Julius’s enthusiasm as a father repeatedly took a hit, and he was a little discouraged by it. It was at this time his AI butler reminded him from outside the door, “Your Highness, tomorrow you must visit the palace to see His Majesty. It’s time to rest.”

After the interruption by his AI butler, Julius glanced at the time and realized he had been engrossed in the game for several hours.

“…”

“Got it.”

While raising his daughter was important, it’s also important to see his father tomorrow, and…

A trace of coldness flashed through Julius’s eyes. Tomorrow, he must head to the palace in his best condition.

Julius rubbed his face, his skin feeling a little dry to the touch. After he ordered his AI butler to prepare an essence mask for him, he moved the wardrobe in his daughter’s room to hide his writing and self-portrait.

Bambi couldn’t read, so if she woke up and saw the patch of “symbols” and “drawing” on the wall…thinking of his –50 intimacy, Julius didn’t dare take the risk.

As for whether Bambi would notice that the wardrobe had been moved, Julius examined it precisely; the words he wrote were right next to the wardrobe, and the wardrobe had only been moved a few inches.

With such a short distance, children generally didn’t pay close enough attention to such meticulous detail, so Bambi shouldn’t be able to notice it.

With that done, Julius turned off the game and began his bedtime skincare routine.

~*~

A new day the next morning, Bambi was woken by the shaking of the building. She knew this to mean it was morning.

Recently, there have been vibrations every morning. Bambi didn’t know what was happening and didn’t have the courage to lift the blinds to look out while it was vibrating. Only when the vibrations were over did she build up the courage to open the blinds to welcome the new day.

“Minnie, good morning.”

For the first task of the morning, Bambi changed a new band-aid for the finger she accidentally cut yesterday. Then, she carefully looked around the house. What Bambi found made her jump in joy.

“The bad guy seems to be gone.”

If the bad guy was still here, the things in her home would show signs of being moved. Bambi was quite clever as she checked on the food she found yesterday; none of the water, instant noodles, bread, or candy have been touched.

Based on these signs, Bambi concluded that the bad guy must have left.

She didn’t know why the bad guy left, but Bambi was happy nonetheless because that meant she wouldn’t be eaten.

Is it because of her dream last night?

Bambi bit her thumb and thought she remembered dreaming about meeting the bad guy, and she and Grandpa chased away the bad guy. As for the rest of the dream, she drew blank.

Thinking of her grandpa, Bambi raced to the living room. The apple peel in the bag had dried out; she couldn’t give these to her grandpa to eat.

She was a little disappointed.

Then she looked at the apple on the table. The previously creamy-white flesh was oxidized, and the surface was already blackened.

It wasn’t edible anymore.

Bambi swallowed her saliva, her little head bobbing as she automatically recalled the deliciousness of the apple she ate yesterday.

Then she thought of the fact the apple was given to her by the bad guy and that he fed her to fatten her up so he could eat her, and she shouldn’t have eaten the apple in the first place.

Thinking about it this way, Bambi didn’t feel sorry anymore for not eating the rest of the apple.

The water she poured yesterday hadn’t been finished, and there was still some unfinished bread. Bambi picked up the rest of the bread and washed it down with the cold mineral water.

Since the bad guy left, she no longer had to go to the supermarket to hide. It was dangerous outside, and the food must last as long as possible.

After finishing the bread, Bambi rubbed her deflated tummy and eyed the rest of the bread left but held herself back.

However, she unwrapped one of the fruity hard candies. The candy inside the wrapper was slightly melted. Bambi didn’t waste a single drop and licked everything clean before flattening the wrapper and putting it away.

The cartoon patterns on the wrapping paper were so cute. Bambi liked them so much that she decided to store them in her little bag.

The sweet orange flavor of the candy made Bambi’s eyes curve into crescent moons. She threw the dried apple skins and the apple that had gone bad into the trash. Then she pushed a chair over to the door.

A child’s way of thinking: using something to press against the door will make it a lot safer.

Not only did Bambi push the door over to block the door, but she even went into the kitchen and found a clean, empty can in the corner, filled it with water, put it in a bag, and hung it on the doorknob.

If something outside twisted the doorknob, the bag would fall to the ground. The can would make a sound as it crashed onto the floor and Bambi would hear it.

This was an idea that Bambi suddenly thought of.

Once Bambi quieted down, the entire room also became silent. Bambi didn’t really like the silence, so she started cleaning.

This was one of the ways she relieved her boredom.

Locked up in the house and living alone, even children would find all kinds of things to pass the time.

During this time alone, Bambi learned to clean and do laundry…. Previously, Hugh planned to teach Bambi these things one by one when she was five years old.

But before everything could be taught, things happened.

In the first two years of the apocalypse, when there weren’t many power users, Hugh, who was B-class in power, was respected everywhere, even though he was an old man and had a child with him.

During that time, Hugh gave Bambi what could be considered a “wealthy” life. Afterward, Hugh took Bambi to sparsely populated places.

A sparse population meant less danger, but at the same time, it also meant a lower quality of life.

During day-to-day life, when Bambi was with Hugh, she would watch and learn, which was why after Hugh’s accident, even though she might not be living as well as before, Bambi was still able to keep herself clean under the limited conditions when she was all alone by herself,

She was able to think for herself. She would think back to what she unknowingly learned while living with Hugh, and slowly figuring it out and applying it.

After cleaning the room, Bambi looked down at her clothes and bent a finger, asking her teddy bear, “Winnie, how many days have I worn the same clothes?”

Then she puffed out her cheeks and changed her tone to something strange, “It’s been three days, Bambi. It’s time for you to change into clean clothes.”

Bambi giggled. “Okay, thanks, Winnie.”

After settling down in the neighborhood, Hugh searched for a lot of children’s clothing for Bambi. Although Hugh liked to dress up his granddaughter prettily, it was showy and inappropriate to dress like that in the apocalypse.

Hence, the clothes he found for Bambi were not brightly colored, but there was enough for Bambi to change into an outfit every day. The wardrobe was stuffed with clothes that Hugh found for Bambi.

Bambi chose a frosty blue dress to change into. After she changed into it, she lifted the skirt and twirled in front of the mirror

Wearing new clothes was a joyous thing, and loving beauty was instinctive to every girl, regardless of age.

From start to finish, Bambi didn’t even notice that the wardrobe had been shifted a little way from its original position.

Bambi washed her dirty clothes in the bathroom, and she was especially careful to avoid getting her new outfit wet.

The first time she did the laundry, Bambi not only failed to wash her clothes, but also fell and scraped her right knee, leaving an unsightly scar after the wound healed.

Fortunately, she gained experience from the practice, and now she was very skilled in doing the laundry.

Bambi didn’t have much arm strength, so she would slowly twist her clothes section by section after she cleaned them, and she’d imitate how Grandpa shook off the clothes and then hung them on the balcony to dry.

The balcony was al fresco and was separate from the rest of the house. It can only be accessed through the door in the kitchen. Hugh specially picked this room for Bambi after he was infected.

There was a door from the kitchen to the balcony, so in case something went wrong, Bambi had an extra chance to escape.

At the same time, fearing zombies or other dangers would enter through the balcony door, Hugh reinforced the door.

Sometimes Bambi was tired of staying in her room, so she would take Winnie with her to the balcony and lean over the balcony to look out at the tall buildings in the distance.

The quiet city presented itself in its ruined glory to Bambi’s eyes.

Hanging up her clothes, Bambi leaned against the balcony as usual to look out.

The weather wasn’t very nice today. The sky was overcast and blanketed with ominous, over-hanging clouds. Grandpa said that such weather signaled a heavy downpour.

She must remember to take her clothes down later.

Bang!

Powerful gunfire suddenly went off. Along with the gunshots was the sound of human voices and monsters roaring.

Then, a car sped past the street below.

Bambi shrank back in fright.

“Miles! I wish you a miserable death!”

Ivan Young clutched the gunshot wound on his chest and stared at the car that was speeding off into the distance in disbelief.

Just for a Level 3 plant-type crystal, his friend tried to kill him.

Ivan coughed heavily, blood spilling from the corner of his mouth.

Ivan was a C-class wind-type power user, and Miles Dean was a C-class fire-type. The two of them were originally college friends. They met by chance not long ago. After a round of inquiries, they realized their destination was the same—to the Northern Base. It was only natural the two of them partnered it.

Yesterday they encountered an injured Level 3 zombie. The Level 3 zombie was equivalent to a B-class power user. Fortunately, the zombie was already injured, and the two worked together and fought for their lives to finish off the zombie, as luck would have it, they obtained a Level 3 plant-type crystal.

Crystals could boost a power user’s powers, but neither of them was a plant-type, and it would be a total waste to use the energy inside it to heal their injuries.

Ivan suggested once they were at the base they could exchange the Level 3 crystal for supplies, and Miles agreed.

He thought it was a very good idea. They were partners, so they would share the supplies they got in exchange. He never considered the possibility of keeping it all.

However, just minutes ago, they encountered three Level 1 zombies, and Miles’ bullet deliberately deflected past the zombies and shot into his unsusceptible chest.

Ivan now understood everything.

The enraged Ivan endured the sharp pain in his chest and raised his hand to kill the zombie that pounced at him. This attack exhausted all his strength, the gun fell from his hand, and his body faltered.

Suddenly, the wind blew by, and Ivan caught a wisp of fragrance, that unique smell of laundry detergent.

The smell wafted down from overhead.

He looked up sharply and saw, from the building in front of him, a dress fluttered in the wind as it hung on the balcony of the third floor.

A dress hanging from the balcony? Is there someone living on the third floor?

His survival instincts kicked in and cleared Ivan’s drowsiness. He gathered his remaining powers, and a strong gust of wind wrapped around him from under his feet, with the buoyancy brought by the wind, Ivan jumped with all his might onto the third-floor balcony.

Ivan “flew” up but was still a little off. At the last moment, he grabbed onto the edge of the balcony and flipped himself over the rail with his last breath.

Then he crossed his eyes with a pair of eyes that were as big as grapes.

Good god, it’s a little girl.

Ivan’s eyes were filled with astonishment.

“I—” A sharp pain shot through Ivan’s chest, and he lost consciousness before he could say anything.

Bambi saw countless dead people when she followed Hugh around.

Grandpa said that the most terrifying were humans, the second most terrifying were the monsters, and the least terrifying were the dead.

So, after Ivan didn’t move, Bambi wasn’t afraid.

Dead people weren’t scary at all.

After staring at Ivan, who was covered in blood, for a long time and determining that the man was indeed “dead,” Bambi went inside and pulled out a blanket from the closet.

Bambi half-dragged and half-carried the blanket back to the balcony, unfolded the blanket, and wrapped Ivan up from top to bottom. She even tucked the corners in. This mister could leave in peace.

~*~

At the same time, on the way to the palace, Julius couldn’t hold himself back and discreetly opened his LUX to see if his daughter was awake.

“?”

What the fuck was that thing covered up in front of his baby?