🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 06
I swear, it was only today that I realized my father’s handsome features could look so petty and off-putting.
Before I knew it, a slightly sulky voice slipped out of me.
“That’s way too expensive and hard-to-get magical equipment. No matter how many potatoes and tomatoes I sell, I could never buy something like that in my lifetime.”
Besides, we weren’t really father and daughter anyway.
I replied with a little irritation from frustration, and the man smirked, raising one corner of his mouth.
“Then I suppose you’ll never truly be my daughter.”
In other words, he didn’t believe a word I said.
“…The ring. I just showed it to you. My father gave it to me himself… to use in an emergency.”
“Oh, the ring.”
The arrogant man lifted his chin and gave me a cold once-over.
“Hmm… I wonder what proof that really is.”
“…”
“What if you happened to find the ring I lost and are now claiming to be my daughter? So… you’re saying…”
“…”
“Even if you were a spy sent by my enemy?”
The room was full of my father, Elisa, and their aides and servants.
I endured all their gazes and let out a short sigh.
‘It’s sad… really sad.’
To be treated like a stranger—or worse than a stranger—by the family I loved so dearly.
It felt as though the only ally I thought would always be on my side had gone far away, leaving me behind.
Honestly… I felt like I might cry.
But I composed myself, sniffed once, and carefully scanned the adults around me.
“Um… Father—no, Duke. If you step aside for a moment, I can prove that what I’m saying is true.”
As I rummaged through my turtle-shaped bag, my father tilted his lips in a half-smile, amused.
“So you’re trying a last desperate attempt because you have no other way?”
His icy blue eyes swept over me coldly.
“…No, really, I’m not.”
I pursed my lips and let out a long sigh.
‘I guess there’s no choice.’
I had tried to restrain myself out of respect for my father’s social reputation.
“I have no choice but to use my last resort…”
“…?”
I pulled out a round magical orb from my bag.
It was a video orb with a limited number of playbacks.
Even though our household wasn’t wealthy, my father had wanted to leave me a memory of my childhood, so he had a traveling magician get it for us.
“It only has one playback left… so everyone, please focus while watching!”
As I held it lightly, the orb began to glow.
And then a face appeared, projected large in the room.
“Ah! Duke! It’s the Duke!”
Although the hair and eye colors were different, the servants and Elisa immediately recognized the face by his features and became excited.
“Why does his expression look like that?”
“So bright!”
“Oh my goodness.”
Even with a slight frown, the man in the video felt so unfamiliar that everyone was stirred.
<…Is it coming out clearly? Hmm, I guess it’s not too old.>
The orb showed a wide view of an old cabin’s bedroom.
Suddenly, the man on the screen jumped toward a small hill on the bed.
<“Daughter! Wake up! Today’s a holiday! We’re going to the forest for a picnic with the video orb—don’t forget, okay?”>
“…?”
“…?”
“Who…?”
“What am I watching?”
The room began to stir.
The maid filling my father’s teacup didn’t even notice it was overflowing, staring blankly at the screen.
Even my father holding the cup didn’t notice.
Sobbing.
I missed the father on the screen so much.
<“Stop rubbing your face so much.”>
<“Then I’ll just give you one kiss, okay?”>
<“Phew. Just once on the right cheek.”>
<“Smooch.”>
<“Ah, why two times?!”>
<“Well, you only get as many as you love~”>
<“Really? Then keep going.”>
Elisa, trembling, grabbed her son’s face in the video.
“You… you little brat…”
“…”
“Your tongue… what’s wrong with it?”
The father, rigid as a rock, blinked slowly.
And said, “That’s… me?”
Yes.
Calec (Calek) was unusually lost for words.
What… what is this situation?
His eyes rolled around aimlessly.
As a member of a noble family, keeping a composed expression was second nature—but now, none of that mattered.
<“My goodness! Lirin! You grew a potato sprout? Oh my treasure! Oh my!”>
<“Hehe.”>
<“Even your smile is adorable! Oh my!”>
‘Does this guy have a problem with language? Oh my… he only knows baby talk?’
The man in the video was patting the child’s bottom with a grin.
He was himself in the video, yet not himself.
Behind the smiling child, an old cabin appeared, giving Calec a strange sense of déjà vu.
Crackle, the scene changed.
“Ah, I recorded this… there’s a little time left on the orb…”
A little child fidgeted and muttered softly.
The maids had cleaned her up, but dried blood crusted her knees.
Calec reluctantly turned his attention back to the orb.
On screen, something lay on the garden bed…
It looked like a lump of bread.
<“Theo! Look down here, down here! The tomatoes are growing! I’ll brag to Daddy quickly!”>
<“Woo!”>
Lirin whispered to the round back of the child observing the seedlings.
It wasn’t a lump of bread—it was the baby’s back.
The orb shook wildly, probably because they were running.
<“Dad…?”>
<“Phew.”>
<“Why are you lying in the well suddenly?”>
<“Um, I was just trying to rinse off sweat. Haha. You’ve gotten so fast at running, my daughter…”>
<“Huh?”>
Calec lay on the dirt floor like a log.
The child put down the orb.
The screen showed a man’s slightly tanned torso, and a little one running toward him.
“Ah, damn… that tattoo… it’s definitely Calec Winterwald.”
Elisa pressed her forehead, frustrated.
<“Dad…? What are these on your arms and back? Wow, so many drawings on your body!”>
<“L-Lirin? Please don’t flip Daddy over or bring a magnifying glass close…”>
A dragon design ran across his arm, broad shoulder, and back—only the heir of the Winterwald dukedom could have it.
<“Whoa! But Mr. Bill said drawing on your body is for bad kids!”>
<“Haha, really? Mr. Bill, you’re full of old-fashioned prejudice.”>
<“Dad… are you trying to be a villain? Lirin doesn’t want you to be a villain… maybe just a sketchbook! Theo would be scared of villains too.”>
<“Ah, of course! Dad’s dream is to be a sketchbook! This was… when I was young and wandering, I got it. Now I’m totally good.”>
<“Yeah.”>
The man half-sat up and pressed kisses on the child’s forehead while pinching her cheeks.
<“So, baby, don’t tell anyone about this. I don’t want people to be scared of Daddy because of it, okay?”>
<“Got it! Ahhh! That’s why you didn’t wear short sleeves when it was hot! But from now on, you can in front of me! I’m not scared of Daddy being a villain!”>
<“Really?”>
<“Yes! I love Daddy no matter who he is!”>
<“…”>
The man fell silent for a moment, gazing gently at the child.
Then more kisses rained down on her soft cheeks.
Under the bright sun, the man’s laughing face looked genuinely happy—almost unreal.
Calec tilted his head slightly, realizing he’d never seen himself smile like that before.
It felt like observing someone else’s life, completely detached from his own.
“That’s all I can show you.”
The glowing orb abruptly shut off.
With the child’s small voice fading, the room fell into profound silence.
