Book 1 Chapter 975

That evening.

"Mmm! It's delicious, probably because it's the autumn season special menu."

Chelsea covered her cheeks and smiled happily.

"No matter how much of a hero you are, you're still a kid. A kid."

Celia shook her head, and Chelsea grinned.

"Yeah. I'll be the kid. You be the adult."

'What is it? Why is she admitting it so readily?'

Seeing Chelsea, who didn't even flinch at her provocation, Celia slightly furrowed her pretty brow.

"I'll be an old hag soon. You're older than me, so you'll become one even faster."

"You little brat…!"

Instead, Celia, who was provoked, flared up.

Leo burst out laughing at the sight.

"You two are truly unchanging."

"Hehehe."

"Idiot. I'm not complimenting you."

As Chelsea smiled gleefully at Leo's words, Celia interjected.

"It's a compliment. Being unchanging is a good thing."

"She said it's a compliment."

Watching Chelsea delighted by Leo's words, Celia wore an expression of utter disbelief.

Still, she glanced at Chelsea.

'The provocation of calling her a kid doesn't work anymore.'

Calling her a kid was a cost-effective word that could easily make Chelsea angry.

Chelsea, who had always been shorter than her peers, naturally developed a complex about it.

However, since she became a hero, it no longer worked at all.

This was because she saw her future through Shilode's magic.

Celia, who was looking at Chelsea with an annoying expression, glanced at Chelsea, who wasn't eating her disliked vegetables, and said,

"Are you still a picky eater?"

"What can I do if it doesn't taste good?"

"You won't grow if you're a picky eater!"

Chelsea flinched at the words, and Celia's eyes sparkled.

'Aha?'

She found something to tease her about.

Celia, who was smiling as she thought this, said,

"Ah! Come to think of it, I haven't told you yet, have I? I have new nieces."

"Congratulations, Celia."

Abad congratulated her with a smile.

"Don't you have a picture?"

In response to Chelsea's question, Celia took out a photo from her pocket.

Chelsea, who received it, widened her eyes.

"Wow! They're so cute!"

"Hmph."

Hearing Chelsea's admiration, Celia wore a smug expression.

"They're not your daughters, though."

Leo pointed out, and Celia pushed her hair back and said proudly,

"But they're my nieces, right?"

"What are their genders?"

"Female twins."

"Wow! I'm glad they don't look like you at all!"

"What?"

At Chelsea's words, Celia scowled.

Abad took the photo from Chelsea and said,

"It's fortunate they were born healthy. Lord Liss must be relieved too."

Looking at the picture of the happy family, Abad smiled faintly.

"No! Why are you even here in the first place!"

"I'm here to monitor you trying to flirt with my brother!"

"Even if I were flirting, it would be your brother flirting with me, not me with him!"

Leo shook his head, watching Celia and Chelsea bicker as usual.

Tonight's dinner was an arrangement made by Abad.

Originally, only Celia was invited, but Chelsea found out and quickly joined,

and in the end, Celia brought Leo, so the four of them ended up having a meal together.

Since it was a reserved room, there were only four people inside.

Watching Celia and Chelsea, Leo suddenly felt a gaze and looked towards Abad.

Abad was staring intently at Leo's face.

Leo, reading his intentions, chuckled and said,

"Chelsea. Let's go buy dessert."

"Huh? We can eat dessert at a cafe."

"It'll be crowded because it's evening. Let's eat it quietly in my room."

"Okay."

Chelsea got up from her seat.

Soon, only Celia and Abad were left in the room.

"Thank you for accepting my invitation."

"There's no reason not to."

Abad burst out laughing at Celia's words.

Celia and Abad had a mutual attraction.

And they were steadily nurturing those feelings.

Moreover, they had promised a future, albeit with conditions.

Spending time like this was a pleasant experience for both of them.

"I plan to talk about our relationship with my father at this noble family meeting."

"I doubt Lord Lewalin will be pleased."

"I'm sure neither will Lord Zerdinger."

They weren't enemies, but they had been rivals for many years.

Celia and Chelsea's relationship was child's play compared to the relationship between Zerdinger and Lewalin.

However, they couldn't keep it hidden forever.

As the two of them were agonizing over the upheaval that would rock their respective families in various ways,

Celia suddenly burst out laughing with a "Pfft-!"

"What's wrong?"

"No. It's just funny to think about this situation again."

Celia said, wiping away tears that welled up in her eyes, her shoulders shaking as she tried to suppress her laughter.

"Who would have thought that three years ago, I'd be worrying about things like this?"

Hearing her words, Abad also burst out laughing.

"That's certainly true."

Originally, the two of them only thought about defeating each other.

But now they were worrying about their marriage.

"Life is truly unpredictable."

"You sound like an old man."

Celia chuckled.

Watching Celia, Abad looked down at the photo.

"They look so happy."

Looking at the picture of the happy family, Abad asked,

"By the way, when the Mistress of Zerdinger became a magician, wasn't there any opposition?"

"Well, there were some voices of opposition, but the conservative elders in our family were blown away by past events, weren't they?"

Celia shrugged her shoulders.

"Thanks to that, it went smoothly. Besides, Torua-senpai is carrying my brother's children, so they couldn't keep opposing it, could they?"

From the Zerdinger family's perspective, a noble knight family that valued honor, they couldn't publicly announce that the heir of the family, who hadn't even married yet, had produced the next heir.

That was why they held the wedding ceremony immediately after the Hero Slayer incident concluded.

Since Zerdinger wasn't a family that placed much importance on empty formalities, and Celia's grandfather, the previous head, had a quiet, small-scale wedding, there were no major problems.

"Hmm. Forgiveness is easier than permission."

Abad, who was muttering this with a serious expression, opened his mouth.

"Celia. Us too…"

"Don't try anything funny. You seem to have forgotten the condition for marrying me. Don't forget you have to win a one-on-one duel to defeat me."

Celia said with a bright smile, and Abad clicked his tongue.

Watching him, Celia looked utterly dumbfounded.

"Are you going to keep thinking I have ulterior motives? You acted like a gentleman since you were little, was it all an act?"

"Because you are a special person to me."

At those words, Celia scoffed.

But she didn't dislike the words.

Especially since someone with Abad's looks said it with a smile, it even sounded sweet.

Thinking this, Celia shivered and shook her shoulders.

'No. I can't fall for this guy's schemes.'

Shaking her head vigorously, Celia steeled her resolve.

***

"Sigh. It's hard to pretend to support them and actually be a good person."

"Weren't you trying to interfere with their relationship?"

Hearing Chelsea's mumbling, Leo looked puzzled.

At that, Chelsea said,

"If I could, I would interfere, but…"

"But?"

"My brother likes Celia, so it's ridiculous for me, as his sister, to oppose it."

Pouting her lips, Chelsea grumbled,

"And when I think about it, Celia isn't a bad match for my brother."

Crossing her arms and nodding with a thoughtful "Mmm-!", Leo looked puzzled at Chelsea's words.

"Then why are you so spiteful?"

"Because of my brother."

"Because of Abad?"

As Leo looked puzzled, Chelsea narrowed her brows.

"My brother is the type who can't rest until he gets what he wants. He's also incredibly stubborn, so sometimes he acts like a child."

"That's hard to imagine, considering how Abad usually is."

"Of course. He doesn't show it on the outside."

Chelsea, who had grown up watching her brother, knew this fact.

"As a brother, he'll want to get closer to the person he likes quickly. Even though Celia calls my brother buttery and stuff, she's never denied he's attractive. Especially since they like each other, if you add more fuel to that fire, there's no telling how far it will go."

"So? You're going to slow down their progress from the sidelines?"

"That's right."

Chelsea nodded with a "Mmm-!"

At that, Leo let out a wry laugh.

"By the way… did you hear that the Archi Kingdom will be on the agenda at the next noble family meeting?"

"I heard it from Celia."

"Sigh. Why are they like that?"

"Because it's a matter of vested interests."

People don't like to lose.

It was like human instinct.

"Even so, Brother Leo is recognized as a king by Lord Lisinas, isn't he?"

The king of the world.

Not a ruler, but a recognized savior of the world.

From Chelsea's perspective, she couldn't understand those who showed hostility towards Leo, who was such a figure.

However, Leo had expected this.

To them, Leo was not the king of the world or the successor of a great hero who saved the world.

He was merely a threat to their vested interests.

Even if the world were to end tomorrow, those who prioritize their own gain would turn a blind eye to the world's destruction and pursue their immediate profits.

Even in the calamitous era when the world was perishing, such people did not disappear.

"Why don't you just reveal that Brother Leo is the Hero of the Beginning? Melina-nim will acknowledge it anyway, right?"

Now, even if Leo's true identity as Kyle were revealed, there would be no external or internal threats.

Therefore, Leo possessed personal strength and a formidable force.

"Anyone who doesn't believe won't believe anyway. And even if I were Kyle, their attitude towards me wouldn't change."

"Mmm."

"Crucially."

"Yes?"

"Although I will tell the people around me someday… I have no intention of revealing that I am Kyle publicly."

"Why?"

Chelsea's eyes widened, and she looked bewildered.

"In this era, the status of a great hero is incredibly high. It's like the gods during the Age of Gods."

"You shouldn't say 'like gods,' you should say 'they are gods'."

A hero who defeated Erebus, the primordial evil that even the gods couldn't handle.

Someone whom even the gods praised as being greater than themselves.

That is the great hero.

Perhaps if the Hero Records didn't exist, a religion worshipping the great hero might have been created.

No, those who were overly engrossed in the great hero resembled the extreme religious people of the Age of Gods.

They could literally be called gods.

"Imagine if a great hero like that were reincarnated. And if that reincarnated great hero were to once again lead the way and save the world…"

Leo stopped walking and said,

"Would the world truly be able to stand on its own?"