Dad is Back From a Deserted Island - Chapter 49

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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 49

“Engaged?”
“Yes. Luca and I. We’re engaged.”
After arriving in the Capital, Vivian visited the Valmont Estate as naturally as breathing, only to hear shocking news.
The engagement of Elise and Luca.
“Oh, wow. Oh. Oh my….”
Engaged, no less!
Come to think of it, Luca and Elise were already twenty-one. They weren’t too young to marry. It wasn’t uncommon for some to make their debut at eighteen and marry immediately after.
Still, engaged!
The two who had grown up together since childhood suddenly looked so grown-up that it felt unfamiliar.
Now that I thought about it, they had matured so much. Elise, who once resembled a sly cat, had become a beautiful lady with a mysterious allure.
Luca, who had been a kind older brother, had grown into a dependable young man—he reminded me of Eduard in his youth.
“Oh. It’s not a lukewarm reaction—it’s more that I’m so shocked I don’t know how to react. That’s what this is.”
My silence had stretched too long. Worried that my reaction might disappoint them, I quickly added more words.
“Hehe. It’s fine, Vivian. Well, I suspected this might happen from the moment we first met, and sure enough, it did.”
“That’s what the adults arranged by putting us together from childhood.”
“That sounds like you’re saying it wouldn’t have happened if they hadn’t?”
“No, that’s not what I meant.”
At Elise’s words about knowing this would happen from their first meeting, I stood there with my mouth agape. When I saw Luca’s reaction—completely helpless before Elise—my jaw dropped even further.
In truth, Eduard had long since marked Elise as Luca’s match.
Of course, he hadn’t intended to arrange a political marriage. The families were close, their ages matched, and both were accomplished—he simply hoped Elise would become Luca’s partner.
Watching the usually composed Luca become particularly irritable and taciturn in Elise’s presence, Eduard allowed himself a secret, satisfied smile.
Boys that age are never honest with their own feelings.
He thought that if time simply passed, things would work out—and they did.
The two began to see each other as romantic interests starting at fifteen.
They saw each other most frequently, communicated well, and kept catching each other’s eye—so it was natural their relationship would change.
Yet I, the hopelessly oblivious Vivian who had stayed in constant contact with both of them, remained completely blind to all of it and could only stand there gaping like an idiot.
[You’re about to catch flies in your mouth, Vivian.]
Kiki even felt compelled to comment.
“I didn’t want to tell you about the engagement by letter. It’s such a relief that you came to the Capital at just the right time.”
Luca cleared his throat, looked at me with a smile, and spoke in an affectionate tone. Elise, who had been watching him sideways, embraced me as if she’d been waiting for this moment.
“That’s right! You received an invitation to the Petit Debutante—our Vivian has grown up!”
“I thought I had grown up too, but hearing that you two are engaged makes me feel like I still have a long way to go….”
“Ahahaha. You do have a long way to go before you’re engaged, Vivian. Don’t you?”
“Well, of course—”
Luca’s words caught in his throat at the sight of Vivian, her hair cascading in soft, cotton-candy waves.
Elise and Luca exchanged glances simultaneously.
“Vivi. If there are any men at the Ballroom who try to pull something on you, you kick them hard in the shins. Understood?”
“Ah, if only I were married instead of merely engaged—then I could accompany you as your chaperone!”
Unfortunately, an unmarried woman could not serve as a chaperone. Elise, genuinely lamenting this reality, gripped Vivian’s shoulders.
“Vivi, listen carefully.”
“Hm?”
Vivian blinked, wondering when the conversation had shifted from engagement talk to this. But the gravity in Elise’s expression before me made it impossible to dismiss lightly.
There was an unmistakable fire flickering in her eyes.
“All men are wolves.”
“What?”
[Wolves? What’s wrong with wolves?]
Kiki, quite pleased with his wolf form, grumbled—though naturally, Elise couldn’t hear him.
“Hey. I’m a man too.”
“Would I have gotten engaged to you if I didn’t know that? That’s not the point right now, Luca. You know it too.”
“You’re right. She’s correct, Vivi. All men are wolves.”
Luca corrected himself as Vivian turned her gaze toward me.
“Except for me, Jean de Lamber, and our grandfather—all wolves.”
“Right. Remember this well, Vivi. If there are men at the Ballroom who approach you with sly smiles or affected airs, you must tell me exactly who they are and which house they belong to. Understood?”
“Y-yes.”
It was an intensity that left no room for anything but agreement.

* * *

Four days before the Petit Debutante.
Preparations for the ball were nearly complete.
I had memorized the crests of other noble families, received praise for my dancing prowess, and my dress had already arrived—there was truly little left to prepare.
And one of those remaining items had just arrived. Seeing the Jewelry Shop’s carriage cross the gates through the window, Vivian hurried to the Living Room with an expression brimming with anticipation.
“What do you mean? You’re telling me you cannot deliver the goods due to production issues? Did I not pay you several times the price because of the tight schedule?”
The hand I had raised to knock froze at the loud voice from within. It was Jean de Lamber’s voice.
‘Has something gone wrong?’
Vivian lowered her hand and pressed her ear against the door.
Jean de Lamber, seated within the Living Room, wore a rare expression of fury.
“The ball is in four days! At this hour, it’s too late to find someone else!”
Though the Petit Debutante had been scheduled on short notice, Jean de Lamber desired nothing more than for his daughter to shine brilliantly as she entered society.
He had not only procured the finest dress but had also carefully commissioned the most radiant jewelry.
Yet the person who arrived on the promised delivery date brought not the goods, but only excuses.
Jean de Lamber’s blood pressure had risen to dangerous levels.
In my memories before the regression, there had been an incident where the most celebrated jewelry craftsman suddenly vanished. Had he possessed merely adequate skill, no one would have mourned his disappearance so deeply.
But his designs were incomparable, his craftsmanship so exquisite that one could scarcely believe it was wrought by human hands.
With his mastery of gem cutting, anything that passed through his hands doubled in value.
An irreplaceable artisan.
Fortunately, before his disappearance, I had specially commissioned Vivian’s jewelry from him—yet now this calamity had struck.
“What has happened? If a gemstone has cracked or the piece is flawed, I will ensure it is brought back by this afternoon, whatever it takes.”
“That is… well…”
The Jewelry Shop Owner perspired profusely.
It was only natural. Jean de Lamber was the Empire’s greatest diamond magnate. The fact that the owner himself had come, rather than a mere employee, was entirely due to this.
It was far from ideal to have such a mishap occur when maintaining a good relationship was paramount.
Moreover, the owner knew how dearly Jean de Lamber cherished his daughter. During the commission, he had heard such an endless stream of affectionate demands that he thought his ears would bleed.
“If the piece cannot be made, you should at least provide a proper explanation!”
At last, Jean de Lamber’s voice rose sharply.
The owner squeezed his eyes shut in deliberation before deciding to redirect the arrow of blame elsewhere.
No, it was not redirecting it elsewhere. The true culprit had been there all along.
“The craftsman in our employ suddenly said he cannot work—”
“He said he cannot work? And you’ve already received the advance payment?”
“Heavens, we’re going mad over this too! The fellow is so thoughtless and temperamental from the start. The wretch thinks he’s still in his teens. Despite his exceptional skill, we’ve gone out of our way to humor his whims, and now that we’ve been lenient, he’s crossed the line entirely—claiming he cannot work because a bird he’s raising has fallen ill!”
“He said he cannot work because a bird is ill?”
Seething with rage, Jean de Lamber loosened the cravat constricting his neck.
“Where is this craftsman? I believe I must see him face to face and discuss this matter.”
“Ah, there’s no need for you to seek him out directly, well… no, that’s not it. Since you are the injured party, we shall guide you there at once.”
The owner, who had been about to dissuade him, hastily changed his words upon seeing Jean de Lamber’s expression. It was clear that if he did not redirect this fury toward the craftsman, he himself would face considerable humiliation.
“Hans, I must postpone my duties for now. I’ll handle the rest upon my return.”
“Yes, understood.”
Even Hans, my chief secretary, who would normally have objected due to my busy schedule, nodded obediently.
At that moment, a sound pierced through the suffocating atmosphere of Jean de Lamber’s anger, shattering it entirely.
“Dad!”
“Vivian! What’s the matter?”
Jean de Lamber’s expression brightened instantly upon hearing Vivian’s voice. The Jewelry Shop Owner even let out a quiet sigh of relief.
Vivian poked her body through the partially opened door, her tongue sticking out slightly in embarrassment at being caught eavesdropping on the conversation.
“I was waiting outside because I wanted to see the jewelry quickly, and I overheard you talking… Can’t I come too?”
Why would you want to go there?
That was my first thought. I certainly didn’t want to show Vivian how I would lose my temper in front of that craftsman.
Just as I was about to gently refuse, I remembered something.
“Ah.”
The fact that my daughter possessed the ability to communicate with animals.

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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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