Chapter Text
In such a stuffy office, a figure sat hunched, his eyebrows scrunched up reading the case that was delivered by Sedene. Not only the case is a complicated one, with the side of the defendant providing valid arguments and the prosecutor pursuing their right, but the writing is – hard to read. Not the kind ‘hard to read because my brain can’t comprehend it’ mind you, in his position as a Judge, he has read a bunch of these documents since eons ago.
The problem lay in the way it is written and the newly hired paralegal who wrote this.
He sighed and massaged his temple. This is a new low. What kind of writing is this? The supposedly legal document seemed to be written by a 13-year-old who discovered a site called Wattpad.
His ears perked up when he heard a thud behind him. Like magic, his headache suddenly was gone, blown by the wind. He tried to hide his amused smile (albeit he failed miserably) and continued to flip through the pages of the atrocious writing.
“Papa!” the girl – his adoptive daughter – ambushed (?) him from the side, hugging his side tight. “Did I scare you?” she looked up at him, grinning.
“Oh, yes, very. My heart was about to jump from my chest,” he smiled fondly at her, ruffling her hair.
“Liar! You don’t seem shocked at all,” she put her hands on her hips, giving him an accusing glare. To which he chuckled. He then saw the table which got moved from the side. The girl must’ve hid there before he entered the room, and decided to only come out when he’s engrossed in his work.
“My lady!” a Melusine, Muirne, burst forth, opening the door to his office. “I’m sorry, Chief Judge. I was looking for her everywhere! Is she here? I just heard her voice!”
Neuvillette offered an amused grin when the girl hid behind his back.
“It was just me alone in this office,”
“…But I heard a kid’s voice, Your Honor,”
“Maybe it was just your imagination?” he offered innocently, averting his eyes and focusing on signing the document instead.
Muirne quickly figured out that the Father was allowing the child the ‘bother’ his work. “Alright,” the Melusine nodded. “I guess it was just my imagination,” she relented. “Do tell me if you need anything, Chief Judge. Excuse me,” with that, she left the room.
Neuvillette shook his head and continued writing. That’s before, he felt a weight settle on his lap. A small head appeared under him, looking at the documents in front of him.
“Hey little one,” the Judge cooed. “I’m afraid these documents aren’t as fun as your bedtime stories.”
“I know!” the girl nodded. “I want to help Papa with your paperwork! So that Papa can come home sooner to play with me!” she said, her smile can rival that of a Sun. Cute.
“Really?” Neuvillette seemed amused. “But you can barely read,”
“Huh? I, I can read!” she puffed her cheek.
“Then what does this word read?” he pointed at a word.
“Uh… tomato!”
Neuvillette pointed at a word written ‘commercial.’
“…That’s correct!” he clapped his hands.
She squinted her eyes at him. “Liar! Deceiving someone is a crime punishable by Law!” she pointed her index finger at him.
“My little girl is so smart, you’ll become an exceptional Lawyer someday,” he shook his head, wondering where she heard those sentences from.
“I want to be a Judge like you!” she grinned, showing her teeth.
“Hm? And why is that?”
“So that when Papa won’t overwork anymore! I want to help Papa!”
“That’s a kind gesture,” he pinched her cheek, to which she protested greatly. “You will reach your goal someday,” albeit excited seeing her here, Neuvillette felt tired glancing at the stack of papers. This is going nowhere...
“Do you really want to help Papa?”
“Yes! Can I sign the documents?”
“No, that’s Papa’s work,” he winced at the thought. “Here, instead, I want you to sort out the documents. You can put those that I have signed here, and those that I haven’t signed here,” Neuvillette gestured at two empty spaces on his desk. “Can you do that?”
There seemed to be stars in her eyes. “I can!” she nodded vigorously and began to work.
Before long, they spend hours working on the documents, and it is nighttime already. She seemed drowsy.
“It’s your bedtime already, let’s go home,”
She wiped her eyes. “Is it Papa’s bedtime too? I can ask for the staff to accompany me home if Papa’s work isn’t finished yet…” she mumbled, then glanced at the sofa. “Or I can sleep there!’
The Judge shook his head. “Don’t worry, work is over today,” she scooped her up, and carried her, putting her head on his shoulder. He patted her back and strolled outside of his office. On the way outside, he saw Muirne, seeing the girl she was looking for hours ago, in the flesh, clearly coming out of his office. She shot an accusing glare at him and Neuvillette smiled apologetically.
“Papa,” she mumbled. “Why do you always smell like the rain?”
“Hm? Don’t you like it?”
“I like it a lot!” she quickly jolted back to look at him in the eyes, pushing herself away from her slumped position. She would have fallen if Neuvillette’s hand weren’t there to support her back. “It’s earthy, like the breeze after the rain ended,” she hummed. “Also fresh too, like water!”
“As long as you like it, my dear,” Neuvillette hummed.
She then looked up at the sky, stars were painting the blue dark horizon.
“Papa, do you know what the Hydro Dragon is doing right now?”
“Hm, maybe he is going to sleep too,”
“Really? I hope he sleeps well and has a good dream,” the girl mused.
“I hope so too, my dear,” he smiled.
“Is he feeling happy now?”
Neuvillette closed his eyes. “He is really happy right now, I assure you,”
She giggled. “I’m glad,” she buried her face onto her shoulder. “I hope he will be forever happy,”
“He will be,” Neuvillette nodded.
As long as you’re here by my side.
They arrived home, and Neuvillette opened his house. He put his girl on the bed, pulled her shoes, untied her hair, and put a blanket over her.
“Sleep well, my dear,” he kissed her forehead, and sat on the bed for a while, making sure she had already fallen asleep while holding her hand. After that, she let go of her hand and turned off the light.