What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up [EN]: Chapter 59

“Sit down.”

As soon as Emperor Frederick spoke, everyone in the hall moved with perfect order.

Some seemed quite drunk, but the Emperor’s presence snapped them to attention.

In this atmosphere, Cardinal Boutier’s subtle smile was almost admirable.

“We should have a toast.”

The Emperor, who had approached our table, said in a low voice.

Seen up close, even the loosely fastened cufflinks and the lines around her eyes made her seem formidable.

I gently picked up my aloe juice glass.

Chamberlain Laura Mendy filled the Emperor’s glass with freshly opened rosé wine.

“To the endless prosperity of Liester, and to the eternal peace of my son.”

“Cheers!”

The powerful voices of over 200 people echoed through the banquet hall.

The orchestra immediately resumed playing. In an instant, the hall was bustling again.

The nobles, as if they had never been dozing off, picked up their glasses, moved around, and chattered noisily.

It was just like a high school when the lunch bell rings.

‘Her Majesty usually lets the nobles roam freely. She finds it less bothersome that way,’ Benjamin had said.

Does ‘letting them roam’ mean this? They seemed to listen well when they needed to.

“We behold the sun descended upon the earth!”

“François, I told you to sit down.”

“Yes.”

The Marquis of Dhiem next to me jumped up and quickly sat down.

The Emperor, seated at the head table, slowly looked around at us, a glass in her right hand.

The air felt heavy, even though it wasn’t the rainy season.

The people at the tables on either side were sacrificing us as offerings and enjoying themselves.

“Everyone has worked hard staying in that fellow’s territory. Take plenty and have fun.”

“Your Imperial Majesty is most gracious.”

Lady Elisabeth bowed with impeccable grace.

Christelle and I followed suit.

A quiet mealtime followed.

The Prince occasionally exchanged a few words with his mother, but the conversation didn’t extend to us.

Christelle, Lady Elisabeth, the Dhiem brothers, and I had reached a tacit agreement to eat quickly and leave discreetly.

No one wanted to be held back any longer.

“I heard a paladin from the Papal States has arrived at the Sarnese County.”

“…Yes, Your Majesty.”

Then, the Emperor suddenly spoke to Christelle.

I silently cut my cordon bleu [a dish of breaded veal, ham, and cheese], focusing on the information coming in.

“When does the training begin?”

“This coming Monday.”

“That’s fast. Good.”

The paladin that the Cardinal had requested to be dispatched for Christelle’s training had finally arrived in the Empire.

That meant she no longer needed to take the same ‘lessons’ as me!

I barely managed to suppress my twitching lips.

Christelle was a good person and had excellent qualities as a protagonist, but separately from that, I didn’t want to get involved with her.

As I put a large slice of cordon bleu in my mouth, a familiar yet new taste crisped and enveloped my tongue.

My mood brightened instantly.

The Emperor continued.

“If you’re okay with it, I’d like my son to receive that teaching together.”

“Your Highness… do you mean?”

Jackpot.

I momentarily raised my head and saw Lady Elisabeth in the diagonal seat struggling to stretch and retract her philtrum [the vertical groove between the base of the nose and the upper lip].

It seemed quite amusing to her.

I quickly lowered my face, fearing I would burst out laughing too if I kept watching.

Christelle’s hand, holding a palmier [a puff pastry shaped like a palm leaf], was frozen in the air.

“Yes. Everyone in the Empire knows that the Prince has manifested the abilities of a paladin. The Imperial Family will also request a separate paladin dispatch, but until then, wouldn’t it be good to learn together?”

“Mother.”

“I know you’re not interested in being ordained as a paladin. But don’t even think about avoiding learning how to use your power correctly.”

The Emperor said firmly to the Prince.

I bit my lip to avoid openly rejoicing.

So, not only was Christelle taking separate lessons from me, but she was also going to have group tutoring with the Prince.

Is this a dream?

“…To study with Your Highness, it is an infinite honor.”

She answered with as calm an attitude as possible.

The last words sounded almost like ‘Mmmph, uh-huh, uh-huh’.

Though it was in the form of a suggestion, the Emperor’s words were essentially an order.

Christelle snapped the heart-shaped palmier in half with both hands.

“…”

The Prince was about to stab the pork with the knife in his hand.

I looked at the two people across from me with a truly fresh feeling.

They both looked sullen in front of their elder, but sitting side by side, they couldn’t look any better.

It seemed the author was finally trying to seriously connect the two.

They had built enough of a relationship through the ‘Spring Ball’ and the ‘Great Demon Subjugation’, so now seemed like the right timing.

The time I had suffered between the protagonists flashed before my eyes like a panorama.

“Don’t fight again and keep your wits about you. Now that you’re known as paladins, all sorts of noble priests in the Empire will want to form a covenant with you. The Sarnese family is not a branch of the Imperial Family, but there aren’t many clerics who would ignore that much power.”

The Emperor said that, downed her wine in one shot. The Cardinal advised her to ‘drink slowly,’ but she ignored him and accepted a new glass, rising from her seat.

“I should go and mess with the other tables soon.”

She didn’t forget to leave behind such a famous line.

*

11 PM. Marquis François Dhiem died.

“Sir, you can’t sleep here. You need to go inside. Where do you live?”

I shook his shoulder.

The Marquis, with his head buried in the table, was completely drunk from Christelle’s bomb shots [mixed drinks taken quickly].

The distilled liquor the Emperor had passed around earlier was clearly vodka-level to anyone, but he had accepted it and drunk it straight when it was mixed with grapefruit juice….

“Should I call a servant for you?”

“Phew…”

I almost offered to call a designated driver. I looked around.

Christelle had crossed over to the left table and was with the Duke and Duchess of Sarnese.

Lady Elisabeth was also there, trying to manage her drunken mother, and Commander Ervé Dhiem was asleep in the same position as the Marquis.

They seemed to have nothing in common except for their hair and skin color, but seeing them like this, they were brothers after all.

First, I should grab any passing servant and ask for help, and then I should tag along….

“I appreciate you helping my son.”

I was startled and turned my head.

Emperor Frederick, who had returned to the central table, was looking at me.

She was still holding a glass, but her face showed no signs of intoxication.

The Prince was just drinking water in the same seat.

“I hear it’s largely thanks to you that he obtained the ‘Hyegeom of Mars’.”

“…I am honored.”

I bowed. Is this the ‘commendation’?

It was fortunate that it wasn’t being done publicly in front of everyone.

“I’m grateful too, Prince. Thanks to you, my godson has found some stability.”

The Cardinal, who had been sitting like a painting until now, added.

By ‘stability,’ she meant that the Prince’s ether depletion symptoms had improved somewhat.

The Hyegeom’s powerful ether would have been a significant help.

Then ‘Sayde’… would he not transform into that form anymore?

“Do you know how Cedric drew the Hyegeom?”

“I didn’t see it directly, but I believe he infused it with fire-attribute ether, the same as the sacred object.”

“Indeed.”

The Emperor let a laughing voice flow into her wine glass. I wanted to go home.

“And how much else do you know about my son?”

“Pardon?”

When I raised my gaze, eyes as deep as red wine were staring at me.

“Frederick.”

“I need to hear an answer.”

Despite the Cardinal’s dissuasion, the Emperor was firm. There was no need to think about this.

She was wondering how much I, as a prince of an enemy nation, had grasped the secrets of the Imperial Family.

Survival instinct and intuition drew out my answer. I had to say what she wanted to hear.

“I don’t know.”

“…What?”

The reaction came from the Prince, not the Emperor. I saw him slightly furrow his brow.

“I only know that Your Highness wields fire-attribute ether. I know nothing else.”

“Ha.”

The Emperor let out a breath. I maintained a calm face.

It would be foolish to blurt out ‘Your precious child has this secret’ in front of the person holding my lifeline.

Since the Theocracy had abandoned the Prince first, she could kill me without any repercussions.

So, if the Emperor wanted, I would naturally have to become an idiot.

And… I was planning to keep pretending I didn’t know anyway, because I was too embarrassed about the misunderstanding.

A brief silence swept across the table.

“You still have a long way to go, Cedric.”

The Emperor then gripped and released her son’s shoulder once. The Cardinal sighed softly.

Did the topic suddenly change?

“Gaining trust is not an easy task. Work harder.”

The middle-aged woman concluded with a playful tone.

When I glanced over, the Prince’s orange eyes were glaring at me as if they would instantly incinerate me.

I shuddered even more, knowing that was now possible. What’s wrong now?

“Since you owe me a debt, I will give you the opportunity to ask for anything you want. Your birthday is coming up soon, I hear.”

The Emperor turned her attention back to me.

It seemed everyone except me knew my birthday.

“I am honored, Your Majesty.”

“You may go and rest. It’s late.”

Yes! I forced strength into my cheeks, which were involuntarily rising.

Honestly, I thought I would only be able to return around dawn, so it was incredibly lucky that the release order was issued before midnight.

The Cardinal smiled wryly as she watched me rejoice.

She seemed to want to leave together but couldn’t act on it.

I called a passing servant to take care of the Marquis brothers, gave a polite bow to the three people remaining at the table, and left the seat.

My mind was filled only with thoughts of birthday presents.

Although it wasn’t my real birthday, it was rare for a hostage to get something, so I had to make good use of the opportunity.

The nobles, holding hands, spun around the hall, dancing.

My calculator was also spinning rapidly.

*

On the eastern side of the continent, where the moon rises. The Venetian Theocracy.

The man tapped the end of his folding fan nervously.

The ‘tap, tap’ sound echoed endlessly inside the wide royal castle.

The nearby servants, at a loss, watched his every move.

They were tense, unsure when a chair or vase might fly.

Their beautiful master was sometimes like an angel, but more often like a devil.

And the tragic news that had crossed the border today was enough to turn him into the latter.

“Why is he still alive?”

That wasn’t a question directed at the servants.

Despite being over fifty, his smooth face was etched with fierce wrinkles.

The man now repeatedly opened and closed the fan with a rustling sound.

It was a faded lavender fan that matched his light purple hair.

“Not only did the Prince obtain the sacred object, but even the Duke’s daughter became a paladin. And at the center of it all is that filthy bastard….”

“Your Highness, the Prince’s achievements in Yeser seem to be exaggerated…”

“Shut up!”

-Crash!

-Clang!

The man finally knocked over the tea table.

The servant who had spoken flinched.

Hot tea splashed on the wallpaper, the floor, and even the servants’ clothes, but no one dared to move.

Werner, the Royal Consort of the Theocracy, swept back his fallen hair and took a breath.

“He didn’t die back then and turned my insides out. Is he trying to increase his power in the west?”

“How dare he harbor such thoughts, Your Highness. The Emperor of the Empire is not an easy person to deal with. She will certainly not just stand by and watch the Prince’s popularity.”

The Royal Consort glared at the servant with venomous eyes.

Ah, he shouldn’t have used the word ‘popularity’.

“You…”

-Bang!

“Father!”

At that moment, a small doll burst into the room without knocking.

Confusion briefly crossed the Royal Consort’s face.

The servants, seeing their chance, hurriedly began to clean the floor.

The servants who followed the uninvited guest were pale.

Entering the Royal Consort’s bedroom like this was a punishable offense.

“Princess.”

“Father, did you hear the news? My brother rode a griffin as big as a mountain! And he woke up the sleeping Prince and the Princess with kisses….”

“That’s a rumor.”

The Royal Consort cut off his young daughter’s words in one stroke.

Princess Cornelise, the seven-year-old Second Princess, still didn’t know how to control her excitement.

The child shook her small head, her rosy cheeks flushed.

The man lightly lifted his daughter into his arms. Glass shards shattered mercilessly under his boots.

He held the Princess in his arms and faced the window with a calm expression, as if nothing had happened.

The child’s ivory hair sparkled in the sunlight.

“My brother said he would come back after sleeping for 100 nights. But I didn’t know he would go on adventures there!”

“Adventures, you say.”

The Royal Consort chuckled. His chocolate-colored eyes darkened like midnight.

“Adventures are always dangerous. You have to risk your life.”