CHAPTER 123………………………………………………….
“Cici…”
Startled by my sudden change in behavior, Shion’s father stared at me blankly for a moment before bursting out.
“No, how did she turn out like this? She’s completely different from a few months ago.”
“What do you mean? From the looks of her crying, she’s exactly the same spoiled kid as a few months back.”
“No, she suddenly stops crying and changes the subject to something weird!”
Something weird?
That’s actually extremely important to me!
“She takes after her mother.”
Just then, Harzen’s father spoke, a faint smile on his face.
“When Yuria was here, she was exactly like that with me. Once she finished crying, she knew it was time to do what had to be done. And Cici was there too, so she probably learned by watching.”
“Yuria…”
Mom muttered softly, avoiding the fathers’ gaze.
“They say you shouldn’t even drink cold water in front of a child, and I guess that was true.”
It seemed my behavior had come as quite a shock to Shion’s father.
‘It’s not like I really learned this from Mom… or did I?’
Still, crying alone doesn’t solve anything.
Since I felt a bit lighter, it was time to take the next step!
“Derick Dad!”
Ignoring the surprised Shion’s father, I turned to Derick’s father and demanded an answer again.
Derick’s father let out a short sigh before speaking.
“I have to say it anyway.”
“Exactly!”
See? I asked at just the right moment!
“Yeah, that’s right.”
Kyle’s father nodded indifferently, picking up where Derick’s father left off.
“You’ve been running around for days. You must have done the errand I asked, right?”
“……”
Derick’s father avoided Kyle’s father’s gaze and remained silent.
There was only one thing that gaze could mean.
“You… ♪♬, don’t tell me…”
Kyle’s father immediately turned into a goblin-like expression and questioned sharply.
“You’re not going to say you couldn’t even do something that simple, right? Huh? Don’t tell me?”
“……”
“Why are you avoiding my gaze, ♩♪? Are you some shy country girl? Did you fall in love with me at first sight? If not, why are you looking away like a kid who did something wrong?”
— I understand her, Yepi thought.
Meanwhile, Yepi shook her head, pointing at Derick’s father.
— She definitely tried, Yepi thought. I’ll admit that.
She made the effort, but couldn’t complete the errand.
“What exactly did Kyle Dad ask Derick Dad to do?”
Unable to understand, I whispered to Yepi.
Yepi leaned a little closer and replied.
— I don’t know all the details, but it seems he was asked to make contact with someone.
“Contact?”
— Yes. On the first day, he placed some coins near a grave on the outskirts of the zodiac. Apparently, that was how he was supposed to meet someone.
Just then, as if he’d picked up on Yepi’s thoughts, Derick’s father spoke again at the perfect moment.
“They didn’t show up.”
“Did you put them in the wrong place?”
Kyle’s father asked, and Derick’s father frowned slightly but answered steadily.
“Under the evening primrose beneath Arthur Berwell’s gravestone, the one with the statue of an angel missing one arm.”
“……”
“I put it in the right place. I also confirmed the coins disappeared.”
Derick’s father talking this much—it must have been really frustrating for him.
“……If the coins disappeared, that means the request for contact was acknowledged?”
Kyle’s father muttered, his shoulders sagging a little.
Deep furrows still marked his brow.
‘I thought she was just wandering outside the zodiac, but she actually went to a cemetery.’
Who was she trying to meet there?
And what kind of strange contact was that?
As I tilted my head in confusion, Shion’s father’s eyes widened, as if remembering something.
“Could it be… she was trying to ask for that person’s help?”
“No one is better than him when it comes to intelligence.”
Kyle’s father swept his hair back, clearly annoyed.
“I didn’t want to get involved again either, ♩♬.”
From Shion’s father’s words and the other fathers’ expressions, it seemed everyone knew who Kyle’s father was trying to meet.
‘I don’t know!’
I hate being the only one left out!
“Who is it! Who is it!”
Don’t talk about things I don’t know! If you’re going to tell them, tell me too!
Returning to my spoiled kid mode, I stretched out my hands to grab Kyle’s father.
“……Wait.”
Kyle’s father, sighing while holding me dangling, suddenly focused his eyes on something.
“Was that always there?”
Hearing that, everyone turned to look at what Kyle’s father was staring at.
A vase near the window. And next to it…
“A handkerchief?”
It wasn’t there in the morning.
“Did the maid leave it?”
“The palace maids aren’t allowed even small mistakes like that.”
Harzen’s father quietly shook his head and picked up the handkerchief.
At the same time, Kyle’s father snatched it from him, as if remembering something.
After a brief pause…
“……Huh!”
Kyle’s father let out a small, ironic laugh upon seeing it.
I immediately climbed onto his shoulder to see it too.
A pink handkerchief with beautiful lace embroidery.
Inside, some words were scribbled carelessly.
“After leaving like that, what exactly is your reason for wanting to meet me again, you wretched fool?”
It looked like the letter was from the person Kyle’s father had been trying to meet.
‘And they left it here?’
In my room, no less.
Avoiding the palace’s eyes?
What a skilled person!
“When did they come?”
Mom took me from Kyle’s father and muttered quietly.
Her signature violet eyes were now full of caution.
She seemed worried that someone had intruded into my bedroom.
‘Is the person Dad is meeting… a bad person?’
Why would Kyle’s father want to meet a bad person?
To gather information?
Or to catch a bad person by reaching out to one?
I was still sneaking around Kyle’s father, examining the handkerchief when…
“Huh?”
I noticed some writing on the other corner of the handkerchief and widened my eyes.
It felt like it was written for me to read.
It was written in a way that made it easy for me to see, probably intentionally.
Reading it…
“If it’s to introduce your granddaughter, I’d be willing to meet once.”
“Granddaughter?”
I tilted my head after reading it.
The granddaughter probably meant me.
And this person was definitely connected to Kyle’s father.
So, this means…
“Gasp.”
I looked wide-eyed at Kyle’s father.
“Kyle Dad… you had a father too?”
