I Summoned the Demon King and Got a Dad - Chapter 14
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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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14. The Child’s Father (3)
With pink hair tied with a black ribbon, when they went out to the bustling district, people glanced at them curiously.
Feeling those gazes, Theodor was swept by a strange emotion.
Those looks as if watching some spectacle—he had never received such stares in his life.
Unable to bear the rising irritation, Theodor finally spoke up.
“Shuri, can’t I untie this?”
“No way, we’re a matching set.”
Hah.
Theodor let out a small sigh inwardly as he caught sight of his reflection in a shop window.
He thought his appearance with pink hair tied up looked quite ridiculous.
He had never particularly cared about his looks, but this was going too far.
In fact, people’s thoughts as they looked at them were completely different.
They were simply marveling at Theodor’s otherworldly appearance that couldn’t be hidden by hair dye and his pretty daughter who looked just like him.
Thinking the stares might lessen if they blended into the crowd, Theodor headed toward the nearby market with Shuria.
As he expected, many people had gathered at the market.
The problem was.
“Handsome sir, these apples are sweet and delicious!”
“Sir over there! Please take a look around here!!”
“Sir, these candies are the best in the Northern Region!”
His appearance still drew everyone’s attention.
As Theodor received all the merchants’ affection while walking, Shuria tugged at his shoulder.
And at the end of her gaze.
“I want that.”
A large pink cotton candy was displayed.
Theodor, who spotted the cotton candy, also looked at it with interest just like Shuria.
Since cotton candy was a new product recently developed in the Mortal Realm, it was his first time seeing it too.
Theodor slowly approached the cotton candy shop while holding Shuria.
“How much is this?”
But the old woman who appeared to be the shop owner couldn’t answer his question.
She was dazed by his overwhelming appearance.
Belatedly coming to her senses, she cleared her throat and spoke.
“What’s a child’s father doing being so handsome? Just give me one silver coin.”
The rural dialect mixed with informal speech left Theodor momentarily speechless.
Seeing Theodor like that, the old woman clicked her tongue softly.
“What, no money? Looking all fancy like that. Tsk.”
This kind of treatment was a first…
No, it was the second time.
Belatedly coming to his senses at the old woman’s words, Theodor felt slightly annoyed and handed her a gold coin.
“Keep the change.”
The old woman who checked the gold coin Theodor gave her looked surprised for a moment, then broke into a bright smile.
She handed them two cotton candies total, including one for Theodor that he hadn’t even ordered, with a beaming smile.
“Enjoy them!!”
Thus Theodor ended up holding Shuria in one hand and cotton candy in the other.
The problem was that the large cotton candy Shuria was holding kept blocking Theodor’s view.
Actually, rather than blocking his view, it bothered him that the cotton candy strangely resembled his changed hair color.
The person responsible was eating her cotton candy with a face full of smiles, unaware of her father’s condition.
“Shuri, let’s walk with you on the ground.”
“…Mm, okay.”
Was she absorbed in eating? Her response came much later.
After setting Shuria down on the ground, Theodor fell into slight contemplation.
Now, what should I do?
If they continued like this, he felt like he might lose the child.
It was at that moment that Shuria extended her hand toward Theodor.
Normally he would understand this to mean she wanted him to hold it.
But since Theodor had never particularly held a young child’s hand in his life, he couldn’t grasp her intention and just stared quietly.
It was then that Shuria’s voice reached him.
“Papa, in places like this you have to hold hands so you don’t get lost. If you’re going to raise a child, you need to know that.”
…Somehow, he felt like she had stolen the words he should have said.
Once they held hands, Shuria regained her stability and quickened her pace.
It was the moment when Theodor, feeling anxious watching her run excitedly while shaking her large cotton candy and tied-up hair, opened his mouth to calm her down.
“Walk a little more slow…”
Shuria’s feet got tangled and her body pitched forward.
But fortunately, Shuria didn’t become one with the ground.
The moment Shuria was about to fall, Theodor put strength into his hand and supported her body.
“Aren’t you being careful?”
Do you know what happens to me if you get hurt?
Though he fortunately only said that inwardly, it probably wouldn’t have mattered if he had said it aloud.
Theodor’s words weren’t reaching Shuria anyway.
Her attention was entirely focused on the cotton candy she had dropped.
Tears began to well up in her pink eyes as she watched the cotton candy roll once in the wind and fall into the mud.
Startled by this sight, Theodor rushed in front of Shuria to check her condition.
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
When Theodor blocked her view, the cotton candy was no longer visible, and unable to hold back, Shuria finally cried out with tears.
“My cotton candy!”
…Good grief.
Hearing those words, Theodor felt his rationality cool down.
Feeling slightly annoyed, he picked up Shuria again and spoke.
“…Where are you hurt?”
Looking at her unharmed body, she didn’t seem to be injured, but it wouldn’t hurt to check anyway.
Even at Theodor’s words, Shuria finally nodded and spoke.
“I’m fine, thank you for catching me. Papa.”
She seemed to have calmed down somewhat now, but her voice still carried moisture, perhaps because she was very upset about dropping the cotton candy.
Seeing this, Theodor let out a small sigh and handed her the cotton candy he had been holding.
“Eat this.”
This was because Shuria had shown gratitude.
If she hadn’t thanked him, he would have dropped it on the ground like that cotton candy, he thought insincerely.
Though she received the cotton candy again, Shuria didn’t rashly put it to her mouth and looked around cautiously.
Feeling that gaze, he felt annoyed again at the cotton candy blocking his view and spoke.
“What now?”
Was she intimidated by Theodor’s attitude? Shuria’s gaze fell away from him.
“…You…don’t have any…”
Her dejected mumbling voice was hard to hear.
The pink eyes that always looked at him were now directed at the ground, and the voice that had been loud enough to split the sky was now smaller than an ant on the ground.
Finally realizing he had been sharper than usual, Theodor softened his expression and lifted her in front of him to meet her gaze.
But Shuria was still avoiding Theodor’s gaze.
“Look at me.”
Only after hearing his firm voice did her gaze turn upward.
She wasn’t hurt and had received cotton candy, so what could be so upsetting? Though he couldn’t understand the sniffling Shuria, Theodor spoke in a gentle voice.
“What’s making you so sad?”
Only after another moment passed did Shuria, seemingly calmed down, open her mouth.
“Because of me, daddy can’t eat the cotton candy.”
But Theodor still couldn’t understand her.
He couldn’t comprehend crying over such a trivial reason.
He had only accepted it when they gave him another one, and he hadn’t even planned to eat it.
Taking a deep breath to find peace and stability for his mind and body, Theodor opened his mouth again.
“Daddy doesn’t need to eat it.”
“That’s a lie!”
That’s why Theodor never expected such a reaction from Shuria.
“You were saving it and didn’t even touch it!”
Whether she had regained her energy, her loud voice drew everyone’s attention.
Feeling embarrassed by the gazes pouring down on him, Theodor’s face turned red.
“I was holding it to give to you.”
In truth, he had just been carrying it around without much thought.
Though it was a lie, whether he threw it on the ground, tossed it in the trash, or it went into Shuria’s mouth made little difference to him, so broadly speaking it wasn’t that different, he convinced the Magical Diagram in his mind.
Fortunately, it seemed to work, as Shuria’s expression brightened and her distress disappeared.
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“Then I can eat it all?”
“Yes.”
So now, let’s go.
Theodor deliberately ignored the people’s gazes still directed at him and began walking again.
It was the moment they left the market that Shuria held out the cotton candy to him.
“Ah, say ah.”
He had never heard such words in his entire life.
Just as Theodor opened his mouth to ask what she meant, not understanding Shuria’s words.
“What did you, ugh…”
A piece of cotton candy entered his mouth.
The sweet treat instantly melted and disappeared in his mouth, and he saw Shuria’s brightly smiling face.
“It’s delicious, right?”
Theodor’s impression of the cotton candy was nothing more or less than a lump of sugar.
He couldn’t understand what was so delicious about it that made her eat it so happily.
Yet why couldn’t he answer no?
“…It’s delicious.”
Before he knew it, a smile had appeared on Theodor’s lips, and seeing him like that, Shuria’s smile became even brighter.
“Yeah, thank you daddy.”
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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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