Adopting the Male Protagonist Changed the Genre - Chapter 98
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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 98
* * *
On a night when rain drizzled down steadily.
A candle was secretly lit in the first-floor reception room of the Blanche Manor annex, which had been shrouded in darkness.
Then five figures gathered in a circle around it, casting long shadows on the wall.
Among them, a woman with ash-gray hair spoke heavily.
“The reason I’ve called you all together at this hour is to share some very important information.”
Her voice was so serious that everyone remained silent, waiting for her to continue.
Soon Terry continued speaking as if reciting the introduction to a grand novel.
“A few days ago, I discovered something! Master’s birthday is not far away!”
“…?”
So what? Isn’t that something to celebrate?
Terry sighed in frustration at the question marks floating above everyone’s heads except Chaser’s.
“How can you all be so dense! Don’t you understand? We’re facing the greatest challenge of our lives!”
“Ah, this is quite a serious problem indeed.”
Terry lamented that Chaser was the only one who understood what she meant.
“Does anyone here know what Master lacks?”
Silence fell for a moment.
While no one dared to speak rashly, Vivian quietly raised her hand and whispered.
“…A, a gentle smile?”
At those words, Leo, who had been rubbing his eyes to chase away drowsiness, startled like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.
“That’s not true! Belinda smiles so gently!”
“Oh my, the little sprout has grown yellow leaves after his travels. He even knows how to lie now.”
“Perhaps a bit lacking in honesty.”
“Even Knight!”
Before Leo, trembling with betrayal, could raise his voice, Terry stepped in to sort out the situation.
“Not that kind of thing. Does anyone here have any idea what Master might want as a birthday gift?”
Only then did shock appear on everyone’s faces.
Terry continued as if she fully understood everyone’s feelings.
“First of all, Master wouldn’t want anything that money can buy.”
“She probably doesn’t like meat that much either….”
“As for power, well… that’s not bad.”
“Something Belinda doesn’t have….”
“What the young lady would want….”
Once again, silence fell over the room. Everyone seemed to finally realize the gravity of the situation.
Terry nodded as if she had expected this, then made a proposal.
“Everyone, I propose one motion here. From now on, we form an alliance! If anyone discovers what Master needs or wants, we share it!”
There was no reason to refuse.
Thus began the world’s greatest gift competition that Belinda knew nothing about.
* * *
What awaited Cesar after finishing the secret meeting was a message from Penandel.
“How did the investigation go?”
-I found Master Servator. As you said, he’s been living in seclusion in Baluashten Territory after retirement.
When Penandel finished his explanation, Cesar uncharacteristically sighed and turned his gaze toward the window.
What reflected on his retina was the scenery of the Royal Capital, but what filled his mind was Belinda’s retreating figure running through the dark forest.
That image stuck in his mind like a shard of ice that wouldn’t easily be forgotten.
“Come to think of it, you’re quite pitiful too. To be reduced to chasing after the tail of a woman like me.”
“Tell me honestly now, my lord. Say that following my orders was terrible.”
If words had form, Belinda’s words would have been sharp swords without handles.
Not only would they wound the opponent, but they would also slash the hands of the one wielding them.
Therefore, instead of retreating to where Belinda’s voice couldn’t reach him, he approached closer, allowing her sword to pierce through his body.
Only then could he wrap his hands around her bloodied ones.
“You are a magnificent person, my lady.”
If only he could convey those words to her, it would be pain worth enduring.
‘Perhaps this is far from the mindset of a guard knight.’
He wanted to protect not only Belinda’s life, but ensure that the shadows of the forest and frozen snow couldn’t touch even a single strand of her hair.
He wished she wouldn’t suffer alone in silence.
He hoped that everyone in the world would recognize that she was a good person.
Perhaps this feeling was….
“It seems that I… think of Lady Blanche in a special way.”
-I’m sorry… I didn’t hear you clearly?
“I kept making excuses about searching for Endymion, but yes. The truth is, I didn’t want to leave Lady Blanche’s side. I’m so worried about her that I can’t take my eyes off her.”
At those words, the iron bird beyond the cage opened its beak so wide that the joints creaked.
-Sir! Finally!
“So this emotion is exactly….”
-Exactly!
“Paternal love?”
-….
“I think I felt exactly this emotion when I first saw Endymion.”
-….
“Although I’m not the young lady’s father, this is certainly….”
-Sir, please speak honestly.
“Speak.”
-You don’t like me, do you?
Cesar, not understanding why, simply answered honestly.
“I don’t know why you’d say such a thing. If I didn’t find you satisfactory, I wouldn’t have kept you as my aide.”
-Then please stop now! If you’re not trying to torment me, stop saying things that will earn the resentment of countless people watching your story from another world!
“What are you talking about?”
-I don’t know either! I just… just had a feeling it would be like that!
Penandel was almost sobbing.
-Oh, my poor fate. At an age where it wouldn’t be strange to see grandchildren, I’m giving romance coaching to my nearly fifty-year-old lord, oh, my poor fate.
“It’s not romance.”
-Oh nooooo.
Penandel’s wailing continued for quite some time after that.
Because of this, it was quite a while before the conversation returned to the main topic.
After hearing about the work matters that needed to be handled, the lack of progress in finding Endymion, and finally about Belinda’s birthday, Penandel added weakly in a voice that sounded ten years older than before.
-Please continue thinking about a birthday gift for the Marquess’s Daughter. I’ll prepare something in my own way.
“You will?”
-Yes. For reference, the gift I’m preparing is not from Penandel, but from Cheri to Lady Blanche.
“That’s… a reasonable idea.”
Since Lady Blanche knew Penandel and Cheri as different people, preparing and sending separate gifts didn’t seem like a bad idea.
-You can decide whether to give the gift to the young lady or not when it arrives.
“But your attitude is quite insolent…”
-His Excellency always says that when he has nothing to say. Don’t you have anything else to tell me? Should I hang up?
“Well…”
Click.
The metal bird in the cage simply snapped its neck and closed its eyes as if dead.
The gift sent by Penandel and the materials about Master Servator arrived at Blanche Manor a week later.
* * *
For the past few days, the freeloaders in my house have been looking at me with unusual eyes.
Like hyenas eyeing their prey, I suppose.
Even when I just twitched my fingertips, they all sharpened their eyes and watched fiercely to see where my hand was going.
When I asked why they were acting like this, they all played dumb and just shook their heads saying it was nothing.
What’s even more absurd is that Chaser has joined this situation too.
“Can everyone even swallow their food right now?”
At my sharp words, everyone who had been enjoying dinner turned their gaze toward me.
I calmed my boiling insides with a glass of cold water and opened my mouth calmly.
“Instead of watching me like whimpering mutts, why don’t you all bark if you have something to say?”
“Lady Belinda seems upset that we’re distancing ourselves from you… mmph.”
“Jui-bam-tol, shut your mouth.”
I personally peeled a shrimp and put the meat in his mouth, blocking Leo’s words.
I appreciate the sentiment, but there’s no need for translation right now, Leo.
I glared fiercely as I examined each person sitting around the table one by one.
There’s something. Something that only I don’t know about.
I decided to focus my attack on Vivian, who seemed the easiest target.
“Vivian, want to try barking?”
Vivian glanced around at the others, then slightly opened her mouth.
“Woof?”
Oh? Look at this? She’s more persistent than I thought?
I expected her to spill everything like a sea cucumber that vomits its organs when poked, but surprisingly Vivian held out quite well.
However, that didn’t last long either.
She started breaking out in cold sweat under my gaze and gradually wilted like ice cream melting under the scorching sun.
“I… well… that is…”
“Master.”
“Can’t you see I’m having a conversation with Vivian? Don’t interrupt…”
“I’d like to discuss the compensation for our last job.”
I could see right through Chaser’s scheme, but it wasn’t something I could ignore.
I shot a sharp look at Vivian, meaning I’d keep watching until the end, then turned to Chaser.
“What do you want?”
“It’s not difficult.”
Chaser propped his arms on the table, rested his chin on his clasped hands, and spoke with a gentle smile.
“Are you free the evening of the New Year festival the day after tomorrow?”
I caught a glimpse of Terry flinching from the corner of my eye.
“What if I am?”
“Then go on a date with me. That’s the payment I want.”
Crack.
Penandel, who had been pushed to the far end of the table since Chaser joined the dinner, made an uncharacteristically loud noise.
When I looked back, he had been cutting the steak on his plate with a knife and… cut right through the plate too?
“I misjudged my strength.”
Penandel naturally pulled out the knife that had not only pierced through the plate but was half-embedded in the table.
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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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