Chapter 62 Favorite Daughter
Nami ran as fast as she could to the laboratory after six months without setting foot there. She was overjoyed to finally be allowed to go home for a week after six months of military training.
"Levi, I'm home...!" Nami shouted happily, entering the busy laboratory with her characteristically energetic style.
Levi, who could hear her shouting from a distance, was slightly startled by Nami's arrival.
"Why is she here?" Violet snorted in annoyance when she heard Nami's voice. Although her other colleagues didn't particularly like Nami's presence in the lab, they could sometimes tolerate her presence, unlike Violet, who truly disliked her presence.
"Levi...!" Nami pushed open the door to Levi's usual workroom with great force. Luckily, this happened often in the past, so the door had been repaired and rebuilt to withstand the force.
Seeing Levi's face, which she missed so much, without warning, Nami ran to Levi and hugged him tightly. Levi, who would usually quickly prevent himself from being hugged, didn't have the time this time. Nami's movements were too fast for him to react.
"Levi, I missed you so much...!"
Levi was touched, for some reason feeling incredibly nervous. He hated touch, let alone hugs. But this time, it was impossible for him to refuse Nami's hug, considering the distance she had traveled to meet him here.
Everyone in the room stared at them in an unusually awkward manner, knowing full well Levi's dislike of touch, always avoiding even small gestures like shaking hands. But this time he seemed resigned.
"Hey, Nami, what are you doing? Don't hug Professor Levi with your dirty hands!" Violet quickly reacted to separate her beloved Professor from Nami.
"I've washed my hands, they're clean!"
"Where did you wash your hands? Come on, let go! You're making Professor Levi uncomfortable!" Violet persisted in separating the two. However, Nami's hug was beyond her control, given how strong she was.
"Why? I'm Levi's favorite daughter, right Levi?" No body know where her confidence came from so she said something so surprising like this.
Violet, hearing this, immediately remembered Levi's confession a few months ago when she and Jean accompanied him to see a giant meteor crash, a fragment of which is currently in the laboratory.
At that time, Levi had made a shocking confession to two professors from ERI that he was Nami's legal guardian or adoptive parent.
"Professor, what do you mean by Nami being your daughter?" She and Jean waited for Levi's answer.
"I adopted her when she was 13."
"You adopted Nami? How is that possible?"
"The legal age to adopt a child is 21, but I received special permission for something I can't tell you. Therefore, before I turned 19, I became her father. I considered adding my surname to her name, but I decided to hold off until I told her about this."
"So, you've been telling Nami that you're her adoptive father for a few years now?"
"I told her the other day while visiting Yeager Academy. I thought it was a good time for me to tell her the truth."
Recalling Levi's shocking confession that day, Violet felt both happy and relieved. She had thought it impossible for Levi to marry Nami, who was now legally his adopted daughter. Therefore, she felt that her greatest rival was now nothing more than a daughter to the professor.
"What beloved? Don't joke around! Get your filthy hands off the Professor!" Violet became even more insistent. She hated that she couldn't even hold Levi's hand, even though they saw each other and worked together every day.
Nami, realizing that she had the privilege of being Levi's "daughter," began to bare her fangs. She knew that Levi would always defend her and be on her side.
She stuck out her tongue to mock Violet, who wasn't particularly fond of Levi. Seeing Nami's mockery, Violet's face turned bright red.
"Are you mocking me? You're so insolent—"
"Dad, look at that witch! She wants to hit me!" Nami said, pretending to whine to get Levi's attention.
"DAD...?"
Everyone who heard her words was shocked. Those who had previously been focused on their work suddenly abandoned their focus after hearing something so shocking.
"Hey, Nami, who did you call your dad?" Asked Adam, Nami's biggest hater alongside Violet.
"Of course, Levi, he's my father. You didn't know, did you?" Nami smiled proudly, while Levi realized he couldn't stop her from doing whatever she wanted.
"Professor Levi, is that true?" Asked Professor Karen Louis, one of the scientists working at Sanders Laboratory. As a senior scientist and Levi's colleague, she knew almost everything about Levi. Therefore, she was shocked to have missed such significant information.
"I'm sorry I've kept it a secret from all of you. But I just wanted to keep this a secret until I could be absolutely sure that Nami was safe from ERI's surveillance. I adopted Nami from the Everdeen Orphanage seven years ago, when she was 13. My decision was approved by the government authorities and her birth certificate and official identification already have my name listed as her legal guardian or parent."
"Hehe...am I right? You've been bullying me all this time, even though I'm your superior's favorite daughter!" Nami's words grew increasingly arrogant, making Adam even more annoyed with her.
"Who are you calling your favorite daughter?"
"Of course I am! Right, Dad? Oh, I missed you so much!" She said, hugging Levi and rubbing her head against his chest, as he stood quietly.
"This bastard—" Adam cursed in annoyance, filled with envy and jealousy.
"This is truly shocking. Why didn't you tell me this much information, Levi?" Professor Karen said, deeply disappointed at the delay.
"I'm so sorry! Nami, why did you come here?"
"The cadets have a week off, that's why I'm going home."