Adopt 203

Episode 203

When Leo saw my smile, he must have realized his mistake, for he shook his head even more vigorously and denied it with force.

“N-no, really, there isn’t anyone.”

Unfortunately, Leo was a terrible liar.

I leaned in close and whispered to him softly.

“I’ll say there isn’t, but tell me, just between us.”

“There really isn’t…”

Despite his stubborn insistence, he eventually began to pluck at the innocent grass with both hands, lost in uncertainty.

After a long pause, during which his hands became stained with green, Leo finally confessed, fidgeting.

“I-I’m not sure if it’s that I like her… but there is someone I keep looking at.”

My heart tickled at Leo’s innocent confession.

Oh, my—when did our Leo grow up so much? He even has a girl he likes now.

Unable to conceal my delight, I asked with a gentle hint.

“Why not invite her to your birthday party next year?”

I thought he would naturally jump at the idea, but instead—

“No!”

For some reason, Leo objected vehemently.

“We’re not that close yet. If she turned me down, I’d be really upset. Then I’d be even more hesitant to talk to her, and if that happened, we’d just drift further apart, and I’d never be able to invite her to my birthday again…! Anyway, no. It’s still way, way too soon to invite her to my birthday.”

Leo’s words left my mouth agape.

‘Goodness, he really must like her.’

I straightened my posture and looked at him more seriously.

“I’m curious now. Can you tell me what she’s like?”

Leo, frantically fanning himself to cool his flushed face, glanced around.

Once he’d confirmed that only Byul Satang and his mother could overhear us, he finally spoke.

“Well… we first met during a class last winter term.”

Alright, a campus romance then.

Satisfied to see that Leo was enjoying academy life as earnestly as anyone, I nodded.

“She’s also in the Swordsmanship Department, just like me. So we often end up in the same classes…”

Same department as well?

With this beginning, like something straight out of a coming-of-age film, memories of all those tender first crushes from books and movies danced through my mind.

‘Maybe she dropped her pen and he picked it up for her. Something like that.’

“One day, I was walking through the quad and found a baby bird that had fallen from its nest. Thankfully, it wasn’t badly hurt, so I tried to return it to the nest, but I almost fell out of the tree myself. That’s when she saved me—using her whip.”

“…?”

Wait, what did she use?

“I ended up hanging upside down, dangling by my ankle from her whip. That’s when we locked eyes for the first time.”

Instead of dropped stationery, it was Leo who fell—and the girl caught him with a whip. For a moment, my head spun, but thankfully, the story that followed was more ordinary.

How, when Leo was struggling to adjust during the winter session, she reached out a hand to him.

Though her tone and expression were cold, her guidance had been warm.

How, beneath the pale winter sunlight, her eyes had shone brilliantly.

Inside the treasure chest Leo had kept so tightly closed, his innocent love had bloomed over the last two seasons and was still preserved, unwithering.

“She sounds like a wonderful person.”

“Doesn’t she?”

Leo beamed, as though he himself had been praised—then his expression grew stern.

“I’ve never told anyone this, so you have to keep it a secret.”

“Of course.”

“I mean it—absolutely, especially from the knight.”

Am I that untrustworthy?

To reassure him, I spread my thumb and pinky and held out my hand in a solemn gesture.

“I swear, let’s pinky promise.”

Leo stared blankly at my hand, then hastily folded my fingers down.

“N-no need for that! Just keep it in your conscience, please!”

Oh?

Looking at my now neatly clenched hand, I realized where the problem lay.

Apparently, in this world of , ‘pinky promises’ weren’t a thing.

Since I knew the importance of fingers, I drew Leo’s hand over to explain what a pinky promise truly meant.

“It doesn’t mean I’m wagering my finger. It’s a ritual: we link each other’s fingers to swear an oath. It’s very sacred—an oath made with a pinky promise must never be broken.”

Leo listened with reverence to my explanation.

Soon, our pinkies intertwined.

Holding Leo’s hand—now calloused and much bigger than before—I solemnly promised as I gave it a gentle shake.

“I, Belinda Blanche, do solemnly pinky swear never to tell anyone about the person Leo Blanche likes.”

“I don’t even like her…”

It seemed Leo would never admit it, but he couldn’t hide his flushed cheeks.

With my free hand, I plucked a blade of grass from his hair and smiled gently.

Right now, he’s red-cheeked and flustered over his first crush, but one day, Leo will become an adult, follow his dreams, leave my nest, and meet someone he loves.

It feels like a distant future for now, but when the day comes, I’ll marvel at how quickly it arrived.

I know I’ll feel lonely, but I still wish for that future.

No prophecy should ever swallow up Leo’s future.

I kept our pinkies locked as I quietly vowed:

No matter what happens, I’ll protect this child’s future.

“I’ll keep you safe—no matter what.”

At the words I hadn’t meant to say aloud, Leo scratched his cheek and shyly looked at me.

After hesitating a moment with our fingers still entwined, he gently untangled them and asked brightly,

“What about you, Belinda? Is there someone you like?”

“What?”

The unexpected question left me at a loss for words.

It seemed Leo thought it an excellent topic, as he chirped with excitement.

“I heard Sir Terry boast that you get so many proposals every day, there’s no need to worry about firewood in winter, what with all the letters.”

Well, that’s not entirely wrong.

After I adopted Leo, the flow of proposals had stopped for a while, but lately, they’ve started arriving one by one again.

…Although now they’re mostly addressed from second or third sons of noble houses, rather than the eldest sons.

It was sudden, but in a way, this was a good thing.

Before any nosy busybodies could whisper to the child that I wasn’t marrying because I couldn’t, and that it was solely because I’d adopted Leo, I needed to set the record straight.

“Let me make this clear: I’m not getting married to anyone for a while.”

“Why not?”

“There’s no one who catches my eye.”

“What kind of person would, then?”

Alright, I’ll describe an ideal man who doesn’t exist, so Leo won’t fret over nothing.

“Firstly, he’d have to suit my tastes. Strong, masculine features, yet refined—so I never tire of looking at him. He’d have to be tall, at least a hundred and ninety centimeters, with broad shoulders, a narrow waist, and a muscular physique.”

Leo nodded at the list of physical requirements.

I continued, moving on to personality.

“He’d need to be so upright as to seem rigid, but, at least with me, he should follow my lead so well it’s a bit worrying. He wouldn’t need to be glib. As long as he’s always honest with his feelings. Still, it’d be perfect if, once in a while, he would say something embarrassingly sweet that makes you wonder where he picked it up.”

Wait, this is odd.

The more I spoke, the clearer a certain image became in my mind.

“And finally, always steadfast by my side, someone I can lean on…”

As if I were describing a real person.

“Stoic in public, but gentle only with me…”

“…”

“Someone like that…”

“Wow.”

Suddenly, Leo’s face turned bright red and he hid behind his hands.

Seeing his reaction, I felt heat rising in my own face.

‘What’s wrong with me? Why am I describing Sir Cherry?’

I hurried to secure Leo’s silence.

“Ahem, just pretend you didn’t hear any of that.”

“Okay! I’ll pinky swear—especially not in front of the knight!”

…Our little one is quick-witted.

---

Late at night, having readied himself for bed, Leo sat on the edge of his mattress, listening quietly.

Since Belinda’s room was silent, it seemed she would, as always, be working late in the detached office.

Lying in bed, Leo’s expression darkened as he recalled the afternoon’s events.

“I’ll keep you safe—no matter what.”

The moment he saw Belinda’s face while she spoke those words, fear seized Leo, and he changed the subject hurriedly.

A face he’d never seen before, filled with an almost desperate earnestness.

‘Belinda must have something weighing heavily on her mind.’

It wasn’t just her expression that made him think so.

Leo also knew about the visitors who came to the Blanche manor at dusk.

They arrived bundled tight in cloaks, riding unmarked carriages, but they were all familiar faces to Leo.

The knight who’d taught him swordplay.

The teacher who’s shown him the world through magic.

The sparkling adult who’d told him he was special.

Even the priest who bestowed a blessing upon him.

Each entered Belinda’s office in silence, departing in the dewy dawn.

Leo could tell—however faintly—that these adults were people of great importance. And that only made him more anxious.

Because even with such powerful people, Belinda’s troubles remained unsolved.

“I wish I could grow up faster.”

That way, maybe Belinda would share her worries with him too, and rely on him.

Restless, Leo pressed his head into the pillow, then stretched his hands towards the ceiling.

He spread both pinkies and linked them together—left and right—the way Belinda had taught him. Then whispered a pinky-swear.

“I, Leo Blanche, solemnly swear to do my utmost to become an adult who can help carry Belinda’s burdens as soon as possible.”

As he made that promise to himself, the person who came to mind was Terry, Belinda’s capable aide.

‘I should ask Terry to teach me little by little about being an aide.’

A small goal had taken root in Leo. That night, he grew up just a little more.