What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up [EN]: Chapter 464

The Soul’s Rest (3)

“Huh?”

“Seriously, Eva…?”

“Well, would it be a fake Eva, then?”

‘Hmph!’ Little Duchess Blanquer sniffed, tilting her nose up.

Her ramen-noodle-like curly red hair and bright, dark brown eyes were just as I remembered, the same as the girl I knew and cherished.

However, unlike her usual extravagant dresses, today she was dressed in a neat clerical robe.

The child strode into the living room and gave a flawless, elegant bow to the Crown Prince.

I was dumbfounded, my mouth agape, blinking my eyes. It didn’t feel real at all.

This isn’t even the border region, so how did Eva get all the way here…?

Isn’t it too dangerous?

“Eva! What brings you here? How did you get here!”

“Lord Rombue!”

Gaine rushed to hug the child, and Eva snuggled into her arms as if she had been waiting for it.

‘I missed you so much!’ ‘Me too!’ For a while, only the clear laughter of the two filled the room.

Lord Johann and Bakari also rose from their seats to greet the guest.

In particular, Father Herrit seemed subtly pleased to see the little duchess.

As I continued to chuckle and space out, Bishop Blaise Bon put his hands together and kindly explained.

“We have left the Empire as part of the Liesteur Victory Prayer Assembly.”

“‘Victory Prayer Assembly’…?”

At those words, something flashed through my mind.

I knew I shouldn’t be doing this, but I couldn’t help but smile with delight.

Wow, this is a setting that appeared in Toegye Gong! [Toegye Gong is likely a reference to a specific work or author within the story’s world.]

How long has it been since I found a surviving fragment of the original work?

“Yes. In the meantime, His Eminence Cardinal Aurelius Boutier has been publicly encouraging bishops from all over the country to come together.”

“Ahem, I see.”

Of course, I didn’t know this backstory.

“Although the name is a simple prayer meeting, in reality, most of them are healing priests. They mainly heal the souls of soldiers and share various sacramental duties to reduce the burden on the medical corps. It hasn’t been long since they came to the battlefield.”

“Wow…”

I see.

In the novel, it was a group mentioned in passing, so I thought it was just a simple prayer meeting, but now it seemed to be a team that helps soldiers with stability and rest.

Eva, who had been squeezing Lord Johann’s tied-up hair, quickly turned to me and raised her head. Hup!

“You’ve worked so hard to serve in the military far away, Eva. I heard you were busy doing great things in the Imperial Capital, but I didn’t expect you to come all the way here.”

I said quickly. Eva wasn’t even a healing priest, so it was an even more special case.

Then, prickly cactus thorns appeared at the end of her beautiful eyes.

“Do you know who I came for?”

“Yes…?”

I was momentarily flustered by the sharp question.

I rolled my eyes around and looked at my friends.

I could see Bakari sighing silently.

Who is it? Is it her mother, Duchess Cecile Blanquer? Or her cousin, the Crown Prince?

Or maybe Lord Johann, who is secretly close to her? Or is it Gaine, the idol of everyone…?

“Ah, you wanted to see your precious darlings!”

“Master is a dimwit!”

“Ugh!”

Whack! Eva mercilessly stepped on my instep.

‘Kihang!’ The divine creatures dangling from the girl’s clerical robe were very happy.

I quickly sat down and covered my foot, and Gaine collapsed on the sofa and started laughing.

Cedric gave me a look as if he was looking at the most foolish person in the world.

Hey, if you know who it is, give me a hint! You’re always like that!

“Do you know how many marriage proposals I’m receiving from all over the country these days? What do you think is the reason I turned them all down and came all the way to the front lines?”

“Uh…”

My heart sank at the word ‘marriage proposal.’ I quickly looked up at Lord Johann.

But he had a look of not knowing what was going on.

No, why don’t you know! Your son (teen version) has been the center of Eva’s attention, hasn’t he?!

“Where are you looking with that blank look!”

-Slap

“Ouch, I missed you too!”

I cried out in a heartfelt voice after being hit on the back of the hand with a fan.

Then, a haughty snort returned as an answer.

The little duchess, who had received a de facto declaration of surrender, finally forgave me and headed to the sofa with Lord Johann’s escort.

She didn’t look very satisfied, but I seemed to have overcome one crisis anyway. Whew!

“Hahaha, you have a very good friendship.”

“Is that so?”

I got up and smiled bitterly.

This was my second meeting with the bishop, so it wasn’t like I needed to make a good first impression, but it was very embarrassing to show this side of myself.

The middle-aged man calmly waved to the divine creatures who were showing interest in him.

Then, he continued in a calm manner.

“Yes. Also, the deeper and more intimate the relationship with those around you, the better the prognosis for soul healing.”

Ah…

“Your appearance has changed since I saw you last time, Marquis.”

“Oh, that’s right.”

“But the important thing is that there is one unchanging soul, they say.”

The bishop, who looked up at me, spoke like a flowing river.

Suddenly, I remembered the words he had given me after finishing the funerals of Granny Pom and Henriette.

‘I will ring the bell to soothe the soul. That is the last step in the ritual.’

“You don’t have to be too afraid. I didn’t come here to dig into the Marquis’s inner thoughts. If I did, it would be an interrogation, not healing.”

It was a kind and unpretentious voice, not at all fabricated.

The corners of his gently smiling eyes were lined with the trails of time.

“Feel free to say anything, and feel free to hide anything. It’s okay to do so.”

“…Yes. Thank you.”

Only then did I feel a little relieved.

I also thought that I could ask the bishop about the recent situation in Serenité Territory later.

Now, Eva was unpacking a large luggage that she had brought from the Empire—of course, Ganael was carrying it—on the table.

The young page kept exclaiming and shining his eyes.

Seeing Gaine, who was as excited as a child meeting a peddler, and the Crown Prince, who was watching the bag as if he wasn’t interested, made me sigh.

I was aimlessly rubbing Ttuksimi’s belly when I suddenly met Bakari’s eyes.

“…”

“…”
Hmm? He looks very determined for some reason.

*

-Clack!

“You mean you didn’t know Bishop Blaise Bon?”

-Awoo?

Wow, I’m getting scolded again. Even Tete said something!

“He is definitely one of the best in the Empire in the field of soul healing. Even His Eminence Boutier, the best healing priest in Liesteur, would acknowledge him. I am not a healer, but I have heard of his reputation since I was a subdeacon!”

“You flatter me.”

Eva, her cheeks flushed, put down her cafe au lait cup and spoke eloquently, and Bishop Blaise answered modestly.

I was embarrassed, so I just nodded diligently (or drank Anis milk).

Considering that the bishop oversees my territory, the Diocese of Serenité, it was very embarrassing that I didn’t know much about him.

Looking back, I definitely seemed to have received related documents from Chantal or Benjamin.

I probably read them once or twice.

But every time I went to Serenité, a huge incident happened.

It sounds like an excuse, but it really did.

Meeting the Joan siblings from the fallen Aska barony also happened when I first visited the territory, and the next time I went, I tried to catch Madame Victoire and learned about the story of Granny Pom and Henriette.

While inspecting the territory, I often heard that the bishop was a wonderful person….

“I still lack learning. I’m sorry.”

Ugh. It was true that I was still ignorant here.

The Crown Prince also frowned slightly as he looked at me.

François, my only marquis comrade—who had suddenly appeared from somewhere after hearing the news of Eva’s arrival—sent me an encouraging smile from the opposite sofa. Thank you.

“Not at all, Marquis. I am not such a great person. The Little Duchess is merciful.”

“Oh, come on. Bishop.”

“There is nothing strange about a busy person not knowing about me.”

Bishop Blaise said, tilting the teapot into Bakari’s glass.

So our topic quickly changed to something else.

“Eva, I haven’t seen that hairpin you’re wearing. It’s so cute. It suits you so well!”

-Bee boo!

“Everyone says that. I honestly don’t know, but Herrit suddenly ran over and gave it to me….”

The bishop said that today was enough to be ‘a time to get to know each other.’

The middle-aged man never opened a healing circle or asked personal questions in front of us.

He just seemed to be carefully observing how we treated each other, what words and actions we used, and how we spent our time.

I’m sure he was also carefully watching the activities of the divine creatures.

I chewed on the Laurence-brand jerky that Eva had brought—it’s really delicious. It’s on a different level than the military’s!—and recalled what I had studied.

“Hmm….”

So, a ‘healing priest’ is different from a regular priest.

To become a healing priest, you must be able to open not only a normal ether circle but also a blue circle with a certain level of healing power.

This is ultimately an area of ​​painstaking effort or talent, and this is the well-known ‘healing circle.’

Since I am a human being who specializes 100% in ether, I was fortunately able to open a healing circle without difficulty after manifesting my power once.

However, just because you can open a special circle doesn’t mean that everyone becomes a respected healing priest.

Compared to those people, I was closer to a regular person who could perform first aid.

This was even more true since it hadn’t been long since I had seriously learned the circle.

There are many different types of healing circles in the world.

And with the exception of a few basic circles (like the ‘tranquility’ circle), most circles have been personally developed by numerous priests and left in history.

“Did you meet the spirit on the way? I think you and the Little Duchess would get along very well.”

“How did you know that my personality and the spirit’s personality match well? Lord Haines, are you being sarcastic?”

“Ahahaha! You two are doing this again, you get along so well!”

That’s right. ‘Development.’

To compare them to doctors on Earth, the highest-ranking healing priests were geniuses of the century who created surgical methods or new diagnostic methods that did not exist before, that is, psychics.

I heard that the name of the priest who first invented it is sometimes attached to incredibly difficult circles.

But the most common case was still a circle with a ‘starting word.’

Like, ‘With the tears of the Lord, I will collect your blood.’

All such starting words can be seen as a result of the writing sense of the person who invented them.

“Master went in wearing color-changing glasses?”

“Yes, I had no choice because the color of his eyes changes when he uses his power. But in the end, he lost one of the lenses….”

“Good Lord!”

Eva looked back at me in surprise.

I wanted to say something, but I was barely holding back after hearing that the big incident had been resolved.

François put his hand on his chest, then pretended to wipe his eyes with a handkerchief and cry.

I hurriedly peeled the tangerines in front of me and piled them on the Crown Prince’s plate.

I can’t get scolded again in front of a precious guest!

“Please eat a lot. This is… well, they say it’s a good fruit for the Crown Prince.”

“…”

He sent me a look that said, ‘What nonsense are you talking about?’ but I tried to ignore it.

Next to me, the bishop and Lord Johann quietly cleared their throats.

Gaine, who had grasped the situation, also raised her voice and laughed.

“What’s good for His Highness the Crown Prince, Master? Does fire come out when you eat tangerines?”

“Oh my, Lord Rombue!”

-Kihou!

In the end, even Eva covered her mouth with both hands and laughed.

Demi, who was eating tangerines from my lap, lay down on her back, and Ganael lay down on the table in the same position as his fiancé and began to sob.

I quickly bit my lip. For some reason, I felt like I would laugh at that sight too.

“Hahahaha.”

Eventually, a sound leaked out.

It was a long-awaited rest. Really.