6. A Strange Relationship

After that, Hannah rarely took her eyes off me, so I didn't get many chances to sneak out of my room. But one night, I realized the door was open. I wondered if it was Sebas—he's been coming by during the day lately since he doesn't have to sneak around anymore—but no one came in.

The door was just open; maybe it was the wind? If so, now is my chance to escape. I scrambled out of bed and slipped through the door. The empty hallway at night is its own kind of fun.

"So, you've come."

Whoa! I nearly jumped out of my skin. It was Father standing just outside the door.

"Since you seemed intent on sneaking out, I figured if I left the door open like this, you'd surely come out, so—ah, hey! Wait!"

Father seemed to be rambling about something, but I had no interest in listening to his bragging while he's trying to trap his own daughter. If he wanted to see me, he could just come into the room.

Ignoring him, I started crawling. My target was the stairs. I was definitely going down those stairs today. I was getting sick and tired of being cooped up in this room.

"Where do you think you're going? And what exactly do you plan to do by sneaking out of your room?"

An expedition! An expedition! I pretended not to hear him and kept on crawling.

"Why are you ignoring me?"

I stopped crawling without even thinking. Why am I ignoring him? That's what he asked.

"D-daaa!"

"W-what is it?"

If you hate being ignored, then why were you ignoring me? You were ignoring me before, so why are you paying attention to me now?

"Dai, agya, to, deee!"

"What on earth are you saying?"

I felt an intense surge of irritation toward my father as he stood there looking down at me. I'm a baby! It's the adults who should be working hard to understand me!

I grabbed onto my father's leg. He flinched for a moment, but he seemed to realize that if he moved, I might get hurt, so he just stood there in confusion. I held on tight and pulled myself up. My father's eyes widened.

"You can... stand?"

Of course I can stand. I've been able to for quite a while now. Hmm. Human legs are quite useful for pulling oneself up, aren't they? I vented my frustration by slapping my father's leg.

Slap, slap, slap, slap.

"Why are you hitting me? Seriously, what on earth are you trying to do?"

I think you're the one who doesn't know what he's trying to do, Father. However, as soon as I let go of his leg to keep slapping him, I began to wobble.

"Watch out!"

My father's hand shot out instinctively. He scooped me up.

"You really are unpredictable. Listen, babies are supposed to be quiet and..."

"Ah-ee!"

How embarrassing. But then again, so is Father. He's only supporting me by my armpits and holding me up in front of his face, so my legs are dangling precariously, which feels quite unstable.

"Eee-oo!"

I kicked my legs back and forth. Oh, this is fun.

"A-oo!"

Kicking my legs felt strangely funny, and I let out a little giggle.

"You..."

Ah, I was in the middle of being captured by Father.

"Now, I believe Sebas did it like this..."

Father awkwardly pulled me close and held me in his arms.

"Dau!"

Wonderful. For a beginner, that's a pretty good hold. I rested my head against Father's chest and waved my hands happily.

"So, I passed, then?"

"Dau!"

"Do you want to go down the stairs?"

"Ah-ee!"

It seems Father walked around with me until I eventually drifted off to sleep.

"Lately, Lady Lilia has been having a hard time waking up in the mornings."

Hannah was complaining to Sebas. Sebas looked at me with a knowing expression and said,

"There are just phases like that. I'm sure she'll start waking up properly before long, so don't worry."

He said.

I'm not sure what got into him, but Father has started coming by almost every day. For some reason, he doesn't come into the room; he just stands by the open door waiting for me to come out. Then, once I've finished crawling around and have worked myself into a state of exhaustion, he gently picks me up and wanders around the mansion.

That's all our relationship is, though. I wonder why he doesn't come by during the day. It's strange.

And then, when the weekend comes, my brother comes home.

"Since we can only be together on weekends, Lilia will sleep in my bed."

"Lord Luke's bed is very high, so it wouldn't be safe for Lady Lilia."

"In that case, I shall sleep on the sofa here."

"But then you won't be able to rest properly."

For some reason, my brother's affection for me is also on the rise.

"I heard Luke was home."

"Father."

"Your magic circulation training should have started by now; how is it going?"

Father made an appearance during the day, which was rare. Tension filled the room, and my brother hugged me tightly against his knee as if to protect me. It's okay, I've become close with Father. Sort of. Probably. I patted my brother's knee with my tiny hands.

Seeing that, Father frowned.

"Never mind. I'll ask you again during dinner."

"Yes."

After my brother replied, he hugged me tightly again. Father is a hard man to read, and I can't quite figure out the relationship between him and my brother, either. They seem to eat together when they're at home, but they don't exactly look like they're close. However, I just heard something absolutely incredible.

"Eeei, dau, nyo, eeuu?"

What on earth is magic circulation? Does this world actually have magic?

"It's okay, Lia. Even if Father is cold, I'll protect you."

"Daaa-i... tooo... bwawa..."

No, he's not being cold anymore, so I'm asking—what about the magic circulation? Even though I understand it in my head, my body and my mouth still won't cooperate properly. It's incredibly frustrating. Just then, Sebas gave me a knowing look. Leave it to me? Leave what to him?

"Lia."

Before I knew it, I had been dubbed Lia, so I simply gave up and let my brother hold me.

That night, the door creaked open again. It was Father. As a baby, I moved as quickly as I could and crawled out from the door.

There he was. It was Father. However, in true Father fashion, he chose not to intervene. I wanted to traverse the wide hallway on my own. A man staring expressionlessly at a baby crawling at high speed toward the stairs—that is my father. Lately, I've been challenging myself with the stairs. I go down one step at a time. When I get tired, Father picks me up for a stroll. That has become our recent routine.

Tonight, just as I had grown tired halfway up the stairs and was being carried,

"Father."

A voice called out from the bottom of the stairs. It was my brother!

"Bwawa!"

I tried to reach out for him joyfully, but Father was holding me tight.

"Lia, Father, what are you doing at this hour?"