🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 09
Gary originally used to stop by the country estate once every few weeks.
Whenever he visited, he stayed for a long time, but since he was busy himself, he rarely came often. However, after Neya arrived, Gary’s visits became much more frequent—almost every day.
Seeing Gary show up in broad daylight, Shane said with an exasperated look,
“Don’t tell me you’ve started drinking during the day now?”
“I didn’t come here to drink.”
Gary replied indignantly.
Honestly, Shane’s suspicion was reasonable. Up until now, Gary had hardly ever visited unless he wanted a drinking buddy.
Under Shane’s doubtful stare, Gary ruffled his hair.
“…I came because I was worried about Neya. Who knows what Azure might do to her?”
“I’m here, aren’t I? What’s there to worry about?”
Of course, Gary knew Shane would take good care of things himself. No matter how unreasonable Azure could be, she still listened quietly to Shane.
As long as Shane stayed by Neya’s side, nothing truly dangerous would happen to her.
“…”
Finding a flaw in his own logic, Gary crossed his arms and thought for a moment before speaking again.
“You know, ever since I stayed over that day…”
“Hm?”
“I keep thinking about Neya.”
“…”
“I thought I didn’t like kids. Guess I was wrong.”
“I see…”
In short, he had completely fallen for Neya. He got attached awfully fast.
While the two were talking, Neya came downstairs and spotted Gary. Her face instantly lit up.
“It’s the Tower Master!”
“Neya!”
Gary’s expression brightened just as much at the sight of her.
Pulling out a toy he had brought with him, he grinned broadly.
“Look at this. Your uncle made a toy for you.”
“Wow!”
Neya bounced in place excitedly.
Watching her, Shane let out a quiet chuckle.
‘Things really have become a lot livelier around here.’
Compared to before, the entire mansion now felt full of life.
Even the maids adored Neya. In the past, they used to silently work while carefully watching Azure’s mood, then flee the mansion the moment work ended. Now they delayed going home just to play with Neya a little longer.
And yet, despite everyone growing warmer and happier, there was still one person who poured cold water over the atmosphere.
“Ah!”
An irritated scream rang out from deeper inside the mansion.
Azure had just stepped out of her room and accidentally stepped on a scattered toy block. Clicking her tongue in annoyance, she kicked the block away.
Neya, the owner of the toy, immediately stopped smiling and nervously watched Azure.
Azure glared at her and snapped,
“Hey. Take all your toys and go play somewhere else.”
“…”
Neya hurriedly gathered up her toys and rushed upstairs as if fleeing.
The warm atmosphere from moments ago instantly turned cold. In the blink of an eye, the mansion had reverted to the way it was before Neya arrived.
Gary stared at Azure coldly.
“What the hell is wrong with you?”
“What did I do?”
“Forget it…”
Gary immediately headed upstairs. Azure called after him.
“Where are you going?”
“Mind your own business. I didn’t come here to see you anyway.”
Leaving those words behind, Gary went straight to Neya’s room.
After knocking a couple times, he carefully opened the door.
“Neya…”
He had worried she might be feeling hurt or intimidated, but instead Neya was completely absorbed in examining the toy Gary had given her.
“Tower Master!”
The moment she saw him, Neya climbed off the bed and hurried over.
“About this toy… how do I make it move like before?”
“Hm? Oh… Here, give it to me. I’ll fix it.”
Gary took the toy from her.
Even while adjusting it, Gary kept glancing over at Neya.
Without looking discouraged at all, she simply stared at the toy with sparkling curiosity.
‘Looks like she’s really okay.’
Maybe she had already gotten used to Azure’s scolding. Neya truly acted as though nothing had happened.
“Here you go.”
“Wow!”
Neya beamed happily as the magically activated toy started moving again.
“Do you like it?”
“I love it! I’ll play with it every single day!”
A huge smile spread across her face—a beautiful smile that naturally made others smile too.
Smiling softly himself, Gary patted her hair.
“Neya, why don’t you abandon that awful mother of yours and come live at the Magic Tower with me? I could make you much happier there than you are now.”
Though he said it jokingly, he genuinely meant it.
But Neya refused immediately.
“No!”
Her answer came so quickly and decisively that Gary clutched his chest and staggered back a step. He was far more hurt than expected.
Depressed, he muttered,
“Am I really that untrustworthy…?”
“No! Tower Master, you’re the coolest!”
Neya hurriedly tried to comfort him.
“But I’m Mom’s daughter. Of course I should live with Mom.”
Come to think of it, Neya had always followed Azure this way. It went beyond simply liking her mother—it was an almost blind trust.
‘Is it like imprinting or something?’
Like a baby chick following the first thing it recognizes as its mother forever.
And if that was the case, then it only made things more pitiful. If only she had chosen a more decent person as her mother, Neya probably would have been much happier. Seeing her adore such a difficult woman as Azure made Gary’s heart ache.
The moment Azure was mentioned again, Neya’s expression dimmed.
“Even though Mom hates me…”
Perhaps remembering what had happened earlier, her voice grew gloomy.
“I really, really like Mom, but we’ve barely even talked. I want to get close to her, but I think Mom hates that.”
Hearing her say that made Gary feel like his chest was tearing apart.
She was still such a little child, yet she wore such a sad expression. No matter how brightly she acted, there was no way Azure’s cold treatment didn’t hurt her.
But the reality that he could offer no solution made Gary feel helpless. If it were anyone else, maybe there’d be hope—but Azure was absolutely not the kind of person who would grow attached to a child.
“So this is where you were.”
At that moment, Shane entered through the open doorway.
“Gary, since you’re here anyway, could you check the magic barriers?”
“Ah, right. It’s about time.”
Gary nodded.
The words were unfamiliar to Neya, who tilted her head.
“Magic barriers?”
“It’s a magical shield placed around the estate so bad people can’t come near.”
The actual explanation was much more complicated, but Gary simplified it enough for Neya to understand.
Since Azure was a notorious villainess, many people harbored resentment toward her. That was why she lived out here in the remote countryside, but even that wasn’t completely safe, so they relied on magic as well.
“…!”
After hearing the explanation, Neya’s eyes sparkled.
“Then Tower Master is protecting this house!”
“Hm? Haha, I guess I am!”
“You say that like it’s some favor, even though the Duke pays you for it.”
At Shane’s jab, Gary shot him a glare.
Then, suddenly remembering something, Gary hurriedly turned back to Neya.
“Oh right, Neya. It’s a secret from Azure that the Duke pays me for this.”
“Why?”
“Because I promised the Duke. We agreed to tell Azure I’m doing it as a favor.”
“Ahh!”
At the word “promise,” Neya nodded seriously.
“You always have to keep promises!”
“Hahaha, smart girl.”
Gary laughed fondly, finding her adorable.
“…”
Then suddenly, Neya lifted her head as if struck by an idea.
“I want to do it too!”
“Hm? Do what?”
“Protecting someone!”
As if convinced she’d come up with a brilliant idea, her voice overflowed with excitement.
“Tower Master and Shane protect Mom, so Mom likes you both. Then if I protect Mom too, won’t she like me?”
“…”
Both Shane and Gary’s expressions became awkward.
After a moment, Gary carefully spoke.
“I think you’ve misunderstood something, Neya. Azure dislikes Shane and me too.”
“Hmph.”
Naturally, Neya didn’t believe him. She assumed he was just embarrassed and brushed it off with a little scoff.
To her, Azure, Gary, and Shane looked very close.
And Neya wanted to become just as close to Azure. More than anyone else, she wanted to be close to her mother.
That was why she wanted to protect her too.
Filled with determination, Neya asked,
“What can I do to protect Mom?”
“Well…”
Gary smiled awkwardly.
She was still a child who should be protected herself, not someone worrying about protecting others. He had no idea how to answer her.
“…”
Unlike the flustered Gary, Shane sank into thought.
“There might actually be one thing.”
