CHAPTER 55………………………………………….
“Yeah. And when it encounters someone who holds the unique magic sealed inside, this thing will start to glow.”
“Whoa, that’s so cool!”
I gave Dad a thumbs-up again, but then a thought crossed my mind, and I tilted my head the other way this time.
“But, Dad.”
“Mm?”
“That guy doesn’t just meet one person, right?”
Bertolt must run into and talk to a ton of people in a single day.
“Of course not.”
Dad Kyle immediately understood what I meant and replied,
“That’s why I set a few conditions. It won’t just randomly record any old information… but still, we’ll have to sort through it carefully.”
“We’ll have to do that ourselves…?”
I pursed my lips, still tilting my head.
That sounds way more troublesome than I thought…
“If someone just brushes past him and disappears, ♪♬ that’s suspicious. But if they actually talk to him—well, we’ll be listening in real time anyway.”
“What if that man meets a bad person in the middle of the night?”
“Then I’ll keep an eye on him. It’s not like I’ll die from losing a few nights’ sleep.”
Dad ruffled my hair roughly as he spoke.
I let him tousle my hair but couldn’t help mumbling wistfully,
“Couldn’t you make it so we can actually see people’s faces in real time?”
Like a real surveillance camera.
That would make things so much simpler.
“You’re getting greedier by the minute, kiddo.”
Before I could even finish my sentence, Dad Kyle pinched my nose.
“Ow!”
“How could I possibly make something like that overnight? You have any idea how hard this one was to make?”
“Ehh, sorry!”
I thought Dad could just make anything, no problem!
“To add what you’re asking for would take at least a few months. And besides…”
He let go of my nose and added,
“I don’t really want to make that.”
“Huh? Why not?”
I held my nose and blinked at him.
It was rare for Dad to not want to make something.
“Well, there are a few reasons, but the biggest one is—”
He glanced at me sideways.
“For you.”
“For… me?”
I blinked, not understanding right away.
He doesn’t want to make surveillance cameras because of me?
“Think about it, Cici. What if something like that fell into their hands?”
I tilted my head.
He must mean the other dads.
If they got hold of a surveillance camera…
“Oh.”
I immediately understood everything and pursed my lips.
‘Yep. I get it completely.’
Imagine all the dads who want to monitor my every move suddenly getting their hands on something like that!
That would be apocalyptic!
“This daughter shall forever remain grateful to her father.”
“Good. Keep that feeling forever, okay?”
Dad Kyle laughed and ruffled my hair again.
“Anyway, this should be enough for now, right? If you ask for any more, I might just drop dead.”
“Mm-hmm, that’s fine.”
The rest was up to me, after all.
If not for Dad, I wouldn’t even have real-time tracking, eavesdropping—or my invisible cloak back.
I gave him another heartfelt thanks.
“Thank you so, so, so much for trusting me and helping me with this.”
Even though all we have right now is a hunch, he’s stayed up all night working with me anyway.
“Well, you know.”
Dad scratched the back of his head, looking embarrassed.
“It’s not that hard to believe in my little girl. Besides—”
“Besides?”
“Well, it’s fun! Who else in the Imperial Palace gets to do stuff like this?”
He twisted one corner of his mouth into a grin.
‘That’s the grin of a classic villain…!’
I stared at him in shock.
Wait… did I just release a dangerous poison into the Imperial Palace?
A poison called Kyle Blake…
‘I’m so, so sorry.’
I apologized silently to everyone.
I’m sorry for failing to protect your privacy.
But this time, I really have no choice.
I promise we’ll only use it for its intended purpose… please forgive us just this once…
“Well, if there’s one thing I’m worried about—”
As I was clasping my hands in prayer for forgiveness, Dad spoke again.
“Since this was developed in the Imperial Palace, word of it will probably reach the Emperor somehow.”
“Reach him? How?”
“Yeah. I mean, I took one of the palace’s precious artifacts for it. If nothing’s reported, that’s suspicious too.”
Dad sighed, clearly tired of dealing with palace bureaucracy.
I immediately slapped my chest with my palm.
“Don’t worry about that, Dad. I think I can handle it.”
Then I turned my head toward Derrick Dad, who had somehow appeared beside us.
As soon as our eyes met, he spoke.
“Yuria’s awake.”
“Oh.”
Thanks for the heads-up!
Better clean things up before Mom comes to my room.
“Let’s leave this with Derrick Dad for now. You still need to go collect what you attached yesterday, anyway.”
“Got it.”
“And Kyle Dad, can you watch that man while I’m gone?”
“Sure, that’s easy enough. But where are you going?”
“Me?”
Well, obviously—
“I’m going to see Grandpa.”
“Now?”
“Yep, right now.”
I smiled brightly.
This time, it’s my turn to step up!
“You know, I think this is the first time you’ve come to me of your own accord.”
Back again in his office, I pursed my lips as I faced Grandpa.
Weird… he looks like he’s aged a lot since last time.
“When you first asked me that favor, I had a feeling something like this might happen.”
He pressed a finger to his brow and sighed.
“Your guardians are still… or perhaps even more unruly than before.”
“Ehehe.”
Ah, that’s what this is about.
I laughed awkwardly.
He stared at me for a moment before asking,
“So, did you come to explain what that invention is for?”
“Gasp.”
I sucked in a sharp breath.
As expected, his intuition is razor-sharp.
No wonder he’s the Emperor.
“Y-yes, that’s right.”
Still smiling awkwardly, I continued,
“I figured you’d be curious.”
“Naturally.”
Grandpa nodded.
“The man who refused to work under the Empire for fear of his technology being stolen, suddenly built something in the palace.”
“…”
“And he even requested the royal family’s treasured artifacts without hesitation.”
“Haha… right?”
Honestly, it’s surprising he didn’t storm straight into the lab yelling, ‘What are you building?’
I rolled my eyes nervously.
I had two options:
Either make something up… or tell the truth.
And I decided to—
“It’s, um, basically a tracking device that Dad made.”
—to tell the truth.
“It also has an eavesdropping function, and it can tell who someone’s meeting with.”
“…”
“All the materials Dad requested from you were for those features.”
Grandpa stared at me silently.
I swallowed hard but continued bravely,
“I was the one who asked Kyle Dad to make it.”
“…And why is that?”
