What Happens When the Second Male Lead Powers Up

Chapter 202: Purple Tulip (9)

It’s the fact that the Imperial Crown Prince left this invitation here in the middle of the night.

“……That should mean it is okay for me to go, right?”

– Pruu

Perry, who was playing with a ball underneath the table, answered.

No matter how I thought of it, that had to be what it meant. I was well aware of the fact that the Imperial family went through any mail directed to me. Most of them were delivered to Juliette Palace, but any problematic ones were filtered by them. The fact that the master of Romero Palace personally left this for me was an extremely positive sign. ‘Is he feeling a bit better? ……I accidentally said that I’ll stop avoiding him and apologized when he was in his ‘Sadie’ form, so did he accept that as an apology?’

“Ugh.”

The embarrassment filling up inside me made me clutch my forehead and groan. I had no way of defeating crown prince Cédric when he became young. Of course, I was the one in the wrong and I know he didn’t purposely show up in the worst possible condition because that would only make things difficult for him, but……

– Clap!

I gently slapped my cheek and gasped.

‘Our main character told me to do that too.’

I snapped out of it and looked at the card from the Baron couple again. I was attacked by twin assassins from the Holy Kingdom disguised as attendants not long after transmigrating into this world. Prince Consort had brainwashed thirteen year old kids to use them as assassins. The two of them had murdered the children who were supposed to be my attendants in order to infiltrate Juliette Palace, and those sacrificial victims were the twins from the House of Bellang, Renault and Étienne Bellang.

After that, I had sent money to the Barony for a while to at least help with the funeral expenses. After learning that the couple were using the money to fund an orphanage and create a canal, I anonymously sent some donations as well. However…

‘A letter to the esteemed moon of the Holy Kingdom, Prince Jesse Venetiaan.’

‘……Our small territory is extremely shabby and poor; we would usually never even dream about hosting such an esteemed guest as your highness. However, our territory is celebrating a small happy occasion, so we, despite the shame we feel about our humble territory, have sent this invitation, your highness.’

‘The orphanage that was able to break ground thanks to your help will be having a simple opening ceremony this coming December 19th. The rumors of how your highness is busy assisting our valiant Royal Highness and his friends have reached the edges of our Barony as well, but……’

‘If a Royal Priest who has received the blood of our Lord would grace us with his presence, it would be a once in a lifetime blessing and solace for the children of the orphanage.’

……I never expected them to want to see me first.

“I must go.”

– Aaarf

I mumbled to myself. Tithé, who was lying down on a soft cushion, played along. I petted his round head.

My ability to leave the Imperial Palace had been pretty free since receiving my Marquis title (other than the short period of time when I lost my powers), so I should be able to travel south if I inform the adults in advance. The southern tip of the Empire was even farther than the Duhem March. ‘It would be great if we could all go together.’

“Then this is the only thing left now.”

– Piiiii

Percy flew over and stood next to the plate to introduce the next item. It was what the punk of a crown prince had left along with the card……

“That will be three types of holy bombs.”

– Pipo!

The chimney bird chirped as if to say I was correct. I thoroughly observed the three orbs that were glowing blue, red, and white.

‘I’m sure this is from when I was unable to use my ether and lived in confinement……’

‘Did you figure out how to stabilize the holy stones while I was unconscious, your Royal Highness?’

‘Technically, what you said is not wrong.’

They were what I saw when I crawled into Romero late at night to chat with the crown prince. The orbs that contained Christelle, the crown prince, and Sir Johann’s powers were naturally powerful weapons. During the Warring Era, the Holy Kingdom is said to have used holy stones with special ether and launched them with catapults. Basically, these were grenades the Imperial family had created as experiments. The trap was that these did not have safety pins.

Anyway, what would be the reason he gave me something that would get me in a lot of trouble if it was taken out?

“……Probably for my protection. I am not a battle priest like Maartje.”

‘There was that time recently when I let my guard down and followed a stranger and was almost abducted.’

I did my best to rationalize the situation. However, the fact that I could accept it did not mean that I was not shocked. No matter what, I was a diplomatic hostage in the Imperial Palace. Until now, I had never had anything that could be a weapon. Other than cutlery, I couldn’t even have a paper knife in my room, but now I had bombs? I was thankful but maybe he was trusting me too much. ‘Did he get permission from his mother and godmother?’

– Squeeeeee

Demy started climbing the leg of the chair and snapped me out of my thoughts. This punk had shown quite a bit of curiosity toward the holy stone orbs that day as well. I supported the red panda’s butt to help him climb. Then I opened the bag that Ganael gifted me not too long ago. The young boy could not stand the fact that I was carrying my notebook, crystal bell, and snacks for the kids in my pocket and personally made it for me.

Anyway, it wasn’t bad that I had the means to protect myself. I valued my life.

‘I should keep it in here with the other stuff from now on.’

“Bell, notebook, badge, snacks, three holy bombs……”

‘And one more notebook.’ I cautiously picked up the old diary. Demy put his head in the bag and tilted his head. It was Old lady Pomme and Henriette’s keepsake. I thought that this was evidence for the Madame Victoire incident. That was why I expected the Imperial family to ask for it, but nobody requested it. The fact that the two culprits were dead and that all of the nobles who were victimized had been exploiting their residents was extremely important. That was why the diamond necklace from the Count’s House of Andresy ended up in the Imperial Safe but this notebook ended up staying with me.

I decided to take good care of this.

– Knock knock.

Ganael and Benjamin walked into the dining area with a large cart. I quickly closed my bag and hung it on the chair.

“Your highness, here is a simple brunch. Scrambled eggs with truffle oil, three freshly baked michettes with fig jam, salad with fresh goat cheese, kidney bean potage, and a lot of meat for now!” The young boy opened his arms and his gold eyes sparkled. I started laughing.

*

Today was Thursday, so I didn’t have my lesson with my teacher in the morning. That said, there was the Holy Knight lesson in the afternoon.

However, the latter was canceled as well.

The interior training ground needed fixing after the crown prince and Sir Johann’s spar while it was raining outside. I could see a piece of ice outside the window being wrapped by rain before slipping off. ‘It does seem very cold.’

– Shaaaaaaaaaaa……

– Crack, crackle……

The sound of rain and the firewood crackling echoed in the room. It was dark outside, but Juliette Palace was bright and loud. I was smiling as I sat across from the wall furnace.

“It’s my turn!”

Eva, who had come to play for the first time in a long while, energetically held the mallet before walking to her spot.

“Young Duchess, please show us your abilities!” The attendants of Juliette Palace were gathered together cheering the child on. The attendants of Romero Palace were cheering the crown prince’s team. The croquet room, which was an empty resting area that was modified, was so full that there was no room to move. Participants, royal servants and soldiers who came to watch, staff delivering snacks, and people betting on the outcome were being rowdy.

“I will strike Sir Johann’s ball.”

“I’m so scared. Please forgive me this one time, young Duchess.” The Holy Knight sulked. The room was full of energy because of this 3 on 3 croquet battle. Christelle, Sir Johann, and Sand were one team while the crown prince, Eva, and Vice Captain Élisabeth were the other. I decided to just watch because the numbers didn’t match.

It was disappointing because we could have played 4 vs 4 if Marquis François Duhem was here, but it was more entertaining watching my friends than hitting a ball.

– Screeeech

“Demy, come here. Apparently we can’t play with that ball.” I hugged Demy, who was trying to run out to the middle of the playing area. The red panda flailed his front paws and complained. ‘Oh no, your Majesty. I ask for your benevolence.’

“We can play with it later at night. Should we attempt to create a purple tulip again as well?”

– Whimper

“……You didn’t just say no, did you?”

I chuckled. The other two were apathetic about it as well. We tested it a few times but earth attribute divine beasts were unable to make purple tulips or sun halo weed grow. I didn’t know whether it was impossible or just something we should not do, but that was the situation. The two plants truly seemed to be miracles only the Almighty God could do.

“Wooooooooooow! The young Duchess did it!” I suddenly heard some loud cheers. I jerked my head up in shock.

“Blanquer! Blanquer! Blanquer!”

Eva really did succeed in striking Sir Johann’s ball and earned an extra shot, allowing her to hinder his progress as well. I energetically clapped as well.

“Oh no, this is so bad now.”

“Please don’t act weak, Sir Geens. I can see your tail.” The young Duchess’s lip twitched as she primly spoke. She seemed to be trying to look mature in front of Sir Johann despite being happy about her success.

Sand tightly grabbed the mallet and looked extremely nervous as he walked forward while Gerrit’s father was smiling. Christelle shouted, ‘Priest-nim, kill them all!’ Ganael and Pierre followed her and repeated, ‘kill them all!’ As well.

‘We can’t let the kids grow up to be hooligans……’

– Piiiii

Percy pecked at the notebook on the table. He seemed to be urging me to stop watching and organize this first. I chuckled and petted his back with my finger.

“Okay. I’ll focus and finish quickly.”

– Pii!

He then looked down at the traces of the quill pen.

? (Probably) the prophecies looked outside the original novel.

– Old fortune teller → Missing

A. Me: Not from this world.

B. Christelle: Nice, bright energy, close to the center of the world.

C. Crown prince: Will lose another relationship

– Modeste Bacary → Memory loss.

A. The shadow of death.

B. The stench of scheming.

C. Only one person’s pain.

A few days ago…

Vice Captain Élisabeth shared the old fortune teller’s non whereabouts, and this made me think hard about the existence trying to deliver this prophecy to us. I wanted to know who it was and why they were seeing these revelations. There was only one conclusion for this as well.

‘But it’s not important.’

Just like how I had no idea who used the Paten of Wishes to transmigrate me to this world, the principal agent of the prophecy may be somewhere I couldn’t reach as well. That meant that what was important was the ‘now.’ Not the person who allows us to see a future that may not come true, but the contents of it.

“But Bacary’s prophecy…… Seems to have fizzled out. You have been quiet since you returned from the Duchy as well.”

– Pipi?

Percy seemed to be saying, ‘what did I do?’ As he tilted his head. This divine item had come into my dreams to tell all sorts of scary stories on my way to the Blanquer Lord’s Castle. Something about how the Almighty God had prepared something for me, my being in danger… That was why I had been tense after hearing Bacary’s words but it had been quiet.

“How will you take care of this situation, hmm? Mr. Jung Percy?” I whispered and tickled his stomach with the feather pen. Percy ran away with his short legs.

I chuckled because he looked so cute when I made eye contact with the crown prince who had a mallet in his hand.

“……”

The reason Christelle received a revelation about being close to the center of the world is probably because she is the main character. It was also a fact that I didn’t belong in this world. However, Bacary’s ambiguous prophecy and the thing about how the crown prince would lose another relationship had not come true yet. Losing another relationship meant that he lost someone in the past.

‘Is it perhaps talking about his father, Prince Consort Alexandre? Then who is the person he will lose in the future?’

Of course, something like that must absolutely not happen, but we had to be prepared just in case. If it is someone so important that he needed a prophecy……

“Let’s go break some ttukbaegi!”

“Let’s gooooooo!”

“Dame Christelle, I don’t know what a ttukbaegi is, but you cannot break it with a mallet.”

‘Is it Christelle then? Is it talking about how Miss Ham Ga-in and the crown prince will be separated?’

“That can’t be. That would be a betrayal to the readers,” I coldly criticized. I admit that I was overly obsessed with the original, but I would not allow that to happen even if sand was thrown into both of my eyes.

“Your Royal highness, we have received a message from the Empress Palace.” David came over to the crown prince at that moment. I packed my notebook and perked my ears. The divine beasts and Percy all extended their necks to look at him as well.

“We received news that the inaugural ceremony for the Imperial Capital’s Garrison Officer Candidate School has been confirmed for December 19th. As a result, I am thinking about reorganizing your schedule for that day as well as the day before and day after, your Royal Highness.”

‘Ah.’

“Then I guess I can’t go,” I quietly mumbled.

The opening for Baron Bellang’s orphanage just had to be on the same day. I was going to officially ask about it, but that opportunity had completely disappeared. As the crown prince’s priest partner, my priority was following his schedule.

‘……I wanted to go. I wanted to say hello to the children’s parents as well.’

“I will be in the Bellang Barony until the morning of the 18th, so reorganize with that in mind.”

‘Huh?’

I jerked my head up. His orange eyes were silently looking at me. My mouth dropped, wondering if I had heard correctly.

“Are you heading south, your Royal highness? This is the first I’ve heard of it.” Vice Captain Élisabeth’s eyes opened wide as she looked at her childhood friend.

I smiled brightly and answered in his place.

“Yes, we received an invitation from a territory on the southern tip. Would you like to go with us?”

—

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