The Tyrant’s Leash Is Held by a Maid

Late at night, Liana entered Count Baldwin’s maid’s quarters and turned the doorknob, being careful not to make a sound. She walked into the room carefully and looked at the bed. A small child was lying in the place where the two beds were combined into one. She was a small girl with chubby cheeks and wheat-colored hair resembling Liana.

‘You’re sleeping well.’

Liana changed her clothes without turning on the lights, relying solely on the moonlight pouring through the window so as not to awake the child who was breathing evenly. She carefully placed her coat in the closet and suddenly looked back. The child on the bed was lying quietly covered with a blanket. Though, somehow… Liana, doubtfully, walked to the child’s desk. She reached out for a chair with a soft cushion. After checking the temperature of it, Liana groaned. As expected, the cushion was still warm. It was clear that someone was sitting there until a while ago.

“Phoebe Siodo!”

Putting both hands on her waist, Liana called out the child’s name in a harsh voice. She even added her last name, which she only used when angry. Phoebe wiggled her eyelids. But, as if not given up her act yet, she pretended harder. However, Liana, who had already seen her face flinching, had no intention of going easy on her.

“Phoebe Siodo! Auntie told you to go to bed early!”

“Nngg… Auntie, you’re here…?”

“I know you’re not sleeping. You were reading, right?”

Liana reached into the blanket and touched Phoebe’s feet. She was cold.

“Oh, my. Were you sitting at your desk without socks?”

“That’s not true! I was wearing socks!”

Phoebe, who was pretending to be sleepy, jumped up as if she was being wronged. 

“I just washed up and came here! Really, I was wearing socks!”

“So, you were reading a book while wearing socks?”

Liana pinched Phoebe’s plump, rosy cheek slightly. The child, caught by her own words, groaned.

“Put I bas drilly goin to sdip now…”*

Phoebe, whose cheeks were pressed, complained of the injustice with a slurred pronunciation. Liana’s anger melted away at her cute niece’s appearance and laughter leaked out. She, who had a hard time swallowing the laugh, tried to remain serious and said with a strict face.

“I told you that reading a book at night will hurt your eyes. You promised not to do that.”

“I won’t do it anymore…”

Liana barely kept her stern expression and removed the hand that was pinching the child’s cheek. Phoebe rubbed her cheek, which was slightly reddish. Her plump lips were protruding like a beak.

“Oh my, who’s niece are you to be this cute?”

In the end, Liana couldn’t stand the cuteness of her niece and hugged her tightly. The little girl groaned and struggled.

Phoebe Siodo, the apple in Liana’s eyes, was her only family. She fell deep in thought while warmly hugging Phoebe, who had a soap scent.

“I’m happy to be able to fully feed my niece and sleep with her in a warm bed.” What she said to Lady Natasha wasn’t a lie. That was the promise she made in her sister’s grave. Without realizing it, Liana hugged Phoebe even more tightly.

“Unggg. You’re squeezing me, auntie.”

As Phoebe struggled in her arms, Liana came to her senses; she relaxed her hands and looked at the child. Phoebe’s eyes, who turned eight this year, were light green like buds. A child like a spring sapling tilted her head.

“What’s wrong, auntie?”

‘I have to raise her well.’

Liana thought to herself as if vowing and rubbed her cheek against Phoebe’s. The kid smiled brightly and hugged her aunt.

“I’m just looking at you because you’re so pretty. My puppy, what were you reading that made you lose sleep today?”

“Today! I read this!”

Excitedly, she ran to her desk when she felt like she wasn’t going to be scolded anymore. Bringing a thin book from the child’s desk, Phoebe dug into her aunt’s arms again.  Liana placed her in her lap to prevent her from falling and looked at the book. It was an old dirty book with the right edge burnt.

“Where did you get this book? I don’t think I ever bought you anything like this.”

“I picked it up from the incinerator!”

Liana’s eyes shook slightly as she heard those words. She whispered in an upset voice as she hugged the warm small body that smelled peculiar for a child.

“Ask auntie next time… Auntie will have a lot of money from now on.”

“Buuuuut~ the books that Aunt buys are so childish that it’s not fun.”

“What? Let me see. Let’s see how interesting this book is!”

The aunt, who had no taste for books, excitedly opened the book that her niece had picked up from the incinerator. However, she couldn’t read it.

“A, a noble test book?”

It was an indescribable text. Liana’s eyes shook like a candle in the wind. Phoebe, seeing her surprised aunt’s face, replied proudly.

“Mng! It’s fun. Noble language.”

“Phoebe, can you read it? Where did you learn it?”

“A lot of books are thrown away in the incinerator. From beginners to intermediates, it’s all there!”

Phoebe pulled the books out of the drawer with an exciting look. Although the covers were all slightly dirty, the inside texts were in good condition to be read.

“How to learn Etaila… Etaila language first volume… Goodness, Phoebe did you study by yourself with this?”

“Uhu. I wanted to learn to read all these books and then I wanted to surprise you…”

Phoebe fidgeted and smiled. She was going to surprise her, but she felt shy saying it in advance because she wanted to brag. The chubby girl’s smile was lovely, but Liana couldn’t smile back.

After all, it was Etaila. The noble language, Etaila, that even nobles had to practice from childhood to get used to. It was a very difficult language to learn because it had a different grammar and word order from that of the Empire, and because of the nature of its characters, there were many words to memorize. Also, due to its nature, it was easy to forget itt if you didn’t practice consistently. But it was precisely for that reason that the Etaila language was chosen by the nobility. It was because of the basic elitism that ruled among the nobility. They always wanted something that would distinguish them more clearly from other classes.

Unlike commoners, who were busy making money, nobles, who had enough time and wealth to spare, devoted themselves to educating their children in Etaila. Since they were all nobles who had no worries about making a living, money for education wasn’t a problem. The issue, though, was in those children’s heads. It was sometimes impossible to spend an enormous sum of money. Angelica Baldwin, the Baldwin family’s eldest daughter, was a prime example. She didn’t know how to read or write Etaila properly at the age of twenty-four, despite braging and being proud of having a different birth than Lady Natasha -a commoner’s daughter.-

With the money he had lost on his children’s education, Count Baldwin could afford to buy another mansion in the capital. Nonetheless, a significant sum of money was thrown throughout the air.

“Look here, Auntie. It’s raining?”**

Whispering, Phoebe repeated some words from the Eldest Lady’s textbook, covered her mouth and giggled. To be honest, it was hard to find a correct answer in Angelica’s textbook. Liana spoke with a serious face. 

“You can’t say it anywhere else, got it?”

“I’ll never do it. I promise!”

Phoebe held out her pinky finger to her aunt, worried that her little niece might end up in trouble after offending the elder Lady. Holding her little finger, Liana emphasized again.

“Never. Promise me that you won’t tell anyone you can read Etaila.”

“But why?”

“Um… That’s… Wh- when you’re really good at something, you have to hide it.”

“Whyy~?”

“…So you can surprise them later? like ‘ta-da~'”

Of course, Liana couldn’t explain to her eight-year-old niece that the reason was that Angelica could harm her due to her inferiority complex. That’s why she lied, and thankfully, Phoebe believed it. Her eyes sparkled.

“That’s right! Ta-da! I have to surprise you!”

As if she liked the lie, Phoebe’s face was full of excitement. However, sad that she had to hide what her baby niece was good at, Liana became a little sad. She hurriedly turned the subject, trying to overcome her own feelings. 

“By the way, Phoebe, to what extent can you read Etaila? Can you read this whole book?”

“No, that’s not… I can only read a little bit in the beginning.”

Phoebe easily caught up in the changed topic, wriggled and opened the first book she brought.

“Do you want me to read it for you, auntie?”

“Yes. Please read it for me.”

Liana put Phoebe on her lap once again and placed her chin on the child’s head. Her hair smelled of cheap soap. 

“The title of the book is –Aradna and Manish.-“

Phoebe began reading with a clear voice. Liana, who didn’t know Etaila, didn’t know what it meant, but she liked to hear the child’s clear voice so she held her in silence.

“That’s it! Auntie, I can read up to here. The words in the next chapter are too difficult.”

“Woaaahh! You can read a lot!”

“Really?”

“Of course! It’s amazing! My Phoebe will be the best at school!”

Phoebe smiled at Liana’s words. Liana, who wanted to catch a glimpse of the helpless child’s laughter, hurriedly added her words.

“You’ll be the best student at school, but if you don’t want to go, you don’t have to.”

“…For real?”

“Mng. Auntie will feel a little sad, but Phoebe’s feelings are the most important.”

Phoebe, who started school at the beginning of the year, was taking a break. The child had a particularly difficult time adjusting to school. When Liana asked why it was difficult, she didn’t give a proper answer, just said she didn’t want to go. When Liana asked the teacher, there was nothing much to say, so she thought it was simple maladjustment, but the situation became worse. After learning that Phoebe was even sleepwalking, Liana stopped sending her to school. 

She was very fortunate to be able to live in a double room with Phoebe thanks to the consideration of the head maid, who took care of the situation, and Deborah’s concession for staying in another shared room. Since then, Phoebe has gotten better.

Unlike herself, who couldn’t attend school properly, she hoped Phoebe could graduate safely, but… it was not a dream that she wanted to achieve at the cost of the girl’s suffering.

“Really. If you don’t want to go, you don’t have to go.”

At Liana’s words and tender eyes, Phoebe’s face glowed.

“Really-really?”

“Yeah, but later, if you want to go, you have to tell auntie, okay?”

“Okay, I will!”

Phoebe buried her face in Liana’s chest and shake her feet. Liana, who was momentarily confused by her reaction, also smiled and hugged the child. 

“Phoebe, auntie will make sure you’re happy.”

“Phoebe is happy now because auntie is by her side!”

“Goodness, how can my niece be so good at lip service?”

Liana couldn’t help but kiss Phoebe’s tiny face, her heart overflowing with love. Phoebe eventually whined and hid beneath the blankets.

Gina’s Corner:

* Just in case you didn’t understand; she said “But I was really going to sleep now…”

** Phoebe read a misspelled sentence.  I’m not going to lie, it took me a lot to understand the meaning of those lines and the next two because the translation became confusing. T-T I hope my explanation helps you understand.