What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up [EN]: Chapter 173

#173 The Hollow Grand Duke (3)

Another day passed quietly.

I stood on the balcony of the Juliette Palace, staring intently at the Romero Palace.

I had reflected the crystal bell in the sunlight, sending the code several times, but there was no response.

Well, considering his personality, it’s to be expected…

“Hmm.”

It was frustrating. Everything was similar to when I first arrived here, yet different.

Back then, the Crown Prince would come out to the training grounds every time I took a walk and swing his sword.

Looking back, it was probably because he was aware of my Ether [a magical energy or life force].

He must have been curious about what kind of person the owner of the Ether was.

But I tried my best to avoid him, and I didn’t see Crown Prince Cedric for almost a month, even though we lived next door.

Of course, Sadie was an exception. How could I have known that he was the one?

-Squeak!

The lesser pandas, with Tete on their backs, were running around me like crazy.

I chuckled and fed Demi a sweet pear slice.

Crunch, crunch, he nibbled on the flesh, tickling my fingers.

The situation was worse now than right after I entered the palace.

The only thing that was the same was that I was studying hard, but I couldn’t use Ether and couldn’t even take walks.

Because the palace guests were not allowed to enter the garden, it was difficult to watch the flower viewing from the balcony.

It’s fun to watch the soldiers and gardeners, but…

“Everyone looks at me with pity, so it’s a bit much.”

-Kkuu

Demi replied, smacking his lips with juice.

I wiped his mouth and whiskers with a wet towel.

*Is it right to lock up a friend who has become weak, Your Highness? That’s why some readers call you a ‘Celeggy’ [a derogatory term combining Cedric’s name with ‘leech,’ implying he’s taking advantage of Yeseo’s weakness].*

Such mutterings lingered on the tip of my tongue. Suddenly, a scene from that day flashed through my mind.

‘Eunseo,’

-Thud!

……If you ask me if I resent the Crown Prince who pinned me down, well.

I was definitely disappointed, but seeing his eyes, I felt more sorry.

I had never imagined that I could return home in such a way.

I instinctively got up, and Dduk-sim, who read my mind, flapped his wings, but it was true that I didn’t think about the consequences.

If I had gone through the hole in the sky at that time, could I have really gone home? Then what about Prince Yeseo? Would his body be left here, and only his soul would have left?

All sorts of question marks plastered my head, but there were no answers I could get now.

“Honestly, I can’t do that again.”

-Bbibbii

Dduk-sim, who was sunbathing on the railing, agreed.

I was just an ordinary human being.

The shock of being rejected by the whole world, the hemoptysis [coughing up blood] that pooled like a puddle, and the two weeks of fainting…

If possible, I wanted to find a less extreme and less scary way.

You can scold me for saying that it’s not easy to cross dimensions, but people’s hearts are fickle.

I didn’t want to be possessed, so I felt wronged.

I came here comfortably while sleeping, so I wanted to go back while enjoying myself.

“I’m sorry, Dduk-sim. I have a deal with you.”

-Bbirrit

I whispered, stroking the little body of the wren that was going up and down.

“It’ll be hard to keep my promise for a while. I can’t go anywhere because I don’t have Ether.”

Then the wren nodded as if he understood. I ended up laughing out loud.

The deal with Dduk-sim was nothing special.

It was quite simple for a negotiation with a great sacred object.

I recalled what happened in Aitz Village and raised the corners of my lips.

The moment I needed strong wings to go to the Crown Prince’s investiture eve party.

‘You remember what I said, that I’m not your master, right?’

-Bbii

‘So let’s make a deal.’

I put him on the back of my hand and improvised.

‘If you lend me your wings when I want, I’ll find your master for you.’

-Bbi?

‘A wonderful person you can serve. A great man with excellent divine power and a great personality. You’ve never chosen a proper master so far. I’ll get it for you even if I search the entire continent.’

At that time, it was possible to say such things.

I could go anywhere as long as I told my teacher in advance, and the Crown Prince didn’t seem to dislike it either.

Besides, as a partner of the two main characters, it seemed easy to meet the main characters in the play just by diligently chasing after them.

If I did that, it wouldn’t be difficult to find Dduk-sim’s master.

In short, I wasn’t bluffing.

But the wren only watched me closely and didn’t react much.

‘That’s my condition. How about it?’

I finished speaking anxiously. After a while.

-Woo Woong!

The little bird shone dazzlingly with light purple light. Following,

-Flap!

It turned into a large wing and took its place on my back. The deal was done.

That was already more than two months ago. I haven’t made much progress in finding Dduk-sim’s master yet.

“Thank you for your understanding, Your Great Highness, Lord of Biryeom [a title or epithet].”

-Bbippo

When I bowed, the little one spread his tiny wings wide and bowed back.

It was so cute it was driving me crazy.

-Knock knock

“Your Highness.”

Then I heard Ganael’s voice from behind.

The boy who turned around was on the balcony with a very strange face.

He seemed embarrassed by something, and he seemed to find something funny.

“Ganael, what’s wrong?”

“Well, um… There seems to be a rumor that Your Highness is not eating well.”

“Suddenly? How come?”

I haven’t really reduced the amount.

When I tilted my head, his golden eyes wandered around.

“It is said that you come out to the terrace with a sorrowful face and sigh, and that you are withering away in loneliness because you have no one to talk to except the divine beasts.”

“That’s a severe distortion.”

I knew that the palace staff liked gossip, but they were more active in producing rumors than I thought.

It didn’t seem like it would change anything if I corrected it, so I just said that.

I’m curious about my friends’ news, and I want to meet them and have a meal together to catch up, but it’s not too difficult.

Benjamin and Ganael are in the Juliette Palace, and all the staff are still kind to me, who has no Ether.

They were good people.

“Yes. Anyway, it seems that such complaints have been received by the Romero Palace as well.”

“Complaints?”

My rumor became a complaint? Is Romero a community center?

“Sir Mute and Sir Sarnese, and Duke Blanquer, advised His Highness the Crown Prince. They said that you shouldn’t just keep the prince locked up like this. For that reason… His Highness has called a clown to the Juliette Palace.”

“Called what?”

I stopped tidying the table and widened my eyes.

Ganael was startled, perhaps because my voice had unconsciously grown louder.

“Well, His Highness said that you can send them back if you don’t like them! They are the most famous clown troupe in the capital, and they entered the palace this morning after undergoing a thorough physical examination and inspection of their belongings by the Imperial Guard. Pierre is so excited that he’s jumping high enough to touch the ceiling. Laurence is also looking forward to it.”

Good heavens…

Now that I see it, Ganael’s expression was not embarrassment and amusement, but embarrassment and excitement.

He seemed to be excited about the opportunity to see all kinds of acrobatics and puppet shows.

He would be in trouble if I refused, so he couldn’t help it.

I could see the minds of the young servants, and I let out a hollow laugh.

“Besides, if they can’t make the prince laugh, they’ll be punished, so the clown troupe will definitely do their best.”

“……”

My mouth hardened. The Crown Prince of the Empire must be crazy.

I should apologize to him and solve it with words. Why are you catching innocent people?

Is it okay for Christel to date and marry such a thug?

I was suddenly worried about the original couple.

Ganael drooped his eyebrows as if my face looked troubled.

“Shall I tell them to leave, Your Highness?”

“No, you can let them in. It’ll be fun.”

I answered hastily.

If I refused, I didn’t know what kind of humiliation the innocent clown troupe would suffer, so it was better to accept it for their sake.

Then Ganael brightened up and bowed and left.

Soon, cheers erupted from outside the door.

The divine beasts and Dduk-sim started jumping up and down in their places as if they liked hearing that.

“I can’t live like this.”

I shook my head with a sigh. I couldn’t leave the 25-month-old like that.

Romero’s night was quiet. The palace was quiet even during the day, but it was even more so at night.

Cedric casually scanned the magazine on the desk in his office.

He was closer to hating , and its editor, but he did not underestimate the media’s influence or information power.

Then he checked the report from the Imperial Guard that had been submitted to him.

He checked whether there was a difference between the article and the content, but there was nothing noticeable except that the official document was definitely more detailed.

It was a natural conclusion since he did not deal with the exaggerated interviews of the nobles.

Flip, the paper turned over.

‘Interrogation result of Robert Blanquer’.

The outline of the case was as follows.

Robert Blanquer was in confinement in a villa in the corner of the territory after suffering irreparable injuries from his ‘duel’ with Cedric.

Then he heard the news of the masquerade ball.

Blinded by the sense of crisis and anger that he might lose the title of Duke to his younger brother, he escaped the villa with the help of his nanny.

Then he infiltrated the lord’s castle, disguised his appearance with armor, and hid in the ballroom.

He intended to harm his younger brother, but when he entered the ballroom, he said that he could not dare to do so because she was under the tight protection of her friends.

He eventually decided to leave the scene.

However, it was difficult to escape by normal means because of the prince’s party who noticed his suspicion, and he was caught while fleeing through the balcony.

‘*…He testified that no one entered the room and had a formal conversation, and that he did not remember which balcony he jumped from. He stated that the question regarding the tulip roots was to scare his dance partner to hide his identity.’*

The orange eyes sharply read the letters.

‘Duke and Duchess Cecil Blanquer reduced their son’s pension by one-third and received a written oath that he would never approach the lord’s castle or Duchess Eva Blanquer for the rest of his life. There was a public statement that if he violated this, he would be permanently expelled from the territory and excommunicated. Duke Blanquer is currently staying at the villa.’

“……”

Cedric frowned. Despite the clean handling, there was a subtle unpleasant aftertaste.

Suddenly, the voice of Christel de Sarnese rang in his ears.

‘There must have been something that day, right?’

He never answered her question.

Both that day and the masquerade ball had more than one or two disturbing points.

Chiik, the Crown Prince suppressed the flames at his fingertips and calmed his mind.

It was then.

-Daegururu…

He quickly raised his chin. It was the sound of something small and round rolling on the carpet.

It was a faint noise that an ordinary person would not hear. But he was not an ordinary person.

Holding the Hyegeom [Cedric’s sword] in his hand, Cedric got up from his seat without a sound.

The uninvited guest was in the side room leading to the bedroom, and the Crown Prince knew with the sharp intuition of a swordsman that he was not his servant.

Quickly approaching the door and pulling the handle,

-Daegdaegururu…

The most absurd sight in the world was revealed.

“Hot.”

The other person made a surprised gasp. Another object rolled loudly on the floor.

The night visitor began to pick up the fallen sacred stone beads with a very embarrassed gesture.

It was an object that Cedric had placed on the table in the side room.

The blonde hair, bathed in the moonlight of autumn, was shining brilliantly.

His waist and feet were full of tulip-pinned vines.

-Kkii!

“Shh, Demi. You’ll get caught.”

-Kkieueueue

“I told you, no one knows yet.”

*Hyung [Korean term for older brother, used affectionately by males] has good ears.’ He whispered. He seemed to have good ears but was bad at sensing people.

Cedric swallowed his sigh and anger at the same time and approached the prince from behind.

Now that he saw it, the other person had no ability to read the sword hidden in the darkness.

It was a miracle that he had survived in Werner’s grasp until now.

“Okay. Let’s break into the bedroom. I’ve been there before, so I know.”

-Kkurruru

“That way.”

The prince confidently pointed in the direction of the office. Cedric gave up on his patience.

-Seureung!

“Heok!”

The Crown Prince drew the Hyegeom and aimed it at the white neck. Purple eyes immediately looked up at him.

Just then, the clouds cleared, and Cedric’s beast-like silhouette was revealed.

The prince’s Adam’s apple bobbed. The Crown Prince growled in a boiling voice.

“A hostage from an enemy country has invaded the Crown Prince’s palace.”

“Um.”

“How should I take that?”

“Your Highness.”

“Do you want to die?”

“Hey.”

The prince made an ugly face. His eyes welled up and shone.

It was only Yeseo Fenetian who spoke so impiously to him.

“I tried to follow the clowns you sent because they were good at tightrope walking. I wanted to apologize, but you wouldn’t listen. I had to do this.”

“……”

“Let’s talk, let’s talk. There’s nothing that can’t be solved with words.”

Three earth-attribute divine beasts poured out of his arms. Cedric gritted his teeth.

Regardless of the man’s will, the tip of the blade descended.