Adopting the Male Protagonist Changed the Genre - Chapter 223

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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 223

How on earth?

As I froze in shock, Leo spoke with a resolute expression.

“I now know what Belinda has been fighting against all this time.”

“Where… no, who told you what?”

I asked while trying to maintain my composure. As soon as I found the culprit, I planned to denounce them as an outrageous liar.

Instead of answering, Leo placed a key on the desk.

I immediately recognized what the key was.

It was the key to the safe that stored all the important documents handled by the Blanche Family.

It seemed Leo had been keeping it in my place for the past year and eight months.

I inserted the key into the safe and turned it open, seeking answers.

Everything was neatly stored just as before, but there was one thing missing.

That was…

“To the Star of the Hero and their guardian, from the past.”

The letter I had taken from the First King’s Treasury.

I had asked Chaser to investigate the letter, but when he said it might be damaged in the process, I postponed it and stored it in the safe.

Because of that, I had no idea what was written in that letter.

Only Leo, who possessed the Hero’s Mark, could open that letter.

“I didn’t try to look at it on purpose.”

Perhaps thinking I was reproaching him, Leo muttered as if making an excuse.

“I couldn’t properly distinguish which documents were necessary and which were unnecessary, so I had to examine them all.”

Now my arrow of anger was pointing at myself.

Foolishly, why did I store something so important at the manor?

Why didn’t I consider this situation beforehand?

I bit my lips tightly while looking down, suppressing my anger, then quickly fixed my expression and stared at Leo.

“Leo, whatever was written there, don’t worry about it. It’s just the delusions of a madman written down with care. There’s no such thing as the Star of the Hero. So you…”

The words I was speaking naturally gradually slowed down and faded away.

Looking at the child’s face, I intuitively realized that Leo had grown enough not to be fooled by such lies anymore.

“Belinda, when I was young, you asked me what I wanted to become. You said I could become anything I wanted to be.”

Leo walked around the large desk and approached me.

As Leo slowly stood before me, moonlight from the window flickered across his face.

“Embarrassingly, I still haven’t found what I want to become, but there’s actually only one thing I’ve always wanted to do.”

Leo took out a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to me.

When I unfolded it, I couldn’t take my eyes off the single word written there for a long time.

“Ever since I received this name from Belinda, I’ve always thought about it. I wanted to protect Belinda. I wanted to repay your affection for me with the same feelings.”

The handwriting was not just crooked but messy like a drawing, with lines all over the place.

It was from not long after I first met Leo.

A single name I had him write down under the pretense of teaching the child how to write.

[Leo]

He had been treasuring this all along.

My heart swelled as I looked up at Leo before me.

The little child who used to write his name with tiny hands had grown up so much before I knew it.

And he says that protecting me was his wish then and now.

He’s only fourteen years old.

“Becoming the Star of the Hero to save the world is keeping that promise I made back then. So it’s not burdensome at all. Saving the world is the same as protecting Belinda.”

Leo spoke more earnestly than ever, and I stubbornly shook my head.

“The First King is a bastard. It can’t be right to burden a child with such a heavy load.”

“But I can’t remain a child forever.”

Leo said with a mischievous smile, as if believing that if he pushed like this, I would eventually give in.

Right, everyone says there’s no parent who can beat their child.

Throughout raising Leo, I felt that saying every single day. I thought I wanted to fulfill whatever Leo wished for.

But…

“Someday you’ll become an adult and feel like you’ve grown up completely, but still, Leo. Even if you become a ninety-year-old man, you’ll forever be my little Jui-bam-tol to me. So you don’t need to protect me. Children are beings who should rightfully be protected.”

I couldn’t be certain whether Leo’s determination to become the Star of the Hero was good for the child’s future.

However, if Leo had decided to become a sword that protects the world, I would simply become a shield that protects this child from the world.

As Leo pouted ‘Ninety years old is too much,’ I gently pinched his cheek and whispered as if making a concession.

“But I’ll promise you this one thing. I’ll let you know about what happens from now on too.”

So that Leo would never again tremble with anxiety while waiting for me alone and grow up by himself.

“So Leo, don’t try to become an adult too quickly.”

At my words that came out like a sigh, Leo finally grinned as if he had gotten what he wanted.

* * *

In the Royal Palace, there was a knight order that had been doing nothing but training for over ten years.

The Crown Prince had gathered talented swordsmen regardless of their origins into this knight order called the ‘Knights of the Dawn,’ sparing no support, but since their purpose wasn’t clear, receiving cold treatment from people was the knight order’s daily routine.

Nevertheless, the knights belonging to the Knights of the Dawn endured people’s criticism of being good-for-nothings who only consumed salaries, sustained by their loyalty to the Crown Prince alone.

Mikhail stood on the balcony overlooking the training hall, looking down at his knight order that was devoted to training today as always.

The King was rarely furious about Mikhail being expelled from the Council of Five Nations.

“Spouting that delusional patient’s nonsense at a summit! You must truly be insane!”

He was a tyrant who was always drunk, neglecting state affairs and hurling abuse at his subjects, but he was a king who never once spoke harshly to the Crown Prince, who was the beloved Queen’s son.

However, that time, as if his reverse scale had been touched, he reduced all the power the Crown Prince held, and the aftermath reached even the Knights of the Dawn that Mikhail had been nurturing.

How long had he been watching the knights like that?

“Your Highness’s knights’ armor looks worn out. Would it be alright if I had new sets made for them?”

Mikhail’s face, which had been sunken low, brightened at the voice from behind.

“Belinda Marquess, showing your face after a year and ten months.”

“I had quite a bit of backlogged work to catch up on.”

Belinda, who had dismissed the attendants with a gesture as if she were in her own home, quickly settled into a seat and sighed first.

“I heard all about Your Highness’s situation through Chaser. It’s like pouring salt on a wound, but I must say this.”

Belinda shot at Mikhail, who was personally bringing a tray with teacups and a teapot to serve tea.

“What happened at the Five Nations Conference was a foolish act, Mikhail. Didn’t you know His Majesty would react like that?”

Instead of getting angry or arguing back, Mikhail nodded with a bitter smile.

“I knew. Though it seems pointless now, His Majesty doesn’t believe in the First King’s authority, will, prophecy book, or anything at all. If someone said the country would be destroyed during his reign, I think he’d deny that too.”

“But you’re trying to prepare countermeasures.”

“That’s the difference between me and His Majesty.”

Despite being of the same blood, the King only tried to cover up and avoid problems, while his son tried to face them head-on.

The rift between the father and son, who were as different as water and fire, seemed deeper than Belinda had expected.

Watching Mikhail, who was exceptionally sharp-minded in state council meetings but acted so uprightly in father-son relationships that he was called foolish, Belinda sighed deeply once more.

Eventually, light conversation followed.

When she thought enough time had passed, Belinda brought up the main topic.

“After winter passes, I’m planning to go to the Northern Barrier Forest.”

“To the Barrier Forest?”

“Yes, I have an idea about what trick Ophelia is hiding.”

At those words, Mikhail’s hand, which was lifting his teacup, stopped moving.

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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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