Chapter: 04
Hello! My Future Father-in-Law (4)
Whoooosh—
Crash, whoosh—
Crash—
The sticky sea breeze carried the salty scent of the ocean, while the sea, infused with the colors of the Five-Colored Waves, undulated as though it were breathing.
Floating gently on the surface was a little sea otter covered in pale beige fur.
It was Sertisha, in her sea otter form rather than her beastfolk form.
Her light sand-colored fur shimmered softly beneath the sunlight.
Her plump belly, chubby front paws, and broad, flat tail swayed lazily as she moved through the waves.
To keep herself from being swept away by the waves, the baby sea otter had wrapped strands of seaweed, planted by the adult sea otters, snugly around her body.
Unlike the adults, the baby sea otter’s waterproof fur had not yet fully developed, making it difficult for her to maintain her body temperature or swim properly.
That was why the adult sea otters had planted special seaweed near the entrance to the sea.
It was a precaution to prevent young sea otters from being swept away by the waves while practicing how to adapt to the ocean.
“Waaah.”
After confirming that the seaweed was firmly wrapped around her body, the baby sea otter—or rather, Sertisha—let out a small cry.
She couldn’t skip her ocean adaptation training because she had promised her grandfather that they would do it together every day.
Letting her body drift with the rolling waves, Sertisha stared blankly at the blue sky.
The sky was as vast as the sea, without a single cloud.
As she gazed up at it absentmindedly, she remembered the story about pearls that Delphina had told her earlier that afternoon.
So they’re the legacy of the Five-Colored Guardians…….
How is Tisha supposed to find something like that?
“Waaah…….”
She had come out here for the first time in a while, yet all she could do was sigh.
Sertisha preferred going out to the sea over studying. Every time she came here, her spirits soared to the heavens. But now, on top of having to say goodbye to her grandfather, she was burdened with the pressure of finding the pearl, and she couldn’t stop worrying.
To make matters worse, tomorrow was the day of Sertisha’s succession ceremony.
There hadn’t been a white pearl among the last batch she’d examined, either.
If there were none even after searching this thoroughly, she had to assume that there simply weren’t any white pearls inside the Ritea estate.
“Waaah…….”
Just as she let out yet another sigh, having lost count of how many she’d heaved—
“Such a little thing, already sighing like an old person.”
“Huh?”
A shadow fell across the surface of the sea.
Sertisha widened her round eyes and looked up at the owner of the shadow.
“Hello, little sea otter.”
Hicaros crouched beside the baby sea otter, who was blinking at him in a rather vacant manner, and greeted her.
However, Sertisha couldn’t return the greeting of the man she hadn’t seen in a while.
After all, he was sitting right on the surface of the water.
W-What……? Is he a ghost?
The horrified baby sea otter looked back and forth between the man and the seawater, flailing her chubby little paws as she struggled to untangle the seaweed wrapped around her body.
But perhaps because her limbs were so short and stubby, the more she struggled, the more the seaweed tangled around her body, bunching up into a hopeless knot.
Hicaros watched the baby sea otter wriggling and squirming as she tried to escape the seaweed.
Her adorable cries of “Eek! Waaah!” and her squirming ball of fur looked just like a freshly fried shrimp tempura.
It was both amusing and cute, and he found himself unable to look away.
If I tease her any more, will she start crying……?
Suddenly remembering the stubborn old man who would fly into a rage if anyone made his precious granddaughter cry, Hicaros gently began untangling the seaweed.
While doing so, the back of his hand was lightly scratched by one of the baby sea otter’s claws.
It was an extremely shallow scratch, but a single red drop of blood formed on his skin.
Hicaros paid it no mind and finished removing the seaweed.
“There’s no need to be surprised. This is magic.”
“Huh? Waaah?! (Magic? There’s magic like this, too?!)”
“I don’t know what you’re trying to say, but ma-gic. Understand? Hmm…… Maybe you’re still too young to know what that is?”
What are you talking about?! Tisha knows what magic is, too!!
Grandpa taught me that magic is something humans learn!
Sertisha furrowed her brow and protested with a series of indignant squeaks.
Despite all her efforts, Hicaros could only see an adorable baby sea otter making cute little squeaking noises.
“You make such cute little sounds.”
For some reason, seeing a baby sea otter for the first time made something ache faintly in a corner of his heart.
Unaware of the small change within himself, Hicaros finished untangling the seaweed and lifted the thoroughly soaked baby sea otter into his arms.
She’s so light…….
The baby sea otter was so light that he could barely feel her weight in his arms, and the corners of Hicaros’s mouth naturally softened into a smile.
Is it because she’s still a baby?
Or are sea otters naturally lightweight creatures?
The only sea otter I know is that stubborn old geezer, so I wouldn’t know.
Unlike Hicaros, who was busy enjoying the soft, squishy sensation of the baby sea otter in his arms, Sertisha had no time to pay attention to him.
The moment the drop of blood on the back of his hand entered her field of vision, the Guardian Ability reacted on its own.
It was as though a small ripple had appeared in her consciousness, just like a pebble falling onto a still body of water.
Huh?
This is…….
It seemed to be a glimpse of this man’s past.
After all, the face she saw belonged to her beloved grandfather, whom she missed so dearly and who could no longer possibly be here in the present.
Her grandfather’s dimly lit bedroom.
Her grandfather was sitting on the bed, and the man was standing beside him, keeping him company.
The man looked somewhat gloomy.
His tightly pressed lips and lowered gaze carried a fatigue and resignation that seemed impossible to shake off.
In a dry voice—or perhaps one that had been worn down after asking the same question countless times until even his last shred of hope had been exhausted—he spoke.
“Can you find him? The child is probably…… around the same age as your granddaughter.”
At the man’s low, subdued question, her grandfather was silent for a moment as he caught his breath. Then he shook his head.
“It pains me to admit this, but it’s impossible for me now. How can an old man whose strength is failing possibly use the Ripples of Light freely?”
“……”
Before her grandfather had even finished speaking, the man’s shoulders visibly slumped.
He lowered his head like someone whose very last thread of hope had just snapped.
Her grandfather gazed at the man whose expression had darkened completely, then released a long sigh from deep within his chest.
Compassion and sorrow were intertwined in that sigh.
“Have you been taking good care of your adopted son? Even if you adopted the child as a cover, shouldn’t you take responsibility once you’ve brought him into your family?”
“I know…….”
The man fell silent for a moment, then raised his head with his teeth clenched.
“But I must find her son. No matter what. So please, just one last time. Just one more time, I beg you.”
The man who had appeared so dignified and proud at the funeral had finally knelt before the old man.
There was no pride or dignity left in his posture.
All that remained was a desperate longing to recover what he had lost.
Her grandfather let out another deep sigh before speaking.
“No. I can’t see anything more with my current abilities. But don’t lose hope. It’s simply that I’m not the one who will find your son.”
“What do you mean by that……?”
As though he had sensed something hidden in her grandfather’s words, the man abruptly raised his head.
That was where the vision ended.
Like someone who had been holding their breath underwater before suddenly surging up to the surface, Sertisha’s vision began to distort.
The dimly lit bedroom shattered alongside the sound of the waves, and the scenes filling her eyes disappeared as though washed away by the current.
“Huh……?”
When she came to her senses, warm sunlight was once again pouring over her eyelids, accompanied by the gentle sea breeze.
The blue sky, the rolling surface of the sea, and the faint scent of blood carried by the wind……
And right before her eyes was the face of the man looking down at her.
Noticing Sertisha’s gaze, the man spoke.
“What is it? Why did you suddenly space out like that?”
Even after hearing Hicaros’s question, Sertisha merely blinked blankly.
Looking at his face and hearing his voice brought the images she had just witnessed flickering back into her mind.
The emptiness filled with desperation and resignation.
This man has been searching for his biological son for a long time.
Knowing better than anyone how painful and heartbreaking it was to lose a family member, Sertisha gently patted the man’s upper arm with her chubby little paw.
“Hmm?”
A question mark seemed to appear above Hicaros’s head at the baby sea otter’s sudden behavior.
Unaware that Hicaros was looking at her strangely, Sertisha remained nestled in his arms, reflecting on the memories she had just seen.
Whatever the circumstances, this man and my grandfather were deeply connected.
It seems he absolutely needs the Guardian Ability of the Ritea family to find his biological son.
And then there were her grandfather’s final words.
“No. I can’t see anything more with my current abilities. But don’t lose hope. It’s simply that I’m not the one who will find your son.”
I’m simply not the one who will find your son.
Did that mean someone other than her grandfather could find the man’s son?
Only the head of the Ritea family could use the Ripples of Light.
Could it be……?
Is that person Tisha?
BOOM—!
“Huh? Waaah?!”
Is Tisha the last hope for finding this man’s son?!
“I still have no idea what you’re trying to say.”
Hicaros had carried Sertisha from the surface of the sea to the sandy beach.
He looked down at the baby sea otter, who was holding both of her fluffy paws against her cheeks.
Judging by her behavior, she looked as though she had suffered some kind of shock.
Her little pink, bead-like eyes had long since lost their focus.
Rather than speaking to her, Hicaros took off his cloak and used it to dry the baby sea otter’s damp, fluffy fur.
I hope there’s nothing wrong with her.
As far as Hicaros knew, baby sea otters had not yet developed waterproof fur, making it difficult for them to regulate their body temperature, let alone swim well.
Worried that her body temperature might drop because of her wet fur, he wrapped the baby sea otter snugly in his cloak.
As he did so, he let out a short sigh, wondering why he was going to such trouble in the first place.
Hicaros was relatively kind to children, but that didn’t mean he was entirely accustomed to dealing with them.
He was still awkward around his own adopted son, after all.
The reason he had approached this little sea otter was the old man who headed the Ritea family.
Perhaps because of what had happened at the funeral the other day, he couldn’t seem to stop worrying about this little sea otter.
Unaware of Hicaros’s thoughts, Sertisha tried to wriggle her way out of the stuffy cloak.
No! This man is going to suffocate this sea otter!
“Waaah! Waaah!”
“You’re such a tiny thing, yet you’ve got quite a temper.”
“Waaaah!”
The Grand Duke Hicaros kept wrapping the cloak more securely around the baby sea otter every time she tried to escape, while the baby sea otter struggled desperately to get away from him.
Their little battle only came to an end once Sertisha’s baby fur had become thoroughly fluffy and soft, even crackling with static electricity.
