What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up [EN]: Chapter 867

‘What Happens When the Sub-Male Lead Goes on Strike’.

What Happens When the Sub-Male Lead Goes on Strike (1)

At the same time.

Or with a slight time difference that only God knows.

『······Oh, geez. Is this princess sleeping here again?』

Karme, the cleaner of the Pantheon—who was assigned here at the suggestion of Elisabeth Muute, while the priests were delighted that a strong holy knight had joined them, unaware that she was a convict—grumbled and straightened her bent back.

A cracking sound, not at all ordinary, came from her long-bent spine, but there was something more urgent than that right now.

She leaned her old broom against the wall and hurriedly approached the uninvited guest.

A small girl was curled up behind a pillar, fast asleep.

『Haa······. Look here, Princess. You can’t sneak in here like this. I’m the only one who gets scolded if you do. Well, well?』

‘There’s an accomplice today, too.’ Iseol Roseharder, the eldest granddaughter of a prestigious family, has recently become a celebrity in the Pantheon, along with Cornelisse.

Karme looked around to see if anyone was watching them.

Since the spirit chose this place as its sleeping quarters, the Pantheon had been under the tight security of the Imperial Army, but you never knew.

Fortunately, there were no other signs of people nearby. It seemed that the Princess Royal had sneaked in again today.

There are other priests here, and that scary-looking combat priest, too. It’s so sweet to see them sitting close together, heads together, sleeping······.

『······No matter how much you hide here and wait, the Crown Princess won’t wake up. I told you that I would contact you immediately if there was anything wrong with the fruit······.』

‘Sigh.’ Karme sighed deeply and trailed off.

Once, she had wandered the desert, committing various serious crimes such as robbery, fraud, and human trafficking, but she couldn’t help but understand how the girl in front of her felt hiding here.

So, regardless of status, it was not easy to treat Cornelisse harshly.

The Princess Royal became alone at a young age without knowing anything.

Her mother ended the most humiliating revenge on the Venetian family by abandoning the royal family, and her father committed all sorts of heinous crimes, lost his limbs, and ran away, only to become a corpse at the top of the royal capital.

His rotten corpse was still being cursed and pelted with stones by the people.

The Princess Royal’s brother, whom he killed, was said to have been resurrected in the Empire, but the Emperor had granted him a title and was protecting him, so there was little chance of him returning home, and most of the royal elders had either died in this war, been imprisoned for cooperating with Sneider, or had fled far across the sea forever.

Finally, Eliser Venetian, the Princess Royal’s sister······.

『······Your Highness, Your Highness. You’ll get a crooked mouth if you sleep in a place like this. I’ll have the Roseharder young master brought here so you can go to a warm barracks and sleep.』

She, who was the only hope of the Holy Kingdom, was dead.

People said that the Crown Princess had been struck by her father’s spear and collapsed.

The mad king consort had been killing golden-haired people in the royal castle indiscriminately until the moment he closed his eyes, and his last victim was his own daughter, Eliser.

After that, King Christiana personally threw her husband from the tower to his death, and the tragedy of the Venetian royal family finally came to an end.

『Ugh······. My butt’s cold······.』

However, the young Princess Royal’s tragedy was still ongoing.

Even if she was a precocious child, it would not be easy to overcome such shock and sorrow.

『Of course it’s cold. The floor is all Carrara marble.』

Karme said in a seemingly grumbling voice.

Then, the child’s drowsy eyes widened.

Iseol, who had woken up a few beats earlier, also looked embarrassed.

The convict shrugged and moved to grab her broom again.

『Our spirit does everything on its own, whatever it wants. So even if you come in and out of the Pantheon so often, and make the Roseharder people panic every other day, the fruit won’t wake up any sooner. The skylight is so dark.』

‘I don’t even know if it will sprout.’ The child’s face became wounded at the deliberately added words.

Karme clicked her tongue inwardly, but steeled herself that this was the right thing to do.

Who was she to give such false hope to a child?

That the Crown Princess was alive in that fruit, that she would surely wake up again and meet the Princess Royal······.

Groundless comfort would only cause greater pain.

『······Sir Muute spoke well of Karme.』

『Really? That’s unexpected!』

She was sincere.

Karme liked Elisabeth’s pretty face, but she was not naturally suited to a soldier as sharp as her. Besides, she was an earth attribute, so she didn’t get along with Cornelisse, who was a water attribute.

She could hear Iseol persuading the Princess Royal to go back for today.

In the meantime, the cleaner turned her head away, pretending not to notice, and swept around the place where the spirit was sleeping.

The sacred object, half-turned into a tree while holding the fruit, occasionally sprouted new leaves and dropped dead leaves, and it was Karme’s job to clean them up.

It was then.

『······Karme, Karme! Look! It looks like the spirit is waking up!』

Cornelisse called her in an excited voice.

Karme didn’t bat an eye and scraped off the pollen stuck to the lobby bulletin board.

『Yes, it sometimes stirs like that. It’s just talking in its sleep. Go back and eat your meal.』

-Creak······

『No, it’s real! The spirit opened its eyes!』

-Crack, crack, crack······

Hearing reacted before sight.

Karme flinched at the unusual noise and turned around.

-Rustle······

『······Oh my, good heavens?』

-Hello, poppy.

-Creak, creak······

Gentle, large eyes were crookedly reflecting her. Her jaw dropped open.

『Oh, honey······.』

‘It really woke up?!’ Karme, who belatedly screamed in surprise, quickly covered her mouth.

The sacred object ‘Spirit of Iran’ had already shed its hard bark and was regaining its translucent original form.

Now, Cornelisse, with a flushed face, took Iseol’s hand and circled around the sacred object.

Fortunately or unfortunately, the spirit’s condition was not much different from before it fell asleep.

The loyal convict of the Imperial Army, who had been in a state of confusion for a while, quickly remembered her duty!

『Oh my, this is no time for this. Honey, wait a minute! I’ll bring the Liester knights. If necessary, I’ll bring the cardinals too!』

Ah, one more thing!

『Princess Royal! Go back to the military camp quickly. If His Majesty finds out, I’ll be the one getting punished!』

-The moon is about to rise.

『Yes, it’s almost dinner time, so that makes sense······. Huh?』

‘Moon’? Could it be the story of the lost moon? Her brown eyes widened.

Karme, who had paused, immediately turned to the spirit.

『What does that······?』

-Let’s go bask in the moonlight together, Karme.

A hopeful smile bloomed like a spring flower.

······Huh?

『Well, well, there’s only a shadow of the moon in the sky, so I don’t know what you’re talking about? Luminare is still so dark, isn’t it?』

-When you embrace the moonlight, the vessel will finally be complete.

The sacred object carefully took out the fruit from its arms and whispered. As expected, it didn’t make sense.

The spirit’s horns gently swayed, and a great earthquake occurred in Karme’s pupils.

Cornelisse, realizing the situation, quickly stepped between them.

Several pigeons also popped out and stood around the girl.

『Spirit, will my sister come back if I bask in the moonlight?』

-The fate of the fruit will be made by the fruit itself.

-I can’t decide anything, child.

『······.』

It was a cryptic answer.

Karme shook her head, seeing Cornelisse’s expression as if she had already decided something.

Oh, absolutely not!

『Let’s keep what we need to keep! The war is over now, and the terrifying Emperor and Cardinal are in the military camp right now. The spirit can move as it pleases, but the little Princess Royal and I can’t do anything without His Majesty’s permission? No way!』

『I will help.』

At that moment, a low voice echoed from the darkness in the corner of the temple.

Cornelisse, Iseol, and the pigeons flinched and hid behind Karme.

She swallowed hard and stood holding the broom like a sword.

Wait a minute, but this energy is······.

-Step, step, step······

『······I will escort the spirit and the two Highnesses to wherever you wish. Even if it becomes the last mission of my life.』

The woman who walked out from beyond the twilight was wearing light but sturdy armor.

Karme smiled ambiguously at the bald priest she had encountered here several times.

Haha, haha······.

『Sir Jeistla!』

Cornelisse ran out with a beaming smile.

-Embrace!

『Your Highness.』

Martier Jeistla, holding the young Princess Royal in her arms, closed her eyes for a long time.

Ham Gaein and Cedric Liester rejoined the group after escaping the labyrinth a full ten days and three days after they had left.

They thought it had been about a week, but they had been trapped underground for almost two weeks!

“Ha, I almost starved to death······. Please give me one more bowl, Mr. Benjamin.”

“Here you are, sir.”

Gaein had not been a small eater since becoming a holy knight, but now she was devouring the food on the table almost like a glutton.

Cedric, who was sitting opposite her, was also stuffing meat, bread, and soup into his stomach with elegant but rapid movements.

Leia, Tite, and Ropi were lying on the soft sofa, receiving the care of Herrit and the other divine beasts.

Ganael wiped the blood-caked forehead of Gaein with a wet towel—the wound healed instantly as soon as they came out of the labyrinth—and told her about the major events that had occurred in the Vatican during that time.

Conversely, when listening to the story of Hanan His Majesty, she shed tears and mourned together.

-Trickle······

“Both of you have truly suffered a lot. Then······.”

Yeser Venetian poured water into their empty glasses and asked again.

“The traces of the Holy Relic left in the shrine are only a small amount of ether particles.”

“Yes. At first, I suspected that the Secretary-General had stolen a piece of the Holy Relic, but when I thought about it······. Wow, I feel a little better now. When I thought about it, that was impossible.”

“Yes. The Holy Relic is a sacred object that only the Pope can control.”

The prince nodded softly in response.

Cedric, who had finished off a turkey in an instant, elegantly cleaned his mouth and took over the words.

“The Palace Master once confessed that she had absorbed the holy water of the Holy Relic. So if someone can exert influence over the Holy Relic······.”

“That means it’s only Yeser. The holy water is the core of the Holy Relic. I understand.”

‘Yeser.’ Everyone raised their eyes at the familiar yet unfamiliar pronunciation that flowed from the prince’s mouth.

The royal family smiled softly and looked around the devastated table.

Jibril, who was sitting far away, frowned as he slowly continued his brunch.

“Why, I’m still eating, are you already telling me to get up?”

“Not right now, but there is a clue about the traces of the Holy Relic not far from the temple.”

‘It’s something you all know well.’ The man who answered that turned to Herrit.

The boy, who made eye contact, nodded at the same time as Dduksoomi.

May 11th night.

Day 1 of Canaria’s ‘Greatest Fanfiction Contest on Earth’.

“······Hyung [older brother/male friend], something terrible has happened.”

I stood like a scarecrow in front of Jeong Hyunseo’s door with a stiff body.