Chapter 03
“Have you returned?”
“Anything unusual?”
“No.”
“And the nanny applications?”
“I placed the nanny applications on Your Grace’s desk. There are three applicants, including Miss Maricel Manua.”
“Maricel Manua?”
Morgan looked puzzled when Porle mentioned the name.
“Ah, the young lady of the Manua Viscount family personally came to submit it, so it remained in my memory.”
“She came in person?”
“Yes. It was unusual, so without thinking… I will be more careful.”
Porle, who had served the Grand Duke’s family as a butler for generations, smiled faintly as he recalled the morning.
Morgan entered his office and leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes for a moment to ease his fatigue.
After a night of secret patrol, his body felt exhausted.
He considered going to wash first, but he became curious about the application personally delivered by Maricel Manua.
According to the information he had, she had recently suffered from a severe fever and miraculously survived.
She rarely went out, so very few people knew her face.
And such a woman applied to be a nanny at the Grand Duke’s household?
That alone was enough to delay other matters.
The carriage incident he had witnessed on his way back was quite interesting as well. This was no less so.
Today is an amusing day. Not one, but two.
Morgan straightened in his chair and reached for the documents, checking the top one first.
The résumé of Jude, the second daughter of Baron Cohen.
“Hm. Not a bad background.”
Next. Lady Rayleigh, wife of Baron Koda.
“Impressive experience.”
He set the two résumés down without much interest and finally picked up the last envelope.
The moment he pulled out the document, he doubted his eyes.
“This is—”
It was the woman he had met in the marketplace earlier.
Unexpectedly, the woman who had given him a small bit of entertainment now appeared again in one place. His curiosity doubled.
And her unusual résumé drew his interest even further.
The Empire’s résumé format did not include a space for a portrait.
But Maricel had created a separate section and attached a small portrait.
A faint laugh escaped him as he brushed his hair back.
“…She is truly a peculiar woman.”
He remembered the incident from earlier that day.
A woman who looked so gentle that she could not kill even a single ant, yet stared straight into his eyes and refused to lose a single word.
She had clearly been frightened by the killing intent he emitted. Her violet eyes had even looked watery and pure.
And yet her words had been bold. Even knights trained in battle feared him, but this fragile-looking woman had answered him until the end. It was amusing and strange.
That was why, unlike himself, he had spoken more than usual.
“Emma! I’ve been called for an interview!”
“I see. Congratulations, Miss.”
Emma’s reply was light and weak, as if it would fly away.
“Don’t worry. It will go well. If I succeed, our family will succeed.”
“Yes. If you succeed, the viscount family will be well, and I can continue serving you properly.”
While brushing Maricel’s hair, Emma answered with a resigned tone.
Emma, like the Viscount and his wife, had strongly opposed Maricel applying to be a nanny.
Maricel had suddenly collapsed with a high fever. She truly had died and come back to life.
Their only precious daughter had nearly died, and then she changed completely.
The shy girl who could barely speak to men except her childhood friend had become bold.
And then she declared she would become a nanny at the Grand Duke’s household.
It was shocking enough that her timid personality changed, but she had no experience as a nanny—and she aimed for the Grand Duke’s family.
“Emma. I have a plan.”
It was true. For three months after entering this world, Maricel had searched for a way to survive based on the original novel.
She did not know what consequences would follow once her plan began, but this was not the time to think about that.
She had decided to survive the original story, live long and healthy, and do everything she could not do in her previous life.
In the novel, the male lead Morgan and the female lead, Saintess Gabriella, would overcome hardships together and fall in love.
Their love story truly began after the massacre of the Manua family. The viscount family had no real part in their romance.
The only unpleasant thing was that the safest place for her was the Grand Duke’s household—the same place that wiped out her family.
Even though she had not experienced it herself, imagining the scene where her head was cut off in the novel made her unconsciously rub her neck.
“Oh my! Miss, does your neck hurt?”
Emma asked in alarm.
“Huh? No! No. Just thinking about the interview made my throat dry.”
“I’m glad. Shall I bring you some water?”
“Yes.”
After drinking the water Emma brought, she felt slightly better.
According to the original story, seven months from now—
The Manua viscount family would be massacred. They would be falsely accused as accomplices in Fleur’s kidnapping.
Since the kidnapping happened while Fleur traveled between the Academy and the Grand Duke’s residence, if she could prevent Fleur from entering the Academy, she could avoid it for now.
She had to become the nanny and delay Fleur’s Academy admission for at least seven months.
Since Fleur had lost her speech due to shock, there was a reasonable excuse.
Maricel remembered the newspaper she had read in the past. The tragic scene described there felt vivid even now.
Fleur would have died too, if Morgan had not arrived quickly at the scene.
Thinking of both her own fate and Fleur’s, Maricel felt bitterness in her mouth.
“Emma. Can you bring me plenty of paper and a pen?”
“I’ll bring them right away, Miss.”
Before Lee Haetaek died of leukemia, she had lived somewhat happily with her foster parents.
Misfortune does not come alone. It was true.
Her parents suddenly passed away in an accident. One year later, Lee Haetaek died from illness.
And then she opened her eyes in this world.
Fortunately, her experience as a nurse and health teacher in her previous life would greatly help her survive here.
- Why are you applying to be a nanny?
- Why should you be chosen?
- What are the qualities and requirements of a nanny?
- You have no experience.
- You are young.
She filled the pages tightly with questions and answers.
“That’s done!”
Maricel placed the pen firmly on the desk and looked proudly at the completed 예상 Q&A sheet.
It even felt as if the paper would carry her to a better place like Aladdin’s magic carpet.
She walked back and forth in her room, reading it again and again until answers came instantly when she imagined the questions.
After a light dinner, she lay down for tomorrow’s interview.
But her eyes were wide awake.
The more she tried to sleep, the clearer her mind became.
What if I fail the interview because I can’t sleep?
Anxiety slowly crept into her thoughts.
Her insomnia came from one strong desire—she did not want to die. She wanted to live.
Only those who have been beaten know the pain.
She had died once, so her attachment to life was stronger.
Of course, everyone dies someday. The difference is whether one dies early or after living long.
Even though she carried Maricel’s memories and habits, her mind was still Lee Haetaek from the modern world—an outsider here.
Hoo—
Maricel took a deep breath and slowly let it out, calming herself.
Looking at the stars high in the sky, she whispered to herself again and again that everything would be fine.
“Emma! Just make it quick! We’ll be late for the interview!”
“No, Miss. There are dark circles under your eyes. What happened last night?”
Emma scolded her nonstop while carefully applying powder under her eyes.
“It’s done, Miss!”
Emma’s voice, finishing with adjusting Maricel’s clothes, sounded tired like a boiled eggplant.
“Thank you, Emma! Let’s go!”a
