5. Degenerate Creep (2)
"Right, Kate came earlier than usual." After Kate finished her study routine, Lucian had kept the promise on his part to play with her. Usually, he still had time before she came, but somehow she was early today.
"Mom told me to," Kate replied with a bright smile, happy to be able to come play earlier, which meant more time to play.
"Aunt Layla, huh." Lucian, remembering the date, also smiled gently at Kate.
….
After some time catering to Kate's whim, playing whatever she wanted while trying to teach her some small things here and there, Lucian and Kate together returned to Bentley's mansion at the promised time.
PopPopPop
The moment we entered the dinner room, small paper fireworks popped and Kate jumped in her spot.
Her eyes widened in shock, then slowly processed what's inside. The dinner room had been filled with some beautiful frills, lights, and balloons. It was decorated with many sparkling things that made it beautiful and cute.
On the long table, there was a beautiful cake with candles lit just recently. They must have had the sentries report to them when Kate was coming back.
But unlike the high-class party or the noble's party in the stories where many high-profile people gathered, there was only Bentley's family and Noe's family.
I had some hints about this. Kate had no other friend than me; she played with me almost every day.
Lucian didn't understand the reason. It seemed like they were trying to hide Kate's existence, but at the same time, Lucian himself also never played with others other than Kate. He spent most of his time with Kate, or tablet, or just exercising in disguise of playing.
Maybe it's because of us?
Lucian hypothesized.
"Wuaaauu!" Kate administered everything; finally the reaction caught up with her. She frolicked so happily with the unexpected surprise.
"Happy Birthday, Kate!" Misha and Clive brought Kate a big present box. "This is from Uncle and Aunt," Misha added.
"Thank you, Aunt, thank you, Uncle." Kate, with a big smile, received the box, then quickly turned to Layla. "Mom, I've got a present!" She happily brought it to her.
"Hehe, that's good," Layla replied gently, looking at her daughter pitter-pattering toward her with a big present box almost half of her body.
"Can I open it, Mom?" She was so excited that she… no, she was already hopping in place like a bunny.
"Ehh, Kate wants to open it now?" Kate replied, looked troubled but actually not.
"Unn!!"
"Then, let's ask Aunt Misha." When she replied, her hand was instantly pulled by Kate toward where Misha was.
"Auntie! Can I open the present? Can I? Can I?"
"Of course, dear," Misha said very warmly as if she was her own daughter. A strange thought came into Lucian when seeing his own mother's reaction that seemed to want a daughter herself.
It's strange with their passionate love, but I never had a younger sister or brother. Don't tell me… something's wrong with Father?!
Lucian unconsciously stared at Clive, who was having a great time with Paul.
Yes, let's stop this thought here.
"Then, let's open it together." Misha's suggestion made the three busy themselves with the present.
Meanwhile, Lucian went to the other family. "Hi, Ella. What did Ella do today?"
"Luu!!" She smiled brightly the same as ever. She was influenced by Kate; that's why she called Lucian like that too. "You know, you know, today Ella and Mom baked a cake together." She made gestures with her hand as if she was making the cake herself.
"Wow. Ella's so good!" Lucian patted her head.
"Luu, look!" From another side of the room, Lucian could see a big bear plushy walking toward him. Kate was hugging it from behind, carefully approaching him.
"So cute, do you like it?"
"Like it!" Kate quickly turned and went toward her father.
The party continued until Kate and Ella finally tired and fell asleep. Lucian was taking care of them, making sure they didn't hurt themselves while sleeping on the sofa.
***
Lucian had decided to not think much about his past life and focused himself on this life. Aside from his filial piety toward his parents, he only had his own purpose left.
As people grew up, there were many regrets on the road. In this life, Lucian wanted to live without regrets. One of them was that he did not have a girlfriend. He spent his time on his hobbies, anime, manga, etc.
I didn't just watch fantasy, but many slice-of-life genres too.
Not long after the party, Kate and Lucian finally enrolled in a kindergarten near their houses.
It was just your usual kindergarten in the neighborhood, with nothing special. Maybe if there was, it was because it was in the neighborhood of houses like Bentley's mansion, so it must have been more pricey than normal.
While enrolling in this kindergarten, Lucian had to play with a child this age, which was really mentally taxing, but he did it with quite a light heart.
Welp, I'm not grooming, I will just make a favorable impression. Who knows what will happen in the future…
This degenerate creep… even the narrator was speechless.
Since Kate became 5 years old, the frequency of her visits toward Lucian had decreased, especially every Tuesday and Thursday. She would be gone for the whole day. Because of the sudden change, Lucian had asked her in curiosity, and it seemed Kate was receiving some special education from Layla.
"Mom said it's a secret, so it's a secret, but if Luu really wanted to hear it…" Kate said, almost tearing up by not wanting to reveal the secret but also not wanting to reject Lucian.
"It's fine," Lucian reassured.
Actually, Lucian not having to spend time with Kate all the time was also a good thing. In his toddler state, he was so bored that the only thing he could waste time on was moving his body. Thanks to that, he was quite addicted to it and was still continuing to exercise even now.
Then he also realized the weirdness in his body. Now that he had more free time, he would be able to explore more about his weirdness.
And another year had passed just like that.
What kind of crime had Lucian done? Well, not much. What kind of favorable impression can you give to those immature brats? He just acted like a leader, a big brother, where everyone could play happily without any conflict or tears. More than that? Are you crazy? He is not someone who's sick in the head!
As for Kate in the past year, she had become more mature. It wasn't just her way of speaking but also her way of conduct; it seemed she was trying to copy Layla's conduct one by one.
With a creep like Lucian, it was impossible for him not to think what kind of lady Kate would become in the future. For their relationship not to be stuck in the friend zone or sibling zone in the future, he had to pull and make some distance, but…
I started to see her as my real sister…
I wish the best for her.
For a moment, Lucian felt like he was being cleansed with an enlightenment. He would no longer ever see Kate in a weird way anymore.
***
What comes after kindergarten? Of course, it's elementary school.
It might be a celebration day for a normal child, but to Lucian it was just another day.
Thanks to Kate saying she had her own things to do, Lucian spent his time as usual.
His hypothesis also seemed true. There was a parameter on his body: when it passed a certain point, like a bonus was added to all his stats. When he was still a toddler with stats maybe like 1~5, +1 to all stats might seem big, but now it was just a small boost—nevertheless, still a boost.
He was jogging around the neighborhood. However, from an outside POV, he liked playing though because of his physical age.
There was a park not too far but also not too close from Lucian's house; it was the place he always used as a landmark to know how far he had run every day. He didn't know if it was because it was too far from the usual housing complex or because it was too close to Bentley's mansion. Because the mansion took so much land, there was almost no one using that park.
That's why seeing that there was actually someone in the park made him curious. Once he got closer, he saw… a girl sitting alone. Even from a distance, Lucian could see she wasn't having fun.
With some curiosity, Lucian approached the girl.
A lonely girl sitting alone in the park, approached by a neighborhood boy—it's the template childhood memory.
With some hidden agenda, he approached her. She had short black hair, wearing also a black-colored outfit, which was quite strange as kids their age usually wore something more colorful, but at least there were some feminine frills on her outfit.
"Hi, are you okay?" Lucian approached with a warm smile, trying to be as harmless as ever.
"..." But he didn't get any answer.
Yup, this is usually what happened in the novel too.
Lucian wasn't discouraged by the silence and tried again. "Um, if you need help, I can help you."
"..." Despite the second silence, Lucian wasn't that easy to break.
Taking a bolder approach, he touched her slumped shoulder. "I really can—"
"ANNOYING! LEAVE ME ALONE!" she yelled with all her strength toward Lucian, then quickly slapped his hand and left the park, leaving the frozen statue of Lucian alone.
Some moment later…
"...damn," Lucian cursed meekly. "I'll never believe in a novel ever again." He dejectedly resumed his jogging. At least some part of his heart was relieved. He was always afraid to reach out to strangers before being able to take a step forward in this world.
Even so… this degenerate creep got what he deserved!