Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing - Chapter 268

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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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Forget about being a successor—I just want to heal. Episode 268

Lion threw both arms up in the sheer joy of having his body back.
And immediately, a terrible muscle ache washed over him.

“Ow, ow, ow…”

The pain was sharp, but he was grateful for it.
In spirit form, he hadn’t been able to feel anything at all.

‘That was genuinely dangerous.’

He’d almost gotten trapped forever in that gray space between worlds—not quite alive, not quite dead.
Lion slowly lowered his arms and blinked through the darkness, letting his eyes adjust gradually.

‘Still, I’m grateful to be back.’

It seemed his grandfather and Tiamatark must have handled things properly while he was unconscious.

“How long has it been, anyway? Tiamatark?”

No answer came.

“…”

Something felt off.
For a chattering dragon like this one to be so quiet was unlike him.
Had something gone wrong while he was inhabiting Lion’s body to carry him back?
Lion forced himself up at once.
Each bend of his joints brought stabbing pain that made his vision swim, but he could move well enough.

‘I need to find a light first.’

Whether it was because he’d only just woken, or because he’d pushed Self-Enhancement Magic far beyond its limits, the darkness pressed in oppressively.
So when Lion fumbled blindly for a lamp, running his hands along the wall…

—Huh? Lion! You’re awake!

Tiamatark’s presence spoke from beyond the wall.

“Why are you over there?”

—How can you sound so calm? You nearly got yourself killed, you know.
—I always knew you were reckless, but what possessed you to jump into that thing?
—Still, since you’re awake, I suppose we managed to sort things out after all…

The dragon’s voice poured out rapidly, erasing all trace of his earlier silence.
There didn’t seem to be any real disaster, at least.

“Were you worried?”

—Worried? Me? I thought you’d find it amusing. If you can’t handle this much, what good are you? It’s just…

Tiamatark clearly looked pleased, despite his protests and grumbling, but then something seemed to occur to him and he pressed his face against the wall, peering through urgently.

—Wait, that’s not even the problem!
—Check yourself! What do you look like right now?

“What do I look like? It’s too dark to see anything.”

—As the old man said, it seems my senses haven’t fully returned yet. Hmm.

Tiamatark examined Lion from different angles before starting to explain things one by one.

—First, head back to the bed. There’s a brightness control on the nightstand.
—And it’ll probably be brighter than you expect, so open your eyes slowly.
—This isn’t from me—it’s what your grandfather told me to pass along.

Now that I think about it, where is Grandfather?

‘Did I wake up too late?’

He found himself growing worried about what had happened while he was unconscious.
With Tiamatark’s help, Lion made his way back to the bed, and with his eyes still closed, he reached out his hand to touch the nightstand.
His fingers found what felt like a lamp, and when he twisted it gently—

A soft click.

A faint light began to gently illuminate the room.

“Ugh…!”

But for Lion, it was different.
As if he’d just stepped from a dark cave directly into blazing sunlight, his eyes stung sharply.

‘What is this?’

It was clearly weak light.
He could perceive that much. And yet—it hurt this badly?

—Good heavens. Did you think you could strain yourself that hard and feel nothing at all?

Tiamatark chuckled like someone teasing a child who’d played hard and exhausted himself without knowing his own limits.
But the problem was, this was only the beginning.
Once Lion’s eyes had adjusted somewhat to the light, he finally looked around the room.
It was still Dragnas Castle.
The Grand Duke’s Son’s Chamber was still… the right place.
Though much of it had changed.

‘First, this protective magic.’

Now he realized that Tiamatark hadn’t been speaking from the wall—instead, massive Protective Magic enveloped the entire Grand Duke’s Son’s Chamber.
Arcane arrays so densely layered they might as well have been a fallout shelter covered every wall surface of the room.
It was his grandfather’s work.

‘…Though it doesn’t seem to be a confinement.’

Lion pressed close to the barrier and examined the arcane arrays one by one.
He wondered if they’d been set to keep him locked away out of caution, but that wasn’t it at all.
If anything, given his grandfather’s nature, wouldn’t he have immediately sent Lion back to the Estate and ordered his younger brother to guard the entrance thoroughly?

‘Then this is…’

It looked like an array designed to prevent word from leaking outside.

“Could there be other guests staying here?”

—Sharp instincts. That’s right.

It seems the Temple just arrived.
Judging by the fact that Grandfather even cast Protective Magic, he must have told them he wanted to see me.
The longer I linger here, the worse things will get…….

“First, could you briefly explain what happened while I was unconscious?”

After hearing the whole story from beginning to end, Lion let out a low sigh.
Fortunately, the time he’d spent unconscious wasn’t very long.
Just over a day.
Compared to the incidents he’d suffered through before, it was surprisingly manageable…….
But the problem was.

“……It’s pretty severe.”

Lion stared at his hands, which had turned pitch black.
They were dark as if dipped in black ink.
What he saw in the mirror in the room didn’t look good either.
Contamination had spread through his veins in dark patches.
The only consolation was that most of it could be hidden beneath his clothes.

‘So that’s why my sensation hasn’t fully returned.’

With contamination of this degree, he should have felt excruciating pain.
It was different from a Curse, but the mechanism was similar.
If a Curse could be called a refined, finished product,
Contamination was sediment. Filth.

“Tiamatark. What did you do with your power?”

-What was underground was recovered directly through your body, and what remains is just the fragment in that portrait frame.

Tiamatark glanced at the Portrait Frame with clear curiosity about where the Grand Duke’s Son Leon had gone.

“He said you two were close.”

-……Close? All I did was scold and scare him.

“Anyway, since he left safely, you can recover that power yourself.”

-No. You use it. I mentioned it because you need it.

“Did it show?”

Lion laughed a little awkwardly and extracted Tiamatark’s power that had been hidden inside the Portrait Frame.
Upon inspection, it was precisely a Reverse Scale split in half.

-Since a Reverse Scale grows backwards and looks ugly, I just gave it as a gift to humans back then.
-It was nearly ten thousand years ago, and I’d simply forgotten about it.
-But to think that bloodline thrived and even founded a family.

His voice carried unmistakable bitterness.
Lion recognized what that emotion was.

‘It must have been a poignant first love.’

Probably everything about forgetting was a lie.

“You bastard…….”

-What? You’re going to look at me like that with such disrespect?
—Hmph. Well, there’s no point in worrying about that anymore, so do what you like with it.

“All right. Thank you.”

Lion tucked the Reverse Scale into his chest.

“That’s all for now, then?”

—That’s about it.

“Good.”

He quickly dressed himself.
Fortunately, there were spare clothes to conceal the Contamination, and the Ability-Blocking Pendant seemed to be functioning properly.
Fortunately, it also appeared to be masking the Contamination levels.

‘As long as I don’t get found out, it’ll be fine.’

No priest, no matter how devout, could freely examine the body of the eldest grandson of House Asteri—all it took was to manage the situation carefully.
His complexion looking poor was hardly unprecedented.

—So you’re moving the moment you wake up?
—It does sound interesting… but you do know you’re going to get punished terribly for this, right?
—Your grandfather is scary when he’s angry.

“I know.”

But what choice did he have?
Someone out there was clearly looking for him, and he had to answer that call.

After one final check of his body, Lion stepped outside the Protective Magic, opened the door, and made straight for the Grand Duke’s Chamber.

‘Just as I thought.’

Mages and priests stood in scattered positions throughout the castle corridors, as if in standoff.
Normally, tensions wouldn’t have escalated this far, but presumably…

‘The priests had decided on something.’

There must have been some underlying power struggle at work.
Likely the Archbishop had given them a hint.

‘They probably believe I’ve accomplished something.’

Because his grandfather was deliberately keeping him hidden away, sealed tight, their belief had only hardened into certainty.

‘Well, it’s not an entirely wrong guess.’

For all his affable appearance, he was a man who grasped far deeper matters than one might expect.
From the scattered information he’d gathered, the Archbishop followed the Saintess—who had raised him like Licht did—with remarkable devotion.

‘I can’t say I don’t understand it, though….’

If anything, he understood it better now than before.
But still.
That didn’t mean he could go around harassing innocent people in pursuit of his goals.

‘Yes. I should make this clear right now.’

To achieve his aims, he mustn’t pressure people—he must give them his full support instead.

‘Of course, that’s something I’ll decide after we’ve had a proper conversation.’

Lion opened his grandfather’s chamber door with a cheerful flourish, acknowledging the mages’ greetings as he entered.

“Oh, I do apologize! I overslept!”

Predictable.
Inside the Grand Duke’s Chamber sat not only his grandfather, but the Archbishop as well.
His grandfather’s expression was grim, while the Archbishop wore an easy smile—which told Lion everything he needed to know.

‘The Archbishop’s figured something out.’

Lion kept his smile in place as he positioned himself before them both.

“…! Lion.”
“Ha, my apologies, Grandfather. I’ve been out and about so much lately that I just keep collapsing into sleep. Though……”

Lion turned his gaze toward the Archbishop.

“I had no idea you’d be visiting! It’s been far too long.”
“Ha. Young Lion, I’ve been wanting to see your face before meeting with the Duke anyway, so this is a most welcome surprise.”
“Would it be alright if I sat down with you both?”
“I’ve no objection… Duke. Would that be acceptable to you?”

The Archbishop asked deliberately, as though he knew something, turning his attention toward Patrick.

“…Have you slept enough?”
“I’ve slept so much I’m getting dizzy. I practically slept like Father Licht—I thought I’d suddenly sprouted Holy Power myself.”
“Lion.”
“Ha ha, my apologies. That was just a jest, of course.”

Lion guided the conversation with a natural ease, waving his hand with practiced nonchalance.

“…So Licht has fallen asleep, it seems.”
“Ah, you hadn’t heard? Father Licht has been sleeping for quite some time. I suppose they didn’t want to worry you.”

Lion sipped at the warm tea that had been set before him.

‘Ah, this is definitely a convalescence situation.’

Even as he drank the scalding liquid, he felt no heat.

‘Which is precisely why I need to handle this faster.’

It was the primary reason Lion was acting with such determination.
But it wasn’t the only reason.
To be perfectly honest……
That scene he’d glimpsed when entering the chamber moments ago.
The expressions on his grandfather’s and the Archbishop’s faces had cut through Lion’s composure entirely.
His grandfather was someone who ought never to face such difficulties in his lifetime.
He had the reputation, the position, and the strength to avoid it.
And yet……

‘To protect me.’

By holding his tongue, he’d lost the initiative.
As a result, no important information had leaked out so far.
Then……

‘I need to breathe some life back into him.’

Lion wore a combative smile—the first he’d shown in ages, the smile of a team captain in battle.

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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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