In an elegant room in one of the most expensive manors in Paradise Cove, two individuals sat staring at each other. Despite the blinding rays of the setting sun illuminating the room and painting it in beautiful colors, the atmosphere of the room was unbearably dark, as if mourning the death of someone.

The taller individual was dressed in an all-black suit. His dark brown hair was slicked back, exposing the handsome planes of his face, while his hands were clasped together as his intense gray eyes stared intently at the smaller individual.

The smaller individual was dressed in a yellow and black outfit with little white sneakers. His curly hair framed his face in a fluffy cloud while his large green eyes were narrowed in anger as his small mouth pouted.

The two identical faces, differing only in their age and eye color, stared at each other silently before the bigger figure broke the silence.

“So you heard your Auntie Val is leaving.”

“No!” Luca immediately protested.

“It’s not forever. She has to go to work. Then she’ll come back”

“I want to go with her!” Luca protested angrily.

“No. She doesn’t have time to take care of you while she is gone.” Kaiser coldly interrupted his son.

“I- I can take care of myself!”

“Take care of yourself? How? I see that you still get Valentina to feed you.”

“I’m her little nugget s-so she can feed me sometimes,” Luca argued back, not losing momentum.

“You didn’t even eat your carrots at lunch. Don’t think I didn’t see you sliding them over to Valentina.”

“We’re trading,” Luca muttered quietly as he looked down sadly.

“5 carrots for one green bean is not a trade; it’s a bribe. Who do you think you’re fooling? Properly stay home quietly while she goes to work. You can talk to her on the phone when she’s free, but you have to stay here.”

Luca was silent for a moment as he thought before he proposed a counterargument, “My mission! I have to give her medicine in the morning.”

“I will send the medicine to her. There’s no need for you to go.” Without hesitating, Kaiser killed his son’s dreams.

Completely out of options, Luca glared angrily at Kaiser; his cheeks puffed up as he sulked.

“Are you going with her?”

“Of course, I have to accompany her.”

“No fair! Why do you get to go? I want to go too! I want to go!”

Seeing the full-blown tantrum that was about to explode, Kaiser arched his brow before coldly pointing upstairs.

“Are you going to wake your auntie by crying?”

“Ughhh….but I want to go! Why do you get to go?” Luca quieted down but still insisted.

“Well, for one, I’m an adult, and you’re not. And I’m going to drop off your auntie and then come back to stay with you. You’ll stay with Grandma and Grandpa or your uncle until I get back.”

“I want to go drop her off.”

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“No. You’re already throwing a tantrum before she leaves; why would I trust you that you’ll obediently come back without doing the same thing when it’s time to come back?”

Hearing the words, Luca felt himself begin to tear up, but he held his tears in and just looked at his dad with the pitiful expression that always worked with his auntie. Unfortunately, Kaiser was not his favorite Auntie Val, and he did not fall for his tricks.

“Are you done? Will you be properly staying at home?” Kaiser asked callously, completely disregarding the sad expression. He wasn’t one to spoil a child and felt that Luca had been throwing a lot of tantrums lately.

There was a moment of silence as the two stared at each other, but this time Luca broke it.

“I hate you, you, you are ugly!!” Luca yelled out angrily.

Seeing the puffed-up cheeks, Kaiser laughed before reaching out and poking them.

“How rude of you. You think I’m ugly?”

“Yes! You’re an ugly meanie! Meanie ugly monster!”

“Are you sure I’m ugly? Have you looked in the mirror lately? Who do you think you look like? Hmm?”

As Luca stared at him in disbelief, Kaiser continued laughing at him.

“You don’t believe me? Come look at some photos. You look just like me when I was your age. Down to that curly hair of yours.”

Kaiser pulled out his phone and held up a photo of him and Roman when they were toddlers. Apart from his height being taller, his face being slightly less round, and his eyes being a different color, Luca looked 80% similar to him when he was younger, down to the little cowlick curl that always stuck up in the middle of his head.

Seeing it, Luca could only blink in shock.

No way! It couldn’t be!

As if stunned, Luca got down from his seat in a daze and staggered out of the door.

After hearing his auntie call him handsome for so long, he couldn’t believe he looked like his ugly, stinky father.

His worldview formed from a very limited four and a half years of life was completely shattered.

********

After a long nap, Valentina took a long shower and dressed in a fluffy crop top and matching short set. As she began her face routine, she heard gentle knocks on the door.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Hearing the timid knock, Valentina stopped her night routine before opening the door. Seeing that it was Luca holding a pillow in his hand while looking grumpy, she squatted down to his eye level and held out her hands to him.

“What’s wrong, my little nugget? Why are you so angry.”

“Mo- Auntie! Daddy is being mean!” Luca complained angrily as he dropped his pillow and dove into her arms.

Gently picking him up as well as the discarded pillow, she brought him into her room and shut the door before dumping the pillow on the bed. Dragging her vanity chair to the bathroom, she carefully helped him stand carefully before placing some lotion on his little palms.

As she began dabbing moisturizer on her face, he followed suit, angrily slapping his face with the lotion.

Slap, slap, slap, slap.

Seeing the aggressive actions and furrowed brows, she hid her laughter while asking seriously.

“Why is your father being mean, my little nugget?”

“He- he called me ugly!”

“Did he? Well, he’s lying. You are very handsome, Luca. Shall I go beat him up for you?” Valentina comforted him.

Thinking about how big his dad was and how small his Auntie Val was, Luca could only shake his head.

He would have to grow big quickly so that he could beat up his father himself.

It was silent for a moment as they both rubbed the lotion onto their faces.

“Are you going to work for a long time?” Luca asked instead of answering.

Seeing the unblended lotion smeared across his face as he cutely looked at her while sulking, she couldn’t help but hide her smile as she answered him seriously.

“I am. I have to live at work for a couple of months and will be away from you and the house.”

“I want to come with you! I will eat my carrots, spinach, and tomatoes! And I’ll go to bed on time and not cry, and not throw my tablet, and you don’t have to feed me. And I’ll call you auntie, not mom, always. I promise.”

Hearing his words, Valentina’s heart began to hurt. She felt really bad, but there wasn’t anything she could do except comfort the little baby.

“I’m sorry, my little nugget; I’m going to work, and I can’t bring you along this time.”

Seeing as his fluffy cheeks puffed up angrily while turning red and tears began to fill his eyes, Valentina gently squeezed his cheeks before softly blending the lotion into his face while whispering.

“I’m going to miss Luca lots. Are you going to miss me?”

Seeing him nod with watering eyes, she pressed kisses to his cheeks and forehead before wrapping him in her arms. As he clung to her tightly, she continued hugging him while kissing his head.

“I’m going to miss you lots, but I really can’t take you. How about I video call you every day when I’m done with work? If I can’t talk to Luca and see you before I sleep, I’ll feel quite sad. What do you think?”

She could see the wheels turning in his head as he considered her words.

“Morning, too!” he insisted softly.

“Shall I call you in the mornings? But you might be sleeping. Why don’t I send you a video message in the morning, and you record and send me one when you wake up? We can trade, okay?”

“…okay.”

Leaning down and kissing his cheeks, she whispered conspiratorily, “It will just be between you and me. We won’t tell your dad, okay?”

“A secret?”

“Yep. Between me and you.” She held out her pinky to him, and as he clasped it with his little fingers, she laughed and kissed his cheeks once more.

“Good boy. Would you like to sleep with me tonight?”

“Yes! I brought my favorite pillow!” Luca’s face immediately brightened, and Valentina couldn’t help but laugh. Finishing her night routine along with Luca, she led him to her bed and tucked him into her covers. Sitting on the bed next to him, she tried patting him to sleep, but he kept squirming until she gave up.

As he stared at her with his sparkling green eyes, with no signs of being a little sleepy, she couldn’t help but ask, “Shall I read you a story?”

“Yes!”

Pulling out her phone, she searched for nighttime fairytales for young children.

Staring at the expectant eyes, she began reading, “Once upon a time, there was a cowardly lion….”

One hour and seven stories later, Luca was still staring at her with bright, sparkling eyes, looking like he would stay awake for the next three days if possible.

Restraining a sigh, Valentina couldn’t help but ask the system mentally.

‘Can I get a sleep-inducing effect, and is it harmful to children?’

[Sleep effect is available and is not harmful to humans of all ages as well as any type of animals.]

‘You promise?’

[Does the host not trust me? I assure you all words are true.]

Hearing the system’s reassurance, Valentina sighed before ordering, ’Mild sleep effect at the level of a child, please. And make sure it doesn’t affect me.’

As a stronger scent began emanating from her body, she calmly began patting Luca’s back while singing a little lullaby.

“Twinkle, twinkle, little star…”

Before five minutes passed, he was fast asleep, his mouth open and his cheeks flushed as he breathed deeply.

Sighing in relief, she carefully got off the bed and made her way out of the room. For some reason, she was mentally tired and felt like she needed a drink.