Masera, looking bewildered, lifted the fishing line with the small shark dangling from it.
Eugene, watching the flapping shark, shook his head.
“It’s just a tiny baby shark. Let’s send it back to its mom.”
“Yeah, because it’ll be a pain if its one-ton parents come for revenge.”
Masera carefully removed the hook and released the baby shark back into the water.
A one-ton shark couple coming for revenge? I clamped my mouth shut, worried the genre might shift to thriller, and grinned.
“Eugene, saving a baby shark. You’re all grown up, aren’t you?”
Eugene, who had been silently gazing at me, sighed softly.
“…I actually knew about my family.”
Soon, as promised, he began to share his story.
“My name is Eugene Ashbourne Pritvatche.”
Eugene’s father was a high-ranking nobleman, with ties to the Yorkshire Grand Duke’s family on his mother’s side and the Marquess Pritvatche family on his father’s.
He was about to be engaged to a foreign royal when he fell in love with an Esatain woman he had rescued from a prison camp. Faced with fierce opposition from his family, he left for a neutral country with her.
Because there was a fruit of their love they couldn’t give up.
Eugene’s grandfather, Marquess Pritvatche, the former Prime Minister, sent people to find his son.
At the time, air raids were frequent around the world, and he was searching for his son out of concern, but the misunderstanding had already deepened.
Traveling from place to place by boat and train, the couple cherished their child more than their own lives.
“I don’t know how fortunate it is that Eugene doesn’t resemble me,”
Eugene’s mother said with relief, but she was always anxious that her family would suffer because she was Esatain.
Meanwhile, the father told Eugene about his maternal and paternal families in advance, repeatedly urging him.
“Until you become an adult, you must never tell anyone else.”
The parents were always prepared for the possibility of their child being left alone.
And they told him that when he became an adult and understood the hearts of other adults, he would make the right choice then.
Later, Eugene, who was left alone, met Masera and came to live in the official residence. At a party he bravely attended, he met Madam Pritvatche for the first time.
He realized that she was his grandmother and that there were also members of his father’s maternal family, but Eugene did not avoid them. Instead, he mingled with them, observing what kind of people they were.
Just as Cynthia, whom he initially thought was a scary witch, turned out to be kinder than anyone else, he believed that you could only know people by experiencing them.
As he lived with the kind Grand Duke’s family away from Medea, his worries and fears gradually disappeared.
Mabel, who was his age, became his favorite friend.
His grandfather, Marquess Pritvatche, had a very stern and intimidating face, but…
“My pretty thing! Smooch, smooch! Will you be Grandpa’s grandson? Oh, that’s right. I heard you scored above average on the last exam! Truly amazing! I’ll buy you a real train!”
He acted like the most enthusiastic fan, to the point of being annoying.
“You were so sure it was cheating without even properly checking? How are you going to handle the aftermath? Then I’ll bet the commercial building in the commercial district that it’s not. You have to be this sure, right? What are you all going to put on the scales?”
He was also a strong supporter of Eugene when he was falsely accused of cheating.
His grandmother, Madam Pritvatche, would sometimes stand still and stare at the family portrait for a long time.
When he approached her to comfort her sad face, she would hug him tightly and tell him about her own misguided love.
“Grandson, your grandfather’s greed led to the loss of his son, daughter-in-law, and even his grandson. Everyone is a precious child, but because we couldn’t accept someone’s daughter who deserved to be loved… If our grandson had lived, we would have cherished him so much.”
Eugene thought he would be hated. So, he was prepared to reveal the truth someday and be kicked out.
But when he tried to speak, he was afraid, and when he watched, his grandmother’s sadness broke his heart, leaving him torn.
Masera, listening to Eugene’s worries, nodded as he rebaited the hook and cast his line.
“Do whatever your heart tells you. You have a place to return to, don’t you?”
Suddenly, he started catching one big fish after another, and Eugene’s consultation ended there.
“I can give them to the official residence cats.”
Eugene said, looking into the basket filled with fish.
“Only the mother and Masera Cheese II are left at the official residence. The rest have become independent and left.”
Eugene blinked in surprise at my words.
“Why? They’re still young cats.”
“Cats leave home to find their own territory three months after they’re born. But they sometimes come to say hello? Just like you.”
I squeezed Eugene’s cheek and smiled.
“Eugene, what should we do tomorrow?”
A pleasant vacation melts away in the blink of an eye.
On the day Eugene, who had stayed for a week, returned to Medea, he approached Major Rodriguez, who had come to see him off.
“Uncle Isaac.”
When Eugene silently opened his arms, the Major lifted Eugene up in a hug.
“See you again.”
“Yeah, you’ll be back before you grow another handspan, right?”
The two, who had become close friends, smiled at each other.
“Me too! Hug me too!”
I tried to lift Eugene up in my arms too, but I couldn’t lift him as easily as before.
“It’d be faster if I just hugged big sis.”
Eugene, who would soon be a teenager, retorted.
That’s right, if a little more time passes, the kid I carried on my back will be carrying me.
While I felt a sense of regret, I was very happy that my child was living in a peace where it was natural for a child to become an adult.
A few days later.
A celebration came for someone other than Masera and me.
I sat in the hospital, next to Captain Declan, biting my nails.
Captain Carlton stood with his arms crossed, his eyes closed with a serious expression.
He looks like he’s sleeping…? How can he sleep in this situation?
Nadia, who used to be Anita’s colleague, bustled about the hallway with an anxious face.
“Does it usually take this long? If labor means suffering for hours…”
“Don’t create a sense of unease. I’m scared too.”
Just as I was stopping Nadia from making a fuss, a loud baby’s cry erupted from inside.
“Wahhhh!”
Captain Declan, who had been biting his nails until they were worn down, jumped up.
Anita’s baby was finally born.
“Family members, please come in. Is the baby’s father not here?”
As we silently looked at each other, the nurse pointed directly at Captain Declan.
“Family member, please come in.”
“Yes?”
“Aren’t you the husband? You’ve been coming together all along.”
“No, I’m…”
“Aren’t you coming in? Starting from today, you’ll be nagged to death and live like a criminal until you die?”
The flustered Captain Declan took off his officer’s cap and looked helpless, then followed the nurse inside with a determined look.
Afterward, we went to see Anita in the recovery room.
Captain Declan was crying as he held the baby next to Anita, who was lying down with a pale face.
Why?
“Anita, it must have been hard. You’ve really been through a lot.”
“Are you okay? Does it hurt a lot? Is there anything you want to eat?”
Anita smiled weakly at Nadia’s and my concerns.
“I finally have a family. It’s a beautiful daughter.”
“Wow, it’s a Princess! She’s so pretty!”
I looked at the baby in Captain Declan’s arms. The newborn, wrapped in swaddling clothes, was surprisingly small and cute.
“Is everyone born this small and cute?”
“Yes. I was also this adorable and cute.”
Captain Carlton, who had butted into my musings without permission, smiled a rare smile as he examined the baby.
“Now it’s my area as a pediatrician. I’ll be in charge until she grows up and becomes an adult.”
He winked at Captain Declan, whose eyes were bloodshot.
“I think that man will be responsible and in charge for the rest of his life, though.”
Nadia, who didn’t know the situation well, made a fuss again.
“Oh, you sly thing. When did you have such a passionate love with the Captain? Even having a baby before marriage. How sophisticated, really.”
Anita’s face also turned bright red.
As someone who didn’t know the history between the two, I had no idea how the Captain had become a father.
“Princess, do you have any good news? General Guise looks like he’d become a total daughter-fool.”
Nadia whispered in my ear, causing my face to turn as red as an apple as well.
Every night is like a honeymoon, but I’ve never seriously planned a human alchemy project…
At that moment, Captain Carlton, who had been looking at the sleeping baby, said.
“Did you know that General Guise is surprisingly good at taking care of babies?”
“Huh!?”
Did he hear our conversation?
Captain Carlton turned to me with a blank face.
“It’s an unbelievable story, but he’s a highly skilled expert.”
“How do you know that?”
“I can tell by looking.”
No, I’m asking how you found out about that fact…
The fact that Masera was a parenting master would soon be clearly confirmed with my own two eyes.
