Adopting the Male Protagonist Changed the Genre - Chapter 16

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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 16

Things that exist but are invisible to human eyes, things that do not know human language, things that lack intelligence.

“…One who can rule over all of these things can truly be called a power worthy of the throne.”

Oh, I don’t know what it means, but it sounds incredibly cool. Though it’s just pie in the sky for me.

They say powers are usually inherited through bloodlines and manifest at a young age.

If Belinda had a power, it would have manifested long ago and everyone would have known.

I closed the book without regret and selected a few books suitable for reading to Leo before leaving the study.

The corridor was dim due to the rain that had been pouring relentlessly since last night.

I frowned at the silhouette of someone standing in the middle of that dark corridor.

‘I told them not to come up to the second floor unless I called for them.’

At first, I thought it was a maid who had come to manage the manor.

However, when lightning flashed outside the window, briefly illuminating the interior of the corridor.

My body instinctively stiffened.

That was enough for me to see through the identity of the other person.

There’s only one person who makes Belinda’s body tense up like this.

“Schubel…”

“Hello, Bel. How’s the marriage business going?”

A snake-like voice echoed from the darkness. Schubel’s shadow stretched long, reaching my feet.

I unconsciously surveyed the surroundings first.

There were only the two of us in the corridor.

Upon realizing this fact, my spine grew strangely cold.

“So many replies to the marriage proposals you sent have arrived.”

I bit my lips as I looked at the bundle of letters in his grasp.

A few days ago, after hearing about the dowry, I asked only one thing to the various noble families who had sent me marriage proposals.

How they planned to handle property division in case of divorce.

Those answers were now in Schubel’s grasp.

It would be too optimistic to think he hadn’t checked the contents of those letters.

And sure enough, Schubel blatantly revealed that he had opened the letters addressed to me.

“Divorce, you say. It was quite a clever move, uncharacteristically so. But Bel, did you really think that alone would keep you safe?”

Safe?

It was a strange thing to say.

Step by step, Schubel leisurely approached me.

I had nothing to feel guilty about, so I should have faced him confidently, but I found myself stepping backward without realizing it.

‘Why am I acting like this?’

As soon as I realized I was alone with him, my hands trembled pathetically.

Calm down, Belinda. Don’t get excited, deal with him calmly.

I hid my trembling hands behind my back and spoke coldly.

“For an intruder, you sure have thick skin. I never gave you permission to enter my manor.”

Ignoring my words, Schubel only said what he wanted to say.

“I hear you’ve been keeping that child around lately. You seem quite fond of him.”

Look at him babbling nonsense with that loose mouth. When he used Leo to mess with me.

“You haven’t forgotten, have you. That child, I personally selected and sent him to you. Who knows? He might be confessing all your activities to me, just like your previous maids.”

Crash. Thunder struck again, illuminating Schubel’s face.

I couldn’t make out his expression with the deep shadows cast on his face, but I felt the urge to run away from him immediately.

But ironically, my legs wouldn’t move as if they were frozen.

“Yes, let’s say that orphan brat is truly loyal to you. But what about the man you’ll marry?”

Perhaps I had been mistaken about one thing.

That this trembling toward Schubel stemmed from disgust.

But now, being alone with him, I could know for certain.

“After you safely receive your inheritance and then die, all your wealth will belong to your husband’s family. So Bel, can you really call that husband your ally? Perhaps I might…”

It wasn’t disgust or anger, but fear.

“Have ordered your death.”

When exactly one step remained between Schubel and me.

His hand gripped my chin like a claw. It felt like my throat was completely blocked. Schubel’s black eyes were clearly gleaming with mockery and murderous intent.

Ah, right. This bastard.

Suddenly, as if cold water had been poured over me, my mind cleared and I understood the entire situation Belinda was in.

“You need to learn how to suspect people. How stupid, do you still trust people even after being betrayed so much?”

The real reason why Belinda had tormented Leo so much.

The reason why she never married throughout the game despite inheriting such a substantial dowry.

‘She couldn’t trust anyone.’

She was so isolated that she couldn’t choose her own marriage partner.

None other than this man before me had made it so.

I clenched my fist, drenched in cold sweat.

‘Belinda, now I can understand you a little.’

The harsh curses she would frantically shout whenever facing Schubel.

Those were nothing more than vanity to hide her fear.

But this is Belinda’s fear, not mine.

‘So leave it to me, Bel.’

What Belinda couldn’t do because of fear.

I kicked Schubel’s shin hard without hesitation.

“Ugh!”

And as a follow-up combo, I swung the hardcover book I was holding to crack that bastard’s skull.

Once, twice, three times.

Finally, Schubel, who had been hit in the temple by the book’s corner, bled. He momentarily lost his reason and roughly grabbed my wrist.

“Has this bitch gone crazy, really!”

Compared to a sturdy man, Belinda’s body was too frail, so I had no choice but to stagger and be pushed against the wall.

Bang. My back hit the wall and I lost my escape route.

The shadow of his raised hand covered me, but I looked up at him without even blinking. With a cold, expressionless face.

Flash. Lightning struck once more, brightly illuminating the corridor, and he froze as if petrified with his hand raised.

Schubel probably realized it too. That he couldn’t lay a finger on me.

At least not while he was known to the world as a ‘gentle older brother.’

“As expected, you know your place well, like a true mongrel.”

I let out a sneer as I roughly knocked his hand away.

“Listen carefully, mongrel.”

And I wiped my chin and hands where his hands had touched with a handkerchief, explaining calmly as if addressing a subordinate.

“If even the slightest wound appears on my body, I’ll call a doctor immediately. And I’ll tell them. That this wound was made by ‘my older brother who is so kind that he can’t even touch his sister’ because he was upset about the dowry.”

“Do you think people will believe that?”

“Why wouldn’t they? As soon as the will was made public, I was sent to this wretched annex and have been living alone without any resident employees.”

Grind. The sound of Schubel grinding his teeth echoed ominously through the corridor.

“Ah, right. Was that what I wanted? But would people really think so? That ‘that Belinda’ went to the annex of her own accord.”

This all happened because he tried to make up for his lacking bloodline with character, so who’s to blame? He should blame his own mouth.

Originally, a proper image is the hardest to maintain. Even in my previous life, how many celebrities fell from grace after their true nature was exposed while managing their image.

“People will be more excited about rumors of a seemingly good victim turning into a perpetrator than the obvious story of a scoundrel causing trouble. You’ve been acting nice enough all this time, Schubel. It would be painful if your mask came off at a time like this.”

I threw the handkerchief at Schubel’s feet and mocked him.

“When you haven’t even managed to kill me yet.”

Above Schubel’s menacing expression, welcome news appeared.

Synchronization rate has increased by +1.

Synchronization value has increased by +1.

Synchronization value has increased by +1.

Synchronization 25% complete

Receive ‘Quest Reward: Belinda’s Memory Fragment (First)’ as a reward.

You will receive a special reward upon obtaining the memory fragment.

Finally!

My joy at the system windows popping up one after another, forgetting the situation for a moment, was short-lived.

A dull thudding sound of something falling echoed in the corridor.

My head instantly turned toward the direction of the sound.

How long had he been there? Leo, who had dropped his book, hurriedly picked it up.

“I, well… you were late coming…”

The moment Schubel’s gaze reached the terrified Leo, my body moved before I could even think.

I pushed Schubel aside, roughly grabbed Leo’s hand, and hid him behind my back.

Only after seeing Schubel’s expression did I realize it had been an irreversible mistake.

His face, which had been twisted with anger, instantly regained its composure.

“Looks like you’ve found something precious. Yes, people become strong when they have something to protect. You there, what’s your name?”

“I, I am…”

“Don’t answer.”

Even as I turned around with Leo in tow, I couldn’t hide my despair.

It seemed Belinda’s situation was more serious than I had thought.

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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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