Fa...ther and Daughter Role Reversal (3)
Fa...ther and Daughter Role Reversal (3)
Snow fell thick and heavy from a gray sky. One by one, the drifting snowflakes blanketed the world.
Bare branches dressed themselves in delicate white. Every corner was painted pristine.
A scene rich with atmosphere—at least, that was how it felt to Lee Seo-yul, who sat on a bench watching the world.
Lee Seo-yul liked white.
It was clean and elegant. Any stain showed easily, but that made its purity all the clearer.
Above everything else, white was Lee Ha-yul's color.
If that last reason alone existed, it would already be enough.
That was why Lee Seo-yul liked the snow. She still didn't like the cold, though.
Just then, a single snowflake drifted past the tip of her nose. After drifting left and right, it plopped softly into the hot chocolate cradled in her hands.
'...'
It wasn't dirty. She had heard that this snow was artificial—a byproduct created by magic. It contained nothing harmful to the body.
She knew that fact for a simple reason.
This snow wasn't the first snow. Back then, Lee Seo-yul had watched it through the mansion windows.
She had learned about snow long before that. At the time the snow fell, Ellia had explained it all to her.
"First snow."
[Hm?]
As Lee Ha-yul, who had been sipping his hot chocolate with a sulky expression, tilted his head, Lee Seo-yul swung her legs—fwoomp fwoomp—and murmured.
"First snow. I wanted to see it with Dad."
[I'm sor...]
The sulky expression vanished in an instant. His already small frame seemed to shrink even further.
She knew it was a little mean, but honestly, that reaction was so unbearably cute. Lee Seo-yul giggled.
She scooped Lee Ha-yul up with both hands and hugged him tight. A bit precarious, but he fit right in her arms.
Meeting his gaze, Lee Seo-yul smiled brightly.
"It was a joke. Now that we're watching together, I'm happy."
[You shouldn't tease Dad...]
"Daaad?"
With a little snicker, Lee Seo-yul cocked her head. At that blatant tone of doubt, the muscles in Lee Ha-yul's face twitched faintly.
[......]
"Hm?"
While she observed that amusing response, Lee Ha-yul swallowed a sigh and removed his glove. He stretched both hands out and gently cupped Lee Seo-yul's cheeks.
[You have to tell me if you're cold. We can do this tomorrow too. We can always do it again.]
Lee Seo-yul blinked. Warmth seeped through the hands pressed against her cheeks.
She wasn't cold.
The palms clinging to her cheeks. The heat flowing from inside them. The affection blooming in soft puffs.
And behind it, a face layered with guilt, no matter how much he tried to hide it.
It was too much emotion to send toward a knight who had been born solely of his will. It was too much for a knight who still couldn't manage to protect him properly.
Lee Seo-yul was trying to grow faster, as fast as she possibly could, but in the end, she hadn't been able to match his pace this time either.
It was impossible not to feel gloomy.
[Is there anything else you want to do?]
As if he understood the feelings she had hidden, his thumbs rubbed lightly against her cheeks, a gesture of comfort.
Lee Seo-yul's lips twitched for a moment, and then she pulled Lee Ha-yul into a tight embrace.
"If we're talking about cold air that could affect me, it would have to be at least a unique ability. And also—"
Drawing out her words, Lee Seo-yul spread her wings.
She trusted the perception-obstruction magic and didn't worry about being seen.
Phasing through her clothes, the Five-colored Wings bloomed wide, then wrapped tightly around Lee Ha-yul as if cradling an egg.
Their surroundings were instantly bathed in a soft, multicolored glow. Within it all, Lee Seo-yul smiled brightly.
"This is better, right?"
[Ah.]
Lee Ha-yul's mouth opened and closed. Lee Seo-yul's words were similar to the answer he himself had given Ellia.
[I know, but you still can't help worrying.]
The reply that followed was similar too. Understanding Ellia's heart, Lee Ha-yul gave an awkward laugh.
At the same time, his mood turned strange, wondering whether Ellia truly saw him as a child after all.
'...Not that it matters.'
The thought scattered as quickly as it came. Being treated like a kid? Was there anything wrong with that?
Considering he was literally fed milk three times a day, the notion was rotten from the start.
"Ha-yul. Seo-yul. Have you been waiting long?"
Around then, Ellia, who had stepped away briefly, returned.
Coming out of the convenience store, Ellia's eyes rounded when she saw the Five-colored Wings enveloping the two of them, and she smiled gently as she raised her smartwatch.
- Click!
A photo was taken. Nodding, satisfied with her impromptu snapshot, Ellia settled herself onto the spot beside them.
"Yes, yes, thank you for guarding them."
- Grrrrn...
She then gently stroked the spirit that had been keeping watch nearby.
The Water Spirit, which had been catching falling snow on its surface, leaned into Ellia's touch.
Watching that behavior intently, Lee Seo-yul spoke.
"Everything go okay?"
"Yes~, I came back safely. No trouble while I was gone?"
"No."
Ellia let out a relieved laugh. From that smile, Lee Seo-yul could sense a maternal warmth that flowed from her naturally.
'...'
Perhaps Ellia was simply overflowing with innate maternal love—she had kindly cared for Lee Seo-yul despite having no real ties to her.
That devotion was so warm that even Lee Seo-yul, whose guard was always high, had been brought to the point of opening her heart.
Did she resent it? No. If anything, it was a warm and snug emotion—good, if one had to label it.
But she still couldn't simply accept it without reservation.
'She must have captivated Dad with feelings like those...'
At the same time, that emotion put her strangely on guard.
Lee Seo-yul stole a glance at Ellia's appearance.
Hair the warm-toned yellow of a wheat field at harvest. Round eyes that held only tender emotion.
Below them, a figure that was even more so. Even in thick winter clothes, her curvaceous lines showed through clearly.
On top of that, a faint milky scent drifted from Ellia. That scent, very deeply, clung to Lee Ha-yul...
"...Nnngh."
[Hm?]
[Gyaaak.]
[Suddenly, why...]
Her mood had soured for no reason. As payback, she chomped down lightly on Lee Ha-yul's cheek and nibbled softly.
Lee Ha-yul, the victim of yet another act of tyranny he couldn't understand, was reduced to a tearful expression once more.
* * *
We rose from the bench and set out on a walk through the snow-covered park.
Carefully reading Seo-yul's mood, I let out a sigh of relief internally.
'Looks like her mood has improved, thankfully.'
She seemed to have tried to hide it by teasing and playfully tormenting me, but I could clearly sense Seo-yul's dispirited state beneath it all.
'It's probably because of the knight position.'
The racial instinct of a Fairy Knight. Her king, whom she must protect, had come back beaten to a pulp again. There was no way she would be happy about that.
'Even if that weren't the case, it'd be natural for a daughter to feel that way when her dad comes home hurt.'
That was why I had immediately agreed to go out—to comfort Seo-yul when her spirits were so low.
As a result of spending the whole day outside together, Seo-yul's mood seemed to have lifted quite a bit.
...Occasionally she would glance back and forth between me and Ellia, her expression turning menacing before she started tormenting me again... but I chalked that up to karma from being a sorry excuse for a parent.
[Ellia, there are a lot of unfamiliar people.]
Meanwhile, I focused my attention elsewhere.
My observation range was limited, but occasionally, people flickered at the edges.
People who weren't in the accumulated data.
"Unfamiliar people? Ah, you mean the next incoming freshmen, right?"
Tilting her head at my words, Ellia soon let out a note of understanding and replied.
[Freshmen?]
"Yes. Even though winter break is still a bit away, some students whose admission is already confirmed come early."
Siyoram evaluated potential freshmen on a regular basis, but occasionally, students were selected outside the usual period—through things like recommended admission.
In those cases, their enrollment could be confirmed early, and they might enter the campus ahead of time.
[That makes sense...]
I nodded at Ellia's words.
In fact, I myself had entered before the semester began.
It was entirely plausible that some had their admission settled a full month or two in advance and moved in early.
'Come to think of it, second year, huh...'
I'd been too preoccupied with the whole Reverse Side chaos, but now that I considered it, I was a second-year now.
Second year.
A full year in this world.
A period that felt both like it had already been a year, and only now a year.
At the realization, my heart grew strangely restless.
'Somehow, I've survived a year after all.'
I'd assumed I would have dropped dead from the curses long before this. Rubbing my solar plexus, I let out a bitter smile.
'So is this wind the innate talent of one of those early-arrival freshmen?'
I swept my empty hand through the air.
Within the air currents that bent and rippled under my touch, I could feel the faint lingering presence of a wind-type innate talent.
'Wind, huh...'
The Unconquered Tower I had found in the Reverse Side. The attribute contained within it had definitely been wind.
'Tracking it right now would be difficult.'
Unfortunately, I couldn't expand my observation range at the moment, so tracking was beyond me.
Still, since the original source was an unusually strong and distinct innate talent, I'd be able to pinpoint it later.
'More than that, I'm out here to enjoy the day with Seo-yul right now.'
With the hand that had been stirring the empty air, I tightly grasped Seo-yul's hand.
* * *
"Whoa, it's actually starting to fade now?"
On top of the fortress wall that belonged to the very front line—one of the walls that plugged the Reverse Side rampage.
Standing atop it, Hong Yeon-hwa looked down below and stuck out her tongue.
Grrrrrnk...! The base of the wall, which had been stained pitch-black, was gradually returning to its original color.
The speed was hard to perceive, as slow as the sun sinking below the horizon, but the encroachment was unmistakably receding.
The Reverse Side's dominion over the space was vanishing.
Hong Yeon-hwa's expression brightened automatically.
'Once all that pulls back, we'll be able to return, right?'
Lee Ha-yul had been sent to the Siyoram mansion first. They couldn't send him alone, so Ellia had gone with him.
Hong Yeon-hwa hadn't been able to follow.
When she glanced behind her, the Jeonghwa Unit was visible, waiting at ease on the wide expanse of the wall.
The Calamity Flame family's representative armed force.
She hadn't been sure exactly what Lee Ha-yul was doing, but just in case, she had grabbed whoever she could and dragged them there.
Her judgment had been correct.
The incident stirred up by the Golden Child had been on a scale beyond imagination, and the Jeonghwa Unit led by Hong Yeon-hwa had achieved all manner of results, significantly aiding the battlefield.
"I'm grateful nothing major went wrong in that time. I was certain you'd have stirred up no end of trouble in my absence, Stop Fire Master."
"Oh my, Clan Head! What a hurtful thing to say! How much trouble could I possibly cause when I'm always cooped up in the family estate on defense duty?"
"Would you believe it? This year, you've caused more incidents than my daughter. No, more than that—my daughter hasn't caused any incidents at all this year."
"...That's shocking."
Moreover, the Calamity Flame family head, Hong Jin-seon, had joined forces with them, doubling their combat power in an instant.
The Calamity Flame family was already the strongest single axis of power on the battlefield.
"Tch."
But the price was that Hong Yeon-hwa was now in an awkward position to move independently.
The same went for Baek A-rin and Lee Ji-yeon.
Baek A-rin had brought the Ten-Thousand Mirrors Unit and the Changpa Unit, which specialized in Azure Sea cold energy and water energy.
Lee Ji-yeon, perhaps considering the battlefield setting, had led the Dark Evil Unit, which specialized in necromancy.
As a result, they had become a tremendous force on the battlefield, but they could no longer simply up and leave to chase after Lee Ha-yul.
Atra and Liana, being here in a personal capacity, could have left—but they had chosen to stay out of a sense of duty.
Of course, if Lee Ha-yul had been in danger, duty be damned, they would have followed in a heartbeat.
- Bzz—, —ring?
"Hm?"
Right then, her smartwatch let out a shrill alarm. The mana interference was so bad that the sound crackled and cut out.
Tilting her head, Hong Yeon-hwa checked the alert.
'What's this?'
There were more alerts than she expected. Checking them, she saw they were from a group chat.
[Group Chat (6)]
▶ Ellia: (Lee Ha-yul gathering snow) - Photo
▶ Ellia: (Lee Ha-yul crouched on the ground, rolling a snowball) - Photo
▶ Ellia: (Lee Ha-yul feeding a snowball to the Water Spirit) - Photo
▶ Ellia: (Lee Ha-yul fixing his lopsided hat) - Photo
▶ Ellia: (Lee Ha-yul playing and running with a baby unicorn) - Video
▶ Ellia: (Lee Ha-yul dodging a snowball thrown by Lee Seo-yul and fleeing toward Ellia) - Video
...
▶ Ellia: Ha-yul is playing and resting well.
▶ Ellia: Everyone, absolutely! Do not get hurt and come back safely!
The alerts were a flood of photos. A barrage of cute and adorable pictures of Lee Ha-yul, the kind you normally never got to see.
Hong Yeon-hwa's mouth fell open, dumbfounded.
Warm emotions—she wanted to dash over right then and there, play with him, and shower him with affection.
...Jealousy. Why did it have to be when he was with Ellia, of all people? And that side of him was already so limited...!
"Ah, crap."
Clicking her tongue for no real reason, Hong Yeon-hwa shot a glare down below the fortress wall.
"Way too slow."
Looking again, the speed at which the encroached space was retreating was disgustingly slow.
Hong Yeon-hwa's face crumpled hard.