TAMWSFB 05

Chapter 5 

 “Nice to Meet You, Father”

The person I greeted with a “Nice to meet you, hello,” turned out to be… my father.

Wow, that really surprised me!

He had silver hair and ice-blue eyes — like my older brother, only taller and with a gentler, more timid expression.

In the novel, his name had only ever been mentioned, so I never paid much attention to him.

If I recall correctly, after Leticia’s death, it was said that having only Serios as an heir wasn’t enough, so he remarried and had another child.
Then, during the war against the Demon King, he died in battle at the very beginning of the story.

Apparently, my older brother brought him here, but he was standing frozen in front of my bed, looking completely stiff.

“Don’t you think she looks a lot like Mother?”
“Yeah.”

“If Mother were still alive, I’m sure she would have adored Letty.”
“Yeah.”

“But if she knew that you never came to see Letty after she was born, Mother would surely be angry.”
“…I don’t want that…”

Seriously, how does it look when a grown man gets lectured by a six-year-old?

Even though my brother will eventually become a cool, stoic beauty worthy of being a final boss, Father’s atmosphere is completely different — despite their similar faces.

I suppose it makes sense. He couldn’t accept the death of his beloved wife, and because the child (me) was tied to her death, he couldn’t bring himself to see me.

Still… I guess I’ll have to be the adult here.

“Ah—”

I turned my face toward Father and gave him my brightest baby smile.

Take this — the pure, innocent smile of a newborn!

“Emilia…!”

Father’s handsome face twisted as tears spilled down his cheeks.

Emilia… That must be Mother’s name.
It never appeared in the novel, so I didn’t know what kind of person she was.

But if Father loved her this much, she must have been wonderful.

…Even just once, I wish I could have met her.

“Don’t you think she looks just like Mother?”
“Yes, she truly does…”

Nodding to my brother’s words, Father hesitantly reached out his hand toward me.

Oh, fine, I’ll let you.
I grabbed his large hand tightly with my tiny fingers.

Father’s ice-blue eyes widened. Tears streamed down as he carefully enclosed my hand in both of his.

Then, as if handling something fragile, he gently lifted me up.

I love clinging to my brother, but Father’s arms feel warm and comforting too.

Maybe that’s the power of blood ties…

“Father, please remove Miranda from serving as Leticia’s maid.”
“Did Miranda do something wrong?”

“Letty can’t speak yet because she just woke up, but she’s a very perceptive child who pays close attention to people around her. And for Letty to dislike Miranda that much, something must be wrong.”

Oh my gosh, Brother, do you really think that highly of me?
I’m so touched—!

Ah, calm down. Stay calm.

“Hm…”

“Also, for a child as young as Letty, she should have a nursemaid, not a lady’s maid. It’s a bit late to appoint one now, but I think an older, more experienced servant would be better. Who even assigned Miranda here in the first place?”

“The head maid did.”
“…Then please investigate whether the head maid and Miranda have any connection. Perhaps she’s trying to become your new wife, Father.”

Trying to become his wife…?

Wait, now that I think about it, Father did remarry in the novel.
Don’t tell me — Miranda is that woman?!

No way! Absolutely not!

If that nasty woman became stepmother, my brother would suffer!

Father, you must not remarry! Absolutely not!

Maybe my desperate feelings reached him, because Father looked genuinely shocked as he denied it.

“My wife is Emilia and Emilia alone.”

“Then please make sure not to give anyone a chance to take advantage of that. Someone might say, ‘Little Leticia needs a mother figure,’ and claim they’d make a good one since she’s fond of them. Don’t let yourself be swayed.”

“O–okay…”

Father replied, almost shrinking under the weight of my brother’s commanding tone.
Honestly, it was hard to tell who was the adult between the two of them.

As expected of my amazing brother.

“But who would be a good new maid…? If the head maid is involved, choosing one will be difficult.”
“Indeed… What about the butler’s niece? She’s still young, but she works in the linen room.”

“I’ll leave it to you, Serios.”
“Yes.”

Yup, no doubt about it — my brother is the competent one.
If you just leave it all to him, Father, you’ll be fine.

Seriously though, how can someone this young be that smart?
He’s like a divine prodigy — a miracle sent from heaven itself!

And with that deeply moving thought… I fell asleep.

Baby bodies really do get sleepy so fast…