What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up [EN]: Chapter 105

#105 Operation Verona (1)

“Seclusion? Why…?”

“Your Highness!”

Just then, Ganael appeared from down the hallway.

The boy’s golden eyes sparkled as soon as he spotted me, and he hurried over.

He was carrying snacks, so it seemed he had been planning to visit my bedroom.

“Ganael, are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?”

“Yes! I only fell asleep and woke up.”

The child smiled, saying, ‘I’m just glad that Your Highness woke up early.’

I was relieved that he didn’t seem to have any aftereffects, but because of the disturbing news I had just heard from Benjamin, it was hard to smile back at him.

Perhaps sensing my unease, Ganael looked back and forth between Benjamin and me.

“Are you very hungry? Shall I tell them to prepare a meal right away?”

“Let’s go inside and talk first, Your Highness.”

Benjamin led Ganael and me into the bedroom.

I stepped through the door he opened, glancing back.
The Juliette Palace staff were still dabbing at their tears, looking at me as if I were the protagonist of some tragedy.

*

We sat around the balcony table, bathed in the summer sunset.
We decided to have a simple dinner with viennoiseries [French pastries] that Ganael had brought.
No matter how troubled I was, there was nothing I could do on an empty stomach.

I devoured two pieces each of pain au lait [sweet milk bread], pain au chocolat [chocolate croissant], and pain aux raisins [raisin pastry].
They were all warm and delicious, as Laurence from the kitchen had just baked them.
Moving my mouth and consuming sugar seemed to clear my head.
The Korean chrysanthemum tea, brewed in the bedroom teapot, was savory and slightly bitter, a perfect match.

“Although His Majesty has not directly announced it, the seclusion is probably for protective purposes,” Benjamin said discreetly from across the table. I met his gaze.

It was an extreme measure, but it seemed plausible considering the Emperor’s temperament.

“The matter of Lord Johann Haynes… is currently known only to a very few involved. In the Imperial Palace and the Dhiem Marquisate, it is being called the ‘Suburban Monster Appearance Incident.’ Because it was an accident that occurred on the outskirts and there were no casualties, it is not a major topic in the capital.”

According to his explanation, the incident had been disguised as a giant monster appearing on a forest path and attacking the Imperial carriage and guards.
The general public, including the Juliette Palace staff, knew the following:

‘During the process of killing the monster, His Highness the Prince, Viscount Mute, Lady Sarnese, and Prince Yeser were active. Also, the Prince was promoted to Archbishop.’

“…They had no choice but to cover it up,” I said.

Lord Haynes was an Archbishop recognized by the Papal State, so it wasn’t just the Imperial Family’s shame that they didn’t know he was a Cardinal.

However, the fact that he revealed the power of a Cardinal in the Empire’s territory, and even tried to kill me, was a serious problem.

Moreover, this was already the second assassination attempt.

“That’s right. If it becomes known that such a threat was made against Your Highness, the situation will spiral out of control. Natalie of the Imperial Palace says that Duke Blanquer, who was in the capital, received an imperial order last night and hurriedly returned to his territory.”

“Could it be.”

“Yes. It is to strengthen the defenses on the eastern border.”

I swallowed hard. It felt like the Emperor’s wrath was reaching even here.

She must have realized that Werner, the State Secretary, was behind this incident.

There was no reason for the Emperor to tolerate him committing such outrageous acts in his land.

Rather, it wouldn’t be strange to take this as a provocation from the Divine Nation.

I recalled the fact that the twin assassins had been charged with ‘attempted murder of a member of the Imperial Family.’

Damn it, is this really going to cause a war because of me? How was the incident resolved back then?

I couldn’t quite remember. I would have to search the articles again.

“Could this lead to armed conflict?” I asked cautiously.

Then, Ganael, who had been listening to our conversation with a nervous expression, shook his head.

“I don’t think so! His Majesty… wants to protect the legacy of the late Empress Celine. He is more proud than anyone of the achievements of the Mother Empress who ended the era of war.”

Benjamin nodded in agreement.

“His Majesty has repeatedly criticized his grandfather, the late Emperor Romero, for refusing to negotiate a truce. Although the situation is different from then, he is not one to easily decide to deploy troops. Border control is just in case.”

“That’s a relief,” I barely replied. So, my seclusion was chosen instead of closing the entire Imperial Palace.

“If they suddenly cracked down on the Imperial Palace and blocked access, it would create anxiety, so they decided to seal off Juliette Palace instead.”

“I suspect that’s the case,” Benjamin replied. I picked up Demi, who was rubbing against my knees, and fell into thought.

If it had been the me from a while ago, I would have welcomed the seclusion without complaint.
It was a way to keep my distance from the protagonists and live safely until the end of the war, eating three warm meals a day.

But not now.

I wanted to find out what I could do for Lord Haynes, and I wanted to inform the Emperor and the Cardinal of his situation.

I knew best that he wasn’t innocent.

Still, I didn’t think Lord Haynes should pay the full price.

And there was Eva too.

That child had decided to become the Duchess, encouraged by me and Lady Elisabeth.

The results hadn’t come out yet, and she hadn’t completely become independent from her brother mentally, so leaving her side was irresponsible.

…After all, indefinite seclusion was troublesome. I opened my mouth.

“What, what happened to Lord Haynes?”

And I blurted out the most urgent question.

I was anxious that something might have happened to him in the day I was asleep.

Instead of answering, Benjamin took out a golden card from his pocket and handed it to me.

“His Eminence the Cardinal sent it.”

I hurriedly tore open the card. It was in a small, delicate handwriting.

‘Cedric explained it to me.

Johann is having good dreams thanks to you.

-Aurelie’

I read it over and over again, two or three times.

At first, I was startled, thinking that the phrase ‘having good dreams’ was a euphemism for death.

But the part about Cedric Prince having explained it to her bothered me.

I slowly retraced the words I had said to him.

‘I hope you can capture Lord Haynes alive. He’s someone who needs help. If you let him escape, he will suffer again from Werner, the State Secretary.’

Did he tell my godmother that story? If so, that was a good thing.

If it was the Cardinal, she would fully grasp the situation and then want to impose a punishment that matched the crime.

It was highly likely that she had persuaded the Emperor in that way as well.

In this case, the meaning of ‘having good dreams thanks to you’ is…

“He’s in the Imperial Palace,” I muttered.

Even without opening a circle, the people of the Imperial Palace were said to enjoy comfortable dreams due to the influence of my ether.

The fact that Lord Haynes was having good dreams thanks to me meant that he was imprisoned in the Imperial Palace, not in the capital’s prison.

Constantly ‘with his eyes closed’ by the Cardinal’s oracle.

He would be tormented by thoughts of his son if he were awake, so it might be better for him to be asleep for now.

I hope I can give him good news when he opens his eyes.

“Benjamin, Ganael.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Please speak,” I parted my lips with difficulty. First, I wanted to seek their understanding and cooperation.

Since they were also victims of Lord Haynes, they had the right to know the situation.

If they didn’t want to help, I couldn’t force them.

After taking a deep breath, I uttered the first sentence.

“Lord Haynes has a son.”

*

The next day. Day 3 of seclusion.

Ganael cried himself into a goldfish, and Benjamin seriously expressed his opinion that it might be better to just go to war with the State Secretary.

I had a hard time appeasing the two in different ways. Still, I felt much lighter.

I was happy and grateful that my close friends agreed with my belief that the State Secretary was the root of all the problems.

Ganael said several times that he felt sorry for Lord Haynes.

It was the feeling that I couldn’t bring myself to say.

“Your Highness, here are some snacks.”

“Thank you,” Ganael, who had come out to the balcony, placed financiers [small French almond cakes] and plum blossom tea on one side of the table and hurried away again.

The boy was grasping the situation of the Imperial Palace in real time for me.

Benjamin was trying his best to get the Emperor’s permission for an audience.

The Imperial Palace’s inspection seemed to be carried out quietly and meticulously.

Everyone from the head of the servants of each palace to the laundry room servants, blacksmiths, and stablemen were called to the guards once.

No one dared to object to the pretext of ‘a surprise identification procedure to strengthen the security of the Imperial Palace.’

This was because the Divine Nation’s Crown Princess Eliser was entering the palace in a week, and the Crown Prince’s investiture ceremony was next month.

In the meantime, the news that even Sant, who knew nothing, had been confined to his residence was a little unfortunate.

“Prince Yeser, you must be very lonely!”

I stopped moving my quill and raised my head with a start.

Someone was talking to the balcony from the garden.

When I stretched my neck, I saw familiar gardeners.

They couldn’t get close because the guards of Juliette Palace had tripled.

I smiled and waved one hand.

“I’m fine. I sent the sacred beasts to the flower garden, so please take good care of them.”

Then the gardeners bowed. Several of them even wiped their eyes with handkerchiefs. It seemed they thought I was very pitiful.

Well, it’s not that bad.

It wasn’t too hard to just stay in the palace.

I couldn’t take walks in the garden, I couldn’t have tea time outside, I couldn’t go to confession, and I couldn’t meet outsiders, including Christel…

In fact, I was in a situation where I couldn’t even have an audience with the Imperial Family and the Cardinal, but I was too busy to feel frustrated.

I had a lot of thoughts and a lot to sort out.

“Toughness, can’t you really open the Ark again? Is it too hard?”

-Cheep cheep cheep

The wren sitting on the railing chirped with innocent eyes.

Even if I didn’t know the language of birds, I knew for sure that it was avoiding the subject.

It had been making that expression ever since I started talking about the Ark last night.

I sighed lightly and drew an X on the notepad.

∙ Nikki and ‘Clue’

– An existence containing the principles and secrets of the world

– Christel, Prince, Benjamin, Eunseo’s chair

– Can I open the Ark from my side (X)

It wasn’t an urgent matter, but it was something I needed to organize, so I wrote it down.

I stared at the words ‘Eunseo’s chair’ for a long time before turning the page.

Let’s think about this later. After all, it’s not something I can dig into right now.

“There are several people who witnessed you being a sacred object, but no one is talking about it yet.”

-Chirp chirp

Toughness jumped over and sat on my index finger.

I stroked its chest with my thumb and scribbled again.

∙ Magic Tool Notebook

“Hmm.”

Then I stopped my hand abruptly. Again, I had nothing to add.

The notebook, which didn’t have a single drop of ink on it, turned out to be a powerful magic tool with strong defensive power.

Since I, as a hostage, was not given any items that could be used as weapons, I hastily borrowed Benjamin’s paper knife yesterday and stabbed it.

The result was the same.

The notebook emitted red mana and blocked the blade, restoring the torn part as if by magic.

I didn’t know if the Crown Princess gave it to me or if the Prince himself brought it, but it certainly helped.

I didn’t test it further, wondering if there was a limit to the number of defenses.

I shook off my thoughts about the notebook and the Ark and returned to the part I had been looking at in the morning.

Several back issues of and history books were scattered haphazardly on the table.

∙ Lord Haynes and Little Haynes

– Lord Haynes is asleep in the Imperial Palace (location unknown)

– The son is imprisoned in the Divine Nation (pain, needs medicine)

– Transfer, special pardon, copy, etc.

“National Day, the Divine Nation’s National Day…” I rummaged through the magazines, muttering to myself. At that moment, a short ray of light bothered my vision.

“Ah, again.”

I frowned slightly and covered my face. It was like this last night too.

From the window of Romero Palace, something like glass was reflecting sunlight, making it hard for me to open my eyes while sitting on the front balcony.

I didn’t know why the servant was doing that.

Should I say something? Is he coming out to wipe a mirror or something?

“Your Highness!”

Just in time, Ganael returned to me. He was out of breath as if he had been running.

“What’s wrong?”

“That, uh. His Highness the Prince. He sent all of Your Highness’s gifts that came into the Imperial Treasury, huh!”

What does this mean?

“Now the first floor is full of all kinds of gold and silver treasures, heck. There’s no room to step. It seems like he means not to be too heartbroken. Benjamin said…”

I reflexively thought of the man with orange eyes.

The words he had said at the trading post naturally followed.

‘There’s not enough space in the vault.’

Ah.

He’s going to seclude the things in the vault with me in the palace, don’t be heartbroken because there’s no room…

Is that what he means?

“It’s okay. We have many empty rooms,” I replied. Ganael stared at me blankly.