I Picked Up My Father Who Left Home 05
“W, what I asked wasn’t about that. It was about your identity, name, or something like that.”
“That’s…”
“Yes?”
“I don’t know either.”
Upon hearing the man’s words, Lia had a bewildered expression.
It somehow seemed like this would happen.
His appearance, which seemed like he had lost a screw, and the fact that he appeared to have lost his memory, it all added up.
But he really lost his memory.
Lia, who hadn’t anticipated this situation, felt flustered.
This made her wonder if she should reconsider her decision to have the man leave the mansion once he regained his senses.
If she simply let someone in such a confused state leave, he might end up losing his life for some unexpected reason, which she had so painstakingly saved.
Being an ability user doesn’t make him all-powerful, and it’s uncertain if he can even use his ability properly after taking an unknown drug.
‘Ugh, I didn’t plan on letting him stay at the mansion for long.’
She couldn’t just turn a blind eye to a dying man and had brought him here, not expecting it to become so troublesome.
If she had been more relaxed, she wouldn’t have felt this much distress.
With the power of a noble, there was nothing she couldn’t protect, even if it was just one ability user.
Of course, the other party was no ordinary ability user, and he had suffered serious injuries for some reason.
However, at the moment, Lia was burdened with complex worries, even if the man wasn’t part of it.
Within this week, she had to find a guardian and establish him as a guardian.
This was necessary to protect her family from those who are eyeing the duke’s position and to ensure the safety of herself and her precious people.
In such a situation, she had unexpectedly taken in an unintended burden.
Unfortunately, since her counterpart was an imperial citizen and an ability user with an obligation to protect everyone, she couldn’t just let him leave the mansion, even if it was potentially dangerous.
The man who had been observing Lia, as if the situation was becoming more and more tangled, suddenly spoke up.
“Do you have any worries?”
“Yes, I had worries before, but just added one more.”
“Shall I help you?”
“How would you help me?”
Lia asked with a somewhat incredulous expression, wondering what kind of help she could expect from a person who had lost his memory.
“If you have a worry, you can simply eliminate the cause of that worry. Just tell me what your worry is, and I’ll take care of everything.”
With a facial expression that seemed to say it’s quite simple, the man confidently spoke.
‘Hah, I must be a fool for having any expectations.’
Of course, she hadn’t expected much in the first place.
“That’s enough.”
Lia firmly rejected the man’s offer without even considering it.
How could she trust a man whose identity was unknown to help her with her problems?
Furthermore, it wasn’t a problem that could be easily resolved.
“Too bad. If the little angel desires it, I could at least help with that.”
For the sake of the child who was lovely and adorable enough to be mistaken for an angel for a moment, could he not do that much?
Especially since it was the child who saved him.
Moreover, the man didn’t like how the child was frowning due to the worries about the child’s identity.
“If you can’t remember your name, then how do you not know why you were lying on the street?”
“That’s true.”
The man replied indifferently.
Lia made a displeased expression upon hearing that.
I mean, isn’t that your business?
But why is he so indifferent?
To an observer, he seemed like a neighbor from the next country, next-door, next-door neighbor.
Lia, on the other hand, had unintentionally taken on another worry due to her own actions.
For some reason, Lia found the man to be irritating, and she briefly wondered if she should give him a blow to the head to forcibly make him recover his memories if necessary.
If he had lost his memory due to a head injury, could it be possible to make the lost memories return by hitting him once more.
But Lia did not act on her thoughts.
She refrained from taking action because, while she wanted to help him recover his memory, she knew that her actions might worsen the man’s situation.
“This is how it is, I guess. Originally, I was planning to send you out as soon as you woke up, but I’ll let you stay here until you find your memories.”
Lia had concerns about whether the man would be able to safely regain his memory, but it could be a simple case where he temporarily lost his memory due to a big shock.
Lia simply hoped that it was the case.
Upon hearing Lia’s words, the man seriously opened his mouth with an expression that indicated he didn’t understand something.
“… Are you truly not an angel?”
“Why do you keep coming back to that topic?”
I made it clear about my identity and that I’m human, didn’t I?
Well, although she pointed out other things first, the man has been addressing me with the rather cringe-worthy title ‘angel baby.’
“… If it were me, I wouldn’t have bothered bringing someone lying on the street here for treatment. Even if it was my fault, I would have just thought it was their own destiny. Even if I had to bring them, I would have treated them and sent them away. Losing your memory is your problem, not mine.”
But the girl before him didn’t know who she was, yet he had suddenly brought her to the mansion.
Moreover, he had let her stay in such an exquisite room.
Was that all?
She had even said that he could stay until he found his memory, instead of immediately sending him away. If she weren’t an angel, she would never have shown such kindness.
“… When I look at it, I think it’s not that I’m an angel, but maybe it’s just that the old man has a bad personality?”
Well, you couldn’t just label someone as bad for ignoring someone lying on the street.
If you did, could you really help them when something happened?
But watching him speak so confidently without any sense of guilt for such actions, it didn’t seem like he had a good personality at all.
“Now that I think about it, it seems so.”
His memories were foggy and fragmented, and he couldn’t recall the details, but for some reason, he felt like he had heard such comments from his surroundings occasionally. Therefore, the man nodded approvingly.
“And… Sir, you’re an ability user. All Imperial citizens have an obligation to protect and help ability users.”
“If you didn’t know, then so be it.”
Being an ability user and not explicitly displaying it on one’s forehead and insisting on it would make it difficult for someone else to investigate.
“That’s true. I only found out after bringing you here. But it wasn’t just for nothing. You were in terrible shape. If I hadn’t found you, you might have died.”
“Come to think of it, my body does hurt.”
Even though he had fallen in such a serious condition that he was on the brink of death, the man’s face remained indifferent.
“Why pretend not to know about someone like that? You barely survived, and now you’ve lost your memory.”
If the man had simply collapsed on the street, there was a chance that even Lia would have sent him away just as he had suggested.
However, that wasn’t the case.
Regardless of the reason, such a serious injury implied that someone had attempted to kill him.
In such a situation, releasing a man with no memory could expose the fact that he was alive and threaten his life once again.
Knowing the danger and still sending him away would ultimately be no different from trying to kill him with her own hands.
Even though it made Lia’s thoughts incredibly complicated, her determination didn’t waver, thanks to her being the heir to the Sithran Duchy.
Regardless of who the man in front of her was or who was trying to kill him, as long as Lia had her wits about her, they couldn’t afford to mess with the Sithran Duke, no matter the circumstances.
Whoever the assailant might be, if they attacked her, or worse, the Duke, they would become an enemy of the imperial family.
The Sithran Duchy was the most trusted family of the emperor.
“It seems you must be the one to inherit the bloodline of the Sithran Duke. The Duke was incredibly knowledgeable, had vast knowledge, and was incredibly overbearing.”
So if it weren’t the girl in front of him but the Sithran Duke who had discovered him, he probably would have made the same decision as the girl.
In that respect, she had similarities with the Sithran Duke.
Upon hearing the man’s words, Lia had a strange expression on her face.
Though it seemed like he wasn’t aware of it himself, his response indicated that he might know quite a bit about her grandfather. Not just as a mere matter of information, but as someone who had experienced her grandfather’s personality and interacted with him.
If that was the case, the man in front of her would likely fit her vision of a noble.
And a fairly high-ranking noble at that.
‘But… among them, are there any with such hair and eye colors?’
Most nobles had uncommon hair and eye colors that could easily identify their status. However, the man possessed very ordinary hair and eye colors, making him appear as a commoner.
‘Did he deliberately change his colors?’
To hide his identity?
It wasn’t particularly difficult for an ability user to change their hair and eye colors. If that were the case, he was undoubtedly being pursued by someone.
However, despite being an ability user and a noble, the identity of the person trying to kill him remained entirely unknown.
That’s when it happened.
Amid the momentary silence in the quiet space, a rumbling sound was heard.
It was the growling of the man’s stomach.
“Seems like you’re quite hungry.”
“If my stomach is growling like that, I suppose so.”
Despite the loud rumbling from his stomach, the man nonchalantly commented as if he wasn’t aware of his hunger.
“Probably, considering you were out for three days.”
While his casual attitude of treating his situation as if it were someone else’s might have been somewhat bewildering, Lia decided to accept it for now.
It seems like that’s just how his personality is, so if that’s the case, she should simply adapt to it.
“Then let’s start with a meal.”
Since it was nearing mealtime, it made sense to have a meal together.
“Shouldn’t I have to greet the Duke before that?”
Even if the girl in front of him was the one who saved him and brought him here, he had regained his composure, so he should greet the head of the family properly.
Although his stomach is already rumbling, constantly demanding for food, but it wasn’t too much to ask to give a simple greeting to the Duke.
Lia had a slightly embarrassed expression at the man’s straightforward words.
