What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up [EN]: Chapter 119

Elise quickly wiped away the single tear.

To help her calm down, I placed what had been on my lap onto the table.

It was something I had personally chosen the day the Emperor sent treasures from the Imperial Vault.

“This is for Cornelisse… a birthday gift.”

Ideally, I would have liked to buy it from a trading post or something, but I had no choice since I was confined.

I didn’t know the Second Princess’s interests or hobbies, so I had to dig through a huge pile of old magazines.

Still, I felt bad not getting the child a gift while asking for a birthday pardon.

I looked at Emperor Frederik with a nervous expression.

“It doesn’t matter, as long as you’re not handing over your title.”

She said curtly, starting to fight with the bread in her onion soup. A smile spread across my face.

“Thank you.”

“May I open it first?”

Elise asked. I nodded.

She let go of my hand and unwrapped the crude packaging. It was quite clumsy since I had done it myself.

Soon, a sparkling figure appeared. The Crown Princess’s mouth fell open.

“This is…”

It was a pig sculpture carved from a pink diamond.

I remembered it being sent by a merchant lord named ‘Emile d’As’ from the southwestern part of the Empire.

I wondered what it meant to give a pig to the Prince, but it wasn’t surprising considering that even golden toads came in.

According to recent articles, the Second Princess was showing great affection for pig dolls these days.

I understood well enough, as children often become fixated on certain animals.

Eunseo was obsessed with dinosaurs when she was little, went crazy for birds when she got a little older, and now she likes pigs.

“Hahaha.”

I was worried this might be a mistake, but Elise burst into laughter.

I smiled awkwardly back.

“Cornelisse will be delighted. The wood has transformed into a jewel and returned.”

I blinked, wondering what that meant.

Elise gestured, and Martierre, who was sitting next to her, took out something wrapped in silk from her arms.

I immediately recognized it.

It was the bundle she had desperately tried to hand over to the Juliette Palace the day before yesterday.

Martierre glanced at the Emperor.

“Annoying to bother us while we’re eating. The mage will have to check it later, though. For poison, too.”

She grumbled. I thanked the Emperor and unwrapped the silk cloth.

A pig sculpture made of wood, covered in splotchy, bright red paint, was lying there.

I almost dropped it in shock. I could feel the gazes of the main characters sitting on either side of me.

Christel suddenly spoke up.

“It’s so cute. Did Her Highness the Princess paint it herself?”

*Is she into cursed dolls?*

“At first, she tried to paint it pink. But that child doesn’t have any talent for painting.”

Elise said.

“I wondered what kind of heart you had to return the favor I gave you in this way… I suppose she knew it would come back as such a precious reward.”

She gently stroked the diamond pig. Her eyes were full of affection.

Only then did an electric realization flow down my spine.

The reason Cornelisse liked pigs was because her brother, Prince Yeseo, had given her a pig sculpture.

I had expected it, but it seemed the siblings were truly close.

I felt a surge of guilt towards the princess I didn’t even know.

I had only given a gift I learned about from a book.

“I will do as you ask.”

“……”

Her head snapped up. A desperate joy was in Elise’s blue eyes.

“I and my people will do our best to ensure that Johan Haines’s son reaches the Vatican safely.”

“Ah…”

“So don’t worry.”

For a moment, my throat felt choked. I managed to say thank you.

Martierre looked at me with teary eyes.

“I should tell Johan the news.”

Cardinal Boutier, who had been quietly watching us, said.

I widened my eyes at her.

“I would like that, but would it be alright?”

“I think he deserves to know in advance as a father, since his child is crossing the border. Isn’t that right, Frederik?”

“Don’t ask me about everything.”

The Emperor finally snapped. I smiled brightly and looked at her and her son.

The man stared at me for a long time with his orange eyes, then soon called a servant and demanded more meat.

The Crown Princess’s farewell banquet ended without incident.

I told Benjamin and Ganael everything in the carriage.

The middle-aged man rarely beamed, and the boy eventually dabbed away tears.

As a matter of principle, the confinement would not be lifted until Elise left the Imperial Palace, but now it didn’t matter.

After returning to the Juliette Palace, I hugged the lesser pandas and Dduk-simi with overwhelming emotion and wandered around, wondering where to put Cornelisse’s pig sculpture.

The three divine beasts and one divine object diligently chased after my tail.

It would be nice to put it in the most visible place when the Prince regained his body in the future.

But putting it in the bedroom felt a little spooky.

Christel named the red pig ‘Pork’.

“Your Highness, David of the Romero Palace requests an audience.”

“David?”

I was placing Pork on the mantelpiece in the drawing room and adjusting its position when Benjamin came in to announce the news.

It was probably about the Prince’s business, but I had no idea what it could be.

Soon, David appeared, paid his respects, and said this.

“I will escort you to the place where Sir Haines is, Your Highness.”

“…Is it alright for me to go? Why did David come?”

It was surprising that the Emperor was letting me meet Sir Haines, but what was more unexpected was David.

Shouldn’t he send an Imperial Palace attendant or a member of the Imperial Guard?

“Sir Haines is in the Romero Palace. He has been from the beginning.”

Then the middle-aged man answered with a painful smile.

It was a shocking story, but I couldn’t bring myself to say anything and nodded my head.

“It’s the same yet different. It’s just as Benjamin described.”

“Yes. They are a pair of palaces built at the same time, so there are many similar parts inside and out. However, there are slight differences in size, decoration, and color.”

I listened carefully to David’s words and looked around the interior of the Romero Palace.

I had been here recently while carrying out ‘Operation Verona,’ but at the time, I was so focused on meeting the Emperor that my memory of the surroundings was vague.

The Romero Palace was roughly a 1.7x enlarged version of the Juliette Palace.

The interior itself was similar, but it was definitely more luxurious since it was the palace where the Prince lived.

Did he give Sir Haines a room? Why here of all places?

“You’re making me wait.”

Then, a familiar sweet voice tickled my ear. I turned my head and saw the Emperor across the hallway.

Cardinal Boutier, with her arm around his, was also there. My pace quickened.

“I apologize, Your Highness. I didn’t know you would call for me as well.”

“You planned everything, didn’t you, Prince? I think you should tell Johan directly.”

She answered kindly and put her hand on my arm as well.

It looked like the Emperor and I were escorting her from both sides.

“Only the three of us will go from here.”

“Doesn’t David follow?”

“No, not today.”

It was a strange thing to say. Did that mean he used to accompany them?

When I turned around, Benjamin, Ganael, David, and Natalie bowed.

It meant they would wait there.

I started walking down the stairs with the two of them.

I remembered going to clean the underground portal of the Imperial Palace with the Emperor and Christel.

Back then, the staircase was dark, so the Imperial Guards lit torches, but here, everything was bright and luxurious.

The underground area I arrived at was no different from the ground floor. Except…

“There are no doors on the walls.”

“Yes, there’s only one room underground.”

The Cardinal said in a monotone voice. In the distance, at the end of the hallway in front of me, I could see a black door.

The owner of the palace, the Emperor, remained silent throughout. I glanced at his profile.

He looked a little pale for some reason. Was he lacking in aether [magical energy]?

-Tap, tap.

We diligently moved our feet for several minutes after that.

The atmosphere was strangely heavy, so it was difficult to speak first.

I felt an inexplicable chill as I looked at the empty walls without a single frame.

That’s when it happened.

“We’re here.”

When I turned my gaze to my teacher’s voice, the heavy, black door filled my vision.

The Emperor took out a key and opened the door.

It might have been my imagination, but the ends of his gloves seemed to be trembling slightly.

-Click.

-Squeak…

The entrance opened with a painful sound. I was stunned by the surreal sight.

“This is…”

It was a dark, dark space.

The only light was what leaked in when the door opened.

Everything in front of me was black, to the point where I couldn’t distinguish the boundaries between the walls and the floor.

At first glance, it just looked like a mass of darkness.

It felt like my feet would sink if I took even one step.

“Why… is there a place like this in the Romero Palace?”

I asked in a whisper.

I couldn’t understand why there was such a scary room in Romero, which was supposed to be the palace of lovers, and not in the Imperial Palace or other palaces.

“When Cedric was very young.”

The Cardinal’s beige eyes traced back to the past.

“When the aether flow became unstable and caused a rampage, we had to put him in restraints and lock him up here.”

I gasped.

“Light, color. Warmth and noise. Those things didn’t help calm the soul.”

I quickly looked at the Emperor.

The reason Sir Haines had shown wariness the day he was put in restraints was because of this.

The man growled lowly with eyes that resembled flames.

“If you’re going to show me shallow pity,”

“What about now?”

He stopped talking at my question.

“Is it still like that now? Do you have to come here in secret?”

“……”

The flames quickly died down in his eyes. It was the Cardinal who gave the answer.

“It’s been 12 years since we used this place.”

Finally, I could breathe. She released my arm and placed her hand on my cheek.

“It’s okay, go. Johan will be waiting.”

-Flash!

As soon as she finished speaking, the Cardinal’s brilliant sanctuary dispelled the darkness.

Emboldened by the golden radiance, I slowly took a step forward.

The circle reflected on the black ceiling rippled like the surface of water. It felt like I was submerged in the deep sea.

“…Sir Haines.”

And in the middle of the space, a white-haired man was lying down.

He was wearing black restraints, but his sleeping face was peaceful.

I couldn’t find any of the sadness or resentment he had shown while attacking me.

My legs were still shaking from the fear that remained in my body, but I gritted my teeth and approached him.

[Wake up.]

The Cardinal gave a divine message from behind. The white face I looked down at seemed to be cracking.

Then, his eyelids trembled slightly, slowly opening to reveal mint-colored irises.

He didn’t react at all even after seeing me. It seemed like he thought it was a dream.

I hoped it wasn’t a nightmare.

“Hello, Sir Johan.”

“……”

When I greeted him, his eyes slowly widened. Where should I start and how should I say it?

“You said you have a sick son in the Holy Nation. Ten years old.”

“……Your Highness?”

“Yes, that’s me.”

He suddenly raised his upper body. I was surprised and stepped back, and

-Swish!

The Emperor, who had approached in an instant, drew his sacred sword and aimed it in front of me. I gently dissuaded him.

The Cardinal could put him back to sleep at any time, and his aether was blocked, so Sir Johan was more vulnerable than anyone else in this room right now.

“Why… Why am I here? There’s no reason to keep me alive,”

“There is. You can’t leave your child behind.”

At my words, he made a painful face like someone suffocating.

I knew he had tried to give up everything on the forest path.

But I hoped that wouldn’t happen again in the future.

“We have decided to grant a special pardon to the child in the Holy Nation, smuggle him out as a Vatican chaplain, and place him under the care of Father Sant. Before that, Her Highness the Crown Princess will take care of the medicine.”

“……”

“It’s not a lie.”

I smiled bitterly.

“It’s true. The Prince here and Her Highness Orelly helped, and His Majesty the Emperor, Duchess Sarnese, Sir Elizabeth, Duchess Blanquer, Benjamin, Ganael, David, Demi,”

“Why.”

Tears fell in drops on his bearded cheeks. I swallowed my words.

The man narrowed his eyes as if he had witnessed an unbelievable sight and looked up at me.

His whole body, as well as his voice, trembled greatly.

“Why, so much… for Herit,”

“It will be alright.”

His lips didn’t move as he wanted, and he gaped for a long time. So, the child’s name was Herit.

“I, I have committed a sin. Your Highness, this is…”

“It’s not that you’re innocent, Sir Johan.”

I finally bent my body in front of him.

I didn’t have any great eloquence or talent for comforting people. It was a shame.

“I just… I hope you and Herit will live together and do a lot of good things. That’s all.”