The ground beneath her seemed to collapse.
The sky and earth that Ron, Mary, and Peter had shattered once before—only for Jean to painstakingly piece back together—crumbled all over again.
Vivian stared ahead with hollow, devastated eyes, and Kiki hurriedly tried to calm her down.
[Whatever you’re thinking, it’s a misunderstanding, Vivian!]
“Y-You abandoned me…”
[Abandoned you?! No, that’s not it!]
“You be-betrayed—”
[Ah! I said no!]
This was what had happened.
Yesterday afternoon.
“My lady! If you’ve finished eating, would you like to play with me—ah!”
Anne had cheerfully approached Vivian in hopes of growing closer to her, but Vivian only shook her head a few times before slipping out into the garden.
She wasn’t openly hostile, but she refused to let anyone near her.
Watching the little girl walk away, Anne sighed softly.
Jean observed the scene with concern.
“I suppose… my lady doesn’t like me very much…”
Anne looked heartbroken at being rejected by such an adorable little princess, and Jean carefully spoke up.
“I mentioned it in the letter, but Vivian… well, she went through many unpleasant things because of the previous servants. She wasn’t originally a child who distrusted people this much.”
“I know that already, but seriously! Those awful people—how could they possibly bully someone so tiny and precious? They must be paying dearly for it now, right?”
“Yes. They’re both rotting in prison.”
Since Vivian’s miserable death had never actually come to pass, harsher punishment was impossible. Things might have been different if the Lambert family had been nobles in more than name alone.
Jean clenched his fist so tightly that the veins stood out.
Anne stared wistfully after Vivian’s retreating figure before suddenly clapping her hands.
“Oh! What about this?”
Children loved fun things.
They especially loved doing fun things behind their parents’ backs.
And if it was both fun and secret, they absolutely adored it.
So while Jean was out, Anne would tell Vivian they were doing things secretly behind her father’s back—things she normally wasn’t allowed to do. Surely then Vivian would open up to her a little.
“Hm… do you think it’ll work?”
“I’ve never seen a child dislike this before!”
Honestly, it sounded convincing.
Even Jean himself still remembered how happy he’d felt sneaking extra snacks behind his parents’ backs as a child.
Still, to put the plan into action, there was one person—or rather, one being—whose permission they needed first.
“Divine Beast, Divine Beast.”
Late that night.
A voice whispered while Kiki slept soundly in Vivian’s arms, completely oblivious to the world.
“Grrf?”
Jean couldn’t understand Kiki’s words without Vivian translating, but simple nods and shakes of the head were enough.
“There’s something I’d like to discuss without Vivian knowing. Would you come out for a moment?”
“Kiiing…”
Rubbing sleepy eyes, Kiki wriggled free from Vivian’s embrace.
The moment Jean offered bribery snacks, Kiki’s half-open eyes snapped fully awake.
“Kyung kyung.”
Jean had no idea what Kiki was saying, but the satisfied expression alone reassured him.
“As you know, Vivian still won’t let the new nanny get close to her. We thought perhaps if they spent more time together…”
Since he already had business outside the house the next day, he planned to leave Anne alone with Vivian for a while. He just wanted Kiki not to be overly wary of Anne approaching her.
Even though Kiki barely pretended to listen while stuffing its face with snacks, Jean patiently explained everything.
“If you show that you trust Anne first, I think Vivi might feel more at ease too.”
Hearing the worry in Jean’s voice, Kiki finally lifted its gaze from the snacks and glanced at him.
Then it nodded once.
That alone was enough to make Jean’s face bloom with relief.
[Your father asked this of me! He begged me to help you become friends with this woman and spend time together!]
“A-Ah… Dad did?”
[Yes! Vivian, humans aside, I would never betray you! You’re the one who hatched me from my egg and showed me the light of the world. Why would I ever abandon you?!]
Was that true?
[Hey!]
“Eek!”
Vivian tilted her head uncertainly instead of immediately agreeing, and Kiki screeched loudly.
At the exact same moment, Anne screamed too.
Naturally, since she couldn’t understand Kiki’s words, all Anne saw was Kiki clutching her shoulder with its claws, squeaking furiously before suddenly shrieking in her face.
Trembling like a leaf, Anne whimpered,
“M-My lady… Kiki—no, Lord Kiki—seems angry. I-I’m so scared! Please tell me it’s never hurt anyone before…!”
“Kiki! I get it already, now come here. You’re scaring her!”
[Hmph. What a cowardly human. What part of this adorable form is frightening? Though naturally, my magnificence cannot be hidden by mere appearances!]
“Stop talking back and come here already!”
Kiki huffily hopped back onto Vivian’s shoulder, and Anne collapsed to the floor.
“Huff… huff… I-I was really scared, my lady…”
Despite cold sweat pouring down her face, Anne still forced herself to smile.
And seeing that smile, the towering wall of Vivian’s caution crumbled just a little.
Vivian carefully stepped closer and used her sleeve to wipe the sweat from Anne’s face.
Anne nearly let out another shriek.
Such a sweet young lady!
But she absolutely couldn’t scare Vivian away now that the child had approached her first.
Dancing internally with joy, Anne stood up and straightened her rumpled skirt.
“...This went a little differently than planned, but! I can’t give up here. My lady, would you like to go play with me secretly behind Lord Lambert’s back?”
“Behind Daddy’s back?”
“Yes! You couldn’t go outside alone because it’s dangerous, right? But with a grown-up like me, you can go anywhere! I’ll braid flowers into your hair, teach you how to play grass whistles, and…”
“And…?”
Even though no one else was around, Anne lowered her voice dramatically.
Vivian instinctively whispered back.
“When we come home, we’ll eat tons of candy!”
“Candy…!”
Jean tried to give Vivian everything she wanted, but when it came to sweets like candy, he strictly limited her to three pieces a day so her teeth wouldn’t rot.
“Then Daddy will scold me.”
Even as her face clearly screamed temptation, her cheeks trembled as she struggled to resist.
I want to bite those cheeks, Anne thought dangerously.
Completely unaware of Anne’s outrageous thoughts, Vivian waited nervously for her answer.
“We’ll just keep it a secret! Of course, if I think your teeth are in danger, I’ll tell you to stop. So you can relax and enjoy them!”
This, naturally, had already been agreed upon with Jean.
After eating candy, Vivian would simply brush her teeth very thoroughly.
As for Vivian’s response—
There was no need to describe it.
It was explosive.
“Then shall we go, my lady? If we want to do all that before Lord Lambert returns, we’ll have to run around!”
“O-Okay!”
Vivian’s cheeks flushed bright red with excitement.
[Hmph. Seems I didn’t even need to step in.]
Muttering smugly, Kiki sat atop Vivian’s shoulder and studied Anne carefully.
As a Divine Beast, Kiki could instinctively sense wickedness in humans.
But from this human called Anne, it sensed absolutely none.
That was precisely why Kiki had so willingly agreed to Jean’s request.
[Serve me and my Vivian well, human.]
“Hngh… My lady, Kiki keeps staring at me so intensely…”
Though Anne had become slightly terrified of Kiki, Kiki naturally didn’t care in the slightest.
That day, Vivian enjoyed every single thing Anne had promised.
She had so much fun that she fell fast asleep before Jean even returned home.
Anne completely captured Vivian’s heart by skillfully playing ten different famous children’s songs on a grass whistle.
