One Day, My Dad Showed Up

Chapter 36

I caught a brief glimpse of my dad without meaning to.

He was also looking my way.

His deep purple eyes, heavy-lidded as if sweeping over me, gently flickered. I smiled back, reassured.

Evan answered leisurely.

“You’re perfectly normal, Claire. No nine-year-old Astariol would have been as normal as you.”

“... really?”

“Do you think it’s for someone born human not to understand the human heart, even if it’s a demigod?”

“...”

“You must have thought so, and try to understand others?”

“... yes.”

Evan, who had drawn such an accurate guess about my feelings, lounged lazily and carelessly.

But my doubts remained unaddressed.

As I stared quietly, he seemed slightly flustered.

“It would be easier if you’re just a normal Astariol... although you could understand, it’s actually a bit difficult to talk about.”

“Why?”

“You might say that if you don’t understand, but if you do then it would sound very strange.”

Those words were spoken by someone who clearly understood Astariol’s logic.

The words of someone who understood the minds of those who judged the world with reason, logic, and rationality.

Ah, this person was really close to Dad.

Just as that thought came to mind, Evan kept his sagging posture and placed his clasped hands on the back of his neck.

A defenseless and languid attitude.

But on the other hand, his face gradually became expressionless. His smooth green eyes looked into mine.

“Haven’t you ever thought about it? Eciel’s name comes from Ashel. Where do you think your name came from?”

... why did that matter now?

I hesitated to answer.

“I’m sorry, I don’t really know. I’ve always just... thought Mom liked the name.”

Names were one of the most inherent acquired factors.

‘Most parents choose their child’s name before they’re born.’

Names generally left little room for personal opinion. Without one’s opinion, it was easy to remain indifferent to the origin.

I was the same.

Evan lazily reached for his teacup, lifting it with an air of knowing.

“Want a clue? You know my son’s name. Want to link them?”

I frowned slightly.

‘... Callen and Claire are names from the same person?’

I had never thought of that.

A person respected by both Mom and the Emperor, could there be someone with a similar-sounding name?

Almost immediately, a person came to mind that made me wonder why I hadn’t thought of it before.

“I feel bad for Charlotte. I know how guilty she feels, how sad she is, and how much pain she feels. I can see it clearly from her every minute.”

“.....”

“However... I hate Charlotte. I know that I shouldn’t do this, and I know why she did it, but I still hate her. She keeps reminding me of my mother.”

In the end, who Evan avoided was my mother, rather than my father.

Because of the abyss that rose from beneath his heart every time he saw Mom.

Because he loved his as a family member... he wanted to hate her as much as he wanted, but he couldn’t.

I thought I understood why this person barely wanted to see Eciel. Because Eciel looked excessively like my mother.

Mom when she was young, small, and innocent.

Probably, the same one Evan remembered from his childhood.

“Sometimes people do crazy things even when they know it’s going to end in conflict with Ashel. It was an incredibly impulsive and dangerous thing that can’t be explained by any reason or emotion. That’s what I did that day, Claire.”

“....”

“Therefore... why I did that, I don’t even understand. That’s all I can say. I hate Charlotte, and I want her to hate me because I hope I could hate her freely.”

Sorrow hung mockingly like dew.

Pity that flowed vaguely like dawn.

Evan made eye contact with me with a tired and exhausted face.

His attitude of not feeling ashamed even after openly expressing one’s feelings resembled my mother.

I spoke out hesitantly.

“... did Mom start to hate His Majesty that day?”

“Her?”

Evan smiled dryly.

“Charlotte stopped Ashel from almost killing me when she shouldn’t have done anything.”

“You also know.”

“It was better that way. I thought Charlotte knew this feeling too, of wanting to hate someone but unable to.”

His eyes were very calm.

He wasn’t like someone who had acted impulsively out of the spur of moment.

But people had many facets.

Just as the person who spoke his mind calmly before now commented on things without thinking.

He might say that I had seen his best side first, but maybe it was the most visible of his many sides.

Sparkling, infinitely good, and lovingly gentle.

So much so that even I, who didn’t know much about other people’s emotions, could tell.

I spoke quietly.

“... I still think His Majesty brought me there with good intentions.”

“If I really mean well, wouldn’t I have removed the magic circle long ago?”

A rare cold response. When I looked up quietly, the Emperor’s green eyes twisted with regret.

I responded like the Emperor.

“I don’t know much about magic... but if it was a magic that could be undone, wouldn’t Dad have broken it and returned the magic to Mom?”

Before I saw the Emperor myself, I thought the magic was Dad’s leash and shackles, that it was so useful that Mom had been pardoned.

Dad said that too.