Episode 6
I swear, today is the first time I’ve realized that my father’s handsome features could look so vile and repulsive.
Without realizing it, a slightly grumpy voice escaped from me.
“That’s a very expensive and hard-to-find magical tool. No matter how many potatoes and tomatoes I sell, I’ll never be able to buy something like that in my lifetime.”
And besides, we aren’t even real father and daughter.
As I replied with a hint of frustration, the man smirked, raising one corner of his mouth.
“So, I guess you’ll never be my daughter.”
In the end, he wasn’t believing a single word I said.
“…The ring. I just showed it to you. You gave this to me yourself… to use in emergencies.”
“The ring, huh.”
The arrogant man tilted his chin up and looked me over coldly.
“Well… how could that possibly be evidence?”
“…”
“What if you just happened to get your hands on the ring I lost and are pretending to be my daughter? Or what if…?”
“…”
“What if you’re a spy sent by my enemy?”
The room was filled with not just my father, but also Eliza, their lieutenants, and servants.
I let out a short sigh, enduring all of their stares.
‘Now that I think about it… this is really sad.’
To be treated like a stranger—no, even worse than a stranger—by the family I once loved dearly.
It felt like my only ally, the one who would always be on my side, had left me behind and gone far away.
Honestly… I felt like crying.
But instead, I took a deep breath, held back my tears, and calmly looked around at the adults standing around me.
“Um, father… I mean, Duke. If you allow me, I’ll prove that what I’m saying is true.”
As I spoke, rummaging through my turtle-shaped bag, my father sneered, as if finding it amusing.
“Is this your last desperate attempt because you have no other way?”
His icy blue eyes scanned me coldly.
“…No, it’s really not.”
I pouted my lips and let out a long sigh.
‘I guess I have no choice.’
I had been trying to hold back for the sake of my father’s dignity and reputation, but…
“I guess I’ll have to use my last resort…”
“…?”
I pulled out a round magical tool I had been carrying in my bag.
It was a video orb, with limited playback uses.
Despite our poverty, my father had managed to get it from a wandering magician because he wanted to preserve memories of my childhood.
“There’s only one playback left… so everyone, please pay attention since it’ll be the last time we can watch it!”
As I held the orb lightly in my hand, it began to glow.
And soon, a large face was projected in the room.
“Gasp! Duke! It’s the Duke!”
Though the hair and eye colors were different, the servants and Eliza recognized the face on the screen and were in a frenzy.
“W-why does his expression look like that?”
“He looks way too cheerful.”
“Oh my goodness.”
Even though the man in the video had a slight frown, he looked so unfamiliar that everyone began to stir.
“…Does it show clearly? Hm, I guess it’s not a piece of junk.”
The video orb’s angle showed a wide shot of the bedroom inside an old cabin.
For a moment, the father in the video jumped toward a small mound on the bed.
“Daughter! Wake up! It’s a holiday! You didn’t forget, right? We were going to go on a picnic with the video orb, remember?”
“…?”
“…?”
“Who…?”
“What am I watching right now?”
The room started to buzz with confusion.
One of the maids, who had been pouring tea into the father’s cup, didn’t even notice that it was overflowing, her eyes glued to the screen.
Even my father, holding the cup, failed to notice.
Sniff.
The father in the video—how I missed him.
<Hey, stop rubbing your face against mine.>
<Then I’ll just give you one kiss and stop.>
<Fine. Just one kiss on the right cheek.>
Kiss, kiss.
<Hey! Why did you kiss me twice?>
<Because I love you so much~>
<Really? Then keep going.>
Unable to bear it any longer, Eliza’s predecessor, the Duke, grabbed her son’s face with trembling hands.
“You, you little….”
“…”
“Look at the state of this rascal’s tongue…?”
Dad, who had been as stiff as a rock, slowly blinked.
And said.
“Is that me?”
Yes.
***
Kalec was rarely at a loss for words.
What is this? What on earth is happening?
His aimless eyes rolled around.
As a member of the dignified and noble duke’s family, managing his expressions was as natural as breathing.
But now, it meant nothing.
***
<Oh my! Lirin! You grew potato sprouts? Oh my, my treasure! Oh my!>
<Hehe.>
<Your smile is to die for. Oh my!>
***
‘Does that kid have a problem with language skills? Oh… what? Is that all he can say with that short tongue?’
A man with a silly expression patted the child’s bottom.
The fool on the screen was himself, yet not himself.
Suddenly, an old shack appeared behind the smiling child on the screen.
For a moment, Kalec frowned at the inexplicable sense of déjà vu.
Sizzle, the scene changed.
“Oh, I filmed this… The video storage length is still a bit left…”
The little one fidgeted and mumbled softly.
The maids had wiped her down roughly, but there were scabs stuck to her little knees.
Trying to pull his gaze away from that, Kalec turned back to the video.
On the screen, something was lying on the vegetable patch…
A lump of bread was visible.
***
<Theo! Down here, down here! Did you see the tomatoes? I’ll go brag to Dad quickly!>
<Wow!>
Lirin whispered into the round back of the head that was intently observing beneath the sapling.
It seemed it wasn’t a chunk of bread, but rather the back of a baby.
The video screen shook wildly. It appeared they were running.
<Daddy…?>
<Ha!>
<What are you doing suddenly lying by the well?>
<Uh, I was just about to splash some water to wash off the sweat. Haha. My daughter has gotten faster at running…>
<Oh?>
Kalec lay on the dirt ground like a log.
The child placed the video camera on the ground.
On the screen, a man with a slightly tanned upper body was clearly visible, while a little one was running towards him.
“Oh, damn… That tattoo… It’s definitely Kalec Wintervalt.”
Eliza cupped her forehead as if she had a headache.
<Ah… Daddy…? What’s this on your arms and back? Wow! You have so many pictures on your body!>
<Li, Lirin? Can you not flip Daddy’s body over, and, um, don’t get too close with the magnifying glass?>
A dragon was racing boldly across the man’s right forearm and thick shoulder, all the way to his back.
It was a pattern that only the heir of the Wintervalt Duke family could carve.
<Whoa! But Uncle Bill said that only bad kids get pictures on their bodies!>
<Haha, really? Mr. Bill, you’re so full of prejudice like an old man.>
<Daddy… Do you want to be a villain? I’d rather you be a sketchbook than a villain! Theo would be scared of a villain, right?>
<Oh, of course! Naturally, Daddy dreams of being a sketchbook! So this… Well, this is something I carved when I was a bit lost in my youth. Now I’m completely nice, right?>
<You’re right.>
The man half-raised his upper body and playfully squeezed the child’s cheeks before planting a smooch on her forehead.
<So, sweetheart. Don’t tell anyone about this. What if people get scared of Daddy because of it? Okay?>
<I got it! Aah-! So that’s why you don’t wear short sleeves when it’s hot? But you can wear them in front of me! I’m not scared of you even if you’re a villain!>
<Really?>
<Yes! I like my dad no matter what kind of person he is!>
<…….>
The man paused for a moment, gazing softly at the child.
After a brief moment, a flurry of kisses like a bombardment and a shower of “Oh my, oh my” followed on the tender cheeks.
Under the bright sunlight, the man, laughing heartily with his eyes squinted, looked incredibly happy, almost like a lie.
Kalec tilted his head slightly as he watched.
He realized for the first time that he could smile like that.
It felt like observing someone else’s life, completely unrelated to his own.
“This is all I can show you.”
The continuously shining video abruptly cut off.
With the child’s tiny voice as the last sound, the room fell into an overwhelming silence.
• ❁ • ❁ • ❁ •By Esraa• ❁ • ❁ • ❁ •
