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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 84
Chapter Title: A Question on the Water
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Still half-asleep, I found it hard to properly answer Winter.
My eyelids were already growing heavy again.
“Kivrin said he would be fine, but if you feel burdened…”
I wasn’t sure what she was talking about.
Whatever it was, she was probably right.
After all, my mother-in-law cared for me more than Countess Mayol ever did.
I simply snuggled into her arms, a gesture meant to convey that anything was fine as long as it was her.
Winter’s body, which had stiffened for a moment, slowly relaxed, and she patted my back.
“Sleep well. Please.”
As if her words were a magic spell, I fell back asleep.
When I fully awoke, only Mera was by my side.
“Good morning, Little Madam.”
Mera greeted me cheerfully.
I sat up, my hair a tousled mess.
“Good morning to you too, Mera… *Yawn*. Did Mother happen to stop by last night?”
Unsure if it had been a dream or reality, I received a clear answer from Mera.
“Yes. She seemed worried you might be unwell all night due to the short-distance warp.”
So it wasn’t a dream.
Was it okay to feel this touched so early in the morning?
Seeing the undisguised emotion on my face, Mera smiled.
“She used to check on you while you were sleeping before, but these days she visits more often and stays longer. She carves out time despite her busy schedule.”
“Gasp!”
I sucked in a breath.
Now that I thought about it, did Mother say she would visit once a week? Or was it twice?
As I tilted my head, Mera added.
“Oh, the Duke also checks on you frequently. But the Young Lord always kicks him out for being too loud, complaining that you’re too small.”
“…”
Their father-son relationship wasn’t just beyond saving; it was a miracle it hadn’t gone into the negatives.
That day, my parents-in-law also took a break from their duties to simply have fun.
Winter taught me how to play chess, and Menelik suggested a boat ride.
“If you don’t go, Kivrin won’t go either, so let’s go together.”
…He no longer even bothered to wrap his intentions in a plausible excuse.
I asked, dumbfounded.
“But what if the Young Lo—ah, I mean, what if Kivrin says he doesn’t want to go?”
As if he had been waiting for me to say just that, Menelik’s eyes lit up.
“What’s this? Did you want to go with just the three of us?”
“Huh?”
“You should have said so sooner.”
“That’s not what I meant…!”
My hasty reply was useless.
Ignoring my protests, Menelik bid Kivrin farewell.
“We’ll be back.”
“Wait a minute!”
And then, Menelik scooped me up into his arms.
Kivrin, without a hint of regret, waved a very cheerful goodbye.
Winter clicked her tongue but did nothing to stop Menelik.
It didn’t take long to leave the villa and approach the docked boat.
I barely managed to move my lips, which had formed a triangular pout.
“Are you really going to leave the Young Lord behind?”
Menelik’s lips curled into a smirk.
“You know Kivrin has sharp ears, right? Are you sure it’s okay to switch between calling him by his name and not?”
Gah!
“I mean Kivrin, not the Young Lord!”
Walking beside Menelik, Winter murmured.
“It’s been a while since I’ve seen Kivrin smile so brightly. I suppose he really didn’t want to get on the boat, did he?”
“We-well, I saw it too, but!”
Ugh.
In the end, I was carried onto the boat by Menelik, leaving Kivrin behind.
The sea breeze on deck was so refreshing it felt unfair.
Menelik only set me down after the boat had departed.
From a distance, the Coral Villa presented a strange spectacle, swarmed by seabirds.
For a moment, I wondered if Kivrin’s friends from the sea would also be drawn to him.
From above me, Menelik called my name.
“Cheria.”
An ice cream was thrust in front of me.
Drizzled with syrup and generously topped with cookies and blueberries, it immediately captured my attention.
As I instinctively took the ice cream, Menelik gave me a crinkly-eyed smile.
“You’ll forgive me now, won’t you?”
I was never angry, just bewildered…
I took a large spoonful of ice cream and put it in my mouth.
Thanks to Mera tying up my hair, there was no risk of it getting messy in the wind.
Menelik’s eyes, which had been watching me eat, suddenly turned serious.
“Cheria.”
“Yes?”
“I have a question I absolutely must hear your answer to.”
Huh?
As a destroyer of other people’s gardens and the star of a spirit photograph, I felt a little nervous.
“Wh-what is it?”
He looked meaningfully between the sea and me.
“If Winter and I fell into the sea and you could only save one…”
Winter kicked him in the shin.
“What kind of question is that to ask a child!”
That’s my mother-in-law!
I continued to eat my ice cream, and Winter scoffed.
“She’d obviously save me. You can swim back on your own.”
…Excuse me?
Winter’s confident declaration made my eyes dart around, unsure where to look.
Aren’t you overestimating my physical abilities…?
Thinking I’d probably drown along with her if I tried to save her, I asked.
“Have you ever asked the Young Lo—no, Kivrin, the same question?”
Suddenly, my parents-in-law’s expressions grew subtle.
Menelik was the one who answered.
“He asked if the ducal family would be wiped out if he didn’t save either of us.”
“…”
His words felt like they could shatter my very sensibilities.
Menelik shrugged.
“He said he’d probably save us. A relief, isn’t it?”
“…”
I lowered my gaze to my ice cream.
The conversation we just had made me realize something anew.
If the Temple hadn’t intervened, this family would have managed just fine, even with Kivrin being called a monster.
They would have been moderately happy and moderately chaotic.
—*The Temple suspects Kivrin possesses a portion of Del’s supernatural ability.*
The Temple was hostile toward Kivrin because of my past life.
But Kivrin had said he survived precisely because he was mistaken for my reincarnation.
—*Th-they only went this far b-because they mistook me for your reincarnation, Cheria. Y-you saw how upset Rose was.*
—*Sniff, but still…*
—*I-if they found out what I really am, I-I might have been killed before I could even walk.*
His words hadn’t been much of a comfort to me.
What on earth had I been doing in my first life?
Rose, whom I had adopted, called Del a god of destruction, and Cheshire, my self-proclaimed confidant, had asked if I planned on world domination.
The only one who had said anything nice was Kivrin’s past life.
Mmm.
When I stopped eating my ice cream, my parents-in-law looked concerned.
“Cheria? What’s wrong?”
“Are you feeling seasick?”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“Can I ask a question, too?”
Menelik’s eyebrows twitched.
“I have no intention of letting you fall into the water.”
“It’s not about water! It’s… what if I were a bad person?”
I began vaguely.
It wasn’t hard to guess how my parents-in-law would react.
First, they would feel betrayed, then disappointed…
Menelik struggled to hold back a laugh.
“It’s hard to take that seriously when you’re holding an ice cream with a cookie stuck in it.”
I quickly put the ice cream down and put on a very serious expression.
This time, Winter burst out laughing.
“Pfft… Ah, I’m sorry. You’re just too cute.”
“…”
I’m putting a lot of effort into this glare, you know!
Sensing I was about to get sulky, Menelik decided to play along.
“What kind of bad person?”
“A much worse person than you, Father.”
My words shocked Menelik.
“You see me as a bad person? I didn’t even steal your snacks today.”
“You were stealing them on purpose all this time?!”
I thought you were asking because they were genuinely delicious!
I was just as shocked as he was.
Menelik confessed to me as I stood there, mouth agape.
“I actually hate sweets.”
“Th-then all those snacks that were supposed to become my flesh and blood!”
Winter handed the ice cream back to me, the betrayed party.
“Cheria? Even if you were a bad person, you wouldn’t be as annoying as Rick.”
“You’re right…”
I agreed sullenly.
Del would never have done something as cruel as stealing a child’s snacks.
Of course not. Whose reincarnation do you think I am?
Menelik’s eyebrows shot up.
“Did Cheria just agree with that?”
Winter ignored Menelik.
“And so what if you’re a bad person? Neither Rick nor I have lived particularly good lives. And Kivrin is… well, Kivrin.”
“…”
Winter paused slightly when she mentioned Kivrin.
I was suddenly reminded of what Rose had said—*“Even his parents can’t bring themselves to say he’s a good person. You must have a strong stomach.”*—and a strange feeling washed over me.
