Chapter 680: 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 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, and he raised his head with utter disbelief, glancing at Leon, who awkwardly covered his face with his hands, his lips trembling as he confirmed:

"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 and unify the entire world."

After repeating his dream, William pulled a folded 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 Morna 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 dog-eared notebook, its childish handwriting spelling out "The Continental Unification Plan," countless question marks and exclamation points crashed into the prime minister's skull like a whirlwind, spinning wildly in every direction until his brain felt thoroughly churned.

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 these things was already extraordinary.

But if you call it smart… the sheer absurdity of his plan, combined with his audacity to propose it right to the prime minister and invite him to join the overthrow, instantly disqualified him from being called smart at all!

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

…

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

Seeing the prime minister's round, chubby face twitching with suppressed discomfort, Leon quickly pulled his brother back and said awkwardly:

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

"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 spoke up:

"Oh, it's already this late? My apologies—I have an appointment with the Capital Merchants' Guild soon…"

"Oh, of course, please go ahead."

Leon immediately exhaled in relief, stood up, and stepped aside to clear the path. The prime minister promptly grabbed his wife and daughter and 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. Let's 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, immediately grabbed her arm and soothed gently:

"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 small either!"

Unable to resist, Leon pinched Melanee's eggshell-pale cheek and, 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 trying to dodge the question with a little trick.

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

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

Strange—she didn't try to dodge this time?

Leon, who had been ready to sharply expose her lie and lecture her—playful mischief was fine, but laziness in studies was unacceptable—was momentarily stunned.

Still, even if she admitted her fault honestly, some things had 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 cut corners—but you can't truly know nothing. When the critical moment comes and you can't stand up, forced to watch everything spiral into disaster, even one such experience will haunt you for life.

When Anna was hospitalized before, I almost lost her—and with her, I almost lost you both. That feeling of being surrounded by despair—I hope you never experience it in your entire life."

"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're capable of realizing your dream, don't blab it to everyone. 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 can react—and push it onto the right path. Only then can you truly accomplish anything.

So if you want to actually realize your dream, not just gather listeners who nod along while you talk about it, then stop telling strangers your dream. Just work silently. 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 for a moment, then smiled and replied:

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

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

(End of chapter)