Let’s Make Saving a Habit - Chapter 21

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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 21
I lifted my head with jerky, mechanical movements, like a broken wind-up doll.
The Old Gentleman, who had said he would handle urgent business and return, stood directly in front of the door with his arms crossed, looking down at me.
A tremendous pressure emanated from him that words could not describe. It was clear how angry he was.
Cold sweat beaded and dripped down my back.
I wasn’t always well-behaved and stayed home every day, but I never expected the Old Gentleman to return precisely on the night I came back unusually late.
I had wanted to greet him with the brightest smile whenever he returned.
Instead of offering a cheerful greeting, I stammered out a pathetic excuse.
“I, I just went to visit the Ageratum Merchant Company.”
“After confirming you weren’t home, the first place I went to was Ageratum.”
Ah, so he had already been there.
I desperately averted my gaze and swallowed hard, my throat dry.
I couldn’t bring myself to meet the Old Gentleman’s eyes.
When I fell silent and offered no further excuses, the Old Gentleman continued speaking.
“If not for the Neighbor Woman’s testimony that you were home until this morning, I wouldn’t have even thought to wait for you to return—I was too anxious.”
I decided to try smoothing things over with clumsy affection, clinging to his leg like sticky rice cake as I spoke.
“Old Gentleman, I’m sorry. I don’t usually stay out this late, but today was just the one time I came back a bit late, that’s all!”
“…A bit?”
“Hehe, a bit, or maybe… a lot?”
A deep sigh drawn from the depths of his lungs echoed down from above my head.
“Old Gentleman, are you very angry?”
“Yes.”
At his blunt response, I trembled with fear.
Oh no, what do I do? He really seems very upset.
I should have left a note before going out.
Strangely, whenever I stood before the Old Gentleman, I felt like a child again, unable to control my emotions.
It wasn’t that I was afraid of him.
I simply feared he might think me a bothersome child when I wanted so desperately to leave only a good impression.
As I kept my mouth firmly shut, the Old Gentleman continued.
“…In that brief time, so many thoughts crossed my mind. I deeply regretted leaving you here alone, so young.”
Each word the Old Gentleman spoke was a fatal blow. I could imagine how much he must have worried.
The Old Gentleman knelt on one knee to meet my eyes.
“I was angry with myself. I couldn’t forgive myself. I’m sorry, Tania. For leaving you alone…”
Hearing that his anger was directed at himself, not me, I lifted my head sharply in response.
“You didn’t do anything wrong, Old Gentleman! Why are you apologizing to me?”
His face was etched with unbearable anguish. His contorted expression and firmly closed lips seemed to overflow with regret.
…Why. Why?
At this point in time, the Old Gentleman had known me for barely two months. And we had only lived together for one of those.
I wasn’t even a cute child my age should be, nor was I one who listened well.
So why did he care for me so much?
Was it because I was pitiful, abandoned by my family? Or did I truly resemble the Old Gentleman’s first love?
I needed to know the reason so I could act more carefully.
When I asked why he was apologizing, he didn’t answer.
He simply gazed at me quietly, then slowly drew me into an embrace. His warm presence calmed my heart, which had been racing with confusion.
The way he held me firmly in his arms, his hands securing me close, was reminiscent of a father comforting a child.
Tears threatened to spill from my eyes.
But if he discovered I was thinking such things, he would surely disapprove.
So I was suppressing the tears that wanted to fall.
His arms tightened slightly around me, and a voice tinged with quiet resolve reached my ears.
“Tania, I will never leave you alone again.”
“…What?”
“I’ve left the Mercenary Company. I’m a freelance mercenary now. It’s the optimal arrangement for raising you.”
“You left the Golden Silver Mercenary Company you were affiliated with?”
“Yes.”
Good heavens! What kind of place was that to simply leave?
The Golden Silver Mercenary Company was, in substance, the most formidable military force in the Empire—save for the Imperial Knight Order and the private armies of high-ranking noble houses.
Of course, my plan did require the Old Gentleman to leave the Golden Silver Mercenary Company.
I had intended to be adopted into Duke Papiope’s Mansion and hire him as my personal knight.
With the stringent security of a ducal mansion, no faction would dare touch him easily.
Even if things went terribly wrong and he died once more, the Duke’s Mansion, with its superior intelligence network, would uncover the cause.
But the Old Gentleman leaving the Mercenary Company simply because he didn’t want to leave me alone was not part of my plan.
In the previous timeline, he didn’t return home until around the time I’d forgotten his face.
Why was he trying to stay with me this time?
I pushed him away in shock and stared into his amber eyes.
“So you didn’t leave because of an urgent commission—you left to quit the Mercenary Company? Because of me?”
“I thought a young child like you needed an adult present.”
I was furious.
The Old Gentleman didn’t need to sacrifice this much for me.
I was sick of his sacrifices. I wanted to be the one helping him.
I was old enough now and skilled enough to actually provide assistance.
“What are you saying! You’ve known me for only two months—what makes me so precious that you’d abandon a lifetime of mercenary work?”
“You’re precious.”
It was an answer composed of merely three words, yet I could only stare at him blankly.
My mind went blank, and I couldn’t even grasp how to process this situation.
The Old Gentleman, seeing me unable to speak and only moving my lips soundlessly, smiled faintly and asked with solemn sincerity.
“So then, Tania. Will you become my daughter?”

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A barrage of shocking words left me unable to gather my thoughts.
It took me a long while before I could open my mouth, but my voice emerged pathetically, trembling.
“Old Gentleman….”
Asking me to become his daughter. What was he saying?
In the previous timeline, he had despised being mistaken for a father and daughter so much.
I couldn’t understand why the Old Gentleman’s thoughts had shifted so completely in the opposite direction.
If I were to accept his adoption proposal here?
I would be happy.
But I couldn’t guarantee the Old Gentleman’s safety.
My save-load ability was indeed broken. That didn’t make it omnipotent, though.
Even if I overcame crises with my ability, ultimately, if I didn’t eliminate the root cause, the Old Gentleman would continue living under constant threat to his life.
Was I supposed to watch him die and get hurt every time?
It was horrifying.
Of course, if I rewound time, it would become as if it never happened. But the memory would remain vivid in my mind.
Besides, the Old Gentleman still covered his face whenever he went outside.
I wanted him to live with his face openly revealed.
For that, there was no better occupation and place than serving as a knight of Duke Papiope’s Mansion.
I didn’t know what the Old Gentleman had done in the past to be hunted.
But I didn’t think for a moment that he had committed anything dishonorable.
He wasn’t a criminal, so why should he hide his face? I simply couldn’t leave it alone.
After all, I should reject the Old Gentleman’s adoption proposal….
That was when my heart had begun to lean toward refusal.
The Old Gentleman, growing anxious at my prolonged silence, broke the stillness first.
“Tania, I know I’m an insufficient person to be your father. That I lack the qualifications.”
“….”
“But I want to be with you. I want to watch you grow into an adult.”
My heart had only just begun to lean toward rejection.
But hearing the Old Gentleman directly persuade me to become his daughter shook my heart profoundly.
I had never lived closely attached to the Old Gentleman before.
Perhaps I could save the Old Gentleman after all?
What if I laid everything bare to him and solved the problem together? Wouldn’t something change?
Becoming the Old Gentleman’s daughter had been my lifelong wish.
Right now, just one word from me could make that wish come true….

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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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