Ch.141Epilogue 2. There’s No Way I Could Raise a Hero’s Daughter (1)

“Appa~”

“Oh my, yes, yes.”

The small body jumping toward me is so adorable.

When I slip my thumb and index finger into her armpit and lift her up with a swoosh, giggles burst out automatically.

“Appa, today I want… burger.”

“Of course. My daughter should eat whatever she wants. Where would you like to get a burger?”

Her jet-black hair tied in short braids on both sides with cubic hair ties looks so cute. Her bright blue eyes sparkled as she giggled at me.

While I was looking at her fondly, smack! A spicy palm struck my back.

“What burger? She’s only five years old! I told you I’d handle their diet, didn’t I?”

Lu-a’s sharp voice hit my ears. My second daughter, Stella, whom I was holding, pushed out her lower lip.

“Look, she’s pretending to be upset again. When she does this, she won’t talk to me all day. I told you not to even bring it up.”

“If she wants to eat it, what’s wrong with letting her…”

“You want to feed her that stuff during the most important developmental years? Are you just going to show up once in a while and try to look good?”

“I’m busy with work…”

“Excuses. Stella, come to mommy. Let’s eat something tastier than burgers today, okay?”

Lu-a gently took Stella into her arms. She still had a sulky face.

“…I want a burger.”

“No, no. Mommy prepared a healthier, tastier lunch. Somi auntie helped too, so you can trust it. Isn’t that good?”

“Appa…”

Stella looked back at me with teary eyes. My heart aches.

“If she wants it that badly, just buy her a burger. What’s wrong with once in a while?”

“I said no. Once becomes ten times. This isn’t the first time I’ve dealt with this.”

“Tch.”

Stella clicked her tongue and raised her tiny fist toward Lu-a’s head. Smack! Lu-a immediately knocked Stella’s hand away.

“I told you not to use your ability on mommy! Do you want to be punished?”

“Heeeng…”

“These kids only learn bad things from their father.”

“Kids? Soli too?”

When I asked, Lu-a flattened her eyebrows and jerked her chin.

I turned my head and saw a chaotic flash of white light. Each time it flashed, toys scattered across the floor.

“Soli, you shouldn’t play with toys while using your ability~”

Lu-a coaxed in the sweetest voice possible. The flashing stopped, and a boy who looked exactly like Stella appeared.

“I’m done playing. Buy me more.”

Lu-a sighed.

“I should have watched them better to prevent them from using their abilities. The moment I look away, this happens. I understand wanting to play quickly, but we’re running out of toys.”

Soli is a speedster with high-speed movement abilities. Stella is a mind controller who can manipulate people.

Both developed their abilities early and they’re extremely powerful.

I suppose it’s only natural since they’re the children of Lu-a and me.

“You have it tough.”

“If you know that, come help more often, you jerk.”

“Your language has gotten much rougher. I’m sad.”

“Looks like there’s one more baby here.”

Lu-a smiled and pressed her lips against mine. She skillfully held Stella against her chest so she couldn’t see. As we kissed lightly, our tongues intertwined.

When our faces separated, Lu-a smiled broadly. Has it been 9 years since I met her? The youthful impression from when I first saw her was gone, replaced by a vibrant young mother.

That sounds a bit strange. She is my wife, after all.

“There’s actually one more here. Would you care to pay some attention?”

The door to the adjacent room opened with a click, and Somi spoke with a slightly sulky voice. I entered that room.

This is the house built for Lu-a, who’s in charge of raising the children.

Neither I nor Lena, that is, Yoo Cha-mi, have a fixed residence because we travel around the world for work and have multiple bases, so Somi often comes to this house to help.

Stella and Soli are five years old this year, and Ra-hee in this room is two years old, so the rooms needed to be separated.

Babies grow at different rates, so their environments need to be completely different. For instance, Soli’s toys could cause accidents if Ra-hee played with them.

“Since you’re here, you should see Ra-hee too.”

“Of course. I need to play with our princess too.”

I picked up Ra-hee just like I did with Stella.

But somehow her reaction wasn’t as good as Stella’s. Ra-hee just watched my face with a blank expression.

“That’s right, that’s right, that’s right.”

When I bounced her up and down like an airplane, Ra-hee took on a stern expression as if evaluating whether I should do more.

It somehow made me feel competitive.

“Up high, up high, up high.”

When I lifted her higher into the air, Ra-hee’s lips finally started to curl upward. So she likes dynamic movements? Flying won’t be a problem for her later.

When I brought her back into my arms, she returned to her blank expression. What’s she so dissatisfied with? Maybe this expression is her default, taking after Lena.

“Is our princess hungry?”

“Appa, Soli, Stella, went first.”

I was a bit surprised.

Is our Ra-hee really two years old? Can she use this many words?

And she understands that I saw the twins in the other room first.

She’s a genius, a real genius.

“Sorry, sorry. Next time I’ll come to see Ra-hee first.”

“Hmph.”

She takes after her mother with that strong desire for exclusivity.

I couldn’t help but smile with joy.

“Since Ra-hee says so too, you should visit more often. Lu-a works really hard every day.”

“I should. But recently there’s been an increase in illegal organizations. There have been many natural disasters worldwide. Vengeance has its limits, and if I let the heroes loose, they get too big and need adjustment.”

Somi looked at me with disappointment.

“Ui-seok, you know that work will never end, right?”

“Well, yeah.”

“Children are only children once in their lifetime.”

“I know that, but Lena is busy too, and I feel bad dumping my work on her.”

“Your thinking is all wrong. Both of you should quit your jobs.”

Somi’s expression was clearly blaming me. It felt like she was condemning me, which was fine.

“Ui-seok, it’s about time you put down your sense of obligation to the world. Nobody ever forced it on you in the first place.”

“I don’t have anything like that.”

“Are you being serious?”

Somi snorted in disbelief. Did I look that funny?

“The current villains and heroes are systems I created. I need to manage them directly until they stabilize. But they keep going off track.”

The Lord of Evil is busy.

Having gained everything means there’s more to worry about. Maintaining the system required more effort than expected.

“Aren’t the children more important than all that?”

“Of course the children are important. That’s why I’m paying more attention. I don’t want someone like Recter appearing when they grow up.”

“That’s a concern for later. Right now, be with your children. Preferably with Lena too. Look.”

I was unconsciously stroking Ra-hee’s head. Ra-hee had furrowed eyebrows like Lena, but she seemed happy as her mouth kept smiling. Each time, her chubby cheeks moved slightly.

She’s adorably cute.

“See how much she likes it? Ra-hee has been waiting so long for you.”

“I see.”

I held Ra-hee in my arms and patted her back. Her tiny body was so warm that just being like this made me happy.

“Thanks for looking after them, Somi.”

Somi smiled bitterly at my thanks.

“It does bother me a little. Since I can’t bear your child.”

She said it casually, but Somi had been concerned about this for a while.

Her current body is that of a monster, a mix of Dark Kingdom and Galaxy Empire. Though she looks humanoid, her physical structure is completely different.

“Let’s find a way.”

“It’s fine. If artificial means are involved, it wouldn’t be completely my genes anyway.”

Somi looked at Ra-hee with loving eyes.

“I wish Lena and you would spend more time with Ra-hee. You two are her only parents.”

I thought Somi was right.

“Okay. I’ll try.”

“Good. That’s the Ui-seok I like.”

Somi smiled brightly at me. As our eyes met, a small fist slowly crept up to my face.

“Appa, like.”

It was Ra-hee.

My goodness, how can such an angel exist? I’ve held Soli and Stella at this age too, but every time I hear a new word for the first time, it’s incredibly endearing.

Just as I love Somi, Lu-a, and Lena, I instinctively love the children too.

“Gerogius is on vacation for a while, it seems.”

No matter how much love you have, it won’t be conveyed unless you spend time together.

I need to place subordinates in each position to handle my work as soon as possible.

***

Five years later, the last winter before Ra-hee enters elementary school.

“Hahaha! The Thief Sentai will steal all the Christmas presents!”

“We can’t let that happen! The evil Sentai Vengeance will recover the children’s presents!”

Actors in special makeup suits perform action scenes on stage. The colorful heroes fall, and the evil sentai emerges victorious.

“Merry Christmas!”

It was a typical special effects road show. After the performance, the sentai actors distribute gifts to pre-registered audience members.

“Yay, presents!”

Soli created a spark and used his high-speed movement to get his gift.

“Brother, you only got yours? What about mine and Ra-hee’s?”

“Do your own work! Yes! It’s Magentataurus!”

Ignoring Stella’s complaints, Soli unwrapped his package, checked the contents, and clapped his hands. These were gifts I had pre-arranged.

It wasn’t long before the actors brought Stella and Ra-hee’s gifts too. I gave them both dolls they had wanted.

However, Ra-hee, who unwrapped her gift next to me, had a slightly dissatisfied expression. She normally has downturned eyebrows, so I thought she’d be pleased, but it seems she really didn’t like it.

“…Santa didn’t grant my wish.”

“Wasn’t this the doll you wanted, Ra-hee?”

“It wasn’t what I wanted most…”

“Then what did you want most?”

Ra-hee pushed out her lower lip and looked up at me with round eyes before answering.

“An ability.”