Chapter 45
Seraphin glanced awkwardly at Declan, with whom he was still on awkward terms, and suddenly realized.
*'I should have realized from the start when she called Dad "Adult"!'*
But it wasn't too late yet.
The great single black dragon, Seraphin himself, was in this family!
"Uh, aren't you curious about Mom? I'll definitely tell you later!"
"Hm, I'm totally fine-nimida though......"
It gave off such a strange impression that anyone would notice, making Seraphin flustered instead.
"R-really?"
"If you want, you can show me-nimida."
Though she said that, she didn't really want to see 'Mom.'
The existence called 'Mom' felt just like an alien to Iri.
*'Super super unfamiliar.'*
The only memory worth recalling about parents, the incident from when she was little Arini, flickered in her head like a panorama.
"Arini is such a pitiful child. Abandoned by her own parents."
"I told you not to say that in front of the child."
"No, that's just how it is. How do parents abandon their kid? Blinded by remarriage and a fresh start......"
"Out, out!"
Recalling the conversation between Grandma and her close grandma friends, the afterimages from back then slowly overlapped in her mind.
To drive away that nasty afterimage, Iri said spiritedly.
"Then now the portrait is all done, right?"
"Y-yeah."
......Seraphin was a bit flustered.
*'That kid hasn't even met Mom.'*
She acted just like a kid who'd been deeply hurt by family.
So Seraphin was a little worried about Iri's demeanor.
Nevertheless, Iri was spirited.
"Then I'll head back to my room now-nimida!"
Strange.
*'Was she that small?'*
She was always clenching her fists spiritedly and punching the air.
Today, her back view looked so tiny.
Like a strong boy, he wanted to run over and hug her tight.
But he felt like he shouldn't disturb such a tiny child.
Seraphin stayed still.
At that moment, Declan looked at Seraphin and said.
"......Seraphin."
"Yes?"
"Let's have a talk for a bit."
* * *
"Seraphin, have you gotten pretty close with Iri?"
"Hm, just......?"
Should he say they'd gotten close, or not?
He recalled his round little sister stuck flat to the floor like a ground sprite.
Her round pupils were pure and cute.
"Maybe we've gotten a bit close."
That kid was very evil, but perhaps they'd gotten a tiny bit close.
But right then.
Seeing Seraphin super tense, Declan spoke first.
"You two seem like you'd hold hands and cause lots of trouble."
"I-I don't cause trouble. I'm a top student."
"Yeah, I checked the Academy grades. They're good too. Number one right after entering second year. Except for home economics."
"......How did you know?"
He'd thought his father had zero interest in him.
"Because I receive all the reports."
Declan couldn't act affectionately toward Seraphin, let alone Iri.
He wanted the child who would lead this family after his death to be strong.
But when he saw Seraphin hesitating to approach him.
He realized he needed to interact with his child at least a little while he was alive.
*'If I die, Ortejo will only have Seraphin and Iri left.'*
Declan looked quietly at Seraphin.
"You did well. And thank you for doing so well."
At those words, Seraphin's eyes widened hugely.
Seraphin was thirteen.
Always a distant relationship with his father who was constantly at war.
But today, Seraphin vaguely felt.
*'Maybe Father does care a bit about me and Iri?'*
Was it really just because of magi that Father couldn't get close?
Coming to understand his father's feelings.
It felt like perhaps entering early puberty.
* * *
The next morning.
Iri quickly overcame her past trauma.
*'I was so dumb. Taekwondo practitioner's honor tarnished!'*
Forget the dumb past Iri now!
Only the super strong hero Iri remains.
Iri, who slipped into Seraphin's room through the side door, looked at him proudly.
*'The last magi is flowing out from Seraphin!'*
Maybe because he perfectly opened his heart?
Right now, magi was slowly seeping out from Seraphin.
And she ate it all!
Maybe because the black flame dragon wriggling in a corner of his heart disappeared.
Seraphin's eyes were gentle.
*'Is "Mom" such a big deal? Enough to open the heart super super a lot?'*
Iri only knows Hammuni.
Her maternal grandmother had said to Iri, 'I'll tell you about Mom when the time comes.'
Iri suddenly got briefly, very briefly curious about the mother who passed on purple pupils to them and left......
But Iri recalled Seraphin with snot running.
*'If I ask, he'll cry again, the crybaby.'*
So Iri didn't ask about Mom, 'Olivia.'
Anyway, Iri was used to enduring.
Like a martial artist!
Iri chuckled and watched Seraphin diligently writing a letter.
"I'm absolutely not showing this."
"Wasn't planning to look-nimida! Secretly peeking at others' letters is bad!"
"......Wh-what. This kid? Super strict."
Instead, Iri sat next to Seraphin writing his letter and started scribbling on a small note.
Homework: <Nearby Person, Seraphin Observation Journal>
0. Super awkward.
1. Crybaby.
2. Can't draw.
While diligently racking her brain and wielding the pen, Seraphin yelled sharply.
"Th-this brat. What are you doing!"
"Why-nimikka?"
"......I'm not a crybaby! I draw well too! Know what my Academy underlings call me?"
"What do they say-nimikka?"
"They call me the great Seraphin-nim who possesses very strong darkness's darkness."
"Gasp, saying all that. My throat will get hoarse."
"......That's not the point right now! It means they praise me like that, hmph."
Praise Seraphin?
In Iri's head, the image of a thick-mustached sycophant rose up grandly.
"My underling guys too, later I'll invite them and show how great I am!"
Without knowing what grand ambitions Seraphin harbored.
Iri covertly covered with her hand and added a bit more to the Seraphin observation journal.
It was the final version she absolutely wouldn't show Seraphin.
0. Super awkward. : But there was a reason for the awkwardness!
1. Crybaby. : But much better than a cold-blooded person.
2. Can't draw. : But made me and Adult hold hands!
Iri giggled and closed the <Observation Journal> again.
Then, very seriously this time, she took out a new note and started writing.
It was a letter to her beloved Hammuni in the South.
The hectic, busy northern life without a moment to breathe!
Meanwhile, unease had been slowly creeping into Iri's heart.
*'Hammuni, is she healthy like a plump baby puppy?'*
The identity of that unease was precisely.
*'No way, she forgot about me like old candy?'*
......
