The Youngest Hides a Lot - Chapter 280

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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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Side Story 6
The message had come across as somewhat presumptuous, but that was surely because the magical device had malfunctioned.
I was certain the original message had read something like “Duke Leviathan, I miss you,” before being cut off.
“That brat. She may seem aloof, but she secretly adores me.”
‘I’m afraid that doesn’t appear to be the case, sir.’
Even the capable Adolf, my butler, had seen through to the truth.
“Indeed. Your child-rearing has been quite successful.”
He tactfully humored his master’s sensibilities.
“I’m rather proud of myself. So then… when exactly are they arriving?”
Leviathan casually glanced out the window and crossed his legs.
Outside, the day remained bright and clear.
“They should arrive before dinner, sir. According to Leon, Kalid has taken over the young lady’s escort from the Mage Tower.”
“So she intends to play around outside a bit longer, does she?”
Leviathan rose from his seat with a soft sigh.
Gazing out the window, the quiet expanse of the Townhouse came into view.
“She said she missed me, yet here she is, running off elsewhere.”
“Hehehehe. Isn’t that simply the nature of young love, sir?”
Adolf hastily added his comment.
“Between… friends.”
Fortunately, Leviathan seemed too absorbed in gazing outside to pay it much mind.
As he quietly observed the mansion, Leviathan impulsively drew upon his senses.
Out of habit, he detected the movements and sounds of the mansion.
It was quiet and serene.
The mansion that once bustled with the voices of children was no more.
My children no longer played hide-and-seek, no longer raced competitively through the Training Ground, and no longer sledded down the snowy Hill.
Like a solitary figure left on a stage after a long performance had ended, Leviathan suddenly felt a profound loneliness.
“I worked so hard to provide for them so they could live carefree lives. Why are all my little ones so busy working?”
They say the true goal of child-rearing is independence.
As Adolf had said, I had apparently accomplished the objective of child-rearing far too perfectly.
The children no longer stayed close to home.
And my precious youngest daughter, whom I cherish more than my own eyes… she seemed to be meticulously preparing for complete independence from my embrace.
“Sigh.”
Leviathan pressed his forehead as he thought of Rubian and Kalid.
Truly, it was lonely.
Perhaps I should have simply gone on that filial piety trip with Ballock instead (courtesy of Rubian)…
‘For some reason, I have a feeling I’ll hear something rather awkward this evening.’
His sharp eyes narrowed slightly.
Should I just flee?
Such idle thoughts crossed my mind because, in truth, I had been quite free of late.
The world had become peaceful.
I no longer needed to keep my senses razor-sharp to protect my family as before, nor did I have to clench my fists around hatred and resentment toward the Mage King.
Rubian was safe now.
And perhaps it was no longer my role to stand by her side.
‘It feels like I’ve lost my purpose.’
Another long sigh escaped me.
This wouldn’t do.
I needed a change of pace.
“Where is Rose?”
“Ah, the lady is….”
Leviathan decided to seek out another person who, like himself, carried the weight of an empty nest.
Early summer, the lush Garden of the Townhouse.
The pink roses he adored were in full bloom there.
“Shh.”
Leviathan lowered his footsteps and silenced the maids with a gesture.
Rosetta lay reclined in a long lounge chair beneath a tree, fast asleep. The area around her was scattered, as if she had been tending to the roses just moments before.
He quietly took a seat beside her and watched his wife in her afternoon slumber.
Seeing her savoring the languid afternoon, a smile naturally bloomed across my face.
This was it.
The peace I had always dreamed of.
‘Yes.’
This was enough.
I was content simply watching Rosetta sleep without a care in the world.
‘Well then, perhaps I should devote myself more earnestly to this role as a husband.’
With that thought, even if my role as a father faded, it seemed I would feel less lonely.
He gently removed the straw hat that sat askew on her head, stole a kiss while he was at it, and decided to sit quietly reading beside her until she woke.
“Mm.”
Just then, Rosetta, who was leaning against his thigh, shifted her body slightly.
‘Is she dreaming?’
Leviathan remained still and gently patted his wife’s shoulder.
In his effort to protect his wife’s peaceful sleep, he never managed to turn a single page of his book.
In her childhood.
Rosetta believed she lived inside a gift box.
“Wow!”
Because she received gifts every single day.
“Mother, mother!”
Today she had received a beautiful container of sunlight as a gift.
When she held it up to the sky, wasn’t the beautiful sunlight brimming inside the transparent walls!
“Amazing!”
Mother might jump right up when she saw this.
Four-year-old Rosetta ran down the Hill.
The day before yesterday, I received a magnificent cloak with a jagged hem and comfortable shoes with open toes.
Well, to be honest, I more ‘discovered’ the gifts than received them, but what does it matter!
My sturdy legs climbed up the Hill, and with each step, gifts came tumbling down—crash, crash, crash.
How many more gifts could be buried beneath this place that I haven’t yet uncovered?
Rosetta giggled and ran without pause.
Somewhere on Gift Mountain, a small tent stood precariously.
As I crept inside, I found a gaunt woman lying there.
“Mother! Look at this! The sunlight is… huh?”
“….”
My head tilted. The sunlight I’d stored in the bottle had vanished.
“What’s this? Did it run away out of shyness? Ouch!”
The moment I touched the edge of the sunlight container in confusion, a sharp sensation shot through my fingertip, and blood began to well up.
I wanted to cry from the pain but held it back.
‘I wanted to show Mother the sunlight, but it ran away.’
That was what truly upset me. In any case, the sunlight container seemed rather fierce, so I’d have to be careful with it.
Mother’s eyes rolled in their sockets as she lay there.
Even with her body in such a state, Mother always clutched a small box tightly to her chest.
‘Is that a gift box Mother received? Would it be alright to ask to see it later?’
Though truthfully, I would have preferred if she held me instead of the box….
‘I mustn’t make Mother sad!’
With that thought, I rummaged through the bag at my side.
“Oh, that’s right. I received this too!”
A chunk of bread appeared with a flourish.
I tore it into small pieces and placed them in Mother’s mouth along with water.
The old man who lived with us on Gift Mountain would share bread and water. Since we didn’t receive it every day, it was quite precious. It was the old man who had taught me that ‘gift’ meant something good.
I carefully placed the bread into Mother’s cracked lips, put some in my own mouth and chewed, then prepared to resume my exploration.
“Mother, I’ll gather more sunlight for you. But your voice still won’t come out today?”
Mother, who had been staring at me, began to shed tears as she always did.
“Yes… I understand. Hehe.”
I responded cheerfully and turned away.
‘The old man said Mother’s sadness has closed her throat, so tears come instead of words.’
I needed to gather more gifts.
If I could find a gift Mother loved, perhaps her voice would return.
‘Like it used to be.’
Back when Mother could still speak.
Mother had held me and said:
“She said it was a gift. The Baron said he would give me a gift….”
“….”
“This must be the gift. Hahaha! This is… the gift he spoke of, a gift! Isn’t it? Rosetta!”
“Yes!”
From that moment on, Rosetta believed without a shadow of doubt that she lived surrounded by gifts.
And so more time passed.
“…What are you? Why are you holding a broken milk bottle?”
A young man who shone more brilliantly than sunlight appeared…
“Don’t tell me you actually live in this garbage dump?”
Until he spoke those words.
Rosetta’s world was solid,
and terribly lonely.

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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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