Beguiling the Enemy’s Patriarch - Chapter 108

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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 108
I stopped stirring the stew and looked down at Raulus. He had been lying there languidly, but suddenly sprang up with a bounce and leaped beneath the table. I gasped and bent down to peer under it.
“Where are you going?”
[I’m not going anywhere. It’s just more comfortable here.]
What was that supposed to mean? I tilted my head in confusion and straightened back up.
“That’s strange. You used to cling to me day and night without fail.”
He had mentioned that the farther he was from his summoner, the more restrictions bound him to the material realm. That was why Raulus always refused to leave my side. What had gotten into him today? Puzzled, I returned to stirring the stew. The steam that had been billowing vigorously had dissipated considerably. The bowl had cooled to just the right temperature.
The generously cut chunks of beef and vegetable pieces looked appetizing. The meat stew was the signature dish of Arthur’s Barrel, and it was my favorite menu item.
“….”
Yet I could not move my spoon. Clink. The silver cross earring hanging from my right earlobe swayed gently. The earring dangled on its own despite the stillness of the indoors, and the strands of hair spilling out from beneath my hood trembled faintly.
“….”
Drops of stew fell from the spoon suspended in mid-air. I blinked slowly.
What was I feeling right now?
What was I….
“….”
What was I looking at?
The spoon clattered downward. Clang. It struck the bowl with a sound I did not wish to hear. Yet that sound did not reach my ears. The tavern had fallen into a silence as complete as death. Just moments before, it had been so loud I could not even hear the conversations of those beside me.
But then….
Tap, tap.
A long index finger tapped slowly and deliberately against the table. Amid the sudden silence marked by a sharp whine, only that sound reverberated through my mind. With that as the beginning, my frozen thoughts slowly began to move again. I blurted out something, anything.
“…Is this a dream?”
No answer came. I blinked again. The scene before my eyes had not changed. The hem of a black robe. A hood drawn down to beneath my eyes. The lower half of the face was entirely concealed beneath a black mask. The sharp bridge of the nose and the contours flowing down through the mouth and jaw were visible as raised lines against the fitted mask.
And then, like a lie, the currents within my body began to tremble faintly. Slowly, yet unmistakably, the Holy Power that had sunk nearly to the depths was being drawn upward. I spoke again, calmly.
“It must be a dream.”
There should have been a customary response to this. I could see the corners of the mouth hidden behind the mask being pulled slightly upward.
“No, it’s not.”
A single word came back. The fingertip that had been gently tapping the table lightly grazed the back of my hand. It was not a grasp. Merely a touch.
“…Ah.”
Yet from that brief, instantaneous contact, the Holy Power surged abruptly to the very edge of my consciousness. I swallowed a gasp involuntarily.
So that means, that means….
A man who had appeared suddenly now sat across from me, slowly lifting his hood. Beneath the impenetrably dark hood, a deep crimson gleamed. I stopped thinking. In one motion, I rose to my feet and seized the hand that was trying to slip away from grazing the back of mine. The hand, warm with gentle heat, yielded and grasped mine in return. I bit my lip hard, then murmured through my teeth.
“…You’re lying.”
“That’s not it either.”
This answer came more quickly. The man, resting his chin casually against the back of his hand, smiled softly. More than half of his face was still hidden by the mask and hood, yet the curve of his mouth was utterly familiar. My hands moved faster than my mind. Without hesitation, my hand reached up and lifted the hood he wore.
“…Ah.”
A short gasp escaped me. I pulled the hood back down without looking further. I released the hand I had been holding and grabbed his arm instead. Gripping it tightly so as not to let go, I pulled him up from his seat. Unable to decide what to say first, I laughed and cried at once.
“…Come with me.”
* * *
Bang. The back door of the tavern flew open as though it might tear from its hinges. The Holy Power that had suddenly surged forth overflowed chaotically from my body. Yet I had no composure to control it. The force of the power that had thrust the door open now closed it again. Another violent bang.
A sharp, pungent aroma struck my nostrils. Wine barrels were stacked neatly along the walls. It seemed I had entered the Wine Storage. But such details hardly mattered. The man I had pulled along by the hand spoke with laughter threading through his voice.
“I didn’t realize you’d become so aggressive in my absence.”
“Be quiet.”
I had no patience for his continued murmuring. I seized his robe collar roughly and pulled him down toward me. When I swept back his hood with my other hand, silver hair gleamed in the darkness, catching what little light existed.
The hair was slightly shorter than I remembered, falling across his forehead in disarray. I let out a sharp breath and dragged down the black mask that covered half his face.
Only then did the face before me come fully into view. For a moment, I lost all words. Long fingers brushed lightly against my hood’s edge, and that small gesture sent it sliding down the back of my neck. It was only after he pressed a soft kiss to the ends of my hair that his voice finally broke free, strained and restrained.
I glared at him and spoke.
“Is this some kind of joke?”
“No. This is the third time you’ve asked me that.”
The man who had appeared as suddenly as if dropped from the sky smiled softly. That mouth I remembered traced a smooth arc. Even after two years, it remained a face that was terrible for my heart.
Auredhian Belgot reached out with his characteristic loose expression. His fingertips brushed through my hair, grazing lightly across my ear and jaw. Even that feather-light contact made my body flinch and recoil. He lowered his head toward me, whispering low.
“You wouldn’t give me an answer, so I came myself.”
“What do you mean I didn’t answer? You’re the one who never did!”
I shot back fiercely, exasperated. Yet despite my words, my heart began to race faster and faster. His face was close. The hand that had lingered near my ear and jaw now cradled my cheek. An endless, clean, refined scent emanated from him.
I took short, shallow breaths. If I breathed deeply, I feared my thoughts would stop entirely. I feared I would lose all control over my own body.
“…Really.”
But I had to confirm it. I bit my lip hard and looked up into those reddish violet eyes so close to mine.
“Is it really you? Auredhian Belgot?”
“Who else could get this close to you?”
He answered my question with a question. My expression crumpled involuntarily. I began listing every possibility in a trembling voice.
“An illusion. A phantom. A mirage. Or maybe I’m in such a state that I’m dreaming while standing. Or perhaps…”
“Or perhaps?”
At a distance where our lips would touch any moment, Auredhian asked softly, yet with a strangely low tone.
“Or perhaps someone who clings to me day and night without fail?”
“What… what are you…”
“Or perhaps… an old childhood friend? Someone connected by marriage ties?”
His tone remained gentle, yet there was an unmistakable edge to it.
“Either way, you seemed far too intimate with them.”
“This man is really…”
“I don’t know if I have the right to say this anymore, but…”
I fell silent, utterly speechless. This man who had somehow found his way to Lebovni, to this exact tavern where I stood, was saying things he didn’t even mean. The words that followed carried the tone of someone seeking permission.
“Can I kiss you?”
“…”
“Is that not allowed?”
And there was something almost desperate in his expression. In those violet eyes, appearing even more crimson in the darkness, I could see something wavering—some emotion I understood all too well.
I finally contorted my face. My heart kept pounding relentlessly. I didn’t know whether what shook me now was sorrow or joy, or perhaps old anger welling up violently. But one thing was certain: this man was saying something foolish.
Eventually, a fierce voice burst out.
“Are you playing with me right now?”
I reached up and wrapped my arms around his neck. The distance that was already close became seamless.
“I hate you, I really do…”
Our lips met. Immediately, his familiar scent drifted across the small gap between our lips. I felt Auredhian stiffen slightly at the contact—despite the fact that he was the one who had drawn this close to me first.
Yet that too was fleeting. Soon, warm hands cradled both my cheeks. My head tilted naturally, and the overwhelming sensation burrowed deep within me.
I hadn’t touched a single drop of wine to my lips, yet whether from the sharp, tangy aroma of grapes hanging in the air or from the achingly familiar presence I was accepting for the first time in two years, that night of reunion felt hazy, as though I were intoxicated.

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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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