After Putting the Slayer of the Night to Sleep, I Ran Away - Chapter 94

The curtain of night covered the imperial palace.

The imperial palace’s security was tight, but infiltrating it wasn’t too difficult with Leo’s abilities.

The Emperor’s bedroom. Frederick, who hadn’t gone to bed yet, turned his head at the sound from the balcony.

“…Leo?”

Frederick, who had been sitting at his desk, stood up with a surprised look.

The surprise soon turned to joy, and Frederick quickly threw open the balcony door, bringing Leo into the bedroom.

“What brings you here?”

“I have something to tell you.”

“Sit down first.”

Frederick called a close attendant to bring tea.

His appearance, welcoming his son in the middle of the night, seemed as excited as a child waiting for a picnic.

With hot tea in front of them, Frederick asked.

“Tomorrow is the day of the Consecration Ceremony. Couldn’t you sleep? What brings you to your father?”

“I told you, I have something to tell you.”

“Yes. Tell me anything.”

“The Crown Prince Competition. I’m quitting.”

Frederick’s hand, which was about to pick up the teacup, stopped.

“You’re giving up the competition?”

“It’s not like I wanted to do it in the first place, so it’s not giving up. I’m just telling you I won’t do it.”

“…Why? You promised to do at least the second competition.”

At Frederick’s words, Leo picked up the tea and took a sip.

Leo, who decided on the level of truth with the bitter heat that brushed his tongue, opened his mouth.

“While cleaning up after this subjugation, there was an attack.”

“…What?”

“A man old enough to eat his age used poison on me. It was the man who appeared at the martial arts competition, and he even swiped an aura restriction potion from there.”

Frederick’s face contorted.

“Poison… Are you. Are you alright?”

“I’m fine. But… Ayla was almost in danger.”

“The Duchess…?”

“You must have heard the story of Ayla getting hurt trying to save Edward. She’s that kind of woman. She doesn’t care about her own body and tried to save me.”

“…I see.”

“No matter how much I tell her not to, she’ll do it again. If it were just me, it wouldn’t matter, but now…”

Leo, who frowned slightly, put down the teacup and said firmly.

“I don’t want to get involved in things like that anymore.”

Frederick was silent at the word ‘anymore’ that Leo said.

He couldn’t even imagine what threats and difficulties Leo had survived due to his powerless self.

He lost the woman he loved because of Leo, whom he had to send away with tears of blood.

Dorothea… Leo’s mother was a strong woman, unlike him.

Enough to give her life for her child.

Enough to protect the child in place of this incompetent self.

Frederick quietly closed his eyes and then opened them.

A moment of silence flowed.

At this point, he couldn’t help but admit it.

That all of this was his own greed…

“I wanted to give you a chance too, Leo. The position you practically lost when you were sent to the North at the age of twelve, I wanted to give you the chance to have it again if you wanted it.”

“I don’t particularly want it.”

“I know. It’s just your incompetent father’s greed. But I thought maybe you might change your mind if you experienced the competition. I was just trying to do the fatherly role I couldn’t do belatedly, but I put you in danger again… I’m really sorry.”

Leo bit his lower lip at Frederick’s gloomy expression.

How could he not know?

While he was in the North, the supplies Frederick sent were not small.

It was always under someone else’s name, or disguised as a coincidence, but Leo wasn’t stupid or simple enough not to know that.

He had never sent a single letter, but there was no way he couldn’t know the concern contained in those supplies.

That was the relationship between the father and son who had been apart for nearly ten years.

Even if the attitude was cold, it was difficult for the heart to be cold as well.

“It’s not like you did it on purpose. But why did you bother when you knew I didn’t want to? How are you going to look at Edward after I leave?”

“That guy… Edward grew up without knowing any shortcomings, unlike you. He lived a life of always winning, befitting the status of a prince. I thought this competition was an important opportunity for him too. He needed to learn that he couldn’t have everything for granted, and I wanted to teach him that sometimes he loses.”

“…So you put up something like monster subjugation as the competition topic?”

“Yes.”

“Edward will misunderstand. Because it was a fight he couldn’t win in the first place.”

“I just hope Edward realizes that in that fight. Because knowing how to lose well is important to be in this position.”

Silence flowed again.

He had come to declare that he would quit everything, but it was also difficult to ignore Frederick’s sincerity.

Quitting the competition meant returning to the North.

Suddenly, the wrinkles etched on Frederick’s face caught his eye.

The white hair sparsely mixed in with the golden hair that always seemed so glamorous too.

‘My protector is the Count.’

He tried to remind himself of that, but it was not easy to open his mouth at all.

Then, Frederick hesitated for a moment and said quietly.

“Leo. Rumors about the Duchess have started circulating in society.”

“…Rumors?”

Leo’s gaze sharpened.

“What rumors?”

“Rumor has it that the Duchess is the illegitimate child that the Duchess brought from outside. There was a brief story like that a long time ago, but it quickly disappeared and everyone treated it as a groundless rumor. But if that rumor is true…”

“It doesn’t matter.”

Leo replied in a firm voice.

“Whether Ayla is illegitimate or not, it doesn’t matter. It has nothing to do with my marriage either.”

“…Is that so. Then that’s good.”

Frederick nodded silently.

After pondering the source of the rumors for a moment, Leo came up with one thought and opened his mouth.

“Was it Rodrigo? The eldest son of that Esteban Count’s family.”

“You mean Lord Rodrigo?”

“Yes. The guy who was Ayla’s ex-fiancé.”

Leo twisted up the corners of his lips and crossed his legs.

“That guy. I need to take care of him.”

“…Do you think the source of the rumors is that child?”

“That’s also true, but I remembered something I had forgotten. That guy was lurking around Ayla.”

“Lurking…?”

“He must not have given up. Or he doesn’t want to admit that he was taken away from me.”

“But you’re going to take care of him…”

“I’m not asking for permission, Father.”

Frederick’s eyes widened.

It was the first time Leo had called him Father since he was sent to the North.

“I’m just informing you.”

“Leo…”

“I’m going to mess that bastard up so he can never come near Ayla again. Just know that.”

With those words, Leo got up from his seat.

Then, he walked towards the balcony again, and turned his gaze towards his father.

Frederick was wearing an expression he had never seen before.

An expression mixed with regret and pity. Longing and joy.

“…I’ll think about the competition a little more.”

Leo, who muttered in a low voice, turned his body and stepped out onto the balcony.

Then, he disappeared without a trace.

Leo, who was strolling through the imperial palace’s garden as if taking a walk in the moonlight, stopped.

The place he was looking up at was the Empress Palace where Tatiana lived.

Tonight, his last business was here.

“Shall we go once.”

Leo jumped up without hesitation.

He lightly stepped on the castle walls with his feet, and after a few jumps, he landed on a balcony.

It was Empress Tatiana’s bedroom.

Leo deliberately revealed his presence, and when he pushed open the glass door of the balcony, he found Tatiana, who seemed to have just gotten off the bed.

Her silver eyes widened with fear.

“You, you…! What is this?  !”

Her voice trembled with fear, and Leo could be sure of it.

‘As expected, it was the Empress’s doing.’

Leo moved his steps leisurely, pulled a sofa placed in the bedroom, and turned it to face Tatiana.

Then, he sat on the sofa and pointed his chin at the bed.

“Why don’t you sit down. I’m not rude enough to make my aunt stand while we talk.”

He added towards Tatiana, who was hesitating.

“You shouldn’t think about making noise, Empress. My patience isn’t that good.”

At the cold warning, Tatiana clenched her fist and sat on the bed.

After glaring at Leo for a moment, she said as if resigned.

“Why did you come?”

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