha male life, starting now!!
I vigorously flapped my soul's tail and dove toward Lucian in the cradle. The moment I was absorbed into the baby's body, the possession would be complete. The second act of my life would rise brilliantly.
It was right before my soul touched Lucian's pale forehead.
Whoosh—!!
Wh-what the—?!
A black shadow shot up from my blind spot. The woman who had been standing guard in the corner of the nursery beside the cradle. It was the nanny, Sena.
She noticed me?! What the hell is this woman?!
I was shocked. Sena seemed to have sensed the presence of my soul, which should have been both invisible and inaudible. Though her eyes were focused on empty air, the nanny instinctively felt the unknown threat flying toward the cradle. Without the slightest hesitation, Sena threw herself over baby Lucian.
“Lucian!”
In that brief instant. That moment shorter than a second. Sena's profile flashed through my mind as if time had stopped.
Identity: Orphan, exclusive maid and bodyguard to the Grand Duke, nanny to Lucian Gestein.
Traits: Knight-Captain level physical ability, beast-like intuition, future swordsmanship instructor to Lucian.
Fuck, she's insanely fast!!
There was no time to scream. My soul, already too late to change direction, missed baby Lucian's soft forehead and—
Get away! Get the hell away!!!!
—slammed straight into Sena's back as she covered Lucian.
Squelch—!!
It was the first time I'd ever heard the sound of a soul colliding with a body. The squelching sound echoed through the nursery.
Ah, damn it……
My vision flashed white. An excruciating pain like my entire body was being fed into a blender flipped the world upside down. Up and down reversed, every sense reset.
“Kuhk……!!”
With the sensation of my breath being cut off, my consciousness returned to reality. I snapped open my previously closed eyes. A soft blanket inside a lace-trimmed cradle filled my vision. And in my arms—more precisely, cradled beneath my chest—was a two-year-old baby named Lucian, staring up with a bewildered expression.
“Ah, damn it……”
I gasped for breath and pushed myself up. The eye level was different. I looked down at my hands. They were slender. Yet covered in calluses. But they were unmistakably the hands of a woman. Jiggle. A heavy, alien sensation came from my chest. Long hair cascaded down, obscuring my vision.
“……Haa, haa. This… no way.”
A clear, feminine voice in her twenties flowed from my mouth. With trembling hands I groped my chest and face. Squeeze, squeeze. So soft…… The undeniable reality became painfully clear.
“Fuck. A gender bender?! The possession went wrong, you crazy bastard!!”
I screamed. It was the absolute worst possible development. Instead of the alpha-male Northern Grand Duke, I'd possessed a woman. And not just any woman—the nanny Sena von Gestein, who was practically a slave to the Grand Duke's family.