Chapter 73: Is This Your Daughter? (Castle Bonus)

Lilia had been planning to question Nero about why he hadn’t answered his phone, but the moment she noticed the little girl accompanying him, those questions were forgotten.

"Isn’t that Nero Martinez?" Arnold asked, recognizing the young man immediately.

He had already heard about Nero’s awakening. After all, news involving the Morgan household rarely stayed within its walls for long. The Hyperion Family had lots of connections too, so it was easy to find information about him.

Lilia barely heard him.

Her attention moved between Nero and the girl holding his hand. Although their features weren’t identical, something about their appearances gave her the strange impression that they were related.

Albert seemed to have noticed the resemblance too.

Several guests appeared displeased by Nero’s late arrival, but their expressions quickly changed when Drake personally left the governor to welcome him.

Meanwhile, Richard voiced the question that several others were already wondering about.

"Is that Nero’s little sister?"

"No," Lilly answered, although she couldn’t explain why the two looked somewhat alike.

She saw it too. They did look alike or felt similar to each other.

"He doesn’t have a little sister," Lyris added.

Serina, who had been watching with considerable amusement, suddenly offered another possibility.

"Maybe she’s his daughter?"

"..."

Everyone turned toward her with a blank face.

"What? Don’t look at me like that! You were all thinking they looked related."

Across the hall, Nero noticed Old Man Drake approaching and immediately became nervous.

’Don’t tell me he’s going to thank me for curing him in front of everyone!’

He quickly shook his head, hoping the old man would understand his warning.

Unfortunately, Drake continued approaching with a cheerful smile, so Nero tried signaling him again.

’Old man! Don’t say anything unnecessary!’

Judging by Drake’s increasingly amused expression, he had understood perfectly.

"Ah, Nero! You’re finally here!"

’Great....’

Drake then turned his attention toward Mira.

"Thank you for collecting my old friend’s granddaughter. I hope she didn’t give you too much trouble."

Nero almost sighed in relief hearing this. So he did have a plan.

Since that was the case, he was going to play his part.

"Haha, not at all, Mr. Drake. Since you asked me for a favor, how could I refuse?"

Mira stood beside him with a polite smile, thankfully making no attempt to ask whether Drake knew her big brother was a god.

Meanwhile, Richard turned toward Victoria in surprise.

"He knows your father?"

Victoria was just as confused.

’Since when did Dad become acquainted with Nero?’

Arnold, however, seemed impressed.

"Your boy knows Mr. Drake personally? Impressive, Miss Lilia. You’ve exceeded my expectations."

"..."

Lilia had no idea how to respond to Arnold Hyperion’s praise.

She knew how difficult it was to gain Drake Windsor’s personal attention, yet Nero had somehow managed to become acquainted with him without mentioning anything during dinner.

Even Albert looked toward her for an explanation.

Unfortunately, she was just as clueless.

"Come along, Nero. The banquet hasn’t started yet, and little..."

Drake suddenly paused.

He had confidently invented an old friend and completely forgotten to ask the granddaughter’s name!

Nero’s lips twitched.

’Mira, you old man! Her name is Mira!’

"Mira," Nero quietly supplied.

"Ah, yes! Little Mira. Stay with big brother Nero and enjoy yourself tonight."

"Thank you for inviting me, Mr. Drake," Mira answered politely.

Drake smiled before guiding them toward Victoria’s table.

Once they arrived, he placed a hand on his daughter’s shoulder.

"Victoria, this is young Nero. Look after him for me, alright?"

Nero looked between the two in visible disbelief.

"Wait, she’s your daughter?"

"We’ve already met," Victoria replied as she stared at Nero with a deadpan look on her face.

"Excellent! Then there’s no need for introductions." Drake smiled.

He knew they had most likely met since they went to the same University.

With that, Drake excused himself and returned to his guests, leaving Nero wondering why the old man seemed so eager to escape.

For a moment, nobody at the table spoke.

Then Lucas grabbed an empty chair and pulled it beside him.

"Over here, Nero! I saved you a seat!"

Nero smiled before taking a seat beside Lilly, while a servant brought another chair for Mira.

However, Lilly had been staring at the little girl ever since they arrived, and Mira’s innocent smile wasn’t helping her curiosity.

Before she could ask anything, Victoria spoke first.

"Nero, how exactly do you know my father?"

"We met in a park and became friends over novels."

"...novels?"

"Yeah. He was reading one I knew, so we started talking."

Victoria looked speechless.

Her father had spent years building connections with some of the most influential people in the Federation.

And now he was making friends with university students over novels?

’That old man...’

Meanwhile, Lyris watched Nero settle into the conversation with growing disbelief.

’Who is this... this is not Nero.’

At Richard’s birthday party, Nero had followed her inside looking terrified of attracting anyone’s attention.

Yet tonight, he had arrived late, attracted the attention of almost everyone in the hall, and received a personal welcome from the host himself all while staying calm.

Now he was casually enjoying his drink as though none of it bothered him.

’Since when did Nero become so confident?’

Across the table, Serina caught Nero’s attention and gave him a playful wink.

Nero nearly coughed into his glass.

Seeing his reaction, Serina smiled with satisfaction.

Unfortunately, Victoria wasn’t finished questioning him.

"By the way, Nero. Something tells me you and this little girl are related by blood."

"Pfft!"

Nero nearly spat out his drink.

"What makes you think that? Didn’t Mr. Drake say she’s his old friend’s granddaughter?"

"Yes, but I’ve never seen her before, and you two look rather similar."

"Well... Professor Victoria. You haven’t met every person your father knows, have you?"

"...I’m discovering that tonight."

Nero wisely decided not to continue that conversation.

Meanwhile, Mira pointed toward a pastry on the table, so he placed it on a napkin and offered her a bite.

Lilly watched the interaction with increasing suspicion.

"Nero, tell us the truth. She’s your daughter, isn’t she?"

"Of course not!" Nero said with a baffled look. "She’s ten years old, and I’m eighteen, Lily..."

Lilly opened her mouth, clearly unconvinced, but he continued before she could respond.

"If she were my daughter, I would’ve become a father at eight! I’d have been younger than she is now!"

Lucas burst into laughter.

"Pfft! Hahaha! He’s got a point!"

Fortunately, Richard decided to help.

"He’s right. Nero clearly cares about her, but that doesn’t mean she’s his daughter."

Nero gave Richard a grateful look.

Finally, someone reasonable, in this table.

Richard really was a good person. At least he wasn’t trying to make Nero’s evening more difficult.

Of course, Nero suspected that the resemblance everyone noticed came from the fact that both he and Mira were High-Humans.

As far as he knew, they were the only two complete High-Humans in the world.

But there’s no way he was going to explain that to them here.

Mira then pointed toward a wrapped chocolate bar.

"Big brother, I want that too!"

Nero unwrapped it and offered it to her, but instead of accepting it, Mira kept her hands on her lap.

"I don’t want to get my fingers dirty. Feed me, please!"

"..."

Nero shook his head before holding the chocolate for her to bite.

Serina watched them with an increasingly amused smile.

"You know, Nero, you’d make a wonderful father."

’There it is.’

Nero had been wondering why she was behaving so well tonight.

She had simply been waiting for the perfect opportunity!

"She’s right!" Jasmine agreed, giving him a thumbs-up. "You’re doing a great job!"

Mira giggled along with them.

Nero gave her a betrayed look.

’You’re supposed to be on my side, Mira.’

Meanwhile, Victoria was becoming more curious about Nero with every passing minute.

He had rejected her personal invitation without explaining what kind of training he intended to pursue, yet her father was treating him like an old acquaintance.

And now there was this mysterious little girl who looked strangely related to him.

Something didn’t spill right about this little girl and she couldn’t understand why.

’Just what is this boy hiding?’

Across the table, Lyris seemed to want to say something to Nero, but she hesitated.

However, before she could finally speak, a familiar golden window appeared before Nero’s eyes.

[Please Make a Choice.]