Beguiling the Enemy’s Patriarch - Chapter 26

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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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Ch 3. Abduction or Escape
“Elad.”
The slender beauty with reddish-brown hair cascading to her waist turned around. Upon confirming that the one who called me was the Emperor’s advisor, I narrowed my eyes with a smile. My upturned gaze folded wickedly.
“Advisor Felix.”
She was a woman whose specialty lay in seducing men and manipulating them to her whims. The advisor, well aware of this fact, deliberately averted his gaze to avoid meeting her eyes.
“This is a restricted area by direct order of His Majesty.”
“Oh my, is that so? I apologize. I should have been more careful.”
I didn’t know. That he had issued the order directly. Soleia Elad clicked her tongue inwardly. Where on earth did he pick up such a woman—one who collapses like a dying thing at the slightest fluctuation of mana? And to think he surrendered the palace itself and even blocked her mana.
But no matter how things stood, it was clear at a glance that she wouldn’t last long. Soleia Elad gave a light shrug of her shoulders. Simultaneously, her slender, elongated fingers brushed against each other delicately.
Still, it was best to nip the bud early. If that man, who was openly wary of me, were to have his heart swayed and cast me out, it would be troublesome. A beautiful smile bloomed across Soleia’s seductive face.
Auredhian Belgot. The one who possesses the most powerful and pure divinity. The woman you marry must be me alone.
Her elongated fingers curved into an odd shape. A sharp wind whistled through the empty air, and the atmosphere trembled subtly. The advisor, unaware of this, responded politely.
“You have nothing to apologize for. First, let us proceed to the Central Palace. His Majesty awaits.”
Soleia Elad nodded brightly with a radiant smile.
A lie.
Auredhian Belgot was a man who lived his days divided into minutes. He was supposed to arrive ten minutes later, yet he was waiting here already? Impossible. Soleia Elad let out a short, derisive laugh. Yet her smile remained unwavering.
“Very well. Let’s go.”
Footsteps fell softly. The hem of her soft orange dress brushed against the grass. Moving gracefully with measured steps, Soleia Elad asked casually as she walked.
“Did His Majesty mention that I was here?”
And she caught the slight flinch of the advisor without missing a beat.
“No. I merely thought it necessary to inform you since this is a restricted area.”
“I see….”
A strange light flickered in her dark eyes. Her leisurely gaze swept across the surroundings. She felt nothing. A mage who wielded mana could not sense the divinity of Raulus. It was natural that she could not perceive a power with completely opposite properties.
Moreover, Soleia Elad was one who had ventured into the darkest depths of mana itself. But if she could not sense herself, the Emperor would be equally unable to sense her. Then.
‘Ah.’
Her red lips curved smoothly into a smile. Soleia, the most powerful dark mage of this era, laughed dizzily. Behind her footsteps, small wildflowers withered one by one, scattered black. Within the circular pattern drawn by the sparsely dead flowers lay a small palace shaped like a white onion.
Soleia thought with delight.
Where are you watching from, my Emperor?
* * *
My original plan was definitely not like this. What I had envisioned was a very gentle abduction, so why did it suddenly turn into an escape like this? I was being dragged along by Auredhian while foolishly racking my memory.
I really shouldn’t have made that face at Soleia that day.
“Princess.”
“Yes!”
My feet, which had been barely touching the ground, finally made contact. The moment they did, my body was spun around by strong hands. And only then could I look directly up at Auredhian’s face. The expression that was usually soft had become distinctly sharp.
I instinctively shrank back. What? Why does he look like that? So frightening….
Noticing my shrinking form, his sharp expression softened slightly. Auredhian asked, exuding an air of extreme irritation.
“Did you incur some grudge against Soleia Elad?”
I quietly closed my mouth.
No, I didn’t know. That the most powerful puppet master of this world would be such a grudge-holding final boss over a single teasing gesture….
Auredhian muttered something like a sigh, pressing his temples repeatedly as if his head truly ached.
“I honestly can’t fathom what scheme you’re concocting.”
“I, I didn’t mean anything by it. I only wanted to keep Your Majesty confined for just today….”
“Not you, but Soleia Elad. Though what you just said was also quite—”
“A slip of the tongue.”
I quickly offered a brief excuse and clamped my mouth shut. Better to simply stay silent. Yes.
Auredhian seemed to be collecting his thoughts for a moment. I stole a glance at his expression before turning my gaze elsewhere. A massive fortress gate loomed directly ahead, and with the Imperial Palace visible in the distance behind us, it appeared we were at the South Gate of Imperial Palace.
Was he truly intent on showing me the Capital? Or was he fleeing from Soleia Elad? The latter seemed far more plausible. Yet why would the master of the Imperial Palace need to flee from her when he could simply cast her out?
I lifted my eyes to those reddish-brown irises once more, studying them intently to decipher what occupied his mind, though my efforts yielded little. Auredhian merely let out a short, quiet chuckle—accompanied by murmurs I couldn’t begin to comprehend.
“What scheme are you hatching now….”
That remark was surely directed at Soleia Elad. His demeanor toward someone he was even considering as a betrothed seemed decidedly cold. It was clear that Auredhian harbored far more wariness toward that woman than I had realized.
Wait. Had the situation just shifted entirely? Were we genuinely staging an escape? I narrowed my eyes, watching as Auredhian issued some silent instruction to an attendant. The attendant who received the order vanished with the speed of wind.
I cleared my throat and addressed Auredhian.
“Um, so. Your Majesty, are we currently fleeing?”
“No. You’re the one kidnapping me.”
“Huh?”
“For a kidnapper, you’re remarkably incompetent.”
Was he serious or just being absurd?

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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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