TVBDS 03

Chapter 03

---

“Antoine!”

I flung the door open, calling my brother’s name.

At the sudden noise, he paused mid-cry, his sobs cutting off instantly.

Over the rail of his crib, our matching violet eyes met.

Startled by his sister’s sudden appearance, his tear-streaked eyes widened.

Then, as if recognizing me, he began to whimper again.

“Si… sister…?”

His words came with the short, breathy panting typical of a child, but he had called me “sister.”

A rush of indescribable heat spread through my chest, flooding my whole body.

“Ugh… sniff… hic!”

“W-wait, Antoine! Don’t blow your nose on my pajamas! Silk is so tricky to wash!”

But right now, he was just a baby, sniffling and sobbing with tears, snot, and even spit running down my silk pajamas.

Naturally so—Antoine was six years younger than me.

Even though I’d become much younger too, a four-year-old is still a baby. A real baby. Goo-goo.

“Are you okay?”

“Huh… sniffle… hic… sniff…”

His once-fluffy black hair was plastered to his forehead with sweat.

The delicate skin of his face was flushed bright red from crying, and his reddened eyes were pitiful to see.

“Where’s the nanny?”

“N-nanny… naaaahhh!”

The mention of the nanny made the tears he’d nearly stopped fall again.

Fine. Rather than scolding him for answers, it’d be faster to find her myself.

The nanny always kept a room nearby so she could tend to him at any time.

But even now, the door to that room remained firmly shut.

It was as if no one was inside.

“Nanny! Is anyone there?”

There was no response, no sound beyond the door.

Had something happened to her?

All sorts of grim scenarios flashed through my mind.

I shook my head, trying to banish them, and turned the doorknob.

“Is… it open…?”

Surprisingly, the door wasn’t locked at all.

“Nanny!”

But she was nowhere inside.

“Antoine, where did the nanny go?”

“…Sh-she said she’d be back after I slept… hic!”

“What?”

It was like a blow to the head.

The nanny left a four-year-old alone?

Antoine murmured through breathy hiccups.

“Y-y-yes… nanny said… sniff… since I’m four now… I have to… sleep… alone… hic!”

No, that can’t mean she left him entirely alone, right?

The feeling of dizziness hit me all at once.

Training children to sleep on their own isn’t bad, of course.

The current nanny, even if I forgot her face and name, I still remembered her strict and exacting personality. She would have been especially harsh with Antoine.

But without a guardian nearby, things were different.

Why had no one said anything until now?

I swallowed the question that had risen to my tongue.

The one to scold wasn’t Antoine—it was the nanny who left a child alone.

‘The parents… they don’t know.’

My mother, always lying in bed, and my father, often away… naturally, it was the nanny and servants who took care of the children.

Even my mother, who should have overseen them, couldn’t manage.

Especially since the nanny, tasked with directly educating the master’s children, could wield a whip openly without the maids daring to protest. That was beyond their authority.

So unlike me, who had grown capable, Antoine was completely neglected.

Why hadn’t I known this?

The answer came immediately.

At that age, I hadn’t cared much for Antoine.

I might have regarded him as a rival for our mother’s scarce affection, a clingy nuisance… but otherwise, I hadn’t noticed or cared if he was left alone.

Looks like I needed to adjust my plans.

Adelaide stared at the empty room with a serious expression. Antoine’s fear made him pause, glancing at me.

‘He said he’d be here after I slept.’

He had trusted the nanny and gone to bed, but he was still alone.

Feeling abandoned and scared, he had cried until I rushed to comfort him.

But something was different today.

Normally, I hadn’t paid him any attention—whether he fell or cried didn’t matter!

Could this be a dream?

His eyes darted nervously, unused to this strange situation.

The sister who had comforted him moments ago was now staring at the empty room with wide eyes.

Was she angry?

Was it because I, not acting like the future Countess, disappointed her?

In a thin, quivering voice, he apologized.

“S-sorry, sister…”

I did something wrong… so don’t hate me, okay?

Would she scold me? Would she sigh like the nanny, disappointed?

“Uh… uhh… snifff… don’t hate me…”

For a moment, my expression crumbled completely.

I pulled Antoine into a tight embrace so he couldn’t see my face.

“It’s okay. From now on, I’ll protect you.”

“S-sister?”

“Antoine. I’m your sister. Of course, I protect my little brother.”

To the young Antoine, my words were difficult to understand.

But even if he couldn’t comprehend fully, he could feel it.

I was on his side.

And just thinking that, the sister who had always felt distant and awkward suddenly felt warm.

“Antoine. Did the nanny not tell you where she went?”

Antoine had calmed a little, so we needed to find the missing nanny.

He only shook his head.

‘Of course, a fool wouldn’t tell a child where she was going while leaving him alone.’

But now… I had a good idea where she might be.

I knew the circumstances all too well from my previous life—how the nanny had been fired, how the stable master and many other servants had changed.

Looking at the bare floor, I smiled slyly.

“Antoine. Shall we play treasure hunt with sister?”

“…Treasure hunt?”

We had played that game in the garden before.

Recalling the joyful memories lightened his soggy, heavy body like dry cotton.

His eyes sparkled as if he had never cried.

“Yes. When you tap the floor tiles, they make sounds, right? One tile will sound different. That’s where the treasure is.”

“Let’s do it!”

I chuckled inwardly—crying and laughing like this really changed the body’s energy.

Still sniffling, Antoine laughed, flattening himself against the floor.

“If I remember… it should be around here.”

“Sister! This tile sounds different. This one goes ‘thump thump,’ that one goes ‘tap tap.’”

“Exactly! Amazing, Antoine!”

I ruffled his tear- and snot-streaked hair. His face lit up with a wide smile.

The wooden tiles seemed uniform at first, but a rotten section had been replaced slightly off.

Removing it revealed a small space, perfect for hiding something.

And the ‘treasure.’

“Is this the treasure? Just a piece of paper?”

“Yes. A very precious treasure. Let’s give it to Mom and Dad tomorrow.”

The treasure, discovered during the floor’s renovation, had once ruined the family’s reputation… and now, it would save Antoine.

If not a treasure, what else could it be?

“Mom and Dad?”

“They’ll be happy if you say you found it. And tonight, you’ll sleep with sister.”

“With sister?”

His voice rose with excitement, as if it might reach the ceiling.

“Yes, together!”

The small body that jumped into my arms no longer smelled of sadness or loneliness—it smelled of the soft, sweet warmth of a child.

Ah… even though he’s my brother, he’s unbearably cute.

A child should cry, laugh, fall, stubbornly insist on nonsense, and above all, be endlessly loved by those he cherishes.

‘Antoine. Trust only this sister.’

The next morning, the maid who came to wake Adelaide found the bed empty and screamed, collapsing in place.

“Miss is gone!”