The next day, I woke up to the same home I came to love. I sat up on my bed as I let my mind travel and digest the event that just happened in the dreamland.

Then, sadness engulfed me for a moment.

It was sad and disappointing how reality worked. If it were a fiction, in this kind of plot, my father would have miraculously weep and then proclaim his fatherly love towards me. His regrets for not cherishing me as he should have.

But I know.

Such a thing could only happen in a happy fictional story, and not real life.

I was indeed disappointed, but such was the world.

 

The day began as usual. Apparently, I woke up too early and Chloe was still cooking our breakfast. The delicious smell floated from the kitchen as I was already in the first floor.

I walked towards the family room that was located in the first floor, thinking about what I should do to begin my day. Fenrir was still lying on the bed, and I let him rest after last night’s hard work. I would call him after breakfast is ready.

When I entered the room, I saw Dad who was sitting on the sofa, reading a book.

He also noticed me as he shifted his gaze from his book to my direction—then he closed the book and put it aside.

“Morning, Lyra. Did you have a nice sleep?” He greeted me with a gentle smile, and a gentle voice as he asked.

Exactly at that moment, I felt a pang in my heart. Not a painful pang, but something warm spread in my heart. It felt a little bit melancholic for some reason.

And that pang in my heart prompted me to approach Dad as I lifted my hands up at him.

 

Dad showed a hint of surprise, but he immediately extended his hand to gently grab me, as if it was the most natural thing to do.

I sat on his lap as I clung to him.

Even if I had grown up this big, Dad was still considerably taller and bigger than me. Being in his lap or embrace like this felt very warm and calming. Perhaps I was seeking for this comfort from him. I didn’t even feel embarrassed like I always would.

Dad patted my head as my eyes narrowed, enjoying the comfort.

Mmm, it feels really warm.

This is the fatherly love I’ve always wanted. The one I never got from Father, but thankfully now I can get it anytime from Dad.

As I thought that way, I felt like a deeply buried wound in my heart was slowly being healed.

 

“What’s wrong, Lyra?” Dad asked with a concerned voice. I looked up at him and was met with his worried eyes. Warmth spread throughout my body. Surely, I felt really loved at this moment.

“Nothing, just missing you,” I replied before I could even think of my words.

“Huh? Did something happen? Did you have a nightmare?” Dad asked again.

Well, I guess it’s really unusual for me to act pampered like this. It’s no wonder he’s concerned.

“Mm… I think I had a nightmare where we hadn’t met for a long time. It was very realistic,” I said as I nodded.

This is the only good excuse I can think of.

 

“There, there. I will not go anywhere, Lyra,” Dad said as he continued to pat me, my back this time.

His familiar pat was so comforting that I closed my eyes to indulge in this comfort.

“Was it a really bad dream? There, there, you must have been scared,” Dad said.

I shifted my position so I could hug Dad and buried my face on his chest.

“…!!”

I could tell Dad was very delighted from his reaction. He tried to stay calm because he was comforting me, and perhaps he didn’t want me to snap from this condition, as he didn’t hug me tighter like he usually would.

In the past, when he did that, I would always wriggle from his embrace. He learned from experiences, indeed.

“You know, you don’t need to have any reason if you want to be pampered. You can always come to me any time and we can hug or do something to help you lift up your mood,” Dad said.

I nodded slightly.

“It was really a scary dream…,” I said in a low voice.

But that was only an excuse to justify my unusual action.

 

 

“Aaaah! Lyra-nee is already here!!”

Freyja’s loud and cheerful voice was heard after I was pampered by Dad for a while.

“AAAAH!! Not fair! Dad, me too!” Freyja’s footsteps could be heard, coming closer.

I shifted my position and I saw Freyja right in front of me, extending her hand towards Dad as Dad also welcomed her.

Small Freyja was next to me as the three of us hugged. I smiled looking at Freyja’s expression turning from the pouting one she had into that of a big grin.

She is so adorable!

 

“Whoa, what are you doing?”

Alt-nii’s voice could be heard this time.

I turned around to see Alt-nii walking alongside Freyr who was yawning.

After he finished yawning, Freyr noticed what his two sisters were doing and walked up to join us. Of course, we welcomed him with open arms.

“Want to join, Alt?” Dad asked.

“What? No, thank you, I’m too old for that,” Alt-nii said with a surprised look on his face.

Dad laughed before he said, “No matter how old you all will be, you’ll always be my little children.”

 

Even though his words were directed to Alt-nii to tempt him to join, I was the one feeling saved by his words.

“Alt-nii, join us!” Freyja waved her hand at Alt-nii.

“Join,” Freyr added.

“Wha—why would I? You guys can go ahead!” Alt-nii still refused in embarrassment.

“Alt-nii, the older you get, the less you can do this,” I also chimed in.

“Geh, that’s right, but—,” Alt-nii was finally in dilemma.

“It’s not every day too, right?” Dad added.

“Yeah, yeah, come here, Nii-nii!” Freyja cheerfully invited Alt-nii.

Freyr was also looking expectantly at him.

I followed after Freyr and looked at him silently.

“…Lyra, you too… Sigh, it can’t be helped,” Alt-nii finally relented and let go of the embarrassment. He walked and joined us in our family hug time.

 

“Are you guys here? Breakfast is ready—Oh my, that’s rare,” Mom walked in on us hugging one another lovingly.

“Cass, come and join us!” Dad waved his hand to Mom.

“What? Why would I?” Mom’s first response was this.

She was exactly like Alt-nii.

From what I observed, I knew both Mom and Alt-nii wanted to join but was a bit embarrassed. Normally, I would act like that, too.

Eventually, Mom also joined us and we laughed together.

 

“Why don’t we prepare some portable beds and sleep together outside as we watch the night sky tonight?” Dad suddenly had an idea.

“Eh?!” We were surprised, but nobody seemed to be opposing his idea.

I thought about it for a while.

Tonight, I would be confronting Mother. It would be more nerve-wrecking than when I was with Father last night and I might wake up feeling terrible after.

Perhaps I would be needing the comfort of my family before and after that nerve-wrecking confrontation.

“That’s a nice idea!” I expressed my enthusiasm towards this idea.

It had been so long since we last did a family event like this. And now, the timing was just perfect.

It seemed like the god was on my side…?

 

Thus, it was decided that later tonight, we were going to have a small family event in our own comfortable backyard, yaay!

To fit the theme, we had a barbeque for dinner. The maids and the workers also joined, and the atmosphere was so cheerful and bright.

After that, we lied down in the open as we looked up at the sky, Mom and Dad trying to tell us stories related with the stars. Well, we had some astronomy books to access as we tried to analyse the stars.

 

The twins were the first to get tired as suddenly, the lively and loud Freyja became silent. It was then that we realized how she fell asleep. Freyr was intrigued with astronomy, so he tried his best to be awake although his eyes seemed to be heavy and he seemed to briefly fall asleep from time to time.

It was the signal that we needed to stop and just sleep.

Rurune and Fenrir were sleeping not far from us.

As I prepared to sleep, I turned to look at Fenrir, who noticed my gaze and signalled with his eyes that tonight would proceed smoothly as usual.

It was odd how I could understand him easily from his eyes. It was true that Familiars had a special bond with their contractors. I felt so lucky I could experience this first hand…!

 

I was getting anxious to sleep as it meant I would have to see Mother as Reinst after I slept, but when I opened my eyes and turned left and right, I could see my beloved family members and that made me relax.

Finally, I was able to drift to sleep…

 

And the last one I had to encounter to break off my past chain was…

The last boss—Mother.