"Miss."
That's when Margaret entered.
She intended to take care of Creed in her stead.
"Are you going out today?"
Navia had an important schedule today.
She wanted to play more with Creed, but to create a safe world for both herself and him, she had to grasp wealth, power, and prestige without missing any.
And she had the ability to do so.
"I'll be back after work, brother."
Before leaving for work, Navia kissed Creed on the cheek as if she were a parent.
Creed, having received a few cheek kisses before, still tilted his head, not fully understanding what it meant.
Margaret, and Navia too, clutched at their chests at his adorable reaction.
Every day was such a heart-damaging yet happy day.
"Navia. Pretty."
"My goodness... How did you learn to say that?"
Margaret thought that was a characteristic of Nabia, who always looked cute.
The part that Margaret and others found endearing meant that Navia's attention was focused on.
Look at her now.
Isn't it strange that Navia, who is usually as sharp as a sword, is momentarily captivated by Creed?
When Nabia occasionally said, "This is the joy of raising a child," they couldn't help but burst into laughter because they were so surprised.
'Every time she speaks like an old soul, she doesn't realize she's the cuter one.'
Margaret left Navia to play with her adorable younger brother and left the annex.
Then, she saw the figure of the irritable lord who came to fetch his daughter.
"My daughter must have forgotten about her father."
"Miss will be out soon."
"Yeah, right."
Margaret smiled gently.
"The lemon cream cheese cake Miss Navia gave you before."
Hesitation.
"I saw it thrown outside. I cleaned it up, too."
"......"
"I'll keep it a secret."
So, please watch over your daughter's happy time maturely, lord.
Lark twitched his lips in a bearable manner.
"...Dare you blackmail your lord?"
Margaret didn't even flinch.
"Blackmail? It's cooperation."
Lark grimaced, recalling the illustrious record of throwing the cake his daughter made out the window because he was in a bad mood.
Thinking of how Navia would say, "I see..." with an unaffected expression, breaking her heart, made him wish he could travel back in time and slap himself.
Then Navia came out of the annex.
"Dad!"
Seeing Lark waiting right in front of her, Navia ran towards him with a bright smile.
'Damn it. Why is she so cute?'
Honestly, not just because she was his daughter, Navia was really cute.
Was she just cute? She was smart too, like him.
He couldn't help but melt and picked up Navia. Then he started pretending to be pitiful.
"Abandoning your father for a friend, you're a heartless daughter."
Navia skillfully ignored him and waved to Margaret.
"I'll be back, Miss Margaret."
"Hehe, I'll make lots of delicious things. Have a good outing."
"Oh, now ignoring your father? What? Maybe you're in your teenage years?"
Navia calmly looked at her momentarily speechless father and then spoke soothingly.
"It hasn’t even been two hours since we parted, Dad."
"Two whole hours! Can’t you see I’m hurt from being abandoned?"
……Where exactly?
Navia, instead of a logical rebuttal, habitually replied with a "I see."
"Now, follow after me. Say, 'Dad, I missed you so much.'"
Navia almost asked Lark if he had gone mad.
She barely swallowed words that were close to being disrespectful and asked seriously.
"Dad, are you hurt?"
It wasn’t much different from asking if he was mad.
"Why would I be?"
‘How can you be fine?’
Navia briefly wondered whether her remark was disrespectful.
Meanwhile, Lark clicked his tongue.
"You’re oddly stubborn about certain things. Is it because you haven’t lived enough?"
"I’ve lived nearly a lifetime."
"Kiddo, I even know what I’ll look like as an old man."
At that, Navia imagined what he would look like aged, and then grew curious about her own future appearance.
"I wonder what I’d look like as an old person."
"What difference would there be? Your hair’s already white. And you talk like an old soul."
Navia corrected her father’s childish teasing.
"It’s silver."
"It’s the same thing."
Navia firmly retorted.
"It’s different."
"Kiddo, you’ve been talking back a lot lately…..."
Is this adolescence?
Lark stopped in front of the main gate, holding Navia. He then set her down and cast the Polymorph spell on her.
Navia, suddenly with a higher vantage point, glanced around to adjust and then checked her attire. It was clothing that looked like it belonged to a poor commoner, at least three years old.
"Yes, perfect. You look very much the part."
Naturally, Navia, with her twenty-two-year-old appearance and even her eye color changed to blue, was the spitting image of Camilla.
Lark looked at his daughter anew.
'She looks much gentler than her, perhaps because of the bangs, or maybe because she’s a more dignified daughter than Camilla.'
"Is it because I resemble Mom?"
Navia knew Lark couldn’t take his eyes off her face and teased him as if joking.
Lark smiled silently for a moment.
His daughter resembled him when he had just escaped being brainwashed, desperately trying to save his mother.
She looked so much like him during that foolishly hopeful yet hopeless time.
That hurt him deeply.
'But now is different from when I was in despair.'
He wasn’t alone anymore; he had a loving family.
Lark smoothly changed the topic.
"Your nose is red, dear."
"It’s winter, so of course, it is."
"At this rate, you might become an ice statue at Sapid Lake."
Navia was planning to go to Sapid Lake, a famous rendezvous spot, today.
With the railway inauguration, the capital was bustling like during the social season.
Prominent nobles had come to the capital early for the inauguration ceremony, intending to stay long. Consequently, the city was crowded everywhere.
Those wanting to avoid prying eyes increasingly ventured to the outskirts of the capital.
Especially during winter, the Sapid Lake shore had quietly become a well-known secret rendezvous spot among those needing clandestine meetings.
Journalists trying to catch a scoop, errand runners hired to uncover a husband's infidelity, young lovers defying their families to confirm their love...
What if a clumsy woman with silver hair flowing under her hood appeared?
Wouldn't she look like a woman with a story, having run away from home, ruined?
"I must look like someone preparing for the end."
A poor appearance marked by hardship, an unsteady gait as if unhealthy, an air of someone looking at the water before finishing their life.
People's imaginations run wild with just a few plausible clues. Maybe she's Camilla Vladina?
Then, the rumor would twist, soon becoming "I saw Camilla Vladina."
"Yesterday, Ricardo reported spreading rumors that the Duke of Vladina's sister had disappeared."
Navia needed public attention and response.
So, this was about crafting an interesting scandal.
Navia had a history of never failing in such endeavors.
She wasn't at the top of society for nothing, despite Agnes and the royal family's oppression, never showing it outwardly.
Navia planned to pretend to be Camilla at Lake Sapfid, with Lark accompanying her, hidden by invisibility magic.
Yes, Lark was leaving the estate today. After a very long time, for the first time in this life.
"Excited about your first outing, esteemed father?"
Lark grimaced.
"Ugh. Just call me dad. Makes me feel old."
"Father doesn't mean old."
And hadn't he just been boasting about being old? Navia thought he was a really fussy dad.
Lark teased lightly.
"What a great linguist."
"That's childish."
"So are you."
Navia really found it hard to agree.
But arguing further would make her as childish as Lark, so she held back.
The moment she thought about winning or losing, she realized she had already become childish, unbeknownst to her.
Lark extended his hand to his daughter, like a gentleman asking for a dance.
"Shall we go?"
Navia firmly grasped his hand.
Despite appearances, a thin tension lingered between them.
Lark hadn't gone outside for a long time, unless it was to commit suicide. No, he couldn't.
Definitely.
As Navia gripped his hand harder, Lark said soothingly.
"Don't worry. It's not like I can only go outside blindly. Magic is like mathematics. Through precise calculation..."
"But you're nervous."
"…Who told you to see through your dad like that? You cheeky thing."
"Ah-ha..."
Navia pretended to be in pain, hoping to ease the tension.
"It's real now."
Nod.
Father and daughter held hands again.
And took a step together.
Nothing happened.
Their bodies should have been horribly shattered into thousands of pieces, but there were no symptoms.
Just a faint sensation of static electricity, not a feeling of bodily anomaly.
It was the feeling of passing through a thin barrier, having left the estate's maintenance magic.
"...It's okay."
Returning to the world was not such a big deal.
This time, Navia slowly let go of the hand.
He was out of the influence of White Moon.
Still okay.
Not a single crack appeared.
Lark finally took a long breath in and out. Freed from the curse that made him a monster, he found liberty, feeling like an ordinary person.
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