Let’s Make Saving a Habit - Chapter 22

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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 22
If I were adopted by the Old Gentleman, I could finally call him “Dad” with confidence—a word I’d hesitated to speak aloud all this time.
But if I were adopted by Duke Papiope instead, I would never be able to call the Old Gentleman Dad for the rest of my life.
I didn’t know what to do.
I simply couldn’t make a clear choice between the two.
No matter which path I chose, I would be left with regret and lingering attachment.
In the end, it was likely I would reject the Old Gentleman’s adoption proposal, but I still needed time to consider if there might be another way.
However, before I could say I needed time to think, just this once—
This opportunity might never come again.
[Overwriting current viewpoint with Viewpoint 2.]
I quietly rested my forehead against the Old Gentleman’s shoulder and asked softly.
“If I’m adopted by you, would it be okay for me to call you Dad?”
“Of course. We’d become father and daughter in the eyes of the law.”
“Then, if you’re alright with it… could I try calling you Dad?”
A brief silence fell between us.
The Old Gentleman spoke his permission with emotion woven through his words, as if savoring each syllable.
“…As much as you’d like.”
At his consent, I felt as though I possessed the entire world. My eyes burned hot with an overwhelming joy that threatened to spill over.
“Dad.”
“Yes, my daughter. My daughter, Tania.”
The Old Gentleman tightened his embrace around me, as if to say he would never let go again.
It felt like a dream that the Old Gentleman was calling me his daughter.
Dad. Dad. Dad.
You have no idea how desperately I wanted to call you Dad with such confidence all this time.
“Waaaah!”
I wept bitterly, as if the world itself were crumbling away.
The Old Gentleman’s voice grew thick with emotion too, tinged with a metallic rasp as he continued.
“My daughter… you must have been so lonely all this time. You’ve been suffering so much, and I didn’t even know. I’m sorry. Yes? I’ll do anything, so please don’t cry.”
The Old Gentleman had meant those words to comfort me, but instead they became the spark that ignited a torrent of tears so overwhelming I could barely breathe.
Why did you leave me and die?
I found out about your death so late.
Why did you leave your inheritance to me?
Didn’t you think of me as your daughter even in that previous timeline?
If that weren’t the case, how could you suddenly reverse course and adopt me like this?
I wanted so desperately to call you Dad.
All the tears from the ache that had accumulated in my heart came pouring out.
I wiped my ruined face roughly with my sleeve and looked at him.
My swollen eyes made it hard to see clearly.
“…Dad.”
“Yes, my daughter.”
“Even if it was only for a moment, I was so happy to be your daughter. I’ll treasure this memory for the rest of my life.”
“What…? What are you saying…?”
The father-daughter experience had ended.
Before I became trapped here forever, I had to escape.
[Loading Checkpoint 2.]
My mind was hazy and blurred, as if waking from a sweet dream.
I slowly parted my lips, which had been silent until now.
“I’m truly delighted that you’d adopt me as your daughter. But… I think I need a little time to think about it.”
“Ah…”
The Old Gentleman’s eyes widened, as if he’d received a shock.
Unable to overcome the dissonance from moments before, I hung my head low like a criminal.
“I’m sorry I can’t give you an answer right away. I really do want to become your daughter… but I’m not sure if this is the right choice.”
“There’s no need to apologize. I was too hasty in asking. I respect your opinion.”
I clenched both fists tightly, overwhelmed by an inexplicable sense of frustration.
One week.
I’d spend exactly one week considering if there was any other way, then head to the Talent Cultivation Institute.

✦ ✦ ✦
One week later.
Despite my resolve, I still hadn’t chosen whether to become the Old Gentleman’s daughter or be adopted by Duke Papiope.
The checkpoint I’d saved then was so precious that I couldn’t overwrite it with another checkpoint.
I sighed softly and opened the entire save slot window.
▶Checkpoint 1
Imperial Calendar Year 274, June 19th.
13:41:42 (Age 7)
▶Checkpoint 2
Imperial Calendar Year 274, June 19th.
21:50:29 (Age 7)
▶Checkpoint 3
Imperial Calendar Year 286, October 1st.
12:41:42 (Age 19)
▶Checkpoint 4
Imperial Calendar Year 274, April 20th.
13:07:42 (Age 7)
To reiterate, I have a total of four checkpoint save slots.
Slots 1 and 2 were used alternately for saving and backup purposes.
Slot 3 was a future checkpoint for information gathering.
Slot 4 was a checkpoint for a complete life reset.
But trying to live with only one remaining checkpoint while preserving slots 2 and beyond for later was becoming somewhat overwhelming.
“Should I instead keep the checkpoint where the Old Gentleman proposed becoming my daughter as my life reset checkpoint…?”
But I shook my head.
Besides, I had already joined hands with Ageratum, made acquaintance with that Old Gentleman at the Underground Auction House, and even taken the Papiope Talent Cultivation Institute entrance exam.
It meant I had come to know far too many people for this to be called a life reset.
Most critically….
“I absolutely need to keep a point in time before meeting the Old Gentleman.”
Just in case.
It would never happen, but what if….
If the Old Gentleman ever inflicted a wound upon me that I could never wash away, shouldn’t I at least have somewhere to escape to?
The Old Gentleman was everything in my life.
So, to completely sever my ties with him, returning to the time before I ever met him was the right choice.
That was when it happened—speak of the devil. The Old Gentleman’s voice drifted in from beyond the door.
“Tania, lunch is ready. Come out.”
“Yes, I’m coming!”
I hastily closed the system window before his command could become an order, and hurried toward the dining table.
Today’s main dish was stir-fried vegetables with bacon.
And it contained eggplant…!
Because of my memories of going hungry, I ate almost anything without complaint.
But eggplant alone was truly….
The mushy texture and revolting smell—no matter how hard I tried to eat it, I could only feel nausea and couldn’t swallow it.
I quietly pushed the eggplant aside while watching the Old Gentleman’s expression.
Yet somehow, as if he possessed supernatural perception, the Old Gentleman stared directly at me.
“I… I have a condition where I cannot suppress my anger when I see eggplant.”
“Haha!”
I blinked rapidly in surprise at his laughter.
How strange. He rarely laughed, yet he was amused by my picky eating.
“You’re openly picky, so why aren’t you scolding me?”
“Well… it felt good to see childish behavior. How should I put it.”
“Pardon?”
“Every time I see how mature you are… I’m reminded of the fact that you grew up in an environment where you had no choice but to mature early.”
The Old Gentleman’s expression turned bitter as he transferred the eggplant I had set aside onto his own plate.
“A child should act like a child. You can be spoiled in front of me. You can be unreasonable.”
Then he picked out some of his own bacon and placed it on my plate with a gentle smile.
“That’s what you’re supposed to do.”
…To share his meager meat like that—no matter how I looked at it, it was genuine love.
Mature, he said.
I never knew that my mature behavior would wound the Old Gentleman.
In truth, I had never seriously considered trying to act like a seven-year-old child.
In the future timeline, I had visited the Orphanage several times under the pretense of making donations, preparing for my return to being seven years old.
But….
Real children were fundamentally different in their very nature. It wasn’t something I could replicate just because I wanted to.
I watched a child who had just turned twenty-four months old conversing with the teacher.
The child had something in their mouth, mumbling incoherently while trying to tell the Orphanage teacher something.
“Samni, um-o-go o-tto.”
“Hm? Could you say that again?”
“Um-o-go o-tto.”
…What on earth was the child saying?
Even the teacher seemed unable to understand the child’s words, making one incorrect guess after another.
Then the baby spat out what was in their mouth onto their palm with a pft, and speaking with exaggerated emphasis as if to say stop being so dense, repeated themselves.
“Ikko! Mur-go-tto!”
“Ah, so you’re saying you ate it?”
Once the teacher understood what I was saying, satisfied, the child popped the spat-out object right back into their mouth.
That was when it happened.
I decided to give up on acting like a child.

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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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