NOVEL NEXT Chapter 458
I already lent out 500 million won.
With a bit over 1 billion of the remaining 1.5 billion, I could buy an apartment.
Even after that, I still had quite a bit of money left.
Is it enough to live on for a lifetime? If you ask me, I’m not sure. 400 million won is a lot, but I wasn’t living alone anyway.
But… well, to be honest, it’s not an exaggeration to say we shouldn’t worry about it.
The apartment had three rooms. One was for the Emperor, and we decided to use another.
The reason three of us ended up sharing one room was that Claire and Alice didn’t want to be away from me.
In the end, the remaining room became our broadcasting room.
Claire had wanted to broadcast since her one-room days, and Alice was also quite interested.
The Emperor contemplated doing broadcasts too but was told he could just do it in his room since he already had many monitors set up on his computer.
Honestly, being given that consideration felt a bit strange.
“Still, your expression has brightened a lot. Is it because you’re in a separate room?”
“It’s not just about having a separate room; it’s because I bought this place with my own money.”
That’s right.
The thought that I might not be of any help completely vanished after buying the house. Even I thought this was a very positive thing.
Claire and Alice laughed at my answer.
But that was my sincere feeling.
Well, I did think the Goddess was involved in this, but wasn’t it thanks to ‘me’ that the Goddess got involved?
“Then… how should we approach the broadcast? Shouldn’t we start with casual chats?”
“Playing games would be nice too.”
Claire said excitedly.
“Well, I guess it’s important to gauge the atmosphere first.”
Alice’s words made both of us nod in agreement.
*
The broadcast… was going much smoother than I expected.
It took a little time to learn how to open donations, but I had already set up everything. With three monitors hooked up to the computer I originally used, it’s honestly excessive for a beginner broadcaster.
But hey, if we want to play games, some setup is necessary. I think it’s better to prepare in advance since we don’t know how big the broadcast might get.
After all, we had enough money.
[Your cosplay is amazing!]
“It’s not cosplay. This is our real name.”
[LOL]
[Strong concept, haha!]
Well, I kind of expected a reaction like that.
Since Claire and Alice already knew how to read the chat, there weren’t any issues following along.
We talked about everyday matters. Although we didn’t have many viewers, the chat was lively. Must be because of our looks.
Just as I was thinking that if we kept this up, we could earn living expenses…
[So what’s your relationship with the Emperor?]
“Are you talking about the Emperor?”
A short video donation came in as I spoke.
The uneasy feeling I felt for a moment turned out to be spot on.
[In that case, it’s good to invest in this side. The future here looks promising. Also, which country’s market is important—]
The person continuing the conversation was the Emperor, who was in a different room than us.
“……”
[It’s really the Emperor, haha!]
[The concept here is solid, haha!]
[But your voice is really nice.]
Well, it was bound to be nice.
Of course, mine, Claire’s, and Alice’s voices were great. They all sounded like professional Japanese voice actors. Although I couldn’t even tell if my voice was truly ‘voice actor-like’ from a game.
But the Emperor… usually, well-known voice actors are often assigned to middle-aged male voices in these games.
Especially with cool middle-aged male voices, they tend to be exceptionally distinctive. Even low and deep voices come with a bit of acting flair.
The Emperor’s voice was one of those.
[Huh? Huh?]
[By not being able to answer, are you truly his father, haha!]
I hesitated for a moment.
Is it better to lie here? Or is it better just to admit it?
Seeing Claire and Alice glance at me, I quickly made up my mind.
“My Father… is correct.”
If I deny it, what kind of backlash would come later?
I’d become a disgraceful child who denied their own father.
In internet broadcasts, every word is recorded. Naturally, denying it would leave a trace, and later if found out, there’d be a wiki entry like ‘Sylvia (broadcaster) / controversies and incidents / character controversies’.
Even if I managed to conceal it well throughout, well, considering we’re living together, wouldn’t it be odd to get caught at any point?
It’s better to just be straightforward than risk that.
“We all… grew up under him…”
I said while subtly watching Claire’s expression.
“Uh, uh! That’s right! We grew up together, yeah!”
Claire, picking up on my cues perfectly, said that,
“But that doesn’t mean we can just ride on Father’s broadcast.”
Alice added.
“Someday, we might have a joint broadcasting session, but for now, we are broadcasting separately. Most importantly, the topic over there is stocks, and we don’t know much about that.”
[LOL]
[How is even your father part of the concept? Haha!]
“My father… is not part of the concept.”
Every time I used the title ‘father’, it felt a bit strange.
“We really do hold these names. If we can verify it later, we will.”
Ding!
While I was speaking, another donation came in.
[Hmm, all my cute daughters! You’ve helped me in various ways.]
Well, you really did help in ‘various ways’.
As I turned red, the chat was busy teasing me.
[A daughter embarrassed by her father’s praise, haha!]
[It’s nice to see you all getting along.]
[This is totally different from games.]
“…What do you mean games?”
I asked, and the chat replied.
[Haven’t you tried the latest installment?]
[You’re pretending not to know after dressing like that.]
[Fake madness…]
I opened a browser and searched for Chronicles of Aetherna.
The cover of the latest installment… showcased a giant picture of me.
“Oh!”
Claire’s eyes sparkled.
In fact, all previous series had been in the room. I was someone who played these previous world series.
But for some reason, I didn’t want to show it to the Emperor.
As for my figures, Claire and Alice had already noticed them. The Emperor noticed but didn’t mention anything.
“…So shall we play this latest installment?”
As I said, Claire smiled and nodded.
*
I took a deep breath and knocked on the Emperor’s door.
I heard some movement inside, and then the door opened.
“Sylvia?”
The Emperor looked a bit surprised, but still… his face exuded a calm demeanor, though it wasn’t something you’d easily see.
“Can we… talk for a moment?”
“Of course. The fact that I’m staying here is all thanks to you.”
I didn’t really respond to that, and led the Emperor to the dining table.
Claire and Alice were already seated at the table.
I sat next to Claire, and the Emperor occupied the empty seat.
“It seems we both ended up broadcasting.”
“Indeed.”
Cutting straight to the point, the Emperor nodded.
“That said, we can’t just keep using our titles from Azernar.”
“Um.”
“If I refer to you as… Your Majesty, people will surely look at us strangely.”
“I agree. While we do have a monarchy over here, that’s not the story of this country.”
I nodded at his words.
“So… wouldn’t it be best to sort out how we address each other?”
“I already call you by your names.”
In fact, while I was called by my name, only Alice and I received that, while Claire and the Emperor still had a bit of awkwardness.
We had casual conversations with each other. But I had never seen them actually address one another. It was… a bit delicate.
“Claire, would that be okay?”
Given that Claire already had a ‘father,’ in the form of Baron Grace.
“Um…”
Indeed, Claire looked a bit uneasy.
I took a small breath.
I can’t force someone who doesn’t want to do so. Also, if Claire made that kind of expression, it’s clear she was ‘truly’ uncomfortable about it.
So I already had a title in mind.
“How about… ‘Uncle’?”
“Uncle?”
Claire’s eyes widened in surprise.
Hehe!
The Emperor was holding back laughter.
No, I genuinely thought it was a fitting title.
In the end, the opinion was accepted.
Claire would call him Uncle, while Alice and I would call him Father.
…Father.
What a title that stuck in my mouth like mud.