One Day, My Dad Showed Up

Chapter 11

I glanced briefly at Eciel.

From the moment Dad opened the window, the wind carried not only flower petals but also the details of their conversation to me.

The passion hidden behind harsh words. Pain covered with a cold tone.

Even if you couldn’t see the emotions, what he felt was visible to the eye.

As the atmosphere grew sharper, I was just waiting for the right moment to intervene, pretending to know nothing, bringing Eciel forward....

But now that things had calmed down a bit, there was no need to go.

Dad’s gentle question added another layer of relief to me.

“And what about Claire?”

Mom hesitated for a moment... her voice sounding contemplative.

It seemed she was choosing her words carefully, not because she didn’t know what I liked, but rather what to say.

‘Well, you’d have a harder time telling me on what I might like than Eciel.’

Eciel was a very ordinary child. She was someone who would brighten up when someone made a wreath and put it on her, saying that she felt like a princess.

Her favorite book was a fairy tale. One where the princess and the knight got married after overcoming hardships and lived happily ever after.

Like all kids her age, she preferred snacks and cake over a proper meal.@@@@

When I looked at my younger sister, she leaned towards me and suddenly asked, “Where are Mom and Dad?”

“Over there. They’re talking.”

“...Can you hear them?”

It was true that I could hear them due to my ability to manipulate the wind and Astariol’s sensitive perception, so I nodded.

Even without me paying attention, the sound came lightly gently filled my ears.

“Claire likes books. But rather than just liking reading... she always seems to want to know something.”

“Yes?”

Dad asked with a puzzled tone, and Mom chuckled briefly.

Her cheerful and smooth laughter was like a water strider sliding on the water surface.

Listening to that sound, I suddenly realized.

Before I knew it, a friendly lake was slowly filling the space between the two of them.

The invisible conflicts and worries were swallowed gently by the unheard lake. Unreachable emotions flowed into my ears.

Mom’s voice, filled with laughter, reached me like a gentle wave.

“Just... anything. Anything she doesn’t know. Whenever we go out to the meadow, Eciel sees the wildflowers first, but Claire sees the horizon first.”

My shoulders slightly twitched.

‘I didn’t think I showed it to Mom.’

Why did we live in hiding and why was I different from others?

I had never asked such questions out loud, wondering alone without telling others what was inside my head.

‘But if Mom already understood my feelings ...’

Was that why she followed Dad so obediently?

I looked up at the sound of the two rising from their seats.

Eciel and I made eye contact. She quickly whispered as if she had been waiting for this moment.

“What are Mom and Dad talking about now?”

“Well... They love us.”

That was the most beautiful answer my dry emotions could draw from that conversation.

Since my sister didn’t know the countless stories before and after, she blinked her eyes and asked cautiously.

“... So suddenly?”

“It’s not particularly sudden, just during this and that conversation.”

Eciel seemed to be even more puzzled. If she had actually heard it, she might have become more confused....

It only decreased a bit after Mom, who was angry, scolded us to eat sweets less.

Before that, there would still be leftovers to be shared among the staff.

It was astonishing when the fairy tales featuring princesses were piling up in the so-called ’playroom’.

‘Is this possible?’

There were many adventures and mythical creatures in fairy tales. So how did they manage to pick only the ones with princesses?

It perfectly suited Eciel’s taste.

Moreover, what was this ‘playroom’? Giving such a spacious room just for the children’s playroom? And even filling it up with toys?

Summing up all these questions...

‘...How much is he planning to spoil his nine-year-old daughters?’

What was even more surprising was the amount of time he spent, just as much as his wealth.

Did he want to become close to his daughters, whom he hadn’t known before, even for a moment?

Most people, having spent such a sum, would naturally become close on their own. But he followed us every day, every hour.

Of course, part of it was probably because Mom wanted some time alone... But, wouldn’t he have a lot to do as Duke Chelsiers?

‘At least... he must have something more important to do than watching Eciel draw all day, right?’

Anyway, speaking of that week, he was someone who had prepared to be a good father.

What I didn’t know was one thing.

Regardless of what kind of father he was, the fact remained that I wasn’t a child who could warmly welcome the father I saw for the first time in my life.

Unlike Eciel.

“Dad!”

Eciel called out from almost being buried in a neatly organized toy box.

Dad readily approached Eciel as he had been watching her with worried eyes.

In casual attire with a comfortable shirt.

So, he looked even more like an ordinary father.

“What should I get for you?”

“Color pencils. Red!”

How could she call him ‘Dad’ so easily? I was a bit amazed.

It came so easily from Eciel’s mouth. Dad, give me this. I don’t like that, stay with me from now on...

‘I can’t do that.’

I knew he was my biological father as soon as I saw him, but I couldn’t naturally say it out loud.

However, Dad didn’t seem at all upset by my awkward ‘...Dad’. He didn’t even show a hopeful expression of expecting me to get used to it and call him that more often.

That composure was remarkable.

I surely saw him smiling every time Eciel casually called him ‘Dad’.

He didn’t act in a way that made it obvious that he was trying to be a proper father.

He also didn’t force himself to talk to me or give me more attention just because I wasn’t good at speaking like Eciel.

‘In fact ... he seems to be happy just being with us.’

Whether I could say “Dad” properly or not.

Dad, who took out colored pencils for Eciel, suddenly glanced at my way with his purple eyes that were exactly the same shade as mine.

I hastily lowered my gaze to the book I was holding.

I still wasn’t accustomed to seeing those purple eyes from someone else.

I felt goosebumps every time I saw that face which was so similar to mine.

...Above all, it was strange to have someone look at me like that, other than Mom and Eciel.

An affection in the realm of absolute certainty, which never wavered, changed, or deteriorated.

Something I had only found in Mom and Eciel’s green eyes since I was born.