/
“Don’t you have any more of those sticky notes?!”
A faint glint of madness flickered in the mage’s eyes.
“Did you say sticky notes? Now I can’t do my magic formula revisions without them!”
“No, that’s

.”
“How have I been living without that sticky note all this time? Oh, I can hardly imagine!”
Starting with him, the other mages rushed over to Melvin.
“Melvin!”
“Give us those sticky notes!”
“Sticky notes! Sticky notes!”
In unison, they chanted for nothing but sticky notes. They were like drug addicts suffering from withdrawal symptoms.
Before he knew it, Melvin was surrounded by a circle of mages.
“Ah, okay, everyone calm down, we don’t have any right now, but we’ll make some as soon as we can

!”
“Wait a minute, what did you say?”
“We don’t have any?!”
Despair flashed across the mages’ faces.
“When is ‘as soon as you can’?!”
“I’m saying I need it now!!!”
The momentum of the zombie-like rush of mages made Melvin shrink back in horror.
“Ju-just wait a little longer! Got it?”
Bang!
Melvin stumbled back into the room, slamming the door shut behind him.
He clutched his forehead and made a pained sound.
“Ha, this is an all-nighter
”
It looked like Melvin needed to start producing sticky notes immediately, for the sake of his own survival.
* * *
About a month later.
The townhouse was suddenly overrun with gifts.
“Hey, what’s all this?”
I stared at the gifts in disbelief.
They were all kinds of things. There was a teddy bear walking around on a string, all sorts of candy in glass jars, bouquets of flowers, and more.
Kirios smiled proudly as he burst in with the gifts.
“These are from the mages who have fallen for the charms of my little kid.”
What? What does that mean?
I looked up at Kirios, dumbfounded.
“I’m being

 favored?”
“You know, the sticky notes.” Kirios shrugged proudly. “The sticky notes, the ones that you tear off and stick on? They’re very popular.”
“Very popular’?”
“Oh, didn’t I tell you? Those tower guys, they’re totally obsessed with it.”
No, wasn’t that supposed to be almost a non-starter?
I was stunned.
I seem to recall that the mage in charge of the patent application was rather unimpressed.
Meanwhile, Kirios explained with a beaming smile.
“The kid’s going to be so surprised when you come back to the tower; they’re all over the desk, the walls, and everywhere.”
“What?”
“I’ve used them to jot down ideas, and they’re pretty efficient. You don’t have to erase them; you just replace them.”
“What?”
“Seriously, I can’t emphasize enough how much those guys love it. Maybe if you told them to crawl across the floor, they’d do it?”
“What?”
Unable to keep up with the conversation, I just kept saying ‘What?’.
But Kirios wasn’t done with his bombshell.
“So, the sticky note – I patented it in your name.”
“A, a patent? You actually patented that?”
“Yep. I can’t let that breakthrough idea go to waste, not as a mage and certainly not as a dad.”
I honestly hoped Kirios was making a joke, but I guess not.
I never thought he could look so serious.
“I’ve set up a transfer of patent royalties to the kid’s account, so check it out later.”


It’s a true skill to be able to tell such a huge story and make it sound so casual.
I found myself speechless.
And then.
“Kirios!!!”
Siegfried, who should have been locked in his office by now, came running towards us, panting.
“Tatiana’s account has suddenly received a large amount of money, what the hell is this?” Siegfried narrowed his eyes and looked at Kirios observantly. “I heard that you filed a patent application as Tatiana’s representative – is this a payment for the use of that patent?”
“That’s right,” Kirios replied crisply.
And Siegfried looked back at him

.
“I see.”
The answer was neat and amenable.
I was a little taken aback.
I mean, normally, he’d try to eat Kirios up over the smallest of things.
Why was he so nonchalant about this?
As if sensing my question, Siegfried gave me a quick explanation.
“Well, when it comes to patents, there’s no one better than Kirios.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. He’s probably the most famous patent holder in the Empire.”
Then he glanced back at Kirios.
Well, listen.
Somehow, I think there’s a glint of madness in Siegfried’s golden eyes.


Is it my imagination or
?
“So where can I buy some of that sticky note paper?”
“What?”
“My vassals are clamoring to buy it now,” Siegfried said grimly. “They’re telling me I’m going to be so much more efficient with my paperwork if I have sticky notes
”
“Well, why don’t you put in an order for it first? The magic tower is in charge of the production of those sticky notes.”
Kirios gave me a mischievous glare.
“Though you might have to wait a while.”
“What? And why?”
“Because you’re late. Cesar got his order placed first.”
“No, I mean, how much does that guy even use sticky notes anyway?”
Siegfried frowned.
And then.
“Siegfried, as the head of your family, I cannot condone that statement.”
A cheerful voice rang out.
It was Cesar.
Striding over, he gave Siegfried a stern look.
“Do you have any idea how much paperwork there is in the Great Temple? It’s basically budgeting for everything.”
“Third Dad!” I squealed and ran to Cesar.
“Miss Tati!”
Cesar swept me into his arms. Unlike the way he’d treated Siegfried, he was as warm as a ray of spring sunshine.
“I hear you’ve patented a new type of notepaper, which is wonderful.”
“I didn’t do that, that was my second dad’s job.”
“But the basic idea was yours, wasn’t it, Miss Tati?” Cesar replied without raising an eyebrow.
“Kirios was just a mere handyman, so it’s Miss Tati who’s the brilliant one.”
No, can you really be this harsh towards Kirios?
I squinted at him, feeling uncomfortable.
But.
“That’s right, that’s right. It was all the kid’s doing.”
If anything, Kirios was nodding enthusiastically

.
“I’ve heard that the imperial palace has also placed an order.”
“That’s right, my kid seems to have a knack for business!” Kirios raised his voice in excitement.
Well, it’s not like I was selling sticky notes to the imperial palace and got an order, you know?
I felt the protest rise to the top of my throat.
“I can’t believe you had such a revolutionary idea.”
“I’m not just saying that because she’s my daughter; Tatiana is a genius.”
Before I knew it, Cesar and Siegfried were chiming in as well

.
Honestly, I was dying of embarrassment.
No, I hadn’t done anything. I was just simply swallowing what Kirios was feeding me.
Suddenly, sparks flew at me.
“So, little kid, you wanted to make some money, didn’t you?”
“What? We-Well, sort of.”
I merely blinked at Kirios’s question.
My original plan was to set up an investment fund, and then use that as a springboard for independent funding.
But it looks like I’ve earned all the money I needed. Shouldn’t I be able to just sit back, take the patent money, and enjoy the ride?
“So, is there anything else you’d like to do?”
Huh?
I blinked, dumbfounded.
What was that?
This feeling that somehow Kirios was more motivated than I was

.
“I thought you wanted to experience making money.”
“No, that’s

.”
Oh, my gosh, the excuse I’d given Nora had come back to bite me in the ass!
I cursed inwardly.
“Well, the patent fees will keep coming in, and that should be enough to fund the investment.”
“Well, that’s true. But I might run out of money and

.”
“Why worry about all that? If you don’t have enough, we’ll back you up. Right?”
Kirios glanced back at Siegfried and Cesar for agreement.
They nodded as if it were a given.
Kirios spoke again.
“I don’t mind if it fails, I just want the kid to have a variety of experiences.”
“I couldn’t agree more.”
“If you ever need any help, just let me know.”
For a moment, I felt speechless.
He truly wanted me to have a variety of experiences to help me grow up without lacking anything.
Maybe that’s why.
Before I knew it, my mouth was moving of its own accord.