What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up [EN]: Chapter 35

#035 The Playboy of the Divine Kingdom (1)

“An interview, what…….”

“Could it be ?”

Lady Elisabeth asked the question instead of me, who was flustered.

Benjamin’s serious face seemed to be spreading to her as well.

was the social magazine I had been reading most diligently since I came here. [A fictional magazine focusing on the lives and affairs of the nobility.]

The publication that half of the empire’s nobles subscribed to, and the other half read through friends who subscribed.

“That’s right. Editor-in-chief Sarah Belliare formally requested an interview with Prince Yeser from His Majesty, and His Majesty approved it.”

Benjamin explained calmly, serving coconut cake on the tea table.

Even as I picked up a fork, I couldn’t shake off the many questions filling my head.

“I don’t know why all of a sudden. It’s been quiet until now.”

“Actually, it hasn’t been quiet.”

Benjamin carefully opened his mouth at my words.

I paused while taking a bite of the soft cake and looked at him.

“As you know well, the private letters from nobles to the Prince are all filtered out at the Imperial Palace. Gifts are also kept in the Imperial Vault because we don’t know what their intentions might be.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“The same goes for media access. In particular, has been requesting an exclusive interview since the day the Prince entered the palace. Until recently, His Majesty rejected them all.”

I thought so. Well, I was grateful because the further away from attention, the better.

“I’m curious as to why he changed his attitude.”

I replied.

It was a bit embarrassing, but I couldn’t say I couldn’t do an interview.

Of course, it was labor I had never done in my life, but I thought I could just answer well as I was told and pretend not to know anything difficult.

If the Imperial Palace wanted something from me, I was ready to comply as long as it wasn’t unreasonable.

I was living well with three meals a day and getting paid in a warm place, so shouldn’t I do what the person holding my lifeline tells me to do?

However, I was curious about the background of the sudden interview.

“To put it bluntly, it’s because of Marquis Francois Dhuem.”

Benjamin answered with a sigh.

Lady Elisabeth, who had been listening quietly, nodded, saying, ‘That’s how it happened.’

I looked back and forth between her and Benjamin.

Marquis Francois Dhuem was the brother of the Dhuem Knights Commander and the organizer of the ‘Great Monster Subjugation’.

He turned the Cardinal inside out by declaring that he would offer the divine artifact ‘Comet Sword of Mars’ as the prize for this competition……

Ah.

“Perhaps, did you allow my interview in exchange for delaying the report on the Comet Sword of Mars?”

“That’s right.”

I nodded at the answer that came back right away.

I had heard the Cardinal’s explanation regarding this.

I was reminded of Sarah Belliare, who wanted to announce Marquis Dhuem’s announcement even by publishing an expanded edition of the magazine.

Even if the Marquis had already been talking about the prize, it would be worlds apart from being reported in the empire’s most influential media and just being rumored.

“His Majesty usually leaves the nobles loosely alone. Because he thinks it’s less annoying that way. The nobles also enjoy freedom as long as they don’t go against His Majesty’s displeasure.”

“You’re saying this media control is a special case.”

“Yes. Since this rarely happens, he seems to have decided that giving compensation is cleaner.”

And that compensation was me.

It was a will to give one piece of bait that they wanted and silence Belliare, rather than leaving room and constantly bothering them.

“When is the interview date?”

I asked.

“It is said to be held at the Imperial Palace at 2 PM tomorrow.”

That’s fast. I diligently melted the yellow and sweet cake in my mouth.

Well, I thought, when else would you use a jobless hostage if not at times like this.

The Monster Subjugation was something I volunteered to go to, so I tried to exclude it from my mind.

“Prince, be careful of Belliare.”

Lady Elisabeth, sitting across from me, said meaningfully.

I stopped attacking the cake and met her gaze.

“I was almost fleeced by her a few months ago.”

Saying that, the Deputy Commander raised her left hand.

The ring on her fourth finger sparkled in the warm sunlight.

It was an accessory I had seen even on the day I first met Lady Elisabeth, and a colorful jewel was embedded in the center.

“It’s a yellow diamond.”

“That’s amazing.”

It was a jewel that the real Prince Yeser might have encountered often in his life, but it was my first time.

She laughed softly at my reaction.

“Engagement is strictly a private matter, but she wanted to dig into it somehow because I am the heir to the Mutte County. She is by no means an easy person to deal with.”

I thought it was an engagement ring.

I was curious about who the other person was, but I felt a little uncomfortable asking if Lady Elisabeth didn’t say it first.

Anyway, the attitude of the media chasing celebrities seemed to be not much different here than where I lived.

I wondered if it was natural since the author of ‘Toegye-gong’ was Korean in the first place. [Likely a reference to a famous Korean scholar, implying the author of the novel within the story is Korean.]

I recalled Sadie, who had talked back to me with sharp eyes in the confessional at the temple a few days ago.

‘You shouldn’t listen to other people’s confessions carelessly. You have to keep it a secret.’

‘Sarah Belliare doesn’t deserve such consideration.’

What did that mean?

The little girl’s fierce reaction, Benjamin saying the interview was ‘bad news,’ and Lady Elisabeth saying she had been harassed.

Does it just mean that Belliare is a common ‘trash reporter’?

‘……Thank you.’

The old voice of the woman was still vivid in my ears.

She was a person who had a sick grandson and had become estranged from her daughter and her husband because of it.

Of course, other flaws should not be covered up just because there is a story……

Yes, you shouldn’t meet someone with your heart leaning to one side.

I chewed the cake thoroughly, wanting to not forget that fact.

“I’ll pretend I don’t know the difficult questions, and I’ll answer the easy questions as briefly as possible. That should be fine.”

I said with a smile.

Lady Elisabeth praised me, saying, ‘That’s exactly the attitude.’

Benjamin nodded silently, but his expression was somewhat worried.

-Squeak

Around that time, Demi popped out from among the shrubs in the garden.

He must have felt hungry after playing excitedly.

I offered him a small piece of mango and cleared my head.

I caught five monsters yesterday and studied all the time after returning to the palace, so I wanted to let tomorrow’s me solve tomorrow’s problems.

Yesterday’s me was really naive. Why do you only think about yourself?

“It’s not like you need much makeup. You also digest colorful colors well.”

“That’s right, your skin is so clean.”

The head of the Imperial Palace’s dressing room, holding something like a large brush in her hand, and the head of the costume room, whom I had met at the Spring Ball, sat me down on a high chair and started discussing this and that.

One of the Imperial Palace’s many empty rooms was filled with people attending to me.

This is really burdensome……..

The Imperial Palace people, who had rushed to Juliet’s Palace from early in the morning, were burning with the desire to put me in the bathtub and do laundry. [An idiom meaning they were eager to fuss over him and prepare him meticulously.]

The news that Sarah Belliare, a famous figure in the media world, had obtained an interview with a member of the Imperial family seemed to have caused a much bigger ripple than I thought.

I experienced the miracle of all the servants falling away from me only after saying, ‘If you don’t let me wash alone, I’ll starve all day today.’

Of course, I had no intention of going hungry, but it was a great relief that the threat worked.

“Prince Yeser’s skin is that. Summer cool tone.”

Christel, who was sitting on the sofa watching the commotion, said something no one could understand.

This was definitely a word that Eunseo had mentioned a few times, but I couldn’t remember what it meant.

Roughly ‘cool skin even in summer’ or ‘skin that looks better in summer’.

Anyway, it would only work on Earth, so I pretended not to know and changed the subject.

“Don’t you have to go home?”

Why are you killing time here, go home.

That was the meaning of my words, but Christel didn’t budge at all.

“Anything is fun if you skip class to do it.”

I couldn’t argue because it was true.

She smiled at me, who had closed my mouth, and looked at my clothes that she had chosen from the costume room with interest.

Since the interview was at 2 PM, I naturally thought it would start after lunch.

I didn’t imagine that everyone would be so fussy from the morning, and Benjamin and Ganael seemed quite surprised this time.

From now on, I should assume that there will be trouble if the Emperor is involved.

The Friday class with the Cardinal was canceled, but Christel coming to play was one of today’s minor misfortunes.

“My mother worries a lot if I’m only at the mansion.”

“……..”

The protagonist suddenly blurted out. I couldn’t find anything to say.

“It’s not easy for me to see someone who treats me well being hurt. Even though I don’t have many memories of my mother.”

‘So I come out whenever I can,’ she concluded.

It seemed that Duchess Isabel de Sarnese still couldn’t let go of her worries about her daughter.

What parent could do that……..

I could also get a glimpse of Christel’s personality from those words.

She had a lot of affection as Eunseo had told me, and she seemed weak to ‘sister-like’ figures.

If the possessed person was a company employee in her twenties, it was not unreasonable to feel like the Duchess in her thirties was like a sister.

“You have well-behaved straight hair, so you just need to comb it.”

While I was quietly lost in thought, the head of the dressing room, who was carefully passing my hair over, declared as if she had made a great discovery.

No, it’s not like I’m an idol…….. Okay, it’s good that I don’t have to wear makeup.

Eunseo was very annoyed because erasing it was also a job.

“This is my first time coming this way, it’s really fancy.”

Christel said admiringly, looking up at the ceiling mural.

Somehow, she ended up having lunch with me at the Imperial Palace and accompanying me to the interview location, and she seemed very happy.

She had a dark complexion while talking about her mother, so I couldn’t possibly turn her away anymore……..

“I see.”

I also didn’t go in and out of anywhere other than the Cardinal’s office and the dining room, so today was my first time coming near the Emperor’s office.

We slowly walked down the spacious hallway of the Imperial Palace, with an Imperial Palace attendant leading the way and Benjamin and Ganael accompanying us from behind.

“This person is……..”

While Christel was carefully observing the patterns on the wallpaper, I met eyes with the huge portrait on the front of the Emperor’s office.

It was someone I didn’t know, but it was a face I couldn’t not recognize.

“It is His Majesty the late Duke Alexandre.”

Benjamin answered my question.

Alexandre Liester. The man who gave up his dukedom and chose love.

The husband of the deceased Emperor now remained only as a painting in front of his wife’s room.

Overall, he had a similar appearance to Prince Cedrick, but the difference was that his black hair came down to his waist and his eyes were a deep blue color like the sea.

‘The Great Warlock of Tremor’……..

“Your Highness.”

At that time, Ganael’s urgent voice was heard.

I turned around, thinking that Cardinal Boutier had appeared.

He didn’t say he would attend the interview.

“……..”

However, what appeared in front of me was not the Cardinal.

“I greet His Highness the Prince.”

Christel, who was standing next to me, greeted first.

The attendants, who had been momentarily embarrassed, hurriedly paid their respects.

Unlike the portrait that was quietly looking at us, his eyes, walking slowly, were a clear sunset color.

I calmly greeted Prince Cedrick and the woman who was making footsteps one step behind him.