Beguiling the Enemy’s Patriarch - Chapter 19

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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 19
I immediately gathered several books and refreshments, then ventured into the garden. Targeting Auredhian’s rest hour at two in the afternoon, I spent nearly half the day lounging about the courtyard until evening approached.
The first day proved quite entertaining. The Central Garden of Belgot Imperial Palace featured meticulously carved marble fountains, intricately winding maze-like pathways, and flowers and trees I’d never encountered before—there was so much to admire that the hours passed pleasantly.
But after four days, I’d grown weary of it all. Auredhian Belgot hadn’t set foot in the garden once. Not in four entire days.
I stared at Diego Schmart across the table with considerable displeasure. Sensing my fierce gaze, he offered an awkward smile, his kind eyes—golden and gentle—crinkling at the corners.
“Your Highness…?”
“You lied to me, Father.”
Diego Schmart. The culprit who’d fed me false information. This earnest priest with his gentle, almost puppy-like face had deceived me! I glared at him resentfully.
Diego waved his hands frantically, looking flustered.
“A lie? A priest who serves God cannot speak falsehoods, Your Highness.”
“Then how do you explain this?”
I’d waited so desperately that his shimmering silver hair had begun appearing in my dreams. Only four days had passed, yet my body grew increasingly exhausted. Lounging about doing nothing all day was more draining than I’d imagined. I’d learned this truth acutely over these past four days.
I was so tired. I slumped onto the table with a pitiful expression. I’d thought my condition only deteriorated during mana rejection episodes, but that wasn’t the case. The very land of Belgot itself felt oppressively heavy to me. My body kept drooping, growing sluggish. Even sitting still, my energy seemed to drain away.
Not quite collapsing, but without the vigor to move about energetically either—precisely that degree of exhaustion. I desperately wanted to grab Diego’s hand.
But unfortunately, Diego was, after all, a priest. He was entirely different from Auredhian, whose mere proximity radiated a refreshing presence.
The truth was, Auredhian Belgot was special. He carried divine blood, after all.
So for Diego to heal me, he’d need to consciously pour his sanctity into me. Which meant transferring his own vitality to me.
Every time Diego asked if I was alright, I had to nod reluctantly through tears. I couldn’t possibly drain someone else’s sanctity just because I was this exhausted.
If I could just hold Auredhian’s hand once, that would be the end of it. I pressed my cheek against the table sadly. The person I desperately needed never appeared, making this situation utterly maddening. Marienne, standing beside me, worked hard to console me.
“His Majesty seems quite busy these days, Your Highness. Usually he’d visit every other day…”
“….”
“I heard his duties have accumulated due to the Lebovni expedition. Please don’t worry too much.”
Of course, it wasn’t comforting at all.
I buried my face in my arms and wondered. Could it be that he simply found me distasteful…?
And that was a truly depressing thought. Had I been too clingy? Did my constant complaints about pain annoy him…? My past misconduct had surely destroyed my image entirely. Negative thoughts spiraled endlessly through my mind.
The most depressing thought of all was this: I simply wasn’t his type. Auredhian clearly preferred sexy, alluring women.
Eyes sharp and wide like Soleia’s. Red lips. That was his taste—a sexy, beautiful woman. Which was why he’d married Soleia, whom he himself admitted was fierce.
I imagined it for a moment. Shimmering silver hair and languid eyes, a beautiful man with reddish-brown irises. And beside him, a sexy beauty with reddish-brown hair cascading to her waist and dark eyes.
“Damn it…”
I muttered a sad curse. They looked so perfect together. Ugh.
In my imagination, I swept Soleia away from Auredhian’s side and inserted myself in her place. Instantly, the scene transformed from a fatal, thrilling romance into a hopeful, dreamy fairy tale.
“….”
It was exactly like that—the difference between adult content and all-ages entertainment. Damn it…
No, no. I shook my head vigorously, brainwashing myself.
Preferences could change anytime. And I could do adult content too. Yerenika was nineteen, and inside her was Seo Eun-seo, who was twenty-five. What couldn’t I do? I needed confidence. I should march straight into Auredhian’s office right now and declare it.
Shut up. Starting today, I’m your type!
But I couldn’t even enter the Imperial Palace, could I? Damn it. This wouldn’t work.
I sank back into despair, then quickly rallied myself. If I gave up here, I was neither Seo Eun-seo nor Yerenika.
Strategic retreat? That wasn’t in my vocabulary. I shook my head vigorously, scattering my doubts.
If you won’t look at me, then I’ll make you have no choice but to see me…!
And so another day passed, bringing me to today.
I arrived at the Garden precisely at two o’clock, as I had every day. Marienne followed like a shadow at my heels.
I thought she would turn toward the tea table in the center of the Garden as she had these past few days, but I had no intention of following the same pattern as before.
He knew I waited in the Garden and deliberately refused to appear. The corners of my mouth twitched upward.
Then I simply wouldn’t let him see me—I’d hide instead!
I walked straight past the table toward the maze garden on the right side of the courtyard. I scaled a low hedge wall and crouched into the depression between two shrubs, settling myself comfortably. When I pushed aside the overgrown grass, the space proved quite spacious. The low wall was perfect for surveying the entire Garden.
Marienne gasped in alarm and called out loudly.
“Your Highness…! Why are you in such a place!”
“Shh, Marienne.”
I brought my index finger to my lips, signaling her to be quiet. I planned to wait here for exactly three hours. If he still didn’t appear after that, then fine—I would admit he was truly busy. I straightened my posture with renewed determination.
Let’s see which wins—your iron wall or my persistence…!
* * *
Auredhian was a man of remarkably regular habits.
He woke before dawn to begin his day with morning training, ate at set times, attended to duties at set times, and rested at set times. Any remaining hours were spent handling minor matters—receiving audiences from nobles seeking his attention, or occasionally inspecting the Capital when the mood struck.
He didn’t deliberately plan or scheme his movements. It was simply habit ingrained in his body—a discipline cultivated since his days as Crown Prince, long before his ascension. He had never resented this life or found it particularly inconvenient. It had always been this way, and likely always would be. He thought this without emotion. For a sovereign who must divide his time down to the minute, a regimented life was nothing but beneficial.
Thus Auredhian Belgot’s days unfolded with monotonous regularity—until just a few days ago.
“…Hm.”
He exhaled softly and cast a glance toward the window. His office desk faced away from the window, so turning his head allowed him to see the entire Garden before the Central Palace.
Auredhian’s office occupied the third floor. Three stories was more than sufficient height to observe every corner of the Garden—particularly ideal for spotting a certain fluffy, pale pink head of hair.
His reddish-brown eyes shifted toward the clock hanging on the office wall. Two o’clock in the afternoon. Precisely the same time as yesterday. And the day before. And four days prior.
This was the fifth day he had spotted that pink figure at this hour. It seemed the Princess was not the only one living a remarkably regular life.
Yerenika of Lebovni—the pink-haired princess he had abducted from beyond the Sezan Mountains—had appeared at the exact same time in the exact same place for five consecutive days now.
The first day had been unremarkable. She had apparently grown friendly with her maid, chattering away merrily before summoning the high priestess he had personally assigned to show her around the Imperial Palace. Not long after, she returned to the Garden, and he had thought nothing more of it.
But her time spent in the Garden had grown longer. Since his office overlooked the Garden, his gaze kept drifting toward even the slightest sound. Moreover—
‘If she simply stayed in the Garden and then left, I wouldn’t mind…’
But starting from the fourth day, she had taken to positioning herself in a corner of the Garden. Beneath a neatly trimmed pile of shrubbery. Her small frame fit perfectly into that cramped space. From a frontal view, she would likely be completely undetectable.
Yet the Princess clearly had no idea that someone might be watching her from above.
Auredhian exhaled again and turned his attention back to his desk. There was no mistaking it—she was hiding, waiting for someone. What connections could the Princess from beyond the Sezan Mountains possibly have in Belgot Imperial Palace? The meaning of her actions was abundantly clear.
She was waiting for him, Auredhian Belgot, to appear in the Garden.
“…”
He knew that if he didn’t go down today, she would remain in that position until evening. It was something he had learned through days of observation. Beyond that, he had also discovered that the youngest Princess of Lebovni possessed remarkable tenacity and persistence.
He had ignored her, thinking she would eventually give up. Five days had already passed. If he simply left her be, she showed no signs of stopping. Her conspicuous hiding was stealing his attention, making it impossible to concentrate on his work.
“…Perhaps I shouldn’t have permitted access to the Garden.”
Auredhian, rarely given to such sentiments, felt a faint twinge of regret.

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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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