The Prophecy Child (3)
"Cheon Seong!!"
She threw herself at him.
As soon as he stepped inside, Yuna was clinging to him, tears streaming down her face.
Yuna was a healer-type ability user.
To put it simply in gaming terms, she was a healer — but healers in reality differed from their game counterparts in one crucial way.
They needed medical knowledge. More precisely, they had to understand the anatomy of the person they were treating.
They had to scan the body with mana, identify the injuries, and then apply their ability to the affected areas.
That was why Yuna, whose skills were already combat-ready, knew exactly how badly he'd been hurt. The wounds should have required months of recovery, yet within days he was already moving around. It was no wonder she was sobbing.
But what nearly made her collapse to the floor and burst into uncontrollable sobs was seeing his regenerated left arm.
To reiterate: Yuna was an exceptional healer. Regenerating a severed limb was something that would have required multiple healers even more skilled than her, working alongside the patient for days.
Yuna's knowledge ran deeper than his — he had only learned through combat experience. She understood better than anyone just how absurd his situation was.
He explained to her how he'd healed his arm.
When he told her he'd received a solidified World Tree sap elixir from the academy's principal, and that with the help of the infirmary teacher Seong Yu-ra and Eira, he'd regenerated his arm — her pretty face was already soaked with tears.
Lately Yuna had been showing a more mature side, but she'd always been prone to tears. He suspected she'd been holding it in all this time, and it had finally broken loose.
"Hic! It's, hic! It's really, hic! It's really a relief. Hic! I thought, hic! I thought you'd, hic! Ahhh!!"
"Why are you crying, Yuna? We're right here. Stop it, okay?"
"Mommy. Don't cry."
As he soothed Yuna, who was sobbing like a child, Hana slid down from his embrace. She reached up with her tiny hands, wiped Yuna's tears away, and smiled brightly.
"Hic, Hanaaa."
Yuna sniffled at Hana's comfort and pulled her into her generous embrace, holding her tight.
From a distance, it was a touching sight — a mother embracing her young daughter who was comforting her through tears. But what was the daughter's perspective?
"Ugh! Mommy! I'm suffocating!!"
"Hic! Hanaaa, thank youuuu."
Hana's cry of suffocation was swallowed by Yuna's sobs. Her tail stuck straight up in the air, signaling her distress.
"Abaaa! Save me!!"
"Hoo, Yuna, Hana's having trou—"
Whack!
As Hana reached out to him, begging for rescue, and he reached back — a hand appeared from the side, grabbed his hand, and yanked him toward it.
"[Have you forgotten the promise you made with this woman?]"
"W-wait, noona? Just give me a sec, I'll help Hana first, so just wait a little—"
He was about to say he remembered the promise to return and hug her with both arms, so she should wait just a moment — but Beatrice puffed out her cheeks.
Whooooo
"[Is the promise you made with this woman... not important to you?]"
Thump!!
Completely unlike her usual cool, composed demeanor, Beatrice puffed out her cheeks with affectionate eyes and asked in a voice dripping with coquettish charm. It struck Cheon Seong's heart with devastating force.
"A-ah, no, I, I'll, I'll do it."
Squeeze
Blushing faintly at Beatrice's unexpected charm, Cheon Seong wrapped both arms around her and pulled her into a tight embrace.
Munch~!
Beatrice's massive chest pressed comfortably against Cheon Seong's body, while her slender arms wrapped tightly around him, binding him in place.
"Abaaa! Abaaa!"
"Hic! Hanaaa, our baby! It's so cold!"
Hana's betrayed cry rang out from behind, but it was swallowed by Yuna's sobs. And so, two embraces — same situation, entirely different atmosphere — unfolded within the house.
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"Ah! Wait a minute, Hana!"
After some time had passed, Cheon Seong, who had been holding Beatrice with his eyes gently closed, suddenly remembered Hana reaching out to him for help. He hurriedly turned to look in her direction.
"Daddy... I hate you."
There, leaning against the sofa, was Hana — her face pale with anger.
"H-Hana! Are you okay? Hana? Hana?!"
At Hana's words telling him she hated him, Cheon Seong was startled. He rushed to her, apologizing repeatedly, and the result was exactly this.
Chomp chomp chomp
"Hana, I said I'm sorry, okay..?"
"Hmph! I don't care!"
While devouring the Ten-X he'd brought back, Hana turned her head sharply away from Cheon Seong, who was kneeling before her and apologizing, and declared she didn't care. Cheon Seong slumped his head in defeat.
As Cheon Seong's head drooped, Hana glanced sideways at him.
Seeing how dejected he looked, Hana briefly wondered if she'd gone too far — but she quickly shook her head and maintained her "I'm still mad!" expression.
'Hmph! I hate Daddy! He likes Mommy more than Hana!'
She was angry that when she'd finally met him after so long and asked for help, he'd chosen Beatrice over her.
Hana had learned from Yuna that Beatrice had gone to meet Cheon Seong the previous day.
When she'd heard he'd be back soon, she'd been so excited that night that she couldn't sleep at all.
But when he actually returned and chose to embrace Beatrice instead of helping her, it felt like being struck on the foot by a trusted axe.
Cheon Seong, who knew Hana better than anyone, let out a deep sigh inwardly.
'Haa... What do I do in situations like this?'
Like anyone else, this was his first time at parenting, so he had no idea what to do when his daughter was this upset.
'How do I make Hana forgive me... Ah, right.'
Now that he thought about it, when he was young, his grandmother always made him delicious food whenever she noticed he wasn't in a good mood.
'Of course, I don't know if this will work on Hana, but it's the only idea I have right now, so I might as well try.'
"Hana, are you hungry? Want to eat some food Daddy made, since it's been so long?"
Perk!
At his words, Hana's ears twitched.
'Did it work? Please let it work.'
If this didn't work either, he had no other ideas at the moment. He prayed silently that it would, and Hana slowly turned to look at him, her face pouting.
"Hmph! D-do you really think Hana will forgive you just because of that?"
She pouted at his words, asking if she'd really forgive him, her voice low and sulky — but Cheon Seong smiled at her.
Her words said one thing, but her body told another. Her ears were perked up, her tail swishing without pause. How could he not smile?
Most importantly, she was smiling — or at least, the corners of her mouth kept twitching up and down, even if she was trying hard to hold it in.
"Then wait a little. Daddy will make something delicious right away."
"Hmph! D-do whatever you want!...Please."
At the way she tacked on that last word in a barely-there, crawling voice, the corners of his mouth turned up on their own.
"Looks like I'll have to put some real effort into this."
His daughter was looking forward to it this much — he couldn't just give her something ordinary.
The rich aroma filled the entire house.
"Mmm~! Cheon Seong, it smells amazing."
"Really? Then I'm relieved. Just wait a little longer, it'll be done soon."
It was Cheon Seong cooking, not Yuna, who usually handled the kitchen.
His food might not taste quite as good as Yuna's, but he was putting his full effort into it.
Fortunately, he had experience living on his own, so at least the presentation was turning out decent.
He blanched some simple vegetables, tossed them in sesame oil, and fried meatballs made from the pork he had in the fridge.
For soup, he made seaweed soup — simple but made with extra care. The rest was just some grilled ham and similar items.
Slurp
"Hmm. It feels like it's missing some umami. Where's the dashi... Ah, here it is."
After tasting a spoonful of the seaweed soup and feeling the lack of depth, he added dashi to cover it up, and a delicious seaweed soup was complete.
"Yuna, it's all done. Can you call everyone over?"
"Yeah, got it."
While Yuna went to call Hana and Beatrice, he served the rice and soup, filling the remaining spots on the table with side dishes until it was full.
Well, saying "full" was generous — more than half of it was side dishes Yuna had already prepared, which was a bit disappointing. But there wasn't much he could make to fill the table on his own.
"Still, I'm glad I could at least make this."
Meatballs — his favorite food, and the dish his grandmother had made for him when she first took him in.
The food that let him remember his grandmother. The only dish he'd learned from her that she'd ever acknowledged.
It was a dish he'd always wanted to make for Hana someday.
"I hope Hana likes it."
Just as his grandmother had created a happy moment for him with this food, he hoped his cooking would create a happy moment for Hana.
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Daddy's cooking.
Honestly, she couldn't hate it.
No matter how much she pouted at her daddy, she still loved him. Of course, anything he made would be good to her.
Even if he'd served her rice with the side dishes Mommy Yuna had prepared, her feelings of being slighted would have vanished completely.
But he hadn't done that.
"Waaah, did Daddy really make this?"
"Well, about half the side dishes are the ones Yuna made, but the rest is all Daddy's work, right? What do you think?"
At the sight of the table filled with food, Hana's eyes widened in amazement. Cheon Seong smiled with relief and asked.
"...It looks delicious."
She swallowed her saliva and answered. Cheon Seong placed a small portion of spinach salad on top of her rice, and Hana scooped it up with a spoon and put it in her mouth.
Chomp chomp chomp
Swallow
Hana swallowed her food, and Cheon Seong waited tensely for her reaction.
Perk!
Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!
"Mmm! It's delicious!"
Her ears perked up, and her white tail wagged wildly as she answered.
"That's great, I'm really relieved."
Seeing Hana enjoying the food, Cheon Seong smiled and added more side dishes to her bowl. Hana ate with a bright smile.
Watching this, Beatrice and Yuna smiled warmly, picked up some of Cheon Seong's side dishes, took a bite, and answered in unison.
"It's really delicious, Cheon Seong."
"[It is truly delicious, my lord.]"
"Thank you for saying that. Everyone, eat up."
Seeing the three of them enjoying the food he'd made, Cheon Seong felt a deep sense of pride. He told them to eat well, and the house grew warm with the rare, harmonious warmth of a family meal.
"Hana, try this. This is the food Daddy's grandmother first made for me."
"Hm? Okay."
Cheon Seong picked up a meatball and offered it to Hana. Hana opened her mouth wide at his words and took the meatball in.
Chomp chomp chomp
The meatballs — the dish he most hoped Hana would like — went into her mouth.
'Haa... Why am I sweating?'
His hands were sweaty, and his mouth felt as dry as parched earth.
Please, please let her like it.
Swallow
He was so tense that Hana swallowed the meatball in his mouth.
"..."
"H-Hana? How does it taste?"
After swallowing everything in her mouth, Hana remained silent for a long moment — no movement from her mouth, tail, or ears. Cheon Seong asked with a trembling voice, and Hana looked at him without speaking.
And then—
Beaming
"It's delicious!"
At Hana's words, smiling brightly and declaring it delicious, all of Cheon Seong's tension melted away, replaced by relief and joy.
His beloved daughter loved the food filled with his memories. As a father of one child, warmth and affection continued to bloom in Cheon Seong's chest.
That day, nothing existed in Cheon Seong's heart but the warm love of his family.
If only there hadn't been a pair of eyes watching from the shadows.
Found you.
Hee...