Who’s your dad?

Chapter 6 

“What are you staring at so blankly? Don’t know how to change a diaper?”

“No, it’s just…”

She was so dumbfounded that she couldn’t even think about what to say. Celeste approached Karl, who was behaving like a fool, just staring at her.

“You can tell by looking like this. Whether the baby has pooped or not. If you can’t see underneath, you can just smell it.”

He didn’t really want to know. Karl furrowed his brow.

“But this child…”

The question of whether it was his child almost slipped out, but Karl couldn’t bring himself to ask.

In fact, he didn’t need to ask; he could tell that this baby was Celeste’s.

The baby’s hair was exactly the same shade of purple as Celeste’s. Purple, wasn’t that the symbol of the Louisette family? Was her disappearance from the capital perhaps for this reason?

“Babab. Ababababa.”

The baby, who had been nibbling at the apple with her pea-sized teeth, soon seemed to feel better and began babbling with the apple in her mouth.

The tiny movements of the baby’s body wriggling in his arms felt strangely overwhelming. Even though it was small enough to fit in one arm, this tender being tickled his heart. Karl met the gaze of the babbling baby.

But then, at that moment.

“Are you busy?”

“What…… what?”

“Bababa, papa. Bubu.”

The baby called him ‘papa.’ Surely, he must have misheard, Karl thought, squinting as if to confirm. But the sound that came again sounded like a heartbeat in his chest.

“Papa!”

“Papa…?”

Karl doubted his own ears. Papa. Wasn’t that the word for dad? He looked at the child smiling happily at him. It was an innocent face, without a trace of suspicion, just full of sunshine and loveliness.

“Did the child just call me dad?”

He raised his head and looked ahead. Celeste, with a bewildered expression, glanced back and forth between him and the child.

“To me?”

For a moment, silence fell. Amidst the quiet, the adorable cooing of the child echoed repeatedly between the man and woman staring at each other.

Papa, bubu, baba. Mama. Maa, maa. Paa, pa.

It wasn’t a mistake. The child definitely called him dad. Karl’s face stiffened.

* * *

Tap, tap.

Thud, tap.

Inside the temporary tent meeting room set up on the outskirts of Urentum, in the meadows. Every time Karl’s fingers tapped on the table, the knights’ shoulders twitched, stiffening.

They were enduring an unusual hardship, trying not to catch the attention of their distracted commander lost in thought.

The journey to find Viscountess Louisette to the southernmost part of the empire, especially to Urentum, without a moment’s rest. In the relentless march that lasted for over a month, the knights began to show signs of weariness little by little.

When public opinion began to form that it was truly outrageous to harass the empire, which they didn’t even know the whereabouts of, just to find one person, Karl decided to give the knights an unexpected break.

After giving them such an abrupt break, Karl disappeared into solitude, only to return a few hours later, lost in thought.

He skipped meals and remained silent even to the words of his closest knight, Clovis, for a while. He remained in the same upright posture, tapping on the table, tap, tap, without getting disheveled.

Due to his meticulous and sensitive nature, the knights speculated whether there was some issue bothering Karl regarding the investigation work, even though he hadn’t expressed anything directly.

It would have been better if he just said what was bothering him.

Their superior, Duke Albrecht, was not a forgiving person. If anyone seemed displeasing to him for even a moment, their future would be as good as dusted off.

“Clovis, do you know anything?”

“Yes.”

“Do you know where he’s been?”

“Yes.”

Even if he knew, he would say he didn’t. The knights sighed deeply.

“Clovis.”

“Yes, Your Grace!”

Did he hear the submissive tone? Karl, who had been silent, reached out and called Clovis. Clovis, who had been waiting for him to call, immediately sprang up and stood by Karl’s side.

“You called, Your Grace?”

“Just…now….”

“Yes?”

“A baby just starting to walk….how old do you think they are?”

“….Yes?”

What a random question. Clovis blinked rapidly.

On the journey to find the murderer of Marquis Schwaben their commander, who seemed to be deeply troubled by something, suddenly asked such a question about the age of a child who had just started to walk.

“Are you referring to a child?”

Clovis’s pupils moved around. He was trying to guess the intentions behind Karl’s words.

It was said that nobles were trained from an early age not to reveal their inner thoughts easily, but rather to express emotions or thoughts in a roundabout way.

But even so, this was too much. What could possibly be the meaning of asking a question related to a child in this situation…?

“It seemed like they had just started walking. They had to hold onto something to stand up, and if they didn’t, they would fall straight down…”

Karl looked up at Clovis, who was standing next to him. It was a look asking what he would do, rather than a response.

This doesn’t seem like a question intending to express intentions in a roundabout way; it seems like a question asked out of genuine curiosity.

Clovis’s lips twitched as he pondered what to say, unable to formulate a response.

“You have a nephew who is about that age, don’t you, Clovis?”

“Yes? Yes, Your Grace. My second nephew was born recently and is celebrating his first birthday…”

“Right, it was an infant of about that age. So, that means they’re about one year old.”

Tap, tap. Karl began tapping on the table again, as if he got the answer he wanted.

‘What is he thinking?’

Clovis anxiously waited for Karl’s next words.

“About one year old… If they’re about that age, they should be able to recognize and call their parents, right?”

“Um…well, it may vary from child to child. It can certainly recognize the mother though.”

“And the father?”

“Yes?”

“The father? If it can recognize the mother for sure, then it should also be able to recognize the father, right?”

“Well, that’s… “

“If a child has been in this world for a year, they should at least know what they’re saying, shouldn’t they?”

Why is His Grace acting like this today? Did he eat something wrong while he was out alone? Clovis found Karl’s behavior unfamiliar.

Rational and competent, Duke Albrecht was known as a cold duke who shed no blood or tears, making him a far cry from anything as cute and endearing as a ‘baby.’

“In any case, that’s what I heard.”

“Yes? What did you say, Your Grace?”

“I clearly said… “

Knowing it wasn’t directed at him, Clovis quietly closed his mouth. Even though he didn’t know what was bothering him, it seemed like Duke Albrecht wouldn’t be able to have a proper conversation without resolving his inner conflict.

“I heard it clearly…”

Even the person standing right next to him wouldn’t hear the voice unless they listened carefully. As Clovis pieced together Karl’s muttered words, he made his own guesses.

“…called me dad.”

Dad? He definitely said ‘dad’ just now.

Child, 1 year old, parents, dad. When Clovis roughly combined the murmured words, these were the key terms. Well, gathering them like this didn’t provide much more insight.

“Clovis.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

“If… “

“Yes, please go on.”

“If a woman reunites with someone after 2 years and appears with a child…”

“Yes?”

“But if that child calls me dad…”

“….”

A short sigh brushed Karl’s lips. At that moment, Clovis blinked several times, unsure.

“What would you do in that situation?”

“……?”

The elite knights of the Royal Palace who rushed to the southern end of the empire to find Viscountess Louisette, the Alpha Investigation Unit, and Clovis, the leader of Alpha and the right-hand man of the commander of the knights, Duke Albrecht. After seven years of serving as the assistant to his superior, Duke Albrecht, facing the most difficult question.

No matter how difficult and challenging the case, it never felt as sudden and daunting. Not knowing where to start, Clovis, who could only roll his eyes around, finally opened his mouth slowly.

“Who… brought the child… Your Grace…?”

“….”

This time, Karl’s silence.

“And that child… calling you dad…?”

Still no answer to Clovis’s question, despite Karl’s throwing of unanswered questions.

“Were there enough suspicious circumstances to warrant doubt? In the past…?”

Silence is an affirmation. Understanding from the uneasy expression on Karl’s face, Clovis straightened his bent back with determination.

What to do, how to handle this?

The answer is clear.

“You have to take responsibility, Your Grace!”