Dad Came Back from a Deserted Island Chapter 37

Thump, thump. Luca’s heart pounded anxiously.

He secretly clenched his fists, his nails digging into his delicate palms.

What is this? Is there a secret between them that I don’t know about? Why?

Eduard was too busy hiding his pain to notice his grandson’s agitation. He could barely maintain a composed expression himself.

“Oh dear, I just remembered that I have something urgent to attend to. I should head inside… But Louis still seems to want to play for a while. Would you two mind playing with him on my behalf?”

“Yes, Grandpa! Come on, hurry and go inside!”

“Then I’ll leave him in your care, Luca.”

“Yes, Grandpa.”

Eduard placed a hand on Luca’s shoulder before heading inside. He walked very slowly, doing his best not to limp.

Louis noticed his master’s pain and lowered his tail dejectedly.

Vivian gently stroked his back, trying to comfort him.

“It’s okay, Louis. W-We’re here, aren’t we? Right, oppa?”

“Huh? Y-yeah.”

Luca forced a smile.

Even if there really was a secret between them, Vivian probably hadn’t created it herself. Eduard must have asked her to keep it confidential.

Somehow, that only made Luca feel worse.

What could the secret be that Eduard couldn’t even share with his own grandson? And why did Vivian know about it?

Was Luca really so untrustworthy?

A whirl of conflicting emotions left him unable to concentrate on playing.

“Ah, oppa!”

He was so distracted that he failed to notice Louis charging toward him with the ball in his mouth, having finally recovered his spirits thanks to Vivian’s comfort.

Caught off guard, Luca lost his balance and fell straight into the fountain behind him.

“Pwah!”

“Oppa! Are you okay?”

Vivian hurried over when she saw Luca repeatedly spitting out water that had gone up his nose.

“Louis! You can’t knock oppa into the fountain!”

“Whiiine…”

“……”

Oh, no.

He should have smiled and told her he was fine, but he simply couldn’t bring himself to do it.

He had learned how to put on the right expression regardless of how he felt ever since he was little.

Yet right now, Vivian’s worried face looked unbearably hateful to him.

“Oppaaa. Take my hand and come out!”

Vivian held out her hand, but Luca remained seated in the fountain, staring blankly at her.

“Oppa?”

“Vivi. What were you talking about with Grandpa earlier?”

“H-Huh?”

“You were whispering to him.”

“Huh? Ah, I-I wasn’t saying anything…”

Vivian was terrible at lying.

Even someone who wasn’t as perceptive as Luca could tell she was lying from the way she avoided his gaze and stared into space.

“He’s my grandfather.”

“Huh?”

“He’s my grandfather, so why won’t he tell me—”

The boy’s voice grew hoarse.

What am I doing, saying something like this to a little kid?

Feeling his eyes grow hot, Luca let out a hollow laugh.

Honestly, this is getting ridiculous.

Still, the fact that he was drenched from head to toe offered some comfort. At least, if he cried, no one would be able to tell.

But that comfort didn’t last long.

“Oppa. Are you crying?”

“…I’m not crying.”

Vivian clearly didn’t believe him. Luca pretended to wipe water from his face and secretly brushed away his tears.

Watching him with worried eyes, Vivian hesitantly fiddled with her fingers.

“Why? You said you weren’t crying, Vivi.”

“No, it’s just—”

After hesitating a little longer, Vivian squeezed her eyes shut and gathered her courage.

“D-Do you have something against me, oppa? Did I do something wrong?”

She didn’t want to grow distant from Luca.

If she had done something wrong, she would apologize as many times as necessary. She just wanted him to smile at her like he used to.

Seeing Vivian anxiously watching his every expression, Luca’s anger abruptly drained away.

What on earth was he doing, taking his feelings out on this little girl?

He was almost angry at himself for making her feel she had to ask such a question.

“I’m sorry, Vivi.”

“Hmmm?”

“I’m not angry with you. You haven’t done anything wrong. I just… had some strange thoughts of my own.”

“What thoughts?”

But Luca had no intention of honestly revealing what was going through his mind.

“It’s not something you need to know. Just don’t worry about it, Vivi.”

Water dripped from Luca as he stood up from the fountain, but he made no effort to dry himself or wring out his clothes.

“I need to wash up and change. You should go inside too, Vivi.”

“Oppa…”

“If I leave you out here alone, I’ll get scolded. Come on.”

At Luca’s urging, Vivian couldn’t bring herself to ask anything more.

Her steps felt heavy as she trudged behind him toward the mansion.

 

***

 

“Phew…”

What’swiththesigh?What’s with the sigh?

Kiki questioned Vivian, who was sitting around sighing instead of going outside to play in the warm afternoon sunshine.

“Sigh…”

Areyouignoringthisgreatone’swords?Are you ignoring this great one’s words?

“Huuuuh…”

Hey!Hey!

“I don’t know, Kiki.”

Whatdon’tyouknow?What don’t you know?

“I think I did something wrong to Luca oppa, but I don’t know what it is. I asked him, but he won’t tell me.”

Luca?Why?Whatdidthatbratsaytoyou?ShallIgoteachhimalesson?Luca? Why? What did that brat say to you? Shall I go teach him a lesson?

Kiki screeched as though it were about to charge over to Luca and tear out every last strand of his hair.

Even Jean wasn’t this overprotective.

“It’s not like that…”

Vivian explained everything that had happened that morning in painstaking detail.

Hmph.Hmph.

Kiki snorted.

You’reworryingoversomethingsosimple?He’ssulkingbecauseyouknowasecretthathedoesn’t.Justtellhimwhatitisandgetitoverwith.You’re worrying over something so simple? He’s sulking because you know a secret that he doesn’t. Just tell him what it is and get it over with.

“R-Really? Is that why? But…”

Vivian lowered her head sadly.

“I promised Grandpa I’d keep it a secret. I can’t just tell him without permission.”

Thengotellthathumanthathisgrandsonissulkingoversomethinglikethisandaskhimtocomforttheboy.Ortellthebrattoaskhisgrandfatherwhatthesecretishimself.Stopexhaustingthattinyheadofyoursoversomethingsotrivial.Then go tell that human that his grandson is sulking over something like this and ask him to comfort the boy. Or tell the brat to ask his grandfather what the secret is himself. Stop exhausting that tiny head of yours over something so trivial.

Since Kiki didn’t care about anyone other than Vivian, it offered a remarkably simple solution.

There was nothing to lose by trying. With no better ideas, Vivian went to knock on Luca’s door.

“Oppa. Are you in there?”

“…Come in.”

When she opened the door, she found Luca sitting in an armchair. He was holding a thick book, apparently in the middle of reading.

It was so difficult that Vivian couldn’t even understand the title.

“About this morning—”

“If that’s what you want to talk about, I’d rather not. I told you it wasn’t something you needed to worry about, Vivi.”

Before she could finish, Luca put up a firm wall between them.

At that point, Vivian began to feel stubborn. How could it possibly be something she didn’t need to worry about?

“No! You’re upset because Grandpa and I have a secret that leaves you out! You’re… you’re sad about that, aren’t you?”

“……”

Now Luca was the one left speechless. He hadn’t expected someone so much younger than him to see straight through him.

“I promised Grandpa I’d keep it a secret. So I can’t tell you.”

“Then why, knowing that, would you—”

Luca couldn’t finish his sentence.

“You can just ask Grandpa yourself, oppa. Ask him what we talked about. He’s your grandfather, so why don’t you ask him? If you ask, I’m sure he’ll tell you.”

I’m afraid he’ll tell me it’s none of my business.

“……!”

Luca realized that he had just said to Vivian the very thing he was afraid of hearing himself.

Her sky-blue eyes stared straight into his, making him feel as though she could see right through his heart.