I Picked Up the Second Male Lead After the Ending - Chapter 1

Part 1

The loved but frail youngest princess.

That was my role in the novel that I transmigrated in.

And there’s one more thing.

The empire in the novel, where the lovey-dovey moments and misfortunes of the main characters took place, beside it was a small country that sticks to that empire like a booger. And I’m the princess of that ‘small kingdom’.

Furthermore, the story is already over, the male lead and female lead have both confirmed each other’s feelings and even got married, becoming the emperor and empress, eating and living well together.

Since the happy ending was already attained, I don’t need to worry about changing the original plot of the novel like other transmigration stories!

I’m also not a villainess, so there’s no need to worry about my life being at stake in the future!

I wasn’t even a maid or a noble lady passing by, but a complimentary princess!

On top of that!

“Princess, what would you like to wear today? A bright white dress that matches the princess’s lovely blonde hair and a pink dress that goes well with your fair skin look good.”

I’m a pretty 18-year-old girl with blonde hair and a cute appearance.

“For teatime this afternoon, we prepared the strawberry cake that the princess likes. And for tea, of course, it’s the milk tea that the princess loves.”

And everything delicious is mine.

“Princess! I’ve got the shoes of the famous Imperial designer you mentioned at that time! These are pretty pink shoes!”

Even if it’s a small country, but since I’m a princess, I can have everything I want.

“Ooh~ my princess, you were waiting to have tea time with your father.”

“What are you saying, Father? You’re not the only one who was invited.”

“Huh? It wasn’t just me? I was so happy to know I was the only one my cutie invited, I couldn’t even sleep last night.”

I also have a father and brothers who love me so much. In other words, the king and Princes of the kingdom.

After my transmigration, everything was peaceful and happy.

With just one exception.

And that was my favorite character in the novel that I transmigrated in.

The second male lead.

Part 2

“Then, the Grand Duke must have been driven to the north right now.”

“It’s kind of weird to say he got kicked out. Let’s just say he became the lord of that place······.”

“What’s the use of being the lord of the north where not even a single blade of grass grow? Even if you wanted to start farming, where are you going to procure all the resources, the land was so frozen that even barbarians don’t attempt to intrude the land.”

“That’s right. It’s no different from being exiled. If you ask me to live there, I won’t be able to survive.”

What my father and brothers talk about as they sat together was······ the recent status of the novel character I love the most, my favorite character.

Correct.

In this novel, my favorite character was not the main male protagonist but the second male lead.

“Asuka’s Song” was a passionate romance novel. The book was tremendously popular and it sounds very interesting, so I bought a collection of the novel, fell for the story, and end up rehashing it over and over again.

The beautiful country lord’s daughter, the female lead, accidentally met the prince, the male lead of the novel, when he went to the border of the kingdom to avoid the eyes of his stepmother, the empress, and like the usual, the two fell in love with each other.

After overcoming all the adversities, the two ended up with a happy ending as the emperor and empress of the Empire.

And in the novel, my favorite character was not the male lead, which was a friendly and warm-hearted man.

My favorite character, who was desperately in love with the female lead, but still wasn’t chosen in the end, was the second male lead.

His name is also wonderful, Richt de Fairspren!

······formerly, but since he’s been driven to the north and given the Stern State, he became Richt de Stern.

Customary to cold characters, Richt, which has black hair and black eyes, first and foremost, was exactly my ideal guy.

He’s tall, has long legs, broad shoulders, and of course, his face was totally my style.

The black pupil in his beautiful eyes, straight nose, his firm lips that were always in a straight line by default, was so sexy when he smiles. Everything was exactly my type!

Unlike the male lead who was well-known to have a kind and caring personality, he rarely shows how he actually feels, but deep inside he was warm-hearted to the person he likes.

In a literal sense,

Tsun. De. Re.

When the female lead got hurt, he infuriatedly said, ‘How the hell are you going to protect your brother, when you can’t even take care of your own body.’ But still called for the Imperial Physician to treat her.

When he was nervously worried about the female lead, he even went to visit her late at night, then witnessed the male and female lead sleeping together while holding hands. I was so distressed with the second male lead’s situation, I accidentally ripped-off my blanket!

When the female lead gave him a personally embroidered handkerchief as a birthday gift, he grumbled, then said, ‘I’m not sure what to do with this.’ But the truth is, he liked it very much that every night he would unfold and look at it.

Is that all?

Instead of the male lead, who is too nice and can’t stand up for the female lead because of his position as the crown prince, he swore non-stop at those who persecuted the female lead. He even has a cool personality! What the heck?!

Every aspect of him suited to my taste, and all his lines make my heart beat crazily.

But····· Since the story belongs to the male and female lead, after the two of them confirmed each other’s feelings, our abandoned second male lead······ blackened.

In order to have the female lead, he waged a war against his brother, but he couldn’t win against the main character’s plot armor, and as a result, our second male lead lost.

Thus, the male lead and the female lead had their happy ending, and my favorite second male lead was expelled to the north, as my father and brothers accounted.

Part 3

“I’ve been observing him since before, and I didn’t like the look on that Grand Duke’s eyes.”

What’s wrong with the look of our second male lead’s eyes? It’s a bit fierce, but if it’s domineering, then it’s nice!

Besides, if you look closely, the fierce looking eyes and the gloomy black pupils are one of the charming points of our Richt!

“Did you also feel that way, brother? Me too! Haa······. When I went as an envoy before, I met there a pretty lady, so I asked her to dance, but the Grand Duke suddenly just came over at us and told me to get lost!”

That’s because the one you asked to dance is the female lead, brother.

Because of the female lead’s buff, strange men consistently roam around her, that’s why our second male lead’s always there to protect her.

He’s like a strong dog protecting its master, he’s so cute!

“First of all, the fact that he caused a rebellion······. You two shouldn’t fight over the throne like that and severe your brotherly relations. Do you understand?”

Suddenly, the story headed to my father’s sermons about brotherhood, friendship, and the long history of our Garten Royal Family.

Thanks to this, I forcibly learned about my genealogy, and also learned that my father’s bald forehead was not because of hereditary hair loss.

The truth is······ I really think it’s because of hair loss······.

“Um······.”

As my father stopped talking for a while and breathed, I stealthily took my chance.

Six fluttering eyes looked at me, as if they would not let a single word from their cute and lovely daughter and sister slip.

“Is it very cold there?”

“There?”

“That place called Stern Territory.”

“It’s not a joke! Not a single blade of grass grows. Talk about agriculture, it’s too cold so there aren’t many farmers. If there’s only means to live and eat, there would also be farmers.”

“Peony, you don’t have to worry if it’s cold or not there. All you have to do is stay warm in Garten all the time.”

“Oh, right, how’s your cold? Are you all right?”

I just asked one question if it was cold there, then you guys end up with such sweet looks and warm words.

In fact, there was a reason why they were so worried.

Originally, Princess Peony’s body, which I transmigrated into, was very weak.

It can’t be said that there is a part of her that is specifically sick, but she was just inherently weak. I get sick if I experience even a bit of hardship, and I live with a cold all year round.

However, it is fortunate that Garten has this special product, which is honey, that was good for rejuvenation and it is very effective in helping to quickly recover energy.

Therefore, they were reacting with such a fuss even if it’s just a cold.

“I’m almost better.”

“What do you mean ‘almost’! You’re barely fully recovered! Oh, my goodness, who asked us to have tea time with our sick princess?”

“Isn’t it brother? He told me that the roses in the garden look pretty! He also said that he’s going to show it to Peony!”

“Get your words straight! When did I say the roses are pretty?! What I said is our Peony is prettier than a rose!”

“True. It’s been a long time since you said something right, brother!”

“Correct! Roses don’t even compare to our Peony’s beauty!”

“Our two prince speaks honest words only. This father is so proud of your high standards.”

Consecutively, glistening eyes poured down on me.

H-Hey. I’ll feel burdened if you look at me like that·····.

“My father and brothers are so worried about me like this, I already feel so much better.”

As I smiled and talked, they looked at me with overflowing love in their eyes.

“Look, what I mean is······ How cold is it in that place in the north? Like for example?

With a smile, I turned the subject of the conversation back to the north.

“How cold is it, you ask······.”

My father, who was about to explain, suddenly pursed his lips.

Then, he quickly turned his gaze over to my eldest brother. My eldest brother then glanced at my second older brother with an ambiguous smile.

My eyes naturally shifted from my father to my eldest brother and then to my second older brother.

“Uh······ That······.”

Baffled by the sudden gaze, my second older brother tried to say.

“How cold is it, you ask······.”

I had this hunch.

Neither my father nor my eldest brother nor my second older brother really knew how cold it was there.

It was apparent that none of them had been there. Indeed, there’s no purpose for my father and brothers to go to the cold empire of the north.

“It’s very, very, very, cold.”

It was the wise king of the warm kingdom of Garten who cleared up the situation.

“Therefore, you don’t need to be curious about that scary place, Peony. You just have to live happily with this father and brothers in the warm Garten Kingdom.”

“But wouldn’t Grand Duke Stern be cold in such a cold place?”

I keep worrying about my favorite character, what can I do?

“That’s his problem, not yours.”

My second older brother said casually then gulped his tea.

For your information······ The black tea that you’re currently drinking is the tea that my favorite character likes the most. As a member of the Imperial Family, his taste is exceptionally classy, that he insisted on drinking only the black tea from Garten.

Was he still able to drink warm tea in that cold place where he’s currently in?

Surely, because he’s the Grand Duke who was exiled in the north due to treason, it’s not possible that he could only drink cold water over there, right?

“Tsk tsk, that’s why he shouldn’t have started a rebellion. If he’d just stayed still, he would have lived in the Imperial Capital as a member of the royal family all his life.”

My eldest brother clicked his tongue and took a bite of the strawberry cake.

That too······ was our second male lead’s favorite cake. Even if he’s a manly guy with a handsome face and coarse mouth, he has a sweet tooth.

I also like his palate!

Since the northern part is short of all resources, much more that there will also be no sweet desserts in there, right?

Agh! By any chance! What if there’s also nothing to eat, isn’t our Richt going to be very skinny?

“Our Peony is so kind that this father is worried. You care about the Empire’s Grand Duke, though you don’t have to pay attention to him······. You’re this soft-hearted. You’ll have to live with this father forever.”

No, that’s because he’s my favorite novel character! Though he probably doesn’t even know who I am······.

Hmm? Wait a minute.

My brain suddenly started conceptualizing.

Because of the happy ending of the main characters, my favorite character was driven to the north like a duck egg on the Nakdong River.

And my father, who was sitting merrily in front of me was a king. And I was a princess of a small but prosperous country next to the empire.

In other words, with very sufficient qualifications to marry a member of the royal family.

This····· I think it’s the best condition for me to pick up my favorite character, who is like an abandoned cat, right?

“Excuse me, Father?”

I looked at my father with the most beautiful smile I could muster.

Who said that a fan will never be able to get close to his idol? Even if he’s a passed-over baton, I’ll run the relay! I’ll even receive him with two hands!

I can also run the relay all by myself!

“Yes. My daughter~”

My father looked at me with an overindulgently loving expression on his face.

“Well, I have a favor to ask.”

“Yes, yes. Just say it. Do you want me to get you a new pretty dress? Or shall I buy you the whole dessert shop that you like?”

“No. It’s not that.”

“Then?”

“Well······ will you grant it?”

“You should let me hear your request first, before I decide·····”

“It’s my greatest wish in my whole life, won’t you grant it?”

With her big eyes open as wide as possible, she looked at her father with a sad expression.

In addition, I gathered my small hands together, held them tightly, and then raised them up to my chest to express my earnestness.

“Ah, what are you talking about! If it’s the wish of our beloved youngest daughter, I’ll grant you anything!”

Nice, it’s a success.

She smiled more brightly than before and said her wish towards her father, who laughed loudly and shouted that he will grant everything that his daughter wants.

“I want to marry the Northern Duke of Stern!”

Black tea spilled from my second older brother’s mouth, and it ran through his chin and neck. And the chewed strawberries in my older brother’s mouth fell to the table.

And my father·····.

Crash!

Fell off his chair and passed out.