What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up [EN]: Chapter 176

#176 Decoding (2)

Is that even possible? He’s not just any fortune teller, but the leader of the Fleur-de-lis [a secret society or organization, possibly with magical or prophetic abilities].

“Mother, I’ll be right back after visiting that table over there.”

Christel said, looking at Isabel.

The Duchess was somewhat surprised, but she was used to her daughter’s sudden actions, so she readily nodded.

Since awakening last spring through her prayers, Christel did whatever she pleased and never regretted it.

It seemed she acted as she pleased to avoid leaving any regrets behind.

Of course, she tried not to make important decisions on her own, worrying about what would happen after her memories returned, but at least in her words and actions, she was unreserved.

As soon as Isabel gave her permission, Christel called a guard from the Sarnese Duchy.

“Please take good care of my mother.”

“Don’t worry, Miss.”

The woman with a sword at her waist replied reassuringly.

Christel nodded and headed to the table where Modest Bakari was sitting alone.

A significant number of eyes were fixed on her, then moved away with murmurs.

“Hello, Commander Bakari.”

“Lady Christel de Sarnese.”

A youthful face looked up at her.

Under the shadow of his robe, round glasses and blue-silver irises glowed faintly.

Christel put his note in her pocket and spoke casually.

“You’re drinking alone. Is your taste to savor solitude as a snack?”

“Something like that.”

The teenager replied without hesitation.

*I heard he was only twenty years old, but he already enjoys drinking alone; the little kid in front of me had quite interesting aspects.*

Christel gestured to the seat opposite Bakari. He understood the meaning and nodded.

An unexpected combination occurred in an instant.

A quick-witted waiter brought another glass.

“I understand that you went before Prince Yeser at the masquerade and made a prophecy. You said you saw the shadow of death, that there was a stench of conspiracy, and it was about one person’s pain. I heard it too. So I searched the ballroom with my friends.”

Christel threw a fastball [an immediate, direct approach]. Then the prophet dropped his head.

Night-colored hair poured down powerlessly.

“…I heard that too.”

The voice, halfway between a boy and a young man, sounded very gloomy.

Bakari reached out and grabbed the champagne Christel offered.

-Clink.

Christel snatched the bottle and filled his empty glass.

The commander stared at her with a bewildered look.

“If you pour your own drink, you’ll have bad luck. What on earth are you talking about? Does your memory disappear entirely when you make a prophecy?”

“…That never happens. Only that day was an exception.”

Bakari stared at the champagne, then poured it into his mouth in one gulp.

It wasn’t soju [a Korean distilled spirit], but he really emptied it in one go.

Christel stared at him calmly.

“The you I saw at the masquerade was already asleep. I heard you went into mana hibernation [a state of magical sleep or deep rest].”

The sight of him wearing a mask, lying on the sofa, and being cared for was vivid.

However, she was distracted by the sudden opening of the dungeon in the Blanquer territory.

Everyone was busy evacuating to the plaza, and she couldn’t talk to the Bakari family members that day.

Marquis François D’Huem and Christel’s father, Duke Simon de Sarnese, were found to be innocent.

Neither of them even knew that they had been suspected.

The prophecy was so abstract, and the scoundrel Robert Blanquer testified that he had never contacted anyone.

“Yes. I consumed so much mana that I had to go into hibernation immediately after the false prophecy. The servants in my house also confirmed that I had a lot of nosebleeds. So what you said is probably true. However…”

“You forgot it yourself, right?”

“That’s right.”

The answering voice was very small. He clearly wanted to deny reality.

“It’s incomprehensible. Since taking office as the leader of the Fleur-de-lis this year… I have never made such an error.”

Error? It was a strange choice of words. The paladin frowned and poured him another drink.

Bakari drank the champagne as if he had been waiting for it.

The finest brie cheese and raw oysters served as snacks were getting cold.

*He’s pouring alcohol into an empty stomach. It’s good to be young.*

“His Majesty’s magic tool shouldn’t have such a defect. I am…”

“You’re completely drunk.”

Christel cut him off with a single word.

*I didn’t want to hear him say that he had a defect or made an error, as if he were some kind of artificial intelligence.*

She got up from her seat without hesitation. The man’s blurry gaze followed her.

“Anyway, you don’t know the reason. Then I’ll be on my way. My mother is waiting.”

“…”

“And people aren’t tools. You look like you’re about to pass out soon… I’m telling you this because I might regret it later.”

“You say something similar to the Prince.”

“Prince Yeser?”

Christel asked back loudly.

If it was the prince she knew, he was definitely the kind of person who would say such a thing.

However, it was interesting that there was an exchange between this twenty-year-old solo drinker and the beauty who only drank herbal tea.

She was lost in thought for a moment, then raised the corners of her lips and left her last words.

“Next time, if you’re having a hard time, don’t drink alone and go to the Juliette Palace. It’s a restricted area now, but it’ll be lifted soon. I believe so.”

“What does that…”

“It’ll be over in three months.”

Christel muttered and moved her steps.

She didn’t gain anything because the prophet lost his memory, but conversely, the fact that he forgot was a great gain in itself.

If he had received such a severe shock that the night was completely forgotten, the revelation was likely to be that important information.

*I have to let the Prince know too,* she thought.

*If it was Herrit, who had gained the Crown Prince’s trust with his young age and harmlessness, he would be able to deliver dozens of her letters.*

Yes. I am currently in the Juliette Palace garden.

It’s the third day of teatime under the autumn sun with special guest Herrit and his family.

“Herrit Haines, you have been granted the only outside access to Juliette today. How do you feel about that?”

“Heung.”

I took a spoonful of Vacherin [a meringue-based dessert] and held it in front of the child’s lips like a microphone.

Herrit smiled shyly, then opened his mouth and ate the ice cream.

*You seem to be in a good mood,* I played it off like that, then took a big bite of my own.

The Vacherin with chestnut paste and puree had a chewier and deeper sweetness than usual.

The cool and soft cream melted on my tongue, making me feel good.

I stroked the fawn Chestnut who came to play with Herrit, and then watched the two little ones run to one side of the yard with a smile.

Kind Ganael followed as a guardian.

Benjamin was writing a manuscript at the side table, and the divine beasts were huddled together taking a nap.

The gardener carefully stepped around the troublesome things.

“I have to study again.”

I swept the table, determined.

The surroundings were cluttered with writing paper, books, letters, notebooks, and quills.

I heard that a national harvest festival would be held next month. It wasn’t just a few days, but a grand festival that lasted throughout November.

The palace food was mostly made with fresh seasonal ingredients, but the sense that the festival was approaching could be clearly felt even in the remote cold palace.

Gorgeous decorations were placed everywhere, and servants with excited faces were running around busily.

There would be more opportunities to find Cedric and Christel. In particular, the former’s condition management was essential.

There are big schedules in December, so I had to figure something out accurately before then.

∙ Warning from the Ark

– Don’t know what will happen if divine objects gather: I think I know now, so pass

– Danger prepared by the main god for me: ?

I tapped the second line with a quill.

Then I drew an arrow and stretched it to the side.

– Danger prepared by the main god for me: ? → Bakari may have foreseen it

This was the key.

Modest Bakari made a very eerie prophecy at the masquerade, and I guessed that he might have seen something that deviated from the original story.

This was because the method of revelation was different from what it had been so far.

I wasn’t sure because there were no other clues, but….

I only rolled my eyes and repeatedly examined the letter next to the notebook.

‘Prince, it’s me!

Did you have a good meal? I believe Herrit will deliver it well today. It’s just that I met Bakari, the leader of the Fleur-de-lis, at a bar the day before yesterday. But…’

A handwriting that resembled Christel was running around on the white paper like a foal.

The news she delivered was very surprising.

“He doesn’t remember.”

I whispered.

He foresaw the future, shed blood, and his body and mind were so shocked that he had to go into mana hibernation as soon as he finished the prophecy, but after regaining consciousness, he couldn’t even remember what happened at the time.

Did he really get a glimpse of something that deviated from the original?

If so, the writer may have directly intervened in Bakari’s head….

Anyway, he might have erased the memories of the characters by some means. It was a little scary.

I drank plum blossom tea and calmly organized my thoughts.

– Danger prepared by the main god for me: ? → Bakari may have foreseen it → The fact that the memory disappeared means that it is highly likely that it is not the original content → The only non-original existence here is me

…Is this what you call organizing, Jeong Yeser?

If you just scribble down whatever comes to mind, you can’t see anything.

I clicked my tongue and drew lines on the notebook. It would be better to draw a picture.

Main God

↓

(Danger) ↓ ← Bakari glimpsed

↓

“Much better.”

I nodded my chin.

In fact, I also speculated that Bakari might have made a prophecy about Eva because Robert Blanquer was trying to harm his sister.

But in that case, there seemed to be no reason to lose his memory.

Eva is precious to me, but she wouldn’t have been a major character in the original work of Toegye [likely the title of a book or story within the story].

It was a name I had never heard from Eunseo.

“If it’s not in the original, it’s not related to war. He said it was a plot… A plot about me.”

The faces of Marquis D’Huem and Duke Sarnese flashed through my mind. I quickly shook my head.

*It’s not both of them. I hope not. It won’t be.*

“Let’s move on for now.”

I reluctantly opened the next page of the notebook.

It was unsettling, but there was nothing more I could dig into right now.

So what I have to worry about right now is this guy.

∙ Side effect of activating the Wish Star Plate [a magical artifact]: Ether [a magical energy] is blocked

– When will it heal?

– Can it be healed?

I had been working hard for several days, eating and sleeping, to figure out this problem.

First of all, the Star Plate wouldn’t be disposable, so I assumed that it was still in my body.

It used such a powerful force that it looked like an ether explosion in the eyes of a third party, and then became quiet like a dead mouse.

Then there was only one case I could squeeze out.

“Cool down [a period of inactivity or recovery].”

That’s it. I muttered solemnly.

The Star Plate is closer to an ‘item’ than a ‘skill’, but if you understand it in that context, it was easy to accept the situation.

Toegye was ultimately a novel written by a 21st-century Korean writer.

It would have been difficult not to be inspired by the game system.

– When will it heal?: When the Star Plate’s cool down is full

– Can it be healed?

I played with the quill, then stared at the bottom line and brought the teacup to my lips.

My body is fine and the Star Plate will probably be fine too, so it will heal someday….

“Ugh, why is it so bitter.”

I frowned and checked the teacup.

Now that I see it, it wasn’t the plum blossom tea I was drinking, but the sun halo herbal tea that Herrit had left behind. I must have accidentally picked up the child’s cup.

I drank it for the first time the day before yesterday and it had no effect, but the little one didn’t give up and shared the medicine with me yesterday too.

I felt less resistant after reading Michelle’s letter about the sun halo.

It seems like he deliberately left this within my reach….

Should I just think of it as drinking red ginseng [a Korean herbal medicine] and empty it all out?

“Ugh, it’s more bitter than red ginseng. Huh?”

It was then. I blinked, thinking I was finally seeing things.

-Saaa….

Small golden grains were rising from my fingertips.

My mouth opened involuntarily at the unbelievable development. Suddenly? Is the cool down over?

“No, wait a minute.”

I hurriedly picked up the empty teacup and looked at it up and down.

Is it this? Could it be because of the sun halo herbal tea?

-Taang!