"Um... Papa?""What is it?"
Eva felt that Cole"s voice sounded a bit different from before but she decided to go on with what she wanted to say anyway.
"Can I... Tell you about my stay here?"
"Sure. Why couldn"t you?"
Eva"s face lit up at Cole"s permission. Her head swayed from side to side as she thought of where to start off.
"Umm... First off, Uncle Val"s parents were nice."
"They gave me a lot of sweets and were very kind to me."
"Auntie...? Lala"s dishes are very good but I think I prefer Felicia"s more."
Eva stumbled for a bit, not sure if she should call Lala that or not. She looked too young to be called "Auntie" but there was the possibility she wanted to be called such because she was mistaken for someone so young.
"Is that so? She"ll be happy to hear that."
"And Braith is becoming kinda stupid."
Cole felt like laughing when Eva said that but he held it in and laughed in his head instead.
"And why would that be?
"Every time he would come back from school, he would talk nonstop about the girl he had a crush on."
While Eva"s storytelling was starting to become a rant, Cole could see that her face was slowly started to grow more and more annoyed the more she talked about him.
"It was kinda annoying."
"He also ranted about he wouldn"t be able to see her at all for a month the past three days. Because of "Christmas Vacation"?"
"Eh? It"s Christmas already? I haven"t seen a single bit of snow at all though..."
"Snow?"
Eva reared her head at the unfamiliar term.
"Hm? You don"t know what snow is? I guess that means the〈Neutral Zone〉is probably located near the equator... Since you would have probably asked about it if you saw it at least once."
Cole had muttered out. He did notice that the air was getting a bit colder. But he didn"t expect it to already be December, seeing as it wasn"t as cold as he was used to. He had considered the possibility before when he was still getting used to living in the〈Neutral Zone〉but prioritized learning more about the current affairs of the world than simple geography.
He learned which Zone was located where and then read all the other stuff in the former Cole"s library.
Well, he was planning to conduct a few experiments here and there about the local environment when he finally gets the chance to clear his schedule.
"As for Christmas..."
Cole stopped walking and placed Eva down on the ground. He crouched so he would be on the same eye level on her and patted her head.
"Papa... isn"t smiling."
Eva had her face buried in her father"s chest earlier so he hadn"t noticed. His face looked cold and uninviting. But despite that, Eva didn"t mind it. Because the eyes looking at her were soft.
It was a gaze that she wished she had known even just a bit sooner in her short life. Maybe then she wouldn"t have to lock herself in the library to stave off her growing sadness and loneliness.
She had a lot more she wished to say to herself but stopped. After all, those sad days probably won"t be coming back anymore.
She now had a father that was right in front of her.
Yes, he still went somewhere 5 days a week. But he would always come back.
Yes, he left her while he went off to do who knows what but he came back. And the people he left her with were kind and trustworthy. She had a few complaints but she felt that her situation now was better in comparison to before.
"We can enjoy it to its full extent next year."
Cole gave Eva a small smile. He stood back up and took her small hand in his. Eva liked the feeling of it.
Cole was about to bring Eva to Felicia but his steps quickly stopped. His eyes swept over Eva for a bit and then he crouched on the ground once again.
Eva tilted her head to the side in confusion.
Cole showed a bit of hesitation. It was a first for Eva, seeing her father make such an expression. It was kinda weird and she actually found it a bit funny.
"I... I know that I"m not the best father. And I probably won"t ever be."
"...I"ll make mistakes. And I"ll admit, I don"t like admitting mine. So..."
"Please be patient with me. I want to learn how to love and raise you properly."
Cole humbly bowed his head. He didn"t what to exactly say since it was his first time doing something like this.
He was bowing not because of his superior, or it was needed for an undercover mission, it was for his daughter.
The words he spoke out didn"t consider the att.i.tude of the person he was talking to, whether or not they were a target or someone he had to keep an eye on. He just wanted to deliver his message, although, it might have become a bit muddled.
A moment of silence pa.s.sed between the two. Eva didn"t know what to say. But it looks like she didn"t have to say anything. Cole lifted his head up and patted Eva"s head once again.
"Now go hang out with Felicia in the kitchen. She"s chatting with Lala in the kitchen and has something for you."
Eva"s ears perked up at that and hurriedly dashed towards the kitchen. Seeing her in such an excited state, Cole couldn"t help but smile.
〔Wow... I feel so touched!〕
"What is it, Steward?"
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Unfortunately, the moment was ruined by Steward"s decision to just interject for whatever reason he had set up in A.I.
〔It"s just that you"re finally taking my advice from long ago.〕
"Oh, really? Then why is it I don"t remember it?"
〔You do. You"re just pretending you don"t.〕
"Then what was it?"
Inside Cole"s mind, Steward looked up to pitch black above him that served as his sky. His eyes were filled with concern, worry, a bit of laughter, and just a tad of longing.
〔"You don"t have to guard yourself against people who don"t want to harm you."〕
Cole"s eyes widened in shock. His feet were rooted in place and his fists unconsciously tightened. But as usual, his eyes returned back to their former tranquillity and his fists loosened.
"Haa..."
Cole ended up letting out a deep breath and plopped down on a nearby chair. He put his hand to cheek and shifted his gaze to the nearby window. His other hand tapped on the armrest of the chair for a few seconds.
"Looks I"ll have to go find the time to make a body for you."
〔Yeah, yeah. You go do that...〕
Steward brushed Cole aside but then realized what he had just said.
〔Wait, what did you say?〕
At Steward"s desperate-sounding voice, Cole let out a small smirk on his face.
"Hmm? What? I didn"t say anything?"
〔No, you did.〕
"If I did say something, you can just hear what I said if you look through my short-term memory logs."
〔No, you have to say it again.〕
"I just thought that maybe I should spare the time to go find the parts and make an artificial body for you."
〔You"d really do such a thing?〕
Steward"s eyes lit up like stars. And he started to act like a child who had just heard that their parents were going to buy him a Switch after saying "no" so many countless times.
"Yeah, because maybe then you can stop hounding me all the time."
〔Haa... If I get my own body then I"ll be able to do everything I"ve always wanted to do.〕
"Like what? If I may ask?"
〔Like eating tasty food, or 〕
"Ew. Gross. What are you? A maiden at heart?"
〔And what are YOU for reacting like that? A boy in p.u.b.erty becoming aware of his hormones?〕
As the A.I started to rant about Cole"s remarks on his wishes, Cole picked up a nearby piece of parchment paper and a quill dipped with some ink.
〔...And hey! An A.I can dream okay! I want to know-- Wait, what are you doing?〕
"Writing a rough draft."
〔Of what?〕
Cole took a few more pieces of parchment paper near him and filled up a few of them before he neatly bundled them all together.
"My resignation letter."