Chapter 278: 277 What You Tell Others Is Often About Yourself

Looking at William, who stood before him with his hands behind his back, his black-and-white eyes gleaming with determination as he solemnly declared his intent to overthrow the royal family, the chubby prime minister's mind was flooded with a relentless stampede of ten thousand grassy donkeys.

Did I just hear something wrong? The Duke of Lionheart is about to marry the princess, yet his younger brother claims he plans to overthrow the royal family and become king himself?!

After a silent pause of several seconds, the prime minister's face muscles stiffened; he lifted his head, eyes wide with disbelief, toward Leon, who awkwardly covered his face with his hands, and asked with trembling lips:

"Your younger brother… just now said… what exactly is he planning to do in the future?"

"I plan to overthrow the royal family, become king myself, then march from west to east, unifying the entire world."

After repeating his dream, William pulled a folded homework notebook from his pocket, opened it, and held it before the bewildered prime minister's eyes; then, with a serious little face, he began pitching his grand plan to unify the world.

"Father-in-law, once we overthrow the royal family and unify the kingdom, we can ally with the great nobles of the Blackwood Kingdom's coal regions and cut off coal supplies to the Northern Kingdom… ambushes… use reparations to buy seafood from the Saeo Kingdom and form an alliance with the Thousand Sails Nation… seize the mineral districts of the Storm Kingdom… exchange technology with the Klorok Kingdom… subdue the Moerna Kingdom… bring them onto our war chariot… join forces to destroy the Olesong Kingdom… annex the grain-producing regions…"

"…"

Am I still dreaming?

Gazing at the frayed homework notebook, its pages filled with childish script titled "The Continental Unification Plan," countless question marks and exclamation points crashed into the prime minister's skull like a tornado, spinning wildly in every direction, nearly scrambling his brain into mush.

If you call it stupid… this plan wasn't something a child could have devised; the knowledge it contained was merely common sense, but the fact that he thought to use it at all was already extraordinary.

But if you call it smart… the very fact that he proposed such an absurd plan—and openly invited the prime minister himself to join him in overthrowing the monarchy—made him utterly, completely, and irrevocably stupid.

How on earth did this child manage to be both smart and stupid?

…

"This… children often indulge in wild fantasies. You shouldn't take it seriously."

Seeing how desperately the prime minister was struggling to hold back his discomfort, his round, chubby cheeks twitching involuntarily, Leon quickly pulled his brother back and said awkwardly:

"And William… well… he's always been especially lively, loves to joke around, hehe."

"Oh… oh, I see… hehe."

The two adults exchanged two hollow laughs, then sat in silence for a moment; finally, the prime minister stiffly raised his arm, glanced at his wristwatch, and hurriedly blurted out:

"Oh, it's already this late? I'm sorry, I have an appointment with the Capital Merchants' Guild…"

"Oh, of course, please go ahead."

Leon immediately exhaled in relief, stood up, and stepped aside to clear the path; the prime minister, dragging his wife and daughter, fled down the cleared aisle as if escaping a plague, forgetting even to say a polite farewell.

"William, look what you've done!"

As soon as the prime minister's family had left, Anna, who had been holding back for a long time, grabbed her brother's ear and growled:

"You… you're going to kill me! Today I'm definitely going to…"

"Enough, enough, we'll talk about this when we get home."

Seeing the unusual flush on Anna's pale face and her suddenly rapid breathing, Leon, worried for her health, grabbed her arm and gently soothed:

"Don't worry, these are just childish words—no one will take them seriously."

"Exactly, exactly!"

Melanee quickly chimed in:

"We're just kids, so… kids' talk! Anna, you can't hit us just because we said something stupid—you have to hit the right person, don't you dare hit me too!"

"Your misdeeds aren't minor either!"

Unable to resist, Leon reached over and pinched Melanee's egg-white-soft cheek, then, while calming the furious Anna, said sternly:

"Tell me—last time you caused trouble, it was because the teacher was bad. Now that the incompetent teacher has been replaced, why aren't you studying properly? Why are you still cheating on exams?"

"Well… I had no choice…"

Seeing her usually protective older brother suddenly turn against her, Melanee's eyes darted wildly; instinctively, she wanted to lie her way out of it.

But noticing Leon's serious expression—not angry, yet strangely stern—she hesitated briefly, then abandoned her trickery and confessed honestly:

"William and I enrolled later than everyone else, so we have far more to memorize, and I really can't keep up. I just don't understand religion, history, geography… if my grades stay this low, I'm afraid Anna will be disappointed… I… I'm sorry…"

Strange… she didn't try to lie this time?

Leon, who had been ready to sharply expose her next lie and scold her—playful mischief was fine, but laziness in studying was unacceptable—paused, startled.

Still, even if she admitted her fault, some things needed to be said.

"Knowing you're wrong isn't enough—what matters is not repeating the same mistake."

After ruffling her hair, Leon said:

"You can be lazy, you can like to cheat—but you can't be truly useless. When the critical moment comes and you can't stand up, forced to watch everything spiral into disaster, one such experience will haunt you for life.

When Anna was hospitalized before, I nearly lost her—and nearly lost you both. That feeling of being swallowed by despair—I hope you never experience it."

"And you, William."

Here, Leon turned to his brother, who was rubbing his ear, and said gently:

"I don't mock your dream. Everyone has something inside them that others see as unrealistic—and that's nothing to laugh at. Especially since you're actually trying to achieve it; that deserves praise.

But remember: before you have the power to realize your dream, don't blab it to anyone. Don't let others know too soon. If you can't do it yet, gather strength quietly. When you're ready, strike swiftly—before your opponents even react—and push your goal onto the right path. Only then can you truly accomplish anything.

So if you want to actually achieve your dream, not just gather listeners to hear you talk about it, stop telling strangers about it. Just work in silence. Isn't that right?"

"I understand."

After listening carefully to Leon's long speech, William nodded thoughtfully, then asked curiously:

"What's your dream? Have you achieved it yet?"

"My dream?"

Leon paused to think, then smiled and answered:

"I have two dreams. One is to give you both a better life—I've already managed that, barely.

As for the other dream… it's still too early to speak of it. To truly achieve it, I'll need to keep gathering strength—until I'm stronger than everyone else."