Father, I Won’t Do Anything - Chapter 54

Cookies and Flowers

“How dare those puny humans…”

Sityle looked down at his tattered body.

His whole body was covered with marks from, flames, sharp wounds and scars that were beaten into him without any mercy.

“Ahaha, who was the dragon beaten by a mere human being…?”

“Clank, clank, stop it. Why would you say something like that to your precious dragon?”

Sityle looked at the human wizard in front of him with a dizzying vision.

He usually would have been able to kill him all at once, but now that his body was paralyzed, he could do nothing but listen to the people who bad-mouthed him.

‘It’s all because of the Lord of this Tower…’

“You should be scolded more…”

The guards then stopped moving for a moment. It was because they finally got a long-awaited call.

However, Sityle, who was blind due to blood flowing down from him, was not aware of this fact.

‘What do you mean he was able to find a gap and successfully escape on his own?’

In a moment of awe, the guards found a butterfly circling Sityle, who had lost his sanity.

* * *

When Sityle became a free man, and moved to a safe place, he immediately contacted other dragons. This was what Diamide had wanted.

– Not long ago, I found the ruins of a dragon using holy relics. However, as you know, there hasn;t been such a report.

-I was wondering who the person who used the relic was, and I tracked her down. However, I found out she was a mixed race! The very evidence of sin, a breed between a human and dragon, was shamelessly alive! I tried to kill that thing!

– For the honor of the dragon race, that child must be killed.

Diamide was speechless as he heard the words spoken through the dragon’s language.

-You can’t easily get through, she’s in the Tower after all. We need to be thoroughly prepared, can you believe a real monster is living there? ….I would’ve never thought I could be beaten by a mere human being.

Sityle’s angry voice lingered in Diamide’s ears for a long time.

* * *

A day after the dragon’s invasion of the Tower, Jayna, who ran into Diamide, slightly bowed her head as she greeted him.

“Good Morning.”

Jayna had already greeted him, but began to wonder at the same time if the Tower Lord was such an easy person to meet.

‘Is it just my imagination or have we been meeting a lot lately…?’

While Jayna was lost in thought, the sound of Diamide’s voice met her ears.

“Your mother was a hero who risked her life to kill the demon king, but why aren’t you welcomed by the dragons?”

“As I said before, it’s because I’m a hybrid.”

“A hybrid?”

“For them, I’m not the daughter of a hero, I’m the daughter of a dirty dragon who fell in love with a human.”

“….”

“Therefore, I hope you don’t think I’m a spy sent from them.”

“Then you, like Bezrizhe…”

Huh? What do you mean? Jayna waited for Diamide’s response, which would lead to a curious expression, however Diamide kept his mouth shut and said no more.

Jayna spoke more carefully, keeping his temper in mind.

“If you tell me to leave, I’ll leave.”

The Tower Lord was someone who disliked anything loud. Jayna also had nothing to say if she got kicked because of the incident yesterday.

Unexpectedly, however, something different came out of Diamide’s mouth.

“No, continue staying here.”

And he turned around leaving only the few words he said. Jayna looked blankly at his back and bowed her head.

“Thank you.”

“…”

“You’ve saved me, and even let me stay here.”

Diamide paused for a moment, then opened his mouth as if he had something to say.

Jayna thought he would say that Diamide did not save her, but solved an issue in the Tower’s. However, contrary to expectations, Diamide disappeared without saying anything.

* * *

Three years have passed since Jayna’s tenth birthday.

In the meantime, she has begun to learn various studies under her new harpsichord, etiquette, dance and even foreign languages teacher.

It was all done with the tacit permission of Diamide.

“All right, then walk this way again.”

The new teachers at the Tower didn’t pick on Jayna like Charlotte did. Rather, they taught her with great care.

Even in the eyes of Jayna, who was not familiar with the process, it was obvious that her teachers were chosen after a careful-selection process.

They all favoured her and lavishly praised her being an excellent student.

She was an excellent student.

Jayna couldn’t understand why Diamide allowed her to learn such things.

She could only make vague guesses that it was something related to her mother.

Diamide’s intention was unknown, but she enjoyed every moment of learning something. It was because she felt proud that she was learning new things rather than feeling forced to do so.

“My lady, the flowers you ordered have been delivered.”

This year, Jayna had begun to regularly buy flowers.

Flora researchers at the Tower began to grow seasonal flowers in seasons irrespective of their original season, present in the garden to the Monstrous flower garden. Furthermore, due to Hilvenzia’s consideration, she had allowed them to be received in advance.

‘Should I make a topiary out of these flowers?’

Looking at the spring flowers that should have originally been wilted, Jayna planted them in a vase.

Three years ago, she was unable to do many tasks without great difficulty due to her small hands, but she was now thirteen years old.

She was still small as Hilvenzia would often complain, saying that she had no clue where all the food was going. However, for Jayna, she felt she had greatly grown.

“It looks good on you.”

The flowers in vases would change every three days.

Jayna smiled as if the atmosphere of the room had changed with just a single flower.

If someone were to ask about the difference between 10-year-old Jayna and 13-year-old Jayna.

Things which would be said were; that she had a larger, more mature frame, rather stable wind magic, a more polished dark magic, harpsichord skills closer to Bezrizhe’s, and newly learned skills such as dance and etiquette.

The biggest difference was that a far brighter smile was often planted on her face.

Small luxuries come together.

“Good morning.”

She said, taking her hand off her vase. Jayna’s day had now begun.

* * *

“This peanut butter most definitely has quite a unique texture.”

“You’re good, it’s a new type of cookie.”

Jayna was making cookies next to Hillbenzia. Unlike regular butter, the peanut butter had a unique texture, but Jayna adapted quickly.

“It’s not that much different.”

“You were only able to make one batch last time, so this is a huge improvement.”

The cookies being baked in the oven had a nutty smell. Peanut butter cookies, in particular, smelled excellent. Jayna waited joyfully for cookies to begin baking in the oven.

“It’s baked.”

Jayna carefully placed the soft cookies on a cooling rack. Then she looked at the number of cookies and suddenly said;

“It’s too much to eat alone because there’s so many. I want to give it to someone as a gift. Is that okay?”

“Sure, do what you like.”

Jayna bought wrapping paper she previously said she had gotten, and took it out. Hilvenzia smiled, squinting.

“I don’t think wrapping paper suddenly fell out of the sky, and didn’t you intentionally bake a lot because you wanted to gift it to someone?”

“It’s because I’ve always been the one on the receiving side…”

Jayna turned her eyes to the cooling cookies.

“And it’s nice to eat all these delicious cookies together.”

Peanut butter cookies were popular, so they were not a snack said to be greatly liked or disliked.

The cookies she baked last time failed because the butter didn’t cream properly, but fortunately they seemed to be mixed well this time.

[T/N: Creaming means mixing butter and sugar together on a moderately high speed until well blended, fluffy and pale yellow. It’s often the first step in a cookie or cake recipe and forms the base to which other ingredients are added.]

She had already baked more difficult cookies.

‘They were good.’

She started packing the cooled cookies.

Firstly, she carefully selected a ribbon for the packaging.

She didn’t know whether it should be tightly tied, or which colours would go with the brown cookies…

Then, after selecting the wrapping paper and tying a ribbon, a pretty cookie gift set was completed.

Jayna looked down at the packed cookies and smiled in satisfaction.

“First of all, I’ll give them to Hilvenzia.”

* * *

Micheal didn’t like sweets very much.

So Jayna had deliberately reduced the sugar ratio and increased the peanut butter ratio to make more savory cookies.

“What, peanut butter cookies?”

Micheal, originally a person who didn’t enjoy eating, so much so that he often replaced meals with potions.

However, after he had met Jayna and often followed her to the restaurant in the Tower, his tastes began to change, little by little.

“Are you even old enough to cook? You’re the size of a kid no matter how I look at you.”

Micheal looked at Jayna and began to compare her height to his.

“You said you cooked something like this? Did you really?”

“It’s not that I’m small, it’s just that Micheal is tall.”

She was right, when Jayna had first arrived at the Tower, Micheal was a teenage boy. However, he was now an adult.

If his face was in full bloom, Jayna knew hers was still only a bud.

Micheal lowered his voice and laughed.

“Well, I’m an adult now… By the way, when are you going to grow up? Now you’re like a tadpole with a leg”

[T/N: Tadpoles with legs, aka 3rd stage of life]

“Someday, I will be tall. I still can’t believe Micheal has become an adult.”

“Why, because I look young?”

“No, it’s because Micheal is mentally young…”

Micheal grabbed Jayna’s white, soft cheeks, pulled them up, and said, while raising the corners of his mouth.

“Hey, you cute little thing.”

“Arghh, Dad…”

“Hah, I don’t want to eat your nasty cookies, but I’ll do it specially in consideration of your sincerity.”

As Micheal quickly unwrapped the ribbon on the packaging, Jayna reached out her hand and spoke.

“You don’t need to force yourself to eat it. Just give it to me.”

“Can you grab it?”

Then, Micheal held the cookie bag and extended his hand into the air. Then he took a peanut butter cookie out of the bag and began munching.

“Really…”

He savored the cookies and playfully dragged his words.

Delicious, it’s not delicious.

[QC/N: Who’s that pokemon? It’s Micheal? NO IT’S A TSUN!]

Words that can lead either way.

Micheal soon grinned.

“They’re not bad. Edible to say the least.”

Jayna looked at his figure with a sulky expression.

‘You won’t say it’s delicious even if it kills you…’

“I’ll give it to someone who’ll find it delicious. Now, give it back.”

“It’s mine now. Why are you taking it away?”

Micheal finally ate all the peanut butter cookies gifted to him in front of Jayna.

* * *

Diamide was originally a person who didn’t care about others. All that mattered to him was his own strength.

But now, he had no choice but to care about others.

‘That’s…’

There were cookie bags in the hands of each and every maid or wizard he saw.

They were apparently given out by that child.

‘I was the only one who didn’t receive anything.’

Diamide unconsciously headed towards Jayna’s room and called for Izren, who was still standing by her side even after he had become a knight.

“Where is the child?”

Izren answered Diamid’s question in fluently. It was the rewarding result of practicing for three years.

“Oh, she was just handing out cookies to people around her, so she’ll be here soon.”

“….I see.”

Izren tilted his head because it was a strangely excited face.

How long had it been?

In the end, Diamide was able to bump into Jayna like he wanted.

Jayna’s vigilance against Diamide has also eased a lot over the past three years.

As if Diamide was conscious of that fact, he often stopped by her room for tea.

Of course, there were few conversations.

‘Ah, it looks like Izren is back.’

Jayna ran to Izren standing in front of the room and handed him the cookies and some floral decorations.

“Thank you, here’s the topiary I made last time.”

Izren was joyed to see the topiary made from the flowers Jayna often bought.

I remember Izren saying the room was bleak the other day.

Izren had forgotten Diamide was quietly watching them, and they began to chatter excitedly. Izren, who had been laughing and chatting with Jayna for a long time, casually turned his eyes and belatedly realized that Diamide was standing all the way.

‘Heuk…’

Diamide’s eyes were cold enough to feel a chill. He didn’t know why he was angry, but Izren bowed to Diamide and headed to his room thinking that he should hurry out of his seat.

But his suffering did not simply end with just that. After Izren had left, he continued to hover around Jayna and even ran into Micheal, who was receiving flowers from Jayna.

“Micheal, I only gave you cookies earlier. This is a topiary that I made.”

“Ah, it wasn’t just cookies… wha-”

Micheal, who made eye contact with Diamide, left, saying he had something to do.

Jayna wondered why the two suddenly left, but she didn’t mind it.

‘….’

Looking down at his empty hands, Diamide soon moved to Hilvenzia’s room.

She was the only one left now.

“Hilvenzia, I’m coming in.”

“Yes, Tower Lord.”

Diamide, who had to talk to her about the development of potions, looked at her desk and naturally brought it up in conversation. A pile of research reports were collected on the desk.

“We’ve so far experimented with materials you’ve supported……..”

Hilvenzia, who had been explaining the research report for a long period, suddenly felt odd. Diamide’s gaze fell behind her.

Hilvenzia turned her head. And she felt a sense of embarrassment.

‘Oops.’

The topiary that Jayna had just visited and handed over was so pretty that she put it on her desk, and didn’t yet remove it.

“…So I don’t know when I’ll be able to finish the potion. If God doesn’t help us, we can’t heal anyone.”

Diamide was in low spirits today and Hilvenzia, having keen senses, was quickly able to find out why.

‘Are you frustrated because you haven’t made any progress with Jayna for three years?’

Of course, Diamide had never talked to her about Jayna.

She would usually have pretended as if she didn’t care even if Diamide had asked about it, but what she was going to do now…

From before, his gaze was fixed on topiary.

‘Unlike what you say, you care a lot.’

The past three years might have been enough to melt his frozen heart, but they weren’t enough to open the closed heart of a child.

‘Maybe the first impression was where it went wrong.’

No, it wasn’t. The first impression was a mess when she said she would make potions with dragon blood.

But now, Jayna and her were making things and exchanging gifts.

‘Jayna might even rely on me the most.’

It was not accurate because she had never asked Jayna directly, but Hilvenzia was thinking so inwardly. Shrugging alone, she looked at Diamide again.

‘It is just because of his personality? Or because or Berziche?’

In Hilvenzia’s eyes, Diamide had made some efforts. He had given Jayna a big room, a maid, and even paid attention to her education by bringing outsiders into the tower. Nevertheless, the father and daughter relationship between the two was very awkward.

Hilvenzia decided to talk to Jayna.

It wasn’t really for Diamide, but for the sake of Jayna’s safety.

It felt regrettable to give up the position of the person whom Jayna depended on the most, but you couldn’t tell when the dragon tribe would attack again.

The next day, Hilvenzia, who visited Jayna, carefully asked her.

“Jayna, why didn’t you give some cookies and a topiary to the Tower Lord?”

Jayna had a face that showed she had never thought of that idea.

“Should I have given him some cookies and topiaries?”

“Yes?”

“It could be given as a thank you for letting me stay at the Tower… but I’m afraid that he’d be angry if I were to give it to him.”

Well, it’s understandable that Jayna thinks that…

Hilvenzia, who nodded, said that Diamide has come to like cookies these days, hinting that it would not be bad to give them with flowers as well.

“Really? Well… well, he had previously given me a dessert saying it’d be better than throwing it away at teatime… I have to give him something too.”

Jayna, who decided to give Diamide a gift, asked Izren for help and decided to wait for him at the point where Diamide usually passed.

How long had she been waiting?

Jayna was eventually able to run into Diamide.

“Hello, Tower Lord.”

“What?”

However, when they met, she felt it would be a waste to give the cookies she made with great care to him.

It was because that cold look on his face made her feel like it would go into the trash right after he got it.

But soon Jayna plucked up the courage to say.

“Tower Lord, I’ve been handing out cookies to people around these days… Do you want them? I didn’t think you’d like them… I didn’t prepare them separately.”

At that moment, Diamide’s heart pounded.

“…No, it’s fine.”

He couldn’t say how much he really wanted them, and simply turned around.

And went straight to Micheal’s room.

“Micheal, do you really need this flower?”

Kugung.

It was a bolt out of the blue.

Micheal’s face turned white at Diamide’s words.

‘At this rate, my topiary will be taken away.’

Micheal noticed that he wanted to have the topiary, so he went straight to Jayna and asked.

“You… Are there any topiaries left?”

“Yes?”

“Well, well… I think the Tower Lord would like a topiary.”

“No way. Did you ask him yourself? Did he really want it?”

“…But it’s a matter of courtesy. Well, isn’t it kind of weird that the Tower Lord isn’t there?”

Micheal urged her, saying that the Tower Lord would accept her flowers.

“That’s still impossible… However, I have one left. I’ve had just one left.”

Micheal let out a cheer internally. When he reached out and tried to take it, Jayna took the topiary.

“I’ll give it to him myself.”