What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up [EN]: Chapter 562

#562

This Original is a Jackpot (2)

No, stay calm.

I told myself that even if I get taken over by Lope, I can survive if I keep my wits about me.

“Um… the palace right in front of Juliette’s?”

-Kkiiyaa…?

I quickly rolled my eyes and looked for the red pandas gathered below the ladder.

The little ones, who had been diligently carrying laundry, opened their tiny mouths.

As a result, the pure white summer curtains fluttered down.

Romero was like a villa to those guys, so it was understandable that they were surprised.

It was one of the most infamous places in the Imperial Palace, and its owner was no pushover, so I naturally didn’t expect to be able to enter.

Even if I did go, I thought I’d only get to see the marble floor from afar.

“Right. His Highness the Prince’s birthday is coming up soon, so there’s going to be work pouring out all day long. Since you’re new, they won’t give you any complicated tasks. You just have to help carry things in the middle. If you see any maids or nobles passing by, make sure to greet them properly.”

That made my mouth drop open. Oh my god.

Arian, oh my gosh.

“His Highness the Prince’s birthday…”

You’ve got to be kidding me! Come to think of it, today is August 3rd.

I was so shocked by being dropped here that I completely forgot that Cedrick’s birthday is in ten days!

Besides, he’s still just a young pup, not even the Crown Prince yet!

“Look at that guy’s expression. I heard he was a diligent cutie, is he already planning to go see the party?”

“Ah, no! Um… I just never dreamed I’d be working in His Highness’s palace. I’m sorry.”

What does my face look like right now? I hurriedly washed my face with my dry hands and blurted out whatever came to mind.

But in the field of my mind, all the information I knew was pouring out like a squall.

This is crazy, crazy!

The midsummer night’s shipboard ball and the dramatic reconciliation of the male and female leads, leading to ‘Cedrick Liester’s proposal’!

That’s practically the biggest episode in the early part of Retirement Benefit, you know. It was so much fun that I read it twice!

“Haha. Well, that’s true. The other guys are pretty excited too. It’s been a long time since anyone’s lived in Juliette. How many chances will there be to see such a precious person’s birthday feast up close?”

“Y-yeah…”

“If you understand, do it moderately and come out for lunch. Take good care of the puppies too.”

“Yes, Julia. Thank you.”

I bowed again to the departing head servant.

And after confirming that no one was outside the door, I hurriedly climbed down the ladder.

I lowered my voice and bent over as much as possible so no one would see me.

“Demi, did you hear?”

-Kkii, kkii!

“Yeah. This is really great news. It’s definitely a good thing for us. There are tons of parties in the Imperial Capital around the Crown Prince’s birthday. About a hundred? There’s a big market in the city center, and lots of pretty lights that you guys like are hung up.”

-Kkiieu…

“What we saw in Aitz Village was a sky lantern flying event. The atmosphere will be very different from then.”

Then Leia, who was stamping her little footprints on the laundry, blankly wiggled her ears.

Peri’s black eyes sparkled.

I knelt down and continued excitedly.

“I don’t know where our friends fell, but this is the time when all the supplies and people are coming up to the Imperial Capital. Besides, everyone’s appearance stands out. In the meantime, our friends will be trying to find each other somehow. Maybe?”

-Kkiuuu

“Uh, if we try hard, won’t we gather some clues? What do you think?”

-Kkiaaa!

Our neighborhood leader Demi was the first to raise his front paw, and following him, Peri and Leia clung to my legs.

I smiled brightly for the first time since I fell here and hugged the children.

This time, an event that I ‘know well’ was right in front of me.

I had read it twice and even had a notebook full of notes in my bag, so I was ready not to miss even the smallest details.

I felt confident for the first time in a long time.

-Kkurrureut!

“Hahaha.”

Of course, there were still mountains of unknown factors to figure out.

So I absolutely couldn’t let my guard down.

I put the children down, had them wait at a distance, and turned down the heat on the cauldron.

Then I climbed back up the ladder and used a wooden stick to take out the thoroughly boiled laundry and put it in a basket.

My shoulders and arm muscles, which had been working hard, were aching, but it was bearable.

Like stacking laundry, I’ll solve them one by one, step by step.

-Cheok! Chalpak! Cheoeok!

“Eusha.”

-Kkihu!

For example, first….

The world we left behind was a continent divided into two sides at war, but how does the flow of time work here?

They’re not going to shamelessly calculate one day as one year like last time, are they?

When I think of His Majesty, my teacher, and everyone there, my heart keeps pounding and I get anxious.

Last night, I couldn’t sleep because I was thinking about the friends left on the ground.

-Cheolpeodeok!

“Yeongcha.”

-Kkiheung!

Second. How should I take Prince Yeser’s ‘that word’?

He knew from the beginning that he was a character modeled after someone?

But he never told anyone about it and just lived while suppressing it alone?

Is it even possible to maintain sanity in that state?

Above all, why did Jeong Hyeon-seo make the prince based on me? He just covered the prince with our family history?

…Why did you do that in a story that Eunseo also reads? What were you thinking?

Even though he and I don’t look alike at all except for the name, can this be called an ‘original’….

-Chalpadak!

“Wow, I almost dropped it.”

-Kkihu…

Third.

Since I didn’t possess anyone when I came here, did my friends fall separately without entering their bodies?

That’s probably the case. Then how can Romero Palace and the Imperial Palace be so quiet?

If there were two Cedricks, the empire should have been split in half by now….

“Hey, Cutie!”

“Heok, yes!”

“Not done yet!”

“I’m done. I’m drying the last laundry!”

-Peok, peok!

Was I that slow? I hurriedly waved the stick and raised my voice.

The footsteps were not alone. Soon, a familiar face appeared at the entrance to the underground laundry room.

It was Julia, the head servant who had left a little while ago.

“You were fast for the first time. I’ll finish it, so follow this person before you eat. Prince Yeser is looking for you.”

“Yes? The Prince is?”

I blinked my eyes and froze. My heart sank at something that didn’t even need to be.

“Ah….”

But behind Julia stood someone I sincerely cherished.

So I really couldn’t help it.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Ganael. I’m here to take you to the Prince.”

I suddenly felt choked up.

At the clear smile of the boy I didn’t know, and knew so well.

“What’s your name?”

“Um… I’m Serenete. I came from a village with a lake.”

‘Nice to meet you.’ So I responded with a bright smile.

*

Heumchit.

-Jjaek jjaek jjaek, jjaek jjaek….

“……”

The paladin, who had been leaning against a large old tree, slowly lifted his eyelids.

Summer sunlight poured down through the dense greenery, tickling him. At the same time, his mint-colored eyes shone sharply.

‘Rustle!’ The roe deer and squirrels that had been circling around him were startled and hid beyond the bushes.

Originally, beasts quickly recognize the energy of a being stronger than themselves.

Larks, who belatedly discovered rabbit bones at the man’s feet, hurriedly ran to another tree.

The leather with dried blood was a bonus.

-Padeudak, padeudak padeudak!

“……”

But Johan had no intention of eating anything again.

He had eaten enough and rested to some extent.

Above all, the sound of the approaching carriage wheels in the distance was more important now.

The corners of his eyes narrowed like needles. ‘Dagudak, dagudak….’

-Dagudak, dagudak, dagudak!

“Here, heot…!”

“……”

It was the first time he had heard someone else’s voice since he had fallen here.

The man silently got up and pressed the robe hood even deeper. As a habit, he hid the traces of the fire and drew a sharply honed dagger from the leather strap on his thigh.

Meanwhile, a small fire lizard quickly crawled onto his shoulder.

Originally, it would have been easy for Johan to get out of this forest and find people.

Like when he once drifted to Aitz Village beyond the Imperial Palace’s back mountain.

He was a cardinal (樞機卿) [a high-ranking cleric].

He could control the sound of a fairly wide radius as if it were his own, and he never missed even the breath of small animals.

The wind was his vassal.

But this time it was different.

“Ha….”

He was tired. The man leaned on the old tree for a moment and then slowly took a step.

‘Sir Johan! Just a little more, just a little more!’

‘-Jjeojeojeok, jjeojjeojjeok!’

To approach ‘Chang,’ he sent his master and disciple up to the sky.

‘Sir Johan!’

‘-Ssaeeeeaaeeek!’

‘-Jjaenggeurang―!’

He pulled and pushed them up to a place where the sky was no longer called the sky.

He shattered the invisible barrier, consuming too much divine power and ether in the process.

He even used the power of a precious person, but even that was not enough in the end.

‘-Ssaeeeeaaeeek!’

‘-Kwaaaaang…!’

By the time he took care of his late-starting disciple, there was nothing left in the vessel than when he had opened the stigmata [marks resembling Christ’s crucifixion wounds].

In fact, since he scraped it to the very end, even the act of holding on to his mind had to be considered a luxury.

He would never have acted that way normally, but ‘Jeong Yeseo’ was by his side.

Johan had often become reckless when his master was next to him.

Perhaps even if he had stopped him, the result would not have changed much.

It would be a problem if this happened often….

-Dagak, dagak….

-Pureureung

Thus, he lost consciousness in an almost empty state.

And he still hasn’t recovered properly.

All that remained in the man’s arms was a fragmented group of lizards.

“……”

He had to find them as soon as possible.

-Jeobeok, jeobeok, jeobeok….

The cardinal quickly moved his steps to the roadside where the carriage sound was heard.

This was part of a huge forest.

Judging from the fact that there were no passing merchant groups, it was someone’s territory, and judging from the overall peacefulness and the clean flowing water, it was land that the lord cherished.

So that carriage was likely a cargo carriage coming out of the lord’s castle or a postal carriage going into the lord’s castle.

Fortunately, Johan was dressed as a nobleman—albeit in torn winter clothes—and had quite a bit of money.

It wouldn’t be difficult to get help.

-Pureureung, pureureung!

-Dalkak!

“……What’s wrong? Why did you stop?”

Before he knew it, the commotion on the main road was conveyed here as it was.

The man quietly stretched out his scarred finger.

Gugu quickly climbed onto the back of his hand and hid in his arms.

“Good heavens, First Miss! Our coachman is unconscious. The horses stopped on their own!”

“What? Joslin?!”

Apparently, the coachman driving the carriage had lost consciousness.

It was a situation where a big accident could have happened, but the horses seemed to be very well trained.

A servant who hurriedly got out of the seat next to him was opening the carriage door and explaining the situation to the owner.

A woman in a luxurious dress got out of the car in surprise.

Her face was not clearly visible because the bushes were thick.

“Oh, how could this happen! Joslin has given us the best outings for the past fifteen years…!”

“Miss, calm down! He’s not dead yet!”

“Then I’ll drive instead! Should we go straight to the doctor?”

“Second Miss!”

“Sister, calm down. Joslin’s pulse is just a little weak.”

……But clearly, it was a voice I had heard somewhere.

Normally, he would not have failed to recognize this quickly.

Johan thought he must be terribly tired.

Then he walked out, nervously pushing aside the branches and leaves. ‘Ppadeudeuk, ppadeudeuk!’

-Tak!

“Excuse me.”

“Oh my!”

The three women turned around in surprise. Their eyes met immediately.

“……Ah.”

Johan was a little surprised at the sight.

It was a familiar face.

“Heok, wow! A robber? Are you a robber?”

“Maria Diem! You can’t provoke someone you’re meeting for the first time like that!”

“But he’s holding a knife, sister? He just walked out of the forest wearing a black robe!”

“Yeah, that’s a logical conclusion. What should we do since it’s just us?”

“Tereze!”

“Oh my gosh, I guess he’s a highway robber!”

Finally, the servant who was feeding water to the coachman shouted in a pale face.

Antoinette hurriedly hugged her sisters and hid them behind her.

The pink eyes of the three sisters looking at the man were shining brightly.

“……Haha.”

Johan eventually burst into a hollow laugh.

It was their ‘first meeting.’