Beguiling the Enemy’s Patriarch - Chapter 184

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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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Special Side Story Episode 1
Special Side Story 1. H. A. F. D
It was a day when the bitter chill of early spring was gradually fading away.
She suddenly spoke to him.
“You know, Your Majesty.”
“…?”
Auredhian lifted his head.
Beyond the mountainous stack of documents, Yerenika sat perched upon the windowsill on the opposite side, her entire body wrapped snugly in a thin spring quilt.
Auredhian set down the documents and smiled ambiguously.
“When did you climb up there?”
“While you weren’t paying attention to me.”
“It’s dangerous. Come down.”
“You’re so busy you won’t even spare me a glance.”
“….”
Spring breeze drifted gently through the wide-open window.
The sight of her bundled in the quilt, dangling her feet from the windowsill, looked precarious no matter how I looked at it.
Yet Yerenika seemed utterly unconcerned by such matters.
And truthfully, Auredhian knew well that she would never fall from there.
After all, she had flung open windows and leaped out countless times before, turning his heart to stone each occasion.
Still, it was dangerous.
Without hesitation, Auredhian rose from his seat and approached her by the window.
“What did you wish to tell me, Your Majesty the Empress?”
He pressed his lips against her soft hair and inhaled her fragrance deeply.
The Founding Festival was fast approaching. Moreover, several foreign delegations had arrived in Barishard earlier than scheduled, preventing him from properly seeing and conversing with his wife.
Intoxicated by her scent, Auredhian thought languidly.
‘It’s been two days like this…. Perhaps I should rest today.’
But his respite lasted only that long. Yerenika had dropped a bombshell.
“I’m thinking of returning to Lebovni.”
“What?”
His voice immediately rose sharply.
It was one of the rare topics that made him react sensitively. In an instant, his voice turned cold.
“Why?”
“Wow, look at your voice change. Scary.”
“Don’t change the subject. Why did you suddenly think that? If you wanted to go to Lebovni, you should have told me. I would have sent you anytime.”
“Hmm. That’s not what I meant.”
“…Then?”
Yerenika smiled beautifully.
But the words that came from her lips were far from beautiful.
“I’m tired of it.”
I must have misheard.
Auredhian let out a hollow laugh, utterly bewildered.
Yet Yerenika’s expression had grown serious now. The radiant smile that had graced her face moments before had vanished entirely, leaving only a solemn countenance as she continued.
“I’ve lived enough in Belgot, after all.”
“….”
“Lately, I find myself dwelling on the past. There were so many painful and difficult moments here, and they keep surfacing in my mind.”
“….”
“This place hasn’t left me with only pleasant memories, has it?”
Her soft, fluffy pink hair shimmered translucently in the sunlight as if it might dissolve at any moment.
The blanket enveloping her was entirely white.
The face that always wore such an endearing smile had turned cold and rigid.
Without hesitation, he reached out and seized her hand.
First, he would hold her in place so she couldn’t escape.
Words came after. As she tried to turn her head away, Auredhian forced his lips against hers and demanded, “Are you tired of me?”
“Am I tiring you?”
“Mm….”
“In what way? How? Why? Since when?”
Her small shoulders, wrapped in the blanket, were held firmly in his grasp.
Auredhian lowered his head to meet Yerenika’s eyes. His azure gaze was as cold and sharp as winter frost.
The moment he heard those ambiguous words—whether jest or truth—his insides twisted, yet he endured with formidable restraint.
But because of that restraint, the words that escaped him could only be terse.
“Answer me.”
“Mm….”
Yerenika didn’t answer promptly, only offering an evasive smile.
He grew increasingly anxious.
“What did I do wrong? I can’t think of anything specific right now….”
“My goodness. So you’re a man who doesn’t even understand that.”
Yerenika now wore an expression of shock.
How many expressions could flash across her face in such a brief moment?
It had always been difficult to read her, but today it was even more so. Even when he held her gaze from mere inches away.
In the end, he was always the one who surrendered. It had been that way for some time now. Perhaps it had been so from the very beginning.
Auredhian spoke without hesitation.
“Tell me what I did wrong. I’ll fix it immediately.”
“Mm….”
Yerenika seemed determined today to wear his patience thin.
Her evasive, stammering responses filled him with urgency. Just as he was about to speak again, Yerenika opened her mouth first.
“You haven’t done anything wrong.”
“…Then?”
“It’s not your fault that you’re always busy. This is simply my problem. A matter of my own heart.”
“….”
“How can a person remain unchanged forever? People change, they turn away, things like that. That’s what I’m saying.”
“….”
“So I’m going back to Lebovni.”
Among the words tumbling out like a bomb, there was nothing he could say in response.
The anxiety that had always lurked in a corner of his heart lifted its head as if to say, “I told you so.”
His voice caught at some point.
“…So you’re abandoning me? After telling me your baptismal name and everything?”
Two rings gleamed on her left ring finger, which she held firmly clasped.
The same style of ring adorned his finger as well.
Yerenika, who knew nothing of his inner turmoil, merely smiled mysteriously.
She spoke in a hushed whisper.
“Put your ear close.”
“What?”
“I said put your ear close.”
Flutter, flutter.
Her delicate hand urged him forward.
Auredhian slowly lowered his head further, until Yerenika’s shallow breath brushed against his ear.
In that moment, which Auredhian failed to witness, the corner of Yerenika’s mouth rose playfully.
“H, A, F, D.”
“…What?”
“You don’t know this?”
A tender and sweet whisper flowed into Auredhian’s ear.
Happy
April
Fool’s
Day.
“…?”
His thoughts came to an abrupt halt.
Today—what date was it again…?
‘Ah.’
Realization came swiftly. He blinked blankly and looked at Yerenika again.
A woman who shone as brilliantly as anything glittering in the world smiled sweetly at him.
Her expression was mischievous, utterly at odds with the whisper from moments before.
“It was a lie.”
“….”
I cannot see my own face, but I’m surely wearing a foolish expression.
As he remained frozen, unable to respond, Yerenika burst into laughter—bright and cheerful, like transparent glass beads rolling across the floor.
“How could I leave His Majesty? It was all a joke, a joke. It’s April Fools’ Day. I heard it exists here too, April Fools’ Day.”
April Fools’ Day.
Of course he knew of it.
Centuries ago, when the calendar changed to the Imperial calendar, the festival also shifted from the first day of April to New Year’s, and the day originated from those who hadn’t heard the news foolishly hoping for the unopened festival on the first of April.
A day for exchanging fake gifts or teasing someone with lies.
“Ah… I was planning to tease you more, but when you make that serious expression, my resolve weakens.”
“….”
“But still, you should have recognized it as a lie the moment you heard it. We’ve already married, exchanged our baptismal names, and done everything there is to do—there’s no way I would leave so recklessly, is there?”
“….”
“Ah, but what I said about you being excessively busy—that was sincere. I understand you’re occupied with spring matters, truly I do… But still, give me some attention, Your Majesty.”
She had even omitted saying she loved me yesterday.
Yeni laughed again with such charming playfulness.
Auredhian stared at her blankly before finally exhaling a deflated breath.
“Ah… really. Don’t smile so beautifully. You plunge a person straight into hell and….”
She carelessly utters such nonsense about being tired of me, about this and that, making my heart lurch, and then smiles like that. So endearingly that I can’t even properly muster anger.
“I love you. Didn’t I say it yesterday? That can’t be right. Unless you didn’t hear it…”
“You didn’t. Definitely not.”
Then that was indeed my mistake.
Auredhian embraced his wife and managed only a deep breath.
But even if I was at fault, I had absolutely no intention of letting such a prank slide.
His lips, having barely steadied his breathing, gradually curved into a subtle, mysterious smile.
“Give me some attention, Your Majesty.”
Perhaps Yerenika had conveniently provided herself with an excuse. Though she certainly hadn’t anticipated this.
Reddish eyes swept across the blanket wrapped around her. Yerenika kicked her legs playfully this way and that.
“You’re not angry, are you?”
“….”
“It’s April Fools’ Day, April Fools’! You’re supposed to forgive any lie told on this day.”
Yeni seemed to chatter on about something more, but I couldn’t actually hear it.
My heart was still pounding far too loudly to have fully calmed. Moreover, the warmth of her small body enveloped in the blanket had become a great ember that transferred to me.
“…Where did such a large blanket even come from?”
“Oh, this? From your bedroom.”
“Then you should return it.”
“I don’t want to. It’s so warm… Eek!”
Her small, delicate body was suddenly hoisted up, blanket and all.
Barely managing to grip the nape of his neck, Yerenika let out a startled cry.
“You scared me! What?”
And seeing his expression, her clear, sky-blue eyes suddenly widened with realization.
Her small body belatedly squirmed, trying to escape his embrace.
“Right, you were busy! I’ll just go now. Let me go…!”
But it was already too late.
If she wanted to escape, she should have done so long ago.
Auredhian smiled tenderly, his expression now completely composed.
“If you’re going to leave, at least face the consequences. If you’ve told a lie, it’s only natural you receive punishment.”
“Uh… But April Fools’ pranks are….”
“I don’t know about that. What even is April Fools’ Day? I’m not familiar with it. This is the first I’ve heard of it.”
“W-wait, hold on…!”
Her delicate, lovely face flushed crimson in an instant.
Auredhian moved forward without hesitation.
A gentle whisper.
Warm spring breeze drifted through the open window.
A single cherry blossom petal descended with a soft tap onto the windowsill where she had just been sitting.
It was a pink as lovely as the warmth that slowly kindled within.
【Special Side Story–1. H.A.F.D】
End

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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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