Home/The Only Sunshine in a Toxic Novel/ch37

Episode 37. A Comfortable Person

"Thank you, Lucy."

Triton, leading me somewhere, spoke.

"Without you and Lapin, our Obum tribe would have been in real trouble."

"Not really."

At my answer, he tilted his head.

"You should say that to Lapin. Be sure to tell him when he wakes up. Even though Lapin looks sharp on the outside, he likes hearing praise."

Triton burst into laughter.

"I think he only likes your praise. If it weren't for you, he wouldn't have helped us."

I agreed with that. If I hadn't been here, Lapin would have ignored them and told them to figure it out themselves.

"I'm grateful to you too. For coming to see me."

"So what."

It seemed okay for Triton to thank me.

When I accepted it calmly, he smiled again, finding something amusing.

"By the way, that was an incredible power."

Triton recalled Lapin's power as he spoke.

"If I had that power, I could have protected the Obum tribe. Lucy, aren't you envious of that power?"

"Not at all. That's Lapin's power."

"…You're so refreshing, as always. Just like ten years ago. Do you remember what happened with me?"

I vividly remembered playing and talking happily, but the trivial things — the conversations and topics we shared — I couldn't recall.

"Lucy, you said that even if you were an incompetent one, you would become the head of the Ohan family."

He shrugged.

Well, back then it was before I realized this was the world of a novel called <Flower of Revenge>. Thank goodness that dream didn't come true.

"You talked about that for a whole week."

"Crazy. Past me."

Repeating such a terrible thing for a whole week.

"It's not entirely that."

Triton quickly added.

"When I obliquely talked about my worries regarding the Obum tribe and succession, you always encouraged me."

Triton slowed his pace slightly and looked at me.

"It was also you who said that the Obum tribe and humans could coexist."

"I still think that's possible."

Though I'd only stayed a day, what I felt here was that humans and merfolk weren't all that different.

The nuance and way of thinking were somewhat different, but that was an area where the Obum tribe and humans needed to be considerate of each other.

"If my mother were still alive."

He shook his head and replied.

I heard it was a sudden death. Triton had to take on the heavy position of chief without preparation. Perhaps that's why he seemed particularly lacking in confidence in his role.

"The elders have lived over a hundred years."

His voice grew lower.

"It's natural they don't trust me, who just became an adult. I feel the same way. I don't have enough power to block the waves, nor enough wisdom to make the Obum tribe prosperous. I also make many mistakes. Like that slip of the tongue with you earlier."

Ah, that terrifying 'mating.'

"Don't worry too much about that, Triton."

Thinking in reverse, even I, who had studied the Obum tribe, could make that mistake. There was no need to press Triton so harshly.

"It was our mistake."

"Lucy."

"And I meant what I said about you being suited for the chief's position."

"Because I'm a merman who can calmly assess a situation in a crisis?"

"That, and also because you don't take the weight of that position lightly."

Triton swallowed his response.

"You're kind and gentle. You're tolerant and have no fixed preconceptions. Secretly, half of those are things Lapin doesn't have."

It sounded like I was bad-mouthing Lapin, but it wasn't a lie. Lapin was kind and gentle, but only in front of me, and as for tolerance…

I belatedly looked around. If Lapin heard this, he'd definitely sulk and be grumpy all day.

"Ahem, let's stop talking about Lapin."

As I quickly wrapped up, Triton burst into laughter.

"Haha, you're really consistent."

"I wanted to ask earlier too — is that a compliment?"

"Of course."

"Then it's fine."

I also chuckled.

"Lucy, it would have been nice if you had become the Ohan family head."

"That place is so rotten to the core that even if I became the head, I couldn't fix it."

Even if I were paid billions, I'd decline the position of head.

As we walked, a different scenery unfolded before us — we'd reached our destination.

"Here it is, Lucy."

It was a pond with steam rising like a bathhouse. At the center was what looked like a fountain. It seemed like a beautifully carved sculpture or decoration, but the thick smoke in front of it made it hard to see.

Just then, moonlight came through a small hole in the cave ceiling.

"…Wow."

The pouring moonlight swallowed the thick smoke and bathed the fountain. As the smoke cleared, a glittering mermaid statue became clear.

"So beautiful!"

The water flowing below had been purified and was transparent and clear.

"Beautiful, isn't it? It's a mysterious and lovely place. Ten years ago, I told you I wanted to show you this place behind the palace."

"It feels like floating through the night sky!"

At my honest impression, Triton looked pleased.

It felt a shame to see it alone. Lapin would definitely have loved this place too. Feeling regretful, I considered waking Lapin up and bringing him here.

"Being with you puts my mind at ease. Like that moonlight."

"…."

"Even though that's not why I called you."

I took my eyes off the fountain and looked at Triton.

"Did you have something to say?"

"I told you the waves are a harbinger of disaster, right?"

Triton's expression darkened.

"Though we blocked the waves, the sea is still unstable. I have a bad feeling. I'm also worried about Ohan. In fact, when Ohan rejected my proposal, I sent a separate carrier pigeon to you, hoping to get your help."

"To me?"

"Yes. Of course, no reply came. And I worried something had happened to you, so I secretly sent a merman to the Ohan mansion."

My ears perked up at this new information.

"The merman returned without meeting you. To be precise, he couldn't even get close to the Ohan mansion and came back. There was one reason."

He continued.

"He sensed an unusual and unpleasant power there."

"Isn't Ohan always like that?"

It wasn't strange at all. It was perfectly normal.

"That's not what I mean, Lucy."

Triton immediately denied it.

"It was an ominous power, as if it could explode. Rumor has it that Ohan is spending enormous amounts of money and resources on something, but I don't know exactly what. So when you came to find me, I was relieved. At least I knew that unstable power wasn't yours, and I mistakenly thought you'd come to help me."

Triton paused briefly, then continued.

"Though you say you're no longer involved with Ohan, you were once its heir, and the current Ohan head is your father. So what I'm saying is—"

"…."

"I hope you'll always be wary of Ohan."

---

'Ohan is plotting something strange?'

After finishing my conversation with Triton, I returned to the bedroom where Lapin was asleep.

Ohan's schemes… not particularly surprising. Even when I was there, Ohan was always up to something strange.

They had extracted mana and injected it into my body, bought up all the expensive magical items to keep other mage families in check. There were so many other bizarre things I couldn't list them all.

'It's not that I wasn't wary of Ohan.'

Over the years, I'd always kept an eye on Ohan.

Though it was a wild guess, I even thought my brothers, who couldn't hold their own as heirs, might come begging me to return.

After all, my first brother Luigi was fragile and couldn't handle coercion, and my second brother Luca hated meeting people.

But in reality, no one ever came to find me.

"Huh?"

The sleeping Lapin turned over.

I wanted to see his face a little more. It felt too regretful to go back to my room already.

Moving to the other side to see his face, I spotted a space just big enough for me to lie down.

'Ah, this is…'

A temptation too hard to resist.

I was already tired and wanted to lie down anywhere.

'Let me just lie down for a moment and then get up.'

As if drawn in, I settled onto the bed, and his sleeping face came into view up close.

It was far more beautiful than the fountain I'd seen earlier. So much so that I unconsciously wanted to kiss that face.

'Stop those irreverent thoughts.'

I'll just stay like this for a little while and then go back to my room.

Just a little while…

And then I fell asleep just like that.

Back   Next