Black-Haired Dad Isn’t Something You Reap - Chapter 157

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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 157. This Cannot Be Entirely Blamed on Pisha (1)
“Listen, people need to take walks, get some sunlight, stretch their legs—that’s how people stay healthy, understand? Studying cooped up in a room all day is terrible for your health!”
“What responsibility are you trying to shift onto me this time?”
“Leon won’t eat. Come with me. Please, save me.”
Last time he refused to eat, so I performed an airplane show for him. Now he refuses to eat without the airplane show. Leonhardt Achilles Kisomalos is our child together, after all. We share responsibility for his upbringing.
“I told you back then we should have just forced him to eat!”
“The child was crying! How can you be so heartless!”
“Because I’m heartless, I’ve stuck by Pisha’s side all this time!”
“Oh, my baby!”
So you’ve grown confident enough to say cheeky things now. I’m genuinely grateful you didn’t grow up into a cold-hearted psychopathic mad scientist devoid of human compassion. All those times I told you I loved you and gave you emotional education through music—it was worth it.
“Leon! Oh, my dear Leon, Mother’s here!”
“Just eat what I give you!”
Shirley and I took our usual positions, and I scooped up a spoonful of premium beef soup made from Two Plus grade meat, making a whooshing sound as I pretended to fly it through the air.
“Albatross reconnaissance aircraft, Albatross reconnaissance aircraft beginning descent. Mothership, please respond.”
“This is combat mothership Valkyrie. We’re experiencing turbulence. Please wait before entering port.”
“But I need to land quickly—why the turbulence, you setting-obsessed mother? Whooooosh, please give me landing clearance right away.”
“Wind conditions are favorable. All systems green. Landing is approved.”
Leon watched our performance, giggled, and clapped his hands. I managed to get one spoonful in before opening the spoon again.
After doing this about twenty times, the meal was finished, and Leon burped loudly in his nanny’s arms.
“Ma! Mama!”
“That’s right, Mother. Both your mothers are here.”
“But usually three-year-olds are already talking more, aren’t they? Why does Leon seem so developmentally delayed?”
I’d been thinking the same thing, so Shirley was worried too! Right, our child does seem a bit slow, doesn’t he? I actually remember being three pretty well—I even remember my late mother. I was awkward, but I remember combining words and speaking properly.
“Right, at three years old, don’t kids usually say things other than just ‘Mother’?”
“Is it different for boys?”
“That’s true—I’ve heard boys develop slower too.”
As Shirley and I seriously debated whether boys develop more slowly, Emily and the nanny watching us chuckled. I guess we looked funny.
“If the caregivers are laughing it off, it probably isn’t serious.”
“I suppose so.”
If the experts say it’s fine, then it’s fine. Let’s just enjoy watching our baby grow.
We watched Leon play, then drank refreshing alcohol-free mojitos and lay on the sunbed, enjoying the photosynthesis. The sunlight here is wonderful. That’s probably why I gave up Leon’s room.
“Pisha! Earlier, Choco was looking for you!”
“Genie Teacher, so you’ve also ended up calling me Pisha…”
“Hehe, I’m merely following the current trend.”
With robes fluttering, Genie Teacher darts about—these days the office has many more staff. I used to doubt how accurate divination could really be, but after obtaining the celestial map of the Mortal Realm, Genie Teacher has been uncannily accurate at identifying land that will appreciate in value.
So now he’s running a business scouting properties, and he’s gained many followers. Those brought from the Southern Region naturally still serve Genie Teacher, and it means many new followers from the Kisomalos Nation have joined.
Even now, with such firmly established status and rank, he drags along followers capable of entering the Imperial Palace. Since it’s awkward to speak in front of his followers, I whispered to Shirley.
“What deity does that teacher serve that he can predict which land values will rise?”
“I heard from the teacher when he was drunk once—the deity apparently wrote a book called the Samyak Sutra?”
“What’s that?”
“If you know the lunar birthday and birth time, there’s apparently a book that predicts your fate by fitting together the movements of constellations and all that. Kind of like a personal prophecy book?”
“I could understand knowing your birthday, but who remembers the exact time they were born?”
“That’s true enough.”
It seemed rather pointless. Still, seeing how our family’s household deity ascended to become a divine being and how Genie Teacher thrives like that… maybe there really are places with geographically and statistically superior fortunes? You know, how in ancient times great civilizations always sprouted near major river systems, and harbors inevitably formed in calm bays with gentle currents.
“But why did Choco come looking for me?”
“She said you’d know if I mentioned Nanakda.”
“Huh?!”
Nanakda? That Nanakda Astiages? The same one who vanished after Hisperon’s death and hadn’t sent a single message in two years?!
The moment I bolted upright from my bed and asked where that bastard was, Choco said the Emperor himself had ordered her to find me, and that I could get the full story from Father.
“Got it! Thanks, I’m heading out.”
“Yes, Your Highness. Safe travels.”
I needed to hurry. When I told Shirley I was going to see Father, she said to go ahead since she’d watch Leon. The girl had matured a bit, I’d say. She wasn’t clinging to me desperately like she used to. When she was younger, she would’ve insisted on following me even without knowing who Nanakda was. Ahem, I suppose my excellent character has rubbed off on Shirley as well.
“I’m off!”
I gave Leon and Shirley each a quick kiss on the cheek and rushed toward Father’s temporary office. On the way, I ran into Choco, who lectured me about getting lost again.
I didn’t get lost! I simply took a roundabout route because there are so many new buildings in the Princess Palace lately, and I wanted to explore various areas. That’s all there is to it!
“Anyway, let’s go. Ende looked pretty serious.”
“Huh? I thought this was about Nanakda? So why does he look serious?”
“Because that troublemaker is apparently claiming to be the Emperor’s Son.”
What on earth? Either way, I’d get the details from Father, so I hurried into the temporary office.
Father sat with a cigarette in his mouth, his expression deeply displeased. He hadn’t lit it yet, though.
“Father, what is it! What’s going on with Nanakda! What do you mean serious!”
“You’re aware of the emerging religion spreading throughout Ljubljana and Media, aren’t you?”
“Oh, that!”
That one with the brilliant leader as its high priest who’d been expanding its influence tremendously. What made it so clever was that it gave a sense of belonging to those who desperately needed it.
Ljubljana had become Kisomalos territory through war, and Media had been forced into an alliance with Kisomalos. So there were quite a few people who believed their homeland no longer existed.
The religion gave these people a sense of religious belonging and offered them hope—the promise of purchasing territory spanning Ljubljana and Media to establish it as a holy land and found a theocratic nation. I had no idea where the money came from, but the high priest had so much wealth that it seemed he might actually buy the land, which was remarkable.
“The high priest is Nanakda. He’s using the name Nanakda Grant now.”
“What?!”
Didn’t that religion advocate for an egalitarian society without hierarchy? An Imperial Prince founded such a religion?!
Of course, in terms of population, commoners vastly outnumbered the Imperial Family, royalty, and nobility, so recruiting followers meant targeting commoners was the right strategy.
But that Nanakda, who reeked of Imperial blood, preaching equality? A classless society? Come on, that’s ridiculous.
“…Could it be someone with the same name?”
“While coming to negotiate the purchase of Ljubljana territory, he specifically wanted to meet the Princess. Said you two were pen pals.”
“Well, then it really does seem to be him.”
“He somehow knew exactly which days I had no schedule and arranged the meeting so you couldn’t avoid him.”
“Yeah, it’s definitely him.”
That bastard had his own intelligence network. There’s no way the organization he built after being stripped of his Imperial Prince status would have scattered. And now that I thought about it, the fact that the high priest was so wealthy made sense if it was Nanakda. He’d always had a talent for making money.
“Well then, let’s meet him. It seems to be Nanakda, and if it’s a security concern, we can meet at the Outer Palace.”
“That’s the thing.”
When we met, I’d have to ask what happened that kept him from contacting us. And I’d brag about tearing down Hisperon’s Residence. Nanakda would probably be shocked. He might even tell me I was being unreasonable.
“That’s his recent photograph, but his apparent age doesn’t match at all.”
“Huh?”
The photograph showed a silver-haired man with an extraordinarily mature face. His build was robust and well-developed. There was no way he could be the same age as Croa—judging by appearance alone, he looked to be somewhere in his mid to late twenties.
“He has some of Nanakda’s features, I think, but also maybe not… Still, he looks more like he’s twenty-eight than eighteen, doesn’t he?”
“That’s why I postponed the decision. I’ll leave it to the Princess whether to meet him or not.”
Well… meeting him in person would certainly be more conclusive, wouldn’t it? I decided to meet this person claiming to be Nanakda and asked when the meeting would take place.

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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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