Adopting the Male Protagonist Changed the Genre - Chapter 203

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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 203

Seeing my smile, Leo seemed to realize his mistake and shook his head once more, vehemently denying it.

“R-really, there isn’t anyone.”

Unfortunately, Leo had absolutely no talent for lying.

I slyly leaned toward Leo and whispered.

“I’ll say there isn’t, so just tell me secretly.”

“There really isn’t anyone….”

Even while stubbornly saying that, he didn’t know what to do and kept pulling at the innocent grass with both hands for a while.

Fidgeting with his hands stained with grass juice, Leo finally confessed.

“I-I’m not sure if I like her, but… there is someone I keep finding my eyes drawn to.”

Leo’s innocent confession made my heart feel all tingly.

Oh my, when did our Leo grow up so much. Even having a girl he likes.

Unable to hide my pleased feelings, I casually asked.

“Should I invite her to your birthday party next year?”

I thought he would naturally say yes.

“No way!”

For some reason, Leo refused vehemently.

“We’re not that close yet, and if she rejects me, I’ll be too hurt. Then I’ll become cautious about even greeting her next time… and gradually we’ll grow more distant until I can never invite her to a birthday party again…! A-anyway, no. A birthday party invitation is still way way way too early.”

My mouth fell open at Leo’s words.

‘My goodness, he must really like her a lot.’

I straightened my posture and asked with a more serious expression.

“I’m curious what kind of girl she is. Can you tell me about her?”

Leo, who had been fanning his face with his hands to cool the heat, looked around unnecessarily.

Only after confirming that only Star Candy and his mother were eavesdropping on our conversation did he open his mouth.

“So… I first met her during winter semester classes last year.”

Good, a campus couple.

Satisfied that Leo was enjoying his Academy life more faithfully than anyone, I nodded.

“She’s in the same Swordsmanship Department as me. So we had many overlapping classes….”

And the same department too?

At this beginning that felt like the opening of a youth movie, all sorts of innocent first love stories I’d encountered through various media came to mind.

‘Like dropping a writing instrument and having someone pick it up as the catalyst.’

“One day, while walking around the campus, I found a baby bird that had fallen from its nest. Fortunately, it wasn’t badly hurt, so I tried to return the baby bird to its nest but almost fell from the tree. But she swung her whip and saved me.”

“…?”

Just now… what did she swing?

“With my ankle bound by the whip, dangling upside down, that’s when I first made eye contact with her.”

The story of Leo falling instead of a writing instrument and a girl catching him with a whip made my head spin for a moment, but fortunately the following story was ordinary.

How that child extended her hand to Leo who was struggling to adapt to the winter semester.

How her tone and expression were cold, but the hand that guided Leo was so warm.

How brilliantly her eyes sparkled under the pale winter sunlight.

In the treasure box that Leo had kept tightly hidden, the budding love that had bloomed over the past two seasons was preserved without withering.

“She’s a good child.”

“Right?”

Leo smiled brightly as if he had been praised himself, then soon hardened his expression sternly and added.

“I’ve never told anyone about this, so you have to keep it secret.”

“Of course.”

“Really, really, you must. It’s a secret from Knight too.”

Am I really that untrustworthy?

To reassure Leo who was earnestly pleading several times, I extended my thumb and pinky and said firmly.

“I’ll promise with a finger hook.”

Leo, who had been staring blankly at my extended hand, startled and forcibly folded my fingers.

“F-finger hooks aren’t necessary! Just keeping your conscience is enough!”

Huh?

I looked down at my hand that Leo had firmly made into a fist and realized what the problem was.

So in this 【Hirome】 world, the act of ‘pinky promise’ didn’t seem to exist.

Understanding the importance of fingers, I pulled Leo’s hand over and explained what a ‘finger hook promise’ was.

“It doesn’t mean I’m mortgaging my finger, but like this, we intertwine each other’s fingers to make a promise. This is a very sacred ritual, so promises made with finger hooks must absolutely be kept.”

Leo listened to my explanation with a reverent expression.

Soon Leo’s pinky and mine were intertwined.

I shook Leo’s hand, which had developed calluses and grown quite large, a couple of times and solemnly swore.

“I, Belinda Blanche, solemnly swear with a finger hook that I will not tell anyone about the child that Leo Blanche likes.”

“I don’t like her though….”

Leo seemed determined not to admit it to the end, but he couldn’t hide his flushed cheeks.

I gently smiled while removing a blade of grass stuck in Leo’s hair with my remaining hand.

Now he blushes helplessly at budding love, but someday Leo will become an adult too, and the day will come when he leaves my nest to find what he wants to do and meet someone he loves.

Though it feels like a distant future now, when that moment comes, I’ll probably be surprised that it was just the blink of an eye.

I’ll surely be very sad, but I hope such a future comes.

I hope Leo’s future won’t be swallowed by some prophecy.

I swore without releasing the pinky intertwined with Leo’s.

That no matter what happens, I’ll protect this child’s future.

“I’ll definitely protect you.”

At the words I unconsciously let slip, Leo, who had been turning his head sideways and scratching his cheek, looked at me.

Soon he carefully untangled our tightly intertwined fingers, hesitated for a moment, then asked in a bright voice.

“Don’t you have anyone you like, Belinda?”

“What?”

I was speechless at the unexpected question.

Thinking it was a good topic, Leo chattered excitedly.

“I heard Terry proudly saying that with the enormous amount of marriage proposals delivered daily, we wouldn’t have to worry about winter firewood.”

Well, that’s true.

The marriage proposals that had briefly stopped after I adopted Leo had recently started arriving again one by one.

…Though unlike before, the main parties had changed to second or third sons of noble families.

Though it’s sudden, this works out well.

Before those gossipy fellows start babbling in the child’s ears that I’m not choosing not to marry but can’t marry, and that it’s all because I adopted Leo, I should make it clear.

“Let me tell you while I have the chance – I won’t be marrying anyone for a while.”

“Why?”

“Because there’s no one who catches my eye.”

“What kind of person would catch your eye, Belinda?”

Good, I’ll bring up an ideal man who doesn’t exist in reality so Leo won’t worry unnecessarily.

“First, his face must suit my taste. Masculine with strong features, but with delicate facial features that I’d never tire of looking at. He must be tall, over 190 centimeters, with broad shoulders, a slim waist, and a muscular build.”

Leo nodded at the physical conditions.

I then added personality conditions.

“Someone so upright he might seem inflexible, but who follows only my words to a somewhat worrying degree would be nice. He doesn’t need to be eloquent. As long as he always honestly tells me his true feelings. Though it would be perfect if he occasionally adds embarrassingly sweet words that make me wonder where he learned them.”

Wait, something’s strange about this.

The more I spoke, the more I felt like a specific image was coming to mind.

“Lastly, someone who always stays by my side and becomes my support….”

As if I were describing someone who actually exists in reality.

“Someone who seems blunt but is actually gentle only to me….”

“….”

“That kind of man….”

“Wow.”

Suddenly, Leo’s face turned bright red and he covered his face with both hands.

The moment I saw that reaction, heat rushed to my face as well.

‘I must be crazy. Why am I explaining about Lord Cheri?’

I hurriedly made Leo promise to keep quiet.

“Ahem, let’s pretend you didn’t hear what I just said.”

“Yes! I’ll pinky swear! Especially not to tell the Knight!”

…Our Jui-bam-tol is quite perceptive too.

* * *

Late at night, Leo finished preparing for bed and sat on the edge of his bed, quietly listening.

Seeing that Belinda’s room was quiet, it seemed she would be staying late in the annex study again today.

Leo lay down on his bed and reflected on the afternoon’s events, his expression suddenly darkening.

“I’ll definitely protect you.”

The moment he saw Belinda’s face when she said those words, Leo felt startled and quickly changed the subject.

It was an expression he had never seen before, one filled with desperate earnestness.

‘Lady Belinda must have some great worry.’

It wasn’t just her expression that led him to that conclusion.

Leo knew about the guests who visited the Blanche Manor annex in the late evening.

Though they came in carriages without any insignia, their bodies completely covered, they were all people familiar to Leo.

The Knight who had taught Leo swordsmanship.

The teacher who had shown him how to see the world through magical eyes.

The sparkling adult who had told him he was very special.

And even the Priest who had blessed him.

They quietly entered Belinda’s study and returned while treading on the morning dew.

Leo could vaguely sense that these adults were people of very, very high status, which made him even more anxious.

It meant that even with such powerful people helping her, Belinda’s troubles remained unresolved.

“I wish I could become an adult quickly.”

Then perhaps Lady Belinda would confide her worries in me and rely on me too.

Feeling frustrated, Leo buried his head in his pillow and stretched both hands toward the ceiling.

Then he spread his little fingers and intertwined the pinkies of his left and right hands, whispering the ‘pinky promise’ that Belinda had taught him.

“I, Leo Blanche, swear to do my best to become an adult who can share Lady Belinda’s burdens as quickly as possible.”

After making this promise to himself, Leo thought of Terry, the capable aide who helped with Belinda’s work.

‘I should ask Terry and gradually learn about an aide’s duties.’

Leo had found a small goal, and it was a night when he became a little more grown-up.

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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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