I Don’t Need a Dad Like This! - Chapter 66
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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<Chapter 66>
Only then did Rie, who had awakened from sleep, check on Ethan again.
Something was strange.
Ethan’s eyes, which had been blue like the sea, were bloodshot like blood, and tears were pooled in them.
It even seemed like there was blood on his lips from biting his molars too hard.
“…Uncle?”
Is this really… Uncle Babu that I know?
“Why won’t you talk. Is our navy that funny to you?!”
He asked while looking at Rie.
“No, Rie is…”
“You little bastard-!”
Then, suddenly he charged at her like an angry dog.
“Aaaahhh!”
Rie, who had fallen over in surprise, quickly got up and started running desperately.
Family members who had awakened from the commotion came out one by one, turning on the lights.
“What’s going on?”
“What is it?”
Just then, Nelson, who opened the door from across the hall, came face to face with the terrified Rie.
At the same time, Ethan pounced on the child.
“Rie!”
Nelson threw his massive body and tackled Ethan. Fortunately, he was knocked away before reaching Rie, and the two men rolled down the corridor together.
“What’s wrong with you! Get a grip!”
“Sh-shit, I have to kill that bastard! Everyone died because of him-!”
“What the hell are you talking about! Get a grip!”
Even while being held by Nelson, Ethan struggled and hurled curses at Rie.
Finally, Nelson struck the back of his struggling neck hard, knocking him unconscious.
The midnight commotion ended like that.
* * *
“PTSD combined with sleepwalking. It’s a symptom commonly seen in knights who survived the war. He may look fine on the outside, but once he falls asleep, he seems to be battling unconscious fears.”
The physician who came for the dawn house call prepared medicine on the spot.
“Before going to bed, sprinkle this powder in lavender tea and drink it. Along with a sedative, I’ve added ingredients that suppress anxiety.”
Rie, still terrified, was hiding behind Nelson’s legs.
When uncle came charging like a monster, she was so surprised she thought her heart would stop.
‘But according to what the doctor said… uncle seems to be sick.’
Rie rolled her trembling eyes around.
She wanted to keep hiding between Nelson’s legs, but she had to be brave.
“Doctor. What is PTSD?”
The physician who managed to understand the child’s words answered.
“It’s called post-traumatic stress disorder. Simply put, it means having nightmares because of terrible memories from war.”
“Oh my.”
The physician explained so the child could easily understand.
“But he thinks those nightmares are reality.”
“Dreams… as reality…?”
“Yes. The villains who tried to kill the knight are gone now, but he keeps seeing villains in his imagination.”
“Eek!”
Frightened, Rie hurriedly buried her face between Nelson’s legs.
“It’s scary, isn’t it. This knight is going through something frightening right now. So we need to keep him safe, right?”
“Yes.”
Rie nodded her head.
‘Nightmares unfolded before his eyes, so that’s why uncle was startled. Uncle has a wounded heart.’
Though she still didn’t know exactly what PTSD was, Rie finally felt a little sorry for the scary ponytail uncle.
The child peeking her head out from between his legs looked up at Ethan.
Ethan, lying down after taking the sedative, finally looked peaceful. It was hard to believe he was the same person who had tried to attack Rie just moments ago.
But there was one curious thing.
‘Who is this Verdick that uncle mentioned?’
Uncle, who had been shouting that Verdick was dead, looked more sad than angry.
‘Should I ask when uncle wakes up?’
A few hours later.
When morning came and Ethan opened his eyes, the whole family gathered in the bedroom.
He had forgotten what happened at dawn.
But when the family carefully told him about the dawn incident, he turned pale and sat up abruptly.
“Is Rie okay?! She’s not hurt anywhere, is she? In that situation, you should have hit me even if it meant knocking me unconscious!!”
“That’s why I did hit you. Your arm is even bandaged.”
“Ah.”
Only then did Ethan notice his right arm fixed like a wooden beam.
No matter how much of a knight he was, he couldn’t beat Nelson’s fraudulent physical condition.
Nelson proudly pointed to other parts as well.
“And I took care of your left leg too so you couldn’t get close to the kid.”
“Oh. That’s good.”
Looking now, his whole body was a mass of injuries.
He hadn’t been hurt this badly even on the battlefield.
“This is actually better. Thanks, brother. Hahaha!”
Ethan, who was more worried about Rie than himself, finally laughed heartily.
“…Uncle!”
Meanwhile, in Rie’s room.
Rie, who had been sleeping, also opened her eyes at the sound of Ethan’s laughter.
‘Uncle is awake!’
The child who hurriedly got down from the bed ran to Ethan’s bedroom. The family was already all gathered there.
Among them, Mother embraced the child who had come running and worriedly stroked her cheek.
“Rie. You went to bed late yesterday, so sleep a little more. Why did you wake up early?”
That’s when it happened.
“Rie! I’m really sorry, are you really okay?!”
A booming voice hit Rie’s eardrums.
When she turned her head, Ethan with his cloth-wrapped arms and legs dangling in the air was making a restless expression.
“I-I want to kneel and apologize, but my body is like this… I’ll apologize properly when I’m healed. You were really scared, weren’t you, our little flour!”
But Rie was equally worried about Ethan.
“I’m fine. Are nightmares very scary? Did villains in the nightmare hit uncle and make you like this?”
“No. This is from Uncle Nelson hitting me.”
“What?!”
When she turned her head in surprise, Nelson was smiling with an embarrassed face.
Ethan also swung his dangling legs left and right as if to say not to worry.
“This is because uncle did something wrong and got scolded, so it doesn’t hurt at all. Thanks to this, uncle won’t be able to bother Rie by getting angry anymore. I can’t move. Hahaha!”
He laughed heartily. But-
“Uncle, then who is Verdick?”
Ethan’s laughter stopped abruptly. Despair briefly bloomed in his blue eyes that had widened in surprise.
Of course, he composed his expression in 0.5 seconds and pretended not to know.
“…Why Verdick?”
Oh my. Did he forget the name too?
Rie explained in detail what had happened that day.
“Uncle cried and asked Rie. Whether Rie killed Verdick. Looking at your expression, you seemed very sad. Is it because of this person called Verdick?”
“No? I’m not really sure?”
Lies!
“No Uncle, surely Rie…”
“Our little one. Uncle needs to rest, shall we go outside? Today Grandma will play with Rie.”
She wanted to ask more questions, but Morgana opened the door and pulled Rie’s hand.
Hiiing.
In the end, Rie came out of the bedroom with duck lips.
The family members said that Ethan needed time to calm his emotions, but Rie knew.
‘Uncle isn’t calming his emotions…!’
There are many ways to calm one’s emotions.
Like Nelson, he could sip alcohol alone, or like Emilia who was at the Duke’s Castle, he could cry quietly.
But Ethan was different from them – he was smiling.
To Rie’s eyes, it looked exactly like something broken.
Left alone in the room again, Rie fell deep into thought.
‘I need to fix broken Uncle. To do that, I need to use my time ability to find out who this person called Verdick is…!’
Using her time ability wasn’t difficult, but she remembered Jair’s request from last time.
‘Then next time you use your time ability, can you tell me? You can send a letter anytime.’
Can’t be helped!
“I was trying not to use my ability because the angel might be sad… but I need to get permission!”
Rie raised her eyebrows and began writing a letter to Jair.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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