Dad Came Back from a Deserted Island Chapter 32

At the sound of crying, Jean’s gaze immediately snapped toward the children. His nerves became taut at the thought that Vivian might be the one crying.

When he confirmed the crying child’s face, Jean looked troubled.

It was a relief that Vivian wasn’t crying, but at a glance, it certainly seemed that the child was in tears because of Vivian—or, more likely, Kiki.

They had only just arrived at the gathering, and this had already happened. Jean was about to go comfort the child when Clemence stopped him.

“Oh, Vivi—”

“It’s all right, Lord Lambert.”

“Pardon?”

“We’ve been holding these gatherings since our children first started walking. When children are together, someone is bound to burst into tears. That’s simply how children are—they’ll be crying one moment and laughing and playing together the next.”

“Our Manon has always been a bit of a crybaby! It’s perfectly fine!”

The man who appeared to be the crying child’s father even let out a hearty laugh.

Jean had no idea how to respond to them. Were they really all right with this? What if they waited until the gathering was over and then declared that they wanted to keep their distance from him?

“Wait. That child seems to be saying something.”

At Eduard’s words, everyone’s attention turned back to the children.

“Kiki isn’t something you can buy. He’s my friend. He can be a little fierce, but he won’t hurt you, so don’t cry.”

“Waaaaah!”

“I’m serious. Kiki is really smart. He doesn’t attack just anyone. Never.”

“Waaah… snff, r-really?”

Vivian calmly explained and comforted the child, who soon stopped crying and asked with a sniffle.

“Yes, really. And I heard monkeys are animals that live on the New Continent. You probably won’t get to see one anywhere else.”

“Eek?”

Kiki stared at Vivian in surprise.

Has Jean ever explained that to Vivian?

He had mentioned it in front of other people before, but he had never told Vivian specifically.

Apparently, when adults told children not to repeat things carelessly, Vivian had simply remembered what her father said all on her own.

“Kiki is my best friend. So I don’t want you to be scared of him. As long as you don’t say things that disrespect Kiki, he won’t screech at you like that again. His personality is just a little bad.”

[What’s wrong with this great one’s personality?!]

Kiki screeched indignantly, and Vivian simply shrugged as she looked at the child.

“See? He does that even to me. It doesn’t mean he’s trying to attack you.”

“I-I see. W-wow… How did you b-buy him—no, I mean, how did you meet him?”

“My daddy brought him home.”

“Your daddy? That’s amazing!”

As though they had never cried at all, the child began asking Vivian one question after another, their eyes filled with curiosity.

Jean watched the entire exchange in stunned silence.

“Your daughter is remarkably clever! She’s so young, yet she knows how to calmly comfort a friend.”

“I’m impressed. She looks about the same age as my child, too.”

The other guests were impressed as well, but no one was more astonished than Jean.

“When did my little princess become like that…?”

Clemence heard Jean mutter under his breath and chuckled softly.

“Children grow up quickly, after all. Usually in places their parents can’t see.”

“Indeed… they do.”

Jean still looked dazed.

So this was what Vivian was like around children her own age.

Until now, he had only seen the side of her that clung to him and acted spoiled. Seeing how much she had grown made him feel strangely empty.

The other parents noticed Jean’s expression and laughed knowingly, as fellow parents who had been through the same thing.

 

***

 

“The New Continent? Tch, then it really must be hard to get.”

“Harriet, I told you not to talk about him like he’s an object.”

The boy standing beside Elize stopped the child. It seemed the children already had an established hierarchy among themselves, because Harriet could do nothing but pout without arguing back.

The boy introduced himself to Vivian in a gentle voice.

“Hi. I’m Luca. I’m thirteen. Grandpa told me to take good care of the new girl when she arrived. So that must be you. Oh, and my grandfather is that man over there.”

The person Luca pointed at was Eduard.

At first glance, the brown-haired Luca and white-haired Eduard didn’t look particularly alike, but when they stood together, it was obvious they were related.

With the arrival of such a kind older boy, Vivian’s composed demeanor from earlier disappeared completely. She shyly crossed her legs and fidgeted.

It wasn’t because her heart was fluttering at how handsome he was.

Luca was certainly handsome enough to have been called a pretty boy many times, but Vivian’s standards had already been raised to the clouds thanks to Jean and Diti.

She was simply unused to an older boy being so kind to her.

“What do you like? Drawing? Reading fairy tales? Or do you like playing the piano?”

“The piano?”

The piano was a fairly expensive instrument.

House Lambert could certainly afford one, but since there was no one who could play it, there had been no reason to buy one.

Even the new mansion had no piano, so Vivian had never actually seen one.

Perhaps she had only seen pictures of them in fairy-tale books.

“Huh? You don’t know how to play the piano? Would you like me to teach you?”

Elize immediately joined the conversation. Her eyes sparkled at the opportunity to show off her specialty—playing the piano.

“Yes! I’d love that!”

Thanks to Anne, Julie, and Lea, Vivian was accustomed to being around older girls, so she readily accepted.

The doll-like girl was so sweet and friendly that Elize immediately fell for her.

“Oh my goodness! You’re so cute. I’ll teach you really well! Wait, there isn’t a piano in this room. …Father! I want to teach Vivian how to play the piano. Can we go play in another room?”

“Of course. Go wherever you like and have fun. Just don’t do anything too dangerous!”

“Yes!”

“Come on, follow me. Everyone, let’s go!”

With the host leading the way, all the children followed Elize in a lively group.

“Yay! Hey, while Elize is playing the piano, let’s play knights.”

“Okay!”

Some of the children were already making plans to play separately.

“Vivian, here. Hold my hand.”

“Okay!”

Perhaps worried that Vivian might get left behind since this was her first time in the house, Luca took her hand and made sure she stayed with them.

Seeing the cheerful children together, the adults smiled and chatted among themselves.

“Hoho. It seems the children have already become friends.”

“That’s thanks to your children taking such good care of my daughter.”

Jean also smiled fondly as he watched Vivian naturally blend into the group and leave the room with them.

But that smile didn’t last long.

The moment Jean saw Luca gently take Vivian’s hand and lead her along, he suddenly became terrified.

Vivi! No tickle-tickle, flutter-flutter, thump-thump!

Tickle-tickle, flutter-flutter, thump-thump.

Vivian was feeling all three sensations.

Fortunately for Jean, however, she was feeling them toward the piano, not toward a person.

“Woooow! Big sis, you’re amazing!”

Despite her young age, Elize was an exceptionally skilled pianist, and Vivian immediately fell in love with the piano.

At Vivian’s sincere admiration, Elize proudly lifted her chin.

All the children gathered here had heard Elize play many times before, so none of them praised her nearly as enthusiastically as Vivian did.

“This is nothing. You’ll be able to play like this soon, too. Here, Vivian. Sit down.”

“Okay. But, big sis…”

“Yes?”

“Um… Could you call me Vivi? I like it better when people call me that.”

As Vivian shyly fidgeted with the hem of her dress while asking, Elize clutched her chest in delight.