Beguiling the Enemy’s Patriarch - Chapter 161

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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 161
I smiled softly.
“Is that so?”
“Yes.”
My body lifted effortlessly into the air. I kept silent about the conversation I’d had with Diego a few hours earlier, nestling obediently into his embrace. But as always, I had no intention of hesitating if there was something I could do.
“….”
Still… it didn’t seem right to do it just now. If I told him everything I wanted to say, this man would surely lose his mind entirely.
And besides… I looked at the disheveled garden with embarrassment. I wasn’t exactly exercising restraint myself either….
I wrapped my arms around Auredhian’s neck with a bright smile.
“Well then, shall we go inside? Should we have dinner?”
“Why not? But first, let me check if you’re hurt anywhere.”
“Oh my….”
It really didn’t seem like the right time yet. In the end, I decided to keep that thought to myself for a while longer.
* * *
But that “while” seemed like it would stretch on quite long. I exhaled a shallow sigh.
For days now, Auredhian had been acting as though he couldn’t bear to let me walk on my own two feet. The moment I tried to hurry down the stairs, he’d turn pale and scoop me up into his arms. I had no idea how to convince him of my legs’ resilience.
I grumbled softly.
“Everyone will see.”
“That doesn’t matter, Yeni.”
“Everyone will… definitely spread rumors that you’re an incredibly doting husband.”
“I’m happy to be one.”
“They’ll definitely say you’re so infatuated with a woman that you’re neglecting all state affairs. Are you really fine with that?”
“I’m not neglecting everything. You’re the one forcing me to.”
“Of course you should. Obviously!”
I sat on the windowsill in the corridor, glaring at Auredhian. Today, I’d been trying to sneak out of the bedroom to play in the garden when I was caught red-handed by him just returning to the Central Palace.
Click. Auredhian reached past my neck and firmly locked the window latch. He was clearly taking precautions in case I tried to jump down again.
I muttered petulantly.
“You’re overprotective.”
“Even if it’s just for a few more days, Yeni. Please cooperate with me. Please.”
“Ugh… Don’t say ‘please’ like that.”
There was no way to resist when he spoke with that expression and that tone. I sighed as I received a barrage of kisses across my entire face.
“I was just trying to go down to the garden. Being cooped up in the room is suffocating.”
“You can just go with me.”
“Felix looks absolutely miserable. He says you’re not concentrating on your duties.”
How desperate must he be to have tears brimming in his eyes even from a distance?
Look, even now.
I spotted Felix peeking out from behind the staircase below, looking at me with such pity, and smiled awkwardly.
“I’m still not confident about it.”
But I couldn’t scold a man who still checked my wrists every time he saw me. Auredhian murmured slowly.
“When it comes to you, I become endlessly cowardly.”
“….”
“Think about it differently, Yerenika. I’ve been lying there like a corpse for over a month.”
“No, that can’t happen!”
What was he saying? I opened my eyes wide in alarm.
“I can’t even bear to imagine it!”
“Exactly. That’s why.”
Our lips met briefly. Soft kisses followed, each one pressed gently and carefully.
“Just wait until my heart settles a little. If you knew how many times it plummets to the depths in a single day….”
“Mm….”
“Then will you take pity on me?”
His touch was so cautious that “brush” would be a more fitting word than “touch.” I gazed at Auredhian quietly before speaking.
“I promise you, what happened last time won’t occur three times over.”
“I don’t believe you.”
The answer came with startling speed. The next words arrived only after our lips pressed together once more.
“I can’t believe you. I probably never will.”
“That’s rather troubling….”
“You’ve made me like this….”
Auredhian exhaled a low sigh.
“A complete mess.”
I had nothing else to say, so I simply laughed. Strong arms wrapped around my waist. A low whisper drifted to my ear.
“You’re not going to pretend you don’t understand, are you?”
“…?”
My body lifted slightly before my feet touched the ground again. I reflexively embraced his neck, then released it.
“Yes? What….”
Beyond the window, the sunset was descending. The long corridor, bathed entirely in orange light, was empty. The late summer dusk, quiet and serene, filled everything around us.
“….”
And his silver hair, half-drenched in the glow of sunset. I stared down at him blankly. Just moments ago, I’d been looking up at him, yet now I was looking down.
“Ah….”
In that moment, I felt as though I’d intuited what Auredhian was about to do—and yet I understood nothing at all. His warm hand grasped my perpetually cool one. It was his left hand.
“When I return.”
His voice fell calmly and loosely.
“I promised I would propose to you properly.”
“….”
“I’ve thought long about what kind of proposal you would like most….”
He pressed his lips gently to the back of my hand. Something surged up from within me.
“Since you don’t enjoy being the center of attention.”
Only then did this strange silence make sense. The corridor, usually filled with the Imperial Palace’s servants hurrying about with evening preparations, was this quiet.
Thump.
Thump.
So quiet that my heartbeat could be heard clearly….
“I thought it would be better to keep things quiet rather than make a fuss. I hope I haven’t misread the situation….”
His crimson eyes curved slowly downward. I caught the glimmer of something on his left hand holding mine—the same brilliance reflected from within the deep crimson velvet box he held in his other hand.
“Marry me.”
Tears spilled down before they could even gather at the corners of my eyes.
“You can do whatever you want with me. You can make a mess of me even worse than this.”
His proposal continued slowly—composed, serene, achingly sweet, utterly characteristic of this man.
“All my remaining time belongs to you.”
“….”
I knew I should answer, but my throat constricted and no sound came. So with trembling hands, I accepted the small box. And then I pulled him into an embrace by his neck. Only then did my voice, mangled and broken, slip past my lips.
“What are you suddenly….”
Auredhian asked in a voice tinged with laughter.
“Why are you crying? Don’t cry.”
“Like this….”
“Hmm?”
“Doing it so suddenly like this….”
“Suddenly? It’s not sudden.”
His tender hand patted my shoulder soothingly.
“So, what’s your answer?”
I barely managed to open my mouth, fighting back the inexplicable tears that kept rising.
“I will….”
Unable to face him, I buried my face in his neck, so my voice came out completely muffled.
“I can’t hear you well.”
“….”
“Could you say it one more time?”
I shook my head, lacking confidence. Ever since we returned to Lebovni, I’d heard him ask me to marry him several times a day—so why were these tears suddenly flowing now, as if it were all brand new?
Auredhian gently loosened my arms that held him and sat up. He urged me lightly.
“Come on, don’t cry.”
“…I will.”
I barely managed to squeeze out a coherent voice.
“I’ll give you all my remaining time too.”
There seemed to be so much more I wanted to say, but the words wouldn’t come. Yet it seemed that was enough for Auredhian.
“Thank goodness.”
He murmured with genuine relief on his face.
“I was a bit worried.”
“That’s unnecessary….”
Startled by those words, I blurted out a response, but Auredhian took the box from my hand. I stopped speaking and watched him. He reopened the lid, which had half-closed because I’d been gripping it so messily.
“….”
Soon I felt something slip gently onto the ring finger of my left hand. I murmured in a voice thick with emotion.
“When did you…?”
“I gave the order two years ago. After you returned to Lebovni.”
The ring fit perfectly, leaving not the slightest gap.

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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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