I Will Try to Save My Dad - Chapter 123

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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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Chapter 123

Zikal spoke with evident concern.
“I am too conspicuous to guard you from the shadows like a human would. If you insist on walking about in an adult woman’s form, you should be honest with the Captain and ask his permission.”
“Zikal makes a fair point, but Father mustn’t know. He worries so easily.”
“Hmm. But I suspect he’ll worry far more once he discovers the truth.”
“Still.”
If Father found out, it would be catastrophic. The gold Baron Oldman will earn going forward is preparation for our future!
And if there’s money left over, my modest goal is to craft a bed made entirely of gold coins.
“Hehe. Don’t worry too much. Aunt Mariane frightens me so thoroughly that I won’t be changing into that form anytime soon.”
Of course, I still needed to exact revenge for yesterday’s incident.
An assassin, no less. Whoever dared to touch the unsuspecting Baron Oldman would pay dearly for it.
“Will you tell Father, Zikal?”
“If you wish it not, then I shall not. Did I not swear an oath? You are the benefactor who restored our Spring to us. I would surrender my very life to repay such a debt.”
“No, no—you don’t have to give your life for this!”
The mere thought of someone dying because of me was unbearable.
But there were other matters to discuss besides such grim talk. When I had met Zikal in Baron Oldman’s form, he had seemed so uncomfortable that I’d never gotten the chance to ask.
“How is Brokia growing?”
“It thrives. The apothecary grandmother was astonished. We brought back twenty more saplings and replanted them, and the existing plants are now rooting and sending up flower stalks. Once we harvest seeds and cultivate them again, the population will multiply swiftly.”
“Wow!”
If Marshall Grandmother was surprised, then Brokia’s growth must be exceptional. With the population expanding like that, we’d soon have fields, and then commercial recovery potions would flow abundantly!
“You seem delighted. I can hear it in your laughter.”
“Of course! Soon we’ll be able to purchase recovery potions whenever we need them. No matter how severe the wound, there’s no problem!”
….
“Oh. Zikal, I think I need to go the rest of the way alone from here. Thank you for helping me this time.”
We had finally reached the exit of the secret passage that led from outside the Trabel Estate.
The exit opened to the Western Hunting Grounds. But it was better that Zikal, being of the Wild Dog Tribe, didn’t emerge there. If a massive wild dog were spotted roaming the hunting grounds, the Trabel Estate’s Knights would mobilize.
After setting me down from his back, Zikal bid me farewell and offered one final word of caution.
“Should such circumstances arise again, call upon me anytime. I shall repay this debt for as long as the Spring flows. And….”
Zikal lowered his head and gently bumped his nose against my forehead.
“Oh.”
“I still believe telling your father would be best, but if circumstances prevent it, seek out another. Someone you can trust.”
“Another person?”
“A strong human. Someone who can safely keep your secret and protect you.”
A strong person who keeps secrets well?
As I pondered this, I smiled broadly at Zikal. Among the people I knew, there was indeed someone like that.
‘Though not quite as strong as Father yet.’
I smiled at Zikal and spoke.
“Yes!”
“Good. Go back.”
Zikal turned and sprinted back the way he’d come. I waved toward the direction he disappeared, then headed out to the Western Hunting Grounds that connected to the exit.
Zena Chaser would attend morning classes at the Education Hall, then transform back into one of the servants and leave the Trabel Estate. So I just needed to pretend I’d eaten lunch at the Stone House and naturally return to the Education Hall—
“Oh? Theon, what are you doing here?”
As I was leaving the Hunting Grounds to head to the Stone House, Theon was walking toward me.
Theon’s eyes met mine, and he smiled like sunlight breaking through clouds.
“Berry, have you eaten lunch?”

***

21. The Youngest Granddaughter of Count Trabel

Nod.
Reytan nodded slightly as his eyes met Yosel’s.
‘That damned bastard.’
How dare he call me like I’m some stray dog wandering the streets?
‘Just because the clothing business struck gold, he thinks I’m a complete joke…!’
Yosel ground his teeth.
Eight years ago, with a massive investment from Lucian Alexis, Reytan’s clothing brand, Quorta, launched on an enormous scale—and it became a runaway success.
Meanwhile, Yosel’s Clothing Shop, which had been struggling, continued its decline, and now only a handful of branches remained as a facade. Though his carriage business was thriving separately, his dream had been to become the foremost figure in the clothing industry throughout the Heishal Empire!
And that bastard had stolen it from me!
“Yosel.”
“You called, Reytan?”
Yosel scurried over, tail wagging. The habit of acting like Reytan’s subordinate from the Separate House dispute three years ago—when he’d owed two billion cona—still clung to him. Reytan had worked him ruthlessly during that time.
“I have a question.”
“What is it?”
There was one more thing Yosel disliked about Reytan.
Time passed equally for everyone, yet this man seemed to grow more imposing with age rather than actually aging.
Who would believe he was the father of a fifteen-year-old daughter? By appearance alone, Yosel looked older than Reytan.
“On the morning of Brown’s accident, someone left you chrysanthemums and a card, didn’t they?”
“Ah, that? Yes, they did.”
Yosel answered promptly.
He knew how sensitive Reytan was about that incident. Years ago, hadn’t Edgar blown the roof off the Sapphire House because Brown had been carrying a jewelry box that Edgar stole?
The shock from that time still hadn’t faded.
Along with it, Yosel’s own memories of that morning had grown sharper with time. He could still recall the scent of the chrysanthemums placed at his bedside, even the handwriting on the card he’d burned.
“Why are you suddenly asking about something that happened years ago?”
“Is the handwriting here the same?”
Reytan held out the piece of paper he was clutching directly before Yosel’s eyes.
A sentence inquiring after someone’s well-being was written in cursive script. The peculiar way certain letters were angled and the familiar handwriting were identical to that from that day.
“…Ha. How on earth did you find it?”
A dumbfounded exclamation escaped Yosel’s lips.
What a persistently obsessive man. It was an incident from fifteen years ago. He had actually uncovered a clue to the perpetrator whose silhouette had never even been visible.
“Whose handwriting is this, exactly? You’re the one who lured me to the crime scene. So I have the right to know…. Though perhaps it’s better I don’t.”
Yosel shifted his gaze from the paper to Reytan and hastily changed his words.
Those blue eyes tinged with an unsettling gleam. That twisted smile. With the sinister appearance of a ruffian gripping a sword hilt, Yosel cleared his throat with a hmm and quickly averted his gaze before slipping away from his seat. It seemed best not to get entangled in this matter.
Reytan paid him no mind.
‘I’ve caught him.’
At last. I had finally seized the tail of the perpetrator who orchestrated Brown’s accident. All that remained was to pull that tail and see the villain’s face. With a chilling smile, Reytan moved forward without hesitation.

***

“Again? Another damage compensation claim has arrived?”
“…Yes.”
“Where this time?”
“The Seren Art Museum. I’ve dispatched personnel to ascertain the exact amount of damages. …When accounting for various items, it appears to reach a sum comparable to Reytan’s achievements from last month.”
“He deliberately forgot again. Uncannily knowing the moment his performance exceeded Yosel’s.”
Laksek pressed his forehead upon hearing Callet’s report.
Another damage compensation claim had arrived at the Trabel Count Family.
“My lord, there are rumors that illegal trafficking of other races is occurring in the secret auction house beneath the Seren Art Museum. Therefore….”
“Callet. Are you taking that brat’s side right now? There’s only a month and a half left in the performance evaluation period?”
Laksek’s golden eyes flashed as he regarded his aide.
It had already been eight years since Reytan and Berry returned to the Trabel Estate.
In the first Separate House competition, he had maintained Stone House while posting negative results.
The second time was different.
“Just a little more and it would be done.”
With the clothing business performance alone, Reytan had already demonstrated achievements comparable to Yosel’s.
The gap with Mariane was somewhat larger, but it was not an insurmountable performance. Mariane, apparently unwilling to pay settlement funds to Baron Oldman, had scaled back her jewelry business and begun a new cosmetics venture.
“Before Mariane’s cosmetics business takes root, Sapphire House would have been worth targeting.”
But this month’s performance had been entirely consumed by the Seren Art Museum’s damage compensation.
Now not only Sapphire House, but even Emerald House had become difficult to obtain.
“Does Young Master Reytan wish to stand above the other direct descendants?”
“Who said that? He’s tasted money, so let him taste position too. That’s how ambition is born.”
My mouth turned bitter.
In truth, it was Laksek who harbored the ambition. Reytan, who had stubbornly clung to Stone House, was finally showing signs of advancement. Once one climbs, it is human nature to gaze upon the next step.
“That way, the one living with him too-.”
Knock, knock.
The conversation between the two ceased at the sound of knocking.
“Come in.”
“Grandfather! You called for me?”
Only then would that wretch, who clung to the lowest position just like my father, finally develop some ambition.
Fifteen years old this year.
“…Berry.”
“Yes?”
My granddaughter, with her innocent green eyes blinking softly, had grown into such a precious child that she was worth more than gold—and yet.
Laksek forced the corners of his trembling mouth upward, mustering a benevolent smile.
“Why did you blow up the basement of the Seren Art Museum?”

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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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