What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up [EN]: Chapter 614

Shoot for the Ocean (4)

So we did… Hmm.

It’s already been two days since we crossed over to Evelyn in ‘that way’.

-Hoo, hoo, hoo

-Tap, tap, tap…

The owls, observing us in the night, occasionally cried out.

A bonfire, lit in the middle of the vast forest, burned warmly, holding the sacred fire.

My friends laid soft bushes on the ground, circled around the Crown Prince’s flame, and fell fast asleep.

The tall northern trees had leaves that were bushy and lush, like hairy toothpicks.

It was the perfect environment to conceal our group.

Another stroke of luck was that Evelyn was a land where access for outsiders was strictly restricted.

There were no residents here, and naturally, no decent villages either.

So, all we had to watch out for were the imperial forces guarding the summer palace.

By now, all the staff in Evelyn would have been put on alert, so we had to be careful, very careful.

Additional troops might have arrived by now.

-Rustle, rustle, rustle…

I was sitting alone, covered in a robe, scribbling letters in my notebook.

I wasn’t just staying awake for no reason; I volunteered for the first watch to keep guard and also to get important information from my brother.

Sir Johan didn’t really like me taking the night watch—he almost never explicitly showed his preferences, so that meant he really didn’t like it—but I insisted.

“And also… ‘The power to cleave dimensions’…. This is really amazing.”

Listening to my brother’s story, I took notes diligently, as if I were back in my college days.

In between, I could hear the even breathing of Prince Yeser, who was lying next to me.

These days, I was most worried about him, so this was truly reassuring.

I asked in a whisper, quieter than the sound of a ballpoint pen.

“…So you named all the divine objects too? I figured you would.”

They’re all Chinese characters, names that would only appear in martial arts novels.

I don’t know if they’re actually used in martial arts.

[The original author did give me a few names, but they were too long and didn’t really suit the divine objects. I thought about it for a few days and named them myself. I matched the number of characters and unified the first consonants, things like that.]

Wow…. I looked down at GuGu, who was asleep in my arms, and clicked my tongue.

The name ‘Heart of the Four Dragons’ felt very new to me.

“At this point, you’re not just a ghostwriter…. It’s amazing that you’re not a god. So that’s why you’re a phoenix.”

[Well…. If we consider a god to be a writer, then ‘avatar of a god’ would be a more accurate expression than god. But the nickname ‘phoenix’ still feels awkward.]

“What else is there? Anything important that only you know, or anything written in the original author’s notebook? Even better if it’s information we need to know during wartime.”

I whispered softly, looking at Ms. Gain, who was asleep to my immediate left, and the Crown Prince, who was asleep next to her.

They almost never slept next to each other before, but these days they often dozed off, even if they kept about two meters apart.

Both of them looked the prettiest when they were sound asleep, so I smiled.

Between me and the Prince, our precious burdens were huddled together, fast asleep.

If nothing else, they would be a great help in keeping him warm.

It was a truly precarious peace.

[There is, wait a minute. Do you happen to know the Valentine family of Venetian?]

“…Wait, I think I’ve heard of them somewhere. I can’t remember when I try to recall it suddenly.”

What was it? When was that?

[Take good notes. The Valentines don’t get along with the Sneider family, and politically, they’re close to Grand Duke Carmingha. A Valentine ancestor immigrated to the Empire a long time ago and received a title; his name was Emmanuel Calamar….]

“Ah! That’s right, Ganael’s family!”

That kid used the alias ‘Young Master Valentine’ at Bethani’s apothecary!

[Yes, Ahne. Anyway, that family and Carmingha are important. Remember them well. Carmingha, in particular, is a Venetian royal family, but they’re on a different path from the royal family. From what I can see, black magic and bio-experiments are all the rage in your world line….]

“Ugh…. Don’t even mention it. It was so horrible I almost threw up. How could you write such a setting?”

I glared at the status window and grumbled.

To drag in the living as experimental subjects to create a paladin!

To not hesitate to kidnap or threaten in the process, and to not hesitate to desecrate the bodies of the dead.

And to grind people’s life force to use as mana.

To even commit murder for that, to capture and torment pitiful divine objects, and to continue such horrific acts generation after generation, hiding in the black market….

[I’m sorry, but I didn’t write that. Of course, such elements were going to appear in the later part of War of the Fallen Kings. Anyway, Carmingha and Valentine….]

The moment I thought of the Sneider family, the corpses in the Salt Marsh and the secret chamber in the Rock Castle of Statia flooded my mind in succession.

I struggled to suppress my churning stomach.

And every time my brother brought up a story I didn’t know, I moved the status window up and down, reading and writing it down carefully three or four times.

Fortunately, I felt a little clearer in the head once I started studying.

We would have to fight another war when we returned to our world line, so I had to extract as much information as possible while I could meet Jeong Hyun-seo like this.

Because I would definitely regret every single word when I got there.

-Rustle, rustle, rustle…

[By the way, the identities of the three sisters are ‘plausibility’…. Now that I think about it, it makes perfect sense. No wonder the cursor wouldn’t budge when I tried to send you back by force.]

[I couldn’t even type the letters. Only when I hastily created a quest did the content start pouring out. Now I see that it meant, ‘It’s difficult without that level of plausibility’.]

[How did you deduce that?]

My brother’s questioning voice seemed to reach me here.

I rested my chin on my ballpoint pen and answered.

“Just… If you take everything else away and calmly consider it, that’s all that’s left. Not a god, but an entity that supports her with godlike power, filling the margins of a novel. Their names are Backspace, Space, and Enter. It feels like they’re clearly focused on the ‘craftsmanship’ of the writing rather than grand meanings. At the same time, it’s a setting that preserves the motif of Greek mythology.”

[The kids from Sinchon are definitely smart. My classmates in Anam just drank all day and night….]

Hmm, my brother’s friends are generally heavy drinkers. I’m grateful that they take care of Eunseo’s allowance when they’re drunk, though.

I stared at the status window, drawing meaningless circles with the ballpoint pen that was already running out of ink.

Suddenly, the image of our third child came to mind.

The foolish, young face that had been crying and laughing while looking at War of the Fallen Kings for the past year.

Somehow, the words didn’t come out easily.

“…How’s Jeong Eunseo?”

[What do you mean, how is she? She’s sleeping in her chamber.]

“Ah….”

[It’s still the dawn when you jumped off the veranda here. It seems like there’s that much of a time difference.]

“Oh, right. That’s right.”

I mumbled awkwardly and looked back down at my notebook.

The words ‘Etzardt Roseharder, Count Palatine’, which had five stars next to them, caught my eye.

The current situation was still bleak, but honestly, I was also afraid and sometimes felt burdened when I thought about the situation in the original world line.

Even though my friends were a great source of support, it would be a blatant lie to say that I had no worries at all.

Apart from genuinely liking them, I still deeply wanted to go home.

I missed my family, the friends I occasionally met, and the elders of my family.

Talking to my brother like this made me feel like I was floating….

Somehow, it felt like that.

I needed to focus on one thing and get it done, but I felt a strange lump forming in the corner of my heart.

And even guilt that I shouldn’t be doing this.

[Take it slow, take it slow. You’ll fall if you rush.]

At that moment, Jeong Hyun-seo said to me. I blinked blankly, looking at the violet window.

[Is what you’re trying to do something that can be solved in a day or two? It’s obviously not. In terms of a novel, you’ll need at least a few hundred more chapters.]

“….”

[Just come back safely. That’s all you need to do.]

[Your brother’s here, so there’s no need to be impatient. The time difference is big, so it’s actually a good thing.]

[You have your soulmates who you can’t live without, so why are you worrying alone?]

I reflexively turned to look at the two men and women.

Even in the midst of all this, I couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight of the Crown Prince sleeping with his back to Ms. Gain, and Ms. Gain kicking off all her outerwear.

I gently pulled the robe over and covered her stomach again. My brother continued to speak.

[Now that it’s come to this, play the role of the esteemed Palace Lord to your heart’s content.]

[What do you take this palace for! Is this amount enough to fill my stomach? Immediately boil two cauldrons of Coco Riesling [a fictional, likely luxurious wine] and bring them to me! Or I will immediately report your impudence to the Emperor. And I will throw all of you into the cauldron too!]

“That’s a bit…. Watch Chinese dramas in moderation.”

I was appalled by the lines that my brother was spouting out in an instant.

But I couldn’t stop the laughter from leaking out in the meantime.

It felt like Jeong Hyun-seo was right in front of me, across the dimensional wall.

I could almost see my brother’s angular glasses and deep eyes.

“I thought the status window was really useless at first, but it has its good points.”

[That sounds like an insult.]

“Hahahaha.”

I quickly covered my mouth with my sleeve, afraid that the sound would get too loud.

At that moment, the Prince on the right stirred. I was startled, thinking I had woken him up.

He and Shu-nim weren’t even on night watch.

They must be exhausted from hiding and walking all day, so they needed to rest well….

“Umm, Yeser-ssi.”

“Gasp.”

The white eyelids fluttered like a winter bird meeting the first snow, and then the purple irises slowly revealed themselves.

I hurriedly closed my notebook, stuck the ballpoint pen into my bag, and stirred the status window, telling my brother to be quiet for a moment (whereupon the phoenix flapped its wings as if to say, ‘What a sight’).

The Prince smiled drowsily and watched me.

The warm, reddish-orange sparks flickered on his cheeks in the shape of shadows.

“Were you studying?”

“Yes? Yes. Well, we have the divine object now. There’s still no clue about the last purple rainbow…. I thought we might be able to try something if we found it.”

I whispered quickly. This was not a lie.

I had a discussion with Jeong Hyun-seo about ‘finding the rainbow’, but I couldn’t get any meaningful information.

It seemed that my brother couldn’t give us any clues beyond a certain level.

“You’re really diligent. You must be tired.”

“No, no. This is all I can do. Everyone else is fighting hard with their bodies….”

“Yeser-ssi can open the Holy Ground and protect me. You can also give oracles, and you probably have healing powers too. Everyone seems to be relying on Yeser-ssi for their minds and bodies.”

“….”

“…Besides, as the Palace Lord, you have more power than I do.”

He whispered, softer than the crackling of the bonfire. I was momentarily at a loss for words.

The Prince was not caught up in any complex emotions like before.

The hands that stroked the divine beasts were gentle and kind.

There was still sleepiness in his eyes, and the ensuing whisper sounded like a dream.

“…Thank you.”

“….”

“For not forgetting me, who died.”

Thump.

“…Pardon?”

A trembling voice escaped me.

I couldn’t even deny what he said, because I had heard such shocking words.

It felt like all the conversations I had with my brother had been completely forgotten.

But Yeser Venetian had a peaceful face throughout.

That was…

“Prince, what are you…”

“I came to that conclusion after thinking about various things.”

“….”

“You said that your world is completely similar to this one, so there must be me there too. When I heard you understood when I talked about my sister and Cornelise, it must be true…. But no one talks about it. As if I don’t exist.”

“….”

“But you try to protect me at all costs, try to give me good memories, and the face you make when I smile is especially happy…. It somehow looks affectionate.”

“….”

“I guess I was right.”

I hurriedly dropped my gaze to my knees. I had been caught so easily.

I wanted to lie and say it wasn’t true, but his eyes, which seemed to see through me, had the spirit unique to royalty.

Something I didn’t have at all.

As I clenched and unclenched my fists, feeling embarrassed, the man chuckled softly.

His voice was different from mine from the very beginning.

“It’s okay, Yeser-ssi. Really. I have already chosen Liester. Maybe the me there wouldn’t have been any different.”

I immediately had a blank expression. Our eyes met as I turned to look at him.

The Prince continued in a calm tone.

“My life has been dangerous from the beginning, so doing something for the Empire doesn’t change anything. Investigating Archbishop Eugene Keshier or starting to suspect the great nobles of this country…. It’s not a big deal to me.”

“….”

“It might have even changed for the better.”

“Pardon?”

“Because when I was in my hometown, my life had no meaning.”

“….”

My mind went blank as I stared at him for a long time.

And only after a few minutes had passed did I realize that the man’s gaze was on Ms. Gain, who was asleep.

I suddenly felt choked up. What to say—

-Rustle!

“Gasp!”

At that moment, something moved in the bushes far away.

I immediately deployed the Holy Ground. At the same time, the three paladins opened their eyes wide!