CH 35

“Come on, drink! You did well today!”

“…Thank you.”

“Hehe.” 

Another pleasant thing happened.

Dad decided to become Cheshire’s guardian, and from then on, we could take lessons together.

Our timetables were identical except for two.

I’m with special tutoring for Mathematics to Oscar, the Lord of the Wizard Tower, and Cheshire—.

‘He’s learning the sword from my Dad!’

I smiled as I watched the side profile of Cheshire drinking the water. 

Now that he has learned the sword from Dad two years earlier, it may be two years earlier for Cheshire might be Swordmaster following my Dad.

‘This, this…. Can it be this easy?’

It was smooth, according to the original.

“Cheshire!” 

“Ung.” 

“Come here.”

I beckoned. Cheshire bowed his head and lent his ear.

“Today, that thing! You didn’t forget to do that, did you?”

“What do you mean—. Aah.”

Cheshire said with an unwilling look.

“Why don’t you just go with Uncle?” 

“No! You promised me!” 

Cheshire replied reluctantly.

“Hey! Why are you whispering to each other?”What did you say?”

Leon stepped in.

“Hehe. No, no. I didn’t say much.”

“You don’t say much?! Come here. Blow out what you said!”

“Kyahaha! I don’t want to!”

I ran hard to avoid Leon chasing me.

Today was the beginning of the Children’s Day festival.

* * *

“Are you ready, gentlemen!”

“Yep, Captain James Brown!”

“….” 

Early evening when the sun has set.

Dressed as commoners, my dad, I, and Cheshire left the mansion without anyone noticing.

Dad smiled as he looked down at his two little subordinates, who were standing next to each other. He then turned around and said, “Go forward!”

At the same time, my Dad turned into James Brown. 

It was the symbol of the extras I hadn’t seen in a while, brown hair and brown eyes.

“Would it be okay…” 

“Yes, yes!”

“Let’s have fun today!” 

Dad and I led the worried Cheshire out to the capital.

“Hiyaaa!”

The first day of the festival.

Unlike the aristocratic townhouse streets, the commoners’ residential area was colorful and noisy for the festival.

Every street had sparkling lights, and people selling candy and snacks called out happily.

The children held their parents’ hands, laughed, and enjoyed the happy atmosphere.

‘Kyaa, this is a real festival! Nobles are too busy pretending to be classy, so they can’t enjoy themselves like fools!’ 

I laughed inwardly as I looked at Cheshire’s profile. He seemed excited, even though he tried to act like he wasn’t.

It was for Cheshire that I asked my Dad to come to see the festival today. 

‘The day Dad took Cheshire to the festival… I can’t forget it! It was such a touching episode!’

In the original, Dad and Cheshire weren’t in a friendly father-son relationship from the beginning. 

Well, it was natural. Enoch Rubinstein’s personality was as cold as the Grand Duke of the North after losing his daughter, and Cheshire was as blunt as Cheshire. 

But, as I know, Enoch Rubinstein is not a cold character to the core. 

Even though it didn’t feel like it, he was always paying attention to Cheshire, and he tried to be a real father to him, who hadn’t felt the affection of his parents. 

「“Festival” 

“…Yes?” 

“It’s a festival. Outside.”

“Ah, yes.”

“….” 

“….” 

“…Let’s go.”

“Yes?”」

“Puahahahaha.” 

I laughed when I thought about the conversation between my Dad, who is 180 degrees different from what he is now, and Cheshire in the original story.

“Princess! That’s super cute! Shall I use that? What do you think?”

“Wow! I’m rabbit! Rabbit!”

We bought one headband from a stand selling animal headbands, wore it, and hung it again.

I was a rabbit, Cheshire was a leopard, and Dad was a bear.

Time passed quickly as we ate fruit skewers covered in sugar and watched the clown magic.

“Hehe. It’s so much fun. It feels great.”

“Is it fun, Princess?”

“Yes! Cheshire, are you having fun too?”

Cheshire, who was walking beside me with a heart-shaped face painting on his cheek, nodded his head.

“…Yeah.” 

“Hehe.” 

It was then.

For some reason, the front seemed to be buzzing, and I saw six security guards in uniform.

And the handsome black-haired man is standing in the center of them—.

‘Isn’t that Uncle Axion?’

It’s been a while since I’ve seen that face.

It was Uncle Axion, the commander of the Holy Knights, who had been beaten with poker by Mr. James Brown as soon as he appeared.

We found each other at about the same time.

Axion, seeing the figure of my Dad, strode forward.

“What are you doing here?”

“Ah, isn’t it the Commander? Are you working hard?”

When Dad gave him a sneaky greeting, the security guards behind them opened their eyes wider.

One member of the crew jumped forward.

“Hey, what a cheeky fellow!” Don’t you know who this is?”

“Stop.”

Axion stopped the crew and glanced down at me.

“Hello!”

“….” 

Axion must have recognized the father and daughter, who secretly came out to watch the festival, let out a deep sigh, and said.

“This is, my friend.” 

“Yes? Friend?”

“Enough. You. Why are you walking around in the commoner’s area without a hitch? Are you saying you’re going to enjoy it to your heart’s content before your face is sold?”

“Commander, what kind of security management did a busy person come out for?”

“It’s not like that. I’m just investigating something personally.”

“Investigating?” 

Axion shook his head as if tired.

“I heard that there are frequent reports of missing children in the commoner’s residential area these days. I came out to find out myself.” 

“What?” 

Dad’s expression is wrinkled.

‘Well, there’s nothing more meaningless than reporting a crime to the commoners….’

I thought as I listened to the conversation between the two.

The commoner’s residence was literally a lawless world.

Only when an aristocracy member is involved, do crimes fall under imperial law.

Commoners have been assaulted, gone missing, and they have to report it to the police for 100 days, but it will not be investigated.

‘As expected, he’s a cool Uncle too. Axion.’

An aristocrat who personally uses his power to investigate commoners’ crimes.

It’s like a unicorn in this terrible universe.

‘Well, only a person this righteous can be Dad’s closest friend.’ 

Axion, who finished the conversation while he was thinking, started walking again. 

“Please don’t do anything to sell your face and play quietly before going in. The return ceremony is the day after tomorrow.” 

“Why are you nagging. I got it. Good work.”

“Uncle!”

I called Axion. He paused and turned around.

I ran and took out the mint candy my dad bought for me from my bag and put it in Axion’s hand.

“…What is this?” 

“It’s a refreshing candy. Eat and cheer up.”

“….” 

“Goodbye then!”

I left the good Axion absent-mindedly and came back to my Dad. 

So I held Dad’s hand and started walking again, and people gathered in front of me like a cloud. 

“Now, the first prize is ‘Princess Lala shoes’! The participation fee is only 5,000 Terr! Join now for your beloved daughter!”

A large banner was hung on the stage where the host’s loud voice resonated.

<Dad and me>

It seemed to be an event with prizes.

But the first prize is Princess Lala’s shoes.

‘The girls are going to go crazy.’

As the famous fairy tale <The Adventures of Princess Lara> hit the jackpot, Princess Lara’s goods became a trend throughout the empire. 

Princess Lara Wand, Princess Lara Compact, Princess Lara Shoes—.

By the way, the shoes I really wanted last year but didn’t get because they were too expensive were Princess Lara’s shoes. 

“Even strong mothers can participate! The second prize is ‘Rabbit Friend Bunny Bunny Pajamas’! One set for adults and children!” 

“Princess.” 

“No, Dad. Are you okay? I don’t like Princess Lara anymore.”

“This is God’s divine revelation.”

“No, I told you I’m fine?” 

Dad quickly came out and grabbed Cheshire’s hand and went up to the stage.

There were already ten teams on the stage, holding their parents’ hands.

“Oh, are you going to be the last contestant? What’s your name?”

“It’s James Brown.”

“Mr. James Brown, but…” 

The host, who had been writing Dad’s name on the list of participants, pointed to Cheshire. 

“<Dad and Me> is an event for children! You can’t make your son sad, can you? According to the principle of the event, all the children who came out today must participate. Will that be okay?”

“Yes?”

I frowned.

Seeing that even strong mothers are saying to participate, it seems obvious that they will make their children do things like sit down and get up or elephant spin—.

“Hugging two people is a disadvantage for my Dad!”

“Ah, I can’t help it. Little princess. It’s a rule.”

Cheshire looked up and intervened.

“Excuse me. But I’m not his son…” 

“Ey, it’s easy! Don’t worry, don’t worry! Dad will win everything!” 

“Kyaa!”

“Ah.” 

With a confident look on his chest, my Dad put me on his shoulders and put Cheshire on his arm.

…Is this really okay?

I wasn’t interested in Princess Lara’s shoes, but I was still eager to win, so I quickly looked at my competitors. 

At that time. 

Bum, bum, bum.

There was a sound of the ground shaking, and then a shadow fell over me.

I slowly raised my head.

‘Oh my.’

I saw a large man with a thick orange beard.

“Hoho. The young gentleman brought out a cute brother and sister. It’s nice to see. Let’s have a fun match.”

“Oh, you’re very big.”

2m, no, it’s something close to 3m tall. Outside of the tight black sleeveless shirt, muscular forearms the size of my Dad’s face were showing off.

You’ll probably die if you get hit by one of those fists! 

I was shocked to see the difference in hand size between the two men shaking hands.

‘It’s Ma DongX, what on earth….’ 

How do I beat this Uncle?