The Little Demon King is Too Bothered by Her Brave Dads - Chapter 78

‘Great!’

I pumped my fists in the air.

But then, Cesar looked at me with a disappointed expression.

“Miss Tati, can’t you reconsider? This is a perfect opportunity for us to have fun together without Siegfried.”

In response, Siegfried retorted without batting an eye.

“Cesar, didn’t you say for visiting the Townhouse today you even skipped the New Year’s speech?”

“…….”

“I received a message from the Great Temple earlier. The carriage is waiting for you, if you wish to return.”

“…….”

Cesar closed his mouth obediently.

At the same time, Kirios, who had been watching for a chance, tried to persuade me.

“Little kid, how about visiting the magic tower after a long time?”

“And how about the recent explosion incidents at the tower? Are things calm now?”

Siegfried asked bluntly.

“…… you prick.”

Kirios glared at Siegfried with a furious expression, but he couldn’t come up with a retort.

I felt a little dumbfounded.

I mean, he had said he was going to the Duchy alone.

What’s with this ironclad defense?

***

A few days later.

I stood in front of a carriage heading down to the Duchy, being sent off by people.

“Have a good trip, kid.”

“Take care of yourself, okay?”

Kirios and Caesar bid me farewell with somewhat disappointed expressions.

“I’ll be back! Dads, you have to stay healthy while I’m away!”

I hugged each of them in turn before letting go.

Then I caught sight of Lakius looking at me with both his shoulders hanging down.

“I’ll write you, Laki.”

After saying that, Lakius seemed to regain a bit of strength in his shoulders.

‘No, if anyone sees it, they’ll think that we won´t see each other for years. ‘

I chuckled and patted Lakius’s shoulders.

“Don’t cry even if you miss me. Okay?”

“…….”

Nod, nod.

Lakius nodded meekly.

No, he should resist when I make a joke like this.

What if he agrees with my joke?

Just then, Siegfried opened his mouth with concern.

“Come to think of it, what about Lakius’s education schedule…..”

“Don’t worry.”

Kirios narrowed his eyes at Siegfried.

“While you’re away, we’ll take care of Lakius just fine.”

……Is it just me, or does that smile look wicked?

“…….”

However, Lakius, who was already gloomy, became even more dejected…

Cesar made a cold remark.

“Cause you didn’t get a good grip with Miss Tati watching you every time, right?”

“That’s right, this is the perfect chance while the kid’s away.”

Kirios and Cesar seemed very pleased with themselves.

I looked at Lakius with a pitiful gaze, then clenched my fists tightly.

‘You better make it out alive, Lakius!’

Lastly, Nora approached me.

She checked my clothes carefully, then hugged me tightly.

“I’m going to miss you so much, miss.”

“I’ll miss you too. I’ll be back soon, alright?”

With that farewell, I boarded the carriage.

The anticipation of visiting Siegfried’s hometown for the first time.

…..mixed with the fear of possibly encountering traces of the demons.

My heart pounded with a mixture of both emotions.

* * *

“Whoa!”

I exclaimed, my eyes shining as I clung to the carriage.

After a long carriage journey, I finally arrived at the Duchy of Orleans.

‘From what I have heard, the Duchy of Orleans is nicknamed the Heart of the North, right?’

Neatly dressed people walked the streets, and everything looked well organized.

Streets stretched wide enough for carriages to travel.

It was a bustling landscape that suited its nickname well.

And so, while I was absorbed in the sights of the Duchy for some time.

I spotted an unusually colorful building among the gleaming streets.

“Linz Dress Shop……?”

Unconsciously following the sign’s name, Grandfather quickly acted as if he knew all about it.

“Oh, you mean the upper-class dress shop of Linz?”

“Linz Upper-class?”

“They mainly deal with the Duchy of Orleans. They are also responsible for supplying the Carolingians.”

Ah, I see.

I nodded.

The Duchy of Orleans lay not far from the former Carolingian territory, or rather the Carolingian capital, Kaleullowa.

This was also clearly mentioned in the original.

The reason the Carolingians were able to survive after the Demon Invasion was because they were supported by the Duchy, the center of the northern part of the Empire.

Practically speaking, if Carolingian, which is in contact with the Demon Realm, collapsed, the duchy would be in danger.

From a humanitarian point of view, they made the decision that they should help the Carolingian people who were suffering from the violence of the Demon World.

‘Come to think of it, Siegfried.’

I glanced sideways at him.

‘His determination to confront the demons for the first time was because he witnessed the refugees pouring out from Carolingian, right?’

Especially since Kaleullowa had been on the front line against the demons, there were bound to be many casualties.

It was then that Siegfried asked his father in a surprised voice.

“Was my father…… supporting the Carolingians?”

“Why? Shouldn’t I have supported them?”

Grandfather replied with a somewhat haughty tone.

Siegfried looked at Grandfather with his bright eyes and turned his head away.

“No, it wasn’t meant like that.”

“Hmph.”

Grandfather snorted and turned his head away.

“…….”

“…….”

Silence descended.

I looked back and forth between Siegfried and Grandfather.

They were both deep in thought.

After a while.

While admiring the picturesque cityscape of the duchy, Siegfried finally spoke.

“……Thank you, father, for all the hard work you’ve done.”

“Never mind. You fought the five demon lords yourself.”

Grandpa, who replied, reminded him again.

“More than that, did you not even know that I was supporting the Carolingians?”

Upon receiving that remark, Siegfried’s face became perplexed.

“I’m sorry. However, it’s not recorded in the budget statements that come up regularly from the duchy…”

As Siegfried was responding like that, he suddenly wore a puzzled expression.

“But Carolingian is directly governed by the royal family, so in order to provide support, one must obtain permission from the royal family. Unless it’s a lord dispatched by the royal family or a member of the royal family, direct support would be impossible, right?”

It is possible to support them through personal funds, not official funds of the Duchy.”

“…No, it’s not even an official budget, and I can’t possibly know about my father’s personal expenses, right?”

Siegfried asked incredulously.

My grandfather, visibly upset, retorted sharply.

“Even so, as the heir, you should have known!”

“But you didn’t mention anything, how was I supposed to know?”

Siegfried retorted back.

“Moreover, when did you change the top trading partner to Linz? If you were going to change the trading partner, shouldn’t you have informed me as the heir?”

“After you left for the Demon Realm, I changed it! You left on your own, abandoning your position as the heir, how could I have informed you in advance?”

“That, that’s…….”

Siegfried momentarily found himself at a loss for words, wearing a pained expression.

“Why does the story have to go that far? After all, my father transferred the dukedom to me the moment I left for the Demon Realm.”

“What’s the problem with that? What’s wrong with me passing on the ducal title to my son?”

“At least you should have told me beforehand! You can say what you want now, but do you know how surprised I was to hear that I became the duke when I returned to the Empire!”

“Well, is it not unreasonable that you should inherit the dukedom a little earlier than you ought to. The sooner you become a duke, the sooner those Ghiberti fools wouldn’t be messing around!”

“That’s not the point, and you know that very well!”

And so, the two began to quarrel again…….

However, seeing Siegfried constantly being pushed back, it seemed that this time grandfather had the upper hand.

Still, it looked more like Siegfried was close to giving up on the argument rather than truly admitting defeat, driven by a stubborn determination.

‘I guess we can leave it at that, huh?’

I grinned and glanced out the window.

‘But that aside….. I don’t sense any demonic energy.’

There was no trace of it.

I’m the demon king, after all, so I should be the most sensitive to demonic energy in the world.

Yet, I couldn’t sense anything.

I suppose Siegfried didn’t sense anything either, seeing as he was so occupied with arguing.

‘But I can’t just relax with just this much.’

I resolved to keep my guard up.

This is the Bartoloa clan, after all.

‘I need to be cautious.’

I narrowed my eyes, alert and vigilant.