Chapter 9.1. I Swore to Protect My Child

-Miu’s Dad POV-

Toshiyuki gazed lovingly at his awakened child, who had dark hair and dark eyes three days ago, but now had gray hair and beautiful ice-blue eyes.

With hair color that is evidence of her awakening to the holy attribute, my child is eating an apple my wife peeled for her with relish. Her smile is innocent and warms my heart.

“Mii-chan, is the apple delicious?”

“Yes! They are very delicious. I love apples.”

Miu, who had been devouring the apple with her tiny mouth, stops eating because of my words and cheerfully smiles. Her adorableness made my cheeks relax, I patted her head, which made her happy, so I patted her more and more. I feel a little foolish for thinking that Miu is the only child who is this cute, but I’m not wrong.

I must protect her. I vowed once again that I would protect my wife and child. Just then. The intercom rang.

This hospital room is for VIPs, and visitors ring the intercom to enter. However, it had been only three days since Miu collapsed. It was only yesterday that Miu, who had been asleep, woke up. If anyone would visit her, it would be Teijo-san, but it is a little late in the day.

Looking out the window. The sky was beginning to turn orange, and it was almost the end of visiting hours. Teijou-san and the others just arrived a little while ago.

Thinking it was impossible, I approached the intercom. My wife looks at me anxiously, and my daughter is crunching on an apple with a curious look. I swallowed hard and touched the call button on the intercom.

The other person’s face appeared on the monitor. It was an elderly man and a man a little older than me. The older man looked happy, and the other man looked frustrated and irritated, almost tongue-tied. He hasn’t changed at all since the old days.

“Oh, Toshiyuki?”

The first man makes a catcall that I have never heard myself. He is too obvious and too easy to understand what he is thinking.

“Yes, what is it?”

“What is it? Nothing. I heard that my lovely granddaughter was badly injured. I came to visit her as soon as I could. Don’t let me see you, Toshiyuki.”

The elderly man who said this to me and the other man who looked grumpy had dull green hair, but I must say that their faces looked just like my own.

“……… Okay, Dad.”

It would be bad to get into trouble here. It was a hospital, after all. Even if it was a man who had never visited the hospital since the birth of his granddaughter.

In other words, the older man was my father, and the other man was my brother.

When I opened the door, father and brother entered immediately. The butler followed behind the elder brother, and in his hand was a basket of fruits as a visitation gift.

I could have stifled them here, but my desire not to let Miu see me arguing prevailed, and I let them pass by. My father smiles, and my brother sniffs evasively as he passes. OnlyYou-san, the butler who had also taken care of me when I was a child, gave me an awkward light bow of his head when he saw me, which was the only relief.

How could he come to see his second son, whom he had thrown away because he did not have magical powers, with such a face? I can only say that he has thick skin. He cursed at me when he threw me out.

My wife knows this very well. Therefore, I remained silent and bowed my head in greeting, but in the first place, my father had no interest in either my wife or me.

He was interested in only one person. She was his granddaughter, Miu.

“Oh! It is a beautiful gray. I was skeptical, but it’s true!”

My father breaks into a smile, looking genuinely happy. My brother clicks his tongue.

“Granpa, who are you?”

With an apple in her hand, Miu tilts her head and makes a curious face. No wonder. She’s never seen him before.

“I’m Miu’s grandpa. What, you didn’t tell her about me?”

My father replies with a smile to Miu, and signals to You-san with his eyes. You-san places a basket of fruit in front of Miu. The basket is an assortment of melons, grapes, and other fruits that cost a lot of money. He is not going to be stingy here.

“Look, Granpa brought a lot of delicious fruits for Miu!”

He deliberately exaggerates, but it works wonders with children. Miu’s eyes sparkle in front of the fruit.

“Fruits! Thank you!”

Miu bows her head politely, and my father pats her head, acting like a good-natured old man.

“You’re such a good girl, Miu. Mirei-san, you gave birth to such a good girl. Thank you.”

My wife’s face was indeed tense at the sudden change in my father, who had not attended our wedding, did not give a congratulatory speech, and did not even care when Miu was born. No wonder. He’s the kind of guy you can slap and kick out.

“Tsk! Hey, you. Can you use recovery magic? Try it, Ora.”

My brother bites at Miu in a thuggish tone. This is the tone he uses when he is in a bad mood. He must be very irritated.

“Stop it, Arashi. I’m sorry, Miu. Arashi is concerned about my back. I want you to heal it with recovery magic.”

Father chides my outspoken brother. But then he casually rubs his back, his face contorted in pain. It was obvious what the gentle Miu would do if he acted like that.

“Do you have pain in your back?

“Oh, yes, it does.”

“I wonder if I can heal it.”

“Can’t you use it for a minute? Grandpa only needs Miu to use her recovery magic.”