What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up [EN]: Chapter 885

The Hope (1)

We hugged each other tightly, as if we were about to explode.

-Crash!

“Your Highness, Your Highness!”

“Huff, cough…! Thank you…!”

Thank you so much, readers, thank you…!

“I thought I’d never see you again! Oh my gosh, we really met, thank you…!”

“Haa…”

“What should I do, Your Highness! I was worried something might have happened to you!”

“Oh my gosh, oh my gosh…”

Hots breaths and icy breaths poured into my ears all at once, and my body repeatedly heated up like a fireball and cooled down like an ice block.

Hugging Gaine and Cedrick tightly, I tried desperately to hold back my tears.

This wasn’t a dream. It wasn’t a novel anymore—the warmth of their bodies transmitted through my skin was definitely not a lie.

My vision was spinning and the strength in my legs was draining away, but the sensation of staggering yet firmly supporting ‘us’ was by no means an illusion.

Once my consciousness reached that point, strangely enough, I thought of Hyung and Eunseo first.

‘Wait patiently. Just find readers who are as desperate as you are.’

‘Then it’s a ‘happy ending.”

Jung Hyunseo’s words lingered in my head like a mantra, and…

‘It will be as you wish. It’s okay.’

‘This person will also wish for what Oppa [older brother] wishes for!’

‘Everything will be as you wish. Don’t worry. Imagine!’

…Our youngest’s wonderful imagination.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you…”

“Hoo-hoo, I was so scared, I couldn’t even see colors, I felt like I was dying of frustration…”

“It’s okay. It’s okay now…”

Everything will be alright… I muttered like a crazy person and hugged them even tighter.

This was an almost impossible event just last week.

It wouldn’t have happened if Eunseo and the readers—everyone—hadn’t prayed for our meeting with one heart.

People in the world called this phenomenon a miracle. I constantly trembled, experiencing the true meaning of ‘grace’.

Soon, Herrit, who was hugging Dad, reached out to me. I hurriedly reached out and wrapped my arms around the child’s white hair.

“Our Herrit, our so pretty Herrit, have you been healthy? Did you come with me to meet Dad?”

“Yes, yes.”

“I see… Uncle just realized today how pretty Herrit’s voice is, huh?”

“Uh-huh. Sniff.”

“Thank you… Thank you for trying so hard, our Herrit…”

‘Well done.’ By the time I smiled at the child with our foreheads touching, my nose was tingling and my throat was so tight that no sound came out.

I smiled brightly, rubbing Herrit’s tear-stained cheeks.

The boy, who was hugging Dad’s neck as if it were a lifeline, had grown so much while I hadn’t seen him.

Even the wings of the Ark seemed to have grown almost twice as large.

Lord Johann also had a rare emotional expression on his face.

With a flushed face, as if suppressing something strongly, he repeatedly kissed his son’s small head and temples.

I patted his shoulder and breathed heavily.

I felt so unreal, like my feet were floating in the air.

But today, none of us were dreaming.

“…Serenite.”

“Uh, hey, wait a minute… Just a minute! Sadie!”

—Hey, where are you reaching your hand! You crazy bastard! A chilling sensation ran down my spine, and my fist instinctively went up.

I almost slapped his precious face.

He flinched, and my eyes met his orange, shimmering eyes.

Only then did a word pierce through my head.

‘Crown Ether’.

“…Ah!”

Isn’t this not the time for me to be doing this? But we finally reunited after all that trouble?!

“It’s also nice to see you again, Your Highness.”

-Thump!

At that moment, Lord Johann’s gentle voice rang out.

At the same time, the Crown Prince’s dissatisfied growl was heard.

I couldn’t grasp the situation for a moment and was stuck to Gaine and Herrit like glue.

Suddenly, my empty right arm felt so empty that I even felt a chill.

I blinked my eyes and looked back.

Wasn’t there a big, dark-haired royal standing here just now…?

-Wheeeeeek!

“Kuh!”

“Whoa! Cedrick is flying away—!”

People of the town! Lord Johann threw my disciple!

-Whoosh!

「Oh my!」

「…There’s nothing to say.」

-Kugugung…!

“Good heavens!”

In the distance, the Crown Prince was seen crashing somewhere in the interspace.

The audience, including the sculptor people, exchanged glances and stirred greatly.

Will he be okay? He’ll be okay, right? Lord Johann wouldn’t have thrown him gently, right? He seemed to be spitting blood, but he would have taken all that into account, right?

I swallowed hard and looked at Gaine, the next in line. Her pink hair, stained with dried blood, was still long.

I can’t express in common words how happy and happy I am to meet my friends, but…

“Gaine, are you okay? I’m really sorry, it’s been a while. I actually opened the Crown Ether to cross over here. I used a lot of power on purpose, so probably for a few days…”

It was a completely separate issue that my paladin friends were struggling because of the Crown’s influence.

An unnecessary tension washed over me, and my mouth felt parched.

With a nervous heart, I tried to get out of her arms…

-Snap!

“…Huh?”

No, I’m trying to get out…? Are you too strong?

“Um, excuse me, but can I have this for a second…”

“Your Highness… What kind of perfume did you put on…? Sniff, sniff.”

“Huh? I don’t wear perfume… Uh-oh?”

…Teacher, this patient has lost her mind! She’s completely gone!

“I sincerely wanted to see you too, disciple.”

-Thump!

“Uwaaack!”

Lord Johann plucked out the remaining disciple too!

“Ah, let go! Teacher! Where is that sweet confectionary smell coming from!”

‘Ugh!’ Her nape dangled up, and her blue eyes gleamed with an unusual light.

Come to think of it, wait a minute! I quickly grabbed my bag and looked down.

A garbled voice burst from my locked throat!

“I, I have it! I really have the confectionaries Eunseo packed in my bag—”

-Wheeeeeek!

“Ugh!”

“Oh, oh, Gaine…!”

What is this, it’s like the villains in the TV animations I used to watch when I was young!

-Kugung…!

“Oh dear…”

Gaine became a star in the interspace, following her partner.

Although the method is a bit rough, it’s right that they have to be separated anyway, so I guess it can’t be helped. I don’t think I could have separated those two with my strength. Hmm…

「I’ve never seen such a sight before.」

「…It’s an unfamiliar sight to me as well.」

Little Romero clicked his tongue at my feet.

I looked worriedly at the spot where Cedrick and Gaine had crashed side by side, but I couldn’t hide my laughter when I saw the familiar face at my feet.

The former emperor also looked up at me and smirked.

The palm-sized blond handsome man was more relaxed than when I last saw him, and fortunately, he seemed unharmed except for being smaller.

He lightly gestured to the other side.

「Let me introduce the hero of the interspace, the ‘Princess of the Remaining Stars’.」

Ah, right!

“Hello, Princess. I was just about to greet you a little while ago. My name is Jung Yeseo.”

「Ah, Your Highness… I meet the moon of the continent. My name is Christel.」

A young lady with a completely different soul from Gaine held her dress and bowed very gracefully.

I almost made my right arm and leg creak at the same time, but I barely managed to give the imperial greeting.

Thank goodness, I haven’t forgotten it yet.

…A lot happened as soon as I met my friends, but anyway, I succeeded in giving a proper greeting!

Some time later…

About a few tens of minutes later?

-Thud, thud, thud…

-Pitter-patter, pitter-patter, pitter-patter…

-Tap, tap, tap…

I was walking through the interspace with Princess Christel, former Emperor Romero, Irene Schneider the Pope (I still can’t believe it even after hearing the detailed explanation), and Nicola Pompili.

The paladin friends were following us from about forty steps away (Gaine managed to get the confectionaries, but her back kept tingling because of the two partners’ eyes).

Surprisingly, Herrit was hardly affected by the Crown Ether, and it seemed that this was possible because the Ark was perfectly covering and controlling the child’s vessel.

The boy was now holding Lord Johann’s hand tightly and chirping about this and that.

I sometimes smiled broadly with overwhelming emotion and looked back at the Haines father and son.

“Yes! So, so Aunt Christel…”

Herrit, who had finished his long preparations, was finally telling his story.

There wasn’t much I could hear because of the distance, but that alone made me very happy.

I took a moment to organize my buzzing head.

Jung Yeseo, don’t get too excited. It’s a situation where you can’t help but get excited, but it’s still too much.

You got an unexpected clue.

“Ahem, so… So Your Holiness learned about the Venetian royal family’s scheme through the secret document of Pope Mateus in the Ark, ‘MAGNA CARTA JUDICIORUM’ [Latin for ‘Great Charter of Judgments’]…”

「That day, I learned of the Venetian royal family’s scheme, and I tried to inform my family, the Schneider ducal family, to destroy the scheme… But I was counterattacked by the family instead.」

Former Emperor Romero summarized in a serious tone.

The Pope, who was walking with the support of Nicola, nodded with a very tired face.

I couldn’t see her well because of the difference in height, but it was true that she was having a hard time.

「That’s right. Besides, I… I was cursed by the old Pope in that secret document, and I gradually became younger.」

“A curse? Ah…”

I could understand the situation without asking further.

Pope Mateus was criticized by some continentals as a ‘coward of history’, but in fact, he was a strong man who fought against the first king of the Holy Kingdom, Yuri Venetian, until the very end.

He even lived longer than the king, and he devised and hid a defense device that even used his remains to prevent his terrible scheme.

Even deep in his homeland.

It is said that priests cannot curse or kill someone with their innate power, but looking at some of the events that took place behind the scenes of history like this…

「…The Schneiders were a family that could easily remove an old Pope, and I suffered from a fever as my body became younger day by day. Then, one by one, the servants began to be replaced. After the curse began, I had no choice but to drastically reduce external activities.」

“…”

It doesn’t seem to be the case.

Or is it that strong resentment, not Ether, remains as a curse?

I suddenly recalled the scene I saw at Raso Territory.

Emperor Hanan cursing Yuri Venetian in anger, and the old parchments flying in the sky.

The title of that document, which seemed to have been written by someone in later generations, was perhaps…

「…The discrepancy between the vessel and the body was so severe that even circulating the Ether was a chore…」

Maybe she wrote it. Wishing that God would judge the royal family.

「No, I’ll stop talking about the old man’s hardships. It’s all in the past.」

The Pope, who had stopped in her place, looked up at me.

I took a couple more steps forward, then hurriedly turned back, bent my knees, and made eye contact.

What is she trying to say?