Adopting the Male Protagonist Changed the Genre - Chapter 102

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 102

 

Jealousy, you say.

 

‘Why?’

 

Cesar unconsciously thought of the Crown Prince.

 

He remembered him having an appearance that seemed to have gathered all kinds of blessings, befitting one called the hope of the Kingdom.

 

The envy and admiration of many must have been his nourishment, making him so brilliant.

 

Cesar had never assigned any meaning to such facts.

 

Until just moments ago.

 

“Sir, aren’t you eating?”

 

Belinda’s words snapped Cesar out of his reverie.

 

At her gentle urging, he slowly picked up the dessert cutlery and crushed the dessert before him.

 

The dessert he barely managed to put in his mouth chewed like sand, dry and gritty.

 

Terry, who had been watching Cesar from the corner of his eye, struggled to suppress the corners of his mouth that kept trying to rise.

 

‘I only meant to give him a little stimulation.’

 

It seemed things were flowing in a more interesting direction than expected.

 

* * *

 

Unlike Cao, who couldn’t function during daylight hours, the Cerberus were full of vitality regardless of day or night.

 

When I first tamed them, they had lost most of their magic power and were small enough to fit in my arms.

 

Following Chaser’s advice, I threw them a few magic stones to replenish their magic power, and they grew rapidly day by day, now looking quite like the Dobermans I knew.

 

Ker, the eldest of the three Cerberus brothers, had a lively personality and good social skills, acting friendly toward people, while Rube, the second, was wary but extremely loyal to me, resembling most the Doberman that Belinda used to raise.

 

I gently scratched the chin of Rube, who stood upright at my feet, exactly half a step away, watching my every move.

 

‘No matter how I look at it, he resembles Lord Penandel.’

 

The Doberman who had been extremely loyal to Belinda, Misha.

 

Unfortunately for the Crown Prince, Misha’s name had already been Misha long before Belinda met the Crown Prince.

 

So if, as Terry said, Belinda’s expression was particularly gentle toward Lord Penandel, it must be because he resembled Belinda’s Doberman.

 

After alternately looking at Rube on my left and Lord Penandel on my right, both guarding my side even inside the house, I looked around for the youngest of the three brothers.

 

“Has anyone seen Bero?”

 

“I saw him hiding behind the display cabinet earlier.”

 

Terry, who had just returned from an outing, answered while warming his frozen hands by the study’s fireplace.

 

Bero, the youngest of the Cerberus, was so timid that he rarely showed himself when anyone other than me was present.

 

Only after confirming that Bero was somewhere inside the house rather than having run outside in fear did I examine the materials Terry had brought.

 

A peaceful evening filled only with the sound of sparks from the fireplace, pages turning, and Leo scratching magic circles onto parchment.

 

Just as I reached nearly the last page of the documents, a sudden shout erupted in the quiet study.

 

“Ker!”

 

Startled, I looked up to see Ker rolling around inside the blazing fireplace as if he were playing in the snowy front yard.

 

Ker’s mischief had already burned ugly holes in the carpet with flying sparks several times before.

 

But this time, it seemed he had burned Leo’s one-hour assignment, which the boy had been working on while lying in front of the fireplace doing Chaser’s homework.

 

Thoroughly angry, Leo clutched the hole-riddled paper in his hand, placed both hands on his hips, and spoke sternly.

 

“Bad!”

 

Ah, I shouldn’t laugh.

 

“You’re bad, bad!”

 

While I barely held back my laughter, Ker, deflated by Leo’s scolding, whined as he crawled out of the fireplace.

 

This caused burning pieces of wood to spill out of the fireplace. Lord Penandel quickly stomped on the sparks with his aura-infused feet to prevent them from spreading.

 

Probably only Lord Penandel would use aura so trivially like that.

 

“You can’t go into the fireplace like that. Look, you’ve ruined my homework.”

 

Whine.

 

The clever Ker sat with his front paws neatly together, looking up at Leo with wavering black eyes.

 

Leo, who had been firmly scolding while waving the hole-riddled homework, hesitated at that gaze.

 

“E-even if you look at me like that, I won’t forgive you.”

 

Whine.

 

“No matter what you do…”

 

Whimper.

 

“…I’ll let it slide just this once.”

 

The winner was Ker.

 

Leo’s shoulders drooped helplessly as he looked down at his homework like someone staring at a computer screen that had died black from a power outage before saving.

 

That sense of futility – anyone who’s experienced it knows it well.

 

I comforted Leo by saying I’d explain today’s situation well to Chaser, but there seemed to be nothing I could do about the futility the child felt.

 

“Lady Belinda… I’ll… go up to my room now.”

 

“Go ahead. Vivian, please take Jui-bam-tol up.”

 

“Yes, yes? Mmph, yes… Yawn, little star, let’s go.”

 

Vivian, who had been nodding off like a sick chicken for a while, yawned languidly and took Leo away.

 

After the sound of footsteps outside the door completely disappeared.

 

I called Terry, who was crouched in front of the display cabinet, gently waving jerky to see Bero’s face.

 

“Terry, how confident are you in the hypothesis written here?”

 

Investigate everything about Schubel thoroughly.

 

In response to that, Terry had brought two bundles of documents.

 

One recorded only the truth, while the other contained hypotheses derived from those truths.

 

“About 70 percent.”

 

Crack.

 

The sound of sparks flying was heard, and deep shadows flickered across Terry’s face in the wavering firelight.

 

I reread the section recording Uncle’s death.

 

The investigation into Schubel naturally led to digging into the cause of Uncle’s death.

 

Schubel Blanche had begun interfering in family affairs and gradually seizing power after Uncle’s riding accident.

 

Uncle had hovered between life and death from that accident, and those assisting the family head urgently spent a fortune to invite a high-ranking priest.

 

Fortunately, thanks to the priest who arrived in time, Uncle survived, but his mind began to deteriorate gradually.

 

Memory disorders and headaches, motor disabilities including mental confusion and hearing loss. Presumed to be delirium or dementia symptoms due to senility.

 

Having saved someone whose life hung by a thread, divine power might seem omnipotent at first glance.

 

However, while divine power easily heals external injuries or acquired ailments, it cannot cure illnesses from aging, congenital disabilities, or diseases of the mind. Uncle’s condition belonged to the latter category.

 

Thus Uncle endured two years with an unsound mind before dying.

 

Reading the last line of the document with Uncle’s death date, I touched my lips.

 

I didn’t know what expression I should make, or what expression I was currently making.

 

“It could be delirium symptoms as the specialist suggested, but I think differently.”

 

Terry’s fingertip pointed to a paragraph recording certain poisoning symptoms.

 

“It also matches typical lead poisoning symptoms.”

 

“…You’re saying he was poisoned to death.”

 

“Lead poisoning leaves no evidence in the body. The only way to determine lead poisoning is while the victim is alive, by administering an antidote to see if symptoms improve. Therefore, I cannot say there is evidence.”

 

“Yet you must have reasons for thinking it was poisoning.”

 

Terry paused briefly. As if organizing her thoughts, she continued in a low voice.

 

“You’ll remember that Shadow Crow eggs were brought into the Blanche Estate before. I was so focused on Schubel Blanche being the culprit that I overlooked an obvious fact.”

 

“An obvious fact?”

 

“That hatching monster eggs is an extremely difficult task even for assassins. Yet Schubel Blanche didn’t hand the monster eggs to an assassination guild to target the Master, but brought the eggs into the manor itself. This means there’s someone by his side who has both the knowledge to hatch monster eggs and the initiative to execute it.”

 

I suddenly remembered Terry saying she would investigate Schubel’s aide.

 

And also that an intruder had broken into the manor on the very day she was away from the annex.

 

If that day’s events weren’t mere coincidence…

 

“Master, do you remember when Schubel Blanche’s aide first came to his side?”

 

I fumbled through Belinda’s memories, trying to recall.

 

Not only his name, but even his appearance was so hazy that I had never once paid attention to his existence.

 

In Belinda’s memories, he simply stood quietly without a sound, like a shadow in a still-life painting, lingering at the edge of her vision.

 

Just like Terry hiding his body in the shadows.

 

“I thought it was strangely difficult to track his past. That man is from the slums. He was once part of the Strays too.”

 

“Ha, the Strays protecting Schubel?”

 

“To cause natural lead poisoning requires delicate dosage control, and the Strays have this knowledge as basic training.”

 

A hollow laugh escaped me without realizing it.

 

Then, as I gradually reached a certain realization, my laughter slowly faded away.

 

Lead poisoning requires careful attention over a long time, allowing the toxicity to accumulate bit by bit in the body.

 

The interior of Blanche Manor had once completely weeded out all the servants, so there was no one to suspect as an outside spy.

 

If Terry’s speculation was correct and Uncle really was poisoned to death, then the culprit was…

 

“It can only be that bastard.”

 

Because the aide is loyal to Schubel.

 

Terry, and even Penandel who had been watching this entire situation from beside me, remained silent.

 

I held my forehead and fell into thought. I felt a sense of unease, as if the buttons had been fastened wrong from the beginning.

 

Without realizing it, I fidgeted with the pendant on my choker before quietly speaking.

 

“I’ll spend tomorrow at the Main Building.”

 

“Pardon? Tomorrow?”

 

“Yes, I need to confirm the remaining 30% possibility with my own eyes.”

 

“…You’re not planning to sleep there, are you?”

 

“Do I look that stupid to you?”

 

When circumstances suggesting Schubel might have poisoned Uncle had been revealed, there was no way I’d sleep in what was essentially his front yard.

 

“Master, does it have to be tomorrow? If you give me just one day, I can prepare…”

 

For some reason, Terry trailed off and scratched his cheek.

 

“Terry, I won’t be taking you along, so there’s no need to prepare anything. And I’m telling you in advance, I won’t be accompanying you either, Penandel.”

 

“Then…”

 

“There’s someone who’s been doing no work and just eating free meals all this time, isn’t there.”

 

Penandel and Terry couldn’t quite guess who my partner would be.

 

As if responding to my words, Ker barked loudly just then.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————