Help! I Became A Guy In A BL Novel!-Chapter 315: Backup Required

Chapter 315: Backup Required
Riven was frozen in the doorway.
Like,
literally
frozen. Staring at Leon with wide eyes, his brain struggling to reboot.
Because Leon wasn’t joking. He was being dead serious. He had
actually
stepped down from being king. The same Leon who once threw a tantrum because his royal cloak matched the throne room carpet was now standing at
his
door in travel clothes with emotional baggage and a straight face.
"Oh no," Riven muttered. "No no no. I can’t deal with this alone."
He spun around in a panic, eyes darting down the hallway.
He needed backup.
Now.
So, he did what any sane person would do in a crisis.
He yelled, "XAAAAVIEEEER!!!" at the top of his lungs.
Leon flinched. "Why are you yelling for
another
man when I’m standing right here?!"
Riven didn’t even look at him. "Because another man might actually help me figure out what the hell to do with
you
!"
Leon gasped.
Meanwhile, on the lower floor, Xavier was halfway through a discussion about supply deliveries and winter rations when his name echoed through the entire mansion like a dramatic opera performance.
He paused mid-sentence.
That was definitely Riven.
And he sounded panicked.
Xavier sighed, already bracing himself for whatever chaos was waiting upstairs. "Excuse me," he muttered to the group before walking off. He exited the underground chamber.
By the time he reached the top floor, the scene that greeted him was... Something else.
There was Riven, still standing frozen in the doorway like someone had paused him mid-animation. He looked worried, flustered, and mildly betrayed by the universe.
And standing next to him was a man Xavier didn’t recognise. Tall. Broad-shouldered. Radiating golden lion energy in the way only lion shifters could. Long blond hair tied up neatly. Jaw tight. Eyebrows furrowed.
And glaring at Xavier.
Oh.
That explained the shouting.
"You called for me..." Xavier said carefully, voice low and calm.
Riven’s head snapped toward him like a lifeline. "Thank god. Xavier, help me. Please. I can’t handle him alone."
"
Excuse me?
" Leon snapped, turning toward Riven with an offended gasp. "I did not even do anything!"
"Exactly! And it’s already too much!" Riven whined, pointing at him like he was pointing at a lion cub that just knocked over the royal china. "He just showed up! At the door! Saying he quit being king and that I need to take
responsibility
! For
him
!"
Xavier blinked slowly, processing.
He looked at Leon, who stood taller—chest puffed out like he had something to prove. "You left your kingdom... To move in here?"
Leon raised his chin. "I made a personal choice to leave behind the crown."
"Uh-huh." Xavier’s tone was unreadable. "And you chose to follow Riven?"
Leon ignored him, stepping forward with that graceful, self-important lion saunter. "And
you
—who exactly are you to him?"
Xavier looked down at him, calm and unaffected. "I’m the one keeping things in order around here. And the one who’s going to have to explain this to Master Soren when he gets back."
Leon’s expression twitched.
"...Soren," he muttered, then narrowed his eyes. "The snow leopard."
"You’ve met him?" Xavier asked.
Leon scoffed. "Once. Briefly. He glared at me like he wanted to rip my face off." Well, of course he did. They were at war at that time.
"That sounds like Master," Xavier replied without hesitation.
Riven groaned and flopped face-first into the wall.
Xavier turned back to Riven. "So... he’s staying here?"
Riven peeked at him over his shoulder. "I guess?"
"You guess?"
"He didn’t exactly
ask
. He just walked in and started claiming couches like a lost royal puppy."
"I am
not
a puppy!" Leon shouted.
"Lion cub, then!"
"I am a fully grown alpha male lion!"
"More like an abandoned cat at the back door!"
Xavier raised a hand, tired already. "Enough."
The two fell quiet.
Xavier sighed deeply, running a hand through his hair. "How do you plan to explain this to Master?"
Riven opened his mouth and closed it like he was a fish.
"Oh god," he whispered. "I don’t have a plan."
Leon frowned. "Why are you scared of him? He’s just a snow leopard."
"He’s
Soren
," Riven and Xavier both said in perfect unison.
Leon looked between the two of them. "He can’t be
that
scary."
Xavier gave him a look that said,
You sweet, foolish idiot.
"He is
very
possessive," Xavier explained. "And you... You are a lion. Showing up out of nowhere. Looking at Riven like he’s your mate."
"I want him even if he is someone else’s mate." Leon declared with his head held high.
Leon pointed at Xavier accusingly. "You’re jealous, aren’t you?"
Xavier raised an eyebrow. "Of what?"
"Of me," Leon said proudly. "Because
I
gave up a
kingdom
for Riven. What have you done? Sorted the pantry?"
"What? Leon, stop it." Riven snapped. Xavier was not even part of the harem... YET.
Riven turned to Xavier, whispering, "Please help me hide him. I need at least one person with a working brain right now, because I just cannot!"
"I feel it would be better if it comes from you, the truth will eventually come out..." Xavier whispered back. Oh yes, he knew of the arrangement his master had with Ronan. He never thought Soren, of all people could accept such a thing.
But now, there was one more. He kind of pitied his master now.
Leon scoffed again. "He won’t be able to stop me from staying."
Riven stared at him. "You realise he could
snap your spine in half
."
Leon smiled smugly. "Let him try."
Where does he get this confidence from? Where? WHERE? Riven wanted some of that unearned confidence.
"I really think you should stay with Ronan," Riven said, for what felt like the fiftieth time that morning. He crossed his arms and looked at Leon with as much patience as he could scrape together.
Riven was trying to figure out what to do with this guy! He couldn’t live here! The only other place Riven thought of was the wolf clan, only... Well, only that Leon was basically hated there for starting a way, and encroaching their borders. Other than Ronan, he feared no one else could protect his royal ass!