"Papa Byakuya, it's me, Seele."
"Hmm? Oh, it's Seele. Is there something you need, not sleeping so late?"
Byakuya closed the novel in his hand and waved to Seele, who was standing at the hall entrance. The Blue-haired girl immediately walked over after receiving his permission.
Seele Vollerei.
A girl Byakuya found in the snow a few days ago. Her family died in a Honkai Beast attack, and she was later adopted by him into Hearth Home.
She had black-bluish shoulder-length hair, sea-blue eyes, and fair skin, a pure girl like a doll. Her personality matched her appearance: quiet, well-behaved, and currently a bit weak and insecure.
The grown-up Byakuya was very tall. Even sitting down, he was a head taller than Seele. So, he raised his hand and gently stroked the girl's blue-black hair, saying softly,
"Seele is a very good child, but not sleeping so late… Did you have a Nightmare?"
"Yes, yes, I dreamed of my parents being eaten by monsters. I'm sorry, Papa Byakuya, Seele is too scared to sleep right now," Seele said in a weak voice.
There were still tear stains at the corners of her eyes. Byakuya understood this. He raised his hand and pulled the girl to sit beside him.
"Then let's just sit together for a while. Don't force yourself to sleep. Don't worry, Seele, you'll soon get over that Nightmare. Hearth Home is your new beginning, and everyone here is your new family."
"Thank you, Papa Byakuya, but… am I useless, Seele? This is the third time I've troubled you."
"It's nothing. Seele just arrived recently. In fact, the others also couldn't sleep peacefully for a while initially. Uh, except for Rosalia and Liliya, those two carefree little ones sleep soundly, especially the former's personality is… Ugh~"
"Hehe."
Seeing Byakuya's speechless expression, Seele couldn't help but chuckle softly.
She instinctively moved closer to Byakuya. For some reason, compared to the fireplace in front of her, the butterfly-like girl felt that Papa's side was warmer and more comfortable.
In reality, that was indeed true. The flames in the fireplace only made them feel visually warm.
It also served as a symbol of Hearth Home.
In reality, it was impossible for just this one fireplace in the hall to warm the entire orphanage.
The real reason why all the girls didn't feel cold was that Byakuya was constantly controlling the temperature of the entire Hearth Home using his incomplete Herrscher of Flame authority to keep it warm.
"Haah, ah~"
Seele couldn't help but yawn.
Not wanting to sleep doesn't mean she couldn't sleep.
She was just afraid of having Nightmares again, but she was actually very sleepy. Wrapped in the warm aura emitted by Byakuya, the girl's eyelids began to droop uncontrollably.
Byakuya keenly noticed this, so he raised his hand and stroked Seele's head, saying, "You should really sleep, Seele. With me here, you don't have to worry about having Nightmares. Once you're asleep, I'll take you back to your room."
"Eh, is that okay? Will Seele be too much trouble for Papa Byakuya?"
"How could you be? Alright, I said everyone in Hearth Home is family. Seele, you're willing to call me Papa, so there's no such thing as trouble between family members."
Not to mention an angelic girl like Seele Vollerei, who wouldn't be disliked at all. Byakuya was very glad that he was able to find and adopt her a few days ago.
Just looking at this girl could heal one's mind and body.
Seeing Byakuya care for her so much, Seele felt her heart pound. This Papa was the most beloved person to every child at Hearth Home.
Seele hesitated and struggled for a while, finally speaking as if she had mustered up courage.
"Then, can Seele make one more unreasonable request to Papa Byakuya?"
"Hmm, I'll have to think about that. Besides eating an extra cake tomorrow, sleeping until noon, and throwing your clothes everywhere like Rosalia and Liliya, I think anything else should be acceptable."
"Se, Seele wouldn't do that."
"Hehe, I know, just a little joke. So, what does Seele want?"
Although he always put on a serious face, the children of Hearth Home knew how gentle and doting their beloved Papa Byakuya was to them. Even many of their biological parents weren't as good to them as Byakuya was.
Seele looked at him with hope and expectation.
"I, I want to hear Byakuya sing again, can I?"
"What did I think it was? Just this, of course you can."
Byakuya raised his hand and patted Seele's head, then walked to the piano in the hall. Due to his love for music in his previous life, he had self-taught most musical instruments.
As for using his singing to coax girls to sleep, he had done it many times when he was in Babylon Tower. Now, this skill was completely proficient.
Seele's eyes immediately lit up.
She couldn't wait to hear Byakuya's performance again. The young girl thought to herself that if the other people in the Hearth Home found out about this, she would definitely be envied and jealous.
Byakuya: "Don't rush, there's still some preparation to do."
(Can't disturb the others, I'll use my authority to isolate the sound, hmm, that should be fine.)
The incomplete Herrscher of Wind authority was released. Now, even if he performed an explosive, crowd-igniting nuclear bomb-level song, it would absolutely not disturb the sleeping girls in the bedroom.
Then, Byakuya's hands fell on the black and white keys.