NOVEL WEB Chapter 423
“Sir Quartz?”
“Don’t worry about it.”
Even if my eldest is riding a hobby horse, my third is sitting on my lap munching on candy, and the fifth is playing house with a doll at my feet, I’m told not to care.
I wasn’t sure if my message was getting through, but Lewis smiled a wry smile as he spoke.
“You’re going through a lot.”
“As I keep doing this, I’m getting used to it, so it’s not so bad.”
“Haha…”
Lewis let out a humorless laugh, looking up at my eldest riding the hobby horse.
“Miss Melissa, do you really enjoy riding your father’s hobby horse so much?”
“Yeah! Daddy’s great!”
Still, it would be nice if she could get down since this is somewhat of a formal occasion. What’s with kids always demanding to be carried?
I couldn’t tell exactly why, but seeing her legs scrambling beside my neck felt strange. It’s cute, but unless Karina scolds her harshly, she just won’t come down, and the nannies are having a hard time with it.
Elisa’s having a tough time too…
Everyone’s in a predicament.
Aah, parenting is really tough.
What good is having the power to topple an empire on my own?
It’s of no help at all when it comes to parenting.
Every time I think about scolding her, we lock eyes, and she flashes me a big smile, making it hard to be stern.
…Is this what they call being a softie?
“Well then, I’ll be on my way.”
“Take care. Say hi to Shuri for me.”
“Yes, take care.”
Lewis left the room, and I picked up my fourth child, Lucy, who was playing with a doll, and placed her on my lap.
“Daddy?”
“Lucy, didn’t you say you’d play with Mommy today?”
“Yeah!”
“Then why are you here?”
“Daddy good!”
…Our conversation is going nowhere.
I know it’s probably unreasonable to expect a logical conversation with a four-year-old, but still, hanging around like this gives me a headache unlike anything I felt while fighting that Observer.
“Daddy! Eat this!”
“Okay… thanks.”
I caught the snack that my third, Perry, was offering me in my mouth.
Unlike snacks for adults, this had a mild flavor that wrapped around my tongue.
Tasty.
As expected, snacks given by kids are the most delicious.
“Perry! Me too!”
“High!”
“I’ll feed you myself.”
I popped a cookie into the mouth of my eldest, Melissa. She chewed slowly, making delightful crunching sounds.
In other words, cookie crumbs are dropping onto my head in real-time.
I pondered how to send these little ones back to their room while getting an unexpected crumb topping.
I need to work, but it feels wrong to leave them in the office all the time.
Thankfully, a savior knocked on the door.
“Johann, it’s me.”
“Come in, Karina.”
Creeeak, the hinge squeaked as Karina came into the room, holding our eighth child.
“Seria was really looking forward to seeing you.”
“Bwa~”
I received Seria from Karina and made eye contact with her. Seria looked at me with wide eyes, then burst into giggles as she grabbed my outstretched finger.
“Melissa, shall we go have a snack with Mommy?”
“Snack?”
“Me too!”
“I want to go too!”
“Hehe, let’s all go together.”
My daughters immediately got up from their seats and grabbed Karina’s hand. I wondered if the other wives were waiting for us.
With that thought, I left the office with my kids and my lovely wife.
—————
“Johann!”
“Nyohan!”
“Contractor!”
I really gave birth to a daughter who is a complete copy of me.
I picked up Claire, who was short and bouncing toward me, under her armpits.
“You have to call me Daddy.”
“Can’t I call you Nyohan?”
“…Call me what you want.”
Thankfully, seeing Millia’s daughter tilting her head curiously, I once again faced defeat today.
As long as she’s cute, that’s all that matters.
“Darling, did you finish your work?”
“Of course. Theo is busy reading again today.”
“Hello…”
“That’s quite a difficult book you’re reading.”
Intro to Magic. Even for a beginner’s book, it seems hard to understand; he’s doing great.
I guess it’s because he has an outstanding witch for a mother. Speaking of which, Jeron already takes after his mother, insisting he’s going to be a knight wielding a wooden sword.
Though Renny opposes since he’s still young, I’m sure Jeron’s stubbornness will win out soon enough.
“Wow! Daddy! Look! Mommy and I made this!”
“Tina, Tiny. What a pretty crown!”
My compliment seemed to light up their faces as their cat ears perked up above their heads.
“Dear, you have crumbs in your hair…”
“Because the eldest is munching on snacks above me…”
“Daddy!”
“Daddy! This is for you!”
“Baba!”
“Aba!”
…Oh, it’s dizzying.
With all the kids gathered around, it’s truly chaotic. They have no concept of being considerate, and I didn’t raise them to be, so they’re clinging to me with their unfiltered demands.
It’s just too confusing with all eight of them sticking around like this.
“Alright, I see. Yes, it’s really pretty.”
I continuously gave responses that would satisfy the kids while moving my hands excitedly. Naturally, this was for the sake of parent-child skinship.
Making sure that none of them gets upset and giving equal attention to all eight kids is no easy task. In specific terms, capturing Harpas is easier than this.
“Hehe.”
“Hehe, I’m so glad the kids really like their Daddy.”
“Sometimes they come looking for me more than you, and it makes me a little jealous.”
“But as long as there’s such good camaraderie, it looks nice.”
“But that’s Uncle, isn’t it? It feels odd because the Uncle gene doesn’t seem to mix at all…”
Viola, what do you mean by that? My children are pureblood 100% mine!
Of course, they might look cuter than I do. They seem to resemble my wives more than me.
But for my sons, they seem to have taken on my genes quite a bit, and for my daughters, they either have the same eye color as me or look similar in some way.
“Johann, could you bend down a little?”
“Gladly.”
I bent down slightly and looked at Karina. She stepped closer, and a gentle touch brushed against my head.
Karina wiped all the crumbs from my hair and smiled sweetly, kissing my lips softly before stepping back.
“If this keeps up, we might end up with another one.”
“What if we really have more than ten?”
“It would certainly be quite a spectacle, wouldn’t it, Lady Karina?”
“Oh, Renny. Have you finished your training?”
“Yeah.”
“Can’t I learn sword fighting?”
“No. Are you trying to pester Daddy now?”
Renny chuckled as she playfully tugged on Jeron’s cheeks. Jeron turned away with a pout, pulling free from Renny’s grip, and looked up at me, asking.
“Daddy, can’t I learn sword fighting?”
“Hmm…”
“I told you it’s not time yet, didn’t I? Rushing into sword fighting doesn’t bring anything good.”
As Renny firmly repeated herself, Jeron clung to my leg, gazing up at me with pleading eyes.
I’m sorry, but even with that look, it’s still a no.
“Mom’s right. Instead, if our Leon listens well and behaves, next year, he can start learning.”
“Really?”
“Let’s make a promise.”
I extended my pinky to Jeron. He stared at it for a moment, then quickly linked his finger with mine before Renny could stop him.
“Daddy! I want to make a promise too!”
“Promise?”
What kind of promise are you trying to make, my daughter?
I couldn’t help but stare at Melissa extending her pinky toward me.
Her pinky was so short, barely a finger’s worth—just the cutest little pinky insisting on making a promise with me.
But what kind of promise?
“What promise do you want to make?”
“To go to the candy store tomorrow and buy candy!”
“Hey! That’s so unfair! I want to go too!”
“I want to go too!”
“Me too, me too!”
Of course, being my daughter, she’s full of self-interest. I couldn’t help but smile at the scene of this tea time turning into chaos again.
Such adorable little rascals.
“But you have to listen to Mommy. Got that?”
“Yep!”
I chuckled at Melissa, who was making promises she wouldn’t be able to keep.
And thus, another peaceful day continues.
Going forward, may it always be so.