Beguiling the Enemy’s Patriarch - Chapter 40

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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 40
“So, we failed to separate the woman from them.”
“Hmm.”
“His Majesty sealed off the entire Square… and then Rosel went out himself.”
Soleia listened to the report with an unmoved expression. She already knew everything being said. She cut off the subordinate’s next words with a chill.
“That’s enough.”
“I-I’m sorry. It’s just that the opponent is who they are…”
“It can’t be helped.”
The most powerful sacred being of this era was standing right beside him. I never expected to succeed in spiriting away the Princess under his watchful gaze.
“What did Rosel say?”
“He said there are limits to what he can overlook…”
“Is that so?”
How foolish. As if anyone could overlook anyone else. A crooked smile played at the corner of my lips. I reached out and grasped the window latch.
“You may go now.”
“Y-yes…!”
The shadow quickly disappeared below the window frame. This was the second-highest room in the Magic Tower, and the drop was dizzying, yet the shadow vanished below in an instant. I had never taught them how to escape so swiftly, yet all my disciples had become masters of flight.
But that was the nature of people like me. Execution awaited capture, so one fled like a rat before being caught.
Soleia clicked her tongue and pushed the window shut. The movement of air flowing into the room ceased at once.
“He sealed off the entire Square…”
Soleia smiled crookedly as she stepped away from the window. How like that man, I thought. The face of the always gentle and kind man appeared vividly before my eyes.
Auredhian Lu Soledor Belgot. A man with such a gentlemanly expression that he seems willing to hear anything, yet his suspicion and caution run as deep as Udeta itself.
Even I, whose ability to enchant both human and beast alike is unparalleled, have struggled against him for five years.
A crack had formed in that man’s wall.
“Hmm…”
So he sealed off that entire Ugel Square and conducted an investigation. With just a few crude barrier stones scattered about?
Bright red lips curved into an alluring arc. The Princess from Lebovni had certainly shaken my Emperor considerably. For someone who looked as though she might collapse and die at any moment, she was quite impressive.
[Just kill her already.]
Clack, clack. With the sound of bare bones striking together came a rough, bestial whisper that brushed against my ears.
[Why do you hesitate?]
“Hesitate? I simply think there’s no need to complicate matters by getting my hands dirty directly.”
Unless Auredhian Belgot shows absolutely no interest in that Princess. It might be somewhat dangerous to act rashly.
Clack, clack. Crunch. A skeletal form twisted grotesquely in the darkness.
[Coward.]
“I prefer to call it prudence,” I said slowly.
Soleia exhaled deliberately.
A person who is normally loose and indolent becomes truly mad once they snap. And Auredhian Belgot was precisely the owner of such a deranged temperament.
A man who hides his true nature masterfully behind a languid, world-weary face. A man whose interior is far removed from kindness or gentleness. Though I doubt that innocent, naive Princess knows this.
Of course, it was none of my concern. I shrugged my shoulders.
“After all, results are what matter to you, aren’t they? Not the process.”
If only the marriage could be completed. If only I could accept that powerful sacred essence into my own body. What I coveted from him was not his heart, but his blood. Blood radiant with sacred power. A body filled with the purest sanctity.
Moreover, Auredhian Belgot was a captivating man even without the divine essence he possessed. More than worthy of making one kneel at his feet. A beautiful man.
Soleia Elad had no intention of relinquishing the thrill of conquering such a man. So that Princess would have to wither away slowly. Not by Soleia’s own hands dragging her into the realm of specters.
By her own hand. Unable to endure without destroying herself. Slowly gnawing away at her sanity. Soleia Elad smiled deeply, her white teeth showing.
“Just wait and see. I’ll handle it without you having to lift a finger.”
[….]
No response came back. But since I had already made up my mind, I paid it no attention.
The sound of dry bones clicking and rattling gradually faded into the distance. At the same moment, the dead flowers and grass slowly lifted their heads again.
It was the night of the specters. Things denied existence on the earthly plane raised their heads. Skeletal hands broke the taboo and scraped at the ground. At the center of it all, there still stood the white onion-shaped palace.
Ch 4. A sturdy umbrella that withstands drizzle must endure a downpour
I was dreaming.
[Eun-seo, you can manage on your own, right?]
Someone with a face I could no longer remember smiled hazily.
[You’ll be able to do it. Our Eun-seo is bright and spirited. Your mom said so, didn’t she? Eun-seo could adapt well even if she were left alone in a desert.]
A small child with hazy brown hair and brown eyes answered cheerfully.
[That’s right! Eun-seo is a superhero who can do anything!]
It was the innocent naivety of childhood. Even in my drowsy state, I couldn’t help but laugh at it. She really was spirited. So that must have been my younger self. The tiny version of me from a time I could barely remember.
The scene before my eyes shifted. The world turned pitch black. Unusually dark masses gathered around me, writhing and crowding close. They whispered among themselves.
[What should we do with this child?]
[Will you take her? I… you know. I have three family members I need to support.]
Ah. I remember this. This was a memory I least wanted to recall.
Dozens of pairs of eyes were fixed precisely on me. Yet not a single person spoke directly to me.
The voices continued on.
[Don’t you know? Actually, at fifteen, she’s old enough to live on her own. We can pool together living expenses and send them monthly…]
Oh… This is such an old memory.
I looked around anew with a sense of wonder.
My vision was hazy and opaque. All I could perceive were the still-writhing dark masses and the whispering voices.
It was certainly a memory I didn’t want to dwell on. This was from when I was fifteen years old. It was at the funeral, when my father—who had barely spent a month at home in any given year—suddenly passed away in a traffic accident.
A child left alone after my mother passed when I was five, a mother I couldn’t even remember, and a father too busy with romance to stay. Pitiful, perhaps, but an inconvenient burden to handle. That was exactly how they looked at me.
In truth, I didn’t much care what my relatives said about me. I simply hated that they whispered among themselves while looking at me.
Just say it to my face instead. Don’t gossip behind my back.
So I became a child who couldn’t bear it. The sudden attention and the whispers made about me.
But that was all it was. My father’s death, whose face I never even saw, had only that much impact on me.
I was just myself. Not the daughter of an indifferent father. Not the daughter of a mother I couldn’t remember. Just me.
In fact, the name Seun-seo was probably not the most important word symbolizing me. It was a name no one had ever called with affection. You know, there’s that saying—when I called his name, he came to me and became a flower. A name that was never called could hardly define my existence.
I was simply someone who lived each day diligently and vibrantly. Someone who didn’t dream of grand futures but was satisfied with small happinesses.
An ordinary person with nothing particularly exceptional and nothing particularly lacking. Only my adaptability and execution were second to none.
-But why am I thinking about this now?
The dark masses surrounding me continued to chatter endlessly.
[Then let’s do it that way. You’ll have a house, we’ll give you living expenses, you’ll go to school. You’ll manage fine on your own.]
They weren’t even particularly threatening. In the end, I plugged my ears. What is this? Just a meaningless dream.
[Poor thing, but there’s nothing I can do about it.]
I should just sleep.
I muttered that to myself and closed my eyes again. Soon, complete darkness enveloped me once more.
* * *
When I opened my eyes, it was morning—birds were chirping outside. I blinked blankly, my entire body wrapped in soft, plush bedding.
“….”
Everything before my eyes was bright. I reflexively squinted.
It didn’t take long to realize that the piercing sensation in my eyes was sunlight. Brilliant rays streamed through the gap in the open curtains.
I must have been dreaming. A voice emerged from my throat, surprisingly hoarse and deep.
“What a strange dream.”
The memory scattered the moment I opened my eyes, fragmenting and drifting away like wisps of smoke. I reached for the dissolving pieces, trying to grasp them.
What was it? What was I dreaming about? It felt like some ancient memory….
But the harder I tried to recall it, the more the dream’s contents faded. Within minutes, all I could remember was that it had been a deeply unpleasant dream.
Something trickled down my temple. Sweat? I lifted my heavy arm—as heavy as a wet sponge—and wiped my forehead. My thin white nightclothes were already damp with moisture.
“…?”
It didn’t take long to realize something was wrong.

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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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