5
## Chapter 5
Ethan had no money.
It wasn't because the family was poor.
Although the family eventually fell into ruin, up until then, Ethan's family had been among the wealthier families.
And yet, the reason Ethan had no funds he could use was—
‘The karma from everything I've done. This damn past version of me… Truly impressive! I want to punch myself in the face.’
It was because of the things his past self had done.
‘But somehow, I have to get the money.’
He needed money to become stronger.
So although he felt a little uneasy about it, he decided to obtain the funds through a relatively humane method.
And that was—
“Make it a little more pitiful. Imagine that Dad has disappeared from this world… Yes, that's it!”
Arin's angelic appearance.
“Is this enough?”
“Yeah. Just stare silently at Sebastian with exactly that expression.”
“Then can I go outside for a walk with Dad?”
Arin tilted her head and asked at Ethan's words.
“That's right. You can go around and have fun with Dad.”
Ethan answered in an encouraging voice.
He wasn't even lying.
If he managed to get some money from Sebastian, he planned to use everything except the amount needed for the potion to have fun with Arin.
‘You should be rewarded for the work you put in.’
If the plan succeeded, it would be thanks to Arin.
So Ethan naturally decided that she should be allowed to do whatever she wanted.
“Arin can do it, right?”
“Yes!”
“And I'm telling you again… Don't tell him that Dad told you to do this, okay?”
“Mm-hmm! Arin will never tell! I'll keep it a secret for the rest of my life!”
Arin vigorously nodded at Ethan's emphasis.
Then she held out her right pinky.
“Grandpa Sebastian told me this is how people make a promise. Dad, promise me you'll play with me too!”
She continued, asking him to make a promise.
“There's no reason I can't promise that.”
Ethan smiled at Arin's appearance.
Then, as she requested, he hooked his pinky with hers.
“I promise I'll show you the world outside.”
He made the promise to Arin in a quiet voice.
“Mmm~”
Arin made a satisfied expression at Ethan's words and actions, letting out a pleased little hum.
“Now let's go to the garden.”
And finally, the moment of truth arrived.
---
“Sebastian. I'm telling you, I don't intend to spend the money on myself.”
“But…”
“No. Our Arin wants to see the world outside, doesn't she? I'm just saying I want to borrow a little money for that. Is that really such a problem?”
“……”
Sebastian looked troubled by Ethan's words.
“If I could, I would gladly give it to you… But you know that as well as I do, Young Master. You're prohibited from receiving personal funds.”
The reason Sebastian was so troubled wasn't because he lacked money.
“I can give you as much money as you need. However, please obtain the head of the household's permission first.”
The problem was the circumstances.
Officially, Ethan needed written permission from the head of the household before Sebastian could give him money.
‘As strict as ever.’
Ethan wondered whether he should call Sebastian inflexible—
Or reliable.
As he considered which description suited Sebastian better, he stared at him.
‘He's stubborn, too.’
Sebastian's eyes clearly showed his unwavering determination.
He would never give Ethan any money without the head of the household's permission.
“……”
Ethan stared silently at him.
“Hmm. Ahem! That's a bit much. Well, I suppose there's nothing I can do. We'll just have to give up on the walk.”
Then, just as he had promised Arin, he cleared his throat.
“Dad… We can't go outside?”
Arin, who had been quietly holding onto Ethan's clothes, spoke.
Her expression looked as though tears could fall from her eyes at any moment.
‘What the hell? How is her acting this good…?’
Ethan flinched when he saw Arin like that.
If this hadn't been an act he had asked her to perform, even he would have been completely fooled.
“Sebastian won't give us any money. So it looks like Dad can't go on a walk with Arin.”
“A walk… We can't go?”
“I don't think we'll be able to this time.”
“……”
Arin's pupils widened.
Had she been shocked?
A faint tremor ran through her hands.
“Mm-hmm. I see. Okay…”
Then, one or two tears fell from Arin's eyes.
She lowered her head deeply.
“……”
Ethan shifted his gaze from Arin to Sebastian.
Then he frowned and silently mouthed the words toward Sebastian.
[You're really being too harsh. You're making my daughter cry. Can you still call yourself my butler after doing this?]
He was telling Sebastian how he could possibly make Arin cry.
“No… This is…”
“Mm-hmm. We can't go with Dad… But Arin is a good girl, so…”
Just as Sebastian began making excuses, Arin sniffled and spoke.
[You bastard.]
Ethan immediately followed up as though he had been waiting for the opportunity.
He looked at Sebastian with an expression of disappointment.
“……”
Sebastian stared blankly at Ethan's words.
He had never imagined that, in all his years, he would hear the Young Master, of all people, call him a bastard.
He couldn't even argue against it.
Even he had to admit how absurd the situation was.
At the same time—
‘I'm not giving money to the Young Master. I'm giving it to Lady Arin. In that case, perhaps I don't need the head of the household's permission.’
He rationalized it to himself.
That was the only way he could ease the guilt stabbing at his conscience.
‘Yes. I'm giving the money to Lady Arin, not the Young Master.’
Sebastian came to his conclusion and silently nodded.
Rustle.
Then he pulled a money pouch from inside his clothes.
“This money is being given to Lady Arin and Lady Arin alone. You absolutely must not use it however you please, Young Master.”
He handed it to Ethan.
“Of course. And I'll keep quiet about this with Father, so don't worry. You aren't exactly disobeying an order, but keeping quiet will be more convenient for you too, won't it?”
Ethan carefully accepted the pouch.
At the same time, he looked at Sebastian with a sly smile.
“We're in the same boat now.”
He continued in a low voice.
“Haa. In that case, I'll return to my work in the garden.”
Sebastian shrugged at Ethan's behavior.
“Grandpa Sebastian! Thank you!”
At that moment, Arin smiled brightly at Sebastian.
Then she bowed at the waist to thank him.
“Not at all. This much is only natural.”
The corners of Sebastian's mouth automatically lifted at Arin's cheerful greeting.
“I'll be satisfied as long as you have a good time with the Young Master.”
With that, he finished speaking in a kindly voice and gave Ethan a small bow.
Tap tap.
Then he turned and walked back toward the center of the garden.
“Dad.”
Once Sebastian had gone some distance away, Arin stared at Ethan.
“I did well, right?”
She looked extremely proud of herself.
Grin.
Ethan simply smiled at Arin without saying anything.
Then he gently patted her head.
“Yes. Let's go for a walk.”
And so, Ethan went on his first outing with Arin.
---
Ethan and Arin left the family estate and headed toward the market.
Since it was evening, quite a large number of people were coming and going through the streets.
“Let's get out of here quickly.”
“We'll get beaten for no reason if we stay here.”
“Just looking at his face scares me. He's terrifying.”
Most of the territory's residents moved away when they saw Ethan.
Ethan, the wastrel of the Calassar family.
It had been a long time since his name had become infamous throughout the territory.
“But who is that child?”
“She really is pretty.”
Yet even these people couldn't help being interested in Arin's appearance.
Even with the notorious Ethan standing beside her.
“Could she be his daughter?”
“You fool. Don't say things like that. What if he hears you?”
“But they look so much alike…”
Some speculated that she was Ethan's daughter.
Others even claimed that she looked like the head of the household's late-in-life daughter.
“……”
Ethan turned his head toward the territory's residents as he listened to their whispers.
In the past, he would have immediately picked a fight, demanding to know what they were looking at.
‘But what would that accomplish?’
He knew now.
Every single one of those actions only damaged the prestige of the Calassar family.
‘And it's bad for Arin's emotional development too.’
Besides, Arin was beside him now.
He had all the more reason to watch his behavior.
“There are so many people and things!”
Arin looked around the market in amazement.
Ethan had warned her beforehand not to call him Dad while they were outside, so she was leaving that title out.
“What is that red thing?”
“An apple.”
“Then what's that yellow one?”
“A banana.”
“Wow… That's amazing.”
Perhaps because she had only recently become human, Arin asked Ethan about practically every kind of merchandise in the market.
And Ethan patiently answered every question.
Children were naturally curious, after all.
“What's that?”
After wandering around the market and looking at everything—
Arin suddenly stopped.
Then she stared intently at a child's hand in front of a certain shop.
A rabbit doll was clutched in the child's hand.
“It's called a doll. More specifically, that's a rabbit doll.”
“Wow…”
It was, quite simply, a rabbit doll for children.
“Hmm…”
Arin stared intently at the rabbit doll.
Her eyes sparkled, so it seemed the unfamiliar toy had caught her attention.
‘Looks like she wants one.’
Seeing her reaction, Ethan headed toward the shop selling dolls with Arin.
“Y-Young Master Ethan. What brings you here…?”
The shopkeeper flinched when he saw Ethan.
A notorious wastrel who lost his temper at the slightest thing had entered his shop, so it was only natural that the man was nervous.
Ignoring the shopkeeper, Ethan picked up one of the rabbit dolls on display and handed it to Arin.
“Wow… It's soft and white and fluffy. It feels exactly like the thing Sebastian gave me!”
“What thing?”
“…The white, soft, fluffy thing.”
“Are you talking about pudding?”
“Yes! That's it!”
“Do you want it?”
“Huh? Uh… No! Arin is fine just being with Dad!”
“No. If you want it, you can have it.”
Ethan gave Arin a gentle smile.
Then he spoke to the trembling shopkeeper in a flat voice.
“One rabbit doll.”
At the same time, he took some gold from the money pouch Sebastian had given him and handed it to the shopkeeper.
“Th-thank you.”
The shopkeeper accepted the money Ethan offered with an awkward expression.
He found it strange.
Normally, Ethan would have done everything in his power to avoid paying.
“……”
Then the shopkeeper's eyes fell on Arin holding Ethan's hand.
He looked at Ethan with an expression that seemed to ask, ‘Could she be…?’
Before he could say anything—
“Don't ask any questions.”
“Ah. Yes.”
Ethan warned him in a low voice.
The shopkeeper nodded.
Then he took one of the rabbit dolls from the shop and handed it to Arin.
“Thank you!”
Arin accepted it with both arms and smiled brightly.
“My, what a pretty little girl.”
The shopkeeper smiled warmly at Arin's greeting.
There was something so pleasant about Arin that it naturally brought a smile to his face.
“You need to hold tightly onto Young Master Ethan's hand while you're walking around, okay?”
“Yes!”
Arin answered with a smile.
Then she hugged the rabbit doll with one arm and grabbed Ethan's clothes with the other.
‘…Anyone looking at us would think I'm a father with his child.’
Ethan sighed inwardly at the sight.
No matter how much he had told Arin not to call him Dad, it was obvious that people could still tell.
But officially acknowledging that she was his daughter and simply looking like they were father and daughter were two different matters.
So he decided not to interfere.
Instead—
‘It's about time we headed there.’
Ethan decided to make his way toward the place that had been the reason for coming outside in the first place.
Hewarn's shop.
“Ehehe~”
And he headed there together with Arin, who was happily hugging her rabbit doll.