What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up [EN]: Chapter 15

#015 The Duke’s Family is Suspicious (1)

“Cedric Liester! You break my sword again, just you wait!”

Elisabeth Mute, Captain of the Imperial Guard, chased after him with heavy footsteps.

The Romero Palace, where the Prince resided, had more attendants and guards than the Juliette Palace.

However, no one was surprised to hear her call the Prince’s name so casually.

They simply bowed their heads, as if it were just another day.

“Why don’t you go around town bragging about how much Aether [magical energy] you have?”

It was only natural that she would burst out in anger. The Prince’s condition had noticeably improved lately.

During sparring, he would fail to control his ‘power,’ breaking his opponent’s sword or setting their collars on fire.

Considering his days of struggling with chronic Aether depletion, it was a very positive change.

However, Elisabeth couldn’t simply laugh it off, thinking of her five broken swords and six singed uniforms.

“David, coffee.”

“As you wish, Your Highness.”

“I’ll have juice, please.”

“Yes, Young Count.”

The Prince, instead of responding to his friend’s grumbling, called his attendant, David Capuchon, and asked for coffee.

Elisabeth quickly chimed in.

She knew she wouldn’t get a proper apology or answer from Cedric anyway, but the juice his attendant made was cool and delicious.

The two comfortably settled in the Prince’s drawing room.

“Prince Yeser asked me yesterday if I knew the confessional’s wooden window was broken. Said the strings were cut too.”

“······.”

Elisabeth emptied more than half of the pineapple juice Capuchon had brought in one gulp.

She took off her jacket and roughly wiped the sweat from her forehead and neck.

Her neat olive-green bob became disheveled, but neither she nor the Prince cared.

“I made up an excuse, saying I thought the old temple was just like that, and that I was planning to apply for repairs anyway. You know I can’t lie, right? It must have been obvious on my face, but the Prince just let it go.”

Her gray eyes glared at the Prince with annoyance. The man remained expressionless.

“I don’t want to lie to him again. Be careful.”

Contrary to the rumors, Prince Yeser was kind and readily listened to others’ stories.

It was absurd that he had been threatened with a dagger when words would have sufficed.

She knew he had a personality that stood out wherever he went, but she didn’t expect him to be unable to control his temper even in that state.

“Why don’t you just tell him? You’re going to be getting help every day anyway.”

“Not every day.”

The man finally spoke. His orange eyes showed displeasure.

“What, is your pride hurt? Honestly, you’re really…”

Elisabeth clicked her tongue and buried her face in the juice glass again.

Cedric was lost in thought, not even touching his coffee.

Confiding his situation to Prince Yeser was out of the question from the start.

He was a Prince, and soon, once his engagement was finalized, he would ascend to the Crown Prince position with the backing of his ‘political partner.’

He couldn’t reveal his physical condition, a matter of imperial secrecy, to a ‘hostage.’

Even if the Prince was receiving death threats from the Holy Nation and was alone in the Empire.

However…

“The Duke’s territory is strange.”

“What is?”

Elisabeth put her cup down on the table.

Her voice was low, as if she sensed that the Prince wasn’t just changing the subject.

“I led the sacred beasts beyond the border between the Imperial Capital and Sarnese, but those beasts didn’t sense the direction of the sacred object.”

“······Do we need to get closer to the lord’s castle?”

Cedric tilted his head without a word.

As Prince Yeser had said, there wasn’t much information or records about the sacred beasts.

Even searching the most secret places in the Imperial Archives yielded little.

However, it was certain that sacred beasts could sense the aura of sacred objects from afar and instinctively head towards them.

The sacred beast was called the ‘messenger of the Guardian God,’ sent by the heavens to protect the sacred object.

If so, the sacred object that the Sarnese Dukedom had been protecting for generations, the ‘Blessing of the Azure Sea,’ should also emit an aura that attracts the sacred beasts.

Yet, even upon reaching the Dukedom, the small sacred beasts simply circled around the Prince’s feet without any particular reaction.

He had turned the conversation, assuming they would find the sacred object on their own if left alone, but even when Cedric returned to the Imperial Palace, the sacred beasts didn’t leave his side.

It was troubling.

“Could it be that the sacred object was stolen too?”

Elisabeth muttered seriously.

She recalled the ‘Temple of the Boundary’ theft that had caused a stir not long ago.

“Like a phantom thief targeting only sacred objects.”

“Nonsense.”

The Prince cut off the Young Count’s speculations with a sigh.

For now, it seemed necessary to bring the sacred beasts to a location close to the Sarnese lord’s castle, as she said.

Perhaps the sacred beasts were more foolish than he thought, only capable of doing their job when the sacred object was right in front of them.

The hypothesis that the sacred object might have disappeared was mere speculation. No, it had to be speculation.

“I need that sacred object.”

It was a kind of resolution. Elisabeth quietly nodded at the Prince’s words.

The engagement with the Sarnese Dukedom would be of great help to Cedric in many ways.

Especially since the family’s sacred object would be given to him as a gift.

The ‘Blessing of the Azure Sea’ was the perfect treasure to solve his chronic Aether depletion and uncontrollable ‘power.’

“Still, doesn’t it feel good when you use divine power? I heard it feels liberating. Like a feeling of freedom.”

Cedric scoffed.

It would be a lie to say he didn’t dislike the ability he had first experienced by receiving the Prince’s Aether.

However, he had no intention of increasing troublesome matters to enjoy it.

The ‘power’ was a mere trick that would disappear anyway once he married Christel de Sarnese.

The Prince called his attendant again. He sent back the cold coffee and requested sage tea.

*

“Thank you for the meal.”

“Eat plenty. I’ve already told the kitchen.”

A sheepish smile appeared on my face.

I quickly grabbed my utensils after confirming that Cardinal Boutier had taken his fork.

The lunch menu was truly fantastic.

I didn’t realize being taught by a high-ranking person could be this good.

It was worth groveling on the floor of the office.

“If you want to meet a Holy Knight in person, I can put you in touch with the Papal States.”

The Cardinal said, cutting a well-grilled asparagus.

I diligently chewed on the duck meat before quickly raising my head.

“Of course, that child was also a Holy Knight, but you probably didn’t have a good conversation.”

‘That child’ here refers to ‘Peter,’ one of the assassin twins who had targeted my life.

Singki was a priest, and Peter was a Holy Knight.

Near the end of the lesson, I had asked a question about Holy Knights, and it seemed to be an extension of that story.

“Yes. But I know what his ability was. It must have been ‘air.'”

“Yes.”

She replied. I reviewed what I had just learned.

Unlike priests, who possess Aether, the ‘power of the Guardian God,’ in its purest form, Holy Knights are a group that transforms Aether into four special forms.

I had roughly guessed from the mention of four, but the author of ‘Toegye Gong’ [a fictional book] had incorporated the abilities of water, fire, air, and earth into the Holy Knight setting.

It seemed inspired by the Four Elements theory.

Peter tried to suffocate me, so there was no doubt that his ability was ‘air.’

“I don’t think it’s necessary to make an appointment. I’ll probably see them at least once in my life, right?”

“Yes, that’s true.”

The Cardinal smiled at my words and turned her gaze to her plate.

I dipped bread in the water marinieres sauce and continued my train of thought.

A Holy Knight possesses a special Aether of only one attribute until death, and the amount of Aether consumed varies greatly depending on the level of ability.

The little one who had visited my room last night naturally came to mind.

Saydie remained silent when I repeatedly asked if he was a Holy Knight if he wasn’t a priest.

“Do Holy Knights or priests often have to use divine power until their Aether is depleted?”

“It’s rare for priests.”

The Cardinal said firmly.

“Unless they overuse their healing power, priests hardly ever run out of Aether.”

“I see.”

“Well, there is an exception named you.”

“Hahaha······.”

It wasn’t that I used a lot, but that some son of a bitch stole it.

“But it’s different for Holy Knights. Special Aether gnaws at divine power by its very existence, and it tests divine power once more as it manifests outside the body. Holy Knights protect priests, so they have many opportunities to use their abilities anyway.”

The Cardinal slightly lowered her eyebrows. It was a somewhat troubled smile.

“The reason why Holy Knights and priests travel in pairs is also for a stable supply of Aether.”

So, it meant that efficiency was low.

Priests like me operate pure Aether, so it doesn’t matter, but Holy Knights use Aether by changing it into forms like water or fire, so it seemed like it cost twice as many resources.

“Your Highness, I know that Holy Knights are only born in the Holy Nation.”

I continued my inquiry.

This was also why I couldn’t jump to the conclusion that Saydie was a Holy Knight.

This place was the heart of the Liester Empire, so far away from the Holy Nation.

“I don’t know what it’s really like, but that’s what it said in the book. ‘Priests utter their first cry anywhere on the continent. Because the Guardian God looks down on humans. But Holy Knights only open their eyes in the land of God’······.”

“‘Because he must defend the Guardian God with his life.'”

The Cardinal completed the sentence as if whispering. Her eyes, when they met mine, looked secretive.

-Knock knock

“Come in.”

I blankly met her gaze before suddenly coming to my senses.

Turning my head, I saw the Cardinal’s attendant entering the dining room.

“I apologize for interrupting your meal, Your Highness. Prince.”

“It’s alright. What’s the matter?”

“His Imperial Majesty has sent invitations to the Spring Ball. I am here to deliver them immediately in accordance with the Imperial Order.”

“I see, it’s already that time of year. Thank you.”

Ah, it had finally arrived. I wouldn’t be going anyway, but my heart was pounding for no reason.

I was also surprised that he had sent an invitation this way, knowing that I was in the Imperial Palace.

While the Cardinal opened her invitation, the attendant approached, holding my share of the paper on a silver tray.

“This is the invitation for the Prince. Here, there is also a letter from the Duchess of Sarnese.”

“Yes?”

I doubted my ears as I admired the Emperor’s crest stamped with cherry-colored sealing wax.

“For me?”

“Yes, it is written, ‘A letter to His Noble Highness Prince Yeser Venetian.'”

“Why would she, why would the Duchess send me…”

The attendant, Natalie, looked troubled. It was a face that said, ‘How would I know?’

I forced my reluctant fingers to pick up the letter.

Perhaps because it had the protagonist’s family name, ‘Sarnese,’ the paper felt particularly heavy.

“The Duchess of Sarnese should be in the palace right now. Did you receive it directly?”

Cardinal Boutier asked Natalie.

“Yes. The Duchess delivered the letter to the Chief Secretary while she was entering the palace with Lady Christel to have an audience with His Imperial Majesty.”

I glanced at the Cardinal nodding her head as if it were someone else’s business, then looked down at the letter in my hand again.

The signature ‘Isabelle de Sarnese, Duchess’ was clear.

Since it was clearly addressed to me, I couldn’t ignore or avoid it this time.

What was even more unsettling was Christel’s presence.

The thought that she was in the same place as me now, perhaps even in this Imperial Palace, made me feel a slight sense of fear.

“I wonder what it says.”

I opened the neatly folded letter. How nice would it be if it was just a greeting.