Beguiling the Enemy’s Patriarch - Chapter 106

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 106
Even after two years had passed, I still despised the whispers that followed whenever someone caught sight of me. My expression would naturally furrow in displeasure. Yet Raulus responded with casual indifference.
[It’s because you’re beautiful.]
“Wasn’t that the case before?”
[You realize that’s a rather tactless thing to say, don’t you?]
Yes, I’ll admit it. It does sound rather tactless. But it’s the truth!
“I know I’m attractive. But this isn’t something new, is it? I’ve had the same face for nearly three years since becoming Yerenika. So why is the reaction suddenly so intense lately? That’s what I’m asking.”
[Hmm.]
After circling halfway around the Temple, we emerged onto a vast courtyard overlooking an open mountainside below. I settled myself in the middle of the gently sloping grounds. The hem of my light sundress draped heavily over the tall grass. I adjusted my skirt as I concluded my thought.
“In any case, I don’t think that’s the reason.”
[Hmm….]
“Raulus, since no one’s watching, would you mind transforming into your larger form again?”
[Why, so you can use me as a pillow again?]
Bingo. Raulus was wonderfully warm and soft, making him perfect as a substitute for a pillow or stuffed animal. Moreover, within the Temple, I could put him to use in slightly different ways. Like this.
“Hehe. A bed, a bed.”
[…I’ve really spoiled you rotten.]
In an instant, Raulus expanded to an enormous size once more, grumbling all the while yet lowering himself so I could nestle comfortably against his back. It was a luxury I could only enjoy when visiting the Temple. Outside its walls, Raulus couldn’t move about in this form. I leaned my back against his and stretched my limbs out fully.
“Ah, this is wonderful.”
The sunset was descending beyond the mountains. With not a single cloud in the sky, I could clearly see the sun gradually disappearing beyond the ridge. The entire sky had turned crimson.
“You know, lately I’ve been feeling somewhat anxious.”
[That’s something you always say. I thought it was just a habit of yours.]
“This is different.”
Raulus’s tail wrapped around me completely. I hugged the large, fluffy tail and murmured softly.
“You said you trust my instincts, Lari.”
[The most accurate instincts there are.]
The response came immediately. I exhaled a sigh and muttered quietly.
“I have a feeling the time is drawing near.”
More than half a year had passed since the faint signal from the seed of divinity had vanished. It was more than enough time for Hades to adapt to Soleia’s body in any manner he chose.
One fortunate thing was that Hades wouldn’t be able to pinpoint my exact location. Lebovni was a nation that had not yet fully embraced magic, so it received greater protection from the divine than other lands.
But knowing that I was the Princess of Lebovni, he would surely target the Royal Palace first.
“Should I leave Lebovni?”
[Leave and go where?]
Raulus posed the question back to me. I laughed and corrected my previous statement.
“Even if I can’t leave Lebovni, shouldn’t I at least leave the Royal Palace? I’d rather not witness the ground beneath our palace splitting open.”
[There’s no need to push yourself, little one. You’re allowed to be a bit more spoiled.]
“Tch. I’m not Brizni or Alexio. Don’t treat me like a child.”
Even as I said this, I burrowed deeper into the soft fur. The divinity that Raulus had absorbed from the Temple enveloped my body, drying the beads of sweat that had formed on my forehead and back. My skin quickly became soft and dry. Yet my energy remained depleted, so
“…I’m remembering the old days.”
For some reason, those days kept returning to my mind. The days in Belgot when I had struggled under the weight of the earth. Those three and a half months when I couldn’t endure even a single day without being plagued by lethargy.
Compared to Belgot, the earth of Lebovni was light enough to bring tears to my eyes. As long as I was careful, there was nowhere I couldn’t go. When I returned to Lebovni, the first things I tasted were liberation and relief. At least I would never have to experience that agony again while walking the streets.
Of course, much time had passed, and Lebovni was now gradually beginning to take interest in magical research and mage cultivation as it joined the tide of the era. But since my body could now protect itself, there was nothing to worry about.
Returning to Lebovni two years ago had been an excellent decision considering my future life. Yet still… I missed that land. More precisely, I missed those days when I endured each moment in that place.
“…Don’t read my mind.”
I murmured while burying my face in Raulus’s soft silver fur. Raulus didn’t answer. But I knew he wasn’t avoiding looking into my heart. Raulus always saw through me to an almost excessive degree.
“You’re terrible, really.”
So I just let my thoughts spill out of my mouth.
“You’re not going to abandon me like this forever, are you?”
[Hmm…]
“If you were going to do this, you shouldn’t have been so affectionate in your letters. You’re always like this.”
[…]
“I really won’t let this go…”
The sorrow that had accumulated over three months kept trying to crack open the lid and overflow. Nearly two years of having to endure alone wasn’t something I could dismiss no matter how much I shook my head—it was still a bit overwhelming. Even though peaceful days were continuing, I felt as though I were wandering through a vast, empty sea. No matter how special Mother and Father were to me, no matter how kind Sister Tezebia was, no matter how Sergei Lebanon looked after me without showing it, their love wasn’t directed at me.
I was making the same effort I had when I first fell into this world—showing my family only joy and happiness. The only way to repay their love was for me to live long, happy, and healthy as Yerenika. But conversely, that meant there was nowhere in this place for me to lean on or rely on. Without Raulus, I might have fallen into depression.
However, since the letters from the only man who gave me stability in this world had stopped coming, even with Raulus present, a melancholy that couldn’t be resolved had been accumulating little by little.
I opened my eyes wide and held back my tears. I can’t cry. Crying means losing. I won’t cry. I won’t.
[Tsk. He really isn’t a good man. Making a child cry like this.]
I felt Raulus’s tail swaying gently as it stroked my head. The silver cross hanging from my right earlobe jingled softly. Whether it was because the sacred power felt comforting or because I was so exhausted, my body grew increasingly drowsy. Blink. My eyes closed slowly. Raulus’s voice, clicking his tongue and muttering something, echoed from far away.
[I’m calling you so openly—when you come, come quickly…]
I couldn’t remember exactly what that last statement meant.
* * *
A week at the Temple passed slowly.
“It’s difficult…”
[What exactly is difficult? You do fine pulling it out.]
“It’s difficult. The feeling is strange, that’s what I mean.”
I whined and sprawled out on the Prayer Chamber floor. Controlling the sacred power within my body was twice as complicated as drawing it out and using it.
To give a similar example, it was like reading and gathering the flow of blood moving through blood vessels into one place. Changing a flow that was already moving in one direction according to my will consumed considerable mental and physical stamina simultaneously.
I rolled my body dejectedly. Rolling around.
“How am I supposed to do this faster?”
When magical power penetrated into my body, I had to immediately heal the damaged areas. Once I was hit by magical power, there was no time to concentrate or anything else, so that moment’s response was important… Raulus offered words of consolation in his own way.
[It’s because you’re not skilled yet. You’ve only been at it for a week and you’re already complaining.]
“…That may be true.”
Right. It’s too early to give up. I pushed my upper body up with effort. But training isn’t something that works with just mental fortitude—my body, already pushed to its limits, collapsed right back down the moment I tried to raise it. I spoke listlessly.
“Not today, then. I don’t think I can do any more.”
[Right. It looks that way to me too.]
The moment I accepted the Temple’s sacred power, it drained right back out, so in the end it was zero. My energy was being sucked away steadily. If I returned to the Royal Palace like this, I’d definitely be confined to my room for days. I stretched out on the Prayer Chamber floor again. A sigh-tinged murmur escaped.
“I need to go down this evening…”
[Ah. Was today the day you were going down?]
“Yes. Sergei Lebanon said he’d be waiting and left…”
If I hadn’t made a promise, I could have recovered my strength and gone down tomorrow or the day after, but since I’d already promised to meet him, there was no helping it. Raulus tapped his paw meaningfully.
[Will you make it in time?]
“Pardon?”
[No, come here, little one. How else could you possibly endure what lies ahead?]
The words struck me as peculiar, yet I rolled my body forward regardless, tilting my head in confusion.
Tumble, tumble.
[Tsk. What a pathetic little morsel.]
Raulus flicked me with his snout—a gesture so slight, yet my body soared through the air before landing gently upon his soft, silvery fur.
I lay sprawled across Raulus’s broad back like laundry hung to dry, gazing up at the Prayer Chamber’s ceiling as the sacred energy he had absorbed from the Temple flowed seamlessly into me.
How I wished Raulus would fully manifest in the physical world and infuse me with his divinity. Alas, I lacked the power to summon such a manifestation—the most I could sustain on my own strength was a wolf cub’s form.
In truth, I had only been able to summon Raulus at all by borrowing the power of the baptismal name of Belgot’s first Emperor. It had been an incomplete summoning from the very beginning.
So my only hope rested upon the summoning ceremony held once every ten years, when Belgot’s Emperor would call forth Raulus’s true manifestation. Two years had already passed—just three more to wait.
“Why must my body remain in this wretched state…”
[How tedious of you to lament anew.]
“Yes, you’re right about that.”
I shook my head vigorously, casting aside such despondent thoughts. What good would endless lamentation serve? I had no choice but to accept this form for the rest of my life.
[That should suffice. Rise now. We depart.]
“Oof!”
My body lifted skyward once more. Instinctively, I summoned my sacred energy to steady myself beneath my feet, descending slowly to the ground. I cried out miserably.
“Just a bit longer, please!”
[No. That will be enough.]
“But if I ride like this, I’ll exhaust myself in no time! I might collapse before we even reach the Royal Palace!”
[It will be fine. The journey won’t take nearly as long as you think.]
What was he talking about? It still required a solid half day of riding to reach the Royal Palace. Even if I arrived fully charged with energy, it wouldn’t be enough…
[Come now. Let’s be swift about it.]
Yet with Raulus nudging my back insistently with his snout, I had no choice but to reluctantly depart the Temple, tears streaming down my face.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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