Adopting the Male Protagonist Changed the Genre - Chapter 71

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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 71

“Don’t take your eyes off me.”

As she said, Leo didn’t take his eyes off Belinda for even a moment.

Even when the man’s agonized screams could be heard from behind.

When Belinda finally approached Leo, she covered the child’s ears with both hands in case he might hear the terrible sounds, then quietly pronounced her sentence.

“Cao, you may devour him as long as you don’t kill him.”

Crack. With the brutal sound of breaking bones as the last note, the man’s screams could no longer be heard.

The deserted street fell into silence in an instant.

Leo was the first to speak.

“Vi, Vivian…”

“She’s fine.”

Only then did the tension leave Leo’s stiff shoulders.

The child stepped back and looked up at Belinda.

The dress that had been beautiful when leaving the manor was now a mess with mud, and her hair was half undone.

Even so, rather than tending to herself, she first tidied Leo’s disheveled hair.

“Jui-bam-tol, why are you in a place like this looking like a drowned rat?”

Though she spoke so harshly, her touch was gentle and sweet.

Her hand that brushed his cheek, that white marble-like hand wearing worn lace gloves, was colder than his own cheek, and Leo suddenly felt his throat tighten.

It meant she had wandered the night streets for a long time.

The tension throughout his body seemed to melt away at her touch. The anxiety he had barely managed to hide revealed itself again.

“I got… lost…”

When he answered hesitantly, Belinda stopped her hand.

Her dry face, impossible to read, looked down at Leo for a long moment.

Soon, a voice like frost that seemed to contain contempt was heard.

“To think that a stupid fool who can’t even find his way home is my servant.”

Leo blinked without showing any sign of being hurt by those words.

He couldn’t call the Blanche Estate home.

That place was just… just a place to stay temporarily.

But Leo decided to try being brave. He didn’t want to pretend not to notice the gentleness hidden in those cold hands.

The child’s small hand firmly grasped the hem of Belinda’s dress.

Eventually, Leo asked in a trembling voice.

“Is the Blanche Estate… my home?”

* * *

Perhaps it was because of the desperate feeling that I had to succeed.

I succeeded in synchronizing with Cao, something I had never once succeeded at before.

Night beasts, especially monsters, had very keen night vision.

The inside of the alley that appeared as one darkness to human eyes looked as bright as broad daylight.

“With the magic stone I gave to the sprout, I can track the location to some degree, though not precisely. Here, search this area first.”

With Chaser’s help, I was able to narrow down the search area.

Thanks to that, I was able to find Leo faster than the Sewer Rats.

Leo was crouched in a place unfamiliar even to me.

After throwing the vermin who tried to harm Leo as food to Cao, I hurriedly examined Leo.

After confirming that he wasn’t seriously injured, emotions resembling sadness, frustration, and anger surged up.

Why had he been wandering in a place like this?

He should have asked people where the Blanche Manor was. Why in a place like this…

“Jui-bam-tol, why are you in a place like this looking like a drowned rat?”

“I got… lost…”

“To think that a stupid fool who can’t even find his way home is my servant.”

At my cold answer, Leo looked up at me with clear eyes.

After hesitating, the child asked.

“Is the Blanche Estate… my home?”

At that moment, it felt like all the strength drained from my body.

Anger directed at I don’t know who turned my mind completely white.

My breath caught, and I could clearly see the child trembling with anxiety.

“They said I was Lady Belinda’s weakness… But is it okay for me to be there?”

Slowly, without rushing, let me recall Belinda’s way of speaking.

I carefully chose my words so that my emotions wouldn’t show.

“Nothing can become my weakness. So such thoughts…”

Ah, I wanted to speak calmly.

It felt like oil was boiling inside me. Leo’s words poured water on it, leaving my heart completely burned.

Unable to bear that pain, I shouted wildly without even considering how my words would come out through the translator.

“Don’t ever think such stupid thoughts again, and if you get lost in the future, speak up properly. Tell them to take you to Belinda Blanche of the Blanche Family, even if you have to scream at the top of your lungs!”

At my sudden shouting, Leo stared at me blankly.

Moisture began to well up in his eyes that had been clouded as if dark clouds had gathered.

Leo bit his lower lip hard and struggled to hold back tears, but finally shed silent tears and whispered.

“I’m sorry.”

To meet Leo’s eye level, I immediately knelt on the ground.

My skirt hem became completely dirty with mud, but even if there had been thorns in front of this child, I would have gladly knelt.

And I hugged Leo with all my strength.

With affection I couldn’t convey in words, as if he were the most precious thing in the world.

A heart that wandered with nowhere to stay.

Not lost, but the despair of losing a place to go.

The isolation of having only the awning of an unfamiliar shop to shelter from the rain.

I understand all of that.

Because I was exactly that kind of child.

Perhaps because such a child grew up to become an adult, I was still so lacking.

To think I couldn’t even create a proper place for this small child to settle and live.

Patting the child’s small back, I whispered gently.

“That’s right, Jui-bam-tol. It’s your fault.”

It’s not your fault.

“So as punishment, I’m going to make you eat lots of dessert. Until you’re so full you can’t even sleep, I’ll keep feeding you. That way you won’t say such stupid things again.”

Let’s eat dessert sweet enough to forget today’s events.

I’ll teach you that some painful memories can be forgotten with just a spoonful of sweet sugar.

So you don’t learn such a life too late, I’ll tell you right now.

Only then did Leo cling to me and burst into the tears he had been holding back.

“Sniff, waaah, I’m, I’m sorry for being stupid.”

“Don’t call yourself stupid. I’m the only one who can call you stupid.”

“Sniff, hiccup, ye-es, waaah.”

Leo couldn’t stop crying for a long time in my arms.

After crying his heart out while gasping for breath, Leo began nodding off as soon as he got in the carriage, apparently relieved.

He kept losing focus and bumping his forehead against the carriage door, so I carefully laid him down, cradling his head.

Leo tossed and turned for a moment, then soon fell fast asleep using my lap as a pillow.

I covered Leo with the blanket I had placed under the carriage seat, then held the child’s hand tightly, just like that day when Leo had nightmares.

I held his hand thinking he might have nightmares from today’s events, but the small warmth that touched me actually gave me comfort instead.

How long did I gaze down at Leo’s face as he slept innocently like a young beast?

Suddenly, a light weight settled on my shoulders.

“The weather is cold.”

Lord Penandel, sitting across from me, had draped his outer coat over my shoulders.

‘We’re inside a carriage though.’

I couldn’t help but smile wryly at Lord Penandel’s unchanging words, lacking any adaptability.

I fidgeted with his coat and leaned back against the seat.

Fortunately, we had safely found Leo and rescued Vivian as well.

Thinking that we had overcome one hurdle, a profound fatigue washed over me.

But it wasn’t over yet. The mastermind behind all this was still roaming around freely.

‘I need to gather even a little information about Schubel.’

Right now, I know nothing.

But ‘Belinda Blanche’ would be different.

What I needed now was information.

“I’m a bit tired.”

I muttered this while pretending to close my eyes and summoned the Quest window.

[Quest] Where am I? Who am I?

▼[new] Obtain intermediate reward

After confirming that a new reward had been updated, I silently muttered ‘obtain’ to myself.

Then the familiar dizziness enveloped my entire body, and comfortable darkness came over me.

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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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