Beguiling the Enemy’s Patriarch - Chapter 189

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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 6
Yerenika’s eyes narrowed as she watched the man who had drawn close without her noticing.
“Well, yes, but what?”
Rather than answer, Auredhian Belgot leaned down and kissed her briefly.
Then, as if remembering something, he retrieved a purple necklace from the jewelry box atop the vanity and fastened it around her neck.
“Oh, we agreed to keep the accessories uniform with pearls and diamonds.”
“No. Wear this instead. Turn your head slightly to the side for me.”
When she obliged without resistance, his large hand gently brushed the soft hair behind her ear before slowly tucking it back, revealing what had been hidden.
The delicate earlobe, previously concealed by her locks, was now exposed.
When his fingers touched her earlobe, she shivered slightly at the ticklish sensation.
Charmed by the rosy blush blooming across her cheek, Auredhian Belgot couldn’t resist caressing the soft, marshmallow-like skin with his thumb and forefinger for quite some time.
The sensation of the piercing hole catching against his fingertip was addictively pleasant.
After lingering without pulling away, he finally lowered his head and gently bit her earlobe, causing Yerenika to start in alarm and push him away.
“What, what are you doing!”
“It looked biteable.”
“Don’t say such strange things, especially in broad daylight!”
“What’s strange about kissing my bride’s body? By tomorrow, you’ll be entirely mine from head to toe.”
“That… is true, but.”
“If you’re upset, then you do it too. I won’t mind.”
Yerenika seemed at a loss for words, opening and closing her lips repeatedly.
Both her cheeks were already flushed a deep crimson.
She fanned herself with her hand and grumbled pointlessly.
“If you say things like that, you think I won’t… Well, just wait until tomorrow. I won’t let you off easy.”
“Do I really have to wait until tomorrow?”
Tomorrow was the wedding, and after that would surely be a night—and dawn—where Yerenika wouldn’t sleep a wink.
When he whispered this teasingly, she couldn’t bring herself to meet his gaze, her eyes darting about nervously.
Auredhian Belgot watched her azure eyes roll back and forth, barely suppressing his amusement.
‘How adorable.’
Yet if he continued teasing her now, he sensed he’d have to postpone the tasks he needed to complete today.
Since it was the day before the wedding, he couldn’t afford to delay what needed to be done.
Auredhian Belgot reluctantly abandoned the idea of nibbling and sucking on her earlobe, kissing her instead.
“Understood. I’ll just put the earring on. Turn your head for me.”
“…Can you manage it?”
“I’ve never done it before, so I’m not sure. Is it difficult?”
“Not particularly. It’s just that the hole is small, so you might not see it clearly.”
“Is that so?”
Auredhian Belgot tilted his head slightly and drew closer to her.
The gap he could only feel with his fingertips was indeed small, but not invisible to the eye.
He picked up the earring, its silver post ringed densely with purple gems around a pearl, and carefully inserted the delicate post into the minute opening of her earlobe.
The silver needle slid through her earlobe smoothly without catching.
While he secured the clip to her earring, Yerenika held her breath entirely still.
The proximity was overwhelming—his breath grazed her cheek, and worse, his fingers kept touching places where his hands rarely ventured, leaving her senses heightened and trembling.
Auredhian gazed satisfactorily at the jewels adorning her pale ears before noticing her rigidity, then let out an amused chuckle.
“Breathe, Yeni.”
“Ah… yes.”
As he gently pressed his lips to the jewel hanging from her earlobe to soothe her, Yerenika finally exhaled a long breath.
“Mm… something feels strange….”
“What’s strange? Come, the left one now.”
Yerenika turned her head as instructed, yet couldn’t shake the impression that he was deliberately moving his hands with deliberate slowness.
In any case, the pair of earrings was successfully fastened to her ears.
Yerenika turned her gaze to the mirror and, seeing the earrings dangling from her earlobes, mumbled self-consciously.
“So are you saying they’re beautiful or not beautiful?”
“Beautiful. It’s not as though your beauty is something new—I’d be hoarse repeating it. But today, there’s something about you.”
“Something?”
“As if you’re awakening my vigilance.”
Auredhian exhaled softly and lifted her left hand, grasping it gently.
He rubbed the gleaming proposal ring on her fourth finger, finally voicing aloud the anxiety he’d carried since the moment he first saw Yeni in her wedding dress today.
“I don’t particularly care for you in white. Your presence becomes too diminished.”
“Is that so? But with such an elaborate dress, my presence shouldn’t fade.”
Yerenika laughed lightly as though unconvinced and gestured with her eyes toward the tiara resting on one side of the vanity—something she’d excluded from consideration because it was too large and heavy.
“Should I wear that instead?”
“No. That’s not what I mean….”
Auredhian didn’t spare the tiara a glance, keeping his gaze fixed solely on her as his fingers fumbled across the vanity surface.
He found a small box of fine leather and opened it with one hand, revealing what lay inside.
The wedding rings, completed just yesterday.
Slightly more delicate than the proposal ring and lacking any large, eye-catching stone, they possessed a refined, understated elegance.
They had been crafted with balanced proportions since both rings would be worn simultaneously.
The moment the wedding date was set, they had chosen them together.
Tomorrow, they would slip them onto each other’s fourth fingers and pledge eternity—tokens of love.
Since the ring exchange was meant for tomorrow, he merely rested the rings upon her slender fingers and gazed down at them for a long while.
Rarely did he find himself at a loss for words to describe what he felt now.
Joy mingled with anxiety, happiness shadowed by creeping dread.
The fear that this might be a dream had become such a habit that he found himself seeking her out and pressing his lips to hers first….
As he searched for words, Yerenika maintained her smile and waited for him with patient understanding.
“…Well, how do I put it?”
Finally, Auredhian drew his lips upward with some embarrassment.
“You might think it’s ridiculous if you heard it, but… it’s as though I’m warning you to hold tight because you could vanish at any moment, never to let go.”
“Is that so.”
As if she’d been waiting for it, Yerenika playfully drew out her words.
“Then tomorrow becomes a day of renewed resolve—the day I swear to Raulus that I will never let you go.”
“I suppose swearing to the Goddess of Love might be more trustworthy than to Raulus, but very well. It will be quite a solemn occasion.”
“Lari would sulk if she heard that.”
She reached out to cup Auredhian Belgot’s cheeks in her palms, then pressed her forehead tenderly against his.
“I won’t tell you to set your mind at ease. I won’t promise to always be by your side. Because then you’d search for me every single morning the moment you opened your eyes. You’ll love me for the rest of your life, won’t you?”
“…You know, when I look at you closely, your temperament is rather…”
“Wicked?”
“Not quite wicked, but sometimes a bit cruel. Not that I dislike it—it’s fine. Whatever you do, it’s adorable.”
“That’s quite a formidable weapon.”
Yerenika giggled and pressed a quick kiss to his lips before pulling away.
Then she reached into the jewelry box and took his ring, placing it on her finger just as he had done with hers.
“What’s written inside is my heart.”
“…?”
When Auredhian Belgot’s expression turned puzzled, she tilted the ring slightly.
The delicate script engraved on the inner surface suddenly caught the light, becoming perfectly legible.
Auredhian Belgot unconsciously began to spell it out under his breath before stopping short.
‘Ah, this….’
A sudden realization struck him, and he hastily examined the inside of her ring.
There was something far more familiar inscribed there.
His baptismal name.
Then what was written on his ring became perfectly clear. Yerenika asked in a voice brimming with affection.
“Now there are only two people in the world who know this name. Isn’t that right?”
“…Yes.”
He answered in a hushed voice.
What she had just given him was the most precious and intimate thing she possessed.
The Priesthood name that Remordi had sealed away and Raulus had newly bestowed upon her.
Her baptismal name, engraved upon the ring, gleamed with blinding brilliance. His throat tightened slightly, and after a brief pause, Auredhian Belgot whispered softly.
“Thank you.”
“Not that.”
“I love you.”
“Of course you do.”
She smiled with satisfaction and kissed him again.
Even as Auredhian Belgot felt her burrowing deeply into him as somehow unreal, he pulled his fiancée closer, unwilling to let her slip away.
Lips intertwining with heat, breathing growing gradually ragged, her soft sighs layering one upon another like gossamer threads, painting the dreamlike present with the beautiful hues of reality.
The afternoon, intoxicated by the bittersweet fragrance of love, was drawing to a close.
【Special Epilogue–2. Behind the Scenes】
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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