Dad has returned from the deserted island.
Chapter 12
“Hah!”
Vivian woke up with a start, clutching her blanket tightly.
Her sky-blue eyes, still clouded with the anxiety of a nightmare, darted around the room before filling with terror.
‘This is Dad—no, Ron and Mary’s bedroom. Why am I here?’
The heavy sound of rain and the unsettling rumble of thunder made it impossible for her to notice Kiki, who was fast asleep right beside her.
Still trapped in the remnants of her nightmare, Vivian carefully slid out of bed without making a sound. If Ron and Mary caught her here, she would be in for a world of trouble.
Tiptoeing out of the bedroom, Vivian bit her lower lip and pulled the door shut with the utmost caution.
Because of this, Kiki didn't notice that Vivian had woken up and left the room.
Vivian carefully made her way back to her own room, but she flinched as she turned the doorknob.
The door was locked.
‘T-that’s too much. Are they telling me I can’t even enter my own room?’
The truth was that Jean had locked it, heartbroken by the fact that Vivian had been sleeping in a storage room all this time, but Vivian misunderstood it as Ron and Mary locking her out to punish her.
A thunderclap loud enough to shake the house echoed through the air. Vivian swallowed a whimper and climbed the creaky stairs.
On a night like this, with rain and thunder, it was too terrifying to sleep in the open hallway or the living room.
The attic was just as scary, but at least there was a cloth to cover herself with, and Peter wasn't there.
Opening the door with a chilling sound, Vivian entered the attic, dragged a dusty cloth into the corner, and curled her body into a ball.
“Ugh….”
Seeing the lightning that momentarily illuminated the attic, Vivian buried her face in the floor.
A deafening crack of thunder followed, as if the lightning had struck very close by.
‘I was sure… I was having such a happy dream….’
Dad had returned, and she had found a small, cute friend.
But reality was a nightmare.
Vivian sobbed for a long time, resenting the father who hadn't returned.
Exhausted from crying, her small, young body found it all too easy to confuse reality with her nightmares.
Vivian could not hear her father’s desperate voice.
Unaware of the situation, Jean felt his heart plummet and shatter the moment he saw his daughter.
“Vivi!”
Jean rushed over and pulled Vivian into his arms.
Trapped in the nightmares of the past, Vivian only trembled pitifully like a terrified little animal, unable to even meet Jean’s eyes.
“Hic, Daaad….”
“Vivian, it’s Dad. Dad is here. My daughter. Hmm? Open your eyes for me.”
“I’m scared… Dad, when, when are you coming….”
Jean raised a trembling hand and gently stroked Vivian’s hair.
He cleared his throat several times to keep his voice from breaking, trying to ensure no unpleasant, choked-up sounds escaped.
“Vivi. It’s okay. Dad isn’t going anywhere… ever again.”
Jean’s voice hitched in the middle, but the words seemed to reach Vivian’s ears, and her trembling gradually subsided.
Her eyes, which had been tightly shut in a frown, slowly opened, and the tears pooled in her eyes spilled over, rolling down her chubby cheeks.
“Dad…?”
Perhaps she had exhausted all her mental strength, for Vivian fell into a sleep that looked like a faint after leaving behind that single word.
“…….”
Jean sat there for a long time, unable to stand, holding his daughter’s body in his arms.
“……ad?”
“…….”
“Dad!!”
“Huh? Oh? Did you call me, Princess?”
It was a memory that made his heart drop even just thinking about it.
Vivian’s cheeks puffed out as she looked at her father, who had been staring blankly even after she called him several times, still caught in the memory.
“What is it? You asked me first and then ignored me. Why would you ask if you were going to do that?”
“Oh, my, Dad was wrong. What was it… Right. Moving. We were talking about moving. What did my princess… say in response?”
Vivian, who had been looking at Jean with a pout, smiled brightly as if she had never been sulky at all, simply happy to see her father’s face.
“I like it! I like the new house. It means I can live in a better place with you, Dad. That house was okay, but I only liked it because I was with you. If I can keep living with you, Dad, even in a new house, then I like it!”
Vivian didn't remember that rainy night, but even if she did, her answer wouldn't have changed.
Vivian had lived in the same house since she was born. Everyone did. Only nobles or wealthy merchants could afford to live by moving between various mansions and villas.
Because of that, she had never once imagined living in a different house.
Behind the house hung the wooden swing Jean had made for her.
On the balcony of Jean’s room, they would study constellations while looking up at the night sky, wrapped in the same blanket until she drifted off to sleep.
When Mary would stomp on the winter blankets to wash them, Jean would watch Vivian chase the floating soap bubbles with a fond, indulgent smile before helping with the heavy lifting.
It was a space filled with such happy memories.
But at the same time, it was a place that gave her nightmares.
There wasn't a single spot in that house that Vivian hadn't scrubbed and polished.
Her soft hands had become rough and chapped, and because she worked without rest from morning until night, her seven-year-old body had begun to feel pain in her joints.
She only remembered the envy of peeking at Ron, Mary, and Peter enjoying a pleasant meal while she wasn't even allowed into the warm dining room.
The low, harsh voices of adults. The threatening, swinging hands. The mocking laughter of the boy.
She could get away from those sounds, and if it was with her father, too.
There was no reason to refuse.
Jean, watching her blankly, suddenly began to tear up.
“A-are you crying, Dad?”
He wanted to shout it to the world.
“T-to think such a thoughtful child is my, my daughter.”
This lovely child, who was trying to comfort him, not knowing what to do about her father who had suddenly burst into tears.
He wanted to show her off to everyone.
“Hing. Dad, don’t cry….”
When Jean couldn't stop his tears for a long time, Vivian eventually looked like she was about to cry too.
Jean hurriedly wiped his eyes, stood up, knelt on one knee in front of Vivian, and met her eye level.
“Dad is okay! Vivi. I was just crying because I was so happy. People cry when they are too happy or joyful, too. I’m not crying because I’m sad or hurt.”
“Really?”
“Of course! Dad is incredibly happy right now!”
“Hehe.”
When Jean grinned, showing his teeth, Vivian stopped her tears and grinned back.
“A-bu-bu-bu!”
Unable to resist her cuteness, Jean showered her cheeks with kisses, then suddenly looked up, feeling a gaze upon them.
Everyone in the cafe was watching the father and daughter with warm smiles.
The father and daughter, who were already striking in their beauty, were even teary-eyed like fresh peaches. There was no way people wouldn't look.
There was even someone sending them a small round of applause when their eyes met.
Jean and Vivian’s faces turned red, and they fled the cafe as if running away.
[I was just about to finish my pudding and take a rest!]
Kiki, who didn't care about the gazes of others, complained, not understanding why the two were acting like this.
“Yawn.”
Back home, after washing up in warm water, changing into soft pajamas, and lying down on the plush bed, Vivian let out a long yawn.
“Vivi. You were tired, weren't you? Let’s get some sleep.”
“Mm-hmm.”
Vivian replied with a nod. Her mind seemed already half-lost in dreamland.
“Alright, see you tomorrow, Vivi… Oh my. You’re already asleep.”
[You look stupid when you sleep with your mouth open, young human.]
Even as he said that, Kiki curled up in Vivian’s arms and closed his eyes, as if to say he was going to sleep too.
Jean smiled, adjusted Vivian’s head properly on the pillow, and tucked her in.
It certainly must have been a grueling day for such a young body to endure.
In reality, Vivian only remembered running around mindlessly after leaving the cafe.
Finding servants or looking for a new house was too difficult and complex for Vivian to understand.
Vivian, who had been smiling at the soft touch of the pillow and blanket, felt her consciousness sink completely into darkness and…….
She woke up in a beautiful garden shrouded in mist.
“Hah!”
Vivian woke up with a start, clutching her blanket tightly.
Her sky-blue eyes, still clouded with the anxiety of a nightmare, darted around the room before filling with terror.
‘This is Dad—no, Ron and Mary’s bedroom. Why am I here?’
The heavy sound of rain and the unsettling rumble of thunder made it impossible for her to notice Kiki, who was fast asleep right beside her.
Still trapped in the remnants of her nightmare, Vivian carefully slid out of bed without making a sound. If Ron and Mary caught her here, she would be in for a world of trouble.
Tiptoeing out of the bedroom, Vivian bit her lower lip and pulled the door shut with the utmost caution.
Because of this, Kiki didn't notice that Vivian had woken up and left the room.
Vivian carefully made her way back to her own room, but she flinched as she turned the doorknob.
The door was locked.
‘T-that’s too much. Are they telling me I can’t even enter my own room?’
The truth was that Jean had locked it, heartbroken by the fact that Vivian had been sleeping in a storage room all this time, but Vivian misunderstood it as Ron and Mary locking her out to punish her.
A thunderclap loud enough to shake the house echoed through the air. Vivian swallowed a whimper and climbed the creaky stairs.
On a night like this, with rain and thunder, it was too terrifying to sleep in the open hallway or the living room.
The attic was just as scary, but at least there was a cloth to cover herself with, and Peter wasn't there.
Opening the door with a chilling sound, Vivian entered the attic, dragged a dusty cloth into the corner, and curled her body into a ball.
“Ugh….”
Seeing the lightning that momentarily illuminated the attic, Vivian buried her face in the floor.
A deafening crack of thunder followed, as if the lightning had struck very close by.
‘I was sure… I was having such a happy dream….’
Dad had returned, and she had found a small, cute friend.
But reality was a nightmare.
Vivian sobbed for a long time, resenting the father who hadn't returned.
Exhausted from crying, her small, young body found it all too easy to confuse reality with her nightmares.
Vivian could not hear her father’s desperate voice.
Unaware of the situation, Jean felt his heart plummet and shatter the moment he saw his daughter.
“Vivi!”
Jean rushed over and pulled Vivian into his arms.
Trapped in the nightmares of the past, Vivian only trembled pitifully like a terrified little animal, unable to even meet Jean’s eyes.
“Hic, Daaad….”
“Vivian, it’s Dad. Dad is here. My daughter. Hmm? Open your eyes for me.”
“I’m scared… Dad, when, when are you coming….”
Jean raised a trembling hand and gently stroked Vivian’s hair.
He cleared his throat several times to keep his voice from breaking, trying to ensure no unpleasant, choked-up sounds escaped.
“Vivi. It’s okay. Dad isn’t going anywhere… ever again.”
Jean’s voice hitched in the middle, but the words seemed to reach Vivian’s ears, and her trembling gradually subsided.
Her eyes, which had been tightly shut in a frown, slowly opened, and the tears pooled in her eyes spilled over, rolling down her chubby cheeks.
“Dad…?”
Perhaps she had exhausted all her mental strength, for Vivian fell into a sleep that looked like a faint after leaving behind that single word.
“…….”
Jean sat there for a long time, unable to stand, holding his daughter’s body in his arms.
0 Comments