Beguiling the Enemy’s Patriarch - Chapter 46

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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 46
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“Father.”
His eyebrows twitched upward in displeasure. That sound again. It was the one title he found most grating.
“Father?”
“Ah.”
A flicker of realization crossed his sky-blue eyes. Yerenika quickly corrected herself.
“I mean, Your Majesty.”
She laughed awkwardly, watching his reaction with embarrassment.
Auredhian Belgot said nothing. He had absolutely no intention of being lenient with that peculiar title.
The Princess, who had been gauging his mood, seemed to realize he wasn’t going to respond. Her small, delicate face suddenly brightened with a radiant smile. Her gentle eyes curved upward with fresh charm.
It was an expression so lovely it naturally drew his gaze. His lips involuntarily relaxed into a softer line.
‘…Wait. Something feels off.’
But Auredhian quickly hardened his expression as unease washed over him. Whenever the Princess smiled particularly beautifully, unexpected words or actions inevitably followed. He narrowed his eyes and looked down at her.
What was she about to say?
His ominous premonition proved accurate. Yerenika declared cheerfully and boldly.
“Will you marry me?”
Even for someone like Auredhian, remaining unmoved by those words was impossible. He momentarily lost his composure and froze.
The Princess had just dropped that bombshell with perfect innocence and stepped closer. Her pale sky-blue eyes sparkled transparently. Her expression was far too endearing to coldly reject.
Auredhian neither stepped back nor moved forward, awkwardly looking down at her. With those sparkling eyes silently pleading for an answer, he finally opened his mouth.
“…Princess.”
Sparkle, sparkle.
Her sky-blue eyes, brimming with anticipation, gazed up at him. If he didn’t answer immediately, he felt he would become a terrible scoundrel.
“…”
But Auredhian suddenly remembered that the Princess had said the exact same thing just days ago. This was the second time. This senseless, hollow proposal.
Auredhian opened his mouth with a sigh.
“I didn’t abduct you with the intention of marrying you.”
“I know that.”
“Then why?”
Auredhian was genuinely curious what this charming Princess was thinking. Yerenika seemed to ponder something for a moment before speaking.
“Because I love you very much. From the moment I first saw you…”
Her gentle eyes curved sweetly once more. It was such a honeyed confession that he would have wanted to accept it without question—if not for that hesitation he’d just witnessed.
His mood twisted slightly. Without meaning to, sharp words spilled out.
“I don’t love you, Princess.”
Yerenika’s eyes widened in shock. The sound effect seemed to echo in reality. He felt oddly satisfied by her bewildered expression.
“Besides, as you know, I already have a betrothed.”
He mentioned it purely out of spite. And Yerenika, with her gentle smile, struck precisely at that point.
“You said you didn’t have a betrothed.”
“Well then, let me correct that—a future intended betrothed.”
An intended betrothed, indeed. A woman who might draw a blade on him at any moment.
Auredhian laughed at himself. Of course, the Princess before him had no inkling whatsoever of what he was truly thinking.
Yerenika asked with a smile, grinding her teeth.
“Right. Since we can’t know the future, let’s say that’s settled. But does Your Majesty love Elad?”
“I wouldn’t say that I do, but…”
At his answer that left room for interpretation, she broke into another radiant smile.
“Then don’t I have a chance as well?”
By this point, it was clear she wasn’t joking. Auredhian looked down at her with a somewhat peculiar expression.
It didn’t seem like a jest, though whether she was sincere remained unclear. He tossed out words he didn’t mean.
“What reason would I have to give you a chance?”
“Because you like me…?”
Her tone lacked conviction. Seeing how carelessly she was making excuses, Auredhian’s lips curved upward. It wasn’t exactly a pleasant feeling.
The Princess seemed to flinch at that expression. Then her face took on a troubled look. With that expression still in place, she continued speaking.
“If you married me, you’d gain far more than if you married Elad!”
“For instance?”
“I control the granaries of Western Lebovni. You know, how Western Lebovni is blessed by the goddess.”
“If it’s blessed land, Belgot has more than enough of—”
“And—and! I’m the last remaining Princess of Lebovni. So Father would surely provide a generous dowry. The sum would be so substantial that you’d find it difficult to refuse…”
“The Princess of Lebovni is concerned about Belgot’s treasury?”
As he pointed out each flaw one by one, the Princess began to lose her patience. Her delicate face crumpled visibly. But of course, she wasn’t the type to back down there. Yerenika declared boldly.
“If you married me, Father would open the Glucaman Road immediately!”
Auredhian crossed his arms and replied.
“It seems the Glucaman Road will open soon enough without marrying a Princess, doesn’t it?”
Probably. Auredhian swallowed the rest of his words. In truth, even as he gave a casual response, his mind was occupied with something entirely different.
Why did this inexplicable unease keep lingering like sediment?
The Princess glared at him sharply, then opened her mouth again.
“Am I not beautiful to you?”
It was a question that bordered on audacious. And that bold remark pulled him back from his reverie. His expression loosened slightly. So this was what he’d been pondering so carefully.
Yet his thoughts remained somehow twisted. She was charming, certainly, but he had no desire to give her the answer she clearly wanted.
It was a petty and meaningless spite, he had to admit. Even as Auredhian thought this, he shrugged.
“I’m not sure.”
…
“Ah. Will you be angry with such an answer? You, the temperamental cat-like Princess of Lebovni.”
Yerenika now wore a genuinely sullen expression. It was plainly the face of someone whose plans had gone awry, and Auredhian felt both amused and strangely bitter.
This Princess of Lebovni surely knew that her harmless, kitten-like face was her weapon and wielded it deliberately. She didn’t realize how devastating that weapon was. She didn’t understand how it forced its way into his carefully ordered existence, prying open the cracks in his tightly sealed days.
Was she intent on tearing open a door already half-ajar? This was troublesome—he kept wanting to yield to her, to accommodate her. Even faced with such an obviously hollow proposal of marriage, such thoughts arose…
Of course, what actually came out of his mouth was different.
“While this style of proposal is refreshingly novel, I would appreciate it if you understood clearly that I have no intention of marrying you. I’m the type who won’t entertain marriage without love.”
Who was he even saying this to, and with what heart, and what was he asking them to understand?
“Hmph.”
And Yerenika snorted derisively. She clearly didn’t believe him. Truth be told, even Auredhian found his own words unconvincing. This time, he decided to drop a somewhat larger bomb.
“I’m currently trying to learn how to love her.”
“What?”
A direct hit. The sharp reaction came back immediately. Watching her eyes widen and her lips curl in a snarl, I felt an oddly satisfying warmth bloom in my chest.
Looking at this, perhaps the real problem was myself all along. Only now did Auredhian Belgot begin to dimly grasp what all these extraordinary moments truly meant.
If hearing her voice brought joy, if I found her actions endearing, if I wanted to give her anything her heart desired—then this was undeniable proof that my heart was already leaning toward her.
If it stopped there, perhaps it wouldn’t matter.
The corners of my mouth lifted lazily into a smile tinged with self-mockery. So then, what would happen once the tall, sturdy walls I’d built with my own hands came crashing down?
There is something one only realizes after breathing clear air once—how suffocating and stale the air of his own world had become.
But if he could never abandon that world, then it would have been better never to reach for this one at all. For while it is difficult for the stale to become clear, it is far too easy for the clear to become stale.
So for now, he was satisfied with this much. Besides, Yerenika was never the type to remain in Belgot for long anyway.
Auredhian Belgot opened his mouth slowly.
“You will be sent back the moment the King of Lebovni opens Glucaman.”
“…!”
Yerenika’s face crumpled instantly. She looked as though she might unleash a torrent of curses at any second.
Auredhian Belgot laughed briefly and turned away. The words he’d just spoken still belonged to reason. For now, at least.

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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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