'He looked so serious, I wonder what's up.'
Guess Dad was hungry.
Theo and I were in the middle of our morning workout when Dad scooped us up like sacks of potatoes and hauled us to the dining room.
Theo was surrounded by the maids on one side, being fed soup and finely chopped meat with a teaspoon.
Everyone looked super stiff and serious, and whenever they saw the baby chewing, they'd grip their skirts like they were trying not to freak out.
"..."
Meanwhile, Dad, who was sitting at the same table as me, was cutting the meat on his plate with a somewhat complicated expression.
Every now and then, I could hear him muttering, "Why me, why on earth..." Hmm. Maybe he's still half asleep?
"So, uh... Dad?"
"Yeah."
A thick chunk of meat landed on my empty plate. I poked it with my fork and said,
"I told you I'd help you get your memories back, right? I've been thinking about it all night, and I came up with a pretty effective method! Do you want to hear it?"
Actually, it was a method I'd been thinking about for a while, but I just said it like that.
Then, Dad stopped moving the meat to my plate and stared at me blankly.
"You thought about it all night?"
"Yes, why?"
"...That's why you look like wilted spinach..."
Huh? What does that mean?
I blinked, not understanding, and Dad sighed deeply.
"I gave you a bedroom to sleep in. Sleep at night."
"..."
I shook my head vigorously, recalling last night when I was shivering from the thunder. There was no point in remembering it again.
"Anyway! Can I tell you about the method?"
Instead of answering, Dad very slowly moistened his lips with his drink. His gaze, slightly rolling, flicked to my glass.
"Hmm, I don't usually listen to kids who haven't finished their carrot juice."
Geez, it's impossible to get a word in edgewise!
But I didn't complain and drank my juice like a grown-up.
"Glug, glug. There! All gone, see?"
"Tell me."
I calmly started to speak.
"Remember when we watched that video thing? When you saw the cabin, your eye twitched up a little, like this."
My finger, pointing to the corner of my eye, went up sharply.
"That's the face you usually make, Dad... I mean, Duke, when you're, like, almost remembering something, but it's just out of reach."
Like with the grocery list. Or where you put my tomato socks. Or if you measured my height yesterday or this morning.
"...Me?"
"Yes."
Of course, Callex looked like he had no idea what I was talking about.
"So, what's the point?"
"What if we went to Refi Village together? Seeing the house we used to live in might jog your memory!"
It's, like, Amnesia 101.
You know, visiting places and seeing stuff that reminds you of things!
'Plus, I have some stuff I need to get.'
I left some things behind when we had to rush out of Refi Village.
'Especially the presents Dad got me, Theo's doll, and the seeds I saved – I really want to get those back.'
I went through my list of treasures in my head.
Dad gave me tons of presents, but I really wanted the first socks and shoes he gave me.
"Hmm."
Dad squinted at me.
"Well, it's not a bad idea. I was going to head over there at some point anyway."
"Oh, then!"
"But it's not going to work right now. We've got that parade next week."
"That's fine! We can go after!"
Totally.
I've got stuff to do at the parade, too.
After we agreed on that, I went back to eating, clanging my fork and knife around.
But Dad didn't get to eat much. His aides kept popping in to give him updates on the parade.
'Even with all this planning, Elisa still gets hurt.'
Since it's Dad, he's probably got everything covered. I chewed on my spoon and thought about the dream I had.
'Well, you can't do anything about natural disasters.'
You can stop stuff people cause, but you can't do anything about Mother Nature.
It wasn't just the thunder that kept me up all night.
'I saw what happens at the parade way clearer in my dream!'
So, a week from now, at the parade, something totally unexpected happens. It's...
'A dungeon suddenly pops up. And a building collapses because of it.'
These sudden dungeons just appear out of nowhere, no warning.
The Magic Tower usually predicts all the monster dungeons in the Empire by tracking magic changes – they can tell how big they are and where they'll be.
But, like always, there are exceptions.
That's what these sudden dungeon outbreaks are – total accidents. And super rare.
If one shows up now, it'll be the first time in, like, a hundred years.
'Dad will take care of the monsters, but the real problem is the building that collapses near Elisa.'
I pondered deeply and then raised my head.
I haven't seen the old Duke Elisa since the first day. I heard he's off on some trip outside the capital or something.
'It'd be best if Elisa just skipped the whole parade, but that's not going to happen.'
I stared at Dad's face.
He'd totally stopped eating and was talking to his aides.
'But I can't just tell Dad a dungeon's going to appear.'
He'd ask where I heard that. Or he'd just think I was making it up.
'Ugh. Guess I have to handle this myself!'
I need to find out where Elisa will be and stop that building from collapsing.
First, I need to get my hands on the parade route.
'There's that big tree by Dad's office window, right? Maybe it can help me.'
Okay. Plan time.
I started gobbling down my food again.
Then, the maid who was pouring my water said something.
"Hey, newbie."
It was one of the maids who helped me with my bath yesterday – the 'senior' ones? I think her name was Kate.
"Mmph?"
"You've got hair in your mouth."
Blech.
I quickly spit it out. No wonder it tasted weird.
My hair was a total rat's nest.
I tossed and turned all night, and my hair's naturally super fine and thick, so it's a pain to deal with.
I tried brushing it this morning, but it felt like I was ripping my scalp off, so I gave up.
"I tried to tie it up myself, but it was a disaster! I'm good at tying up tomato plants, though!"
"You tie up tomato plants? At your age? Are you some kind of genius? Anyway, look up. I'll do a quick tie-up."
Kate said, and I looked up quickly.
It felt weird having her hands in my hair. Then I heard her make a little 'Ugh' sound.
"This is a serious tangle. It's going to be tough to get out. How about we just cut it and give you a trim?"
"No way..."
'Dad says my hair is precious.'
He said tying my hair every morning was his favorite thing.
But now there's no one to do it... and it's such a pain.
'Maybe I should just cut it.'
I hesitated a bit.
"If you don't want to, that's that."
The maid took a comb out of her pocket.
"I've never dealt with hair this fine before. It's tricky."
"Ow! Okay, okay, ouch! I'll cut it. Ow!"
Fine. Cut it off.
"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!"
The maid quickly apologized. At that moment, a huge, strong hand suddenly reached in.
"It's so loud, I can't focus."
"Huh? M-Master?"
"Dad?"
Ugh, it's not even lunchtime, and I've already used that twice. I grabbed my notepad and crossed something off.
"Sorry. We'll go outside..."
"Out of the way."
Swish, swish, swish.
"Whoa."
Suddenly, the back of my neck felt cool. And there was this giant puff of hair on top of my head, like a fluffy sun.
Dad dabbed some sunflower oil on his hands and, in like, a minute, he'd combed my hair and twisted it into this perfect bun.
"It's not that hard, what's all the fuss...about. Damn it."
Clap, clap, clap.
The servants clapped like they'd just seen a magic trick. Dad buried his face in his hands – they were moving all by themselves – and muttered.
"Freaking muscle memory..."
