Editor : Amethyst00



"Wow! If I were a guy, I'd totally fall for you!"

"Hyung! You're truly beautiful!"

Leo looked at the two girls gushing in front of him, his face somehow utterly exhausted.

Elena and Lyl were practically playing dress-up with him, as if they’d gone back to their childhood.

Even though Leo’s boyish prettiness had faded as he neared adulthood, the genes he’d inherited from Reina were almost unfairly superior.

And at Elena’s insistence, he’d even used an aura skill to physically shrink his skeletal structure, so once the makeup was on, Leo looked exactly like a beautiful woman.

“Are you two seriously enjoying this?”

“I’m having the time of my life.”

“It feels like I'm playing dress-up like I did when I was kids.”

"You probably smashed your dolls' heads in with a hammer when you were a kid."

“……”

Stung by Leo’s comment, Lyl rummaged through the clothes Elena had brought and pulled out a particularly short skirt.

“How about this one?”

“Hmm. I bought that to seduce Leo, so it’s a bit too bold—probably not a good match.”

Elena shook her head, then beamed as she pulled out a different outfit.

“Leo, something fluttery with lace like this would really suit you.”

When he saw it, Leo let out a short chuckle.

“That’s an outfit that really doesn’t suit you.”

“……”

Elena’s face turned cold.

“Leo. You seem to have forgotten your situation. Don’t forget—today, you’re wearing the outfit we picked.”

“Whatever. It’s not like anyone’s going to recognize me.”

No matter how much their goal was to embarrass him, Leo was still—by reputation—the man called the King of the World.

They’d already put a recognition dampering spell on him as a matter of course, so Leo might feel tired, but he didn’t feel self-conscious about it.

'Honestly… this old man’s mental game is so absurdly solid he’d probably stroll around cross-dressed even without a recognition dampering spell.'

Since the cross-dressing suited him to a frightening degree, it felt like this would end up as nothing more than a minor incident.

Just as Elena clicked her tongue lightly—

“Lord Leo. I have something to report…”

Melina warped into the room where the three of them were.

And the moment she saw the scene in front of her, she went completely pale in shock.

After taking a moment to grasp the situation, Melina’s eyes soon narrowed sharply.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

At that reaction, Elena and Lyl instinctively hid the clothes they were holding behind their backs.

“W-Well, you see, Professor Mel—”

As Lyl hurriedly opened her mouth to make excuses, Melina cut in coldly.

“Right now, I’m Melina.”

Watching Melina emphasize that she wasn’t a school professor, but the Dragon Lord, Lyl began to sweat—drop by drop.

As Leo’s closest confidante, Melina knew full well that Leo didn’t have this kind of… hobby.

Which meant only one thing: for whatever reason, Elena and Lyl had forced even Leo—the Great Hero himself—into women’s clothing.

Among students it might pass as a silly incident, but in truth it was a grave offense—one that wouldn’t be strange to be punished by heaven.

Elena immediately ratted her out.

“It was Lyl.”

“Senior Elena!”

“Why? It was your wish—to make Leo cross-dress.”

“Th-That’s true, but you were the one who suggested it, Senior Elena…”

“So you actually went through with it just because she said to?”

“Ghk—!”

Stung by Elena’s betrayal, Lyl pulled an aggrieved expression.

“I’m truly disappointed in both of you.”

Melina looked at the two of them with a stern face.

As Elena and Lyl shrank their necks, Melina strode straight over to Leo.

Watching her approach, Leo could only let out a deep sigh.

'It’s not like she’s on my side either.'

“Even if neither of you cares much about dressing up, this is still unacceptable! Seriously—what is this makeup? It’s a total mess!”

Seeing the makeup they’d put on Leo, Melina wore an openly displeased expression.

It was obvious they weren’t used to doing makeup.

“Dress yourselves a bit more like girls your age! Sure, you’re both pretty even without it… but what a waste!”

At that, Elena and Lyl’s eyes went wide.

“You’ve got a lot pent up about me too, huh?”

“Of course.”

At Leo’s question, Melina’s eyes sparkled.

“Miss Luce—may I be the one to dress Lord Leo up?”

“Huh? Ah, yes. That’s fine.”

Nodding, Lyl brought out the clothes she’d been hiding behind her back.

But Melina shook her head.

“Those clothes don’t suit Lord Leo. The outfit Miss Elena is holding doesn’t, either.”

With her arms folded, Melina wore a serious expression.

“Right now, Lord Leo may look pure and delicate on the outside, but for some reason he gives off the vibe of someone thoroughly worn down by society.”

“What kind of nonsense is that supposed to be?”

Leo sounded incredulous, but Melina didn’t listen.

“Ah… seriously, how am I supposed to dress you up?”

“You’re embarrassing yourself right now. How about showing a little dignity as a Queen?”

“You treat me like a kid anyway. Why pretend now?”

Leo’s jab didn’t land on Melina at all.

Watching that, Elena’s expression grew a touch serious.

“Lyl.”

“Yes?”

“Do you think… I’ve been living too badly?”

“Do you want the honest answer?”

“Yeah.”

“You were the worst senior.”

“……”

“But why are you asking that all of a sudden?”

“No. It’s just—seeing Leo like that, I feel like I shouldn’t go around racking up bad karma.”

“Sunbae, you’ve already piled up more than enough.”

“Right? Then I’ll just live the way I always have.”

Having come to that conclusion with a cheerful snap, Elena flashed a bright, refreshing smile.

“Both of you, enough chatting—could you go buy some drinks?”

“Yes.”

“Please make him look pretty.”

“Leave it to me.”

Watching the three of them move in perfect sync, Leo wore an exhausted expression.

“You’re really having fun.”

At that, Melina giggled softly.

“So? What was it you needed to report?”

Leo had caught on that Melina had naturally sent the other two off to a distance.

Dabbing powder onto Leo’s face, Melina said,

“We found traces of an intruder in the Northwestern Sea.”

“Hm? Eiran and Eliana did say they’d spotted a suspicious human girl, but…”

“We can’t be sure it’s the same person, but we found traces of someone breaking through the ice sea and slipping down into the deep ocean. And down there, we discovered the ‘Hero Dungeon’ as well.”

“And Erebos’s movements?”

“None. Just as you said, it really looks like Erebos in the World of the Great Rift has no intention of appearing anytime soon.”

“Hard to say whether that’s good news… or its own kind of headache.”

Leo let out a deep sigh.

At that, Melina gave a wry smile.

“For now, I think all we can do is hope Lady Seiren manages to gain something in this era.”

Lumene, Azonia, and Damien had managed to move forward, step by step, during the time they were out of the World of Dawn.

Though they were beings trapped and stalled within a gap in time, from the outside, their time could begin to flow again at any moment.

That meant they could take a step forward again.

“Not so easy. I’m hopeless when it comes to magic.”

“You, Lord Leo?”

Seeing Melina look utterly incredulous, Leo said,

“I mean compared to Seiren.”

“There is someone who could inspire Lady Seiren, you know.”

“But she’s still too young.”

Leo clicked his tongue.

“If she could find a way forward just by looking at young Luna, that’d be great… but.”

At that, Melina stared hard at Leo.

"What?"

“No… It’s just that you don’t seem to treat Lady Seiren like a child.”

“She does what she needs to do.”

“And me?”

“Are you jealous?”

“Not exactly, but…”

“You do your job well too.”

“Then why do you treat me differently?”

“Why? Want me to treat you like a 3000 year-old granny?”

At that, Melina grumbled under her breath.

bl

Back to the present.

'Is there anywhere that sells alcohol?'

Leo wandered around the area near the venue, scratching his head roughly.

In his previous life.

There had been a time when he’d lived soaked in alcohol.

He wasn’t as heavy a drinker as Luna, but Kyle drank a lot as well.

'Not that I drank because I loved it the way Luna did, though.'

Either way, right now, Leo really wanted a drink.

It wasn’t like he couldn’t stay sober—but he didn’t want to.

He’d agreed to grant the wish, sure, but cross-dressing in front of other people wasn’t exactly something he welcomed.

So while Leo wandered around without paying attention to the stares—

Yank—!

Someone grabbed Leo and dragged him straight to a secluded spot where there was no one around.

“Young Master Leo! What on earth is that look?!”

Chen Xia demanded, her face turning bright red. Leo answered calmly.

“Looks like the perception-blurring spell doesn’t work on you. Right—of course. You’ve seen me disguised as a woman before, haven’t you?”

Recalling the earlier incident, Leo clicked his tongue.

“Seems it doesn’t work on someone who already knows.”

Seeing how unfazed Leo was, Chen Xia let out a deep sigh.

“I had no idea Young Master Leo had a hobby like this.”

“It’s because of Lyl. She called it a ‘wish’ and made me do it.”

“Oh, really?”

At that, Chen Xia narrowed her eyes and said—

“Then you shouldn’t have teased your seniors so much. It’s karma. Karma.”

“Yeah. It’s all my karma.”

Having finished putting the pieces together, Chen Xia tilted her head.

“Even cross-dressing in public and entering a beauty pageant, you don’t seem all that embarrassed?”

“I am ashamed, though.”

“For someone who says that, you were strolling around pretty calmly.”

“My life hasn’t been smooth enough for something like this to rattle me.”

Hearing that, Chen Xia stared fixedly at Leo’s face.

“What?”

“How do I put it… it suits you so shockingly well it’s almost startling. You could charm even men, you know.”

“Should I try seducing one, then?”

“…Young Master Leo, you genuinely seem like you would, so please don’t.”

Seeing Leo refuse to back down even a little, Chen Xia let out a small sigh.

Watching her, Leo made a puzzled expression.

“By the way—are you entering the beauty pageant too?”

“For now, yes.”

“Then what are you going to do?”

“What do you mean?”

“If you lose to a man like me, wouldn’t that be humiliating for you?”

“Do you really think I’d lose to you, Young Master Leo?”

“Are you sure about that?”

“……”

Seeing Leo grin, Chen Xia’s expression tightened with irritation.

“No matter what, I’m not losing to you, Young Master Leo. I’m going for the win.”

“Sure, sure. Do your best.”

Leo patted Chen Xia on the head and then walked off.

Watching Leo’s back as he walked away, Chen Xia’s expression turned uneasy.

'Now that I think about it… I already get treated like a kid. If I lose even in a beauty pageant, won’t he see me as even less of a woman?'

Her wavering expression hardened into determination.

'At the very least, I have to be prettier than Young Master Leo.'

With a serious face, Chen Xia made that vow to herself.