Dad Came Back from a Deserted Island Chapter 27

Vivian’s exploration of the mansion was still underway.

The new mansion was so enormous that even after three days of exploring, she still hadn’t seen everything. Of course, that was partly because Vivian and Kiki insisted on calling it an “exploration game” and searched every nook and cranny of the house.

Whenever they became interested in one particular place, they would stay there for half a day, often forcing the servants to go looking for them.

“Let’s explore this side today!”

Today’s destination was the eastern wing of the mansion. Vivian had no idea what kind of rooms awaited them.

As Vivian and Kiki wandered through the mansion, they hid whenever they encountered the servants. There was no particular reason for it. That was simply one of the rules of their exploration game.

The servants would pretend not to notice their young lady hiding very obviously behind a pillar, struggling to hold back their laughter as they walked past.

Following their thrilling(?) route, they arrived at a room designed for playing games after parties.

There was a billiard table, a chessboard, and even cards laid out on a table. Everything was completely unfamiliar to Vivian.

“Wowww. Kiki, do you know what these are?”

[Who knows? I have never seen such things either.]

There had been bananas on the deserted island, but certainly no billiard tables.

Vivian dragged over a chair and climbed onto the billiard table. She crawled around on top of it and even peered into the pockets, but finding nothing interesting, she quickly lost interest.

“Up we go.”

Vivian jumped down from the table, returned the chair to its original place, and sat at the table.

“This one is shaped like a heart. What shape is this?”

To Vivian, who knew nothing about card games, they were nothing more than scraps of paper.

Adults might have been able to spend hours in this room, but Vivian left in less than ten minutes.

“That was a boring room.”

[There certainly are a lot of useless rooms in this place.]

“Where should we go next, Captain Kiki?”

[Shall we go upstairs this time?]

“Okay!”

The two immediately headed toward their next destination.

There were several rooms on this floor besides Jean and Vivian’s bedrooms.

They explored a few more guest rooms, but after finding nothing interesting, Vivian began to feel disappointed.

“Phew. I’m tired.”

[Vivian.]

“Hm?”

[You have never explored your father’s room, have you?]

“Daddy’s room? Hmm. That’s true, but… shouldn’t we not rummage through Daddy’s room?”

[Is that really something you should say after turning this entire house upside down?]

“Hehehe.”

Vivian awkwardly scratched her head.

Jean had told her that she could wander anywhere in the mansion as she pleased.

“Then should we go? But this time, we really can’t get caught!”

[You are the one who should be careful.]

The two stealthily slipped into Jean’s room.

Jean’s bedroom was about the same size as Vivian’s. In fact, since Jean had put far more effort into decorating Vivian’s room than his own, his room looked somewhat sparse in comparison.

Of course, this was not the first time Vivian and Kiki had entered Jean’s room.

They had already been there several times, so instead of looking around, they immediately headed for the space beneath the bed.

“There’s nothing under the bed, Captain!”

[Come out before you eat any dust.]

Fortunately, the furniture had only recently been brought in, so there wasn’t much dust beneath the bed.

Having found nothing of interest, Vivian opened the door to the small room connected to the bedroom. It was a separate dressing room.

“Daddy doesn’t have many clothes. Even though he bought me so many.”

Next time they went shopping, Vivian decided, she would tell Daddy to buy more clothes for himself. Lost in thought, she failed to notice the edge of a cloak at her feet.

“Whoa!”

[Tsk. You need to be careful.]

Fortunately, Vivian managed to catch herself against the wall before falling.

Since she hadn’t been hurt, Kiki merely clicked its tongue. That was all that mattered.

Looking at its reflection in the mirror, Kiki diligently groomed its fur. It was a divine beast who liked to keep itself neat and tidy.

“Huh? Kiki, look over here!”

But Vivian suddenly called out to Kiki in an urgent voice.

[Why are you calling me? Hm? Wait. That wall—]

The wall Vivian had been leaning against suddenly shifted with a clunk.

Vivian and Kiki’s eyes widened.

“W-Wowww! It’s a secret room!”

[Huh. I never thought there would really be a place like this. Your father has a rather devious side to him.]

“What does ‘devious’ mean?”

[…That is beside the point.]

Whether Jean was devious or not was the least of Vivian’s concerns. Her heart pounding with excitement, she stepped into the secret room hidden behind the wall.

The hidden space was not very large. The first thing they saw was the treasure chest that Kiki had once been inside.

“Oh! It’s that thing!”

Vivian recognized it immediately, pretending to be knowledgeable simply because she had seen it before.

[So he put it here. Well, considering how valuable these things are, hiding them from other people is only sensible. …But what is that doing here alongside the chest I came out of?]

Kiki seemed rather displeased by the presence of an object that had been treated with even more care than its own treasure chest.

It was a small velvet box.

Unlike the treasure chest, which simply sat on the floor, the velvet box had been placed on a small table. Beside it stood a vase of fresh flowers, apparently changed regularly.

“What could this be?”

Vivian rose onto her tiptoes and picked up the velvet box.

It was light enough for her to hold without difficulty.

With curiosity shining in her eyes, Vivian opened the box and found a set of jewelry inside.

There was a necklace adorned with clear, pale-green emeralds, along with matching earrings, a bracelet, and a ring—a complete set.

[Oh? Those look rather expensive.]

Kiki, who had spent who knew how long surrounded by jewels from the Imperial Palace, could tell at a glance that these were high-quality pieces.

“It’s so pretty.”

Vivian had little interest in the value of the jewels and was simply captivated by how beautiful they were.

[If you like them, try them on.]

“Hm? You mean I can?”

[Of course. They belong to your father, after all. That means they are practically yours.]

Vivian hesitated. Was it really okay to use them without Daddy’s permission?

Considering that she had already sneaked this far into the room, it was a little late to worry about that.

[Or you could just try them on for a moment and put them back.]

“R-Really?”

Vivian soon fell for Kiki’s temptation. The bracelet, made for an adult, was far too large for her, so she had to twist it once around her wrist to keep it on.

The necklace was so large that she could wear it without even undoing the clasp.

“Hehe. Kiki, how do I look?”

[It suits you. Hm. Was this made for you from the beginning? It matches your hair beautifully.]

If the emeralds had been a deeper shade, they would have overwhelmed her pale hair, but their color complemented her perfectly.

Hearing that it suited her, Vivian giggled happily.

She proudly swished her hair around before putting the ring on Kiki’s finger as well.

The ring was even larger on the baby monkey, and although Kiki put it on its thumb, it slipped right off whenever it lowered its hand.

Kiki picked up the ring rolling across the floor and brought it close to its eyes to examine the inside.

[There is something written here.]

Vivian, who had recently begun learning to read from Anne and Jean, stepped forward.

“I can read this! This is an A. And this one is… um… Al! It’s ‘Al.’”

The letters were written in cursive, so she had to stare at them for quite some time before she could make them out.

[And what does that mean?]

“I don’t know. Hmm… Maybe it’s a name? Daddy writes names on his things sometimes, too.”

[Then perhaps it does not belong to either you or your father.]

Lambert. Jean. Vivian.

None of their initials contained an A.

“Then whose is it?”

[How would I know? Surely he did not steal it from somewhere?]

“D-Daddy would never do that!”

Vivian shouted indignantly.

 

***

 

Meanwhile, House Lambert had been thrown into chaos by Vivian’s disappearance.