:Summary:

“Oh right! I forgot to tell you! Raon is a dragon.
Everybody: (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻

“You never told us that you have two more children”
“Are you talking about On and Hong?”
“Who else could I be talking— Wait. How…… How many children do you actually have? ”
‘I will not scream I will not scream’ The henituse patriarch finally felt the burdens of being a poor father.
“I……have to count…”
Deruth:……
Deruth: (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻

A continuation of “WHOSE CHILD IS THIS“.If you haven’t read it yet, go read it, teehee!

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Previously:

The cheerful atmosphere would’ve made any onlooker feel happy, yet Cale couldn’t shake off the feeling that he was forgetting something crucial.

‘Ah!’ 

He suddenly remembered what he had forgotten.

“Oh right! I forgot to tell you, Raon is a dragon.”

“……..” 

It took them a few moments to process those words. Then, the sound of falling silverware echoed in the suddenly silent dining hall and four pairs of dumbfounded eyes looked at cale in unison.

” WHAT?! “

————–¯\_( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)_/¯—————-

“Raon, is a dragon.” Cale said slowly, wondering why everybody was so dumbfounded.

 

‘Don’t tell me—’

 

Cale felt somewhat disappointed. Shouldn’t they have understood by now that reality was almost always different than appearance? Most importantly, were they going to discriminate against this pure little child just because he was a powerful dragon?

 

“While I know that this may have come as a shock, I ask that you don’t treat Raon any different than how you were always treating him.”

After all, the child may have his heart broken. He shook his head, displeased. He had really thought better of his family. To treat somebody different just because they were around ten thousand times more powerful than you…….

 

He frowned at his family members who were gazing at Raon with an unidentifiable emotion in their eyes.

 

“Raon is a child right now”, the slacker wiped the corners of Raon’s mouth like the doting father he was, “your actions may hurt him” he said pointedly.

 

“Ah true! I am so sorry!”, They said, finally  taking their eyes off the child who had finished eating the steaks on the five plates he had been offered, and now was looking up at Cale with wide blue eyes. The redhead immediately understood what Raon was asking for, and cut another plate of steak for him.

 

As the Henituse brood watched the father and son interacting so lovingly, they felt mixed emotions. On one hand, Raon’s mother was a dragon, who had been mortally injured by the white star, on the other hand, even his father, Cale, was locked in a fight with the villain. Cale had the responsibility of taking care of a child, and avenging the child’s mother by fighting a powerful adversary who couldn’t even be stopped by dragons. Their pity for the pair of father and son was endless.

 

They finally decided to stop thinking about things, and just shower the unfortunate pair with all the love that they could muster.

—————¯\_( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)_/¯————–

“So you met Basen, Lily and the Duke and the Duchess? Nya?” The kittens asked their youngest, filled with curiosity.

 

“Yesh! I awwso got shwome dwessewets!” Raon said, with a mouthful of chocolate brownies.

 

The children enjoyed the desserts, chattering happily. The kittens were a bit regretful about the fact that they weren’t there to witness the chaos created due to Raon’s humanoid form, however, judging from the way Bud fled every time he saw Raon, they had reason to believe that the fun hadn’t ended just yet.

—————-(ㆁωㆁ)—————-

“You never told us that you have two more children” Deruth said, trying to gauge Cale’s expression. The two new kids didn’t really look like his eldest son. However, one of them had the same hair and eye colour as Cale and the other child had similar mannerisms.

 

The most troubling fact was that these children were between nine to twelve years old. If he had to count Cale’s age, he would’ve been a mere ten year old when the older children were born.

 

‘I should’ve been a bit more invested in his life’, the Duke thought, lamenting over past mistakes and neglect.

 

The redhead who had single handedly increased the blood pressure of all the residents of the Henituse manor had the galls to be confused .

 

“Are you talking about On and Hong?”

 

Deruth took in a deep breath, trying to control his rising blood pressure.

 

“Who else could I be talking— Wait. How…… How many children do you actually have? ”

 

“I….am not sure….” Cale replied, wondering whether he should count the wolf children he had left back in Harris Village. Although he didn’t always take them everywhere to play, they were still under his protection. The redhead scrunched his nose in deep contemplation. How many children did he have again?

Twitch

Deruth’s left eye twitched madly. Was it possible to somehow open his eldest son’s head and see what went around in his brain? Had he always been so…so infuriating?!

‘I will not scream I will not scream’ The henituse patriarch finally felt the burdens of being a poor father.

 

“Are you telling me that you have so many children that you can’t even keep track of them?” Maybe the rumors of his eldest son being a playboy had more truth than he had originally believed? Deruth felt grateful for the presence of Raon. His fickle minded son seemed to have finally settled down after having him.

 

Cale sighed with a long suffering expression. It wasn’t as if he wanted these responsibilities. It was the white star’s fault. Everything was. The unwilling hero made it clear to his father who seemed to be as miserable as him. It was clear that blood was thicker than water. Why else would Duke Deruth be so disturbed after learning about his plight?

 

“….how is this the white star’s fault again?”

How villainous! The white star had been going around breaking families for such a long time! Did he not have any other work to do?

 

“He destroyed the wolf children’s whole clan. As a member of the Henituse family, it is my responsibility to protect them. The kittens belong to a clan which follows the white star. They were hunted and evicted because of the difference in their powers. The white star is responsible for most of the sorrow that our world suffers. We must all work together to exterminate that piece of flaky dandruff ahem the White Star!” The hero of the Roan kingdom exclaimed passionately. The more people who hated the White Star, the faster the cleanup would be.

 

Deruth felt himself being moved by this impassioned speech, that is, until he found several pieces that didn’t fit the jigsaw puzzle he had painstakingly pieced in his mind.

 

“Wolf children……kittens?” He muttered, completely bewildered. He was happy for his son who had found a purpose in his life, but it also pained him to admit that he couldn’t keep up with his son’s thinking at all.

 

“I am talking about the children who are under my protection. On and Hong are the names of the two children you mentioned.” Cale said with a complex expression. He felt that although the possibility was low, there may just have been a misunderstanding.

 

‘Don’t tell me—’

He thought, alarmed.

‘ —Did he think I kidnapped these children? ‘

 

Deruth Henituse was not somebody without intelligence. Although he was a bit blinded—alright, so maybe he was completely blinded—by the fact that he had adorable grandkids, he quickly changed his conclusions.

 

‘Ah. So it turns out that the rest of the kids were adopted.’ He thought with some relief. He felt a proud feeling welling up inside him. The son who had been throwing tantrums and demanding money had finally grown up, huh.

 

It felt like it was just yesterday that he had to break a bar fight and compensate the owners of the bar. How convenient was the power of perspectives? He conveniently forgot that it was only yesterday, that he had to compensate the owner of a famous bar because his eldest son had thrashed their pub in something that could be described as a bar fight, but was actually a one sided massacre involving a few unsuspecting thieves and bandits and his dear son.

 

“I am sure your siblings and the duchess would love to meet them officially. Bring them to dinner tonight.”

 

“…sure”

 

‘It would be good for the children to meet with people closer to their age. They could play with Lily and Basen.’, Cale thought with a satisfied expression, not understanding the ramifications of the offer. The Henituse family book had just gained three brand new records. Records of his children.

 

“Here, have this and take the kids to play. I believe they haven’t properly seen the Duchy.” Deruth handed his son a cheque with an amount that was just about enough to buy a few hundred manors.

 

Cale twitched the corners of his lips, somewhat unwilling to say that the kids probably knew more about the Henituse territory than Duke Deruth, as the patriarch, knew himself. He took the cheque offered to him, feeling happy. Who was he to refuse this show of goodwill? No matter how many people he scammed  convinced to part with their fortunes, getting free money without asking or working for it was the best!

 

He left the study in high spirits, hoping that his kids had left some desserts for him.

 

If he had looked back, he would’ve been warned by the ‘weird smile’ his father had on his lips.

 

He didn’t, though. And as a result, the misunderstandings brewing had a chance to settle into a thick and stable film over the eyes and hearts of the residents of the Henituse manor.

—————(ಡ ͜ ʖ ಡ)—————

The henituse manor workers saw a horde of children (it was 3, to be precise), ‘playing’ with their eldest young master.

 

The scene was adorable enough for them to find excuses to peek at the father and children.

 

As a result, Cale and his kids had enjoyed around thirteen snack times within three hours. Well, nobody was complaining about the steady flow of delicious snacks, so he had no reason to find faults with whatever the manor workers were doing.

 

“Now we wiww pway ‘kiww the white staw’!”

[baby talk Tl: “Now we will play ‘kill the white star‘!”]

 

“What? Not again!” Cale exclaimed. The white star was really a token of bad luck for him. Nothing went according to plan when the white dandruff was involved.

 

‘haaah…..this world really needs some anti dandruff shampoo’, Cale thought, resigning himself to his fate of forever playing the role of the white star in these games. At this point of time, he might as well paint his face like a clown.

 

“Dad! Look at this! You got the role of the White Star again! Nya!” The children laughed themselves silly as Cale looked at the piece of paper that decided his role (as well as his fate for the next few minutes) in dismay. If he hadn’t been so preoccupied, he would’ve noticed the way On and Hong stared at him a bit longer than usual, as if gauging his reactions. He also didn’t see the smile that shone a thousand times brighter than normal when he didn’t comment on their ‘slip up’.

 

Yes, Cale had gained three little kids somewhere along the way of just…. trying to survive ….. and none of them realised that they had long accepted that fact within their hearts, even if their mouth refused to admit it.

 

“Dad! Hewe is youw cwown mask!” Raon gleefully tied the rather ugly clown mask over Cale’s reluctant face.

 

An thus, the young hero had no choice but to search for his kids who hid in the various corners of the room while giggling excitedly. Then he went through the motions of being defeated by the kids, making rather realistic groaning and painful noises as required with a helpless smile hidden in the curl of his lips.

 

He could see how ‘brutally stabbing’ the White Star could be so satisfying, but he never understood how the kids could be so happy playing the same game again and again. Little did he know that it wasn’t the game, but the person playing with them, that fueled their excitement.

—————(ﾉ≧∇≦)ﾉ ﾐ ┻━┻————

“I am sure that you are busy, So I hope you can let us take the kids out shopping.” Violan startled Cale out of his thoughts.

 

“…..sure?” It was probably a good choice to send the kids with Violan and Lily. It would be good for the kids to meet new people, especially people around their age.

 

He focused on wiping Raon’s sauce stained face— god knew how he was able to get the sauce on his forehead— and then started cutting the children’s steak into small pieces. As a result, he completely missed Violan and Lily’s triumphant smile and Basen’s defeated pout.

 

Deruth cleared his throat and announced “Recently, a new park has been built for children. It has mana powered swings and food stalls. I wonder if the children want to play there……ahem. of course, I have to be there to check this new facility, but I think we can have an outing there.”

 

“An amusement park nya?! It would be so fun nya!”

 

Deruth glowed with pride, feeling accomplished. It had taken gruelling hours and a lot of negotiation to convince Mueller, but in the end, it had been worth it. After all, it was great investment for his grandkids!

 

“B-but what about shopping? ” Lily blinked pitifully. She had learnt quite a few things from her orabuni in the past few years, and it was time to use those tricks.

Cale would never know how much of an……influence……he was for his younger siblings.

“How about we all go for a family outing? We can shop and then enjoy the swings in the amusement park.” Basen pointed out. It was no use. Their war over getting to spend more time with the kids had come to a draw. Both of the sides refused to yield, but their priority had always been to see the children happy.

 

“That’s…..a great idea!” Cale looked at his younger brother with approval shining in his eyes. If they really took the kids out to play for a whole day, wouldn’t he get to slack off for a whole day?

 

‘Aah peaceful life…’ He could already feel the comfort of his soft beddings.

 

“Dad we can have a great time together nya!” On emphasized ‘together’ with a rather calculating glint in her eyes (not unlike a certain scammer who shall remain nameless for the purpose of pretentiousness), as if mocking Cale for having impossible dreams. The silver haired girl really knew her father all too well.

 

“……do I need to go too?”

 

“Of course you do!” The people sitting for breakfast said rather forcefully. Each side had the same nefarious idea of using the unfortunate red-head to somehow keep the other side busy so that they could have the children for themselves. The young hero, who had no idea about the absolutely disgusting plots his family members were concocting with him as the sacrifice, was taken aback with their ‘enthusiasm’.

 

“Can’t I just rest at home?” The slacker felt that he was rather pitiful. Why couldn’t he just get a break?

 

“Pweeeese? How can we have fun when you would be bowed and misewable at home?” Raon blinked his big watery eyes at Cale. The shape of the child’s eyes was the exact same at the eyes he saw when he looked in the mirror, Cale realised with a start. He unconsciously nodded his head. Was there even a choice when you were hit with the full brunt of those pitiful eyes? He guessed not.

 

Well, maybe he would get to sleep under the shade of a tree or something?

—————–⁄(⁄ ⁄•⁄-⁄•⁄ ⁄)⁄—————-

Well, apparently, sleeping under the shade of a tree was not an option.

 

He patted Basen who looked ready to puke after a round of riding in a Roller Coaster. After fighting numerous wars, sitting on a wyvern, using his ancient powers, being yeeted into dangerous situations and being yeeted out of them by his dragon son and family in all but blood, the rides in the facility were a literal walk in the park. But his poor dongsaeng wasn’t made of the same element as he was.

 

Basen Henituse was very much a human, and a human with a weak stomach at that.

 

On, bless her wise little soul, noticed the two brothers and came to help him support Basen who looked disappointed in himself.

 

“I am so sorry. I ruined your outing.” He muttered miserably while On and Cale patted him.

 

“It’s alright!” On smiled brightly. “We have experienced many different things, most of them enjoyable. Dad takes us everywhere with him. So you don’t have to worry about making us enjoy ourselves. We are already enjoying ourselves because of you! For us, who we spend our time with is infinitely more important than how we spend it.”

 

Cale felt proudness welling inside him. Was this the feeling of being a successful father? His daughter was so wise!

 

“How about we take a break and go for a round of shopping and then play on the rides again?” On proposed when she still saw traces of guilt in Basen’s eyes. Being with Cale, she had become apt at reading expressions and moods. Basen was an open book compared to people like Choi Han, Uncle cookie and her own dad.

 

Basen perked up. Even though he was an uncle now, he was still just barely standing at the threshold of being an adult. There was still some childishness left in his demeanor, no matter how hard he tried to drown it under the burdens of responsibilities and rather successful attempts at meeting expectations.

 

“Let’s do that”, he smiled gratefully at the small girl.

 

As On ran to notify the others of the change in plans, Basen whispered to Cale

“I was skeptical at first, but now I am sure of it. You are a great father, hyung-nim”

 

Cale couldn’t help a small smile that bloomed on his lips at the complement.

 

Today. Just for today, The proud father of three great and mighty children decided to not pretend to be confused when people called him a good father. He may regret namy things in his life, but he would never regret taking in the three little blessings that canon-balled into his life. 

—————–〜(꒪꒳꒪)〜——————

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Notes:

Soooo…….did you like it? I’d love to get comments┏(＾0＾)┛

The game ‘kill the white star’ is a game the kids invented in my fic “A Child’s Hand“. You can read it anytime you want. I am tenebris_ash on Ao3, o0phylyra0o on tumblr and crack_g0ddess on insta.

That’s it for now, Phy will come back with another fanfic…..eventually…… Hehe…. Oh right! Please don’t repost my fics and works… Especially on wattpad ^^ (if you want it for offline reading, then just download the pdf/epub/mobi file from my ao3 page. I’ve already given the links above.

Sayonara 〜( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)〜