Dad Came Back from a Deserted Island Chapter 3

Even though it was still daytime, the attic was dim and gloomy. The only source of light came through a window that was smaller than Vivian herself.

“I’m scared….”

Sniffling, Vivian crouched down in the spot where even that little bit of light came in. The dust made her cough again and again.

“Daaaddy…”

No matter how mournfully she called out, her daddy, who had supposedly gone to heaven, never answered.

 

***

 

It was evening when the rain began to fall.

Vivian had cried as though trying to squeeze every last drop of moisture from her body. Her head began to droop, bobbing forward again and again.

Perhaps it was fortunate that exhaustion finally brought sleep. The attic on a rainy evening had an even more eerie atmosphere than usual.

Just as Vivian was drifting off, a chill ran down her spine and goosebumps rose all over her body.

“W-what is it?”

She perked up her ears like a rabbit and anxiously looked around the room. Then, at last, her eyes met a pair of eyes staring at her from the darkness.

Squeak.

“……”

Squeak?

“Eeeeeek!”

Upon encountering the attic’s first guest—a mouse—Vivian let out a shrill scream.

Maybe it wouldn’t have been so frightening if it had been smaller.

Maybe it would have been a little less scary if its eyes hadn’t been gleaming in the darkness like that.

The mouse looked as though it was bigger than Vivian’s forearm. Terrified out of her wits, Vivian rushed toward the door.

“Ouch!”

She tripped over a box lying on the floor and tumbled down with a loud crash, rolling over once. But she didn’t even feel the pain.

“M-Mister! Misss! Please open the door! I’m sorry! There’s a mouse in here! A m-mouse! I’m scared! Waaaaah!”

As she desperately pounded on the door with her tiny fists, footsteps approached, as though the people outside had finally noticed something was wrong.

Vivian’s face immediately brightened.

They’re coming to open the door!

But—

BANG!

“Eek!”

Vivian fell backward in fright when someone kicked the door hard from the other side. An irritated voice followed.

“Geez, we’re eating dinner! Why are you making such a racket?! It’s just a mouse! If you don’t want to stay locked up until Sunday, be quiet!”

“M-Mister, I’m sorry. Please, let me out. I’ll apologize to Peter, too. I’ll get on my knees if you want me to. I’m so scared. Please? I-I won’t even ask for bread. I’ll work hard, too. I’ll do anything you tell me to!”

Despite the pitiful voice of the sobbing child begging for mercy, the person on the other side of the door remained indifferent.

Ron, who was smacking his lips as he picked food stuck between his teeth, spoke.

“You’ll do anything I tell you?”

“Yes, yes! So please, Mister!”

“Hm. Fine. Wait here a moment.”

A moment later, Vivian heard the sound of a key turning in the lock.

Click, click.

Vivian, who had been sitting on the floor after her fall, sprang to her feet.

“Thank you, Mister!!”

Ron didn’t bother answering. He simply waved his hand impatiently, motioning for her to follow him.

Afraid that he might change his mind, Vivian hurried after Ron.

Ouch.

As Vivian followed him down the stairs, she suddenly felt a sharp pain and looked down at her hand.

She must have scraped her palm badly when she’d fallen while running away from the mouse. There was even a little blood, which she quickly wiped off on the apron she was wearing.

“What? Honey, why did you let her out already? Just a little while ago, you said we should keep her locked up for another two days.”

Mary’s expression darkened when she saw Vivian enter the dining room.

Peter, sitting across the table, gave Vivian an irritating look.

“I let her out because she was worth letting out. Vivian, sit down over there for a moment.”

“Yes!”

At the mention that they had intended to keep her locked up for another two days, Vivian answered energetically.

Come to think of it, it’s been a long time since I’ve sat at the dining table!

Ron and Mary didn’t even let Vivian sit at the dining table. They simply tossed her a single piece of hard black bread to eat, so there hadn’t really been any reason for her to sit there in the first place.

“Mom, my elbow huuurts.”

Peter whined to Mary.

Seeing him deliberately show off the injury he’d gotten from falling down the stairs was so irritating that Vivian pouted.

“Oh, dear. Finish your dinner, and I’ll put some medicine on it afterward, my son.”

“Mmm. I don’t like it. It stings when you put medicine on.”

“You still have to put it on so it’ll heal quickly.”

“……”

Vivian’s expression gradually darkened as she watched the affectionate mother and son.

It was finally sinking in that she would never receive that kind of affection again.

Just then, Ron returned after having left the room. He was holding a sheet of paper and an inkwell.

“Here, Vivian. See this? Dip your thumb in the ink and press it here.”

“W-what is this?”

“Does that matter? You said you’d do anything I told you, so stop asking questions and hurry up and stamp it.”

There was writing on the paper, but Vivian had never properly learned to read, so she couldn’t make out what it said at all.

When an ominous feeling made Vivian hesitate, Ron abruptly grabbed her arm.

“Ah! You’re hurting me, Mister!”

“You can’t even read, so why are you being so suspicious? What do you think I’m going to do to you?”

You’ve done plenty already!

Vivian swallowed the words she couldn’t bring herself to say and braced herself, putting as much strength into her body as she could.

But there was no way a poorly fed young child could resist the strength of an adult man.

Ron practically poured the ink over Vivian’s hand.

Tears welled up in Vivian’s eyes from the pain, as though her arm were about to be ripped out.

“It h-hurts…”

“If you don’t want it to hurt, hurry up and stamp it!”

The document Ron roughly thrust toward her was an engagement document.

It contained a promise that Vivian de Lambert and Peter Dozier would marry once they became adults.

Ron had picked it up while taking Peter to see the doctor earlier.

Normally, a signature was required, but for a young child who couldn’t yet write, a fingerprint could be used instead.

Ron forced Vivian’s thumb open and was just about to press it onto the document—

BANG, BANG, BANG.

Someone began pounding violently on the front door.

“What the hell? Who’s banging on someone else’s door like they’re going to break it down at this hour?”

“You go see who it is. It might be something urgent.”

Mary urged Ron in an irritated voice.

Ron let go of Vivian’s hand and stormed away toward the entrance.

It hurts.

Vivian rubbed her throbbing hand with her other hand and swallowed her tears.

She didn’t know who had come to visit, but she felt desperate enough to wish that whoever it was would drag Ron away.

The pain was that bad.

And then, as if the heavens had suddenly decided to grant Vivian’s wish on a whim—

“Gaaaaah!”

“Honey! What’s wrong? Who’s there?”

Ron screamed.

Mary jumped to her feet in surprise and hurried toward the entrance to see what had happened.

“Eeeeeek! H-Honey, how could you—?!”

When Mary screamed too, Peter and Vivian naturally turned their heads toward the doorway.

“A-a ghost!”

“Peter! My son!”

Mary hurried back into the dining room.

Ron was backing away, seemingly trying to prevent something from entering the dining room.

What is it? Did a bear show up?

Vivian wondered whether she should hide beneath the dining table.

“Mom!”

Peter threw himself into Mary’s arms, and she wrapped him tightly as though trying to shield her son.

At that very moment, the intruder entered the dining room.

He was a head taller than Ron.

His brown hair was soaked by the rain, making it look even darker.

The man’s face was covered in an unkempt beard, and his muscular body was so large that even the oversized cloak he wore couldn’t conceal it.

His blue eyes quickly swept across the dining room as though searching for something.

Then they locked onto Vivian.

The man’s murderous aura instantly faded.

“……”

Her small frame hadn’t changed much since the last time he’d seen her.

Her once-plump, healthy cheeks were now hollow and gaunt, her eyes were red as though she’d been crying moments ago, and her lips were chapped.

There was no mistaking it.

She looked like an abused child.

The man swallowed the surge of emotion rising in his chest before calling out to Vivian.

“My daughter.”

His voice was filled with lingering sorrow, yet overflowing with longing and affection.

It was slightly hoarse, but it wasn’t unfamiliar.

No.

It was the voice she had dreamed of even in her sleep—the voice she had desperately wanted to hear.

Vivian’s eyes widened, and her vision blurred.

She roughly wiped away her tears with her dusty sleeve before looking at the man.

Vivian’s lips parted.

“Who are you?”