LMHS 23

Chapter 23

With a mind already soaked in social conventions and expectations, I had no confidence I could imitate the way they thought.

Well, fine—this was a story about a mere two-year-old, so let’s say it was different from me.

But children around my age weren’t any less unconventional in how they went about things.

On a rainy day, there was a child who looked about seven years old, holding two snails she had brought home in a glass jar, hugging them like treasures.

I walked up to her, smiled kindly, and asked,

“Are those your pets?”

“Yes!”

“I see. They’re really cute! Could you tell unni what their names are?”

“Aeji and Jungji!”

For a moment, I doubted my ears.

I’m not exactly great at naming things myself, but I didn’t think I was bad enough to completely wreck it like that.

When I asked why she named them that, she said she was going to raise them very dearly, so she named them “Aeji” and “Jungji.”
(Aeji-jungji means “cherish dearly.”)

Ah—no, I mean, the meaning is nice, but…

The sound of it is a bit…

It was a realm beyond what an ordinary mortal could imagine.

If I tried to clumsily imitate children’s innocence, I’d probably end up completely shattered.

Recalling what had happened before, I quickly abandoned the thought of trying to act childlike, even for a moment.

Mm. Yeah, I really can’t do it.

I neatly speared the bacon the man had given me together with a potato using my fork and brought it to my mouth.

Munch.

Then I raised my thumb as if it were delicious. The more I enjoyed it, the happier the man would be.

“It tastes good! Though the eggplant flavor comes through a little.”

Of course, along with the praise, I also subtly hinted that he shouldn’t put eggplant into sacred dishes next time.

“Alright. I’ll be careful not to add eggplant next time.”

The man chuckled softly and put the eggplant he’d taken from me into his mouth.

I stared intently at his smiling face.

He really does look more handsome when he smiles.

Suddenly, I became curious.

He seemed like he’d be popular with women—was he really not thinking of meeting someone new, aside from his failed first love?

If he had even a little desire to start a family…

I wanted to know in advance, because I would surely become an obstacle.

“Um, sir… are you not seeing anyone new?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, you’re still young…! Ah, I mean, I know I call you ‘sir,’ but anyway, you’re still young, and you seem like you’d be popular with women, so I was wondering if you’ve ever thought about starting a family.”

I rambled in the middle, but it seemed like my meaning got across.

The man fell silent for a moment, as if choosing his words, then spoke.

“…After what happened with my first love, I haven’t felt like meeting anyone new.”

…What happened?

Gasp—don’t tell me it wasn’t just unrequited love, but that the other person passed away due to illness or an accident?

“I-I’m sorry for bringing up a sad memory.”

I scolded myself inwardly.

Ugh, why did I have to bring up something that would remind him of his first love?!

As I smacked my lips together, the man’s eyebrow twitched.

“It seems you’re misunderstanding something. My first love didn’t die.”

“…Huh?”

“You seem to be… misunderstanding.”

“I-I thought that since you said it ‘ended up like that,’ maybe they passed away from an accident or illness.”

“Ah. The ending wasn’t a good one. But it’s fine—there’s no lingering regret.”

He said it with a face devoid of any emotion.

“Even when I think of my first love now, nothing comes to mind.”

But still…

When I said before that I resembled his first love, his expression had clearly been bitter.

Well, if that’s what he says, it’s not my place to argue.

Thinking that, I scraped up every last bit of the remaining food and ate it.

✦ ✦ ✦

Before I knew it, nearly a month had passed since I took the entrance exam for the Papiope Talent Training Institute.

I still hadn’t decided whether I would become the man’s daughter or be adopted into the Ducal House of Papiope.

No—actually, I knew.

That being adopted into the Papiope ducal family was the right choice.

But refusing the man’s offer to adopt me was so difficult that I kept putting it off, and this was the result.

The grace period I’d asked for from the institute was almost up, so I needed to stop by soon.

One week.

I’d go and ask them to extend my admission deferment by exactly one more week.

After that, I’d refuse the adoption offer without regrets and enter the Papiope Talent Training Institute.

However, there was one obstacle I had to overcome to go there.

I looked at the man with a strange expression as he seriously read a book titled “The Picky Eater Child and the Child Who Isn’t Picky.”

Why was he reading a book with a title that reminded me of a pink, girly romance comic?

Anyway.

If I wanted to go to the institute, I had to get him out of the house.

The institute was about thirty minutes away by carriage.

That meant he needed to be out for at least an hour.

I clapped my hands as if something had just occurred to me.

“Oh, right! Come to think of it, when we visited the Ageratum Trading Company last time, the guildmaster was looking for you.”

That wasn’t a lie.

I remembered him mentioning that he’d been having trouble finding mercenaries lately.

“…The guildmaster was looking for me?”

“Yes. It sounded like he had something to discuss regarding mercenary work.”

“…I quit that line of work.”

“But you’re the one who saved me. Couldn’t you at least hear him out?”

When I fluttered my eyelashes and pleaded, the man closed his book and stood up.

He casually put on his loose-fitting robe and gave me a small nod.

“I’ll be back soon.”

“Oh! And while you’re out, please buy something delicious! I’m really in the mood for something amazing today.”

“Hm. Then I suppose I should grill some eggplant for dinner.”

“…That’s cruel!”

When I looked at him with an expression like I’d lost the whole world, he ruffled my hair roughly.

“I’ll buy plenty of meat you like.”

I’d been trying to stall him, and somehow ended up scoring an amazing dinner menu instead.

With my hair all mussed up, I beamed at him.

“Have a safe trip!”

Just like before, the man was quite well-off financially.

Having worked for the famous Gold and Silver Coin Mercenary Corps, it was only natural that he’d saved up a lot of money.

So even though he’d quit being a mercenary, I wasn’t worried about finances.

If money really ran out, I could just earn it myself.

What worried me instead was…

That the neighbors were starting to notice that he and I were living together.

It seemed he’d introduced me as a friend’s daughter for now.

The neighbors looked like they hadn’t even known someone lived in this house before I arrived.

That said a lot about how much he’d kept himself hidden.

“And yet he gave all that up…”

I shoved the unresolved question into a corner of my mind and stood up.

About three minutes after seeing him off—

I grabbed the emergency funds I’d obtained from the guildmaster before and left the house. It was the fare for the carriage driver.

[Overlaying the current point in time onto Point of View 1.]

“Alright. Let’s go to the Talent Training Institute before he gets back.”

✦ ✦ ✦

I safely arrived at the entrance of the Papiope Talent Training Institute by carriage.

Unable to tolerate even a moment of wasted time, I hurried toward the institute building.

That was when—

I heard the chatter of children who looked like students of the institute.

“I’m jealous. I’m pretty confident I could live in luxury too if I were adopted by the duke.”

“I’d say the same.”

“Ah, I wish the duke would suddenly go crazy and adopt me.”

“Wouldn’t that mean the Papiope ducal house is doomed?”

“Geez, you really say anything. Anyway, who do you think will win tomorrow’s adoption competition and get adopted by the duke?”

I doubted my ears.

…The adoption competition is tomorrow?

Good heavens. At the previous point in time, hadn’t it been scheduled for the end of the year?

It’s only June now—why has it been moved up so much?