Ch.166Family Outing (3)

“What are you doing?”

Lobelia, who had briefly stepped out from the restaurant where everyone else was still inside, slightly turned her head at the voice from behind.

She thought it was Kyle, but it was actually Arthur, leaving her unsure whether to be disappointed or relieved as she just stood there with her mouth hanging open.

“Why are you staring blankly like that? Like an idiot.”

“…Why are you coming out here? You startled me.”

“Seems like you were secretly hoping it would be Kyle, judging by your lukewarm reaction.”

His smile was just like their mother’s, but recognizing the intent to tease her within it, she frowned.

They say siblings don’t often get along well. But Arthur and Lobelia were actually quite close.

Though they teased each other, they had never truly disliked one another.

‘…No, maybe once.’

There was that one time Arthur genuinely resented Lobelia when she broke the wooden sword their father had given him.

But that was when they were five, and since growing up a bit, they hadn’t even had a single argument.

In the strangely awkward atmosphere, Arthur scratched his cheek slightly. Then, slowly examining the clean alley, he spoke to Lobelia.

“I don’t really get why Mom and Dad used to date here. This place used to be really dirty. I remember because I’ve been here before.”

“I know. I was with you then.”

Even though it was in the past, neither Mom nor Dad had been of particularly low status.

Why on earth would they have come to a place like this together? But thinking it was a pointless thought,

Lobelia, who had been twirling her hair for a moment, glanced at Arthur.

Her relationship with Kyle was still just friendship. After all, he was a boy she had thought of as a younger brother, so progressing to friendship could be considered a huge development.

But Arthur and Levi’s relationship… was hard to define.

Too close to be just friends, too distant to be lovers. Wasn’t it a one-sided relationship to begin with?

So no matter how many times she asked, Arthur always said Levi was just a friend.

“What about Levi? Did you leave her alone?”

“Ah, no I didn’t.”

Lobelia flinched when Levi suddenly appeared from behind Arthur.

It was amazing how she hadn’t made a single sound until now, making Lobelia wonder how long she had been there.

Arthur smiled faintly at her reaction. As if he would ever leave Levi alone in such a place.

Kyle had seemed like he wanted to come too, but Arthur didn’t really want Kyle to be here.

The really interesting thing was… he was probably with the adults.

“If you brought her, you should have said so. You scared me. And why did you leave Kyle behind?”

“Well, he has something to watch.”

“Something to watch? What’s he watching?”

After staring at the confused Lobelia for a while, Arthur shrugged and spoke as if it was no big deal.

“They’re playing recordings of things you said when you were little. Everyone’s watching them.”

“…What are you talking about? Surely it’s not what I’m thinking?”

“It probably is.”

While Levi stood there blankly, Lobelia’s face instantly turned red as she gaped in shock.

The things she had said and done when she was little… and imagining Kyle watching them, she couldn’t possibly stay here.

“…I’ll be right back.”

“Sure, go ahead.”

Hearing what seemed like a hissing sound somewhere in her head, Lobelia hurriedly went back inside the restaurant.

After all, her childhood was something she never wanted to show anyone. It was basically her dark history.

#

“Those were the good days.”

Evan nodded slightly at Kaisel’s sudden remark.

It referred not to when they themselves were young, but when their children were little.

Though they were proud seeing them now speaking well and finding their own paths in life,

if they had to pick the cutest time, it would be when they were little and couldn’t even speak properly.

The couples smiled warmly as they each recalled their children’s early years, when the little ones smiled brightly without knowing anything.

“By the way, which parent did your children call first? Ours called Scarlet ‘mama’ first.”

“Hmm, it ended in a tie for us. Lobelia called me first, and Arthur called Aileen first.”

Perhaps the reason Evan was especially fond of Lobelia was because of that bet they once made.

A bet where whoever was called “mama” or “papa” first would have their wish granted.

But since Lobelia called her father first and Arthur called his mother first, it ended in a tie.

How lovely it was when she babbled “papa” – those tiny wiggling feet were still vivid in Evan’s memory.

“Ah, I actually have a recording of that. Would you like to see it?”

“Sure. We don’t have anything else to do anyway.”

As Aileen took out a crystal ball, Evan infused it with mana and waited quietly for the video to play.

Eventually, as time passed, the image of a small child waving her tiny hands appeared, and Aileen smiled faintly as she watched.

It was the young Lobelia they remembered. A child who perfectly resembled Evan’s hair and eye color.

Having completely inherited her father’s fair complexion, Lobelia had always been called pretty since she was a baby.

Not wrinkly like most babies but with plump, healthy cheeks,

everyone smiled quietly as they listened to the young Lobelia, so different from Kyle’s childhood appearance.

-Come on, say “papa.”

-She should say “mama” first. I was always by her side.

-Don’t you know Lobelia likes me more? Look, she’s waving at me right now.

Though she had always been particularly fond of Evan since childhood, Aileen had no doubt that Lobelia would call her first.

After all, she was the one who nursed her and was always with her when Evan was away.

But the name that Lobelia, lying down, called out shattered that hope.

-Pa…pa!

-D-did you hear that? She called me! Papa, did you hear that?

-Wait a minute. I didn’t hear it.

-Papa!

Then Evan, thrusting his fist into the air, roared with joy.

Looking extremely happy with his flushed face, Aileen in the video could only shake her head.

Was it really that wonderful? But since everyone understood that feeling,

Kaisel patted Evan’s shoulder as he awkwardly scratched his cheek in embarrassment.

“I’d like to feel that way at least once. My son seems to prefer his mother.”

“Well, who told you to be so busy? When Kyle was little, he sometimes even forgot your face.”

It was a chaotic time right after dealing with the extinction event.

To set things right, one had to move around busily, didn’t they?

But it was true that he hadn’t been able to pay attention to his child, so Kaisel stroked Kyle’s head and turned his gaze back to the crystal ball.

The video, which they thought had ended, continued, showing Lobelia slightly older than before.

Seeing that, Kyle’s eyes widened, and Evan glanced at Kyle and quietly spoke.

“Looks like you want to see it. What Lobelia said when she was four.”

“…N-no.”

“If you’re honest, I might show you. Though we’d have to keep it secret from Lobelia, of course.”

Kyle swallowed at that sweet whisper. Though he was concerned about keeping it secret from Lobelia,

the bait of seeing a side of Lobelia he had never seen was equally tempting.

After thinking it over numerous times, Kyle met Evan’s eyes and slowly nodded.

‘…Fail.’

Thinking him a lecherous fellow who wouldn’t suit Lobelia, Evan quietly infused mana into the crystal ball.

He was going to show it anyway, regardless of what Kyle said.

-Lobelia, come here.

-Papa-!

In the video, Lobelia was smiling brightly as always.

Cradled in Evan’s arms, she was spun around and even carried up as if flying through the sky.

It was a sight they couldn’t see now that she had matured a bit, so Evan, with a nostalgic expression, pulled up the corners of his mouth at the next scene.

Standing before Evan, Lobelia in a white dress looked like a bride.

It was a smaller version of the dress Aileen had worn, and Lobelia, holding a bouquet, was firmly grasping Evan’s hand as they walked somewhere.

-Lobelia, who are you going to marry when you grow up?

-What’s marriage?

-It’s when you live your whole life with someone you love.

At Evan’s words, Lobelia tilted her head for a while as if pondering, and then finally smiled broadly and raised her arms high toward the sky.

-When I grow up, I want to marry Papa!

“Dad!”

Simultaneously came the voice of Lobelia, her face bright red.

Overwhelmed with embarrassment that everyone had seen the video,

she hurriedly hid the crystal ball and stammered at Evan.

“W-when did I ever say such a thing? This is all fabricated, isn’t it?”

“Oh my, is that so? I think I was the one who recorded it.”

Even Aileen wouldn’t take Lobelia’s side, so Lobelia jumped up and pounded on Evan’s arm.

Why on earth would he show such a thing to Kyle? Meanwhile, Kyle was comparing the Lobelia in the video to the one before him now.

All while harboring the lecherous thought that someday she might say those marriage words to him.