I, reincarnate as the leader of the villainous knight order

Chapter 39: Family Bonding

Alexei and Angel were sitting across from each other, but eventually, I sat next to Alexei and crossed my legs, allowing Angel to sit next to me as we ate together. This way, I could bring the bowl of cookies closer, and Angel could easily reach them herself.

“Here, you should have some tea too. Oh, Angel’s is water, so it’s not hot. Come on, Angel, take a sip.”

“Mm…”

“You drank it well, good job~… Hm?”

Feeling a gaze, I looked up to see my sister-in-law and the children’s nanny frozen in place. It was certainly an unexpected behavior for the usual me, Justin.

“Sister-in-law, children are adorable, aren’t they?”

“Huh?! Y-yes, they’re both very cute, aren’t they? But… um?”

As I spoke, my sister-in-law quickly regained her composure and nodded hastily, exchanging a glance with the nanny.

“Y-yes, well, um, Justin-sama seems quite accustomed to handling children.”

“Indeed, it’s like he’s always taking care of kids… Wait, there aren’t any hidden children, right?”

“What?! No, of course not! I’m either on a campaign or living in the barracks!”

I couldn’t help but raise my voice at my sister-in-law’s words. Indeed, at twenty-two years old in this world, it wouldn’t be strange to be married with children.

“Uncle, it was so delicious! Thank you!”

“I’m glad you liked it. I’ll teach the cooks here how to make them, so you can have them again next time.”

“Really?! Yay!”

“Yay!”

Imitating Alexei’s joy, Angel also expressed her happiness in the same way. Watching Angel happily, Alexei stood up gently and tugged at my sleeve.

“Uncle… I want to… sit on your lap too…”

Ah, my nephew is too cute…! Should I assign guards to prevent any misunderstandings!?

“Uncle?”

“Oh, of course, you can. Angel, sit nicely with your big brother.”

I placed Angel on my left thigh and held Alexei with my right hand, seating him on my right thigh. Facing each other, the two smiled happily at each other. How adorable.

As we relaxed like that, the door suddenly burst open.

“Oh, Father…”

Alexei visibly tensed up. I gently stroked his shoulder to reassure him.

“Justin, what are you doing here?”

Albert entered the room brusquely and looked down at me from behind.

“I just came to give cookies as a gift to my lovely nephew and niece. They have such cute faces, resembling their mother. They’re so adorable, unlike us.”

“What’s your purpose here?”

It seems like there’s some misunderstanding. My legs were getting numb, so I lifted the two of them up and stood up. Since we’re about the same height, I met his gaze head-on.

“What other purpose could there be besides doting on these adorable children? It seems like you’re not getting much affection. When was the last time you held them properly? As a father, you need to make sure your love gets through, alright?”

I handed Alexei over to my older brother with a flick of my wrist. He caught him hastily and glared at me.

“What on earth are you thinking?!”

“Hyah!”

The moment I raised my voice, Alexei tensed up again.

“Oh… A-Alexei, I didn’t mean to say that to you.”

He’s not used to paying much attention to the children, huh? Well, it can’t be helped if our father figure is like that. I don’t remember ever playing with them or taking care of them. Maybe I should teach him how to interact with children, for Alexei’s sake as well.

“Brother, have you been exercising lately? Well… it’s a bit pitiful to compare yourself to me, a knight.”

“W-what?!”

“If you keep drinking so much alcohol, you’ll get a belly, you know? Why don’t you exercise with the kids every day? It’ll be good for you.”

I stretched out my legs, bent my knees, and let Angel sit on the top of my foot, hugging my leg.

“Angel, hold on tight for me, okay?”

She’s only two years old, so she probably doesn’t understand what I’m saying, but she’s happily holding on with a smile on her face. I started doing sit-ups like this, and every time I sat up, our faces got closer, and Angel reached out her hand to grab my face, but then let go immediately, getting excited.

“Angel~”

“Hehehe!”

“Baah~”

“Hehehe!”

“Now, brother, you should let Alexei sit on your foot too. Oh, or can’t you do sit-ups because your abs are weak?”

As I smirked teasingly at my dumbfounded older brother, he raised his eyebrows.

“Of course not! Just watch me!”

As expected, my brother got worked up and started doing sit-ups with Alexei sitting on his toes. And when he first sat up, due to the recoil, the two of them ended up staring at each other from a very close distance.

“How about that, Alexei. Your father can do it too, you know.”

“Yes! Father is amazing!”

Praised by his child and showing off an obvious smug look towards me. Look, even my sister-in-law is giggling. Well, Alexei looks happy too, and as expected, the distance between father and son seems to have shortened.

“Poor father, isn’t he, Angel?”

As my older brother continued his sit-ups, encouraged by his child, I whispered quietly to Angel, just for her to hear.