SMFLS 02

Chapter: 02

Hello! My Future Father-in-Law (2)

The man’s voice was as cold and chilling as the seaside in the middle of winter.

Sertisha raised her head and looked up at him.

His face, with its languid, predatory features, looked more sorrowful than frightening.

Did he love my grandfather as much as Tisha did?

As though trying to comfort the sadness and emptiness reflected in the man’s eyes, Sertisha gently took hold of his fingertips.

At the touch of the little girl’s warm body, the man’s cold hand flinched for an instant.

His amber eyes lowered toward her.

A small, soft hand, smaller than a pen shell.

So this is the granddaughter who will soon turn seven.

Grand Duke Hicaros Roden recalled the stubborn old sea otter who had proudly spoken of her as his one and only little granddaughter.

The old man had always been so obstinate and cold, yet whenever he talked about his granddaughter, he became remarkably affectionate.

Hicaros silently watched the little sea otter, who was struggling to hold back her tears because the adults had turned the funeral into a social gathering.

How much time passed like that?

The priest who had been overseeing the funeral approached from a distance. He knelt before Tisha and spoke.

“Little Chieftain, may we begin the funeral rites now?”

With her grandfather’s passing, Sertisha was said to be the rightful heir to the Ritea family and would inherit the position of chieftain.

Perhaps that was why it felt so strange and awkward to hear the priest, whom she had known since childhood, address her as “Little Chieftain” instead of “Young Lady.”

Tisha isn’t the chieftain…… Grandpa is the chieftain…….

Feeling gloomy and frightened, she tightly grasped the man’s cold fingers.

Her eyes grew hot, and the tip of her nose began to sting.

She needed to answer, but her lips only trembled, refusing to open.

Sensing that tiny tremor, the man naturally lowered his gaze toward Sertisha.

The little sea otter had reddened eyes and was trembling like a leaf, curling up as though trying to hide herself.

Watching her, the man spread open his broad cloak and quietly wrapped it around the little sea otter, concealing her from view.

“Don’t mind the child. Go ahead and begin.”

The priest, too, took one look at Sertisha’s condition and quietly nodded.

Then he walked toward the sky-blue coffin.

“We shall now begin the funeral rites.”

With the priest’s words, the funeral ceremony began.

Through a small gap in the dark cloak, Sertisha watched as her grandfather’s face disappeared behind the lid of the sky-blue coffin.

The sight of him gradually disappearing before her eyes squeezed her little heart.

It felt as though a cold, heavy emptiness were seeping into the depths of her heart.

I won’t be able to see him anymore.

She would never see her grandfather’s wrinkled face again, nor the long brown beard he had grown so proudly.

She would never hear the voice of her stubborn yet kind grandfather again.

As her grandfather’s face slowly vanished, the lips that had refused to part earlier finally opened a little.

“D-Don’t…… go……”

The voice that escaped her was so faint that it seemed it would scatter the moment it touched the wind.

As soon as her voice fell silent, something hot rolled down from the corners of Sertisha’s eyes.

Sertisha clutched her chest as though she couldn’t breathe. The sorrow she had desperately kept bottled up burst forth all at once with her tears.

Only then did she feel the truth deep in her heart: everything was real, and her grandfather had truly left her.

Don’t go…… I’m not okay yet…… I’m not ready to be alone…….

Sertisha clung even more tightly to the man’s fingers beneath the cloak.

It was as though holding on to his hand would allow her to keep from losing even the one remaining source of warmth in this cold, vast world.

“Sniff…….”

Her grandfather’s voice echoed in her ears.

A great chieftain doesn’t cry.

If I cry, I won’t become a great chieftain. Don’t cry, don’t cry, Sertisha.

Grandpa is gone now, too…… Tisha is the chieftain of the sea otters now…….

Just as she repeated those words to herself, trying to pull herself together, a calm yet gentle voice descended over her head.

“Cry. Just cry.”

“……?”

Following the man’s voice, Sertisha lifted her head slightly.

She couldn’t see his face because of the cloak. It felt as though her breath had stopped.

Something in the corner of her heart gave a little twinge, and the tension eased ever so slightly.

It was the moment she realized she wasn’t alone in the world.

“You’re inside my cloak, so no one will notice. It’s okay to cry, little sea otter.”

The man’s voice came again.

Grand Duke Hicaros adjusted the cloak to cover her more securely, then awkwardly patted her small, round head.

At that single, gentle touch, Sertisha poured out everything she had been forcing herself to hold back, as though she could no longer contain it.

After that, the cloak moved with her quiet sobs for a long time, but it remained closed.

Even until the moment her grandfather’s coffin was laid to rest beneath the sea.

The funeral came to an end quickly.

The funerals of beastfolk nobles were very different from those of human nobles.

Unlike humans, who set aside several days for mourning before sending off the deceased, beastfolk customarily concluded funerals as swiftly as possible.

They needed to appoint the next chieftain as soon as possible to lead their people, leaving little time for prolonged mourning.

Thus, no matter how young the heir might be, the position of chieftain naturally passed to them upon the death of the previous chieftain.

And so, despite being only six years old, Sertisha took her seat as the head of the Ritea family.

Perhaps that was why the family elders began volunteering to become her guardians whenever they saw her.

Young Sertisha found their gazes and whispers overwhelming.

The looks in the adults’ eyes as they surrounded her, a child who was still so young, felt nothing but cold.

When a young beastfolk inherited the position of chieftain, they could choose a guardian to manage the family on their behalf.

It was a position anyone would be eager to obtain.

After all, the Ritea family was a family worth coveting.

The story her grandfather had told her as a child—The Savior of the Continent of Di Lesha, the Five-Colored Guardian—was a continental myth passed down through generations among both humans and beastfolk.

The Ritea family was the very family founded by the guardian in that five-colored legend.

Situated at the center of the Five-Colored Sea, the Ritea family was the ruling family responsible for governing the semi-aquatic beastfolk who lived both in water and on land.

Under its rule were countless races, including otters, beavers, capybaras, alligator snapping turtles, water buffalo, and hippopotamuses.

The thought that she was now responsible for all of them weighed heavily on young Sertisha’s heart.

Having spent the entire day crying and crying, Sertisha’s face had swollen until her cheeks were as puffed up as a pufferfish.

She buried herself beneath the blankets on her grandfather’s bed.

Only the warmth and softness of the blankets allowed her to forget the sorrow of her loss, if only for a little while.

Two days had passed since the funeral.

Sertisha was still hiding herself in the shelter of her grandfather’s shadow.

Her butler, Rix, and her personal maid, Tillo, occasionally stopped by to check on her. However, they were also busy attending to the guests staying at the estate and looking after the family elders.

“Come to think of it, I wonder if that man is still at the estate.”

The man who had hidden her so securely beneath his cloak, cold yet warm at the same time.

Lying in the cozy bed, Sertisha slowly blinked her drowsy eyes.

“I…… hope…… I can…… see him…… again…….”

Her heavy eyelids gradually closed, and a soft, steady breathing sound escaped her lips.

It was hardly unusual. She had been repeatedly crying herself to sleep.

All she could do was earnestly hope that she might meet her grandfather again in the land of dreams.

Sertisha had a dream.

It was an office that looked vaguely familiar yet somehow unfamiliar, illuminated by the faint glow of moonlight.

Sitting in the office chair was a girl with the soft, light-beige hair characteristic of sea otter beastfolk, which flowed down her back.

It was impossible to tell her exact age, but one glance was enough to see that something was terribly wrong with her.

Perhaps she hadn’t been eating or growing properly, because she was terribly thin—almost emaciated.

Although Sertisha could only see the girl from behind, she instinctively knew the truth in her dream.

That’s Tisha as an adult.

But…… why is she so thin……?

Her once-chubby cheeks had become so gaunt that she resembled a starfish deep beneath the sea, while her arms and legs were as skinny as coral branches.

Even her hair looked coarse for a noble young lady.

Is this a dream?

The scene was so vivid, even though it was only a dream……

Just as she was wondering how to wake herself up, the adult Sertisha sitting in the office chair turned around.

Even that single movement seemed to make the air in the office tremble under a heavy pressure.

The eyes of young Sertisha and adult Sertisha met directly.

For an instant, the younger girl’s breath caught in her throat.

The adult Sertisha’s pink eyes, as seen by her younger self, were dull and lifeless.

It was as though her soul had died, leaving behind nothing but a doll……

A deep silence filled the room, so profound that even breathing seemed dangerous.

Crackle, crackle—

The only sound filling the office was the firewood burning in the fireplace.