This morning, I heard you say you will never hand Aria to anyone; no one can become your papa.

  Lucy, do you know? Someone has been working hard to get you to call him 'papa' for a long time.

  It was the afternoon, one week after he was officially assigned as my guard.

  He began to do it since then. It started when I watched both of you and enjoyed my tea as he was nursing you.

  “Lucy, try calling me Papa. Papa, Paaaaaa paaaaaa. Paaaaaa paaaaaa.” While he held you up, he began to brainwash you.

  Coincidentally, the moment he started doing it, Paul entered ‘our’ room. “What is that garbage doing?” he frowned.

  “… let it be. I don’t think Lucy will ever call him that. She hates him after all.” I was too tired to deal with your ‘brother.’ So, I decided not to comment on anything anymore.

  Then, I turned to look at Paul. “How was it?”

  While reluctant to do it, Paul also decided to ignore him. “… I did not know what happened, but the north is progressing well. I just sent the first batch there.” Paul replied to my question while casually putting the cake box on my table.

  It was my favorite, as usual. It is freshly baked, too. I could not help but let out a small smile. Oh, my sweet tooth. He never failed to bring my favorite cake whenever he went out. I have always wondered how he could buy it every time he went out. It was from the most popular store in the capital. You had to line up for a long time or be a VVIP to get it. And it was limited to one house a day. Yet, Paul always secures it for us.

  It is also the birth of our afternoon tea tradition. Because we always feed it to you, it also becomes your favorite.

  Ah, back to the topic, I acknowledged his report as I opened the cake box. “… wonderful.”

  “We can trust them. They were bound by the Soul Vow after all.” As he said that, he naturally took a seat in front of me. It was our usual routine.

  Do you know? Your grandpa was so cold. During this routine, I tried to offer him my tea each time, yet he refused every time.

  Ah, back to the topic again.

  “… No, I am worried about their safety. If they got hurt, Aria would blame herself.” Indeed, it was your mother after all. She would always blame herself whenever someone met any mishap. It was never her fault at all. I am not sure how to fix her personality.

  Ah, I forgot to mention it. We were talking about the sellsword companies. We have been training them in swordsmanship. We would pick anyone with great ability and willing to become a sellsword to go to the north. As you know, we have been sending them to other regions. That system started from this first batch. Most of them were the orphanages that Aria saved. Paul also brought some of his friends he made during his time as a sellsword. We later also recruited anyone willing to become a sellsword and with enough ability to survive.

  “… it is inevitable. We trained them sufficiently to enable them to survive independently. But it is up to them to take the risk.” Paul reassured me as he pushed his cake towards me, which I welcomed.

  “… How about the thing I asked you?”

  “That mad dog, I mean Duke Melbon, will take care of it. Marquise Larose also caught wind of this. He is sending some people there, too.” His face when he said that was as if he were chewing bugs. He was not on good terms with Duke Melbon. Even now, he still dislikes him. Apparently, they have bad blood.

  If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  Are you wondering what we were talking about? We were talking about what your mother has been doing. It was something that we should have stopped, yet we couldn't. It really was necessary.

  At that time, we began our research on how to utilize monster material.

  Oh, at that time, Aria also proposed an experiment on cold-resistant crops. However, we have not yet produced any results. It is infrequent, but this one is a miss.

  At that time, we requested Duke Melbon to secure some monster material for our research. He immediately agreed to it. However, Marquise Larose also caught on to it. Not only did he send his personnel to help secure it, but he also sent many scholars and established research institutes for it. Apparently, the message we sent also went through some of his people. They relay it to him, although it was never meant for him.

  “I see. Some systems need to be established.” I dejectedly replied to him.

  It was a security risk on our part. We were lucky that it was our people who read it. It would be a disaster if someone else read it. We could lose everything we have been building.

  Because of this incident, Paul and I tried to establish a new communication system, our current system.

  “The guild is exchanging all the monster material with the Holy Water for the time being.” Paul also let out a long sigh. It was rare for him to do it.

  “I hope we can get the corporation from the emperor,” I said as I received a cookie from Paul. It was so delicious. I wonder where he got it. He would occasionally give it to me.

  “Oh, about that. Marquise Larose just passed this to me.” He also gave me a piece of paper.

  Do you know? At that time, my hands were full of cookies, so I had to stuff them in my mouth. I almost choked on him. Instead of feeling guilty or helping me, he just pretended he didn't see it and turned his face away. He was too much.

  Ah, back to the main topic. After I recovered, I read the note he had handed to me. And I was so surprised by the context.

  “Hmmm, monster meat? detoxification? And raw material refinement? He really went all in.” It was uncharacteristic of your teacher, Lucy.

  It was only Aria's suggestion. And we had not finalized it yet. However, he went all in and invested a quarter of his assets into it. Well, it turned out to be our cash cow now. However, the thing that we needed to sacrifice was too great. No, we should not have done it.

  “… it can’t be helped. It was the idea of milady after all.” Paul also began to get fed up with him. I always feel like only Paul could understand him best.

  Then I decided to bring up an important topic. “The emperor and Marquise Larose—with both of them, we can advance to the next plan.”

  “Will you be alright? I mean, the burden placed on you is enormous.” He asked me with a concerned face.

  “I am fine. I am the only one who can do it. And it was my idea after all.” It was the information network we have been using. At that time, I was learning a new skill.

  As you know, Lucy, I was inscribing a divine mark on the bird at that time. By inscribing a divine mark with this new art, I could share my sense with them. However, we needed divinity to sustain it. So, it was on standby most of the time. We needed to feed them Holy Water each time we use them. But it could be used during an emergency.

  At that time, we could not allow Aria to do it because it required an enormous amount of divinity, yet Aria lacked it. Her divine pool could not sustain it, and it placed a significant burden on the person who administered it. So, Aria reluctantly agreed to let me handle it. I would be their contact point. However, five was my limit. At that time, we distributed it like this one for Duke Melbon. One for the emperor. One for Marquise Larose. One for Count Issac. And one for the guild.

  Do you know, Lucy? At that time, the metal ores and other strategic ores had been encroached upon by Duke Ellon. Most of the nobles who govern those mines have fallen prey to Duke Ellon. Even now, Marquise Larose is fighting his influence. He has been utilizing the medical field he possesses and the means to cure weak heart disease as leverage to bind more people to the imperial faction. At that point, we also received news that the nobles in the west also began to train their private guard secretly.

  Because of this new development, Aria began studying and verifying the process to detoxify the monster materials and how to refine them into weapons. It was also what drove your mother to take such an extreme measure. It has been our closest secret. We could not allow Duke Ellon to learn about monster material refinement.

  Ah, back to the topic that I want to tell you. At that time, we could only discuss it until that point. We were distracted from our conversation due to your mischief.

  It was the loud voice of Andres that distracted us. “Lucy, be careful; stop hitting me.”

  You were hitting him in the head with your toy. “Poo poo, poo poo…” Upon seeing that, I thought to myself, Oh boy, you were not the papa, but the poopoo.

  Do tell me, Lucy? Were you aware of it at that time? Did you do it on purpose? Although he bagged you, you did not stop. Instead, you became more energetic and hit him harder. That was how you began calling him ‘poo poo’ for a long time.