Hokuou Kizoku to Moukinzuma no Yukiguni Karigurashi

Additional Chapter 88: The Dog and Father

Author:

This takes place after the additional chapter ‘With Ritzhard!’

The point of view is from Sieglinde’s brother.

Sieglinde left one dog as a gift and returned to the country where she married off to.

I thought that my daughters would feel sad, but my expectations were far off.

Edelgard and Adeltraud looked lonesome for a bit, but surprisingly they are now preoccupied with the dog.

The problem was elsewhere.

There was a person disappointed not over Sieg but over her husband Ritzhard-kun.

Father.

He went out to the ranch with a depressed expression again.

To make father this sad, just what could he have done…… I am only joking. The young man who manages being Sieglinde’s husband in a carefree manner is a very sociable man.

He was staying here as a guest, but he helped with father’s work, handled Sieg’s emotions very well, and flawlessly dealt with mother and sister-in-law. I could only see him as a superman.

Just why is he being Sieg’s husband?

Or so I wondered, but when I heard that most women cannot survive in the harsh environment of Ritzhard-kun’s land I understood.

Apparently, it is a land where the snow rages on, where savage beasts roam the forests. A frightening place.

When I heard that, I felt that it was the perfect place for my rough little sister Sieglinde.

They are on quite good terms as a couple, that I was in disbelief that such miracles did exist.

I could only pray that they would be happy for a long time.

Rather, the bigger problem is father.

He was even more depressed than my two daughters.

What is a proper adult doing, I thought, but it was Ritzhard who seized the heart of the impregnable fortress Sieg. Father too must have liked him very much, treating him like his own son.

Well, I also think that us brothers are also responsible for this.

We were busy at work, so we prioritised resting our bodies over helping father out with work.

Originally, it’s something that we needed to do, but Ritzhard went there.

I will reflect on myself and help with father’s ranch! It was easy to pledge so to myself, but seeing work piling up I couldn’t help him.

My brothers are all soldiers as well, so our busy periods overlapped.

However, we cannot leave our father depressed like this.

While I was agonising over what I should do in the drawing room, I spotted my daughters carrying the dog in a basket.

A fluffy, snow-white dog.

The name is ‘Ritz’.

Adeltraud named it.

But to coolly let someone name a dog after him, I was in awe. He is probably the most magnanimous man in our family.

The dog breed is a samoyed, that grows to a very large size.

It is kind and likes to play, so I heard from Sigelinde that these dogs are popular as pets.

It has a warm personality and does not have much hunting instincts, and it is friendly to people so it is not fit as a guard dog.

Everyone in the family agrees that its smile is similar to Ritzhard-kun.

My wife murmured, we have to get the dog trained.

Indeed, it is a very big dog, so if it lunges at my daughters while playing around it will be very dangerous.

I wondered if I knew anyone who knew a lot about dogs.

“Ah!”

“Goodness, what is it!?”

I was sorry to have surprised my wife, but I had a great idea.

I thought of leaving the education of the dog to father.

I heard that father also trained the sheepdogs.

If so, we can leave the dog to father.

Fortunately, the dog is very similar to Ritzhard-kun. The name is the same as well. Maybe it might be able to soothe father’s heart as well.

As soon as possible, I asked father that day.

But then I thought that my daughters would be saddened if the dog was left to father. I had thought that they might not want to hand over their cute dog, but Edelgard an Adeltraud honestly handed over the dog.

I felt sorry, but then I heard that my daughters energetically went out on strolls to the forest so I felt relieved.

I held the dog and went to father’s office.

“Father, may I have some time?”

A reply came immediately.

I was sitting face-to-face with father who was still looking exhausted.

Seeing the dog in my arms, he asked what it was that I wanted.

“I want father to train this dog.”

“I am to train the dog?”

“Yes. Can I ask you for that?”

I handed the dog over to father who was listening with a vacant expression.

Father made a confused expression at the dog he was suddenly given.

The fluffy dog did not shy away and stayed still.

To be similar to Ritzhard-kun even with this. What a frightening dog, I thought.

The dog Ritz stared up at fater.

Getting stared at, father gently patted the dog Ritz’s head.

The dog’s fur is soft, causing one to caress it a lot.

Gradually, father’s cheeks loosened.

After feeling the fur to his heart’s content, father expressed his impressions.

“Th-This is quite cute.”

“Right.”

The dog Ritz seized father’s heart.

I told the dog Ritz that I am leaving father to it with my gaze, and then left the room.

A few days later.

When I was coming back home from training, I saw father working energetically with the dog Ritz following behind him.

When I talked to him, I confirmed that it was the usual father I knew.

When I asked how the dog was doing, father laughed that it was troubling because it has too much energy.

The strategy ‘soothe father with the dog Ritz-kun’ seemed to have worked.

After seeing my father like that, I made up my mind.

First, I requested to be moved to a branch with less work.

I had more leisure in life, and I had more time I could spend with my wife and my daughters.

At that moment, us brothers reflected on our past actions and actively helped out with father.

Until now, we have only been doing work in the military, so we were not used to working with animals. At first, we went through great ordeals, but we gradually found it pleasurable and worthwhile.

Some months later, the dog Ritz grew into a fine dog.

When accompanying my daughters into the forests, it strode forth with an expression like a knight’s, exercising vigilance against wild animals.

It was a lovely dog that never lost its smile, so it healed all the family and the servants.

When accompanying father to the ranch, it also properly carried out its job as a working dog.

As expected of a dog Sieglinde chose, I thought in awe.

Thanks to the dog Ritz, the house became much brighter.

I felt sincerely thankful for the new family member.

A few years later, we went to Ritzhard-kun’s country with father, my daughters and the dog Ritz. It was dangerous when there was a pair of lookalikes.

One is a social white dog, and the other is a social white-haired young man.

They were both not familiar with each other, but Ritzhard-kun said “Long time no see” as if he was greeting an old friend, and the dog Ritz wagged it tail as if it found someone that was nice, after which they ran up to each other.

Seeing the two hug each other, I almost laughed because their actions and their appearances were too similar.

I desperately bit my lower lip and held it in.

There were many delightful events in Ritzhard-kun’s village, but that is a story for another time.

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