What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up [EN]: Chapter 213

#213

Role (4)

“I handed in my resignation at that dump of a company, so you think I can’t escape this castle? Go choke on엿 [Korean candy]!”

Christel de Sarnese muttered savagely from the windowsill.

The string of curses, enough to make her mother and nanny faint, continued generously.

The chamberlain’s explanation from earlier that day grated on her nerves the more she thought about it.

No, it was beyond grating.

She was furious, feeling wronged and resentful, unable to sleep until dawn.

She hadn’t had heartburn since quitting her job and being possessed here.

‘Prince Yeseo is accused of inciting terrorism against the imperial family, attempted murder, and plotting insurrection.’

‘What the hell are you talking about?’

‘My lady?’

‘The sound of flowers ‘blooming.’ I suddenly miss spring.’

‘…Yes. Therefore, His Majesty wishes for you to remain in your chambers for the time being and refrain from going outside. It is to protect you from becoming negatively involved with the Prince.’

‘Why bother being conscious of such ridiculous accusations? No one will believe them.’

‘I understand why you think so. However, politics is not that simple.’

“Politics, my ass. I voted diligently, damn it.”

She gritted her teeth. The December wind swept through the room, but she didn’t feel cold at all.

She wished it were even stronger and colder.

Christel sat perched on the windowsill as if about to jump out, gazing at the moon.

The winter fragment, veiled by clouds, lay half-reclined as if exhausted.

Seeing it reminded her of the Prince, making her even more anxious.

Of course, His Majesty the Emperor, His Eminence the Cardinal, and that Crown Prince bastard would believe in the Prince steadfastly.

She didn’t doubt that. And with Teacher Johan around, there shouldn’t be any major problems….

Still, he must be lonely and frustrated.

“Is he really sick? This pisses me off so much I’m thinking all sorts of things.”

At this point, she even doubted whether her father, Duke Simon de Sarnese, really had the flu.

The reason she hadn’t attempted to run away all day was ultimately because of that.

If he was seriously ill, Christel had to stay in the castle no matter what, as she didn’t know how the family situation might change.

This was one of the ‘responsibilities’ she had newly acquired upon being possessed.

Things that acted as a side brake for Ham Ga-in, who wanted to close her eyes, block her ears, and live recklessly.

The family she had to lead and the dependents she had to support.

“……I’m worried about Mother too.”

Leaving Isabel de Sarnese’s side at this time also weighed on her mind.

She wanted to rush to the Prince right away, but what about her tender and tearful ‘stepmother’?

Even though she had little affection for her father, Isabel was definitely Christel’s soft spot.

“It’s suffocating, suffocating. Can’t even be a friend. Can’t even be a partner.”

Her words trailed off. She had no appetite, so she left half of her dinner.

The Prince would have been horrified if he had seen it.

‘You’ll collapse if you do that. Eat just one more serving.’ His pleasant voice seemed to echo in her ears.

She chuckled.

-Knock knock

Just then, someone knocked on the bedroom door. Christel straightened up in a flash.

It was almost 3 AM. Naturally, an ice blade appeared in her grasp.

“Who is it?”

“Ollie.”

It was a very small voice.

Christel immediately recognized the owner of the fragile, wavering tone.

She couldn’t not know. There was only one person here who called her by her childhood name.

“Mother.”

It was Isabel.

Christel quickly closed the window, added more firewood to the fireplace, stuck the icicles into an empty cup, and ran to the door.

Click. Soon, the sound of the key turning and the door opened from the outside.

Isabel, her face stained with tears, was looking at her.

Christel was startled and brought her into the room, closing the door. Something was clearly wrong.

“Why are you crying, at this hour? Did something happen to Father?”

She sat her mother by the fireplace and asked.

Kneeling down, she wiped her cheeks with a handkerchief, and Isabel held her daughter’s hand tightly, leaning her face against it and sobbing.

Her beautiful eyes were filled with fear. A slender voice escaped.

“Ollie, your father… Simon is plotting something bad…”

“Yes?”

A chill ran down her spine. The gentle violet eyes flashed through her mind.

It was an intuition from an unknown source.

Christel desperately shook her head, holding Isabel’s wrist.

That couldn’t be.

“It’s okay. Tell me. You came because you were scared, right?”

“How, how could he do that to him…”

“I’ll worry about it with you. Mother, you’re not alone.”

She spoke with all her heart. Then Isabel’s expression clouded over.

Barely thirty-three.

Without any special title or important role, she had lived as a duchess since she was twenty-two, making her extremely vulnerable to external shocks.

This was even more so because she had lived a life detached from the fierce social circles. But none of that mattered.

Christel could protect her, and she wanted to.

“This…”

Rustle, rustle.

Hugging her daughter, Isabel trembled and took something out of her inner pocket.

Christel brushed her hair back with her hand and took the paper, unfolding it.

‘First. Prince Yeseo Venetian is plotting a rebellion!

The Prince has long supported anonymous military funds in the southern part of Liester, the Barony of Berang.

He was also behind the gift embezzlement case that shocked the nation last spring.

The Baron of Berang, with the Prince’s support, has been taking in and training soldiers from the New Kingdom flowing into the Unite River.

The imperial grace and gold and silver bestowed by His Majesty,

The gifts that are the blood and flesh of the people,

All of it was used for plotting insurrection.

Second. Prince Yeseo Venetian plotted terrorism against the imperial family!

On December 19th, there was a terrorist attack targeting His Highness Crown Prince Cedric at the founding ceremony of the Imperial Capital Defense Academy.

The perpetrator wished for the prosperity of the New Kingdom and the Prince…….’

-Crack!

“What is this? Where did you get this?”

Christel crumpled the paper and spat out roughly. The smell of oil-based ink wafted up.

Large, curly handwriting and sensational phrases.

A third-rate flyer like a cheap propaganda video, cleverly mixing truth and lies to fabricate.

It was not something to be found in the lord’s castle of the great ducal family.

Her blue-gray eyes flashed like a ghost fire.

Isabel grabbed the hem of her daughter’s pajamas and barely opened her mouth.

“I was worried about your father, and I couldn’t sleep… I was thirsty, but there was no water in the kettle. So, sob. I went down to the kitchen…”

In the dim dawn, Isabel chose a rare night stroll instead of waking the servants.

Wearing only a gown over her pajamas, she headed to the servants’ quarters, where she noticed a faint light and voices coming from the side room next to the hearth.

At first, she thought they were just on duty.

She thought they might be gathered together chatting.

Not wanting to make the servants uncomfortable, she moved quietly,

-Flutter

A piece of paper fell from the room and stuck out through the crack in the door. She tilted her head.

Around that time, she thought they might be writing letters to their families. But then she heard a chilling sentence.

‘Right. It would be better to write the word ‘insurrection’ bigger.’

Isabel doubted her hearing.

She looked around the dark hallway several times, and only after confirming that no one was there did she dare to approach the door.

She must have misheard.

There was no way the loyal and gentle chamberlain would utter such terrible words.

She carefully put her ear to the door.

‘Chamberlain, are we spreading this right away?’

‘No. Check if the Belial extra edition is coming out today, and if it’s not out by the afternoon, go and distribute it at night.’

‘You said Claire Square, right?’

‘Yes. I’ll let you know the time as the master specifies, so be aware.’

Her breath caught in her throat.

Her husband was plotting something with the chamberlain and servants.

It was a plan that included the word ‘insurrection.’

Even as her hands trembled, Isabel grabbed the paper that had slipped out through the crack in the door.

Then she headed to her daughter in a daze. She didn’t have the confidence to go to her husband’s tightly closed room. Only the face of her beloved child came to mind.

Every time she stopped under the magic lights, she trembled in terror as she read the cursed slander.

This couldn’t be. The Prince was….

Prince Yeseo was the benefactor who had received her confession and forgiven her.

“Simon…”

‘What should I do?’ Isabel asked, as if collapsing.

Christel bit her lip and stroked her mother’s back.

She was trying her best to control her tongue, as a curse seemed more likely to come out than words.

It would be a lie to say she didn’t feel betrayed.

However, the shock that he had finally betrayed her mother and the Prince was far greater than the feeling that he had betrayed her.

Christel recalled that autumn night.

The masquerade ball at the Blanquer Duchy.

She couldn’t remember what expression her father, whom she had met on a balcony, had been wearing now.

What the hell is the reason for doing this? Is it because of that damn ‘politics’?

“I thought Simon… had a lover.”

Christel was startled, released the hug, and looked at Isabel.

There was a look of exhaustion in her eyes.

“He’s always staying in the lord’s castle, and even when he comes to the Imperial Capital, he rarely comes to see us… I thought he was having an affair with some servant, since he often visits the Imperial Palace.”

“Mother.”

“But he’s committing a different… completely different crime, and he’s keeping it a complete secret from us…”

Hahaha. Isabel laughed and cried. Christel hugged her as tightly as she could.

Her mother knew it after all. Simon de Sarnese was truly a piece of trash.

Christel recalled the chilling sight she had seen at the Imperial Palace.

The sight of the two men and women meeting secretly in Laura’s office was still vivid.

But she couldn’t even tell that story now….

“Wait.”

Christel suddenly pulled away. Isabel looked at her daughter in surprise.

“Ollie?”

“Just a moment.”

She reopened the crumpled piece of paper. The ugly letters came into view.

‘The Prince has long supported anonymous military funds in the southern part of Liester, the Barony of Berang.’

“How do they know this? I only heard about the sponsorship recently. There’s only one way to know this.”

Christel muttered like crazy.

The words she had whispered to the Prince on the day of the Andreji trial began to be neatly rearranged in her mind.

‘That person is the woman who used to meet with my father separately.’

‘She’s said to be in charge of accounting at the Imperial Palace. She’s twenty-nine years old.’

Imperial Palace, accounting. A thunderous realization struck her.

That woman stole the Prince’s remittance information and gave it to her father.

The two of them dared to deceive the Emperor and leak the secrets of the Imperial Family!

“Mother.”

“Yes.”

Isabel looked up at her. Christel’s fists trembled.

Now, it didn’t matter if the Duke was really dying today or tomorrow.

The words of the young master and the young duchess were no longer related to her.

She had to get out. She had to inform the Emperor of the Duke’s crime and help the Prince.

Let’s just drop everything.

“Let’s escape the castle together. I’ll help you.”

The genius of escaping rooms.

That was the title that ‘Ham Ga-in’ once enjoyed.

*

“Crazy, how long are you going to chase me!”

There was no need to think any further. I threw the water-attribute magic stone I was holding behind me.

-Kwaaaang!

-Swaaaaa!

“Uwaaaagh!”

It was literally a water bomb!

The seven or eight royal guards who were chasing me to death through the night screamed and were swept away by the waterfall in the middle of the bushes.

I swallowed hard and checked ‘Gaga’s Bag’ again.

Two of the magic stone beads that Crown Prince Cedric had given me remained.

I felt sorry for the trees being burned or broken by the wind, so I tried using water, but the effect was beyond imagination.

Huh, rock jump!

“Demi, be careful! You’ll get hurt if you fall!”

-Kkii!

The lesser panda jumped nimbly between the rocks. The mountain was quite rough.

I was okay, wrapped in vines, but I was worried about Demi, who couldn’t see under her feet.

I couldn’t light a fire, and I couldn’t even think about it because my location would be revealed.

It was terrible that there were still guys following me even though I seemed to have been on the road for at least two hours.

I wonder if Duke Diem and his friends are okay?

…I hope they’re safe.

“Sorry for making you suffer!”

-Kkiit!

“Are you perhaps enjoying this?”

-Kkiung!

That’s a relief, but I still felt sorry.

Hugging Tete, who was sound asleep even in the midst of the chaos, I took out a disposable bead.

This was a magic tool for requesting rescue that Elizabeth had used in the ‘Great Monster Subjugation.’

Duke Diem had given me a total of three, but I had lost one earlier in an absurd way.

I had used one of the remaining two about an hour ago.

Duke Diem was still nowhere to be seen.

This is the last one, so I have to use it carefully later.

Once it’s certain that this is the Diem Duchy,

-Kuurururu!

At that moment, the divine beast cried out loudly.

Pasuseuk! At the same time as a twig brushed against my neck, my vision cleared.

“Huh? The forest is finally over!”

I smiled brightly and faced the crescent moon that appeared before my eyes.

The dark blue dawn sky was very close. Wait, too close… This is a cliff!

“We have to change course! Demi! Stop!”

-Kkieo!

What do you hate! Are you a biker gang!?

“No! You don’t even have the guts, euagh!”

The short cliff ended in an instant.

The lesser panda, crazy with speed, threw its tiny body off the cliff.

Until now, I thought this was a romance fantasy, but now I see it’s just [a disaster story].

In an instant, the ground turned into a pitch-black abyss.

The four-leaf clovers of the vines that wrapped around me swayed slowly.

There was no need to be careful or anything.

I closed my eyes tightly and crushed the last bead hard. Kwajik!

-Paaaa!

A beam of red mana shot into the sky.

Soon, a tremendous gravity began to pull us down. I screamed in horror.

We’re falling!

“Demi, you’ll be in trouble if you get hurt!”

-Thump!

At that moment, someone grabbed me in mid-air. I turned to look at the other person with an astonished look.

Sweat-soaked brown hair fluttered wildly.

The splendid pattern on his gown was like a galaxy pouring down.

Between the pink mana particles that hovered around like fireflies, eyes of the same color drew a wonderful arc.

My mouth fell open at the fantastic sight.

“……I’ve found you.”

Francois Diem smiled and whispered.