Chapter 10
Baiden naturally assumed that Sirka and Sabrina would assign roles for him.
It was a mistake.
“…What? Do whatever you want. It’s not a hunting game; you’re in charge of the meal anyway. Hunting is totally my thing.”
Sabrina, still fuming at not being assigned the hunting role, didn’t care about Baiden at all.
“I’m sorry. I have to go get some toys to play with the little one. Father, you handle it however you like.”
Even the son he trusted had abandoned him in order to win favor with the little one.
Fortunately, being last in line gave him a bit of thinking time, but…
“What should I… do?”
Unfortunately, Baiden couldn’t come up with any plan until Bariya arrived. That’s why their tense standoff unfolded in his office.
“…Little one, is there something you want to do?”
In the end, Baiden left the choice to Bariya.
“No.”
However, Bariya, fueled by her desire for revenge against the Hyena clan and already well-fed, didn’t have anything specific she wanted to do.
Most of her life had been spent trapped by the Hyena family, and the rest was spent running away. She didn’t even know what she wanted.
“What does a normal ten-year-old girl like?”
Baiden asked his aide Silva for help.
Bariya also looked at Silva.
“…Excuse me?”
Caught off guard by the sudden attention from both of them, Silva broke out in a cold sweat.
A blank-faced Baiden, a blank-faced Bariya. Why do they look so alike, even though they aren’t related? Anyone seeing them might think she was his real daughter.
“I don’t have children either…”
“Tsk.”
Baiden clicked his tongue at Silva’s response.
Silva felt extremely wronged at being treated like a useless hindrance. The head of the household didn’t even have a daughter.
“…Ah, that’s right.”
Baiden lowered his body and carefully extended his hand.
“Little one, there’s a place we can go together.”
He added a word, worried that Bariya might refuse.
“It might not be fun, but… just go and decide for yourself.”
Bariya found that remark strange.
That’s because, while living with the Mariner family, the only person who had ever asked for her opinion was her mother. And every adult had only ever looked down on her—never bent their body to meet her gaze.
She looked at Baiden’s hand.
It was the first time she hadn’t been afraid of the hands of a sharp, pain-inducing adult male.
‘He’s huge… but he’s kind of amazing.’
Despite being the largest beast humanoid she had ever seen, he didn’t feel scary or threatening. He seemed much more dependable than Darius Mariner, whom she hated even calling “father.”
“I’ll go.”
Bariya grabbed Baiden’s hand firmly.
Seeing her tiny hand on his thick, strong one made Baiden feel strange.
“Alright, let’s go.”
He carefully pulled her so she wouldn’t be surprised and lifted her onto his shoulders.
“Huh?”
“Master?”
Both Bariya, now on his shoulders, and Silva were surprised.
Without caring at all, Baiden carefully stood up so the child wouldn’t fall.
Bariya, now two meters higher, opened her mouth in awe.
“Master! This is so high!! If I stretch my arms, I can touch the ceiling!”
She laughed gleefully and reached her arms up. Silva couldn’t help but chuckle.
After all, Bariya was a cat beast humanoid. She loved heights, and this level of elevation was perfectly safe for her.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes!”
“Hold onto my hair so you don’t fall.”
Bariya held onto Baiden’s hair tightly with both hands. Silva rubbed her eyes multiple times—seeing her hair being mussed by a child was more astonishing than the shoulder ride itself.
“Then, let’s go.”
Baiden opened the office door.
The tiger humanoids were naturally large, and the doors were tall enough that Bariya wouldn’t hit her head. Still, he bent his knees and stepped carefully, just in case.
“Gah!”
“Whoa!”
“Eeek!”
Knights and employees passing nearby were dumbfounded.
Baiden, the largest figure in Caliph, with Bariya perched on his shoulders holding his hair?
Am I awake, or dreaming?
“Where are we going?”
“You’ll see when we get there.”
Baiden and Bariya paid no mind to the stares of others.
Everyone stood there, mouths open, until the two disappeared from view.
Another person was shocked by Baiden’s behavior.
“Father?”
Sirka, passing by with his subordinate Jake, saw them and rubbed his eyes in disbelief.
“Are my eyes seeing things? He really gave her a shoulder ride?”
“No, she’s a cat, so I figured she’d like heights.”
“This is… amazing!”
Bariya laughed gleefully and shook Baiden’s blond hair with both hands. The hair, which usually only unraveled in front of Sabrina, was now forming a new nest under the hands of a ten-year-old.
“Let’s go.”
“Let’s!”
Baiden and Bariya brushed past them.
“Did Master also give you a shoulder ride when you were young?”
Jake, finally accepting reality after rubbing his eyes red, asked blankly.
“No. When I was young, Father never had the leisure to give shoulder rides.”
That’s true. Neither Sirka nor Baiden or Sabrina had the mind to do such things at the time.
“Besides, Father would never have given his own son a shoulder ride.”
“That’s true. I assumed only the former mistress could ride Master’s shoulders.”
“….”
Recalling Sabrina riding on Baiden’s shoulders, Sirka shivered all over.
“Mother would have twisted Father’s neck immediately if that had happened.”
Even Baiden couldn’t overpower Sabrina’s strength.
“Anyway, it’s nice that Father seems to get along well with the little one.”
Baiden, who cared about nothing besides Sabrina and the tiger humanoids’ safety, was surprisingly enjoyable to watch with Bariya. Bringing her along rather than leaving her behind had been the right choice.
Leaving behind all the screams, Baiden and Bariya arrived at the pride of Caliph: the library.
“Wow… waaah…”
The library was simple, clean, elegant, and sophisticated. Bariya couldn’t close her mouth.
“I figured if you’ve been running around, you wouldn’t have had time to read books. You might not like it though.”
Bariya didn’t even hear Baiden’s voice.
The smell of books, the towering stacks from floor to ceiling, the sheer variety—all of it captivated her.
“Little one?”
Only after Baiden set her down did Bariya regain her senses. He crouched in front of her.
“Don’t like it? Then we can try something else…”
“No!”
Bariya clutched at Baiden’s sleeve.
“Really, really like it! It’s perfect!”
Her pronunciation was rougher than usual, but that was how desperate she was to express herself.
“I like reading books, but the Hyena family didn’t let me, and that made me sad. But now you brought me here, so thank you so much.”
Bariya’s eyes sparkled as she held onto him tightly.
Her thirst for knowledge was immense.
Her mother, Claire, had made her far smarter than children her age.
But Darius never allowed her to acquire knowledge, wanting her to remain ignorant.
If her mother hadn’t secretly taught her at night, Bariya’s brilliant mind would have been wasted.
That’s why this moment felt so precious.
“I’m glad. I never really knew what children liked.”
“You had Sirka.”
He had been young once too, after all.
“…Yeah. Maybe if I had cared more then, I’d know more now.”
Baiden smiled bitterly, regretting not properly caring for Sirka during her childhood.
“Anything here is yours to read. If there are books you can’t reach, we keep them separately, so don’t worry. You can read anything.”
“All of these?!”
“There’s a lot of fun stuff. I’ve collected books because I hate hearing people say beasts are stupid for not reading.”
“What?!”
Bariya, proud as a wildcat humanoid, narrowed her eyes.
“Who dares say that?!”
“Dull-headed types. Birds, mainly.”
Exactly. They’ll pay later. If they think they can get by without using their heads, I’ll show them why that doesn’t work!
“Ah, right.”
Baiden retrieved a thin book from a drawer in the center of the library and handed it to Bariya.
“If there’s a book you want, I can find it for you. I bet you have some you secretly want to read too.”
Bariya felt a twinge of surprise. How did he know?
“So take this. It’s a list organized by category.”
At the very front was a map of the library.
“Thank you so much…”
“If you don’t know where a book is, just ask me, Sabrina, or Sirka. We won’t ask why you want it or be curious—so don’t worry.”
Baiden smiled, promising to respect Bariya’s privacy.
Bariya clutched the book tightly.
In the tiger mansion, where she had no family, she finally experienced genuine care.
Her heart fluttered.
