Robot Protection Zone Chapter 35

When I woke up in the morning and looked in the mirror to wash my face, I was startled to find my face puffy and ugly. My eyelids were so swollen that it was hard to blink.

Yesterday…

After my confession was rejected, I didn’t even eat dinner and went back to my room and cried my eyes out. I didn’t want to sleep with the master who had toyed with my feelings, so I slept alone, and today, I didn’t go to work with the master either. I didn’t even see the master off when he left the house.

Only after the master had left for the company did I quietly come out of my room. I had no appetite, so I didn’t eat the breakfast Sophia had prepared for me. Instead, I sat huddled on the sofa, blankly letting time pass.

I was depressed.

I was so sure that the master felt the same way I did… But reality had trampled on my heart so cruelly. My heart, torn to shreds, felt empty.

Today, I came into the study again to soothe my gloomy heart. The familiar scent of wood wafting from the furniture and the smell of paper that filled the room from all sides gently calmed my mind.

Click.

Just then, I heard the sound of the front door opening from outside. I thought the master had returned home again and held my breath in the study.

“Welcome, Mr. Spencer.”

“Oh, Sophia. It’s been a while.”

However, what I heard from beyond the door was an unfamiliar voice.

Who could it be? I peeked my head out of the study and glanced at the front door. And as soon as I saw the face, I froze.

“Master…?”

A man who looked exactly like my old master, but a little older, was standing there. It was as if my old master had come to find me again. His gentle smile and warm tone of voice, which he had always shown me, were so identical that for a moment, I almost shouted “Master!” and ran into his arms.

The man was exchanging greetings with Sophia in a familiar manner. It was as natural as if they had known each other for a long time. I watched them blankly from the study.

Eve approached me as I stood there in confusion. And at the same time, the man who had been talking to Sophia noticed me peeking my head out of the study. Our eyes met, and a brief silence followed.

“Sophia, are those two new members of the family?”

But the man’s reaction was as if he didn’t know me at all. So he’s not my old master. A faint sense of disappointment filled my pounding heart.

Even though I knew my old master had already passed away, it seemed I had gotten my hopes up without realizing it. Thinking such an absurd thought, that he would one day come to find me again.

If so, who could he be? His gentle eyes and warm smile greatly resembled my old master. Perhaps… even more so than my current master.

“Yes. William brought them a little while ago.”

“Oh, my. It’s surprising that William would bring in two robots.”

The man who resembled the master had noticed at a glance that I was a humanbot, even though I hadn’t said anything. Other people had all treated me like a normal human until I revealed that I was a robot…

While I was lost in a daze, he also greeted Eve kindly. Seeing the man greet Eve so affectionately, what little wariness I had left completely crumbled.

The master always treats Eve like a piece of junk and just bickers with it… His attitude was the complete opposite of the master’s. He’s a kind person. I could tell that at once.

Sophia headed to the kitchen, saying she would prepare tea, so I guided him to the living room.

“Where’s William?”

“He went to work a little while ago…”

“Is that so? Hmm…”

I glanced at the man’s face and then carefully opened my mouth.

“Um… by the way… what is your relationship to the master…”

When I asked cautiously, he replied with a gentle smile.

“My apologies for the late introduction. I’m William’s father. It’s been a really long time since I’ve introduced myself like this…”

So he really was the master’s father. I had suspected it a little, but hearing it for sure made my heart pound. Because that meant this person was my old master’s son.

I looked at his face again, slowly and carefully.

…He really did resemble him. The kind eyes and gentle gaze. Even the corners of his mouth, which turned up softly. He had a very similar feeling to my old master.

The master’s father looked around the quiet house, then took a small box out of a paper bag.

“Do you happen to like sweets?”

When he opened the lid, I saw neatly arranged macarons. I couldn’t hide my brightening expression, and he laughed heartily and said.

“Shall we eat these together while we wait for William?”

On his way back home, William thought of Didi, who would be waiting for him, and headed toward the entrance with a light step.

He was excited at the thought of tormenting Didi as soon as he got home. He had laughed so much when he had spotted Didi’s puffy face peeking at him through the window as he left this morning. The thought that he must have cried all night to get like that made him chuckle again.

“Welcome back, William.”

“……?”

But Didi, who would normally have come out to greet him, was nowhere to be seen.

Is he protesting because I rejected his confession? His behavior was so predictable that it was almost laughable. But it didn’t take long for him to realize that wasn’t the case.

“Yes, and so the master…”

“Haha, William did?”

William stopped in his tracks at the sound of an unfamiliar laugh coming from the living room. His father and Didi were sitting side by side on the sofa, laughing and chatting cheerfully.

His eyebrow twitched.

“William, Mr. Spencer arrived three hours ago.”

“You should have told me that first.”

“Saving that command.”

Sophia replied and then stood still.

Sigh… one thing after another…

William swallowed a curse and turned his gaze back to the living room, which was in full bloom with laughter.

There was a small box on the table. Looking closely, he saw that it had the logo of a pastry shop, one of his father’s businesses. So he tempted him with food. William’s face crumpled as he furrowed his brow.

That stupid robot… Do I have to teach him not to carelessly accept food from strangers?

Didi was looking at his father with the same flushed face that William thought he would only show to him. He looked like he had completely fallen in love.

William let out a hollow laugh as he looked at the stupid robot who had changed overnight.

So he thought he liked me, but was it just because my face resembled the old master’s? His father resembled their grandfather a bit more. As expected, Didi couldn’t take his eyes off that face. So, that’s how it is.

William clenched his teeth and strode into the living room.

“Father. Didn’t I tell you not to come without notice?”

“William? When did you get here?”

“…I just arrived.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize because I was talking with Didi. By the way, he’s a very nice boy. I can see why people like humanbots so much.”

His father patted Didi’s head. Didi, who had flinched in surprise at seeing him, blushed and didn’t know what to do with himself. Ha… It was absurd. Just yesterday he was whimpering and confessing to me, and now…

“Didi, come here.”

Feeling incredulous, he called Didi over. Didi hesitated, as if he didn’t want to get up, and then slowly rose and came to his side, not even hiding his disappointed expression. Seeing that insolent behavior, William felt his stomach twist. Thinking that he would have to torment Didi once his father left, William opened his mouth, his voice sharp.

“So, what brings you here?”

“Does a father need a reason to visit his son?”

“I’m asking because you’ve never come without a reason.”

“You have no charm. Why don’t you try to be half as endearing as Didi?”

William’s face scrunched up. He shows up without any notice and spouts such nonsense.

“Just state your business and leave. We’re both busy people, are we not?”

Cutting off the kind of conversation a close-knit family might have, his father finally took a sip of tea and opened his mouth.

“I came because I heard you were trying to restore the humanbot. They say you’re about to release a test model, right? Did you finally succeed in restoring the humanbot?”

“…Not yet. What we’re preparing to release on the market right now is just a mass-produced model of the humanbot.”

It hadn’t even been that long since they had internally confirmed the launch, but where had he heard the news already? William quietly clicked his tongue to himself.

William’s father nonchalantly sipped his tea and continued.

“I think it would be best for you to stop the humanbot restoration.”

“Why? Just a moment ago, you were so happy to see Didi, as if you were meeting your own grandson.”

“Don’t you see, looking at Didi? Why do you think grandfather left Didi to you?”

Halt. William and Didi froze at the same time. William asked in a slightly stiff voice.

“…You knew?”

“Of course. He looks exactly like the robot in the picture frame my father used to keep in his study. I knew as soon as I saw him.”

To think his father knew of Didi’s existence. William subconsciously clenched his fists. If his father wanted to, he could cancel the launch plan for the prototype robot, or even take ownership of Didi. He may have ascended to the position of Chairman of Spenic, but his father’s influence was still stronger.