Ch.335111. Why Did We… Dad…

“Mom, why don’t we have a dad?”

When the blue-eyed girl asked while fidgeting with her short red hair, the cold-faced woman with long red hair and blue eyes shrugged with a relatively warm smile.

“Well, Eileen, maybe he disappeared because you were being naughty?”

“Waaaaaah!”

The girl burst into tears.

Quite exaggeratedly.

“…Was that really necessary?”

A woman who had been watching from the side narrowed her red eyes and scolded the blue-eyed woman.

Nevertheless, the child’s mother paid no mind.

“Come on, she needs to grow up a bit. Who knows? Maybe he’ll suddenly come back.”

“……”

At those words, the girl sighed heavily as if she’d never been crying.

“Mom, I’m actually quite mature for my age, you know?”

“Still not enough. Compared to your father. Compared to me, you’re far from it. Indeed!”

The woman’s firm words made the girl puff her cheeks.

……

“You’re always being so evasive!”

“……”

In a pale clearing.

Under a thick tree with bare branches, the girl grumbles as if throwing a tantrum.

And the boy who had been quietly listening to her complaints absently shook his head.

“Sister. The ones who must feel the loneliest without father are probably those two. So don’t do things that worry our mothers.”

“What about my feelings? And what about you?”

“……”

The boy smiled calmly with his golden-like eyes.

“I have you and our mothers.”

“…Blehhh!”

You’re so good at saying embarrassing things!

You’re like a little old man in a child’s body!

“But did you know?”

Eileen changed the subject.

“We actually have another sibling?”

“……”

Kael’s eyes widened as if hearing this for the first time.

Now he looks his age.

Though not yet 10 years old, he seemed to have a hard time containing his curiosity about such matters.

“Actually, I don’t know much either!”

Eileen didn’t know all the details either.

Even this much she’d learned only after persistently questioning several times about things she’d overheard.

“Sister…”

Despite being only 2 years—actually just 1 year—older, Eileen tried to act as calmly as possible, though she couldn’t help but subtly square her shoulders while pretending to be nonchalant.

“Are you really unaware or are you lying?”

“Well~?”

“…If you actually knew, you wouldn’t tease me like this.”

…Perhaps finding Kael’s attitude boring, Eileen puffed her cheeks greatly.

“Bleh!”

“…Sigh.”

Looking just a bit further, one could see a snowstorm raging like a curtain across the world.

Turn slightly in another direction and there were mountain peaks so high they seemed to know no limit, with clouds unable to reach their summits, instead draping around their middles—surely a sight of wonder.

…But for the two siblings who had always seen this, none of it was novel or fresh.

“Then we can go meet them later!”

“…Do you even know where they are?”

Kael asked, brushing his short red hair.

“We’ll figure that out when the time comes!”

The girl with the same red hair replied triumphantly, her blue eyes opening wide like blooming flowers.

“……”

Kael turned his gaze away as if there was nothing he could do.

Now as before, this reckless sister of his still seemed to yearn for the outside world.

In truth, Kael himself wanted to see the outside world too.

But perhaps now wasn’t the right time.

Vaguely sensing this, Kael said:

“We’ve rested enough, let’s get up.”

“…I don’t want to move.”

“Your sweat is cooling and you’re getting chills. Moving around now will prevent you from catching a cold.”

“I’ve heard that hundreds of times.”

Despite complaining, the girl reluctantly got up.

Picking up the wooden staff she had dropped aside, she skillfully twirled it around her wrist and arm, showing off her trick as she jerked her chin toward the boy.

“Right. They said I need to be able to protect myself before they’ll let me go out. So I need to work hard.”

Eileen said.

“I’m definitely going to leave, marry a handsome prince, and live happily ever after!”

“……”

She still hasn’t outgrown fairy tales.

Still unable to distinguish between history and stories, fairy tales and myths, she was confident they could come true for her too.

Perhaps this was because she had seen dragons and encountered massive magical beasts, even playing and causing mischief with them around here numerous times, making her unconsciously confident.

“……”

What about Kael himself?

I…

Just want to live out my life normally, moderately, quietly.

Though he wasn’t sure why, that’s just how he felt.

…Even that seemed questionable with his one and only sister.

****

“It feels like just yesterday we had that conversation.”

“…What era are you talking about?”

On the swaying deck, the two were drifting across the endless sea.

Though it wouldn’t take more than a few days.

They say in the western regions, with good winds, you can reach the island nation in less than a day by ship, but here in the northern regions, it takes a full several days to get there.

And if you catch the wrong wind, you might end up in some irrelevant ice-covered area.

“Puhek!”

In the midst of this, the ship was half-destroyed by a sea monster.

After falling into the sea and losing consciousness for a moment.

Upon waking, her body trembled.

Eileen, washed ashore, couldn’t help but shiver despite being accustomed to the cold, as she was completely soaked.

“…What is this?”

How did things end up like this?

After a brief moment of confusion, she quickly left the shore, gathered branches from nearby, and lit a fire.

“…Where could he be?”

In such situations, one would typically be worried sick about family.

“He probably escaped just fine.”

Eileen showed no particular concern, either outwardly or inwardly.

…He’s not the type to die so pathetically in a situation like this.

He’s a guy who’s endured far worse and more treacherous environments.

…Unlike herself.

In other words, it was miraculous that she herself had survived, but even this might have been due to some trick of Kael’s—a reasonable suspicion Eileen couldn’t help but entertain.

“…What a mess, coming to see my brother.”

Still, if she just managed to stay alive, Kael would surely find her.

Thinking this, Eileen pulled herself together and began to survey her surroundings.

“Oh…”

And faced one reality.

This was none other than a deserted island.

And it seemed to be a rather small, pitiful one at that.

Except for some dense trees and a mountain-like formation rising much higher than a hill… it was probably too small to even appear on maps.

Judging by the various debris washed up on the shore… the current? Anyway, rather than flowing outward, it seemed to pool inward… the flow of water? It tended to gather inward like a basin… is that the right assessment?

In fact, before coming here, Eileen had memorized the map of this area, and this island was too small to be considered part of the larger islands or archipelago.

“This is bad.”

Having roughly assessed the situation, Eileen was just wondering what to eat today when.

“…Who are you?”

“Huh?”

Apparently, she wasn’t the only one inhabiting (?) this deserted island.

Like a forest fairy… though that would be an overstatement given his relatively splendid appearance and simple but neat attire, a boy emerged, and Eileen felt a small glimmer of hope.

“Oh, hello? Um, I was on a ship and then a sea monster…”

A boy with blonde hair and striking deep green eyes like leaves.

While observing his dignified yet somehow upright gaze, Eileen haphazardly explained her situation.

The explanation itself wasn’t difficult, so the boy quickly understood what she was saying.

“Ah, that sort of thing happens quite a bit around here.”

“What do you mean ‘that sort of thing’?”

“This is an exile island.”

Exile island?

“It’s a kind of… place where they confine criminals or troublesome people. So it’s generally difficult to escape. Small sailboats can come in, but it’s hard to leave.”

“Oh…”

Eileen couldn’t help but break into a cold sweat from her brow.

This might be a serious problem, more than she’d thought?

****

At the place the boy guided her to, there were three small huts.

No, one of them was more like a storage structure than a hut.

Crack!

From there, a man holding an axe in one hand was carelessly chopping firewood. Sensing their presence, he cast a stern gaze toward the two approaching through the trees from a distance.

“Teacher.”

“……”

The man with navy blue hair and eyes close to red looked at the gathering basket the boy was holding, then turned his gaze to Eileen.

“What’s that?”

“Ah, well…”

“And who are you?”

Eileen retorted sarcastically to the man’s question.

“……”

The man responded with a cynical look, curling just the corner of his mouth in a sneer.

As the atmosphere began to sour, the blonde boy stepped in to mediate.

“Th-this is my… swordsmanship teacher.”

“On an exile island?”

When Eileen pointedly remarked, the boy smiled only with his eyes.

“Come to think of it, I don’t think I heard your name. Oh, I’m Eileen. Look at me, forgetting.”

“……”

As Eileen belatedly introduced herself, the blonde boy scratched the back of his head as if troubled.

“Why are you hesitating?”

“Uh…”

When the man glared and pointed this out, the boy reluctantly revealed his name.

“Please call me Iriel.”

“Iriel? Got it.”

Making such a fuss over nothing.

“Haha…”

While Iriel secretly sighed in relief at her lack of reaction.

“What a sight.”

With those words, the man tossed the axe aside and headed toward the hut.

“I introduced myself, didn’t I? So who are you?”

“Why should I tell you?”

Eileen nearly ground her teeth in anger.

“H-hold on!”

Iriel grabbed Eileen’s arm and led her to one side.

“He’s concerned about your condition and is suggesting you check your clothes and state, that’s what he means.”

“…Him?”

“He’s just not very good with words.”

Iriel headed toward what seemed to be his hut, bringing some clothes for her to wear temporarily.

“I’ll guide you to the river. Washing off the seawater will make you feel better.”

“…Hmm.”

Come to think of it, she was still in her soaking wet clothes that hadn’t dried yet, and she’d been walking around like this. Her condition was terrible.

Sniffing herself, while not exactly foul, there was a rather unpleasant odor.

“Oh, by the way. That person is… Venus.”

“Venus?”

“Yes. He said he had some connection with my mother…”

On the way to the river, Iriel told Eileen various stories.

It was both a consideration to keep her from feeling anxious and…

…a way to observe her attitude and behavior as she listened, which Eileen implicitly understood.

‘Looks innocent but has a fox hidden inside.’

Being exiled to this place at such a young age must have involved some twists and turns.

Despite experiencing such things, is his mind still a field of flowers? That might be extraordinary in its own way? Perhaps he has an exceptionally strong nature?

“So, did you come here because you committed a crime, or were you unjustly confined?”

“…What if it’s both and neither at the same time?”

Iriel put these bizarre words in his mouth with a truly difficult-to-read, subtle expression.

If she sensed a sorrowful yet somehow regretful emotion from his green eyes, was that just her imagination?

As the sound of water grew closer, Eileen began to casually remove her outer clothing.

“W-wait a moment?!”

“Why?”

She had already removed her pants and questioned him instead.

“Didn’t you come to join me?”

“O-of course not!”

Of course, Eileen knew what she was doing.

Whether he had ulterior motives or not, this was a simple way to find out.

“I don’t mind.”

“But I do!”

“Why?”

“……”

When actually asked, he had nothing to say.

Come to think of it, why shouldn’t men see women’s bodies, and why do both women and men react so extremely, so excessively to such things?

“It’s just, I was taught that it’s not right.”

“Really?”

Hmm, seems like he received some old-fashioned home education.

Mom always said the scariest thing is divine punishment, and the second scariest is the Demon King.

But the third scariest is someone who seems to understand what you’re saying.

Whether they truly understand or are monsters and demons pretending to understand… you can only know when they reveal their true colors or when you learn to see through them… she repeatedly emphasized.

“I don’t mind, so peek if you want.”

“I told you I won’t!”

And indeed, Iriel put down the clothes he was holding and hastily left the spot.

“He really means it.”

Eileen tilted her head as she observed her smooth figure.

“He really did receive some old-fashioned home education.”

And.

“……”

Perhaps he had never resisted or rebelled against such education or discipline?

‘Did I go too far?’

Anyway, this is our first meeting.

It’s certain we’ll be seeing each other for more than just a day or two… should I try to learn more about him?

His face is quite handsome, and given his various circumstances… he might even be from an ancient family or bloodline!