Adopting the Male Protagonist Changed the Genre - Chapter 173

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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 173

With a more serious expression than ever before, Leo explained the reasoning behind his thoughts.

“That’s why I could freely wander around the Barrier Forest too.”

Two families welcomed by the Barrier Forest.

The bloodline of the First King who created the forest, and the bloodline of Baluashten, his younger brother.

Leo had chosen the former of the two.

Unlike Leo, who was serious to the point of being solemn, I had to bite my lower lip hard to suppress my laughter.

Whether he knew my feelings or not, Leo whispered again with an extremely serious expression.

“And this is also a secret, but I might actually have special talents like the First King.”

“Why do you think that?”

“During my last class at the Academy, I met an incredibly sparkling adult. He said he’s looking for children with special talents like the First King, and I might be one of those people.”

An incredibly sparkling adult. Plus that suspicious First King talk.

I had a feeling I knew who Leo was talking about.

The meeting event that occurs when you finish the semester as top student or win first place in the Bongmaje swordsmanship tournament.

“By any chance, did that adult have blonde hair and green eyes?”

“Huh? That’s right! Do you know him, Belinda?”

Know him indeed. The sparkling adult Leo mentioned was definitely Mikhail, who goes around looking for children to sponsor while hiding his identity.

‘His Highness the Crown Prince certainly keeps himself busy with both public and private affairs.’

I suppose being a real prince is why he can go around saying such embarrassing things.

“I’ll have to confirm later if it’s the person I know. But Leo.”

I playfully brought reality to Leo, who harbored the kind of romance young boys might dream of.

“If you’re of the First King’s bloodline, that means you’re of royal blood. Our Leo does seem like a prince, but I didn’t know you actually wanted to become a real prince.”

“Ah.”

Leo’s face turned bright red, as if he hadn’t thought that far ahead.

It seemed that to Leo, the First King was more like a continental hero rather than the royal ancestor who started the royal lineage.

Seeing Leo desperately shake his head, saying he didn’t want to become a prince, made me burst into laughter. Somehow, my heart felt a little lighter than before.

I had Leo sit beside me and calmly began to speak.

“This is a slightly more realistic story than you becoming a prince. Leo, have you ever thought about your parents?”

Leo, who had been fidgeting and leaning toward me, froze.

The child couldn’t readily open his mouth and looked up at me cautiously, then rolled his eyes around to avoid my gaze.

“…No.”

Leo shrank back like a child caught doing something wrong.

As if thinking about his birth parents was a betrayal toward me. Though that could never be the case.

Therefore, I stroked Leo’s cheek as if wiping away the anxiety on his face and spoke casually.

“Really? I think about it often. How did I come to be separated from such an angel-like child? What kind of people were those who sent Jui-bam-tol to my side?”

Perhaps gaining courage from those words, Leo fidgeted with his fingers and carefully opened his mouth.

“Sometimes… just sometimes I thought about it. What kind of people my parents might be.”

“What kind of people do you think your parents were, Leo?”

Leo began to speak haltingly about the parents he had vaguely imagined since his time at the orphanage.

The parents in the child’s imagination were all extraordinary people.

Monster hunters who save people’s lives, or dungeon explorers who figure out how to clear dungeons.

Sometimes they were navy officers or pirates who spent more time on ships than on land.

The reason Leo imagined his parents this way wasn’t because he wanted to be the child of people who left great achievements.

“Mom and Dad had incredibly important missions, so they absolutely couldn’t find time to take care of me.”

“…”

“Thinking that way made being at the orphanage okay.”

It was simply because that made it easier to imagine reasons for having to stay at the orphanage.

Probably mentioning the First King was in the same context.

I carefully chose each word as I negated Leo’s imagination.

“Leo, the parents I know aren’t monster hunters. Unfortunately, they’re not dungeon explorers either, and certainly not navy officers or pirates.”

“…”

“However, they loved you very much. I can say that with certainty.”

“But…”

Leo’s hands, which had been casually resting on his knees, curled up.

“Then why did I have to be at the orphanage?”

With those words, all the discussions where adults had put their heads together became meaningless.

In the end, it was Leo’s responsibility to decide how to accept the past.

Then what I could do now as Leo’s guardian was to give Leo the opportunity to choose and believe in and support whatever choice the child made.

So I gently wrapped Leo’s clenched hands and said,

“Sometimes in this world, unfortunate things happen that can neither be prevented nor undone, even when no one has done anything wrong. Your parents were caught up in such circumstances and had no choice but to leave your side.”

I unclenched Leo’s fists and gently patted the child’s hands, which had grown large and firm.

“The story about your parents might cause you great pain, Leo. So you don’t necessarily need to know right away. When you feel ready, whenever that may be, I’ll tell you about your birth parents.”

“…”

“So what you need to know now is that they cherished and loved you very much. Actually, Leo, you were never a nameless child, not even for a single moment.”

Leo remained silent for a long time.

Then soon, eyes as hard and glossy as a sprout’s outer shell looked straight up at me.

The child opened his mouth without showing a moment’s hesitation.

“I want to know about my parents in detail.”

“Leo…”

“If it were back when I was at the orphanage, just knowing that my parents loved me would have been enough. But now Belinda is by my side.”

Before I knew it, Leo was gripping my hands tightly.

“So I’m okay. I’m ready.”

At those words, I stood up holding Leo’s hands and headed toward the door.

It wasn’t my role to tell the child about his parents.

“There’s someone who knows your parents well. But that person isn’t good with words. Will you understand, Leo?”

“Yes.”

The road ahead was very long.

Currently, Leo knew Lord Cheri as his mentor and a Northern Knight.

Someone so amazing and wonderful that all knights bow their heads when they see him, and whose real name is Cherry.

I opened the door wide and pointed to Lord Cheri, who was standing in the corridor unable to hide his nervousness.

“First, I need to tell you about your teacher’s true identity.”

* * *

Click.

With a heavy sound, the key turned and the Black Swan’s Room opened.

Leo stood before the enormous room shrouded in pitch-black darkness, took a deep breath, then followed Cesar inside.

Magic lamps illuminated the room filled with all kinds of gold and silver treasures, but nothing caught the child’s attention.

Soon Cesar’s footsteps stopped.

Peeking his head to the side to look ahead, Leo saw a wall lined with enormous portraits.

Cesar stepped aside and showed Leo the portrait of a certain couple displayed side by side.

Before Cesar could introduce them, Leo asked,

“Are these my parents?”

“That’s right.”

Leo looked up at the figures in the portrait for a long time without even blinking.

Then he tilted his head with a confused expression.

“I don’t think I look like them. These people are too…”

Leo, who seemed to be struggling to find the right words, whispered softly,

“They don’t suit me.”

The couple in the portrait was smiling faintly, but like most portraits of those in power, they carried an air of aristocratic dignity.

For the child who felt distant from his parents, Cesar casually sat down beneath the portrait.

Then he patted the spot beside him to have the child sit next to him, and began telling stories of Theodor’s childhood.

“Your father would often borrow soldiers’ clothes to disguise himself and climb over the castle walls.”

“The castle walls? But they’re so high?”

“Yes. And your mother was just as brave as he was.”

The parents in Cesar’s stories were completely different from the authoritative nobles in the portrait.

Cesar’s storytelling was somewhat disjointed and monotone, which could sound boring at times, but it was filled with consistent affection for the ducal couple.

Before he knew it, Leo had become completely absorbed in his stories.

“And then? What did I do?”

“You bit your father’s finger. Actually, I understood how you felt. Though it was his way of showing affection, Brother had a persistent side to him. Even after you bit his finger hard, he never managed to break that habit of his.”

Leo’s eyes widened at hearing he had bitten his father’s finger, and he mumbled defensively.

“I-I probably didn’t do it on purpose… Um, what was his habit?”

Cesar hesitantly examined his own hand, then gently brushed the back of his hand against Leo’s cheek.

“This kind of habit.”

Leo blinked at Cesar’s gesture. Somehow feeling ticklish inside his cheek, he rubbed it and chattered away.

In a small voice, as if sharing a secret.

“I know this.”

Leo remembered that the hand that had brushed his cheek from behind the curtain that day had felt just like this.

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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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