The Golden-Handed Baby Fixes Everything! - Chapter 6

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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 6
“…That’s an interesting point, I’ll give you that.”
“Hm? Wha-what do you mean…?”
Instead of answering, he ruffled my hair with both hands.
Pfff.
Between the hair tickling my face and my struggle to recover, a teasing voice reached me.
“Well, now I’m a wicked uncle. What should I do with you?”
“B-but Melloni still likes Uncle! Pfft, I-I like you!”
Only then did the hands tangling my hair come to a stop.
Did… did it work?
I smoothed my messy hair and glanced up at the uncle.
Through the strands blocking my view, Oliver’s face flickered into sight.
But then.
‘…His expression looks strange again.’
A dazed sort of look.
Yet once I brushed away the hair obscuring my vision and looked again, his face was the same as always.
‘What? Was that just my imagination?’
I was tilting my head in confusion when—
“Wh-what?”
My body suddenly lifted off the ground, and my stubby arms and legs dangled in midair.
Oliver had scooped me up and tucked me under his arm.
“…Uncle?”
“Right, Melloni.”
Melloni? Wait, is that… me?
It was a ridiculous nickname, but it beat being called a mud monster or a little ghost.
Well, nicknames are a sign of affection, after all…
Meanwhile, he started striding forward with long, confident steps.
The place where he finally stopped was in front of Ricky’s room.
‘Looks like it only took about five steps.’
I’d been huffing and puffing the whole way here, though…
‘Is this what they mean by the difference in leg length?’
Oliver set me down on the floor while I trembled, overcome by a sense of unfair inequality.
Then he bent at the waist to bring his eyes level with mine.
“Melloni.”
“Hm?”
“Ahh—”
“Ahh?”
I opened my mouth as he told me to, and something popped right in.
I blinked and rolled the thing around on my tongue.
‘Huh, this is…’
Candy!
I adore sweets, but since they were a luxury, I’d never dared to crave them.
When I could barely scrape by from day to day, candy was out of the question.
The only candy I’d ever tasted was what some noble had tossed to me out of pity while I was begging.
‘Though it was nothing but crumbs…’
In comparison, this one was a big, round drop of candy.
“Mah-shi-ta…”
Shivering at the wonderful sweetness, I made Oliver let out a small laugh.
“You keep the blanket, Melloni.”
“Huh?”
“Don’t give it to me. Just use it yourself.”
“N-nooo, it’s not right, it has to be…!”
Sssslup.
Talking was already hard enough, and with candy in my mouth, my words came out even more garbled.
Slurp, slurp.
Swallowing the drool pooling in my mouth, I hurriedly tried to unwrap the blanket.
But.
‘What’s wrong with this thing?’
I’d wrapped it around my body so many times that the blanket wouldn’t come loose.
As I wriggled about on my own, a murmur drifted down from above.
“Ah, so it was a pupa.”
No, that’s not it at all, I’m telling you it’s a present!
But I didn’t have the presence of mind to correct him.
“Just a little!”
Desperate, I put every ounce of strength I had into wriggling out of the blanket.
It seemed faster to just shrug it off like a coat.
“Ugh-nnn.”
At the very end the blanket snagged on my head and I flailed about with a whine, but-
“Ta-da!”
In the end, I succeeded in pulling myself free of the blanket.
But.
“…Huh.”
Oliver had already vanished.
* * *
An empty room.
In the space where nothing had been, a slanted crack split open.
And from within it, a long leg suddenly poked out.
“…Pfft.”
It was Oliver, no, Conti, clamping a hand over his mouth.
Back in his room, he leaned against the wall and let out a burst of laughter.
In his mind surfaced the child with the white hair.
After successfully wriggling out of the blanket all on her own, she thrust out her chest with pride, only to stare at the empty spot and mutter in a hollow voice.
“…Huh.”
He even remembered the sight of her staring at the empty spot and muttering in a hollow voice.
White strands clung to his face in a messy tangle, like the marks of a fierce battle.
“Honestly….”
It had been fun.
It had been so long since he’d smiled so purely.
His life had always been listless and dull.
Back in his childhood.
“A person’s strength and abilities come with a corresponding duty. Since you, young master, are far superior to others, you must bear greater obligations than they do.”
Whether those words, repeated until his ears grew sore, were truth or not.
The older he grew, the more tedious and dull things became.
To the point where he could no longer tell the difference between death and life.
So, at a time when he was just thinking about simply dying.
“Conti, come here!”
That was when he met Ravella.
The one who had painted his life in vivid colors, who had shown him the joy of living-
‘…Damn it.’
Conti’s face hardened with a jolt at the woman he’d unconsciously conjured up once more.
Over his cold, dead expression, a dry smile flickered.
‘Right. It’s been four years.’
Feeling something as joyful as this, I mean.
Four years ago, after Ravella’s death.
His endless boredom had come rushing back.
Conti, his expression sunk low, tossed a candy into his mouth.
Clatter.
In the stillness, only the sound of him sucking on the candy echoed softly.
* * *
After my grand bribery scheme ended in failure, I sank into a brief funk.
‘…Somehow, all my plans keep failing.’
Of course, the funk only lasted a moment.
About a day, maybe?
With Brambshua’s doors liable to shut at any moment, I didn’t have time to mope around.
‘If bribery won’t work, then let’s try the family strategy!’
What does “family” mean?
Doesn’t it mean people who sit down and eat at the same table?
‘Which just goes to show how important it is to eat together.’
Yes, exactly so.
That’s why last night I left a note outside Uncle Oliver’s door.
“Let’s have lunch together tomorrow. I’ll wait for you at the cafeteria.”
Of course. I’m thorough to the core.
“You can’t thit there!”
Snickering, I stopped Ricky, who was carrying his tray and naturally about to take the seat across from me.
“You don’t want me to sit here?”
“Mm. Thath thpot’th taken.”
“Taken? Jeanne can’t be the owner, right…?”
Ricky stole a glance at Jeanne, who was sitting beside me.
Slowly, the color drained from his face.
“No way. Oliver… sir? Wait, just Oliver?”
“Mm.”
“…You like him that much?”
“Mm. I like him.”
At my answer, without a moment’s hesitation, Ricky blinked.
His narrowed gaze settled on me.
“But I’m a little hurt, you know?”
Hurt? Me?
“Kiddo. We’ve known each other for over two years, and you like Oliver better, who hasn’t even been here that long?”
Oh. I was left speechless, so all I could do was blink.
For once, his words had hit the bullseye.
‘Yeah. I guess he could be hurt…’
But honestly, if I had to pick between Ricky and Oliver—
‘For now, Ricky is still better.’
Not that I don’t like Oliver. I do.
Sure, I’d approached him with the sly aim of getting into a better orphanage, but even setting that aside, I wanted to become close to Oliver.
Somehow, I’d grown attached to him at an alarming speed.
‘But that really is strange.’
He’s clearly nothing like me, so why does he feel so familiar and endearing?
‘Well. Maybe it’s because we’ve gotten closer and all sorts of things have happened?’
As I pressed my lips together, lost in my wandering thoughts, Jeanne cut in.
“Ricky, Melloni looks uncomfortable. It’s a good thing she’s making a new friend, so what’s the big deal?”
“Hmph. Sis always picks on me.”
“Aigoo. And how old is our Ricky?”
“Twenty, ta-da!”
Ricky flashed a crisp V sign beside each cheek, and Jeanne and I burst out laughing.
All at once, a wistful feeling welled up in me.
‘These days won’t last much longer.’
The happy times I’d spend in my little paradise, that is.
‘…Right. That’s all the more reason to steel myself and work harder!’
Today, I’ll let Oliver catch a hint about the orphanage.
It’s about time I brought it up, after all.
‘Hmm, I’ll even share some of my carrots with him.’
Not because I don’t want to eat them, of course.
I was quietly stoking my fighting spirit when it happened.
“How ridiculous. Who’d ever pay attention to a brat like you?”
A mocking voice pierced my ears.
‘That voice…’
I flinched and turned toward the direction of the sound.

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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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