TBVP 04

Chapter 4

A Skylark Is Better Than Dog’s-Tail Grass

Zenith felt as if she had become Alice in Wonderland.

The old lady led her to a small garden. There was the apple pie she had bragged about so much, along with a charming little tea table decorated beautifully.

The old lady seated Zenith at the table and personally poured her a cup of white milk.

“I’d like to give you tea, but you’re still a baby, so let’s settle for milk. My little baby skylark.”

Zenith didn’t even know where to begin correcting her.

But the part that bothered her the most was baby skylark.

The first time she heard it, she could tolerate it. But after hearing it repeatedly, it started giving her goosebumps.

Because of the Bakers, the couple who had raised her in this life, she had become somewhat used to being called “baby.”

But baby skylark… that was a different story.

If this were someone she would only meet once, she wouldn’t have bothered saying anything. But for some reason, Zenith had a feeling she would be seeing this woman often.

“My name is Zenith, though?”

“Hmm, then how about little baby firefly?”

“…Please just call me a skylark.”

A skylark was still better than a firefly, no matter what!

Afraid that asking for more might result in an even stranger nickname, Zenith decided to compromise.

The old lady smiled brightly.

“Very well, my baby skylark. The moment I first saw you, you reminded me of a little skylark. It seems we’re on the same wavelength.”

Zenith found that strange.

When exactly had this woman even seen her?

But after seven years of living with the Bakers, Zenith had learned how to deal with people like the old lady.

“Thank you.”

All she had to do was smile happily and say thank you.

The old lady’s smile became even brighter than Zenith’s.

She was truly graceful.

And beautiful.

Just like the Bakers.

* * *

Meanwhile, unlike the flower-filled atmosphere around them, Geren and the old general were having a rather serious conversation.

Or rather, a beating disguised as a lecture.

“Even if you’ve lost your memory, shouldn’t you be able to tell just by looking? She’s obviously your child! Yet you dared to say she was my child? You fool! You worthless brat!”

Geren wanted to argue.

But the words he had blurted out earlier—”Father’s child”—kept coming back to haunt him.

Waking up one day to suddenly discover he had a seven-year-old daughter was enough to make him want to scream.

But because he had tried to shove that daughter onto his father, he couldn’t even defend himself properly and was forced to endure the old general’s machine-gun-like scolding.

The old general’s verbal assault only stopped when Geren looked like he had forgotten where he was and even forgotten his own name.

“Reflect on your actions and come back when you’ve regained your senses! And you’d better apologize properly to my granddaughter!”

The old general declared that he would break Geren’s legs if he didn’t apologize, then stormed off.

Fernando poked the half-dead Geren.

“Hey. You still alive?”

“…Shut up.”

The conversation that began with insults soon turned serious.

“I had a child when I was eighteen?”

“That’s right.”

“Who is the mother?”

“Chloe.”

“Who’s Chloe? What’s my relationship with her? How did we meet?”

Questions poured out of Geren.

Fernando answered.

“Chloe was in our class at—”

“Wait! As far as I know, our academy was an all-boys school. Am I mistaken? More importantly, I’ve never even heard the name Chloe before!”

“She was a transfer student. We found out later she was actually a woman disguised as a man.”

“So I fell in love with this cross-dressing woman at first sight? Then had a child without even getting married? We must have been very close.”

Geren spoke sarcastically.

“As if. You two were sworn enemies.”

“What?”

“You were definitely closer than anyone else in the world—but in the opposite direction. You were enemies.”

Enemies didn’t get much worse than that.

When Chloe revealed that she was a woman, that she was pregnant, and that the child was Geren’s, Fernando had doubted his own ears.

“If we were enemies, how did we end up having a child?”

“I’d like to know that myself. But just look at Zenith’s face. Does she look questionable to you?”

Other than the blazing red hair, the girl’s face looked almost exactly like Geren’s.

And even Geren couldn’t deny that.

Forget blood tests.

The child’s face was proof enough.

Even Geren, who had been desperately denying reality, was slowly reaching the acceptance stage.

After somehow gathering the shattered pieces of his brain together, Geren said that now that he understood who Zenith was, the two of them should work together to solve the problem.

“…Isn’t there somewhere else we can send her?”

“I told you they’re dead.”

“No, somewhere else.”

The truth was that Zenith’s existence felt burdensome.

But more than that, Geren knew he was completely unqualified to be someone’s father.

And nobody knew that better than Geren himself.

Thanks to being born into the right family, he had plenty of money.

But children couldn’t be raised on money alone.

Having grown up under loving parents himself, he understood that better than anyone.

“…I can provide financial support. She just needs to be with a happy family that will cherish her.”

Geren proposed what he believed was the wisest solution.

Fernando smiled bitterly.

“Sorry, but that’s impossible. Her adoptive parents were murdered.”

Geren looked at him as if wondering what that had to do with someone else raising Zenith.

Fernando continued.

“The people who killed her adoptive parents are keeping an eye on her.”

“How do you know that?”

“I found suspicious individuals.”

“Did you catch them? More importantly, are you sure they’re after her?”

“We’ve already cross-checked everything. There’s no doubt they’re targeting Zenith. As for the culprit…”

Fernando sighed.

“They got away.”

Ever since Zenith came into his care, Fernando had started noticing suspicious people.

Afterward, he had seriously debated whether or not to inform Geren about Zenith’s existence.

Watchers appeared one after another.

The threat kept drawing closer.

Then, amid all that, rumors spread that Geren intended to adopt a child.

For Zenith’s safety—and for her rightful inheritance—Fernando had no choice but to find Geren.

As he listened, Geren’s expression hardened.

The adoption rumors were one thing.

But surveillance?

Threatening Fernando?

Fernando might look like a wandering scholar with no money, but he was actually the youngest son of Marquis Verdo.

The Marquis of Verdo was one of the greatest generals of the northwestern army.

There was no way such a man would neglect the safety of his precious youngest son.

Yet someone had managed to slip through that protection.

The sheer audacity was unbelievable.

“Where did people with that level of skill suddenly come from? I never received any reports!”

Geren was the head of the Roman Ducal House, protectors of the Empire.

He was also one of the highest-ranking authorities of the Imperial Police Bureau.

Even if he mostly signed documents and lent his name to things, anyone with that level of ability entering the Empire should have been reported to him immediately.

But there had been no report.

Geren’s expression turned grim.

“I wouldn’t have known either if I hadn’t been directly involved. If not for the men my father sent, I probably never would have noticed.”

Fernando shrugged.

“The police monitor the entire Empire. My father’s men only protect me. Naturally, there’s a difference.”

“…They’re after the girl?”

“Probably.”

Geren frowned.

Zenith’s safety mattered.

But what troubled him even more was the fact that such highly skilled individuals had appeared out of nowhere and nobody knew anything about them.

His professional responsibility and his duty as a father tangled together, giving him a headache.

Rubbing his temples, Geren sighed.

* * *

They couldn’t publicly announce that Zenith would officially join the ducal family.

Still, Geren and Fernando had reached a temporary conclusion.

Until the identities of the people monitoring and threatening Fernando were discovered, Zenith would remain under the protection of the ducal household.

The two men headed into the garden.

There they found Zenith and the elderly couple creating an unbelievably warm and cheerful atmosphere.

“My baby skylark, this grandfather isn’t only good at baking bread.”

“Oh?”

“I can make sausages too.”

“Sausages too?”

“Of course! There isn’t anything this old man can’t make.”

Unofficially, he was one of the three greatest culinary masters in the Empire.

The old man proudly boasted about his skills.

Zenith giggled.

Geren watched the scene with a crooked expression.

Meanwhile, my head feels like it’s about to split open because of her…

It wasn’t Zenith’s fault that Fernando had dumped so many worries and responsibilities onto him.

Still, seeing his parents getting along so happily with her irritated him for some reason.

A vague annoyance filled his mind.

“Looks like everyone’s having fun.”

As he approached sarcastically—

“Don’t ruin the mood. Go away.”

The old general waved him off as though chasing away a fly.

The old lady added kindly,

“Good child, now hurry along and listen to your father. Oh—ah! Ahem!”

She stopped herself midway.

Hearing the elderly couple shoo away their own son like a neighborhood stray dog, Zenith chuckled.

But what had the old lady almost said?

Curiosity began to form in Zenith’s mind.

Then—

“Why stop talking? Dog’s-tail grass is dog’s-tail grass. Don’t be so self-conscious, my little cuckoo.”

Whether intentionally or not, the old general kindly answered Zenith’s unspoken question.

“Pffft!”

The moment Zenith realized dog’s-tail grass was Geren’s nickname, she burst out laughing.

“Father!”

Geren’s face turned bright red as he shouted.

He protested fiercely, but—

“Why are you yelling, you unfilial brat?!”

His anger ended up directed elsewhere.

After all, Fernando was the one who had brought Zenith here.

And Fernando was also the one who had sided with the old lady and caused Geren’s defeat.

This is all your fault!

All the frustration and irritation he had accumulated throughout the day focused on one target.

Consumed by thoughts of revenge, Geren hissed,

“Fernando, you’re a dung thrush, you idiot!”

“At least a dung thrush is a living creature. That’s a completely different level from dog’s-tail grass.”

“You’re still dung!”

Fernando and Geren immediately started bickering.

The two adult piles of dung argued fiercely.

It was complete chaos.

The dung-grown-ups continued their war for quite some time.

The old lady simply said,

“Children grow up fighting like that. Don’t worry about it. Are you hungry? Let’s have some apple pie.”

She placed another slice of pie onto Zenith’s plate.

In the end, Zenith picked up her fork again.

The pie was so delicious that she barely cared whether the people beside her were fighting or singing.

Then, at that exact moment—

Someone suddenly dropped down into the seat beside her.