Adopting the Male Protagonist Changed the Genre - Chapter 125

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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 125

 

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The fact that he poisoned Jonas Blanche alone was sufficient grounds to punish Schubel.

 

The only problem was the lack of evidence to prove it.

 

However, I learned from Giuseppe, whom I met during my winter travels, that if there’s no physical evidence, you simply make the culprit move.

 

No matter how much Belinda screamed that Schubel killed her uncle, no one would believe her.

 

But what if the absolute divine authority declared my words to be truth?

 

‘From that moment, the situation would change.’

 

For that, I needed to stand in a divine trial.

 

However, the Temple doesn’t interfere in private matters. They only hold trials to punish sinners who go against their faith.

 

So what choice did I have? I had to put myself on the judgment stand.

 

Whether I should call it luck, there were strange rumors circulating in the Manor’s Main Building that I required living sacrifices and dealt with evil spirits.

 

Thanks to that, getting accused as a Dark Mage was quite easy.

 

I pressured Schubel to think of using the Temple, and deliberately summoned Cao when Mary came to attend to me, and voilà.

 

I was accused of being a Dark Mage and received a divine trial.

 

The most difficult part of this entire plan was none other than gaining Suga’s cooperation.

 

Basically, fairies don’t know how to lie.

 

If someone accidentally asked Suga about the truth and Suga carelessly answered, all plans would turn to bubbles.

 

Therefore, I gave Suga one gold coin and asked her to say nothing during the trial.

 

Most regrettably, Suga was a fairy who knew how to do business.

 

She pushed aside the one gold coin I gave her, shook her tiny head from side to side, and held up four fingers.

 

What Suga wanted was 4 gold.

 

Since I had planned to give her about 5 gold anyway, I was willing to accept Suga’s deal.

 

If only that fairy hadn’t added more words.

 

【Suga wants 4 gold per hour.】

 

Hey, look here? It’s a trial with no telling when it’ll end, and 4 gold per hour? That’s worse than loan shark interest!

 

“1 gold.”

 

【4 gold.】

 

“2 gold.”

 

【4 gold.】

 

“3 gold…!”

 

【4 gold!】

 

I should have realized at the casino when her eyes rolled back that she wasn’t a fairy but a money-crazed fly.

 

“Fine… I accept.”

 

【Okay, thank you. 4 gold!】

 

Since I was the more desperate one, I had no choice but to surrender to Suga.

 

After gaining Suga’s cooperation, the rest went as you can see…

 

“‘His’ execution date has been set.”

 

The Crown Prince elegantly set down his teacup and opened the conversation.

 

The moment the Royal Court judge delivered the verdict, Schubel’s appearance as he caused a scene claiming injustice, forgetting all noble dignity, remained on people’s lips for a very long time.

 

I moistened my mouth with tea and set down my teacup in its place like the Crown Prince as I answered.

 

“It’s all thanks to Your Highness’s efforts.”

 

“That’s true. But since it was mutually beneficial, you don’t need to thank me separately.”

 

The Crown Prince didn’t deny his significant contribution and smiled playfully.

 

After the divine trial ended, I accused Schubel of murdering Jonas Blanche.

 

The Crown Prince, with whom I had exchanged prior communications, stepped forward as if he had been waiting, and this time in completely opposite circumstances, Schubel was immediately imprisoned in the Royal Palace’s underground dungeon.

 

Since Schubel was a representative noble faction supporting the Prince as the next successor, removing him would benefit the Crown Prince.

 

“By the way, the verdict came faster than expected. I thought it would take longer.”

 

The fact that Schubel stood in the Royal Court for patricide spread quickly.

 

At first, everyone expected he would get out soon.

 

The only evidence that Schubel poisoned his uncle was my testimony, and Schubel consistently and persistently claimed his innocence.

 

The tide of the trial began to turn when Eleanor’s letter revealed that Schubel was not Jonas Blanche’s biological child, showing he had motive to kill his father.

 

A sluggish battle of arguments continued for quite some time.

 

And just yesterday.

 

“An investigator very ‘luckily’ discovered evidence that Schubel poisoned Marquess Jonas Blanche. As if someone had prepared it, the evidence was placed conspicuously at the scene the investigator visited.”

 

Schubel’s hanging was decided.

 

At the Crown Prince’s words, I smiled brightly and poured more tea into his cup.

 

“It seems he has enemies other than me.”

 

“…That could be the case.”

 

The Crown Prince also poured more tea into my cup, and we exchanged everyday conversation as if we had returned to the past, playing house.

 

When the tea had all cooled.

 

“Your Highness, I would like to meet that death row prisoner one last time. Would that be possible?”

 

At my words, the Crown Prince stared at me intently.

 

I couldn’t name the emotion that appeared in his forest-like green eyes.

 

I glanced at him cautiously and asked.

 

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

 

“It’s unexpected.”

 

“What is?”

 

“The Bel I knew is no longer here. I’m having that thought anew.”

 

“…”

 

I couldn’t say anything because those words were true.

 

When I avoided answering by wetting my lips with the cold tea, the Crown Prince nodded awkwardly as if he had said something foolish.

 

“I’ll arrange for you to have a comfortable conversation.”

 

* * *

 

Schubel once sincerely believed in something like an impossible dream that a child might have.

 

Wouldn’t there come a day when he would suddenly awaken the Blanche Family’s ability and be recognized as a true noble?

 

However, such a dream-like event never occurred.

 

He learned noble etiquette, mingled with nobles, and lived a noble’s life, but could never become a true noble.

 

Originally, that was the law for bastard bloodlines.

 

Then, that news arrived.

 

“Father… became the Marquess Blanche?”

 

A golden opportunity that would make his incomplete life perfect.

 

If he became the Head of the Blanche Family following his father, he could repay all the humiliation he had received and gain the world’s recognition.

 

Looking only at that one thing, Schubel began to thoroughly isolate Belinda, who was an obstacle to his goal.

 

Although his father sometimes discriminated between him and Belinda to a disappointing degree, Schubel believed without doubt.

 

That Jonas would pass the family to him.

 

Wasn’t he his very own blood?

 

For now, he pretends to care for Belinda because of people’s gazes and excludes me from family matters, but when the time comes, he will surely pass the family’s succession to me.

 

But that was Schubel’s delusion.

 

“Schubel, don’t cross the line. I have no intention of passing the family to you.”

 

It was the first time Schubel had subtly asked Jonas about succession.

 

At the unexpected answer, Schubel let out a hollow laugh and asked.

 

“Surely you’re not thinking of passing it to Belinda. You know better than anyone how that child usually conducts herself, don’t you, Father?”

 

Father would understand my life of enduring the humiliation of being disparaged simply for being the child of an illegitimate son.

 

So naturally…

 

“What does usual conduct have to do with that child being the rightful heir of the Blanche Family? If Bel lacks the ability to lead the family, we’ll just have to bring in a son-in-law.”

 

Shouldn’t he understand and cherish me more than anyone else?

 

“You trust… the man that wench chooses over me? A complete stranger with no blood relation?”

 

“Schubel! How dare you speak such vile words about your sister!”

 

Though Jonas raised his voice, it was actually Schubel who wanted to shout.

 

“Why exactly can’t I inherit the family? Surely you won’t use bloodline as a reason. Didn’t you see all my efforts? So…”

 

Schubel’s voice gradually diminished. Jonas was affirming with his silence.

 

“Ha, haha. Really because of bloodline? Father, you sit in that position yourself, yet to me… How can you be so cruel to me? How have I lived all this time… What haven’t I done to obtain that position you sit in!”

 

“…What haven’t you done? Schubel, what exactly do you mean by that? Are you saying you truly stabbed this father in the back?”

 

“…”

 

“Schubel! Answer me!”

 

“It’s already too late for everything.”

 

It was a mistake to trust the soft-hearted Jonas from the beginning.

 

Now that it’s come to this, I’ll make it so he has no choice but to choose me.

 

‘If I’m the only heir left, Father will have no other option.’

 

With bloody thoughts, Schubel turned and headed for the door.

 

“Schubel! Stop right there!”

 

Even at Jonas’s call, he didn’t look back. Once he opened this door and left, he would cross a river from which there was no return.

 

With such resolve, the moment he grasped the door handle.

 

“Schubel, whatever you do will be useless. You don’t have Blanche blood flowing through you!”

 

Schubel froze in place, then slowly turned around.

 

“Father, no matter how urgent you feel, such ridiculous lies…”

 

“When I met Eleanor, she was already carrying you in her womb. Ask Hound. He stayed by Eleanor’s side for a long time, so he knows all the truth.”

 

Father must be senile and talking nonsense. Otherwise, how could…

 

“But not for a single moment have I ever considered you anything other than my son. Schubel, isn’t that enough?”

 

How can he say such insane things?

 

“Schubel, my son. In my view, my brother’s life wasn’t happy. Rather, it was miserable. This position is that kind of position. It’s not something for people like us to covet.”

 

That’s Father’s thinking. No, that man’s thinking.

 

When exactly was he planning to reveal this fact?

 

Was he digging a trap to pass it to Belinda and cast me into ruin?

 

Suspicion spread endlessly.

 

“Father… Are there others besides you and Hound who know the secret of my birth?”

 

“Didn’t I tell you? I considered you my own son. What father would go around babbling about his son’s birth?”

 

“I see. Thank you.”

 

Schubel smiled. However, his resolve hadn’t changed. Only the target had shifted.

 

Schubel immediately had Hound steal the will from the safe. It contained a clause passing the marquess title to Belinda.

 

He immediately forged the will and returned it to the safe.

 

Perhaps because he felt betrayed.

 

When he drugged Jonas’s food to stage a riding accident, when he used knowledge learned from Hound to cause lead poisoning, he felt less guilt than expected.

 

Rather, he even felt a kind of righteousness.

 

“You could never even imagine how miserable my past was.”

 

All of this was justified effort to change my unfortunate life.

 

Belinda quietly looked down at Schubel, who was speaking to her in a haggard state.

 

“Your past?”

 

As if curious, Belinda used the key she received from the Crown Prince to open the prison door and stepped inside.

 

Schubel, with both wrists bound by shackles extending from the wall, hung his head low as if he lacked even the strength to support his body.

 

She forcibly lifted Schubel’s head with the tip of her fan.

 

“You still haven’t come to your senses and are having utterly disgusting delusions. Why exactly do you think I’d be curious about a criminal’s past?”

 

Schubel still had a genius talent for acting like an innocent victim to gain others’ sympathy.

 

But he wouldn’t have known this.

 

“In the end, the truth is that you’re trash who killed your father out of an inferiority complex.”

 

That people aren’t curious about a criminal’s narrative.

 

As if he truly believed himself to be an wronged victim, murderous intent toward Belinda flickered in his previously confident face.

 

Only then did Belinda look down at him, now appearing like the murderer who killed his father, and laughed as if delighted.

 

“You know what, Schubel? I’m going to pass this family to a child who doesn’t have a single drop of my blood, let alone noble blood.”

 

“…What?”

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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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