Side Story 01: Christmas with Otou-sama (V3 Side Story)

Translator: Blushy
Editor: Sam

“Aaah, I’m tired.”

“Otou-syama?”

The door suddenly opened and Otou-sama staggered into my room. It was the end of December and Nii-sama’s birthday had already passed. Otou-sama had a lot of work to do, and I didn’t have dinner with him even though he was home. It was something that rarely happened. 

It seemed like he was finally back from the castle now. He had taken off his jacket, but his tie was still wrapped around his neck, and he hadn’t even changed his clothes. 

“Otou-syama, have you had dinner?”

“Lei time is more important than dinner.”

When Otou-sama found me, he quickly picked me up, hugged me and took a deep breath. 

“Those incompetent fools. They ask me about everything. Shouldn’t they ask the person in charge of the Rug Dragons about the Rug Dragons? Why do I have to adjust the numbers for the Rug Dragons?”

“Aiya.”

I patted Otou-sama’s shoulders as he hugged me in his arms and motioned for his chamberlain to prepare a meal for him. Truthfully, I signalled Natalie, and she told the chamberlain to prepare a meal. 

Not everyone can understand the adorable gestures of an infant. It’s not the chamberlain’s fault for being troubled since he couldn’t understand what I was gesturing. 

Sometimes, it’s nice to have a meal in my room with just the two of us. I looked around my room. 

I got a bigger room when I returned to the mansion. It had a big bed, soft carpet, a big couch for me to climb up and read on, and a table and chairs for snacks.

Otou-sama should sit down if he was tired, but he paced around the room with me in his arms and didn’t speak, probably because he was too tired. Then, a knock sounded from the door and the food cart was pushed into the room.

“I’ve brought your meal, Milord.”

“Why in Lei’s room?

I patted Otou-sama’s shoulders again as he frowned for a moment, and said, “Puth me down.”

“Lei…”

I sighed as Otou-sama complained that he didn’t want to.

“Lei wiww eath withh you.”

“Alright then.”

Otou-sama was in a better mood as he gently lowered me to the ground. I quickly got him to sit down and pulled a child’s chair next to him.

“Yoshi, yoshi.”

“Lei-sama, I will do that.”

Natalie quickly took the chair from me and placed it next to Otous-sama. She quickly picked me up from behind and placed me on the chair. Hmm. She’s very cooperative.

Soup was soon served to Otou-sama, and a small piece of grilled chicken, today’s main dish, was neatly sliced and placed in front of me. There was also dessert. 

As expected, I couldn’t eat much even though I was joining him for his meal since I had already eaten dinner. I was only aiming for the cake. 

So, why the chicken? I stabbed the chicken with my fork just as Otou-sama finished with his soup.

“Otou-syama, aan.”

“Lei? What are you doing?”

“Aan.”

The chicken will drop if you don’t open your mouth quickly. Otou-sama saw that the chicken was sliding off the fork and quickly put the fork into his mouth. 

If I think about it carefully, it was bad manners to do this. But, Otou-sama skilfully took a bit of the chicken. As expected of a Four Marquis.

“Otou-syama, amawzing!”

“I’m not going to drop the chicken that Lei fed me!”

“Ai!”

“Hahaha!”

It’s a small price to pay if Otou-sama cheers up since he’s been sulking since Nii-sama’s birthday. The aura in the room was filled with relief. 

I sat and snuggled with Otou-sama on the couch after a peaceful dinner when Otou-sama started to get heavy. He seemed to be dozing off. He must be really tired. 

But, he’s heavy. A one-year-old baby, who was almost two, didn’t have the strength to support a grown man. 

Natalie quickly pulled me out from under Otou-sama as his chamberlain gently laid him down on the couch. 

“Give him a fwuffy piwwow.” (Give him a fluffy pillow)

“Yes.”

I took the pillow from Natalie and pushed it under Otou-sama’s head, then put a blanket on him. 

It’s kind of on an angle.

“Yoshi, yoshi.”

I pulled the blanket and adjusted it.

“Awrighth.”

I’m satisfied. 

“Let’s leave him like this for a while. He’ll wake up on his own,” Jude, who came to check up on us, said in a gentle voice. 

“Ai, yeah.”

On closer look, isn’t there a perfect gap under Otou-sama’s arms? I crept through the gap in the blanket and tried to crawl in. Climbing the couch was my specialty. I made my way through the blanket and popped my face on Otou-sama’s chest. 

I think I heard an inaudible shriek in the room, but that’s okay. I looked at Otou-sama’s face and he was sleeping peacefully. He was sleeping soundly. Very soundly. 

“H-hmm. What kind of present is this?”

Otou-sama was surprised that I had fallen asleep. 

That’s because today must be the day when presents are given to those who worked hard.

Merry Christmas.