What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up [EN]: Chapter 417

#417

Finding the Lost Piece (6)

Demi, our eternal leader and MVP, sorted out the situation.

“Can someone who has learned so much really be this rude?”

-Squeak!

Unable to watch any longer, the lesser panda made a loud noise and climbed onto Duke Dioph’s body.

It was truly as fast as lightning.

The small body scurried up the thick arm and opened its mouth without hesitation.

The pink tongue looked more determined than usual.

Hugging the torn Gaga bag, I blankly watched the creature attack. Snap!

“Kuh, hey!”

-Thud!

The Duke, bitten on the finger, frowned and dropped the gold ornament.

‘Oops!’ The watching crowd sighed loudly.

The other little ones continued to circle the thug’s feet, keeping him in check.

I was grateful and proud that they weren’t using Aether [magical energy], even in the midst of all this.

If they had, the situation would have been much more serious than it was now.

While Demi was attacking his shoulder, I quickly bent down and picked up the insignia.

Blowing on the dirt-covered object and wiping it with my sleeve, the crowd’s murmuring grew louder.

I bit my lip slightly and glared at the man.

Now, whatever I do, I’m going to be misunderstood! Because of you!

“I’ve heard quite a few bad things about the Duke, but I didn’t know you were really like this. If you have a problem with me, you can talk to me directly. I’m sure you understand that actions like that lower your reputation. Are you doing this on purpose?”

When I snapped at him in a small voice, his eyes widened.

But it didn’t even take three seconds for the corners of his eyes to curve again, as if he had heard something very funny.

I didn’t even expect an apology, but he didn’t even show any signs of backing down.

When I glared at him without giving in, the Duke picked up Demi, who was hitting his chest with his tail, with both hands. Hey!

“Demi!”

-Kyaa!

“I wonder if the Princess Consort is doing that on purpose. Or are you really that naive?”

“What?”

When I asked sharply, he shrugged with a smirk.

In an instant, his red eyes took on a very eerie light.

A low voice, barely audible, returned.

“Clinging to a guy who has everything since birth. I heard that you were special even before he ascended to the Crown Prince position. I want to know if it’s a simple survival strategy, or if you were really born with that kind of personality.”

“What nonsense are you talking about? Put him down right now!”

-Kkiwoo!

Fortunately, Demi seemed to be enjoying himself, perhaps because he originally liked ‘airplanes’.

The punk lowered his stance and met my gaze directly.

I stared at him without moving an eyelid.

Even though we’ve entered a truce, this is still a battlefield. I don’t know what he’s trying to do.

In the meantime, the crowd that had gathered seemed to be at least two hundred people.

I felt uneasy and angry, and the back of my neck was burning hot.

I had to go to herbal medicine class, and after that, I had to do volunteer work at the relief center, but I was wasting time on this.

The punk grinned and continued to whisper.

“I’m just asking out of curiosity. You don’t have to feel attacked. You’re quite pretty up close.”

“I have no obligation to satisfy your curiosity. Put the sacred beast down when I tell you to.”

-Kkihoo!

“You were resurrected by the will of the gods, right? Then do you know the future? The outcome of the war or the future of Liester?”

“Even if I did, I wouldn’t tell you. Never.”

I spat the words out through my teeth. The strawberry-blonde hair tilted at an interesting angle.

What the hell is this guy? He seems to have been raised preciously, so how did his personality get so twisted?

I’d seen quite a few strange people at the company I worked for before changing jobs, but this was the first time I’d met someone I couldn’t figure out at all.

‘Grrr!’ Perry and Leah began to bite and cling to the magician’s boots, making warning sounds.

Taking advantage of the punk’s distraction—

-Tak!

“Oooooh!”

-Kkiut!

I quickly snatched Demi away and held him in my arms.

The excited crowd continued to admire us.

The lesser panda seemed a little disappointed, but I didn’t take my eyes off the Duke.

The tightly held insignia was getting warmer in my palm. It was then.

-Flap!

“Huh?”

Suddenly, everything went dark. Someone put clothes over my head!

“Princess Consort, it’s me. I’ll take you to a place where there are few people.”

My expression brightened at the familiar voice.

The little troublemakers also recognized her in an instant and clung to me.

I wanted to stay and settle things with that guy, but as Elizabeth said, there were too many people here.

Moreover, the number of people was increasing, and the other party had set off a bomb first, so everyone’s attention was focused on my reaction.

Unless it was a one-on-one fight, I was bound to lose today. Damn it.

“Yes, please.”

Having made that decision, I gritted my teeth and nodded.

The Vice Commander of the Knights Brigade wrapped her arm around my back and quickly left the scene.

‘What did the Duke say earlier?’ ‘I came late and didn’t hear it!’ ‘No, well. Princess Juliette······.’ The crowd’s commotion immediately rushed to my ears and then faded away.

Whether he had lost interest or not, Duke Dioph did not follow or hold us back.

A childish and vile bastard.

Elizabeth said that she had witnessed the situation while returning from a walk.

Francois is planning to apply medicine at the relief center and return.

We walked slowly down a quiet barracks alley.

-Pitter-patter, pitter-patter, pitter-patter······

“You did well to back down. If you had corrected the covenant directly, there would have been an even bigger commotion.”

“Yes. After all, silence is the best policy against such a person.”

“That’s right. As a result, you also protected Cedric. Thank you.”

The beautiful bobbed hair swayed pleasantly.

I had a long-awaited conversation with the Vice Commander of the Knights Brigade.

This area was densely populated with nobles’ residences, so there were few people moving around.

Every time the passing commanders saw us, they would greet us, so the conversation was often interrupted, but it was still much better than before.

The elders would occasionally clear their throats when they saw me wearing the Vice Commander of the Knights Brigade’s cloak.

It wasn’t like I had stolen it and put it on, but I quickly put it back on her shoulders, thinking that it might look like that.

The knight smiled softly and continued the explanation.

“······I did. As the Princess Consort knows well. So it wouldn’t be surprising if Duke Dioph felt inferior to Cedric.”

“Yes?”

I frowned as I patted Perry, who had fallen asleep in the meantime.

I missed the flow at the end, so my head was full of question marks. What did that guy say earlier?

“Duke Jibril Dioph is······. The Crown Prince’s sixth cousin?”

What is this? He’s even the older one?

He’s overwhelmingly immature, by anyone’s standards.

“······Didn’t you know? I thought you knew.”

Rather, Elizabeth looked embarrassed.

I couldn’t control my expression and opened my mouth in a circle.

Then Demi, sitting on my shoulder, pressed down on me and cried.

The sound was low and eerie, as if he was scolding me, ‘Can’t you even remember that? You idiot?’ At that moment—

‘Duke Bonheur Dioph. She is the granddaughter of the late Emperor Romero and the mother of the missing Duchess Dioph.’

‘I meet the one called the Moon of the Empire. Please take care of me, Princess Consort.’

Flash! There was a memory that struck my mind like lightning.

I moved my lips and looked back and forth between the lesser panda and Elizabeth.

Yes, when I looked back, I had met Dioph’s mother at the Imperial Palace.

That was when Gain and the Crown Prince disappeared beyond the moonflower mist.

A great noble with a strict headmistress-like impression, with her hair rolled up like a roll cake, flashed through my mind.

At the same time, the calculator started rolling around [she’s mentally calculating the relationships].

Duchess Marguerite Dioph is the daughter of Duke Bonheur Dioph, and the Duke is the granddaughter of Romero Liester, so the Duchess and the Crown Prince are sixth cousins with the same great-grandfather.

‘I’ve brought all the necessary tools, so please use them comfortably. I definitely told you? Sixth Cousin.’

But that guy earlier is the twin brother of Duchess Dioph.

So of course he’s the same sixth cousin! Jung Yeseo!

‘I’ll leave my nephew as a guard. Make good use of him.’

Uh? Wait a minute. Just a minute. Then the person the Emperor was talking about at that time was also······.

‘Shouldn’t you go to carry out His Majesty’s orders?’

‘Huh? I’m doing it now. Very hard, too.’

Crazy······. Then that nephew is that guy. Not the nephew that people commonly refer to, but the fifth cousin nephew!

So he watched us devastate the training ground the whole time, and after it was over, he even supervised the cleaning?

That was the job that guy was in charge of?

No wonder the person who introduced himself as a nephew never showed up until the end!

“Princess Consort, have you figured out the situation?”

The Vice Commander of the Knights Brigade asked with a chuckle.

I was so dumbfounded by myself that all the strength drained from my body.

“Yes······. No, yes······. Oh my god. Why didn’t I know? When I think about it, I’ve never properly considered the relationship between Duchess Dioph and the Crown Prince. That’s why the accident didn’t spread. There have been so many hectic events in the meantime that I had completely forgotten about meeting her mother.”

“I thought that the Princess Consort hated the Duke so much that she was consciously avoiding thinking about it.”

“That’s a reasonable guess, too.”

Then her gray eyes curved playfully.

I chuckled with her, then hardened my expression again and looked around.

Leah wagged her tail with me. There’s no one passing by now, right?

“Then, what you said earlier······. Duke Dioph was once the heir to the Liester throne?”

I whispered. Then Elizabeth also brought her face closer and lowered her voice.

“He was never officially appointed. The Imperial Family has never admitted to such discussions. But the story was in progress until just before that······. That’s what I know. It was when Cedric was very young.”

“When he was very sick?”

“······Yes.”

I see. So, is there some old jealousy about his cousin?

Did that splash over to me? But it was not easy to understand.

Even without the throne, Dioph is a member of the Imperial Family, and as the eldest son of a great noble, he will one day inherit the family, and even if that doesn’t happen, he will live the rest of his life as the Duke’s older brother.

What’s so lacking that he’s acting like that?

Thinking about the mother I met at that time, I don’t think the mother and son have a very good personality, but did he go astray because of the family atmosphere?

······No. Whatever he lived like, it’s none of my business? I’m the victim.

-Thud!

“Ugh!”

While walking in a daze, my foot got caught on a rock on the dirt floor!

My body swayed and fell forward.

To make matters worse, it was difficult to balance because I was carrying two lesser pandas.

Leah, who was running ahead, looked back at me and shone her black eyes. It was a look that said she was having fun.

The view moved slowly, as if in slow motion, and a chill ran down my spine in an instant.

I’m really going to fall! I can’t let Perry get crushed!

-Kureut!

-Grasp!

And in an instant, a firm hand supported me.

I was startled and released all the strength from my body.

“Are you all right?”

A kind voice rang out right in front of me. It was Elizabeth!

“T, thank you. I lived thanks to you.”

“You’re welcome. From now on, I’ll walk on the outside. The road is heavily trafficked by carts, so the floor is dented.”

Huh, that wouldn’t do.

“No, of course I’ll go outside······.”

As I was saying that, I looked past Elizabeth’s shoulder as if possessed.

And our eyes met.

With a group of high-spirited knights who had returned from training.

“S, sorry, Princess Consort! I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

“I’m sorry! Elizabeth!”

“W, well, we’ll step back now. We’ll go the other way!”

“I hope you two have a pleasant time together!”

······What?

“Are you crazy? You should just pretend you don’t know about this!”

“Hey! Let’s go, let’s go!”

Rumble······. The knights with their cheeks, ears, and necks flushed red, turned away in a hurry when they saw us.

Only then did I barely grasp what was going on.

Elizabeth was wrapping her arms around my waist, and I was leaning on her shoulder with one hand—to make matters worse, our bodies were quite close together as I supported Perry, who was slipping from my arms.

In addition, the cloak draped over the Vice Commander of the Knights Brigade’s shoulders slipped down.

Ugh! No! That can’t be!

“Hey! It’s a misunderstanding! Everyone, just a moment!”

“Go back!”

“It seems like we shouldn’t be here!”

Rumble······. The knights with their weapons quickly disappeared beyond the corner.

I groaned, feeling both a sense of futility and a bad feeling at the same time.

First, I took my hand off the knight’s shoulder and gathered myself together.

Did I have a bad omen today? Am I in the middle of a three-year period of bad luck since last year?

“I’m sorry, Elizabeth. I’m afraid it’ll be awkward for you to see your subordinates because of me······.”

“It’s okay. You are always welcome, Princess Consort.”

Huh? I blinked, wondering what this meant.