Beguiling the Enemy’s Patriarch - Chapter 181

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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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Side Story 3, Part 3, Episode 1
Yet when Decarve pointed toward the alley, there was no one there. The unmistakable hue that belonged to Mother had vanished beyond the corner as if teasing the children. As Decarve stepped aside from atop Aizena, she sprang to her feet.
“Let’s go!”
“Yes!”
“Go! Yes!”
Unie stretched her stubby arms commandingly, marshaling her older siblings. The three children pulled their hats back down and began scurrying across Ugel Square.
By the time Raulus and Diego arrived at Ugel Square, Yerenika and Auredhian, along with the three Belgot siblings, had already departed.
* * *
Yerenika and Auredhian’s next destination was the Brewery, a place they had frequented during their newlywed days. As they stepped inside, the warm, humid air of the interior enveloped them.
“It’s been such a long time! Besides, on a cold day like this, one must have a beer. It warms the body from within!”
For all her boldness in speaking, Yerenika had a low tolerance for alcohol. She could barely finish a single glass of low-proof fruit beer before becoming unsteady. Auredhian, rather than dampening her enthusiasm, simply adjusted her half-slipped hood properly and seated her by the window.
“Just one small glass. No more than that. Understood?”
“Tch. I know that. But in exchange, you know?”
“I do.”
Yerenika had always lamented her constitution’s inability to tolerate alcohol, and her method of venting this frustration was invariably to ply her husband with drink. Since she knew he rarely became intoxicated even by strong spirits, it was a viable approach.
“It’s nice to get out after so long.”
“I agree. Winter has its own charm.”
Across the hall, a large fireplace crackled and burned. Travelers who had come to escape the cold and workers who had finished their day mingled together in boisterous conversation. It was a sight one could never witness in the elegant Imperial Palace. Yerenika smiled at the sight of these ordinary, human figures.
“Come to think of it, I wonder if our children are doing well.”
The dignified Imperial Palace, which had once symbolized Belgot’s majesty, had changed considerably over the past few years. Since Decarve had passed three years of age and Aizena had begun taking her first steps, the somewhat stifling peace of the palace had been gradually awakening.
“Though perhaps it’s a bit excessive.”
Yerenika muttered while grunting as she cracked open a peanut shell.
“Sometimes I’m a little frightened watching Uni grow. If Uni joins in as well, I fear I won’t even be able to keep up chasing after them.”
“Every time you say something like that, I’m struck anew with emotion. Do you know that?”
Auredhian chuckled softly and brought over a bowl of nuts, cracking peanuts and walnuts for her. Yerenika took a few peanuts and narrowed her eyes.
“What do you mean by that?”
“You were the first to shatter the silence of the Imperial Palace. Who else would Deb and Jena resemble but me? Yes, I’m sorry.”
Auredhian was brushing walnut crumbs from his hands thoughtlessly when he hastily changed the subject. Yerenika was glaring at him while crunching peanuts.
“Back then, I was clumsy with handling sacred power. I’m not anymore.”
“I was just saying that sometimes I miss those days.”
That was no lie. Now, even when she wielded magic right beside him, he wouldn’t blink an eye, and while he felt both pride and relief at the sight of her, he sometimes found himself longing for those moments when she had clung to him as though he were her only lifeline in the world.
“It’s the same now, so why?”
Yerenika wiped his hand, dusted with walnut powder, with a napkin. Through that contact, his sacred power flowed gently into her. A satisfied smile graced Yerenika’s lips.
“I think I can’t live without this energy anymore.”
“…Don’t keep making me want to kiss you in a place like this, Yeni.”
Auredhian swallowed a low murmur and clinked his large glass against her small one. The glasses rang out with a clear, pure sound. Yerenika took a sip of the cool beer and gazed out the window with a relaxed expression.
Snow was still falling. Along with thick snowflakes, the sunset gradually descended.
“When we return, all the children will already be asleep. I won’t be able to give them their goodnight kisses.”
“We can sneak in and do it anyway.”
Of course, they had no idea that the children who should have been in bed by now were lingering in the alley.
* * *
Decarve muttered seriously in front of an alley that looked rather ominous.
“…This alley looks frightening.”
“I agree.”
Aizena quickly concurred. They stood at the entrance of an alley lined with taverns. Taverns were strictly off-limits to minors. And the children wandering through the alley now were nine, seven, and three years old respectively.
Decarve clenched his fists tightly.
“Mother and Father couldn’t possibly be in a place like this.”
The nine-year-old’s innocent eyes transformed an ordinary tavern into something far more disreputable. The seven-year-old beside him nodded vigorously in agreement.
“We should get through here quickly.”
The three-year-old, perched on the nine-year-old’s shoulders, cried out in a lisping voice.
“Deb, run!”
Taking that as their signal, Decarve and Aizena dashed past the tavern where their parents were quietly enjoying a modest beer. Both were so tense that the divine energy they’d been suppressing suddenly burst forth. Those tiny traces of power flowed directly into the senses of the Absolute.
“Hm? Found them.”
Raulus, his cheeks stuffed full of skewered meat, suddenly lifted his head. Diego, who had been paying for the skewers beside him, turned to look at him in confusion.
“What have you found now?”
“Crumbs one, two, three, four.”
Diego understood that bizarre nickname perfectly. In all the world, only Raulus called the Belgot Empress and the Imperial Family by such strange names. Raulus stared intently at one of the western alleys and began munching on the remaining skewer.
“But why are one-two-three-four going the wrong way?”
“Pardon?”
“One is over there, but they’re passing right by.”
“Then we should chase after them…!”
“Wait a moment.”
Raulus finished off two more fruit skewers before finally leaving the skewer stand. Diego hurried after him, fumbling to pay.
Raulus felt the three tiny divine presences growing distant and flickering, then suddenly transformed. Across the snow-covered square, the massive paw print of a great beast appeared. Raulus swiftly snatched up the bewildered Diego and tossed him onto his back.
[Let’s go catch those runaway children!]
“R, Raulus!”
A colossal wolf carrying the ashen-faced priest began racing across the square. Fortunately, the snow-covered square was sparsely populated, but once the beast charged into the alleys, the situation changed. The snow had been cleared away, leaving many people passing through.
“What, what, what, what was that just now? A beast?”
“A… wolf? A lion?”
In truth, the creature had passed so quickly that few people could discern what the massive silver mass had been. Only the merchants who had been about to close their stalls for the day witnessed Raulus head-on and froze in terror.
About ten minutes later, a beautiful woman with reddish-brown hair arrived at Ugel Square. Soleia discovered two adult male footprints in front of the skewer stand, and upon seeing the beast’s paw prints scattered about, she frowned.
“…How irritating.”
She could not sense the power that opposed magic, but whenever a great divine presence was near, she always felt this vexing sensation. Still, it seemed she hadn’t come in entirely the wrong direction. Snow continued to fall, yet the footprints remained unobliterated, suggesting little time had passed. Soleia began crossing the square, following the paw prints—each one the size of three human heads.
“That person… isn’t that the woman? The Black Mage who was supposed to be undergoing punishment in the Temple Underground.”
“What? No way… surely not. Surely not. Surely not is catching people!”
The merchants who had witnessed the manifestation of Raulus just minutes before, their souls nearly departing their bodies, now grasped each other’s hands and began trembling violently.
“It seems something must have happened at the Imperial Palace….”
As the pitiful merchants hastily packed up their stalls and hurried across Ugel Square to return home, they witnessed a group of Knights rushing into the square.
“Search every corner carefully! Don’t miss anything hidden by Raulus’s divine presence!”
“Yes!”
Now not only the merchants but also the people deeper within the alley grew increasingly bewildered. No matter where one looked, an extraordinary wolf was being followed by a Black Mage, and the Black Mage was being followed by Knights.
“Something must have happened!”
Everyone held their breath, fearing a bloodbath might erupt, but fortunately, no such calamity occurred. The witch with reddish-brown hair obediently followed only in the enormous wolf’s footprints, while the Knights swept through Ugel Square with such fervor that they ransacked even the tiniest gaps, as if determined to scour every eye-witness from the plaza.
It didn’t seem as though anything grave or dangerous had transpired—so what was it? Confusion spread from mouth to mouth among the crowd.

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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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