Beguiling the Enemy’s Patriarch - Chapter 30

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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 30
Auredhian trailed off mid-sentence, flicking a strand of hair that had slipped down my forehead.
“Your hair doesn’t seem to please you much, does it?”
“That’s not quite it…”
I tucked the wayward strands back into my hood with a sullen expression. Yerenika’s hair was soft and fluffy, with a sweetly lustrous color, but the individual strands were so fine they tangled easily and became unruly. I envied those with glossy, flowing locks, so I couldn’t say I was entirely satisfied with mine.
Especially not when this man pointed it out. Hadn’t he been watching that beautiful mage with her healthy, lustrous reddish-brown hair for years now? I huffed petulantly.
“I’m not eating that. I’ll have something else.”
“Fine. Do whatever you wish.”
Emboldened by his words, I confidently passed the sugar candy stall, chewing thoughtfully on skewered meat as if it were Soleia Elad.
Having skipped lunch, I was hungry at just the right time. I made my way around the food stalls lining the corner of the Square, efficiently filling my stomach. I bought two of everything and offered one to Auredhian each time, but he seemed indifferent. In the end, all those snacks found their way into my belly, neatly stacked in pairs.
In truth, Auredhian seemed more preoccupied with something other than the snacks. I glanced at him furtively as I surveyed the Square. His expression was as relaxed as always, but occasionally his brow would furrow ever so slightly, and when it did, his crimson eyes gleamed with sharp intensity.
This reaction repeated several times. Eventually, I worked up the courage to speak, sucking on a breath mint.
“Um.”
“What is it this time?”
His response was reflexive. I stopped rolling the candy in my mouth and frowned deeply. This man really…
“…?”
When I didn’t answer, his violet eyes shifted sharply toward me. Apparently thinking I was about to ask for something else, he reached into his robe while muttering.
“Perhaps it would be better if you simply carried a purse yourself.”
“No. That’s not it… I’m not a child.”
I blocked his hand as he tried to pull out a coin purse. How old did he think I was? I let the small candy fragment dissolve completely before speaking again.
“Say, that wolf statue over there—it has a cross on its back, doesn’t it?”
“What?”
A look of confusion crossed his handsome face. Finally, a proper reaction. I continued slowly.
“That howling wolf statue. I didn’t notice from a distance, but it has a cross on its back.”
“Ah.”
Auredhian glanced at the statue once and answered lightly.
“The wolf and the cross are symbols of Belgot.”
“I see.”
“The god of peace and prosperity, Raulus, is said to descend to the mortal realm often in the form of a wolf. The wolf symbolizes the Belgot Imperial Family, who are of Raulus’s bloodline, and the cross upon its back symbolizes the Emperor of Belgot—the one among the Imperial Family who most deeply inherits the divinity of Raulus.”
It was a clean, concise explanation. Though truthfully, I already knew this. The Imperial Palace had wolf statues bearing crosses scattered throughout its halls. So that question was merely meant to redirect his attention. I smiled prettily and acknowledged his words.
“I see. So it symbolizes Your Majesty—or rather, Father—”
“Mm.”
“—you.”
I nodded casually while scrutinizing his face carefully. The sharp, pointed expression that had seemed to bother him earlier had vanished without a trace. His face was genuinely no different from usual. I tilted my head slightly. His expression was loose and relaxed, his tone perfectly affectionate—entirely as he always was.
Had I misread it again? As I gazed up at him blankly, Auredhian chuckled softly.
“Why do you keep looking at me like that?”
“Like what?”
“Like you’re puzzling over something.”
“I’m not.”
“Then that’s fortunate.”
“What else is fortunate?”
“Whenever you make that expression, something always manages to defy my expectations.”
Somehow, it seemed I had been branded in Auredhian’s mind as quite the troublemaker. I shook my head.
“I do have my share of surprises, but not now. It just feels like I’m being neglected for some reason.”
I emphasized the word “neglected” as I spoke, and Auredhian let out a hollow laugh.
“Neglected? How unfair.”
His expression was genuinely aggrieved. He adjusted his grip on my hand and continued.
“Well, in any case. If that’s how you felt, then so be it. What would you like to see next?”
“Hmm…”
I scrutinized those crimson eyes with suspicion for a moment longer, but ultimately found nothing amiss. I relaxed my expression and offered him a smile.
“That wolf statue. I’d like to see it up close.”
“Very well.”
Auredhian acquiesced readily, and only then did I feel satisfied. In those reddish eyes, I—only I—filled his entire gaze. Perhaps I was content with just that alone.
Crack. At that moment, a faint sound of something breaking echoed from somewhere. That sharp, tingling sensation I had felt before suddenly washed over me in an instant, then vanished without a trace. I glanced down to see what I might have stepped on, but there was nothing.
Had I misheard…? It seemed I was thinking that thought quite often today…
I deliberately pushed the unease away. Days like this didn’t come often. I didn’t want to cloud this moment—brimming with anticipation—with needless worry. I wiped the anxiety clean from my face and replaced it with a bright, radiant smile instead.
I would worry about what lay ahead and about Soleia Elad once I returned. Once I returned…!
* * *
He couldn’t seem to settle his mind. Auredhian sighed and matched his pace to the woman who was dashing off somewhere with determination.
The Princess of Lebovni wore a luminous expression utterly free of anxiety. She chattered away with an absolutely radiant smile.
“Wow, this is exactly the spot. The perfect photo spot. Like this, standing so the wolf shows up well, click! Oh, there’s no camera here?”
And roughly half of her chatter consisted of words he couldn’t quite understand. Auredhian abandoned his attempt to parse and analyze each of her words. In truth, her voice was so bright and cheerful that simply listening was enough to please him.
The Princess bounded about like a fish in water, as though all the antics she’d engaged in within the Imperial Palace were nothing. Auredhian observed her with a sense of curious wonder.
“It’s really different from Lebovni. Lebovni doesn’t have a square this large. The Royal Palace is small, the houses are small, the roads are narrow—everything is small.”
“I see.”
“Oh, you visited our Royal Palace back then, didn’t you? Compared to the Belgot Imperial Palace, it’s incredibly tiny… What did you think of it?”
Somehow it felt as though she were talking about herself. Even as every nerve in Auredhian’s body remained acutely alert, he let out a soft chuckle.
“It didn’t even look like a mouthful.”
“Seriously? A mouthful? That’s too much.”
The Princess pouted her lips. Pale pink hair peeked out from beneath the black hood, fluttering softly. It seemed she had been quite restless confined within the Imperial Palace. Indeed, the space where she could move freely was less than one-fifth of the entire Imperial Palace.
“Belgot is simply too vast. It’s not that Lebovni is small.”
“Fine. Let’s say that’s true.”
“Wow, I really didn’t like how you said that.”
“Look, they’ve displayed Belgot traditional handicrafts there. Shall we go?”
“Oh?”
Her pale sky-blue eyes, which had been pouting in displeasure, immediately rolled toward where his finger pointed. Diverting the Princess’s attention was remarkably easy.
Gone was the terrified expression she’d worn when discovering Soleia Elad in the Imperial Palace. A woman who wouldn’t even make a mouthful if he had a mind to devour her was now dragging him along.
“Let’s look closer!”
Her affability was remarkable; she spoke without hesitation even to the merchant selling handicraft ornaments.
“How pretty. Is this something you wear in your hair?”
“That’s right, miss. Take off your hood and let me put mine on you instead.”
Auredhian laughed softly like a sigh, stopping Yerenika from eagerly pulling off her hood. Pink hair was an unusual color even in Belgot. He had no intention of parading those striking locks across the entire city.
“No. Don’t remove it.”
“But…!”
An immediate, sharp protest came back at me. Those sky-blue eyes fixed on me were brimming with defiance. Even that surprised me somewhat.
This woman finds many things fascinating and has endless curiosity. She knows just as little in turn. Lebovni and Belgot aren’t different in every single way from one to ten, yet she carries herself as though she’d descended from an entirely alien world.
It was abundantly clear she knew nothing of Belgot’s customs—the kind where one never casually shortened someone’s name unless the bond between them was exceptionally intimate. That’s precisely why she’d offered her permission with such an innocent expression.
The problem was that even if she understood what it meant, she probably wouldn’t care much. Without need for deep contemplation, this was an extraordinarily serious matter. She possessed absolutely no wariness toward others—particularly not toward the male species. And yet, she seemed to wag her tail rather earnestly in her own way…
The problem was that tail resembled a kitten’s short, fluffy one. Moreover, she didn’t seem to discriminate in whom she wagged it for. In fact, setting everything else aside, that might be the greatest problem of all.

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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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