Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing - Chapter 263

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Successor or Not, I Just Want to Heal — Episode 263

“Goodness, Pus!”

Before disaster could unfold, Lion swiftly scooped Pus into his arms.

“It’s fine that you’re protecting your father, but you shouldn’t do that to your great-grandfather.”
“Great-grandfather……”

Patrick’s vision went dim for a moment at the sudden address.
He’d known someday he’d hear that title, but he’d never imagined it would come now, of all times.
Especially not from that source……

‘No, I can’t let myself slip down that path.’

Patrick drew a deep breath inwardly and steadied himself.

“Lion.”
“Ah… yes, Grandfather.”
“Explain yourself. Where did that portrait come from?”
“Well……”

Lion fidgeted with Pus’s soft ears, glancing around the room.
There was much his grandfather couldn’t perceive.
For one, the ghost of the Grand Duke’s Son was still present……

-What’s the point of hiding? Just tell him everything.
-That way we can recover the rest of the pieces faster.
-And we need to send that one away too.

Tieramatrak, subtly offended since yesterday, was also here.
It seemed both pride and feelings had been wounded.

‘I suppose I have no choice.’

Lion explained only the bare facts.
He’d encountered the ghost of the Grand Duke’s Son; when communication proved difficult, Pus caught a certain scent and led him to a storehouse at just the right moment.
He’d discovered this portrait there.

“He sensed an aura similar to the dragon spirit at your side.”
“Yes, but Tieramatrak said it was only a ‘fragment.'”
……

So that was how it had come to pass.
Patrick finally understood how his grandson had come by the portrait.
He knew the legends of House of Dragnas well enough.
But more than that——

‘The Grand Duke’s Son.’

Patrick gazed at the portrait with quiet eyes.
He had seen the figure in that portrait before.
The sole blood kin of the Grand Duke of Dragnas.
In life, he’d always carried himself as if he’d strip bare his own guts and liver for his father — so much so that it made sense the Grand Duke would’ve infused this portrait with something carrying the ‘dragon’s essence’ as well.

‘Though even he probably never knew it would anchor his son to this world.’

Binding him with such bitter, terrible final memories in the bargain.
But then……

‘Strange,’ Lion thought.

Patrick found himself puzzled.
It was true that the Grand Duke loved and cherished his son.
Yet, as he’d said before, it was ultimately the Grand Duke himself who had brutally murdered that very son.
Of course, it was an act committed after the contamination had grown severe and he’d lost himself…….

‘Could a young boy truly understand and forgive all of that?’

And even after death, hadn’t the Grand Duke’s Son spent decades in near-isolation, drifting through this place in torment?
Unable to communicate directly, doubt naturally crept in first.
And even if the Grand Duke’s Son truly were searching for his father with a pure heart…….

‘It cannot be.’

His grandson possessed a heart far too noble.
He had the nature to help those in difficult circumstances without seeking reward, and whenever he heard of someone bearing a false accusation, he felt compelled to set matters right.
Even when he could have turned a blind eye easily enough.
Thus far, that kindness had fortunately returned to him as reward.

‘Within the Asteri Territory, he could live that way his entire life without consequence.’

There, Patrick’s eyes and ears stretched across the whole domain, so any trouble could be contained swiftly.
But here, beyond the Great Barrier, was different.
And all the more so with the Archbishop watching Lion as he was.

“…….”

Patrick closed his eyes slowly, then opened them and spoke with resolve.

“Involve yourself no further.”
“Pardon?”
“Pacifying the spirits of the dead is the priest’s duty. You came here for other purposes, did you not?”

He had mountains of more pressing matters than soothing the soul of one who had died decades ago.
And at the very peak of that mountain stood his grandson.
Call it selfish if one must—it could not be helped.

“Word is that someone is coming from the Temple.”
“From the Temple?”

Lion repeated the question, and Patrick briefly explained what had transpired.
Before Lion could voice his dismay, Patrick continued.

“I thought that mad Archbishop was nothing but a hindrance, but it seems he has his uses after all. If someone of the Archbishop’s station investigates these matters, the Grand Duke’s Son’s spirit will surely find peace, and the Grand Duke’s own soul and fragments will be recovered.”
“But then Tieramatrak’s essence……”
“I shall speak with him separately and have it retrieved.”
“…….”

Patrick was utterly resolute.
Lion knew well enough what his grandfather was thinking, and could not bring himself to object further.

—Well, as long as my essence gets recovered properly, I’m in favor of it.
—You’re kind-hearted, Lion. Most wouldn’t go to such lengths.
—That crybaby will understand well enough.

Lion turned his head to look toward where the Grand Duke’s Son’s ghost stood.
The Grand Duke’s Son looked so mournful he seemed ready to weep again at any moment, yet he placed his hand on his hollow chest and nodded in acknowledgment.
Then he pointed to several Word Cards laid on one corner of the desk.

[Mm.] and one of the newly added Word Cards: [I’m fine.]

“…….”

Once Lion himself said he was fine, Patrick had no choice but to accept it.

“……I understand. I’ll do that.”
“Good.”

Patrick felt for his grandson, who answered without spirit, but he resolved to look away. Sometimes, protecting one’s family required a firm hand.
It was a truth he’d learned long ago.
Patrick gave Lion’s shoulder a gentle pat.

“And I think we need to move up the timeline.”
“Yes. We should.”
“……In exchange, I’ll do everything I can to cooperate with matters concerning the Hero.”

Patrick’s gaze fixed on a portrait hanging in one corner of Lion’s room.
It would be better to take it down immediately, but doing so would wound Lion’s heart far more than he could bear.

‘He’s a sentimental one. I should give him time to compose himself.’

If anything arose, the dragon would handle it on his own.

“Leave that portrait here until the priests arrive.”
“Thank you, Grandfather.”
“Prepare yourself whenever you’re ready. I’ll be waiting.”

Patrick patted Lion’s shoulder a few more times, then left the room with heavy steps.
The door closed firmly behind him, and Nature, who had been resting on the bed, fluttered over and perched gently on Lion’s shoulder.

“Peep…….”

She nuzzled her face against Lion’s cheek in comfort.

“Kee.”

Pus, nestled in his arms, did the same.

—Lion. There’s nothing you can do about it.
—Honestly, it wasn’t all your burden to carry in the first place.
—You said you didn’t want to be a Hero anyway, right? So why not live a little more selfishly? That’s a human’s privilege.

Even Tieramatrak, who had maintained a coolly distant air, sent a clumsy word of comfort from across the room.
And Lion…….

“Huh.”

He lifted his head, which had been bowed.
He’d never faced such firm opposition before, and he was bracing for deep sorrow—when something shifted.

A smile tugged at his lips.

The corners of Lion’s mouth rose slightly.

“You’re right. I have my own work to do.”
“Peep, peep??”
“Grandfather’s right about everything. How could I possibly cause trouble in a dangerous place like this?”

Lion’s eyes gleamed with an almost feverish brightness.
Positive madness burned in them.

‘This is my chance.’

He understood perfectly well what his grandfather had meant by those words.
How worried must the old man have been to speak so plainly?
Which meant that as a grandson, Lion bore the responsibility of erasing that worry entirely.
And beyond that…….

‘I have official permission now.’

When it came to matters concerning the Hero, his grandfather wouldn’t stand in his way.
That alone felt as though wings had sprouted from his back.
There was, in fact, one thing his grandfather still hadn’t noticed.

‘The location of the Grand Duke.’

Lion suspected it lay somewhere similar to where the Hero was, but he had deliberately chosen not to mention it.

‘Because I’m not certain.’

There was a possibility that his guesses were entirely wrong, and all of this would come to nothing…… but.

‘People take risky gambles sometimes, don’t they?’

He’d been so worried when his grandfather delivered those warnings from the carriage.
Lion turned his head sharply to look at the Grand Duke’s Son.
The boy’s face, which moments before had seemed ready to crumble into tears, had twisted into something strange and determined.
Perhaps witnessing this madness was even more overwhelming than decades of searching for his father.

“As I mentioned earlier, I can no longer help you. So don’t harbor great expectations. And the place we’re going is too dangerous—you can’t come with us.”

Having finished speaking, Lion extended his pinky finger.

“So you mustn’t follow me on a whim. You need to stay here. Understood?”

The Grand Duke’s Son carefully reached out and tried to link his pinky with Lion’s.
He couldn’t quite manage it properly.
The gap was too wide.
And yet, through this gesture alone…… somehow it felt so reassuring.
The Grand Duke’s Son smiled brightly.

“Then let’s not involve ourselves in this any further and focus on my own affairs.”
“Cheep!”

Lion strode confidently out of the room.
And…….

-I’m not getting involved either.
-Seriously, that one’s always weird.

Tieramatrak muttered to himself as he passed through the doorway and followed behind.
Then, glancing back over his shoulder, he spoke.

-Hey, crybaby.
-Keep the house safe. I’ll make sure you get to meet him.

It absolutely wasn’t because memories of their old bond had surfaced…….
Tieramatrak couldn’t even convince himself with that lie, and simply left the room.

* * *

Once their preparations were complete, Lion and Patrick set out directly for the Great Barrier.
The path leading to the Great Barrier was treacherous.
Contamination spread across the land, and what had once been verdant forest was now a blackened wasteland of death.
The very air carried a murky stench, and anyone without the strength to protect themselves would have fallen ill and collapsed within moments.
Lion, however, was not such a person.

‘I have this robe to thank for that.’

The Special Robe, developed in collaboration between the Magic Tower and the Temple, possessed several useful functions.
The most remarkable of these was its ability to absorb contamination in his stead.
Thanks to this, Lion was able to approach the Great Barrier with considerable safety, arriving without so much as a single hair out of place.
Moreover, he had managed to discreetly gather a few contaminated toxic plants as Patrick walked ahead—a small pleasure he kept entirely to himself.

“Ahem…….”

Patrick seemed to know what was happening, but whether on account of the awkwardness from moments before or simple discretion, he kept his eyes forward and said nothing.

“We should reach the vicinity of where the Hero’s traces were last discovered shortly.”
“The vicinity, you say…….”
“Yes. We’ve obtained information that he was found somewhere in this general area, but the precise location remains unknown.”

After walking a bit further, Patrick came to a halt.

“From here on.”

Lion surveyed the surroundings carefully at those words.
Across the vast expanse, not even dead grass was visible.
Only cracked earth and fissures that bore the marks of battle.

-Ugh, this Great Barrier—I can’t sense anything at all.
-Back in my prime, you know, I could perceive mana fluctuations from across entire continents.
-It’s not that I was ever incompetent to begin with…….

It seemed he could not rely on Tieramatrak’s assistance after all.
Since he had instructed Nature and Pus to remain as hidden as possible, from this point forward he would have to rely entirely on his own abilities.

‘……Hmm?’

And then Lion realized something.

“The level of contamination here seems lighter than in the other regions.”

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