Adopting the Male Protagonist Changed the Genre - Chapter 288

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Special Side Story Episode 1

To my beloved Elio.

Containing the story of those who taught me love,

May you never forget that starlight protects you even in the deepest night.

* * *

It had been two years since the end of the Second Demon War.

When the greenery began to deepen, the employees of the Blanche Estate in the Capital worked as diligently as hummingbirds to decorate every corner of the manor.

Every summer, the Duke of Baluashten, who was Marquess Blanche’s fiancé, would visit the estate.

Under the vows they renewed after the war ended, their engagement was now entering its third summer.

Though their wedding kept being postponed due to post-war cleanup, Northern Gate exploration, and succession issues of various houses, the two of them weren’t anxious at all.

They could only be together during summer and autumn, but they could fully enjoy the process of a love marriage as Belinda had wished.

However, the old butler was worried.

He was ordering all kinds of desserts from the capital, hoping that the two would finally hold their wedding this year,

when he saw a hawk that had flown from the distant North fly straight through the window into his master’s study.

A gentle smile spread across the butler’s lips.

It was surely news that the Duke had departed from the Northern Territory.

‘The master will be delighted.’

His prediction was not wrong.

Shortly after, Belinda’s voice burst out through the window.

“Terryyy!”

It was the return of the lover she had longed for half a year. Naturally, she would be so delighted as to summon her aide.

The butler began working even harder on preparations for their guest, waiting for the orders that would come through Terry.

However, contrary to the butler’s thoughts, a strange tension filled the study.

Terry, who had dropped down from the secret passage in the ceiling at Belinda’s summons, immediately shut his mouth tight at the unusual atmosphere.

Then he rolled his eyes, following Belinda’s anxiously pacing figure.

“If I leave right now… But what about Leo? His graduation exam is right around the corner…”

Belinda’s steps came to an abrupt halt as she muttered to herself.

It was when Terry unconsciously swallowed dry saliva.

“I’m going to the North immediately.”

Terry asked in bewilderment at the sudden trip to the North.

“What’s happened?”

As if her legs had given out, Belinda slumped into a chair. At her brief nod, Terry searched the surroundings.

“There’s no one nearby eavesdropping on us.”

Only then did Belinda part her heavy lips.

“Cheri, I mean Cesar, was attacked by monsters in the unexplored region…”

“Yes, he was attacked?”

Belinda hesitated as if she didn’t know how to explain.

Though her complexion was pale, Terry wasn’t too worried. He thought, how badly could the Duke have been hurt by mere monsters?

Maybe he just scraped his knee a bit?

However, Terry’s expression also hardened at Belinda’s next words.

“…He lost his memory.”

A brief silence settled heavily.

Terry, who had taken a breath, asked to grasp the key points.

“From where to where?”

Belinda’s gaze turned to the note on the desk.

An answer flowed out with a deep sigh.

“…He doesn’t remember me.”

“I’ll prepare as quickly as possible.”

Terry didn’t ask anything more and immediately sprang into action.

That afternoon, Belinda finished preparing to leave for the North immediately. Leo, who had been practically living in the Academy library and heard the news late, came rushing out to see her off.

“Lady Belinda, leaving for the North so suddenly… Nothing serious happened, did it?”

Leo, whose under-eye shadows had reached his cheeks, asked with a worried face.

Leo, who had turned seventeen this spring, was preparing for the Royal Academy’s graduation exam.

The Academy was already famous for its brutal graduation exam difficulty, and Leo, who had dabbled in various classes out of curiosity, was properly paying for that karma.

That’s why Belinda agonized until the very last moment. Whether she should go see Cesar together with Leo.

Standing in front of the carriage, she finally organized her thoughts and answered.

“Cesar was attacked by monsters while exploring the unexplored region. Fortunately, he wasn’t seriously hurt, but he shouldn’t overdo it, so I’m going this time.”

She deliberately left out where he was hurt and what happened. However, just those words were enough to make Leo’s face turn pale instantly.

“I want to go too!”

To stop Leo from immediately jumping into the carriage, Belinda snapped her fingers.

The Cerberus that had been guarding her side swelled to enormous size and blocked the carriage entrance with the intimidating presence befitting guardians of hell.

Belinda patted Leo’s shoulder as he engaged in an intense staring contest with Cerberus, trying to soothe him.

“Leo. Your graduation exam that you’ve been preparing so hard for is only a month away. Cesar wouldn’t want you to give up your exam and come to the North because of him. So how about coming after you finish your exam?”

Leo, who had been pondering the reasonable persuasion for a moment, drooped his shoulders and asked again.

“He really wasn’t seriously hurt, right?”

“Of course.”

At least, not visibly.

Having successfully left Leo behind and heading to the North.

Belinda read the note Penandel had sent over and over again.

Penandel had assured her that while it would take some time, there was a way to restore His Grace’s memory.

The anxiety she had been trying to suppress seemed to gradually wear away.

Right, there’s a way to restore his memory, and frankly, what’s so bad about losing some memory?

Just because he lost his memory doesn’t mean Cheri is no longer Cheri.

‘Right. It’s not such a worst-case scenario.’

Belinda, who had barely regained her composure, took out a hand mirror. The mirror reflected a beauty with gorgeous features that she could never get used to seeing.

Currently, she was a complete stranger to Cesar.

‘Then I should show my best smile.’

Belinda’s face in the mirror bloomed as radiantly as a rose with morning dew.

The carriage that had run without rest finally arrived at the Winter Castle.

Even if Cesar didn’t recognize her, she wouldn’t be shocked. Having comforted herself thus, Belinda stepped out of the carriage with a smile.

“Madam, you’ve arrived…”

As soon as the carriage door opened, cracks appeared in Belinda’s smile at the face she saw.

Many people had come out to greet her, but nowhere among them could she see the face of the one she was looking for.

“Penandel, where is His Grace?”

“…He went to survey the unexplored region.”

Even though he must have heard I was coming?

Those words almost burst out, but she barely held them back.

Only then did Belinda begin to gradually realize what it meant that Cesar had lost his memory.

“Please come inside first. I’ll escort you.”

Penandel extended his hand to escort Belinda.

She looked down at that hand for a moment, then declined his courtesy and stepped down the carriage stairs.

With each step, her heart clattered and sank.

Penandel guided Belinda to the drawing room with a stiff face.

And as soon as the drawing room door closed behind them, he collapsed to his knees and wailed.

“Madam! You’ve really come at the right time!”

“….”

Seeing Penandel’s appearance, Belinda sensed that the situation was flowing in a completely different direction from what she had expected.

“Didn’t the letter say there was nothing to worry greatly about? That there was a way to restore Lord Cheri’s memory.”

At Belinda’s sharp questioning, Penandel calmly explained the events of that day.

Two weeks ago from now, Cesar had led a group of Northern Knights out to explore the unexplored region.

It was to find the North Gate.

However, what they discovered was not a gate, but a nest of Macs tangled like an ant hill.

“Mac?”

“Yes, they’re monsters that devour the memories of their prey. They’re so cowardly that the term ‘monster’ seems inappropriate, and their aggression is low. Moreover, since you can recover memories by killing the Mac, they’re not particularly dangerous monsters, but….”

Finally, it appeared. The ellipsis filled with all kinds of ominous implications.

Belinda, having prepared herself mentally, asked.

“Then wouldn’t it be over if we just kill the Mac that stole Lord Cheri’s memory?”

“The problem is that the Mac nest discovered is too enormous. It seems like at least hundreds, no, thousands inhabit it, and among those well-hidden creatures, we can’t tell which one devoured His Excellency’s memory….”

Why won’t that damned ominous ellipsis ever end?

Belinda steeled herself once more and asked.

“No matter how enormous, exterminating Macs shouldn’t be too difficult for the Northern Knights. What exactly is the problem?”

Penandel’s complexion, which had barely regained composure, began to turn increasingly pale.

Belinda’s thinking was correct.

Whether there were thousands or tens of thousands of Macs, they were useless before the North’s mighty military power.

It would take some time, but if they slaughtered them one by one, eventually the blade would reach the one that devoured His Excellency’s memory.

Moreover, even if Cesar had lost his memories of the past eight years or so, the House of Baluashten would not collapse so easily now.

So there should be no problem.

…Penandel had thought the same way two weeks ago. However, there was just one unexpected variable.

That was—

“That stubborn brat of an Excellency is the problem!”

It was Cesare Baluashten himself, who had lost his memory and reverted to his early twenties, before he met Belinda.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————