What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up [EN]: Chapter 908

Sub-Male Lead’s Strike – Episode 908 (908/920)

908

Sub-Male Lead’s Strike

End and Beginning (10)

Sant rose from the audience seats, his hands full of baskets and luggage.

The vast courtroom was now empty.

Only a few Pantheon sub-deacons cleaning up and a couple of imperial officials tidying documents were in sight.

The space, once a cacophony of tears, lamentations, shouts, and screams, was now eerily silent.

Only the angels in the ceiling murals continued to blow their trumpets of victory.

“…Well, I should be going now. Lady Yeser is expecting me.”

The priest’s round shoulders were as calm as they had been before the trial began.

He, too, had been shocked, saddened, angered, and frustrated throughout the final trial, but a strangely refreshing energy remained where everything had passed.

The final verdict for the Riester archdukes was scheduled to be released tomorrow.

As Sant greeted him, his second brother, Diederick, rose from his seat and patted his younger brother’s shoulder a few times.

“You’ve worked hard, Sant. Thanks to you, the soldiers in the Riester barracks can rest more comfortably.”

“Hehe, it’s nothing. You’re the one who suffered, translating for Princess Royal.”

As the brothers exchanged friendly words and were about to part, an aged voice called out from the side.

“Sant.”

“…Father.”

It was their father, Court Count Etzhart Losether, a loyal subject of Fenetian.

The old man looked at least twenty years older than he had during the trial.

His throat was parched, even though he seemed to drink water from time to time, and his complexion, still reeling from the shock, was a distinct leaden color.

His eyes met Sant’s slowly.

“…Even if you return to the Imperial City, I hope you won’t be ashamed of our family.”

“…”

His tone was rough, as if his vocal cords were coated with iron filings.

The Court Count spoke with a weary look.

“We… We were a family that was loyal to the royal family, and at the same time, kept them in check.”

“…”

“We wanted the royal family, who inherited sacred blood, to grow without settling for their lineage… We wanted them to be praised as descendants of God without using things like ‘summoning circles’ [magical circles used to call upon supernatural entities]. We wanted the royal family to walk the right path.”

“…”

“…”

The conversation ceased for a while. Sant looked down at the basket he had received from Ganael.

It was full of things that the Princess Royal had packed from the desert lodge.

Snacks and drinks for Sant. A small fruit knife he had bought as a souvenir, thinking of him living alone.

Engraved on the handle was a single rose blooming splendidly.

The young man raised his eyes.

“…Yes, Father, you must have tried in your own way. I have no intention of belittling or judging that in the future. I’m sure my younger and older brothers feel the same way.”

“…”

“But just as the way Father and Mother tried to raise me correctly didn’t suit me…”

The priest paused to reflect on the past.

Constant comparisons with his brothers, scolding without a single word of praise.

The exhausting spiritual training from dawn till night.

The suffocatingly strict life of the youngest son of a count family at the age of sixteen.

Looking back, it wasn’t that long ago, but it felt like decades to Sant.

He smiled and looked at his father and mother.

“…Perhaps Father’s and the family’s ways were not suitable for the Fenetian royal family either.”

“…”

“When I was forced to wear ill-fitting clothes, I had only two choices. One was to slowly suffocate in those clothes, and the other was…”

“…”

“To take off those clothes and go in search of new ones. Even if it meant being naked.”

“Hey! What are you doing here when the Princess Royal is waiting?”

Just then, someone called out to Sant loudly from the entrance.

He perked up at the sight of Djibril Diop.

“I’m sorry, but I must be going. The Princess Royal always looks for her friends if she doesn’t see them. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen her, too…”

The priest hurried down the stairs.

Djibril, who was sucking on a yellow lollipop, glanced at the Losether family and went out the door first.

Etzhart was blankly mulling over his son’s words for a while.

“Sant.”

“Yes, brother?”

Diederick called his younger brother for the last time.

The cheek that lifted as soon as their eyes met was clean without any bruises.

His broken engagement was also a thing of the past.

“The new clothes suit you well.”

“…Thank you.”

Sant bowed with a bright smile.

Then, blessed by the angels in the mural, he ran to his angel friend.

*

By the time the arduous trial was over and they came out to the Pantheon’s lobby, it was already late at night.

Goodness, so much time had passed… Well, it was to be expected…

“Ms. Gain, you were amazing earlier.”

“Oh, it was nothing. I’m sure everyone else was thinking the same thing. A pseudo-cult leader who only spouts nonsense, a murderous hag whose breath is wasted on her, kept babbling until the end. Anyone would have wanted to step up and cut her off. We shouldn’t even leave a single line of record for such a person.”

‘Oh dear, Princess Royal. You should go this way!’ Ms. Gain, who had been smiling slyly, suddenly turned serious and pulled me to the opposite side.

Sir Johann stood in front of us before I could realize anything.

I flapped my wings in surprise as I trudged along, exhausted. Ms. Gain?

“Oh, there they are! There! It’s an angel!”

“Where, huh? Ah! I see them! They really have wings!”

“Wow, it’s the Goddess’s angel!”

“Angel! Waaaaah…!”

“Gasp.”

Beyond the Pantheon’s main gate, a distant crowd of people from the royal capital could be seen, gathered like clouds.

Judging by the size of the cheers and the visible crowd, there seemed to be at least several thousand people.

My body, which had no energy left, suddenly tensed up and came to life.

I smiled faintly, stood on tiptoe, and waved to them.

They had been waiting all day, watching each passing carriage, so I wanted to muster the strength to give them a simple greeting.

“Hello.”

“Waaaaaaah!”

“They looked this way! They looked our way!”

“Angel! Angel, thank you for saving our royal capital!”

“I saw you leading the Golden Fortress that day! Really! I really saw it!”

“Ahaha.”

When I wondered what ‘Golden Fortress’ meant, it seemed they were remembering when I summoned the Temple of Boundary with Noctiluca during the ‘Collapsing Babel’ operation.

I diligently waved while being guided by Benjamin and the Imperial Knights.

The people of the royal capital were already anxious and uneasy every day, so I hoped this would cheer them up a little.

“The shrine quarters are this way, Princess Royal. While you are reunited with your guests, I will prepare warm water in the bedroom bathtub.”

“Thank you so much, Benjamin. Ms. Gain will probably wash first.”

“I will keep that in mind.”

“Angel! Angel! Please pour blessings on us too!”

“I’ll see you again, thank you!”

“Aaaaaaaah…!”

-Click!

As the door of the shrine quarters closed behind me, the fervent cheers that had been so intense that my earlobes were burning subsided.

Only then did I exchange glances with my friends and let out a sigh mixed with laughter.

“Wow, Princess Royal, what’s with your popularity…”

“Haa… Hahaha. I know, right.”

“So many things happened today.”

“I agree.”

Cedric agreed with Sir Johann’s words, which contained many meanings.

Prince Yeser, who had been silent all along, finally swept back his hair and smiled.

We shared clean water for a while to calm ourselves and sorted out our thoughts on the trial that had taken place today.

We didn’t talk about it separately, but we all knew that we were thinking similar things without having to say it.

It was just that the aftertaste left in our mouths was different for each of us.

“…Shall we go meet our friends, then?”

“Whenever the Princess Royal and the Prince are ready, we are. We have plenty of stamina to spare, so please use us like servants.”

“I don’t know what to do with myself.”

The Prince replied nonchalantly. I looked at him and giggled for no reason.

After resting on the sofa for a few minutes, we got up again and headed to the reception room.

As the ‘Pantheon of All Gods’ boasted an enormous scale, the Pantheon’s internal facilities were also incredibly excellent.

The shrine quarters were as large and luxurious as a special room in a decent luxury hotel, and it had a bedroom with a reception room and guest rooms separately.

When we secretly entered during the exhibition, we all hid together in one small room, but today we were being treated like this, so it felt very unfamiliar.

For reference, His Majesty the Emperor and Her Highness Aurelia had returned to the barracks immediately after the trial ended, and we were to stay at the Pantheon for the time being, according to His Majesty’s judgment that the imperial family should be dispersed—since everyone was away from the Imperial mainland anyway.

-Click!

Well, I actually have to go home tomorrow evening…

“Princess Royal, you ba―ka! Why are you so late!”

-Kkyaaa!

“Ah.”

As soon as the reception room door opened, a much-missed voice scolded me in a tinkling tone.

In an instant, all distractions disappeared.

The corners of my mouth couldn’t help but widen the moment I made eye contact with the red-haired girl.

“…Eva!”

“The wo―rst! How rude to make Mademoiselle wait so long! You can’t even call yourself a gentleman!”

-Kkiwoo!

“I’m sorry. I had to wait until everyone had left… Ouch!”

-Whump!

The young duchess was very angry with a pouty face, but soon hugged me tightly with tearful eyes.

Eva, who was holding a bouquet of roses, smelled of the deep forests of the East.

I smiled brightly and hugged the child and the precious things.

The warmth of Demi, Leah, and Perry was so new that I almost shed tears.

Then, Herritt, who had been waiting for us until the end of the trial, joined the hug, and Lynn and Ganael, who had followed Isabel, stuck to us like rice cakes.

Then, Cornélia, who had jumped up from the sofa, ran over and hugged her brother.

The Prince even took care of Iseol, who seemed to have become quite close to him in the meantime.

Ms. Gain, Isabel, Viscount Clément Rambouillet, and Viscountess Mariz also exchanged affectionate greetings along with kisses.

“Welcome, Your Highness the Crown Prince. Princess Royal, and Your Highness the Prince. All the guests have been waiting here for you to arrive.”

Benjamin, who was standing with his hands clasped as always, awakened us at the right moment.

With a face that couldn’t stop smiling, I followed his gaze.

“Ah…”

In a dreamlike sensation, my eyes widened.

All my friends were gathered in that place.

Duke Djibril Diop and Princess Marguerite, Camille, who was watching us with a raised lip.

Lady Elizabeth and Sir Michel Moutet, whom I felt like I was meeting for the first time in a million years, and Joan, who was wiggling her fingers as if playing the piano.

Princesses Antoinette, Maria, and Thérèse, Princess Bérénice.

Sir Martier Zeelstra, Count Arno van Rooy, Duke Leopold Lasso and Butler Dolph, who looked much better.

Mr. Morhan, whom I saw in the witness stand earlier, Admiral Emma Corleone, who was here for some reason instead of going out for a drink (probably stayed to see Ms. Gain), and…

…Huh?

“…Prince? Prince Sem Baren? And Tess?”

It was Prince Sem and Teacher Tess from the ‘Naval Military Academy’ on the northern coast of the New Kingdom—!

“It’s been a while, Angel Princess Royal.”

“Good heavens, everyone, you’ve been well! It’s so good to see you!”

“We meet the Full Moon of the Continent. We received a request to appear as witnesses from the Imperial Army along with this person…”

The two, who burst into laughter, bowed politely to me and then stepped aside to show the guests hiding behind them.

I blinked blankly as I discovered a woman holding the hand of an unfamiliar child.

Ms. Gain’s exclamation was heard over my shoulder.

For a moment, one side of my heart warmed and I felt a lump in my throat.

“…Ms. Alain!”

God, thank you…!”

“Angel, I see the angel! Thank you so much back then…!”

The woman burst into tears and fell to the carpet, and I shook my head and hurriedly grabbed her hand.

Ms. Alain, the only participant in the Holy Knight creation experiment who had succeeded in awakening as a Holy Knight in the Atsuma secret chamber in the northern part of the New Kingdom.

And her only family, who had been suffering from awakening fever and going back and forth between life and death…

“I, I see the angel.”

“Hello. You’re Brandy, aren’t you? Ms. Alain’s niece.”

“Yes…”

The chubby-cheeked girl nodded in surprise, as if she didn’t know I would call her name.

“My name is Yeser. Are you feeling better now? I heard you were sick back then.”

“Yes, I’m fine. I think I’m healthy… I don’t cough anymore now.”

“That’s a relief. That’s a relief.”

My eyes closed on their own at the overwhelming emotion. Dear readers, thank you so much…

“The Imperial delegation, along with Princess Francisca, wanted to put Alain, a survivor of the bio-experiment, as a key witness… I heard that His Majesty the Emperor refused at the last minute.”

“Yes? His Majesty?”

Prince Sem explained, and my bewilderment was quickly resolved by Cedric.

“The evidence is already overflowing, and he probably didn’t want to let Sneider know that there was a ‘success story’.”

“…That was the right decision. That man doesn’t deserve to know about Ms. Alain’s existence for the rest of his life.”

I nodded, looking back and forth between Brandy and Alain. At that very moment.

“Hehe…”

“Huh?”

From the far window, I heard the sound of children giggling.

For a moment, I thought I was hearing things, but when I looked closely, there were small shoes lined up under the curtain.

As many as one, two, three, four, five, six, seven…

-Awooooo!

-Rustle!

“Princess Royaaal!”

“Waaah!”

“Oh my gosh, Kina! Yef! Kids!”

Thea burst into a happy cry, and at the same time, the little ones who had been hiding behind the curtain popped out.

I quickly got up from my seat after kissing Lopi on the back of his head.

Kina and Willem siblings who took care of the spirit in the Yeriho black market, Cory and Jerun who were model class leaders of the Naval Military Academy (“One, two, three! Hello!” “Hello!”), Kobi and Frida who guarded the secret village of the Lasso Duchy, and Dorothea and Yef siblings who helped us in the Pantheon…!”

“Oh my! Did you all come all the way here with the adults from afar? Did you come to see me? Weren’t you tired?”

“Well, I’m actually a little tired…”

Frida muttered as if she had been waiting, fixing her new glasses (the child no longer wore broken glasses), and the adults burst into laughter.

As soon as she met me, Dorothea started telling me about her mother’s boyfriend without any context (Yef wanted to intervene, but it was impossible), and Willem chattered like a machine gun about the telescope he had recently invented (Kina eventually pinched her brother’s hand).

Seeing the rosy cheeks and plump arms and legs of the children, the strength drained from my legs.

I felt like I was about to collapse from relief and happiness…

“Wow, crap! This is bad! Mom―!”

Oh my! I flinched and turned around.

The gazes of my friends, who had been catching up with each other, also moved all at once.

Ms. Gain? What’s wrong…

“Mom, I think Gain lost the His Majesty doll! No, Ham Gain is really crazy! How could she lose him?! Is she finally losing her mind?!”

“Oh, good heavens…”

Ms. Gain, who had turned pale, hurriedly rummaged through her arms and took out the water mirror necklace, and Isabel, who had been chatting with Prince Yeser, covered her mouth with both hands.

My friends, realizing the seriousness of the situation, gasped.

I wasn’t much different.

“Christel, can you move aside for a second? I lost my companion doll right now, and if I can’t find it, I’ll never forgive myself and live miserably like a trash can… I’ll call you again later if I find it! I love you!”

As she looked in the mirror and muttered quickly like a madman, Cornélia and Iseol, who were frightened, slowly moved to the side.

I was also startled and moved the children back behind me. It was at that moment.

“Oh, wait a minute! It’s showing in the water mirror! It’s a mirror that shows you what you want right away, so the doll is here right now!”

“Phew, thank goodness…”

“Oh, jackpot! I know this place, I went there recently! That’s it! I can find Hanan His Majesty soon! This is where…!”

Ms. Gain, who was excited to the top of her head, pointed to the water mirror and raised her voice.

Cedric and Diop frowned at the same time.

“…Huh?”

But my partner’s change in expression was somehow unusual.

What’s wrong?

*

At that time, Seoul.

The house of the Jung siblings.

“What, why is Jung Eunseo’s bed cushion on the sofa…?”

-Snatch!

“Huh? Why doesn’t this fall off?”

Jung Hyunseo, who was tidying up the lost cushion, paused.

Strangely, it was stuck to the surface of the sofa and wouldn’t fall off.

He frowned and bent down to check the situation.

His eyes met immediately.

-You… Dare to bury this body again.

“Aaaaaaack!”

“Jung Hyunseo! What’s wroaaaaaack!”

In front of the two siblings who were enjoying peace, an unfamiliar rag doll appeared.

Its black button eyes gleamed fiercely.

It was like an early summer horror movie. Nevertheless, the ending was quite happy.