Looking at William in front of him, hands behind his back, with a determined light shining in the black-and-white clarity of his eyes, and earnestly expressing his intent to overthrow the royal family, the chubby Prime Minister felt as if ten thousand alpacas were galloping through his mind in succession.
*Did I hear something wrong?* The Duke of Lionheart was about to marry the Princess, yet his brother was claiming he was going to overthrow the royal family and become the king himself?!
After a few seconds of silent bewilderment, the chubby Prime Minister, his facial muscles somewhat stiff, raised his head in disbelief, looking at Leon who awkwardly shielded his face with his hand, and with twitching lips, he confirmed,
"What did your brother... what did your brother just say he plans for the future?"
"I plan to overthrow the royal family, become the king myself, then fight from west to east, unifying the whole world."
After repeating his dream, William pulled out a folded notebook from his chest pocket, opened it, and handed it to the chubby Prime Minister, whose eyes were full of bewilderment, then with a serious expression, he began to sell his grand plan for world unification.
"Father-in-law, after we overthrow the royal family and unite the Kingdom, we can ally with the coal region's great nobles of Heisen, cut off their coal supply to the Northern Kingdom... ambush... use reparations to buy seafood from the Kingdom of Saio, form an alliance with the Thousand Sails Maritime Country... seize the mines of the Kingdom of Thunderstorm... exchange technology with the Crolock Kingdom... suppress the Kingdom of Morna... hitch the war chariot... join forces to destroy the Kingdom of Orleson... annex the grain-producing region..."
*Am I still not awake?*
Looking at the notebook with curled edges, filled with childish writing of the "Pan-Continent Unification Plan," countless question marks and exclamation points vied to clash into the chubby Prime Minister's forehead, swirling like a tornado, nearly blending his thoughts into a frenzy.
If you said it was stupid... this plan didn't seem like something a child could devise. Even though the knowledge was merely common sense, to think of harnessing these resources was already quite remarkable.
But if you said it was clever... coming up with such an outrageous plan and inviting the Prime Minister to help overthrow the royal family directly broke all ties with the word intelligence!
*How is this child both smart and foolish?*
"Well... children tend to like fantasizing about things that are beyond reach; it can't be taken seriously."
Seeing the chubby Prime Minister in visible distress, the muscles on either side of his chubby, round face began twitching uncontrollably, Leon hurriedly pulled back his brother, who still wanted to say something, and awkwardly explained,
"Besides, William, he's... um... especially lively usually, and loves to joke, haha."
"Oh... that's how it is... haha."
The two hypocritical adults laughed twice at each other. After sitting in speechless silence for a while, the chubby Prime Minister stiffly raised his arm, glanced at his watch, and then hurriedly spoke,
"Oh, it's already that time. I'm sorry, but I have an appointment with the Royal Capital Commerce Association soon..."
"Oh, oh, please go ahead."
Hearing that, Leon immediately breathed a sigh of relief, quickly stood up, and moved aside, making way for the exit. The chubby Prime Minister quickly fled as if avoiding the plague, pulling along his wife and daughter, leaving the passage without even a single superfluous farewell.
"William, look at the trouble you've caused!"
Seeing the Prime Minister's family leave, Anna, who had been holding back for a long time, immediately reached out and pinched her brother's ear, gritting her teeth,
"You... you really made me furious! Today, I have to..."
"Let it go, let it go, we'll discuss it when we get back."
Seeing the unusual flush rising on his sister's fair face, and her breathing becoming quite rapid, Leon, concerned for her health, immediately reached out to hold her, softly urging,
"Don't worry, these are just things kids say; no one will take it seriously."
Melanie chimed in quickly from the side,
"We're kids, so... kids say the darnedest things! Sister Anna, you can't hit us just because we said something silly. If you need to hit someone, make sure you hit the right person, and don't include me!"
"Your case isn't small either!"
Unable to resist reaching over to pinch Melanie's baby chick-like cheek, Leon comforted the fuming Anna on one side and scolded sternly on the other,
"Tell me, last time you misbehaved because the teacher was no good; now that the unqualified teacher has been replaced, why weren't you studying properly and instead copied from someone else's exam paper?"
"Well... I just couldn't help it..."
Seeing his usually supportive big brother uncharitably giving him a hard time, Melanie's eyes began to roll around, instinctively wanting to pull a little trick to slide through.
But noticing Leon's serious demeanor, although he was not blaming her, his seriousness was hard to ignore. She hesitated a bit, and finally abandoned her trickery, honestly confessing,
"William and I started school later than others, and there was so much to memorize. I really couldn't keep up, and for subjects like religion, history, and geography, I really don't get them. I'm worried that if my grades are too low, Sister Anna would be disappointed... I... I was wrong..."
*Strange, this time she didn't pull a trick?*
Originally prepared to sharply expose Melanie's lie when she continued her trickery, ready to educate her on how mischief is allowed but not at the cost of neglecting studies, Leon was slightly taken aback.
However, even if she admitted her mistake honestly, there were still things that needed to be addressed.
"Recognizing the mistake isn't what's important, what's important is not making the same mistake next time."
Ruffling her little head, Leon said,
"You can love being lazy, and like pulling little tricks, but you can't really be good at nothing. Those critical moments where everything can turn to the worst outcome if you falter just once, you'll regret it for a lifetime.
The last time your sister Anna was hospitalized, I almost lost her, and you too; that feeling of being surrounded by despair, I hope you never have to feel it for the rest of your life."
By this point, Leon turned his head, looking at his brother who was rubbing his ear, and gently advised,
"Big brother isn't laughing at your dreams. Everyone has things in their heart that might seem unrealistic to others; that's nothing to laugh about, especially since you've put effort into your dream, which deserves praise.
But remember, before you have the ability to realize your dream, don't casually talk about it, certainly don't let others know. If you can't achieve it yet, quietly gather strength, then push things on track before those opposing you can react. Only people can truly accomplish things.
So if what you want is to truly realize your dream, and not just people to hear you talk about it, then don't talk about your dreams with unrelated people, just quietly work on it, right?"
After listening earnestly to Leon's long speech, William, as if gaining some insight, nodded his little head and then curiously asked,
"So what is your dream? Have you realized it yet?"
At that, Leon thought for a moment, then smiled and replied,
"I have two dreams: one is for you all to live better lives, which I'd say is barely accomplished!
As for the other dream... it's a bit early to mention it now. To truly achieve it, I probably need to keep gathering strength, until I become stronger than everyone!"