What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up [EN]: Chapter 471

#471

Grandfather and the North Sea Blizzard (3)

“Wedding ceremony?”

“What wedding ceremony are you talking about…?”

I stared blankly at Gaine, then turned to the Crown Prince.

Two handsome and beautiful faces filled my vision.

We weren’t old enough for an entrance ceremony [a coming-of-age ceremony], and certainly not for a funeral.

The only celebratory or mourning event that family elders would ask about during holidays was now just one.

The moment I considered that possibility, I experienced an overwhelming sensation as if all the blood was draining from my body.

‘Keheong!’ Countess Elisabeth’s laughter, as she began to eat her nose [a Korean expression for being overly pleased or smug], faded into the distance.

‘The three children look good together, like a landscape painting.’

So not two, but ‘three’.

“Uh……”

To be exact, me.

-Gulp

Making a Soul Contract with that Cedric guy, and with Gaine, a wed……

Wed……?

“Be careful of conjunctivitis!”

-Whyoooong

I panicked and whispered loudly.

Ropi, who was playing on my sleeve like a hammock, cried out.

The two protagonists narrowed their brows at the sudden, out-of-the-blue shout that was half air, half sound.

They looked as if they were asking why I was suddenly talking nonsense when everything was fine.

It seemed that I was the only one among us who realized the seriousness of the situation.

Are you all so clueless?

We’re friends, so that kind of thing can never happen!

Quickly step up and respond to the elder’s bombardment!

“Well. In winter, you don’t open the windows often. So the indoor air can be polluted, and it’s also dry. To prevent conjunctivitis, you should ventilate from time to time, even if it’s cold. Your eye health is precious.”

But once you’ve said something, you have to clean it up.

I finished the public service announcement passionately.

Then the two men and women scanned me with even more serious eyes.

“Why are you suddenly talking about that?”

“Your Highness, do you have rhinitis? If you’re feeling stuffy, shall we go for a walk together?”

Ugh, they’re only the same at times like this!

“Uh……?”

Wait. The two of them?

Were you perhaps telling the two of them to get married, not me?

…That could be a hit?

“Your Highness, with all due respect, isn’t it too early to say such things to the esteemed guests?”

The moment I was swept up in a thrill from head to toe, a feather-soft voice landed behind the Grandfather.

The elder pulled his body out of the doorway and checked the owner of the voice.

Isabelle, Kristel’s mother, was bowing with her usual graceful smile.

Old Gong’s eyebrows drooped down like seagull wings.

“Oh dear. I must have misspoke again.”

“No. I know you asked out of affection for the two of them and my daughter.”

“Oh dear, I’m sorry. Hahaha. I heard that kids these days are very fast… Wasn’t Elisabeth’s groom fifteen?”

“Se, seventeen…! And, uh, still a prospective groom!”

Ganael answered, turning as blue as her knitting.

Your Highness, if that child is fifteen, Countess Elisabeth will be arrested!

It’s inevitably clank, clank [referring to the sound of handcuffs]!

“Oh dear. I apologize. The old man was being foolish.”

“Please don’t say that. His Majesty and His Eminence the Cardinal have always truly respected Your Highness’s insight. You happen to be seeking advice from a precious person, so could you spare us some time?”

“Yes, yes. Let’s go. It’s not often that my daughter seeks her father.”

Indeed, Isabelle was an elegant and strong adult.

With her few sentences, the situation was quickly resolved.

The Grandfather looked at us kindly and offered his arm to Isabelle, volunteering to escort her.

Then, after urging us to ‘eat snacks diligently,’ he walked away across the hallway.

I was still spacing out enthusiastically even after the sound of the two people’s footsteps had completely disappeared.

“Wow……”

“I really thought my face was going to explode… The late Former Royal Consort was, in many ways, an amazing person.”

“I know, Ganael.”

He’s really amazing.

The Grandfather recognized Gaine and Cedric’s combined beauty at a glance.

He finally officially acknowledged the two people who, in reality, were an unparalleled couple chosen by the heavens.

He accepted the fact that gold and silver, black and pink, and red and blue are a perfect match.

He instantly saw through the couple, a sculpted beauty that Michelangelo would have destroyed his own work and secluded himself over, and the protagonist with a divine aura.

He even immediately grasped that the height difference and size difference were also pretty.

He must have also seen the difference in hand size. It was one of the ‘fluttering points’ [a point that makes one’s heart flutter] that Eunseo shouted every time she looked at the illustrations.

And that was a member of the Imperial Family.

“Indeed, the highest elder of the Imperial Family is different……”

His insight tore through everything. Our kids now have a wide-open possibility.

When the war is over, they might go around the Legho General Trading Company several times to prepare the trousseau.

“Lady Yeser, I’m sorry, but what have you been muttering about since earlier? I thought you were calling me in the middle, but I couldn’t hear you well.”

“Has she finally gone crazy, even though she’s not locked up?”

“A walk is urgent, really.”

Our official couple, very hopeful. I clenched both fists.

Suddenly, confidence sprang up in everything.

The whole world looked splendid, and it felt like beautiful bells were ringing in my ears.

The corner of my mouth, which had finally gained a self, twitched on its own.

-Uweeek

Then Ropi made a vomiting sound, but fortunately, he didn’t throw up anything.

The next day.

The enormous north wind of December was shaking the Venetian military camp to its roots.

-Whooooosh……!

-Flap flap! Flap flap!

“Hey! You there! Hold the stakes tight!”

“Yes! Just leave it to me!”

The cloudy sky had a look as if it would burst into tears at any moment.

It was still too warm for the first snow, but because of the recent flooding, all the soldiers were on high alert.

The flood recovery had just entered the final stage.

Soldiers with bricks and shovels instead of weapons were diligently building shelters for the people and helping with the work of the relief centers.

Princess Elissa Venetian encouraged the priests at the relief centers every day, and carried logs and stretchers herself day and night.

As the heir to the throne and supreme commander took the lead, no one was left out and everyone looked for work to do.

Even the people who had lost their families and homes due to the flood stepped forward to help.

Now, 80% of the ordinary soldiers followed Elissa with loyalty from the heart.

They were no longer fighting out of fear or hunger.

-Whooooosh……!

“Hey, over there! Isn’t someone coming?”

At that time, a soldier standing guard on the outskirts of the military camp pointed to the horizon.

The comrade who was fiddling with a hot pebble on the other side flinched and turned his gaze.

It was a heating supply that the Princess had personally scorched with the sacred fire and distributed.

“Giddy up, ha!”

-Heeheeheeing!

“My goodness. It looks like there’s something very urgent……?”

From the east where the sun rose, a warhorse was rushing towards the military camp at a terrifying speed.

The two soldiers just gaped at each other.

Judging from the shape of the armor, he was clearly a knight of the Holy Kingdom, but there had never been a messenger who had ridden a horse with such momentum.

Moreover, no matter how they looked at it, he didn’t seem to be slowing down or stopping.

When they looked closely, there was no flag on his back.

They were confused as to whether it was more important to run and report to the superiors first, or to aim a spear and stop him first.

At that moment—

“Get out of the way if you don’t want to die!”

-Heeheeing!

“Haaaak!”

The warhorse, which had jumped in like lightning, roughly dug through the two men.

The soldiers, who were almost hit by the horse, tumbled into the mud.

But the knight was unstoppable.

A woman in a black robe rushed through the dense and crowded tent street.

“Hot! This!”

-Clatter, clatter, clatter!

“Ouch!”

Patients who had herbs applied to their bodies and bandages on their heads fell helplessly at her momentum.

But the woman didn’t care at all.

Not because she didn’t have time to care, but because there was no reason to.

This was a matter of life and death.

And in front of the person who would soon become a god, these lives were not important at all.

-Thud!

Finally, she stopped the horse next to the second largest tent in the military camp and got off.

She didn’t even glance at who was receiving the reins.

Then she busily took off her hood and lifted the tent. ‘Flutter!’

“Master. Something terrible has happened.”

A woman sitting at a round wooden table looking at documents slowly raised her eyes.

Soon, Wilhelmina’s eyes turned cold as she checked her subordinate’s expression.

“What is it?”

“I’m sorry. Due to the collapse of the black market, there are clear signs of division among the loyal aristocratic class. There has been bad news from all over the royal capital.”

“…Then they are no longer the ‘loyal’ aristocratic class.”

‘Explain,’ the Duchess said, slowly rising from her chair.

The subordinate barely swallowed the breath that had risen to the tip of her chin.

The lips that were always calm were trembling.

The news that the black market had collapsed entirely was a great shock to the commanders of the Holy Kingdom army, but the one who was most affected was undoubtedly Duchess Wilhelmina Schneider.

The profit she made from the black market every year was more than four times the tax revenue of the Schneider Duchy.

Moreover, this money was even more valuable in that it did not require taxes and could be infinitely increased through underground transactions.

In short, it was no different from a family-run, ultra-large monopoly trading company going bankrupt overnight.

The owner, the Duchess, didn’t even know the exact reason.

But the woman never showed it.

Knowing that the other nobles on the battlefield were watching her, she maintained a consistently calm and upright attitude.

On the surface, she was just worried about the people who had died or were injured due to the collapse of the black market. As usual.

“You’re late to answer.”

“That is……”

Among the upper class of the Holy Kingdom who profited from the underground, Wilhelmina was secretly called the ‘Underground Duchess’.

It was an expression that compared her to enjoying the power above ground as it was below.

Those who didn’t know died without ever knowing, but those who knew could never escape her grasp.

Forever.

“The Ferstappen Marquisate. The Depay Marquisate. The Aceden Barony have each sent letters withdrawing their military funding support.”

“……”

“The date of receipt was only half a day to a day apart. It seems that an agreement has been reached between the three families.”

“Again.”

“Yes?”

Her head snapped up.

“That’s not the end of it, is it? It is true that they are wealthy families, but even if they slip out of my hands, Schneider will not suffer irreparable damage. Rather, I am disappointed that you were so dependent on black market income.”

“……”

“Who else is there?”

She asked with her hands behind her back.

Her aged gaze was only quietly aiming at the red-burning brazier.

The subordinate clenched her trembling fists tightly.

“…The Sarghintini Dukedom, which was scheduled to be the Second Princess’s in-laws, has not responded. Also, one building of the ‘Secret Chamber’ that they operated has been completely closed.”

“……”

“The chief of staff who visited in person was turned away after being asked to leave, and I also gained nothing. According to rumors in the royal capital……”

For a moment, the silence like the North Sea glacier pierced their lungs.

“It is said that the Duke of Sarghintini met with Count Roseharder alone. In the Rose Garden greenhouse.”

“…How hasty. They’ve already switched ships [changed allegiances].”

There was no temperature in Wilhelmina’s voice. The subordinate silently lowered her eyes.

“Yes. It seems that the atmosphere of the royal capital’s social circles is also stirring. According to sources, the Princess has recently become very popular not only among the people but also among the nobles……”

“That’s right. In the military camp, the Princess’s voice is getting louder day by day, and the ant-like nobles in the royal capital only chase the honey in front of them. Now that the black market has collapsed, it’s easy to know their true colors.”

She said, raising the corners of her mouth. But her eyes were not smiling at all.

At the tip of Wilhelmina’s fingernails, dark blood droplets were forming.

“Werner.”

“Yes?”

“Have you found out where that child is?”

“Master, that is……”

The subordinate’s complexion darkened rapidly.

All the surrounding informants were mobilized, but Werner Venetian was highly likely to have disappeared from the black market.

There was no lie in Count Roy’s testimony.

And usually, the fact that such information values indicate is only one.

“The Royal Consort is……”

“He’s not a guy who would die like that.”