Beguiling the Enemy’s Patriarch - Chapter 11

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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 11
I learned the truth through a conversation between Auredhian and Rosel, who claimed to be the master of the Belgot Magic Tower itself.
I clung to the Emperor’s back and listened to their exchange. Well, the content of that conversation was quite something. Rosel, standing at a distance, spoke in a loud voice.
“No cure has been discovered to date!”
Since I was in the way, he couldn’t approach any closer and had to shout from afar. What a spectacle this was. Moreover, the conversation itself was deeply unsettling.
“It is established doctrine that those with mana incompatibility typically do not survive beyond five years of age. I’m uncertain how Your Highness has managed, but….”
“Five years?”
The words struck me like a thunderbolt from a clear sky, and I suddenly thrust my head out from behind the Emperor’s back. Five years? Five years!
“Yes. That is typically the case. Even if one lived in a place where magic was not commercialized, mana is not confined to the earth alone….”
….
“Is it not one of the two most powerful forces that compose this world? It would not be an exaggeration to say that mana permeates the very ground beneath our feet and the air we breathe. It is only natural that those with mana incompatibility struggle to survive.”
No, don’t deliver a death sentence with such a composed expression! I was so dumbfounded that my mouth fell open. Rosel quickly added, as if making an excuse.
“Ah, but what I mean to say is that Your Highness is an exception. After all, you have reached adulthood without incident, have you not?”
That was only true when I was the real Yerenika. Actually, if I had truly been Yerenika, I wouldn’t have been mana incompatible in the first place. My hands trembled as I calculated how many months I had been in this world. I had just completed eight months and was now entering my ninth.
“Four years and three months…!”
“Your Highness?”
The Emperor turned to look at me. The world spun dizzily before my eyes, and my mouth fell open. Four years and three months. That was the lifespan I had remaining in this world!
…A terminal diagnosis! I bolted to my feet.
“Am I insane?”
“Wait. Wait.”
The Emperor swiftly grabbed my suddenly upright body and pulled me back down onto his lap.
“Continue, Rosel.”
And most fortunately, I was able to escape my panic almost immediately. It was thanks to Rosel, the master of the Belgot Magic Tower, who quickly opened his mouth.
“I cautiously hypothesize that the holiness Your Majesty possesses may be neutralizing the damage caused by mana….”
“Holiness and mana. That could indeed be possible.”
Holiness! I clung tightly to the Emperor’s back, and upon hearing that word, my mouth fell open. Now that I thought about it, the mysterious power of this world was not limited to mana alone. This world was one where gods actually existed.
Belgot was a land devoid of mana stones and mana itself, but in exchange, it was a holy empire blessed by the divine. And the Belgot Imperial Family had inherited the bloodline of Raulus, the god of peace and prosperity, generation after generation. Truly, descendants of the divine. Living incarnations of divinity!
I quickly searched through my memories of the original work. The story of the Belgot Imperial Family was covered in detail in Decarve’s side story. The very side story where Auredhian died. A passage that had been seared into my memory came rushing back.
[Once one touches black magic, the holiness passed down through generations of the Belgot Imperial Family becomes as good as abandoned. Yet there was not a shred of regret or lingering attachment. Had such a thing existed, he would never have killed the previous emperor with his own hands.]
How many tears did I shed reading that side story, “The Darkness That Loved Light”?
Decarve abandoned his holiness and turned to black magic to bring Brizni back from Lebovni. And he made Auredhian into an experimental subject for black magic. In other words, he turned him into a zombie. This man was a figure from the previous generation who found no peace even after death in the original work.
I wept bitterly over Decarve’s twisted obsession and love for Brizni, then cursed him—How could he kill his own father like this! You mad, unfilial bastard!—and then ultimately wept again, wondering what love was that it could destroy a person so thoroughly. The memory of pitying that wretched villain surfaced vividly.
In any case, what mattered here was not the villain who had yet to be born, but the villain’s father. The man right before my eyes. The young Emperor of Belgot. The head of the Church and master of the empire, blessed with the holiness of the god Raulus.
I turned my head sharply to look up at Auredhian. Rosel delivered the confirmation.
“With holiness of His Majesty’s caliber nearby, Your Highness should be able to find peace of mind.”
Oh. So the holiness the Emperor possessed could save this hopeless body of mine…?
The conversation continued.
“Even without His Majesty actively using his holiness, there is an aura that lingers in his vicinity. It appears Your Highness is reacting to that aura.”
“Hmm.”
“Your Highness, have you perhaps received the blessing of the god Raulus?”
Rosel shouted at me from a distance, his voice carrying across the space between us. I stood there like an idiot, my mouth hanging open.
Had I received the blessing of Raulus? As I blinked in confusion, Auredhian spelled it out for me carefully.
“Princess, have you been baptized?”
“Ah. Baptism.”
I quickly flipped through the original work in my mind. The blessing of Raulus. Baptism.
But I didn’t even need to recall the original. I remembered that the moment I learned Tezebia was pregnant with Brizni, I went to the Temple and received a blessing for the child in the womb. Most members of the royal family receive divine blessing before birth or immediately after. Would I be any different? I was the youngest princess, cherished by all of Lebovni.
“I must have received it.”
“…Must have?”
“I received it.”
Probably. I swallowed the rest of my words. Those crimson eyes grew deeply suspicious at my vague answer, but I ignored it.
I didn’t know Yerenika’s baptismal name, but I knew well enough that asking for it would be rude. In this world, revealing one’s baptismal name to anyone other than parents or a spouse was considered desecrating the sacred name bestowed by the divine.
That’s why in the original work, Alexio revealed his baptismal name to Brizni when he confessed to her. That scene ranked first among the most celebrated moments in “Brizni Wants to Be Happy.” It was my favorite scene too.
No, I shouldn’t be thinking about the original work now. The stories of the original protagonists were utterly irrelevant at this point. The real problem was this generation, led by those pitiful supporting characters.
Auredhian spoke slowly.
“If you’ve been baptized, then it’s certainly a plausible explanation. Lebovni is one of the kingdoms under Raulus’s protection, after all.”
“Indeed. The fact that the Princess has remained safe until now must be due to divine protection, would it not?”
Rosel chimed in with exaggerated enthusiasm. He seemed apologetic about my earlier tumble, constantly fussing over me. I rewarded him with a bright smile. What fault could Rosel possibly have? The fault lay with me, the outsider.
“Then we can rest assured for now. The Capital is blessed land.”
“I would like to think so, but….”
Auredhian seemed to exchange a few more words with Rosel. I fell into my own thoughts.
So, to summarize: I was a human from another world, immune to magical power. In other words, magically maladapted. But fortunately, Yerenika’s body had received divine blessing, so the presence of strong divine power nearby could counteract it to some degree.
My mind spun rapidly. I didn’t even notice Auredhian watching me with that peculiar gaze as I sank deeper into thought.
Plan B—preventing the Belgot Emperor from kidnapping Tezebia—was half success and half failure. Because instead, I got kidnapped.
And my combat power rose unexpectedly too. At this point, before worrying about the original characters, I needed to worry about my own survival first.
But conveniently, the poor supporting character destined to die in the original work was the one who would save me?
Yes. I nodded with a solemn expression. So the conclusion was simple.
For both of us to survive, I had to stick to the Emperor like gum!
I clenched both fists. I mentally erased the letter B from my mind and drew a C instead.
“After all….”
“…?”
Life is Plan C!
* * *
Thus was born Plan C: supporting characters helping each other win.
It was quite an elegant title. Now that I’d named the plan, it was time to work out the details. I tossed and turned on my sleeping bag all night, fleshing out Plan C until it was time to prepare for departure at dawn.
How Auredhian and I could both win. How we could help each other and live long, healthy lives. I racked my brain furiously, devising every possible method.
First, I couldn’t go back to Lebovni or anything like that—I absolutely had to stay glued to Auredhian’s side. At least until I found another way to keep this body functioning normally.
And to prevent Auredhian from being killed by his son, first and foremost, his son Decarve couldn’t be allowed to learn dark magic.
Decarve Belgot, the villain of the original work. His middle name was so long I’d forgotten it, but regardless, he was the sinister dark sorcerer who nearly shattered the peaceful world of “Brizni Wants to Be Happy.” A villain who dabbled in dark magic that commanded the dead spirits of hell. The first person Decarve killed as a sacrifice to dark magic was this man.
Decarve learned the dark magic to kill his own father from his mother—in other words, from Auredhian’s wife. After recalling that much, a thought struck me like lightning, and my eyes widened.
Oh, so if this man simply doesn’t get married in the first place, wouldn’t that solve it?
“Then… then…”
“…?”
Auredhian approached to lift me onto the horse, his eyes narrowing slightly. I gazed up at that devastatingly handsome face, my mouth hanging open in a daze.
Oh no. If it comes to this…
Then I could just marry him instead…
“Princess?”
“Ah! Y-yes!”
At the sudden sound of his voice, I jolted in alarm, nearly leaping out of my skin.
Heat flooded my face. It was reckless to harbor such thoughts with him standing right before me. And yet…
It was absolutely perfect.

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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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