What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up [EN]: Chapter 259

#259

Trust me, bro. (3) [A casual expression of reassurance.]

Of course, it’s not like I hadn’t considered going to the desert.

I had wanted to leave for the neutral zone to meet Elissa from the start.

However, that was blocked due to the realistic reason that ‘it’s too dangerous.’

“Ugh…”

-Kkiing?

As I sat at the table and groaned, the lesser pandas, who had been rolling around by the fireplace, did somersaults and stood up one by one like roly-polies.

Tete had long become a white rice cake in his cradle. [A metaphor for being still and quiet.]

Crackle, sizzle… The fireplace at the tail end of winter was making warm sounds.

The sun had already gone to rest for the night.

In the far corner of the spacious lounge, Benjamin and Ganael, dressed in comfortable clothes, were sitting and doing chores.

I chuckled and looked down at my notebook.

Here, there, everywhere. Dduk-sim was busily hopping around on the scattered extra editions and wastepaper.

“This time, I absolutely can’t back down.”

-Bbi

At my determined words, the little bird also chirped back resolutely like a butternut squash.

The third assassination attempt targeting me was in December. It’s February now.

To avoid causing confusion in the imperial situation and public order, I chose to stay within the Imperial Palace for a while.

It seemed best to stay put until the Riester people got busy with spring preparations.

So, when Teacher said he couldn’t send me, I accepted it.

I even compromised with myself, thinking I could just send a letter with Sant.

But, you know.

“This is real. It seems like the only chance to see the Holy Disk in person.”

I whispered, making eye contact with the wren. The Shinsoo [A divine or mystical creature] quietly breathed and looked at me.

“When else would I get to go near it? Originally, only the Pope can touch it.”

-Bbi-ii

The ‘Disk of Wishes’. It had been a headache for me ever since I possessed Toegye-gong. [Likely a reference to a historical figure or character.]

My first point of contact with it was when the news of the Shinsoo theft reached the empire.

I met Lady Elizabeth for the first time that day.

She came to find me under orders from her superiors and asked me where I was and what I was doing at the time the Holy Disk was lost.

It was true that Prince Yeseo had passed through the Shrine of the Boundary around that time, so the questioning wasn’t unfounded.

However, there was no evidence that he had stolen it. The shrine’s security was so tight, and there were no eyewitness accounts.

‘Did you steal the Shinsoo from the ‘Shrine of the Boundary’?’

‘No.’

Decisively, Cardinal Boutier proved my innocence through confession.

Thus, the case was vaguely covered up as unsolved. No charges.

The second time was the information Isabel gave me on the day of the Spring Ball.

‘The high priests of the Divine Nation are interpreting that the Shinsoo of the shrine has not ‘disappeared’ but has ‘fulfilled its purpose.’

‘They believe that someone has already made a wish there, and as that wish was fulfilled, the Shinsoo was permanently damaged.’

That’s when I got the first clue about my possession.

Clearly, the prince, who died in the original work, returned to the beginning of the story and woke up.

I manifested an enormous amount of Ether. [A magical or spiritual energy.]

The main MacGuffin [A plot device or object of desire] of the original work, ‘Blessing of the Blue Sea,’ was used up early on.

Christel suddenly gained superpowers.

The beginning of all these twists was the Holy Disk. Thus, I came to one conclusion.

‘Someone made a wish there to save ‘me,’ and as a result, I was possessed.’

If so, the power I awakened must also be the result of absorbing the Disk of Wishes.

It was soon confirmed to be true.

-What is contained in your vessel is an object that was ruled by the providence of the Lord. I know nothing about it.

Niki, the guide in Biryeom’s Ark, said that, pointing to my heart.

A few days later, the Holy Disk clearly proved its greatness.

The Shinsoo’s power was not only about supplying a large amount of top-grade Ether and making the dreams of those around it better.

It could do something much more terrifying and enormous than that.

I mean, it even dragged me in from outside the work.

‘Kkeu…. Heueok.’

‘Yeseo. Louder.’

‘G-Get lost…!’

A terrible experience I never want to go through again. A scary sensation of the whole world pushing me away.

It was hard to breathe as if trapped in a vacuum, and I remembered feeling like my whole body was breaking.

-Kwaaaa!

Soon, a golden streak of light exploded from my body,

‘Ugh! Cough cough! Cough! Ugh….’

When I came to my senses, everything in front of me was red.

-Kugugugu….

The sky was vibrating as if it would collapse at any moment, and there was a distant, ink-colored ‘Gate’. And….

‘It’s my house’s veranda [A porch or balcony].’

A place where Hyung [Older brother or respected male figure] and Eunseo are waiting. A place where Mom and Dad’s traces remain.

‘My house’.

I thought that far and suppressed the surge of emotions.

Dduk-sim plopped down in front of me. My voice became even smaller.

“You saw it too. I was spilling blood and making a fuss.”

-Bbiing

“No matter how I think about it, I don’t think I can try again. I think I might really die if I do that. Something…. I think I forced the gate open back then. It was something that was possible with the power of the Holy Disk, but.”

‘I don’t think it was supposed to be like that.’ I whispered. Of course, there was no clear basis.

I just had that feeling. Otherwise, there’s no way the rejection would have been so severe.

Demi seems to believe that I can overcome the side effects if I become the owner of the Holy Disk, but becoming the Pope isn’t something you can just decide to be.

Only the Lord’s choice can establish a new Pope.

I also thought about growing one step further as a cardinal, but that’s not something you can get in a month like a TOEIC score. [Test of English for International Communication]

No one knew whether it would take five years or thirty years to grow.

In short, it’s not a goal that can be achieved through effort alone.

“Still….”

-Bbi-ii

Dduk-sim and I simultaneously lowered our heads and looked at the notebook.

· Disk of Wishes

– Located in the secret chamber of the underground labyrinth of the Shrine of the Boundary

– Only accessible to clergy of the Papal States of cardinal rank or higher

– Has never been open to the public for two thousand years

– Only the Pope can handle it

This extra edition was a once-in-a-lifetime chance to break through these difficult conditions.

As tensions rose between the two countries, Ronald Lüpert, the Secretary-General, proposed a kind of summit.

No one could guarantee whether that would be a gilded lily or not. [Something that appears valuable but is not.]

What was important to me was his recommendation to ‘make a vow of peace in front of the Disk of Wishes.’

I wanted to see the Holy Disk up close, even just once.

I didn’t expect to be able to teleport home as soon as I met it.

I was just a supporting character, and I didn’t even wish for a development where such a great object would choose me again or anything.

Just….

Even a small clue would be nice. Even a very minor hint would be fine.

I’ll write down and remember anything, so if I could just take a peek, even for a moment.

“I’m going to talk to His Majesty tomorrow.”

-Bbi-bbi?

“He’s so busy. There’s a high possibility that he’ll send the Crown Prince instead. Then I can go along. It’ll be safe if we move with my friends and the caravan all at once.”

-Bbi-ii-ii

“It’s killing two birds with one stone. I can meet Elissa too.”

-Bbi-ii-bbo-oh!

“Why is your answer so bad? Don’t you trust me, bro?”

I chuckled, stroking the top of his head with my index finger.

Then, the Shinsoo flapped its tiny wings and resisted, opening its yellow beak as wide as it could.

When I thought about it carefully, it was my fault. Cold sweat dripped down.

To say something like ‘killing two birds with one stone’ to a bird!

-Bbi-reureureu!

“I’m sorry. I was wrong. Humans were wrong.”

At that time,

-Knock knock

“Your Highness. Herrit is here.”

“Ah, thank you.”

The attendant, Pierre, announced the arrival of the guest.

I slipped the notebook into my left gown pocket, put the jumping Dduk-sim into my right pocket, and stood up.

It tickled without hurting at all when he bit my finger with his beak.

Benjamin and Ganael calmly tidied up their knitting and manuscripts.

Then, a small boy appeared from beyond the door.

“Welcome, Herrit. You even brought your pillow.”

“Heuheung.”

The little one bowed to me, beaming.

The reason Herrit came to Juliet Palace in his pajamas was simple.

I told him he could come and sleep over anytime, and the proactive child had set the date for today.

Kind Benjamin took Herrit’s robe, and Ganael left the room to warm up some milk.

Pierre also stroked the boy’s snowflake-like hair once and went back.

Originally, Herrit’s hair was long enough to cover his nape, but when I returned to the palace, it was the same style as mine.

I heard he went to the salon with Sant.

After making sure that the child was wearing his long underwear properly, I took his hand and walked to the bedroom.

It was fun to be able to talk for a long time as we matched our pace.

In the hallway, there was a luxurious carpet for Tete to crawl on, and the sleepy lesser pandas slowly followed that path.

Fragile decorations and furniture that were easy to scratch had all been removed a long time ago.

All houses raising troublemakers are the same, right?

“Did your dad drop you off at the front?”

Nod nod.

“I see. Wasn’t it cold outside?”

Shake shake. As expected, children have a lot of body heat.

“Did you take your medicine well?”

“Eung….”

Herrit sometimes made sounds by vibrating his throat like this.

‘How admirable. You must have been busy.’ I smiled brightly and shook the child’s hand.

“What do you think about Uncle reading you a book before bed?”

“Hehe.”

Then, a gift-like beaming smile returned. He was a wonderful child who liked reading.

Reaching the room, I picked Herrit up in a flash and laid him diagonally on the bed.

The child kept giggling, not knowing what was so good.

I pulled the blanket up to his chest and shared a cup of warm honey milk that Ganael had brought.

Kind Benjamin turned off all the lights except for the magic lamp by the bedside and left.

While Dduk-sim was sitting on his bed, Herrit wrote down what happened today on a piece of paper and showed it to me.

‘His Highness the Crown Prince gave me an allowance again. I have a lot of gold.’

That rascal. I’m worried he’ll ruin the kid’s financial sense.

“Are you leaving it with your dad? Shouldn’t your dad keep it until Herrit becomes an adult?”

‘Lady Christel said I shouldn’t. She said I might not get it back later.’

‘She said there’s no interest and no guarantee of the principal. I don’t know what that means.’

……Now that I see it, the couple is a problem together.

I barely calmed my rising anger and tidied up the child’s hair.

“Uncle trusts Herrit. I’m sure you’ll save it well and use it for good things.”

“Heuheuheung.”

The little one smiled shyly and played with his small hands.

‘David said I should definitely buy feudal currency. He said it will go up a lot later. Where do I sell that?’

‘What happens if it goes up?’

Lord have mercy. I felt dizzy.

I ended up closing the book I was going to read, , and talked to the child about proper economic life.

Investment isn’t bad, but I thought Herrit, who is only ten years old, should learn about the nature of money before learning how to spend it.

After talking for a long time, I turned my head….

“Oh my, you.”

“……..”

The child was sound asleep, breathing softly.

The three lesser pandas, curled up in a circle at his feet, were also together.

I carefully took the paper and pen from Herrit’s hand, straightened his body, and covered him with the blanket up to his neck.

Finally, I turned off the lights and lay down, and Demi, who had woken up groggily, snuggled into my arms.

I was soon surrounded by a small warmth.

Then, for no particular reason, the tip of my nose tingled. Is it because it’s night?

“….If Hyung ever goes back, I’ll definitely tell you first.”

I whispered to the ceiling. I didn’t have the confidence to look at the children’s faces and say it.

“I’ll tell you everything. Without hiding anything.”

Of course, there was no response. I realized for the first time that I was such a cowardly bastard.

Difficult words came out easily because there was no one listening.

“I’ll say goodbye to everyone. I’ll apologize too. For deceiving you all this time.”

Even if I’m not forgiven, I should naturally confess the sin of deceiving them all this time.

If that opportunity comes.

If I come into contact with the Holy Disk in person, and it becomes a meaningful help to me. So, if I can go home someday.

I quietly turned my gaze.

Herrit and Demi’s small bellies were rising and falling in the darkness.

Quiet breaths lingered in the bedroom. The corners of my lips, which I had barely raised, dropped.

It’s so strange. The room is fuller than ever, but it feels like I’m alone on a deserted island.

“….Good night.”

Is spring coming?

The Saturday banquet proceeded as usual.

Duke Florian Mendy and Lady Berenice Mendy also…. Attended as planned.

But don’t be mistaken.

It wasn’t a place intended for Crown Prince Cedrick’s matchmaking!

-Clatter, clatter….

“What guarantee is there that the Secretary-General isn’t on the side of the Divine Nation?”

“None. But the actions he’s shown so far are close to neutral. I think that person is a hard worker.”

“Hmph. What does the Grand Preceptor think?”

The noise of silverware moving and the serious voices of adults echoed around the banquet hall.

Emperor Frederick, an extreme efficiency enthusiast, seemed to have judged that there was no reason to cancel the appointment if he could 1. eat a meal, 2. drink alcohol, 3. discuss state affairs, and 4. see his son’s gang.

So, he brought in Duke Mendy, one of the close great nobles, as is.

I sipped my milkshake, glancing at the adults.

It had custard apple in it, so it was sweet and cool.

When should I tell them? ‘Please send your son to the desert.’ ‘I’ll go with you too.’

“……..”

Then, I made eye contact with Lady Berenice. I saw her yesterday, so it had only been a day.

When I smiled, the young lady instantly turned as red as strawberry jam.

Coincidentally, Sir Johann, who was next to her, gave an answer to the Emperor and turned his gaze.

His gaze and Berenice’s gaze naturally intertwined.

“Ah.”

The young lady was greatly embarrassed, and she dropped her head and grabbed a napkin instead of the tableware.

She was holding it so tightly that every joint in her fingers was turning white.