I Summoned the Demon King and Got a Dad - Chapter 60

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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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60. Cottage (1)

There are days like that.

When the sky is exceptionally clear.

And blue.

When the weather is so nice.

That you don’t want to work.

Today was one of those days for Theodor.

Thinking that the sun outside the window seemed particularly bright today, Theodor focused on the documents spread before him.

Though it didn’t last long.

No matter how superhuman Theodor’s concentration and mental strength were, he was still just a demon.

His mind was strangely scattered.

He still couldn’t concentrate.

With Elisia on vacation, all the manor’s work fell to Theodor.

This meant he had no time to do anything else.

It would be nice if Shuria came by on a day like this.

With that excuse, he could do something else for a bit and then be able to concentrate again.

But Shuria was apparently so busy that she hadn’t shown her face once today.

Now that her only scheduled activity—receiving lessons from Elisia—was gone, Shuria was surely one of the most idle people in the Empire.

It would be nice if it snowed.

If snow accumulated, he could use that as an excuse to take Shuria outside.

Theodor found himself hoping for once that Shuria would come disturb him.

Of course, he could go find Shuria himself.

But that strangely hurt his pride.

A father going to see his daughter in the middle of work—wasn’t that really strange?

Work and personal matters had to be strictly separated.

So Theodor turned his eyes back to the documents and fortunately succeeded in concentrating again.

Had about thirty minutes passed?

The door opened.

There were only two people who could enter his room without knocking.

With Elisia away from the manor, there was only one.

Theodor lifted his eyes from the documents and muttered the name as if it were obvious.

“Shuria.”

But the person who entered wasn’t Shuria.

Elisia.

He saw the familiar pink eyes.

There should still be days left in the vacation he’d given her, so why had she returned already?

Before Theodor’s question could fade, Elisia spoke.

She had read his confusion.

“Didn’t you hear from Shuria?”

“I didn’t hear anything.”

At Theodor’s answer, Elisia smiled to hide her bewilderment and spoke.

“I promised to take her to a cottage.”

“A cottage?”

“Didn’t it appear in a fairy tale book? She said she wanted to go, so I bought one.”

He thought he knew which fairy tale book it was without being told.

Recently, Theodor had read that book to Shuria at her request until he was sick of it.

He was now at a level where he could recite the contents without the book.

What she wanted to do there was obvious.

Cut down trees herself to build a campfire, then roast marshmallows over it.

Sleep inside the cottage while eating warm soup and bread, listening to old stories and the crackling sounds of the fireplace.

Then wake up in the morning to find snow piled up outside the window.

The contents of the fairy tale book automatically played in his head.

It seemed like it would be really boring and uninteresting.

“May I join as well?”

“Of course, I came back early knowing you would.”

Saying this, Elisia walked to Theodor’s desk and began gathering the documents one by one.

At this unexpected action, Theodor stared at her blankly.

With both hands full of documents, Elisia smiled brightly.

“Well then, let’s work hard so we can leave tomorrow.”

Thud.

The sound of the door closing was heard.

Theodor stared blankly at the door where Elisia had disappeared for a moment.

It was a strange feeling.

Had he ever felt such emotions toward someone before?

Even knowing that finishing more work would let them leave for the cottage sooner, Theodor couldn’t immediately start working.

* * *

“We’re going to the cottage! The cottage!”

Unlike the delighted Shuria, Theodor’s expression as he held her hand wasn’t very good.

It was because he still couldn’t concentrate and had stayed up several nights in a row.

Though he had barely finished his work on time, the accumulated physical fatigue was another matter.

Seeing Theodor looking obviously tired, Elisia spoke with a worried voice.

“We could leave with more time to spare.”

“It’s fine, I’ve finished all the work.”

At Theodor’s answer, Elisia was about to retort that work wasn’t the problem, but closed her mouth.

He was someone for whom worrying was meaningless.

No, a demon.

Sighing softly, Elisia bent her knees to meet Shuria’s gaze.

“Let Daddy sleep during the ride, shall we play with big sister today?”

At Elisia’s words, Shuria looked back and forth between him and her, then smiled brightly.

“Okay!”

He was grateful for the silent consideration.

The emotion that had been disrupting his concentration for days rose again in Theodor’s mind.

Theodor hesitated, then gave a small greeting.

“Thank you.”

At his words, Elisia just smiled without any reply.

The three of them got into the carriage.

Shuria sat next to Elisia, and Theodor sat across from them. He closed his eyes while listening to their conversation.

It was at that moment he felt a presence.

Shuria was approaching him with a blanket.

She placed the blanket on his lap, then neatly arranged it for him.

“Daddy, cover yourself.”

Pride was evident in Shuria’s voice as she said this, and while Theodor was grateful for her thoughtfulness.

…the pink floral blanket was quite troublesome.

The design was so bright and cute that Theodor hesitated before speaking.

“Thank you.”

Shuria returned to the seat next to Elisia, and Theodor closed his eyes.

The blanket was warm and cozy.

How much time had passed? When Theodor opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was the empty front seat.

Both Elisia and Shuria had disappeared.

Just as the startled Theodor was about to sit up.

“Mmm.”

Voices came from both his side and below simultaneously.

Startled, he froze and looked down to his side and below, where he saw Shuria and Elisia.

Shuria was lying down using his knee as a pillow, while Elisia was sleeping with her head leaning against his shoulder.

At the sight of the two looking so peacefully content, he felt both relief and bewilderment at the same time.

Theodor sat back down in his seat.

Both of them seemed to still be asleep.

Theodor pulled out the blanket he had been covered with and draped it over Shuria.

Then he noticed Elisia shivering.

Theodor let out a small sigh and carefully removed his shoulder from under Elisia, supporting her position with his hand.

He was taking off his outer coat to cover her with it.

As the warm, thick clothing was placed over her, Elisia’s expression became much more comfortable.

Even as he carefully withdrew the hand that had been supporting her head and placed it back on his shoulder, Elisia didn’t wake up.

That fact made him strangely amused.

After stroking Shuria’s head as she slept so soundly, Theodor fell asleep again.

It was a peace he could hardly believe was his own.

Only the breathing of three people could be heard inside the carriage.

Among the three, Shuria was the first to wake up.

Children naturally sleep less anyway.

Rubbing her eyes and wrapping herself in the blanket Theodor had covered her with, Shuria walked to the small window in the carriage.

White snow was falling outside the window.

It was just the right amount of snow—neither too much nor too little.

If that much snow fell all night, they would surely be able to build a snowman tomorrow.

They wouldn’t be able to have a campfire outside, but building a snowman would certainly be fun too.

Thinking this, Shuria woke up Theodor.

“Hug.”

Seeing Shuria’s face first thing upon waking, Theodor let out a quiet sigh.

“Shuria, Daddy’s name isn’t ‘hug.'”

“Hug.”

“…There’s no getting through to you.”

Even as he said this, Theodor hugged Shuria.

“Motion sickness?”

“None.”

“Hungry?”

“Yes.”

“Ugly?”

“Huh? No, I’m not ugly!”

No getting through indeed.

Theodor turned his head away, avoiding Shuria’s glare as she started staring at him.

Then he made eye contact with Elisia, who had just woken up due to Shuria’s outburst.

Flustered, Theodor momentarily tried to look away, then realized there was no reason to avoid her gaze and met her eyes again.

And so the two of them locked eyes.

Only after a brief moment did Theodor realize he had engaged in a pointless staring contest.

Elisia had also found it strange that Theodor kept staring at her.

“Do you have something to say?”

“Did you sleep well?”

“I slept well.”

Saying this while yawning, Elisia stretched.

“Have we arrived?”

“It seems we’re almost there.”

And Shuria, who had been watching their conversation, puffed out her cheeks.

“You didn’t ask me if I slept well!”

“Because she’s higher in rank than Daddy.”

“Don’t lie! Daddy is the Demon Lord, so how can anyone be higher than Daddy!”

Unnecessarily smart, isn’t she.

Theodor clicked his tongue inwardly.

But Theodor knew how to appease Shuria.

“Did you sleep well, our little princess?”

“I slept well!”

Simple, isn’t she.

Theodor chuckled softly and patted Shuria’s head.

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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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