What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up [EN]: Chapter 577

Finding the Rainbow (2)

Swish.

“Ah.”

But perhaps it was just my imagination that our eyes met, as the young prophet completely ignored me and strode off in another direction.

Even from a distance, it was easy to tell he wasn’t wearing glasses.

Wizards who appeared to be his subordinates—one mustn’t forget that there was essentially a massive government office within the Imperial Palace—hurriedly followed behind him, burdened with stacks of documents.

It’s already hot and the palace is full of guests; everyone’s suffering…

-Rustle

“Look here.”

“Gah!”

What a surprise! I was startled and quickly pulled my hand away.

For a moment, I thought there was a snake in the Juliette Garden.

Somehow, a smooth and cold sensation had lightly wrapped around my wrist…

“Unmarried? Hard to believe. Do you have a lover, then?”

“Yes, excuse me?”

A middle-aged woman, sitting with her long legs crossed, was giving me a greasy look.

Defensively, I clutched the tray and stammered.

At that, the other nobles began to laugh.

Colorful fans fluttered wildly before my eyes, and amidst it all, even the young masters sitting on a nearby bench picked up their teacups and joined in.

The gathering instantly became twice as noisy.

I hurriedly sent the Lesser Panda Trio back to Juliette Palace.

Rea and Perry were already terrified, and if Demi stayed, she looked like she would attack someone. ‘Kkihoo!’

“No, I mean, do you serve someone?”

“Good heavens, Count! You can’t say such things to a greenhorn!”

“What’s wrong with it? He says he’ll only flirt during the day to uphold his knightly honor.”

“That’s right! By custom, flirting at night makes you a lecher, but flirting during the day makes you a lover.”

“Euhahaha!”

“Twenty-eight is old enough to know everything!”

“Look here, he’s asking if you have a lover, you know?”

“Yes?”

One of the more refined young masters asked in a skunk-like voice.

Even in the boisterous atmosphere, I calmly shook my head.

The heavy scent of wine wafted towards my nose.

Then, he glanced at the Count and asked again.

“Do you serve someone?”

What does that mean?

“…I am serving Prince Yeser Fenetian here.”

“……”

A few seconds of silence passed.

“…Wahahaha!”

“Wow! That’s right, that’s right! You’re a Cold Palace servant, so it’s only right that you serve the Prince!”

“Euhaha! Ahahaha!”

“Oh, my stomach!”

One side of the garden became deafeningly loud, and I reflexively narrowed my eyes.

It was truly a ruckus.

I heard that they mainly serve tea to daytime visitors to avoid such commotions… but it seems they finished their first round of gatherings outside before coming in.

The skunk young master scolded me.

“Tsk. Are you really a servant of the palace and so ignorant?”

“What are you suddenly talking about…?”

“It means, is there a noble who has taken you as their lover? It would be awkward if you overlapped with someone else!”

“……”

That was a sentence that exceeded my imagination, and I was momentarily speechless.

But that was only for a moment, and soon a feeling of displeasure surged up.

On the other hand, the Count who had asked me about my lover seemed very pleased.

She jingled the ice cubes left in her glass to gather attention.

Then, a young master and a young lady clung to the middle-aged woman’s shoulders.

“What should we call this, huh? I’m feeling tipsy, so I can’t quite think of the word.”

“What is it, Count?”

“I’m curious! Please tell us quickly!”

“Ah, think about it. Isn’t the master of this Cold Palace going to be a *maître-en-titre* [master in title or name only] in the future? Huh?”

“Oh my, Count Sade!”

“Good heavens! Ahaha!”

What? Metropolitan what?

“But that person makes a lover, and that lover makes another lover? This is truly a lover’s paradise. We don’t need to believe in the gods anymore!”

“Hahaha!”

“You’re so mischievous!”

“You’re so bold!”

Woosh, gurgle, bursts of laughter and loud voices poured out. I finally bit my tongue and took a step back.

Benjamin had advised me never to show my emotions in front of guests, but at this point, there was no way to avoid making a face.

This human had clearly just insulted Prince Yeser.

Moreover, if she was ‘Count Sade,’ she was a notorious lecher even in Dongsan.

Christel and Cedric of Dongsan would later fall into a great love trap because of this person.

I turned my head and looked around, but unfortunately, there were no attendants in sight to help me right now.

I had to calmly slip away on my own.

“Damn it.”

At that moment, I made eye contact with the problematic Count. She smirked and smacked her lips.

“That’s quite pretty; I could have her sit in the lord’s castle and take care of the bedding.”

That really made me angry!

“Listen here—”

“It would be better for the Count to return home and watch over her husband’s bedside.”

Huh, I was startled and turned to the side.

There was no sign of him, but a very familiar silhouette filled my vision.

As always, clear, bright blue eyes and navy hair of ambiguous length.

A dark blue robe as if woven from silk of that hair. The twelve zodiac signs neatly embroidered with silver thread…

“…What did you just say?”

It was the prophet I knew well.

A twenty-year-old teenager who loved bread.

“Ahem! Isn’t that Commander Modeste Bakari?”

“Ahem!”

“Greetings, Commander. But does such an honorable person not know the etiquette of the Imperial nobility? How can you mention the Count’s husband as soon as you arrive…?”

“Her husband is currently ill, isn’t he? Or is he not?”

“……”

At the firm voice, Count Sade’s expression slowly hardened.

As her complexion changed, those who had been raising their voices boisterously became as quiet as a remote village hit by a disaster.

With a doubtful heart, I turned to look at the man.

The youngest commander of Fleur de Lis was groping the air with a gaze that seemed to read a transparent book.

That sight somehow sent shivers down my spine.

“In recent weeks, the tumor in his stomach has spread throughout his body. I see a dark shadow over her husband’s head.”

“Wh-what…?”

“Watch your mouth, Commander! Your dog eyes—”

“You should be careful with your words!”

I finally burst out and shouted.

It was enough to hear words like ‘dog eyes’ in our world line.

At that, the horrified nobles covered their lower faces with fans and whispered.

The Commander continued in a steady voice.

“Even if there is no affection, isn’t there affection between a long-married couple? Which family’s young master has made the Sade County so glorious today?”

“Oh, good heavens…”

“Stop the harassment that even makes passersby uncomfortable, and attend to your husband’s deathbed. He will have a hard time making it through tonight.”

“Th-that…”

The middle-aged woman’s face turned pale. All traces of alcohol seemed to have vanished.

-Clatter! Clang!

“Oops!”

“Damn it. I’ll get up first. Carriage, I need to call a carriage…”

“Count, just a moment! I’ll go with you. Count!”

“Hey, call my carriage! It’ll be here faster than yours!”

“Goodness, how ominous. How can he say such things…!”

Half of those sitting at the table left in an instant, and the other half scanned the prophet with horrified eyes.

But that was only for a moment.

They made faces as if all their will had suddenly dropped, and scattered like a swarm of gnats from an emptied trash can.

Shuffle, clack, tap…

“……”

“……”

“…Thank you, Commander. Thanks to you, I avoided a difficult situation.”

After a long while, I bowed, and the prophet, who had been standing there sullenly, looked up at me.

He had an expression that he couldn’t believe what he had just heard.

“Thank you?”

“…Yes. Is that not allowed?”

“Ha…. I’ve seen all sorts of strange fellows.”

He clicked his tongue while observing me up and down, and suddenly gave me a grumpy look.

This was a look I knew, so I was secretly glad. He was displeased with something.

“You. Do you have any talent for magic?”

I knew he would come out like this!

“Yes? Of course not. I don’t even have enough mana to use as medicine.”

“But why…”

He closed his mouth and glared at me for almost a minute in that state, and I almost burst out laughing.

The moment when we reunited in the Trossart barracks came to mind, and one side of my chest tingled.

Of course, it would be quite annoying and irritating.

I quickly bit my lip and carefully tidied up the cluttered table.

The warning he had given me once echoed in my ears.

‘…It’s not something to be happy about. It’s not like that when the Prince is by your side. The Prince is an existence that distorts all prophecies.’

As he had done in our world line, he couldn’t read my future. Not even a little bit.

“…Behave yourself. It’s not good to catch the eyes of nobles for no reason.”

“Ah, yes.”

The first sentence was probably a sincere concern for me—Camille was particularly lenient towards subordinates, including servants—and the second sentence probably meant to be careful not to get caught up in the lives of high-ranking people.

If someone like me got involved with the upper class, his predictions would become several times more difficult.

“I will keep that in mind, Commander.”

“……”

As I bowed again, the Commander cleared his throat once and disappeared in a hurry.

Thinking that he had come because he heard the commotion from afar, the corners of my mouth kept twitching upwards.

“…Ah.”

Come to think of it, I didn’t get to congratulate him on his sister’s engagement.

It hasn’t been officially announced yet, so it should be okay, right?

*

After the sun went down and the night deepened, I took a walk in the garden with Prince Yeser.

…If pulling an ice cart behind him by myself can be called a walk.

Wow, this is a lot heavier than it looks (including the three Lesser Pandas)!

-Creak, creak…

“In summary… those people are not the two people I know. They look the same, but.”

This was what he was saying about Gain and the snail-glasses man.

Of course, the two of them couldn’t enter the Imperial Palace today.

As everyone knows, you need golden connections to enter the Imperial Palace.

It seems I need to get help from Sue to contact my friends.

“…It’s a similar level. Yes. It won’t be exactly the same.”

“A completely different world created by completely different choices… How fascinating. But it’s plausible.”

“Yes, that’s how you should see it.”

Francois of Dongsan! Is the portable air conditioner ready yet?

I looked up at the night sky for a moment, took a deep breath, and then pulled with all my might again.

The Prince was really sensitive to heat and cold (this setting also appears in Dongsan).

In the living room or tea room, he always had someone fanning him unless he was alone, and occasionally Benjamin would even go to the Imperial Palace to get glaciers from the North Sea.

Moreover, his constitution was extremely delicate and sensitive, so if you brought ice and fanned him nearby, he would quickly cough because of the cold air.

It was completely different from me, who had lived a generally easygoing life.

“Different world… Different…”

It seemed that taking a night walk after the sun went down was one of his few pleasures.

I quietly watched the man muttering while stroking the summer flowers.

The moonlight scattered on his blonde hair like a blessing.

-Whoosh…

“……”

In fact, I had lied to him.

Because I didn’t know if it was okay for me to tell him everything.

I had confessed that my brother, who happened to be the ‘author,’ had created the Prince and Benjamin, but I held back because I couldn’t predict what would happen if I revealed more than that.

Since I deliberately didn’t say what I knew, I was no different from a liar. Since I had half-covered the truth, it was hypocrisy.

I introduced our world line as a concept of parallel worlds.

I said that it was a place where many futures had changed as many people made different choices from the same starting point.

Because there were too many things I was afraid of to convey the complete truth.

If I revealed the existence of , predicted his death, and said that the Prince was someone who could never be with Christel de Sarnes…