‘Why are you lying on the floor?'
He tilted his head in confusion as he spotted Esther lying on the carpet, not her bed.
It was a clean rug woven out of cloth. However, he didn’t understand why she was sleeping there.
In addition, this surely wasn't the first time, seeing Dorothy's typical reaction.
Judy wanted to ask at that very moment for the reason she was lying there, not the bed, but he was afraid Esther would wake up.
Zzz. Zzz.
He quickly relaxed his serious expression at the sound of Esther’s soft breath. The corners of his mouth rose distinctly as she slept cutely with her mouth open.
She wouldn't know how much he missed her. He wanted to hear from Esther herself that she had been well.
Judy crept along quietly to prevent Esther from awakening.
He had never been so cautious with anyone like this before, but when it came to Esther, he did so bizarrely. It was the time when Judy reached the carpet and worked to squat down before the sleeping girl.
His eyes met with a snake he had never pictured in his life. When Judy made contact with its bright yellow eyes, he instantly hardened.
"...Uh?"
"Sssk."
BamBam raised her head and fluttered her tongue as if warning Judy not to come any closer.
"What's wrong with the snake... Ah, aaaah!"
Judy paused for about three seconds before screaming and pulling his head away as the snake attempted to draw near.
"Don't come near me! Go away!"
Judy was not afraid of anything, excluding one thing. He was scared of snakes. He only realized this for the first time, since he had never seen one before now.
"Young Master! Are you all right?"
Dorothy jumped into the room, surprised by Judy's scream.
"...Brother Judy?"
Of course, Esther, who had been asleep, woke up in complete shock. Judy, who had been residing in training camp, was suddenly in front of her. Therefore, she was confused about whether this was a dream or not.
Meanwhile, Judy groaned, anxious Esther would get bitten by the snake.
He, who had instinctively run to the end of the room, soon regained fortitude at the thought of saving Esther.
He shouted and swallowed his saliva.
"Esther, it's dangerous. You can't move. Hold still! I'll save you now!"
Esther glanced at the snake and Judy alternately, wondering what he was talking about.
‘Who do you want to save? Me?'
Judy moved rapidly before Esther could fully awaken and recognize the situation. As he did in training, Judy raised his sword and aimed to swing it at BamBam.
BamBam also swung his body, anticipating Judy was attempting to harm Esther. As they approached each other, Esther jumped in between and blocked them.
"Stop!"
Everything completely ceased after her clear cry.
Judy stood still with a look of incomprehension. He was still grasping the sword.
"Why?"
BamBam stood right next to Esther and wore a terrifying expression. He puffed up like a threat.
"When did you come back?"
"Just now. I headed to your room as soon as I arrived."
Judy glared at the snake with a nasty look on his face.
"BamBam won’t hurt me. He just thinks brother is attacking me and so he’s reacting this way."
“It even has a name?”
Judy narrowed his eyes. Hostility was openly exposed.
“It looks dangerous in every aspect."
"BamBam, get inside."
Yet, in response to Esther's words, he lowered his tail and slipped into the basket atop the bed.
Judy's jaw dropped as he witnessed the scene.
"Esther… what did you just do?"
"Nothing."
Esther shrugged her shoulders and laughed. She didn't do anything.
"You just controlled the snake! Did the snake talk to you? Huh?"
"Well, somewhat."
"Wow. Can you show me one more time?"
Judy was flabbergasted at Esther.
"Esther, you're so cool. You're the first person around me who could handle snakes like this."
Esther was puzzled. She wondered if this was something to be praised for. He wasn’t scared but rather envious.
Judy hummed and glanced at the snake. He wanted to immediately brag about his little sister’s ability to handle such animals.
"But will the Duke allow me to raise a snake?"
"Well, isn't it dangerous?"
Judy, who pondered carefully, soon felt something strange and raised his head.
"Esther, why do you still call father Duke?"
Esther flinched at Judy's question.
Since she never thought of changing the way she addressed the Duke, there was nothing for her to say now.
"That's..."
"It's been a while since you came to this place. You keep calling him Duke, like you're like a stranger."
Judy mumbled, claiming that even if it was still uncomfortable right now, it was time she got used to it.
Even though he seemed to be complaining, his thoughts were filled with worry.
As much as he thought of Esther as his younger sister, he wanted her to accept them as a real family.
But calling his father 'Duke' was too stiff. It was unlikely that their distance would narrow without changing her way of addressing him.
"You haven't said it yet."
Esther hesitated. It was too difficult for her to say father even when she tried.
"Is it that hard?”
Judy folded his arms with a sulky expression. She just needed to talk, but she couldn't do it, which made him simply confused.
As he approached Esther with a slightly raised voice, BamBam suddenly popped out and rushed to him.
"BamBam, no!"
Although Esther cried aloud, Judy had already been surprised by the snake's speed.
Even if it was Judy, he still needed more time to get used to the big snake he had just witnessed for the first time.
"Yeah... Just give it a try. I've seen you, so I'll get going now."
Judy slowly walked out of the room. He kept his eyes wide open until the end, fearing that the snake would attack him.
Esther smiled at the cute figure, then sighed deeply in frustration.
"Father..."
It was a title she thought had nothing to do with herself, previously and in the future.
It was a title that she had never anticipated in her countless repeated lives, so it was hard to word now.
Mealtime the next day.
Unlike usual, the meal was quite clamorous. Everyone, including Darwin, was usually silent, but it was different today.
"They were all so weak they couldn’t face me. I've been playing with them all this time."
"It was pretty similar to Sebastian, wasn't it?"
"Sebastian didn't come because we were in a quarrel. We've made up now."
It was because of Judy, who was busy talking about his training.
His voice was full of energy, as he just came back after three weeks of training.
It has also been a long time since Darwin returned to the residence and stayed for a while, so the whole family ended up dining together.
Judy jabbed constantly about what had happened during the training. Most of his boasting was about the fact that he enjoyed the whole training session.
Darwin stared at Judy without removing his eyes. It had only been three weeks, yet he already seemed older.
"You seem to have grown up."
"Right? I'm much taller than Esther now."
Judy shouted and pointed to Esther. It was very exaggerated, but he had grown a bit.
"And I'm not just tall, I'm muscular too. Look at this."
Judy placed down his fork and raised his arm. Small muscles strained and showed off their presence.
"Really? I should have gone, too."
"This is what happened to me. You wouldn’t be like this in three weeks."
Dennis and Judy were once again quarreling. Still, Dennis's expression grew increasingly brighter after Judy arrived.
'When will I tell him.'
Even in this atmosphere, Esther was the only one who stayed silent while quietly nibbling on her spoon.
Before the meal began, she had promised Judy several times that she would call Darwin father today.
And it was time.
"Oh! Esther, you said you had something to say."
Judy sang Esther’s name in an awkward performance. It was time- he gave a signal in advance.
"Ah… That is."
Esther wriggled her spoon. She raised her head in the direction of Darwin.
"Do you have anything to say?"
However, the moment she met Darwin’s eyes, the words fell off her mouth. It still didn't make sense that such a perfect man was her father.
Darwin stared, waiting for Esther to say something. He wanted to hear what she had to say.
"Ma, may I have a pet?"
Curiousity presented on Darwin's face as he leaned his body inwardly.
"Pet? What do you want to raise?"
It was the first time Esther asked for something, so he was glad but very surprised.
"A snake."
However, a big question mark appeared on Darwin’s face.
"If it's a snake... Is there another type of snake I don’t know of? Did you have a separate pet snake these days?”
"No. It’s just a snake."
Esther's tone implied there was nothing strange at all, so Darwin gazed at Ben with a confused look.
However, Ben didn't know of anything either.
"Lady, can you tell me what kind of snake you want to raise?"
"It’s a Giant Big snake!"
Judy, who had already met BamBam, shouted while enthusiastically raising his hands.
Darwin, who heard the name of the snake, wriggled his eyebrows and grabbed a napkin.
"That's a serpent, isn't it?"
It wasn’t just a poisonous snake, but a poisonous one that was dangerous enough to be used to produce the highest-grade poison.
He couldn't process that she wanted to keep such a large snake, one of the most dangerous vipers, as a pet!
"Never."
Darwin shook his head firmly.
If the weak Esther was bitten by a poisonous snake... It was horrible to the extent he couldn’t think about it. Darwin couldn't place such a dangerous thing beside Esther.
"It, it's not dangerous. I can... I can handle it."
Esther stammered in embarrassment after Darwin's firm reply.
"You can handle it? A Giant Big is a snake that even magicians find difficult to deal with. If you get bitten by mistake, you could lose your life."
She couldn't ask for more when Darwin said so.
"Yes."
Esther, whose face darkened visibly, lowered her head. She was already worried about what to do with BamBam.
“Esther, now!”
Judy whispered in her ear.
"What?"
"Call him father. Then he’ll allow it right away. You want to stay with BamBam."
Esther did not understand and simply blinked her eyes several times.
'That works?'
It was beyond belief. However, when she thought that it was a battle that had to be determined, she shook her head and muttered that it was unknown what the answer could be.
“F, f, father!”
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