Beguiling the Enemy’s Patriarch - Chapter 20

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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 20
Of course, I hadn’t regretted it from the very beginning. For days, the courtyard that had always been silent and empty now brimmed with cheerful chatter. I considered closing the window, but since the sound wasn’t grating, Auredhian left it open.
After the previous emperor’s passing, Auredhian was the only member of the imperial family remaining in Belgot. He had grown up without siblings, alone. Moreover, his few cousins had long since left the palace after receiving their titles. Thus, from childhood, what he knew intimately was quiet peace and tranquility, a languid warmth like spring sunlight, a regular and ordered daily life—such things.
Yet lately, circumstances that sharpened him from his state of quiet repose and rest had become frequent.
Recently, the arrogance of Lebovni had irritated him, but an even more chronic source of fatigue was the woman who wielded true power over the Magic Tower—Soleia Elad. The woman who had appointed herself his fiancée.
That woman was utterly inscrutable, wagging her tail as though she loved him most in this world, yet bearing a face that suggested she might strike at any moment. So Auredhian always maintained a certain distance from her.
In truth, had there been no necessity to place the Magic Tower under imperial authority, he wouldn’t have kept that woman so close. Soleia Elad surely understood that he kept her by his side only out of necessity. How could a woman so keen and cunning fail to read the true intentions behind his demeanor? She was deliberately letting her irritation show.
Yet seeing her try to seduce people with such an alluring face, she must want something else entirely. But since he could only guess and didn’t know exactly what Soleia’s true intentions were, he had no choice but to maintain distance. How exhausting.
A woman he always had to be wary of, keeping his guard up. A woman who suffocated him with oppressive displeasure. One of the greatest obstacles to the peaceful and languid rest he desired.
Perhaps that’s why his eyes kept turning away of their own accord. Auredhian couldn’t help but let his gaze drift toward the window again.
How much simpler was the youngest Princess of Lebovni compared to that serpentine woman? Admittedly, both disrupted his daily peace, yet the feeling was entirely different.
The Princess of Lebovni was someone he didn’t need to be defensive against or deliberately push away. And she was someone who didn’t suit being confined anywhere. Moreover, as he had acknowledged before, her charming and spirited freedom wasn’t so disagreeable.
Quiet peace was pleasant, but occasionally, vibrant vitality wasn’t bad either. Granting the Princess of Lebovni freedom within the Imperial Palace stemmed from such thoughts.
Yet she captured his attention far more than he’d anticipated. That was precisely where Auredhian’s regret lay.
The cheerful chatter of the first day began to diminish from the second day onward. By the fourth day, I glimpsed her lying listlessly slumped over a table, barely speaking.
“….”
They said that when a person does something they don’t usually do, death draws near. And in the brief time Auredhian had observed the youngest Princess of Lebovni, she was far from listless. She had energetically rummaged through the entire Imperial Palace, so there was no reason for her to be so downcast.
Like a motherless kitten drooping, it was strange not to be concerned. He hadn’t anticipated that his gaze would be stolen by her so frequently. Yet it wasn’t uncomfortable or bothersome like when dealing with Soleia Elad. If he had to define his feelings toward her, they approached curiosity. Auredhian cast his gaze beyond the window once more and muttered.
“Should I concede….”
And the moment those words left his lips, he realized he had already lost. A hollow laugh escaped him. It seemed he had become interested. In her.
If the objective was to draw him outside, the Princess of Lebovni had succeeded in merely five days—something Soleia Elad hadn’t managed in the five years he’d tolerated her.
She probably didn’t realize how remarkable a feat she’d accomplished. Auredhian chuckled softly and set down his documents. Before long, his heavy footsteps finally began to move.
* * *
I plopped down onto my familiar spot in the courtyard. The hem of my simple blue dress rustled against the grass as it crumpled beneath me. With listless hands, I carelessly arranged my dress, then drew my knees up and wrapped my arms around them, burying my face.
“Ugh…. I’m really dying.”
Not a shred of energy remained in my entire body. Despite eating and sleeping better than ever, I was always exhausted and lethargic. Since the first day, I hadn’t experienced severe magical rejection reactions, so it was fortunate, but my condition was undeniably abnormal.
The scent of fresh grass filled the air around me. The courtyard was always verdant, but I wasn’t. The one certainty I’d gained over these past days was this:
Belgot’s land truly didn’t suit me.
Belgot, located in the eastern part of Laigar, wasn’t a land where magical ore was produced. Yet whether because it imported large quantities of magical ore from Azekien, or simply because there were many mages, or perhaps because the dark magic Soleia had attempted on me hadn’t been completely dispelled—for whatever reason, this land was too much for me.
I buried my face in my knees and laughed quietly with my eyes closed. If I ever crossed into western Azekien, where magical ore was embedded everywhere, I’d be lying in a coffin that very day. A sigh escaped me naturally.
“Sigh….”
It had already been five days of waiting for Auredhian in this courtyard.
At first, waiting without doing anything was so boring I thought I’d die. But as time passed, even being bored became tedious. My body had become like a water-logged sponge, so limp that finding other things to do felt like a chore.
So I just sat blankly, thinking. If I stay in this country much longer, I’ll be in danger.
Writhing in agony wasn’t the only path to death. In this world. My spine went cold, and my body trembled. What if one day I truly never opened my eyes again?
It was the worst assumption I really didn’t want to consider. If I just kept waiting like this, by the next time I saw Auredhian, I might already be a corpse.
But I couldn’t throw a tantrum at a mere maid like Marienne to summon His Majesty, and I couldn’t storm the Imperial Palace myself, so I had no choice but to wait indefinitely. But in this condition, wouldn’t it be difficult to even get out of bed by tomorrow morning?
At that thought, tears threatened to spill. Sob. I’m about to die right now. I know exactly what I need to do to avoid it, yet I can’t actually do it.
I thought of the silver-haired, blue-eyed handsome man and murmured sadly.
“You’re not supposed to be playing hard to get with me right now….”
An impenetrable wall? This is nothing short of cruelty. Cold-blooded, that’s what this is. No wonder Decarve’s father earned his reputation!
No, never mind all that. I sniffled quietly. I just wish he would come out now…
Hugging my knees tighter as tears threatened to spill, I didn’t dare ask for his hand or his embrace—I simply wanted to see his face. To have him stand beside me. That alone would make me feel alive.
“Princess.”
The voice I had been yearning for came from directly above me. I gasped and jerked my head up. A clean, refreshing scent bloomed across my senses.
He stood backlit by the sunlight, his eyes far too high above mine, his face obscured by the harsh glare. I couldn’t discern his expression. Yet none of that mattered. The breath I drew in carried with it the air I so desperately needed.
“What are you doing here—”
I didn’t wait to hear the rest of his words. I scrambled to my feet, my hands reaching out instinctively.
I had to grasp it. My only lifeline in this suffocating weight that pressed down upon me.
Warmth enveloped my outstretched hand. For a moment, my breath caught. Auredhian had taken my hand. And with that single touch, the crushing weight of mana that had been pressing down on my entire body vanished in an instant.
As the invisible force binding my body suddenly released, I stumbled. My legs buckled, threatening to give way, but a powerful grip pulled me upward. Simultaneously, firm hands settled at my waist.
“-!”
My vision lurched upward abruptly. Auredhian lifted me as effortlessly as one might pick up a cloth doll. His steady hands supported my back and the curve of my knees. Reflexively, I threw my arms around his neck.
As I gasped for breath and looked up, Auredhian’s profile came into sharp focus. His expression was slightly rigid.
“Your condition is rather—”
He seemed to be muttering something, but I no longer had the capacity to listen carefully. I was too busy absorbing the sacred aura that radiated from him, drawing it into myself with every fiber of my being.
“Ah…”
Like water filling an empty vessel, I felt my depleted strength returning, rippling back into existence. I buried my face in the crook of his neck and greedily drew in his sacred essence.
Auredhian carried me with long, purposeful strides, as though navigating through a labyrinthine garden. Before long, he set me down on a tea table in the center of the Garden.
“Princess.”
His voice, resonant and gentle, brushed against my ears. I tightened my arms around his neck.
I don’t want to let go. If I release him now, this crushing weight will bear down on me again. And this man—I have no idea when he’ll return.
I heard Auredhian murmur something.
“You seemed to be enjoying yourself, so I left you be.”
Enjoying myself? Indignation flared within me, but I lacked the strength or composure to protest. I clung to him desperately, filling my hollow body with his vitality.
I wished I could consume every trace of his scent that clung to him, so that wherever I went, I would never ache. So that I would never again feel this exhaustion and helplessness.
And indeed, Auredhian was a child of divinity—the man in Laigar possessed of the most formidable sacred power. It didn’t take long for my depleted condition to return to normal.
“…Sigh.”
Only after my senses had finally stabilized did I notice his large hand gently patting my back in a soothing rhythm. A soft sigh escaped nearby. Tears welled up in my eyes.
If you’re going to treat me with such tenderness, why erect that damned wall in the first place? If you were going to be like this, you should have been this way from the start…

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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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