[GRR.]

“Hey—I'm just trying to give her some medicine! Don’t bite me!”

Who is this pathetic human now? She keeps coming up to this woman human, and it’s been irritating me since earlier!

“I’m only going to give her the medicine!”

Pathetic, human. I permit it.

The woman still hadn’t come to her senses. Seeing her run a fever and break out in cold sweat made me uneasy for no reason.

This human is really weak.

Lick.

Wake up already, human.

I was patting the woman’s hand when I heard footsteps from far away. The sound that had been getting closer faded right in front of the door.

CLICK.

Huh? Someone else is here.

[GRRR......!]

No, no. I can’t bare my teeth at that human.

“Little guy.”

The human who is effectively my owner smiles.

Do you like me that much, human? Still, I like this woman human more than you.

And stop petting my head already. It feels bad.

“From now on, protect this child well.”

[GYUU!]

Don’t worry about that, human. From now on, I’ll protect that child!

“No, King. This is mine.”

Damn little human. You already ate two, so that last apple is obviously mine.

“Big sister told us to share nicely.”

Are you so young you don’t know what “share nicely” means? Sharing fairly is sharing nicely! Put that apple down right now!

[GYU GYU!]

Hop!

“Ah!”

[GYUU!]

In the end, you only ate half, didn’t you! Why does this tiny human keep showing up every time!

I don’t like it. Why should I, the great divine beast and White Tiger, have to share something like that with some brat!

I hate it now! Even I have pride, you know!

Even when I snarled in anger, the brat didn’t care at all. If anything, the way the brat patted me like they were soothing me was so absurd it left me speechless.

You insolent brat! Do you even know who I am? I am the great divine beast King—!

“Rio, King, want some strawberries too?”

[GYU GYU!]

“Yes!”

Taptaptaptap!

Me first! Me first!

“King, are you asleep?”

Yeah. Human, I’m tired. I was very busy today protecting you.

When you took a nap, I had to chase off bugs that came near you, and sometimes I had to go play with the original owner too.

You know that human gets sulky surprisingly easily, don’t you.

I have to go to the kitchen and eat snacks, and every so often I have to make noise so bad things can’t come into this house.

Well, even if I cry like that, there are still things that come looking for you, human.

Anyway, unlike you, I was extremely busy today.

[GYUUU.......]

The reason I burrow into your arms like this is all to protect you.

“Pfft. Yeah, King. Sleep well. You can close your eyes now.”

Yeah, human. You sleep well too. See you tomorrow.

Lick.

[GYU GYU.]

Bye.

Side story. Reward

“Um... Father?”

“Yes, speak.”

Daive, who had been reading, lifted his head slightly and looked at the person sitting in front of him.

“Are you not busy?”

“I am busy. That’s why I’m looking over documents like this, isn’t it.”

The Duke of Eskra set the documents he’d been holding down as if tossing them and clicked his tongue shortly.

As if they multiplied on their own, these damned documents were so endless that it was almost impressive—no matter how much he processed, they never ran out.

“Then shouldn’t you go to your office....”

Why are you doing that in my room, of all places?

Daive swallowed the rest of his words and spoke again carefully. Lately, the duke kept coming to his room and looking at documents like that at the slightest chance.

“If I don’t do it like this, I don’t have much time to spend with you.”

“Huh?”

“Am I bothering you.”

“N-No!”

Daive shook his head hurriedly. Just like he said, it felt like he’d been seeing his father’s face more lately than in the entire time before.

And... he didn’t hate it.

“Is it... is it because you want to spend time with me....”

At the child’s question, tense as if he couldn’t help it, # Nоvеlight # the Duke of Eskra even took off the glasses he’d been wearing and looked at Daive.

“You’re asking something obvious. If it weren’t for you, there would be no reason for me to be here.”

Daive’s eyes, which had gone round at the answer, gradually brightened.

His face a little red, the child smiled faintly, then, as if embarrassed, turned his gaze back to the book.

The Duke of Eskra watched that 모습 with keen interest.

‘Does he really like this that much?’

When he was young, he hated being with his father.

He hated pointless interference, and he hated having to listen to useless nagging.

But....

“Spend at least three hours a day with Daive, no matter what.”

‘...When am I supposed to work?’

“Then I’ll work next to Daive.”

‘The child will hate it. Just because you’re a parent doesn’t mean you should force your way into a child’s life—’

“Yeah. Shut up and do what you’re told.”

‘.......’

Camilla made him do it.

Working and studying efficiently in their own spaces would have been more effective, so he couldn’t understand why he had to do this.

But seeing Daive’s expression now, it almost felt like listening to that child had been the right call after all....

“Help the child study too!”

“Daive, if you’re done, bring that test paper over here.”

“Y-Yes? Huh?”

Daive’s eyes widened. He’d been about to grade the completed test on his own.

After hesitating for a moment, Daive trotted over to the Duke of Eskra and carefully handed him the finished test paper.

“Hm.”

As the Duke of Eskra began to grade it, Daive’s expression stiffened more and more. The child swallowed hard.

‘W-What if I got it wrong?’

Just as he clenched his fists tight from the tension, the Duke of Eskra lifted his head.

“You missed one.”

“T-That’s....”

His voice trembled without him meaning it to.

Even though it had happened a long time ago, the child hugged his arm out of habit. The arm that didn’t even have a scar anymore.

“I-It was a mistake....”

“Are you a genius?”

“...Huh?”

Daive snapped his head up and saw the Duke of Eskra studying the test paper with a serious face.

“You got everything right but one. My son was a genius.”

The corner of his mouth lifted slightly.

“You take after me. Smart.”

Watching the Duke of Eskra nod repeatedly, a smile finally returned to Daive’s lips too.

So you can be praised even if it isn’t a perfect score.

“Big sister said I take after Mother.”

“...Camilla did?”

“Yes. She said Mother was really good at math too.”

[That’s right, Daive! Mom was amazing at math! I told Camilla before.]

From the side, the ghost Sharua squealed happily as she watched the father and son with a pleased look. Of course, no one could hear her.

“What would that child know. She’s never even met her.”

“Ah....”

That was true.

Daive tilted his head too, like he had only just realized how strange it was. Had she only said it to match his mood?

“Camilla’s probably right.”

Then someone quietly cut into their conversation—Jainer.

“Brother-in-law, when did you get here?”

Daive greeted him brightly right away.

“Sorry. I came in without knocking.”

“It’s okay.”

Jainer lightly ruffled the child’s hair as he looked at him—smiling more easily than before.

The smile Jainer always wore out of habit turned a little bitter.

‘If I’d known this time was the last.’

If he’d realized earlier that life would no longer repeat, he would have erased this child’s suffering in advance.

Jainer had known from the beginning that Daive was being tormented by his nanny. But he hadn’t intended to help.

Because it would just reset again anyway.

In the beginning—so long ago his memories were blurry now—he’d tried, desperately, to save Daive. He’d driven the nanny out, and a few times, he’d even killed her.

But as that life kept repeating, everything became meaningless.

He was sick of it. Sick to death of it.

At some point, he lost interest in everything and grew numb. He couldn’t find meaning in what he’d done, or what he still had to do.

But this life had been the last one.

Jainer stroked Daive’s head one more time.

“You came early today.”

“Yes. I’m a bit tired.”

“Did something happen outside.” 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

“There was a guest who came suddenly.”

“A guest?”

The smile at Jainer’s lips deepened.

*****

“Dorman? What brings you here?”

The one who had suddenly come looking for Jainer was Dorman.

“I came to give you compensation.”

“Compensation?”

“Yes. Compensation for being unintentionally caught up in an error.”

It was an interesting story.

“Compensation, huh.”

He was curious what kind of compensation a former soul administrator would give.

“I will grant you the authority to reconstruct your life.”

“Reconstruct?”

As expected, what came out of his mouth was something entirely new.

“I will compress more than twenty-six repeated lives into a single one. In exchange, I will erase all bad memories and leave only the good ones.”

“Hm.”

Jainer thought for a moment. It wasn’t a bad offer, but....

“I’ll refuse.”

“...Pardon?”

The hesitation didn’t last long. Jainer let out a soft snort and shook his head lightly.

“If I obsess any more from here, it’ll get troublesome.”

“What do you—.”

“There’s only one thing I want to remember.”

Camilla. Memories related to her.

Other than that, there wasn’t any memory he particularly wanted to keep.

And if he ended up keeping only the good memories he’d shared with her....

“I don’t think I could handle myself.”

If he became even more obsessed here, what would happen next?

“Looks like you’re refusing too, Jainer.”

“Too?”

Dorman sank into deep thought. Why was it that every single person didn’t like the compensation he offered? He had even given up reinstatement to secure it.

“Hm, this is difficult. Camilla told me I absolutely had to compensate you and Sia Lee.”

So he left the System intact for Sia Lee. Unless she rejected it herself, she would still be able to receive the System’s help going forward.

Then what about Jainer? After thinking for a long time, Dorman brought up one more proposal.

“In this life, the total number of people you killed is 124.”

“124? That’s fewer than I thought.”

“Th-That....”

At Jainer’s expression—tilting his head like he was genuinely surprised—Dorman could only keep forcing out awkward smiles.

“A-Anyway, you’re guaranteed to go to hell. The moment your life ends, you’ll go straight to hell without even a trial.”

“So?”

“...I said you’re going to hell.”

“So what do you want me to do about it.”