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Chapter 03
I had stayed up all night holding the child who kept fussing, so I must have passed out. My whole body ached. The nanny still hadn’t come.
When I opened my eyes groggily, the little boy reached out his hands toward me. He tapped my lips and cheeks with his tiny palms and laughed brightly.
“Do you like it?”
So this little troublemaker would grow up to be Hayden, my favorite male lead from romance fantasy novels. Unbelievable.
He was already awake, wobbling on his feet while holding onto me, then suddenly rolled forward onto the bed.
“Ahh, my body…”
I stretched and sat up, then lifted the little boy.
“Uung, mama! Mamma!”
“You want food?”
“Mamma! Mamma!”
Where is your nanny at this hour…?
“Eek—!”
I almost screamed, then quickly shut my mouth after glancing at the baby.
What the hell! Did I really sleep here? The sun is already high in the sky!
Anyone who needed to know I was here probably already did.
Did the nanny not come… or did she come and leave without waking me?
I pressed my hand to my head in confusion.
The baby, completely unaware of my distress, kept flailing happily.
“Mamma! Mamma!”
Fine. Time to feed him. He already had two teeth on the bottom and two on top, so he was probably ready for baby food. I wonder what kind of baby food this world has.
Even if I’m confused, I still have to feed the baby.
I got up from the bed holding him.
What should I say if I get caught? That I rolled here in my sleep? That I just woke up here? That I didn’t know anything?
I bit my lip.
But I didn’t do anything wrong. I only comforted a crying child!
A strange courage rose in me.
Holding the baby, who was now smearing drool on my cheek while calling “mamma,” I walked out.
And then—
A woman appeared at the end of the hallway.
She crossed her arms and stared at me sharply.
“Good morning, Duchess.”
Too flashy to be a nanny. Heavy makeup, dramatic dress, and long nails.
Yeah… definitely not a nanny.
“Who are you?”
“Excuse me? You’re asking who I am? You can’t tell at a glance? I’m the nanny of young master Hayden! My name is Diane!”
Ah.
So this is what nannies look like in this world?
I remembered my sister-in-law from my past life who used to panic if I even used a little BB cream.
“No makeup, nails short, plain clothes only!”
She used to cry that I might “kill the child with germs.”
Maybe she was just extreme.
But how do you even change a diaper with those nails?
“So?”
“I can’t believe this! You stole my job! Because of you, I got scolded by His Grace!”
I let out a short sigh.
I had decided I wouldn’t endure things anymore after possessing this body.
After suffering at home and overworking myself to death at work, I had every right not to endure anything anymore.
And right now, I was the duchess. She was just a nanny. That made me her superior.
I studied her carefully.
In the original story, after Roana ran away with money, people like her slowly ruined the duchy and made Hayden’s life miserable.
Later, Hayden would wipe them all out.
The nanny reached out toward the baby, but I turned my body away.
“Go bring the baby food. He’s hungry.”
“I’ll take care of him myself, so please go see His Grace! He’s been waiting for you!”
His Grace?
Cheres?
The moment I heard that name, my courage deflated instantly.
“…Right. I should meet His Grace.”
“Then hurry up and go! Give me the child! It’s already way past feeding time!”
The nanny snatched the baby away.
As she stomped away, Hayden reached his tiny hands toward me.
“Mamma! Mamma!”
His voice echoed down the hallway.
So heartbreaking.
* * *
Cheres was organizing his thoughts before speaking.
At 9 a.m., Roana finally appeared, just awake, looking groggy.
There were pillow marks on her cheek.
She clearly just rolled out of bed.
“Good… morning, Your Grace.”
“Indeed.”
When Cheres stood up, Roana flinched and stiffened.
Before he could speak, she rushed to explain.
“I’m really sorry about breaking the rules. I didn’t mean to, but the baby was crying so loudly in the hallway early in the morning, and no one came. For a long time. I couldn’t just ignore a baby crying like that.”
“……”
“I only tried to calm him down, but I ended up falling asleep too. And the baby kept crying at night—does he normally do that? And the nanny never came either. That’s clearly a problem.”
“So the conclusion is.”
“It all happened because the nanny wasn’t there…”
She smiled faintly.
Then, in a much smaller voice, she added:
“Please just consider this once.”
Cheres let out a dry laugh. Everything he had prepared to say vanished from his mind.
Looking at her innocent face, even his hostility disappeared.
He leaned back and sat on the sofa.
“Sit down and talk.”
“Yes.”
She sat carefully.
“Another question. How did you get Hayden to sleep? The nanny said he cries a lot and doesn’t sleep well. Once he starts crying at night, it never ends. How did you calm him?”
“I think babies around that age are like that. Growth, teething… that sort of thing. Isn’t the method simple? They can’t speak, so you just soothe them until they stop crying.”
“…Hold them until they stop?”
She nodded.
“Yes. It’s only temporary anyway. After this phase, it gets better. And Hayden actually calmed down quickly once held. He’s very sensitive to body temperature, but once he sleeps, he doesn’t wake easily. He’s a very good baby.”
Cheres slowly processed her words.
They were completely different from what the nanny had said.
The nanny claimed babies like Hayden were difficult and should be left to cry sometimes.
That children must be raised strictly.
That she was an expert with ten years of experience in the capital and had been hired at a high price.
And yet—
Why did Roana, whom he met for just one day, sound more trustworthy?
Was it because she appeared without makeup, in simple clothes, looking so unguarded?
Or because she said Hayden was “a good baby”?
Or because, deep down, the nanny’s attitude had been bothering him all along?
