Translator: Nox

Chapter 13

I’ll Save My Dad

I’ll Save My Dad, Chapter 14

After fleeing the Contemplation Room as if my life depended on it, I changed into fresh pajamas, draped my wet clothes over a basket, and sought refuge in bed.

[Quartz! Can’t you hear me?]

I can’t hear you. I can’t hear you.

I can’t see anything, and I can’t hear anything.

‘Ugh.’

The problem was that I could hear and see everything perfectly well.

It had crawled out of the pocket of the wet clothes I’d tossed onto the basket. There was supposed to be nothing in that pocket except the stone Grandfather gave me…!

‘Grandfather gave me something strange…’

It wasn’t a stone, and it wasn’t a gem.

I lowered the blanket slightly and shifted my gaze toward where it might be. It wasn’t bright, but the nightlight provided enough glow to see my surroundings.

It had already climbed onto the cabinet near the bed and was warily eyeing an octagonal matchbox about its own size.

‘It’s the exact same color as the stone.’

It was the color of white paint mixed with a few drops of blue. It looked like a lizard, but with its large face, big eyes, and thick, sturdy legs, it also had the vibe of a country puppy.

The jagged ridges along its back looked like transparent water. As it moved, the ridges swayed and sloshed like water droplets.

As for its other characteristics…

[There’s no way you can’t hear me! Quartz! Quaaartz!]

It was a chatterbox that spoke human language.

Having lost interest in the matchbox, it started heading back toward me. I quickly pulled the blanket over my head.

‘Is it a different race? I’ve never heard of a race that turns into stones.’

Even in my other memories, no such creature existed. I wondered if Grandfather, who gave me the stone, knew.

It was night now, so in the morning, I’d have to ask Grandfather—no, I had to ask without the relatives knowing, so I should go to Sir Callet…

[Quartz!]

“…….”

The stone hopped up and down on the bed, calling my name. It looked smaller than my two fists put together, but its voice was loud enough to put a mandrake to shame.

[Quaaartz!]

Gah. Noise pollution.

…Wait. What if someone hears and comes in?

Dad was in the next room, and Theon was in the room across from mine. If Theon came in at this hour—

‘My allowance!’

I scrambled up and grabbed the stone.

“I hear you. I hear you…!”

[I knew it.]

The stone’s large eyes narrowed mischievously.

“Why do you keep calling me?”

[Because you were pretending not to know me.]

“Who even are you?”

[Acom! Your friend!]

The stone thwacked the bed with its tail as if frustrated. Since when had I made friends with a stone…?

I wasn’t the only one who seemed confused.

[But Julia, why did you get so small? The last time I saw you, you were much bigger and had wrinkles everywhere. You look just like a child. Do humans get younger too?]

“Julia? Do you mean Julia Quartz?”

[Yeah.]

“That’s my grandmother…”

My voice trailed off. A question was just about to be answered.

“If you lose it, I’ll give you a piece of my mind.”

Grandfather’s haughty attitude when giving me the stone, and Sir Callet’s shocked reaction. Could it be?

“…Grandmother’s keepsake…?”

This water lizard?

---

At the same time, Laxek let out a hollow laugh after hearing the report from his aide, Callet.

“Does that make sense? Holding Raytan responsible for an earring stolen by a maid?”

After leaving the training grounds earlier, Laxek had been out all afternoon and returned to the mansion late in the evening.

However, the mood of his first wife, Priscilla, who greeted him, was suspicious. He had told Callet to look into what happened in the afternoon, and the incident was quite ridiculous.

It seemed Marian and Priscilla had made their move to keep Raytan in check.

“It’s the kind of forced logic even a seven-year-old would see through. Don’t you agree?”

“You are correct.”

“But Marian doesn’t hold the Sapphire position just for show. She must be plotting something more.”

Collective responsibility could be the first step in Marian’s plan to trap Raytan.

Callet, thinking the same, asked, “Shall I investigate thoroughly? There is a possibility that Young Master Raytan might fall into a trap.”

“Leave it be. He should be able to handle something like that on his own.”

It was the unspoken rule of the Travel family that the Family Head should intervene as little as possible in internal mansion matters to allow for the determination of a successor.

Laxek tossed the letter he was holding onto the desk and leaned back in his chair.

The letter was the one Raytan had received from Pin Priest today, containing a promise to bestow a blessing upon the figurehead on the day they stop the Holy Sword’s rampage.

Ridiculous fools.

He was only tolerating their arrogance until the alchemists’ research was successfully completed.

Well, for now, rather than that—

‘I keep thinking about that little head.’

Laxek thought of his youngest granddaughter, whom he had met today.

Those clever green eyes. Cheeks still full of baby fat. There wasn’t a single part of her that wasn’t round.

Especially that round head—it had fit so perfectly in his palm.

“…….”

For some reason, his hand felt empty.

Laxek briefly gripped the end of the chair’s armrest before opening his hand again.

It wasn’t this feeling.

“Callet.”

“Yes.”

“If the figurehead issue is resolved this time, how much loss would that rascal be covering?”

“The alchemists estimated one year for the development of the technology for the unsinkable ship. If you calculate the projected losses until then, it equals Young Master Yosel’s performance over the last four years.”

“That’s not a small amount.”

Six years ago, he would have had no expectations. Raytan was the type of person who would have surrendered his achievements, saying he would take collective responsibility without complaint.

“Let’s just see.”

Laxek curled one side of his mouth upward.

“Whether the man who has become a father will let his filled rice bowl be snatched away.”

---

[Quartz is dead—?!]

The stone, Acom, burst into tears at the news of Grandmother’s passing. Tears welled up like a spring in its large, water-colored eyes and fell in steady drops.

I was afraid it might collapse at this rate.

“Acom. Drink some water.”

I held a water glass out to Acom and then pulled it back. Acom was smaller than the glass.

[Travel worked Quartz to death!]

Whether I did anything or not, Acom didn’t even glance at the glass and wailed loudly enough to make my ears ring.

At first, I worried this would wake everyone up, but…

‘It said I’m the first person besides Grandma Julia who can hear its voice, right? Seeing as Dad hasn’t come to my room, it doesn’t seem to be lying.’

That was a relief, but what about my eardrums?!

To protect my hearing, I had to stop Acom’s crying. I tried to start a conversation on a topic Acom might find interesting.

“Hey, I have a question. Do I look a lot like Grandmother? Enough for you to mistake me for her?”

[You don’t look like her.]

Acom stopped crying instantly and denied my words. It wasn’t being serious, was it?

[I mistook you because of your energy. Other than that and your eyes, you don’t look like her at all. Julia was a calm human.]

“…Oho.”

Acom tilted its head while staring at my face.

[Your hair color is different too. Pink? Then whose daughter are you? Julia had two sons. Brown? Raytan?]

“You know Uncle Brown too?”

I was surprised.

Uncle Brown was an illegitimate child born to Grandmother Julia and Grandfather before they married. He was Dad’s older brother who was never listed in the Travel family records.

How did Acom know even that?

[Hmph. You’re Raytan’s daughter? I thought so. Raytan was more of a troublemaker than Brown. Are they both doing well?]

Acom’s short, stubby tail wagged with anticipation.

“Dad is doing well. Uncle Brown…”

I slowly brought both hands to my ears before continuing my answer.

“…is said to have passed away seven years ago.”

[Whaaat—?!]

I squeezed my ears shut, but it wasn’t enough. As expected, Acom wailed again at the news of Uncle Brown, and I comforted it until dawn before falling asleep, unable to fight off the drowsiness.

And when I woke up—

“Morning…”

“Time to eat. Did you sleep well?”

“Gah! Dad? Did… by any chance, did you see a lizard in my room? I brought it in last night…”

“I didn’t see one.”

Only Dad, who had come to wake me up for breakfast, and I were in my room.

7. Pearl Earrings and Relatives

“It wasn’t a dream, though?”

The notebooks and pens scattered on the floor of the Contemplation Room, the wet pajamas hung out to dry, and the water glass on the bed.

The traces of last night remained exactly as they were.

The only thing missing was the stone I received from Grandfather.

“Where did it go?”

After breakfast, Dad and Theon went out to practice swordsmanship.

I pretended to play alone while scouring every corner of Pebble House looking for Acom.

Even though it had turned into a talking lizard, it might be Grandmother’s keepsake, and if Grandfather found out I’d lost it—

‘Ugh. I have to find it quickly.’

Furthermore, I had a scheduled outing in the afternoon. My heart raced at the tight schedule.

“Young Lady, are you going outside? You mustn’t go far.”

“Okay! I’ll just be playing in the garden out front!”

The maids were working inside Pebble House, and I was wandering the garden alone, whispering Acom’s name, when…

‘Huh?’

I heard voices conversing from beyond the dense arborvitae trees that served as a fence.

“Got it? Hati? When a frog appears, you throw this.”

It was the voices of children.