What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up [EN]: Chapter 53

#053 What I Won’t Miss (1)

“What’s wrong?”

Christel’s clear voice pierced my ears. I quickly averted my gaze and checked on her.

Her usual clear, bluish-gray eyes were staring straight at me.

“Are you alright, Princess?”

“Yes? Of course, I’m fine…”

At that moment, Christel’s words trailed off.

The light was slowly disappearing from her eyes.

A chill ran down my spine from the back of my head to my heels.

Like a puppet on a string, she turned her head away from me and stared straight ahead.

As if someone was beyond the two apple trees.

But no matter how wide I opened my eyes and looked, there wasn’t even a sparrow, let alone a person.

“Princess Sarnez?”

“……”

There was no reply. I swallowed hard.

The misty valley, the two people with unfocused eyes, the shouts and screams of people echoing from across the mountain.

And,

– Crunch!

That damn sound. I gritted my teeth. By now, there were only four apples left on the tree.

I had no concrete evidence, but it was clear that the invisible apple thief was the one who had done this to the two of them.

The medium was probably this fog.

“Father, it’s my fault.”

Cedric, the Prince, said, taking a step forward.

I quickly stepped in front of him.

My hands were full trying to shield Demi and my face, but if necessary, I would kick him to stop him from going outside the sanctuary.

“Your Highness, can you hear me?”

“You shouldn’t have sacrificed yourself for me. I should have,”

“Don’t talk nonsense.”

I cut him off. His face was pale and his eyes were sunken, making me frown involuntarily.

The Prince Consort passed away when this guy was young, so why was he thinking so extremely? It made me uncomfortable.

Could he have been living with this mindset all along?

“Why is sister here?”

At that moment, a trembling voice rang in my ears.

I turned to look at Christel with a very bad feeling.

“Why is sister here? You should be living happily after getting married, what are you doing here!”

Her voice was stained with sadness and affection. My breath caught in my throat.

It seemed that both of them were seeing family members who had left their sides.

I couldn’t let them continue like this, not knowing how severe the hallucinations would become or how intense the emotions would be.

I had to wake them up, even temporarily.

“Go. It’s dangerous, go to your brother-in-law! Quickly!”

“Princess, you mustn’t go out!”

Damn it! I quickly stretched out my leg to block her.

The distance between the two protagonists was far, and my legs were trembling.

[Wake up, both of you!]

I immediately cast divine power.

From the sanctuary that had been emitting a faint golden light, a bright radiance poured out and enveloped the two of them.

The divine power was only effective on living beings ‘inside’ the circle, so there was no need to shout when dealing with monsters.

That was because I had no talent for using my body and couldn’t recklessly bring monsters within a 15m radius.

-Swoosh…

Soon, the sacred light released them.

Through the fading streaks of light, I could see Christel blinking her big eyes.

It worked. A sigh of relief escaped my lips.

“Huh? Just now, just now sister…”

“Are you regaining your senses? Quickly cover your mouth and nose. What about His Highness?”

Christel hurriedly took out a handkerchief from her bosom.

Her eyes were red, but she seemed to have grasped the situation and didn’t say anything more. And the Prince was…

“……”

The orange irises I met were burning.

It was a heat that would burn everything that came into his sight.

Even though I knew it wasn’t anger towards me, instinctive fear flowed down my spine.

His consciousness seemed to have returned clearly, but I wasn’t sure if I could consider this a rational state.

The aether in my body was fluctuating uneasily. No, was this even mine?

“……How dare you.”

“Your Highness, calm down. Before you see another hallucination, cover yourself with the cloth,”

“A monster dares to touch my father.”

The man’s voice was low, as if it would penetrate the ground.

The ends of his jet-black hair trembled like an omen. He was taking off the black gloves on his left hand.

An inexplicable tension made my fingertips tingle.

“You mustn’t rush in now. The bastard is still hiding, so it’s dangerous to go outside the sanctuary, and you’ll see hallucinations again soon because of the fog. First, the Princess has a magic tool that causes explosions, so use that,”

“I will not forgive them.”

He gathered his left hand like a flower bud. I’ve seen this scene somewhere.

– Snap!

The sound of fingers colliding. Christel gagged and sat down.

The Prince and my eyes met for a long time.

– Whoosh!

And it was flames.

The bright red flames born from the man’s hand were consuming everything except my sanctuary with wrath.

The fog, the valley, the trees, the moss, the grass, the forest, and the earth, the whole world was instantly dyed blood-red.

It was as capricious as a child and as merciless as a tyrant.

Looking at the scene, my head became hot. I felt dazed because I was so heated up.

– Screeeeeech!

A nearby monster that had been hiding all along let out a cry full of pain.

Thump, Thud! The sound of something huge falling.

Someone’s aether pulsed violently. It didn’t end there.

– Kueeeek!

– Grrr! Grrr!

– Squeak! Squeak! Squeak!

I quickly raised my head. From the mountaintop, from the mountainside, from the foot of the mountain…

The monsters were each vomiting out death throes and cries.

Some howls were heard from very far places, some groans were heard from very close places.

The summit that looked faintly high was heated up red as if a beacon had been lit.

The Prince’s rage seemed to have dominated Marquis’s mountain range eventually.

My throat was parched and burning in the dry air. My stomach was scorched with astonishment and doubt.

Why did he hide this power until now…

– Squeak, squeak, squeak

Ah.

“Demi, are you okay?”

I composed myself, pulling the lesser panda that was burrowing into my arms closer and stuffed the handkerchief into my pocket.

In the midst of not knowing what to judge from what or how, my heart dropped when I saw Demi trembling.

The fog was all burned, so it wouldn’t be hallucinations because of that.

Maybe because fire was scary… Wait.

Belatedly, red warning lights turned on in my head. I immediately turned my head.

“Your Highness, stop. If you use aether so much, it’s dangerous,”

Thud, a small body collapsed to me with a sound. I reflexively held the child.

At the same time…

– Whoosh…

The karmic fire that had been ruthlessly devouring the mountain range scattered like a lie.

It was a sight that I couldn’t believe even seeing.

Hundreds of millions of sparks riding the spring breeze, gently broken and flew away together with sunbeams.

As if nothing was the matter, as if it was a momentary whim, young sparks violated my vision.

Soon what remained before my eyes…

“Really, even seeing it again, it doesn’t make sense.”

It was a green mountain again. Christel muttered, spacing out.

I didn’t let go, scanning all directions with my leg leaning on her body temperature.

In the vast mountains, only the traces of monsters judged by fire and aether were here and there, with gravel and rocks scorched and disappeared.

What I witnessed was not immediately understood.

It was tremendous power, and more amazing than that was the control.

I couldn’t close my opened mouth.

– Squeak!

Demi slurped and escaped my arm, sticking to Christel’s leg.

Only then did I quietly look down at the child boiling with heat.

“Ah……”

My breath choked, my tongue stiffened, and no words came out.

The fainted kid didn’t open his eyes, but I knew the color of that guy’s eyes.

The black head and stubbornly closed mouth were familiar.

Carefully lowering my posture, the hem of the large shirt wrapped around the boy fluttered.

His forehead was wet with cold sweat as usual.

“……Seidi.”

I called the Prince’s name in a small voice.

*

“Marquis, the wildfire is clearing!”

“Good heavens, God…”

“God is caring for the empire!”

“It’s a miracle, world. World!”

The thousands of people filling the audience poured out loud voices together with tears.

Noble and commoner alike, everyone cheered and threw the things they were holding in their hands into the sky.

Applause, whistles, praise, prayers, hugs, comfort filled the plains.

Francois Duem looked at the ‘dungeon’ side with a dazed face.

The miracle that had happened a little while ago was clearly the Prince’s power.

Other than that, no one in the empire had ever manifested fire attribute aether, so it was certain.

No, originally, the only one born possessing the qualification of a paladin in this land was the Prince.

That he had publicly demonstrated his ability was clearly an auspicious and overwhelming thing.

But…

“Hoo.”

My chest was stuffy. The Marquis clenched his fist and tapped above his ribs.

Right now, the precious young man would be a child.

And the opponent to entrust him to was the royal priest of the divine kingdom who came as a hostage.

No matter how much the Prince trusted the cardinal, even if I also agreed to recognize the prince…

As the situation became like this, the Marquis had no choice but to suffer from the anxiety of a subject.

“Rather than that, I’ll go up again,”

“Uncle. Don’t dawdle and sit down. Your mind is disturbed.”

A clear voice rang in my ears. He quickly turned back.

Elizabeth, who was sitting diagonally on the outdoor bed with her arm in a splint, was staring up at him.

“…How is your arm?”

“It doesn’t hurt.”

“Could you tell me with a bit of sincerity, listening to Prince Calamar?”

Only then did Elizabeth kill her momentum and look to the side.

Ganael, who had not left her side even for a moment after she descended the mountain, was still with tear marks on her face.

It seemed like I had made her worry unnecessarily, and my heart was uncomfortable. It’s not a big injury.

“…The healing priest attached the bone back in place perfectly, and because I’m usually healthy, it will get better quickly. The painkiller that the prince gave me was effective. That’s what you took care of, right?”

“Yes? Yes, that’s right.”

Ganael’s honey-colored eyes bent smiling. It was fortunate that she had a personality that laughed well even when crying.

The Countess continued without hesitation.

“Whatever is happening up there right now, it’s all because His Majesty believes in the prince and committed it. So, uncle, hold on to your worries and watch. Isn’t this the best seat?”

“Seat,”

“You have to see him draw the Holy Sword. If you empty your seat, I’ll call Benjamin and have him sit down.”

“That, that can’t be!”

The Marquis quickly stuck his butt on the chair. Elizabeth sighed small.

Could such a human really occupy the marquisate?

“There’s a signal in the sky. Go rescue them.”

*

I’m embarrassed to death.

This is the conclusion I reached after careful consideration.

I’m so embarrassed I could die.

“Wow, I see there are cases where the body shrinks from aether depletion.”

“Indeed…”

“Well, when he’s well, he’s an angel, an angel. So pretty.”

Christel poked the cheek of the sleeping Sei… Hwang… Anyway, the kid.

I laid the child neatly on the sanctuary and was holding one elbow.

I don’t know how much aether that guy used, but even through physical contact, it wasn’t recharging quickly.

This guy needs to be returned to his original size, damn it. I need to return him to his original size to continue the tournament or descend the mountain.

I tried my best to think rationally in this crazy situation.

“Did the Prince know? That His Majesty uses aether.”

“…I think today is the first time I’ve seen it.”

It’s not a lie. Before that, I only saw him using his young body.

Crazy, really, what is this, not even …

“Then, among outsiders, I’m really the only one who knew. Somehow, there were many conditions for using aether, and if you slip up, the child transforms.”

You should have given me a hint.

I managed my expression, muttering resentment that didn’t make sense.

The secret that Christel knew about the Prince was aether.

If I had known that, and Christel had known the secret I knew, the situation would have been a million times better.

My throat was all blocked with sadness.

“You had no choice but to hide it. His young appearance resembles you so much. Anyone can see that he’s Prince Your Majesty. Considering his status, it would have been a big weakness.”

“……”

Shame made the ends of my ears hot.

No, isn’t it normal to think of someone who looks exactly alike as a blood relative? Is this my fault?