What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up [EN]: Chapter 44

#044 Living Twice (2)

But it actually happened.

“The number of people… It’s increased quite a bit.”

I opened the door and stood there, looking at the motley [diverse] bunch lined up in the hallway.

Christel with a gleeful expression, Elizabeth, who was trying to appear calm but was clearly excited, Ganael, who I couldn’t figure out why he was here, and…

“Aren’t you tired, Your Highness?”

He naturally ignored my question.

I don’t know what words he used to persuade her, but Christel really succeeded in bringing the Prince along.

He stood tall in a long, black robe, glaring at me.

How is this possible? Weren’t you two not close?

I wondered if he had been threatened, but now that things had come to this, I had no way out.

“Going out like this will be too conspicuous. Everyone… doesn’t exactly blend in.”

Still, I put up some kind of final resistance.

“So, I prepared this! Ta-da!”

Christel smiled brightly and held out a small basket.

Peeking inside, it was full of suspicious-looking potions and glasses.

I swallowed hard.

Demi, lazing around, made a ‘darang’ sound from the bed.

*

“It’s your first time coming to a place like this, right?”

“Yes, it is.”

Lady Elizabeth, whose dark green hair had turned brown, and Ganael, whose sky-blue hair had also turned brown, walked ahead amiably.

What Christel bought from ‘Le Rgo General Trading Post’ wasn’t just a whip.

She had stocked up on various magical tools to help with disguise and camouflage, as if she had anticipated such an event in advance.

She said she bought a lot of other things too, but I couldn’t bring myself to ask.

I walked through the night market with the Prince on my left and the protagonist on my right.

I tried to slowly slip away, but each time, Christel noticed like a ghost and looked at me, so I couldn’t help it.

The street, lit as brightly as possible with small, cheap magic lights, was crowded as if all the residents of Lyca Village had come out.

Stalls selling all kinds of goods, food, and alcohol stood densely in all directions, with a small fountain in the center.

I also saw children running around with large dogs in the narrow passageways.

It was a completely different atmosphere from the Imperial Palace or the Imperial City.

“Your Highness, would you like to try that?”

Christel, with a smile on her face, spoke to him.

Her eyes, which had turned dark brown with eye drops, were looking at me.

I turned my gaze to where she was pointing.

‘Dagger Throwing Contest!’

“……It looks dangerous.”

“They say the blades are dull, so it’s okay. Let’s see, ‘We’ll give a prize just for hitting the target. For those who hit the center, the owner’s special pastrami sandwich and dragon fruit juice!’ Ah, it’s food. I like money.”

“Let’s do it.”

I replied.

“Yes?”

“We’ve come to the night market, shouldn’t we aim for the winning prize?”

“You’ve suddenly become serious.”

“Let’s go, Your Highness.”

At my words, the Prince let out a low breath.

He hated the potion touching his body, so he ended up wearing disguise glasses, but to our eyes, who already knew his identity, he just looked like an ordinary prince.

Still, whether it was because they were expensive and effective, the passersby didn’t pay him any attention.

“Welcome, three of you? It’s 10 francs for 3 tries!”

“Yes, I’ll pay.”

The owner, looking generous, wore an apron and greeted us.

Christel answered cheerfully and paid her 30 francs.

Lady Elizabeth and Ganael were already holding chicken skewers and watching the situation with great interest.

“Thank you, Lady Sarnese.”

I said quietly.

“Don’t mention it. Then I’ll throw first.”

“Good luck.”

Saying that, the owner handed her an old dagger.

Christel slightly lifted the robe she had put over her head and raised her arm.

Her hair, which had turned dark brown, was tightly braided.

She stretched out and pulled back her right arm holding the sword, aiming at the target, then,

-Thwack!

“Ooh!”

She hit the target in one go! Two spectators poured out enthusiastic reactions.

Although it wasn’t the very center, the fact that she hit the target straight away on her first try seemed to show talent.

“Then I’ll throw it this time.”

I took the dagger from the owner.

A pastrami sandwich and dragon fruit juice were a combination I could never give up.

Christel burst into laughter, asking why my face was so solemn, but I couldn’t laugh with her.

Come to think of it, I’ve never even hit a dart properly when I went to a bar in college, so what will it be like here?

*

My body and mind were tattered. The three people gathered around me and whispered incessantly.

“Your Highness really seems to have an abundance of ether [magical energy].”

“Lady, please be quiet……”

“Your Highness, cheer up! When we arrive at the Marquisate, I’ll place an order for pastrami with the chef.”

“Thank you……”

“Your Highness, wrist action is important for throwing. You shouldn’t use your arm.”

“It’s already too late……”

With five people, including the owner, watching, all three daggers in my hand failed valiantly.

I was so resentful of the writer and embarrassed that I was grinding my teeth.

What kind of ‘Sub-Male Lead’ has no mana sensitivity and even has terrible athletic skills?

While Christel hit all three daggers on the target, I only publicly bought the owner’s ridicule…….

“Isn’t that grandpa over there going to throw?”

A woman’s voice pulled me out of the swamp.

When I turned my head, the owner was talking to the Prince.

It seemed that he looked like a grandpa to others because he was wearing glasses.

Lady Elizabeth covered her mouth with her hand and started laughing.

“…….”

The Prince looked a little displeased, but surprisingly, he obediently received the dagger.

A strange light flashed in his orange eyes as he grabbed the handle and looked at the blade.

Wait a minute, that guy…….

*

-Thud!

Christel put down her half-empty beer glass.

Her big, round eyes were full of dissatisfaction.

“Using magic is cheating.”

“Lady, calm down and have a bite of this.”

I handed Christel the pastrami sandwich on the table.

There were as many as three sandwiches with thickly stuffed homemade pastrami and coleslaw between rye bread baked directly by the owner.

I was eating one of them, and Lady Elizabeth and Ganael were dividing the other one in half amicably.

Even though it was almost 11 o’clock, the number of people at the outdoor bar hadn’t decreased.

“I can hit the center if I dip the dagger in water too. Totally possible.”

“What’s the reason you didn’t put it into action?”

The Prince retorted at Christel’s words.

He had just hit the center three times in a row at the ‘Dagger Throwing Contest!’ and snatched three sandwich sets, but he didn’t touch the food at all.

I was happy to benefit from it, but I didn’t know that the two of them would get into a fight like this again.

“Your Highness, thank you for the sandwich, but please don’t tease the Lady too much.”

“So, you were teasing me just now, right? I was confused whether you were asking sincerely because you had alcohol in you.”

Christel interjected at my words.

I checked her glass, wondering if she was already drunk, and the beer, which seemed to be about 750ml, was instantly empty.

She’s a heavy drinker.

“No, he says he wasn’t teasing you.”

I immediately reversed my words. The Prince raised one eyebrow, but I stubbornly ignored it.

I’ve been thinking about it for a few days, but I think I should start revising my strategy now.

If I can’t keep avoiding the two of them like this, I’d rather put them together to make myself feel better.

I know it won’t work the way I want it to, but I was in the mood to at least try.

“And because there are also the prizes that the Lady received.”

“Yes, it’s pretty. Sandwiches disappear when you eat them, but this can be kept for a long time, so it’s okay.”

She said, mentally winning, and took out a decoration made by braiding thread.

It was made by imitating the sacred objects ‘Blessing of the Azure Sea’, ‘혜검 [Hyegeom] of Mars’, and ‘비렴 [Bilyeom]’s Ark’, and it was a gift from the owner to Christel, who hit the target.

I heard that souvenirs with the four sacred objects as their theme are common in the Empire.

It seemed similar to selling Eiffel Tower keychains in Paris and selling Cheomseongdae [an ancient astronomical observatory in Korea] chocolates in Gyeongju [a city in South Korea, known for its historical sites].

“I’ll keep this, and I’ll give this to Your Highness. This is……”

Christel hesitated, then handed the 혜검 [Hyegeom]-shaped ring to the Prince with a slightly sullen look.

I barely managed to hold back the corners of my mouth from rising.

“I offer it to His Highness the Prince.”

“Thank you, Lady.”

I quickly took the lead and created an atmosphere where I had to receive the gift, in case the Prince would refuse.

Christel pushed the sandwiches and juice that she didn’t eat to Lady Elizabeth and Ganael on the opposite side.

The two, who were quietly chatting, smiled and liked it.

“…….”

The Prince silently looked at the 혜검 [Hyegeom] ring on the table, then reached out and put it in his robe pocket.

A thrilling pleasure spread in an instant. Wow, I should have done this sooner!

It seemed like the two of them were getting a little closer even if I just pushed them a little!

“Thank you all for coming out with me.”

I was internally shouting Jung Eun-seo [a reference to a character known for their optimism and resilience], seeing new hope, when Christel suddenly spoke.

She was holding a glass of beer that the bar owner had refilled in the meantime.

“I wanted to do a lot of things. But the servants I brought from home only pampered me, so I was a little frustrated. I understand, but……”

Then she gulped down the beer.

Lady Elizabeth refused the alcohol because she was on duty, and Ganael was inhaling dragon fruit juice.

I was originally teetotal, and the Prince also didn’t order a drink, so Christel was the only one drinking alcohol at our table.

“Since I think of it as my second life, I have a greater desire to live without regrets. So, I committed a discourtesy to precious people at a late hour.”

“It’s okay, Lady Christel. I understand.”

Lady Elizabeth answered kindly and lightly bumped her juice glass against Christel’s beer glass.

I wondered if Christel was having a drunken fit, but on the other hand, I smiled bitterly because her story resonated with me.

To the other three, her words would sound like the reminiscences of someone who had been bedridden for a long time.

But I knew Christel’s situation.

‘I want to do a lot of things’, ‘I want to live my second life without regrets’.

If she was the one who threw her resignation and possessed this world, she was more than capable of thinking that way.

I speculated that she would move with such a ‘motive’, but it was a reality for the protagonist.

I know that this is inside a novel, but this place was a new opportunity for Christel.

“It’s cool and nice to go up north in the summer. Later together,”

“Hey, the commission is until midnight today!”

I flinched. A gruff man’s voice broke through Lady Elizabeth’s whisper.

Our heads naturally turned to one side.

The noisy outdoor bar became quiet in an instant.

“That’s, I had to pay off debts elsewhere first……”

“Debt? Then isn’t the debt to the inn a debt? Do you think ‘Le Chiffre’ [likely a reference to a criminal figure] is a pushover?”

A man who looked like a gangster kicked over a wooden table.

-Clang!

Glass shattered, and the food left by the customers was spilled all over the floor.

I frowned. That human just mentioned the inn we’re staying at.

“Felix, why are you doing this when there are guests?”

Then someone stood in front of the bar owner. I widened my eyes when I saw him.

It was Maurice, the inn employee I had used my healing power on a few hours ago.

The gangster also recognized him and reduced his momentum a little.

“Get out of the way. This guy got away with it like this last month too.”

“I’ll talk to my aunt.”

“You…….”

The gangster glared at Maurice with a very frustrated face.

I started to think about who Maurice’s ‘aunt’ might be. Could it be…….

“You’re so soft that you’ll inherit the inn? Will you dominate the village?”

“I don’t think so.”

“It’s pathetic. You don’t even know the opportunity to play the lord in the countryside.”

The gangster spat on the floor, pointed at the bar owner behind Maurice, and walked away to another stall.

It seemed like he had left some kind of warning.

As the situation ended, the bar began to regain its vitality little by little.

I turned my eyes back to the group.

“Oh my god……”

Ganael had a shocked face after seeing the rough scene.

Lady Elizabeth was also looking at the Prince with a stiff face.

“Your Highness, what are you going to do?”

“…….”

The Prince’s eyes darkened as he was lost in thought. I carefully opened my mouth.

“I know Maurice. The person who mediated earlier. He’s an inn employee.”

Then Christel next to me stood up.

I looked up at her serious face. No, wait a minute…….

Writer, the protagonist is smiling?