Chapter 43
“……”
Slide…
From behind a tree not too far away, I sensed something peeking out ever so slightly.
Whoosh! When I quickly turned my head to check—
Pabat! The figure hastily hid itself again.
And this cycle had been repeating ever since we came out to play in the sand with Axion.
Slide… Whoosh! Pababat! Slide! Whoosh! Pat!
The faster I turned my head, the faster that figure moved. The movements were so quick that it was hard to believe they belonged to a small child.
Hmm.
With one hand, I pushed sand toward Axion, and with the other, I rested my chin in thought.
“Ua.”
“What should we do about that child?”
She still seemed to be a very young kid, thinking she was perfectly hidden behind the tree. But every time she hid, one side of her twin ponytails stuck out, making her identity painfully obvious.
She was Vanilla—the precious only daughter of the Siastar family and my future daughter-in-law.
Slide…
I could feel Vanilla peeking out again. Her gaze was so intense it felt like it was piercing my skin.
‘This time, I’ll just stay still.’
I decided not to react. Pretending not to notice her stare, I tapped the pile of sand that Axion was patting with his tiny hands.
Strangely enough, her gaze seemed to grow even stronger.
Judging by how laser-like her stare became whenever Axion and I played together, Vanilla clearly wanted to join us.
‘Come to think of it, we met here before too.’
I remembered her hesitating and then running away when she’d seen us playing here alone early one morning.
Could Vanilla be lonely?
I suddenly realized I’d never seen Dazar play with her.
Well, then… why not play together?
“Axion, isn’t it a little boring playing with just the two of us? Wouldn’t it be great if one more person joined us?”
“Uung?”
“Do you think so too, Axion?”
“Uung!”
He clearly didn’t understand my words, but Axion smiled brightly and nodded anyway.
Ah… he’s my baby, but he’s really too cute.
I barely managed to suppress my grin before continuing.
“Who could play with us~? Oh! Right. There’s big sister Vanilla. Wouldn’t it be more fun to play with her?”
“Ung-ah!”
Flinch.
When I glanced toward the tree, I saw one of the twin ponytails sticking out wobble.
She definitely took the bait!
Encouraged, I raised my voice a little.
“Big sister Vanilla~! If you’re nearby, come play with us~!”
“Uaa~”
But maybe I overdid it—rather than coming closer, Vanilla bolted away.
“Ah…”
“Uu?”
“She ran off…”
When I made a disappointed face, Axion tilted his head at me, then reached out and gently poked my cheek with his tiny hand, as if asking why I looked that way.
I ended up laughing like an idiot.
“Were you worried about Mommy, Axion?”
“Uung!”
“Oh, you’re adorable. It would’ve been nice to play with big sister Vanilla. I guess she’s not ready yet.”
“Uung…”
As I patted Axion’s head while he smacked the sand with both hands, I resolved to somehow spend some time with Vanilla.
* * *
“What? You’re asking what Vanilla likes?”
Dazar, who was unusually busy rifling through documents in his office, looked utterly dumbfounded.
Why that expression?
“Yes. Games she likes, toys, or even foods she enjoys. I just want to know.”
“How would I know that?”
“…Excuse me?”
So that look was because he genuinely had no idea?
I stared at Dazar with half-lidded eyes.
“You’re Vanilla’s dad, aren’t you?”
“…Well, yes.”
Dazar hesitated and turned his head away.
Ah—right. The fact that Vanilla isn’t his biological daughter is something only I know from the original story.
She was his older brother’s child, so it was understandable that Dazar didn’t know much about her.
Still, shouldn’t he know what a child likes? They’d been living together for months already.
Then Dazar muttered, sounding a bit sulky.
“I did try, in my own way, to close the distance. But it’s not easy. She doesn’t really like me. You saw it back then too.”
I did.
‘You’re a bad man.’
When my face showed that I understood, Dazar raised an eyebrow.
“So I thought it might be better if it wasn’t me, and hired several tutors instead. But I’ve already dismissed most of them.”
“Huh? Why?”
“…Vanilla is very selective about people.”
In short, this was the situation:
When Vanilla didn’t warm up to him, Dazar hired multiple tutors to care for her. However, Vanilla strongly rejected most people, and only a few tutors remained—ones she tolerated. Even then, the relationships weren’t exactly stable.
“The one she was most comfortable with was Elstern. I think she found his magic fascinating.”
“Ah, so that’s why Elstern ended up in charge of most of Vanilla’s education.”
“Well… that’s part of it.”
His tone suggested there were other reasons, but Dazar clearly wasn’t going to elaborate.
Hmm. That meant Vanilla still hadn’t adapted to life in the Siastar household.
“Shouldn’t you do something about that?”
“Do what?”
“About Vanilla. She seems kind of isolated.”
“…I told you, she doesn’t like me.”
His voice was small and subdued—very unlike Dazar.
In short, he lacked confidence.
No, but still—you’re her father!
I was about to lecture him when a thought suddenly crossed my mind, and I closed my mouth.
‘Vanilla’s biological father… Dazar’s brother… Dazar killed him himself.’
Could Vanilla know that?
Even if she didn’t, it was only natural that Dazar would find it difficult to face her.
I still couldn’t fully believe that Dazar had committed such a horrific act, but I was sure there had been a reason.
From everything I’d seen of Dazar so far, that was certain.
Still, regardless of the reason, the fact remained—he had killed Vanilla’s real father.
I’d been short-sighted.
Dazar was clearly worrying about his relationship with Vanilla in his own way.
He’d assigned multiple tutors, and even kept the tower master by her side.
‘But even so… leaving things like this doesn’t feel right.’
I was starting to understand why Dazar never appeared in the original story.
Vanilla became the head of the Siastar family as soon as she came of age, and it seemed Dazar left the family at that point.
There had been a scene where someone asked how the previous duke was doing, and Vanilla replied expressionlessly:
‘He’s probably doing well. He’s that kind of person.’
That was far too dry to describe a father-daughter relationship.
Since the novel was told from Axion’s perspective, it hadn’t explored Vanilla’s deeper feelings toward Dazar.
In fact, that was the only time Vanilla ever mentioned him—if my memory was correct.
‘So, in other words…’
If things continued like this, they’d end up as less than strangers.
That wouldn’t do.
If Vanilla was going to be my daughter-in-law, she was family too.
And I wanted her to have warm feelings toward her family.
Maybe I was meddling—but still.
“…There’s nothing I can do.”
Hearing Dazar mutter in a voice so dejected—
And remembering Vanilla, her face flushed as she stammered,
‘Uh… V-Vanilla doesn’t hate you…’
—I couldn’t help but feel that I couldn’t leave things like this.
“Alright. I get it for now. Then I’ll try getting closer to Vanilla myself.”
“…What? You, with Vanilla?”
“Yes. She seems to want to play with Axion, but she can’t bring herself to approach. I’ll start there.”
A spark of light flashed in Dazar’s once-dulled eyes.
His golden eyes gleamed, silently saying:
You’re impressive, daring to think of playing with Vanilla.
…That was praise, right?
Anyway, I snorted lightly and stood up.
For now, I planned to win over Vanilla’s favor first.
