Adopting the Male Protagonist Changed the Genre - Chapter 99
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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 99
Feeling as if the indoor temperature had somehow become cooler, I asked Chaser again.
“What did you just say?”
“On New Year’s festival day, go on a date with me.”
Ah, so I hadn’t misheard after all.
At Chaser’s nonchalant answer, the dinner table erupted into chaos.
“Who is it? Who just mentioned dating?”
“D-d-d-date?!”
“What’s a date?”
“The knife blade is cutting too well, so I’ll replace it with something else.”
Despite the suddenly chaotic atmosphere, Chaser only looked at me.
His eyelashes fluttering with each blink looked just like flower petals swaying in the wind.
Just as I was about to respond to Chaser’s request, Terry shot up and shouted.
“From what I can see, that mage’s head is full of wicked thoughts! Master, just give the order!”
I didn’t even want to ask what kind of order he wanted me to give.
Our household freeloaders had a tendency to get extremely excited whenever romance came up and act like elementary school students making a fuss about ‘who’s dating who!’
However, I didn’t need to open my mouth to calm down the frenzied monkeys.
Because at Chaser’s next words, everyone just gaped with their mouths open, unable to say anything.
“You all haven’t forgotten about the alliance, have you?”
Alliance?
Chaser didn’t hide that there was some kind of bond I didn’t know about.
“Alliance? What do you mean by that?”
“To find that out, shouldn’t you go on a date with me?”
Really, his way with words to entice people was excellent.
I pondered for a moment, then nodded.
“If that’s the reward you want.”
When I agreed, sighs erupted from here and there. Everyone seemed to be taking Chaser’s date proposal too seriously.
‘That’s just how Chaser is.’
The date was just an excuse; he definitely had something else he wanted from me.
Then, Terry, who had been trembling with indignation, opened his mouth as if counterattacking.
“Jui-bam-tol too! Jui-bam-tol says he wants to go too, on the date! Right, Jui-bam-tol?”
Leo, who had been looking around bewildered searching for Jui-bam-tol, seemed to belatedly realize that was referring to him.
Soon with a determined face, he clenched both fists tightly and spoke spiritedly as if telling us to trust only him.
“If you just tell me what a date is, I’ll work hard at it too!”
“Little sprout, sorry, but a date is just the two of us…”
“I allow it.”
“…Master?”
Why. Again. What’s your complaint now?
I kindly explained to Chaser, who was looking at me with an expression like he’d been blindsided.
“You said you wanted to date me, but you never said it had to be just the two of us.”
* * *
The New Year festival was smaller in scale than the Bongmaje, but perhaps because it was an event enjoyed only by the kingdom’s people, it had a more intimate atmosphere.
The prices that had skyrocketed during Bongmaje had also stabilized, and with fewer tourists from other countries, the security seemed much better too.
Still, it was clearly a busy season for merchants, as food stalls like those seen during Bongmaje were frequently visible.
“Ah! Belinda! Look, it’s those cloud cakes from before!”
Leo, who had been rhythmically bouncing along holding mine and Chaser’s hands, spotted something and stopped walking.
Then he put his hand in his pocket and fumbled around, before spreading one shining gold coin and several silver coins on his palm and speaking triumphantly.
“I got lots of allowance.”
Before leaving the manor, Terry, Vivian, and Penandel had surrounded Leo giving him earnest instructions about something, so it must have been to give him spending money.
Not stopping there, Leo raised his index finger and swept it from one end of the alley lined with stalls to the other, speaking boldly.
“Now I can even say ‘Give me everything from here to there!'”
“…”
…I couldn’t bring myself to ask where he learned to say such things.
“As expected of Master’s little sprout, he’s just like you.”
It seemed I should probably start teaching him about economic sense soon.
But.
“I’ll buy everything Belinda and Teacher want.”
I couldn’t bring myself to tell Leo the truth when he was thinking such admirable thoughts.
The fact that one gold coin and a few silver coins couldn’t conquer the stalls in this alley.
“Wow, really? I actually had something I wanted, so I should ask little sprout to buy it for me.”
Instead of me, who was conflicted and couldn’t say anything, Chaser stepped forward.
He took Leo’s hand and headed toward a stall selling various accessories.
Accessories made by skillfully weaving together cheap gemstones and opaque glass beads were neatly decorating the stall.
Of course, they weren’t comparable to the jewelry stores used by nobles, but unfortunately, they weren’t at a price Leo could handle with his few silver coins.
“How much is this?”
“That’s only 5 silver.”
“5 silver means… sixteen cloud cakes…”
“Then how about this?”
“That’s a natural pearl that even those noble gentlemen love! Oh, cheap, cheap! A whole 1 gold!”
“1 gold means… one meal for Suga…”
Leo’s expression became gloomy after tasting the bitter side of money just five minutes after experiencing its power.
Chaser pointed to increasingly expensive accessories as if teasing Leo, asking their prices, and the more he did so, the more Leo’s face turned ashen.
‘That’s enough of that.’
Teaching Leo about economic sense could stop here.
“Chaser, stop testing the waters and choose.”
“Really? Master will buy it for me?”
As if this had been his plan from the beginning.
Chaser asked with his face brightening as if he hadn’t expected me to step in.
Then he carefully examined accessories with purple-tinted gemstones, holding several between his thumb and index finger to observe them closely.
Finally, what Chaser chose after alternately looking at me and the gems was a not-too-expensive amethyst necklace.
It was just an amethyst roughly cut into a sharp hexagonal prism shape and connected to a leather cord, but Chaser nodded with a face that said he was completely satisfied.
“That’s good enough?”
“Yeah, I like this one. I’ll treasure it forever.”
I thought he’d choose the most expensive one. Does he have some other scheme?
Only after paying with an uneasy feeling did it finally become Leo’s turn.
When I said I wanted cloud cakes, Leo excitedly ran to the cloud cake stall.
“It’s that child from before.”
The merchant remembered Leo well.
Well, our Leo is cute, lovable, and pretty enough to be hard to forget once you’ve seen him.
“Your mom and d… dad didn’t come today either.”
The merchant who had been talking to Leo quickly glanced over me and Chaser, then cleared his throat awkwardly.
He apparently still remembered the lie I told to deflate that little pig’s ego.
While Leo was rolling his eyes not knowing what to do, Chaser, who had received a pink cloud cake as fluffy as his own hair from the merchant, smiled with his eyes and said.
“I’m the second husband.”
“…!”
“Still in divorce mediation with the first husband. Here, little sprout, your cloud cake.”
With one sentence, he silenced the merchant, and Chaser, who had become my second husband despite never having married, let alone divorced, smiled like an early blooming spring flower.
* * *
If the highlight of the Bonmaje Festival was the parade, then the highlight of the New Year Festival was the ‘Wish Sending’ event, where people wrote their wishes on lanterns and floated them on small wooden boats across the massive Bervet River that ran through the Royal Capital.
As soon as night fell, the Bervet River became brilliantly lit with the small boats that people launched one by one.
The beautiful scene, like the Milky Way floating on the river, was enough to captivate people’s steps.
Leo was also busily moving his hands to participate in the ‘Wish Sending’ event.
After initially writing his wish, Leo soon crossed out what he had written and started over.
‘This still seems lacking somehow…’
When he glanced around, everyone else was writing their wishes without hesitation and putting them inside lanterns to load onto wooden boats.
Leo picked up his pen again, thinking this would be the last time.
This should do it.
Leo was about to put down his pen with satisfaction when he suddenly thought of one more thing and hastily scribbled another line.
Only then did he carefully fold the note, now messy with marks from writing and erasing, and place it inside his lantern.
Watching the boat drift away, Leo clasped his hands together tightly and earnestly prayed for his wish to come true.
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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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