The Villainess Is My Cute Daughter

Not even an hour into the meditation, Aria opened her eyes and looked up at Adrian before smiling brightly.

"I think I did it, papa!"

Adrian just stared at her as multiple emotions surged through.

It had taken him two to three years just to awaken the first circle and the girl had done it in an hour. She really had the talent to get to the level of the final boss of this world.

But it also made him a little sad.

’If she gets strong too quick... it might get to her head. If she ends up like those snobby nobles, it’ll all be my fault. The other outcomes would be her taking up too many responsibilities as a child if I’m unable to keep up with her strength and the best option would be her just experiencing childhood like normal but that’ll be next to impossible if her talents are exposed.’ he thought as he patted her head with a smile.

"I didn’t know my Aria was this talented." he said as he crouched down in front of her, "But we must not let anyone know about this. If people find out, bad guys will come after you and I don’t want my sweet little angel to be hurt in any way."

Aria looked at him with her large black eyes and nodded before she hugged him.

"Aria will not tell anyone."

’He’s actually keeping me safe instead of trying to use my talents and strength... is my bar too low? He keeps breaking my expectations... it really is like a dream.’

"Now... we’ll need to find a way to find you some spell books. Or maybe if you’re interested in other branches of magic, I’ll find you stuff related to it too. Alchemy, Mana Engineering, Enchanting and Runesmithing. Though, to learn any of these, you’ll have to learn the basics of mana first. Papa is a mana engineer so I can tutor you myself."

Adrian recalled all the information on Aria that he had read in the novel. She was great at both alchemy and enchantment magic but there was no instance of her using runesmithing or mana engineering so he didn’t expect her to pick any of those.

Contrary to his expectations, the girl just beamed, and exclaimed, "I’ll learn Mana Engineering! I want to be like papa."

Aria knew the basic concepts of mana engineering but it was a branch of magic that specialized in producing magic items that weren’t exactly used for combat. Things like magic lamps and self cleaning clothes to ships that didn’t require sails.

They were all useful, but she never thought that this branch of magic could help her with her goals. She didn’t have the time or the peace to sit in a place and work on an item. And spending valuable time on making items that didn’t help with combat, would only lower her chances of survival.

Or so she thought.

And she wasn’t wrong either. Her method helped her survive and get stronger.

But this time, she had a father who cared. She had a place where she could peacefully do what she wanted and she also had the time.

On top of that, she didn’t wish to waste her time acting like she was learning something she already knew.

Adrian nodded and smiled even though he didn’t expect her to pick the same profession as his own, but he felt a strange sense of excitement.

"Okay, let papa make you something to eat and practice this mana breathing method before I start teaching you." he said as he picked her up and walked to the kitchen.

"Papa, where’s uncle Damian?"

"Damian said that he must stay in the mansion so we’ll be alone here until the place is fixed." he said as he put her on a chair and grabbed a few potatoes.

He peeled them clean, washed them and tossed them in water before boiling the pot. While the potatoes boiled, he fried some sunny side up eggs and cut up the jerky he had bought the previous day.

He tossed the jerky pieces into another pot of water and let it simmer.

A few minutes later, he strained the water and mashed all the potatoes, adding some milk and butter to it before he began mixing it. Then, he added some salt and pepper before he continued whisking.

Once the mashed potatoes were done, he brought the pots to the table, put the fried eggs on both their plates and tore a loaf of bread and put them in each of their plates too.

A scoop of mashed potatoes went in next and then, he poured the thin jerky soup into mugs.

"We’re both used to drinking soups made from fresh ingredients but for the people of Oresfall, this is a staple food. We must eat what they eat to understand their experiences even if it’s just a little." he explained before he took a sip.

It was salty and the meat wasn’t exactly juicy or fresh. The chunks were still chewy but they weren’t as tough as their normal dry form.

Aria didn’t complain as she copied her father and took a sip too.

She had drank this soup multiple times in her past life and somehow, it had been one of her favourite comfort foods. And now, it tasted even better and she didn’t know why.

As she took a sip, the image of Adrian at the kitchen counter entered her mind and she smiled softly.

The two of them ate their simple meal in silence before Adrian walked into his bedroom and opened the book.

It had two basic mana breathing methods. One was where he could extract mana from the atmosphere into his body and the second was the one where he absorbed mana from mana crystals instead.

He continued reading and the methods got more and more advanced and specific with certain conditions involved to get it working.

The book wasn’t just about mana breathing but about mana absorption. Multiple ways to absorb mana into his body with each one having different effectiveness.