I’m the Future Crazy Male Lead’s Mother Chapter 45

The doll, whose two feet were tied together as if it were tightly hugging Vanilla’s waist, was something I had never seen her carry before.

Elston definitely said Vanilla didn’t like dolls.

Or had that not been true after all?

Curious, I glanced at Vanilla and asked,

“Lady Vanilla, what’s the name of this doll?”

“Uh… Ah!”

Vanilla looked at the doll hanging from her waist and, startled, quickly tried to cover it with both hands.

I wondered why she was suddenly acting like that, but her next words quickly answered my question.

“My puppy! Puppy said if I look at him too much, he’ll get worn out! Don’t look!”

“R-Really?”

“Mm-hmm. He said precious things should be hidden away and only looked at secretly. Otherwise, bad people will take them away!”

“Bad people will take him away?”

Who had told her something like that?

As if it were the most precious thing in the world, Vanilla even put down the excavator and hurriedly hid the doll behind her back.

“Mm-hmm. Dazar lost that person because of that.”

“…?”

Dazar’s name suddenly came out of nowhere, and I blinked.

That person? Who was she talking about?

“Who is that person?”

“…Umm.”

I asked casually, but Vanilla merely furrowed her brow and didn’t say anything more.

Since it didn’t feel right to talk about someone when they weren’t there, I kept my mouth shut.

Instead, I deliberately turned my head away and pretended not to care about the doll.

“I see. Then I won’t look. Shall we keep playing with this instead?”

“Mm-hmm!”

Perhaps my efforts had worked, because Vanilla looked relieved and began playing with the excavator again.

I didn’t know who that person was, but judging by the fact that she said they had been lost, it didn’t seem like something I could casually bring up.

I pushed Vanilla’s words out of my mind and focused on playing with the children.

“Whoa!”

“That’s right. Hold it there. Mm-hmm, good! Here we go!”

After playing for quite some time, Vanilla reluctantly stood up when it was time for her to go back. It was almost lunchtime.

Seeing the servant who had come to pick her up, Vanilla rubbed her foot against the ground.

I could tell she didn’t want to leave.

I gave Vanilla a gentle smile and pointed at the excavator sitting quietly on the ground.

“Would you like to come out again tomorrow at this time? We can play together.”

“G-Good!”

Vanilla smiled brightly, looking happier than ever, and followed the servant back to the mansion.

That was when I started playing with Vanilla every morning.

From then on, whenever the time we had agreed upon came around, we would gather in the open area covered with sand and play together.

“Hehe! Cilia! Sion! Look at dis!”

“Wowww. Vanilla, you made this really well. Is this a puppy?”

“Mm-hmm!”

Vanilla was quite dexterous.

Looking at the lump of sand shaped surprisingly well like a puppy’s face despite her tiny hands, I clapped enthusiastically.

As we spent more time together, I learned that Vanilla was very attached to the doll she called Puppy, and I also discovered that there was someone who had given her the doll.

One day, while we were busy playing with the excavator and building piles of sand, Vanilla made a suggestion.

“Hey, Cilia. Can I bring Puppy too? ‘Cause Puppy might be sad since he can’t play in the morning.”

Apparently, mornings had originally been Puppy’s playtime with her.

I readily nodded.

“Of course. Naturally. Axion would be happy if he could play with your Puppy, too. But if you bring Puppy outside like this, we’ll inevitably see him. Are you okay with that?”

“Mm… Mm-hmm! Sion and Cilia are okay!”

From the following day, Vanilla began bringing Puppy along whenever she came to play with us.

As befitting his name, Puppy was a doll shaped like a little dog.

The tip of his nose and his tail were worn down from use, suggesting that Vanilla had kept him for a long time, but he still looked like a fairly high-quality doll.

Who gave it to her?

Could it have been Vanilla’s biological parents?

The thought crossed my mind, but I didn’t ask her about it out loud.

I didn’t know why, but there was a reason for that.

Sometimes, Vanilla would look at Axion and me with subdued eyes.

More precisely, she looked that way whenever she watched me playing with Axion.

Seeing that look in her eyes made me think that Vanilla, too, needed parents who would play with her.

That’s right.

Dazar is needed.

 

***

 

“…What?”

Thud.

The pipe that had been hanging from Dazar’s mouth fell to the floor.

“Ouch!”

Apparently, a burning ember had fallen out along with it. Dazar hurriedly climbed down from the windowsill and blew on both of his hands.

“Why are you so surprised? Is this really that shocking?”

“You suddenly said the four of us should go on a picnic. Of course I’m surprised.”

“Why is going on a picnic surprising?”

“……”

Unable to come up with an answer, Dazar picked up the fallen pipe and placed it back on the windowsill before brushing his fallen hair back.

Then he muttered something completely unrelated.

“She won’t like it.”

“Who? Vanilla?”

“Yeah. So there’s no way she’d go—”

“She said she’d go with us. Don’t you want to use this opportunity to get a little closer to Vanilla?”

Dazar’s eyes widened.

Last time, I’d thought that since he had exchanged quite a few snippy remarks with Vanilla, his usual unpleasant attitude must extend to her as well.

But seeing how cautious he actually was around Vanilla made me feel a little strange.

It was as though I had unintentionally discovered a softer side of Dazar.

I stared at his blank expression for a moment, then quickly spoke before I could get too emotionally attached.

“So let’s go together. To the hill behind the estate. Be there by nine tomorrow morning.”

“…!”

Before Dazar could even answer, I left.

After all, that man was always wasting his time like a loafer, so he certainly had plenty of time to spare.

“Now, Vanilla. Are you ready?”

“Mm-hmm! Is Sion ready too?”

“Whoa!”

And the next day, we gathered at the meeting place to go on our picnic.

Vanilla looked incredibly excited.

Raising both hands high into the air, Vanilla shouted,

“Picniiiic! I read about it in a book! It looked so happy!”

“Really? Then let’s have lots of fun on our picnic today.”

“Mm-hmm! Let’s gooo!”

The most excited of us all, Vanilla took the lead.

I followed behind her, carrying Axion.

And behind me…

“Am I some kind of pack mule?”

Dazar trudged along, grumbling.

He looked awkward, as though he wasn’t used to being in a situation like this.

Although he kept grumbling for no reason, it seemed more like a defensive reaction to somehow get through the awkwardness.

“You’re only realizing you’re the pack mule now? How are the three of us supposed to carry all of this? Of course we need one pack mule for a picnic.”

“The Black Falcons are here too. And you have that butler of yours.”

“Oh my. The Black Falcons? How could we possibly expose such trash to children? Besides, Carl is an old man. Don’t you know that we’re supposed to respect our elders?”

“…Let’s not talk anymore.”

We bickered all the way up, but soon enough, we reached the top of the hill behind the estate.

The hill behind the Siastor estate wasn’t actually very high. Compared to the mountains nearby, it was tiny, but it was perfect for a picnic with children.

“Wooooow! Look, Cilia! I can see a lake over there!”

“That’s right. You can see the lake. It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

“Mm-hmm! Siooon. The lake sparkles just like your eyes. It’s pretty.”

Gosh.

What a poetic expression.

Children’s vocabulary could be surprisingly impressive sometimes.

I admired Vanilla’s way of putting things, then became even more amazed when I saw the two children sitting side by side, holding hands.

If things continue this smoothly, there shouldn’t be anything to worry about regarding these two children’s future.

Hehe…

“Why are you smiling so deviously?”

“…When did I?”

“Just now. You smiled like that. You do that sometimes, you know. Especially when you’re thinking about something by yourself. Every time you do, I feel like I want to show you a mirror.”

“……”

That bastard.

“Come sit next to Vanilla if you’re here. We need to take a picture.”

“…A picture?”

“Yes. I borrowed a special magical item from Elston specifically for today.”

I took out sandwiches, a glass bottle of milk, and napkins from the picnic basket.

Then, from the very bottom, I pulled out the pièce de résistance: garaetteok and honey.

“Vanilla. I’m not sure whether it’ll suit your taste, but would you like to try this?”

“Mm?”

Vanilla had been looking at the lake while holding Axion’s hand. She turned her head.

The first thing she saw was Dazar, and she blinked before looking at the garaetteok in my hand.

“Here. Dip it in this honey and eat it. It’s really delicious. Give it a try.”

“Wowww.”

Vanilla held the garaetteok with both hands, stuck out her tongue, and gave the honey a tentative lick.

Then, gathering her courage, she slowly took a bite.

Vanilla’s eyes widened.

“It’s yummy!”

“Really? That’s a relief. Then shall we all gather around like this?”

We huddled together with Axion sitting in front of me.

Dazar hesitated for a moment before quietly sitting beside Vanilla, who was completely absorbed in the rice cake.

In the meantime, I quickly took out the magical item I had packed inside the picnic basket.

It was something Elston had handed over to me with tears in his eyes.

He had said it was extremely precious.

“All right, everyone, look over there!”

“Whoa!”

“…Hmph.”

I pressed the button.

Click.

The sound of magic activating rang out, and the picture was taken.

“Elston said he’ll develop the pictures later and give them to me. So let’s take as many as possible!”

We have to get our money’s worth!

I planned to take as many pictures as possible and give them to Vanilla and Dazar.

After all, photographs are what remain behind! And those photographs become memories.

The more memories you make together, the closer you become.

Of course, I took plenty of pictures of Vanilla and Axion, too.

“…Well, it’s not bad.”

Dazar spoke casually as he watched Vanilla giggling.

Perhaps she was simply happy about the picnic, because unlike what Dazar had feared, Vanilla approached him quite readily.

She had even held his hand while we were climbing the hill.

And just moments ago, while we were taking the picture, she had even leaned against his knee.

We had only taken some time out to have a picnic, yet the atmosphere between them was noticeably different from their usual bickering.

It almost made them look like father and daughter.

For some reason, I felt rather pleased.

 

***

 

…That was what I thought, anyway.

Today.

“Waaaaah! Cilia! Sob… Waaah!”

Why was Vanilla crying so miserably in front of me?