Dad is Back From a Deserted Island - Chapter 36

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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 36

Perhaps it was the restlessness in my heart—I, Vivian, found myself awake once more in the early dawn hours.
“Papa! I’m awake!”
Kiki was still asleep, and as I lay there staring blankly at nothing, boredom overtook me. I began poking Jean de Lamber, who lay beside me.
Jean de Lamber, who had returned late after coordinating a transaction, showed no signs of waking whatsoever.
[What is this… waking at such an ungodly hour?]
At that sound, only innocent Kiki stirred from sleep.
“Kiki! I’m bored.”
[Yaaawn… just sleep more. It’s still dark outside…zzz-]
Kiki didn’t even finish speaking before drifting back to sleep.
My lips pouted out.
I couldn’t very well force a sleeping child awake.
A sound reached my ears as I grumbled to myself.
At the noise from outside the window, I sprang from the bed.
Rising onto my tiptoes to peer out the window, a smile bloomed across my face.
Grunting with effort, I pushed open the large window and leaned out.
“Grandfather!”
“Vivian! At this hour… no, never mind that—it’s dangerous! Come back inside!”
The figure who had appeared in the Garden at this early hour was Eduard.
Eduard sat upon a bench in the Garden, and before him, his faithful dog Louis bounded about with joy.
It was his way of spending time together, now that he understood Louis worried about his leg.
“I woke up early! Can I come down and play with Louis?”
“If you’re willing, then come along.”
With permission granted, I dashed out excitedly.
“Oh no, my clothes!”
Having gone out in my nightgown, I quickly returned, grabbed my cloak, and shut the door again.
I arrived in the Garden with steps as light as if I had wings, and Louis immediately bounded toward me.
“Woof! Woof.” [Hello, Vivian!]
The large Shetland Sheepdog knocked me clean off my feet, yet I laughed with pure delight despite landing on my bottom.
“My, are you alright?”
“Yes! I’m fine. It doesn’t hurt at all.”
“Now, Louis. Even if you’re happy to see her, you mustn’t tackle her like that.”
At Eduard’s words, Louis whimpered. When I assured him I was fine, he began wagging his tail like a windmill once more.
“Grandfather. Can I play and run around with Louis?”
“I’d be grateful if you would. I was just feeling sorry for sitting here and doing nothing but watching.”
Louis circled around Eduard’s feet, insisting there was no need to apologize.
“Louis says you don’t need to apologize! He says just being with Grandfather is enough to make him happy.”
“That boy….”
Eduard patted Louis’s head with evident affection, then handed a small ball to Vivian.
“If you throw this for Louis, he’ll love it.”
“Yes!”
Eduard settled onto the bench, watching Vivian and Louis play with the ball with a contented expression.
Though it was early, the servants’ day began before their masters’.
The servants who had already begun their work poked their heads out at the sounds coming from the Garden, and upon seeing the puppy and child playing joyfully, they smiled warmly.
Yet not everyone regarded this scene with such warmth.
“….”
Luca watched them with a complex and subtle expression.
It was such a harmonious, beautiful sight.
The warmth in Eduard’s eyes as he gazed at Vivian was unmistakable.
Without realizing it, the boy’s fists clenched.
A few days ago.
Luca had been struck as if cold water had been poured over his head.
The way Eduard and Vivian treated each other was so familiar that one might believe they were truly family.
Grandfather, who had remained distant even with Elise after more than a decade.
Vivian was a child he liked, so if Grandfather also took a liking to her, he thought it would only be natural to be happy about it.
But to treat her more warmly than his own grandson—
‘This feels strange. What is this? Am I jealous? Of that little child?’
Since Vivian was a cute child to him as well, it should be natural that a child who called “Grandfather” so affectionately would appear endearing to him.
Yet even trying to dismiss it this way was not easy.
‘Would Grandfather look at me with those eyes if I acted that way?’
Luca trembled at the thought of himself smiling awkwardly and grasping Grandfather’s thick, wrinkled hands.
For Luca, who had strived to mature in place of his incompetent father since childhood to meet Eduard’s expectations, it was a difficult realization.
No matter how mature he tried to be, he was only thirteen. Like Eduard’s concern, the capricious emotional changes of adolescence had begun, leaving Luca confused.
“Oh? It’s Luca!”
While waiting for Louis to retrieve the thrown ball, Vivian looked around and spotted Luca standing at the Second Floor Window, waving at him cheerfully.
Luca managed to smile back.
“…Sigh.”
He didn’t want to admit that he felt jealous of that little child.
“Luca?”
Eduard lifted his head at his grandson’s name.
“You’re up early! Do you want to play with Louis and me too?”
Had it been Vivian alone, he would have refused, saying he wanted to sleep more. But with Eduard’s eyes meeting his as well, Luca had no choice but to change his clothes and come down.
“You’re up early, Luca.”
“Yes, Grandfather. Did you promise to meet with Vivian now…?”
“What? Hah. That can’t be right. He saw you playing with Louis and started pestering me to join in too.”
“I woke up really early today too!”
Vivian chimed in eagerly from beside me. I reached over and gently stroked her hair.
In my heart, I knew Vivian bore no fault whatsoever. I was making a conscious effort not to let my mood dictate how I treated the child.
“You’ve gotten close to Louis awfully fast.”
“Yeah. Louis is such a good boy. Right?”
“Woof!”
As Louis licked Vivian’s face, she burst into delighted giggles.
Watching that radiant expression, I felt ashamed of my own sullenness and couldn’t help but laugh along with her.
Seeing his grandson like this, Eduard felt reassured.
‘I must have misread the situation. He dotes on her so much—I was being foolish.’
With his worries lifted, even his leg seemed to feel better.
“Louis, shall we play with this for a while? It’s been ages.”
Eduard rose from the bench and started a game of tug-of-war—Louis’s favorite—for the first time in a long while.
Louis wagged his tail with such vigor that Vivian nearly got knocked over by it.
“This rascal’s got plenty of energy!”
“Woof! Woof!”
“Wow, I wish someone would play with me like that.”
“You’re still too little, Vivi—Louis would just drag you all over the place.”
“Aww.”
I suddenly realized I was holding Vivian’s hand, our fingers intertwined.
‘When did I take her hand?’
I had no memory of her reaching out so naturally. The warmth of her small, delicate hand seemed to calm the turbulent emotions churning within me.
“Even so, I’m still—ugh.”
As Eduard wrestled with Louis and planted his feet firmly, a sharp groan escaped him.
A sudden stabbing pain shot through his knee.
“Grandfather!”
Vivian, who knew about his leg pain, quickly rushed over.
“Grandfather, are you alright?”
“Yes, yes, I’m fine. I just bit the inside of my mouth while talking.”
With that, Eduard gave Vivian, who was fretting over him, a conspiratorial wink.
‘Right! I asked her to keep it secret. Yes. But…’
Vivian’s eyebrows furrowed downward. He was in pain yet couldn’t show it.
But since she’d already made a promise with Eduard, Vivian had no choice but to nod in agreement.
“….”
Watching the two of them exchange their secret, my eyes turned cold.

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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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