CVS 02

Chapter 2

Galizad Pasayen.

Diegon’s father and the head of the Pasayen family, he was without question the king of the sea.

In his younger days, he had conquered the sea with nothing but his fists, and even now, he was strong enough to beat a whale to death with his bare hands.

Although his hair and beard had turned completely white with age, the muscles packed tightly across his entire body had not disappeared.

And so, even today, Galizad’s shirt was engaged in a difficult battle for its life.

“Wouldn’t it be better to just take it off if it’s going to be like that?”

Diegon picked a fight with him the moment he entered the family head’s office.

Galizad didn’t even bother responding to such an insolent remark.

It was obvious why his youngest son had come looking for him.

Instead, he simply said what he wanted to say.

“No. Stop. Go back. I’m not accepting her.”

“I haven’t even said anything yet.”

“She’s a child chosen by the Ancestral Whale. If you’re dissatisfied, go and punch the Ancestral Whale in the jaw yourself.”

Diegon narrowed his eyes at his father’s irresponsible words.

“How could I commit such an act of filial impiety?”

The Pasayens of the Horizon.

They were a ducal family that occupied a long stretch of the southern region of the Baratheum Empire.

When a member of the Pasayen bloodline died, they returned to the sea and became divine beasts.

Among them, the founder of the family and the first duke was the Ancestral Whale.

In other words, telling him to land a punch on the Ancestral Whale was an act of tremendous filial impiety.

And defying the Ancestral Whale’s will was equally unthinkable for a Pasayen.

“What you’re trying to do to me right now is filial impiety, you fool. Look at this! I spoiled you rotten, and now you’re making a fist at your own father.”

Galizad clicked his tongue.

Then he slowly stood up, clasped his hands behind his back, and looked down beneath the desk.

There was something there that was so tiny it was almost like a gooseneck barnacle rather than a turtle.

The child looked up at him without crying, completely unafraid.

“How strange. Even though I’m deliberately suppressing my presence, I should still be frightening. As an Awakened, she should be able to withstand it to some degree, but…”

Yet the child’s legs weren’t trembling at all.

She truly wasn’t afraid.

Not of this situation.

Not of the adults.

That was when—

“Roasted marshmallow…”

A tiny murmur came from somewhere.

“Did you just call me that?”

“Gasp!”

The child was startled and immediately covered her mouth with both hands.

But before she did, Galizad had already caught sight of it with his hawk-like vision, sharp enough to see all the way beyond the horizon.

A thin line of drool…

At the corner of the child’s mouth.

Oh, no.

What do I do?

I was flustered as I rolled my eyes around.

Actually, the distance from the handsome man’s room to the handsome grandfather’s room was really far.

The handsome man hadn’t slowed down to wait for me, either.

Since my legs were so short, I had to toddle along behind him like a little chick, and I quickly became hungry.

I had already been thinking about marshmallows before the door even opened, and then, by coincidence, Grandpa ended up looking like a marshmallow.

So while Grandpa and the handsome man were talking, the only thing floating around in my head was the thought of roasted marshmallows.

“This is the sort of thing she is.”

“Well, fine. I thought you looked like a gooseneck barnacle, so let’s call it even.”

That’s delicious, though.

He compared me to something tasty, so I wasn’t offended.

I generously nodded.

“You really hated it when I called you a sea squirt earlier.”

“That’s not yummy.”

Yep, I liked tasty things.

I’m hungry.

Actually, I had been picked up right before lunchtime.

And I hadn’t eaten anything since.

Naturally, my rationality was gradually fading away.

I’m hungry…

I almost sucked my finger, but then I flinched and firmly stopped myself.

My Carrot Class teacher had told me that once I turned five, I wasn’t allowed to suck my fingers anymore.

I had a habit of unconsciously sucking my thumb whenever I was hungry, so I had to fix it.

Because I was the class president!

But… but I’m so hungry.

Grandpa and the handsome man continued talking about something.

My vision was starting to turn white, so I raised my hand high.

Because you had to raise your hand when you wanted to speak.

“What is it, little one?”

Fortunately, the handsome man gave me permission to speak.

So I conveyed my opinion as politely and prettily as possible, in a way that adults could understand.

“I don’t wanna be that mister’s daughter. I wanna bake snacks.”

Please send me to the kitchen!

But I didn’t go to the kitchen.

Instead, I ended up somewhere even better.

A room overflowing with food.

“My eyes are spinning…”

“Oh my, how adorable. Please try this apple crumble pie, too.”

“Mm-hmm, thank youuu!”

There were lots of aunties wearing very pretty maid uniforms.

And the aunties brought me all sorts of things, from bread and pies to cookies and macarons.

“Mmm! It’s delicious!”

Apple jam and cream got smeared around my mouth.

I carefully wiped it off while simultaneously reaching for a macaron.

Actually, I eat a lot for my size.

You could say I was the official glutton of Ppukkam-Ppukkam Daycare Center.

“Oh my goodness, little one. Why are you here?”

“I’m hungry…”

My first memory was of a day when snow was falling heavily.

I had been wandering around aimlessly, starving, until I stopped in front of a place where a delicious smell was coming from.

There was an iron gate to keep people from entering freely, so I crouched down in front of it and sucked my fingers.

Somehow, sucking on my fingers while smelling the food made me feel like my stomach was getting fuller.

I couldn’t even cry anymore, and I couldn’t walk.

The person who found me sitting there, pale and alone, was my Carrot Class teacher.

“Does Syu want Carrot Class or Scrub-Scrub Class?”

“Carrot Class!”

That was why I joined Carrot Class.

Scrub-Scrub Class sounded a little… unpleasant, too.

It sounded like I would have to scrub something dangerous.

Besides, I preferred being a kitchen maid, where I could sneak bites of all sorts of things, over being a cleaning maid.

Anyway, that was why I was incredibly happy right now.

“Gasp.”

A moment later, I suddenly came to my senses.

The strawberry macarons had already disappeared from my hands.

Five of them.

They disappeared that quickly?!

It had to be magic.

I can’t eat them all by myself. That would make me greedy.

After reflecting on my greed, I slowly put the macarons down.

“Oh? Little miss, you’re not going to eat any more?”

“Mm-hmm. They’re for my friends.”

How many were left?

“One, two, three… five… eight. Hng, that’s not enough…”

What should I do?

My face immediately turned gloomy.

Of everything here, macarons were the most delicious. So I wanted to give them to my friends, but…!

After thinking hard, I suddenly jumped up from the sofa.

Then I marched toward the aunties, who were trembling with laughter as they watched me.

Of course, even my most energetic stride was only a quarter of an adult’s step.

But it was a powerful stride by my standards.

“Um.”

I briefly wondered what I should call her, but then I remembered that my teacher had said it was okay to call all adults “Teacher.”

“Teachah, I wanna ask you somethin’.”

“Yes, little… Pfft! You’re so cute!”

“Could you give me just one more?”

“Why… why just one?”

The brown-haired auntie trembled.

I spread all ten fingers toward her and confidently explained.

“There are nine friends in Carrot Class, but Syu ate one.”

“You have nine friends, but there are only eight macarons left?”

“Yep!”

“Then why are you holding up ten fingers?”

Gasp! She caught me!

I wiggled my fingers for a moment before simply giving her a sheepish smile.

“Syu wants one more, too.”

“Aaaaah! I can’t take it anymore!”

“Eek?!”

The brown-haired auntie suddenly lifted me up and hugged me tightly.

It was a little suffocating, but I didn’t mind because she was someone who would give me more macarons.

I was getting sleepy, too, now that my stomach was full.

So I stretched out my short arms as much as I could, hugged the auntie tightly, and rested my cheek against her shoulder.

“Thank youuu.”

I didn’t forget to thank her, either.

I miss Teacher. Hehe.

I could go home now, right?

After all, I said I didn’t want to be his daughter!

That was when—

Just as I was dozing off, there was a loud BANG!

My eyes immediately went wide.

I stared at the broken door with my mouth hanging open.

A moment later, the handsome man appeared with a frown on his face.

“Let’s go, sea squi—… I mean, horseshoe crab. I’ll raise you.”

Then… does that mean I can’t go home?

I tilted my head in confusion, but first I asked the maid auntie to put me down.

Looking through the broken doorway, I saw that Grandpa seemed to be sitting in his chair, with his back turned toward us.

“Goo’bye. Thank you for the food!”

Even so, I bowed deeply, bending at the waist until my head nearly touched the floor.

I hadn’t forgotten who had given me all that delicious food.

“What are you doing instead of coming?”

The handsome man leaned crookedly against the wall and raised an eyebrow at me.

I tried to copy his expression, but my face started feeling strange, so I gave up.

Instead, I put my hands firmly on my hips.

“You gotta say goodbye to Gwandpa.”

“Just go.”

“No.”

“Go.”

“No.”

“I’m leaving you behind.”

“Then… then… that’s good!”

I quickly grabbed the maid auntie’s skirt tightly.

Then I whispered in a quiet but perfectly clear voice.

“Gwandpa who doesn’t say goodbye is a bad uncle…”

“……!”

“You shouldn’t follow a bad uncle.”

At that moment, a muffled laugh, Pfft-kuk, burst out from behind the enormous back of the chair.

Without even having a fight, Diegon had suffered his second defeat.