Beguiling the Enemy’s Patriarch - Chapter 119

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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 119
Auredhian Belgot glanced back over his shoulder, and concern flickered across his composed features in an instant.
“What are you doing there? I told you not to come out so carelessly.”
“You’re one to talk. It’s hot—why did you come out?”
“I came looking for His Majesty, naturally.”
Yet despite myself, the corners of my mouth curved upward in an involuntary smile.
“If anyone sees us, my head will roll that very day, won’t it?”
“I’m sorry.”
“What are you carrying there… Oh my, Brizni?”
“Aunt!”
Recognizing Yerenika’s voice, the child peeked over Auredhian Belgot’s shoulder. Footsteps that had paused resumed once more. Before long, a pale pink head of hair appeared before the still Flower Swing.
“Good heavens, Bri. How did you make it all the way here?”
“Aunt Yeni! Pick me up!”
So that request to be held was indeed a habit. I lifted the child from where she sat on Auredhian Belgot’s lap, cradling her in my arms with far more natural ease than he had managed. I pressed a kiss to the child’s cheek and asked.
“Did you come alone, Bri?”
“Yes. I came all by myself!”
“But you’ve never been here before—how did you know where to find this place?”
“Bri came yesterday too. Yesterday with Aunt, and the pretty big brother!”
…
I laughed awkwardly, unable to find words to respond. I glanced uncertainly at Auredhian Belgot before laughing vaguely again. He exhaled a short, deep sigh.
“I cannot fathom who taught the child such peculiar titles.”
“Mm. Bri. Wouldn’t your mother be looking for you?”
I wasn’t even listening to him—or rather, I was deliberately pretending not to hear. Auredhian Belgot shook his head as he watched me slowly retreat sideways while holding the child.
“If you wander about alone like this, your mother will worry.”
“Well, but…”
“Ah, Lexie. Lexie will worry terribly too.”
The moment I spoke Lexie’s name, Brizni’s expression clouded over. Names that occupied the largest share in her small, narrow world came tumbling out one after another.
Brizni watched Auredhian Belgot growing more distant with each step I took, her gaze fixed and anxious. Somehow it felt uncertain. Among the few people Brizni had seen, that most beautiful one seemed as though she might take away her beloved aunt and vanish far, far away.
It was only natural to feel a sense of incongruity seeing the Emperor of Belgot—who had no business being in Lebovni—standing right before her eyes. The child could not pinpoint exactly where this incongruity stemmed from, yet she instinctively knew that he was not someone who would remain long in this place, at her side. Though he had promised to visit often, somehow it felt as though he wouldn’t. Brizni pouted her lips and wrapped her arms around my neck.
“Aunt Yeni, you promised to live with Bri!”
“Hmm?”
At the unexpected words, I opened my eyes wide. But then, thinking it must be a habit of speech peculiar to my niece, I smiled with honeyed warmth.
“Of course. Your aunt will always be beside Bri, and Bri’s mother, and Lexie.”
It was Auredhian Belgot whose insides twisted subtly at those words. He frowned slightly, and the expression was caught directly by Brizni. Disbelief flooded the child’s face in an instant. Her clear, round sky-blue eyes fixed precisely upon him. Looking at him with an innocent face, Brizni spoke with deliberate clarity.
“You promised.”
She was clearly referring to his promise to visit often. The way she opened her eyes wide and looked at him was both reckless and adorable, so Auredhian Belgot eventually smiled loosely. The small distance between them closed in just a few steps. He bent slightly at the waist to meet the child’s eyes.
“If you promise not to tell anyone that you saw me here.”
“If you promise… will you push Bri on the swing again?”
“Yes.”
Brizni blinked her eyes. Her reflection shimmered transparently in those reddish irises. A clean, refined scent drifted subtly through the air—a sanctity the child had scarcely experienced before.
Brizni smiled brightly. Her childlike simplicity had swept away the distrust from just moments before. She was indeed as beautiful and kind as her aunt. Brizni reached out and pressed a kiss to his cheek the way she did with people she particularly favored, answering with playful cheer.
“Yes!”
* * *
“What were you talking about with Brizni?”
Yerenika, who had brought the child to the Main Palace, tilted her head curiously as she asked. She had just been placed gently on the Flower Swing by him.
“She’s not usually shy with people, but… she doesn’t often give kisses. She doesn’t even do it much with her father, so my brother-in-law has been disappointed more than once.”
“Really? The Duke must be heartbroken.”
“He is. But anyway, what were you two talking about? A promise, you said? What kind of promise?”
Creak, creak. The Flower Swing, which moments ago had held an adult man and a small girl, now swayed with Yerenika seated upon it. The swing moved slowly back and forth.
“Well…”
Each time the swing’s ropes swayed, flower petals fell one by one. At Yerenika’s feet, upon her pale pink hair, across her slender shoulders.
“There were times when your letters contained more about your niece than about you, weren’t there?”
“Why are you suddenly changing the subject?”
“Just. I thought you had good reason to.”
“Oh… I didn’t know you liked children.”
“It’s not so much that I like them, but rather I had no particular thoughts about it. I’d never been around such young children before.”
A look of confusion crossed Yerenika’s face. But soon she nodded as if she understood.
“That’s right. You said you had no siblings.”
“Right.”
“Isn’t our Brizni adorable? She’s probably the most lovable child in the world. How does she resemble her sister so much?”
Yerenika, her face flushed with enthusiasm, continued chattering on about her niece’s charms for quite some time. Auredhian slowly removed a red petal caught in her pale pink hair and listened quietly to that pleasant voice.
“They say her divine essence is remarkably pure too. I heard there aren’t usually people born with divine essence in the Lebovni Royal Family, but Brizni truly was born with many gifts. She’s absolutely precious.”
The child did indeed possess an unusually pure divine essence, as if blessed with something special. Yerenika’s voice continued on.
“It would be nice to see Alexio too if the opportunity arose. Lexie is Fernandis’s son, and he’s just as adorable as Brizni. Compared to Brizni, well, he’s a bit too mischievous so I worry about him a little…”
“The more children, the better it seems.”
“I thought even as a baby he’d be mature, but a child is still a child. Ah, but there’s something nice about children being childlike… What did you say?”
Yerenika, who had been rambling on, lifted her head to look at him. Auredhian, toying with her hair that seemed to melt sweetly and stickily in his hand, spoke once more.
“I think it would be nice for the Imperial Palace to be lively too.”
“…”
“Wouldn’t five or six be enough? Or not? Is that not enough?”
Bewilderment spread across her small, delicate face in an instant. A blush bloomed across her previously pale cheeks.
“What… No, why are you suddenly bringing up that topic?”
“Why? There are already plenty of people wracking their brains over succession worries in my stead.”
“Ah…”
Yerenika now looked truly flustered. Her gaze, which had been so steady, rolled about in all directions.
“Well, um… The more children the better, I suppose. Of course it would be better…”
“Why are you embarrassed?”
Watching her reaction was quite entertaining. Yerenika often showed such responses in places that weren’t particularly embarrassing to him, while acting completely unbothered in places where she should truly be embarrassed.
“It’s just… you know.”
“Where are you looking?”
“Mmm….”
When I grasped the rope and lowered my head to meet his gaze, those sky-blue eyes that had been wandering aimlessly immediately cast downward. The scent of soap mingled with flower fragrance tickled my nose. Auredhian whispered with a loosely relaxed expression.
“Many children.”
How wonderful it would be if five or six versions of me were running through the Imperial Palace. Auredhian lowered his lips without giving a single thought to five or six children who resembled me. Soft, tender lips met gently.
“Many. Yes?”
“Ah, I understand….”
“Yes. So let’s go back.”
“I said I understand. …Ugh, really!”
The moment I subtly brought up the subject of leaving, those downcast eyes lifted immediately. Yet his gaze quickly lost its direction and tumbled away.
Auredhian exhaled lightly. In truth, he wasn’t unaware. For the past two days, Yerenika had been watching his expression cautiously. It was undoubtedly because of that matter—the words he couldn’t press her about and had to let slide because she’d been crying so hard.
“I’m sorry about that day.”
“Pardon?”
Sky-blue eyes turned toward him once more. Auredhian spoke slowly.
“I couldn’t control myself.”
“Ah….”
“I wasn’t trying to press you.”
Yerenika seemed not to have expected him to broach the subject first. Her discomfort was plainly visible. Auredhian continued, deliberately hardening his expression.
“But you need to understand to some degree. You said you love me.”
“I do love you.”
Her wandering head snapped up. Sky-blue eyes gazed up at him sharply. It was Yerenika’s habit to adopt a challenging tone when confessing.
“I just wish you would leave.”
He would be lying if he said those words didn’t shock him—for he was human after all—but he knew they weren’t her true feelings. He could dimly sense why she felt compelled to say such things.
Just as he worried for her safety, she worried for him in return. Though he’d told her countless times there was no need, Yerenika refused to believe him. She was far more frightened than he was of the twisted presence that had attached itself to Soleia and her.
“It’s just that I think too much unnecessarily…. That day in particular, my heart was complicated….”
Still, she was crying out with her entire being, “I’m sorry for everything!” He couldn’t press her further. The way she couldn’t meet his eyes and fumbled through her excuses was inevitably endearing. Besides, after all, she’d said it out of excessive worry for him.
Eventually, his firmly set lips relaxed. When Yerenika glanced up slightly and saw his expression, her eyes immediately widened into triangles.
“…You’re not enjoying this, are you?”
“A little?”
“Ugh, really!”

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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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