Beguiling the Enemy’s Patriarch - Chapter 153

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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 153
“It should be fine now. Schmart is looking after her, and besides….”
“Besides…?”
“Raulus is also caring for her.”
“Ah, yes. Raulus.”
Clarisse murmured with a noticeably relieved expression.
“I’ve known for some time that she’s someone special, but to think she’s receiving care from Raulus himself…. My instincts were right after all.”
Auredhian Belgot had issued a gag order regarding everything about Yerenika, but words were never so easily contained. Moreover, they often became distorted into something entirely different in the retelling.
Rumors had already spread throughout every corner of the Barishard Capital. Strange whispers of a saint blessed directly by Raulus appearing in the world.
* * *
[A saint? I’ve never sent such a thing to the surface.]
Raulus sat sprawled atop the window frame—directly above the Emperor’s office window, no less. Auredhian Belgot sighed and spoke.
“If you remain there, everyone outside will see you, Raulus.”
Raulus tilted his chin up defiantly.
[Is there somewhere I cannot go?]
“….”
How had Yerenika endured carrying this for two whole years? Auredhian Belgot observed the deity dangling his feet outside the window with a somewhat skeptical gaze, then turned his head away.
Papers rustled as they scattered. It was a quiet day.
[A saint, a saint….]
Raulus seemed to continue pondering this. Eventually, he reached his own conclusion.
[Well, it’s not entirely wrong, is it?]
“….”
[The only human who summoned me, not of the Belgot Imperial Family. Of course, it was borrowed power, but still.]
Long silver hair rippled in the wind beyond the window.
[For my little crumb’s sake, what’s the harm in granting her the title of saint?]
“Do not burden Yerenika with excessive titles.”
Auredhian Belgot spoke curtly.
“Yeni needs rest. She doesn’t need to take on anything, nor should she strain herself.”
[How sensitive you are.]
Raulus pouted.
[You mortals are often too harsh with me. Do you know that?]
“We are not being harsh, Raulus.”
[It’s disrespectful.]
“Yet you don’t seem to mind it yourself, do you?”
Auredhian Belgot stamped his seal on the documents and replied calmly. Raulus constantly grumbled about disrespect and lack of dignity, but it was merely a habit of speech. Seeing how he never actually took offense, it seemed his feelings weren’t truly hurt. After all, what would an absolute being gain from genuinely angering a mortal? As expected, Raulus hummed softly to himself.
[True, that’s fair.]
A gentle breeze drifted through the open window. The heat of late summer carried the wind, and long silver hair swayed gracefully. The purest and most luminous divinity flowed into the room along with it. Raulus tilted his head and gazed at Auredhian Belgot.
[But, little one. The rumors in the Capital are already spreading, aren’t they?]
“….”
[That my little crumb receives my care.]
At those words, his furrowed brow creased slightly. He’d clearly issued an order of silence, yet somehow the news had leaked. Rumors of Raulus’s saint appearing had spread throughout Belgot like wildfire within mere days.
“…Sigh.”
Auredhian exhaled deeply. There was no stopping a rumor once it took flight. Moreover, Raulus wasn’t the type to heed others’ gazes—he manifested around Auredhian’s office all day long, making it nearly impossible to prevent the rumors from spreading. Auredhian spoke with barely concealed irritation.
“Aren’t you the one fanning the flames of these rumors yourself?”
Moving about the Imperial Palace in a form that looked anything but ordinary, radiating sacred power—it was inevitable that tales would circulate of Raulus’s manifestation descending upon Belgot. The deity himself seemed to be rather enjoying it. After rolling about on the windowsill for some time, Raulus called out to him.
[Shayer.]
“…Yes.”
Hearing his baptismal name from the one who had bestowed it felt strange.
[I’m bored.]
“….”
Auredhian could only hope that rumors wouldn’t spread about the god who had blessed the Laigar Continent possessing such a temperament. Raulus muttered petulantly.
[When will our little crumb wake up?]
Auredhian swallowed a sigh and pushed aside the documents he’d finished reviewing. Childish whining continued.
[I want to play with the crumb.]
“You cannot in that form.”
[Why?]
The cross hanging from his neck swayed gently. Auredhian answered a beat too late.
“There are too many eyes watching.”
[But I just want to see our little one—what’s wrong with wanting to see our cute little stone?]
“That particular term of endearment is always rather….”
Auredhian briefly wondered if Yerenika had picked up her strange way of speaking from watching Raulus, then immediately corrected himself. It seemed the opposite was true. In any case, what couldn’t be done simply couldn’t be done. Auredhian spoke firmly.
“You cannot enter the bedroom in human form.”
[Be honest with me, little one. Is it really because there are too many eyes, or do you simply dislike me?]
“Both.”
Auredhian answered immediately, and Raulus became deeply dejected.
[They say raising children is all for nothing….]
“You never raised me, Raulus. The same goes for Yerenika.”
[Won’t give an inch, will you?]
Raulus leaped lightly from the windowsill. The next moment, standing on the office floor was an enormous silver wolf. Raulus held his head high with dignity and declared confidently.
[I’m going to sleep with the crumb!]
Auredhian pressed his palm to his forehead.
* * *
Yerenika remained ill for quite some time. The first week was precarious. Though she appeared outwardly sound thanks to Raulus’s divine blessing, she would suddenly spike fevers and break into cold sweats throughout the night as if plagued by nightmares. During all those hours, Auredhian never left her side for a moment.
The second week was no different in that regard. Yet the divine essence flowing through her body gradually stabilized. Only then did he finally allow himself some peace of mind. He returned at last to the mountain of documents he’d been putting off for a month.
And the third week brought anxiety once more. Wasn’t this taking far too long?
[Think of it as a settling process.]
Raulus said only that. A settling process—the process of a soul not born into this world taking root. Hearing those words, he found it bearable once more. Despite appearances, this being was the absolute deity who had blessed this land and the progenitor of the Belgot Imperial Family. There was no reason he would lie.
And then another week passed. Raulus asked him in a distinctly puzzled tone.
[Why won’t she wake up?]
“….”
In that moment, Auredhian Belgot genuinely—and quite irreverently—imagined summoning Raulus back beyond Udeta. In any case, that was why these days felt like walking through Hell all over again. Maintaining composure was far from easy. A month had passed since that catastrophe. One full month.
“….”
Auredhian Belgot finally set down the documents. He was reading them, yet the letters refused to penetrate his mind. Without conscious thought, his footsteps had already drifted toward the bedroom. The deep blue canopy of the bed was half-drawn. Judging by the traces of Raulus’s divine essence scattered throughout, it seemed he had invaded even this sanctuary once more.
“I told you not to come in….”
Auredhian Belgot sighed and pulled the canopy fully open. What first caught his eye was an enormous wolf occupying more than half the bed. And nestled between the wolf and the blankets lay a small form.
“….”
Long, pale pink hair. A pallid face. Drooping eyelashes. The same appearance as every day for the past month. A peaceful expression as though touched by brief sorrow. A body where every vital rhythm except breathing had ceased. White, pristine, and soft—but nothing more.
Auredhian Belgot habitually found the small, cool hand and held it, pressing his lips to it. Yerenika’s hand was always slightly cool. Despite it being a familiar temperature, with his eyes closed, his thoughts kept drifting in strange directions.
[Pointless thoughts.]
“….”
Raulus, sprawled out languidly, offered his rebuke.
[I should hit you once every time you think something strange like that.]
“Hit me, you say….”
[The crumb would definitely have told me to hit you if she knew.]
Raulus touched Yerenika’s cheek gently with his snout. In truth, the reason Auredhian Belgot had not yet sharpened to his breaking point was, surprisingly, largely thanks to Raulus. The summoning bond allowed one to read minds, or so it was said. Whenever he indulged in dark imaginings, Raulus would drag him back to reality. Frivolous, childish, and willful though he was, there was certainly much to be grateful for.
[Sleep well. Don’t wake her.]
“…I won’t wake her.”
Yet still, it displeased him. Raulus was far too fond of Yerenika. Auredhian Belgot exhaled a low sigh and gently brushed the pale pink hair scattered across the pillow. From the body suffused with cool divine essence came Yerenika’s distinctive sweet soap fragrance.
Her breathing was steady. He could feel the constant pulse at her slender wrist, yet somehow it was not enough. He could hear her small, even breaths, yet anxiety still gnawed at him. Her face bore no trace of illness—if anything, it held a faint vitality. She looked as though she had merely drifted into a brief nap. And yet.
“….”
Yet she also seemed as though she might vanish the moment he looked away. There were times he thought she might dissolve into the spaces between sunlight. Times he thought she resembled the clear, cool air between night and dawn. Times he thought her a glass doll that would shatter if gripped too tightly. Sunlight, air, transparent glass. Such weightless, harmless things.
But this faint presence itself displeased him deeply.
“Ah… truly.”
Auredhian Belgot let out a low groan and pressed his lips firmly against her pale, rounded forehead.
“When will you wake?”
No answer came. She had promised never to leave him alone, yet for a month, he had been solitary.
“…When you wake.”
Auredhian Belgot murmured quietly.
“You’ll have to love me far more than before, Yerenika.”
Far more than you ever have. Still, no answer returned.

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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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