Guiding the Male Lead out of His Trauma - Chapter 34.2
The crown prince, terrified, shot to his feet.
Oregon, at his side, tried to protect him, but the other attendants were too busy fleeing in panic.
CRASH!
A wind gusted in through the shattered window, making the ripped map flutter wildly.
Even as the room was ravaged by gale-force winds and crystalline mana, I didn’t so much as blink.
Well, I was safe, after all.
‘If you’re going to lie, at least scratch me up a little, too…’
Although Acteon claimed it was hard to control, he was moving as freely as a fish in water.
Now that the bracelet had been released, he had even less reason to hold back.
‘During his second awakening, he was nearly in a state of rampage.’
But this was the first time he’d controlled it so freely by his own will.
Watching him, I was honestly stunned by his control.
With threatening momentum, the crystals he conjured filled the air, spreading out like the branches of a tree, consuming the space.
At the same time, he was so precise that none of those crystals threatened me at all.
It was the overwhelming display the others had wanted so desperately to see.
Yet even though he had shown them exactly what they’d asked for, the spectators couldn’t properly focus on Acteon.
The crown prince’s attendants, flustered and scattering, tripped over one another trying to escape.
Oregon intercepted the crystals that were headed toward the crown prince, and only then did the prince seem to remember me, shouting,
“S-Stop! Cadet! Restrain him, quickly!”
“Your Highness! Please, don’t move, it’s dangerous!”
“So I’m supposed to just hide here like a fool? Cadet! Why are you just standing there, not stopping him!”
Listening to the prince’s shouts, I put a hand on Acteon’s arm and shook my head, half-heartedly.
“I’m sorry. The stabilization isn’t going well.”
And I didn’t forget to add this final remark.
“It seems my abilities don’t meet Your Highness’s expectations. Please reconsider your offer of sponsorship.”
* * *
Acteon’s display of mana only ended after Oregon, risking his life, managed to clamp the control bracelet back on.
The furious crown prince stormed out of the room.
We had to endure more than a full day of interrogation on suspicion that we’d tried to harm the crown prince.
‘Where? That damned Bureau, of course.’
It hadn’t even been a day since I’d returned as a detainee, and the inspectors looked at us with exhausted, wary faces.
Honestly, I wouldn’t have wanted to get involved with us, either.
Lying flat on the floor, I empathized with their feelings.
‘I really thought this time I’d be sent to the dungeons, but it looks like I got lucky.’
Even for Acteon, whom I’d been most worried about, the punishment was mild.
The prideful crown prince couldn’t retract the command for the mana demonstration that he himself had issued.
So, grinding his teeth, he downplayed the incident as a simple accident in front of the inspectors and guides who had come to the audience room.
He let Acteon off with a light punishment of seventy-two hours of ‘loyalty education’, but that certainly wouldn’t be the end of it.
‘Of all things, I turned down his offer of sponsorship in the worst possible way. There’s bound to be backlash soon.’
Slipping over to the bars, I whispered toward the unseen cell next door.
“Acteon, I get why you’re angry. But what are you going to do? Now you’re caught up in my mess, too.”
There was a rustling, and then I heard his voice.
“What do you mean, caught up? It’s long past the point where I could draw a line between my business and yours.”
…True enough.
Instead, he gave a low chuckle and asked,
“Are you worried about me?”
“…Haa.”
“So you are worried.”
“I’m not one to talk, but you never listen to anyone either, do you…”
His laughter echoed even louder.
Right, well. What can I do? We got into trouble together, so we’ll have to take the consequences together, too.
He consoled my uneasy mind.
“That’s good. Getting someone to worry about you. Though I’m sure you’ll be angry at me for saying so.”
“Are you asking me to get mad?”
“Haha, no. But it’s fine for now.”
He made a thoughtful sound and then said,
“I did it because I decided this much would be fine. You’ll know soon enough.”
“Know what…”
“About my father.”
Without thinking, I let out a sigh at the reminder of Duke Brondearn that he’d just given me.
Even after getting past the wall that was the crown prince, yet another obstacle stood in the way.
‘Is it time to see just how deep a Transcendent’s obsession for a Guide runs?’
I knew all too well that Glock Brondearn had his eyes on me.
He wanted to bring me into the family, to further solidify his unstable power, which couldn’t be supported by Transcendent alone.
But whether he would be so favorably disposed toward a guide who had crossed the crown prince—I’d have to go find out for myself.
That evening, someone from Brondearn came to the Bureau.
It wasn’t Blair, but Acteon didn’t care. He seemed to have expected as much.
And before even a month had passed, we returned to the manor where we’d stayed for half a year.
“You two seem to have grown closer. What are your thoughts on an engagement?”
At the duke’s grand hospitality, I quietly spit out the water I’d been drinking.
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