What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up [EN]: Chapter 599

Catching Rainbows (1)

“Hello, Marquis.”

Christel greeted him, bewildered.

She had seen François D’Ems several times in passing.

But she couldn’t call him a close acquaintance, even formally, and she only knew that he was a great magician, a famous entertainer, and considered a genius of the century.

However, even to her, the man looked particularly put-together today.

It might be everyday wear for any other aristocrat, but the plain linen shirt and black trousers clearly didn’t reveal his usual ‘flair’.

Or perhaps, it was a sign of his busyness.

“Mademoiselle Sarnese.”

The man immediately got out of the carriage and kissed Christel’s hand.

She was a little embarrassed. The Crown Prince clicked his tongue softly.

“How did you recognize us? We’re somewhat disguised.”

“Oh! In these times, a pink-haired pretty boy traveling with Elisabeth leaves no room for doubt. Also, the physique of the person next to you matches exactly with His Highness the Crown Prince’s build, height, and even shoulder width! Ah, that’s not the point.”

The man replied quickly and swept back his falling hair.

The light pink eyes were clearly very excited, and about three buttons of his shirt were undone.

Elisabeth received a scarf embroidered with spider lilies from the Marquis’s servant and roughly wrapped it around his neck.

Her younger siblings, who she wouldn’t trade for the world, were all charmed by that kidnapper, so she was eager to arrest him with her own hands no matter what.

The situation just before was vivid in her mind.

He must have been holed up in the Marquis’s laboratory all along, and upon discovering something, he rushed straight to the Imperial Palace.

“What did you find, Uncle? You even took the time to wash up.”

“Nice to see you too, Elisabeth. Take a look at this.”

He took out a pair of gloves from his pocket and put them on, then received a light pink velvet pouch from the servant and showed its contents.

The three men and women huddled together, observing it.

Passing nobles glanced at the four people—”What’s going on?” “Isn’t that Mute [a nickname for Christel due to her quiet nature]?” “Good heavens, it’s Marquis D’Ems. Let’s go quickly, dear.”—and quickly scurried away.

“This is······.”

“What is it, a doorknob?”

“You’re almost right, Your Highness. To be precise, it’s a handle from a drawer.”

The Marquis gave a charming smile and looked around.

The first to recognize him was, of course, the Commander of the Palace Guard.

The gray eyes sharpened like blades.

“Isn’t that the on-site evidence you took for precise appraisal last time? Did something come up?”

“Indeed, it did.”

“Jackpot······.”

The Marquis’s eyes shone extraordinarily as he took out the handle.

It was the only weapon wielded by the phantom thief who stole Prince Yeser in the middle of the night.

The third handle of the largest drawer in the cabin where the noble resided.

The red and blue eyes of the Crown Prince and Christel widened.

“The marks you see here are from a direct collision with my mace.”

“I repeat, if you hadn’t barged in then, Uncle, I could have at least blown off one of his fingers.”

“Nonsense. To do that, you would have had to blow up the entire cabin. Wouldn’t you?”

“······.”

“Even though I’m a non-combat mage, I’m not so dense that I can’t recognize a warrior of that caliber. You did your best that day, Elisabeth.”

“······.”

Then the Commander of the Palace Guard bit his lip, and Christel took her friend’s hand.

Cedric let out a silent sigh.

At the time of the incident, the two were dancing and arguing alone—how that could be done simultaneously, only they knew—and did not immediately confirm the scene where Prince Yeser was kidnapped.

Afterward, it was the Crown Prince who carefully examined the report, and Christel had no title or qualification, so she had to find the data on her own.

Most of it was somehow resolved by her infiltration, eloquence, and acting.

But this was the first time she had seen such vivid physical evidence.

François, who had piqued the young people’s interest to the highest level, wore a satisfied expression.

It was like a major announcement was being made in front of the Imperial Palace gate, but thanks to his usual eccentric behavior, no one dared to approach.

“As His Highness the Crown Prince is well aware, there are always traces left where a magician or magical tool explodes mana. It’s called ‘Mana Trace.’ Because it disappears naturally over time, it must be checked quickly.”

“Wow······.”

Christel blinked. She knew it was this kind of world, but there really was everything.

“However, despite the numerous magicians from the Imperial Guard and Fleur de Lis being deployed immediately after the incident, no mana traces could be found at the scene. It’s strange. If such a shockwave occurred, there should be a cause.”

“That’s already included in the first report submitted to His Majesty. Therefore, it was speculated that he used ordinary gunpowder or the like to cause the explosion······.”

“If that were the case, we would all have been seriously injured. A fire would have broken out in the ship, or perhaps there would have been a problem with the mana stone keel, causing the ship to crash.”

The Marquis gently cut off the Commander of the Palace Guard’s words. Then he winked one eye.

“But he merely bounced us off lightly, without leaving a single scratch on his body. Do you know what this means?”

“······.”

The three young men stared at him blankly. François shrugged and raised the corners of his lips.

“He intended that result with his ability.”

Then three pairs of brows furrowed slightly. Hmm······?

“······So?”

“Uncle, surely that’s not all there is to it?”

“Of course, everyone bounced off because the culprit intended it, right? Am I missing something?”

“Are you forgetting the time concept of the Imperial Family?”

“Explanation, Uncle. I’m dying because of the minutes wasted on this trivial conversation.”

“It wasn’t mana or gunpowder? It seems like everyone who knows anything knows that.”

“Good Lord······.”

The reactions were very bad, and François soon wore a troubled look.

If he explained quickly, he felt like he could reveal all of his experimental content and results from the 29th experiment in this place—unfortunately, young people these days tend to lack patience.

If he didn’t say the conclusion right away, everyone would leave. He couldn’t risk such dishonor!

“······I have no choice. I’ll just tell you the conclusion briefly.”

“You thought well.”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

“······.”

François carefully put the drawer handle back in the pouch, had his servant get on the carriage first, and then said this.

‘It’s also somewhat natural that his traces cannot be found with existing personnel. Because······.’

“He is a Paladin.”

“······.”

And three seconds of silence flowed. 1, 2, 3—

“Pardon?!”

“A Paladin? Are you talking about the profession that appears in the Theist scriptures? The one that’s only in the Holy Nation?”

“Can you take responsibility for that statement?”

“Yes. So our search direction must change completely. Perhaps the blade of suspicion should also be directed elsewhere.”

“Please explain again from the middle!”

The three people’s reactions finally exploded. Fortunately, there were no people around the Imperial Palace gate.

Some Imperial Guard knights were guarding the gate, but they had only learned in advance what they would soon have to know.

Behind the silver armor group trembling imperceptibly······.

“······Damn it.”

A small 8th-class magician was hiding behind the flower wall.

Camille’s brow furrowed deeply.

The story he overheard was too significant to be a coincidence.

The person who was crouching next to him whispered.

“Young Master, did the Marquis just say Paladin? How can there be a Paladin in the Empire?”

It was Berenice Mendy, who had entered the palace on an errand for her aunt, the head maid.

Camille immediately turned to her.

Since the mysterious incident in the forest around the lake last time, the two had become even closer.

Berenice had sneaked out of the house a whopping three times so far, deceiving her nanny and father.

It was to find the whereabouts of the missing Prince Yeser with Commander Bacari.

In recent days, their search radius had been narrowing rapidly.

“······.”

After searching all over for suddenly created swamps and jungles, the road was unexpectedly pointing to only one place.

“Lady, you said you were worried about the depletion of writing material these days.”

The commander, who was aiming for the back of Marquis D’Ems’ head again, suddenly changed the subject.

Berenice blinked, pausing from tidying up her dress.

“······Yes? Yes······. That’s right. But what happened in the forest that day is also a secret, and I don’t want to write about the painful experiences of my acquaintances carelessly. Why suddenly that······.”

“In that case, I am willing to provide an adventure. Of course, if the Lady wants it.”

“Adventure?”

A light sparkled in the girl’s eyes. Camille looked at her and nodded.

Now that things had turned out this way, he had no choice but to move more nimbly on this side.

Securing and eliminating the sacred relics before anyone else was also a problem, but there was a more urgent matter than that right now.

“······Let’s hear the outline first and then decide.”

“Yes. I’m ready.”

It was already a headache that the memories of the ‘downloaded’ other world were sparse, and to make matters worse, the Palace Lord’s party was about to be caught by the Imperial Army as it was.

He had to find them right away and send them back to their original world.

Without being noticed by anyone!

Even until late the next night, Cedric Liester did not move from the roof.

-Nyaaao

“······.”

-Nyaaaooo

“······.”

The little divine beast punched his thigh with its fist and nagged about something.

But the man was only staring at one side of the garden with a sunken gaze.

In the end, it was Ropi who gave up first this time.

The feline brat glared at him for a long time, then settled down primly in the seat next to him.

Another long silence flowed.

Occasionally, a gentle breeze brushed past their foreheads.

-Whoosh······

Cedric was still retracing the memories of that time.

Already 14 years had passed, but it was as clear to him as if it were this morning.

What was seen through the narrow crack in the door. Scenes that were imprinted on his mind as clearly as tattoos······.

‘······This is already the third slander from Fleur de Lis [a powerful political faction], Your Majesty. The Aristocratic Council wants an official announcement from the Imperial Family.’

‘So what do I gain from that? Does announcing to the world that my only prince is sickly help the future of the Liester Imperial Family?’

‘The Imperial Family may not, but it will help the future of the Empire.’

‘······What?’

‘The great nobles want to be guaranteed a stable succession to the throne and the resulting peace. Simply believing vaguely that ‘it will be’ will never last long. The faith of this country is not that of the Imperial Family.’

‘······.’

‘Already the people of the Imperial Capital are whispering. It’s not something that will quiet down by simply ignoring it and pretending not to know. This is something that Your Majesty knows well.’

‘······.’

‘The royal family of the Holy Nation is also paying close attention to the trends in our society. It would be advantageous to strike first and then retreat.’

At the time, Sarah Belial was such a person.

She resembled Romero’s Empress Josephine so much that she was terribly rational, which was also very similar to Celine, the eldest daughter of the late Emperor.

However, the decisive difference between the two was whether or not they were narcissistic.

Belial was a key figure among the upper-class intellectuals of that time, intoxicated with her own cleverness and intelligence.

She was also a famous person who drew the attention of the nobles wherever she went, having transformed from a ‘fettered royal’ to a ‘free journalist’.

Her husband was a very wealthy merchant, and he received the title of Baron by marrying her, who was a princess.

It was the result of Romero cherishing his youngest daughter, who had left the palace, until just before he closed his eyes.

Every move was unconventional in itself, so each letter drawn by her quill stirred up the Imperial Capital’s high society every other week.

‘······No.’

However, Frederick officially rejected her proposal.

‘You must be making such an intercession out of patriotism from the bottom of your heart. I want to believe that.’

‘······.’

‘But I believe that protecting my son and family is the key to promoting the future well-being of the Empire.’

‘······.’

‘Let’s end this story here. You may leave now.’

Cedric’s memory always faded around that time.

Perhaps there were parts of the two people’s conversation that were cut off in the middle.