After a long while, Bernadette sat down beside Lilith and offered her the box of pastries. "Here."
Lilith stood on no ceremony and took another piece, then offered the lollipop again. "You take this too."
"Thank you."
Her little face serious, Bernadette thought that she must not embarrass herself in front of this older girl, Lilith, on their first meeting. "May I ask... where is Mr. Sparrow?"
Lilith said, "He went out on business."
"When will he be back?"
"He should be back soon."
"When is that?"
Resting her chin on her hand, Lilith said, "I'd really like to know too. You know how it is when adults go out on business. You can never be sure how long they'll take."
That immediately struck a chord with Bernadette, and she nodded repeatedly. "That's true. Every time Papa says he's going out to do something, he doesn't come back until the next day!"
"Exactly, Edward too!"
"Edward?"
Bernadette tilted her head and asked curiously, "Who's Edward?"
"My papa. Mr. Sparrow."
"Huh? Isn't Mr. Sparrow's name Klein?"
"Klein is his nickname. His full name is Edward."
Understanding dawned on her. "Oh~ Is that it? Then why do you call your papa by his full name?"
"Hmm."
Lilith pinched her chin and thought for a moment. "I'm used to it. Edward allows it. He thinks... it represents an equal relationship between father and daughter. We're father and daughter, but more than that, we're friends, so we should call each other by our names!"
After spinning that nonsense, Lilith turned the question back on her. "What about you? Aren't you and your papa like that? Or do you have one of those really strict relationships where the younger generation has to defer to the older?"
"Of course... of course not!"
Bernadette immediately raised her