What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up [EN]: Chapter 645

645

Unable to Meet, Wanting to Meet (2)

I calmly finished the gratin first.

“…Ahem.”

-Flap

It’s incredibly delicious, as expected. The protruding wings moved as if in agreement.

Then, Gibreel Diop made a ‘huh’ sound.

No, shouldn’t a person live first? I’m still not full.

Since it’s served so appetizingly, I should at least let it enter the stomach.

“You can listen while eating. It’s not a confirmed story yet.”

Nod, nod. It would be rude to speak with food in my mouth, so I just chewed diligently.

The Emperor sat at the foot of the bed, taking sips of the coffee the servant brought, and quietly watched me stab the Abondance cheese, thinly sliced strawberries, and bread pieces all at once with my fork.

Demi had been fiddling with a single broccoli floret since earlier (I provided it for nutritional balance).

Lophy was clinging to my side, curled up like an ammonite [a tightly coiled fossil shell], and Leah and Perry were lying in front of the fireplace, soaking up the warmth.

I noticed feathers scattered here and there on the floor.

My teacher waited until I had completely swallowed the gratin before saying this:

“…It seems the day you become a Cardinal is not far off.”

“Cough.”

…Excuse me?

“Excuse me?!

Me?! This time, I couldn’t bring myself to shove anything into my mouth.

The piece of bread dangling from the end of the fork trembled and fell.

However, neither my teacher, who had brought up the topic, nor Diop, who was listening, seemed surprised at all.

No, why are you suddenly saying that?

“Double Awakening is an achievement that no one has ever accomplished before, not even the previous Popes. But you did it alone two days ago. Don’t you remember?”

“…”

“You’ve made your name in history, Gungju-nim [a term of respect, similar to ‘Lady’ or ‘Lord’]. This isn’t an exaggeration from your teacher.”

“That…”

At this point, I felt like I had to force something out, but I really couldn’t recall the scene from that day properly.

I drank from my water glass, busily trying to organize my thoughts.

First, I roughly know where the six wings came from.

I clearly remember Jung Hyun-seo’s phoenix ultimately shattering into gold dust, and that it seeped into my body.

I also remember crying shamefully, calling out my brother’s name.

Looking back now, it seemed that his existence itself was not accepted in this world, which originally didn’t have a status window.

Finally, system messages quickly appeared….

‘【The Phoenix’s Feather has settled upon you!】’

‘【You have gained a blessing due to the effect of a noble bloodline.】’

‘【Activating the blessing, ‘Soar, Vermilion Bird!’】’

…I don’t know what that strange blessing name is, but anyway, it’s certain that it gave me wings.

And then….

‘-Kwaaaang!’

‘Aaaaaaagh!’

Wince!

“…Lightning. Thunder?”

As I muttered, shuddering, the troublemaking Young Master, who had been sulking all along, flinched.

His red eyes looked like there was an earthquake.

I calmly lowered my gaze and put down the fork.

Come to think of it, I swore I witnessed such a light before losing consciousness. It was definitely not a hallucination or a nightmare.

The gale grew stronger, and the hail and blizzard that pierced the skin like thorns were truly like the materialization of pain.

Was it thanks to these wings that I survived being struck by lightning?

-Flap!

“…”

As if it were the correct answer, a feather moved greatly once.

I frowned, gathering the fallen feathers.

That wasn’t the end of it. I think I was shouting something….

‘-Crackle!’

‘[I told you not to attack! Stop it―!]’

“Right. I said that.”

I shouted at the top of my lungs because lightning was falling from the sky.

I probably deployed the Sacred Ground around that time.

Then I discovered a magic circle on the ground that was turning bright red, and I was afraid that something would happen to my friends….

‘-Kwakwakwakwa…!’

‘[Stop it! Stop attacking us! Please!]’

‘-Saaaaaa…!’

“Uh.”

…Right? I was so desperate that I opened another Sacred Ground?

“Has your memory returned?”

“…Yes. I understand roughly what happened. So, we were caught in severe weather and struck by lightning, and in the meantime, an offensive magic circle was rising on the ground. I was so afraid of that that I caused my already depleted ether [magical energy] to go berserk…. Wait a minute?”

Wait a minute.

I abruptly raised my head and looked at Gibreel Diop.

The Young Master shrank his shoulders, uncharacteristically. He was clearly watching my reaction.

The staff he was holding in his hand looked like a weapon for self-defense….

“Hey! You crazy bastard!”

-Grumble!

Ah―! I knew it!

“Damn it!”

“Aren’t you coming here?!”

-Weoooong!

Wow, that bastard almost killed us! Remember Jung Hyun-seo well!

I jumped off the bed at full speed and chased after the Young Master.

I was so angry that three more wings popped out.

A heated chase unfolded in the narrow wooden cabin in an instant.

Only my teacher was sitting peacefully on the bed, sipping coffee.

“Original sin, Gibreel. Haven’t you confessed yet?”

“You really deserve to be slapped a hundred times on the back! Confess voluntarily when I’m being nice!”

“Hey, that’s why I carried you! I stayed up here for two days until you woke up, Ack!”

-Thud!

“That hurts! How can a priest have so much strength!”

-Thwack, thwackthwack!

“Ugh, you’re only hitting where I can’t reach!”

“Because of you, we, we almost died!”

-Thwack! Pow! Slap!

“Ugh! You’re so skinny, but when you get angry!”

“Gibreel. Watch your words.”

-Squeak!

My teacher kindly advised, and Demi, who had finally swallowed a broccoli floret, declared her participation.

Lophy had already bitten and thrown away the magician’s staff.

“Listen, I was trying to protect the country!”

“How do you think your allies felt when they almost died back then!”

“Oh my. I didn’t know he was such a patriotic child.”

‘I should give him a position later.’ Such murmurs scattered with the scent of coffee.

It was only a matter of time before the surroundings turned into a world of feathers.

*

Several hours passed, and the cabin received its second set of visitors.

There were a few things I had learned in the meantime.

First, the day we returned happened to be the ‘Great Descent of the Main God’.

The fact that I was going to pass my second birthday here again without any fanfare was no longer important.

On that day, which marked the first week of the ceasefire, I rolled into the main camp with three pairs of wings and rose to the position of the Empire’s greatest troublemaker.

Beside me were the unconscious Crown Prince and Grand Preceptor, and ‘Great War Hero’ Sir Rombouillet.

In the midst of all this, I opened two Sacred Grounds and accidentally detonated the Crown Ether.

The entire military camp is buzzing with our story now. No, it can’t be helped!

“Haa….”

The determination I had when I first possessed this body felt like a past life….

‘Since you didn’t recite the divine words necessary for activation, it couldn’t have been a perfect Crown. But it was enough to shake the paladins in the vicinity.’

‘You mean….’

‘About a dozen paladins from the Divine Nation with bloodshot eyes invaded. It was a clear case of disobedience to the orders of Princess Elysee, who had declared a ceasefire.’

‘Oh my goodness.’

‘They were like angry bulls.’

I swallowed hard at my teacher’s explanation.

I had exerted a similar power in the northern part of the Divine Nation sometime ago.

Even Sir Johann couldn’t control me when it wasn’t a perfect Crown, and my eyes were purple for days.

I heard that even the priests sensed my power because it was such an overwhelmingly powerful resonance.

My classmates avoided me as if I smelled bad, and the explanation that Head Herrit provided at the time was still vividly etched in my mind.

‘I remember saying this. The Crown is the ‘ultimate bewitchment’ that attracts even the paladins who are very far away.’

Um…. Not good. That’s definitely not good.

‘So it would be better for you to stay here separately for the time being, Yeseo.’

‘Ah….’

‘Even if it’s just until the vessels of the three children stabilize. Everyone is in a very sensitive state.’

My teacher took my hand and urged me. I nodded quickly.

It was only dozens of minutes later that I realized that the cabin I was staying in was hidden deep in the heart of the main camp.

Gibreel Diop, who was in charge of my protection—”I’ll naturally take turns and go fight when the battle starts.” “I didn’t ask.” —assured me that it would be difficult for his paladin friends to find their way here.

Second, the Imperial Army had advanced all the way to the ‘Puppeteer’s Heavenly Road’ while we were gone.

The Heavenly Road is an impregnable terrain that has never been occupied by a foreign country, and Romero, the former emperor known as the Warlord, was also defeated there and famously retreated his army to the desert.

Even the first king of the Divine Nation hated fighting at the Heavenly Road so much, but they had driven the enemy all the way there….

I couldn’t even imagine how hard His Majesty had worked in the meantime.

There were many other lessons, but for now, I decided to focus on welcoming the guests.

“Please sit this way, Lady Elizabeth. I’m really happy to see you again.”

This was genuine. I welcomed the two with a bright smile.

“The same goes for me, Gungju-nim. But why is Diop acting like that?”

“Hahaha. You can ignore him….”

After hugging the knight deeply, I glared at the man who was chewing on candy in the corner of the cabin.

He had been beaten to a pulp by me and had been acting as if this was his own living room, and he was still going through documents with his legs crossed on the table.

He looked very insincere, just nodding his head without a quill.

Isabelle, who came with the Deputy Commander, kissed the back of my hand several times before taking a seat.

The excited lesser pandas were competitively snuggling into her arms.

-Squeak!

“I heard briefly from His Eminence the Cardinal…. Is it true that you came from ‘another world’? You must have suffered a lot.”

-Squeaaa!

Lady Elizabeth asked, pulling up a chair and lowering her voice as much as possible.

Her complexion was serious, but Isabelle, in particular, had not looked very bright since earlier.

I answered in my usual volume.

Anyway, Diop knows that I’m not the real Yeseo Fenetian. Whatever.

“Yes. The Crown Prince closed the ‘spear’ that was floating in the sky…. We were all swept away by that influence. Fortunately, I was able to return with the help of many people there.”

“Oh my. So that was Cedric.”

“Whatever it was, it is a great grace of the Main God. Thank you for returning alive.”

-Squeaaa

Isabelle, unable to control her emotions, shed tears, and Perry comforted her by touching her cheek.

Seeing her face, which had lost weight in the meantime, made my heart ache.

I quickly took out a handkerchief from my gag bag and handed it to her.

I called Diop to bring up new tea water—”Don’t you know I’m a member of the Imperial Family?” “You can do anything if you have the will. I’m asking you to do it.” —and changed the subject slightly, worried that she would cry more.

“Come to think of it, Marquis Francois didn’t come with you. I thought he would accompany you since Lady Elizabeth was coming. I heard he was here at the main camp.”

“Ah, that’s….”

It was a thoughtless remark, but the Deputy Commander’s complexion darkened noticeably.

She was originally a person who couldn’t lie and had no talent for acting.

I became serious as well.

“Is something wrong? Is Francois hurt?”

“No, it’s nothing like that! Uncle is very healthy, although he is a bit overworked.”

“Then….”

I blinked and looked back at Isabelle.

She had reddened eyes and didn’t know what to do.

“Oh. I…. I have been banned from approaching the paladin area, Your Highness. I am sorry that I don’t know anything.”

Huh?

“A ban on approaching? You mean you can’t meet your daughter, the mother of Sir Christel?”

No way!

“That is….”

-The ether is shaking greatly in its vessel, and the young ones are having a hard time even preserving themselves.

Oh my goodness. My nape tingled at the dignified voice.

Soon after, a small rag doll walked out of Isabelle’s pocket.

I quickly bowed my head and greeted the elder.

It had been a very long time since I had directly met the brilliant ancient king.

But to pay proper respects, the words I had just heard were too chilling.

“Hahna, Your Majesty. What is….”

-Not even a drop of the priest’s ether can be received, so how can other paladins be contacted, and how can they withstand that energy?

…Yes?

-Because this body is with you, Isabelle cannot meet her daughter. The same goes for you.

*

At that moment, under the shadow of the Imperial Army’s main camp.

A warehouse where access is restricted to authorized personnel.

-Clang!

“Good God!”

In a space without lighting, let alone a torch, an old handcuff made a loud noise.

Francois, who was quickly writing down the patient’s condition, looked up in surprise.

Several of the servants who were attending to him almost covered their mouths to stifle a scream.

The Marquis soon moved with a calm attitude.

Right now, no one but him would be able to stop the opponent.

“…Sir?”

By title or by skill. Of course, His Majesty the Emperor could not come all the way here.

“Sir Haynes, are you conscious? Can you receive some ether now?”

“Kugh….”

The Cardinal was barely standing, with his hands tied to the handcuffs hanging from the ceiling.

In the darkness, his mint-colored eyes flickered precariously.

Soon, a hissing voice like a snake flowed out.

“…More.”

“Yes? Shall I let a priest in?”

-Clang!

“Handcuffs…. Tighten them more.”

The man chewed and spat out the sentence between rough breaths.

Francois hurriedly stepped back.