What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up [EN]: Chapter 143

#143 The Greatest Show on Earth! (2)

Ganael carefully took Elisabeth’s arm.

The divine beasts in his arms perked up their tails, excited by the rapier.

I hurriedly opened my mouth.

“Vice Commander, please calm down.”

“That commoner insulted my fiancé.”

The young count retorted sharply at my dissuasion. His eyes were as sharp as when hunting magical beasts.

From her perspective, she had every right to be angry since a commoner had drawn a noble’s face as they pleased.

As I was pondering how to resolve this, David, who had been quiet all along, spoke up.

“Show some respect. He is an imperial prince.”

“…Ah, I understand. I just need to bow, right?”

Joan, who had been smirking at Elisabeth, quickly prostrated herself on the floor upon seeing Crown Prince Cedric.

She didn’t act like that with me; the main character’s charisma was definitely something else.

A greeting of ‘Your Highness the Crown Prince’ was offered, but the man remained unresponsive.

From a commoner’s perspective, that might make him seem even more intimidating. I calmly asked,

“Why did you draw Ganael?”

“Just because I wanted to. No special meaning. Really!”

Joan preemptively raised her voice.

She spoke informally and formally, finding the Crown Prince’s presence difficult and uncomfortable.

She continued, as if making excuses.

“I have to draw whatever comes to mind right away. It’s been like that since I was little. I don’t have any feelings for that young master, and I just worked on it on a whim in the early morning. I swear.”

Then, she changed her last words to ‘I swear to the gods!’

I looked at Ganael and Elisabeth. The boy whispered sweetly to his fiancé.

“I’m fine, George. I was just a little surprised.”

“…Wash the walls clean by today. I’ll come to inspect them at midnight.”

With a ‘shing!’ sound, the young count sheathed his sword. The atmosphere instantly eased.

Ganael smiled at her.

I couldn’t say it because I was worried they would be offended, but honestly, it was a shame.

It was really beautifully drawn. I felt like they would be happy if I just cut out the wall and gave it to them as a gift.

Joan seemed to think so too, as she pouted her lips.

“This is expensive, young master. You might regret it later.”

“Indeed.”

We turned around simultaneously. Benjamin was smiling faintly.

He had a look of realization on his face.

“Marquis, do you remember the Venetian painter, Haade O. Jansen?”

“Yes? Yes.”

I answered immediately to Benjamin’s question.

His name was mixed in as the answer to the quiz I had solved in the carriage to Serenité.

Jansen, who had naturalized to the Empire over a decade ago, was the greatest star produced by the As Auction House.

His new works were sold each time, breaking the highest painting prices, and focused the attention of the Empire’s great nobles on the As Auction House.

With nothing known about him other than his roots and name as a noble born in the Divine Nation, he was also called the ‘Faceless Painter.’

Constant praise for his brushstrokes that seemed to bring things to life….

“Could it be.”

I muttered. Goosebumps rose on both arms. Benjamin’s blue eyes curved pleasantly.

“Really?”

“I just found out too. If you mix the letters of Haade O. Jansen, you get the name Joanne de Haas.”

“Heavens!”

“Oh, gods.”

Ganael and David were startled.

The young countess’s eyes widened, and even the Crown Prince tilted his head. He seemed very interested.

Joan’s identity was one thing, but I was in shock that Benjamin had figured out that fact in his head without even taking out a piece of paper.

‘Lee Gam-shin’ writer-nim is amazing!

“What, mister… You figured that out so easily?”

The most flabbergasted person was, of course, Joan.

She gaped, forgetting that she had stiffened her neck in front of the Crown Prince, and blinked her eyes.

The scarf around her head slipped down as if representing her shock.

“No way. No one ever… No one knew! You knew it all along, didn’t you?!”

“I was just lucky. Didn’t you say it was a valuable painting first? I’ve seen your other works too.”

“Liar!”

“Lower your voice. Who knows who’s listening.”

“Ha…”

Joan bowed again.

However, she kept shaking her head as if a feeling of dismay and injustice was rising.

I calmed my excitement and asked the most important question.

“Have you been scamming all this time?”

“I didn’t!”

Joan raised her head sharply, then quickly lowered her posture, noticing the Crown Prince next to me.

She spat out the words, grinding her teeth.

“Damn it! Jansen is a pseudonym I created. When I was fifteen! I thought everyone wouldn’t take me seriously if a troublemaker who only caused accidents said she was painting. But.”

The sentence was cut off for a moment. I quietly finished her sentence for her.

“Emile decided to use that.”

“…Yes.”

Joan replied in a trembling voice. She seemed genuinely afraid this time.

Her tightly clenched fists turned white.

“He’s always been good at that. Making up stories, attaching tales, and making everyone believe them. That’s why my mother didn’t hesitate to hand over the trading company to him. She said that business is ultimately done by shameless people.”

“…”

“I hated that part of my family so much. Even if I live cleanly my whole life after being falsely accused of being a spy, I’ll still hear gossip behind my back, but instead, they’re being cunning… I’d rather live upright and break like my great-grandfather!”

Her eyes turned red and her throat became hoarse. However, she never shed tears.

The Crown Prince, who had been silent until now, began to speak.

“So, you’re saying you’re innocent?”

“…No.”

Joan readily denied it. She rearranged the fallen cloth and continued.

“Emile knew that my pseudonym was Divine Nation-style and created a fake painter. He added a plausible story and put it out there with the label of As Auction House exclusive. I didn’t think anyone would buy it, so I left him to do as he pleased…”

And it became a huge hit.

To gain his sister’s continued cooperation, Emile paid her for the paintings and even requested the next work.

Joan said in a resigned tone.

“Since I was already an accomplice and had given up the inheritance and ran away with no money. Ever since then…”

“Didn’t you say you could live well even without money?”

Elisabeth said cynically. Joan bit her lip with a resentful look.

“Yeah, I’m trash too! I like drawing, and I couldn’t stop because I was making money and getting recognition. I kept painting on my own volition!”

She huffed.

“There are so many places to spend money. What, am I the only neighborhood thug? The guys I hang out with cry about their husbands being sick and their kids starving. What can I do? By the time I give them medicine money and take care of their meals, there’s not much left for me!”

“Not much left?”

I asked in surprise.

It was surprising that she was taking responsibility for and taking care of the gang locked up in the upstairs prison, but Joan’s paintings recorded the highest prices every time they came out at auction.

Why would someone who should have several mansions with lakes….

“I get about 50,000 to 100,000 francs per painting.”

“…”

Joan grumbled. The atmosphere inside and outside the bars turned cold.

I barely rolled the numbers in my head.

Since 10,000 francs have a value of about one million won in Korean currency in this world, 50,000 would be about five million won [approximately $3,750 USD based on current exchange rates].

And the recent work of ‘Haade O. Jansen’….

If my memory is correct, it was sold for 7.5 million francs at the As Auction House. That was 750 million [approximately $562,500 USD].

The Crown Prince asked in an ominous voice.

“The head of the trading company is embezzling money. Why are you just putting up with it?”

“…I can’t help it. My paintings wouldn’t be valued so highly anywhere else without my brother’s skills.”

“Why don’t you sell them yourself? If you go to another auction house or market,”

“He wouldn’t let me.”

Joan shook her head at my successive words. I immediately grasped the meaning.

If Emile could transform a novice painter with only talent into a veteran with a story, he could also plunge her into the abyss in an instant.

He could create public opinion that they were fakes or create scandals to get them kicked out.

My jaw naturally tightened.

Using family, not treating them properly, and even deceiving others with it to profit.

“Have you been doing this in other businesses as well?”

“I don’t know. There’s a lot he inherited from my mother and grandmother… There must be quite a few parts that he operates legitimately. Emile wouldn’t have left a loophole in his personality. In the first place, the auction is just a regular event to raise the trading company’s name value.”

Joan confessed. I reflexively turned to the Crown Prince.

His orange eyes were sinking.

As was in Serenité, it was a free city directly under the Emperor.

It was difficult for me to investigate Emile, who was not a resident of my territory, and I was not familiar with the formalities or procedures.

But the Imperial Family could investigate on charges of fraud or tax evasion….

“Marquis. Sir Sarnese has arrived.”

At that time, Chantal called me. A servant standing at the end of the hallway grabbed the hem of her dress and bowed.

“Dinner is all prepared as well. Shall I tell the Duke’s family to wait longer?”

“No, I’ll go up.”

I said. It didn’t seem like a story that would end shortly anyway. I gestured to the Crown Prince with my eyes.

He nodded as if agreeing.

Looking down at Joan one last time, she was scratching the stone floor with a desperate face. My mouth felt bitter.

*

“It was a wonderful meal.”

“I’m glad you enjoyed it, Duke.”

“The pork tenderloin dish was truly excellent. The Riesling sauce was also enchanting. Thank you, Marquis.”

“I’ll have to pass on the compliment to Laurence. Thank you, Madam.”

Duke Simon de Sarnese and Duchess Isabelle offered me greetings in front of the dining hall.

The first meal together at the lord’s castle ended safely.

Laurence, the head chef of the Juliette Palace, showed off his tremendous skills even in an unfamiliar place, and everyone was greatly satisfied with the taste of the food.

If there was anything different from usual, it was that the meal proceeded in an overall quiet atmosphere.

In particular, Christel was strangely silent.

To be exact, it seemed like she had something she wanted to say to me and my friends, including the Crown Prince, but she was refraining from doing so in front of her parents.

Somehow….

“Christel, let’s talk with your father before you return to your room.”

“…Yes.”

It seemed like she was being mindful of her father.

I don’t know exactly what’s going on, but the father and daughter have been in conflict over marriage issues these days.

I thought it was probably because of that.

-Tap, tap….

For a while, only the footsteps of several people echoed in the lord’s castle hallway.

The Duke and Duchess, Elisabeth, and the servants were walking ahead.

At first, the Crown Prince and I were naturally at the forefront, but when Christel gently pulled my sleeve and slowed down, everyone gradually fell back.

The couple seemed to be chatting and didn’t notice that we had moved out of their sight.

I whispered to the Crown Prince.

“What are you going to do with the As siblings?”

“Reporting to His Majesty would be the priority.”

I nodded.

With the Crown Prince’s authority, a solo investigation wouldn’t be unreasonable, but since the trading company is large and the city belongs to the Emperor, it was right for her to know first.

The Duke and Duchess were seen turning the corner. It was then.

-Click!

Christel opened the closet door attached to the hallway. Then, she pushed us in!

“Excuse me!”

“Huh?”

-Thud!

It wasn’t like the Crown Prince could be pushed by force, but since I was falling, he ended up being pushed into the closet as well.

The protagonist closed the door with a bang and looked at us.

Light came in through the cracks in the closet, clearly illuminating six eyes.

It was so cramped that our shoulders hurt because the three of us were stuck together.

I thought she had some kind of scheme from the beginning, was this it?

“Honey, Christel is not here.”

Isabelle’s voice was heard from beyond the corner.

The presence of Chantal, Ganael, and Elisabeth, who were flustered outside the door, was felt.

Benjamin and David sighed softly.

It was really a hide-and-seek that started out of nowhere, but strangely, once we hid, it felt like we absolutely couldn’t get caught.

Christel and I, as well as the Crown Prince, were silent as if we had planned it.

“Don’t worry, Marquis!”

Ganael whispered through the crack in the door. What are you trying to do?

“That can’t be, Isabelle. She was following well… Oh, dear!”

Duke Sarnese’s voice got closer, and soon, a surprised sound was heard.

The wife’s reaction was similar.

“Oh my! Simon, don’t interrupt. I’m sorry, Young Countess.”

A conversation followed, saying ‘But Christel’, ‘Christel must have gone ahead’.

I was sandwiched between the Crown Prince and Christel, blinking my eyes.

Did they do something outside?

“…”

“…”

Christel and the Crown Prince’s eyes narrowed.

Even in the midst of being hot and stuffy because their breaths were touching, curiosity arose.

What is it? Do they know each other?