Beguiling the Enemy’s Patriarch - Chapter 12

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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 12
The corners of my mouth curled upward of their own accord. Seeing my sinister smile, Auredhian let out a soft chuckle.
“What are you thinking about so intently?”
That I’m going to marry you.
The words surged up my throat, but I barely suppressed them and spouted nonsense instead.
“I was just thinking… how handsome Father is…?”
No, that wasn’t nonsense. I had to exert tremendous effort to suppress the corners of my mouth that kept trying to rise. Marriage to a kind, gentle, handsome man? Even if it was grandiose delusion, it felt wonderful.
Auredhian was now looking at me as though I were some curious and peculiar creature. The fantasies that had been bubbling up in those eyes evaporated like soap bubbles. Instead, the shameful display I’d put on over these past days came flooding back.
No, no. I tried to deny it. When I thought about it, it hadn’t been quite so disgraceful…or had it? But the events of these last two days came rushing back with vivid clarity.
Crying with tears and snot streaming down my face. Clinging desperately to his feet like straw. Writhing on the ground in agony.
“….”
Stop thinking about this. I averted my gaze dejectedly. Auredhian, unaware of my inner turmoil, threw out words that only fueled my despair.
“You are quite a fascinating person.”
“….”
It wasn’t my imagination that those words translated to “I’ve never met anyone as strange as you.” How mortifying.
How could I even think of marriage like this? Could one marry alone? My life depended on it, so I would welcome it with open arms, but this man would not. There was absolutely no reason for the Emperor of Belgot to marry a princess of a kingdom no bigger than a thumbnail.
For some reason, the mood grew solemn.
“Come here.”
One consolation was that while this man found me curious, he didn’t seem inconvenienced by me. When Auredhian gestured for me to come closer, he effortlessly lifted me onto the horse. Since he showed no sign of strain and I couldn’t mount the horse by myself anyway, I had grown accustomed to it, though I’d been mortified at first.
As I gripped the horse’s neck and awkwardly settled into position, Auredhian lightly mounted behind me.
“Let’s depart! We’ll reach the Capital by today, so everyone give it your all!”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
The massive white horse pawed at the ground. My hair whipped backward. I quickly gathered my hair, worried it might obstruct Auredhian’s vision and cause him to drop me. Of course, he seemed like the type who wouldn’t drop me even if I did a handstand on the saddle. But one could never be too careful.
I held tightly to the man’s arm that encircled me like a fence, continuing my interrupted thoughts. Even if marriage was impossible, I had to prevent Auredhian from marrying the dark mage. His future wife would constantly whisper in his ear. To pass on her power to their son.
A passage from the original work flashed through my mind.
[“You are a monster born of the most sacred divinity and the most wicked magic.”
The woman who bore the boy spoke tenderly.
“How does it feel to hold the power of this world in both hands and wield it?”]
“…Sigh.”
I shook my head. When it came down to it, Decarve’s corruption was largely that woman’s fault. Leading her son down the path of dark magic. That woman seemed a bit…unhinged herself.
So how was I supposed to prevent that marriage?
“…?”
And in the next moment, I discovered a crucial detail I’d been overlooking all this time.
When exactly was Auredhian supposed to get married?
I hurriedly recalled the original work in my mind. If I roughly calculated the ages of the characters, the timeline would become clear.
“Brizni Wants to Be Happy” briefly covered the tragedy of the original generation and Brizni’s childhood in the prologue, then time-warped directly to age twenty as the main story began.
Even searching my memory, I couldn’t recall the specific birthdays of the three characters. Well, could I? Unless the author explained it in an afterword, I wouldn’t have memorized the exact birth dates of the protagonists while reading.
But I did know that Brizni would be born two months from now. No, wait—this time Tezebia wasn’t kidnapped, so Brizni would be born three months later. Since it’s March now, that means Brizni would be born in June this year. Alexio was the same age as Brizni. And Decarve was one year younger.
I paused at that point.
“…?”
One year younger? Decarve, younger than Brizni?
“…Ugh.”
I screamed silently inside. There wasn’t much time left!
* * *
And so my grand Plan C ran into a roadblock before I could even formulate the specifics.
I stared ahead with a pale face, unable to look anywhere else. After all, I was perched atop a galloping horse, nestled comfortably against the Emperor’s chest—a position I’d grown accustomed to without realizing it.
After carefully choosing my words for a moment, I opened my mouth cautiously.
“Your… Your Majesty.”
“What is it?”
The response came immediately. I hesitated, unable to speak right away. How was I supposed to ask this?
Since Brizni hadn’t been born yet, it was obvious Decarve hadn’t been born either. The question was when he would be born.
Considering the gestation period, Decarve would be conceived by March of next year at the latest. But that was only if I calculated the maximum timeframe! In the worst case scenario, he might already, already….
Plan C was in danger of becoming completely worthless. I fidgeted anxiously, gnawing at my lips. And apparently, from above, all he could see was me squirming about.
“Princess?”
At the sound of his puzzled voice, I made a decision. This wasn’t a matter of embarrassment. Two people’s entire lives hung in the balance of this question. Seoeun Seo, wearing Yerenika’s body—be bold!
I steeled my resolve and opened my mouth.
“Your Majesty, are you perhaps unmarried?!”
“What?”
My voice came out with such force and solemnity that it startled even me. Riding the momentum, I pressed on with another question.
“Or perhaps you’re expecting a child soon!”
There was no answer from above. Then, after a brief pause, instead of a response, I heard a hollow laugh. Though I couldn’t see his face, I could tell he found this utterly absurd.
Auredhian answered in an amused tone.
“For now, I’m still unmarried.”
“Still?”
“Therefore, naturally I have no children. And there’s certainly no expectation of childbirth.”
“….”
“You ask the strangest questions, Princess. And so very suddenly at that.”
His last remark barely registered with me. Still. Still. He definitely said still, didn’t he?
The fact that he was unmarried and childless was certainly cause for celebration, yet an overwhelming sense of unease washed over me. Why was that…?
* * *
The Belgot Guerrilla Force that had abducted me arrived at the Capital that evening.
Belgot was a country that rarely appeared in the original work except during Decarve’s timeline. The main setting of “Brizni Wants to Be Happy” was Lebovni, after all.
Since it didn’t appear in the original, I was naturally ignorant about Belgot. Even if it had appeared, it was probably just passing dialogue or stage directions, so there was far more I didn’t remember.
“Wow.”
To describe my first impression: Barishard, the Capital of Belgot, was an extraordinarily antiquated city. While Lebovni gave off a quaint and charming feeling, Belgot exuded a more classical and elegant atmosphere. There were no buildings that stood out as particularly tall or ornate, yet the entire street was filled with the refinement and sense of balance that centuries of history bestowed.
As I gazed around distractedly, a large cloak suddenly draped over my head. A violet cloak—the color symbolic of the Belgot Emperor.
“Your gaze would be inconvenient otherwise.”
“…?”
I craned my neck to look up at Auredhian. He didn’t elaborate further.
And only when I reached the Imperial Palace of Barishard did I understand the meaning of his words. An enormous crowd had gathered in the plaza directly in front of the Imperial Palace.
As the Emperor’s white horse passed, the crowd parted like the parting of the Red Sea, accompanied by thunderous cheers and whistles. If I hadn’t been wearing my cloak, the attention would have been utterly unbearable. I swallowed my tears inwardly.
Tsk. He was far too kind. Absolutely husband material. If I could, I’d want to whisk him away. Even if I couldn’t act on it, thinking about it was harmless enough, right? Yes, that’s right.
But that thought crumbled the moment we entered the Imperial Palace.
“Your Majesty!”
“…Elad.”
I stood with my mouth agape, tears streaming down my face, watching a woman throw herself at Auredhian. She had wavy reddish-brown hair cascading down her back.
“I’m so relieved you’ve returned safely. Your Majesty has no idea how worried I’ve been!”
The way she drew close to him seemed practiced and natural.
I’m… insane. I stared at the woman called Elad with wide eyes.
Her slightly upturned, cat-like eyes were dangerously captivating to the heart. And those obsidian-black eyes glistening with tears. Combined with her undulating reddish-brown hair and her vibrantly sensual figure. In other words….
“Wow.”
She was an incredibly sexy and alluring beauty. My jaw dropped involuntarily.
Oh, sister…. You’re so beautiful….
I desperately held back those words from escaping my lips. I’d thought no one in this world could be as beautiful as Tezebia, but I was wrong. The world was vast, and beauties were plentiful. Wow, it’s exactly like seeing a celebrity in person.
While I was shamelessly stealing glances at her, she took another step closer to Auredhian.
“I’ve wept into my pillow every day, missing Your Majesty. Do you understand this heart of mine?”
Her voice trembled pitifully. Even her voice was beautiful…. It was almost enchanting. And if I, a woman, felt this way, then Auredhian….
I glanced up at him and my eyes widened in surprise. His face, no less striking than Elad’s, had gone rigid and expressionless.

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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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