Chapter 68
It felt like it had been a long day.
I was sleepy and let out a yawn.
[…You must make up.]
Brother had said that with a slightly strange expression. Anyway, he said he made up with Kahn.
I was planning to ask the Earth Spirit to get me a ‘Rasiteni Flower’.
I wanted to give it to both Kahn and Brother.
But it seems there’s some amazing doctor. They said he’d get better soon, so, although I tilted my head in confusion, I felt relieved.
Actually, I was a little scared.
‘What if I use the spirit’s power and collapse again?’
I was afraid to ask the spirit for anything.
Of course, everyone praised me, saying I was amazing. Kahn praised me too.
But still….
‘I don’t want to sleep for two days again.’
I was now vaguely feeling that I wouldn’t be abandoned at the orphanage.
But I felt like I was greedy.
‘Am I allowed to have a family?’
It felt like if anyone heard my inner thoughts, they would say, “You’re a greedy, bad child,” and take everything away.
I know no one would actually do that.
It’s just…
‘It feels like if I sleep for a long time and wake up, I’ll be right back at the orphanage.’
I had adapted quite a bit, but I was actually anxious.
‘Now that I think about it, Madeleine’s expression wasn’t good when we parted.’
I must remember to ask her what happened later.
I fidgeted under the blankets, thinking. My heart was still pounding, perhaps because I got so startled earlier.
I was looking up at the ceiling, marveling at the patterns.
“You may enter, Your Grace.”
I didn’t even know when it had opened, but the door opened. And I heard the sound of footsteps that made no attempt to be quiet.
What do I do?
For some reason, I tightly closed my eyes and pretended to be asleep. Michael once said that good children go to bed early.
If I get caught not sleeping, I’ll be scolded.
Click.
The sound of the door closing was clear.
I opened my eyes just a slit and saw it was Father. The Duke placed a table in front of the bed and began reviewing documents.
‘Work…?’
Why is he working here…?
“If you’re not sleeping, just say something, my daughter.”
“……!”
Was I caught? Or did he know from the start?
I blinked and quickly sat up.
“How did you know?”
“You’re really bad at acting. It seems you have no talent for being a spy. Your breathing is too loud.”
Hearing that, I became conscious of my own breathing. Huaa, huaa.
But how am I supposed to breathe so I don’t get caught?
Father was looking at me with a strange expression. He looked somewhat lonely too…
Lonely?
I was surprised by my own thought.
“Why did you come here?”
“You begged me to sleep with you once before, didn’t you?”
“……! Are you going to sleep with me?”
“I can’t sleep.”
“Hng.”
I pouted.
The Duke chuckled softly.
“It seems my daughter can’t sleep either. It’s very late.”
“Sorry…”
“I’m not scolding you.”
“…….”
I looked at Father.
Even shrouded in the darkness, his black hair was strikingly visible.
Every time I went to the imperial palace or the academy, I felt it anew—there are so many statues.
The statues at the fountain, the statues in the corridors.
But Father is more handsome than those statues.
As I stared intently, the Duke spoke.
“You……. What if I…”
“……?”
“…am a much worse person than you think.”
The Duke’s voice was soft.
“What would you think?”
Father, a bad person?
But Father is a bad person.
He had me sit on his lap and ordered me to kill nobles, but he also washed my ears for me.
He kills people without any expression too. I saw it at the training grounds.
Everyone says the Duke is scary.
“I know Father is a bad person.”
When I answered, tilting my head, he seemed momentarily speechless.
But soon, Father burst out laughing. He laughed loudly.
“…You know?”
“You know Father is a good person.”
“…….”
Originally, everyone is both good and bad.
But I don’t get hurt.
Because I only see what I want to see.
“You think I’m… good?”
Nod nod.
“Ha, is this what it feels like to leave a child by the water’s edge?”
A child by the water’s edge.
I thought of Madeleine, who was kidnapped while playing by the water.
It must be nerve-wracking indeed!
I understood immediately.
“Father, are you working now?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s a good thing.”
“…….”
“If you were bad, you wouldn’t work.”
At my simple logic, Father laughed again. But this time, it wasn’t such a big laugh.
“If you put any man in the world in my position, they would all work. The position makes the person.”
Shake shake (denying).
“No?”
Nod nod.
“What do you mean, ‘no’?”
He laughed as if it was absurd, but I was glad he was my father. I was so sleepy my eyes kept closing.
“…Just go to sleep, kid.”
“I want to see more of you, Father…”
I sat there, dozing off.
The Duke, who had been watching, stayed still for a long while before getting up from his seat.
Then he approached and poked my forehead with his finger.
I went “Whoa,” but ended up lying back on the bed, my back against it. I burrowed properly under the covers.
“When my daughter says things like that, it makes me want to be good.”
“Hehe.”
“Only for you, though.”
Father probably uses the same bath products as me because we’re family.
He smells similar to the scent on me.
Father smoothed down my hair. I purred like a cat.
“Father, you should go to sleep soon too. Good children go to bed early…”
“…Is that so?”
“Good adults also go to bed early…”
I was half-asleep.
“And eat well… You have to eat bell peppers too.”
“…Why bell peppers, of all things?”
“You need to be healthy.”
Father laughed. He needs to learn how to be a good adult too.
“…If I’m good, does someone give me a reward?”
“I’ll pat your head.”
“Why?”
“Because when Father pats my head, it feels nice.”
The hand that was smoothing my hair hesitated for a moment.
Father seemed to freeze for a bit, then very slowly began to stroke my head.
I struggled to lift my eyelids. His red eyes were looking at me.
Being made to talk kept waking me up slowly, or maybe it felt like languidly sinking into water.
“Alright, I’ll go to bed early.”
Nod nod.
“And I won’t skip meals.”
Nod nod.
“And I’ll eat bell peppers.”
When he said that, Father frowned slightly.
“…To be healthy.”
Nod nod.
Father looked at the pile of documents on the table for a moment, then looked back at me.
He seemed to hesitate for a bit, but then he pulled back the covers and got into the bed.
My eyes widened, and I clung to him. His breath hitched for a moment, but he didn’t push me away.
‘Father’s skin is warm.’
Father hadn’t taken his clothes off, but he was wearing a shirt open at the neck and chest.
Maybe because of that, I could hear his heartbeat clearly.
“…….”
Is he uncomfortable?
At first, I was careful with my breathing too.
The sound of me swallowing, the rustling of clothes, the crumpling of the blankets—I was aware of it all.
I could feel the Duke looking down at me. He didn’t sing a lullaby like other fathers, nor did he pat my back.
But actually, I was really nervous… and happy.
~Neoran’s Secret Shop~
Notice: Posting the winning entry for the ‘Gong Saja’ fan initiation post for one week.
Title: Royal Prep Academy Initiation Post
Content: Let’s get straight to the point. If you’re a member of ‘Gong Saja’, you’ve probably heard the rumors, but the spar between His Highness the Crown Prince and the Young Duke was truly a blood-soaked match.
When His Highness the Crown Prince swung his sword, the training ground floor was split open.
The students, who had come for the excitement, had their mouths hanging open at some point.
The actual spar lasted over three hours. But we were so immersed it felt like only a few minutes had passed.
They were so evenly matched we couldn’t tell who would win, and the atmosphere was so murderous no one dared to intervene.
“Boom!”
It’s not an exaggeration—the swords really made that sound! (A drawing of a sweaty face is here.)
And that’s when the Young Lady appeared!
She intervened between the two swords! Where did she run from so fast? Is she really the ‘Baby of the Prophecy’?
Ha…
To be honest, I put more stock in the rumor that she has a Black Flame Dragon hidden on the back of her hand.
I’m not one to believe in talk about melting hearts for cute creatures.
But, you see.
I witnessed it.
An angel. An angel.
It seemed like it would be more valuable than the most famous collaborative thesis by the geniuses Ishtan and Betben from world history.
If you pile up snow, you get a snowman. If you pile up cuteness to make a ‘cuteness human’, I think it would look like that. She was that cute.
Her eyes were a bit red, as if she had been crying (my heart aches), and even though it was the first time I’d seen that face, I was already captivated. But I wasn’t the only one.
Yes. In that moment, all the academy students realized.
Angels really do exist in this world.
“That’s what an angel must look like.”
Everyone was whispering.
Even if all the world’s prodigies from famous orchestras gathered and sang, it couldn’t have been as mesmerizing as the Young Lady’s voice at that time.
Why? It was like mixing sunlight reminiscent of the sun with the gentle light of the moon. Doesn’t make sense? It means it was that incredible. It means she was that unrealistically cute.
And so, both His Highness the Crown Prince and the Young Duke, who had been fighting so fiercely, sheathed their swords.
But we were all shocked, yet we understood.
Because the Young Lady, who kept looking back and forth between the two of them, was insanely cute.
Everyone must have thought the same:
I want to be the one receiving that gaze. Success isn’t about anything else—this is success. A single glance from the Young Lady.
This is why one must have wealth, honor, handsome looks, and skill!
Ah, I don’t believe in God. So, whenever I pray, I chant ‘Ramen’.
But in that moment, I cried out:
Gong-men.
Gong-nyeo-men. (A play on ‘Amen’ -> ‘Gong-men’ for the Young Lady, Gong-nyeo)
That day, I immediately learned that there is a fan club for the Young Lady called ‘Gong Saja’.
But it’s only natural.
‘Gong Saja’ members, you knew about the Young Lady’s cuteness even before I did, seniors, you have no idea how envious I am.
Finally, I end this post hoping we can all chant with devout hearts:
Gong-men.
(A post-it is attached below it.)
Gong-men.
