What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up [EN]: Chapter 235

Curtain Call (7)

-Saaaah…!

My vision was washed with a vibrant, light pink before filling with dazzling gold as I opened my eyelids.

It was the result of Marquis François’ mana mixing with my aether.

Having fainted once while teleporting with him, I made sure to wear Yuliter’s headdress this time.

Thanks to it, I was able to descend to the ground without even a hint of dizziness.

The night sky’s pirate ship swayed gently with the power of Sir Johan.

“It’s been a while. How have you been?”

I smiled.

“Prince Yeser…!”

Maurice called out to me, tearfully.

Seeing his pale, tear-streaked face, I felt a pang of sympathy.

As I slowly approached, the event staff holding him recoiled in terror and bowed their heads to the cold floor.

I took a small breath and reduced the size of the Holy Ground. Swish….

“Be careful, Your Highness.”

[Don’t worry. Everyone can get up.]

François whispered to me, and I reassured him while calming the people.

With the circle deployed and my friends watching from above, I was fine.

Those who had been prostrate tentatively raised their heads.

Cloudy breaths escaped from everyone’s lips. As I knelt on one knee before Maurice,

“Oh…!”

“How can such a noble person…!”

The crowd surrounding the stage was aghast.

Startled by the reaction, I looked out beyond the stage.

The endless crowd was lowering themselves in sequence from the front, like a wave.

It was a rare sight. Well, they didn’t have to do that….

“May I take a look at your hand? It seems to be bleeding.”

“Ah….”

At my words, Maurice trembled all over.

I didn’t know what kind of threats he had received, but his terrified appearance was pitiful.

The residents of Ryuka Village had been oppressed under someone’s rule for a long time, and it hadn’t even been a year since they had been freed.

I barely suppressed the surge of anger.

Why do these people have to go through this again?

“Your hand, your hand is…”

“Yes, it’s the hand I healed last time. I should take care of the aftercare properly.”

Speaking gently, Maurice opened his mouth as if he had just remembered.

On the way down to the Duiem Territory, he had diligently taken care of my luggage and attended to me at the inn.

The crepe suzette I had that day still came to mind occasionally.

I carefully unfolded Maurice’s right hand.

Red drops of blood were forming on the palm, which was scraped by rough straw and had cuts on the fingertips.

The left hand, which held the magic tool megaphone, seemed unharmed, thankfully.

I released the Holy Ground and quickly deployed a healing circle.

-Whoosh, paaaah…!

“Ooh…!”

The onlookers fell backward. Their reaction was so enthusiastic that I chuckled softly.

Come to think of it, commoners didn’t often get to see healing priests.

There was a difference in status, and the treatment costs were very high.

-Rustle…

The sky-blue particles diligently gathered and landed on his palm.

Healing Maurice had been my first act of healing, and in the meantime, I had steadily used my healing power, so my control had greatly increased.

It seemed like fate that I met him again at the end of the year.

The young man blinked his gaunt eyes at me.

Tears streamed down his cheeks, and his lips trembled.

“I-I’m sorry, Your Highness. Sniff, hic…. I, I have committed a crime worthy of death. Daring to, to speak ill of such a noble person…. I deserve a great punishment, a heavenly punishment, hic. I am so sorry…!”

“I know it’s not Maurice’s fault.”

“Still, still, I, swayed by those words…. Hic. To the benefactor who saved us…”

“It’s worst to exploit people’s weaknesses. Knowing full well that there’s no other choice, those who threaten and coerce the weak are truly evil. It’s even worse if such people are in positions of power. They’re cowards who aren’t even prepared to get their own hands dirty.”

I said calmly. Maurice stared at me blankly.

I didn’t know exactly what he had gone through, but I could guess why he had come all the way to the capital to slander the Marquis and me.

‘Sniff!’ The event staff who were listening to our conversation blew their noses and dabbed at their tears.

I should have brought a blanket down with me.

“Don’t worry. Maurice will receive ample protection. I was on my way to the Imperial Palace. As soon as I arrive, I will inform His Eminence the Cardinal. Both elders will investigate and provide assistance.”

“Your Highness…. How can you do this for someone like me….”

“Prince Yeser!”

At that moment, someone stood up from the crowd and called out to me. We were surprised and turned our heads.

A middle-aged man with a shaggy beard was staring intently at us.

François immediately stepped in front of me. Fortunately, his health had improved a lot during the voyage.

He was still holding his mace, but his fever had completely subsided, and he wasn’t staggering as he walked.

The middle-aged man opened his mouth.

“I dare to ask a question. If you allow it, I will speak!”

[Yes, you may ask.]

I answered with a divine message.

I used the microphone function because the voice wouldn’t be heard well, and the commoners who heard this were terrified again and bowed.

The man who spoke to me also twitched his fierce face. It was a little scary.

“The man you are healing now spoke of Your Highness. He said that Your Highness and Marquis Duiem are preparing for a rebellion!”

Well, I heard it too.

“I love my mother, Liester, and I am willing to give my life to protect her! I am ready to do anything for my country. So, I will ask with the resolve to die!”

“……”

Whish, a bleak winter wind swept across Claire Square.

The streets were decorated with intricate ornaments and sparkling magic lights.

With a Christmas-like backdrop mixed with heavy silence, the atmosphere sank like a horror movie.

The man took off his scarf and shouted.

“Did you really do such a thing?”

[……]

“Here, my wife recently saw a strange flyer in the square. We dismissed it as nonsense, but today we heard a similar story again!”

His voice echoed loudly across the vast square. Some people craned their necks and looked at him.

This was a natural result.

Even if the vast majority believed, the doubting minority could not be erased.

Because that shouldn’t happen in a free country.

“Besides, what you’re wearing on your head…. Isn’t that the same shape as the accessory worn by the ‘Villainess of the Century’? I may be an illiterate commoner, but I know that much!”

Then even those who had been indifferent flinched and glanced at me. I was careless about this.

I didn’t expect there would be someone who would point that out.

Duke Simon de Sarnes had tried to sow distrust from the roots of the Empire.

He used a child to commit a terrible act of terrorism, slandered me, and even attended the event himself to create an alibi.

He assumed that no one would suspect the victim.

Then, he scattered hundreds of flyers in the central square of the capital.

The plan was to shake the commoners, who were relatively uninformed and easily deceived.

According to the Crown Prince, Herrit and Sant had thankfully collected all the propaganda.

I also heard the story that he tried to get it published as an article using Robert Blanquer, but failed due to Lord Beliar’s disregard.

However, the Duke did not stop there….

“You don’t have to answer, Your Highness.”

The Marquis interrupted my thoughts for a moment. His handsome eyes curved beautifully.

‘Is it necessary for such a noble person to respond to unfounded suspicions in person?’

I read some anger in his eyes as I looked up at him.

“It’s okay, François. I’ll talk.”

And I answered resolutely. This was not just about Prince Yeser or me.

The handsome man in front of me, and his family, the Duiem Marquisate, had suffered tremendous damage from this incident.

Not only the false accusations of treason and rebellion.

Lord Erbe had to execute the Imperial Guards he had hired as subordinates with his own hands, and François had traveled to the principality, leading his sick body, to smuggle me out.

Not to mention Maria, who had accompanied him and seen all sorts of hardships.

What about Antoinette and Therese, who were anxiously confronting the Imperial Capital Defense Forces even at this moment?

Isabelle, who had trusted and relied on Duke Sarnes for over a decade, and Christel, who was clearly shocked by his betrayal?

Who will compensate for their pain?

And there is the Berang Baron family, who lost two sons and are suffering again.

They were people who deserved to receive all the happiness in the world.

Why should a family that only does good deeds suffer such humiliation in the middle of winter?

[Marquis François Duiem and I have committed no crimes against the Liester Empire or the Imperial Family.]

The voice flowed out without the slightest tremor.

I stared at the questioner with clear eyes. His Adam’s apple bobbed.

[The Berang Baron family, which your wife saw in the flyer, is the same. They are rescuing and helping refugees from the Shin-guk [a foreign nation] who are flowing into the Unite River. They build orphanages to care for children, and they have been raising dying stray cats for over ten years. They are an honorable family who have never done anything shameful to His Majesty.]

“……”

[So my answer is one. I swear to the gods, we are innocent.]

My words reached every corner of the square.

While I was silently meeting the eyes of the middle-aged man who had asked the question,

-Kkirururuk…!

The sound of a hawk crying echoed from the sky.

We widened our eyes and looked up.

*

“Good heavens, is this a dream?”

“Oh, mother…!”

Claire Square turned into a melting pot of awe and worship.

Simon de Sarnes, hidden in the crowd, doubted his senses.

“Don’t push, don’t push!”

He wondered if he had lost his sight in his right eye due to the burn, or if his festering right ear had gone deaf.

The prayers and exclamations of the commoners were pounding in his ears.

Everyone stood up and pushed and pulled each other.

It was a series of unplanned events, and for the Duke, it was just a terrible mess.

-Kkiruruk!

-Flap, flap, flap!

A crimson bird with a purplish hue was descending, fluttering its fiery wings.

The long tail feathers sparkled luxuriously with gold, green, and red.

On its head, a blue crest, larger and more flamboyant than a peacock’s feathers, fluttered.

With each flap of its wings, the distance to the crowd quickly closed.

The jaws of thousands of people dropped open. Someone finally pointed and shouted.

“It’s a phoenix! A phoenix has appeared!”

“Wow!”

“Long live His Majesty the Emperor!”

It was an enormous noise. The ‘phoenix’ was a divine companion that only appeared in the Bible.

Those inside the buildings, regardless of their status, rushed out to witness the miracle.

The Duke pressed down hard on the mask covering his face.

He felt like his face would be exposed if he stayed in this chaos any longer.

“Waaaaah!”

Then, a roar that seemed to burst his eardrums exploded.

Simon grimaced and looked at the stage. And he was horrified.

-Flap…

The phoenix, having neatly folded its wings, was perched on the prince’s arm.

He looked surprised, but soon smiled beautifully at the bird.

The eagle-sized phoenix closed its amethyst-like eyes, pressing its forehead against the prince’s as if to show affection.

It also spread one wing to cover his cheek.

“The Prince has received a sacred blessing!”

“He just spoke the truth! The gods have proven it!”

“I can’t see! Bow down in the front!”

He felt like his blood was running cold. It was then.

“Emperor Frederick Liester and His Eminence Cardinal Aurelius Boutier are arriving!”

A thunderous voice echoed from the distant rear.

The crowd turned around all at once as if they had made a promise.

Simon tensed instinctively, even as he thought it couldn’t be true.

Strangely enough, no one pointed out that such an absurd sentence was a lie.

A revered name that no one dared to claim and could not easily mention.

That was the majesty of the Liester Imperial Family.

Swish…. The sound of the crowd moving their feet and parting like a wave was vivid.

Of course, it must be someone’s low-quality joke. It certainly would be.

“Long live the Liester Empire.”

“Oh, God….”

Groans erupted from everywhere.

It was a fundamentally different reaction from when the prince had performed the miracle.

The crowd filling the street knelt down in sequence from the back and pressed their foreheads to the frozen ground.

They couldn’t even breathe easily and their backs trembled.

Some were already bursting into tears or gagging.

-Flap, flap!

This was impossible. ‘She’ shouldn’t have come down to such a lowly place. But why?

“The Imperial Family’s crest….”

He muttered blankly.

The Imperial Family’s flag, decorated with dark red velvet and gold thread, was performing a magnificent sword dance in the winter wind.

Cherry-colored eyes burning like cold lamps could be seen. The Duke shuddered as he fell prostrate.

-Step.

Frederick Liester stepped into the center of the square. And at the same time,

-Saaaah…

Tulips began to bloom at her feet.

They were a vivid purple.