Beguiling the Enemy’s Patriarch - Chapter 56

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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 56
“I personally assigned the servants, and I’ve turned this palace upside down twice over.”
It was unmistakably the voice of the man I’d come searching for.
“How dare you—in the Imperial Palace itself, while the master of this nation stands witness.”
I went rigid at that glacial tone. Each clipped syllable dripped with barely restrained fury.
“What audacious fool.”
Auredhian Belgot—the sole, undisputed master of Belgot—spoke the words in a voice cold and seething with rage.
“You dared lay hands upon the Emperor’s guest?”
His gaze swept slowly across the servants kneeling before him in the hall, and I gasped upon spotting Marienne at the very front. Auredhian stood with arms crossed, leaning against a pillar with casual menace, and addressed Marienne with chilling precision.
“How much further must I extend my clemency? Marienne Lebasila—answer me.”
“I-I swear upon my life, I have never knowingly neglected anything that might endanger the Princess’s wellbeing….”
I heard Marienne’s trembling response. But Marienne was innocent…!
I cautiously edged one foot into the palace, gauging the atmosphere. It was a thoughtless gesture—I’d forgotten I was wearing heeled enamel shoes.
Click.
The sharp sound of my heel echoed loudly through the frigid hall. I was startled, the kneeling servants were more startled, and even Auredhian, standing there like a blade, flinched.
“Ah, ha.”
Having startled everyone with a single footstep, I could only manage an awkward laugh.
“Um, hello there….”
My clumsy greeting was swallowed by a sigh so heavy it seemed to shake the earth itself. Auredhian pressed his fingers to his temple and turned toward me.
“Princess.”
“Yes….”
I deliberately avoided meeting his gaze. The sacred power radiating from him was terrifying in its sharp intensity, and besides, if I were caught now, I’d certainly face his wrath. I quickly moved past Auredhian toward Marienne, still on her knees.
“Marienne, are you alright?”
“Your Highness…!”
My devoted maid, who hadn’t shed a single tear even before Auredhian, burst into sobs the moment she saw me.
“When I heard you’d collapsed, I was so frightened I could hardly breathe. Are you truly well? I’m so sorry. I should have looked after you better…. This is my fault. Forgive me, Your Highness…!”
Flustered, I waved my hands and crouched down before her.
“Don’t cry, Marienne. It was nothing serious. His Majesty came to see me, and I’m perfectly fine now!”
“But you always say you’re fine, Your Highness…. They said you were unconscious for a full day and a half!”
Heavens. Marienne had surely branded me in her mind as a frail and pitiful princess. I was about to insist once more that I was truly well and that there was no need to worry, when Auredhian caught me by the waist and lifted me effortlessly back to my feet. His voice still carried that biting chill as he spoke.
“The maid isn’t the priority here, Princess. You truly don’t listen to a word I say.”
“Ah, I’m terribly sorry.”
I flashed him a bright smile. After all, one cannot spit upon a smiling face. I cut off whatever lecture he was about to deliver and rushed on.
“Marienne is innocent, Your Majesty. I was trying to tell you—the truth is…!”
I’d been about to say: It was the work of that sorceress, Soleia—the one you said you wouldn’t mind me marrying—but Auredhian cut me off.
“I already know.”
“Pardon?”
“I know who did this to you. It would be the lovely and cunning daughter of Elad—the mage of the Magic Tower.”
My jaw dropped.
“Then why…!”
“How did you know that woman still had accomplices?”
Auredhian’s voice remained cold and unyielding. The sacred power that normally flowed with meticulous grace now stretched like a razor-sharp spear. Just as I had felt that dawn before the Training Grounds. I closed my mouth and looked up at him with eyes full of unspoken words.
What Auredhian said was plausible enough. Frankly, I knew nothing. Whether there was someone in Bellirook Palace who aided Soleia Elad’s dark magic or not. The original work didn’t even introduce Soleia Elad’s subordinates.
Of course I wanted to trust the people of Bellirook Palace, but the world didn’t turn according to my beliefs alone. Life wasn’t that simple or easy.
“…But still.”
I opened my mouth to speak, then closed it again. After all, this was an incident where a foreign princess had nearly been murdered within the Imperial Palace itself. It was natural for Auredhian to react with such intensity. I lowered my head dejectedly, then lifted it sharply at his next words.
“Dark magic requires a medium, or so I’ve heard. I’m simply trying to find it. Whatever it may be.”
Dark magic. A medium. I hastily opened my mouth.
“Your Majesty, did you perhaps already know…!”
That Soleia Elad was a dark mage! I couldn’t cry it out loudly with others watching, but Auredhian clearly understood. His handsome face, which had seemed to relax slightly, hardened again. He spoke as if spitting out the words.
“What I need is physical evidence. Proof that someone dared to harm my guest using magic I’ve forbidden in my own realm. Or a witness.”
His reddish violet eyes swept across the space behind me. He was clearly scrutinizing each of the Bellirook Palace servants kneeling in a line behind me. A chill ran down my spine. I had never seen Auredhian Belgot like this before.
Or had I? The memory of the day I first saw him behind a pillar in the Main Fortress of Lebovni flashed through my mind. Yes, that man had worn those same sharp eyes then. I murmured softly and rolled my eyes.
“But still….”
If that were the case, this incident would no longer be something that could be resolved simply by the fact that I was unharmed. The next Master of the Magic Tower and a woman who had rendered great service to the Belgot Magic Tower was actually a dark mage deserving of immediate execution, and that same woman had failed in an attempt to assassinate foreign royalty. Auredhian seemed to have no intention of letting this matter pass.
“Do you all understand what it means that I will interrogate them personally?”
The air trembled. The trajectory of the unleashed sacred power carved thin, sharp lines across the pillars and floor. Auredhian, who had pushed me behind him, spoke with a growl.
“Unless you wish to be burned alive, someone had better start talking.”
I gasped as I saw bluish-silver flames blazing in the empty air, and clung to him in terror.
“No, no. Wait! Your Majesty!”
“Step back, Princess. You’ll be hurt.”
“That’s exactly why! Why would you hurt me!”
Was sacred power such a threatening force? I’d only known it as an auspicious and noble power, but it could actually harm people? As if answering my thought, a wave of searing heat suddenly washed over me.
“Those without magical affinity will merely experience brief pain. Those with it will burn to death.”
Your expression doesn’t look like you mean just brief pain! Without further thought, I blurted it out.
“This won’t work!”
“Why?”
Auredhian immediately countered. I struggled mightily to meet his reddish violet gaze directly as I answered.
“Y-you can’t hurt innocent people like this. And if you’re trying to find accomplices, there’s a better way.”
Come to think of it, there were other options. Though even I thought the method I had in mind was absurd, it was also the most effective and efficient approach.
“If they’re subordinates of Elad, they’re certainly mages.”
Both Auredhian and I had momentarily forgotten this fact, but I was more sensitive to magical power than anyone. Put differently, it meant I could detect traces of magic better than anyone else.
“Even if I look like this, I’m quite sensitive to magical power. Especially to ‘that kind’ of magic.”
My senses became twice as acute when it came to dark magic. The way I was drawn like a moth to the cursed boundary stone in Ugel Square was proof of that, as was how my body reacted first in Bellirook Palace where dark magic had been cast, and how my entire being tingled when I faced Soleia Elad….
In truth, there had likely been countless such instances that I simply hadn’t consciously recognized until now. Why wouldn’t I use such a constitution to my advantage? I glanced at Auredhian’s expression before adding carefully.
“Of course, there is some risk involved….”
There was indeed danger that would require some sacrifice on my part. I could sense from Auredhian’s expression what he would say next.
“Rejected. Are you mad? Absolutely not.”
This is why they say he has perfect intuition. But I wasn’t the type to give up so easily. There was a way to cut that risk in half, and it was standing right in front of me.
“Come on. It’s not as risky as you think.”
I quickly stepped closer to Auredhian and grasped his hand. I felt him flinch. The sacred power that had been sharp and poised dulled instantly. I seized the moment and spoke urgently.
“Just hold my hand like this.”
“What…?”
I had absolutely no desire to suffer again. Besides, with a rapid-charge elixir and a vitality tonic right before my eyes, why would I? I gripped his hand firmly and shook it with confidence.
“You can trust me. My life depends on this too, so I won’t be careless. Besides, you said sacred power can’t even read mana in the first place.”
Even Raulus couldn’t perceive anything related to mana. Sacred power and mana could only destroy each other—they couldn’t sense one another. If that was true for Raulus beyond Udeta, why would Auredhian be different? That’s why he couldn’t have suspected Soleia Elad all this time. Part of it was because Soleia Elad herself was a formidable dark mage, but the fundamental incompatibility between sacred and mana forces was surely another reason.
“And actually…”
I let my words trail off.

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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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