Beguiling the Enemy’s Patriarch - Chapter 48

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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 48
“Aha, of course.”
Her smile felt distinctly off. A sensation like an awl piercing my skin grew steadily stronger. Goosebumps erupted from my fingertips to the crown of my head. My body moved as though it no longer belonged to me—as though I were being drawn toward the opposite pole of a magnet.
Suddenly, a question flickered through my mind.
‘Where have I felt this before…?’
From somewhere came a sharp crack—the sound of something solid colliding with something else. But it was only a moment.
Soleia Elad straightened the posture she’d leaned toward me with. The heavy fragrance of her perfume receded abruptly. Along with a picture-perfect smile came a seemingly gentle farewell.
“I wish you continued good health.”
What hollow pleasantries were these?
I remained frozen, managing only a strained smile. Inside, everything had turned pitch-black, crumbling on the verge of collapse. Please, please just go…
And miraculously, my desperate wish was granted. Soleia Elad lowered her long lashes softly.
“Then.”
Though a light gesture, the presence it carried was overwhelming. Soleia Elad seemed to have no intention of waiting for my response. With a whisper, her black dress brushed past my pale green one. I didn’t dare turn to look after her. Not until the sensation prickling across my entire body completely vanished.
“Ugh.”
Only after the tingling sensation fully dissipated did I collapse onto the floor. The breath I’d been holding finally escaped.
“Wow, really…”
Air rushed suddenly into my compressed lungs. I steadied my breathing, pressing my hand to my chest. As though observing all of this from above, Raulus’s voice echoed in my mind.
[You need to be more careful.]
“…You’re right.”
I nodded blankly. My assumption that I’d be safe because Soleia Elad couldn’t enter the Imperial Palace had been a grave miscalculation.
I might have already been caught in that woman’s snare far longer than I realized.
* * *
Soleia Elad walked through the Imperial Palace. With each step she took, the ground trembled faintly beneath her feet.
The phantoms from the Underground below clung to her like iron drawn to a magnet. Thud, thud. With each movement below, the earth shuddered. Soleia Elad paid it no mind, continuing her slow pace.
Her beautiful, alluring face bore no expression. But that lasted only briefly. Her crimson lips parted.
“Unexpected.”
A quiet murmur to herself. Her eyes, black as obsidian, swept toward the distant white onion-domed palace in the distance.
“I was certain she’d be nearly wilted by now…”
She’d looked so frail that a single tap would topple her, yet she was proving surprisingly resilient in unexpected ways.
‘Nightmare’ was Soleia Elad’s specialty. A dark magic of the mental realm that had never once failed her.
Every human carried some darkness within them. ‘Nightmare’ amplified one’s most unfortunate and most tragic memories a hundredfold, a thousandfold, gnawing away at the living’s sanity. Those consumed by nightmare walked willingly into hell. Without a trace. As though they’d never existed.
The magic required remarkably little mana relative to its effect—a characteristic of mental magic. Which was why she’d thought it perfect for slowly withering that Princess, someone with poor mana compatibility.
Soleia Elad tilted her head slightly.
“How strange.”
That one, sensitive to mana as she was, should be approaching her limits by now. Yet her mind, which should have already shattered, remained intact. Perhaps she possessed stronger mental fortitude than expected. But no matter how strong, it was still only human resilience.
Soleia Elad murmured softly, almost humming.
“Should I increase the intensity?”
How much longer would that cracked-glass body endure?
Her face and actions held a certain charm—it wouldn’t be unpleasant to preserve her carefully. Perhaps with that body, she could even secure the Emperor she so desperately desired. It could prove an excellent bargaining chip.
Then the path to her ultimate goal would open far more smoothly.
“Ah. Even if I gave my heart, would you reject a body that’s already dead?”
A soft giggle escaped her crimson lips. Either way, the mere thought of it was intoxicating. Soleia Elad lowered her eyes and smiled with profound intensity.
The dizzying fragrance of deadly nightshade lingered in the air. For a long time.
* * *
I have no idea how I managed to return to the palace in such a state. I barely caught myself against a pillar at the entrance of Bellirook Palace. My legs, which had been trembling, suddenly gave out entirely. I collapsed onto the steps at the palace entrance.
“Ugh….”
My fingertips trembled uncontrollably. That beautiful face—the one that had driven me to the brink of terror—remained vivid before my eyes. I felt it anew, coursing through my entire body.
“God. Really, truly terrifying….”
Unlike last time, she hadn’t cast dark magic openly, yet the pressure was several times more intense. If a woman dared to covet what lay beyond Udeta, shouldn’t she exude that level of presence…! And I—how commendable of me not to reveal that I know your true identity!
“Aaaaargh.”
No, that’s not the important part!
I clawed at my hair frantically, trying to dispel the spiraling thoughts. My carefully arranged pale pink hair tangled into a mess. Not that I cared about such things.
My mind raced as I reconstructed the brief conversation with Soleia Elad.
“You seem to be having trouble sleeping.”
Those nightmares from that dawn—the ones I could barely remember—had been Soleia Elad’s doing. I exhaled in disbelief.
Since when? From our first meeting? Or from the day Soleia Elad stood before Bellirook Palace?
My thoughts leaned toward the latter. The nightmares had begun precisely that night. So what had Soleia Elad done to Bellirook Palace that day….
“What on earth did she….”
A burning prickling sensation still lingered at my fingertips. I clenched my hands together. Ah, this feeling. That stabbing sensation without even touching. The constant pull, as if being lured in.
Suddenly, the image of that transparent crystal, with its black vortex spinning endlessly, became crystal clear.
“Ah.”
A sharp gasp escaped me. Yes. It was similar to that sensation. The mana stone that draws people in. That feeling when I nearly touched it…! The moment I realized this, the world spun so violently I thought I might lose consciousness.
Why didn’t I know? Why couldn’t I remember immediately! That Decarve Belgot’s specialty was dark magic that enchants the living!
Enchantment. Where else would she have learned it! Everything suddenly fell into place. That mana stone was undoubtedly a barrier stone cursed with dark magic. In such a short time, only dark magic could have enthralled me.
If Auredhian Belgot hadn’t been there, if I had actually touched that barrier stone…. A chill ran down my spine.
“Ugh….”
The problem wasn’t being kidnapped while surrounded by the barrier stone—my body would have been destroyed by the dark magic the moment I touched it. Burns on my fingers? That’s nothing!
And the fact that I’ve been plagued by nightmares lately, my condition deteriorating so badly that those around me have noticed something amiss….
“Insane.”
I immediately got to my feet. There was only one conclusion I could draw.
Soleia Elad had cast dark magic on Bellirook Palace!
The moment I grasped this conclusion, the evidence came pouring in.
Right. My body, which had been stable enough with just holding Auredhian Belgot’s hand once every three days, couldn’t possibly have deteriorated this suddenly. My body is still functioning properly, isn’t it…?
The moment I returned to my room, I pressed myself against the mirror.
“Marienne, are all my limbs still properly attached?”
“Pardon?”
“Is it possible I’m missing a toe, or that some strange lump has appeared somewhere….”
“Your Highness….”
“Could you check my back for me?”
Marienne spoke with a trembling voice as she watched me frantically palpating my own body as if I’d lost my mind.
“Your Highness… Good heavens, how much are you suffering….”
Marienne seemed to be laboring under a profound misunderstanding. Eventually, tears began streaming down her gentle eyes.
“Just hold on a little longer… *sniff*, how dare that Glucaman treat our delicate Princess like this….”
“Ugh.”
And I felt as though I might lose consciousness on the spot. I’m the one who wants to cry, Marienne!
This was no joke—I’d become the sort of person who could simply drop dead without warning one day, and it wouldn’t even be surprising. Or perhaps some part of me was already dying.
On the surface, I appeared perfectly fine, but who could say what festering darkness lurked within if one were to turn me inside out?
Raulus chimed in with an equally grave tone.
[Indeed. I merely said it was insignificant, but I never imagined it would be this insignificant….]
“….”
[Besides, it was never a land you were granted permission to possess anyway. Think of the future that was destined to arrive simply arriving a bit sooner.]
“And you call that consolation now….”
I clenched my teeth and glared at the ceiling as though I could kill it with my eyes. Surely he wasn’t actually calling that consolation.
Raulus asked with intense curiosity.
[Child, do you wish to live in this land?]
I found myself involuntarily imagining a god whose face I’d never seen tilting his head in confusion. I ground my molars and growled.
“Then am I supposed to want to die instead!”
[That’s not what I meant, little fragment.]
His voice returned, dripping with exasperation.
[I’m aware you came from another world. So what I’m asking is whether you have any intention of returning to the land you originally came from.]
“My original world?”

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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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