Volume 16 Chapter 22: Going To Work

Keith opened his eyes; instead of the droopy expression he had as he woke up, only tension dwelled within them. Careful. His movements were slow; he shifted his body out of his bed by the millimeter! I’m almost there! He had half of his body out of the bed. Yet, that was not enough.

“Papa? Going?” “Po?” Eri rubbed her eyes while Lei yawned in her arms.

“Ah—” His subtle movements were futile under Eri’s keen ears.

Keith patted her head, “I’m going—”

“Big brother!” Before he had time to explain, Leon and Laura entered the room and pounced on his legs. Behind them was May, “I’m sorry, Keith. The two wish to play with you.” Waking up, the first thought the twins had was to rush over to his room.

“Play?”

“Sorry, but I have work today.” Keith stroked their heads; the reason he had to leave quietly was that he had to work. Seeing all three of their expressions drop, Keith suggested, “I will be working, but you three can follow me to the city.”

“Mmhmm!” “Yeah!” “We want to go.”

Keith glanced up at May, “Then let’s go.”

“Shall I call the princess as well?” Carolyn was still asleep.

“No, let’s not bother her. She slept late yesterday.” Last night, she spoke with Thalia. He didn’t know how long it was, but seeing how she didn’t come to his room, it had to have been a long time.

“Understood.” Did her footsteps get lighter? Keith didn’t hear any from her, which was odd.

“Children, let’s change.” May brought the children out to get dressed up. Keith got up to change as well. As the group headed off, “I didn’t give you any attention these last two days; sorry about that.”

As the group headed off, Keith leaned into May, “I apologize for not paying attention to you recently.” He understood why May was happy; these past few days had been focused on Eri and the other little ones.

He paid no mind to May.

“It is normal, Keith. You have to focus on the children.” May understood Keith had a lot to focus on. Then she added, “Do you need any help?”

“I’m alright; I have enough strength.” Keith carried the three; Leon and Laura held each other’s hands while Eri rode on his shoulder. Despite the three, he didn’t need to use too much strength. The first place they headed to was the bakery; from the morning, a long line had already formed. He could hear the people talking about it; it was a go-to spot for breakfast.

Keith spotted someone he knew, “Hello, Sasha.”

“Greetings, young master.” Sasha grinned, “Are you on a date with May?”

“Haha.”

“So this is the young miss.” Sasha’s eyes then locked onto Eri.

“You know about Eri?”

“Of course! Do you know how much the maids are talking about it?” The fourth young master returned home with a daughter! The news was spread throughout the city. Actually, this was done before Keith had returned home: William and Sophia told their children that Keith had a child! The maids even glorified her, talking about how cute and fluffy she was.

Now everyone wanted to meet her.

“She’s so adorable.”

“Mmhmm. They’re all adorable.” Keith didn’t hesitate to lift all three of them into the air.

“Young Master, you’re squishing them.” May warned as she gently took Laura out of the hug; Laura snuggled into May.

“You guys looked like one happy family.” You have an overprotective father and a caring mother with three kids.

“We do.” Keith laughed.

“...Maybe I should have another?”

“Hmm? But don’t you have Milly?” Milly was her daughter.

“Nothing!” Sasha shook her head as she quickly entered the bakery. Keith tilted his head, “Did I say something wrong?” Where was the witty banter?

“Umm, there’s nothing you need to worry about.” May only had a faint smile. Do you know something that I don’t? Either way, they entered the bakery.

“Wahh.” Eri’s eyes blinked rapidly as she took in all the items.

“Boss!” Ralph and the others came to greet him.

Keith nodded, “It’s great to see you all again, and I see you guys have recruited more workers as well.” There were a few people he didn’t know either in their squad.

“With so many customers, we needed to hire more people. Do not worry, we went through the proper channels.” Ralph laughed before turning to them, “Come greet the boss.”

The workers bowed, “Greetings, boss!”

“Mmhmm! Hello.” Keith nodded as he looked down, “Can I get five puddings? Also-okay, you guys go ahead.” Leon and Laura knew the drill and grabbed their breakfast. Keith knelt and placed Eri down, “Eri, go pick your breakfast.”

“Mmhmm.” The fox examined each box carefully.

Keith turned to Ralph, “How is the new ingredient?”

“Amazing. The cakes rose even more than before.” Baking soda. He had notified them about the new ingredient.

“That’s great.” Keith glanced down; the three grabbed what they liked.

“Is that all?”

“Mmm,” Eri nodded.

“Then let’s go to the dessert section.” Keith and the others headed through the door. From a warm atmosphere came a cold and elegant one. More people were staying around here than in the former.

“Good afternoon, Boss!” The beautiful elf, Ella, called out.

“I see that the dessert section is going well.”

“Mmhmm.” The dessert bar was the latest addition to the bakery, but for it to have so many customers in the morning was unexpected.

“The customers usually buy items early and bring them home for later use.”

“Makes sense.” Dessert was overkill in the morning.

“What would you like?”

“Cake!”

“Then we’ll get some strawberries, a lemon, and some cranberries as well.”

“Understood!” Ella nodded as she placed them into a cute box. Keith placed all of them into the belt, “We’ll eat them later. There are a few more places we have to visit.” More specifically, he had to visit two others.