I Picked Up the Precious Daughter of the Villain

I started picking up Elodie’s clothes strewn on the floor, then frowned. They were hardly wearable, with patches poorly sewn and parts torn apart to accommodate the child’s growth.

‘……Tomorrow, as soon as dawn breaks, I’ll have to go buy clothes for Elodie.’

***

“Here, am I allowed to go in?”

Elodie tightly held my hand, looking up at the sign of the children’s clothing store, as if anxious. As if I might let go of her hand if she didn’t.

“Of course.”

I answered firmly.

“We came to buy clothes for Elodie. Who else would go in if not Elodie?”

“……It’s too clean and pretty.”

“Hmm. From what I see, Elodie is clean and pretty too.”

“Really?”

Elodie looked up at me with wide eyes. Her surprised expression, as if hearing such praise for the first time, made my heart tighten involuntarily.

“Of course.”

I nodded vigorously and then pushed open the store door with force.

“Welcome!”

A bright voice immediately burst out from inside. The clerk’s eyes widened as she hurried over and spotted Elodie. Even though we had cleaned her up thoroughly, she had to wear the same clothes to come out, so it seemed the clerk recognized her.

“Oh my, this child is……”

I caught the clerk’s words.

“This is Elodie, who’s come to live with me. Elodie, say hello.”

“He-hello……”

Elodie stammered but greeted her.

“What a pretty name, Elodie.”

The clerk smiled brightly.

“What are you looking for?”

I took out a notebook from my pocket. Making a list of necessary items before shopping was a habit I’d learned only after various trials and errors.

“First, we need five sets of underwear that fit the child well. Also, give us five pairs of socks.”

I quickly read through my notebook.

“Also…… pajamas, and three comfortable dresses, a formal dress, and…… oh, we need a winter coat too.”

The clerk’s smile grew even wider.

“You’ve come to the right place! We’ve just received new clothes that would suit the little miss perfectly.”

The clerk roughly estimated Elodie’s size by eye and guided us to the rack with the appropriate sizes.

I glanced at the price tags. Even though business had been good lately and I had some extra money, I couldn’t afford to be wasteful.

Fortunately, there weren’t any excessively expensive clothes. At this rate, I could smile and pay for whatever Elodie chose. I smiled at Elodie.

“Elodie, do you see any clothes you like? What do you want to try on first?”

“……Th-that……”

I blinked.

Elodie had looked tense since we entered the store, but now she seemed particularly distressed.

To the point where she couldn’t even speak properly.

“Are you feeling sick? Do you want to go home and rest?”

“……N-no.”

Elodie shook her head.

“Th-that……”

Elodie’s eyes anxiously skimmed over the clothes.

‘……Ah.’

I inwardly groaned at the sudden realization. It wasn’t too difficult to notice what Elodie’s gaze was examining.

Elodie was looking at the price tags. She seemed flustered as she tried to choose the cheapest ones, but they were all more expensive than she had thought.

I spoke to Elodie in a stern voice.

“Elodie, if you don’t tell me what you like, I’ll have no choice but to buy all the clothes here.”

“What?”

Elodie’s eyes widened in shock.

“You can’t do that!”

“Why not?”

“……I’ll grow quickly, and the clothes will become too small, so it’s too wasteful. You shouldn’t spend so much on someone like… someone like me.”

I closed my eyes and opened them again. If I could, I would have run to the prison where the human traffickers should be locked up by now and kicked them where it hurts, but this wasn’t the time for that. I bent my knees to meet Elodie’s eyes.

“Elodie, I’ll tell you just one thing. I don’t regret spending a single penny on your clothes. No, I’m dying to spend it.”

The answer didn’t come immediately.

Only after a heavy silence, during which I could feel my heart pounding, did Elodie slowly open her mouth.

“……Really?”

I took a deep breath.

Elodie’s voice was dripping with skepticism that a child her age should never have. I bent my knees to meet Elodie’s gaze, then answered firmly.

“Of course. Would I lie to you?”

Elodie looked like she had a lot to say, but she nodded. The problem was that she still didn’t seem inclined to choose clothes.

So I decided to choose for her.

A lovely sky-blue dress that matched well with Elodie’s silver hair, a purple dress that complemented her low-saturation red eyes, a warm winter coat, and so on……

Fortunately, Elodie didn’t seem to dislike the clothes I chose for her.

On the contrary, she couldn’t take her eyes off the clothes in my hands. Enjoying this, I kept buying one piece after another until……

‘I’ve gone a bit over budget.’

Before I knew it, both my hands were full of Elodie’s clothes. It didn’t matter. I had saved up quite a bit of money since I had no use for it while living alone. I won’t go bankrupt by spending a little at a time like this.

Finally, after buying all the clothes, I left the store with my hands full of beautifully wrapped boxes. Elodie, who had been wearing rags when we entered the store, was now wearing a pretty sky-blue dress with a coat over it as we left.

Elodie kept touching her coat as if fascinated.

“It’s so warm.”

“Is it too hot?”

“No.”

Elodie clutched her coat tightly. She looked as if she was worried someone might take it away.

“No matter how much you like it, you should take it off if you’re too hot. Otherwise, you’ll get a heat rash. Understand, Elodie?”

Elodie nodded with a broad smile. After walking a little, we arrived at a café not far from the clothing store.

The café, decorated in a small brick house, was cozy and modest. As we approached the café, I could see black letters written on a simple wooden sign.

<Café Aria>

Yes, this is the café I run.

As I unlocked and opened the café door, a familiar air rushed in.

“……”

Elodie kept looking around the café with wide eyes.

‘There’s nothing special.’

It was just an ordinary café. Filled with unremarkable chairs and tables. But Elodie’s face was flushed as if the café was an amusement park.

“Would you like to sit anywhere you like?”

Elodie unhesitatingly chose the seat closest to the counter. The child climbed onto the cozy sofa as if half-crawling and dangled her legs that didn’t reach the floor.

Although she didn’t say much, she seemed to like it, so I felt at ease and started preparing to open the café for the day.

After a light morning cleaning, I put cookie and bread dough in the oven, made sandwiches, and brewed drip coffee. Then I placed two sandwiches along with orange juice in front of Elodie.

“Are you very hungry?”

There was no need to wait for an answer. Elodie nodded hurriedly and ate the sandwiches hastily. In the middle of eating frantically, the child looked up and solemnly declared,

“This is the most delicious sandwich I’ve ever eaten.”

“I’ll make it even more delicious tomorrow.”

It didn’t have any special ingredients. Just fresh tomatoes, bacon, over-easy fried egg, and a salty-sweet sauce. It’s tasty, but not at the level of the world’s most delicious sandwich. Elodie’s eyes widened.

“How can it be even more delicious than this?”

“Today, I couldn’t add fresh vegetables because we ran out. Just adding lettuce would make it so much tastier.”

To be honest, I felt it was lacking even now. Isn’t a sandwich best when you can crunch on crisp lettuce?

“Also, we could use shrimp instead of bacon. Then it becomes a shrimp sandwich.”

Elodie replied with a thoughtful expression.

“……I’ve only had shrimp once.”

“Did you like it?”

“Yes.”

“Then let’s have fried shrimp for dinner tonight.”

“……!”

Elodie looked at me with her mouth forming an ‘O’.

“I wish it were dinner time already!”