What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up [EN]: Chapter 117

#117 Please (1)

My body moved on its own.

-Fwoosh!

I ran without thinking, raw ether [magical energy] swirling around me, scattering a dazzling light that stung the eyes.

I stood in front of Cedric. Elysee’s gaze was filled with bewilderment as she faced me.

But the important thing was that she had stopped her attack.

“Yeser?”

Her voice trembled slightly.

The bright yellow sun that had risen over the training grounds seemed to pause in its track.

The flames, eager to devour their target, flickered and danced.

The terrifying sight and intense heat made me gulp.

“I apologize, I didn’t mean to interfere.”

I said, catching my breath. Only then did my head seem to clear.

Right now, the Prince was undergoing his Paladin investiture examination by Elysee, the Cardinal [a high-ranking member of the clergy].

I knew it was a place where I shouldn’t interfere rashly.

But wasn’t using a stigma [a divine mark or power] to test him too much?

The Prince was still an apprentice, and he was strong enough without having to confirm it that way.

I couldn’t understand why the situation had become so heated.

“Your Highness, are you alright?”

Just then, Cristel’s voice was heard too close.

I was surprised and turned around. And I gaped.

She and Lady Elisabeth, as well as Benjamin, Ganael, and even the Prince’s attendant, David, were gathered inside my sanctuary [a protective barrier of magical energy].

They were all breathing heavily, as if they had run here in a hurry.

Ttuk-ssim was also sitting on the Prince’s shoulder, flapping its wings.

In particular, Cristel and the young Count were checking on the Prince, each holding a whip and a sword.

“······.”

Soon, my eyes met the Prince’s, who was standing in the center of the circle.

His dirt-covered shirt was torn here and there, and his hair was a mess, but he still looked like a painting.

His eyes were slightly widened. What was with that surprised look?

“I am fine.”

I answered and turned to face forward again. The Princess’s face was very confused.

Damn it, wasn’t this something Prince Yeser would do?

I felt a belated sense of crisis, but suddenly leaving would be even stranger.

I calmly opened my mouth.

“I understand that the stigma is the strongest power wielded by a Cardinal. I think it’s excessive to use it on the Prince.”

I said, glancing at the Prince.

I wondered if this guy might have provoked her first.

Then the Prince frowned and lowered his sword.

His arm seemed to have lost strength, and cold sweat was beading on his forehead. Hmm, he does look tired.

“······I think so. Please forgive the Prince if he has been rude to Your Highness.”

I worked hard to choose my words carefully.

“The Prince isn’t usually like that… Well, he is like that. But if you get to know him, he’s a good, honest person.”

I couldn’t defend his personality no matter what.

I subtly let ether flow through the circle.

I could feel the Prince absorbing power as if he were gulping down mineral water.

I knew it was cheating, but I had to prepare for the possibility of the examination continuing.

I couldn’t turn into ‘Saydi’ in front of Elysee.

“······Have you become friends with the Prince? And with them too?”

Elysee whispered after a long time.

She was slowly lowering her left hand, which she had raised as if to command. Just as I was about to answer,

“Princess.”

Cardinal Boutier’s voice sharply cut between us.

I watched her walk gracefully from the outskirts of the training grounds.

The Cardinal was wearing a faint smile, but her beige eyes held no more emotion than a demi-beard.

It was all pure vigilance and a sharp gaze.

I was intimidated by the atmosphere, which was 180 degrees different from usual.

“You seem to have lost your composure. I’ve never heard of a Cardinal using a stigma against an apprentice Paladin.”

“······.”

“Can you continue the examination?”

Elysee was silent at the elder’s criticism. I took the opportunity to look behind me again.

David was looking at the Prince’s wounds. From the looks of it, he didn’t seem to be seriously injured.

“Shall I open a healing circle for you?”

“I would be very grateful if you would.”

“Your Highness, I will escort you to the Juliette Palace.”

Lady Elisabeth intervened while I was talking to David.

When I raised my head at her uncharacteristic behavior, I saw the Imperial Guards rushing up to my nose.

They moved in unison and surrounded the perimeter of the sanctuary.

It was a clear intention to isolate the Princess and me.

It seemed that Cardinal Boutier had given the young Count a silent order.

“Then the examination is,”

“I don’t know either. But this place could be dangerous for Your Highness, so I think you should go inside.”

She whispered to me, looking at me with serious gray eyes.

I exchanged glances with the two protagonists once each.

Cristel nodded quickly, and the Prince did not express any dissatisfaction. It was a sign to leave.

“Then… I’ll go in first. I’m sorry for interrupting the examination.”

I said to my teacher. She just smiled gently.

Cardinal Aris Schotte was waving his hand at the table where we had run from.

It meant that it was okay to step back. I nodded my head and withdrew the sanctuary.

I was worried about the protagonists, but the truth was that I was reluctant to talk to Elysee any further.

Her face, which I looked back at for the last time, looked as desolate as the sunset for some reason.

*

“It looks like it’s going to rain, Your Highness.”

“I guess so. Thank you.”

I was looking out the window in the second-floor drawing room when I accepted the teacup that Ganael handed me.

The dark clouds lying in the sky were frowning as if they were about to burst into tears at any moment.

Two days had already passed since the first day of the examination when Elysee tried to use a stigma on the Prince.

According to David’s message, the Prince’s examination ended up being inconclusive that day.

Today was the day of the second examination, Cristel’s sparring.

This humid weather was very favorable to her, who was water-attributed [having an affinity for water magic].

But I was still stuck in the palace. Emperor Frederick had locked me up again.

It was no surprise.

For some reason, the Princess tried to activate the stigma in the Imperial Palace training grounds, the target was the Prince, and I was the one who stopped it.

It was a dizzying moment because I was worried that a dispute might break out.

Still, I was glad that my attendance at the Princess’s farewell banquet, which would be held the day after tomorrow, was not canceled.

From the beginning, that was my only goal.

I drank the peach blossom tea, which was steaming, and organized my thoughts.

To explain the situation of Sir Johann Haynes and how to smuggle his son into the Empire, the words had to come out smoothly.

“It’s good for Eva. She wanted to be the partner of both of them.”

When I said that abruptly, Ganael smiled and nodded while drinking juice.

The person who was in charge of supplying ether to Cristel and the Prince in my place today was Countess Eva Blanquer.

There were many other priests, but Cardinal Boutier personally appointed her because she was a rare case who was friendly with both men and women.

Sant was still confined, so it was difficult for him to enter the palace.

I looked outside again and fell into thought.

‘My mother would be happy too. When you were young, she wanted you to be my partner.’

The Princess’s words were clear.

It meant that her mother, the Queen of Christana, considered the Prince and Elysee as priest and Paladin partners.

I understood when they were young.

The Queen must have thought that her son, who was of priestly blood, would one day manifest ether.

But the Prince was ordinary until he was sixteen and rose to the honorary bishopric.

What I learned here was different.

The Queen did not hate or distance herself from her son.

Rather, she wanted to connect the future of her eldest and second children into one.

Considering the Princess’s gaze and tone towards me, she also sincerely cherished her younger brother.

So the conclusion was one.

The King’s consort was a son of a bitch, and the other Phenetians were fine.

It was obvious that the young Second Princess was also close to her brother.

“Tsk.”

A family was torn apart because of one crazy human.

I sighed softly and moistened my throat with the light pink tea water. It was then.

“Oh, that person is here again.”

Ganael muttered, looking out the window. I naturally followed the boy’s gaze.

Exotic clothes similar to mine, a solid build, and a shaved head came into view.

She was talking to Pierre, the attendant of the Juliette Palace.

“Isn’t that Martier? Why isn’t she next to Princess Your Highness and is here?”

“Yes. She has been coming to the Juliette Palace since entering the palace.”

“Why didn’t I know?”

“It’s not to see Your Highness, but to deliver gifts from the Holy Nation.”

Ganael gestured, saying, ‘Look.’

Now that I looked at it, it seemed that Pierre and Martier were not talking but arguing.

Martier was trying to hand him the object in her arms, and Pierre was refusing with a troubled face.

The gift was wrapped in silk, so I couldn’t figure out what it was.

“I told her that she had to pass the Imperial Palace’s quarantine first, but she’s adamant. She says it’s definitely not harmful and that Your Highness should see it first.”

“That must have been difficult.”

“Yes. Benjamin was very troubled. The other party is Princess Your Highness’s escort knight, so I couldn’t be too harsh.”

Ganael pouted.

When Pierre did not budge, Martier stepped back as if she could not help it.

She looked up at the sky once, then frowned and rubbed one shoulder for a long time.

Is her body aching because the weather is cloudy?

“Your Highness, you’re not going to accept it, are you?”

Ganael asked cautiously.

When I turned my head, the boy was looking at me with a ‘no way’ look. I burst into laughter.

“Of course I can’t accept it. Who knows what’s inside. I’m not an easy man.”

-Woof

At the right time, Demi wagged his tail and approached me.

I hugged him with one arm and stared at the window for a long time.

I wonder if Cristel is doing well on the exam.

*

-Swaeeaeek!

The long and sharp golden spear, ‘Headwind’s Omen,’ cut through the air of the indoor training grounds.

If you react after seeing it, your body will be too late. But Cristel’s ether was quite fast.

She immediately reached out her hand.

-Swaaaaa!

-Chwaaak!

From the floor where there was nothing, a thick and huge wall of water soared.

The moment the spear pierced through the spray,

-Crackle!

All the moisture instantly froze.

The water, which was spreading in the shape of a crown, immediately tightly bound the Omen.

The weapon resisted as if it had a self, as if it wanted to escape the ice.

Watching the spear shaking, Cristel put her left hand on the ice wall.

-Crack, crackle…

New water filled the cracked part with the power of the Omen, and it froze again, binding the divine object.

At the same time, Cristel swung her whip. To properly check the Princess standing across from her,

-Fwoosh!

-Clang!

Before the water could take shape at the end of the whip, the ice wall shattered like a glass window.

It was because of the Princess’s flames.

Cristel quickly grabbed the whip again and prepared for the next blow.

She remembered what Prince Yeser had said at the Summer Palace.

‘When you landed on the ice stairs after doing a somersault. If you didn’t consume it as it is and blew it to the other side…’

If you don’t waste the broken ice, you can try a new attack.

“Heot!”

-Thud!

The ice shards, shining sharply like knives, all headed towards the Princess,

“Huh?”

-Kwakwakwakwa!

The ice shards were embedded in the neatly repaired training ground wall like throwing stars.

There was no one across from her. There was no fighting spirit or etheric pressure felt.

Cristel looked around with a flustered face.

Elysee, who had already handed her spear to the attendant, was wiping her hands with a wet towel.

It was absurd.

“…Your Highness?”

The Princess replied with an indifferent expression and voice.

Cardinal Schotte and Eva were clapping their hands, looking at Cristel from a short distance away at the table.

It seemed that the examination was already over after exchanging moves for about 10 minutes.

On the other hand, Cardinal Boutier was checking the Prince’s ether flow.

Cristel bit her lip slightly.

It wasn’t bad to end it easily, but she was frustrated with the Princess, who seemed less lively than the day before yesterday.

She felt even more so because she seemed to know the reason.

“Your Highness.”

When she approached her and spoke, the Princess glanced down at her.

There was quite a height difference. She seemed taller than the Prince.

Cristel opened her mouth with clear eyes.

“Please wish for your sibling’s happiness.”

“······.”

The Princess’s blue eyes shook as if they would break. The noble lady continued.

“I’m sorry for saying something rude out of the blue. But I don’t think you’d like a long introduction.”

Then she took a deep breath.

The image of her departed sister was messing with her head, but she endured it well.

Honestly, she felt a little sorry that there was another human besides herself who felt such stuffy and hopeless emotions.

But for the sake of both the older sister and the younger brother, someone had to say this.

“It would be nice to be with your siblings for the rest of your life, but there are times when you can’t. Some people find new families. In a more comfortable and peaceful place.”