Chapter 76: Happiness, Father's Instinct and Departure

Chapter 76: Happiness, Father's Instinct and Departure

__________ POV Narration__________

"I-is something wrong, Father?..." Yue's voice rang out as she stood before her father inside his office.

She was dressed in new clothes, all blood was washed off. She now looked just like before, as if nothing at all had happened.

Behind the Daimy stood Mifune and Ken, shoulder to shoulder... Well, close to that at least. Mifune was still taller than Ken by quite a bit, at least while Ken's transformation was still active.

"Yue... We need to talk about what happened in the courtyard earlier..." Yuichi's voice sounded serious, his expression told little Yue that the situation was no laughing matter too...

'Did I do something wrong?!' Was the first thought in her mind.

It wasn't that she didn't realise that gouging out someone's eyeballs was 'wrong'. She wanted to do it either way, and she thought that she wasn't going to get in trouble if she was following Ken's 'orders'.

'Was Sir Ken's orders not approved by Father?... Would I be able to blame him for that then?!'

Her mind was running on overdrive. The last thing she wanted was for her father to look at her in a bad light. She was prepared to sacrifice anything in order to avoid that.

Mifune and Yuichi could both read her mind just from seeing the frantic look in her eyes. The slightly panicked expression was currently etched into her face.

Still, they waited for her response.

"... Y-yes father... Did I disappoint you...?"

It was a question that could've had many meanings... It was exactly the question that the three of them were expecting to receive from her.

On one hand, it could be that she was asking if she was disappointed in her performance during Ken's 'test'. Either she had done badly, or she had done too well...

After all, it could be that she was concerned she may have disappointed her father by letting her bloodlust show to such an extent.

By getting carried away at the moment and letting loose on the prisoner in a manner befitting royalty.

"..." Here was the crucial part.

'... I should do as Ken instructed here... He's the one with more experience when dealing wiht such things... Even if it feels wrong.'

"No dear... In fact, it's the opposite. You went above and beyond what we may have expected..."

Encouragement from a father figure...

Yuichi couldn't help but question himself internally... Was he really right in encouraging such a talent? Letting her grow?

But Ken thought otherwise...

'It's important that no matter what she does, she feels like she can rely on you...

That she'll always have someone to fall back on. You need to do this if you want to keep your relationship with her intact.'

Ken's words rang in Yuichi's mind. It was clear that the assassin knew what he was talking about. Even Mifune seemed to agree, it was the most 'diplomatic' approach to the situation after all... But it still felt wrong.

"Thank you, Father!" Yue squealed a bit as she ran up to her father, almost jumping over his desk and landing in his now open arms.

Yuichi's feelings swiftly vanished when he embraced his daughter... The Daimy observed Yue's reaction, and his expression immediately softened.

A large smile spread across her cheeks as she buried her head in his chest, her entire face lit up as her eyes seemed to regain their life.

Yuichi's eyes widened for a second... He couldn't help it. Even with all of his pampering... He hadn't seen Yue that happy ever since...

'Ever since her mother passed... Ken was right in the end... I can't afford to lose my daughter.'

Yuichi patted his young daughter's head with a warm smile on his face. At that moment, he couldn't help but feel thankful for Ken's intervention.

'Who knows what could've happened without him here... I already owed him a favour, but this goes beyond that... Being able to see Yue's smile... This is a debt that I can't ever pay back...'

The father and daughter duo hugged for a bit more, Ken and Mifune stood unmoving during that time.

Mifune sometimes glanced at the assassin. He wasn't fully ok with Ken also being allowed to stand by the Daimy's side since he was still technically an outsider.

But now that Ken was to be taking care of Yue, it was simply a waste of time to mistrust him.

It was also hard for Mifune to be mad at Ken when seeing Yue's smile.

"Thank you for letting me do this, Father..." Yue snuggled up to her father once more as she spoke out.

She also turned and looked at Ken with an almost euphoric expression, she mentally thanked the assassin that had also made it all possible...

"You're more than welcome, Yue... Just promise to visit me from time to time, don't forget about your old man!" Yuichi ended the 'speech' on a high note. A wide smile spread on his face as he slowly wrapped his hand around his daughter one last time.

"..." The two of them stayed like that for a few more minutes, before Yuichi sighed and slowly softened up, his daughter also getting up and walking in front of his table, facing her father with a resolute gaze.

"So... When are we leaving?!" Her confidence was skyrocketing, and Yuichi sighed a bit when seeing her.

"Now, you have 10 minutes to pack your bags, not one second more. Grab only essentials, I will throw away anything that's unnecessary." Ken was the one to respond this time, as he stepped forward and walked by Yuichi's desk.

Yue's eyes widened when she heard his answer. The little girl immediately started leaving her father's office in a hurry, only stopping to bow to the people inside before running away.

"..." Silence stretched in the room for a few seconds, before Yuichi sighed and turned his head towards Ken.

"Please take care of my daughter, Ken... I'll send a delegation whenever I want her to visit, they'll take care of bringing her safely to me... You don't have to bother yourself with that."

The Blind Assassin merely nodded at the Daimy's words.

"Very well... I'll make sure no harm comes to her. Training will still be harsh, but I'm sure she can take it... It seems you raised a strong girl..."

The assassin then started walking away. Yuichi's gaze traced his steps as he closed the door behind him.

"..."

Mifune sighed a bit as he finally spoke out.

"I assume you want someone to follow them?"

The Daimy looked at his General, seemingly pondering about it for a second before shaking his head.

"No... It's no use. Lord Ken would certainly notice if he was being tracked... And I doubt there's anything that can harm her while she's with him."

The General frowned a bit when hearing that. But he didn't protest in the end.

'... From here on out, Yue's fate lies in that man's hands... At least she won't turn into a tyrannical noble and a serial killer...'

And so, Ken's meeting with the Daimy ended on a high note...

The Blind Swordsman's payment was still set to be sent to him during the next 'check-in' of the Daimy's delegation.

It was going to contain a rather substantial sum, as Ken had gone above and beyond this time around.

But no amount of money was going to change the fact that Yuichi now was indebted to Ken.

Any and all plots that the Daimy may have been cooking up were now erased in an instant.

"... What are the chances of Lord Ken using the front door to leave this time around?" The Daimy turned to his General for a second.

"... Very low... He's probably just going to jump the walls with the Young Lady on his back..." Mifune sighed as he remembered the Assassin's habit of ignoring regular customs.

"... Please make sure to inform the Samurai that Yue is leaving with him... We don't need any misunderstandings to happen now..."

"Naturally..."

Mifune also left the room after that, to inform his troops of the development.

And finally, the Daimy was left alone with his thoughts...

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Hope you liked the chapter!

Yue's gonna be getting more screen time from now on, being the mc's pupil an all that.

Yep, still working on the advanced chapters for now

I only managed to do a double upload there today, tired af now, gonna go sleep go bed now

If u want to support me look up VeganMaster on Patre_on, you'd also get 11 chapters in advance (or 6/3 depending on tier)