Love Comes After Simulation

“Good job!” Minami Yuuki patted his daughter’s head, offering encouragement.

He took a black dress from the small wardrobe, but there was no gothic-style dress he had in mind. Once dressed, the little girl looked even more adorable and well-behaved. Minami Yuuki carried her to the sink and squeezed toothpaste onto her small toothbrush.

Manatsu took the toothbrush, stood on her little stool, and happily started brushing her teeth.

Taking care of a child isn’t that hard, Minami Yuuki thought.

But reality soon showed its cruel side.

After brushing her teeth and wiping her face, Manatsu tugged at Minami Yuuki’s sleeve.

“My hair isn’t brushed yet.” The girl shook her head, making her sleep-tousled hair sway along.

Minami Yuuki’s heart skipped a beat. He picked up a small wooden comb and carefully brushed his daughter’s hair. As expected, she immediately made another request: “I want pigtails! Two pigtails!”

Looking at the wooden comb in his hand and then at his daughter’s hair, Minami Yuuki fell into deep thought.

Not to mention he had no idea what kind of hairstyle “pigtails” were—he had never tied anyone’s hair before! Should he just admit defeat? Sorry, Daddy doesn’t know how.

Minami Yuuki felt he could at least put up a fight.

“Manatsu,” he said seriously, looking at the girl.

“Mm?” She tilted her head up at him.

“Daddy is going to test you. Can you tie your own hair?” Minami Yuuki placed his hands on her small shoulders.

“I can!”

The familiar scene of adults placing their hands on someone’s shoulders in TV dramas filled Manatsu with encouragement.

She straightened her back. “I’ve learned from Mommy before. Daddy, give me the comb and hair ties!”

“Where are the hair ties?”

“In that little drawer.”

Handing her the hair ties, Minami Yuuki watched as she tried to tie her own hair.

Her tiny hands couldn’t grasp too much hair at once, and she wasn’t skilled at judging positions through the mirror. After struggling for over ten minutes, she finally managed to tie two uneven, lopsided, and slightly off-center pigtails on top of her head.

“Daddy, I think I failed.” She looked dejectedly at her reflection in the mirror. “Can you help me redo it?”

“I think it looks great!” Minami Yuuki quickly encouraged her.

“But… it’s not neat.”

“This is the Runaway Princess style—messy, carefree, untamed! Cool!”

“I don’t really like princesses.”

“Then it’s the Battlefield style—just like after a fierce battle, with a slightly messy look!”

“Battlefield!”

The girl’s eyes sparkled with excitement at the word.

“That’s right! You’ve seen it in cartoons, right? After a big fight, their hair is all messy. These uneven pigtails are proof that you just returned from battle!” 𝐑𝓪𝐍ȱᛒЕş

“Mm!”

Her little face flushed with excitement as she immersed herself in the fantasy of turning into a beast, fighting a magical girl in an epic three-hundred-round battle.

But imagination could only hold passion for so long. After leaving the bathroom, she touched her pigtails again. They still felt weird and ugly, and she wanted to redo them.

However, she was a bit stubborn—since she had already accepted them in front of Daddy, she didn’t want to go back on her words.

She kept tugging at her pigtails, trying to fix them, but her clumsy adjustments only made her hair messier.

Minami Yuuki pretended not to notice.

“Daddy, you haven’t tidied up the room yet,” the girl reminded him as he started heading downstairs.

Cleaning up was easy. No matter what, Minami Yuuki could at least manage to fold a blanket.

But now that he had cracked the “Manatsu Code,” he felt lazy. Watching his daughter struggle with housework in a serious manner was just too adorable.

“Manatsu,” he called, looking at her.

“Mm?” She was still tugging at her pigtails as she looked up.

“Daddy is going to test you—do you know how to tidy up a bed?”

The girl hesitated and took a small step back. She raised her hand and pinched her thumb and index finger together, showing a tiny gap. “Manatsu only knows a little bit.”

“A little bit is enough,” Minami Yuuki said with a smile. “Then I’ll leave it to you!”

“Eh?”

With a troubled expression, the girl climbed onto the bed and struggled to fold the blanket.

Once she finished tidying up, Minami Yuuki picked her up and carried her downstairs.

As soon as Manaysu’s feet touched the floor, she took only a couple of steps before her stomach let out a loud growl. She rubbed her belly and looked pitifully at Minami Yuuki.

“Daddy, I’m hungry.”

“It’s almost lunchtime. Time to eat,” Minami Yuuki said, glancing at the kitchen and then at his daughter. “What should we eat?”

Manatsu panicked and quickly waved her little hands, stepping back in fear. “Manatsu doesn’t know how! Daddy, don’t test me on this!”

“…”

Minami Yuuki had only casually glanced at the kitchen. She was only four years old—how could he possibly expect her to cook?

“Let’s eat out!” he suggested.

Manatsu touched her pigtails and shook her head. Her hairstyle was too ugly—she couldn’t go outside like this.

“Then how about we order takeout?” Minami Yuuki pulled out his phone.

At the mention of takeout, the girl’s excitement rose. Since her mom could cook everything, she rarely had the chance to see a delivery person. She was curious about the big-sister-like lady carrying a large delivery box.

But after thinking for a moment, she shook her head again.

“Mommy said that before she left, she put egg tarts in the oven. We just need to heat them up, and then we can eat!”

That was so like Reina—she even made sure to leave food for her husband and daughter before heading out!

Minami Yuuki walked into the kitchen and, sure enough, found a whole tray of egg tarts sitting inside the oven.

All he had to do was set the time and temperature, and soon enough, they would have delicious, soft, and fragrant egg tarts.

But there was a problem.

How long should they bake? At what temperature?

“Manatsu, Daddy is going to test you again. Do you know what temperature Mommy sets and for how long? What are the steps?”

Faced with yet another test, Manatsu looked troubled. She shook her head. “Manatsu doesn’t know… Manatsu doesn’t want any more tests.”

With that, she hurriedly ran out of the kitchen.

Minami Yuuki studied the oven for a while and sent a message to Reina, asking how to bake the egg tarts properly.

There was no reply. Who knew what the women were up to?

Well, ovens like this should be pretty simple. Just enter two numbers, and it should work.

Minami Yuuki searched for a random egg tart tutorial online and followed the steps—preheating, baking, everything.

About twenty minutes later, the egg tarts were done.

The aroma wafted through the air, and Moxia peeked out from behind the kitchen door.

“They’re ready.” Minami Yuuki placed the tray on the table.

The girl eagerly picked up an egg tart, took a bite, and chewed twice.

Then she stopped.

“It doesn’t taste the same… It’s too hard.” She put the egg tart down, her little eyebrows furrowing.

“Not good?” Minami Yuuki took one and had a bite himself. It really wasn’t perfect.

He had followed the tutorial exactly—so where did it go wrong? What he didn’t realize was that every oven and every batch of egg tarts had subtle differences, and those little details could affect the final result.

“If it’s not good, just leave it. I’ll order some for you.” He offered his backup plan—this was why he dared to experiment in the first place.

He was very aware of his own cooking skills. He had already planned that if he messed up, he’d just order takeout. The egg tarts on the table weren’t ruined, just not quite right.

Manatsu didn’t say anything. She lowered her head, her little face scrunching up like the sky suddenly filled with dark clouds.

It looked like it was about to rain.

“Let’s buy lots of egg tarts! And ice cream too!” Minami Yuuki hurriedly said.

“I don’t want other people’s egg tarts,” the girl’s voice trembled with the threat of tears. “Mommy and I made these tart crusts together. I want the ones we made!”

Why didn’t you say so earlier?! Minami Yuuki hadn’t expected these egg tarts to have emotional significance!

“How about we go to Universal Studios? Let’s go see Mario!” He tried to distract her.

But that was a terrible move.

“No,” the girl looked even more miserable. She touched her hair, and a few tears rolled down her cheeks. “My pigtails are ugly. I don’t want to go out!”

“And,” she added, “the blanket was so heavy. My hands are so sore!”

Three strikes of thunder crashed in succession, and the downpour began.

Asagiri Mayu unlocked the door with a spare key, only to be greeted by the sound of Manatsu’s crying.