What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up [EN]: Chapter 601

Catching a Rainbow (3)

-Swish, swish…!

“……”

Late August. The hour was deep into the night.

The falling raindrops held no warmth, and the Crown Prince emitted no heat.

However, a clear azure hue lingered on one side of the roof where he sat.

Cedric briefly raised his eyes to look up at the sky.

A blue silk umbrella, oiled and full, filled his vision.

Occasionally, cold droplets fell through the holes scattered throughout.

Only then did the Prince realize that the rain hadn’t stopped, nor had the sun come out. A matter of course.

“……I apologize for disturbing you. It seemed you were skipping meals again……”

It was merely his peace that had settled. After a very long wait.

“Ah, the bread shouldn’t get wet. The prices in the Imperial City are no joke, flour is expensive.”

Along with the ill-tempered droplets that swallowed him and extinguished the fire.

“……”

“……Here, I’ll leave the dinner basket and umbrella. There’s a blanket inside too. In case you get cold.”

“Only our Palace Lord would worry about a fire-attribute person getting cold.”

“Gain……”

The Palace Lord seemed at a loss for a moment, then smiled sheepishly at the man and looked down at Rophie.

Two divine beasts were already clinging to his shoulders.

But as always, it didn’t matter in the slightest.

He entrusted the umbrella to Gain for a moment and wiped Rophie’s fur with an old towel.

The little one squirmed, 싫다며 [saying he didn’t like it], but the Palace Lord only quietly chided, ‘You’ll catch a cold if you do this.’

Perhaps he was the only priest on the entire continent who would worry about a fire-attribute divine beast catching a cold.

-Weooo, weooo

“Uh-uh, 싫어 [I don’t like it]. 형이 허락도 안 받고 닦아서 너무 싫어요 [My brother is wiping me without permission, I really don’t like it]. 미안해 [Sorry].”

-Weowooong

“There, it’s a bit fluffy now.”

“……”

The young man finally tickled the divine beast’s chin and quietly stepped back.

Cedric silently watched the scene.

Gain gestured, signaling it was time to go down again.

Then, Tete, carried on his back, looked sullen. It seemed he wanted to spend more time with the Prince.

The Palace Lord also bit his lip and looked back at him. He seemed to have something to say.

An awkward silence fell through the rain.

-Swish, swish……

“……”

“……”

“……I’m sorry.”

Finally, the words reached his ears, an apology.

Cedric frowned almost imperceptibly. For what?

“I didn’t know that Lord Beliar…… had caused such pain to the Prince and his family.”

“……”

“……If I had known, I wouldn’t have spoken so carelessly. I was imprudent.”

“No.”

Perhaps not expecting an answer, the Palace Lord’s eyes widened at the returned word.

Cedric looked up at his brown eyes and finally felt the exhaustion.

His strength drained from his broad shoulders, and his whole body instantly felt languid.

The sound flowed out before he could think.

“You only wanted to help the young Pascal Beliar. You wanted to comfort the patient’s family.”

“……”

“……It was the right choice.”

“……”

Then, the Palace Lord looked as if he was about to cry.

Of course, he was sturdier than he appeared, and it was very rare for him to shed tears.

His dry hands fidgeted for a long time as he took the umbrella back from Gain.

The Prince etched the movement of his lips beneath his eyelids, anticipating his next words.

‘The Prince will become a wise ruler in the future.’ He would probably say something like that.

A sentence he had heard countless times from numerous nobles.

It had never comforted him, but it was enough to reassure the speaker.

“……Thanks to the Prince, Herit has a good friend. The child was able to escape the shackles of adults and not be in pain.”

…….

“Thank you so much.”

The forced smile at the corner of his lips was vivid.

The Palace Lord bowed deeply and hurriedly turned away.

Cedric watched his retreating figure with slightly widened eyes.

The next thing happened in the blink of an eye.

-Thwack!

“Ugh.”

“……”

The man, startled by the groan, blinked quietly.

When he came to his senses, he was holding a twisted wrist in his grasp.

So, this was…….

“Again! You’re trying to gloss over it with your body again!”

-Slap!

“Ouch.”

At the same time, a swift and spicy palm struck the back of his hand.

Cedric flinched and looked up.

Cristel Rambouillet’s blue eyes were flashing like heat haze right in front of him!

“If you have something to say, say it first. Don’t scare the Palace Lord for no reason!”

-Squeak!

“I’m okay……”

“What do you mean okay? Is it enough for Your Highness to just look pretty? You need to think about building healthy relationships. Talk when you’re in pain. Talk when you’re struggling, talk when you’re sad! Why are you trying to communicate only with your eyes and body? Look at the Palace Lord’s wrist, it’s already red!”

-Awoo!

“……”

“……”

‘Swish, swish……’ The 달구비 [sound of rain] once again cut through the silence.

The Palace Lord looked even more troubled than before.

Instinctively, he rubbed his wrist where a bruise was rising, and then hurriedly hid his hand behind his back when he realized the man was watching him.

The divine beasts were all looking at the Prince with worried, beady eyes.

Gain’s words were sharp, but he wasn’t much different.

Cedric felt a bitter taste rising from under his tongue.

“……”

He hadn’t intended to intimidate him.

He swore he hadn’t intended to get angry, nor to hurt him.

The Palace Lord awkwardly cleared his throat.

“Um, then…… Then I’ll go down first. Please call me anytime if you need anything.”

‘I’ll be waiting.’ The last whisper was small but clear.

He somehow managed to place the umbrella in Cedric’s arms, gave a faint smile, and left the spot.

The Prince stared at the back of his head with a face as white as marble.

Then, in his head…….

The clear, blue voice of a fairy, which had only existed in vague imagination since childhood, chattered.

‘A rainbow has appeared, young master!’

‘It’s right in front of you, and you don’t even know how to catch it. Fool.’

…….

‘Foo-ool. Pi-ig.’

‘I’m really not going to care starting tomorrow.’

‘I’m going to sleep early with the Palace Lord under a warm blanket and drink honey milk.’

……What?

“Wait.”

‘Thud.’ Two pairs of footsteps stopped simultaneously.

The man and woman, who were going down together under one robe, slowly turned to look at him.

Cedric felt warmth rising again from the depths of his heart.

Again, the source was untraceable.

The newly lit heat did not burn him fiercely, nor did it blow away the dampness.

But…….

“……Let’s talk.”

It was enough to make him move.

At the unexpected suggestion, the Palace Lord’s eyes widened like lanterns.

Gain quickly covered his mouth and muttered something like, ‘Did I just say that out loud?’

The divine beasts also wagged their tails and stirred.

“……Yes, yes? Now?”

The calm voice faltered. The Prince adjusted the blue umbrella and looked up at him.

Suddenly, he felt certain. The wicked fairy was right.

He had to catch him. While there was still a chance.

“……If you have time.”

“……”

Then, a large ripple arose in the tranquil lake.

All the movements were like illustrations in an old fairy tale.

The flow of just a few seconds felt as long as several hours.

The Palace Lord finally smiled brightly like an early full moon.

“We have plenty of time!”

……It was he who had vowed not to miss it.

*

Several tens of minutes passed slowly since then.

Along with a story as long as the Milky Way.

-Pitter-patter, pitter-patter……

The drizzle continued, but at least the spot where the three people were sitting was no longer getting wet.

This was because Cedric, in the center, was holding the umbrella and standing like a pillar.

Of course, if he and Gain used ether [magical energy], they could easily avoid and dry off from this much rain.

But no one did.

It was dangerous to use power outside, and they didn’t want to focus on that right now.

The small umbrella barely embraced the three people and five divine beasts.

“So, Duke Dioph from then on……”

“The great nobles tend to be quick to calculate.”

“……On the surface, they were lamenting about Your Highness, but behind the scenes, they were plotting. I really hate it. That’s how politicians are, I guess.”

Gain, who was listening to the Prince’s story, hugged his knees and grumbled.

The Palace Lord quietly gazed beyond the darkness with sad eyes.

Not long after Cedric’s condition became known, rumors about the succession to the throne began to spread, centered around the Imperial capital’s high society.

This was never done overtly, but that made it an even more dangerous phenomenon.

Some of the prominent great nobles discussed the possibility that Prince Cedric Liester might not be able to hold his coming-of-age ceremony in the future.

The seriousness grew daily as no one treated this as mere entertainment.

Most of them were genuinely concerned about the future of the empire. And they feared that their prosperity would not last.

As these discussions took place several times in large salons [gathering of intellectuals and social elites], the Liester imperial family finally stepped in.

Since the Emperor and Empress were still young, there were cautious glances hoping for a second pregnancy.

However, Alexandre strongly opposed this plan.

That was because Cedric was born after a difficult labor.

Oreli also did not welcome the idea of having a second child solely to maintain imperial power.

She wanted to give everything to Cedric alone, and she believed that Cedric could grow stronger than anyone else.

The possibility that the two children would fight for the throne in the future could not be ignored.

Emperor Frederick, as the person involved, agreed with both of his partners’ opinions.

Then, the Liester imperial family seriously considered ‘adoption’.

“My mother…… was conflicted for the first time.”

Cedric murmured quietly. The surprised Palace Lord and knight turned their heads at the same time.

“Your Majesty Frederick? Is that true?”

“She doesn’t seem like that kind of person at all. She’s a strong and steadfast adult. What happened?”

“……”

That’s right. Frederick Liester was a more steadfast presence than anyone else in the empire.

But at the same time, she was also human.

Wishing for her only son to live peacefully, wishing for him not to be in pain, wishing for his name not to be mentioned in the arduous power struggles or vulgar tabloids…….

A very ordinary someone’s mother.

Knowing better than anyone that she could never be ordinary, she couldn’t bear to ignore the sprout of greed that had crept out from deep within her heart.

Person.

‘Nikki…… My cousin, Bonheur Dioph, has a son.’

So, for the first and last time, she wavered. The Prince guaranteed it was only once.

His mother had never wavered so much before or since.

There was also no record of the adoption being specifically pursued.

Perhaps she was temporarily exhausted by the daily rush of state affairs and the extreme situations.

It was really just a brief moment…….

‘……Give me time to think, dear. This is about our son.’

His father seemed to have felt a sense of crisis as if the sky was falling.

Naturally.