Chapter 450

Although he would have loved to drag things out longer—long enough for the old king to fully revert and then completely kick the bucket—he regretfully had to abandon his stalling tactics because the princess was clearly getting antsy. Leon reluctantly returned the iron head of the old king.

“Father? Father?”

After calling out twice without waking the old king, the princess had no choice but to hurriedly carry the iron head back toward the sleeping quarters.

Fortunately, the iron transformation effect from the “Slayer King Three” took time to gradually spread upon activation, and similarly required a slow conversion process to revert, giving her some breathing room to save him.

By the time the princess rushed back to the study and helped reattach the old king’s head, his body hadn’t fully reverted from its iron state, but at least he didn’t die from decapitation.

Phew… glad we made it in time.

Looking at the old king whose eyelids were still faintly twitching after having his head reattached, the princess sighed in relief. She then turned around and looked at Leon with a complicated expression.

Even though she had been placed inside the Mirror World, much like how “Slayer King Three” could read parts of her memories, Princess Veronica, now transformed into a doll, could see everything that “Slayer King Three” experienced.

If Leon hadn’t arrived in time this time, once the ability of “Slayer King Three” had spread, all royal family members, including the old king, would have been slaughtered. But…

His malice towards her father was truly a bit excessive.

Previously, tying her father’s head to his waist could still be explained as wanting to keep him close for protection against possible foul play. However, if she hadn’t urged him just now, he probably would’ve continued pretending to be confused and dragged it out until the anomalous item’s effects completely wore off.

And her father and Leon had never even met before. The only reason Leon might hold such animosity must be related to her. In other words, Leon likely did this to clear the “obstacles” for her, which meant it all came back to her…

That was quite a headache…

…

“Leon…”

Seeing Leon immediately avert his gaze when he noticed her looking at him, avoiding direct eye contact, Princess Veronica couldn’t help but sigh and said:

“My father does indeed have many… inappropriate qualities, but he is ultimately my father who once treated me well. So no matter what happens in the end, I still hope he will be alright… Is that okay?”

“Hmm, hmm.”

Nodding in agreement, realizing that there was no way to off the old king now, Leon responded somewhat insincerely: “A palace anomaly event already counts as negligence by the local bureau. If we lost the king too, our director would go insane. So I also hope your father will be fine.”

“…”

Yeah, right…

Listening to this response that was one percent sincere and ninety-nine percent fake, the princess involuntarily shook her head speechlessly and decided to skip over this topic. Instead, she asked worriedly:

“Leon, shouldn’t you be in a meeting right now? How’s the parliament doing? And what about Joshua?”

Joshua… while you’re busy leaning on your dad here, he’s probably busy leaning on mom over there. He should be safe enough…

“Joshua should be fine; you’ll see him soon. As for the parliament…”

After answering about Joshua, with the armed coup basically successful and feeling pretty good, Leon smiled confidently and promised:

“Don’t worry, I’ve taken care of everything on the parliamentary side. No issues guaranteed!”

“That’s good.”

Unaware that Leon’s “taken care of” actually meant arresting any dissenting members of parliament, she assumed he had simply pushed through a few proposals according to the original plan.

“Leon, these past few days have been tough for you. I… sorry, I’ve been talking about so many other things first, even asking about the parliament and Joshua, without even checking if you were injured or thanking you properly for saving me again… Leon, do… do you think I’m being unfair?”

“Nope.”

Shaking his head, Leon patted her hand gently and answered earnestly: “You and I are different. You bear too much responsibility and have too many things to handle. Prioritizing the situation correctly during such times is exactly what you should do.”

“Besides, whether you’re injured or not is something I can clearly see, so there’s no need to ask unnecessarily. Gratitude isn’t necessary either. It doesn’t matter to me whether you say those words or not.”

“…”

Alright…

After hearing Leon’s reply, Princess Veronica couldn’t help but bite her lip and sighed helplessly in her heart.

I thought you’d say something like “Between us, there’s no need for thanks,” or “It’s fine, people always care about their loved ones last.” But instead, it was this kind of answer…

…

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“Uh…”

Just as the princess, feeling unsatisfied, gripped Leon’s hand and prepared to say more, the palace finally returned to normal from its iron state, and the iron covering on the old king completely disappeared. He opened his eyes in confusion.

“Wh-what happened to me?”

“Father…”

Seeing the frail old king curled up in the wheelchair, his once straight back now bent, appearing aged and helpless, Princess Veronica called out softly but remained silent afterward, lips pressed tightly together.

As the old king regained awareness, he moved his body slightly, then suddenly his eyes sharpened. He shot upright from the wheelchair, glaring fiercely at the princess and demanding answers: “Why are you here? Where’s Joshua? What do you want to do?”

“…”

Good grief… I used to think Joshua’s annoying attitude came entirely from the queen, but now it seems you, Dad, also deserve some credit! Hearing the old king’s hostile triple-question combo, Leon clicked his tongue disapprovingly and quickly answered before the princess could open her mouth: “An anomalous item went berserk earlier, your head got chopped off, and you were about to be killed.”

“But luckily, I was preparing to… bring Joshua back to find help, noticed the situation, and dealt with the out-of-control item casually. Veronica reattached your head, so you didn’t die… Any other questions?”

“…”

Anomalous item going berserk… head… so that wasn’t a dream? After hearing Leon’s explanation, the old king, whose eyes appeared somewhat bewildered, finally fully recalled the memory before he passed out and remembered his conversation with the “Iron Princess.”

“Veronica…”

Looking at the princess standing before him with a complex expression, disappointment and distance evident in her eyes, the old king fell silent for a moment before averting his gaze and letting out a light sigh.

“Sorry, I haven’t been a good father.”

Whether it was due to something the Iron Princess said or the shock affecting his emotions, the usually cold-hearted old king rarely showed paternal affection as he quietly said: “It’s my fault in the past. If you don’t want to get married, then don’t. After Joshua ascends the throne, I’ll make sure he treats you well.”

“…”

(End of Chapter)