What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up [EN]: Chapter 269

#269

The Road to the Wilderness (3)

“Bring him here.”

Verner met Martier Zehlstra’s gaze directly.

There was no reason why the Royal Consort of a nation should be unable to meet the gaze of a mere clergyman.

Besides, Verner was Elysee’s right-hand man.

He always strived to be a dignified and perfect father to his eldest daughter.

Children may not always grow up as their parents wish, but parents leave an indelible mark on their children’s hearts.

The Chief Attendant, sensing unease beneath his master’s smile, bowed.

“Your Highness, wouldn’t it be better to summon the knights to escort him here…?”

“There must be a reason for him to come all this way. He likely bypassed several guards at the entrance.”

“……”

“We must give him a chance to speak.”

He whispered, fluttering his folding fan.

His voice was as sweet as chocolate, but everyone knew that the more affectionate his tone, the stronger the venom it concealed.

The old servant bowed deeply and gestured to a nearby underling.

Several attendants, who had been serving colorful curaçao [a type of orange liqueur] to the nobles, hurried toward Martier.

The clergyman approached the Royal Consort’s seat as if he had been waiting.

-♬♩♪······

-Clang, clatter, clunk.

The sound of a woman’s armor and military boots cut through the beautiful melody.

His wrinkled eyes were sharp.

Undisguised antipathy emanated from his small, sturdy frame.

The Venetian nobles, who had been enjoying dancing and chatting, glanced at the head table.

Verner offered a splendid smile, as if showing off.

“Sir Zehlstra, long time no see. Did you wander into the banquet hall because you were thirsty?”

“Hahahaha!”

The nobles standing nearby burst into laughter. Some spilled their drinks while guffawing, causing a commotion.

Martier merely stared silently at the Royal Consort’s neck.

Verner didn’t stop mocking him. The intoxication that had receded was now returning.

“Perhaps he came looking for some wash water. His bald head looks like a dirty, mud-covered duck egg.”

“Wahahaha!”

“You are so mischievous!”

The nobles laughed as if the hall would collapse.

Having heard the rumors, even the guests far away were looking this way and chattering.

Verner thought it was enough and closed his fan.

The clergyman barely managed to open his lips, trembling with anger.

“……The people are starving. These two or three months are the most difficult time nationwide.”

“I am sorry, but if you have come to offer advice, please join the line. Even Count Roseharder of the Royal Court is tired of hearing such stories.”

Clack! The Royal Consort put down his fan and picked up an appelflap [a Dutch apple pastry] from a golden tray, gently breaking it.

The sweet apple and rich cinnamon scent filled the air.

He found the hypocrisy of Martier and the upper class disgustingly abhorrent.

They enjoyed the same wealth and power, yet acted as if they were morally superior, which made him feel disgusted and nauseous.

At least Verner was the same inside and out.

Moreover, the money he spent was all tax revenue collected from the royal estates.

It was none of her business how the royal family spent their legitimately obtained wealth.

No, even if the process was not legitimate, she shouldn’t have opened her mouth.

How dare she, not knowing her place.

“Is that all you have to say?”

“Did you not wish to have the title of King’s Regent returned by the Princess Royal?”

Martier said in a voice that seemed to boil.

His neck and forehead were bulging with veins.

The Royal Consort tore the crisp and soft pastry with his teeth.

The taste was ecstatic as he chewed it finely and crushed it with his tongue.

When the two people’s conversation could not be heard, the nobles quickly lost interest and chattered among themselves.

The man finally opened his brown eyes wide after finishing half of the piece.

“Ah. You are trying to criticize my political power.”

He acted as if he had forgotten. He smiled like an angel and whispered.

“You want to ask what I did as the King’s Regent while the poor beggars were starving to death, is that it?”

“That is correct.”

Her eyes were bloodshot.

The Royal Consort removed his smile like a ghost and lowered his voice.

Under the chandelier, his lavender hair shimmered ominously.

“I stamped the royal seal on the poverty relief documents you submitted.”

“……”

“I accepted your proposal to raise taxes to help the wretches, and I approved the major construction to build dikes to protect the dry land. It was I who allowed all of your hypocrisy. Yet you dare to blame me for the ignorant ones who cannot take care of themselves and die!”

Thwack! He threw the remaining appelflap at Martier’s face. The hall turned cold.

The beautiful performance stopped abruptly, and the nobles who had been loudly chattering froze like statues and turned to look at them.

Verner was sick and tired of this kind of glare and finger-pointing.

No matter how hard he tried his whole life, there was no one who would accept and acknowledge him as he was.

That’s why he killed his mother’s cat.

He thought that if he did that, she would hold him and caress him instead of that mere creature.

That’s why he tormented his father’s beloved horse.

He thought that if he did that, he would go out to the suburbs with him instead of that animal.

However, no one in his childhood looked back at the boy or pitied him. Rather, they whispered behind his back and openly avoided him.

‘The young master is said to be of the devil’s blood.’

‘Don’t even mention it, he’s so cruel. I decided to go to another house a long time ago.’

‘Miss Wilhelmina is the only one suffering. The master is busy with outside affairs.’

……The only one who pitied Verner was Verner himself.

Not even his only wife or his own children understood him.

So, it was an intolerable insult for that shabby clergyman to point him out.

He moved his hand with a surge of emotion.

“How dare you!”

-Crash, clang!

With a loud noise, the tray overturned and the crystal bottle broke.

The servants, injured by the shards, bit their tongues to hold back their cries.

Martier barely suppressed the goosebumps on his arms.

He gritted his teeth and kept his hands in place, as if he was about to find a weapon and grab it with anger and hatred. His whole body trembled, crushed by sorrow.

The family of such a person was dominating the Holy Nation. Such a human being had been replacing Cristaner His Majesty for a long time.

A distorted monster of the Lord God, made of malice and ignorance.

“The Princess Royal’s… personal letter.”

The clergyman barely managed to speak.

The sticky apple pieces and almond paste flowed down his cheek.

What came out of her sleeve was a small scroll with a platinum dragon head. That was it.

Martier did not offer a word of apology, nor did he bow before the Royal Consort.

The man, who received the letter from the attendant, narrowed his eyes.

“Where is the royal seal?”

“……”

“Since you said you would return the position of regent, my child must have sent it as well.”

“There is no royal seal.”

“What?”

The man’s voice grew louder. The middle-aged man answered bluntly.

“The Princess Royal has refused Your Highness’s request.”

‘Good heavens.’ The commotion spread from the front in order.

A ripple arose in Verner’s gaze.

The last conversation he had with his sister struck his ears like an auditory hallucination.

‘I raised my eldest child entirely with my own hands. She will never betray me.’

‘Would abandoning her father as a blood relative be the same as politically excluding him?’

That couldn’t be.

“……On what basis do you lie?”

That could not be. There was no way his perfect masterpiece, Elysee, would betray him.

Verner struggled not to be conscious of his throbbing cheek.

The nobles looked up at him and constantly murmured.

As if they had come to some exhibition, not a party.

“It is not a lie. You will know if you look at the contents of the personal letter.”

-Rustle, rustle!

The Royal Consort hurriedly unfolded the scroll.

Even so, his sharp gaze was firmly fixed on Martier.

How dare he utter such falsehoods in this place.

Even if he was the Princess Royal’s right-hand man, there was a limit to how much he could tolerate. He deserved to be executed,

‘Therefore, I, the heir to the throne, will maintain the position of King’s Regent. Based on this, I will strive to achieve meaningful diplomatic results in the neutral zone. I hope that my father will take care of his health, take care of the Second Princess, and relieve the poor who are now surviving on corn stalks and tree root porridge…’

-Rip!

Huh. He suddenly felt breathless. Verner quickly moved the scroll away from his eyes.

He clenched his fist tightly under his gown to hide his trembling hand.

However, what he had seen once could not be erased from his mind.

The satisfying reality suddenly turned into a musty, purple nightmare.

It was as if he smelled an unpleasant mold somewhere.

The smell of dirty blood.

“……This is the result of discord.”

He declared. His voice trembled slightly.

“The Princess Royal has always deeply trusted me as her father. Is there anyone in the royal capital who does not know that?”

“……”

While his brave daughter was commanding large and small battles on the border, he sat in the royal castle and ruled the country.

He even personally searched countless social venues to find a suitable son-in-law.

He had never lived a lazy day since he replaced the King.

Yet his daughter was trying to turn her back on him in this way.

Deciding arbitrarily without a word of consultation, without even seeing her father’s face.

“There is a being beside this child who is blinding her eyes and deafening her ears. She must have heard serious slander about me. Go back and tell Her Highness again.”

“The language play in the royal capital has become complicated these days, I see. Or has the meaning of slander changed?”

Martier cut off his words. ‘Such rudeness…!’ The audience was shocked at once.

The Royal Consort glared at the unbelievable impiety.

The clergyman wiped the food on his cheek with his sleeve.

“It was not slander, Your Highness. The Princess Royal had legitimate questions about Your Highness, and after consulting with her close aides, she reached a reasonable conclusion. This is her will.”

“What kind of question is it that she decides like this without even a line of discussion?”

The muscles that chewed the sentence were strained.

The pain of the slapped cheek faded into the back of his mind.

The attendant, who had been silently listening to the conversation between the two, dissuaded him.

“Your Highness. It would be better to move the rest of the conversation to another place,”

Swish! He raised his hand. It meant to shut up. The old servant retreated a step, swallowing his voice.

Even in the icy atmosphere, Martier answered firmly.

“Your Highness must already know.”

“No, I can’t even imagine it. What could the Princess Royal have questions about for a father who has only looked at his two daughters his whole life!”

“Did you not steal the letter from Emperor Frederick Liester!”

Verner’s eyes widened.

“Lord God!”

“Did you just hear that?”

The shock spread like wildfire throughout the banquet hall in an instant.

The event was no longer a party to welcome the noble host, nor an exhibition with famous works on display.

“What…?”

It was just a vulgar spectacle. Verner’s lips trembled.

“Emperor Frederick Liester is the Iron King, widely known as a pacifist. He would not ignore the Princess Royal, the King’s Regent, who sent a personal letter, and watch the border clashes escalate day by day. But there was no contact until just before the Great Festival began!”

Verner jumped up from his seat. His dilated pupils swirled madly.

“What does that have to do with me. I didn’t do anything!”

“Please stop!”

Martier cried out in pain. But Verner did not back down.

There was nowhere to retreat. He was always a child left alone on the edge of a cliff. His face flushed.

The seething injustice and resentment surged from his lower abdomen.

He had never stolen anything. He was innocent and blameless!

“Are you now slandering me, the consort of His Majesty!”

“Your Highness! Please calm down for the sake of this old man!”

The attendant desperately clung to his ankle.

Martier spoke passionately, as if he had resigned himself to death.

“Do you know what Your Highness is doing to the Holy Nation? This is no different from a diplomatic failure and a disaster! If a war breaks out because of this, how are you going to take responsibility for the countless lives that will disappear!”

“Have you ever seen such a madman…!”

“Are you trying to cause a massacre in the country because of your personal feelings for the Prince!”

“Guards! Bring in the Royal Guards, quickly!”

The Chief Attendant screamed as if in despair.

The terrified servants threw open the huge entrance and ran out.

The experienced ones led all the guests in the hall out.

Verner threw whatever he could get his hands on at Martier.

Clang! Crash! Colorful wine glasses and hot food collided haphazardly with the woman’s armor and shattered.

Still, the shame could not be washed away.

It was heartbreaking and infuriating that they were trying to frame him, who had lived his whole life looking only at someone else’s back, with such accusations, and it felt like his heart would burst.

“Are you acting like this because you trust the Princess Royal? Then I will kill you before that child comes!”

“Sir Zehlstra, excuse me!”

Urr! The Royal Guards, who had rushed in like a tide, quickly arrested Martier.

She did not resist and was dragged away.

Verner grabbed a knife with his eyes red.

Whack! At the moment he aimed at the clergyman for the last time,

“You will faint like this!”

The attendant grabbed his arm with a tearful face. Clang! The silverware rang out as if it were torn.

The Royal Consort’s long limbs also collapsed.

“Cough, cough! Cough, cough!”

“Your Highness, Your Highness…! What are you doing, call the royal physician and the healing clergyman! Quickly!”

“Yes, Chief Attendant!”

Even the few remaining workers left like a receding tide. Their faces were white.

Verner slowly raised his head with labored breathing.

The side hair, which came down long on one side, was shaking like a lamp in the wind.

The empty banquet hall came into view.

The interior was dirty with food splattered everywhere and things left behind by the guests. That was all.

He was alone again.

“……Bring Cornelise here.”

He muttered. The attendant doubted his ears.

“Yes?”

“I have to go with that child.”

“Where at this hour….”

It was late dawn. But Verner Venetian did not care.

There was no way his eldest child could escape his grasp. He had to clear up the misunderstanding right away.

Even if he had to step on burning sand barefoot.

“My daughter will leave for the wandering desert.”

Elysee was his everything.