What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up [EN]: Chapter 552

#552

Hell Dive While Holding Your Breath (2)

I have a conscience too, so on the first day, I stayed in the barracks like a dead mouse, of course.

The first person I saw when I opened my eyes was Ms. Gain.

‘Your Highness, please have some of this. The students of the Military Academy made porridge with brown sugar, rock peony [a type of flower used in traditional medicine], and seaweed. It’s been a while since they caught it, but they still have ingredients left. Here, just one bite.’

‘…Thank you.’

‘Oh my, you eat so well. Oh my, so pretty. They say it’s so good for restoring energy.’

It was after I confessed the truth about my brother and fell asleep, about three or four hours later.

The troublemakers were huddled under the bed, snoring softly.

I thought I wouldn’t have any energy left since I had a bad fever, but surprisingly, my body felt light.

My head was clear, and my heart was lighter too. Maybe it was because I had revealed the biggest secret I could ever hold in my life.

I could have eaten the porridge by myself, but that day, I wanted to do everything Ms. Gain wanted.

Actually, I was always on her side. The porridge was savory and really delicious.

‘I should make some kimchi [Korean fermented cabbage] when the northern rebellion is suppressed. When I saw the head chef of the Military Academy working the other day, there was something similar to cabbage. Please let it be cabbage.’

‘Hahaha.’

‘I’m not kidding. It seems like there’s quite a bit of garlic, so if I can get some spicy peppers from somewhere, it would be perfect… Or I’ll make water kimchi [a type of kimchi with a watery broth]. I’m dying to eat kimchi.’

‘Did you cook often, Ms. Gain?’

‘I live alone, so I end up doing this and that. Delivery food is only once or twice, and the delivery fee is so expensive. If I get tired of eating frozen fried rice and frozen lunch boxes, I end up cooking.’

‘Kimchi too?’

‘Kimchi too, little by little. Kimchi from stores is delicious, but it’s expensive.’

‘That’s true.’

Ms. Gain was, as always, a strong and kind person.

She didn’t bring up or my brother at all until I spoke first.

She didn’t talk about Cedric, who had left the barracks.

I was so grateful and affectionate that I wanted to be by Ms. Gain’s side forever.

A star-like person to me.

‘Actually, you should eat this kind of porridge with pickled vegetables and salted baby octopus.’

‘You really know how to eat.’

‘Right? I’m a little sad because I don’t know how to make salted seafood.’

…I know it well too.

That my brother secretly wrote a novel and it magically became reality is not my fault or intention.

I guarantee that my brother had no fault or intention either.

Because Jung Hyun-seo, whom I know, is not that kind of person.

My brother was a young breadwinner who devoted his whole life to preventing his precious siblings from getting hurt.

Even though he was very young himself.

‘How are things outside? What about the people buried in the Francisca Guild Hall?’

‘Francisca is getting better little by little with the help of her grandfather. Fortunately, she eats and sleeps. But… It seems difficult to wash away the wounds related to her mother. The Guild Hall rescue operation will end this evening. So far, nearly 90% of the people who have been found are dead, and it seems like our troops would be in danger if we went any deeper. His Highness the Crown Prince has ordered a withdrawal.’

‘…I see.’

But that doesn’t mean that the wounds my friends received could be false.

There was a huge difference between the proposition that ‘this place is set in a novel’ and the proposition that ‘my brother wrote that novel.’

If I were them, I would have felt betrayed without realizing it.

Of course, if someone looked into our situation, some of them would point this out.

‘Why is that?’

…Why is that.

‘Jung Ye-seo, you didn’t know, so you’re innocent, right?’

‘Rather, it seems like you’re in an unfair position.’

‘Is it a collective punishment to blame you for what your brother wrote?’

‘Why do you have to be sorry when it’s not your fault?’

‘Is it even worth crying about?’

If you think about it with cold reason, it was all right.

However, as my mom once said, human relationships are very complicated and subtle.

Our emotions were intertwined like a giant sweater knitted with just our own yarn.

I know in my head that I don’t have to be sorry, but people’s hearts don’t flow that way.

Likewise, Ms. Gain knew that all of this was not my fault.

But she probably wouldn’t think well of my brother. So it wouldn’t be easy to see my face yet. Nevertheless, she came to me.

And Cedric…

‘How is His Highness the Crown Prince?’

‘…Cough.’

Ms. Gain, who was eating a few spoonfuls of my porridge, opened her eyes wide and patted her chest.

I was surprised and patted her back.

But our princess didn’t stop punching.

‘-Knock, knock!’

‘Cough! Oh, don’t even mention it. He won’t even look at my face. I’m so frustrated with him, really.’

‘Yes?’

‘He says he’s going to live without Your Highness from now on. He’s going to erase you from his life altogether. He talked using some complicated and difficult Chinese characters, but to sum it up, that’s what he said. Isn’t he ridiculous?’

‘…’

‘I think I’d be more mature than His Highness even if I had a son and raised him right now. Seriously.’

Ms. Gain seemed to get angry just thinking about it, so she cleaned up the rock peony porridge and picked up the jerky and cheese next to the bed.

I was just breathing quietly, watching her puff up her cheeks like always.

A pair of beautiful suns floated around in my head and then disappeared like soap bubbles.

My voice came out a long time later.

‘…Actually, I was a little bothered that the names of the divine objects were all difficult Chinese characters.’

‘Why? Ah. Because your brother is a martial arts writer.’

‘Yes. He’s a human who knows all sorts of unheard-of words.’

‘Come to think of it, there were hints here and there? That’s amazing.’

Her expression when she said that was like she was dealing with someone else’s business, so I laughed for a moment.

Well, it was like that from the beginning.

This world has always been kind to me, and although the method may not have been kind, it has mostly solved my questions faithfully.

I didn’t know it at the time, but when I think about it now, it was like that.

For example, when Stubborn transformed into Christel, the Crown Prince, and Benjamin and showed Eun-seo’s chair… It was a blatant metaphor for ‘protagonist,’ ‘writer,’ and ‘reader.’

‘Anyway, Your Highness, I’m glad you seem to be doing better than I thought.’

‘Is that so?’

‘Yes. I know you’re a strong person, but it wouldn’t have been easy for you to say those things given your personality. You even cried.’

‘…’

‘Don’t feel unnecessary guilt. I know you’ll feel it even if I say this, but really, don’t.’

‘Let’s just live hard together.’ Ms. Gain said that last.

She was a very busy commander here, so it was difficult for her to give me a lot of time.

But I sat on the bed alone for a long time, chewing over her words.

Let’s just live hard together.

My heart tingled at that sentence for hours.

‘-Fluttering!’

‘I’m going to read this book seriously from now on.’

So, from the next day, I went around ‘anywhere Cedric Riester wasn’t.’

The first target was naturally Sir Johann’s tent.

If you ask why it’s natural, 1. Well, Father Herritt is an adult with more life experience than me, and 2. He’s a true mentor who generally accepts whatever nonsense I say.

‘…You’re not going to vomit again, are you?’

His roommate, Francois, said in a worried voice.

The magician was busy researching traces of black magic in the conference hall, but he was writing letters to his younger siblings in between.

Demi, who came with him, was hanging on his back, engrossed in mountain climbing.

I declared, opening wide.

‘That won’t happen again. It seems that my brother is the author of Toegye [a pen name or literary pseudonym], so from now on, I need to find out exactly what that has to do with Benjamin. And today, I’m going to write a separate letter to Benjamin.’

‘That’s a great plan.’

‘I’m sorry, but could you tell me the title of the novel again?’

Francois’ expression when he asked that was so serious that I felt embarrassed for a moment.

‘….’

‘I quit the company…?’

‘That means I became a princess in another world. Christel is the main character.’

‘Oh. That’s quite intuitive.’

‘…Ahem.’

Why was I so embarrassed? It’s not a bad meaning, and it’s not a novel I wrote.

Maybe it was because I told Francois everything so suddenly.

‘-Flap, flap, flap!’

‘Oh my… Look at this, Sir Johann. Even the table of contents here is unusual.’

But the inexplicable shame was soon forgotten.

I was speechless from the beginning of .

This doesn’t seem to be just a figurative expression.

‘Did you know this book was about this?’

‘No. I also received a copy as a gift, but I haven’t read it. Herritt seemed to be impressed…’

‘What did he write in his book report?’

Francois asked quickly. Father Herritt seemed a little embarrassed for some reason.

‘Well. I don’t tell my child to write things like that.’

‘…Good Lord, Sir Johann Haynes. Excuse me, but I think I should say something as the child’s prospective godfather.’

Of course, ‘a word’ was a blatant—perhaps light pink—lie, and Francois preached for nearly 50 minutes about how beneficial it is for children in their early teens to practice organizing their thoughts after reading.

I saw Sir Johann say ‘I was wrong’ with his own pure will for the first time.

In the end, I couldn’t get any decisive help from the two of them.

‘Table of Contents’

‘Chapter 1: Second Life’

…But I had a vague idea of Benjamin’s identity on my own.

Really vaguely.

When the next day dawned again, I was in pretty good shape.

Of course, it was far from being perfectly happy or not feeling depressed when I thought of anyone.

But I was able to go around busily and fulfill my duties.

If I did that, Mr. Mo’s face wouldn’t come to mind, so my breathing became a little easier.

When I was working for everyone, my dizzy mind calmed down.

Yes. It’s been a long time since I graduated from school, but it doesn’t make sense to enjoy everything and just play around in a time of war.

I couldn’t lie down for days after being sick for a day.

Adults should act like adults.

I may not be more adult-like than ‘real’ adults, but I have to try.

‘-Fluttering!’

‘Excuse me. If you allow me, I’ll take over from here.’

‘Oh my, Your Highness!’

‘I see Princess Juliette.’

‘Oh my. I see the moon of the great empire.’

So, I actively jumped into the work of interrogating the surviving personnel of the conference hall.

Because there is no one stronger than me among the naval priests.

In other words, it was most efficient to entrust me with the task of digging into the minds of ordinary people and finding out the truth.

My teacher said that I am one of the most powerful among the archbishops.

‘…You’re really amazing, Your Highness! You opened the mouth of that guy in just a few tens of minutes…’

‘As expected, the Crown Prince’s partner is different!’

‘Hey, come on!’

‘Shh!’

‘…It’s okay. Thank you for the compliment.’

Fortunately, there were meaningful gains there as well.

I collected additional information on the in vivo [within a living organism] experiments that Baron Atsuma conducted underground.

There wasn’t anything very decisive, but it wasn’t bad to use as evidence of the crime.

I asked the other priests to document it and send it to the Crown Prince.

‘…Yes?’

‘Ah…’

Then, the audience showed a truly subtle reaction.

They poked each other in the side and glanced at each other. I had a strange feeling.

‘That is… Merciful Princess.’

‘Yes. Is there a problem?’

‘Well, as you know, the document submitted to His Highness the Crown Prince must include the signature of the priest who conducted the interrogation… For future proof.’

‘I know.’

‘Yes, yes. Of course, you will know. But then there’s a slight problem…’

I learned on the spot that the Crown Prince had completely suspended my official duties and ordered the entire army not to receive any reports from me.

So the reason I was able to run around and work until now was all thanks to everyone ‘overlooking’ me.

No wonder the healing priests at the relief center gave me a pitiful look every time they saw me.

They even put snacks in my hand and wrapped two blankets around me because I was cold.

‘…’

‘Ugh…’

Everyone in the room was struggling to figure out my mood.

‘I’m sorry, Your Highness. I should have told you when you first came in…’

‘The aura of the noble is truly sacred and the ether is also brilliant, so we can’t dare to bow our heads…’

‘…It’s okay. Then please put your signatures in without me.’

I barely managed to fix my expression and quickly left the barracks.

I didn’t know where or how to relieve the rising anger.

That’s how a new sun (that damn sun) rose once again.

Last night, I meditated for the first time in a long time and played Gonggi [a Korean game played with small stones] with Ms. Gain.

I fell asleep before 11 o’clock and woke up around 7 o’clock without feeling tired.

In short, my condition was not bad.

It was really an unpleasant experience, but—I could forget it if I tried.

“…”

Let’s work hard today too. I can obviously be helpful, so I shouldn’t waste my abilities.

-Pitter-patter, pitter-patter…

“Gasp, Her Highness is going there.”

“Oh my. Look how dark her face is. As expected, His Highness the Crown Prince…”

I heard someone whispering not far away, but I tried to ignore it.

I wasn’t the type to care about things like that in the first place. I had a lot to do from the morning.

Above all, I had twenty-two confession appointments with naval soldiers…

“Did you hear? His Highness the Crown Prince is looking for Agate!”

Suddenly, that side became noisy. I stubbornly pretended not to hear.

“Agate? Why her?”

“Why else, he’s trying to receive ether [magical energy]! It’s well known that she has the clearest energy among us.”

“Hey, no way!”

“What with Her Highness glaring at us with her eyes wide open—”

…Ah, I can’t stand it anymore!

“Excuse me, I’m just passing by!”

“Heok!”

“Princess Yeseo!”

I scattered the priests who were gathered in groups of six or seven in this situation, turned around and strode towards the Crown Prince’s barracks.

I saw the divine beasts running towards me in a hurry when they found me in the distance.

The guards, who were terrified, waved their arms like scarecrows to block me.

“Yo, Your Highness—”

“Please move when I tell you to.”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

What Your Majesty!

-Flapping!

“Your Highness! Let’s talk!”