Fleur's stare was a little too intense, and it made Leonard uncomfortable.
He glanced at her and found her glaring. He looked up at the sky, then down at the ground, then back again, only to find she was still glaring at him. Her eyes were so red they practically looked like a rabbit's.
Fortunately, heavy, thudding footsteps came from the forest. A moment later, a gigantic brown bear burst out, carrying a beautiful woman in its arms. It was practically a scene straight out of Beauty and the Beast.
"Daddy!" Gabrielle wriggled out of Fleur's arms and dashed toward the bear.
The bear froze for a beat, then hugged his daughter and scanned the area.
Both his daughters were unhurt. Aside from them, there was only one unfamiliar boy present, plus a corpse propped up by a stone spike.
It was obvious who had saved the girls.
Cappadocia hesitated, then stopped running. He set his wife down.
He was worried the area was still dangerous, but his daughters were here. He couldn't carry both of them at once, so it was better to stop and find out what was going on first.
"Gabrielle, Fleur, are you all right?" Madame Delacour jumped down from the bear's arms and pulled her children into a tight embrace, tears shining in her eyes.
"We're fine, Mum. That big brother over there saved us. He even promised he'd go rescue you," Gabrielle said, hugging her mother tightly. "Are you two okay?"
"We're fine," Madame Delacour said, struggling for words. "They… seemed to turn on each other…"
She had the uneasy sense that something about what just happened was wrong, but she was an upright, straightforward woman. The Imperius Curse never even crossed her mind, much less the idea that it could have been done by Leonard, a boy who looked even younger than her eldest daughter.
Compared to his wife, Lehende was far more wary, and a bit more rational.
He also found it absurd that someone Leonard's age could use the Imperius Curse and kill two adult wizards who had been chasing his daughters, but the facts were right in front of him.
On the way here, Lehende had spotted a corpse. He didn't recognize the man, but from the direction, it was likely one of the wizards pursuing his daughters.
They hadn't had time to stop and examine how he died, but in brown bear form, Lehende had caught the lingering scent of blood on a nearby branch.
And judging from the only corpse left here, along with the warped traces on the ground, it was clear the man had died to a Transfiguration Spell. Transfiguration was not one of his daughters' strengths.
Only his two daughters and this boy were here. Lehende knew exactly what his daughters could do, and he knew they didn't have the ability to kill their pursuers.
So what was he supposed to believe, that some kind stranger just happened to pass by, kill the wizards chasing his daughters, control one of them to assassinate Cappadocia, then vanish without leaving a name?
That was ridiculous.
Which meant the only likely answer was the boy in front of him.
Lehende watched Leonard cautiously. If his guess was right, this boy was extremely dangerous.
The Transfiguration powerful enough to kill an adult wizard, and the sudden explosion during the attempted assassination of Cappadocia, both pointed to the same thing.
How did an anomaly like this show up in the middle of nowhere?
At least Leonard didn't seem hostile, not for now.
Lehende finally let out a quiet breath and glanced at his wife and daughters clinging together. Then he slipped into the nearby woods.
There was no helping it. That last transformation had only worked by ripping his clothes apart, which meant once he turned back into a man, he had nothing on. For the sake of basic decency, there was no way he could transform back right here.
His wife and daughters were standing right there. If he wanted to keep even a shred of a husband's dignity and a father's authority, he had to step aside for a moment.
Staying as a brown bear didn't require clothes, sure, but he couldn't exactly hold a conversation as a bear. It was rude, and no one would understand him anyway.
In fact, Leonard could understand brown bear speech perfectly.
The moment Mr. Delacour appeared, he had taken advantage of the supposed language barrier to mutter to himself. Leonard caught every word.
The speculation about some righteous wizard stepping in to help, doing a good deed and leaving without a name, and even the part where he called Leonard an "anomaly," Leonard heard it all.
Still, it was better not to bring that up. It would be awkward for everyone.
After getting dressed, Lehende came back out and greeted Leonard with a pleasant, composed smile.
"Hello… young sir. May I ask your name?"
"Leonard William," Leonard said with a smile. "Just call me Leonard."
At that moment, Madame Delacour had already heard from her daughters what Leonard had done. She stared at him, unsettled, as if she'd just met a monster.
"You're welcome," Leonard said, still smiling. "We both got what we wanted. Your youngest promised that if I saved you, I could pick whatever magical plants I liked from your greenhouse."
Lehende nearly lost his composure. He hurriedly looked at his daughters, and when they confirmed it, the smile on his face turned into something closer to a grimace.
Those were the magical plants he'd spent half his life collecting. Many were rare, some even endangered, and his precious little daughter had just handed them away like it was nothing.
But he couldn't exactly call her heartless. He really had been in danger, and she had only offered the one thing she had that could actually move the boy in front of her.
Still… why magical plants?
Normally, wouldn't it be Galleons, or something like that? And if not that, then with an eldest daughter as beautiful as Fleur, didn't this Leonard boy have even the slightest thought in that direction?
Lehende's head was full of questions, but he couldn't say any of them out loud. It would sound far too much like he was trying to sell his daughter.
"As for the magical plants…" Lehende said, his heart bleeding, but his manners still impeccable. "That can be arranged. Allow us to return to the hotel first to contact some friends, and then…"
"With all due respect, you'd be better off not going back to the hotel," Leonard said. "Aren't you worried someone from that organization might still be there waiting for you?"
Lehende's expression changed at once.
That really was possible.
"Why not come to my home and rest for now?" Leonard said. "You can contact your friends there… and we can also discuss how you plan to pay me."
So the important part is the last sentence, is it?
Lehende's face twitched, but he still nodded.
"Then we'll have to trouble you."