The Little Demon King is Too Bothered by Her Brave Dads - Chapter 93

Because.

‘It’s Lakius’s coming-of-age birthday, after all.’

I clenched both my fists tightly.

‘I can’t just let such an important day pass by!’

Lakius would probably ignore even his own coming of age, using being busy as an excuse.

So I was planning to go there personally to celebrate his coming of age at least.

I should keep the visit a secret too.

Then Laki would be surprised, right?

I covered my mouth and laughed silently for a moment.

Then I felt a throbbing pain in my head.

‘The key is how to persuade my dads, though…’

As I was wracking my brain, I shook my head and took out my cherished pen.

It was the pen I received from Lakius as a tenth birthday gift.

‘Let’s start by writing a reply to the letter first.’

I began to move the pen busily.

***

Once a week, there’s a time when the whole family gathers for dinner.

“Alright.”

Cesar wiped his mouth with a napkin and answered brightly.

“I was thinking of visiting Carlo anyway. Miss Tati can accompany me.”

“Th-Third Dad?”

I looked at Cesar with wide eyes.

Despite all my worries, the problem of visiting Lakius was solved so easily!

Cesar nodded.

“Yes. We’ve just dispatched a new deputy priest. I want to check how the situation at the temple there is, and whether the dispatched deputy priest is doing his job properly. I thought I’d kill two birds with one stone.”

“Hey, stop lying. You’re just worried about that Lakius kid.”

Kirios snorted at this.

Cesar narrowed his eyes and glared at Kirios.

“That’s not true.”

“What do you mean it’s not true? Look at you running off as soon as Lakius sends a letter.”

What? Lakius sent a letter?

I perked up my ears.

At the same time, Kirios added mischievously.

“Honestly, whether the priest does his job well or not, there’s no reason for you to check such trivial things personally, is there? You could just send another priest instead.”

“I told you, the priest we dispatched this time is a deputy priest. That’s quite a high position within the temple.”

Cesar retorted with a disinterested face.

“Even if we send an ordinary priest, they might be intimidated by the deputy priest’s authority and unable to properly inspect…”

“Excuses.”

Interrupting that defense, Kirios chuckled.

“Who doesn’t know there are senior priests above the deputy priests? Just send them.”

“Kirios, referring to senior priests as ‘them’.”

Cesar deliberately put on a stern expression.

“Senior priests are people with important responsibilities in the temple. They’re not the kind of people we can casually dispatch externally.”

“Ah, so the High Priest, who heads the main temple, is free enough to go to Carlo personally?”

“…”

It seems he hit the nail on the head.

Wow, it’s really rare to see Cesar at a loss for words.

Kirios clicked his tongue.

“You know what? Whenever you have something to hide, you become more eloquent.”

“…”

“Besides, I know you have other motives.”

“What motives?”

Kirios threw a sharp question.

“Are you trying to monopolize the little one this time?”

“…”

No, what kind of childish talk is this?

I opened my mouth in disbelief.

Isn’t this completely unreasonable?

Besides, I think I’m past the age of being called a little one.

How long are they going to keep calling me that?

But what’s even more astounding is…

“Ahem, hem.”

Cesar cleared his throat unnecessarily and avoided eye contact…

Kirios lit up his eyes and pointed accusingly.

“Hey, aren’t you being too sneaky?”

“What’s wrong with that?”

Cesar, who had regained his composure, asked back without batting an eye.

“Miss Tati lives in Siegfried’s townhouse and occasionally visits the magic tower. In contrast, I…”

Cesar cried out in an aggrieved voice.

“I’ve hardly had any time alone with Miss Tati!”

“…”

“…”

Silence fell.

Kirios and Siegfried looked at Cesar with bewildered expressions.

Cesar met their gaze with a brazen look that said, ‘What, why?’

I felt somewhat embarrassed.

‘Well, I’m really grateful that you’re fond of me, but…’

Just then, Siegfried, who had been looking at Cesar with a disapproving gaze, turned to me.

“So you want to go see Lakius?”

“Yes, I want to go!”

I pleaded with sparkling eyes.

“I haven’t seen his face for almost 5 years. I want to at least celebrate Laki’s coming of age.”

“Well, if you go with Cesar, it should be reasonably safe, but…”

Siegfried had a strangely reluctant expression.

There’s enough reason to go, and with Cesar there, the safety issue is resolved, so he can’t bring himself to say not to go.

‘Do you really have to go?’

His expression seems to be holding back from asking this question…

Pretending not to notice his true feelings, I smiled sweetly.

“I’ll write letters often.”

“…Alright.”

Hmm, it seems letters aren’t enough to completely resolve the issue.

“First Dad.”

I opened my mouth cutely.

“I heard there’s a new dessert shop opening on Elvin Street.”

Although Siegfried was stubbornly keeping his mouth shut, I could see his ears perking up.

“When I come back from Carlo, will you go there with me?”

Then Kirios chimed in with a sulky face.

“Hey, little one. What about me?”

Oops.

I quickly responded.

“Of course, Second Dad should come too!”

“Hmph.”

Only then did Kirios’s expression soften a bit, and he leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms.

I narrowed my eyes sharply.

‘Good, it seems both of them are in a better mood now.’

Just then, Cesar made a stern-faced plea.

“Anyway, this time it’s just me and Miss Tati going, so don’t think about interfering. Understood?”

The intensity of his gaze as he looked back and forth between Siegfried and Kirios was terribly fierce…

Well, that’s how my visit to Carlo was decided.

***

As they say, strike while the iron is hot.

Cesar and I left the capital immediately.

Although Siegfried and Kirios still looked disgruntled, they still came out to see us off properly.

“Stay close to Cesar.”

“Little one, don’t skip meals even if you don’t have an appetite, okay?”

“Ah, stop with the nagging already!”

The two of them kept expressing their worries endlessly, to the point where Cesar, unable to bear it anymore, became quite irritated…

We traveled north by carriage for quite a while.

Carlo was even further north than the Orleans territory, which used to be the northernmost part of the empire.

Perhaps that’s why it definitely feels chillier here.

‘Ugh, it’s cold.’

As I lightly shivered, Cesar handed me a shawl.

“Wear this. It would be terrible if you caught a cold.”

“Ah, thank you.”

I quickly took the shawl and draped it over my shoulders.

But Cesar had a rather displeased expression as if something wasn’t to his liking.

“If you wear it so loosely, there’s no point in having a shawl, is there?”

At the same time, Cesar reached out and tightened the shawl around me.

Even while doing so, his nagging continued endlessly.

“Miss Tati, you have a weak constitution, so you need to be even more careful. Have you been taking your supplements regularly these days?”

Oops.

I just rolled my eyes.

Silence fell.

“…”

“…”

After a brief staring contest.

Cesar furrowed his brow and let out a deep sigh.

“Make sure to take them as soon as we arrive.”

“Yes…”

I drooped both shoulders.

Ugh. I hate bitter things.

Feeling a bit gloomy, I glanced sideways at Cesar.

‘…Still.’

Objectively speaking, I was no longer a young child who needed to be coddled by my three dads.

Lakius was sent as the lord of a directly controlled territory at fifteen, and I’m a year older than that.

Yet, my three dads still looked at me with worried eyes, as if I were still their little daughter in their arms.

That fact made me inexplicably happy.

“…”

I couldn’t help but smile.

Cesar narrowed his eyes.

“Even if you smile so cutely, you still have to take your supplements no matter what.”

…Well, who said anything?

Really, he completely ruins the warm mood.

As I grumbled inwardly, I suddenly looked out the window.

I could see a city in the distance.

Unlike the capital where I had lived all this time, or the Orleans duchy which was the center of the north.

It was a city that felt strangely desolate.

But that wasn’t what surprised me.

“Wow.”

Startled, I pressed myself against the carriage window.

“Is this really Carlo?”

“Yes, it is.”

“My goodness…”

My eyes sparkled.

The Carlo I saw when I first entered the empire was closer to a crumbling semblance of a city rather than a proper city.

But now, isn’t it a sight that’s not ashamed to be called a city!