What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up [EN]: Chapter 26

#026 Curriculum of Pride and Prejudice (2)

“Take classes together?”

I asked, dumbfounded.

The situation was so sudden and shocking that I even forgot to greet Christel properly.

I’d struggled to avoid the Spring Ball but ended up dipping my toes in. I comforted myself that it was *just* my toes, but now I was facing the tragedy of being in the same class as the protagonist the very next day.

It was hard to accept.

“Temporarily. I just requested the Papal State to dispatch a paladin to oversee Christel’s education. Until they review my request, approve it, and assign someone to the Sarnese Duchy, I’ll be teaching her.”

At Cardinal Boutier’s answer, I sighed inwardly.

So, the Cardinal and the Emperor supported Christel’s desire to become a paladin and repay her debt to the Imperial Family.

Even though the engagement fell through, they couldn’t let go of such a valuable talent.

I wanted to protest that this wasn’t a one-on-one class and demand a full refund, but my opponent wasn’t an academy but a cardinal.

It would be difficult for someone as busy as him to make time for two students separately.

I also lacked the justification to say, ‘I’ll enjoy my spring vacation while you teach the Duchess’.

The fact that it was temporary was a relief.

The Cardinal was a cleric, not a paladin, so he could only teach Christel the basics and theoretical aspects.

“…I understand. Please take care of me, Duchess Sarnese.”

I spoke stiffly on purpose, addressing her by her title and not smiling.

Now that it had come to this, I was determined to diligently accumulate dislike points during the class.

“Yes, thank you so much for yesterday. My mother would like to treat you to a meal sometime.”

However, Christel spoke with a face that showed no ill will.

‘Yesterday’ referred to when I listened to the Duchess Sarnese’s confession on the Spring Ball balcony.

The Duchess seemed like a good person, but a meal with the protagonist’s mother felt like such a burden and terror that I wouldn’t be able to swallow a bite.

“Thank you for the offer, but I don’t think that will be possible.”

I replied mechanically.

The fact that I couldn’t leave the Imperial Palace because I was a hostage had never felt so fortunate.

“Sit down, both of you. I’ll have some tea brought out.”

The Cardinal smiled softly and led Christel and me to the sofa.

His gaze, observing us as he summoned the attendant, Natalie, was so warm that it only made me more frustrated.

Shouldn’t the Crown Prince be in this seat instead of me…?

“So, is today the first time the two of you have met?”

As I was wondering how to answer, Christel spoke first.

“No, I visited the Imperial Palace temple’s confessional and met the Prince. I wanted to ask him to hear my mother’s confession.”

“A confessional, how fitting for a paladin. You have a promising future.”

Cardinal Boutier’s beige eyes crinkled at the corners.

Christel and I blinked, unsure of what that meant.

“All temple confessionals always have a certain amount of Aether [magical energy] flowing through them. It’s for the confessor’s mental stability and to inspire faith, but for paladins, there’s no better place to quickly replenish Aether.”

Christel’s eyes sparkled as she nodded.

She said she felt a little less nervous as soon as she entered.

That made me think of someone else I had met in the confessional.

More precisely, a certain child.

‘…What are you doing here?’

‘I’m… hearing confessions. I’m a cleric.’

‘Doing things you weren’t ordered to do.’

It felt like a puzzle was being solved.

The day I first met Seydi, the reason he had hurriedly hidden in the confessional was because he was lacking Aether.

He was experiencing all the typical symptoms of Aether depletion—fever, chills, dizziness—but hadn’t received proper help, which drove him to that place.

Thinking of the child made me feel uneasy again.

Prince Cedrick seemed like a piece of trash, just as Eunseo had said.

Seydi claimed he was neither a cleric nor a paladin, but if I had a son like that, I would have done everything in my power to pair him with a capable cleric.

I certainly wouldn’t have let a child who looked like he was in elementary school wander around alone at night.

Neglect, abandonment—this is real child abuse.

I felt pathetic for not realizing the severity of the child’s surrounding environment.

“…And this is daisy tea for Prince Yeser.”

Natalie placed a warm cup in front of me. Only then did I wake from my reverie.

The Cardinal’s attendant was serving us drinks with neat movements, having entered unnoticed.

“Thank you, Natalie. Go and rest.”

“Yes, Your Eminence.”

Watching the Cardinal speak kindly to the attendant, I suddenly became curious.

In fact, if Christel hadn’t been here today, I would have really considered asking.

That moment when you accepted me as a kind of disciple, what you said…

‘There’s a child.’

‘A child?’

‘Yes, I’d like you to help him.’

Was the person you were talking about the little Seydi I met?

Was needing help and answering ‘similar’ when I asked if the child was sick meant Aether depletion?

If Seydi was the Prince’s illegitimate child, my guess seemed almost certain.

Seydi was like a grandchild to the Cardinal, who was the Prince’s godmother, so he wouldn’t leave such a child to suffer. He might have reached out to me as a temporary measure.

However, what I was curious about was…

“A paladin usually pairs with a cleric. They become companions who watch each other’s backs. The cleric provides Aether to the paladin, and the paladin upholds the will of the Lord by protecting the cleric.”

Why the child still didn’t have a cleric partner.

It wasn’t like he was born into an ordinary family; he was born into the Imperial Family of the Empire and freely roamed the palace. Why hadn’t they assigned a cleric to him?

Even if he was an unknown Imperial grandchild, they could have at least kept a decent clergyman by his side, if not an archbishop.

“I see, that’s an interesting relationship.”

Christel listened to the Cardinal’s words with an intrigued expression.

I stared at the daisy floating on the teacup, lost in thought.

Could it be that Seydi didn’t want a cleric? That was something to consider.

I had thought it was clearly child abuse a moment ago, but if he was acting as he pleased, all I could do was tell him to be careful.

If he was secretly sneaking out of his residence at night and refusing a cleric even while struggling with Aether depletion, there wasn’t much adults could do.

Judging by the fact that he told the Prince that I liked food, it didn’t seem like there was no communication between father and son.

‘If the Divine Creatures sense the Divine Object in the Lord’s Castle, I won’t be able to meet you from tomorrow.’

The child’s clear voice echoed in my head. We hadn’t met again since then.

Although I was reunited with Demi, Seydi must have led the other two well on his own.

With Elizabeth knowing the situation, there was no reason for me to worry about him…

“Prince?”

The Cardinal’s voice poked me. I was startled and looked up.

“To be daydreaming with two ladies in front of you, that’s quite unexpected.”

She playfully curved her eyes. Already, half of both of their cups were empty.

“I apologize. I must have been tired from last night. I spaced out for a moment.”

I wet my lips with the tea and blurted out whatever came to mind. To be sitting next to the protagonist and thinking about other things, I was too relaxed.

Christel smiled silently at me.

“I was just asking if you had a partner, Your Highness.”

“A partner?”

“Yes, a paladin partner.”

“I don’t.”

At my answer, her eyes widened. Her high-tied pink hair shook.

“I’m a beginner, but I can still feel that your Aether is enormous. To think you still don’t have a partner…”

‘Are paladins a bit ascetic?’ she whispered. My eyes met the Cardinal’s.

Well, my Aether wasn’t innate.

The paladins of the Holy Kingdom wouldn’t have wanted to partner with the former Prince Yeser, who had nothing to gain.

Before coming here, I was just a ‘sham bishop,’ and the Holy Kingdom’s Secretary and the Empire’s Emperor knew that as well.

In particular, the former even sent relatively weak assassins to kill me.

But my Aether reserves exploded at some point, and the Secretary’s attempts were in vain.

At the time, I didn’t know the source of the sudden power, but now I had a guess.

“First of all, I’m a foreigner, and I’m not free to go outside, so it would be inconvenient for a paladin to partner with me in many ways.”

I came up with a plausible excuse based on the present.

Christel nodded seriously.

She was the precious daughter of a successful ducal family, and I was a child given up by the Holy Kingdom and a hostage, so I meant for her to be happy with another cleric, but I didn’t know if it was properly conveyed.

“But since we’re not in a time of war right now, there’s no need for Aether to always be full, and there’s no law that clerics and paladins always have to be together.”

She received my words with a sharp attitude. It seemed like she was just listening to my story…

“The number of paladins is always less than the number of clerics. It’s not strange for there to be clerics without partners.”

Cardinal Boutier softly joined the conversation.

“Our Prince is certainly an excellent bishop, but recently he has been faithful to the duty of confession, so it may be difficult for him to become a cleric for a paladin.”

This… is this helping me? Is he helping me?

“Then, next time, shall we invite a wizard to learn about the differences between paladins and wizards?”

As Christel was about to continue speaking, the Cardinal gently announced the end of the class.

I rose from my seat with a dazed expression, not even grasping the situation from just now.

Looking at the clock, it had just passed 30 minutes.

“Thank you, Your Eminence. Then, I’ll see you the day after tomorrow.”

Well… Orientations are usually short.

I roughly thought that, paid my respects to the Cardinal, briefly greeted Christel, and quickly escaped the office.

There was no way she would, but I hurried in case she asked to leave together.

Fortunately, the Cardinal didn’t suggest lunch first today.

Maybe it was just my imagination, but my back tingled until the door closed.

“If I were you, I’d go to Juliet Palace right now and tell them.”

The Deputy Commander of the Imperial Guard, who was sitting haphazardly in the corner of the indoor training ground, said loudly.

The Prince, who was silently drawing forms with the tip of his sword, stopped moving for a moment.

“Really… I won’t tell you the details… Anyway, if I were you, I’d rather tell the truth and get help than be misunderstood like that. That’s a hundred times better.”

Elizabeth was strange today.

Even though the Prince’s flames had blackened her sleeve during the sparring, and even though the Prince had broken her practice sword again, she didn’t get angry; she just laughed.

Come to think of it, she had been strange the whole time she was coming to the training ground.

She was grinning like a madwoman on her own, and then she seemed to cry a little, saying, ‘Ah, how can you think of that? Are you a genius?’

A face that was deeply moved by something and a face that was having so much fun were constantly interchanging.

Cedrick frowned slightly.

“I told you I don’t need help from the Prince.”

Then Elizabeth flopped down on her side and sobbed.

The Prince was now seriously considering calling a royal physician.

It would be troublesome if the only friend he had already had heatstroke.

Just then, the attendant, David Capuchon, was walking in from the entrance of the training ground.

Cedrick lowered his sword and greeted him.

“Your Highness.”

“You’ve come at a good time.”