Chapter 25
“Breath of Fire.”
Carlyx corrected his pronunciation. And so, River moved his tiny lips to imitate Carlyx.
“Buureesh-”
River stopped and shook his head. That’s because he didn’t remember what word came next.
Umm. What was it?
But he soon let go of his worries and smiled. Because it didn’t matter to him.
“Whitey!!”
All he cared about was Whitey!
River looked at Carlyx, who played as Whitey, and sat in front of him with a look of admiration and respect.
“Whitey is so strong! It has a hidden power! Rooaaar!”
Meanwhile, Luciana’s eyes had been widened since earlier.
‘Da-daddy roared just like Whitey in the fairy tale? Really?’
Her purple eyes sparkled as if they were twinkling stars. She was delighted to see a new side of her daddy. It was the first time she saw his friendly side.
‘Is this because of Whitey’s magic?’
Luciana nodded to herself. She was convinced that it was the case. Soon, her troubled lips slowly opened.
“Rooooar.”
She pursed her lips inward. As a result, her plump lips were pressed down.
‘Am I doing it right? Does the magic work?’
Because Luciana had doubts, she tried once again.
“Roooooaaaaar.”
‘Is my voice too low?’
The reason as to why she had doubts was because Carlyx had no reaction.
For that reason, she cleared her throat and closed her eyes tightly this time. A roar, which was significantly louder than her previous one, was heard shortly after.
“Rooooooaaaaaar!”
“The little Whitey is so shrong! Little whitey just roared!”
“Roooooooooar!!”
“The bigyer Whitey we just saw eawlier suddenly seems smaller thanks to little whitey! Rappi will become little whitey later! Little whitey!”
River, who was leaning towards Carlyx, now turned to Luciana. His eyes shone brightly.
His sister’s roar sounded more awesome than his father’s.
‘Don’t tell me….. The hero in the fairy tale is not my daddy, but my sister all along?’
“It must be my sister!”
Having realized that shocking fact, River took a big breath.
“I knew daddy is so strong, but I didn’t know my sister is also this swoong!”
“Hm? What did you say?”
Daisy, who didn’t hear his murmur, asked back. But River interpreted her question differently. He thought Daisy was asking him because she didn’t know that Luciana was just as strong as Whitey yet.
‘Oh no!’
Clearly, Carlyx and Luciana were already aware of that fact.
As River thought of the reason as to why, he had a hard time trying to make out the difficult word that explains the current situation.
‘They are the same species!’
River was mistakenly under the impression that only Daisy did not know of this. Not long after, River glanced around carefully before he tugged Daisy’s dress lightly.
“Stepmother! I have something to tell you!”
“What’s that?”
“As soon as I tell you, you have to shuush!”
River urgently put his index finger against his lips. Then, Daisy lowered her head to listen to him.
“This is very veeery impwortant. Please keep it a secret that my sister is also Whitey.”
“But why is that a secret?”
“Becyuse if anyone knows my sister can do a beeshfaeer, she’ll have to go to that dangwous place with daddy.”
Even when River mispronounced the words, ‘breath of fire’, Daisy paid no heed to it at all. Meanwhile, the adorable River frowned as if he was truly worried. His lips were buried between his bulging cheeks.
‘How cute! I want to squeeze those cheeks! They look so plump. Oh my god!’
Daisy suppressed her itching fingers. She hid her innermost thoughts as much as she could and uttered with a reassuring voice.
“I’ll keep it a secret. Don’t worry.”
“We have to hide my sister’s identity because she’s still a small whitey. Uhm…. I’m the same. I’m gwooing to be little whitey, too. That’s also a secret.”
River kept fiddling with his soft hands as he explained to Daisy. Daisy tried to suppress her laughter vigorously.
No, she must hold it in no matter what.
If she laughs now, it will put an end to River’s seriousness in acting as agent 007.
“Daddy goes to war because he has grown thiiiiis big.”
He spread his arms wide as he said those words.
“Okaaay?”
“Okay. I will keep my mouth shut.”
River nodded eagerly when Daisy gestured in agreement, zipping her mouth.
‘With this, I could keep my sister’s secret. Mission complete!’
“We haven’t finished the story yet.” Carlyx said, flipping the remaining pages of the book.
River and Luciana, who were fascinated by the rare sight of their father, quickly moved closer to him.
It was definitely more effective to enact the story through a play rather than just read it for them. It’s obvious that he won’t do it for the second time, though.
‘But as long as I could keep Luciana and River from getting worried for no reason…then I don’t mind doing it again.’
“But what are you two talking about?”
Despite Carlyx’s cold eyes, Daisy answered casually.
“We were talking about something that Whitey doesn’t need to know. Whitey won’t be able to understand anyway.”
“Carlyx, it’s Carlyx. Please call me by name.”
“We’re acting right now. Do you intend to break the flow of the story and ruin the children’s imagination?”
“…By the way, what’s wrong with Luciana?”
Luciana was still roaring. He wouldn’t really mind if it was River, but it was quite worrying since Luciana has never done that before.
“Rooaaar!”
That was the sound Whitey made when it first flapped its wings. Because of that, Carlyx thought of closing the fairy tail book.
What if the kids end up learning weird things instead?
“I need to have a word with you. Let’s end this here.”
“What are you talking about? There are only ten pages left.”
“She’s been looking at me and screaming like that. Do you still want me to continue?”
Daisy only smiled at his disapproving look. He’s smart, but he’s really hopelessly tactless.
“She’s waiting for your response.”
“Response?”
Carlyx asked in a distrustful tone. He then closed the book with a look of complete disbelief.
“No, why are you so tactless?”
Daisy leaned her head on his shoulder. Then, she tried to whisper to him.
“Why are you leaning your head on me?”
Carlyx whispered so that the children wouldn’t be able to hear it. Then, Daisy whispered back.
“Tell Luciana she’s pretty even if she doesn’t make that sound.”
Daisy nudged Carlyx with her elbow. His expression was still as lukewarm as ever.
“Do you intend to let her scream much longer? What if she starts to do that in front of other people as well?”
Her words made him flinch in an instant. He closed his eyes for a moment, and then spoke.
“Luciana, you’re pretty even if you don’t make that sound. That’s why, don’t do it anymore.”
“Roaa- huh?” Carlyx’s voice overlapped with Luciana’s confused voice.
A moment later, Luciana laughed merrily, which made her purple eyes widen and her already plump cheeks become even chubbier.
‘The magic worked!’
Daisy thought her heart was about to burst seeing Luciana’s adorable laugh. The little girl was happy that the magic worked.
“In fact, Luciana is pretty and cute no matter what sound she makes, but daddy wanted Luciana to stop.” Daisy quickly explained.
This useless complaint was not hers. It was done by that boring guy, Carlyx.
‘I’ve been wanting to hear it, though.’
Luciana, who was always mature beyond her age, was extremely cute when she did that.
“When Whitey flapped its wings, the fairy stuck her face out of it’s body!”
Daisy grinned and stole the book from Carlyx’s hands. Since they were now at page 30, it was Carlyx’s turn to play as Whitey once again. And so, Daisy tapped on the page repeatedly.
“….Rooar.”
Quietly laughing, Daisy flipped the page. They almost reached the end.
Was it because they saw Carlyx defeating the enemy in front of their eyes instead of their imagination?
The children were no longer anxious.
The corner of her heart warmed up at that sight.
It was just like what Carlyx said.
He had no time for Daisy or the children at all.
Meeting him after the war broke out was like plucking stars from the sky. It was extremely difficult.
It couldn’t be helped.
She had her own business to tend to, and there were many days when Carlyx didn’t come to their bedroom.
“Did he leave this here?”
There was a letter on the table with ‘Daisy Jean’ written on it’. It was clearly Carlyx’s handwriting, but it even had a seal on it.
Sending a letter to someone who lives in the same house….. It was so like him.
Daisy tore the letter, and was instantly baffled by what she read.
“Maybe he sealed it so that no one else would dare to read it.”
It was the contract made between Carlyx and his lawyer. It was about the property she would inherit in case he died in war. Apart from that, there was a separate clause about Luciana and River.
“If Marquis Carlyx Jean dies, Daisy has no legal obligation to take responsibility for Luciana and River at all times. However, considering the age and mental health of the children, the parting should be done at a slow pace. If parting ways is inevitable, Daisy must meet them at least once every two weeks for two years.”
It also said that Luciana and River would be taken care of by the nanny.
Carlyx’s family was not mentioned once. That means, it’s true they weren’t on good terms with each other.
‘That’s not all, right?’
Should I say it’s a relief? He added his innermost thoughts at the end of the letter.
He didn’t listen to what I said at all.