anwhile, inside the carriage.
"Kim Yeonsu? You are saying a Holy Knight with that na is in the capital?"
Tie nodded energetically.
However, Raul and Enzo frowned.
"I have never heard that na."
"Right. Completely unfamiliar."
Basto, Bale, and Nordix quietly watched Tie.
They were worried she might beco upset.
But Tie remained calm.
"Um."
She puffed out her lips slightly, as if she had realized sothing, and muttered.
"Tie thought."
"...Thought?"
"Appa probably not tell Tie real na."
Everyone’s eyes widened.
But Tie calmly continued.
"Appa na really Kim, yeon character, su character. But if Holy Knight Order no such na, then chance appa na fake!"
The sentence was not very smooth, but everyone understood.
"To be honest, the na really is unusual."
Bale nodded.
When he first heard it, it had even been difficult to tell whether the real na was “Kim Yeonsu” or “Kim yeon character su character.”
But several days earlier Bale had finally understood that the real na was indeed “Kim Yeonsu.”
That happened after he listened to Tie’s long and very detailed explanation about how adult nas should be pronounced politely.
"Your father really said that? That his na is Kim Yeonsu."
At Basto’s question, Tie nodded.
When was that.
If she thought about it, it had been cold then, so it was probably winter...
"Ah."
A short sound escaped Tie’s mouth.
The child looked at the mbers of the squad, and her brows drooped sadly.
"It was in Tie kindergarten, on drawing contest day."
"So, friends from the Quail class, did everyone take colored pencils?"
"Yes!"
"Did everyone get paper too?"
"Yes!"
Like the other children, Tie clutched her pencils tightly and answered.
The teacher standing before them smiled brightly.
On the board it was written:
"Let us draw our family."
With her heart pounding, Tie looked down at her sheet.
In the drawing, Appa and Tie were holding hands and playing in the park. They were drawn as stick figures.
"Tie worm."
At that mont the child sitting beside her began to mock her drawing.
Tie’s face turned red and she shouted.
"No! That Appa and !"
"Tie Appa worm! Minjun! Yeoreum! Look! Tie Appa worm! Ahahaha!"
"All right, all right, everyone stop. You must not laugh at a friend’s drawing."
The teacher appeared like a savior, looked at Tie’s drawing, and said,
"Our Tie drew so well! How did you make such a beautiful drawing? Good job!"
The classmate beside her finally fell silent.
Tie snorted.
"Hmph."
And focused on the teacher again.
However, the teacher’s next words made her confused.
"Now let us write the nas. Did everyone show their parents the notice notebook that teacher asked you to deliver yesterday?"
"Yes!"
Among those answering, only Tie remained silent.
Yesterday after kindergarten, Tie had spent the entire ti in room 107.
Appa had returned very late, and grandmother said he had a lot of overti work.
"Tie also showed the notice to Appa?"
The teacher ca closer.
Tie fidgeted and lowered her gaze.
"Tie..."
She should have asked Appa to check the notice notebook.
But Appa had looked so tired that she decided to ask in the morning and... forgot.
"Oh, that is all right, that is all right. Tie will wait a little, okay?"
The teacher patted her head and went to the other children.
"Friends from the Quail class, your parents wrote their nas in the notice notebook, right?"
"Yes!"
"Then now we will take turns writing the family mbers’ nas on the drawing. Can you do it?"
"Yes!"
Tie watched sowhat confused as the classmate beside her wrote letters on his paper.
The handwriting was not very beautiful.
And there were many mistakes.
But...
"...Many."
The classmate had many nas.
Very many.
"Hey! Do not look at mine!"
The classmate glared at Tie angrily.
Tie hurriedly turned away.
"Not looking!"
But her eyes turned there again by themselves.
Mother, father, older brother, older sister...
The classmate wrote four nas.
Just then the teacher ca over.
"Tie. Do you know Appa’s na?"
Tie could not answer.
"I do not know...."
Until now she had always called him simply Appa.
People in the Gold Apartnts called him the bachelor from apartnt 106.
"Should have asked...."
When Tie murmured this and her eyes filled with tears, the teacher looked at her in alarm.
The teacher imdiately ca closer to her desk.
"It is all right, it is all right. Let us go check together."
Tie stared at her in surprise.
"Kindergarten have Appa na?"
"Of course. When your father registered you in the kindergarten, he filled out the paper with his na."
The sadness seed to disappear.
Tie tightly gripped her colored pencils and paper and followed the teacher.
They went to a place where children were usually not allowed.
The teachers’ office.
The teacher made sure the children were busy writing nas and led Tie to a cabinet.
She opened a drawer labeled:
.
She rummaged inside for a while and then pulled out a sheet of paper.
"Let us see. Tie can read, right? Here is Appa’s na."
Tie’s lips parted slightly in concentration.
She slowly read the letters inside the small square.
"Kim... Yeonsu?"
"Correct."
Kim Yeonsu.
Kim Yeonsu.
Tie felt her heart begin to beat hard and repeated the na.
"So Appa Tie na Kim, yeon character, su character? Now we go back to class and write?"
"Yes!"
She walked back to the classroom more lightly than ever before.
Tie wrote Appa’s na and her own na beside it on the sheet.
That day Appa, unlike the day before, returned ho early.
When he saw Tie, he imdiately showered her with kisses.
Tie happily said,
"Appa! Tie today learn Appa na!"
"Ah? What did you learn?"
"In kindergarten draw picture, look!"
Appa looked at the sheet Tie handed him and fell silent.
"Teacher tell Appa na. Appa na Kim, [N O V E L I G H T] yeon character, su character!"
"...."
"Tie now know Appa na! Our Appa Kim, yeon character, su character!"
For a while Appa said nothing.
He only chuckled softly and tucked Tie’s hair behind her ear.
"That is right, our princess. Appa’s na is Kim Yeonsu."
"Mm!"
"If anyone asks what Appa’s na is, say it like that. All right?"
"Mm! But Tie na also Kim Astie? Today Tie only write Tie, but teacher say must write Kim Astie...."
"Ah, that."
Appa thought for a mont.
"For now we will write it that way."
"Huh?"
"Kim Astie is Tie’s na that is used in Korea. Understand?"
"Tie then also have other na?"
"Not exactly another na. When we return to our holand, you will have a different surna."
Tie blinked involuntarily.
She had another surna.
"Tie not Kim, but Park...?"
Appa laughed.
"Not quite like that."
Tie did not understand, but she did not ask any more.
Because Appa hugged her tightly again and began showering her with kisses.
The girl laughed brightly and hugged Appa back.
"...Should have asked then."
Tie’s shoulders drooped as she rembered her life in the Republic of Korea.
"Should have asked what Tie surna in holand...."
The child clenched her fists tightly and blinked.
Soon the carriage fell silent.
Everyone understood.
Tie was barely holding back her tears.
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