Beguiling the Enemy’s Patriarch - Chapter 142

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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 142
I paused, studying him carefully. What condition would make this man yield without further resistance? After considering various options, I settled on the most straightforward one.
[I’ll grant you one wish. Anything you desire.]
“…You know far too well how to manipulate me.”
Auredhian muttered in a tone of resignation.
“It’s strange to say I’ve been ensnared now.”
[It is rather strange, isn’t it?]
I smiled brightly and brought my lips close to his cheek. It was merely a gesture since I couldn’t actually make contact, but the intent was clear.
[So then….]
My lips curved upward in satisfaction.
[Three-way negotiation successful. That’s correct, isn’t it?]
“Don’t lump me together with that woman. It doesn’t sit well with me.”
“My. Who are you to say that?”
Soleia Lisard shot back with venom. I watched the two of them glare at each other with murderous intent, feeling somewhat helpless.
[I said stop fighting….]
It seemed like a distant hope.
* * *
The Underground Tunnel was finally organized shortly after my attempt at cooperation with Soleia Lisard succeeded. The Dark Mages bound in restraint collars were dragged up to the Surface by the Holy Knights in a long procession. The arrest process appeared to have been far from peaceful. Hardly anyone emerged unscathed.
I glanced nervously toward Soleia Lisard. The moment her disciples were brought up, she abandoned all conversation and planning, frantically examining the condition of each one.
“S-Soleia Lisard….”
“None of them are dead, are they?”
That sharp question made even me tense involuntarily.
“No….”
“Then that’s sufficient.”
A sharp glint. Her dark eyes turned back toward me. Despite the restraint collars around her neck, wrists, and ankles, Soleia Lisard remained utterly herself. I screamed inwardly. I understand. I do understand. Stop glaring at me like that! And Auredhian’s gaze upon them was not merely cold—it was piercing. I had to issue him a firm warning once more.
[You agreed to postpone summary execution. You promised me. Me.]
“…Yes. I understand.”
The answer came a beat too late. I pressed harder.
[If you don’t comply, I won’t marry His Majesty.]
“….”
And that pathetic threat worked remarkably well. Auredhian let out a short groan.
“Yerenika, you know I can’t refuse you, don’t you?”
Perhaps that was true…. I smiled ambiguously. Not because of our current circumstances, but because Auredhian had always been remarkably weak to me. He sighed and issued orders to Diego.
“Schmart, send everyone except Soleia Lisard to Barishard with their collars on. Rosel as well.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“I’m merely withdrawing the summary execution order. Any resistance will be suppressed immediately. As long as they’re breathing, that’s all that matters.”
It was a cold and cutting command. While it was natural for such orders to be merciless, it was difficult to believe such a directive came from a man who had always seemed loose and lenient. His tone was composed yet chilling and oppressive. Yet in those crimson eyes when he glanced back at me, affection still brimmed abundantly.
“There’s no need to treat their bodies with care, is there, Yerenika?”
Of course, the content of those words was far from warm.
What emerged from the Underground was not only the Dark Mages.
“Ugh, argh, ahhhhh….”
After a few minutes, Nia and the servants of the Lisard estate who had been trapped underground were released. I spotted Nia among them and finally let out a breath of relief.
[That fearless little brat….]
Should I go give her a piece of my mind? The small body trembling beneath that ghastly orange light was vivid before my eyes.
[If that child had died, I really might have lost my mind. Who asked her to make such a sacrifice…? Being needlessly kind like that….]
I curled my form and held Raulus close.
[I really do want to hit her.]
[You don’t have a body.]
[…Right, I don’t have a body.]
I gazed at the group where Nia stood, my heart heavy. To the eyes of ordinary people who could barely sense either holiness or mana, I would be invisible. I could see Nia, her face streaked with tears, constantly looking around in confusion.
“Um, where is my sister….”
“What sister are you speaking of, little miss?”
Diego Schmart was gently comforting Nia.
“My sister who receives Raulus’s blessing…. The saint with pink hair and sky-blue eyes….”
“Ah…?”
Diego Schmart glanced back at me. I reflexively smiled in response, but then the lie I’d told with my own mouth—calling myself a saint—came flooding back, and my smile froze solid on my face. How embarrassing…!
“Did my sister send you? Did my sister safely make it back to the surface?”
“…Yes. She is safe, I assure you. Don’t worry.”
“Where is she now…?”
“Well….”
Diego Schmart seemed to be searching for words to say. After a moment’s hesitation, he skillfully wove his lie.
“She was showing slight signs of dehydration, so we took her to a nearby Temple. I’ll send you word later, little miss.”
“Sob, yes….”
His excuse was remarkably specific. I narrowed my eyes and watched the dark-haired priest’s retreating figure. Diego, I thought—when did priests who serve the divine become capable of lying like that….
The faces I’d glimpsed in the underground dungeon earlier came streaming up to the surface one after another.
“Are there no more survivors?”
“We’re still searching, but from a certain point onward, it’s blocked by magical barriers….”
Auredhian Belgot issued his command curtly.
“Schmart, go down.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Once everything is sorted, burn it all without exception. Collapse it entirely.”
“…It seems you’re already doing that directly, Your Majesty. You’ll need to give me time to descend.”
“Then hurry yourself.”
Auredhian Belgot’s overbearing demeanor wasn’t something one saw every day, so I set aside my thoughts for a moment and simply observed him. As he burned away every trace of mana flowing through the earth, he seemed to sense my gaze and turned to look at me.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
[Just because it’s interesting.]
“What’s interesting about it?”
His firmly closed lips curved into a faint smile. I could feel his soul growing steadily more solid the more he wielded his holy power.
[Hm….]
His soul becoming more solid? I unconsciously tilted my head at the thought that had crossed my mind. Was it just my imagination…?
[….]
But it didn’t feel like mere imagination. Weight was gradually returning to my body—a form that had been so light it would scatter away with the slightest breeze. Slowly, incrementally, but unmistakably….
[….]
A strange sense of déjà vu washed over me. This sensation—I was certain I’d felt it somewhere before…?
“That’s enough. Continue with the explanation.”
Soleia Elad returned once the Underground had fallen silent again. With her cooperation secured, my next objective was clear: locate Hades, who had absconded with my body. I paused briefly in thought before voicing what had been troubling me.
[To bind an Absolute to the Surface, a medium is required.]
“You understand well.”
Soleia Elad answered readily.
“Separate from the contract between him and myself, a summoning medium is necessary. It’s one of the conditions that allows him to break Remordi’s taboo and stand upon the Surface.”
Three conditions. A designated location, the summoner’s power, and a medium. It appeared that Hades’s summoning followed no different rules. I tensed and pressed her further.
[Then…. What is your medium?]
“My mana.”
[Your mana?]
“Earlier, you asked whether reverse summoning was possible, Princess?”
Soleia Elad smiled faintly. There was something laden with meaning in that expression.
“Reverse summoning—theoretically possible, yes. If I were to stake my death upon it.”
[What do you mean?]
“Consider it, Princess. Your dear Raulus exists as a fragment of a true form, and because he’s favorably disposed toward you, you can summon and dismiss him freely. But I cannot do the same. I summoned a genuine incarnation of a true body—the weight cannot be equivalent.”
[I see.]
“Then the only method for reverse summoning would be to shatter the summoning contract entirely….”
I could sense where this was leading. Soleia Elad gave a slight shrug as she concluded.
“Since the medium between Hades and myself is my mana, breaking the contract would naturally require me to sacrifice myself. Wouldn’t it?”
[….]
I see. I nodded grimly.
My summoning relationship with Raulus was incomplete. I hadn’t summoned him entirely through my own power, nor could he manifest upon the Surface in his complete true form. But precisely because he was merely a light fragment, I could withdraw and reinstate him at will.
However, the situation between Soleia Elad and Hades was different. One cannot simply send an Absolute here and there as one pleases. Moreover, since Soleia Elad herself was the medium, she would have to sacrifice herself to enable reverse summoning.
Soleia Elad spoke flatly.
“If I sever the summoning bond, Hades will be dragged back beneath Remordi, just as you said, Princess. Remordi’s taboo will activate. But I won’t emerge unscathed either.”
“Then sever it.”
Auredhian Belgot seemed entirely unmoved by this fact. His voice emerged with callous indifference.
“What difference does it make? Die in reverse summoning or burn at the stake after paying for your sins—it’s all the same, isn’t it?”

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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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