Ch.150Season 2 – For the Sake of Family

“It was just a few minutes ago.

After all the ‘Katarinas’ enthusiastically turned the tables on the princes and princesses who had come to fetch Leon, they dragged everyone in front of the time machine.

“Cria… and Cartina?”

“Big brother Leon!”

“Brother! Help us! We’ve been captured!”

The two younger sisters screamed for help upon seeing Leon coming down from the time machine with a hot coffee in hand.

But Leon didn’t bother to free them, knowing full well they would just drag him back to the Empire.

“It’s a family reunion. How is it? Not great?”

“With both my sisters captured, I can’t exactly say it’s good.”

Leon calmly conversed with one of the Katarinas.

Meanwhile, Lightri, the tenth child who had been captured while trying to rescue the Lia family members, could only sigh deeply.

“Damn… how did I end up like this…”

“Are you Han Lightri?”

“You know me, First Prince?”

“Of course. The prince who inherited the Han surname right before Yujin… It seems even you couldn’t defeat the Katarina here.”

“What’s that supposed to mean? Are you saying I should have lost?”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

“Leon is prickly no matter what world he’s in~”

Leon expressed disappointment at Lightri’s defeat by Katarina.

The Katarinas who had brought the three children kept sighing at his reaction.

Meanwhile.

“Big brother! I heard you betrayed the Empire.”

Leon’s first younger sister.

Princess Cria, the second child of Lia, was one of the worst villains even mentioned in textbooks.

She approached her brother, who was casually chatting with Katarina, in disbelief.

“What happened?”

“……”

“I mean… you’re the child the Emperor loves most! One of the few children whose name the Emperor actually remembers. Sometimes His Majesty even forgets my name.”

“Cria…”

“But you always call me by my name properly! After receiving such grace, I don’t believe you betrayed His Majesty!”

“Th-that’s right! In my case, he doesn’t even know I exist! But for Leon, the most beloved, to betray His Majesty! It doesn’t make sense! There must be something else going on, right? Right, brother Leon?”

Following her sister, Cartina, who couldn’t believe her brother had betrayed the Empire, pressed Leon in the same manner.

But her brother simply shook his head.

“It’s true.”

“…!”

“Brother…”

“I’ve decided to kill Emperor… Han Shinwoo.”

“Kill…”

“His Majesty?”

“Damn, I knew our family was messed up, but I never expected to hear this from the Lia family…”

At Leon’s declaration of not just running away but committing treason, all the royals froze in place.

Lightri’s expression showed he was speechless after overhearing such shocking information.

And naturally, the most shocked were Leon’s direct younger sisters.

“Big brother…!”

“Brother! Are you insane?!”

“I’m perfectly sane.”

“No, how can a sane person think like that?”

“How do you even plan to kill His Majesty? No matter how strong you are, do you think you can defeat him?”

“No, alone I’d be dead in the blink of an eye.”

But…

“Unfortunately, I’m not alone right now.”

“……! Me?”

Leon indicated Katarina with a nod, suggesting suicide wasn’t his style.

Then he pointed to the time machine behind him with his thumb and continued.

“And the father from the past has decided to side with me. …More accurately, I’ve sided with the father from the past.”

“From the past…”

“His Majesty? …Then the rumors circulating secretly in the Empire were true? That His Majesty from the past has come to this world?”

“Yes, and if we add the human forces and free our ‘aunt’ who’s trapped in Shinan, there might be a fingernail’s chance of success.”

“By aunt, you mean…”

“You’re planning to break out Aunt Eve? That would truly make things irreversible! Big brother.”

“Cria. That’s exactly what I want.”

Cria desperately rushed forward and grabbed Leon’s collar.

Cold sweat beaded on her face as she silently begged him to stop.

But as if he had been waiting for this moment…

“I will cross the line and take father’s head.”

“…!”

“Even if I die in the process, I won’t regret it.”

“Brother…”

“W-why…”

As Leon answered with determination, his two sisters tried to ask more questions.

But at that moment.

“Why are you trying to do this?”

From beneath Cria’s feet.

More precisely, from within the shadow came a voice of tremendous pressure.

Everyone present instinctively began to tremble at this.

Starting with Katarina.

“Huh? Where is that voice coming from…”

Slash.

In an instant, the necks of all the Katarinas who had crossed from parallel worlds were severed, spraying fountains of blood over the royals’ bodies.

Splattered with Katarina’s blood, Lightri’s expression showed he couldn’t understand what was happening.

And then, slowly rising from beneath the feet of Cartina, Cria, and Leon, the Empress Consort revealed herself.

“…Mother.”

“M-Mom?!”

“Were you in my shadow the whole time?”

“Yes… If you were bringing Leon back, how could I let just you two go without worrying?”

It was the appearance of Empress Lia, who had secretly followed her daughters, calculating the time machine’s power and anticipating they might be captured like this.

Seeing her prediction come true, she showed a slight smile.

But then she had to withdraw that smile when facing her eldest son who had declared he would kill her most beloved.

“Leon… why are you doing this?”

“Mother…”

“Come back now. If you do, I’ll pretend everything you’ve said and done never happened.”

“Mother.”

“Leon, you’re the first son officially born to me and the Emperor. Hmm? Did we do something wrong?”

As if to say you shouldn’t be doing this.

As if to say that while others might, you of all people cannot.

Lia’s tone when speaking to Leon was increasingly filled with obsession and compassion.

As if to say she couldn’t bear to lose him too.

“Leon. My firstborn son whom I love and cherish more than anyone.”

“I know, Mother.”

“Then why have you had such terrible thoughts? Harming the Emperor… and then what? If that plan succeeds, you know better than anyone what will happen to your mother who remains alone.”

“…You would be very sad.”

“It would be more than that. I might go completely mad and spend the rest of my life locked in a separate palace like Empress Riverine.”

This was both a plea and a threat.

The reason she hadn’t gone mad despite losing precious things while witnessing the slaughter of humanity.

It was because her beloved was right beside her.

Because there existed some way to share love.

But now her son, whom she loved just as much, was threatening to harm the one she loved most.

Lia caressed Leon’s face with both hands.

My son.

My good son.

Smart from childhood and always an obedient child who would do anything for his mother.

Lia desperately wanted Leon to return to being the good child he was before going back to the past, and stroked his head.

But.

“And what if we just leave things as they are?”

“Leave things… as they are…?”

“Every time Mother has relations with the Emperor, irreparable wounds accumulate inside your body, don’t they?”

“…!!”

Leon whispered into his mother’s ear the secret between the two that no one was supposed to know.

“How did you possibly…”

“My ability is ‘language.’ There were plenty of ways for me to find out.”

“Leon…”

“Every night, Mother enters Father’s room and endures terrible beatings while having relations with that man. You’ve volunteered to be the punching bag for Father who’s gone mad from past trauma, in exchange for monopolizing his love…”

But!

But…

No matter how excellent a monster’s regenerative abilities, the opponent is a human who has entered the realm of gods.

“The wounds you suffer from the abuse during those relations… parts that simply cannot heal are still accumulating even now, aren’t they?”

“…You knew?”

“Yes.”

“Since when?”

“From the beginning… Especially two years ago, when I noticed you could only practice your Kyokushin Karate stance in the garden at dawn every other day instead of daily.”

“……”

Leon took his mother’s hands that were caressing his cheeks and slowly brought them to his chest.

Making her feel the wild beating of his heart.

“Mother, may I ask you one thing?”

For the first time, he showed a sorrowful expression in front of his sisters and asked as a son to his mother.

“Mother, would you be happy continuing as Father’s punching bag until you die?”

“Leon…”

“But as time passes and you gradually break down until one day you suddenly die, could you please think about how I would feel when I find you?”

“Brother, what are you saying?”

“Big brother… why are you saying Mother will suddenly die?”

His two sisters knew nothing about their mother’s physical condition.

This was a secret known only to Leon, his mother Lia, and the person responsible for her condition.

The future Han Shinwoo—only these three people knew.

Leon had no intention of revealing this to other family members.

Because this was a terrible secret that would bring no benefit, only harm.

Moreover.

“And when you pass away like that, who will Han Shinwoo take out his trauma on next?”

“Leon, that’s…”

“You actually know, don’t you? Mother.”

“……”

“You’ve noticed it to some extent, haven’t you?”

Empress Lia, who could no longer practice Kyokushin Karate well and now found even running difficult.

Perhaps it was from that time.

“That bastard Han Shinwoo… his gaze toward my younger sisters has been gradually becoming similar to how he looks at you.”

“…!”

“I’m sorry, but I must protect my family.”

Therefore.

Returning his mother’s hands, Leon could only reaffirm his determination.

“Even if not by me… my ‘brother’ will surely kill Han Shinwoo. That will definitely happen.”