< Apiography 14. Father and Son >
#A14
“Hmm…I guess this will be enough.”
After finishing his work Adeshan took off his glasses and muttered. With this the contract period with Caravel Danang was extended for another five years. The sunlight seeping through her spacious windows warmed her office.
Various agenda items to be dealt with this month were neatly organized on a desk as large as a dinosaur. She originally liked this kind of thing and when she was Phileon’s student council president she did a lot of similar things so she didn’t have much trouble.
Suddenly Adeshan’s eyes fell on the picture frame in the corner of the desk. Inside the small square were Iril and Schlieffen kissing and people scattering flowers around them.
It was a ‘photograph’ that Didican developed and has now commercialized. She laughed when she saw herself and Ronan smiling brightly.
“…I miss you.”
Ten years have already passed since that day. A time when rivers and mountains change and people change. She who seemed like she would remain his young lady forever was now a married woman with a child.
Adeshan was twirling a fountain pen and reminiscing about the past. dripping. A familiar voice was heard along with a knock.
“mom.”
“huh? “Lance?”
Adeshan frowned. The door slowly opened and a boy with a pouting expression came in. It was Ronan and her first son Lance.
Ranse who turned 11 this year was suffering from premature puberty. Her black hair and her thick eyelashes looked exactly like hers. When she waited and didn’t get an answer she asked Adeshan again.
“What’s wrong my son?”
“…Mom why did you marry such a worthless person?”
“Uh huh? “What do you mean by that all of a sudden?”
“Follow me.”
Ade Shan was taken aback by the unexpected question. Lanse hurriedly approached her took her hand and went out to the living room. In the spacious living room a man with shaggy hair was lying asleep on the sofa.
“Keuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu….”
“Koooo….”
The sound of snoring could be heard coming from under the magazine covering her face. It wasn’t until this morning that Ronan returned to her house. Her second daughter Erin now nine years old was fast asleep in her arms.
“Me too. “Go in and grow up.”
Adeshan laughed at the sight. Nothing has changed between when she was dating and now. Ran Se seeing her honey-dripping eyes asked in surprise.
“…mom. She didn’t get married because she was threatened right? “Something like finding a weakness.”
“Hey what is he talking about now? “Why would Mom do that?”
“But I don’t understand it based on common sense. “Mom is so busy but her dad sleeps all the time.”
Lan Se pouted her mouth. As someone who didn’t know much about Ronan’s past he couldn’t understand why the two got married.
Even if you think about it from an objective point of view Adeshan was truly the perfect mother. Although she was burdened with various duties including managing the estate she did not neglect her housework and she unconditionally cooked one meal a day.
Naturally her children were also apprehensive so Ranse and Erin were able to grow up with lots of love. Her self-management was also thorough so she was never seen as a married woman who had two children of her own. If she had to find someone prettier it would be Aunt Iril who married her uncle Schlieffen.
Compared to that Ronan was just an old man who didn’t shave his beard properly. People praised her saying she was a hero who saved the world but they could never defend her because they knew the truth about her. Lance muttered.
“The more I look at it the less I understand. “Mom is so busy but Dad just sleeps all the time.”
“It’s not okay if you say something like that to Dad. No matter what you work hard for our family. “The reason you come home late every day is because you are busy working.”
Ade Shan squatted down and tapped his son’s nose with his index finger. Well most of the time Ronan finished his work and came around when Lan Se was asleep so I thought that might be the case.
“And Dad is a really capable person. The reason we can spend time smiling like this is all thanks to Dad. “Do you believe my son’s mother?”
“joy. Even so it’s clear that you hate me.”
“He can’t do that.”
“…But you didn’t come to my entrance ceremony. “I was the head of the martial arts department.”
Lance muttered. In fact Ronan was unable to attend her son’s entrance ceremony. Considering the tradition of the whole family coming and celebrating regardless of the circumstances it was definitely an unusual event.
“That…”
The shock became even greater when Principal Nabirose separately asked if Ronan had come. He was in the middle of thinking about what to say to Ade Shan who was momentarily dumbfounded. Whoa! The wind that seeped through the balcony knocked the magazine off Ronan’s face.
“Ugh…ah. Damn it…”
“Oh I woke up.”
Ronan who had been flinching opened his eyes. His head felt dizzy as if he hadn’t had enough sleep yet. As I slowly raised my head I saw my daughter sleeping peacefully on the boat and my son glaring at me with axe eyes from afar. He yawned lazily and waved his hand.
“Haaaam…good morning. son.”
“What about breakfast? “The sun is in the middle of the sky?”
“Why is it so sunny again today? “Did you urinate while you were sleeping?”
“What nonsense! “When on earth did you bring this up!”
Ranse whose face was bright red shouted. As expected I couldn’t like this person. Ronan chuckled as he set Erin down on her personal sofa.
“Otherwise it’s okay. Why are you yelling? “I’m going to wake up my brother.”
“Your father is saying nonsense! “I’m not a kid anymore!”
“Even if a guy with no hair on his body said something like that it wouldn’t be persuasive. And if you want to drink shit or pee you might get tired once in a while… hehe!! “This can’t be right!”
“Why are you doing this?!”
Lan Se startled shrugged his shoulders. Ronan’s eyes which were always half closed were wide open. Did something appear? He was looking around for something that could be used as a weapon. Ronan suddenly reached in front of Ade Shan with her forward roll and said squeezing her hand.
“I thought an angel appeared but it turned out to be our honey. “This was rude.”
“Oh my. “You too…”
Ade Shan blushed her face. Ronan kissed the back of her hand which she still held and then picked her up as if he were holding her princess. Adeshan clicked his tongue as he stared at her face.
“His hair is damaged. “Your face is full of fatigue…is this little monster causing you a lot of trouble?”
“Who are you calling a monster? Put her mom down!”
Ronan stretched out her leg and kicked Lance’s butt. Ran Se got angry and tried to run but he was blocked by his feet and couldn’t get close. Ade Shan shook her head.
“I’m just a little tired. And all the hard work is something I do because I enjoy it.”
“What a kind heart you have… I can guarantee it. “One of the two best things in my life was telling you I wanted to get married.”
“What is the other one?”
“You accepted my marriage proposal. “Let’s go!”
“Aaaah! “Not now!”
Ronan walked around and pretended to walk to the master bedroom. Adeshan let out a happy scream and tapped his shoulder. Ranse was disgusted by the sight he couldn’t open his eyes to see.
“Wow.”
“son. I’m sorry but would you like to take Erin out for a bit? “Just play for an hour… no two hours.”
Ronan who was suddenly rummaging through his inner pocket held out a silver coin to Ranse. It was an event that occasionally occurred when the two people’s passion reached its peak.
Ran Se accepted it with an expression as if she were looking at the corpse of her daughter-in-law. He let out a small sigh as he picked up her sister who was sleeping on her sofa.
“Ugh…oppa?”
“Let’s go out Erin. “This place is hopeless.”
“Uuuh…?”
Erin was carried on his back without even knowing what was happening. Her pure white hair flowed down the nape of Ranse’s neck. Lance who stopped before leaving the door looked back at Ronan and growled.
“I hate my father.”
“I see. “I like you.”
“I-I-IK…!”
The pure white face heated up again. There was something more to say but Lance ended up closing the door roughly without being able to continue speaking.
bang! The sound of grumbling was receding beyond the front door. Ronan who was standing still chuckled.
“That guy’s temper. “Who do you resemble like that?”
“Hehe it’s just like when you were young. Of course his face resembles me more.”
“That’s a good thing. “If your face looked like mine there would definitely be trouble everywhere.”
“But I like this face. Should I sleep a little more now?”
Adeshan gently stroked Ronan’s cheek. His rough beard and dark eyes revealed the hard work he had gone through. Kissing her lightly Ronan lowered her to the floor.
“thank you. “I’ll sleep for one more hour.”
“Don’t do that sleep well. You’ve been overworking yourself lately. “I’m worried I’ll collapse if this continues.”
“it’s okay. It’s work. “Is that…Lance guy very disappointed?”
Ronan asked carefully. He didn’t show it but he was also very worried about his son. Adeshan sighed.
“huh. I don’t know about anything else but I think not being able to go to the entrance ceremony was very painful. If things continue like this I think I’ll resent you for a while… Can you really not tell me the truth?”
“of course. Never say never. “It’s a story that would make men of that age have a sense of adventure rather than caution.”
Ronan said firmly. He knew that in many ways it would be better for him to be hated for a moment. Adeshan hesitated.
“That is correct. “Did you catch the culprit?”
“yet. The investigation net is narrowing but no decisive clues have been found. “Seeing as how Asher is giving him trouble he doesn’t seem like an ordinary guy.”
Ronan clicked his tongue. He was following a series of disappearances that had recently been taking place in the system. Over the past month nearly a hundred men and women have disappeared but no trace has been left behind causing the entire citizenry to tremble in fear.
The reason why he joined the search party without being asked was simple. About half of the missing people were children. Ronan roughly brushed his bangs.
“I’ve been through all kinds of crappy things but this is the first time I’ve ever experienced anything like this. There are no traces left and the fate of the missing people is unclear. “What kind of bastard is the culprit?”
“Well I can’t track it even with the mana of the shadows….”
“it’s okay. “You don’t have to worry.”
Adeshan sighed. Have my senses become dull due to the decade-long period of peace? Ronan who had reassured her by hugging her growled lowly.
“I will protect my children. “No matter what it takes.”
