Beguiling the Enemy’s Patriarch - Chapter 155

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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 155
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“Wow, this is really strange.”
I couldn’t close my mouth as I examined every corner of my body. The ground felt genuinely lighter. Unless wings had sprouted from my back or I’d suddenly lost all my flesh, leaving only bones, the earth had undoubtedly become lighter beneath my feet.
“This is Belgot, though….”
I turned to look around, my expression still half-dazed. This garden, so completely different from Lebovni, was unmistakably the Central Garden of the Barisha Imperial Palace. So this really was Belgot, yet it felt this light?
Belgot’s earth had always been heavy for me. Land infused with mana was difficult for me to bear. No matter how much purification work had been done, it shouldn’t have felt like I could float away like this. I muttered stupidly to myself.
“Then I really do have wings after all….”
That was obviously nonsense. There was nothing on my back. I quietly traced the flow of holiness coursing through every fiber of my body. I knew this energy. The holiness of Barishard Temple. Raulus’s holiness.
“….”
Memories were slowly returning. They felt like recollections from a distant, hazy past, yet they were vivid as if they’d just happened—so vivid that it was strange I hadn’t recalled them immediately.
“Ah… it’s over….”
The moment I realized it was over, like a sudden bolt of lightning, came back with chilling clarity. I trembled as goosebumps raced up my limbs.
“I thought it would never end even if I died. But it really did end.”
Crunch. Grass crackled beneath my feet again. I walked slowly toward the center of the garden. Questions bubbled up with every step. It was over—that much was certain—but why had the ground suddenly become so light? Had Raulus done something to me? Or was it Auredhian?
“Hmm….”
How much time had passed since that night?
“….”
Where had Auredhian gone, leaving me behind?
“What….”
Everything else was irrelevant; the last fact bothered me most. Where had he gone that he wouldn’t even show his face?
“I feel kind of abandoned.”
I passed the tea table and chairs placed in the middle of the garden, feeling a slight pang of disappointment. As I crossed the length of the garden, a familiar fence came into view.
The difference from two years ago was that the white handkerchief that had been tied to the fence was gone. I furrowed my brow slightly, gazing down at the fence.
Could I cross it? I was deliberating while staring intently at the fence when I heard someone cry out in alarm from far beyond it.
“Y-y-y…!”
“…?”
Y?
I lifted my head.
“Oh, it’s Diego.”
The strange sound had come from Diego, whose expression suggested he’d seen a ghost. I smiled brightly at him and pointed to the fence with my hand.
“Hello, Diego. Is it okay if I cross this?”
“Y-Your Highness…?”
“My body feels so light for some reason that I thought I might be able to cross it. But I probably can’t, right?”
“What are my eyes seeing right now….”
Diego didn’t look well. Drained of all color, his face pale as a sheet, stammering—he looked as if he’d witnessed a ghost in broad daylight.
“Y-Your Majesty….”
“I’m just going to cross it!”
My feet were already moving past the fence. Diego’s expression suggested he was about to faint.
“Raulus! Raulus! Please inform His Majesty!”
“Oh!”
I was perfectly fine! I gasped in wonder, my mouth falling open.
“Wow, what is this?”
Was I finally escaping this sunfish prison? The cautious steps I’d been taking suddenly gained momentum. I walked forward as if entranced, paying no mind to the white fabric of my clothes wrapping around my ankles. The Barisha Imperial Palace held far more places I hadn’t explored than those I had. If my current condition wasn’t a lie, then truly there was nowhere in this palace I couldn’t go—.
“…!”
But I couldn’t take another step. A strong arm pulled me back from behind.
“Ah.”
I let out a reflexive gasp. That familiar, longed-for scent that had permeated the bedroom suddenly washed over me from behind.
“What, you’re leaving me alone? Where did you go?”
My words came out as a grumble, but my lips were already curving into a smile.
“But you know, Your Majesty, I can now even jump over that fence… Your Majesty?”
No answer came back. The arms holding me were firm, and yet….
“Ah….”
They were trembling faintly. Since waking, I’d felt oddly dazed, and I blinked slowly.
“Hmm…. So I….”
I remembered this reaction. I felt the warmth transmitted through my back and slowly opened my mouth.
“I suppose I was ill for quite a while this time.”
That wasn’t quite the right answer, it seemed. But truthfully, I doubted this man would have heard anything I said anyway.
“The window….”
The voice that came after a long pause was thick and heavy.
“Why did you jump? That’s dangerous….”
“Right. I’m sorry. I just woke up and wasn’t thinking straight.”
My body felt incredibly light. And honestly, jumping out windows was practically a habit from my time in Lebovni. It wasn’t particularly dangerous.
Instead of voicing these thoughts, I placed my hand on the arm holding me. When I patted it gently, the tension eased. I immediately turned around and embraced Auredhian.
* * *
[You jumped out the window without thinking, didn’t you? I nearly had a heart attack.]
“Why are you bringing that up now? You already knew….”
I sat atop the tea table, swinging my legs back and forth. Raulus, who had approached my side, tapped the tip of my chin with his snout.
“You’ve grown so much, Lari. The difference in summoner ability is certainly significant.”
[Yeah. But that one’s no fun. He won’t play with me.]
“Hmm….”
I scratched Raulus’s back gently while observing Auredhian. He stood at a distance, receiving something from Marienne. Judging by how startled he’d been to discover me barefoot confidently strolling through the garden, he was probably instructing her to bring shoes or something similar. I took the opportunity to ask Raulus quickly.
“What’s today’s date? The way he’s reacting suggests quite a bit of time has passed….”
[Well. A month and a week have gone by.]
“Is that so. A month and… Wait?”
A month? This time, it was I who was shocked.
“Not just a week… a month and a week? What, how could it be that long….”
[I know. I didn’t expect it to take this long either. I confidently told the master you’d wake up soon, but because you took so long, I ended up being the one scolded.]
“Sigh….”
If I’d been ill for that long, I understood now. Auredhian was the kind of man who’d been consumed with worry and anxiety even when I’d recovered after merely ten days of illness two years ago. More than a month had passed. I didn’t need to see it to know what he must have endured.
Raulus circled around me, asking a question.
[How’s your body feeling?]
“Light. This is it, right? What you promised me.”
[Yes. Now I can truly call you mine.]
“Wow.”
Raulus’s priesthood. I marveled at the intricate divinity that filled every vessel and cell without gaps. It was incomparable to my previous divinity, which had been sparse and inadequate with scattered empty spaces. As I traced the divinity within my body, I sensed an approaching presence and hastily pushed Raulus away.
“Ah, he’s coming. Go on, Lari.”
[Good grief. If even you’re going to treat me coldly….]
“Diego’s arriving.”
[Oh! Raduher!]
Even while manifested, Raulus remained bustling and simple-minded. All the dignity of an absolute being that I’d witnessed that night had completely evaporated. I turned my head away from the sight of the enormous silver wolf bounding toward Diego with heavy, loping strides.
“Hehe.”
“…Don’t smile like that.”
His voice was still slightly strained. I answered with a slight pout.
“What? You told me to smile before.”
“….”
Auredhian Belgot didn’t answer. His crimson eyes blinked slowly as they swept across my face and body meticulously. I glanced at him cautiously and blurted out something.
“They say the capital’s summer is intense? I opened my eyes and summer’s already over. That’s good.”
“….”
Auredhian Belgot didn’t seem to be properly listening to my words. A thick blanket that didn’t suit the still-warm weather at all was draped over my shoulders.
“Hm? Your Majesty, I’m not even cold….”
The blanket wound tightly around my body. I shifted uncomfortably.
“You don’t need to cover me…. I’m really not cold, no wait. I am cold.”
But the moment I saw Auredhian Belgot’s expression, I immediately changed my words. He had the look of someone who wanted to immediately scoop me up, lay me on the bed, and wrap me tightly in a down comforter. I wondered what he’d been arguing about with Marienne, but it seemed he’d compromised with a blanket after much restraint.
Oh no. This is really troublesome. As I lay swaddled in the blanket, unable to move, blinking only my eyes, Auredhian Belgot lowered himself to my feet without hesitation. It was a natural motion. I opened my mouth in surprise.
“Uh….”
The servants and priests were all watching…. But Auredhian Belgot seemed completely unconcerned about the dozens of eyes upon him. He immediately reached for my feet.
“….”
As warmth touched my feet, my body flinched involuntarily. Auredhian Belgot removed a leaf stuck to the top of my foot and brushed it away gently. Laughter burst out of me.
“Ah! That tickles!”
“Just bear with it. That’s why I told you not to come out barefoot.”
Soft slippers were then placed on my feet. I blinked as I looked down at the silver hair gleaming far below.
“…The ruler of the empire.”
I leaned forward slightly and reached out toward that silvery hair. The silken strands tangled between my fingers.
“Is it alright for you to kneel down like this anywhere?”
“Anywhere?”
Auredhian Belgot lifted his head. Our eyes met directly.
“It’s not anywhere.”

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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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