What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up [EN]: Chapter 898

The Sub-Male Lead Goes on Strike – Episode 898

Work, Faith, Balance?! (11)

Goodness, this is a real emergency.

“Your Highness, would you like some digestive medicine?”

“······.”

“You don’t want it? Right, you never liked medicine anyway······.”

In Jung Dduk-sim’s language, this means ‘ultra-emergency situation’!

“Tsk, so much to take care of, so much to take care of.”

It was only thirty minutes ago that I thought the bed was too small to lay down Cedric.

“Ugh······.”

“It’s 37.6 degrees [99.7 degrees Fahrenheit], hyung. What should we do? Should we go to the emergency room?”

Now, the man was leaning against the head of the bed, receiving care from the whole family.

“It’s not that bad. Besides, who knows what might happen if an alien without a passport goes to the emergency room.”

“Alien······.”

I was about to say that the word was too harsh, but when I thought about it, it was the perfect word, so I couldn’t argue.

I put down the thermometer, nodded, and checked the patient’s condition again.

Fortunately, he hadn’t started vomiting or running to the bathroom yet, but Cedric’s body was clearly bubbling all over. [Indicating discomfort or fever]

He looked disgusted even at the sight of a water cup, as if he was nauseous, and occasionally covered the area near his solar plexus with his hand.

If it weren’t for the Crown Ether [A magical energy source], I would have released some power to help him calm down.

Eunseo, who had just finished washing up, looked at the man over my shoulder and murmured, ‘Oh no, he’s gotten so pale.’

Around that time, Jung Hyun-seo left the room and headed for the front door with his coat.

“Hyung, where are you going? Pharmacy?”

“Convenience store. I’ll be right back, so keep an eye on him.”

“Okay. I got it.”

“Oppa, be careful of the car!”

Clang! As soon as I heard the door close, I let out a deep sigh.

It was my first time experiencing a friend getting sick at my house, so my palms kept getting sweaty.

I should have stopped him from eating so much spicy food earlier at dinner, instead of just watching.

If I had known he would get sick like this, I wouldn’t have let him touch anything spicy. Or was the watermelon we ate for dessert too cold? Anyway, it wasn’t something to just laugh off.

At first, I speculated that he might be struggling because of Eunseo’s presence, but no matter how I thought about it, our youngest sibling on Earth was not someone who could exert the power of the Chief God.

Unless it was a world within the little one’s gaze, that is, the ‘Sacred World Line,’ there was no way Cedric could suffer internal injuries because of the god’s gaze.

So, the current emergency situation definitely looked like a case of indigestion or traveler’s diarrhea.

“······The room is too small.”

“Should I get you some plum tea, huh? What did you say just now?”

“Even a young Rambouillet wouldn’t live in a place like this.”

“Goodness······.”

‘Young Rambouillet’ referred to Gain’s younger sibling, Rin.

In short, it meant that my room was so small that even a young child would find it cramped.

The Cedric patient was constantly rolling his orange eyes and whispering complaints.

I was so dumbfounded that I let out a hollow laugh.

“Your Highness, are you really noticing the size of your friend’s room when you’re so sick?”

“The desk too······. It’s too shabby for a palace lord to use.”

“I spend most of my time at the company. There’s no need for high ceilings or a large desk.”

“······.”

Then the Crown Prince shut his mouth as if he had heard something very unpleasant.

Eunseo nudged me and criticized me in a whisper, ‘Read the room!’

Hey, what did I do wrong······?

“The living room is smaller than Charlemagne’s stable······.”

See, he’s just keep criticizing my room?

“Yes, Charles is going to be the emperor’s favorite horse. We’re just an ordinary family, so if we had a living room the size of a stadium, it would be hard and inconvenient to clean.”

“······The bathroom is so small that there’s no space for a bathtub.”

“Hey, the thing in the bathroom you used earlier is a bathtub. Not a washbasin.”

“······What?”

The man looked genuinely shocked at Eunseo’s remark.

I couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

“Even if everything looks cramped, low, and shabby to the Crown Prince of the Empire, it’s the best house for our family. If there’s anything uncomfortable, we’ll fix it and live well, so don’t worry about it.”

“······The heat-emitting hearth is utterly inferior.”

“Hahaha.”

I realized that ‘heat-emitting hearth’ meant the induction stove.

In his words, it felt foolish to use such a crude electric-attribute magic tool to generate that much heat.

It would have been a disaster if we were using a gas stove. In some ways, he’s just like Sir Johann.

I kept chuckling and wiped the sweat from his face with a towel.

“We’re living happily without any problems. So, as a guest, please stop complaining······.”

“If you were to move your allegiance to Liester?”

“······Huh?”

“Even bringing your eighth cousin wouldn’t matter.”

“······.”

Jung Eunseo let out a small sigh and hurriedly left the room.

I quickly turned to look at my younger sibling, but the little one had already disappeared into the living room and was nowhere to be seen.

Why is she suddenly like this?

“······I will give you wealth and titles enough for all of them to live in abundance―”

“I’m not going anywhere.”

“······.”

“This is my home, Your Highness. It’s where many things I love have been in the same place for a long time.”

“······.”

The Crown Prince silently caught his breath.

I slightly raised the corner of my mouth and spoke in a slow but clear tone.

“As I said, that doesn’t mean I’ll only live here. Liester is like a second home to me.”

“······.”

“I won’t disappear from Your Highness’s or Gain’s side anymore. I’ll never do that again. I promise.”

“······You.”

Cedric stared at me for a while, then slightly frowned.

A few strands of black hair fell over his jade-white forehead.

“······It’s hard to call you an angel.”

“Pardon?”

“I can’t win against your stubbornness.”

The man muttered quietly and turned his head.

Only then did I realize that he was pointing out my temper.

Also, the reason why he was hiding under the Spirit Master’s leaves and secretly following me······.

“Hahaha.”

Somehow, I felt like I understood a little. A ticklish laugh escaped me. It was then.

-Clang!

“Jung Hyunseo is here!”

As soon as I heard the sound of the front door closing, Eunseo darted out like a bullet.

I straightened Cedric’s blanket and quickly got up from the stool.

These days, you can buy most medicines at convenience stores, so did he go to buy something?

-Rustle, rustle

“Jung Ye, have that kid drink this.”

“Thank you so much, hyung. At this late hour like this······. Huh?”

“What is it? What is it?”

Wait a minute, this isn’t medicine······.

“What else could I do when the guy is so picky about the taste of water? I have to take responsibility.”

“······.”

“Pfft, ahahaha! Euhahahah―!”

Eunseo grabbed her stomach and fell backward as soon as she confirmed what was in hyung’s hand.

I was busy trying to manage my expression, calm down my youngest sibling, and check the label and receipt on the bottle.

For a moment, the back of my head throbbed.

‘evian’

‘Source: Evian, France’

No······. Really?

“Hyung, are you kidding me right now······?”

“Don’t underestimate a web novel writer’s experience.”

“Ugh! Cough, cough, ahahah!”

“······Huh······.”

······Does this really solve the problem if he drinks it?

He’s lying there, unable to even stand the smell of water?

Yes―!

It’s perfectly solved!

Hail Evian!

“Um······.”

“What is it?”

“No, I’m just happy to see you eating so well.”

The next morning.

I was watching Cedric, who had completely emptied a large bowl of abalone porridge―our hyung always cooks abalone porridge first when someone in the family is sick―and was chuckling to myself.

Jung Eunseo was also busy smiling throughout her preparations for school.

No, I really couldn’t have imagined such a method.

The method that made the man, who wouldn’t take medicine, couldn’t receive Ether, and was lying pale because of indigestion, get up was none other than······.

-Click!

“See? Everything here is your water, so take it out and drink it.”

“······I’ll keep that in mind.”

French mineral water.

It was so absurd that I couldn’t say anything, but in some ways, there was no better solution.

The man’s eyes, looking at the Evian lined up on one side of the refrigerator, were as clear as could be.

Looking back, what happened last night felt like a dream.

The way he was holding a one-liter bottle like a 500-milliliter PET bottle and gulping it down looked so thirsty······.

And how his face started to regain color as soon as he emptied one bottle.

“Jung Hyun, can I drink Evian too?”

“Don’t be silly and use the water purifier.”

“Ah, yes.”

Eunseo was being all playful and went to get her bag.

I kept giggling, clearing the table, and arranging the chairs with Cedric.

Seeing him helping with these things, I realized he had really grown a lot.

“Ack! Little oppa, what time is it?”

“Huh? It’s······.”

-Thud!

I heard the sound of textbooks falling from the youngest’s room.

I smiled and raised my head, then suddenly remembered something. Come to think of it······.

“Jung Eun, you still have some time left! Take your time!”

‘Time.’

After quickly answering my younger sibling, I hurriedly washed and hung up the dishcloth and returned to my room.

Cedric followed me in right away, probably because my rushing around was unusual.

I hurriedly put on a thin jacket, slung my backpack over my shoulder, finished preparing for work, and finally opened each of the desk drawers.

-Slide, click! Slide, click!

“Not this one, not this one either······.”

I’ve never lost it before, so I think I’ve always kept it here······.

-Slide······!

“Here it is!”

The silver wristwatch was in the last drawer―the place where I keep my most precious belongings.

I replaced the battery last year, so the hands are turning smoothly, and it seems to be keeping good time. It has some scratches here and there, but it’s full of memories······.

“What is that?”

“It’s my watch. I received it from hyung as a middle school entrance gift. When I was thirteen. Like this, you wear it around your wrist······. It’s easy to adjust the length too.”

The watch was so sturdy that it had never broken, and the design was so basic that it never went out of style.

I took it with me when I went to the military and often wore it to important events such as interviews.

Cedric stared at the small digital screen below the white watch face as if it were a foreign object.

Don’t do that too much. Even though it looks like this, it has a time signal and alarm function, and it’s a good helper that tells you the day of the week, date, and day. It also displays a 24-hour system, so it was quite convenient in the military.

“······In Korea, they sometimes give watches to brothers or friends who are going to the military. Of course, I received this when I was very young, but······. Um.”

“······.”

I carefully spread out his palm and placed the watch, which was far too small for him, on it.

Then the man tilted his head as if he couldn’t understand.

Seeing his expression, which didn’t expect anything, made me laugh for some reason.

“It’s precious to me too, so I’m not giving it to you. I’m just entrusting it to Your Highness for a while.”

“······.”

“If you take this back with you, you’ll be spending the same time as me.”

“······.”

Finally, his eyes slowly widened.

“This place is precious to me, and that place is precious to me. But what I think is more precious and important than anything else is······.”

“······.”

“We live in the same time.”

“······.”

I wasn’t confident that I could convey it perfectly in words, but I decided to do my best.

My face was fully reflected in his garnet-like irises.

“We can sacrifice a lot for each other, but at the same time, we protect each other from losing our lives······. We ride the same age and flow at the same speed. Like a flume ride.”

Was this too extreme of a metaphor? I twitched my lips and looked up at the man.

But, well. Our adventure was an awesome flume ride.

It was really fun. And I was happy.

“Of course, there will be moments when we miss each other. You might suddenly think of me when you’re eating something delicious, or you might have a hard time because you don’t have enough Ether when I’m not there, or you might just want to see me because something good happened. Or you might have something to do together, but you might be frustrated because someone is absent······.”

“······.”

“But I will think that even that is precious. Because······.”

“······.”

I carefully chose my words.

“The deficiencies that we feel while living our own lives diligently will rather make us look forward to the next meeting.”

“······.”

“Then me, Gain, Your Highness, Sir Johann, Prince Yesuh······.”

All of us.

“······Will definitely become happier. Does that sound strange?”

“······.”

Did the meaning I wanted to convey get across properly?

I looked up at him with a nervous feeling.