Divorce Manual

Chapter 66

"Leo."

Staying near the grass, Leo curls up like a ball, bringing his knees to his chest.

Over the course of the past few days, I've seen light bruises all over his already thin body.

I feel sorry for touching him—I should have killed them.

Let's breathe in the rising anger.

"..."

I see Leo taking glances at me as if to read my thoughts before he retreats his gaze.

"Sigh—"

He hasn't laughed properly, causing me to feel a lot of pain in my heart.

How much hurt must you have received.

I think I'm going to get angry again because I don't think a child, who was only bright like the sun from the sea, should shrink up like that.

"Hah—"

I exhale for a long time.

Let's calm down and stay calm. You shouldn't scare the child.

I'm afraid to comfort him. I wonder what he's thinking. Once again, my road rage rises. Seeing him makes me even more emotional.

"Whoa-"

I take another breath.

Honestly, Satan wouldn't even be this wicked.

Right?

No matter how dirty they think this child is...

He's a child.

His outward appearance looks to be five or six years old, but Leo is still a child.

He looks even smaller than a child his age.

There's no reason to hit this little one—

Are they crazy?

Would you like to go back and beat those maids in the same way?

When the thoughts of doing that swell up—

"You can't do that."

"Huh?"

"You have to be close."

As if he has read my mind, Leo stares at me and shakes his head.

He has that look.

"Why? Weren't they the ones that hurt Leo?

Let's tilt our head and make eye contact with him.

"They were sorry."

Something unexpected comes out of his mouth.

"Some people were crying inside. They said they were sorry again and again. So, I don't hate them."

Leo shakes his head again and says he didn't hate them.

"......"

I bite my lips.

Well, they must have raised their hands to the child because Evangeline told them to do so.

That doesn't mean that they were not somewhat at fault.

Still, I want to know what power they have as servants—

"Then, should I punish the person who hurt you first?"

In other words, 'Would you like me to tease Evangeline?'

"No."

As expected, Leo is Bodhisattva.

He firmly rejects the idea, telling me that he doesn't want that.

"Why?"

I stare at the child because I feel even angrier.

Looking at my expression—

"It's okay."

With hazy eyes, he laughs as he makes eye contact with me.

"It's really okay."

Somehow, the word 'it's okay' coming from him sound more mature than most adults—

"Leo."

I fondly call his name.

"Yes?"

She's the one who hurt him, so he can hate her, but instead, his childish heart tells me that he's okay.

"Haiz."

With a long sigh, I stroke Leo's hair.

"If you want to hit her anytime, tell me. I'll go and beat her up."

"Yes! I will."

Nodding, he laughs.

I feels like my tears will somehow fall in front of this child, whose goodness seems to light up the darkness in my heart—

"This is Dr. Lejan."

I smile and point at Lejan, who stands tall like he's a monk in the back.

"This man came here to see if our Leo is in pain or not, right?"

"Uh, ah yes."

As if greatly embarrassed by my smile, Lejan, he shoves the cigarette that he's chewing in his mouth into his front pocket, coughs and waves his hand.

"Hi, I am Dr. Renoa Sebastian. People just call me Dr. Lejan, so you can call me that too."

Oh, his name isn't Lejan?

Everyone says, 'Lejan,' so I thought that Lejan is his first name or last name.

Your name is Sebastian.

Then doctor—

"I hope you aren't even thinking about calling me Sebastian, Your Grace."

"Ah."

It's as if he read my mind then snatched the end of my thought before I could ask. I then look at Leo with a smirk.

There are many people who can read their minds like our Leo.

Right?

As Lejan looks at Leo and smiles, the child's head moves up and down with the corners of his mouth slightly raised

A faint smile of a child who's been gloomy this whole time.

"Then Pope, why are you named Pope?"

"My parents use to go under the poplar tree—"

Alright.

"That's enough."

In order to stop her from conveying the fact as is, I urgently block the R19 gold scene that is about to slip out from her.

"Our Leo's name was given by Ergel."

I look at Leo and tilt my head.

"But, what is the meaning of our Leo's name?"

"Yes, Ergel-nim is not here, so no one can tell you the meaning. What should I do—"

Pope slants her head, pretending to be curious, before she slaps Lejan on his side.

"Ah! Yes. I'm really curious, too."

He twists to his side and laughs awkwardly as he nods.

The acting of these three are—

"Lion."

Leo raises his head, speaking quietly and faintly.

"Elly Mammi said that on the first day that she met me, she saw a leo appear in Lapel's sky."

"Wow, I see."

All of our eyes are on him.

"And to be as big as a lion."

"......."

"But I'm not a lion."

Fluttering his hand, he pulls the hem of his clothes awkwardly.

He's too cute.

"That's right. She said that our Leo is a wolf?"

Ergel's words that he'll transform into a wolf after his secondary sexual stage of development comes to my mind.

'I think he's a silver wolf.'

Although, it is said that you will know exactly once the third sexual stage is over.

It is also said that most Suin tribes often grow into their form after their secondary sexual stage.

He's gray fur right now, but if he grows a little more, he'll have the same silver color as his hair.

(TN: like humans, suin apparently goes through 3 sexual stages of development. This part was a pain in the ass to translate so I hope it's clear. Right now, Leo's a child but once he hits that 2nd stage, he'll be more wolf-like and maturish then fully mature in his 3rd stage and their aging process differs from humans as we'll see in later chapters so whoever shipped Abella with Leo, you're the devil...)

"I heard that Ergel is very nice."

"Yes."

Leo, who nods strongly at my words, glances at other people.

"It's okay"

I caress Leo's head to reassure him.

"Everyone here is okay, Leo."

"......"

Did those words touch his heart, or has Pope and Lejan's inner mind been read?

"Yes."

With drooping shoulders, he looks around with his big eyes.

"Are those people not here?"

He then blinks his eyes.

"..."

I think I know well the people who the child is talking about.

"Yes, they're not."

Even if you say it's okay, people's touch must be scary.

Wouldn't she hit him suddenly again?

Leo scans around with wariness.

"Even if she's here now, she'll never touch you again."

While making eye contact with Leo, I hold the child's hand tightly.

"How?"

"From today, you will be staying with me."

Leo slowly blinks his eyes as if he couldn't easily believe my words.

"Ellie Mammi said that she couldn't be..."

He shakes his small head small, still anxiously scanning the room.

"It's okay."

"......."

"That's what Ergel told me to do."

"...Really?"

I smile a little in front of a child who couldn't easily believe my words.

"Yes."

"Really?"

"Yes, from now on, you will be with Pope and Ergel in the castle."

"Can I not go to the ranch?"

"Yes, you don't have to go."

"Then, is it okay to be here with Mammi and Your Grace? Really?"

His cheeks flush, and his purple eyes glow vibrantly.

"Yes."

I nod, frowning.

"You were very scared by yourself, weren't you?"

To be honest, I couldn't guess how scared he must have been to be left alone, and I couldn't ask him.

Just to imagine a child who thought he was abandoned and spent each day alone in the dark—

"You don't have to be heartbroken."

It hurts my heart.

Leo shakes his head first after reading my thoughts.

"I heard all of your thoughts about me."

"......."

"I heard all of Ellie Mammi's worries, Your Grace's worries, Uncle Paul, and Tia's worries."

Leo puts both of his hands on his chest.

"It was warm."

I listen to Leo and watch him smile.

His pretty smile seems to make me want to cry.

"You will never get sick again."

I, too, laugh after Leo's words and hold up my little finger.

"I promise."

"..."

"Never. I will never leave Leo alone."

"..."

"Promise."

Leo, who hears my words and sees my raised finger, suddenly grabbed it firmly.

"..."

I look at the child while feeling the warmth of his body being transmitted through his hand, unsure whether or not he's hotter than an average human.

"Is this how I do it?"

Leo blinks.

Seeing Leo like that, I also blink.

.

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T/N: Not Abella realizing right away that she shouldn't ask people where their name comes from as soon as Pope about to drop some knowledge about how babies are made lol

Also, Leo's soooo adorable. After translating so much about him in the upcoming chapters, I guess just imagine him as a smaller version of Nine from Beware of the Villainess except he's silver and not blue and with purple eyes y'all.

That means, Leo's adult form is Nine's adult form and now y'all just fell in love with him... and my boi Charles has no chance at recruiting any fan club members...