"Delphi? Delphi?"
At the dining table, Maka dangled her fingers in front of the child, teasing her with a smile. Behind him, Luna looked at the scene carefully with a curious face, and seemed a little eager to try it.
But perhaps because Maka has never been by his side, little Delphi was a little wary of this strange man, and seemed not very happy to play with Maka.
Not long after, Maka shook her head pretending to be regretful, then raised her eyebrows and said:
"It seems that even if I want to recognize her as my daughter, she may not agree, right?"
"How can you blame our cute little Delphi?" Cathy, who was holding the child, suddenly said unhappily, "That's just you being an incompetent 'father'!"
"Oh, okay, okay! I admit this..." Maka immediately shrugged, "Well, let me think about it... Let's do this! I'll make up a birthday present for our little Delphi!"
While speaking, he reached into his arms and took out a necklace-like thing from his breast pocket.
Yes, according to time, little Delphi is actually over one year old.
The next moment, I heard a child sitting opposite say in surprise:
"Time turner?"
"Oh, do you know it?" Maka's face was very calm, and he immediately nodded and said, "Yes, the time turner - and it is a very special one."
As he spoke, he held the pendant composed of a gold ring and an hourglass of time, and showed the edge to everyone present.
"Look, I engraved little Delphi's name on it with my own hands."
Cathy, who was the closest, couldn't help but take a closer look when she heard this. Soon she was surprised and said:
"Maka...are you really planning to let little Delphi take your last name?"
No matter how she made fun of him before, it was just a joke. Because even though she didn't know the specific life experience of little Delphi, she couldn't really be Maka's daughter no matter how she thought about it, so she just thought that little Delphi was picked up by Maka from somewhere or entrusted by someone else. To Macca's children.
Judging from Maka's past performance, the smart Cathy always thought that he probably didn't want to create such an adopted daughter out of thin air.
But now, Maka actually gave her last name to Delphi!
"oh… "
For a moment, everyone here was actually surprised. And then, they couldn't help but feel happy for little Delphi.
Being without parents is definitely a very bad thing, and everyone present felt deeply about this. But if after losing his parents, he got a father as gentle and strong as Maka, that would have to be said to be a blessing.
"ah!"
Suddenly, Cathy, who had been immersed in surprise just now, seemed to realize something again, and couldn't help but let out a soft breath.
"Maka, you...are you planning to pick up Delphi when you come here this time?"
It was obvious that Cathy couldn't bear to part with her - Maka couldn't help but smile when she saw her complicated expression that was a little worried but tried hard to hide.
"No, little Delphi will continue to stay here! You will probably need to work harder in the coming days! Well... if you want, you can raise her here."
"Oh! Really?" When Cathy heard this, her eyes seemed to radiate a different kind of light, "This is really great... To be honest, I thought I would have to watch someone else take her away sooner or later. … Well."
Cathy herself is not very old. It was only because of her precocious nature that Maka decided to let her help take care of little Delphi. But now, Maka has discovered that Cathy's motherhood is even deeper than he imagined.
As for whether there is Cathy's nostalgia for her mother, it is unknown.
Of course, Maka didn't think about this issue in depth. The next moment, he stretched out his index finger to draw a few characters on the small hourglass on the pendant, and cast a fixed spell on it.
"Although this thing is precious and beautiful, it is also a bit dangerous after all... Well, that's no problem."
After poking the hourglass in the middle and confirming that it could no longer be turned, Maka held up the gold chain and placed it in front of little Delphi and shook it.
Shiny things like this will naturally be children's favorite. As soon as little Delphi saw it, she couldn't help but reach out for it.
Seeing this, Maka put it into her hand.
"I remember when I first 'met' her, she also had a necklace around her neck - it was also a magic item, and it was also related to black magic... "
"dark magic!"
When Maka casually mentioned this little old story, everyone couldn't help but turn their attention to him again.
And then, Maka continued:
"Yes, black magic - that's why I immediately decided to take away the necklace. And now, this can be regarded as my compensation to her!"
"Could it be that..." Cathy couldn't help but subconsciously asked after hearing what he said, "that necklace had little Delphi's name on it? That's why you-"
"Um?"
Her words made Maka slightly stunned. To be honest, he has been thinking about other things. This reason has never occurred to him.
After a slight hesitation, he nodded.
"Yes, that's right... No matter what, she should have a last name, but that one can no longer be used for some reason."
Maka confirmed Cathy's guess, but in fact, how could Voldemort think of engraving a name on the necklace for his daughter
Even the original necklace containing black magic only contained his full selfishness.
Of course, Maka was not only unwilling to mention this kind of thing, but also too lazy to think about it again. Whatever Tom Riddle's intention was in leaving a necklace to his daughter, it has no effect today.
Because Maka had already destroyed that thing.
Putting aside some memories in her head, Maka reached out and touched little Delphi's hair again. Seeing that the little guy only looked up at him, and then immediately turned his attention to the shiny time turner, Maka then smiled.
It seemed that because of this cute little gift, she reluctantly accepted Maka's touch.
"By the way," Macafu turned his head slightly and looked at Cathy again, "When she grows up, remember to put it away for her, and you can give it to her in the future."
"You don't need to tell me this!" Upon hearing this, Cathy immediately waved her hands and said as if she were an adult, "How to raise a daughter, I definitely know better than you."
When everyone couldn't help laughing, she hurriedly stared around and looked around, and then she couldn't hold back and giggled.
Perhaps it was only when she was smiling that little Cathy really showed a bit of a childlike feeling.
And just when the children, big and small, were laughing and chattering around the dining table, everyone suddenly heard a shout from outside the restaurant door, causing them to stop laughing and turn their heads to look.
"Maka—"
"What's wrong, Willy?" Maka looked at the figure who suddenly rushed to the door from the side of the door, and said loudly, "Have you finished fertilizing? Huh? Didn't you meet Helen? She went to the atrium to find you!"
"Helen?"
Willy probably ran all the way here, and she was still out of breath at this moment. After she took a breath, she said doubtfully again:
"No?"
"Really?" Maka shrugged upon hearing this, "Then you two probably got sidetracked."
"Well?"
Willy stood at the door in a daze for a while, looking back and forth between the door and the door a few times, then turned back and ran out with some reluctance.
Not long after, when everyone found that Helen was running back again shouting "Where is Willie?", Maka suddenly chuckled and said:
"Are you two playing hide-and-seek? Hey... Helen, don't run back anymore, just stay here and wait for her!"
Seeing that several children who had been rescued from the dungeon by him were now laughing and teasing Helen, the smile on Maka's face increased a little bit.
But after smiling, when he once again shifted his gaze to little Delphi in Cathy's arms, there was an inexplicable hint of apology in that smile that he didn't have before.
At this moment, no one noticed the slight change in his expression except Luna who was always standing behind him and watching him silently.
"sorry."
In Maka's heart, this word that she once said to the "future" Delphi in St. Mungo's is now flowing through her quickly.
What is he apologizing for
At least for now, the reason is known only to him, and even someone as clear-minded as Luna has absolutely no way of knowing.
However, the next moment, Maka suddenly felt a slight warmth in her palm, and a small hand quietly came up to give it a gentle squeeze.
He suddenly looked back and saw Luna blinking her big, translucent silver-gray eyes, and the corners of her mouth curved in a reassuring arc.
"Thanks."
Maka was not surprised by her sensitivity, but he also did not give any explanation. He just moved his lips slightly towards Luna and thanked her silently.
Soon, when Willy ran in from the outside panting again, Maka finally left here and opened her legs to meet him.
He and Luna did not stay long at Chateau Blois.
After that, he just sat down and chatted with everyone for a while, asking them how their lives were going recently. After hearing that Mr. Blois had arranged a good teacher for them, he followed the topic and asked about specific courses, and casually discussed some courses with everyone.
Yes, it's like, he really just came to visit everyone this time, nothing more.