Dad is Back From a Deserted Island - Chapter 22

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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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Father has returned from the Deserted Island
Chapter 22

Kiki clambered atop Vivian, who had tumbled backward onto her rear, and gently nipped the child’s nose—a wordless reprimand to gather her wits.
“Ow! Why are you biting me?”
[I bit you to snap you out of it. I’ve told you countless times—there’s no need to fear such thunder. And why are you trying to clean up the broken pieces? What if you hurt yourself?]
Vivian heard the warmth beneath Kiki’s reproachful tone and could only listen obediently without protest.
[If you injure yourself, that man will wake up and make such a fuss. “My lady’s delicate hands—” and all that nonsense, pestering my ears endlessly. I should never have fallen asleep in the first place.]
“Are you imitating Anne’s voice?”
[…Y-you’re being loud! If you’re truly frightened, stop cowering here and return to your room instead. Wrap yourself snugly in your warm blankets and cover your ears with a soft pillow so you can’t hear the thunder. Don’t even think of going near those shards. Now, up you go. Up.]
Kiki stretched out a long arm and pushed Vivian’s leg.
At the sight of Kiki mimicking even Anne’s manner of speech, Vivian burst into laughter as though she’d never trembled in fear at all.
Yet when thunder rumbled across the sky once more, her laughter vanished instantly.
She scurried into her room as though fleeing. Kiki continued pushing her until she climbed directly onto the bed.
“Ah, stop pushing me!”
[You’re anxious, never knowing when you might startle and fall again. Now stay perfectly still on that soft bed until the rain stops, your father returns, or that woman wakes—whichever comes first.]
Kiki gathered the blanket in small hands and, grunting with effort, pulled it over Vivian’s head before turning to leave.
Vivian seized Kiki’s tail.
[How rude!]
“Where are you going?”
[Where am I going? I’m a busy creature—don’t hold me back.]
I had intended to seek out the insects revealed by the falling rain and inquire about news from the Diamond Mine.
With each passing day, the deepening shadows beneath Jean’s eyes were leaving profound scratches upon my divine pride.
“D-don’t go. Kiki.”
Yet when my gaze met Vivian’s—trembling as she clutched the blanket tightly—I found myself unable to leave her so coldly.
[…Why are you so frightened? No matter how loud the thunder is, surely the house won’t collapse.]
When had it begun?
Vivian had not always feared thunder and lightning so intensely.
On stormy nights, Jean would always draw the curtains first to keep her from startling.
After lighting the fireplace and creating a cozy atmosphere, he would even provide warm milk—so much so that when she was younger, she had actually enjoyed such days.
But after Jean departed, and Ron and Mary’s once-tender care toward her changed,
she spent her time alone in dark attics and storage rooms, and gradually, that brilliant, flashing world and the sound of the sky collapsing became increasingly terrifying.
When lightning struck, her cries for release from the attic were swallowed by the thunder.
She had every reason to be afraid.
“That is….”
Yet young Vivian still did not know how to articulate such emotions with clarity.
Just recalling that moment made it hard to breathe, let alone speak the words aloud.
I had only clung to Kiki out of pure survival instinct, terrified of losing that warmth as he tried to leave.
“Whimper.”
Wrapped in a cozy blanket with curtains drawn as he departed—it couldn’t be more comfortable. Yet why did he look so pitifully abandoned?
Sigh.
A deep breath escaped from the baby monkey’s tiny mouth.
Burrowing into the blanket and clinging to my chest, Kiki spoke as though bestowing a favor.
[You really are quite the handful, human.]
“Hehe.”
Despite the reproach, I simply laughed and pulled the small body closer to me.
Focusing on his warmth—hotter than any human’s—and the gentle thump of his heartbeat, even the thunder no longer frightened me.
“Thank you, Kiki.”
[For what.]
I nuzzled my cheek against his small, grumbling forehead.
“For staying with me.”
[Hmph. You speak obvious words about obvious things. I am an invincible divine beast, after all, and shall forever remain at your side. And you must always be grateful for my existence—]
“Nom.”
I playfully bit Kiki’s cheek as he chattered away.
[What are you doing!]
“Hush, Kiki.”
As I soothed the indignant Kiki’s protests, I didn’t notice the world flashing brilliantly or the thunder shaking everything with unprecedented force.
Wrapped in the cozy blanket and holding warm Kiki, my eyelids grew heavier and heavier.
As I dozed off, I tightened my grip on him and murmured.
“Kiki, when I fall asleep, you can’t leave—”
[Hmph. I’ll slip away the moment you’re out.]
“No, you can’t.”
Even as I said this, Kiki wrapped his tail around my arm, holding me close.
At the soft touch of his fur, I smiled drowsily.
[…I won’t go anywhere, so stop fretting and sleep.]
His gentle voice soothed me.
As if I’d never feared lightning at all, I drifted off to sleep.
It was a perfectly peaceful nap—until Anne woke two hours later and screamed at the chaos that had become the Living Room.

* * *

Jean de Lamber climbed the stairs to this floor with an anxious expression.
Diamond mine development wasn’t something that progressed so swiftly. It was more comforting to assume it would take several years or more.
He knew that, of course.
Yet day after day passed without a single word from the Diamond Mine where he’d invested a considerable fortune, and it felt as though his lifeblood were draining away.
‘It’s fine. Jean de Lamber. You have plenty of other information besides the Diamond Mine. Your advantage of knowing the future hasn’t disappeared yet.’
But most of the future he knew was years away.
This period was when he’d been fighting on the Deserted Island to keep the monkeys from stealing his food supplies, so there was precious little he actually knew about now.
He felt he’d only find peace of mind by having the jewels stored in the treasure chest kept in his bedroom reappraised.
Jean de Lamber entered the bedroom and opened the sack that wrapped the treasure chest.
As he pulled out the treasure chest, something tumbled from the sack.
He thought it was merely dust at first, but upon closer inspection, it appeared to be some kind of plant seed.
‘What is this? Did I bring it back from the island?’
The Deserted Island, untouched by human hands, was brimming with all manner of flora and fauna.
There were so many fruits whose names he didn’t know. Had it not been such a place, escaping the island alive would have been far more difficult.
Remembering the fruit he’d loved most there, his mouth watered involuntarily.
‘Ah. Those bananas were truly delicious. Wasn’t it eight years from now that bananas would start arriving from the south?’
Jean de Lamber smacked his lips with a wistful expression.
Bananas didn’t grow in the Empire, nor in any neighboring lands.
Even in the future he’d experienced, bananas had only recently been introduced to the Empire.
And even then, only the nobility and the very wealthy had begun to enjoy them—commoners had no chance of tasting one.
‘Ah, I wish I could eat a banana….’
“Eek eek.”
“Kiki says you should plant it, Father.”
The chatter of a monkey and his beloved daughter’s sweet voice suddenly pierced his ears.

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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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