Adopting the Male Protagonist Changed the Genre - Chapter 115

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 115

 

“Jui-bam-tol.”

 

Leo answered “Yes, Belinda,” and looked up at me intently.

 

When we first met, he had been so stiff with tension that he couldn’t even meet my eyes for long – that felt like such a distant memory now.

 

I called Leo over and then spent a long time choosing my words.

 

How could I convey that he was precious to me in a way that would reach him without any misunderstanding?

 

I chose my words as carefully as if I were cutting a raw gem into a jewel.

 

“Have you ever heard the phrase ‘unconditional love’?”

 

“That’s…”

 

Leo tilted his head as if he didn’t quite understand.

 

My heart grew heavy because I could guess what Leo would say next.

 

“…That phrase seems a bit scary. If it’s love without reason, then that love could disappear without reason at any time, right?”

 

“I think so too.”

 

I smiled bitterly and gently stroked Leo’s hair.

 

I couldn’t force the child to accept something he found frightening. So I had to convey my feelings in a way that wouldn’t cause him anxiety or fear.

 

“Jui-bam-tol, I was originally a very, very wicked and terrible person.”

 

Thinking of all the evil deeds Belinda had committed, calling her wicked was actually insufficient.

 

Just as I was about to continue speaking.

 

“Th-that’s not true.”

 

Leo shook his head and cut off my words.

 

“You’re always kind to me. Belinda, you’re just misunderstood. The Knight said so too.”

 

Leo’s face turned bright red as he denied my words, as if I had been falsely accused.

 

What a sweet trap those words were.

 

To this child who would unconditionally believe me even if I said beans could be used to make soybean paste, I wanted to complain that there were actually unavoidable reasons for everything.

 

But I knew I shouldn’t do that.

 

I am Belinda now, and there’s nothing more unsightly than pitying and feeling sorry for oneself.

 

‘Even if everyone else pities me, I must not pity myself.’

 

Don’t I already know how much of an indulgence that would give myself?

 

I’m such a pitiful person.

 

There are reasons for everything that happened to me.

 

With those magic words, all of one’s evil deeds feel justified.

 

That’s how Belinda became the villain in 【Hirome】 and ended up treating the child before my eyes carelessly.

 

Therefore, even if Leo became frightened, I had to speak the truth properly.

 

“That’s not right. Before I met you, I committed many bad deeds. Those weren’t things that happened due to misunderstandings, and there were many people who were unjustly driven from this mansion because of me.”

 

“But…”

 

Leo wanted to argue but couldn’t find the words, so he just bit his lips in frustration.

 

I playfully touched Leo’s lips to stop him from biting them further and continued speaking.

 

“But if you still think I’m a good person, it’s because I wanted to be a good master to you.”

 

“To me?”

 

“Yes, Jui-bam-tol. You make me a good person. That’s why you’re precious to me. Because you make me a better person.”

 

Even after learning the truth about Belinda, the reason I could avoid crossing the line was actually thanks to Leo’s existence.

 

Because I wanted to be someone worthy in front of Leo.

 

“So you don’t need to become someone I need. You don’t have to be a good child or a useful child. You are precious to me just as you are.”

 

“I don’t really… understand what you mean.”

 

Leo fidgeted with his hands, furrowed his brow, then quietly placed his hand on his chest.

 

“It’s too difficult, Belinda. But somehow… my chest…”

 

Leo curled up briefly as if feeling stuffy, then this time his face turned bright red as he whispered.

 

“Belinda, could you… could you hug me just once? Like you do every morning?”

 

Leo’s face, tense with effort as he spoke, was as red as a persimmon that had ripened until it was soft.

 

Leo probably didn’t know what expression he was making right now.

 

He looked angry, like he was holding back laughter, and maybe even like he was crying.

 

This was the first time Leo, who didn’t even know what expression to make when craving affection, had asked me for a hug.

 

I gladly lowered myself and spread my arms toward Leo, grumbling.

 

“My Jui-bam-tol is so undemanding. If you just ask, I’d hug you not just once, but twice or three times.”

 

Unlike before, Leo rushed into my arms without hesitation.

 

The time I’d spent with this child was only 5 months now.

 

Compared to the years I’d lived and the lifetime I had ahead, 5 months was ridiculously short.

 

But Leo had become precious to me to the point where that passage of time seemed meaningless.

 

* * *

 

“You are precious to me just as you are.”

 

Those words threw a stone into Leo’s heart.

 

If it had been Leo from his orphanage days, those words would have become an empty echo leaving no trace in the child’s heart.

 

He would have thought it was a very, very bad lie trying to deceive him.

 

But to Leo, who was Belinda’s Jui-bam-tol, those words settled heavily like an anchor with a weighty sound. It felt like something substantial had taken root in the center of his heart.

 

It was just a few words, but he could feel something slowly filling his hollow chest, just like when Belinda hugged him.

 

‘My whole body feels like it’s melting.’

 

Just like when he’d been locked in the attic with a fever, it felt like his whole body would melt away like a snowman.

 

Pushed by that fear-like emotion, Leo squeezed out all his courage and barely managed to speak.

 

“Belinda, could you… could you hug me just once? Like you do every morning?”

 

When he rushed into Belinda’s arms like that.

 

‘Ah, this isn’t a dream.’

 

Only then did Leo realize this was reality. Belinda’s warmth touching his whole body told him that fact.

 

He was no longer a snowman that would melt away at a handful of sunlight.

 

Leo unconsciously rubbed his forehead against Belinda’s shoulder.

 

“My Jui-bam-tol is still only this big like a chestnut, when will he ever grow up?”

 

He heard Belinda’s playful voice by his ear.

 

She had said he didn’t need to be a good child or a useful child, but in that moment Leo made a resolution. It could be called his first dream.

 

Not as a means to find a place to belong, but something he truly wanted to become purely because he liked it.

 

‘I must become Super King-bam-tol.’

 

Leo recalled the new word he’d learned from Terry and made another resolution.

 

‘I’ll definitely become Super King-bam-tol and beat up all the people who are mean to Belinda.’

 

Contrary to Belinda’s worries, Terry’s education had already greatly influenced Leo.

 

* * *

 

“Phew, beating them all up really cleared my head.”

 

Terry wiped the sweat from her forehead with a refreshingly bright smile.

 

Late at night.

 

In front of her lay masked men who had collapsed and were foaming at the mouth.

 

Though their wounds were very shallow, Terry’s daggers were coated with poison she had specially made, so even a graze would cause unconsciousness within minutes.

 

While Terry, who had moved her body after a long time, was distracted, a black shadow silently landed behind her.

 

Instead of confronting Terry, he quietly reached for the door handle leading inside the Blanche Manor annex.

 

“Gack!”

 

He made a choking sound and collapsed, charred black as if struck by lightning.

 

Terry glanced at him and let out an annoyed sigh.

 

“Really, that mage makes things too easy. How boring.”

 

Thanks to Chaser’s intruder prevention barrier installed throughout the annex, Terry actually didn’t need to go out for walks every night.

 

However, Terry was dissatisfied with precisely that point.

 

He could easily stop intruders with his own strength without relying on magic or anything like that.

 

Terry kicked the intruders lightly to check if they were alive or dead, then clicked his tongue briefly upon confirming the tattoo carved on the inside of their wrists.

 

“Strays again this time. Just how tempting a piece of meat did the client throw to these guys that they keep coming endlessly like this?”

 

This was already the third attack. Even without bothering to investigate, the culprit was obvious.

 

Unlike when Shadow Crows were sent or when they tried to kidnap Leo before, all the intruders carried murderous intent.

 

That meant Schubel was being cornered. So much so that he had no time to worry about others’ eyes.

 

Eventually, Terry casually threw the unconscious intruders over the wall.

 

If they were assassins who had trained diligently and earnestly enough to build resistance to poison, they wouldn’t die.

 

‘Well… if they were negligent, there’s nothing to be done.’

 

Terry, having cleanly tidied up the front yard, let out a short whistle. It was a signal sent to Penandel who would be guarding Belinda’s room on the second floor.

 

No answer came back, but Terry was confident that he had heard his signal.

 

Having gotten some exercise, just as he was about to finish today’s duties and return to his room.

 

Dawn broke in the distance and light began to gradually enter the garden in front of the annex.

 

And as if chased by that light, a gray carrier pigeon flew over like an arrow and perched on Terry’s shoulder. It was a carrier pigeon sent by Sewer Rat.

 

Terry checked the code on the note tied to the bird’s leg and smiled with satisfaction.

 

Written there was the location of the missing Notary.

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