The Duke of Harrington Is Looking for Nanny - Chapter 4

A look of pity crossed Bella’s face, and Mrs. Meghan quickly continued,

“Young Master has never taken milk from the same wet nurse more than once since he was born. There was one exception, but even she didn’t last a day. We brought in talented people to find the cause, but they all shook their heads. We had no choice but to recruit applicants and start looking for someone Young Master would accept. It’s already been three months. In that time, over 500 people have visited this mansion.”

“I see…”

Bella thought of the beautiful baby who had stared intently into her eyes while suckling at her breast. It was hard to imagine such an angelic baby being so picky already.

“I’d like to hear your story, Mrs. Bella. Where are you from?”

“Ah… I’m from the North. It’s a very small village, so you probably wouldn’t know where it is even if I told you.”

“I see. The North, you say. You’ve come from a cold place. Did you come to the capital alone?”

“Yes, I came alone. I’m staying at an inn on the eastern outskirts.”

“Ah, that would make it easy to bring your luggage. Um… this might be a sensitive question, but do you have a husband…?”

Mrs. Meghan trailed off, looking at Bella’s bare left ring finger, and Bella swallowed hard.

“My husband is, is dead. In a… carriage… ! Yes, a carriage accident…”

“Oh, dear… I’m so sorry.”

“Ah, it’s alright.”

Her lips didn’t want to move properly as she lied. But she couldn’t tell the truth. How could she say that she wasn’t married and certainly didn’t have any children? She had already breastfed the baby. She wasn’t foolish enough to reveal her flaws first.

As Bella subtly avoided her gaze, Mrs. Meghan assumed she was saddened by the thought of her dead husband and reached out her hand.

“Where is your child now? Back in your hometown?”

“Yes, yes. In, in my hometown… My… my family is taking care of them.”

“You don’t need to breastfeed?”

“He, he’s adjusted to formula…”

While feeling sorry for Bella, who kept stammering and holding back her sadness, Mrs. Meghan breathed a sigh of relief, as if relieved.

“I have a strong feeling that you are the one Young Master wants, Mrs. Bella. Even more so after hearing your story.”

“Thank you…”

“It’s too early to thank me. As the butler said, we need confirmation. Of course, my predictions are rarely wrong, but I hope I’m not wrong this time.”

Mrs. Meghan covered her mouth and smiled. When the personal questions didn’t continue, Bella finally smiled back at her and swallowed hard.

“He’s asleep now because it’s a different time, but he’ll probably wake up soon. Around 12 o’clock, we’ll check the situation and see if the next feeding is possible, and then I’ll give you a more accurate answer. We’ll compensate you handsomely, so don’t worry.”

“Then where should I be until then?”

“I’ll prepare a guest room for you. You can rest there. I’ll have someone bring your luggage. Did you use your real name when you stayed at the inn?”

“Yes.”

“That’s good. Then come this way.”

“Ah, Mrs. Meghan. Did everyone else who applied today go home?”

When Bella asked, thinking of Emily, Mrs. Meghan smiled gently.

“Yes. They received their daily wage and went home.”

“I see…”

“Don’t worry. The Harrington Dukedom isn’t such a stingy noble family as to make those who have come from afar feel slighted.”

Bella imagined Emily going back to her hometown and boarding a ship. The image of her actively cutting through the waves suited her better than sitting leisurely in a house and breastfeeding a baby. Even if she didn’t know for sure, she would be satisfied with the daily wage she received for just one interview.

Sincerely hoping that Emily would return safely to her hometown, Bella followed Mrs. Meghan.

“I’ll let you know when Young Master wakes up.”

As Mrs. Meghan said, Bella spent time in the first-floor guest room until Julian woke up. And at 1 p.m., she had her second breastfeeding session in her life. The result was as Mrs. Meghan had predicted. Julian, who had only been crying when he woke up, stopped crying as soon as Bella entered the room and blinked his eyes adorably. The servants who saw the scene looked at Bella with awe. It was also the reason why they began to treat her politely from the first day, calling her “Wet Nurse” because she had elicited a reaction they had never seen before.

“Wet Nurse! Young Master is crying! Hurry!”

“Yes, yes! I’m coming!”

Julian’s fussiness, who was actively wriggling on the bed after drinking milk, didn’t end there. The blonde baby, who stopped crying only when he saw Bella, now started crying when Bella disappeared. Thanks to that, even going to the bathroom for a short time was a chore.

Mrs. Meghan, who had intended to let Bella rest after feeding him dinner that day, had no choice but to move Bella’s luggage to Julian’s room. Julian’s room soon became the wet nurse’s bedroom. A large bed that could accommodate three people, a baby bed, a rocking chair, a dresser large enough to hold all kinds of baby supplies, and a dressing room and bathroom attached to it. Julian and Bella’s bedroom was very spacious. She only found out later that this was originally the Duchess’s room.

“The dinner time was roughly right, so he’ll probably wake up next around 2 a.m.”

Mrs. Meghan said, looking at Julian, who was sleeping like an angel, with a worried expression.

“If he takes breast milk until tomorrow morning, the Dukedom will officially hire you. Are you alright with that?”

“Yes? Yes, yes… I’m honored. I never dreamed I’d be working for the Dukedom.”

“The butler will handle the contract, but there will be absolutely no unfavorable terms for you. Still, check it carefully and raise any objections if you have any discomfort. If you can’t, call me. I’ll scold that butler.”

Bella laughed out loud, then quickly covered her mouth when she realized Julian was stirring. Mrs. Meghan also glanced to see if the Young Master had woken up, then chuckled quietly.

As everyone had hoped, Bella breastfed easily on the second day as well. And that afternoon, after putting him down for a nap and finally having a break, the butler handed her an employment contract. Bella, who was eating a late lunch in the servant’s dining room, recalled Mrs. Meghan’s words and carefully checked the clauses.

“Two gold a day?!”

“Two gold and 50 silver, including taking care of the Young Master in addition to breastfeeding. Is that not enough?”

In fact, there was nothing to check carefully. The contract only contained general information that Bella was being hired by the Dukedom, as well as detailed information about salary and duration. Moreover, the salary was so unimaginable that even if there were unfavorable conditions, they would not be noticeable.

“Since it is not known when the Young Master will refuse your breast milk, the salary is calculated on a daily basis, and the term is until the Young Master is completely adapted to formula or baby food. During that time, you cannot take vacations, and being away for more than half a day is also restricted.”

Bella nodded in a daze. If she received this much money, she would be happy to be attached to him all day long, let alone take a break. It wasn’t that she was greedy for money, but everyone in the Empire dreamed of a fortune. The position of wet nurse in the Dukedom would be a more valuable job for her, a commoner, than a fortune.

“Here… the duration part says ‘except in special cases.’ What does this special case mean?”

“It means cases that the master determines separately.”

“Ah…”

Master. The “master” the butler was talking about must be Duke Harrington. That meant she could be fired as early as tomorrow. Unless a wet nurse appeared who could satisfy the Duke’s Young Master’s picky palate, her employment environment would be more stable than anyone else’s, but even so, if she fell out of favor with the master, she would have to leave this beautiful mansion without hesitation.

Don’t cause any trouble and stay quiet…

With the Duke’s butler watching, she signed the contract. The feeling was definitely different from when she wrote her name on the transaction contract she exchanged with the fruit farm. For some reason, her fingertips trembled.

Bella opened her eyes after looking back on the past two days, about an hour after putting Julian to sleep. She had fallen asleep in the rocking chair and woke up to a subtle scent.

“What’s this smell?”

She wondered about the smell she was smelling for the first time. Bella, who checked the massage oil and towel on the side table, suddenly recalled the butler’s words.

‘I’ll call a maid to massage you.’

As he said, it seemed that a maid had come and relieved her lumpy breasts while she was sleeping.

“It’s light…”

Bella moved her shoulders and checked her breasts, which had become soft. Her shoulders, which had been stiff due to her heavy breasts, were also much more comfortable. She thought she should thank the maid who had worked hard and checked on Julian, who was sleeping. The baby was so deeply asleep that he wouldn’t even know if someone carried him away.

She touched his still-blunt nose once and touched his thin lips. Bella smiled softly as she watched his long eyelashes flutter slightly. She watched the sleeping baby for a long time, checked the time, and quietly left the room. Her stomach clock rang as soon as she was exhausted from labor.

 

***

 

“Wet Nurse, haven’t you eaten yet?”

Daisy, the maid who had wiped Bella’s hands when she first came for the interview, found Bella in front of the servant’s dining room and looked surprised.

“I fell asleep. Is there anything left?”

“Of course! If it’s for you, Wet Nurse, we’ll make it for you. Come this way.”

Daisy, the youngest of the three maids left in the Dukedom, mainly managed the guest spaces on the first floor and the warehouse in the basement. Harrington House had an overwhelmingly higher proportion of servants than maids even when the Duchess was alive. The maids at that time were only doing things related to the Duchess.

“There was nothing to do except cater to the Duchess’s whims. At most, cleaning the Duchess’s bedroom or preparing tea parties?”

“The Duchess’s bedroom? Did she have a separate personal bedroom?”

“Oh, didn’t you know? Ah, that’s right… you’re not from the capital, are you? Then you wouldn’t know. In fact, the rumors of discord between the Duke and Duchess Harrington are famous. The Duke and Duchess have never slept in the same bedroom since they got married.”

Daisy, who had asked the cook to order food instead, sat down in front of Bella, who was already eating soup, and told her stories that she might be curious about.

Bella was so surprised that the Duke and Duchess had never slept together that she stared at Daisy without even knowing that she had soup on her upper lip. Daisy, unable to bear to watch, wiped her lips while trying to hold back her laughter, and Bella, who blushed, ate the rest of the soup.

“But don’t misunderstand. The Young Duke was definitely born between the two of them.”

“Ah, the Young Duke…”

Daisy, who saw her light green eyes rolling towards the air, raised her finger.

“I’ll tell you since you don’t know much about the mansion. There are currently three people in the Harrington Dukedom, including the Young Master. Duke Ricardo Harrington, Young Duke Leonard Harrington, and Young Master Julian Harrington. Young Duke Leonard is the precious heir born to Duke Ricardo and the late Duchess on their only first night together.”

Bella felt her body tense up again and drank water. Duke Ricardo Harrington. Meeting the owner of this mansion would be after putting Julian to sleep tonight.

I hope I don’t get indigestion…

Daisy’s expression turned to embarrassment when she saw Bella’s uncomfortable expression.

“Did I say something unnecessary?”

“No. I think I’m going to meet the Duke for the first time tonight. I’m suddenly nervous.”

“Oh, then you need to know more about the Duke!”

Just in time, the cook appeared with the main dish. What she ate was what the Duke’s Young Master would eat, so the main dishes were light, nutritious, and easy to digest. Today’s lunch was a white soup dish. Bella thanked her, and the slender cook paid her respects and returned to the kitchen.

“It looks delicious…”

“Let’s eat together. I can’t eat it all by myself anyway.”

“Oh, no! If it gets out that I’m stealing the nanny’s food, Mrs. Meghan won’t leave me alone!”

Bella chuckled and picked up her spoon. The simple soup had a hint of vegetable sweetness that whetted her appetite.

“Tell me about Daisy or Mrs. Meghan, rather than the Duke. You can talk about Courtney, too.”

Excited by Bella’s words, Daisy downed a cup of water and began to speak, spitting as she went.

Currently, the maids remaining in the Duke’s residence are Mrs. Meghan, Courtney, and Daisy. Mrs. Meghan, who has been with Duke Ricardo since he was a baby, is actually in her mid-60s. However, she looks at least ten years younger, so she often grumbles about not being respected as an elder.

“Mrs. Meghan is someone even the Duke treats with respect. In a way, she’s like the Duke’s nanny.”

Mrs. Meghan took care of Julian until Bella came to the mansion, and now she is in charge of the second floor of the mansion. The second floor of the mansion was a floor with bedrooms with separate bathrooms and dressing rooms, a private study, and a private gallery.

“Courtney came to the mansion about three years before me. She doesn’t talk much, but she does her work neatly, so she’s a maid who is very popular with the higher-ups.”

Courtney mainly manages the common areas on the first floor. These included the central hall, reception room, dining room, and guest gallery.

“The servants do all the cleaning and laundry, and we check the condition every hour and record it. The reason Courtney and I were able to stay in the mansion is because we can read and write.”

Daisy stopped talking and expressed her gratitude to her parents, who had held her back and taught her to read and write, even though she didn’t want to. The quirky maid checked the time and hurriedly got up from her seat.

“Talking made me lose track of time! I have to go to work now. Nanny, you have to chew slowly and eat everything!”

As Daisy hurried out, the large servants’ dining room became quiet in an instant. Bella, sitting alone in front of the large table, looked around as if she felt awkward at the sudden silence. Even though it was just as quiet, it felt completely different from the bedroom where she could hear Julian’s breathing. Had she already become accustomed to living with the little master? Bella from the fruit store felt like a distant memory.

She ate enough to fill her stomach and then got up from her seat.

“Aren’t you going to eat more?”

It was when she was about to leave the dining room. Before Bella, who was about to grab the doorknob, could be embarrassed by the door opening on its own, Aiden came in. He stopped briefly when he saw Bella in front of the door, but then approached with a natural gait.

“There seems to be a lot left.”

“I’m full. I’m sorry to the chef, but it was too much for me.”

Bella smiled as if she was embarrassed. As he said, about half of the soup was left. Aiden slowly scanned Bella up and down.

“I think the nanny should eat more. Don’t you think you’re too thin?”

His eyes turned to her ample chest, and Bella carefully took a step back.

“From now on, please eat more, even for the sake of the little master.”

“Yes… I will.”

“……”

“Then, I’ll go up now.”

Seeing that he didn’t seem to have any more business, Bella awkwardly greeted him and grabbed the handle of the dining room door again. Behind her, a large hand reached out and grabbed the upper part of the handle she was holding.

Bella gasped in surprise. The size of the hands was noticeably different to the naked eye. His solid chest was close to her back. She could feel the man’s breath on her ear. It felt like the sound of someone’s heartbeat, she didn’t know whose, was especially loud.

“Is your chest… alright?”

Aiden whispered in a voice that seemed too quiet to hear even if you strained your ears. Bella cringed at the tickling sensation in her ear.

“C-chest?”

Her voice trembled. Why was her heart beating so fast? It seemed like her head wasn’t properly recognizing the current situation, where she was standing as if she was being held in the butler’s arms.

“Didn’t I send a maid to massage you?”

“Ah……”

The man’s lips touched her ear very briefly and then fell away. She thought she smelled a vaguely familiar scent of scented oil.

“Was it not good?”

“Huh?”

“The massage, I mean.”

“Ah, no.”

“Then, was it good?”

“Well, that’s…”

She wanted to say that she didn’t remember because she was asleep. However, she couldn’t easily open her mouth for fear that the blame would fall on the maid who massaged her. Just as she was about to say that everything was fine, the man’s lips touched her ear again.

“How did she do it? I’ve only heard about it, so I don’t know the details.”

“Heuh…”

Bella’s hand, which was holding the doorknob, tightened. The frail nanny’s trembling was conveyed to the butler through the hand that was attached to it. Suddenly, she thought that his invisible lips were smiling.

“It was good…! Yes, it was good! Thanks to you, it didn’t get stiff!”

Bella hunched her body, trying to separate her back as much as possible from his chest. Her embraced chest made a loud noise that was embarrassing. She squeezed her eyes shut.

“…I’m glad you were satisfied.”

His hand, which had been holding the door so she couldn’t open it, silently opened the dining room door. He was looking down at Bella’s back, which had shrunk endlessly away from his chest.

“Wh-who did it? I think I should say thank you…”

“I will send her again at the same time tomorrow.”

The butler exuded an atmosphere that he would not allow questions, just like when they first met on the interview day. When Bella couldn’t ask any more questions and walked out, the dining room door slowly closed behind her. Her ears, where his hot breath had touched, were red. Her heart was still beating fast as she climbed the stairs.

 

***

 

It was when Bella, who had finished her evening feeding, was coaxing and soothing Julian, who was staring with his eyes wide open as if he didn’t want to sleep. Mrs. Meghan visited the bedroom.

“It seems difficult to see the Duke today. I received a message that he has to stay in the Imperial Palace a little longer.”

“He’s working late.”

Bella, who had been preoccupied with the thought of putting Julian to sleep quickly and going to the Duke’s study, felt her anxious heart melt away in an instant. She let out a sigh of relief and held Julian in her arms with a light heart. Julian blinked his eyes and fluttered his arms as if he were happy.

“You must be tired all day, so give him to me.”

Mrs. Meghan was a person who knew how to willingly share difficult tasks. She snatched the little master from the nanny, who said she was fine. She even gave the whining baby a stern warning.

“Even if you are the young master, you must not harass the nanny like this. Do you understand?”

Looking at her personality, you could see the character of the Duke’s family. In fact, the Duke’s family had a very good reputation within the Empire. It was enough to see that they always took first place in the ‘Most Respected Aristocrat Ranking’ that the weekly magazine did for fun every year.

On the other hand, it was the imperial family of the Empire that constantly decorated the front page of gossip magazines due to endless scandals. It was a joke that the Empire would have collapsed long ago if the Harrington Dukedom had not supported the current imperial family.

To think that she was employed as a nanny in such a Duke’s family. Life was truly something you never knew.

“Did you have dinner?”

“Yes, before the feeding earlier. Courtney and Daisy are also helping out in turns, so it’s not difficult.”

“Still, you won’t be able to get enough sleep. You should start getting him into the habit of sleeping through the night…”

Mrs. Meghan sighed as she looked at Julian, who was staring with his eyes wide open.

“It hasn’t been long since he started drinking breast milk properly, so it will be difficult for the time being…”

Bella smiled awkwardly at her grumbling.

“How’s the stiffness? Are you getting massages?”

“Ah……”

Bella recalled Aiden, whom she had met in the dining room that afternoon. He said that he had sent a maid to massage her, but he didn’t say who she was. Come to think of it, who could it be? Her curious light green eyes looked around at the empty air.

It wouldn’t be Daisy, who she had talked to before. If it was the talkative her, she would have asked for her impressions of her skills as soon as she saw the nanny. Mrs. Meghan was not a maid that the butler would use, and she was naturally excluded from the candidates as she was asking questions.

Then, would it be Courtney after all? She was the most likely person to finish the massage without disturbing the sleeping nanny on purpose. However, if it was her, there was no reason for Aiden not to answer.

Perhaps he brought someone from outside, taking into consideration that she might be embarrassed. Even though his expression was cold and his tone was stiff, he was someone who worked for the Duke’s family more than anyone else. It had only been three days, and the number of times they had encountered each other in the meantime was only a handful, but he was someone who would put in that much effort if it was for the sake of the Duke’s little master.

Hmm… Bella, who had become lost in thought, rested her chin on her hand.

“Nanny? …Bella?”

“Yes?”

“What are you thinking so hard about?”

“Ah, ah… It’s nothing. Massage…, I’m getting it, yes.”

“That’s a relief, then. It’s good to get it regularly, even for the sake of the nanny. If it’s difficult, I’ll call an expert.”

“No. It’s okay.”

Bella fidgeted with her fingers like someone who had been caught lying. Why couldn’t she tell the truth? It would have been the end of the matter if she had said that the butler had sent a maid to massage her.

‘I will send her again at the same time tomorrow.’

However, the man’s low breath, which had whispered in the dining room, closed her red lips. The nanny’s legs twitched slightly.