Dad is Back From a Deserted Island - Chapter 77

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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 77

Dietrich Gedeon Kozenmark was a man who lived entirely alone.
Born as an anomalous existence from the moment of his birth, even the mother who gave him life feared and avoided him.
She cherished and loved only the Second Prince, born in the same year, as her true child, and had never once properly embraced Dietrich.
The moment she laid eyes on her newborn son’s face, she screamed—and screamed she did.
Yet his face was not so grotesque as to warrant such a reaction.
Rather, he possessed a beauty so striking that anyone would involuntarily gasp in admiration.
But when people stood before Dietrich, they did not marvel at his appearance—they trembled like mice before a lion.
Truly a solitary existence, though fortunately Dietrich was the sort who felt no loneliness.
There were no real problems. He had learned to speak by listening to the Servants’ conversations, and was clever enough to teach himself to read by poring over books on his own.
Since solitude had always been his natural state, being with others felt far more foreign to him.
In truth, the presence of other humans nearby only irritated him.
That Dietrich was exceptional was something even the Emperor, who despised him, could not deny.
As the First Prince and one possessed of formidable power, his ascension to Crown Prince was a natural progression.
Though people did not draw closer to him upon his elevation, neither did those seeking to curry favor with the future Emperor dare approach easily.
Then Vivian appeared in Dietrich’s life.
‘Someone’s here.’
The Garden where the fearsome Crown Prince often took his walks was a place everyone avoided.
Once called the Dragon Garden, it had been quietly renamed the Crown Prince’s Garden when Dietrich was appointed Crown Prince at the age of five.
Dietrich had welcomed the solitude of the Garden. Yet his acute senses had caught something that grated against him.
A young girl in tattered rags stood in the center of the Garden, peering about nervously.
Dietrich, who had spent his entire life within the Imperial Palace, had never seen clothes so worn.
‘Did she lose her way?’
Yet surely no child so shabby would live within the Imperial Palace.
All the Servants of the Imperial Palace were required to maintain an appearance that would not offend the eyes of their masters.
Dietrich made no move to approach the child. He felt no need to speak first. After all, if he did, she would surely be frightened and flee.
“Gasp.”
But Dietrich’s presence was something even a child could easily sense—or rather, the weaker the life force, the more acutely it was perceived. Not even insects dared approach where he stood.
The child turned and caught sight of where Dietrich was, drawing in a sharp breath.
‘She’ll cry and run away. I just hope she doesn’t make a fuss.’
The quiet peace would soon be shattered. Dietrich was contemplating whether to cover his ears when—
“Wow!”
‘Wow?’
For the first time, someone was not frightened upon seeing me, but rather gazed with sparkling eyes in admiration.
“You’re really pretty!”
“What?”
Being called pretty was one thing.
But hearing casual speech directed at me for the first time was entirely another.
Dietrich experienced confusion—an emotion he had never felt before in his entire existence.
“What’s your name? I’m Vivian!”
“Where is this place? Is this your house?”
“I got hungry and went into the Forest to pick some berries, but then I got lost.”
Even without a response from me, the child continued chattering away to herself.
While other humans’ voices registered as nothing but irritating noise, this child’s voice resembled the gentle chirping of birds.
A strange creature indeed.
That was my first impression of Vivian.

* * *

Vivian was a child who talked incessantly.
From her stories, it seemed she had no one to converse with in her daily life.
Perhaps to release all that pent-up longing, she would pour out endless tales in my presence.
“You’re saying this Garden connects to the Forest?”
“Yes! Over there—if you go that way, you can exit into the Forest. Want to come with me?”
A Forest connected to the outside world within the Imperial Palace’s Garden? I had never heard of such a thing.
I followed behind Vivian, but as expected, no such Forest appeared.
“Huh? Is it not this way?”
When I was with Vivian, she couldn’t find the exit. Only she could move between that Forest and the Garden.
Was she truly an ordinary human?
The child possessed an ethereal beauty that her emaciated frame and tattered clothes could not conceal. If even I—someone with little interest in human aesthetics—could perceive it so clearly, one could only imagine how striking it truly was.
I knew I was not an ordinary human. I had always known, from the moment of my birth.
So naturally, my thoughts drifted toward the possibility that Vivian might not be ordinary either.
Yet Vivian was remarkably ordinary.
She would sniffle when she caught a cold, and her stomach would growl audibly when she was hungry—a fragile human in every way.
Despite this, she showed no fear and kept extending her hand toward me.
“Diti, do you want to eat this? It’s a bit burnt, but it’s delicious!”
What Vivian offered was bread with a charred exterior.
An ordinary person would have been offended at being offered such a thing, but I—who consumed poisoned food without hesitation—accepted it readily.
“Mary made it. Even though it looks like this… she’s been practicing for Peter’s birthday cake, so it’s actually tasty!”
Still, what she gave me was the slightly less burnt portion. What Vivian herself ate looked almost like charcoal.
“A birthday cake?”
“Yes. Peter’s birthday is coming up soon. She’s already practicing to make the perfect cake for him.”
She had passed the ruined bread to Vivian as a gesture of charity rather than waste it during practice.
Vivian, who survived on a single piece of hard, blackened bread a day, found happiness in eating sweetened bread.
“Now that I think about it, Diti, when is your birthday? Mine is still quite far away. We don’t do anything particularly special for birthdays, but—”
Vivian trailed off, her lips trembling as sorrow welled up inside her.
Father used to spend the entire day celebrating her birthday, but now no one celebrated Vivian’s birthday anymore. When it was Peter’s birthday, all he did was sneer at her for doing laundry instead.
“Today.”
“Huh?”
“Today. My birthday.”
Vivian jumped to her feet upon hearing Dietrich’s words.
“It’s your birthday and you didn’t say anything!”
“Do I have to mention it?”
For Dietrich, his birthday was merely one of those days that held no particular significance.
As the Crown Prince’s birthday, ceremonial gifts accumulated, and the table was laden with more lavish fare than usual—but that was all.
The birthday cake he’d eaten today contained poison. He didn’t know who had put it there. It could have been the Second Prince’s nanny, or perhaps his own biological parents.
“You’re supposed to receive gifts on your birthday! I haven’t prepared anything at all. Did you get many gifts? Did anyone sing you a birthday song?”
“A song?”
Vivian’s mouth fell open at his response, as if he’d never heard of such a thing.
“You’re supposed to sing while eating cake on your birthday!”
It was the first time he’d ever heard of such a custom.
Vivian stamped her foot in frustration.
“Ugh! Well, the cake will have to do for now.”
Though it was charred black and had no frosting on top, what Vivian had brought was nonetheless a cake base.
Standing before Dietrich, Vivian began to sing in a clear, melodious voice.
“Happy birthday to you~ Happy birthday to you~ Happy birthday to dear Diti~ Happy birthday to you~”
As the short song ended, she even clapped enthusiastically.
“Happy birthday, Diti!”
It was the first sincere birthday wish Dietrich had ever received.
Vivian was the first person in the world to rejoice at the fact that he had been born.
“Diti!”
She was the only person in the world who smiled at Dietrich.
How could he not cherish such a being?
Yet it would take Dietrich a little longer to truly understand this.

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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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