Gallizard Pasayen.
The father of Diegon and the head of House Pasayen, he was, beyond question, the ruler of the seas.
In his youth, he had conquered the oceans with nothing but his fists. Even now, his martial arts were powerful enough to punch whales to death.
Age had turned his hair and beard snow-white, but the mountains of muscle packed across his body had never disappeared.
As a result, Gallizard's shirt was fighting for its life once again today.
"At that point, wouldn't it be better to just take it off?"
The moment Diegon entered the family head's office, he started picking a fight.
Gallizard didn't even bother responding to the disrespectful remark.
He already knew exactly why his youngest son had come.
Instead, he said what he wanted to say first.
"No. Stop. Turn around. I'm not accepting it."
"I haven't even said a word yet."
"The child was chosen by Ancestor Whale. If you've got a problem with it, go punch Ancestor Whale in the jaw."
Diegon's brows furrowed at his father's irresponsible answer.
"As if I would commit such sacrilege."
The Pasayens of the Horizon.
They were the ducal house that ruled the long southern coastline of the Baratheum Empire.
When members of House Pasayen died, they returned to the sea and became divine beasts.
Among them, the family's founder—the first duke—was Ancestor Whale himself.
In other words, telling him to punch Ancestor Whale was a truly outrageous act of filial impiety.
And opposing Ancestor Whale's divine selection was equally impossible for a Pasayen.
"What you're trying to do to me right now is filial impiety, you brat. Look at this boy. Spoiled him too much, and now he's clenching his fists at his own father."
Gallizard clicked his tongue.
Then he slowly rose from his chair, clasped his hands behind his back, and looked beneath his desk.
There sat a tiny creature.
Not even turtle-sized.
More like a barnacle clinging to a rock.
And instead of crying, the child stared back at him boldly.
"How strange. Even though I'm suppressing my presence, I should still be frightening. An awakened one could endure it to some degree, but..."
Yet the child's legs weren't trembling in the slightest.
The little thing truly wasn't afraid.
Not of the situation.
Not of the adults.
Then—
"Roasted marshmallow..."
A tiny mumble drifted through the room.
Gallizard blinked.
"...Surely you're not talking about me?"
"Hup!"
The child jumped and immediately covered her mouth with both hands.
Unfortunately for her, Gallizard possessed eyesight sharp enough to see beyond the horizon.
And he had clearly spotted it.
The thin string of drool at the corner of her mouth.
O-oh no.
I couldn't recover from this.
Panic-stricken, I darted my eyes around.
Honestly, the distance between the handsome uncle's room and the handsome grandpa's room was way too far.
The handsome uncle hadn't slowed down for me at all.
Since my legs were short, I'd spent the whole trip toddling after him like a baby chick.
Naturally, I got hungry.
I'd already been thinking about marshmallows before the door opened.
Then Grandpa happened to look exactly like one.
So while Grandpa and Uncle talked, my head was filled with nothing except visions of roasted marshmallows floating around.
"This is the kind of child she is."
"Well, that's fine. I thought she looked like a barnacle, so I'd say we're even."
Barnacles taste good, though.
Being compared to food didn't bother me.
I nodded generously.
"When I called you a sea squirt earlier, you hated it."
"That one tastes bad."
Yep.
Good food was good.
I'm hungry.
In fact, I'd been dragged here right before lunchtime.
And I hadn't eaten a single thing since.
Naturally, my rationality was fading fast.
Hungry...
I almost sucked my thumb before stopping myself.
Teacher from the Carrot Class had said that if I wanted to become five years old, thumb-sucking was forbidden.
Whenever I got hungry, I unconsciously bit my thumb.
It was a bad habit I needed to fix.
Because I was the class president!
But... but I'm huuungry...
Grandpa and Uncle kept talking.
The world was beginning to turn white around the edges.
So I raised my hand.
You had to raise your hand before speaking.
"What is it, little one?"
Fortunately, the handsome uncle granted me permission to talk.
So I delivered my opinion as politely and adorably as possible.
"I won't be that uncle's daughter. I wanna bake snacks."
Please send me to the kitchen.
I never made it to the kitchen.
Instead, I ended up somewhere even better.
A room overflowing with food.
"My eyes are spinning..."
"Oh my goodness, how adorable. Here, try some apple crumble pie too."
"Mmm! Thank youuu!"
There were lots of aunties dressed in pretty maid uniforms.
And they kept bringing me food.
Bread.
Pie.
Cookies.
Macarons.
Everything.
"Mmmm, it's delicious!"
Apple jam and cream smeared around my mouth.
I carefully wiped it off while reaching for another macaron.
To be fair, I ate a lot for my size.
Officially the biggest glutton in the public Bubble-Bubble Daycare.
Oh my, little one. Why are you here?
I'm hungry...
My first memory was of a day when snow fell endlessly.
Starving and wandering without a destination, I had stopped in front of a place where delicious smells drifted through the air.
A tall iron gate blocked the entrance.
So I squatted outside and sucked my thumb.
If I smelled food while sucking my thumb, somehow it felt like my stomach was fuller.
I couldn't cry anymore.
Couldn't walk anymore.
And the person who found me sitting there, pale and alone—
Was Teacher from the Carrot Class.
"Chu, do you want to be in Carrot Class or Scrub Class?"
"Carrot Class!"
That was why I'd joined Carrot Class.
Scrub Class sounded kind of awful.
Like I'd be forced to clean dangerous things.
Besides, being a kitchen maid sounded much better than being a cleaning maid.
You got to sneak snacks.
Anyway.
That was why I was incredibly happy right now.
"Huh?"
A moment later, I suddenly came to my senses.
Five strawberry macarons had already vanished from my hand.
They disappeared so fast!
It had to be magic.
I can't eat all of them myself. That's greedy.
Feeling guilty, I slowly put the macaron down.
"Oh? You're not eating anymore, little miss?"
"Mhm. They're for my friends."
How many were left?
"One... two... three... five... eight..."
My face fell.
"Hngh... not enough..."
What should I do?
The macarons were the tastiest thing here.
I wanted to share them with everyone.
After thinking very hard, I jumped off the sofa.
Then I marched toward the aunties who were trembling while looking at me.
Well.
For an adult, my march was probably half of half of half a step.
But it felt very determined to me.
"Um."
I paused, wondering how to address them.
Then I remembered Teacher saying that calling adults "Teacher" was always safe.
"Teacher..."
"Yes, little— pfft! You're too cute!"
"Could I maybe have... just one more?"
"Why exactly one more?"
The brown-haired auntie trembled.
I proudly spread all ten fingers and explained.
"There are nine kids in Carrot Class. But Chu ate some."
"So there are only eight macarons left for nine friends?"
"Yep!"
"Then why are all ten fingers up?"
Ah.
She caught me.
I wiggled my fingers awkwardly before flashing a sheepish grin.
"'Cause Chu wants one more too."
"AAAAAH! I can't take it anymore!"
"Ehh?!"
The brown-haired auntie suddenly scooped me up and hugged me tightly.
It was a little suffocating.
But she was someone who'd give me more macarons.
So I didn't mind.
Besides, now that I was full, I was getting sleepy.
I wrapped my tiny arms around her and rested my cheek against her shoulder.
"Thank youuu."
I didn't forget my manners.
I miss Teacher. Hehe.
Now I could probably go home, right?
I'd already said I wasn't becoming anyone's daughter.
Then—
CRASH!
A deafening noise echoed through the room.
My eyes flew open.
The door had exploded.
A moment later, the handsome uncle appeared, frowning.
"Come on, Barn— ...no. Flower Crab. I'll raise you."
Huh?
Does that mean I can't go home?
Tilting my head, I first asked the maid auntie to put me down.
Inside the ruined doorway, Grandpa was still sitting in his chair with his back turned.
"Goodbye! Thank you for the food!"
I bowed deeply until my forehead nearly touched the floor.
I hadn't forgotten who'd paid for all those delicious treats.
"What are you doing? Come here."
The handsome uncle leaned against the wall and raised an eyebrow.
I tried copying the expression but gave up when my face started feeling weird.
Instead, I put my hands on my hips.
"You gotta say goodbye to Grandpa."
"Just come."
"Nope."
"Come."
"Nope."
"I'm leaving without you."
"Then... then... that's good!"
I immediately grabbed the maid's skirt and hid behind her.
Then I whispered clearly enough for everyone to hear.
"Adults who don't say goodbye are bad uncles."
"...!"
"And you shouldn't follow bad uncles."
For a moment, silence filled the room.
Then from behind the enormous chair—
Pffft—HAHAHAHA!
Gallizard's laughter exploded.
Without even throwing a punch,
Diegon suffered his second defeat.
