Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing - Chapter 269

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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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The Successor Doesn’t Know, So I’ll Just Heal — Chapter 269

Lion set down his teacup and interlaced his fingers, studying the Archbishop across from him.

‘What the Archbishop wants is obvious.’

To confirm whether Lion’s achievements befitted a true Hero.
If that was the case, then the Archbishop surely thought…….

‘He thinks I’m hiding something.’

Lion mentally retraced every interaction—direct and indirect—he’d had with the Archbishop.
Setting aside subjective emotion and extracting only objective information, the conclusion was clear.
Whatever others might think, Lion had never treated the Archbishop with hostility.
Besides, the current situation was one where the Archbishop could reasonably feel he held the advantage.
After all, he was the one who’d launched this surprise visit.

“You must be quite exhausted from traveling all this way.”
“I came to fulfill what needed to be done, so it’s unavoidable.”
“You’re truly remarkable. I find myself running out of stamina just following grandfather around.”
“My, I’d like to help restore your strength if I could.”
“There’s no need. Once I’m home, a good soak in the Hot Spring will set me right.”
“The Hot Spring, you say…….”
“Yes. When Licht and I went there before…… ah, I suppose you hadn’t heard about that yet.”

Lion lifted his shoulders with an air of nonchalance.
Though naturally, such a trifle wasn’t enough to darken the Archbishop’s expression.

‘Does that bother you?’

From what Lion had observed so far, the Archbishop’s affection for his family was quite remarkable.

“In any case, you needn’t worry about my health. You came here for official business anyway, didn’t you? Isn’t that right, grandfather?”

Lion gazed at Patrick, a broad smile playing at his lips.

…….

At his grandson’s combative grin, Patrick felt cold sweat bead his brow.
This boy was clearly upset—genuinely angry.
Patrick understood why such a gentle soul had grown so incensed.

‘It was my expression just now.’

He hadn’t expected Lion to wake, and his composure had slipped without his realizing it.
But he couldn’t have helped it.
The Archbishop had pressed him about Lion regarding the Hero situation, exactly as Lion had predicted.
Patrick had even considered as a last resort laying siege to the Temple itself if matters came to that, so desperate was the Archbishop’s resolve to see Lion’s face by force if necessary.
A bitter taste filled his mouth.
He felt uneasy about putting his grandson through such an unpleasant experience.

‘Lion doesn’t enjoy fighting with others.’

In the past, when he’d been bedridden, Patrick hadn’t known this. Now, he could see clearly how strongly Lion inclined toward resolving things peacefully whenever possible.
The boy’s very nature seemed to orient toward peace.
And yet…….

“Grandfather?”

Or not?
Does he actually follow through when he decides to do something, just like me?
Looking at those eyes that gleamed just a touch, it didn’t seem he was entirely docile.

‘Now that I think about it…….’

Long ago, when Lion had begun to fall ill and Ricshel was just learning to walk.

‘He did lose his temper properly once.’

A collateral branch child had come to the Estate and bullied Ricshel.
In the eyes of the adults, it was a small incident born of the collateral branch’s jealousy toward the direct line.
Patrick had meant to settle it with a simple warning.
But Lion, sick as he was, had left the Recovery Room and fought that collateral child properly, or so Patrick had heard.

‘I’d forgotten about that.’

Of course, the strain of that day had left him suffering from high fever the next day onward.
It was an incident memorable more for its consequences than its cause.

‘Could it be that Lion…….’

Was his gentle nature not his true character at all, but rather the peace that came from no one daring to provoke him?
Patrick entertained this thought as he answered his grandson’s question.

“……Yes. The Archbishop came to this High Castle to suppress the rumors circulating here.”
“A ghost, you mean?”

Patrick calmly explained to his grandson, who pretended to know nothing, about the ghost of Grand Prince Dragnath.

“I’m curious whether Lion knows anything about this matter.”

The Archbishop didn’t miss the opportunity to ask.

“Have you perhaps encountered the ghost?”
“Ah.”
“It’s a matter that concerns resolving their grudge, so if you know anything, I urge you to tell me. Otherwise, we’ll have to conduct a thorough search of every room.”

The Archbishop applied pressure to Lion.
In truth, there were only two possible courses of action from the start.
Either voluntary disclosure of clues from his own lips, or forced searches of every room.

‘Of course, the best option would be…….’

For him to confess willingly.
But that wasn’t going to happen.
Just look at Patrick.
An unspoken agreement had already been established among them.
Never to lay a hand on anything related to the Hero.
A truly wise course of action.

“Ah, if that’s the reason, there shouldn’t be any need for concern, should there?”
“What reason might that be?”
“Well……the ghost never existed in the first place?”
“That sounds as though you yourself resolved this matter?”
“Something like that.”
“……Do you have evidence?”
“I do. But…….”

Lion glanced at Patrick and nodded slightly, asking for permission to excuse himself.
Admittedly, sending his grandfather away in this situation was itself a considerable breach of etiquette.

“The matter seems resolved, so I’ll head back to the Great Barrier. Work things out between yourselves.”

Patrick delivered the words as tersely and swiftly as possible, then excused himself.
It was his way of showing trust in his grandson.

Click.

Patrick left the room, leaving only Lion and the Archbishop.
In other words—

‘No need to watch my step anymore. I can speak freely.’

One simply couldn’t be rough with one’s grandfather watching, could one?

“Archbishop.”
“Speak freely, Lion.”
“You didn’t come because of some ghost, did you?”
“If you say that, it might sound as though I’ve come with ulterior motives. Best to choose my words carefully, wouldn’t you say?”
“Hmm…….”

Lion leaned back against the sofa and crossed his arms with leisure.
Ordinarily, it would be unbecoming behavior before the head of the Temple, the Archbishop himself.

‘So what?’

I’m not even a priest. I don’t care.
Lion’s mood remained distinctly uncomfortable.

“Since grandfather left, wouldn’t it be exhausting for us both if you keep dancing around the subject?”
“I don’t follow.”
“Wasn’t this ghost problem just an excuse to begin with?”

Lion exhaled lightly and muttered as though somewhat weary.

“Or should I guess what you really want?”
“…….”

The Archbishop found Lion Asteri’s manner unfamiliar.
There was something subtly world-weary in his gaze, and an air of indifference.
And beneath it all, a hint of anger.

‘Is this his true self?’

No, that wasn’t it.
Everything he’d seen of Lion Asteri until now couldn’t possibly have been an act.
That was genuine.
But if one were to ask whether this present demeanor was the act instead……
That wasn’t it either.

‘He’s duplicitous in a different sense.’

Still, it was closer to good news.
In any case, the distance between himself and Lion Asteri had drawn somewhat shorter.
Which meant—

‘I’ve drawn closer to the truth.’

At last.
Decades it’s been!
The Archbishop felt gooseflesh rise on his arms beneath his vestments, but kept his composure as he waited for Lion to continue.
And that continuation was:

“You want to know the hidden story between the Hero and the previous Archbishop, don’t you.”

It was precisely the answer the Archbishop hoped to hear from Lion.
Struck so cleanly at the heart of it, he could not hide the hunger blooming across his face.

‘Yes. Perhaps Lion Asterid wants to know as well.’

The phenomena manifesting in Lion himself were anything but ordinary.
Yet his family had only ever tried to conceal them.
If he had asked for the reason, would they have given him a honest answer?
No.
They couldn’t have answered truthfully!

‘A meaningless death.’

It would have been an answer that insulted both the Hero and Patrick himself.

“Do you know?”
“I know facts that no one else does.”
“I see. It must have been hard all this time—unable to tell your family. Which is why….”

The Archbishop could not conceal his excitement and anticipation as he spoke.

“If you tell me, I will share everything I know. As you’re aware, I have investigated the Hero’s traces all this time. I can say I know more than perhaps anyone in this world. What do you think?”
“Oh, everything you know?”
“Everything.”

If Lion had wanted to become the Hero.
Or if he had not learned the Hero’s final location, perhaps he would have accepted.
But.

‘I have no idea where the Hero is.’

He had no intention of accepting.
If he compiled all the information the Archbishop possessed, several leads might emerge.
Perhaps details about the southern regions or Mermaid Island.
But one thing.

‘That’s something I can find out without cooperating.’

Before striking a deal, the Archbishop had made one fatal mistake.
He had wounded the other’s pride.
When conducting business, the most critical thing is maintaining the client’s goodwill, isn’t it.
No matter how favorable the terms, in the end all things in this world turn on people’s feelings.

“Your Grace.”
“Speak freely, Lion.”
“We are quite alike, aren’t we.”

Lion pushed himself upright from the chair’s back and met the Archbishop’s gaze directly.
Even without sharing blood, he had always felt he resembled Licht quite a bit.
It was surely because of that gentle expression peculiar to the priesthood.
But today.

‘We don’t look alike at all.’

Obsession with the past, regret—as the years accumulated, these emotions clung to the wrinkles etched into his face, and his expression had transformed considerably.

“If my own family had vanished like that, I suppose I would have wanted to search for them as desperately as you have, Archbishop.”

A crack appeared in the Archbishop’s expression.
Lion’s words carried a peculiar distance to them.

“But I would not do such a thing.”

Of course, he would try.
Yet he would never have clung to this for decades with such desperation.
The reason was.

“Because there are people left behind.”

More than that, he could never have brought himself to exploit others or use someone far younger than himself as a sacrificial lamb.
That was the difference between the Archbishop and himself.
If one were to judge by family loyalty, who was truly the better man?
Lion could not answer that question.

“Hah. You’re refusing because of personal feelings? My proposal?”
“Yes. That as well, but… the information you possess is far too meager compared to what I have. Therefore, my cooperation would make no sense at all.”

Lion smiled faintly and rose to his feet slowly.

“You don’t even know the Hero’s location, do you?”
“That remark—!”

The Archbishop lurched to his feet.
His expression, which had been shifting to disappointment, filled instead with shock.
It had not been found.
Nowhere in the entire world had it surfaced!
Then how had he learned of it?
Of course. This man.
Was it because he would become the Hero?

“Lion. Shall we speak of this again? Yes, you’re right. If you possess more than I do, then it would only be proper for me to cooperate.”
“I’m not sure about that. I’m rather angry at the moment, actually.”

You might not know it, but I’m rather petty by nature.
Unlike the Hero.
Lion added this as he turned away decisively.
He was defenseless now, and the Archbishop could have attacked at any moment.
Yet the Archbishop could not bring himself to lay a finger on Lion.
It was as if a strong rope had descended from the heavens between the rotted, frayed cords—an unbridgeable distance.

“So please wait quietly, Archbishop. Ah, and should you do anything rash, I may well ruin all your plans. Do be careful.”

Lion delivered the final blow and left the room.
By his nature, he would have liked to cause more of a scene, but…

—Ugh, human. Lion! There’s blood! It’s going to pour out!

Sniffle.
His physical limits were starkly clear.
Lion sniffled and drew air through his nose.

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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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