The villainous prince who bullied Feng Aotian was actually myself.

Page 31

"Ok?"

Helena looked puzzled.

"Oh no, what I mean is that you don't need to be so polite with me. Protecting Miss Anna is not a difficult task for me given my current status in the Empire."

Leon immediately resumed his serious demeanor.

"Is that so?"

Something felt off, but Helena couldn't quite put her finger on it.

"Is such that."

Leon smiled.

A pervert like me is better off not corrupting young girls.

"It's okay. After all, I don't know if I can help you in any way. At least for now, I'm just a burden to you."

Helena's tone suddenly turned dejected.

"It's okay. In my eyes, you are the most wonderful and precious girl in the world."

Leon smiled gently. He subconsciously reached out to put his hand on Helena's shoulder, just like he used to comfort his good brother. But just as he was about to touch Helena, he suddenly realized that it was inappropriate and immediately withdrew his hand.

Helena noticed Leon's action, and her heart was pounding, but she remained silent and said nothing.

"Leon, thank you."

After a few seconds of silence, Helena gave Leon a sweet smile.

"You've said this to me so many times, can't you come up with something new?"

Leon tried to ease the tension.

"Fresh...then you'll have to wait for me."

Helena's thoughts suddenly drifted off to somewhere else.

"Wait for you?"

Leon was puzzled.

"Yes, didn't you want to hear something new? I'll tell you next time I've thought it through."

Helena smiled mischievously, looking mysterious.

"Um... okay, I'll wait for you."

After a slight hesitation, Leon smiled brightly.

"Ten minutes are almost up. I don't want to get caught by you guys, so I'll take my leave now."

Helena stood up.

"See you."

Leon nodded slightly.

So she's always been sensible?

Sure enough, Helena is still the same intelligent and clever Helena. My worries were probably unnecessary. According to the original series, Helena has already begun to grow up.

Why didn't you ask me where I was going?

Helena pouted her pink lips and said aggrievedly.

"Is it too late for me to ask now?"

To be honest, Leon finds Helena's childlike nature quite endearing.

"Alright, I won't argue with an idiot. I'll tell you quietly—I want to go see the North."

After a playful smile, Helena's tone suddenly became meaningful.

Go see the North...

Leon quickly searched his memory of the original anime's plot and soon found the answer.

Although he felt a pang of heartache, Leon didn't say anything unnecessary; he simply wished Helena well.

"Alright, I really have to go now. Take care, Leon. Goodbye for now."

Helena waved lightly at Leon and then quickly left without looking back.

Leon felt that he was very similar to Helena in this respect; he was also the kind of person who could walk away without looking back.

After Helena left

Inside the quiet prayer hall, the priest continued to explain the scriptures.

It seems like everything has changed, yet it also seems like nothing has changed.

P.S.: Here's a 4,000-word chapter. My poor performance on the cover recommendation has made me lose confidence. I spent a lot of time preparing materials for many of the settings and plots before starting the book. The editor said that the follow-up reading is good, so I can shamelessly try to make something interesting even with the lowest cover recommendation score. So thank you all for following along. I will try my best to update twice a week from now on.

Chapter Thirty-Three: Taking the Lead

The next morning, the weather was fine and sunny.

Leon and Duke Hibbert, who had been summoned to the palace, sat in a tea pavilion in the palace's back garden, leisurely enjoying the flowers and sipping tea.

No, to be precise, the only one who is truly relaxed is Leon.

"Your Highness, we've been sitting here for almost ten minutes now. Just say what you want to say. I have a meeting to attend in a bit."

After a long silence, Hibbert finally couldn't hold back any longer and spoke first.

He had assumed that Leon Zhao had come to the palace to inquire about his threat to kill him, and Hibbert had even prepared various excuses and methods to justify his actions.

But what upset him was that when he met Leon, Leon didn't mention a word about his boast of killing him; he just asked him to sit down and have tea with him.

Leon's actions were even more frightening than a direct and high-profile accusation against the Duke of Finn's mansion.

Sometimes, remaining silent can instill greater fear in your opponent than launching a full-scale counterattack.

"A meeting? What kind of meeting is so important? Do you think that I, a prince of the empire and the current emperor's spokesperson, am less important than a small meeting when I invite you for tea?"

Leon chuckled softly.

"This...of course, Your Highness is more important."

This Leon...

hiss,

Hibbert's mind was filled with only one word at that moment—"Damn it."

It's really infuriating. If he could stand up to the royal power behind Leon, he would have loved to give Leon a good beating. But that's just a hypothetical. Even if he had ten times the courage, he wouldn't dare to touch Leon right now!

I want to fight, but the other side has too strong a background, so I can't beat them at all. That's really frustrating.

"Just kidding. Since Your Excellency has important business to attend to, I shouldn't detain you without a reason. So, you can leave if you want."

Leon found it somewhat amusing to look at Hibbert's face, which was turning slightly green with anger. Anyway, he didn't have much to say to Hibbert, so a perfunctory gesture would suffice.

"Then, Your Highness, I shall take my leave."

Are you just letting me go like that?

Hibbate was somewhat skeptical, so he tentatively asked Leon.

"Well, you can go now."

Leon smiled gently.

"Then I shall take my leave."

Hibbett very decisively picked up the gentleman's cane that was placed beside his chair, then quickly took off the half-high silk hat that had been hanging on the pavilion pillar when he arrived and put it on his head, before nimbly leaving.

This is truly unbelievable!

Is Leon really a useless person?

Given Leon's past simple-mindedness, he should have been furious and wanted to hold himself accountable.

But the method he used to handle this...

Hmm, Leon these days... when did he learn to act?

Could it be that some expert is guiding him from behind?

The current "Leon" doesn't look like "Leon" at all.

Duke Hibbett was puzzled; he had a feeling that Leon saw right through them all.

Perhaps I'm overthinking it.

As he was thinking this, Hibbert had already gotten into his carriage.

"Your Grace, shall we return to the manor now?"

The coachman asked.

"It's still early, let's go to the Red Theatre."

Hibbert took out his pocket watch, checked the time, and replied.

He felt incredibly stifled these past few days, so he decided to go to the Red Theater to release some of the pressure.

"Your Highness Leon."

Not long after Hibbert left, Hawkeye arrived, carrying a stack of paper bags containing files.

"Your Highness, here is the information on the Imperial Knights that you requested."

Hawkeye placed the paper bag on the stone table in front of Leon.

"okay."

Leon opened the paper bag and took out a thick stack of documents containing information on all the current captains of the Imperial Knights' squads.

"Please have a seat. I may need several minutes."

Leon felt uncomfortable with Hawkeye, the traitor, standing next to him.

Even if he wasn't a traitor, the fact that he was standing there like a bamboo pole was embarrassing even if Leon wasn't.

"okay."

Hawkeye sat down on a bench by the pavilion.

Once Hawkeye was a little further away, Leon began to look through the documents.

Leon read it very quickly because he was very clear about his purpose in looking at the information.

That means he needs to find a reliable squad of knights to be stationed in Peace Town in order to protect Helena and her sister Anna.

After quickly filtering out the top-tier knights who were incredibly powerful, Leon's gaze fell upon the mid-to-high-tier knights. After all, with Leon's current prestige and strength, it was simply impossible for him to control those few super knights who were so overpowered.

The more capable a person is, the harder they are to manage.

If you could earn 100,000 in a second, would you waste several seconds picking up a hundred yuan that fell on the ground?

That's pretty much the idea. If you know you're a dragon, why would you do what a worm should do?

To attract top talents to work for you, you first need to show them whether the rewards they can actually obtain by following you are substantial.

As for the reward Leon can offer right now... forget it, he can't keep those wolves, and he's likely to be bitten back.

"Rosen?"

While quickly scanning the data of mid-to-high-level knights, Leon's gaze suddenly stopped on the data of a diamond-level demigod knight named "Rosen Steve".

Name: Rosen Steve

Sex: Male

Age: 32

Marriage: Single

Culture: Graduated from a standard higher education institution

Spiritual level: Diamond 3 stars