Lackey's Seducing Survival Odyssey

Chapter 1823: Even the Devil Has a Heart: Part II

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“…”

Young Aether blankly stared at the message, his face looking as though someone had just fed him a plate of shit. He had been expecting something strange, something important, perhaps even some huge secret hidden behind the message…

But it was freaking spam.

^I told you~^

RIN’s voice sounded almost amused inside his head.

RIN had already identified it as a spam message, yet something about it still felt strangely off to Young Aether.

He stared at the message for a few more seconds; he deactivated his visor and entered the car.

He glanced toward Lily, who was already sitting in the driver’s seat. “Where are we going now?”

Lily smiled as she started the car. “You’ll see, Unc. Just relax.”

Young Aether leaned back in his seat with a resigned expression.

As the car pulled away, he glanced at the apartment one last time through the window. His expression softened for a moment when Allen crossed his mind, but it soon became slightly frowning and thoughtful.

Then he noticed Noah.

The little boy was staring at Young Aether from the seat beside him, his lips slightly pouted and his eyes still carrying a hint of… Anger?

“…”

Young Aether quietly sighed.

Whatever.

He would let the children do whatever they wanted for now.

Perhaps this was better than spending the entire day sulking.

Soon, Young Aether’s ears twitched when he heard the distant sound of splashing water. At first, he thought he had imagined it, but the sound grew clearer as they continued driving.

He tilted his head toward the window.

Beyond the buildings, an endless stretch of blue suddenly appeared beneath the bright morning sky.

The ocean.

“Beach?” Young Aether asked, his eyebrows lifting slightly.

Lily smiled as she guided the car into a nearby parking lot. “Yep.”

She parked the car, stepped outside, and opened the rear door. She picked up her little brother and then turned toward Young Aether, who was still sitting inside with a confused expression.

“Come on, Unc~”

She waved her hand at him with a bright smile.

Young Aether sighed before stepping out of the car. He looked toward the glittering ocean, then back at Lily.

“Seriously, what are we going to do here?”

“Waahh!!”

Noah’s eyes were already sparkling.

The moment he saw the shoreline, his little hands stretched toward the water as though he had discovered the greatest treasure in the world.

Lily giggled.

“See? This is your punishment for scaring Noah!” she declared.

“Until Noah and Uncle become friends, we’re not leaving this place.”

She lifted Noah slightly in her arms.

“Noah, let’s gooooo~~!”

“WWOOOOO~~!”

Noah shouted happily and kicked his tiny legs as Lily carried him toward the beach.

Young Aether stared at them for a moment before facepalming.

“These two are unbelievable…”

With another sigh, he jogged after them.

A little while later, Lily returned from one of the nearby changing facilities with Noah.

She had found a place where they could change into more suitable beach clothes, and after paying for the use of the facility, she emerged wearing a cute, light-colored beach outfit. Noah had also changed into a small pair of swim shorts, and his excitement seemed to have multiplied now that there was nothing standing between him and the ocean.

The moment Noah’s tiny feet touched the warm sand, he immediately tried to run toward the water.

“Wait, wait, wait!”

Lily quickly caught him by the back of his shirt before he could escape.

“You’ll go flying before you even reach the water.”

“WAAHH!!!”

“Yes, beach.”

“WAAAHHH!!!”

“Yes, Noah. Water.”

“WAAAAHHH!!!”

“I heard you the first time!”

Lily burst into laughter as she finally let him go.

Noah immediately dashed across the sand, his tiny feet kicking up little clouds of sand behind him.

Young Aether stood several steps behind them, staring blankly at the scene.

He was also wearing a pair of cute shorts decorated with little elephants.

Honestly, quite a few ladies nearby were secretly glancing in his direction. His physique naturally drew attention, but especially ridiculous elephant-print shorts that made them even more look at him.

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The ladies giggled among themselves.

Young Aether didn’t notice any of it.

His attention was fixed entirely on the sight before him.

Something about it was strange.

Not bad strange.

Just… unfamiliar.

Lily was laughing as she chased after Noah, her voice blending with the sound of the waves and the distant chatter of people along the beach. Noah ran along the shoreline with his tiny legs, his face glowing with pure excitement whenever a wave approached his feet.

“Waahh!”

A small wave rolled toward him.

Noah immediately jumped backwards, his eyes widening in surprise.

Then another wave came.

He jumped again.

And again.

Soon, he was laughing so loudly that several people nearby turned to look.

Lily laughed along with him, following closely behind as Noah continued his tiny battle against the ocean.

Young Aether simply stood there, watching them.

The Morning light reflected across the water, scattering countless little sparks over the surface.

For some reason, the sight made something inside his chest feel strangely quiet.

He had seen countless things before.

Battles… Death… Blood… Destruction.

But this…

A child laughing because a wave touched his feet.

A girl laughing as she chased after him.

His arms hung loosely at his sides.

His expression remained completely blank.

“…”

He had no idea what he was supposed to do.

But somehow, standing on a beach while watching two children happily run around was far more confusing.

Both Lily and Noah were playing happily along the shore without a hint of worry or fear.

There was nothing complicated in their expressions, nothing hidden behind their laughter. They were simply enjoying themselves, lost in the pure, uncomplicated happiness of childhood.

Unconsciously, Young Aether’s lips curled into a gentle smile. The white mist from one of his eyes flickered faintly, almost imperceptibly, as if something pure were slowly entering his body.

“Excuse me.”

He turned his head.

A man standing nearby was looking at him with an amused smile.

“Are those your siblings?”

Young Aether glanced toward Lily and Noah.

Lily was currently trying to stop Noah from charging directly into the ocean, holding onto the back of his shorts, which had nearly slipped down and exposed his little pee~pee!

So funny!

“Haha… Kinda…”

Young Aether looked toward them again.

“…They are.”

Before the conversation could continue, Lily suddenly appeared in front of him.

“Unc!”

“Hmm?”

“Come play with us!”

“…I don’t think so.”

Lily blinked.

“…No?”

“No.”

“Why?”

“Because I don’t want to.”

Lily stared at him for several seconds.

Young Aether stared back.

Then she smiled.

“Oh.”

That smile immediately made Young Aether suspicious.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“Then why are you smiling like that?”

“Come on, Noah.”

Lily turned around.

“Noah!”

“Unc!”

Noah came running toward them with his tiny legs, his face still bright from playing near the water.

Lily grabbed his little hand and brought him directly toward Young Aether.

Young Aether’s expression slowly changed.

“Don’t.”

“Unc doesn’t want to play, so we’re leaving, Noah~”

Noah’s face immediately fell.

“…”

Young Aether stared at him.

That tiny, disappointed expression was somehow more effective than any threat.

“Waahh?”

Noah’s lower lip trembled as he looked as though he were about to cry.

Young Aether’s eyebrow twitched.

“Don’t do that.”

Yet Lily continued with a wicked grin.

“Unc doesn’t like Noah anymore, so he doesn’t want him to play… sniff, sniff… so pity~”

“I never said that.”

Young Aether looked at Lily.

Lily was doing everything possible to hide her laughter, her shoulders trembling as she tried to maintain her innocent expression.

Noah’s lips pursed as though they were about to fall apart from the effort of holding back his tears.

Young Aether’s lips twitched left and right as if he were rapidly approaching his limit.

“Wah—”

Noah parted his mouth to cry when…

“Fine!! Damn it!!”

Young Aether finally growled.

Noah’s face instantly brightened.

“WAAHH!!”

“Hehe~”

Lily gave him an innocent giggle, as if she had just successfully sprung the most obvious trap in the world.

Young Aether couldn’t believe that a brat who wasn’t even half his age had somehow managed to compel him.

Before Young Aether could reconsider his decision, Noah grabbed his hand with both of his tiny hands.

“Waah!!”

“…”

And just like that, Young Aether was dragged toward the sand by two creatures without a hint of fear.

A few minutes later, he found himself sitting on the ground.

He looked around at the sand.

“What are we doing?”

“Castle!”

Lily proudly pointed toward the pile of wet sand in front of them.

Young Aether stared at it.

Then he stared at Lily.

“…That’s a pile of dirt.”

“Castle!”

“It’s dirt!”

“CASTLE!”

“Fine. Castle.”

Lily laughed as she sat down beside them.

“Okay, Uncle. You make the walls.”

“…”

Young Aether stared at the pile of wet sand with an expression of quiet resignation.

“Waahh!”

Noah was already scooping wet sand into his tiny hands before enthusiastically handing it to Young Aether.

“Waaahhh!!”

“Right, right.”

Young Aether sighed and began gathering the sand.

As his fingers sank into the cool, wet grains, Noah happily continued bringing him more sand while Lily started shaping another section of their little castle.

For a moment, Young Aether simply watched them.

Then, without realising it, the faint smile returned to his face.

At first, he had absolutely no idea what he was doing.

Lily showed him how to pile the wet sand together and press it down firmly. Noah, meanwhile, was apparently in charge of decorating the castle, which mostly involved grabbing random shells and pushing them into the walls.

“That’s too big, Noah! D-Don’t push! Dang it!!!!!!”

Young Aether watched in horror as the meticulously prepared wall collapsed after Noah pushed a large stone into it.

“Waahh!!”

“Oi… are you saying that I constructed it weakly?”

“Wah!”

Noah nodded.

“…”

Young Aether’s eyebrows twitched.

“That’s it, brat! I’ll show you who I am.”

He immediately started working on the castle with maximum efficiency, without the slightest hesitation.

Noah, too, went off to pick up whatever things were available.

Watching the two boys having fun, Lily stood silently and smiled.

As she looked at her leg, the fear inside her slowly faded away. Judging by Noah’s actions, she could tell that he had forgotten about the incident as well.

“Noah! Do not put your hand into the walls! It will collapse!!”

“Waahhh!!”

“Dang you, brat! You’re breaking it on purpose now!”

“WaWaWa~”

Noah giggled happily.

Lily smiled and leaned closer to whisper into Young Aether’s ear.

“You’re really getting into this.”

“…”

Young Aether blinked as he realised what he was doing.

“…I am not.”

“You’ve been building that wall for ten minutes.”

“I’m making sure it doesn’t collapse… Damn it, brat! Don’t sleep on it!!”

Young Aether shouted as he immediately reached over and picked up Noah, who was about to break the wall again.

Lily shook her head, laughing.

Eventually, the little pile of sand slowly began to resemble an actual castle.

Half an hour later, Noah proudly sat beside it.

“WWAAHH!!!”

Young Aether looked at their creation.

It was crooked.

Way crooked!!

One side was taller than the other. A small moat surrounded it. Shells were scattered everywhere, and the top tower was leaning dangerously to one side.

“…”

Young Aether closed his eyes and prayed internally.

‘I am not building any more shit in my life ever again.’

“Unc…”

Lily weakly glanced at him, her face practically screaming, ‘What the heck am I seeing?’

“I know… Please don’t say a word.”

Young Aether covered his face, looking as though the sight itself was physically painful.

Lily shook her head, then joined them and soon enough, the three of them continued playing.

They built another tower.

Then another.

Noah destroyed half of it.

Lily complained.

Young Aether rebuilt it.

Noah destroyed it again.

At some point, Lily scooped up a handful of wet sand and tossed it lightly at Young Aether’s arm.

He looked down at the sand.

Then slowly looked at her.

Lily froze.

“…Oops.”

Young Aether narrowed his eyes.

“No.”

Lily immediately stood up.

“Wait.”

Young Aether picked up a small handful of wet sand.

“Unc, don’t!”

He tossed it.

The sand hit Lily’s shoulder.

At the same time, another handful of wet sand struck him directly in the face.

“WAAAH!”

Noah giggled happily, his tiny hands covered in wet sand as he proudly celebrated his successful attack.

“PFFF~ Ahahahah!”

Lily burst into laughter.

Young Aether stared at them in disbelief.

He slowly wiped the sand from his face.

Then he smiled.

“Oh, you’re soooo dead.”

“NOOO~!”

“WWAAAHHH~~!”

Both of them laughed and ran away while Young Aether chased after them, throwing wet sand again and again. The two siblings moved randomly across the beach, desperately trying to escape each attack while their laughter rang through the air.

For once, Young Aether didn’t care how ridiculous he looked.

He simply laughed with them.

An hour later, Young Aether and the two siblings stood before a huge sandcastle, almost the size of a normal adult.

“Yaaayy!!!”

“WWAAHHH!!”

Both siblings jumped around happily, staring at the sheer size of their creation.

“Unc! You are great!” Lily said as she looked at the structure.

It was almost difficult to believe that it had been made from nothing but wet sand. The towers stood firmly, the walls were carefully shaped, and the entire thing looked as though someone had actually studied how a real castle was constructed.

Young Aether smirked with haughtiness.

“That’s the Greatest Uncle for you~”

Lily smirked.

“Wait! Let me upload this to TipTop. The likes and shares are about to blast!”

She immediately started recording the castle.

Meanwhile, Noah played inside it. Since the castle was so large, he could easily crawl through the entrance and run around inside, laughing as he explored his little kingdom.

Young Aether smiled as he walked back and sat down on the sand.

He touched his chest.

He didn’t know why, but for some reason, he felt…

Happy?

Was this happiness?

He wasn’t sure.

But he was genuinely happy.

His lips curled upward, and for once, the expression didn’t feel forced or unnatural.

It was simply there.

Real!

He blinked several times before gently shaking his head.

“So, look at my greatest, hottest Unc~! He’s the one who built this huge castle. Say hi to the world, Uncle~”

Lily held the live hologram in her palm, the translucent screen displaying the rapidly increasing number of viewers.

Young Aether smiled and raised two fingers in a peace sign.

“Hi, guys.”

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Those simple words were enough to send the livestream into an absolute roar.

Lily blinked before adopting a deadpan expression.

“I cannot believe you guys… My rating just went up? All because I showed my uncle’s face? Is that why? The heck?”

She looked at her uncle once more and clicked her tongue with slight annoyance.

“Yeah, sure. Handsome faces have everything easy!”

Young Aether smirked.

He looked toward the viewers and made an elegant, almost shamelessly sexy gesture as he casually combed his hair back.

“I am pure single, ladies~”

[+4000 AP]

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…

..

Young Aether was slightly taken aback by the sudden flood of Affection Points.

‘They sure are desperate.’

He thought with an amused expression.

Lily’s lips twitched as she noticed the countless viewers asking him to marry them, promising that they would work for the rest of their lives.

“Seriously…”

She immediately cut off the broadcast and sat beside Young Aether.

For a while, neither of them spoke.

They simply watched Noah playing inside the enormous sandcastle, his laughter drifting through the warm ocean breeze as he crawled through one of the entrances and happily explored his little kingdom.

Young Aether eventually spoke softly.

“Yes… You’re not a child, Lily.”

The words came from his heart.

It wasn’t difficult for him to understand what she was doing.

In fact, she acted far more maturely than he had when he was her age… maybe even now?

Lily smiled gently and shook her head.

“No, I am… still a child.”

She pulled her knees close to her chest and rested her arms around them.

“I still get angry over small things. I get annoyed when my parents spend more time with Noah than me. It really annoys me sometimes!”

Her expression softened as she looked toward the ocean.

“Yet, my father protects me all the time… My mother takes care of me so gently. I love every moment they spend with me, but I never said a word about it.”

She slowly clenched her fist.

“But one day… I wanted to become strong enough to protect them for everything they’ve done for me. I wanted to repay them someday.”

Young Aether smiled gently and nodded his head.

“Well, that’s not something a thirteen-year-old child should be saying.”

He understood her, more or less.

He understood why she was trying so hard to act grown.

Hard times create strong people.

And she had been born into hard times.

So she had learned to become strong.

Young Aether glanced at her.

“What do you want to become in the future?”

Lily fell silent for a moment before answering.

“Initially, I wanted to become a soldier and rise through the ranks until I reached the Commander level or maybe the Governor level, but…”

“But?”

“…But now, I want to become a doctor.”

“A doctor?”

“Yeah…”

Lily looked toward Noah and spoke quietly.

“For my little brother.”

Young Aether frowned in confusion.

“Noah?”

“I want to understand what happened to him.”

Young Aether frowned. “Dear… what happened to him?”

Lily turned silent for a second before saying,

“The doctors said it was trauma, but they couldn’t tell us what caused it. Noah stopped speaking one day, and I couldn’t do anything.”

“…”

She clenched her little fist.

“I-I… d-don’t want to stand there helplessly a-again.”

“…”

Young Aether blinked.

His eyes slowly shifted toward Noah, who was happily playing inside the castle.

Noah was mute?

“So that’s why he kept saying only those things… I thought he just hadn’t learned how to speak.”

Young Aether muttered in utter shock.

Lily gave him a deadpan expression.

“Come on, Unc. He’s five years old!”

“Huh…”

Young Aether blinked again as he stared at Noah.

“How? When did this happen?”

Lily shook her head.

“I’m not sure… but one day, just a few months ago, Noah suddenly stopped speaking. The doctor said he had experienced some kind of trauma, which caused him to become mute.”

“…”

Young Aether blinked.

“Trauma? What kind of trauma?”

Lily shook her head.

“We don’t know… Dad and Mom haven’t found the problem yet”

She slowly stretched out her hand.

“So yeah… I want to cure my brother’s muteness… along with everything we went through. I want to support my family.”

Young Aether nodded in understanding.

“That’s a good goal.”

“WAAHH!!”

Suddenly, Noah’s cry echoed across the beach.

Both of them snapped their heads toward him.

Noah was no longer inside the castle.

He had somehow run straight toward the ocean, wearing a proud expression as the waves began pulling at his tiny body.

“That damn brat!”

“NOAH!!”

Lily shouted in horror.

Step!

Young Aether immediately moved.

He was faster than Lily could even react.

Meanwhile…

A camera silently focused on Lily’s back.

Snap!