Epic Of Caterpillar

Chapter 2675 - 2676: Having Lunch

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"Your lunch is ready young lady, I hope you enjoy it." Ismena smiled gently at me, bringing me my food, as if nothing had happened an hour ago. "Today's meal is composed of a delicious grilled salmon gently seasoned with various magical spices and herbs, and salted using millenary sea salt, purchased from the Sea Dragon's Market."

"To the sides there's a wonderful dish composed of finely cut and fried sweet potatoes with the same salt and also a type of sweet and sour spice known as golden pepper, harvested from our magic farms by our specialized staff." Acelina said. "And of course, there's a few other dishes here and…"

They introduced everything for two whole minutes, like every day. I mean, I was used to the life of a queen back in my own Inner Realm and everything, with chefs bringing forth anything I wanted, and having huge feasts with my family. But this whole vibe was different.

Being treated as a spoiled young lady from a super-rich criminal family was the best, and it felt completely new than any other experience before… Especially because this treatment was there since I was born, I didn't have to struggle like a little insect before even getting there.

"Thank you, it's all wonderful." I ate everything happily, it was several courses and various meals, it was well known in the house. I ate a lot, just like my father, we just had the appetite of a whole battalion of soldiers. "Compliments to the chef, that was indeed really great."

"A-Ah, young lady, I'm so happy…" muttered a voice from afar, it was hiding behind a corner, but it resembled a multi-armed person, they were quite shy, but that was the head chef of the house, assigned personally to mine and father's meals.

However, after saying that they quickly ran away…

"I apologize on her behalf, young lady," Ismena sighed, glaring at where the chef was. "Araña can be quite the shy person. She's been working for us for decades, and yet her introvert personality hasn't improved at all."

"She's a genius Magic Chef at that though, her cooking is incredible, and we are blessed to taste it as well," Acelina nodded.

Both of them ate separately from me, but this time I invited them to eat by my side, sharing the many dishes. They were naturally embarrassed, but after I convinced them by telling them how much I loved them, they ended up accepting while blushing.

"Araña is her name, huh? I could barely see how she looked like, is she human?" I wondered.

"Although Chaos Gate's agents and workers are majorly humans, there's a lot of non-humans as well," Ismena said. "You may not remember but the two of us aren't exactly complete humans either. We are half-demons."

"Cambion!" Said Acelina.

"O-Oh, really?" I wondered, as I noticed they suddenly changed their skin color. Acelina turned blue skinned and Ismena pink-skinned, just like their original appearances! And they also gained horns! "Oh wow! That's amazing! You're so beautiful!"

"E-Eh? Ah… We thought these forms were scary…" Ismena muttered.

"Well, I'm glad you accepted us, heheh!" Acelina giggled cheerfully.

"Why wouldn't I? I am technically an eldritch horror myself…" I shrugged. "You're cutie pies."

"Ahem, well, I am really flattered but let's go back to the main topic. Araña is a member of the Arachnoids, they're humanoid-like spider people. She has hair like humans and a humanoid figure, although her skin is purple, and she has eight long spider limbs with fingers, she's fluffy too, and slender," Ismena said.

"Ooh, now I want to see her!" I said with a curious smile. "But I guess that wouldn't be good for her health, she's introvert… anyway, I guess we can leave that for another time, right? Now that we're done with lunch, shall we go see my father?"

"Yes! He's waiting for you in the garden," said Ismena. "Young lady, please be understandable with your father… okay?"

"Huh? Of course…" I nodded as we walked outside the giant manor, moving through the even larger garden of many layers and areas, finding father sitting in front of a small glass table, drinking tea while enjoying the sun above the skies with a calm demeanor. "Father, I'm here."

"Ah, my dear daughter," he said with a joyful voice. "Welcome. Sit down, we have a lot to talk about. Was your lunch tasty?"

"Yeah, Araña is an amazing chef as always," I nodded.

"Heh, I'm glad. I still remember when we found her, just a little spider trembling in fear at the corner of an experimentation facility we took over," said father. "Back then I tried to be kinder with the less fortunate souls we found, taking them under my wing instead of just ignoring them or worse, taking them down as nuisances… your birth truly marked a change in my life, even more than meeting your mother, Kireina. I… even if it's embarrassing or humiliating to admit, it made me more like your mother, humane."

"Humane…" I muttered, realizing his words.

Indeed, compared to the original timeline, the real timeline where I and Frank come from, my father was a completely different person. Frank had told me about this monstrous enemy he once fought, the master of the Chaos Gate, an agency that constantly persecuted him and attacked his allies, a real nuisance. Catch the formatted version at *.

First of all, he was divided into "two" of them, at some point, his insanity must have made him split himself apart to perhaps… feel less lonely, creating a perfect half of himself, although while fighting, both merged together.

And well, second of all, he was really monstrously evil, even more than right now… He had no family or anything holding him back, he treated all of his subjects as disposable pawns and was perhaps even more ruthless than he is now.

But everything changed now, that I appeared here, and became his daughter, his entire life… this version of that man, he learned about love, about being a father.

And it completely shifted this world, and this country, Japan… perhaps for the better. However, despite being so different, there's still some things that remain the same, such as his obsession with capturing Frank, at all costs.

"Father… Why do you insist on catching Frank? And don't tell me that it's just for power, you're plenty powerful already," I said with a worried expression, looking directly into his eyes. "There's something else, another reason… I know there is, or you wouldn't even bother annoying just an innocent student trying to do his life in peace, right?"

"…" My father remained in silence. "You think I'm a good person, dear?"

"I… think you're a good father," I said. "In our business, we aren't the best people after all, but I like to think that yes, you are, at least for those you care about…"

"…Thank you, you're really kind," he sighed. "You really remind me of your mother… She was the only person that ever saw anything within me, and the first person to ever say I had a kind heart… She made me rethink my entire life. Who I was, what I was even doing, and what was my purpose. And even after leaving me, she left behind a wonderful gift, you."

"Aw, dad…" I felt moved once more. "But please… I know you're hiding something from me, tell me… You can trust me, I'm your daughter!"

"Kireina…" he muttered, grasping his fists tightly, the atmosphere suddenly darkened instantly. "I..."

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