What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up [EN]: Chapter 5

This means that the activity radius of the main character, the male lead, and I have never overlapped.

“That, Your Highness. Well……”

I waited patiently for him to speak.

I knew very well that urging children of this age to tell you quickly would only backfire.

At least that’s how it was with Eunseo.

“Th-there was a robbery.”

“Huh?”

What, a robbery? Not a spy, but a burglar?

I wondered what great thing had been stolen that even I had to hear strange things from Benjamin.

Ganael seemed relieved at my strange expression.

“I knew you wouldn’t know anything about it, Your Highness. I believed it.”

“No, Benjamin was even talking about martyrdom. Even if it’s not related to me, I think I should figure it out.”

I had a feeling. A feeling that an important event was happening in a place I didn’t know about.

It might be an event that forms the main plot of ‘Retiree Gong’ [likely a reference to a story or trope about a retired character getting involved in major events].

Even if you actively try not to be swept away by the river, a pebble cannot become a rock. If the current is strong, you will not be able to withstand it and will be swept away.

If so, I wanted to know at least what the river I was entrusting my body to looked like, where the rapids were, and where the slow currents were.

“I heard that a treasure, a sacred object, has disappeared……”

-Knock knock

At the heavy knock, our mouths closed and our heads turned.

“Come in.”

Benjamin appeared, opening the door at my words. Ganael hurriedly got up from his seat. I was wondering where he had been and what he had been doing, but he spoke first.

“Your Highness, you have a guest.”

“A guest?”

“It’s Elisabeth Mutte, the commander of the Imperial Auxiliary Guard.”

Crazy.

“I didn’t make an appointment.”

“I apologize, Your Highness.”

A young woman suddenly appeared from behind Benjamin and bowed politely.

I was flustered and stood up.

She had olive-colored bobbed hair curled inward and gorgeous gray eyes.

The uniform had medals showing her martial prowess.

“There has been a major theft on the border between the Liester Empire and the Venetian Holy Nation. I have urgently requested an audience to ask you a few questions regarding this matter. Please forgive me for not informing you in advance.”

It was a situation where you would become strange or suspicious if you didn’t forgive her.

I nodded slowly.

I swallowed hard at the reality that I had no choice but to accept the meeting, even though I knew who she was. It felt like the thought I had a little while ago had become a reality.

This feels like I got on the flume ride by mistake, not the river.

*

The only thing I’ve stolen since I came here is the oxygen I use to breathe.

I straightened my back, reminding myself that I was someone who had nothing to be ashamed of.

“Indeed, you are drinking tea without any stimulating ingredients.”

The first to speak was Commander Mutte.

She was tasting the hibiscus tea that Ganael had brought. I now knew what that meant.

The priests of the Holy God Church did not drink stimulating ingredients, that is, caffeine and alcohol.

This was because they believed that they could not properly cultivate divine power with a head that had been forcibly awakened or had clouded judgment.

It was written in Chapter 1 of that this was a custom practiced only by very devout priests these days.

The reason why Benjamin and the children were surprised when I asked for herbal tea on the first day must have been because they didn’t expect the Prince to be so faithful to the doctrine.

Well, he was openly called the ‘playboy of the Holy Nation’.

For me, it was like a bull stepping back and catching a mouse [a lucky accident or coincidence].

“The fragrance is very nice. I should recommend it to His Imperial Highness as well. He always drinks strong coffee.”

“Well, you can get straight to the point.”

She looked surprised at my words cutting off the small talk.

But I didn’t need the information that Cedric was a masochist who enjoyed espresso.

“Commander Mutte must be busy. You said it was a major theft.”

And more than anything, I don’t want to talk to you for long.

“The Auxiliary Guard Commander does all the work. My position is no different from an honorary one. Please call me Elisabeth.”

She chuckled and answered. I barely managed to raise the corners of my lips.

Elisabeth was the heir of the Count family, and her position was not an honorary one.

“Then, I will take the liberty of asking you a few questions.”

The Auxiliary Guard Commander took another sip of tea and slowly began to question me.

I could see a ring shining on her left hand that was wrapped around the teacup.

“Where were you and what were you doing on the night of March 17th?”

“March 17th… That’s the day I first came here. I think I just washed up and went to sleep.”

I wasn’t sure because I woke up here on the morning of March 18th.

But it must be true since Benjamin, my dedicated caretaker and watcher, said so.

“Did you have contact with any outsiders before or after falling asleep?”

“No. But it would be more accurate to ask Benjamin. I’m not sure because I was too tired.”

“I have already interrogated him. He gave the same answer.”

So that’s why Benjamin was away for a few hours. I nodded.

“Please tell me who you contacted on March 24th in chronological order.”

“That’s yesterday. Um, Ganael and the twins came and woke me up. Benjamin was with me when I got dressed. I met the gardeners during my afternoon walk, but I haven’t memorized all their names yet.”

“You usually don’t memorize them.”

Her answer had a hint of laughter.

“That’s what Ganael said. I heard that the noble treats the servants kindly and respects the gardeners.”

I couldn’t say that it was because the servants were younger than my younger sibling and the gardeners were the same age as my parents or grandmother.

“It’s just more comfortable that way.”

So I expressed it like this. It seemed like an unsociable yet moderately truthful answer.

“Did you say there were twins among the servants?”

Commander Elisabeth changed the subject.

“Ah, they don’t look alike. They are the children of the Baron Berang family, but they are only the same height.”

I replied. The two boys following Ganael were thirteen years old.

I concluded by saying that I hadn’t met anyone else after that.

In the first place, the only people who regularly helped me were Benjamin, Ganael, and the Berang twins, and other servants only came occasionally when there was a shortage of hands.

“If it’s the Berang barony, I visited it when I was young.”

“…I see.”

“The Baron and Baroness were kind people. I should send them a letter of greeting after a long time.”

She didn’t seem to ask anything very important, but she was already talking about leisurely things as if the interrogation was over.

Then, she stood up and bowed with neat movements.

The atmosphere was too light, considering that Benjamin was making a fuss in the garden, Ganael was restless, and Commander Elisabeth herself said it was a ‘major incident’.

Of course, I didn’t really do anything, so this is a natural flow.

“I look forward to seeing you again, Your Highness.”

She said to me before leaving the door, and I mumbled an answer with a smile.

Meeting ‘the Prince’s best friend’ on the spur of the moment was enough for once.

*

“You worked really hard today, Your Highness.”

Ganael, who came to bring me a bedside drink, spoke to me.

I was sitting on the bed, looking through Kumon [a brand of educational materials], no, , and greeted the child.

“You worked hard too, being questioned. I don’t know why they’re asking us about a robbery in another neighborhood.”

“Don’t even mention it, I was so surprised.”

The child sighed deeply.

After Commander Elisabeth left Juliet Palace, I heard the rest of the story from Benjamin.

The ‘Temple of the Border’, where the robbery took place this time, was very far from the Imperial Palace.

He said that it was a place that required passing through numerous portals and running on horseback for a week towards the border after exiting the last portal.

“Isn’t that a very heavily guarded place?”

I saw it in a book.

The Temple of the Border was the largest temple on the continent, located on the border between the Liester Empire and the Venetian Holy Nation.

And it was the residence of the Pope, which is currently vacant.

Since the Pope loses his nationality as soon as he is elected, the Temple of the Border, where he resides, was a neutral area jointly guarded by the Empire and the Holy Nation.

“That’s right. The Romero Palace servants say that the sacred object disappeared without a trace or witnesses. If the Holy Nation stole it, they would have taken it back to their home country, so I don’t know why they are bothering you, Your Highness.”

I found it funny too. It seemed like they were really underestimating me because I was a hostage.

Even if the Prince, who was taken hostage to the Empire, had helped with the theft, he would have had all his luggage searched as soon as he arrived at the Imperial Palace, so there was no way he would have brought the treasure with him.

“Let’s just think of it as a reference investigation.”

I said nonchalantly.

In fact, Commander Elisabeth’s actions and words were not heavy.

If they were seriously considering me as a suspect, the Commander of the Auxiliary Guard, not the Commander of the Guard, would have come.

Or I would have been dragged somewhere and interrogated.

“Yes. Good night, Your Highness.”

“Good night, Ganael.”

The child turned off the light, greeted me, and left the room.

I waved my hand at his retreating figure and slowly lay down.

Looking at the ceiling, I thought of Eunseo. Had he ever told me this story?

I don’t think so.

I remember him talking about temples and ceremonies, but I don’t remember him saying that a treasure had disappeared or that ‘our Yeseo’ had been framed.

It seemed like my hunch was wrong after all. What flume ride?

It wasn’t an important event, but the people around me were making a fuss, so I was quite agitated.

Yes, a hunch is just a snack name [meaning it’s unreliable or trivial].

-Click

At that moment, the door opened without a knock and someone entered the room.

It was the Berang brothers, the twin servants.