Black-Haired Dad Isn’t Something You Reap - Chapter 142
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 142. Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts Are Not for Outdoor Types—They’re a Royalty Hell for Introverted Children (2)
“No, you’re qualified to be a teacher, you play in a band so you can perform instruments, and you have all the capabilities of a Chiron Duke successor! Why aren’t you taking successor classes!”
“I don’t want to! I hate meeting people! Just imagining being left alone with someone I’ve just met makes my stomach churn!”
Wait, didn’t you say you’d become a superstar with a jazz band? You hate meeting people, but becoming a superstar is fine? I paused mid-thought, realizing there was a contradiction in Looping’s words, and asked.
“You said meeting new people is awkward? But you’re talking comfortably with us, aren’t you?”
“Right? I find it strange too?”
Why is that? Is this another meta reason?
“Your Highness the Princess somehow feels familiar.”
“Thank you?”
“The Achilles Young Lady also somehow feels like someone I’ve known for a long time.”
“I get that feeling a bit too.”
“Prince Croa is, well….”
“…?”
“Honestly, he’s a bit scary, but he just feels like someone I know.”
“Should I be grateful for that?”
Just keep saying he’s doing great. He’s socially maladjusted, so we need to make accommodations for him.
“Anyway, if you’re in a band, you must have bandmates playing music together with you.”
“….”
“…You don’t?”
“W-well, geniuses are supposed to be lonely, or so they say.”
Isn’t this guy just escaping into music because he doesn’t want to become a successor? Wouldn’t it be better to just declare by imperial order that he’ll be executed if he doesn’t become a duke?
When I suggested the harsh approach, Looping asked Emily to retrieve a spare saxophone from the Instrument Room.
After about ten minutes, when a car arrived with the instrument, Looping adjusted it a few times, inserted his personal reed, and immediately began blowing into the wind instrument with intensity.
“Wow!”
“Ooh!”
“I can feel the soul in it.”
Croa’s eyes sharpened.
Right, I’d heard there are sub-genres within jazz. This must be soul jazz.
“….”
Now that I think about it, when we had a party at Hisperon’s place before, we invited both a jazz orchestra and a classical orchestra at the same time, didn’t we? I never knew which one was Croa’s preference, but looking at it now, it seems Croa was the one who brought the jazz band?
In any case, Looping displayed tremendous technique on the saxophone, so it was clear he’d practiced extensively. It’s not easy to make hearts race with just a solo saxophone performance. I decided to appreciate that aspect.
“Huff, huff! How was that!”
“Magnificent! Your performance was excellent!”
“Right, he’s worthy of boasting about becoming a superstar.”
After the performance ended, Shirley and I stood up and applauded, but Croa maintained his contemplative expression. Looping, too, seemed to think Croa’s evaluation was most important, and he swallowed hard, waiting for the boy to speak.
“Your technique is sufficient. I can tell you’ve worked hard.”
“Yeah! I shut myself in at home and practiced only this!”
“However!”
For some reason, Croa elaborated at length on the history of soul jazz, explaining that it was a genre embodying the spiritual salvation of the marginalized, and that its origins were the same, then pointed accusingly at Looping and rebuked him for his shallowness.
“As a nobleman set to inherit a dukedom, someone with privilege and without faith, your performance can only amount to imitation!”
“Ugh! I’m hearing the same thing Chiron told me again!”
Wow, so Chiron already pointed that out. He really is a remarkable god. Whether it’s descendants or whatever, if there’s a flaw to be picked, he’ll pick it without mercy. A truly relentless deity.
“Perhaps you should consider keeping it as merely a hobby?”
“Whimper.”
“Meeting people becomes easier the more you experience it.”
Besides, you’re a Duke, and there are hardly anyone above your station. Everyone would have preferred you to be uncomfortable, not the other way around. As the current Princess who’s accustomed to being revered, I can say this with confidence—Looping’s shoulders sagged, and he brought up the matter of his own name.
“But… when people hear the name Looping, they’ll all laugh at me inside, won’t they?”
“Isn’t your stage name Lumilumi? Looping is better than Lumilumi, isn’t it?”
“Lumilumi sounds cool.”
“No, it’s not cool at all.”
So the name Looping is one of the reasons he’s reluctant to accept the Duke title. After all, wouldn’t the name Looping undermine the dignity of Chiron Duke?
“I’ll give you a name with proper formality, and you can take it to the Court to file for a name change. We’ll help you with the paperwork and updating the contracts. It’ll be done quickly with all of us working together.”
“Your Highness the Princess…”
Looping’s eyes grew teary at my proposal, and he spread both arms wide to embrace me. At the same moment, Croa precisely kicked Looping’s shin, and Shirley mimicked Choco, driving her fist into Looping’s solar plexus.
“Gasp!”
Looping collapsed to the ground, writhing. Hmm… I really do have many people protecting me, so I probably don’t need to learn assassination techniques.
“Wahhhhh, everyone hates only me.”
No, that’s because you keep acting pathetic. If you just kept your mouth shut and stayed still, everyone would respect you.
What on earth was Father thinking when he created this guy? If left as is, Father might just put a bullet through his head and be done with this useless wretch. Perhaps he’d already disposed of Looping this way before the regression.
“How convenient that we’re all gathered.”
While I was pondering various things, Father led us to the Princess Palace Courtyard. There were… strange things there.
“A waterproof tarp?”
“Rebar? Stakes?”
“A gas burner? Camping equipment… or wait, military grade?”
Now that Looping mentioned it, most of these items did seem to have come from the Military Ministry. With that thought, I examined the tarp carefully, and sure enough, I spotted a stamp reading “Army Issue” in one corner.
“Until tomorrow morning, you will all camp here.”
“Eeeek!”
“I don’t want to!”
“The ground is dirt, so it’s inconvenient for roller skating.”
“I object! Uncle, you do it!”
Looping, your mouth really is a problem. When you talk back to Father like that, you usually end up in a worse situation.
In times like these, the best approach is to play the victim or cry, so I was preparing my emotional performance when Father stared directly at Shirley, Croa, and Looping.
“Hmm…”
I felt silent pressure. My friends and Looping felt it too, as all three clenched and unclenched their fists, doing their best to ease the tension. Their palms might even be sweating.
“Do you dislike it so much?”
“No! It’s not that we dislike it so much!”
“The wheels will roll once we brush off the dirt!”
“Please let us do this! Camping is the best!”
Hey, why did you all suddenly change your minds? I still hate camping and let out an “Eeeek!” but Father made a generous offer.
“If you all have a good night, I’ll forgive one hundred billion of the Princess Palace’s debt.”
“Yay! Camping is the best!”
Compared to Team Four’s debt, a hundred billion won seems like pocket change, but in reality, it’s an astronomical sum. I would do anything to earn it.
“Well then, I should get back to state affairs….”
What? If you’re busy tending to national matters, shouldn’t you hurry back? Besides, the royal guard is here, and I’ve even stationed Choco as a guardian, so it’s fine, isn’t it? As I stared at Father with a puzzled expression, he wore an oddly desperate look and made a strange request of me.
“While I’m away, don’t get into any trouble.”
“I’m not going to get into trouble!”
“I’ll be back soon, so make sure you only cause trouble when I’m watching.”
“I said I won’t!”
Honestly, why is there so little trust between father and daughter? Is it because I went missing and lost credibility? Or does he actually want to watch me cause trouble?
“First, the tent! I need to set up shelter from the night dew!”
“There’s an assembly manual over there, Your Highness.”
Excellent! Let me demonstrate the Princess’s commanding abilities!
I examined the assembly instructions and followed them step by step. First, I laid down a waterproof tarp on the ground, then drove stakes to secure the tent.
“Hmmmm….”
What am I supposed to do with this? There are poles of different lengths, but the manual doesn’t specify which one to use.
“Pisha, shall we try fitting them into the holes?”
“Huh?”
If I just force it, I’ll have to remove and redo it if the length doesn’t match—how tedious! Normally, different parts are labeled with different numbers! How can they make an instruction manual that only people in the know can understand? What’s the point of an instruction manual then!
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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