Star Child's Parenting Diary - Chapter 12

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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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Episode 12
Chapter 4. Shushu’s Warning (2)
The first thing that struck him was the realization that his life hung by a thread.
Late-blooming horror crawled up the back of his neck.
His broken sense of fear seemed to creak back into motion at last.
“First things first—we need to stop the bleeding.”
Argares knelt beside Ethan, his brow furrowed as he examined the wound.
Blood from the split brow had soaked his lashes, and beneath the torn skin of his face, fragments of jawbone and teeth were laid bare.
Even marshaling every scrap of medical knowledge he possessed, Argares knew this would not heal easily.
“…Aspe.”
“Y-yes, Your Highness.”
“Can you move?”
“Yes.”
“Take Setia and Berdia. Get them somewhere to rest.”
Ethan couldn’t risk turning his head lest the wound tear further apart, his voice thick with strain as he gave the order.
Aspe staggered to his feet at the doorway only to collapse again.
“Your Highness, I’m sorry. I can’t seem to walk…”
Aspe trailed off, unable to finish.
Everything was in ruins.
The walls had crumbled, leaving a clear view to the outside, Ethan was drenched in blood and wracked with trauma, and Setia could barely draw breath.
Argares, at least, held fast to his composure, though his face betrayed the same grim weight.
And what made their situation still more bleak was the fact that Berdia had used the Power of Stars only…
…not even a full day ago.
A single attack. And this was the toll it had taken.
Worse still, assaults like this would surely come again, in endless succession.
They needed to prepare.
‘First, contain this situation. Then report to His Majesty that those creatures have appeared…’
“Mister! Um, are you…okay?”
Just then, Berdia poked his small face out between Setia’s arms.
The child’s gaze sought out Ethan.
And froze in horror.
* * *
Blood is bright red.
And when blood flows, the pain is sharp enough to draw tears.
“…Mister…”
“Don’t look.”
Setia hurried to cover Berdia’s eyes with her palm, but it came too late.
The image of Ethan’s face—slicked with blood—had already burned itself into the child’s sight.
In a world where so much was still gray, the one face that had always been clear now ran red.
“…It hurts…”
It took Berdia a moment to process what she was seeing.
The Black Room choked with acrid smoke.
Ethan’s ruined face and the blood that soaked through his clothes.
Even through innocent eyes, the severity of his wounds was unmistakable.
Was it the doing of that Black Star that had appeared just moments ago?
Was that Black Star a bad star?
And yet, the presence that had revealed itself within it…
[You must not reach me.]
It had seemed to need help.
Did Ethan have to suffer like this—had to take this wound—just because she wanted to help that star?
Berdia felt lost in confusion.
The man was hardly someone she could trust completely, not yet. But still—Ethan was a good person.
She didn’t want him to be hurt.
She wished he wouldn’t be in pain.
When she fell running and scraped herself, even a tiny wound stung. How much agony must a wound like that cause?
“Mmph…”
Berdia’s nose crinkled, and then fat tears began to spill down her cheeks.
“Waaahhh!”
“Don’t cry, Berdia. All right?”
“Wahhh…”
“Don’t cry, please…….”
Setia fumbled to wipe the child’s cheeks and stroke her back, but Bel only wept more pitifully.
“I will return.”
“Our star.”
The Black Star had promised to come again.
It seemed Bel alone was its purpose.
What if the Black Star came again next time and hurt Ethan more?
‘I hate this.’
What if Ethan was wounded so badly that he left her side forever?
“Sniff…….”
His face was already so disfigured now.
The worry that she might never again be able to mimic Ethan’s funny expressions only deepened Bel’s sorrow.
“Mister, it hurts…….”
Bel thrashed in Setia’s embrace, desperate to reach Ethan.
Strength drained from the woman’s already exhausted arms, and Bel’s body came free—she rushed straight toward him.
“Bel, you can’t come over.”
“Don’t. You’ll get your clothes dirty.”
Ethan flinched when he saw Bel approaching him.
Even in that brief instant, his expression twisted—clearly it pained him greatly.
Bel’s lips pouted out stubbornly.
“Mister…….”
“Don’t come any closer, I said.”
Bel pressed forward regardless and threw herself into his arms.
Ethan neither pushed the child away nor embraced her, standing stiffly in awkward silence.
“Does it hurt?”
“Not at all. So go wait in another room for a bit.”
A lie.
Up close, Ethan’s wounds were far more serious.
Bel, who had never been hurt so badly before, felt her tears grow heavier still.
“Stop crying.”
“It hurts, it hurts…….”
“Listen to me. I said stop crying.”
His reproachful voice cracked hoarsely.
Yet even as he scolded her, his hand stroking her head and patting her back remained so tender that her tears would not cease.
“Does it hurt a lot?”
“Not much at all. This kind of thing heals quickly…….”
Heals quickly?
Bel’s eyes brightened as she caught Ethan’s reassurance.
[That’s right, our little one. Stop now. This will heal up in no time at all.]
Yes!
‘Shushu!’
Whenever Bel was hurt and cried, the director and Shushu were always there.
The director wasn’t beside her now, but Shushu was a star that appeared when called by name.
It would surely come if Bel summoned it.
“Mister, Shushu!”
“Do you want whipped cream?”
“Shushu!”
“Aspe, stop slacking and get up—give the kid something to eat…….”
In that instant.
A pale yellow puff of cotton materialized before Ethan with a soft pop.
Truly, literally—pop!
“Shushu!”
Bel lifted her tear-streaked face and called out to the cottony mass.
She had missed Berdia too, and now seeing Shushu, the sorrow rushed back.
The tears that had paused began to well up large in Bel’s eyes once more.
“Mister, it hurts…….”
Her voice, trembling with tears, carried such despair and anguish.
Anyone listening felt their heart would break.
“It hurts.”
At Bel’s words, the cottony mass began to swell and expand.
What had started smaller than Ethan’s fist swelled in an instant to dwarf his face.
Then four stubby protrusions burst from the round, cottony mass with a pop.
Four of them, no less.
“……What is that……? Ugh!”
Ethan had been about to furrow his brow when pain lanced through him, drawing a thin gasp.
“Heeeeey.”
As if on cue, the creature’s cry swelled louder.
In the process, two black dots appeared on the cotton mass like eyes painted on.
Pop, pop.
A soft-looking snout emerged.
Pok!
Then a mouth formed above it, shaped like the numeral 3 on its side.
“Hmph.”
Ethan stared in disbelief at the crude, stuffed-toy appearance.
[Hey there, you rough bastard.]
A thick, gravelly man’s voice poured from the creature’s cute little form.
It was the sort of voice that belonged to a blacksmith hammering away in some forge.
[Well, well. You look like hell, don’t you?]
“Shushu!”
The voice was familiar to Bell.
The child hugged Shushu tight as if he were a stuffed doll.
“Mister, it hurts. It hurts.”
[There, there, little one. Stop now.]
“It hurts. Mister…….”
[All right, all right.]
Shushu stroked Bell’s head with his stubby little arms, then tore off a piece of his own cottony body and gently wiped the child’s tear and snot-streaked face clean.
[There, there, little one. Your face is an absolute mess.]
Bell pointed toward Ethan while feeling the Spirit’s gentle touch.
[Can you do it? Can you?]
“Mm.”
[You can’t yet, it seems.]
Shushu chuckled softly and tore off another piece of his cotton body.
[And you over there, rough fellow.]
“Ugh.”
He then began patting Ethan’s face repeatedly with the cottony scraps.
Ethan, suddenly covered in unknown fuzz, irritably swatted at the stubby limbs with a grimace.
“Back off.”
[Haha! What a vile temper you’ve got.]
Tsk! The cotton mass clicked its tongue sharply.
The Spirit, its round button eyes narrowed at Ethan, suddenly spun around.
[Already grown again, have you.]
Muttering softly in a voice thick with affection, the cute little hands continued wiping Bell’s tears.
The gesture was nothing if not intimate, yet there was something unsettling about that cotton mass against the child’s face.
In the end, Ethan snatched Bell away from the Spirit.
“What are you rubbing on the kid’s face?”
[What do you think?]
The cotton mass replied indifferently, though it wasn’t much of an answer.
The grating tone made Ethan’s brow furrow of its own accord.
But unlike before, there was no dull ache.
‘The wound…….’
Ethan raised his hand hesitantly and wiped his cheek.
There was still dried blood, but the wound itself had clearly healed clean.
“Mister.”
Bell climbed into Ethan’s lap and suddenly grabbed him by the collar.
Without hesitation, the other hand reached up and grasped his face firmly.
“Does it hurt?”

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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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