Dad Came Back from a Deserted Island – Chapter 36

Author: isuzuuy

Perhaps because her mind was unsettled, Vivian woke up early again.

“Daddyyy. I’m awake!”

Kiki was still asleep, and after lying there alone staring blankly at the ceiling, Vivian grew bored and poked Jean, who was sleeping beside her.

Jean had returned late after negotiating a business deal and showed no sign of waking.

[What… You’re awake at this ungodly hour?]

The sound woke poor Kiki instead.

“Kiki! I’m bored.”

[Yaaawn… Go back to sleep. It’s still dark outside…]

Kiki fell asleep again before it could even finish speaking.

Vivian’s lips poked out in a pout.

But she couldn’t exactly force a sleeping child to wake up.

As she grumbled to herself, a sound reached her ears.

It was coming from outside the window, so Vivian immediately hopped out of bed.

She stood on tiptoe and peered outside, and a smile spread across her face.

Grunting as she struggled to open the large window, Vivian leaned out.

“Grandpa!”

“Vivian! At this hour… No, more importantly, that’s dangerous! Get back inside!”

The person who had appeared in the garden at this early hour was Eduard.

He was sitting on a bench, while his faithful dog, Louis, happily ran around in front of him.

It was Eduard’s way of spending time with Louis after learning that the dog had been worrying about his legs.

“I woke up early! Can I come down and play with Louis too?”

“If you’re feeling well, then of course. Come on down.”

With permission granted, Vivian happily ran out.

“Oh! My clothes!”

She had gone outside in her pajamas, but quickly ran back in, grabbed her cloak, and closed the door behind her.

With light footsteps as though she had wings, Vivian arrived in the garden, and Louis immediately came bounding toward her.

“Woof! Woof!” [Hello, Vivian!]

The large Shetland Sheepdog knocked Vivian onto her bottom when he pounced on her, but she only laughed happily.

“Oh dear, are you all right?”

“Yes! I’m fine. It doesn’t hurt at all.”

“You rascal, Louis. Even if you’re happy to see her, you shouldn’t jump on her like that.”

Louis whined at Eduard’s scolding. Once Vivian assured him she was fine, however, his tail began wagging like a windmill again.

“Grandpa, can I run around and play with Louis?”

“I’d be grateful if you would. I was feeling guilty just sitting here watching him.”

Louis circled around Eduard’s feet as if telling him there was nothing to feel guilty about.

“Louis says you don’t have to feel bad! He says he’s happy just being with you, Grandpa.”

“You rascal…”

Eduard affectionately patted Louis on the head before handing Vivian a small ball.

“He’ll love it if you throw this for him.”

“Yes!”

Eduard sat on the bench and watched contentedly as Vivian and Louis played with the ball.

It was early, but the servants’ day began earlier than their masters’.

Several servants who were already up and working poked their heads out when they heard the sounds coming from the garden. Seeing the happily playing dog and little girl, they smiled warmly.

But not everyone looked upon the scene with nothing but fondness.

“……”

Luca watched them with a complicated, conflicted expression.

It was such a warm and peaceful sight.

The look in Eduard’s eyes whenever he gazed at Vivian was incredibly gentle.

Without realizing it, Luca clenched his fists.

A few days ago.

Luca had felt as though someone had poured cold water over his head when he saw how close Eduard and Vivian had become, close enough that anyone would mistake them for a real family.

His grandfather, who had never been particularly close even with Elize despite knowing her for more than ten years, was treating Vivian with such affection.

Since Vivian was a child Luca himself liked, he had assumed he would be happy if his grandfather liked her too.

But to see his grandfather treating her even more warmly than he treated his own grandson—

This feels strange. What is this? Am I jealous? Of that little girl?

Vivian was adorable to him as well, so of course it was natural for his grandfather to find a child who affectionately called him “Grandpa” cute.

Even so, Luca could not simply brush the feeling aside.

If I acted like that, would Grandpa look at me the same way?

He imagined himself smiling affectionately while holding his grandfather’s thick, wrinkled hand, and his body shuddered.

Ever since he was young, Luca had tried to grow up quickly and live up to his grandfather’s expectations in place of his inadequate father. For someone like him, behaving that way was difficult.

No matter how mature he was, he was still only thirteen. As Eduard had suspected, the unpredictable emotional changes of adolescence had begun, leaving Luca thoroughly confused.

“Oh? It’s Luca oppa!”

While waiting for Louis to bring back the ball she had thrown, Vivian looked around and spotted Luca standing by the second-floor window. She waved at him happily.

Luca managed to smile.

“…Ha.”

He did not want to admit that he was jealous of that little girl.

“Luca?”

Eduard also looked up when he heard his grandson’s name.

“You woke up early too, oppa! Do you want to play with Louis?”

If Vivian had been the only one asking, Luca would have refused, saying he wanted to sleep longer. But after his eyes met Eduard’s, he had no choice but to change his clothes and come outside.

“You’re up early, Luca.”

“Yes, Grandpa. Did you… make plans to meet Vivi this morning?”

“What? Heh heh. Of course not. She saw me with Louis and begged to play with us.”

“I woke up super early today too!”

Vivian eagerly chimed in from beside them. Luca reached over and gently patted her head.

He knew perfectly well that Vivian had done nothing wrong. He was doing his best not to let his feelings affect the way he treated her.

“You’ve already gotten close to Louis.”

“Yeah. Louis is such a nice dog. Right?”

“Woof!”

Louis licked Vivian’s face, making her burst into delighted giggles.

Seeing her bright smile, Luca felt foolish for sulking all by himself and ended up laughing along with her.

Eduard watched his grandson and felt relieved.

I must have seen it wrong. He clearly adores her. I was worrying over nothing.

With that worry lifted, even his legs seemed to feel a little better.

“Louis, shall we play with this for the first time in a while?”

Eduard rose from the bench and started playing Louis’s favorite tug-of-war game himself.

Louis wagged his tail so vigorously that Vivian nearly got smacked by it.

“You rascal. You’ve certainly got plenty of energy!”

“Woof! Woof!”

“Wow. I want to play with him like that too.”

“You’re still too young, Vivi. Louis would just drag you around.”

“Eeeing.”

Before he knew it, Luca realized he was holding hands with Vivian.

When did I take her hand?

He had no memory of reaching for her. She must have simply stretched out her little hand so naturally that he had taken it without thinking. The warmth of her soft, tiny hand calmed the turbulent emotions in his heart.

“Even if I’m still—ugh.”

Eduard, who had been bracing his legs as he played tug-of-war with Louis, let out a short groan.

A sudden pain shot through his knee.

“Grandpa!”

Knowing that Eduard’s legs hurt, Vivian immediately rushed over.

“Grandpa, are you okay?”

“I-I’m fine. I just bit the inside of my mouth wrong while I was talking.”

As he said this, Eduard gave the worried Vivian a quick wink.

That’s right! He asked me to keep it a secret. Mm-hmm. But…

Vivian’s eyebrows drooped.

He was in pain, yet he couldn’t even show it.

Still, since she had already made a promise to Eduard, Vivian had no choice but to nod.