What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up [EN]: Chapter 664

Sub Male Lead on Strike-Episode 664

664

Wartime Prohibited Person (12)

“Welcome, Sant.”

“Your Grace, I’m here too!”

“Sir Christel.”

And Sant wasn’t alone!

The knight who escorted him at this late hour was none other than Gane, and I finally managed a bright smile.

The serious atmosphere in the cabin lightened, if only for a moment.

‘Squeak.’ Demi and Perry, awakened from their sleep, groggily crawled onto Sant’s lap.

Kind Ganael came in to refresh the tea for our two guests, and I handed Gane a warm blanket that had been placed by the fireplace.

Jibril Diop looked back and forth between us, letting out a hollow sigh.

Does he have so many futile moments in his life?

“Didn’t the Crown Prince come with you? Thank you, Ganael.”

I asked, putting on the cardigan the young page had brought.

The boy smiled brightly, saying, “You’re welcome.”

This item had been stored in the temporary military camp of the Northern Guild Council in the Shin-guk [a region or country], and I heard that Marquis Sise, stationed in the Barun Territory, had kindly sent it along with other materials.

It was a cherished garment that Eunseo had bought for me as a promotion gift with her allowance.

Fortunately, it was enchanted with preservation magic, so it hadn’t worn out much.

After washing and drying, it looked as good as new.

“He’s received all the urgent reports, so he could come if he wanted to, but he doesn’t seem confident in managing his expression. He’ll be catching up on his military duties today,” he said.

“Managing his expression?”

I tilted my head, pausing as I stirred my teacup with Ganael.

Then, Gane playfully poked my shoulder, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

“Come on, Your Highness is one of the highest-ranking commanders. By now, he must know all of His Majesty’s plans, but he can’t hide it properly in front of you.”

“…Really? I didn’t think he was that expressive, since he’s usually so taciturn.”

“He may not say much, but he gives it all away with his demeanor. As soon as you offer a good idea, his face brightens and darkens in real-time. And the Aether too. He can’t tell you the answer because of his position, but he’s happy when his friend gets it right.”

“Hahaha.”

Now that I thought about it, he was a guy whose expressions were easy to read.

Cedric was a member of the Imperial Family who responded coolly to most situations, but after getting closer to him, it wasn’t too difficult to read his emotions from the fiery gaze or the shadows cast on his jade-like forehead.

Then I can skip tonight and meet him tomorrow to talk.

I handed warm teacups to Gane and Sant and received a leather pouch from the full-robed priest.

I naturally assumed it was his luggage, but an explanation followed that it was mine. I blinked in surprise.

“Mine? I don’t think I have any gifts to receive from Sant…”

“Hehe. These are letters from friends to you and your companions. There are letters from the Imperial City, letters from the southern part of the Empire, and letters from places like Yeriho and Trossart. I stopped by various garrisons along the way to get them myself.”

“Oh my goodness, Sant. Thank you so much!”

I smiled brightly and sat across from him.

I wondered why Sant had come to see me at this hour, but it seemed he thought he wouldn’t have another chance to show me this if not today.

Even though the journey across the continent by portal and carriage wouldn’t have been easy—now that Dduk-sim had an owner, he couldn’t carry devout lives on the ark—he had collected letters from friends in various places and brought them to me!

A wave of emotion washed over me, and I felt tears welling up.

“I sincerely thank you.”

“It was nothing, Your Grace. I was able to rest at the garrisons for a few days on the way.”

“Still.”

“That’s right, still. Our Sant is a really cool and kind person.”

“Hahahahaha…”

It sounds easy, but how hard must it have been?

The very thought that he brought the letters for us was so lovely and heartwarming.

Sant scratched his reddened cheeks, looking embarrassed.

I raised the corners of my mouth until my cheekbones felt numb and opened the pouch.

Seeing the crumpled envelopes stuck together made my heart swell.

“Hey, wait a minute.”

But Diop interrupted.

“Yes?”

“Weren’t we doing something very important until just now? You and I.”

“It’s break time. Sit over there and have a cup of tea.”

“Huh.”

When I retorted, the wizard looked dumbfounded again.

He pulled out a chair and sat by the window.

Gane, who had been staring at the man, leaned toward me and whispered.

“Your Grace, why is that thug here? He doesn’t have to be stuck to you all the time as a bodyguard.”

“I was thinking the same thing, but it seems he has to be. It seems his master ordered him to.”

“Ugh. That must be suffocating. Why don’t you just come to our barracks? My mother would love it.”

“I can hear everything, so keep it down.”

“Whatever. What important work were you doing with that guy?”

Gane asked primly, without changing her expression.

Sant was happily feeding Aether to Leah, who had come to him last.

I tried hard to stifle a giggle and whispered back.

“The very thing you pointed out a little while ago. I was trying to solve the task His Majesty gave me.”

“So, did you get the answer?”

“I think I’m halfway there, but it’s not accurate yet.”

I replied diligently and opened the first envelope.

The sender was our honorable and intelligent Duchess Eva Blanquer.

Just seeing the name written on the outer envelope made me feel so nostalgic that it was difficult.

I briefly considered whether to open them all at once later, but I decided to read them little by little starting today.

Because I don’t know when I’ll have time again.

-Rustle, rustle…

Gane’s forehead, which was touching mine, was pleasantly cool.

Under the soft light of the cabin, the neatly written letters came into view.

‘A letter to Her Grace Juliette, Duchess of Serenite, and Archbishop Yesuh.’

“…”

That’s what the letter began with.

The child who had difficulty writing even a single letter to her mother and relied on Gane’s help had grown up to be a dignified heir to the Duchy.

The fact that she had grown so much and was so proud made my lips twitch.

It took a long time to get to the next line.

Gane stroked the edge of the paper with an admiring look.

“Our Eva has grown up so much. I guess she practiced her cursive a lot.”

“Yes. Now she’s the Duchess leading the household instead of her mother.”

“You don’t know how mature she is. These days, the most famous head of household in the Imperial City is said to be Duchess Blanquer! She attends social events to raise military funds once or twice a week and holds a weekly debate at Salon de Victoire [a gathering for intellectual discussion]. She even participated in the selection process for Herrit’s tutor despite her busy schedule. She said she’s never been intimidated at the Magic Tower, even without a single priest…” She bragged herself.”

“I’m so proud of her, really. I have to give her five hundred kisses when I get back.”

Sant explained happily, and Gane muttered with a determined look.

I carefully read Eva’s letter, which asked about our well-being, line by line.

The daily life of a girl during wartime gave a special resonance more than ever.

In the meantime, Eva said that she was now able to perfectly control the divine artifact, ‘The Divine Bow of Trees.’

Four families had formally proposed marriage to her, but she had rejected them all and even added a cute complaint that she had no intention of getting married yet.

She also said that she thought of us whenever she ate delicious food or saw pretty flowerpots.

Around that time, Gane looked up at the ceiling, saying, ‘Oh, something got in my eye.’

I had similar sentiments.

Next, I read the letter from Sir Ervé Duhem—he asked if I was exercising regularly—and the letter written by Duke and Duchess Fabrice Berang.

The two even composed a prayer for us at the end, which I was so grateful for that I thought I should definitely show it to Cedric.

Besides that, there were letters from Sir Michel Moutet and the Duhem sisters, Chantal, Berenice, Agnès, Joan from the Serenite estate, and…

“Oh, this is a letter from Princess Marguerite Diop to her brother.”

“What?”

The Duke, who had jumped up from his seat, snatched the envelope from my hand.

Gane glared at him as if to kill him, but I didn’t really feel anything, so I just shrugged.

It was true that I felt strange watching the man scan the paper with a more serious face than ever.

Sant explained with a troubled look.

“Well, Princess Marguerite is staying in Yeriho. Since it’s the largest garrison, there are many priests of the Victory Prayer Society who help heal the soldiers.”

“How did the Princess seem?”

I asked casually. The priest rubbed the back of his neck with his palm.

“Well, I don’t have a special connection with her… but she seemed to take walks often, and I also saw her teaching swordsmanship and letters to children abandoned in the war.”

“…”

I glanced at Diop.

He stared at Sant silently, then sat back down with a strangely weakened gait.

Well, that’s a relief.

“Here’s one from Neili and Toby of the Bethani apothecary! I must pass this on to Sir Johann.”

“Yes.”

Sir Johann would surely be happy to receive a surprise letter from his old friends.

I felt like I had received an unexpected gift, and my mood was getting better and better.

After that, I read the letters from Kuhn and Hino of Honing Village, Mr. Noe of the black market, and Kina and Willem without stopping.

The crooked, clumsy letters were so lovely that I traced them with my eyes over and over again.

‘Dear Lord Yesuh, hello. This is Kina and Willem. It’s our first time writing a letter, so it’s awkward. Please look kindly on any misspelled words!’

‘The soldier sisters in Yeriho are all kind. The uncles are nice too. They give us so much food that we’re sometimes too full. But it’s really delicious.’

‘They play with us and teach us difficult numbers, how to read maps, and how to use swords.’

‘How is Bal-top doing?’

‘Hiding and seeking with my brother and Bal-top in the black market was the most fun, but now there’s much more fun things than that. There are almost no caves here, but that’s why it’s very, very bright. The sunlight is very pretty.’

“The kids seem to be doing well, Your Grace. That’s really good.”

“Yes. I’m relieved that they seem healthy…”

Wait a minute.

I slowly hardened my expression, which had been beaming.

Several words that Kina seemed to have written were particularly striking.

‘Black market.’

‘Hide and seek.’

That…

“…Christel.”

“Yes?”

“The Yeriho black market, you said there was definitely more than one entrance, right?”

“Uh, yes. I think so. One of them was under the ‘Unforgiven Liquor’ tavern. The place we went into.”

“Duke.”

I immediately looked at Diop.

He also seemed to have noticed something, as he slowly frowned.

“What, could it be…”

“The hidden terrain inside the Heavenly Path, maybe it’s not just a simple cave.”

My mind raced.

As I began to mutter to myself like crazy, Gane watched me with sparkling eyes.

“Like that black market, if there are multiple entrances, hidden deep underground as we expected, and wide open in all directions like the space where the spirit’s power was taken away? Then there must be several connecting paths. Enough for the Shin-guk army to control the Imperial army and play ‘hide and seek’ as they please…”

“Damn it.”

“The underground of the Heavenly Path connects to various parts of the Shin-guk.”

Good heavens. I turned to Sant with a blank, empty face.

The priest was still blinking his calf-like eyes, not understanding.

But for some reason, I could be sure.

That was it. The reason His Majesty called Sant, a non-combatant, all the way here.

“…And perhaps, one of them leads to the Roséharder County.”

A key figure from an enemy country whose entry and exit are prohibited during wartime. ‘Wartime Prohibited Person.’

That was the same for Sant.