Lord Baby Runs A Romance Fantasy With Cash [EN]: Chapter 183

Paeraton meticulously covered his sleeping daughter with a blanket.

A very old memory surfaced.

A small child who would collapse and sleep without even bothering to cover herself, as if she had no safe place in this house.

He covered that small body and pondered.

How should he treat this child?

Paeraton had never experienced familial affection while growing up.

His father had never stroked his hair, nor did he have any memory of being held in his mother’s arms.

He himself hadn’t even desired such things.

It was often said that Paeraton didn’t need emotional exchange; the powerful force flowing in his blood was enough to guide him.

‘But.’

Paeraton stroked his daughter’s hair.

This tiny child was different.

She possessed no magic and yearned for a father, a family, like ordinary children.

How could he not see it?

The wariness, fear, and resentment that flickered across her face.

Despite all that, those wounded eyes desperately craved affection.

But he didn’t know how to bridge the gap.

If Inais were here…

He had never felt that thought so keenly as he did then.

Inais would surely have embraced this child and made her feel safe.

No, in the first place, she wouldn’t have been left to Tarenka and suffered such humiliation.

He alone felt utterly lost.

“It’s because it’s unfamiliar.”

“So, I’ll be with you now.”

“You said we have to stick together to not be unfamiliar!”

But this little child had given him the answer.

Paeraton’s fingertips gently touched his daughter’s soft cheek.

His daughter had taught him more than just that.

Just because something is unnecessary doesn’t mean it can be done without.

People cannot live on bread and water alone.

To Paeraton, who had lived his whole life on bread and water, his daughter taught him that he, too, was human.

Not a monster, a demon, or a devil, but a human who needed the warmth this child offered to truly live.

Life began to feel like living.

And that wasn’t just him.

Paeraton turned his gaze and looked at his three sons.

They were all looking at their sleeping youngest sibling with expressions full of worry.

Had he ever imagined he would see such expressions from them?

Anxious hearts, burning chests, eyes clouded with concern.

Even with blood ties, had he ever expected to engrave someone so deeply in their hearts like this?

Now they were truly alive.

This little child breathed life into them.

“Ugh…….”

Just then, his daughter, frowning, began to sweat coldly.

At the sight of his daughter groaning and suffering, Paeraton felt his heart sink.

He patted the bulging blanket.

“It’s okay. It’s okay.”

After a while, the deeply furrowed brow slowly smoothed out, and even breaths came from his daughter’s lips.

“……He must be feeling responsible.”

Marquis Tarenka spoke in a rough voice.

“This is not something we can do anything about.”

Paeraton felt a surge of resentment at his old words.

“Ruatisha will wake up and get better on her own. Isn’t she a stronger child than anyone else?”

But in the end, Marquis Tarenka’s words rang true.

“I know.”

But the fact that there was nothing he could do, that he just had to wait, was agonizing.

Paeraton gritted his teeth. Veins bulged on his tightly clenched jaw.

‘Was it this heartbreaking?’

He wanted to hurt instead, to worry instead.

He just hoped this child would always smile happily.

Tears flowed from Ruatisha’s closed eyes.

Seeing the child crying silently, the five men clenched their fists tightly.

* * *

“Ugh, heu, ah, no, no!”

I jolted upright in bed.

Birds chirping.

Sunlight filtering through the canopy.

A fluffy bed.

“Hoo…….”

It was a dream.

I rubbed my eyes and groaned, “Ouch!”

My skin was sore just from touching it, a testament to how much I had cried.

I opened the canopy curtain with a swish and took out a tube of ointment from the bedside table, rubbing it around my eyes.

“Did you cough, miss?”

Anna opened the bedroom door with a bright smile. But her eyes were dark, and her skin was rough.

She must not have slept a wink all night.

‘She must have pretended not to hear my sleep talking, and only came now.’

How anxiously Anna must have clutched her chest outside the room while I was groaning…

I approached Anna and held her hand tightly. And I asked with a bright face.

“Yeah! What’s for breakfast today?”

“It’s sausage, which you like, miss!”

“For dessert, we’ll put ice cream on top of hot apple pie,” Nancy said with a bright smile from the living room.

“Wow, really?”

“You have to wash up cleanly before that, right?”

“Our miss has a bird’s nest in her hair.”

Laura and Tilda energetically pushed my back towards the bathroom.

“Yeah!”

I moved forward bravely.

Just like the maids pretended not to know about my swollen eyes, I, too, pretended not to notice their parched lips.

* * *

I was praised for doing a good job after finishing the apple pie without leaving a single bite.

I forced myself to swallow it because I had no appetite, but seeing the relieved expressions of the maids made it worthwhile.

“Come on, miss, let’s take a walk.”

“You don’t know how brightly the summer roses have bloomed.”

I hesitated a little at the maids’ words.

This wasn’t the time to be leisurely taking a walk.

“Ahem, ahem.”

When I looked to the side at the sound of clearing his throat, Grandpa was subtly extending his arm.

Ares was openly reaching out his hand.

I looked at my family and nodded.

“Then I will.”

[The item’s energy has recovered to a certain level or higher.]

[From now on, it is possible to maintain form in the material world.]

I stopped speaking at the notification that appeared before my eyes.

“Lulu?”

Dad called me, puzzled.

“Ne, next time!”

“Huh?”

“The walk is next time!”

I left those words to my bewildered family and quickly ran out of the dining room.

‘Hermes Jjak!’

I called Hermes Jjak as I ran to my room.

But nothing happened.

‘Usually, he would come if I called him like this in my mind.’

I guessed it couldn’t be helped because his energy hadn’t fully recovered yet.

I returned to my room and opened the item window.

The large bandage that had been on top of Hermes Jjak’s picture had disappeared.

I carefully took Hermes Jjak out of the window.

The flat picture became a real bird in my hand.

“Bbi byo byo byo一.”

The long-tailed tit cried sadly when he saw me.

“I’m sorry. Did it hurt a lot? Are you okay?”

“Bbi byo byo byo byo……. Bbi byo…….”

A weak cry.

Hermes Jjak couldn’t stand properly and kept collapsing in my hand.

A small body trembling.

The feathers that used to be glossy were sparsely missing.

I stamped my feet.

At this rate, something terrible would happen to Hermes Jjak.

My eyes, which were looking around, caught sight of the in the item window.

‘Huh? That…….’

As I kept looking at it, an explanation about the item popped up.

Please raise the mythical beast with warm love.

‘Mythical beasts and spirits aren’t similar, are they?’

Anyway, it was a high-nutrient potion.

And spirits should be raised with love too!

Besides, traditionally, hearts mean life!

I took out the from the item window.

I tore off the cap of the heart-shaped potion bottle and put it to Hermes Jjak’s beak as it was.

“Bbi! Bbi byo! Kehk kehk!”

Hermes Jjak made a gesture like a horse and backed away in horror.

“No! You have to eat the medicine well without spilling it. That way, it won’t hurt.”

I poured the potion bottle into his beak.

“That’s right, good job, our Ellie. Swallow it down. Medicine is originally bitter.”

“Bbi, Bbi一 Eup, eup!”

Flap flap!

Hermes Jjak flapped his wings violently.

‘Oh, it looks like it’s working!’

He couldn’t even stand properly, but now he’s flapping like a fish dragged out onto the land.

I poured in all of the until there wasn’t a single drop left.

“That’s right, you did well. Good job, good boy.”

As I stroked the top of Hermes Jjak’s head, my finger was bitten.

“Ouch!”

“Why are you giving me something like the Warmth of a Mythical Beast!”

Hermes Jjak, who flew up in a flutter, got angry at me.

“I thought it would help you recover a little…….”

“What? Recover by eating something like that? Are you saying I’m the same as a mythical beast? Huh? Is that what you’re saying?”

“No…….”

“Mythical beasts! Compared to this great spirit, they’re just insignificant small fries!”

Huh?

The flower placed on the table—to be exact, the egg of the mythical beast seems to have twitched just now?

Did I see it wrong?

“Spirits are the best! Put that in your head clearly!”

“Oh……. But it looks like your condition has improved……. You couldn’t even speak and just cried, and you couldn’t even stand properly, but now…….”

Hermes Jjak, who had been twitching, suddenly stopped flapping his wings in the air.

As I caught the bird falling in horror, Hermes Jjak groaned.

“Aigo, aigo……. My body aches. Aigo…….”

“…….”

How absurd.

Hermes Jjak, who had tightly closed his eyes, slyly opened one eye and looked at me.

When our eyes met, he closed his eyes tightly again and groaned.

“Aigo…….”

“Hmm, then if you drink one more bottle of the Warmth of a Mythical Beast一.”

“Coo, Cookie!”

Hermes Jjak shouted urgently with his eyes wide open.

“If I eat coo, cookies, I might live……. Aigo, aigo…….”

“…….”

I stared down at Hermes Jjak quietly and pulled the bell cord.

“Did you call, miss?”

Anna opened the door and came in right away.

“Bring me some cookies.”

Then Hermes Jjak clicked his beak.

“Full of chocolate chips…….”

Hearing the whispering voice, I couldn’t help but feel dumbfounded.

I sighed deeply and requested Anna.

“With lots of chocolate chips.”

“Yes, miss!”

Anna left the room with a bright smile, happy that I wanted a snack for once.

Seeing Hermes Jjak jumping up and down at the thought of cookies, I ended up laughing.

How much must this little bird have suffered to not even be able to maintain its form.

‘I’m so glad.’

As I stroked his head with my thumb, Hermes Jjak rubbed his beak against my hand as if responding.

* * *

“Lady Shabonne, you say?”

“That’s right, Jjak!”

After hearing the whole story from Hermes Jjak, I hardened my face.

‘I expected it, but…….’

Now that it’s confirmed, there’s no need to hesitate any longer.

Since that side harmed Lady Aizel outside the law, there’s no need to argue about justice or law on this side either.

‘I have to mess them up.’

That doesn’t bring Lady Aizel back to life.

But wouldn’t it be revenge?

I have to do that much to have the face to visit Lady Aizel’s grave.

Then Hermes Jjak opened his mouth.

“And there’s something Lady Aizel wanted me to tell you, Jjak!”

“A message to tell me?”

“It’s her last words, Jjak!”

“…….”

I couldn’t help but harden my face at those words.

I clenched my empty fist tightly.

‘I’m scared.’

I want to know what Lady Aizel would have said as she was dying because of me, but I’m afraid to know.

‘But I have to listen.’

I hardened my heart and said to Hermes Jjak.

“Tell me.”

Then Hermes Jjak spread both wings.

A shadow rose from the small bird’s body.

Lady Aizel’s voice echoed from beyond the swirling shadow.

“Please be sure to tell the princess my words……. This is entirely my choice. It would be a lie if I said I didn’t regret it, but that’s a regret that I should have listened to the princess’s words.”

I jumped up from my seat.

I never thought I would be able to hear Lady Aizel’s voice again.

“If I had listened to the princess’s words to make a careful and safe choice, to not move for the time being, this wouldn’t have happened.”

“But that child will surely regret it and torment herself. Because she’s a kind child.”

No.

I’m not kind at all.

“I chose and judged and acted, and this is the result. Although it ended in such failure, I am proud of my life that I chose to live…….”

But how can I deny Lady Aizel’s words?

Her words that she is proud of her life.

“Haha, right, princess? It was a pretty good life in its own way, right?”

“Yeah……. It really is…….”

I could only nod and sob.

“I’m so glad I got to meet the princess.”

Lady Aizel’s soft voice fell warmly on my back as I sat down and wept bitterly.

Just like her touch.