Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Everybody Hates Leon ❯ The Better Side of Zigfried ( Chapter 5 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

The new baby was allowed to go home two days after he was born. Per his mother's request, he was named Leonhard. I never liked that name, so I shortened it to "Leon". I was still trying to think up a good middle name.

Technically, Frau von Schroeder could have gone home too, but she was dramatically complaining that her healing incision hurt so much that she couldn't move. Thus, she stayed an extra day.

When Leon and I arrived at the mansion, I noticed that the servants had been given another day off.

After hearing so many nightmare stories in nursing school concerning how hard babies were to look after, I was rather nervous about my new job. Thankfully, Leon seemed to be naturally quiet and easygoing. He rarely cried unless it was important. It was almost as if he sensed that everyone was pretending he didn't exist.

That is not to say that I had an easy time. No matter how good-natured Leon was, he was still a baby and therefore virtually helpless. I hardly ever got time to myself. Gesina would sometimes be available to take my place so I could run errands, but otherwise I was a prisoner in the apartment.

However, working for such a wealthy family had its benefits. The money that the von Schroeders gave me was much more that I needed for basic supplies. That meant neither Leon nor I were lacking in anything, no matter how trivial. But I didn't spend the equivalent of hundreds of thousands of dollars on jewelry and handbags, unlike a certain other woman living in the house!

As far as I could tell, Zigfried had not been told about his half-brother.

It was a bad day at the von Schroeder house. Herr von Schroeder was in a fearsome mood. He had had to cancel an important meeting in Berlin because "those damn communists can't control a little rebellion!" The man was storming around the house, frightening the servants, the animals, and even his wife and son.

I was watching over Leon, who was lying on his favorite blanket and apparently extremely fascinated by his feet, when I heard a knock on the apartment door. I expected it to be Gesina-she was the only one besides us who ever went into our suite of rooms.

I was surprised to see that it was Zigfried. "How did you know I was here? As a matter of fact, why are you here in the first place?" I asked him.

"I knew you were here because I've seen you go in here. I went here because I'm hiding," he answered. He sounded a bit different. It took me a while to figure it out, but then I realized what it was-he was speaking in English, something I had never heard him do.

I let him in. Spoiled brat or not, he was obviously terrified by his father's shouting. I had just barely closed the door when Zigfried asked, "Who's that?" Naturally, he was referring to Leon, who was now sucking on his fingers contentedly. I had been right-they hadn't told Zigfried a thing.

I knew that a six-year-old could not understand the intricacies of the situation, so I simply said, "That's Leon."

Zigfried didn't skip a beat. He said, "How do you do, Leon?" while offering his hand to the baby. I couldn't help laughing.

Zigfried stayed with us for the rest of the afternoon. Leon was happy because he had a new toy-Zigfried's pointer finger. Zigfried was happy because there was no shouting in this part of the house. And I was happy because I finally saw Zigfried's good side.