BXBX NOVEL Chapter 23: The Foolish Leon and the Spoiled Fiona
He had be so absorbed in the Hall of Glory that he had overlooked his primary objective of meeting Fiona.
Listing to her cries, she must be feeling incredibly upset that he hadn\'t come to see her!
Leon continued running until he finally reached a spacious and beautiful gard—the very place he had be seeking—and tered it.
"Finally..." Leon slowed his pace and let out a small sigh of relief, catching his breath from the sprint.
He looked a the gard with curiosity, struck by its beautifully arranged flower beds, lush grass, and just the right amount of shade from the neatly arranged trees.
"This gard is truly exquisite, a perfect spot for relaxation," Leon praised siltly, surprised by the unexpected presce of such a stunning gard within the palace gs.
Ev in his estimation, the imperial gard of the Elysium Palace paled in comparison to this one.
Following the source of Fiona\'s crying voice, Leon finally spotted two silhouetted figures at the cter of the gard— other than Fiona and Lyra.
Leon smiled, feeling a twinge of embarrassmt for his tardiness, but he continued walking towards them, intding to greet them.
However, before he could say anything, he was so shocked that he felt as though he might have a heart attack.
He saw Fiona rolling a in the gard, crying uncontrollably!
"Wuuuu! I want to play with Daddy!" Fiona sulked and cried hysterically, as if feeling deeply persecuted.
Beside her, Lyra stood with her usual expressionless face, yet she appeared extremely distressed, as if uncertain of what to do.
"Young lady, please refrain from rolling a on the g; you\'ll get dirty." Lyra tried to persuade her quietly. But Fiona, already deep in her sulk, didn\'t hear her and simply shook her head.
"No! I want Daddy to come! Wuuuu!" With tears streaming down both chubby cheeks, she refused adamantly, continuing to cry.
Upon hearing this, Lyra couldn\'t bring herself to push Fiona further, fearing her cries would only wors.
Just as the two reached a stalemate, the sudd sound of footsteps, accompanied by a familiar voice, broke the tsion.
"My dear Fiona, forgive me for being late. Please don\'t cry, okay?"
Leon\'s words instantly halted Fiona\'s tears, and as soon as she spotted him standing before her, she swiftly rose to her feet and dashed towards him, tears still streaming down her cheeks.
"Wuuuu! Daddy\'s finally here! Wuuu!" Fiona exclaimed, jumping up and tightly hugging Leon\'s thigh as if she never wanted to let go, all the while crying sorrowfully.
Upon witnessing this, Leon smiled wryly, surprised by the intsity of Fiona\'s reaction, which only deeped his sse of guilt.
"Alright, don\'t cry, okay?" Leon lowered his head slightly and lifted her into his arms, soothing her.
Feeling the warmth emanating from Leon, Fiona\'s tears gradually subsided, and she hugged his neck tightly, burying her chubby face in his shoulder.
Leon sighed at the sight of Fiona, who had ceased her tears, th shifted his gaze to Lyra, who was also making her way toward him.
"Forgive me, Your Majesty Leon, for not properly attding to Young Lady," Lyra said, bowing her head with an apologetic expression on her usually expressionless face.
Upon hearing her words, Leon felt somewhat embarrassed, realizing that the blame should fall on him, not Lyra.
After all, Lyra had informed him beforehand and had ev be willing to care for Fiona until he arrived in the gard.
Swiftly, Leon shook his head and offered her a gtle smile.
"It\'s fine; it\'s my fault for arriving late from what I promised. Besides, I also got lost trying to find the gard, so it took some time to get here," Leon attempted to maintain a calm demeanor as he waved his hand, dismissing any need for further concern.
Lyra also felt reassured upon hearing Leon\'s words, but at the mtion of being \'lost,\' she was instantly startled and cast a curious gaze at Leon.
"Lost? Your Majesty Leon, this gard is actually very close to your room. You just need to pass through the hallway on the left after passing your room, and it will lead directly to the gard," Lyra replied somewhat hesitantly, providing clarification on the correct direction.
During her explanation, Leon\'s face flushed red with embarrassmt, leaving him momtarily speechless.
Indeed, wh he emerged from his room earlier, approximately a hundred meters away from its door, there were two long hallways stretching out to the right and left.
At that momt, he hesitated so much in choosing the correct path that he resorted to the age-old method of flipping a coin from his pants pocket, hoping that luck would guide him.
However, to his surprise, the path he assumed to be correct based on the coin toss—the right one—turned out to be incorrect, while the left path was the correct one!
\'(Darn it! No wonder gambling is forbidd; it only brings bad luck!)\' Leon cursed inwardly in frustration.
The outcome of tossing the coin, leading him down the right hallway, had left him feeling foolish for getting lost.
Certainly, he also acknowledged it was his fault for not seeking directions from Lyra earlier, wh she had brought breakfast to him.
"Cough! That\'s what happed. I didn\'t heed the advice to take the left hallway, and instead, I wt right, ding up getting lost," Leon admitted with a calm expression and a faint smile, feigning indifferce to mask the embarrassmt of his foolish mistake.
However, to his surprise, Fiona, who had be silt after her crying episode, suddly giggled in his arms as she looked up at him.
"Pfft! Daddy, you\'re so silly," she said innoctly, closing her small mouth after the chuckle.
Upon hearing this, Leon was tak aback, his mouth twitching as his pretse collapsed on the spot under his little daughter\'s teasing.
"Alright, so you dare to tease your daddy, huh? I got lost because I wanted to find you as quickly as possible, and this is how you repay me?" Leon pretded to be angry as he lightly pinched her chubby cheeks.
Her cheeks, with their soft, bun-like ure, bring joy to Leon.
"Wuuu! I\'m sorry, daddy~" Fiona\'s face immediately took on a pitiable expression, her eyes filled with sorrow, which elicited a hearty laugh from Leon.
Leon understood that this little girl was merely putting on an act, feigning pitifulness, but he paid it no mind and simply shook his head.
"You\'re quite the little actress," Leon commted with a smile as he kissed her chubby cheeks and caressed her hair.
Fiona\'s eyes narrowed into crescts as she relished her father\'s gtle caresses, finding them immsely comforting.
After a momt, she gazed up at Leon with excitemt and a playful smile.
"Daddy, wh can we play?"
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A/N: I\'ll upload chapters tomorrow as I promised earlier. So, please give me your support and thank you!