Dad Came Back from a Deserted Island Chapter 21

“Daddy’s heading out!”

“Mm-hmm! Hurry back, Daddy!”

“Have a safe trip!”

Jean left the house once again, leaving Anne and Vivian behind.

He had a mountain of things to take care of, from looking at houses to move into and interviewing servants to purchase furniture.

After seeing Jean off, Anne played with Vivian in the garden. Then, without warning, the sky began to darken. Anne looked up.

“Oh my, it looks like it’s going to rain, my lady. We should go inside.”

“Rain? Oh no! What about Daddy…?”

If she’d known it was going to rain, Daddy wouldn’t have gone out today. Even as Vivian followed Anne inside, holding her hand, she worried about him getting soaked.

Raindrops soon began to fall from the sky, now covered in dark clouds.

Pitter-patter, pitter-patter.

The gentle sound of rain tapping against the roof drifted inside.

Vivian barely touched the cocoa Anne had made for her, keeping her eyes fixed on the window.

Istherehoneysmearedoutsideorsomething?Is there honey smeared outside or something?

“Daddy might come back.”

She was torn between worrying that he might not return soon and hoping he would come home early.

Anne watched Vivian with an affectionate smile, but suddenly clutched her chest as pain struck the area just below her sternum.

“Urgh. Did I eat something that didn’t agree with me?”

She had eaten breakfast and then played rather energetically with Vivian before her food had fully digested.

Anne rubbed her stomach, thinking she’d been feeling bloated for a while. Then she began to find it increasingly difficult to breathe.

“Ugh…”

She didn’t want to show a little child how much pain she was in, but the sudden, overwhelming discomfort forced a groan from her lips.

“Big sis?”

Hearing the strange noise, Vivian turned around. She was startled to see Anne clutching her stomach and slowly hunching over.

Anne’s face had turned pale, and she was struggling to catch her breath. Still, she forced a smile at Vivian.

Of course, smiling did nothing to make her look any less unwell.

Vivian climbed down from the window and hurried over, clutching Anne’s skirt.

“W-what’s wrong? Are you sick?”

“Oh dear. Well… I think I might have indigestion, my lady.”

What was indigestion?

Vivian didn’t know what it meant, but seeing Anne’s pale face, she mistakenly thought it must be a very serious illness.

“You can’t be sick!”

Startled, Vivian grabbed Anne’s hand and made a beeline for her room.

Anne was in so much pain that even walking was difficult, so she had no choice but to let the little girl lead her along.

“My lady… Why are we going to my—”

“If you’re sick, you have to lie down and rest!”

“N-no, my lady. Lord Lambert isn’t here, so how can I— Urgh. I’ll be fine if I just sit down for a little while.”

“Nooooo! You can’t! Vivi can be by herself. No, wait! Kiki’s here, so I’m not alone!”

Wheredidyoulearntosay‘Nooooo’likethat?Where did you learn to say ‘Nooooo’ like that?

“Kiki, be quiet!”

Unable to resist the little hands trying so desperately to push her onto the bed, Anne could no longer hold back her tears.

She couldn’t tell whether the moisture blurring her vision was tears or sweat. Cold sweat poured down her face, and the world spun around her.

“My lady, then… would it be all right if I lay down for just a little while? Just a moment. I’ll only lie down for a moment.”

“Not a moment! A long time! You have to rest until you feel better!”

“How can you be so angelic, my lady…? Urgh. I really can’t go on.”

After warning Vivian never to open the door if someone knocked, Anne promptly sank into an almost unconscious sleep.

Vivian gently wiped the beads of sweat from Anne’s forehead with her tiny hands, then studied her sleeping face with worried eyes.

Anne’s brows remained tightly furrowed, and she continued to groan as though she were still in pain.

It was only indigestion. After sleeping for a few hours, she would likely feel much better. Unfortunately, Anne was in no condition to explain that to Vivian.

Unable to bear the sight of Vivian’s tearful expression, Kiki clicked its tongue.

Doyouthinkstaringatherwillmakeherfeelbetter?FromwhatIcantell,itdoesn’tseemlikeanythingserious.Stoplookingsogloomyandgodrinkthecocoayouleftunfinished!Do you think staring at her will make her feel better? From what I can tell, it doesn’t seem like anything serious. Stop looking so gloomy and go drink the cocoa you left unfinished!

“R-really? She’s not very sick?”

That’sright!Hervitalityisoverflowing.She’lleasilyliveforseveralmoredecades.That’s right! Her vitality is overflowing. She’ll easily live for several more decades.

“What’s vitality?”

…AskJeanwhenhegetsback.…Ask Jean when he gets back.

“Okay!”

What a bothersome question. Kiki gladly left the task of explaining it to Jean. Vivian, meanwhile, was simply relieved to hear that Anne wasn’t seriously ill.

Following Kiki’s instructions, she returned to the living room to drink the rest of her cocoa.

Flash!

The world suddenly lit up.

“Eek! That scared me. Phew…”

The lightning must have struck somewhere far away, because the thunder didn’t rumble until much later. Vivian patted her startled heart and picked up the teacup she had left carelessly on the table.

She kept sneaking glances at the window.

But Vivian couldn’t bring herself to drink her cocoa. Watching her repeatedly peek outside, Kiki asked,

Whydoyoukeeplookingoutthewindow?Areyouwonderingwhenyourdaddywillreturn?Why do you keep looking out the window? Are you wondering when your daddy will return?

“N-no! I’m just… wondering when the lightning will flash again…”

The way she was slowly edging away from the window made it obvious that she was frightened. The baby monkey’s red eyes narrowed.

Areyouafraidoflightning?Are you afraid of lightning?

The last time Vivian had woken up in fright at the sound of thunder, Kiki had been sleeping so soundly that it hadn’t witnessed what happened.

If it had, even the prickly divine beast might have looked at the little girl with concern instead of that judgmental expression that seemed to ask how she could possibly be afraid of something like that.

Unable to answer right away, Vivian hesitated before slowly nodding.

“It flashes so brightly, and it sounds like the sky is going to fall down.”

Tsk,tsk,tsk.Whatacoward.Tsk, tsk, tsk. What a coward.

“I’m not a coward!”

Vivianisacoward.Vivian is a coward.

“I said I’m not!”

Vivian shouted indignantly at Kiki’s teasing.

Her face was now scrunched up in anger as she glared at the monkey. But at least she seemed to have forgotten her fear of lightning, so Kiki chuckled with satisfaction.

Youshouldbeashamedofyourselfforbeingafraidofsomethingasinsignificantaslightningwhenyouhavethisgreatonebyyourside.You should be ashamed of yourself for being afraid of something as insignificant as lightning when you have this great one by your side.

“W-what does having you here have to do with being afraid of lightning?!”

Ahumanwhoawakenedthisgreatoneshouldhavethecomposuretofacesomethingastrivialaslightningwithoutfear.A human who awakened this great one should have the composure to face something as trivial as lightning without fear.

“Composure?”

…Idon’tevenknowwhyIbothertalkingtoyou.Anyway!There’sabsolutelynoneedtobeafraid.Whodoyouhavebyyourside?Thisgreatone,ofcourse!…I don’t even know why I bother talking to you. Anyway! There’s absolutely no need to be afraid. Who do you have by your side? This great one, of course!

The baby monkey puffed out its chest as it spoke.

Unfortunately, it looked anything but dependable. It was cute, though.

“……”

Kiki caught the hint in Vivian’s eyes and cackled.

Still, Vivian had recovered her smile. She finally took a sip of her now-cold cocoa, only for the world to flash brightly once more.

BOOM!

This time, the lightning must have struck nearby, because the thunder followed immediately. The sound was incomparably louder than before, making her heart plummet.

Vivian jolted in fright, and the teacup slipped from her hand.

Crash!

Unfortunately, it struck a slightly raised section of the wooden floor and shattered into pieces.

“W-what do I do?”

Her heart was still pounding from the thunder, and now she was staring at a brown stain spreading across the carpet. She was so overwhelmed that she could hardly think straight.

“Clean up, clean up…”

If someone saw the living room in this state, she would be scolded terribly.

Neither Jean nor Anne would ever do such a thing, but Vivian’s mind was consumed by the thought that she had to clean everything up before anyone found out.

In a panic, she reached down to pick up the broken pieces.

Just before a sharp shard could cut her skin—

You’llhurtyourself!You’ll hurt yourself!

Kiki dashed forward and shoved Vivian backward.