Lord Baby Runs A Romance Fantasy With Cash [EN]: Chapter 112

☆ Chapter 113 ☆

Surely… she doesn’t know what she’s saying, right?

Marquis Tarenka’s eyes shook as if there were an earthquake.

Luatisha watched him and realized she’d blundered.

What to do? A proper young lady must protect the elder’s innocence.

“The stork brings babies to parents who hold hands and pray with love on a night when the full moon rises, doesn’t it?”

“Y-yes! That’s right!”

Marquis Tarenka nodded vigorously.

‘That startled me.’

The tears that were about to fall disappeared completely because of the shock.

He sighed in relief.

Unaware that the tiny baby was proudly protecting his innocence.

“You know, my name was given to me by my mom.”

Luatisha said, unable to hide her delight. She seemed a little proud.

“Inais… Yes, it’s a good name.”

Marquis Tarenka smiled and nodded.

A moment of silence fell.

It was a slightly different silence than before they started talking.

The late spring breeze was very warm and gentle, and the blooming flowers and grass gave off a fresh and sweet scent.

Marquis Tarenka mustered his courage.

“…Luatisha, this foolish old man is too late. If I could turn back time, I would, but since I can’t… can I at least be your grandfather now?”

Luatisha looked at Marquis Tarenka for a moment.

The head of a great prestigious family, a giant who had everything, was anxiously waiting for her answer.

“…You don’t need permission for things like that.”

“Then?”

“If we spend time together, we’ll become family whether we like it or not.”

“Yes, that’s right. You’re right.”

Marquis Tarenka smiled.

Not just because she was his granddaughter, but because she was so clever.

“Instead of asking you to acknowledge me as your grandfather, I should become your grandfather first.”

“…I think you might misunderstand Dad. Maybe you’ll never understand him. That’s okay.”

Luatisha’s eyes, as she looked at Marquis Tarenka, held a hint of pain.

“But you’re also the maternal grandfather of my brothers.”

“…!”

“I heard. You were very upset because Zeon didn’t even try to be held by his mother.”

That was true.

Even this vast estate, even the offspring his daughter bore in pain, seemed to coldly reject her.

He was angry and couldn’t bear it.

So he urged his daughter to leave this estate quickly.

“It would have been better if you had tried to understand why Zeon had no choice but to be like that.”

Why didn’t he listen more to his daughter’s words then, why didn’t he look more closely at his first grandson’s condition?

He regretted it.

“Zeon has lived without receiving anyone’s warmth until now. It’s not Zeon’s fault.”

“That’s the burn Zeon has.”

“That’s right. My other brothers all have their own burns.”

Marquis Tarenka closed his eyes.

“…I made many mistakes. I didn’t do what I should have done as a grandfather.”

“It’s not too late now.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

The warm spring sunlight seeped through his closed eyelids.

* * *

Zeon, Ares, and Ixion had no choice but to leave when their youngest said she would have a private meeting with Marquis Tarenka.

But it was a situation where a new variable could disrupt the existing order.

How could they just stand by and do nothing?

They took their places by the window with a good view of the courtyard and watched Marquis Tarenka with hawk eyes.

But.

They never expected to hear such words.

They were silent for a moment.

“A burn……”

No one had ever seen them that way. Who would dare?

But Luatisha found the wounds they themselves hadn’t even recognized and soothed them.

“…I will never be able to escape from that child……”

He couldn’t feel emotions properly because of the burn, and he couldn’t even recognize them.

But with just one word from that child, his heart ached as if it were being squeezed.

Like realizing thirst only after it had parched his throat, that child awakened him like that.

“……”

In fact, now that they met their maternal grandfather, they didn’t feel anything.

They hadn’t really thought about their maternal grandfather, and their biggest concern was that Luatisha’s attention might be taken away.

But Luatisha would be different.

She was a child with deep affection and many thoughts.

She grew up in her maternal uncle’s house when she was young, so she would naturally have thought about her maternal grandfather.

She must have resented why the elder of the family left her like this.

But in the end, what she was saying to Marquis Tarenka was to embrace her brothers as their maternal grandfather.

She must have been surprised by the big incident at the dawn festival.

It happened with her maternal cousin who had harassed her, so how much mental anguish must she have suffered inside?

“That kid is always like that. Despite being delicate, she always tries to take care of us more than herself.”

She sees other people’s wounds so well, but she doesn’t take her own seriously, as if she can just shake them off and get up.

“Yes, so we have to take care of Luatisha.”

“…We must cleanly erase those who hurt our youngest.”

Marquis Tarenka and Luatisha were seen leaving the courtyard.

The three men naturally got up from the window and went downstairs.

“Oh? You were all together? I was looking for you guys, and I ran into you!”

Luatisha smiled brightly, saying it was a welcome coincidence.

The three men pretended not to know and nodded.

“That’s good. Why were you looking for us?”

At those words, Luatisha glanced up at Marquis Tarenka.

“Dad and I talked with you, so I thought it would be nice if my brothers did too.”

“I see.”

Luatisha’s eyes widened at the mild reaction.

She was sure they would say they didn’t need anything like that.

‘Anyway, that’s good.’

Luatisha clenched her fist and showed it to Marquis Tarenka, telling him to cheer up, and then left.

As Luatisha walked away, the gentle atmosphere of the Phaeton princes changed completely.

Ixion opened his mouth with a sharp smile.

“I know what Cotton Candy [Luatisha’s nickname] said about us. But she’s the only one who can see us that way. Just so you know, I don’t need any ha-ha-ho-ho family games.”

“Just do enough so that my sister doesn’t worry.”

Marquis Tarenka was silent for a moment, looking at Ares, who was smiling sweetly.

Once the prejudice was gone, he could finally see.

These children didn’t really not need a family.

Just—.

“I’m sorry to you. I don’t know much about Phaeton or you.”

“……”

“Now that I apologize for being indifferent for the past years, you can’t accept me as your grandfather right away. It’s greedy to want that.”

“……”

“But if I spend time with you, as Luatisha said, if I’m by your side, something will change even a little.”

“I don’t need that—”

“It doesn’t matter if you don’t need it. I’ll always be by your side. So that when you accidentally, even just once, need this grandfather, I can reach out right away.”

Marquis Tarenka left those words and turned around.

The outing was long, and the emotional turmoil was great.

His mind was clearer and sharper than ever with a firm will.

However, his aging body couldn’t keep up with his mind, and the hand holding the cane began to tremble.

Marquis Tarenka suppressed his desire to see his grandchildren’s faces a little more and moved his steps.

He couldn’t show the children a weak side.

The Phaeton princes quietly watched Marquis Tarenka’s back as he walked away with his back straight.

When that figure was no longer visible, Ixion pouted his lips.

“What, that old man.”

His grumbling echoed in the empty space.

* * *

As he had declared, Marquis Tarenka visited the Phaeton residence almost every day.

He came under the guise of being Luatisha’s guest, so Zeon, Ares, and Ixion couldn’t chase him out of the mansion.

He fearlessly approached his grandchildren.

“You were so sensitive that you couldn’t even stand people being near you. It must have been hard. And I, as your grandfather, didn’t even know……”

He grabbed Zeon’s hand tightly with his wrinkled hand, only to be rejected.

“Ares, you don’t have to force yourself to smile like that. Just get angry at me. Seeing my grandchildren being fussy is also a joy in my old age.”

“…Did you see me being fussy?”

He even managed to elicit a sarcastic smile from Ares.

“Haha, you rascal. Your jokes are too much. Yes, children should be lively and energetic like freshly caught fish to be healthy.”

“…If you bother me one more time, the next thing that breaks might be you, not the wall.”

Ixion, who had exploded, even made the wall break with magic.

No matter how much his grandchildren growled, Marquis Tarenka didn’t stop.

He forced conversations, elicited reactions, and figured out what his grandchildren liked and disliked, and what they were sensitive to.

Zeon, Ares, and Ixion felt put out.

But they couldn’t just avoid him, because they were worried that if they didn’t spend time with him, they would spend more time with Luatisha.

So they had no choice but to deal with Marquis Tarenka.

Of course, the person who spent the most time with Marquis Tarenka was Luatisha.

Luatisha looked at the mountain of desserts piled on the tea table.

“How is it? I brought it because you like desserts.”

“I can’t eat all of this.”

No matter how much she liked desserts, this was too much.

Desserts were piled up as if shouting, ‘There must be one you like among these!’

But the desserts weren’t the problem.

“What are those tables and chairs?”

A hamster chair was placed there, looking cute and adorable.

The other chairs were shaped like baby cats, sheep, rabbits, and chicks.

The table was a log that forest animal friends would like.

“I had artisans make them because I thought you would like them.”

‘……No, that’s a misunderstanding. This is not my taste. It’s my dad’s taste.’

He seemed to have mistaken her for liking the scallop chair and the pink tea room decorated with frills and lace in her room.

“The animal friends were based on the stuffed animals in your room.”

Marquis Tarenka said proudly.

‘I appreciate you thinking of those things…….’

“You had a lot of dolls, but you especially liked these dolls.”

“How did you know?”

“How could I not know what my granddaughter likes?”

Marquis Tarenka smiled.

“Do those friends have any stories?”

Marquis Tarenka’s question had no special meaning.

He just wanted to hear his granddaughter chatter about it since children play with dolls a lot.

But the answer that came back was completely different from what he expected.

“These are my dad and brothers.”

“The sheep is Ares, and the rabbit is Ixion.”

Marquis Tarenka was silent for a moment, holding on to his mind that was about to go out.

“…Your dad is?”

“Dad is obviously a baby cat, right?”

“……”

“The chick is Zeon. He follows me around like a chick.”

Marquis Tarenka was confused.

Seeing him like that, Luatisha said firmly.

“Oh, don’t misunderstand. I’m not the hamster.”

The one who looked most like the stuffed animal glared and became serious.

“The hamster doll was given to me by the maids a long time ago, so it’s precious.”

Marquis Tarenka recalled the kkyu-kkyu [cute] animal friends and his sharp-edged son-in-law and grandsons.

He wondered if there was another combination that didn’t fit as well as this, but somehow he felt persuaded…….

No, more than that.

‘I’m jealous.’

“…What animal is this grandfather?”

“Pardon?”

“What animal is grandfather?”

“That’s……”

Luatisha, who was thinking, turned her body away with a slightly embarrassed face.

“I don’t know.”

Marquis Tarenka laughed at that sight.

He was happy that his granddaughter was cute, but he was also a little sad.

But he shouldn’t be too greedy.

“There’s too much, so let’s call Dad and my brothers to eat together. There will still be leftovers. Can I give some to the maids too?”

“Yes, let’s do that.”

Soon, the Phaeton duke and princes entered the room.

They frowned for a moment when they saw the animal kkyu-kkyu chairs.

Marquis Tarenka chuckled as he watched the Phaeton duke sit on the baby cat chair with a stiff face.

Look at him not showing any displeasure even though he didn’t like it.

The Phaeton duke, who was said to bring down even flying birds, was always funny to see him unable to handle his daughter.

Then the Phaeton duke opened his mouth.

“Lulu, if you want new furniture in the future, tell Dad. I can make it better.”

The Phaeton duke looked at Marquis Tarenka with eyes burning with competitiveness.

‘……It’s not the baby cat that’s the problem, it’s him.’

That day, Marquis Tarenka learned a new fact about his son-in-law.

The Phaeton duke’s secret hobby was ordering princess furniture that suited his daughter.

The Phaeton duke sat his daughter on his lap, so the hamster chair eventually became Marquis Tarenka’s.

The desserts that Marquis Tarenka had brought for his granddaughter were truly heavenly.

Luatisha happily puffed out her cheeks.

Everyone reached out with their forks, looking at the child.

“Marquis, please keep the order. We can feed her three times for every one time you feed her.”

“Zeon, you bastard, what are you doing? It was my turn!”

It was a very noisy tea time.

Unlike his first visit, when he had only watched, Marquis Tarenka made a fuss together.

‘I’m happy.’

He didn’t know how many years it had been since he felt joy.

Marquis Tarenka was surprised that such emotions still remained in his heart.

He thought all happiness had disappeared when his daughter died.

“Ugh, I can’t eat anymore! I feel like I’m going to explode!”

Luatisha shouted, patting her full stomach.

Marquis Tarenka smiled at the sight.

He was happy.

Yes, he was happy now.

He slowly captured the faces of his grandchildren in his eyes.

“I can’t do this. I need to walk a bit.”

“Okay.”

The Phaeton duke nodded, put his daughter down, and stood up.

The princes stood next to him as if it were natural.

Luatisha tilted her head and looked at Marquis Tarenka, who was still sitting.

“Aren’t you coming, Marquis?”

His face seemed to think they would walk together.

‘Ah…….’

Marquis Tarenka nodded.

“I have to go together. Together.”

Marquis Tarenka got up from his chair, leaning on his cane.

It was that moment.

Marquis Tarenka’s body staggered.

He tried to regain his balance, but his aging body didn’t move as he wanted.

Marquis Tarenka collapsed as he was.

“G-grandfather?! Grandfather!”

He heard his granddaughter’s urgent voice. The sound of hurried footsteps.

He liked hearing the word grandfather.

His puppy was calling him like that, so he had to open his eyes and answer.

But his closed eyes didn’t budge, and his tongue seemed to be stiff.

Amid the slowly fading consciousness, he felt his granddaughter holding his hand tightly.

Was it time to meet Inais?

He had no regrets now.