One afternoon, one week after Carro joined us.
Today, as usual, I was practicing in the courtyard with Daru, swinging a wooden sword.
“Hunn, hunn, cha-cha-cha-cha~~”
“Woof, woof, aaaaahhh~~”
As I swung the wooden sword around, Daru, as usual, wagged a wooden stick in his mouth, mimicking me.
“Kyuu kyuu~~”
Carro was watching me and Daru from somewhere, looking somewhat exasperated, along with the birds.
“Hunn! Hunn… Hoo… Is this good enough?”
“Woof! Woof!”
After a while of concentrating, Daru and I were both drenched in sweat and finished our training.
“Hmm? Where’s Carro ?”
“Woof?”
Carro , who had been watching us just a moment ago, was no longer there.
“Lost?”
“Woof?”
“Birds, do you know where she went?”
“Hoh-hoh?”
The birds, as if trying to deflect the question, looked away.
Though the birds might have known, they wouldn’t tell us.
“Hmm? A game of hide-and-seek, huh? Daru, let’s find Carro .”
“Woof!”
Daru and I began searching for Carro .
“Maybe over here? Hmmm…”
“Woof!”
“Oh, Daru, well done!”
Daru, using his sharp nose, seemed to have easily found her.
“Let’s see…”
At the end of Daru’s nose, there was a rather large hole.
It would be hard for me to get through, but Carro could easily fit.
“Carro ? Did you hide in the hole? Come out, Carro !”
“….. Kyuu?”
When I called out, Carro ‘s face appeared from the hole.
“You dug a hole…”
It’s a habit of prairie dogs to dig holes in the grasslands and live there.
It seemed she couldn’t suppress her instincts.
“Will I get scolded?”
“Kyuu?” “Woof?”
Perhaps worried about being scolded, Carro flinched a little.
Daru also moved his tail slowly, looking anxious.
It was a delicate situation. Normally, if someone dug a hole in the courtyard, they would be scolded.
But since this was Carro ‘s instinct, it might be forgiven.
I stood on top of the hole and looked around.
The garden trees, flowers, and objects in the courtyard created blind spots.
“I hope she won’t be found…”
“Kyuruuu~” “Woof~”
Carro seemed relieved.
Daru’s tail movements became more lively as he felt reassured.
“Hmm… now, let’s…”
“Kyuu~?”
“… Let’s clean up secretly. If you’re covered in dirt, you might get scolded.”
“Kyukyu.”
I hid Carro inside my clothes and climbed onto Daru’s back.
“Daru, let’s go back to my room.”
“Woof.”
Back in my room, there was a bucket and hot water available.
If we secretly washed up, no one would know about Carro digging the hole.
We returned to the room and prepared a large bucket.
“Alright, the hot water is…”
Though I’d never prepared hot water myself, I had seen my nurse and maids do it, so I knew how.
“This should be it!”
If I turned the lever high up, the magical device would start working, and hot water would come out.
I didn’t understand the mechanism, but that’s how it was. I had heard the maid mention it.
“Daru, don’t move. I’m going to stand on your back.”
“Woof.”
With Carro on my head, I climbed onto Daru’s back and turned the lever.
Suddenly, cold water sprayed from the faucet.
“Uwaa, it’s cold, so cold. Fugyaaahh!”
“Kyafuu.” “Kyukyu kyukyu.”
Daru, Carro , and I were all drenched in cold water.
I tried to return the lever to its original position, but I slipped and couldn’t reach it.
“Uppuhh… It’s cold.”
Then the nurse came running and turned the lever back.
“Thank you.” “Woof…” “Kyuu…”
“Lady Luria, you must not operate this on your own.”
“Sorry.” “Woofuu.” “Kyuu.”
As I apologized, Daru and Carro also apologized.
It wasn’t their fault, but I still felt bad.
“Daru and Carro didn’t do anything wrong. It’s my fault.”
“You’re not in trouble.”
The nurse smiled gently.
“Lady Luria, what were you trying to do?”
“Well, I wanted to wash off the sweat, and Carro got dirty, so I wanted to clean her too…”
“I understand. Please wait a moment.”
The nurse quickly took action and prepared the hot water for us.
“To get hot water, you first need to move this, and the temperature control is tricky, so you shouldn’t operate it on your own.”
“Yes.”
“Promise?”
“Yes.”
I couldn’t win against the nurse.
The nurse had cared for me and fed me with breast milk in collaboration with my mother.
Especially right after I was born, when my mother was on the brink of death, she took care of me all day.
She was certainly a person who I held dear, second only to my family.
The nurse’s name was Marion, and she was originally a distant relative of my mother.
As Marion bathed me, she murmured.
“There won’t be much time left for me to take care of you, Lady.”
“I’m sad…”
A nurse needs to be able to produce milk to do her job.
So, inevitably, my nurse has a child around the same age as me.
Of course, the infant mortality rate isn’t low, so there are cases where the nurse’s child has passed away.
But luckily, I’ve heard that Marion’s child is healthy and growing well.
“I’ll miss you too.”
“But Marion’s child will probably miss you even more, right?”
I couldn’t stop myself from thinking that, knowing how Marion had to care for me and couldn’t spend time with her own child every day.
“I’d like to meet Marion’s child, though.”
“… As long as the master and mistress permit it, you can meet them anytime.”
“I see…”
Nurse’s children are called “wet-nurses’ children,” and the children raised by nurses for noble families are called “foster children.”
In other words, I am the foster child, and Marion’s child is the wet-nurse’s child.
Wet-nurse children often become the trusted confidants of the foster children.
In fact, my older brother and sister’s wet-nurse children are often together, studying and training together.
I’ve even met my brother’s wet-nurse child during sword training and had my sister’s wet-nurse child read me a picture book.
But I’ve never met my own nurse’s child.
The reason for that is obvious.
I was attacked right after birth.
If Marion’s child had been nearby during the attack, they could have been involved.
That’s what both my father and mother worry about.
“I think it would be fine to meet them soon.”
Now that I’m three years old, I’m still forbidden from going outside the courtyard.
I feel like my father and mother still try to minimize the number of people I meet.
“Hmm… Lord cares a lot about you, Lady Luria.”
“I see…”
Even so, it still feels overly protective.
“Hmm…”
“You look so serious again. The master, mistress, and even I, Marion, all love you, Lady. So please, rest assured.”
“That’s right! Luria also loves Marion!”
“Thank you.”
Marion, my dear nurse, retired from her duties and returned home three days later.
