Beguiling the Enemy’s Patriarch - Chapter 121

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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 121
“Oh, did you notice?”
Praise for my daughter always warmed my heart. Tezebia couldn’t suppress her smile, bringing her dress sleeve up to cover her lips slightly.
“She’s so curious and mischievous, you see… As a mother, I do worry about her a bit. If she grows up well, I couldn’t ask for anything more.”
“…I see.”
The expression remained utterly mechanical, unchanged from moments before. Though the corners of her mouth curved upward, the mask obscured her eyes, making it difficult to discern her true feelings. Tezebia momentarily faltered at that peculiar visage.
“…?”
The black gleam reflecting from the eye holes of the mask was likely just her imagination. After all, Tezebia had never been particularly sensitive to mana, and having encountered mages so rarely, she couldn’t read their power with any acuity. She merely thought that all mages seemed to carry that same cold, chilling atmosphere about them.
Moreover, knowing this person wielded abilities that could harm her sister made it impossible to feel any warmth toward them. Her thoughts drifted back to Yerenika—that incomprehensible sister whose intentions remained utterly opaque.
‘I really should visit the Western Palace soon…’
The previous meeting had ended on an unsettling note, and something felt decidedly suspicious. Tezebia resolved to visit the Royal Palace within the next few days.
“Madam, the Duke is coming downstairs.”
Just then, a servant whispered to her that her husband was approaching the reception room. Tezebia set down her teacup and smiled warmly at the mage across from her.
“Ah, the Duke must be coming down now. Please, feel free to continue your conversation, Lisard.”
“Yes. Thank you, madam.”
The woman’s lips maintained their smooth, unwavering curve even after Tezebia had left the reception room.
* * *
Brizni came again the next day. And the day after that. Seeing my beloved niece was always a joy, but the timing felt precarious now. I watched with deeply worried eyes as Brizni arrived at the Western Palace for the fourth consecutive day.
A long tail gets stepped on, as they say. It had already been over ten days since I’d confined Auredhian Belgot to the Western Palace. There were limits to how long the servants could keep their mouths shut, and if Brizni let something slip to Sister Tezebia…
“…Ugh.”
I shook my head vigorously at the horrifying thought. I needed to make a decision before that dangerous intruder was discovered, yet my thoughts kept flip-flopping every hour. My mind kept saying no, but my heart had already gone fluttering all the way to Belgot.
“Pretty uncle!”
“…You seem to like him quite a lot.”
And if there was another problem, it was that Brizni had become completely attached to Auredhian Belgot.
“Uncle, why is your color the same as Lari’s?”
“Well… I think you’d get a faster answer asking your aunt about that.”
And what I’d newly discovered was that Auredhian Belgot was remarkably weak to children.
“Bri, I’m sleepy. Will you hold me?”
“Again…?”
True to someone who’d spent his entire life alone in the Imperial Palace, he couldn’t hold a child properly, didn’t dare touch carelessly, and fretted anxiously. The sight was quite… Auredhian Belgot looked back at me with bewildered eyes, now holding the sleeping Brizni.
“Ye…renika.”
“Pfft.”
Because, well, the sight was rather adorable… He asked in a voice dripping with helplessness.
“Do babies normally sleep this much?”
“Nap time has passed, but I suppose the little Princess has been exhausted from the long journey every day. And Your Majesty, that’s not how you hold a child.”
I took Brizni from him and shook my head disapprovingly.
“So there are things even Your Majesty cannot do.”
“One can’t be good at everything from the start.”
“I suppose that’s true.”
Brizni, who had been pulling at Auredhian Belgot’s hair for a while, had fallen fast asleep without anyone noticing, breathing softly and peacefully.
“I need to send her back now. If this continues, you’ll really be discovered.”
I patted Brizni gently and handed her to the Maidservant who had been waiting outside. For the third day in a row, this Maidservant had been tasked with escorting Brizni back to the Main Palace.
“Please take good care of her on the way to the Main Palace, Merry.”
When I turned back to face the room, there stood a man whose eyes now glistened with longing instead of concern. So it wasn’t just Brizni who adored Auredhian Belgot. I sighed and closed the window I’d left open.
“Who exactly is the one who likes him so much?”
“Well…”
A firm arm wrapped around my waist. Before the window could even close completely, my body was pulled backward. My back pressed against his broad chest. I sighed and reached toward the half-open window.
“If you keep coming and going like this, Tezebia will definitely notice…”
“Exactly.”
Warm fingers intertwined with mine, one by one. I gazed anxiously at the open window with its curtains drawn wide, but the man holding me from behind seemed utterly indifferent to such concerns.
“How long will you keep me hidden?”
“…If I had my way, I’d hide you forever and only ever look at you.”
“That’s not such a bad prospect.”
“I was joking…”
A soft laugh escaped him. Auredhian Belgot rested his chin near my shoulder and neck. His voice grew drowsy as he continued.
“I’ve been thinking, Yerenika.”
“About what?”
“About how I don’t want to burden you with any danger, but if that’s not what you want, how I should handle it.”
My body stiffened slightly. As if sensing my tension about what would come next, he slowly patted my shoulder.
“I realized my approach might have been wrong. Instead of telling you I’d protect you most safely, perhaps I should have done the opposite.”
“…How do you mean?”
“By saying I’ll share the danger you’re carrying.”
My heart stopped completely, then began beating again slowly, gradually accelerating. His voice continued, tinged with something like petulance.
“If you don’t want me to take it all, then give me half.”
“…”
“Honestly, I don’t even like saying this right now. Still, I hope you understand that making this declaration itself was a major decision for me.”
“…”
“And separately from that, I’d like you to give me an answer about marriage now.”
The man I thought would never yield on this issue finally relented with a sigh. My mind froze like stone at this sudden turn. Auredhian Belgot didn’t press me for an answer.
Days ago, he had told me I uncannily gave him only the words he wanted to hear. Today was different. Unable to speak, I buried my face in his embrace to hide the tears that spilled forth.
* * *
“I’ve been thinking, and perhaps I’ve always believed I had to do this alone.”
[My dear.]
Raulus, holding me close, called out to me. I ignored his summons and continued speaking.
“I’m not saying I want to die. I’m still afraid, just as I was. Two years ago, Soleia Elad was terrified too, and Hades goes without saying.”
[That’s only natural.]
“But the danger isn’t mine alone to bear.”
Auredhian Belgot’s avoidance of marriage to Soleia Elad had indeed taken him completely off the original story’s path, but it couldn’t guarantee future safety. In any case, Auredhian Belgot was the human who most deeply inherited Raulus’s divinity, and because of that, he was the only human Hades could choose as a second option.
“I twisted the original story, so I vaguely thought I had to bear all the consequences myself. Truthfully, even now I don’t think that reasoning was wrong.”
[Hmm.]
“But when you said you’d share that storm with me, I was happy.”
[….]
“Is this selfish? Tell me quickly. I’m wavering so much right now.”
My tone was almost petulant. Tears threatened to spill again.
[Yes, little one.]
Raulus tapped my chin gently with the tip of his nose.
[As I always say, there’s no need to strain yourself. You don’t have to force yourself into any role.]
“A role…?”
Eyes the same sky-blue as mine held a certain gravity to them.
[You’re allowed to lean on him a little more.]
He gestured with his head toward Auredhian Belgot, who sat slanted against the distant window, absorbed in reading something. I gazed quietly at that languid, serene scene.
[If you ask me… that boy would rather share any danger with you than watch you struggle alone until you break.]
“Why were you by my side two years ago? You said you already knew Soleia Elad was a Black Mage.”
Auredhian Belgot’s voice overlapped with Raulus’s.
“If you had confessed everything and asked me to let you go, I would never have released you. But you didn’t do that, did you, Yerenika?”
“That’s because I couldn’t turn away and leave when I knew full well the danger…”
“Neither can I. Just as you don’t want me to bear everything alone, if you feel the same way about me, then let’s share it equally.”
“….”
“Stay with me.”
Auredhian Belgot said only that, but I understood immediately what he meant. Raulus’s voice continued at length.
[Why do you always think you must be alone? Do you believe that as long as you’re alone, nothing that happens will matter?]
“….”
[Abandon that burdensome sense of sacrifice, little crumb. That’s the one thing you mustn’t do to him.]
The observation pierced through the sorrow I’d barely managed to suppress.

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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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