What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up [EN]: Chapter 782

The Flames Burn and the Cauldron Boils (2)

“My lady, does that mean…”

“We must use the Divine Artifact, the Divine Palace of the Tree. Please, grant us permission.”

Eva Blancarte gave a resolute yet respectful answer.

Stanislas Riester, sitting across the mahogany desk, quietly studied the young duchess’s face.

“…”

She had grown so much.

Her height didn’t seem to have changed much, but the baby fat had completely disappeared from her youthful cheeks, and her overall features had become more defined, giving her a mature look.

The child, who had been called a troublemaker just a few years ago, had grown into a fine candidate to be the head of the family.

It wasn’t just her appearance that had changed.

Having gone through a not-so-short war, the girl before him had established herself as one of the most influential teenage nobles in the Empire’s high society.

She generously demonstrated her abilities and charms to raise military funds at various gatherings, and steadily encouraged victory prayer meetings and volunteer activities by ordinary priests.

While most ordinary people would have had their hearts shrink during the war, the young duchess was growing in the opposite direction.

Recently, she had actively embraced the teachings of her father, Duke Blancarte, and invested heavily in various key businesses throughout the Imperial Capital and the provinces.

Not to mention the astonishing expansion of the ‘Salon de Victoire’ operating in the heart of the Imperial Capital.

“…Your Majesty?”

This was the simple summary that Laura Mendy, the chamberlain, had given after showing the child into the room.

The Emperor’s father looked at the young duchess and once again felt the passage of time.

His gaze slowly turned to the boy beside the girl. The boy, with white hair and eyes like lakes, had grown considerably in the meantime.

He had been so small when he presented the bouquet to the old man, but now he was taller than his peers.

Stanislas had heard several times about Eva’s special care, and especially how the Diumer Marquisate cherished him like their own child.

A small wren perched on Gerrit Haines’ shoulder.

“…You said you heard an ominous prophecy from the Ark of the Storm?”

-Cheep, cheep!

The wren chirped loudly in affirmation, and Gerrit immediately nodded.

Eva held the boy’s hand tightly and quickly added.

“Yes, Your Majesty. Although I didn’t mention it earlier, Gerrit was so shocked that he cried all day and had to sleep all day.”

“Oh dear. I’m worried that the child’s health might be affected.”

Stanislas said sincerely.

The boy smiled slightly, conveying that he was okay.

The old man smiled back gently and looked at Eva.

“Prophecies are inherently vague, and your words contain unclear expressions, so I cannot be certain of their meaning. Do you truly believe that a royal capital raid using the Divine Palace of the Tree is necessary?”

“…”

“I am not such a foolish old man as to force my personal belief in non-killing upon the country during a war in which the entire continent is burning. But the power of the Divine Palace will surely take many lives. Can you even imagine the aftermath? We must be prepared for the consequences.”

“Gerrit is a divinely chosen child, but that does not mean he can convey all information and destiny to me. There are inherent restrictions for the owner of a Divine Artifact. However, even I, who do not know much about the reality of war… There was definitely something I could understand.”

The young duchess and priest cleared her throat.

The chamberlain, standing by the door, looked at the child’s back with a nervous expression.

“‘Soon, a great disaster caused by desire will occur in the royal capital, and the continent after that will be completely different from the world we knew, and the creations of the Main God will never be able to return to the past.'”

“…”

“‘Prepare a small disaster to prevent a great disaster.'”

“…”

“I truly do not know what a ‘disaster’ is. Gerrit says he doesn’t know either. If so, we must mobilize all resources to save our allies. Even if it is the Empire’s Divine Artifact. Also, the Divine Palace of the Tree has the ability to accurately target only the objective.”

“…”

“…’A small disaster,’ Your Majesty. Perhaps that is it?”

The late Emperor closed his eyes for a moment.

The fact that the current conversation, the decision he would make today, would be recorded in some way in the pages of history was painful.

Even though he was old enough, this fear did not diminish, making him truly weak.

He slowly recalled another piece of news that the Divine Artifact had brought about a week ago.

The secret underground passage of the Black Magician, the late King Lilianer Venetian. The people who were swept away like grains of sand from that place.

Duke Sneider, who used him to murder countless other innocent lives. And…

‘Why is this tragedy happening to us?’

‘The King is cutting open the Main God’s belly to steal His power!’

From among the many sentences floating above the tea, the old man picked out only the necessary words.

“…Is everything prepared?”

“If Your Majesty approves, Ttuk-ssim will immediately fly to the Blancarte Duchy and convey the order to my father. My friends are waiting at the site. The Divine Palace is a merciful Divine Artifact that accepts all humans as its master, so it will not refuse its inherent use. We also have experience scattering hundreds of thousands of leaflets in the skies of enemy countries.”

Eva rattled off the words as if she had been waiting for this moment. The young duchess answered every question without hesitation, as if she had been waiting for this day.

Stanislas also considered convening the Assembly of Nobles.

However, the procedures of the Imperial Palace were long, and the time given was short.

It was physically impossible to convey this news to Frederick or Aurelie right away.

All he could do was call the close members of the Imperial Family and the great nobles currently in the royal capital for an emergency discussion.

“…”

The old man quietly looked at the wren.

He could not read any intention in its small, bean-like eyes.

But if this was the will of the Divine Artifact itself, the ‘will of the Main God’…

“…Please, give me time to think.”

“Your Majesty.”

“It will only take a few hours. I need to discuss whether there are other options and look at the continental map. You may wait in the reception room and have tea in the meantime.”

The State Preceptor added kindly.

Eva lowered her head, regretting that her logic might have been too weak.

Her mother’s teaching that high society and politics were completely different animals came to mind, leaving a bitter taste.

Then Gerrit held her hand even tighter and shook his head.

“…”

A faint smile appeared and disappeared on the boy’s lips.

Eva could not tell whether it looked sad or happy.

*

After entrusting Sir Martier Zeilstra, who could not wake up from his long sleep, to the Rose Garden, Isabel and her party set off again for the royal capital.

It had been less than six hours since they arrived at the residence of Count Roseharder.

It was a natural decision.

“Good heavens, no, no…”

-Thud…

When they arrived at the sacred rose field, nothing remained to confirm the miracle of Mateus Roseharder.

Instead, only the shocking news that the ‘Spirit of Iran’ had left for the capital, holding the Pope’s remains in his arms, half-stirred the hearts of the living and the souls of the dead.

“What do we do now, Madam? This road is also…!”

Sant, who got out of the carriage after Isabel, had an almost tearful expression.

No wonder, the road to the royal capital was ‘again’ blocked by piles of dirt and broken old trees.

The Sneider rebels had detonated so many holy stone bombs that the debris piled up on the road was as wide and high as a hill.

The heinous act of completely changing the surrounding terrain so that those chasing the rebels could not even consider turning back was sickening.

Hanan Lumayan found the corpse of a baby bear crushed under a rock.

‘The remains of His Holiness Mateus Roseharder… serve to block the activation of the ‘summoning circle’ only once. It is the result of pouring all the divine power he had cultivated in his lifetime into your body.’

The successor of the Rose Garden said, looking at the rag doll.

It was a face that didn’t resemble Mateus very much.

‘In the basement of this Rose Garden, there is a defensive formation that he designed himself carved…’

‘…But according to the Spirit, that was not all.’

No, perhaps Hanan thought so because she had never seen Mateus’s old face.

‘The Spirit and His Holiness seem to have made some kind of deal.’

‘It is presumed that he received the blessing of the Divine Artifact so that he could monitor the actions of Yuri Venetian for his entire life…’

‘He received and kept the power of purification in the vessel…’

I was curious. Hanan suddenly found a fragment of broken memory.

Long ago, she wanted to know what Mateus’s face would look like when he got old.

“If the Spirit manages to cross the border of the royal capital, the only one of the four attributes needed to summon the Main God that remains is air.”

“The omen of the reverse wind, good heavens, Princess Elysee will soon enter the royal capital. We, we spent too much time in the forest. If only we had known that the Spirit would come…!”

Isabel and Sant exchanged words with pale faces.

In particular, the priest looked as if he had lost half his weight since meeting his father and older brother.

The coachmen were also at a loss, dumbfounded in front of the black piles of sediment.

Hanan, who had been silent all along, finally opened her mouth.

-…Everyone, step back.

“Yes, Your Majesty. I will look for another way. We have a map…”

-Step back, Isabel.

‘Kiiiiing—’ The doll’s eyes were turning blood red.

It was a sight that even Isabel, as an incarnation, had never seen before.

She felt the intensely resonating vessel and instinctively took a step back.

Sant also hesitated and stood next to the coachmen.

-Whoooo…

-Zhiing…

Soon, a red and magnificent energy began to rise from the palm-sized doll’s body.

Isabel could not even form a sentence and covered her mouth at the sensation that filled her to the top of her head.

The last thing she heard was a very short declaration.

-I will make the way myself.

-Kugugugugu…!

*

Good heavens, here again…!

-Boom, boom, boom, boom!

“It’s a drum, Your Highness. I hear the sound of drums from inside the castle gate!”

When we finally arrived in front of the royal castle, an even more chaotic scene than Pantheon Square was unfolding.

I had to wonder why the sound of battle was coming from ‘inside’ rather than outside the castle walls.

The answer came sooner than I thought.

-Boom, boom, boom…!

“Charge! Take all the nobles as prisoners!”

“Waaaaah…!”

The place where the densely lined Royal Guard was heading was also inside the castle.

I blinked in shock.