Dad is Back From a Deserted Island - Chapter 38

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Father has returned from the Deserted Island
Chapter 38

“I’m… not a child anymore, Vivian. Grandfather must have had his reasons for keeping it secret. I can’t just go and throw a tantrum about it.”
“Then since you’re not a child, you can just ask him to tell you.”
“….”
Luca’s words faltered once more. Watching him struggle, Vivian fidgeted with her fingers as she spoke.
“You know, brother. Grandfather asked me to keep it secret, but… I think you should know about this too. Even if no one else does….”
Vivian was merely a guest in this mansion. She couldn’t always be at Eduard’s side to help whenever his legs ached.
Eduard didn’t want to reveal his pain to others, but surely at least one person should know about it, shouldn’t they?
If even one person knew Eduard was suffering, they could fetch medicine for him instead.
“Come on, brother. Let me tell him!”
If this was something Luca wouldn’t ask about himself, Vivian could tell him instead. Luca gazed at the hand Vivian confidently extended and shook his head.
“No, Vivian. I can’t borrow your help for something like this. Asking Grandfather about his secret is something I have to do myself.”
Luca lifted his head again, and this time he was smiling.
“Vivian, to you… no, never mind. I’ll tell you after I’ve spoken with Grandfather.”
“W-what? You’re going to ask him?”
“Yes. Thanks to you, I found the courage. I’ll go right now and be back soon, so will you wait here for a moment?”
“Yes! Brother, I’ll wait!”
Luca bent down to embrace Vivian before leaving the room.
The boy’s destination was Eduard’s Study Room—a place he rarely visited during Eduard’s usual working hours.
When he knocked, Eduard’s aide poked his head out.
“Young Master? What brings you here?”
“Tell Grandfather I have something urgent to discuss with him.”
The aide was puzzled by Luca’s sudden arrival but immediately relayed the message to Eduard.
Eduard received Luca while still seated at his desk.
“So, you have something to tell me?”
“Yes, Grandfather. Would you mind clearing the room for a moment?”
At Luca’s request to dismiss even the aide, Eduard removed the spectacles he’d been wearing.
“What on earth could this be about?”
“…I want to know about the secret between you and Vivian.”
Eduard’s eyebrows twitched at those words.
“How did you… Did Vivian tell you?”
“No. Vivian kept her promise to you until the end and wouldn’t tell me. She said if I wanted to know, I should ask you directly.”
“….”
Luca clenched his fists as was his habit, took a deep breath, and met Eduard’s gaze directly.
“Grandfather. Was I such an inadequate grandson to you?”
“What? No, Luca. Why would you say such a thing? The reason I didn’t tell you was simply….”
To Eduard, Luca was still a young grandson. He hadn’t wanted to burden the boy with worries about his own aging.
“Then please tell me. I won’t speak of it to anyone else. …Not even to my parents.”
Yet on the other hand, he was also a dependable heir. Eduard’s gaze wavered as he looked at Luca.
“I’ll be honest with you. I felt hurt. No, I was jealous. There was a secret between you and Vivian that I didn’t know about, and even though it wasn’t her fault, I found myself resenting her anyway.”
Eduard’s eyes widened at words he could never have imagined. The emotions that had flickered across his grandson’s face a few times—he had never realized they were such things.
Luca offered a bitter smile.
“I’m pathetic. To someone so much younger than me. So if you say you couldn’t tell me because of my shortcomings, I can understand that. But.”
There was no wavering in the eyes of the grandson looking at me.
“If the reason you kept this secret from me isn’t because I’m inadequate, then please tell me.”
When had the child grown so much?
He had come to me, boldly laying bare his feelings and demanding the truth. Yet my grandson’s face still bore the soft, youthful roundness of childhood.
Still, Eduard could feel his grandson’s growth acutely.
I had always found it pitiful when he tried to act mature. But the way he honestly acknowledged his own emotions was far more grown-up than any adult.
Eduard ultimately conceded defeat.

* * *

“Vivian!”
“Sister!”
Elise, keeping her promise to visit Eduard’s Residence, arrived and immediately sought out Vivian, barely sparing Luca a glance.
Though they had only been apart for a few days—or rather, had only just met a few days ago—the two carried on like they were inseparable.
“Goodness, when did you two become so close?”
“You wouldn’t understand, Luca. Women sometimes grow close like it’s destiny.”
“That’s right, that’s right!”
Of course, Vivian herself had no idea what she was saying. She simply nodded along to everything Elise said.
“Really now. Don’t make me regret being born male. Anyway, Vivian, shall we go to the Piano Room? I arrived too late yesterday and was sorry I couldn’t show it to you.”
Having heard much from Eduard and cleared up misunderstandings thanks to Vivian, Luca treated her with even greater tenderness than before.
Luca knew his own nature well. Had Vivian not come to him and given him courage, he would have never asked Eduard and would have simply let resentment fester.
After speaking so openly, he could feel himself growing much closer to Eduard.
‘This is all thanks to Vivian.’
Elise stuck her tongue out teasingly at Luca’s gentle tone toward Vivian, so different from how he spoke to her.
Luca pretended not to notice.
The Piano Room of the Valmont Estate was surrounded on all sides by glass windows.
A magnificent white grand piano stood in the sunlit space, displaying its grand presence.
Vivian, seeing a grand piano for the first time yesterday, couldn’t close her mouth.
It wasn’t just the grand piano standing alone—the chair placed before it, the bookshelves with sheet music arranged neatly—everything was positioned with such subtle calculation that the entire space itself felt like a work of art.
Luca chuckled softly at the sight of Vivian with her mouth agape and sat down at the piano.
“Since I couldn’t let you hear my performance back then.”
Born as the grandson of a merchant magnate, Luca had brilliantly mastered every education available to him, and in some respects, his skill surpassed even Elise’s.
While Elise excelled at playing the notes precisely as written in the score, Luca possessed the rare gift of infusing each performance with his own emotional depth.
As the melody—perfectly suited to the peaceful afternoon—drew to its close, Vivian erupted into enthusiastic applause.
“Brother, that was amazing! Truly magnificent!”
“Tch. Just showing off in front of Vivian.”
“You did plenty of that yesterday yourself.”
“Teach me too! I want to play something that beautiful!”
“Of course. But this piece is still too difficult for you. Let’s start with something easier and build up gradually.”
Elise, anxious about losing Vivian’s attention to Luca, quickly inserted herself into the moment.
“Could you move over a bit? I need to sit down too.”
“It’s cramped enough. Do you really need to squeeze in here as well?”
“So you want me to stand?”
“There’s a chair over there.”
“I don’t see it.”
As Luca and Elise bickered back and forth with me caught between them, my thoughts were fixed on one thing alone.
‘I need to learn this quickly and show Diti! I wonder if Diti can play piano?’
If he can’t, I’ll just teach him! After all, Diti and I are going to live together happily for a very long time!
I could barely contain my excitement, my feet swinging back and forth beneath me.
Suddenly, in a different building, Jean de Lamber’s eyes began to glisten with tears.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————