What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up [EN]: Chapter 158

#158 Conspiracy (3)

“Oh my! Marquis Dhiem?”

Christel’s surprised voice rose.

I calmed my pounding heart and turned to look at him, albeit creakily.

Ganael, who had been quietly following, stroked my back. It was François Dhiem, whom I hadn’t seen in a while.

He looked visibly flustered to see us, which was an unusual reaction for him.

However, he recovered quickly.

“Love and a sneeze cannot be avoided, and it seems the three of you are my loves!”

The handsome man bent at the waist, his pink eyes curving. His opera-actor-like demeanor was still the same.

“Your Highness the Crown Prince, Lord Sarnese. I sincerely congratulate you on safely becoming the Archbishop. It is the glory and celebration of the Empire.”

He kissed Christel’s hand with an elegant gesture.

I finally came to my senses and pulled my arm away just as the Marquis was about to grab my hand.

He always acted dramatically, but today he seemed a bit, how should I say, rushed.

There was a sense of being swept away. I smiled awkwardly and observed the Marquis.

“Hello, Marquis. You seem busy. Is something wrong?”

“Not at all. There were absolutely no suspicious incidents! Please keep the fact that I was here today a secret from my sisters.”

The reason he specifically mentioned his sisters was probably because he had already met his younger brother, Lord Erbe Dhiem, at the investiture ceremony.

It seemed that the three sisters, including Princess Antoinette, had not come up to the capital together.

When Christel and I nodded with awkward faces, he smiled brightly and bowed again.

For some reason, he seemed to be retreating first. It was then.

-Thud!

“Marquis, you dropped this.”

A glittering card fell from the man’s chest.

When I picked it up and handed it to him, the Marquis was openly embarrassed. What’s wrong with this guy today?

“Thank you, Your Highness.”

He snatched the card as if grabbing it. Christel frowned.

“Are you not feeling well?”

“Of course, Madam.”

“Are you coming to the Blanquer ducal family’s masquerade ball?”

“Yes.”

For a moment, the emotion disappeared from his face.

He quickly raised the corners of his lips, but the Marquis’s expressionless face was very cold, unlike usual.

“Unfortunately… I won’t be able to be with you three that day.”

He said that and winked languidly.

Then, after giving a neat bow, he strode away down the hallway.

For a while, we silently watched his back.

Benjamin pointed out, ‘He didn’t come from His Majesty’s office.’ He really seems suspicious.

“…He has an ulterior motive.”

“You think so too?”

The Crown Prince muttered, and Christel immediately responded.

However, since he said it was nothing, there was no reason to pry.

It was a shame that we couldn’t meet him at the masquerade ball, but his daily life was already similar to a masquerade.

We shrugged and headed to the office where the chamberlain was waiting.

I imagined it would be a secret rendezvous, but with so many people, that kind of picture was out of the question.

Still, it was convenient that no one paid attention for long because the Crown Prince was in the group.

-Knock knock

Ganael knocked on the door we had arrived at. But the reaction was strangely slow.

Instead of the door opening, there was no sound from inside.

It was when the young page tilted his head and raised his hand again.

-Bang!

“Good heavens.”

It was a familiar man’s face and a repetition of the exclamation I had heard a little while ago.

We widened our eyes at the unexpected person who appeared through the doorway.

He also seemed flustered to see us and couldn’t speak for a moment.

Christel was the first to speak.

“…Father?”

“Christel. I greet His Highness the Crown Prince and Prince Yeseo.”

Duke Simon de Sarnese bowed politely.

I knew that there were many great nobles coming and going in the Imperial Palace, but it was the first time I had encountered familiar faces one after another.

I wondered if they had all caught me, but it seemed natural since there was a big event called the Holy Knight investiture ceremony.

“I heard you were going back to the ducal residence first, but I didn’t know you would be here…”

Christel’s words stopped abruptly. She couldn’t help it.

Inside the chamberlain’s office, a page, who appeared to be a secretary, was hurriedly tidying up her appearance and bowing to us.

From her flushed cheeks and embarrassed expression, I could roughly guess what had just happened.

Benjamin and Ganael coughed and turned their heads. My neck became hot in an instant.

We, I, lost our words and opened our mouths.

“Um.”

This… this isn’t it. The father of a romance fantasy novel’s protagonist is having an affair with an Imperial Palace page…?

No, no one should do this. It’s a very bad thing. I didn’t see him that way?

I was so shocked that my thoughts weren’t organizing quickly.

I immediately turned to look at Christel.

Her eyes were constantly sinking into the darkness.

“What is it?”

“Christel.”

“Don’t call my name, explain. No, what would I do with that? Go away.”

“It’s not what you think.”

“That’s enough. Don’t do this here, get out.”

She stepped aside. It was an unspoken pressure to leave immediately.

The window in the hallway shook precariously as if it would break at any moment.

The candles that lit the place went out with a hiss.

It was because Christel’s vessel was swaying 불안하게 [unsteadily].

I gently grabbed her elbow and poured ether into her.

The Crown Prince, unable to watch any longer, opened his mouth.

“Duke. If you’re done with your business, you should go.”

“…Yes, Your Highness.”

The Duke bowed neatly and retreated.

Christel glared at her father’s back with a look of utter contempt, as if dealing with something pathetic.

I was worried about her and Countess Isabel, so I couldn’t control my expression.

Only the Crown Prince calmly stared at the problematic page.

She bowed her head deeply and pointed politely to one side.

The room inside the office where Chamberlain Laura would be was waiting for us.

“It’s so big.”

“Yes, Your Highness. Because it is such a conspicuous treasure, it could not be easily taken out of the Imperial Palace. I am sorry to have made you come such a long way.”

Chamberlain Laura lowered her body and apologized politely. I waved my hand, saying it was okay.

I was curious as to why King Christana’s letter had not been sent to the Juliette Palace, but it turned out to be because of its size and detail.

The letter she wrote to her son was by no means secret.

The purple satin scroll embroidered with gold thread was as big as my body when fully unfolded.

It was decorated with colorful jewels and tassels.

Doesn’t this defeat the purpose of sending it secretly?

“Please read it quickly, Your Highness.”

Christel, who was sitting on the opposite sofa, said kindly.

I was worried because she seemed to be pretending to be okay, and I wanted to tell her that she could go see Isabel.

However, I decided not to speak first, as she must have remained with her own judgment.

I glanced at the Crown Prince, who was seated at the head of the table, and looked at the scroll.

“Um…”

And I read it carefully. Honestly, I was a little scared.

He said nothing to the Emperor, but I was worried that he might have said something to me.

“What did she say?”

“It seems… ordinary.”

I frowned and said. This was unexpected, it really was.

“She is happy to hear that I am eating well. Cornelise is doing well. She says she has grown quite a bit in six months.”

I had never met the Second Princess, but hearing this news made me smile.

Of course, there were also unfortunate things.

‘When I remember that you are a hostage in an enemy country, my heart aches even in my sleep, and I wander around the bedroom,’ or ‘I pray to the Lord every day for your father’s peace and your safety.’

Most of it was writing from ordinary parents asking about their child’s well-being and sharing news.

I skimmed it backwards and checked only the first letters of the sentences, but I couldn’t see any hidden messages.

This meant that there were no terrible stories about trying to get you out by any means, or taking off your mask and revealing your identity.

Thank goodness I didn’t make a mistake in front of Eliser.

I sighed in relief and raised my head. Immediately, my eyes met with orange eyes.

“Have you finished reading?”

“Yes.”

Then the Crown Prince tilted his head. He took off his gloves with a very displeased look.

“Then burn it.”

What?

“That’s why I can’t go home!”

Christel said something that was neither a soliloquy nor a shout.

Benjamin sighed and began to organize the King’s letter.

“Why, why our family of all people…”

The ‘man’s’ voice trembled.

He didn’t even remember how he got back to his mansion in the capital.

He drew the curtains on all the windows in the study, lest anyone see him, and checked twice that the door was tightly locked, then struggled to light a candle in the darkness.

Then, he took out the card that he had barely received from the Imperial Palace page.

A letter smuggled in, mixed with the King of Fenetian’s letter.

Knowing the origin of the letter, he could not dare to open it even in the carriage or in the garden of the mansion.

There was not even a common crest stamped on the lilac-colored sealing.

That made him even more afraid.

Rustle, rustle.

‘W. B.’

On the outside of the letter paper, two letters were written.

It would mean nothing to strangers, but the man knew exactly who it was referring to.

The royal family of the Theocracy used the initials of the first and middle names when giving instructions to spies in the Empire.

And currently, there was only one person in the royal family with a name starting with W.

“Werner Fenetian.”

The man muttered a nickname of despair.

He had never received an order as a spy in his life.

It was from his great-grandmother’s generation, and none of the descendants born after her had actively done such a thing.

Of course, he knew deep down about what his great-grandmother had done.

She framed an innocent baron, leading to his family’s destruction, and you remained a noble and loyal great noble.

The man clearly remembered what he had heard at his great-grandmother’s death.

‘It was a choice for survival. So don’t be ashamed.’

She did not repent until the last moment of her life.

To her young great-grandson, that image remained in very intense colors.

Rustle, rustle.

He bit his lip and unfolded the letter.

The writing was as straight as if a book had been printed, and the size and spacing were also eerily consistent.

‘Guide the pilgrim out of the sight of the Lord.

Requires conspiracy, not executioner.

Eat it up and strike the honor.

He who repels and spurs,

Will close his eyes as the hunter’s dog.’

It was like a riddle. But it wasn’t difficult for the man.

He was an imperial aristocrat familiar with the elusive upper-class language, and before that, he was a descendant of a spy family.

It would be strange if he didn’t understand it right away.

As all the clues in the lines were clearly embedded, the man’s hands trembled.

Cheek, the center of the paper, unable to overcome the shivers, was helplessly torn.

The devil’s whisper rearranged each letter in his head.

‘Kill the pilgrim.

Do not use assassins, prepare a conspiracy.

Chew up the letter and tarnish the other person’s honor.

If you refuse this order,

I will reveal that your family is a spy.’

“Huff, ha…”

It was a terrible demand and threat.

The man gasped and drank the wine he had left over from last night, bottle and all.

He couldn’t possibly harm an innocent person. He shouldn’t.

But he had to in order to live.

He was the head of a great loyal family that served the Emperor, and the number of dependents he was responsible for was endless.

On the other hand, the target was only one person.

A pilgrim. One who left his homeland to find the holy land.

Prince Yeseo Fenetian.

“Great-grandmother…”

He collapsed onto the desk with a groan.

The sins she had committed, the karma that the previous heads of the family had accumulated by turning a blind eye and pretending not to know, were finally coming back in this generation.

The man himself could not be said to be innocent either.

He recalled the purple eyes he had encountered in the Imperial Palace.

The white face that had expressed concern for his bewildered self was vivid.

The prince had interacted not only with the man but also with his family, and was an existence that received the affectionate attention of the imperial family.

He was a good and kind person.

No one in the empire was unaware that the Crown Prince’s targeting of him was a heinous and cruel act.

“Cough, cough cough!”

Finally, he choked on his wine. His stomach was churning badly.

Nevertheless, he had to make a decision, and he was someone who shouldn’t have difficulty doing so.

The man trembled his fingertips and held the letter. And then…

-Rip! Tear!

He tore the paper into pieces and put it into his mouth little by little.

Whenever he felt nauseous deep in his stomach, he drank wine to suppress it.

Cold sweat ran down his chin.

‘It was a choice for survival.’

Each time the blood-colored wine decreased, his great-grandmother’s voice echoed in his ears like a curse.