Several years passed like that.
In the portraits that arrived every year, Erilot was growing rapidly.
At first, she barely had any hair, but now she tied it up in curls, securing it on both sides.
‘...A squirrel?’
Sotis I checked the calendar to see when the portrait would arrive.
Only occasionally. Very occasionally.
And after so ti.
‘They must have painted the portrait last month, so why hasn’t it arrived yet...?’
Had the family fallen so far they couldn’t afford to hire a painter on ti?
That old man scraped every last penny, yet he didn’t hire a painter properly.
“Did you call , General?”
“Yes. This ti it’s the portrait—”
“Yes?”
“......”
“General?”
“No.”
Enzo looked puzzled.
‘Portrait? What portrait... Could it be they want to have my portrait done?!’
Enzo’s face turned pale.
He hadn’t forgotten how last year, because the general didn’t like his appearance, he had to run thirty laps around the camp.
‘Does he really dislike my face that much?’
No, it’s not true.
Our mother said I was handso.
‘Maybe it’s not the general’s taste?!’
I shaved my head completely.
Since it didn’t seem to change much, I even shaved my eyebrows.
I tried hard to match the general’s taste...
“Are you resisting?”
I had to run forty laps around the camp.
Weeks passed like that.
The portrait still hadn’t arrived, and Daymond’s mood was low.
Then—
“General! We have news from our people at the main estate!”
“What is it?”
“The lady has manifested her Gaho and is moving from the Twelfth Tower to the main estate.”
‘That crazy old man.’
If it was that old man, he must have known how dangerous the main estate was for a child without a strong backing.
Especially a child receiving Duke Astra’s attention; the brothers would light their eyes with jealousy.
For several months, his mood remained low.
Then one day, a recall order ca to the old man.
“Do you think the general will obey and return peacefully?”
“Now that we only have to break through the Helium wall, there’s no way he’ll return.”
“True. If he returns now, soone else will take the credit.”
“That may be, but I still wish he’d co ho. It’s been five years since he last saw his child.”
Everyone thought Daymond would refuse the recall.
But—
“Pack up. We’re going back to the Astra estate.”
“What?!”
Enzo and the officers looked pale and tried to persuade him, but Daymond was firm.
He had been on the battlefield too long.
It wasn’t because he heard his daughter was at the main estate and couldn’t stand still.
That’s how he returned to the castle.
And...
“Hurry and apologize.”
“......”
“I said, can’t you hear !”
I saw Deconz shouting in front of him.
The child twitched her hands.
Blonde hair like his, red eyes like his.
But unlike him, a tiny, soft little squirrel.
Until recently, I thought I wouldn’t care much.
She was an accidental child, but I didn’t want to repeat my father’s mistakes. So I’d do my duty as a parent.
I thought that all the way back.
But,
“You still sound like you’re slaughtering a pig, Deconz.”
I couldn’t understand why he was so angry.
Maybe because the hands clutching the skirt were too small.
Or because the huge eyes were filled with fear.
Maybe he was angry that a re three-year-old had learned fear.
Because it was exactly... like his younger self.
Maybe that was why.
That night, the carriage taking Deconz back to his jurisdiction was ambushed.
The perpetrator was said to be a three-ter giant.
And since that day...
“Mommy!”
The child kept coming.
She never seed to help much, nor had she approached first, but she stubbornly chased after him.
When she first ca to the barracks, she clung to his leg like a cicada.
‘That kid has no fear.’
Passing soldiers still bloodied from battle, Deconz—whom everyone else found creepy—was visited daily by the child.
After breakfast, after lunch, after dinner again...
Every day, alone.
‘From her perspective, I must be a grown man she’s never seen before.’
Still, it was amazing she chased after him so diligently.
She kept drawing his gaze.
“Hmm, hmm, hmm.”
The child lay on the carpet in his office, humming and reading a book.
‘She can read?’
A re three-year-old, amazing.
‘She even knows how to write?’
[Mondeugi]
‘......’
Still, those two characters were correct.
‘If she’s growing fast, she must’ve inherited it from ...’
I frowned, thinking that.
She was so annoying in front of my eyes that I had all sorts of thoughts.
I even climbed Hardix Mountain with that old man.
I hated seeing her sitting alone in the shade.
It wasn’t cold inside the castle. Why did she have to chase after here?
When I approached, she jumped up.
“Mommy!”
Was she really that happy?
What was I supposed to say?
Having never been welcod by anyone, I found that kid endlessly strange.
“...You never get tired of chasing .”
The child’s eyes widened. Then she hesitated for a long ti before cautiously saying,
“Mommy, are you... tired...?”
“......”
“Then, I’ll only follow you for one range a day...”
“......”
“I’ll secretly watch without bothering you, Mommy.”
“......”
“I’ll just watch a little and then go.”
‘How can you like people that much?’
I couldn’t find words to answer, so I swallowed my words again.
Even during monster battles, I was distracted by the child.
When a soldier dropped a purification stone,
the child ran to the cliff with her tiny body and curled up on the stone, ignoring the monsters charging at .
My eyes turned fierce.
After tearing the monster that attacked the child to shreds, I still couldn’t calm my anger.
“What the hell is this—!”
“I—I caught it.”
“......”
“I caught the monster Mommy needed.”
“......”
“Now I’m not bothering anymore, right...?”
The child was slow-witted. Foolish, stupid.
Why?
Why?
What was it to a father who never once greeted her?
A very strange feeling.
When I held the trembling child, I understood.
‘Ah, right.’
That feeling of affection.
Maybe I endured all that long ti just to et you.
“Mommy...”
Daymond, watching the child’s sleeping hand after she took her dicine, flinched.
“How’s your body?”
“......”
The child wiggled her tiny hand and asked very cautiously,
“You’re my Mommy.”
“......Yeah.”
“So, can I, Erilot, love Mommy?”
“......”
How many tis had the child pierced him to the core?
Swallowing his overwhelming feelings, he slowly opened his mouth.
“Yes.”
“......”
“That’s right, Erilot.”
We can love each other freely.
The cheek I stroked was warm. The warmth seeped deep inside.
The crying and smiling child was painfully adorable.
I woke up with a groan.
My body was uncomfortable.
‘It’s not pain... huh?’
When I opened my eyes, what I saw was a firm chest.
I lifted my head quickly and saw a handso man bathed in sunlight like a painting.
‘Right, I slept next to Father.’
He was in a very uncomfortable position, stuffing his long legs into a child-sized bed.
‘He must have been exhausted nursing all night.’
Every ti I woke up briefly at dawn, Father was by my bedside.
Even during my cancer fight, no one watched all night.
Mom would occasionally co by and sleep briefly,
‘But I was the one taking care of her.’
I don’t know how many tis I went to convenience stores to buy what was needed.
But...
‘I have soone nursing now!’
I felt like boasting sowhere.
Lying on my belly, I studied Father’s face.
‘That’s my father.’
Not the stepfather who treated my sibling differently, but my real father.
I thought I might laugh quietly and covered my mouth with a tiny hand.
Then,
“How’s your body?”
A slightly hoarse, husky voice.
Father opened his eyes lazily and looked at .
“I’m okay.”
“Why don’t you sleep more?”
“I just woke up a little while ago. Mommy is sleeping.”
I jumped up and patted Father’s side. He was lying looking my way.
Father chuckled and sat up.
“You look stronger now. Seems you’re all better.”
“Yes.”
“Let’s go eat.”
Father lifted up and went down to the first floor.
The maids cleaning gloomily brightened up when they saw .
The dining hall servants too.
“Miss.”
“Miss—!”
...Why is everyone like this?
I was puzzled by the change from before I collapsed.
Father told to wait in the dining hall because he would wash and co, so I jumped out of his arms.
Then Heidi hurried over, holding a bouquet of flowers.
“They sent these from the garden. Wishing for your speedy recovery.”
Betty also spoke excitedly.
“They ca yesterday and the day before too. We decorated your room!”
“Jas from the stable bought a painting. They say it’s a painting that helps sick people recover.”
“And Kali from the kitchen, and Lizzie from the laundry too—”
Now that I think about it, servants were clustered on corner walls and pillars.
Their expressions were all tearful.
“...?”
I tilted my head and asked,
“Do the maids like ?”
“Of course! Miss, you’re cute, lovely, and also—”
“You’re our hero!”
‘Ah.’
They must have been very thankful I drove out Lady Rachel.
Well, she had whipped people around like they were horses.
‘And now they must be afraid of too.’
Many people mistake awe for affection.
I received flowers from Heidi.
“Thank you.”
“Eek! So cute!”
“Lovely!”
...But it felt a bit overwhelming.
Even walking to the dining hall, I had to endure overly sparkling gazes.
But the castle was chaotic.
Not exactly organized, more like everyone was running around in confusion.
‘Without the chief steward, nothing works properly.’
Half the servants were gone, cut loose.
‘I wonder what happened to Michelan.’
While thinking that and sitting at the table, Father ca into the dining hall.
Wet hair, damp face, a few buttons undone revealing his neck.
The maids serving als moaned “Haaa...” in a dazed manner.
A few male servants held trays, their faces flushed.
Huh? Male servants?
‘...Well, that can happen.’
Then the al was served.
Father and I sat opposite each other.
The nu was easy-to-eat wheat porridge and grilled vegetables.
Seeing the grilled bell pepper, I felt triumphant.
Bell peppers had been my enemy as a child, but I overca that at the factory.
While munching on the pepper, I noticed Father’s plate.
His nu was the sa. The grilled vegetables were mostly gone except for a lonely broccoli floret.
“Mommy, you don’t eat broccoli?”
Father flinched.
After a brief silence, he said,
“...No.”
“You don’t like it?”
“...I like broccoli very much.”
Then he put the broccoli in his mouth.
For so reason, his jaw moved chanically.
“...See, I like broccoli.”
“There’s only one left.”
“...”
Father stared at the remaining broccoli. His gaze was piercing.
He chanically picked {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} it up again. Only after a while did he put it in his mouth.
‘He must have been saving it because he liked it.’
I poked three broccoli pieces on my plate like skewers and moved them to Father’s plate.
“Eat a lot.”
“...Okay.”
Seeing Father eat what I gave him made happy.
‘I’ve never done this before.’
My chest tingled.
At that mont,
Enzo entered the dining hall holding docunts.
“Request for weapon replacent... no, the general is requesting broccoli...!”
“Shut up.”
Enzo abruptly shut his mouth.
For so reason, Father looked very displeased.
Enzo put down the docunts in front of Father with a pale face.
“Oh, and we investigated what you asked about. The dicine Michelan gave the lady.”
“Yes.”
“It was dicine for manifestation sickness.”
“Manifestation sickness?”
“Yes.”
Manifestation sickness is the fever infants get when their Gaho manifests.
‘Why did he give that dicine?’
It even worked... huh?
‘If what I had was manifestation sickness...’
I froze holding the spoon as Father and Enzo continued talking.
“Manifestation sickness happens before the fontanelle (soft spot on a baby’s head) closes.”
“Yes, and the lady has already manifested her Gaho.”
No.
Others thought reading ancient language was my Gaho, but it wasn’t.
I don’t have a Gaho.
That ans...
‘The fever I had was because my Gaho was about to appear.’
I jumped up suddenly.
“I’m done eating. I want to go to my room.”
“Okay.”
After greeting Father and Enzo, I hurried back to my room.
I checked to make sure no one was inside, then closed the door tightly.
Then I rummaged through the books in my study.
‘I saw this here before... ah, here it is.’
I opened a book titled .
—There are hundreds of types of Gaho.
They range widely from offensive types like to minor abilities like .
Most inherit the sa type as their parents, but so manifest rare, unidentified types.
(Omitted)
The activation thod involves channeling magical power into the dantian—
‘Found it.’
I never learned the activation thod because I don’t have a Gaho.
After it was revealed that ancient language was a Gaho, people assud I naturally learned the activation thod.
I followed the book’s instructions.
‘Channel magical power into the dantian...’
And then, at that mont—
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