So, she brought the apple not to apologize but to ask him to break it for her…

Sicar glared at Lucy sharply and divided the apple into two halves.

“Even the Marquis, your father, can do this. Bring this to the Marquis when he’s back inside.”

“But, Dad is busy inside, and he’s not here.”

Seeing Lucy making a sulky face, Sicar looked at me for a moment and then, pretending to be affectionate, said, “When the Marquis is not around, bring it to me.”

After awkwardly saying that, Sicar immediately turned his gaze away.

Seeing Lucy accept the divided apple and jump with excitement, Sicar sighed as if resentful and looked at me.

“Children are indeed more tiring than one can imagine.”

“But they are also more adorable than one can imagine.”
Sicar turned his head to look beside him and furrowed his brow again. It was an expression that seemed difficult to admit.

“Do children really become adorable beings?”

Following his gaze, I turned my head and saw Lucy approaching, holding a melon in her hand, looking this way with a very innocent and bright face.

So, Sicar had to cut the melon for Melon too. While he was telling her not to bring such things in the future, Lucy, with excitement, ran towards the children holding the melon.

Sicar seemed to be suppressing his anger or dissatisfaction, raising his hand to his waist and closing his eyes.

“Does this also count as being adorable?”

I had to hold back my laughter that was about to burst out.

“Let’s just call them adorable rascals.”

“Leave out the adorable and just call them rascals.”

Apparently, I couldn’t hold back my laughter, so I had to cover my mouth with both hands.

Meanwhile, Lucy came pulling a cart with a watermelon this time.

Seeing Sicar’s expression, which clearly showed that he couldn’t tolerate this time, she picked up a large rock from the ground. Then, she looked at Sicar and smashed the rock into smaller pieces.

“Now, this is the power of the Sitar tribe. Have you confirmed it now? So, stop it now.”

Although Sicar spoke very sternly, looking at Lucy’s expression, it seemed like his words didn’t quite get through.

Now that I think about it, Sicar seems to play well with Lucy.

Lucy frowned when she saw the rock that was smashed into smaller pieces than gravel.

“You can’t eat this. I was going to ask you to cut the watermelon so we could eat it.”

How did Lucy grow up so confidently? She might have cried and complained in the past, but now she was not afraid of Sicar at all.

Indeed, she was not an ordinary child.

Thus, Sicar cut the watermelon for Lucy and said kindly, smiling.

“If you come again, I’ll smash that cart in your hands.”

However, Lucy, pushing the cart and running, seemed not to hear Sicar’s words at all, focused entirely on the watermelon.

Sicar couldn’t contain his rising frustration, took a deep breath, and rubbed his forehead.

“Ha. Children are truly exhausting. I think I’m more suited for the battlefield.”

“Parenting is also a battlefield.”

Sicar raised his eyebrows in response to my words.

“What nonsense! This is hell!”

Hell, he says. Indeed, even for the great Sicar, dealing with children seemed challenging.

Looking at Sicar, who spoke so seriously, I couldn’t help but laugh.

When I laughed, Sicar looked at me with a somewhat sulky expression.

“Did I amuse you?”

“It was nice to see you take care of the kids.”

Upon hearing my words, Sicar’s mood seemed to lighten, and he smiled slightly.

“Well, occasionally dealing with rascals might not be so bad.”

“Not dealing with them, but taking care of them.”

“But how did you manage such a difficult task?”
“Watching over children is difficult, but there was nothing that made me happier than that after it passed.”

“It sounds contradictory to say it’s difficult but happy.”

Sicar’s expression was one of incomprehension. It must be hard for him to grasp the idea that something difficult could bring happiness.

“Have you ever climbed a high mountain?”

“It’s not just once or twice; it’s difficult to talk about all of them.”

“When climbing a mountain, there are many times during the ascent to the summit when it’s so tough that you want to give up.”

Sicar seemed to be unable to empathize at all, smirking with his head tilted.

“Well, I’ve never thought that it’s hard while climbing a mountain.”

“For ordinary people, it’s an extremely challenging task.”

“Probably.”

“Anyway, even though it’s that difficult, when you reach the summit, the sense of accomplishment is incredibly joyful. Similarly, watching over a child makes me several times more tired than that, but it makes me several times happier than that too.”

Sicar didn’t say anything and awkwardly stared at me for a while.

“You seem to have a happy expression even while saying that.”

“When you recall happy memories, a happy expression naturally appears.”

Sicar’s gaze seemed somehow gentle when we locked eyes. Come to think of it, these days, his gaze seems to look at me quite gently at times.

I was spacing out while looking at Sicar and was about to lean in to kiss him when he walked in with a face that almost made me give in.

It’s not right when the children are around.

I quickly got up from my seat, looking around.

“Where is the Marquis?”

“Should I go catch him?”

There was a hint of anger in Sicar’s voice, as if he thought he was disturbed by Redocus.

That voice seemed like it would drag Redocus by the back of his neck.

“No. It wouldn’t be bad for us to go and check.”

As I walked forward, Sicar followed, walking a little faster, and suddenly came in behind me, holding my hand.

“Sicar?”

“To recall some memories.”

“You probably won’t remember anything; we were together.”

“Just… memories from the past.”

“Why all of a sudden?”

“Just.”

Although Sicar spoke with a deep voice, there was a slight blush on his cheeks. Seeing the way he held my hand tightly, it seemed like he just wanted to hold my hand.