What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up [EN]: Chapter 571

Sub-Male Lead Goes on Strike – Episode 571

#571

Is Breaking Off the Engagement Even Possible, You Guys! (1)

How could such a mistake happen…?

“Just looking at the picture, it’s hard to tell if it’s valuable.”

“Ah, what do we know? If His Highness the Crown Prince is looking for the owner, it must be a treasure.”

“Since it was left in the Romero Garden, could it belong to a guest staying at the palace?”

“That’s likely. I’ve seen many cases of people getting drunk and losing their belongings while wandering around.”

“Agreed. My fifth cousin picked up a gold necklace in Stroda, and since they couldn’t find the owner, it ended up going to him. Long live the benevolent Cardinal!”

“······.”

Amidst the chattering servants and maids, I was just staring blankly at the poster.

The end of the notice included a simple drawing of the lost necklace.

It was clearly mine. However, it wasn’t the ‘new’ one I had gifted to that jerk Cedrick.

Because he kept dangling the broken necklace without recycling it, I had taken a day to replace only the sacred stone for him.

I was worried he might get hurt, and I felt a little sorry for him.

-Gulp

So, the sacred stone in my bag was… a cracked and empty thing.

Should I call this fortunate? Well, it’s fortunate for now, right?

‘Anyone wishing to report information should contact David Capuchon, the head servant of Romero Palace…’

‘The person who lost the necklace is likely to be a priest…’

…I just need to be careful when using Ether [a magical energy source] for a while, right? Huh?

Besides, the Crown Prince went out of the Imperial Palace yesterday.

“No, there must be a story behind this. Our esteemed Crown Prince wouldn’t put up a poster just to find the owner of a necklace. Right?”

“Oh? That makes sense. He’s usually such a cold, aloof nobleman…”

“Shhh!”

“Besides, look closely. The gem is cracked. Even if the owner reclaims it, what could they use it for? It’s broken!”

“Geez, there must be a story! Between His Highness and that person!”

“Hey, be quiet! The head servants are here!”

“It says there that it could be a priest. Then it was just a religious meeting, like a confession.”

“By the way, where’s Wangnun? Where’s Rambo?”

“They both took the day off today.”

“What? Of all the busiest times?”

“······.”

Meanwhile, the sacred stone necklace containing Ether remained with Crown Prince Cedrick.

In short, the broken sacred stone I had was hardly even worthy of being called a ‘necklace’.

Instead of the necklace string I had diligently sewn―which, of course, was with the Crown Prince―I had hastily grabbed any leather strap and temporarily attached it.

“He’s quite peculiar. Even the necklace string is… just a worn-out leather strap.”

“I know. How pathetic!”

Rumors are spreading all over the place that my sacred stone is ugly. Hmm.

“Cutie, why are you so spaced out? Didn’t you eat breakfast?”

“Eek! Hello, Ms. Julia.”

I jumped up about ten centimeters from my spot and landed back down, bowing to my superior.

The head maid, Julia, gave me a look as if I were the most ridiculous person she had ever seen.

The lesser pandas, who were gathered around her feet, wagged their tails against her calves in greeting.

“Oh, you’re startled? Don’t tell me you’ve been starving? Oh, hello to you too.”

-Grumble!

“No, I ate a lot, and I even had the special drink that Laurence made for me. Thanks to you.”

As I chattered away with a bright smile, the middle-aged woman slightly raised the corner of her mouth.

Then, she smoothed out the wrinkles in her apron, taking credit for it.

Her tone was full of playful teasing, which I found amusing.

“Right. Since you said you can’t drink alcohol, I made a special request. The chef said he’d develop something just for you, making a big promise that shook the kitchen. How was it?”

“It was very delicious. He mixed the remaining orange juice, lemon juice, and pineapple juice with some syrup… and even a little ginger ale.”

“Oh my, he used a lot of precious ingredients. Cutie, you’ll have to work even harder today.”

“Yes.”

I nodded, and my esteemed senior laughed heartily, making her throat rumble.

I followed her lead and brightened my complexion as if nothing was wrong.

Even though the broken sacred stone had somehow ended up in the Crown Prince’s hands, it was damaged and had no Ether left.

Since it was a mineral that could no longer serve its purpose, even if another priest came, they wouldn’t be able to inject Ether into it.

No, to be precise, according to the ‘Toegye Gong’ setting [the original novel’s setting]―the Riester Imperial Family had never mined sacred stones up to the latest episode.

So, the Crown Prince wouldn’t know what great potential that trinket held.

Of course, it’s a pretty meaningful item to me…

“Work hard if you want to eat five bowls for lunch. You have to empty your stomach to fill it again.”

“I’ll keep that in mind, Ms. Julia.”

Anyway, I can ignore that poster. I just have to pretend I don’t know anything until I leave this place.

How are you going to find me? You’re going to be busy because it’s your birthday.

“Serenite!”

“Ah, shoot.”

At the familiar voice from behind, I quickly turned around.

From down the hallway, Ganael was waving at me.

His golden eyes looked a little troubled. His gaze made my heart flutter.

Julia patted my back comfortingly.

“Go on. It seems the Prince is looking for you.”

Ugh…

-Creak, click!

“Welcome.”

As soon as I opened the door to the reception room, Prince Yeseo Fenetian rose from the sofa to greet me.

The dazzling morning sunlight poured in through the window, bestowing a baptism upon his head.

I bowed slightly and then rolled my eyes around the room.

Besides him, there was no one else in the room.

Benjamin and Pierre were nowhere to be seen, and Ganael didn’t even follow me in.

This time, I looked at the man with a slightly awkward gaze.

His purple eyes curved mysteriously.

Ah, I should bow.

“I greet the Moon of the Divine Kingdom, Prince Yeseo.”

“Yeseo-ssi.”

I paid my respects politely, and the Prince also lowered his body slightly in greeting.

It was unheard of for a Prince to show such courtesy to a servant.

As I stood there with a dumbfounded expression, he finally laughed out loud.

It was still hard to believe that his voice was the same as mine.

“Just kidding. Come and sit down. It seems like you have something to say.”

“······.”

“If my guess is correct.”

The Prince winked at me as if he knew everything, then picked up the teapot on the table and filled a guest cup for me.

I hesitantly approached, pulled out a chair, and sat down.

I had already been treated to a grand meal once, but for some reason, his attitude felt uncomfortable this time.

Perhaps it was because my heart was uneasy.

As the man said, I had something to talk about today.

-Thump

“······I’m sorry. The book delivery failed.”

“Ah.”

I placed the long, torn black envelope on the table.

The Prince smiled gently, even as his eyebrows drooped.

A piece of silver plate seemed to be cut and pasted onto his hair, shimmering.

He was a little disappointed, but he didn’t seem disheartened.

In fact, he didn’t even glance at the envelope. I took a deep breath and rattled off a sentence like a machine gun.

“Did you intentionally entrust it to me, Your Highness?”

“Hmm?”

“Did you want to show me that book? Did you expect that I would somehow see the contents of that essay collection…”

“Yes.”

He readily agreed. My eyes widened at the easy answer.

Really?

He gave me such an extraordinary errand to show me what kind of person Benjamin was?

I couldn’t understand the Prince’s mind at all!

“Then why did you use this method? You could have just called me separately and quietly told me…”

“As I said, I’m curious about what kind of person Yeseo-ssi is.”

······Ah?

“Yes?”

“How you handle crisis situations. How you overcome shock. Whether your improvisation skills are good or bad. How far you can mobilize resources. How fast your feet are. How much you know about His Highness the Crown Prince. How honest you can be with me…”

“······.”

“And how much you can doubt me.”

“······Excuse me?”

“Whether you’re someone who might hate me.”

He whispered softly, picked up his coffee cup, and savored the deep aroma.

I stared blankly at the man. His eyes were clearly smiling.

But his inner thoughts seemed to be consumed by completely different emotions.

‘Yeseo’ was a much more complex and difficult person to understand than I had vaguely imagined.

Perhaps my expression was quite strange, as the Prince added plainly.

“Of course, I did want to win the bet. His Highness the Crown Prince also uses quite absurd tactics on me.”

“Why?”

At that point, I became purely curious.

I leaned almost my entire body on the table and whispered.

Our eyes met from close range.

“······Why are you so wary of me?”

“Not at all. I admire you.”

Click. The Prince slowly put down his cup and lowered his gaze.

His eyes clearly pointed to the book.

I nodded once and slowly opened the black envelope.

The familiar book title came into view again.

‘.’

“How much have you figured out?”

The man asked kindly.

I moistened my lips with warm anise tea and carefully organized my thoughts.

The fact that the Prince had arbitrarily tested and used me was something to be angry about, but for some reason, I didn’t feel that way towards him.

Really, I wasn’t even a little upset or unpleasant. It was a strange thing.

“Benjamin… Benjamin uses the same initials as my brother’s pen name. It’s not exactly the same name, but my brother gave him a part of himself. Even the two people’s signatures are the same. He made him a writer, just like my brother…”

“So, did your brother create me?”

······.

“······It’s not accurate yet, but I’m expecting that.”

I could have denied it. I could have lied appropriately.

I could have told myself all sorts of excuses, such as not twisting the flow of , and kept it a secret.

But I couldn’t do that with a living person in front of me.

You can point fingers and call me a weakling.

“Aha.”

Then he readily tilted his head. I quickly moistened my throat with tea and continued.

“Besides, Benjamin is writing a new story for his beloved eldest nephew. Perhaps that also takes after my brother’s characteristics.”

“I see.”

“I guess… So Benjamin has become somewhat aware of the outside of this world. He knows that life here is the ‘first life’ given by the God of Creation, and he recorded it that way in the first chapter of his essay. On the other hand, in the world line I was in, he wrote ‘second life’ in the same book.”

He knows he’s regressed [returned to an earlier state or form].

But at the same time, he must have believed that he couldn’t change anything himself.

“However, I assume it’s not at the same level as Your Highness.”

He only recognizes everything very faintly―just like a thin thread.

There are overwhelmingly many things he doesn’t know to take action, and the ‘I’ who possessed him was too different from Yeseo Fenetian.

So he couldn’t specifically describe that experience in his religious books, and only wrote abstract expressions.

In particular, the words ‘déjà vu’ or ‘familiarity’ often appeared.

Perhaps he had no other way but to sublimate his wandering into faith and art.

Most of the situations were flowing differently from the first playthrough…

‘Jeong Eun-seo!’

‘Your Highness.’

‘Who are you to be in our house…’

‘Did you sleep well?’

‘Yes?’

The Prince woke up from the first day shouting a strange name,

‘What would you like to drink with it? We have a variety of coffee beans from the southern continent and tea leaves grown in the north.’

‘I’d like some herbal tea.’

‘······I was careless. I understand.’

Not only his food preferences but also his appetite had completely changed.

It must have been a completely new second life for him.

The lovely divine beasts, the Prince’s Ether, and the blessing of the Blue Sea dwelling in Ms. Gain… None of them were in Toegye Gong.

“Why is that? Why can’t Benjamin recognize the world like me?”

The only one who noticed the middle-aged man’s wandering was Prince Yeseo here.

“The name.”

I pointed out again. The man stared at me and rested his chin on his hand.

He was waiting for the answer that would follow.

“Your Highness is… in other words, someone who shares my name.”

“Did that affect my worldview?”

“Yes. I don’t know the exact principle, but it seems that names are very important here. The same name as me from outside the world, a particularly similar environment… Because you were born with such things, Your Highness’s worldview recognition seems to have become clearer. Unlike Benjamin, who overcame anxiety with faith, you continue to feel a sense of alienation.”

“······.”

The Prince was silent for a moment, then stared intently at the essay collection I was holding.

I fidgeted with my fingers for no reason and waited for his next words.

What kind of story is he going to tell with that expression again?

“······I’ll give you that book as a gift.”

“Yes?”

“I received the author’s signature on the front page of the recommendation. I think you’ll like it.”

“Ah······.”

‘Thank you.’ I smiled softly and placed the book on my lap.

The tension was relieved, and one side of my heart calmed down.

The torn black envelope was carefully folded into a square shape, ready to be discarded.

Meanwhile, the Prince looked at me with his chin propped up.

“If I keep you by my side…”

-Rustle, rustle

“Yes?”

Did I mishear?

“······It’s nothing. Let’s go to ‘La Débutante’ [a high-society debutante ball] with me this afternoon.”

“Gasp!”

Surprised, I quickly raised my head. The man smiled beautifully like the waning moon.

“Apart from failing to deliver it, you gave me an answer. I want to repay you.”

“Oh my gosh, really?”

Wow! I barely stopped the Crown Prince from verbally abusing me that he would kidnap me, but this is really great!

“Thank you!”

If Ms. Gain is there, I can meet her standing on my own two feet!

“There’s one more thing.”

“One more thing here?”

To calm my pounding heart, I held the teacup in front of me tightly.

The Prince lowered his head and whispered.

“Today, my two servants took a day off.”

······Could he be talking about Wangnun and Rambo? I heard they were taking a day off starting today.

“I heard that Baron Zan Tillier of the Central Region is being investigated by the Imperial Guard for tax evasion… They are participating in the on-site inspection as witnesses. Coincidentally, the two of them are residents of her territory.”

“Oh······.”

I narrowed my brows, recalling distant memories.

Zan Tillier was the drunkard who beat Camille and drew blood in the past.

His tax evasion problem was first mentioned at that time.

Later, Eva took over his bar and reopened it as ‘Salon de Victoire’…

Could it be that he was arrested here for the same charges? After causing a ruckus with Isabel at the clothing store?

“I see. Tax evasion is a serious problem.”

But that’s not in Toegye Gong. How did things turn out that way?

Was it originally planned to be like this, even though there was no description?

······Or could it be Ms. Gain?

“So, I would like Yeseo-ssi to accompany me to the shipboard ball. If your schedule is okay that day.”

“······.”

I froze for a moment and succeeded in covering my mouth with my fist before I could scream.

“Mmph!”

Jackpot―! A real jackpot!