Beguiling the Enemy’s Patriarch - Chapter 113

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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 113
Logically speaking, an emperor of a great empire controlling the entire eastern continent couldn’t possibly hide in the outskirts of a foreign nation for days on end. My plan was to return to the Royal Palace first, uncover why I’d ignored Auredhian Belgot’s betrothal letter, and then summon him there.
“Oh, that’s right.”
While I was digging deeper into the matter, a sudden thought struck me, and I spun around to face Sergei Lebanon. He flinched at the sharp gleam in my eyes.
“W-why…?”
I issued a firm warning.
“If you breathe a word of this to anyone, I’m cutting ties with you that very day.”
My semi-threat made Sergei Lebanon’s expression crumple.
“That he came all the way here—heaven itself could fall, but only you must know. Promise me. Right now.”
“Ugh… you really are something.”
“Sergei Lebanon, you saw how depressed I’ve been all this time. You letter-stealing scoundrel. If you have any conscience left, cooperate willingly.”
Sergei Lebanon glared at me with a deeply disgruntled expression, then abruptly turned his head away.
“Fine. I get it. I don’t know anything about this. Whatever happens later, I’m ignorant of it all.”
Though I harbored some lingering doubts, I decided this would be the last time in my life I’d trust that fool.
“Just because I intercepted a few letters… he actually came all the way to Lebovni himself. It’s absurd.”
Sergei Lebanon seemed increasingly bewildered the more he dwelled on it. Throughout our walk back, he muttered to himself, craned his neck to glance at me once, then fell back into a dazed nod, repeating the cycle.
“I mean, is it really that surprising…?”
“…?”
“No, never mind. What was I even thinking!”
With an expression as though he’d tear out his own tongue, Sergei Lebanon whipped his head around. What’s gotten into him? I clicked my tongue at his restlessness and quickened my pace.
Minutes later, I stood before my sister with a rigid expression.
“Auntie…?”
Brizni, who had been playing with toys on the bed, looked at me with anxious eyes. Her red hair braided into two plaits was adorable enough to bite. Beside her lay Alexio, shirtless and sleeping soundly.
I barely managed to suppress the smile threatening to spill across my lips.
“Yerenika…”
Tezebia watched me with an expression nearly as uneasy as Brizni’s. I opened my mouth while deliberately avoiding looking toward the bed where the children lay.
“Give them to me. My letters.”
“H-how did you find out?”
“That doesn’t seem to be the important part.”
This time, my voice came out low without any effort. Over these past two and a half months, Tezebia knew better than anyone what had been in my heart. Though she pretended otherwise, she surely understood that my relationship with Auredhian Belgot was far more than that of captor and captive.
“And you ignored his betrothal letter too?”
“…”
“You knew, didn’t you?”
Eventually, a sigh escaped me. My frustration wouldn’t lighten with a few sighs. I pressed my throbbing temples and spoke.
“I understand what you’re worried about. I do sympathize. If I were in your position and Brizni walked willingly into danger, I would have tried to stop her too.”
“Yerenika…”
“But still, you can’t ignore a formal betrothal letter exchanged between nations. Even if Father said so, you should have objected.”
How desperate must the ruler of an entire nation be to postpone all state affairs and come to this small kingdom beyond a vast mountain range? Yet I couldn’t mention that Auredhian had come to Lebovni himself. I bit my lip and spoke differently.
“And he said he’d raise the fees for the Glucaman Agreement?”
“Y-yes…”
“That damned agreement has given me headaches for months, and now someone comes forward with such terms—at the very least, I can’t ignore them. What exactly are you relying on…?”
“I wasn’t thinking clearly. I’m sorry, Yerenika.”
Tezebia’s eyes glistened with tears as she took my hand. I shook my head firmly.
“If I were even slightly more twisted, this wouldn’t have ended so easily…”
Somehow, my standing as Belgot Emperor seems to diminish the moment I set foot in Lebovni. The negotiations two years ago over Glucaman were proof of that, as was the King’s outright dismissal of the Emperor’s letter just now. I sighed softly. In any case, I hadn’t come to the Duke’s Residence simply to heap complaints upon my sister. It was time to put my plan into action.
I’d always intended to return to Belgot eventually. This wasn’t some Romeo and Juliet tale, nor were we the Weaver and the Cowherd…I had no intention of spending a lifetime confirming each other’s existence through letters alone. Even if I didn’t yet know what awaited in the near future, I needed to secure his consent to marriage beforehand!
Only Tezebia could persuade my parents, who regarded Auredhian as little better than a savage demon. I watched my sister carefully and broached the subject delicately.
“Sister, you trust me, don’t you?”
“Of course I do.”
Courage surged through me at her answer. Tezebia truly was one of the few people who understood me best. I spoke with renewed confidence.
“I’ll do well wherever I go. I’ll take care of myself, stay out of trouble. So, sister…”
“Yes, Yeni?”
She lowered her eyes gently and nodded, her expression suggesting she already knew what I was about to say.
“I’ll have Father send a formal rejection in response.”
“Yes, exactly that. …Wait?”
I was nodding enthusiastically when I faltered slightly. Huh…? Did I mishear? I tapped both ears with my fingers and opened my mouth again.
“Sister, what did you just say…?”
But unfortunately, my hearing was perfectly fine, and the words coming from Tezebia’s lips were utterly serious.
“Simply avoiding the issue won’t solve this. I think I’ve been too complacent about it. Let’s go speak to Father right now. Let’s send a formal rejection.”
“…”
“If we’d done this from the start, we wouldn’t have dragged things out like this.”
Thunder crashed down upon my head. What was she saying?
“We can’t trade the Glucaman fees for your safety. That’s obvious.”
“No…sister. That’s not it.”
“Just wait a moment. I’ll prepare and be right back.”
“No, wait! Stop!”
I gasped and pushed her back down into the chair. And I immediately retracted all my previous thoughts. Sister clearly didn’t understand me one bit! Though thinking about how she usually worried over my constitution, it was only natural. If she was going to be like this, there was no point asking Father.
“I’ll go tell him myself…!”
I flashed a bright smile at my sister while grinding my teeth inwardly. Whether two years ago or now, Plan A had always been useless. So then…what could I do right now…? I pondered with a mixture of deflation and anticipation.
Was there really no other way…?
* * *
The Royal Palace, which I returned to after a day and a half, was in complete disarray, as though struck by lightning. And rightfully so—the youngest princess had vanished without a trace, only to reappear. I was immediately summoned before my Father and Mother, where I endured hours of stern scolding. Words I desperately wanted to say rose to the tip of my throat, but I managed to restrain myself magnificently while clutching Raulus as though I might tear him in half.
[It hurts, you beast!]
“I’m sorry. I was wrong. I won’t disappear without a word again. There was nothing to worry about. Really.”
I felt only the slightest pang of conscience. Well. I’m an adult—what does it matter? I resolved firmly.
“From now on, I’ll stay quietly within the palace. I promise.”
And immediately after, I smuggled Auredhian into the palace. Like contraband, though admittedly this particular item of contraband held considerable value…There was no helping it.
“Is this the method you devised? It’s quite…ingenious, I must say.”
“Be quiet.”
To refine my plans further, to soothe his anxieties, and to hold close this newfound stability I’d reclaimed after so long—everyone wins, and I get everything I want!
“I’ve felt it before, but the Royal Palace of Lebovni has such a peculiar design.”
I quickly pushed the man, who was gazing around the palace with an unfamiliar expression, behind a pillar.
“Shh, shh.”
“No one’s listening, Yerenika.”
“Walls have ears, you know.”
My mind had been so consumed by the surroundings that nonsense had tumbled from my lips. I leaned my body out from behind the pillar to survey the area. My movements were sluggish since I was cradling Raulus firmly in my arms.
“I was thinking about it then too, but you….”
“Mm. I see.”
“You’re not listening.”
“Yes.”
No one around, right? I gave a vague response and crept forward cautiously. With my free hand—the one not holding Raulus—I fumbled to find and grasp Auredhian’s hand. I could hear him murmuring contentedly.
“You’ve never been good at hiding. Still.”
“What?”
“Finding the things about you that haven’t changed, one by one… it’s not so bad.”
“…?”
I only turned to look at him after passing one more pillar. And I flinched in surprise at the crimson eyes visible so close before me, taking a step back.
“What, what is it? All of a sudden….”
Behind me was a pillar. I blinked and gazed at the man who had lowered his head toward me, our eyes meeting. My heart dropped once before beginning to race faster and faster.
Thump-thump.
Auredhian murmured in a languid tone.
“Was it around here?”

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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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