Chapter 46

A Hidden-Strength Child Looks for Her Dad

Meanwhile, inside the carriage.

“Kim Young-su? Are you saying there’s a Holy Knight with that name in the capital?”

Tië nodded enthusiastically.

But Raul and Enzo frowned.

“I’ve never heard that name before.”

“Same here. Completely unfamiliar.”

Basto, Bale, and Nordix glanced at Tië carefully, worried she might be disappointed.

But Tië remained unfazed.

“Hmm.”

Instead, she pursed her lips as if something occurred to her.

“Tië thought about it.”

“…Thought about it?”

“I think Dad didn’t tell Tië his real name.”

Everyone’s eyes widened.

But Tië continued speaking calmly.

“Dad’s real name is Kim—Young, and Su. But since the Holy Knights don’t have anyone by that name, the chance Dad’s name is fake is high!”

Her sentence wasn’t perfectly structured, but everyone understood.

“To be honest, it is a strange name.”

Bale nodded.

The first time they heard it, wasn’t it confusing trying to figure out which one was real—‘Kim Young-su’ or ‘Kim Youngja Suja’?

Still, a few days ago, Bale had figured out the real one was ‘Kim Young-su.’

That was after listening to Tië’s very long explanation on “How to politely call an adult by their proper name.”

“So your dad definitely said that? That his name was Kim Young-su?”

At Basto’s question, Tië nodded.

When was it again?

Since she remembered it being cold, it must have been winter…

“Ah.”

A small sound escaped Tië’s mouth.

The child turned to the group, eyebrows drooping.

“It was at the daycare… on the day of the drawing contest.”

“Okay, Quail Class friends, everyone holding your colored pencils?”

“Yes!”

“Did you all get your paper?”

“Yes!”

Tië tightly held her colored pencils and answered like the rest of the kids.

The teacher smiled brightly in front of her.

On the blackboard, it said: ‘Let’s Draw Our Family!’

Heart pounding, Tië looked down at her paper.

She had drawn herself and her dad as stick figures, holding hands at the park.

“Tië, that looks like a worm.”

Her classmate beside her started making fun of her drawing.

Tië, face flushing red, shouted,

“It’s not! It’s Dad and me!”

“Tië’s dad is a worm! Minjun! Yeoreum! Look! Tië’s dad is a worm! Hahaha!”

“All right, all right, stop it! We don’t make fun of our friends’ drawings.”

Like a savior, the teacher stepped in. After looking at Tië’s drawing, she said,

“Tië did such a great job! How did you draw something this wonderful? Amazing!”

Only then did the classmate quiet down.

Tië snorted triumphantly and focused on the teacher again.

But the next words the teacher spoke confused her.

“Okay, now let’s try writing names! I asked your parents to write them in your communication notebooks yesterday, right?”

“Yes!”

Among the answering children, Tië alone was quiet.

After daycare yesterday, she had been in Room 107 the whole time.

Her dad came home very late. Grandma said he had lots of overtime.

“Tië, did you show your communication notebook to your dad?”

The teacher approached her and asked.

Tië fidgeted nervously and looked down.

“Tië… forgot…”

Normally, she should’ve asked Dad to check the notebook.

But Dad had looked so tired, and she meant to ask him in the morning, but then she… forgot.

“Oh dear, it’s okay, it’s okay. Tië, let’s wait a moment, okay?”

The teacher patted her head and moved on to other kids.

“Everyone, your parents must have written their names in your notebooks, right?”

“Yes!”

“So now we’ll write our family members’ names one by one on the paper. Can you do it?”

“Yes—!!”

Tië watched blankly as her seatmate started writing on their paper.

The handwriting wasn’t pretty, and there were mistakes, but—

“…There are so many.”

Her seatmate had lots of names to write.

Really, lots.

“Hey! Don’t look at mine!”

The friend glared, and Tië quickly turned her head away.

“I wasn’t looking!”

But her eyes drifted back again.

Mom, Dad, older brother, older sister…

As her classmate wrote four whole names, the teacher came to Tië.

“Tië. Do you know your dad’s name?”

Tië couldn’t answer.

“…I don’t know…”

She had always just called him “Dad.”

And the residents at the Gold Apartment Complex always referred to him as “the bachelor in Room 106.”

“…I should’ve asked…”

As Tië whispered that, eyes filling with tears, the teacher looked shocked.

She quickly knelt beside Tië’s desk.

“It’s okay, it’s okay. Let’s go check together.”

Tië stared at her in surprise.

“The daycare has Dad’s name?”

“Of course~ When you registered before, your dad wrote it down.”

Her sadness lifted instantly, as if it flew away.

Holding her paper and colored pencils tightly, she followed the teacher.

They arrived at the teachers’ office—a place kids normally couldn’t enter.

The teacher checked that the kids were focused on their writing, then brought Tië to a cabinet.

Opening the drawer labelled <Quail Class>, she rummaged through it.

Eventually, she pulled out a piece of paper.

“Let’s see. Tië can read this, right? Here—your dad’s name.”

Tië’s lips parted slightly.

She slowly read the letters written in a small box:

“Kim… Young-su?”

“That’s right.”

Kim Young-su. Kim Young-su.

Tië repeated the name, heart pounding.

“So your dad’s name is Kim Young-su! Now let’s go back and write it, okay?”

“Yes!”

Her steps back to the classroom felt lighter than ever.

She wrote her dad’s name next to her own on the paper.

That day, Dad came home early for once.

As soon as he saw her, he covered her with kisses, and Tië happily shouted,

“Dad! Tië learned your name today!”

“Huh? What did you learn?”

“At daycare! Look! Look!”

Dad looked at the paper she held out and went quiet.

“The teacher told me! Dad’s name is Kim, Young, Su!”

“….”

“Now Tië knows Dad’s name! My dad is Kim, Young, Su!”

For a while, he said nothing.

He only smiled faintly and tucked Tië’s hair behind her ear.

“That’s right, princess. Dad’s name is Kim Young-su.”

“Yeah!”

“If someone asks your dad’s name, you can tell them that. Okay?”

“Okay! But is my name also Kim Astie? Today I wrote just Tië, and the teacher said it should be Kim Astie…”

“Oh, that.”

He thought for a short moment.

“For now, let’s write it that way.”

“Huh?”

“Kim Astie is the Korean version of your name. Got it?”

“Tië has another name then?”

“Not another name, but… you have another family name when we go back to our homeland.”

Tië blinked.

She had another family name?

“Is Tië not a Kim… but a Park…?”

Dad burst into laughter.

“Not like that.”

Tië still didn’t get it, but she couldn’t ask more—

because Dad had scooped her into his arms and showered her with kisses again.

She giggled and wrapped her arms around him.

“…I should’ve asked then.”

Remembering her life in Korea, Tië’s shoulders drooped.

“I should’ve asked what my real family name was…”

She clenched her little fists and blinked rapidly.

A quiet fell over the carriage.

Because everyone knew—

Tië was barely holding back her tears.