Translator: Nox

Chapter 2

I Will Save My Father

I Will Save My Father Episode 2

Episode 2

So, this morning.

It was when I woke up after a night of deep sleep following my faint. I was in agony.

A canopy bed with light, fluttery lace curtains.

I thought things like this only existed in a princess’s house, yet here I was, lying in one.

“As expected of the ultra-wealthy Count Travel family. To put a canopy bed even in the annex of the lowest successor to the headship…. Why do I even know thisss?”

This was my first time at the Travel estate.

Normally, I shouldn’t know anything, right? Yet everything around me felt familiar.

Like the fact that this was my room in Pebble House, or that I wouldn’t be able to leave this place until I turned twenty-four.

“Is this for sure? It’s not a lie, is it?”

I rolled around on the bed before sliding to the floor along with the edge of the duvet.

In the distance, the fireplace looked upside down. To be precise, my vision was inverted. With my legs resting against the bed frame, I stared intently at the fireplace.

Specifically, at the marble pillars of the fireplace carved with vines.

“…Marshal Grandmother said a person should always be suspicious.”

Actually, maybe I’ve been unconscious since the moment I saw Grandfather yesterday.

Maybe these memories are just a dream.

“Right?”

Now that I had an excuse to refute it, I felt a surge of energy to move.

Hup. I pushed myself up and walked toward the fireplace. To prove that these memories were just my imagination.

“As if a secret space would appear just by turning the floral ornaments on the left pillar in order~”

There’s no way such a ridiculous story could be true. It’s all a dream, a dream.

I had walked over bravely, but when I actually faced the six metal flower ornaments scattered among the carved vines on the pillar, I hesitated.

The fireplace pillar was about as tall as I was. That meant there was no problem with turning the six flowers in the correct order.

No, before that. Would those things even actually turn?

“There’s no way they’ll turn~ This is all a dre—am—.”

Why is it turning?

Gah. Swallowing the urge to cry, I moved my hands.

Creak. Click.

The built-in display cabinet next to the fireplace slid aside, revealing a secret space.

“…….”

The room began to light up, as if welcoming the person who had discovered its hidden self.

Witnessing the luxurious sight being revealed, I froze, unable to even take my hand off the last floral ornament. I couldn’t blink my widened eyes, nor could I close my gaping mouth.

I’ve seen something like this in a picture book.

When a commoner on a flying carpet finds a mysterious cave….

“No way….”

Silently, I turned the flowers back.

Rattle. Rattle. Creak. Click.

Leaving the restored built-in cabinet behind, I trudged back to the bed.

For now, I’ll just ignore what I just saw.

“Haaa.”

A sigh escaped my lips involuntarily. Honestly, whether it was Pebble House or whatever, having these memories wasn’t the main problem.

In fact, it was a wonderful thing. Doesn’t it mean I’m a psychic who knows the future?

Except.

It would be fine if that were all. The problem was that strange memories were surfacing one after another.

— Those gathered here will remember the noble sacrifice of Raytan Quartz Travel….

A priest speaking solemnly in front of a coffin draped with the Imperial flag; my sixteen-year-old self staring blankly at the coffin in black clothes.

Father, who had participated in the war against the heteromorphs by the Emperor’s command, returned in that coffin.

From the day I buried Father, I stood in front of the main house. It was a protest to get Grandfather, whom I had never met privately, to listen to my story.

— My Lady, how long are you going to keep this up? It has already been ten days. Even if you don’t eat or sleep outside for days, the Family Head has no intention of listening to you.

— Don’t you find it strange, Uncle Callet? You know well because you’re Father’s friend. You know how strong he is. It makes no sense for a Grand Master to die in such a minor war.

— A battlefield is a place where such nonsensical things can happen. And Raytan…. Raytan wouldn’t want you to be doing this.

I wanted the truth about Father’s death to be investigated. I believed that with the power and wealth of the Travels, they would uncover the truth even if my suspicions were based only on a gut feeling.

But no one in the Travel family would listen to me.

My sixteen-year-old self acted alone. Without the family’s support, while evading the interference of my relatives.

After eight years of tearful, desperate struggle, I finally held the clue to the culprit’s identity in my hand—!

But I died before I could even look at the clue properly. Because someone stabbed me through the back with a sword….

‘The other me is an idiot….’

Shudder. My body shook instinctively at the thought of the final scene.

At the very least, it would have been nice to see the face of the person who stabbed me.

To have gone through all that suffering and not even find the culprit, let alone get revenge. It’s so unfair.

Did the adult me give me these memories because she was so frustrated?

“Hmph. I don’t know.”

I flopped onto the bed and buried my face in the duvet.

Until just a week ago, I was living peacefully with Father in a remote countryside village.

If only the bounty hunters hadn’t turned Marshal Grandmother’s herb garden into a mess, I would have been eating fried eggs made by Father this morning.

“I don’t need these memories, or a rich grandfather….”

To be hit with such a bolt from the blue as soon as I arrived at the Travel estate.

My modest hope—I wonder if the rich grandfather will buy me a teddy bear?—was shattered.

“Berry, when did you wake up?”

Just then, Father entered the room. At the sound of his voice, which made my ears perk up, I immediately sprang up and called out to him.

“Daddy!”

“If you step on the duvet with your feet…. Never mind. How do you feel? Are you hurting anywhere? Do you remember what happened yesterday?”

“That’s not what’s important right now!”

Father, who was hurrying toward me to check my condition, faltered.

Then what is important? Father asked with his eyes.

“Berry is going to offer Daddy a job.”

“…A job?”

“Yep. Listen up, okay?”

I don’t want to believe in a future where Father dies. However, I needed to check further if these memories were correct.

I came up with a clever plan.

I would compare the identities of the people visiting Pebble House today with my new memories!

“What is it?”

Father picked me up, and using a game of ‘investigator’ as an excuse, I asked him to play the role of an inspector.

I even added a detailed explanation.

“So! Daddy asks the people who come to the room for information! Their names, ages, and all sorts of things! Then I’ll be hiding and listening, and then I’ll surprise them!”

After hearing my perfect plan, Father’s face crumpled.

“…Daddy doesn’t really want to do that.”

“But Berry’s dream for the future is to be a talented investigator. And… Berry… still has the aftereffects of fainting…. Oh, it hurts.”

“…….”

“Will you help me? Inspector Raytan?”

“…Yes. Investigator Berry-Berry.”

---

And again, this afternoon. The result was….

A hundred out of a hundred.

‘I even got the part right about Head Butler Servair buying shares in the ink company.’

I made a tearful face as I looked at myself in the mirror.

Actually, I didn’t have to mention the ink company story, but I had my reasons.

‘Jacob, who comes as the successor, is a real cheapskate.’

Uncle Servair loses his house and his entire fortune due to a failed stock investment.

He even loses his health and withers away like a dry leaf until he eventually quits, and Jacob takes over as the successor head butler—!

‘A villain who gets petty over food!’

The head butler of the main house had the authority to decide on the support items related to food, clothing, and shelter for the annexes of the direct line.

But after Jacob became the head butler, the items coming in gradually decreased. Especially the food.

For desserts, we could only choose types with very little sugar; breakfast was always just bread and soup; and for lunch and dinner, he restricted it so that only one main dish was served.

‘The reason was that Father’s annex was called Pebble House? Hmph.’

So, it’s better for Uncle Servair to be the head butler.

Uncle Servair is also a close associate of my eldest uncle, but the lesser of two evils is better….

‘Oh.’

Something was strange. For a while now, I felt like my thoughts had become more adult-like.

I tilted my head and looked at myself in the mirror. I was still seven years old.

— Because the lesser of two evils is better than the worst. That’s why I came to find you.

New memories of another me who had lived until twenty-four had formed.

‘So it was you, the culprit…!’

That’s why I was thinking things like “toothpaste” or “lesser evil”!

I let my guard down. I almost accepted the new memories naturally.

Are you planning to make me believe what you went through is the real future? Well, I—!

“Berry, looking at the mirror from too close is bad for your eyes.”

“Okay.”

Father pulled the mirror, which I had brought right up to my nose, out of my hands. In the desk mirror placed on the table in front of the sofa, Father’s face, sitting next to me, was reflected.

I don’t need a future like that.

“What’s wrong?”

“Berry… doesn’t like Big Berry.”

When I pouted, Father gently grabbed my cheek and gave it a wiggle.

“You’ve been singing for months about how great it is to be seven.”

“I withdraw that statement.”

“I see. However, Investigator Berry-Berry.”

“Yes.”

“I have a question.”

A question?

I looked up at Father.

A suspicious gaze. I had a feeling it wouldn’t be a very welcome question.

“What was that talk about the stocks you asked Servair earlier? There was no such thing in the information I gave you, Investigator.”

“Oh….”

To ask such a disadvantageous question.

I had moved past it without suspicion because we played investigator often, but the ink company stock story would be hard to overlook without doubt, wouldn’t it…?

“Marshal Grandmother told Uncle Peter that the ink company stocks would go totally bust, so not to buy them. Daddy knows Uncle Peter too, right? The one who likes matching pictures with cards!”

And in times like this, the best policy is to bring up a senior adult. …is what the other me in my memory said.

“Marshal did?”

I heard Father’s suspicion soften a bit.

As for who Marshal Grandmother was—she was the only adult who could make Father go soft, and the savior of our father-daughter duo.

I had been sick often since I was a baby, and each time, Marshal Grandmother, the village pharmacist, looked after me.

“Seeing the head butler uncle suddenly reminded me of that. Don’t Uncle Peter and the head butler uncle look similar?”

“…They do look alike….”

“Right?”

I grinned, putting on a face that knew nothing.

Father remained silent, lost in thought for a while, before asking me.

“Berry-Berry, shall we make a promise with Daddy?”

“Hmm, what is it? Let me hear it first.”

“While we’re at Grandfather’s house, let’s keep it a secret that Berry is talented.”

I stared into Father’s eyes. Others said Father was scary, but I had never seen anyone with eyes as warm as his.

Even now. They were filled with worry.

“We won’t be at Grandfather’s house for long. Just for that time.”

— Berry, I’m sorry. I think we’ll have to stay longer than I thought.

But in my memory, we lived at the Travel estate for our entire lives. Father spent his whole life trying to protect me—.

— The relatives are all beasts. They think of nothing but biting each other to take over the successor position.

One of those beasts killed Father.

“But how do I keep being talented a secret?”

“You pretend you can’t do the things you’re good at. Can you do that?”

“Should I try? Since Daddy’s asking~”

So, I can’t just ignore these memories I don’t want to believe.

Just in case, by a one-in-a-hundred-of-a-hundred-of-a-hundred-of-a-hundredth chance.

What if Father’s death is real?