I Picked Up My Father Who Left Home

 

 

 

 

I Picked Up My Father Who Left Home 01

 

 

 

The Duke of Sithran dies.

 

The unexpected news was met with heartfelt condolences from the people and nobles.

 

The Duke of Sithran was one of the Emperor’s most trusted nobles and a man who was well respected by many.

 

Duke Sithran has served the Empire better than anyone.

 

He was responsible for the settlement and stabilization of the *able-bodied, for mediating between the able-bodied and the unable-bodied nobility, and, despite being unable-bodied, he possessed a remarkable sense of intimidation and charisma that bent the able-bodied.

 

(*Able-bodied is like human who have abilities)

 

As such, his death was bound to come as a huge shock to many.

 

But it was his one and only granddaughter, Lia, who was most affected.

 

For Lia, the Duke was her maternal grandfather, her parent, and her only family.

 

To others, he was a scary, blunt, stern old man, but to Lia, he was different.

 

He cared for her more than anyone else.

 

At least to Lia, Duke Sithran was a doting maternal grandfather.

 

Lia lost both of her parents when she was a baby, not yet able to speak.

 

Her mother died shortly after giving birth to her, and her father left home for some reason, leaving her as a newborn in the care of her maternal grandfather.

 

Despite the absence of her parents, Lia was raised by her maternal grandfather and never lacked for anything.

 

Sometimes I would miss my parents, whose faces I couldn’t even remember, but that was okay because I had a maternal grandfather.

 

As long as my maternal grandfather is with me, I’m okay with the idea of never seeing him again.

 

The Duke of Sithran was dear and dearer to Lia than anyone else.

 

The death of such a man saddened Lia more than any other in the Empire, and she was devastated.

 

The death of her maternal grandfather, who she thought would be by her side forever, was too much for Lia, who was only twelve years old, to handle.

 

But Lia couldn’t grieve to her heart’s content.

 

Her circumstances didn’t allow for that.

 

Thinking about the reality of the situation at hand, Lia’s mind was once again cluttered. She was also feeling an equally irritating emotion.

 

For a moment, Lia stared at the pile of papers on her desk.

 

The papers were from the old butler, Sebain, who had researched the candidates for guardianship.

 

“I don’t care how old I am, twelve is old enough!”

 

Lia, who was looking at the papers, couldn’t resist her growing irritation and screamed at the top of her lungs.

 

“Why is there a stupid law that says you can’t do that?

 

Lia gritted her teeth inwardly as she recalled the words of the Imperial Code that were most responsible for this whole situation.

 

Under normal circumstances, this would have been a simple matter of Lia, the sole heir to the duchy, taking over from the throne.

 

Unfortunately, she couldn’t.

 

She was the sole heir to the duke’s throne, but because of her age, he was not allowed to become a lord without a guardian.

 

Lia lamented the fact like crazy.

 

Not only did it force me to do things I didn’t have to do, but I also had to deal with daily visits from distant relatives who were trying to get a piece of the action.

 

At that moment, there was a knock at the door, and the butler, who had just finished dismissing the uninvited guests who had come as usual, opened the door and entered.

 

“Did you sprinkle the salt well and thoroughly?”

 

We’ve all heard the saying about sprinkling salt to ward off bad luck.

 

For Lia, the daily visits of her distant relatives were like a bad luck charm. So it was only natural to sprinkle salt on the spot where they left off.

 

“Yes, ma’am, as you say, the salt was sprinkled very carefully.”

 

It was an odd name, but the old butler didn’t waste any time in listening to his young master.

 

I also understood why she was doing it.

 

“Well done, Sebain.”

 

At the look of annoyance and annoyance on Lia’s face, Sebain could only offer a soft smile of sympathy.

 

Soon enough, Sebain quietly opened the door and left. He didn’t want to disturb Lia, who was already busy with her guardianship.

 

After Sebain left, Lia feverishly went through the papers on her desk, looking like she didn’t want to do it.

 

“Hah. If only some faceless, out-of-town dad would show up at a time like this.

 

Lia sighed in frustration, thinking that she hadn’t found anyone she liked, even though she’d been checking the papers for days.

 

If he was my biological father, he would have been qualified to be my guardian or conservator.

 

But Lia quickly shook her head.

 

‘No. A father who leaves his infant child in the hands of her grandfather can’t be a decent man.’

 

It would be a very, very irresponsible person.

 

I mean, it’s not like you have to actually take care of them, or do the family business for them, or anything like that.

 

Even if the guardian was qualified to act as the head of the family, Lia would never entrust him with the family’s affairs.

 

All she had to do was stay as a guardian. She would do her own work as the head of the household.

 

So I figured I could get away with being irresponsible, but you never know.

 

I wouldn’t want to be irresponsible and walk away from my obligations again.

 

“Oh, my head hurts…”

 

I’ve been looking at the paperwork for so long, it’s starting to get to my head.

 

I hadn’t even gotten over the shock of my grandfather’s death, and now this.

 

However, I only had three weeks left to do so.

 

At least the emperor’s consideration gave her that much time.

 

It also gave me a bit of breathing room from relatives who were urging me to get a guardianship in place as soon as possible.

 

However, given the role the dukes played in the empire, the prolonged vacancy of the House was not a good thing.

 

The biggest problem at this point was not finding the right guardian in a timely manner.

 

If that happened, one of the distant relatives would naturally become the guardian.

If she did, he would be stripped of her family name and sent away penniless.

 

Without the consent of the guardian, Lia could not properly exercise her powers as head of household.

 

More greedy for power than concerned about the family, they would not allow themselves to be wielded by the rightful heirs.

 

He would never dedicate himself to the family, nor would he allow himself to become the greatest obstacle to their control of the family.

 

Is that all.

 

She would also lose the one person she trusted and relied on the most, Sebain.

 

They’re not going to leave Sebain, who’s become their surrogate, alone.

 

It is said that Sebain has been in the service of the Duke for a long time, but at most he has been an employee of the family.

 

Just one words from head of family could have changed his situation.

 

If the head of the family wanted him out, she would not be able to protect Sebain, as she had not yet taken over the family name.

 

For the sake of her family, for the sake of herself, and last but not least, for the sake of Sebain, she must find someone who would be willing to be her guardian on her terms.

 

“I’d rather have Sebian as my guardian.”

 

Having served the duke for generations, Sebain was the one person Lia could trust.

 

However, an employee of the family could not be a guardian.

 

So, unfortunately, we had to find another guardian that fit the criteria.

 

Lia was devastated and saddened by this realization.

 

But what the heck.

 

It’s not like she can change the laws of the Empire, which even the Emperor can’t easily change.

 

So for now, she had to focus on finding someone who fit her criteria and making them her guardian.

 

Lia had only one condition for her guardianship.

 

Someone who is qualified to be her guardian, but who is also trustworthy and not greedy enough to covet her position or her family name.

 

But that condition was the simplest, and also the trickiest.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

***

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A few days later, Lia was getting ready to go out with her knights.

 

To meet in person with the guardianship candidates I’d narrowed down on little sleep.

 

I couldn’t judge a guardian who would actually have the authority to represent the family just by looking at the documents, so I decided to meet them in person one last time before making a decision.

 

But after taking the time to meet all five people who made the final cut, Lia sighed in frustration.

 

“There are so many people in the world, and none of them are really my favorite.”

 

They looked perfect on paper, but in person, they weren’t quite right.

 

It wasn’t just a matter of taste.

 

Lia’s gut was telling her they were all out.

 

Of course, if it was just a hunch, I could have just ignored it.

 

But Lia’s hunch wasn’t just a hunch.

 

From a young age, Lia had an unusually strong sense of direction, with an accuracy rate of nearly 99.9%.

 

As such, she couldn’t ignore what her gut was telling her.

 

In fact, we found that one of them was disqualified.

 

“I need to review the report again.”

 

Muttering to herself, Lia frowned, as if the mere thought of having to go through all those reports again made her head hurt.

 

But what the heck.

 

Something that has no other option.

 

Lia sighed heavily at the inevitable.

 

That too, for a moment.

 

Lia started to walk back to the duke’s house.

 

Then a groan reached Lia’s ears.

 

“Huh? What is that?

 

The sound was coming from an off-the-beaten-path alley.

 

Unsure whether to walk away or check it out, she turned toward the alleyway.

 

Her heart was too full to ignore someone who might need her help.

 

I had an escort with me, so I wasn’t in any real danger.

 

When she reached the alleyway, she saw a man lying on the ground, bleeding from the eyes.