Dad is Back From a Deserted Island - Chapter 34

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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 34

By the time we arrived at Eduard’s Residence, the hour had grown late, and so father and I were promptly shown to the guest bedroom to rest.
The guest room itself was decorated with such meticulous perfection that admiration seemed inevitable.
Even the most discerning of tastes would find it difficult to lodge a complaint against this chamber.
The moment the Servants finished their brief introduction and departed, instructing us to pull the bell cord should we require anything, Jean de Lamber collapsed onto the bed with an audible sigh of exhaustion.
“Ah… what was I thinking?”
“What’s wrong, Father?”
Vivian crawled across the mattress and draped herself over his back.
Jean de Lamber, unwilling to display his melancholy before his daughter, quickly summoned a smile.
“Nothing at all, Princess! Tell me—how was your day? Did you make many friends?”
At the mention of friends, Vivian’s expression brightened considerably.
“Yes! I made so many! Everyone wants to be my friend. Elise said I’m the cutest, and Luca told me to visit often!”
“Luca… did you feel any strange tingling when you saw him?”
“Tingling? Why would I?”
“Never mind, Princess…”
Jean de Lamber exhaled in relief and held Vivian close, recalling the blunder he had committed the moment we arrived at the Residence.
Upon arriving at Eduard’s Residence, I had been overwhelmed by a profound sense of nostalgia, as though returning to my homeland.
During the time when my memories were absent, I had genuinely regarded this place as my true home, and that perception had not strayed far from reality.
Thus, before even receiving proper guidance, I had navigated the corridors with an unsettling familiarity, my footsteps assured and unhesitating.
Yes—before receiving any guidance at all.
This display had only kindled the suspicion that Eduard already harbored toward me.
Eduard’s grip tightened around his cane.
When Jean de Lamber belatedly realized his misstep and turned, Eduard’s gaze held a challenge—as if to say, “Go ahead and try.”
“Is this the correct direction? Haha. Our home has a similar layout, so I inadvertently rushed ahead without thinking.”
Even as the words left my lips, I regretted them.
Such a pathetic excuse.
Yet Eduard did not immediately press the matter.
It would have been absurd for him to demand how I knew the structure of his residence.
He simply regarded me once, then Luca, then Vivian, before offering a smile that did not reach his eyes.
Kiki, indifferent to my distress, wandered the room with an unusual gleam in her gaze.
The interior design was precisely to the taste of a divine beast from the Imperial Palace.
Kiki hopped onto the bed with a soft chirp.
[I find the furnishings of this residence most pleasing, Vivian. Tell your father to decorate my quarters in such a manner.]
“Coo…”
[Are you sleeping? Tsk, tsk!]
But Vivian, already exhausted from the arduous journey and the strain of new encounters, had long since fallen asleep.
With no choice in the matter, Kiki nestled into Vivian’s arms and sought slumber as well.
Only Jean de Lamber remained awake, spending the night sighing restlessly.

* * *

“Hup!”
The Garden glistened with morning dew.
Vivian awoke alone and, with practiced efficiency, changed into fresh clothes herself before setting out for a stroll through the Garden with Kiki perched upon her shoulder.
Jean de Lamber, who had groaned in discomfort throughout the early hours before finally falling asleep, showed no signs of waking, and since Vivian was not yet accustomed to pulling the bell cord to summon servants, no one knew of the child’s excursion.
Vivian gazed about the Garden in wonder. It was every bit as beautiful as the misty gardens of her memory.
“Wow! This place is really huge! Our mansion’s garden is spacious too, but this is even bigger!”
[Well, of course. The master of this estate is said to be the second wealthiest person in the entire nation, after the Emperor himself.]
“Then how much wealth are we talking about?”
[That is… well, how would I know? It’s not as though I’ve ransacked his treasury.]
“If you don’t know, then just say so. Why are you getting upset… Eek!”
[Kyaaah!]
A massive shadow fell over Vivian as she bickered with Kiki.
“You brute, Louis!”
Eduard, leaning upon his cane, hurried over upon seeing Vivian pinned beneath something large, warm, and fluffy, struggling beneath its weight.
“Oh my, I do apologize, Vivian. Are you alright? You’re not hurt, are you?”
“Ugh, ah, yes! I’m fine!”
As Eduard approached, the Shetland Sheepdog—Louis—who had been pinning Vivian down, turned to Eduard and began circling around his legs.
The creature, with its deep brown coat gleaming with luster and a nose shining with moisture, was clearly a beloved companion.
“He’s been listless lately and hasn’t been able to take proper walks. Why is he suddenly acting like this?”
Eduard gave Louis a gentle reprimand, then slowly bent his knees to help Vivian, who was still sprawled on the ground, to her feet.
“Woof! Woof!!”
At that, Louis began barking frantically beside them, woofing and then whimpering.
“This rascal really can’t stay still, can he?”
Eduard brushed off Vivian’s clothes and scolded Louis with a firmer tone, but.
“Woof! Woof!”
Louis paid no mind. In fact, despite appearing chastened and subdued by the scolding, he continued barking.
Hearing Louis’s barking, Vivian clapped her hands together.
“Ah! I understand now!”
“Huh?”
[Wait, Vivian…!]
Vivian’s words came faster than Kiki’s protest.
“Grandfather! Don’t scold Louis like that. He’s worried about you!”
“Woof! Woof!” [That’s right! Master! This child is correct!]
“What on earth are you talking about, Vivian?”
“Grandfather, does your leg hurt? Your knee!”
Eduard’s expression stiffened slightly as he processed Vivian’s words—words he had dismissed as nothing more than the innocent prattle of a child.
“How could you possibly know that….”
Indeed, over the past few months his knee pain had grown severe enough that walking without his cane had become difficult.
But how could this child, whom he had met for the first time yesterday, know of this? It was something his daily attendants, his grandson, and even his own son did not know.
[You really do understand me, don’t you? Then please tell him for me! Master’s knee hurts. That’s why long walks are difficult for him. I don’t mind taking fewer walks—I just wish Master wasn’t in pain.]
Louis whimpered softly, his tail drooping low. This loyal dog would have gladly forsaken even his beloved walks for his master’s sake.
“Louis says your knee hurts, Grandfather, and that long walks are hard for you. He says it’s okay to take fewer walks. He says he dislikes you being in pain more than anything.”
“What…?”
Eduard could only blink in bewilderment.
Vivian spoke as though she genuinely understood Louis’s words.
Impossible as it was, Louis’s whimpering from beside her seemed to affirm everything she said, as if adding his own agreement.
And most of all, his knee pain was real.
“How do you… do you truly understand what Louis is saying?”
“Yes! Oh, oops.”
Vivian answered cheerfully before clapping her hand over her mouth.
“Father said I mustn’t tell anyone… Grandfather, you can’t tell anyone that I understand Louis! You understand, right!”
Before Eduard could even process reality, Vivian seized his hand and struggled to hook her pinky finger around his.
Her hand, impossibly small compared to his own, wriggled with determination, and Eduard finally came to his senses.
“So you’re truly understanding Louis’s words right now?”
“If I say no now… you won’t believe me anyway, will you.”
Vivian answered while rolling her eyes playfully.
“Haha!”
Unable to suspect such an innocent child of deliberately lying, Eduard found himself laughing aloud despite himself.

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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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