What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up [EN]: Chapter 131

#131 The Luncheon Table Under the Pale Moon (1)

Two days later, I faced the greatest ordeal since my possession.

It was a stroke of luck that the protagonists had no classes on Saturday.

-Step, step.

This time, it wasn’t just my overactive imagination.

Every servant, soldier, attendant, and guest I encountered in the Imperial Palace gave me strange looks.

It seemed like there were more people in the Imperial Palace today than usual.

I felt the tips of my ears burning as I tried to think of anything else.

I hope lunch is delicious.

After eating, I’ll return to the Juliette Palace and lock myself in my room for the entire weekend.

I wanted to sprint with my head down, but I couldn’t do that in the Imperial Palace.

I clenched my fists and walked as quickly as possible.

Dduk-sim, who had been invited with me, sat on my shoulder and tilted his body curiously.

-삐르르

“Prince, I thought it was incredibly cool! Not just an angel, but a ‘Fallen Angel’!”

I flinched.

“Ganael.”

“It feels like something out of an opera or a play. The Romero Palace attendants said the same thing. They saw you descending upon the Juliette Palace on the eve of the festival. David thought you would help His Highness the Crown Prince······.”

Despite Benjamin’s attempts to stop him, Ganael chattered on.

The Imperial Palace attendant who was guiding us quietly agreed.

I was the only one taking extreme damage in the middle. The power of the media was terrifying.

The whole town has already heard the rumors.

“Lady Sara Beliard’s senses are as sharp as ever. It seems like a phrase that perfectly expresses the Prince. Because you are kind to everyone and as beautiful as an angel sent down by the gods, in the crowd······.”

“Crowd.”

I finally stopped walking and cut off the boy’s words. The three people looked at me.

I scanned the hallway and lowered my voice.

“Just… Let’s just go with ‘in the crowd’.”

Short and sweet. Impactful.

“Prince, as you saw in the article, Lady Beliard gave you that title out of reverence and admiration. It may have a somewhat dramatic tone, but it is memorable.”

Benjamin said something that was hard to tell whether it was comforting or teasing.

I hadn’t read the article, so I had nothing to say.

With the headline screaming ‘Fallen Angel in the Crowd, Fortifying the Imperial Family,’ what courage would I have to turn the page?

If it weren’t for the information I got from it, if there was an alternative, I would have canceled my subscription immediately.

I never thought that my actions, when I took the Crown Prince to the eve of the festival, would be so widely interpreted.

To be precise, I thought that the public would mainly talk about the part where I revealed ‘Biryeom’s Ark’ to the public, and the fact that I used it.

The Crown Prince had also considered that point.

-삐삐삐

Dduk-sim pecked at my collar and chirped cheerfully. Ganael added.

“ rarely gives out titles. It’s only given to precious people who receive love and attention. ‘The Ice Prince’ and ‘The Trembling Archmage’ were also named directly by Lady Beliard or decided after an internal meeting.”

“······.”

Frankly speaking, even the Trembling Archmage now seemed ordinary.

The Ice Prince also felt somewhat cool. Anything was mild compared to ‘that’.

My cheeks flushed again. I encouraged the three to start walking again.

“His Majesty and His Eminence the Cardinal also have titles. Especially His Majesty, not just the magazine, but the people of Liester······.”

“Welcome, Prince Yeser.”

Turning the corner, Laura, the head attendant waiting in front of the luncheon hall, bowed to me.

A sigh of relief escaped me at the thought that I could stop hearing about this ‘title’ nonsense.

I bowed to Laura and checked my attire one last time before entering the dining hall.

Still, one good thing about the morning’s commotion was that I didn’t have time to worry about why the Emperor had arranged this meal in the first place.

*

“Why is your face red? Is it because you’re a fallen angel, not a regular angel, that you’re sickly?”

*Why* are you picking a fight as soon as I sit down?

“Shall I call a physician?”

“······No, Your Majesty. Thank you.”

I managed to answer.

Emperor Frederick, seated at the head of the table, first poured cherry-scented liqueur into Cardinal Boutier’s glass.

A joyful look was evident in the same colored eyes.

The Cardinal, sitting across from me, opened his mouth with an apologetic expression.

“I read the article well. It was wonderfully written. The content about the investiture ceremony was also good.”

Could you please *not* read it and collect it all and burn it?

I smiled, trying hard to hold back the nasty words that were about to come out. The Emperor picked up a spoon.

“Let’s eat and talk.”

A wise and considerate statement befitting the ruler of the Empire.

I quickly washed my hands and grabbed the utensils.

Dduk-sim sat away from the food and watched us.

About an hour passed. The Imperial Palace’s cuisine was, as always, excellent.

The barbecue I ate while camping in the forest a few days ago was also delicious, and the home-cooked meals that the elders of Aitz Village had prepared were also wonderful, but the touch of an expert was still special.

I devoured five plates of tenderly steamed veal with red onions and grapes.

The sauce tasted of honey and tangy vinegar.

The crispy monkfish fritters were not greasy at all when eaten with caper dressing.

The white flesh crumbled softly and spicily in my mouth, making it a delicacy.

After emptying three plates cleanly, it was when I had half of the herb-roasted chicken in my stomach.

“I heard that bird saved you. And that little one took the Crown Prince to Claire Square this time too.”

The Emperor asked after rinsing her mouth with liqueur. *So that’s why she called me.*

I wiped my mouth with a napkin and began to speak.

“Yes. It has been in that form since I first met it in Evelyn. So I didn’t know it was Biryeom’s Ark, and I thought it might be a baby divine beast. But when Lord Johann Haynes used the stigma on me, it revealed its true power.”

“True power, you say.”

“It hid me inside the Ark.”

The Cardinal exchanged glances with the Emperor. The cherry-colored eyes sank seriously.

“Does that mean the divine object has chosen you as its master?”

“That’s not it.”

I answered immediately. The Emperor tilted her head. It was a sign to continue explaining.

I lightly stroked Dduk-sim, who was trotting across the table towards me, with my index finger.

Evelyn was the land of Grand Duke Alexandre, and now it was the Crown Prince’s territory.

The divine object, which had been staying there all along, suddenly began to follow a foreign prince, so the Emperor must have felt both curiosity and concern.

Even though Lady Elizabeth had reported on the day Haynes attacked me, she had not questioned me about Dduk-sim for over a month.

Considering her unique hot-tempered nature, it was surprising patience.

“Before I say anything, thank you for waiting for an explanation until now. I know you’ve been very patient.”

“It’s a relief you know. If you weren’t my contractor or my son, you would have been dragged underground a long time ago.”

“Frederick.”

The Cardinal called her in a scolding tone as the Emperor grumbled. I raised the corners of my mouth slightly.

She may say that, but thanks to her consideration, I was able to quickly recover from the shock, and I was able to devise a plan to get Johann and Herrit out.

Not to mention the execution.

“There is a kind of guide inside the Ark. The divine object takes on a human form and speaks to me.”

“Goodness. I’ve never heard of such a story.”

The Cardinal put down his fork and shone his eyes under his monocle.

I wondered if I should tell them that the Ark had turned into the Grand Duke, but I thought it would be better not to bring up stories that could cause pain.

I continued.

“He explained that I am not the master of the divine object, and that it was not I who opened the Ark, but the Ark’s will. He said that my current divine power is not enough to handle him.”

-삐르르르, 삐삐!

Dduk-sim opened his yellow beak and cried as if to emphasize. I let out a dry breath.

“That’s what he says.”

“But why does that guy follow you?”

The Emperor asked sharply. I retraced the conversation I had with ‘Nikki’ that day.

A low, gentle voice, long black hair, and beautifully curved navy blue eyes.

*’I will be by your side. I am curious about your story and the story of your friends.’*

“I don’t know for sure either. But he said he would stay here because he was curious about my story and my friends’ stories.”

I told the truth and then smiled awkwardly, rubbing Dduk-sim’s forehead.

The guy was just breathing softly, as if he liked the feeling.

When I looked up at the two people, the Emperor’s brow furrowed as she sensed that my words were true.

“The whims of the Chief God are as fickle as boiling porridge.”

“Perhaps it’s natural. It is said that the air attribute is inherently free.”

The Cardinal replied kindly to the absolute being’s complaint. Then, she sipped the liqueur with a satisfied face.

The Emperor clicked her tongue and grabbed the knife again. I asked cautiously.

“······Aren’t you going to take him away?”

“What?”

“Dduk-sim, I mean the Ark. What’s left in Evelyn is a doppelganger made as a decoy.”

“Do you think that thing will listen just because I order it to? Divine objects are not under human control. It’s enough that you didn’t lie.”

She grumbled. Then, the Cardinal, who was a professional translator of the Emperor’s words, added.

“It means that it’s fortunate that the Prince, not someone else, is in charge of the Empire’s divine object.”

“When did I say that?”

“Frederick has something in common with Cedric.”

The Emperor shut her mouth tightly.

She narrowed her red eyes and stared at her contractor, but the Cardinal, as always, simply responded with an elegant face.

Since it wasn’t appropriate to join the conversation when adults were creating this kind of atmosphere, I put my lips to the limeade.

As the Cardinal said, it was a good thing if the public opinion about the Ark and I being together wasn’t bad.

Using divine objects privately is a sin that deserves divine punishment, but Dduk-sim also had a very clear ego.

He’s the type who would never do something he doesn’t like….

“I heard the territory you chose is a prime location.”

As soon as I put down my glass, the Emperor changed the subject.

I blinked and organized the timeline.

So, on the day we went to pick up Herrit, we gathered in the Imperial Palace garden and had such a discussion.

The Imperial Family said they would give me a marquisate [a noble rank] and territory, and I said that I would prefer a place with a lake view if possible, so the land that Eva pointed out was probably in the southwestern part of the Empire, as I recall.

Benjamin asked me to confirm yesterday, so I answered that it was fine, but it seemed that it had finally been confirmed.

I took a sip of the hot bouillabaisse [a traditional Provençal fish stew] soup and watched the Emperor’s reaction.

“If it troubles Your Majesty, shall I change it to another place?”

“What?”

“I don’t really care which region it is. It’s just that Benjamin and Ganael like mansions with lakes attached,”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

She cut me off coldly. I felt a little offended.

“I have no intention of taking it back. Any land is very small to me.”

I nodded obediently. It seemed that I had unintentionally scratched her pride.

We focused on eating and drinking again for a while.

When I finished the chicken I had been eating, emptied a bowl of bouillabaisse, and dipped four pieces of crispy baguette in the grainy garlic sauce and inhaled them.

“I heard that a certain merchant in that place is a strange fellow.”

The Emperor suddenly spoke. I stopped moving my mouth and looked at her.

“There are many humorous things in territories with free cities.”

The silver hair, illuminated by the chandelier, sparkled cheerfully. Gulp. I had a bad feeling.

“Your first inspection will be interesting to see.”

“Frederick, don’t be mean for no reason.”

“Territory inspection? Am I going there myself?”

My voice was a little louder. Instead of the Emperor drinking liqueur, the Cardinal answered kindly.

“It’s a place that was ruled by the Imperial Family, so you just need to do the basics. You’ll just be doing things in the Prince’s name that were allowed in Frederick’s name. But once…”

*’You have to go on an inspection, because you’re the new lord,’* she said with a wry smile.

I was already skimming through the major schedule for the second half of the year that I received from Benjamin and guessing the future developments.

I gave up on memorizing all the events that Christel and Crown Prince Cedric would attend.

There were so many balls, Ganael said that ‘one ball a day’ was possible in the Empire.

It meant going to one ball a day.

It was already a headache just remembering the schedules that matched the information I heard from Eunseo, but now a personal schedule has been added.

…No. Would it be better to move alone so that we can have time alone?

“Don’t look so grim. I might end up calling your marquisate ‘Angélique’ [French for ‘angelic’].”

The Emperor snapped at me when she saw my complicated expression. I whispered the French word for a moment.

My neck suddenly felt chilly. Are you going to sing the praises of angels up to the fourth verse?

“Don’t worry. Frederick has decided not to name the territory. And you won’t be alone when you leave for the inspection.”

The Cardinal said soothingly. Her beige eyes, when she turned around, curved.

“The free city ‘As’ in the Prince’s territory, had a sisterhood relationship with Sarnese in June.”