Beguiling the Enemy’s Patriarch - Chapter 114

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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 114
“What…?”
I wished he’d given me some warning before suddenly lifting me like that. I watched his sharp eyes soften into a gentle curve. Every time I saw him, that face was fatally, dangerously beautiful.
His impression was certainly closer to sharp than soft, yet when he smiled, my heart melted at how tender his expression became. Could a person really emanate such contradictory atmospheres…?
A brief laugh escaped him, and a light kiss descended upon the tip of my nose. His lips were impossibly soft, as if they might dissolve.
“Or was it there?”
Auredhian turned his head as if gauging something, his gaze settling on the pillar beside us. Then he glanced beyond it once more.
“…Ah.”
I soon understood what that sequence of actions meant. I looked around in a daze. Two secondary palaces of the Lebovni Royal Palace. The long hall connecting the Western Palace and the Eastern Palace.
“Wow, so it was here…?”
I was kidnapped in place of Tezebia. The memory of that day felt as vivid as if it were yesterday. Brizni was still in Tezebia’s womb, and those were the days when we trembled, never knowing when the Belgot Military might launch a surprise attack. The days when I hid Tezebia in a cellar and carefully crept past these pillars. The moment our eyes suddenly locked while I was hiding somewhere among these very columns felt crystalline in my mind. That reddish violet hue that struck my consciousness with perfect clarity even from a distance.
“I was really terrified back then.”
I felt his lips brush mine, sliding down to my chin, and I let out a soft laugh. The vivid memory of that moment when our eyes met while hiding somewhere among these pillars resurfaced. That reddish violet gaze that had embedded itself so precisely in my mind even from afar.
“Thinking about it again feels strange… How long ago was that? Two and a half years?”
Auredhian didn’t answer. Instead, a tingling sensation shot through my collarbone. A short moan escaped me involuntarily.
“Wait, hold on.”
I pushed his shoulders away, my eyes darting nervously. It had been less than an hour since I promised Father that I wouldn’t cause him worry again. My conscience pricked me softly, repeatedly.
“If someone sees us…”
“No one will. Don’t worry.”
The answer came immediately. He was right. Between the Western Palace and the Eastern Palace, there was neither a shadow of passersby nor any sign of presence. But to say no one would see us…
I glanced down at Raulus, whom I held nestled against my chest. Thankfully, Raulus had his head resting against my heart, sleeping soundly.
‘Lari, are you asleep?’
I thought the question loudly in my mind, but no answer came back. I smiled with satisfaction.
“Seems like he is.”
“…Who?”
I adjusted Raulus, who lay peacefully in my arms, and smiled brightly. Auredhian looked at me with slight suspicion. I didn’t miss the moment his gaze drifted down to my lips. In those violet eyes gazing at me, I caught a fleeting glimpse of hesitation.
“Hmm.”
I decided to dispel that hesitation myself. What couldn’t I do for a man who had come all this way to find me? Whether his unique atmosphere had transferred to me, or whether it was the humid air of late summer afternoon, my eyes softened into a gentle curve. Without even knowing what expression I wore, I whispered like a hum.
“You can kiss me now.”
“…”
“Or should I do it? Though my hands are currently…”
The words never finished. As if he’d been waiting for exactly those words, long fingers tilted my chin upward.
“You always know exactly what I want to hear, as if by magic.”
It was a whisper, low and deeply hushed. With those words, our lips met. Just like the first day we met, silver hair gleamed in the thin sunlight. The crimson eyes that had been half-lowered closed completely as our breath mingled deeply.
There was no sound of blades clashing, no clang of armor, no shouts of soldiers—only silence. In the late afternoon sunlight, divided into dozens of rays and slanting diagonally between the pillars, a dizzying, unreal sensation swirled chaotically. It was a sensation only this man could give me, just as I’d felt before.
* * *
Hiding a man who had secretly crossed the border in my secondary palace wasn’t particularly difficult. Especially since the Western Palace was quite far from the Main Palace and was practically mine alone to use, so as long as I was careful about keeping the servants’ mouths shut, I could conceal him seamlessly for a while.
Looking back at it, it seemed as though I had locked Auredhian away in my secondary palace. It was no coincidence that memories of those days when I couldn’t move an inch in Barishard’s Imperial Palace came flooding back.
“How circumstances change…”
The roles and positions from two years ago had been completely reversed. Master became guest, guest became master. The imprisoned became the imprisoner, the imprisoner became the imprisoned. The world truly was something to be witnessed over a long life. Of course, this secret confinement wouldn’t last as long as it did back then.
I had come to realize something shortly after bringing Auredhian to the Western Palace. The unease of the man who had followed me so willingly was not merely vague—Auredhian had clearly sensed what I had not told him.
There was only one thing I had kept secret: that the corrupted entity attached to Soleia was Hades, the master beneath Remordi, and that Hades’s target had shifted from Auredhian to me. I had deliberately refrained from speaking of it, knowing all too well what command Auredhian would issue the moment I did—yet he had already come knowing everything, and so I could easily divine his intentions.
Thus, a tense battle of wills began just two days after we started living together in the Western Palace.
“Let’s go back.”
“We should go back.”
Our gazes clashed fiercely. Auredhian spoke first.
“You said you loved me.”
A direct blow. I was at a loss for words, stammering my response.
“That’s a separate matter from this. By that logic, I love you too, which is exactly why I won’t follow you.”
“But you don’t intend to keep me hidden here for the rest of my life.”
And Auredhian had been relentlessly employing that characteristic persistence of his for days now. He had quickly discerned my weakness to that face and that tone, and he clung to me without restraint at every opportunity. Moreover, our reversal was not limited to that alone…
“Yerenika.”
“…”
“Will you marr—”
“Stop, please stop.”
I finally retreated, my face flushed crimson. The old library of the Western Palace was suffused with the amber glow of sunset, the faint scent of books, and Auredhian’s distinctive, pristine body warmth.
“If you say one more word of that, I’m running away.”
I pushed the book I was holding against Auredhian’s face. The short silver hair scattered across his forehead became slightly disheveled. But my hand was quickly caught by his larger one. He took the book from me with ease, a smile playing at his lips.
“Why? Are you embarrassed?”
His tone was thoroughly teasing. Sitting at my feet with his arm resting on my knee, his chin tilted against his hand, he slowly inclined his head.
“Two years ago, you said such things to me constantly. Without warning.”
I sighed and averted my gaze. I had been deeply reflecting on this lately anyway. Had I known that my reckless proposals would return to me in this manner, I would have at least hesitated once before speaking them.
“Don’t compare me to myself back then. The impact is entirely different…”
Probably the most accomplished man on this continent was clinging to me like this, asking me to marry him—maintaining composure was nearly impossible. Auredhian laughed softly.
“Now you understand how I felt back then?”
“…Ugh.”
I let out a short groan and reached for the book he had taken. The sacred power that naturally flowed from within me glimmered and coiled around his arm.
“Not so fast.”
But Auredhian Belgot was a man who stood some twenty steps above me in the ability to manipulate sacred power. Immediately, a clear aura spread forth and gently yet firmly pushed back my sacred power. I stood there with my mouth agape.
“Wow, you really are amazing, but—no, wait, even so…”
Pure admiration spilled from my lips. I hadn’t known it two years ago, but now that I could read the flow of sacred power with sensitivity, Auredhian was truly a walking factory of divinity.
The slow, measured undulation of sacred power through his body was so solid and intricate that there was no room for any other force to intrude. I reached out and traced that flow, marveling at it.
“It’s fascinating…”
“What’s so surprising about it now?”
“I didn’t understand it well back then. It’s true what they say—people only see what they know…”
So this is why he’s called the mightiest sacred power on the continent. Auredhian looked genuinely bemused, but I paid no mind and slowly traced the flow of his sacred power with my fingertips.
“Couldn’t you just give me half of your sacred power? Then I’d truly have nothing to fear in this world.”
“You can have all of it. So marry me.”
“…When did you become a broken record?”
The conversation had returned to its starting point. I awkwardly averted my gaze and withdrew my hand. Goodness, I was so embarrassed I could have run away. Auredhian acted as though he were pouring out all the affection he had been unable to give. Not separating from me all day was merely the baseline, and whenever our eyes met for more than a few seconds, his lips inevitably found mine.
When our lips touched… what came next was, frankly, predictable. Yet Auredhian Belgot was not, at his core, a man who acted without restraint. He was, if I’m being precise, exceptionally skilled at acting in ways I could not refuse.
Like right now, for instance.
“Hold me, Yerenika.”
“…”
“Kiss me.”
The words were identical to the very lines I had spoken two years ago. Though a glimmer of amusement danced behind those reddish eyes, there was no dismissing it as mere jest. Beneath that towering, impenetrable wall he so proudly maintained lay something achingly sweet and viscous—like marshmallow warmed to perfect softness. I barely managed to keep my expression steady as I spoke.
“I don’t want to. I won’t.”
I was beginning to suspect that this man, not Soleia, was the true master of seduction. Without absolute vigilance, I would find myself nodding in agreement without even realizing it. But I could not allow that. Because.
“The moment I give you permission, you’ll take me straight to Belgot and lock me away, won’t you?”
For the first time, Auredhian fell silent without a retort. I had read his intentions perfectly. Auredhian Belgot had clearly sensed Hades’ presence and discovered that I—the one who had awakened Hades and summoned Raulus’ avatar—could become his target. That’s why he intended to bring me to his domain and confine me within his protective barrier until everything was resolved.
Of course, within the sanctuary and shield Auredhian had constructed, I would have no reason to fear death. Instead, I would have to worry about him. Once I stepped into that absolutely inviolable realm he had created, Hades’ target would naturally shift. Hades’ true objective was never ‘me’—it was simply ‘the mightiest divinity,’ nothing more.
I had already twisted Auredhian Belgot’s fate. I could not allow it to return to its original course. I extended my hand to him with unwavering resolve.
“No amount of persuasion will work. I will not willingly follow you to Belgot unless you withdraw that plan of yours.”
“…”
“I’m going to read. Give me the book.”
My deliberately clipped tone made his perfectly straight brows furrow slightly.
“Very well. I understand your position. But I cannot withdraw it. I simply cannot bear the thought of you facing danger again.”
“I feel the same way. And I won’t accept any excuses like ‘I’ll be fine.'”
Auredhian gazed down at me for a moment, then changed his approach.
“Then smile for me.”
A long, warm index finger brushed across the back of my hand in a gentle, rhythmic tap.

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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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