In a Different World with a Smartphone (LN) - Volume 27 - Chapter 2.5

 Interlude: A Very Normal Day for Brunhild’s Grand Duke

In a little corner of the Babylon workshop, there was a spot where machines and junk were piled up high. It was a space that Quun had carved out for herself. She’d requested, pleaded, and begged for her own little area to work on her projects...and since the workshop was the best place for that, I let her have it.

It was a very convenient engineering space, that was for sure. It was basically the ultimate factory. Tools in abundance, replication and printing facilities around every corner... Still, it wasn’t perfect. It could only be operated by Babylon’s master and the facility’s assigned gynoid. That being me and Rosetta. Even though Quun was my daughter, she couldn’t freely operate the things around her.

I came up with a solution to that problem by building a little prefabricated room in Quun’s corner. I called it the mini workshop. It was a smaller version of the workshop contained within it. There were actually a bunch of these little prefab buildings around Babylon. There was an ammo workshop that specialized in supplying the Frame Gears used by Yumina and my other wives, and a smartphone workshop that specialized in making those mass-produced smartphones I gave to other world leaders. In effect, they were miniature automated assembly lines.

Quun had requested one for her personal use, and I had been initially reluctant...but then I realized it was a way to relieve some of the burden on her when she worked, so I let her have it. She still had a habit of staying up here without eating or sleeping, though...which I wasn’t exactly the biggest fan of. I wasn’t the only one with a problem either.

“...Well? Anything to say for yourself?”

“N-N-No... Not... Not really...”

The younger of the two, the daughter, sat stiff on the floor, sweat beading on her brow. The older of the two, the mother, stood in front of her with narrowed eyes and folded arms. As for me? I was just kind of standing behind Leen, imitating her angry cross-armed pose as best I could.

“It’s fine to appreciate your hobbies, I understand that much. But if you get too into it to the point of sickness or exhaustion, then you’re going to cause trouble for yourself and everyone around you. Understand where to draw the line.”

“That’s right, ma’am! That’s definitely not hypocritical to hear from someone who’s spent days at a time cooped up in the library, no ma’am!”

“Silence!”

Rosetta butted in, prompting Leen to go red in the face and start yelling. Rosetta responded by whistling to herself and scampering off.

...You really shouldn’t have interfered there, Rosetta. We’re the parents, so we need to reprimand our kid!

Leen looked at the object sticking out of the mini workshop.

“So this is what you’ve been neglecting your health for?”

“Yes! I restored and successfully miniaturized the skyskipper we picked up from the Sapir Sea! I’ve improved the ether lines connecting the power reactor to the mana oars, so now it’s much more magically efficient! I’ve also replaced the propeller floating system with an antigravity dean drive. Then, I—”

“So you regret nothing?”

“Agh!”

Leen’s glare only intensified in the face of Quun’s excited explanation. She began to give another sermon, and I just stood there nodding. It wasn’t the place for a father to interject... Probably, anyway. My dad never joined in when my mom yelled at me.

It wasn’t neglecting my parental responsibilities! Leen was just saying enough for the both of us. It did kind of erode my authority, though...

“And you, Touya. What were you thinking when you gave her this thing?! Wasn’t it obvious what would happen?”

“Gah!”

Oh crap, now she’s pointing her anger right at me!

“I mean, it was Doc Babylon who gave her the stuff, so...”

“I’m not bothered about the fact that she got it, but shouldn’t you have seen this coming and told her to be mindful of her health?”

“I did, though... Didn’t I? I told her she should only be using it for certain periods and stuff...”

“But you never followed up on that, Touya. You just gave her these things and left her to her own devices. Of course she’d take advantage of that!”

I glanced over at Quun and noticed a small grin on her face. Leen was right on the money...

Ugh... I guess I could’ve been a little clearer when I let her work here. Compared to Leen, I’m definitely super lenient...

I sighed, then raised my hands in surrender.

“All right. Quun, you’ve gotta be punished. I’m confiscating this...flying boat thing. Okay?”

“Not okay! I’m so close to finalizing it!”

Quun looked up at me with big, teary eyes. I could feel my heart waver. Leen glared over from the side, quietly communicating her feelings to me.

Forgive me. I’m a powerless father...

“Wait! Please! Just a little bit more! Just one more day!”

“No more complaining. Or do you want to be banned from Babylon entirely?”

“I don’t! Please don’t do that!”

Leen’s words brought Quun crashing to her knees. It was a complete and crushing defeat. I was pretty impressed by how much Leen had developed her daughter-wrangling skills, personally.

Quun was at fault here. There was no getting around that. If anything, her not being banned from Babylon entirely was pretty merciful. It was like saying she could still do some work, but she needed to be more punctual about it. If she pushed her luck again, though, she’d have her access revoked... The mini workshop would be temporarily restricted too.

“Ugh... Why punish me like this?”

“You reap what you sow. Think about that in the future. You can assist Monica and the others in the hangar until your things are returned.”

“Okaaay...”

Quun listlessly obeyed her mother. Helping Monica and the others involved stuff like Frame Gear maintenance, as well as other menial tasks like checking drives and inspecting weapons. If anything, the lack of stimulating work was probably the real punishment.

After that, Leen headed off to the library. I decided to head for the alchemy lab. When I entered the alchemy lab’s facility, I came across the managing gynoid, Flora, sitting across a table from Elze.

It was rare to find Elze up here. She basically never came up to Babylon. She usually spent her free time honing her physical skills in our castle basement’s gym or the knight’s training grounds, after all.

It was then that I spotted Elna sitting a short distance away, shaking a test tube in her hands.

Ahhh, now I see. You’re escorting her.

“What’s Elna got there?”

“She’s trying to see if she can make effective potions with cheap raw materials.”

My question was casually answered by Elze.

Potions, eh? I know high-grade potions can be pretty damn expensive, yeah...

Very few people in the world could use restorative light magic, and magical tools that had healing properties were remarkably expensive. Thus, the average adventurer had to rely on healing herbs or potions to keep them in tip-top shape out in the field. But since good potions were often on the pricier side, most had to settle for the herbs.

Both Linze and I were capable of casting healing spells. That was why I’d really never thought about potions during my adventuring career. My experience with them was fairly limited. We’d taken on a few foraging quests to get medicinal herbs, though.

Brunhild’s guild branch sold low-tier potions produced in the alchemy lab, alongside potions that could heal harmful status effects like poison, paralysis, and petrification. I’d actually gotten into a small argument with the guild over pricing. I wanted to sell them on the cheap, but Guildmaster Relisha told me that if I did that, it’d cause trouble for the alchemists that brew potions elsewhere, as well as the adventurers who collect ingredients to earn a living.

I didn’t feel right knowing adventurers could die out there while a cheap means of survival existed, so we reached a middle ground by agreeing that adventurers who couldn’t afford potions could freely take emergency potions with them. Any potions used would be incurred as debt to the guild, but it would be better than being dead. They’d be able to give the guild a cut from any quests they did after that and slowly pay off their debt.

Ideally, we’d soon have Elna’s high-tier potions to help improve the chances of survival for any adventurer on the go.

“How’s it coming along?”

“Well, we don’t really know what the best ingredients are, you see? It’s been a lot of trial and error. There are many new ingredients that didn’t exist five thousand years ago, as well as old ingredients that are now extinct.”

So we’re just mixing things at random and hoping for the best? I wonder if we can actually make the high-grade potions we need purely with modern ingredients...

“Eureka!”

My negative concerns were blown away by the sound of Elna’s voice. She ran over toward us, a vial of yellow liquid in her hands.

Flora took the vial and poured it into a small flask on the table. Suddenly, something resembling the page of a book was projected on the table. It kind of looked like a list of ingredients to me.

“I can see you’ve done a good job, you see? This one heals much more than the last.”

“Good job, Elna! That’s my girl!”

“Thank you, mother. Oh? You’re here too, father?”

...Ouch. You only just noticed me? I-I guess you were really into your work...

“Good job, Elna. Now we can sell cheaper potions to the adventurers.”

“It’s even better than that. The herbs used in this one are quite abundant. Novice adventurers should be able to make good money collecting them,” Elna replied, then smiled widely in response to all the praise she was getting.

Huh, I didn’t even think about that kind of benefit. Look at my girl, creating jobs!

“Can we help you, master?”

“Oh, I brought a spellstone for the ether liquid...”

I opened up [Storage] and handed over a blue spellstone roughly the size of a basketball to Flora. We excavated it from Rephan after getting permission from the queen. The queen had originally wanted to reward me for finding her country’s regalia, but I declined. She’d been looking after Steph to begin with, after all. But then, she reminded me that Steph had been the one to fight for her and put herself at risk, and that was something worth more than what I had done. With that in mind, I ran a search for large spellstones in Rephan’s territory. Sure enough, I found one, so that’s what I asked for as my reward.

There weren’t many spellstones of that size around anymore, and it was harder still to find ones suitable for ether liquid extraction, so this was a pretty lucky find. The current model of Frame Gears I used and maintained didn’t actually need ether liquid to operate, but the various ether vehicles and other magical tools still required it to function, so it was never bad to have a steady supply.

“Oh, right. Touya, can you take Elna’s new potion to the guild? You need to talk to the guildmaster about it,” Elze asked as she held up the vial.

“Sure, how many?”

“Just these three for now, you see? But we can begin mass production at just about any time,” Flora stated as she handed over a list of ingredients needed for Elna’s potion.

Bellflowers, moonbeam dew, and arrowsnuts. These are all pretty common, nice. I can’t believe these things actually improve potion potency when combined...

“I’ll make sure to mention we need quests up for gathering these materials while I’m down there.”

“Glad to hear it, you see.”

I gave Elna a little pat on the head, then opened up a [Gate] to the local guild branch.

I exited my portal in a small alley behind the guild, then entered through a door that had effectively become my personal entrance at this point.

“Oh? Fancy seeing you here.”

“Hm? Frei? Oh, Hilde, Yae, and Yakumo too.”

Once I stepped into the guild, Frei approached me from the side. I turned toward her and saw Hilde, along with Yae and Yakumo.

“Questing today?”

“Sure were. We got a special request from the guild. Just finished up. It was a quest all the way in Roadmare, but with Yakumo helping us, we were back in a flash.”

Though Frei and Yakumo were still children, their exceptional abilities meant they technically could register with the guild as special exceptions.

I kind of wondered if them being registered in the past would cause any issues in the future, since they were registered there already... Granny Tokie would hopefully just be able to wave that away with timey-wimey stuff, but I didn’t want to cause any possible complications. Therefore, we never formally registered Frei and the other kids. So even though Frei was talking about this quest as if it was her own, it was more likely that Hilde or Yae had officially accepted it. Yakumo and Frei were along to assist.

Yae and Hilde were probably more than happy to have their daughters come fight with them, even if the tykes were just tagging along.

“What did you have to fight?”

“We needed to dispose of a Calamity Boar, we did. It was quite a large one at that, it was.”

...Calamity Boar? If I remember right, those things even give top-tier red-rank adventurers serious trouble.

Yae and Hilde had recently attained the silver rank in the guild. Silver-ranks could receive quests directly from heads of state and were more like mythical champions than regular adventurers. But my daughters were actually even higher than that. The two of them were ranked gold, same as me.

This was only in future terms, though. It was foolish to compare the present Yae and Hilde against my kids from an age yet to come...but I could tell it was worrying my two wives. They were both somewhat annoyed that their daughters ranked higher than them. Their pride as parents had driven them to come to the guild a lot more in recent weeks, taking on as many jobs as they possibly could. They were obviously shooting to overtake their daughters, but that would be a long way off at this rate.

I asked the guild receptionist to call over Relisha, then headed to the dismantling yard with Yae and the others. The monster dismantling yard in Brunhild was a relatively large, open space. There weren’t many large monsters in the local territory, but Ende and I were gold-ranked and could warp our hunts back home, so making it large enough to accommodate that was kind of a necessity. It was pretty much only people related to me who hauled the unreasonably large stuff over to our guild branch, though.

Frei took the Calamity Boar out of storage, thwapping it down on the dismantling table. A few of the guild workers went wide-eyed, but the sight of huge beasts was definitely much less sensational than it used to be. When you considered that stuff like Dragons were regularly brought around here, even a massive boar became a bit less impressive.

The Calamity Boar was around ten meters long, making it quite a hefty creature. Its fur was a gleaming sapphire color. If I had to guess based on the injuries, either Yae or Yakumo had cut it down...but there wasn’t much damage to the pelt at all. It’d fetch a high price.

“Thanks for your patience, Grand Duke,” Guildmaster Relisha said as she appeared before us. I handed off the three potions and informed her about the relevant ingredients.

“I see... What a relief. With these ingredients in demand, we should have a lot more opportunities for fledgling adventurers to earn their keep. Fewer will be forced to trawl the dungeon islands for treasure.”

Adventurers who came to Brunhild usually weren’t residents here. They came from all over the world. Many of them wanted to pillage our dungeon islands, which were connected to Brunhild through a portal. Most of them were well-equipped for such a dangerous venture, so they navigated the catacombs with ease.

The problem, however, was the large number of newbie adventurers who’d come in from Belfast and Regulus. Newbie adventurers typically did basic assistance quests or gathered ingredients. These kinds of jobs were in abundance, but there wasn’t much good money in them. A lot of these newcomers got impatient about making such a low income and decided to try braving the dungeon islands in the hopes of finding riches, only to find doom instead.

It was true that the monsters over on the dungeon islands could be dismantled and sold for a high price, but they were also very dangerous. A common trap these newcomers fell into was thinking they had safety in numbers. They’d party up, thinking if they had five or six people, then they’d at least be able to take down one tough beast and split the earnings...

That wasn’t a bad line of thinking, of course, since there was definitely strength in numbers. But it wasn’t necessarily enough to contend with the monsters in those dungeons. The reason parties made people stronger was because they introduced the element of teamwork. But a bunch of newbies who’d only just met wouldn’t be half as efficient as adventurers who’d been questing together for years. If anything, they’d just slow each other down or get in each other’s way...causing the entire group to collapse.

Ideally, we’d have novice adventurers gradually developing their skills and experience in safer areas, even if that meant waiting a while before going for real challenges. With any luck, these new ingredient-gathering quests would be just what they needed to keep stable money while still staying safe.

“Once we have these ingredients, we’ll be able to mass-produce the potions.”

“Wonderful. I look forward to doing business.”

Relisha told the receptionist to begin drawing up quest listings for the herbs. And with that, my work was done.

I returned to the castle via [Gate], bringing along Yae and the others. They quickly went to the bath together, having worked up quite a sweat in their fight against the Calamity Boar.

I was a bit parched, so I went to the living room to brew a cup of tea. When I opened the living room door, I was greeted by the sight of Linne in a beautiful dress. She seemed a little awkward in it.

“Hmm... Not quite right...”

“Mother...” Linne mumbled as she wearily glanced over at a pile of dresses on the nearby couch. Linze sat nearby, stitching at one with incredible speed.

“You said we were going to re-tailor some of your old dresses, so how come you ended up making them fit me?”

It seemed my daughter had been pulled into a trap. But I had to admit, she looked really adorable in that outfit. Quite rightly too. Any daughter of mine would look beautiful in any dress!

I took out my phone and snapped a photo of her. Linne didn’t normally wear this kind of stuff, so I had to seize the moment.

“It’s not like I don’t wear these things every now and then. When we have parties, I have to wear them, you know? I don’t really like them, though. They’re all fluttery and frumpy.”

According to Linne, my children participated in royal parties in the future. Not any official royal events, however. Apparently, it was just get-togethers hosted by royals, basically family parties. It was a time for adults to chat with adults, and for children to chat with children.

I’d assumed that family events would be a bit more casual, but it was seemingly proper to have children wear formal clothing when attending them to mentally prepare them for formal events in their adult life.

“It’s done!”

A sense of accomplishment was present on Linze’s face as she waved the dress high. It was a gothic lolita dress, similar to the kind Leen often wore, but this one was white. If I remembered right, this style was called white goth or something... It definitely seemed fluttery and frumpy, just as Linne had said.

“Oh? You’re here, Touya?”

“I’ve been here a while...”

Ugh... People just keep failing to notice I exist... It wouldn’t kill you guys to be a little more aware of your surroundings!

“Okay, Linne. Try this one on! You’ll look amazing!”

“You told me the last one I wore would be the last one, and the one before that!”

“This really is the last one! I promise! Come on!”

Linne sighed in defeat and submitted to being dressed in the white goth dress.

Just as I was wondering where Linne was going to get changed, Linze pulled a dressing room divider from her [Storage] and walled me off.

“Even if you’re her father, you can’t go peeking at a lady changing.”

I agreed with the sentiment, but she didn’t have to say it like I was at any risk of wanting to peek in the first place... I wasn’t exactly keen to watch my daughter change her clothes.

“Okay, this is the last one!”

Linne was a little grumpy as she walked out of the changing area, but I thought she looked really cute.

Just as I was snapping a few more shots of her in the white goth outfit, we found ourselves joined by Steph, Sue, Yumina, and Kuon. The gold crown, Gold, toddled behind them.

“Wooow! Big Sis Linne, you’re sooo cuuute!” Steph exclaimed, going bug-eyed at the sight of Linne’s dress. She then charged over at full pelt.

What did I say about using [Accel] indoors?

“It’s so different from your normal clothes! I love it!”

“I-I know it’s different... Don’t you think it’s weird, though?”

“No way! It looks so good on you!”

The praise from Steph must’ve done something for Linne’s confidence. She gave us a little twirl, and shortly thereafter, a smile spread across her face.

...You got your opinion swayed a little too easily there, didn’t you? It’s fine if a girl compliments you, but don’t go getting charmed by boys that easily, Linne. You’ll make me panic.

“The garment is different from your usual look, that’s true...but I think it suits you very well. You’re as beautiful as a white lily, dear sister.”

“He he he... You really think so?” Linne asked, smiling bashfully as Kuon lavished her with praise.

Who taught you to smooth talk like that, kid?! Agh... Yumina’s probably right, I’m gonna have to beat the ladies off him with a stick. This could be tough... Then again, I get the feeling he’ll probably be able to slip right by any possible girl problems all by himself. Kinda feels like Kuon’s the kind of kid who can handle just about any woman who comes his way... I’m jealous of guys who can do that, to be honest... Girl trouble is the worst... But I’m happy too! No trouble is always better than some trouble. Keep up the good work, son.

“So pretty... I want a pretty dress too...”

“Come now, Steph. Don’t sulk like a baby, okay? Those are Linne’s dresses.”

“Five minutes! No, give me three! I’ll have a dress ready for you right away!” Linze exclaimed as she began sewing at a nearby pile of clothing. She was going so fast that it was like watching a video on fast-forward.

That speed is obscene... I genuinely fear what she could become in the future...

The sheer level of skill displayed by Linze had stunned Sue into silence. I couldn’t tell if she was simply dumbfounded or just envious.

In precisely three minutes, Linze had created a smaller white goth dress to match the one Linne was wearing. I couldn’t believe how good it looked. I had the feeling Linze would be more than capable of launching her own fashion brand all on her own... That wasn’t actually a bad idea... I made a mental note to ask Zanac about it at some point.

Linze handed the dress off to Steph, who immediately headed past the changing partition.

“Well?!”

Steph had swiftly changed her clothes before charging back out. She looked positively adorable.

“Mmm... It suits you nicely, Steph.”

“It really does! Oh, Linze, could you make one for Kuon as well?!”

“But of course!”

“Er, no! M-Mother Linze! I’m quite fine without one, I promise!”

Kuon actually spoke out against his mother for once, but given the ludicrous request she’d just made, I couldn’t exactly blame him.

...Kuon in a white gothic dress, dolled up like a woman... Why do I get the impression he might actually be able to pull that off? Better not say that out loud, though.

“We’re back!”

“We’re back...”

“Hwhah?!” I let out a frightened yelp as a certain duo materialized right next to me.

Yoshino! Sakura! How many times have I told you not to teleport right in front of people?! You’d never catch me doing that! Whenever I use my transportation spells, I always aim for quiet areas and back alleys! Follow my example, please...

If I recalled correctly, the two of them had been out at Brunhild’s schoolhouse. Sakura’s mother and Yoshino’s grandmother, Fiana, was the headmistress at our castle town’s main educational institute. The two frequently went there for lunch. They often brought food to the students and helped Fiana out with chores, but sometimes they gave music classes to the students.

The school was equipped with a range of instruments like recorders, castanets, harmonicas, melodicas, and mini guitars. The students kept their own mouthpieces for their recorders and melodicas, of course, what with public health concerns and all. Sakura and Yoshino taught them how to properly use the instruments, as well as basic music theory. Our knight order had some musicians in their ranks, so they’d been going along to teach the lessons with Sakura, and eventually, Yoshino found herself tagging along as well. Her presence helped the students improve a lot, probably because she was closer to their age.

I was of the opinion that studying the arts was a good thing for any child, and I hoped that some of them might grow up to be talented musicians. At the very least, presenting them with the opportunity felt like the right thing to do.

“Wow! Steph and Linne look so pretty!”

“Would you like one too, Yoshino? If you just give me three minutes...”

“W-Wait! Wait! It’s almost dinnertime. How about we all eat first, and then we can think about dressing up. Okay?”

I quickly put an end to Linze’s seamstressing before she ran completely rampant. Steph and Linne couldn’t exactly eat dinner in their pretty dresses, so I politely asked them to change back into their regular ones. Their new outfits were white, so I didn’t want to run the risk of stains. Then again, I did have magic that could clean them up pretty much instantly...but I didn’t see why we should start relying on such things.

We all headed to the dining room in high spirits. Yae and the others were already there, feeling warm and refreshed after their bath. Elze, Elna, Leen, and Quun were seated at the table as well. Quun still seemed to be a little sulky about her punishment, so I quietly promised to talk to Leen about potentially shortening her sentence.

We all gathered around the table as one big family. Karen and a handful of the other earthbound gods were there too. As far as anyone outside of the castle was concerned, Karen and Moroha were my sisters, while Kousuke, Takeru, Sousuke, Karina, and Suika were other relatives of mine. Thus, it wasn’t out of the ordinary for us to dine as a family. Given how many of us there were, it often led to some lively dinnertime interactions. It was almost like having a little party on a daily basis.

Once we took our seats, the dishes started coming out to the table.

...Hmm? There’s twice as much food as usual, and it’s all being served on two different plates... Don’t tell me...

Lu and Arcia came through the kitchen door, carrying more food. They had their eyes narrowed at each other and I could feel the tension emanating from both of their bodies.

Oh boy. Not again...

“Another cooking contest?” Elze muttered in mild exasperation.

That was precisely what it was. This mother-daughter duo competed with one another at any opportunity they could get. I personally didn’t see the point. They were both capable of creating incredible meals, so who cared which was marginally better?

I wondered if the colors and patterns on the plates represented which ones were made by Lu and which ones were made by Arcia. They weren’t going to tell us, of course, since it had to be a blind test, but I couldn’t help but feel curious.

Once we were finished, Lu and Arcia would go back to the kitchen to quietly determine the results. This was another unspoken rule of their weird dinnertime game. In all honesty, though? I could tell who made what. It was very obvious to me. Because when we sat down to eat, Lu only ever ate the meals Arcia made, while Arcia only ever ate the meals Lu made... Arcia also made this annoyed expression every time she ate Lu’s cooking, while Lu made a kind of determined expression whenever she ate Arcia’s cooking, so it wasn’t really a mystery at all.

The kids didn’t really seem to notice, though, at least not all of them. Yakumo and Quun probably caught on, since there was also another tell...

“Mmm, this soup sure is nice.”

“Isn’t it?! The sweet and sour aspects of the tomato bring out the flavor just enough, I think! I mean, er... I’m sure it’s nice.”

Arcia often responded very positively when something she cooked was openly praised. I wasn’t lying about the soup being nice, though.

“Steph, eat your carrots.”

“Gah... Don’t wanna...”

Sue noticed that Steph still had a lot of carrots on her plate, so she nudged her daughter along. Kids tended to dislike carrots. Or well, I know I certainly did. I was fine eating them now that I’d grown up a bit, though. It was often said that your tastes changed as you grew older, but I knew plenty of people who’d grown older and still hated carrots.

“You won’t be able to grow up big and strong if you ignore the parts you don’t like, Steph. It’s very childish.”

“But mommy...you left all your green peppers...”

“Gah... N-Not at all! I just left them for last because I like them so much, see?!”

Steph had apparently hit a sore spot for Sue. Desperate to save face, she jabbed a pepper with her fork, stared at it for five long seconds, then shoved it into her mouth.

“M-Mmm... Yuhhh... Yummy...”

Everyone else at the table knew Sue absolutely despised green peppers, but we didn’t say anything. She had parental respect to maintain, after all. She’d sooner swallow her least-liked food before swallowing her pride.

“There we are, all done. Now it’s your turn, Steph.”

“...Okay.”

Steph jabbed a carrot with her fork, stared at it for five long seconds, then shoved it into her mouth.

“Ahhh, great job! You beat the carrot! That’s my girl! You’re the best!”

“He he he...”

Sue’s praise spurred Steph on to eagerly swallow the rest of the carrots she’d left.

Huh, what’s this? My girl’s growing up... I can feel myself tearing up...

“...Touya, are you crying?” Elze asked as she stared at me like my face was arranged the wrong way.

Ugh... Don’t blame me for this. You’d do the exact same thing if it was Elna, I know it!

We finished the meal and had after-dinner tea. Then, I started checking on world affairs. It was more me calling various world leaders over the phone than anything fancy, though. It wasn’t exactly state-level confidential stuff, since we were just catching up and checking that things were fine. Usually, I’d just hear stuff about the weather or interesting stage plays some of the royals had seen lately.

It was kind of fun, to be honest. It was like having a little window into the private lives of various royals. I still dreaded my talks with the overlord of Xenoahs, though. He’d often interrupt our chats with random demands for pictures or videos of Yoshino. I usually just complied with his demands to save me the hassle...

After getting another request from him, I started to record Yoshino as she played the piano in the living room. Sakura stood in front of the piano, singing alongside her daughter’s performance. It was one of the main songs from a particular animated movie about a genie in a lamp.

The part sung by Sakura was supposed to be performed by the man, so it felt a little out of place. Since it was a duet, I wondered if she’d sing both parts...but then Yoshino came in for the woman’s lines. The two of them matched their breathing in perfect harmony. They knew each other well as mother and daughter. Everyone in the room was drawn in by the beauty of their voices.

Once they were done, we all gave them a standing applause. Yoshino and Sakura looked at each other and smiled. That was my cue to end the recording.

I attached the video file to a message and sent it to the overlord. He’d definitely start blubbering like a baby when he watched it, I could just tell.

Man, it’s been a long day... I’m gonna take a bath and then head to bed, I think... Huh?

My phone suddenly started vibrating. I wondered who it was.

...Oh no. It’s Kousaka.

“Y-Yes, hello? Oh, right. Okay. I’ll be over in a minute...”

Crap... I still have some documents I need to approve. I wish Kousaka could just handle it all, but I can’t ask that of him... Guess there’s no rest for the wicked...

I finished up my tea, then slowly dragged myself up from my couch and shuffled off to my office. It wasn’t easy being the grand duke... And it wasn’t easy being a dad either.