Beguiling the Enemy’s Patriarch - Chapter 57

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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 57
To be honest, I’d already suspected as much. If Soleia Elad truly had her agents infiltrating Bellirook Palace, there would be no reason to resort to something as cumbersome as nightmares. Assassinating a weak, defenseless princess would be as simple as crushing an ant beneath one’s heel. The fact that she hadn’t done so meant only one thing: Soleia Elad wanted me to destroy myself. She wanted my mind to crumble before my body ever could.
I didn’t voice this suspicion aloud. If I confessed everything, the man who was already frightening in his anger would surely stop listening to me altogether. Instead, I tugged Auredhian Belgot’s hand and offered what seemed like a reasonable explanation.
“In any case, this approach is more efficient! And the real problem isn’t the palace—it’s the Garden. I think I found the medium there that night.”
“The Garden…”
“Yes! So please, stop making that expression. You’re scaring me so much I can barely speak.”
Without waiting for Auredhian Belgot’s permission, I dragged him through the corridors of Bellirook Palace and immediately set about my task of rooting out Soleia Elad’s agents.
The method I’d devised to use my constitution was nothing elaborate—merely ‘contact.’ I carefully observed each servant in Bellirook Palace, checking whether I could sense anything similar to what I’d felt from Soleia Elad. I deliberately shook hands with exaggerated enthusiasm and even threw my arms around some of them. To discern even the slightest tingling sensation or any hint of enchantment, I had to concentrate with every fiber of my being.
In truth, the method was more of a performance for Auredhian Belgot’s benefit, but life is full of unknowns. There was no harm in double-checking myself.
While I was causing quite the spectacle among the servants of Bellirook Palace, Auredhian Belgot remained shrouded in a sharp, prickly aura the entire time. His expression made it clear he didn’t trust even the servants who’d already passed my inspection, let alone me. Yet whenever I approached the male servants, he’d ghostlike pull me back to his side—was he angry, or wasn’t he?
I glanced at him nervously before finally extending my hand to Leria, the last remaining servant.
“Your Highness…”
Leria rushed into my arms with tears glistening in her eyes. As the youngest maid in Bellirook Palace and the only one shorter than me, I felt an inexplicable sense of pride as I patted her back.
“You have no idea how shocked I was. Do you know how much chaos Bellirook Palace fell into at dawn yesterday?”
“Mm. I’m sorry.”
After repeating my apologies dozens of times over a few more times, I finally finished my ‘inspection’ of the servants. Though I’d already been fairly certain, it was still a relief. At least my faith had been vindicated.
I turned back to Auredhian Belgot with a bright smile.
“See? Everything’s fine, isn’t it?”
Of course it was fine—my hand had been held so firmly in his grip throughout my inspection of the servants that I couldn’t have let go even by accident. Auredhian Belgot exhaled a low sigh.
“Could we perhaps avoid this method in the future?”
“Mm. I see you’re worried after all.”
“Your Highness, please.”
He ran a hand through his shimmering silver hair and muttered wearily.
“Give me a moment to catch my breath.”
“Hehe…”
With a track record as extensive as mine, I could only laugh sheepishly.
“Sunfish require special attention, after all…”
“Your Highness.”
“Yes. I’ll be more careful.”
My attempts to soften Auredhian Belgot’s expression were dismissed as nonsense. I faithfully adhered to my principle of “you can’t spit on a smiling face” and smiled earnestly while pointing toward the Garden beyond the entrance with my other hand.
“Well then, shall we go clean up the Garden?”
“That won’t be necessary.”
And Auredhian Belgot spoke decisively.
“I’m going to have the entire Garden torn up and replanted.”
“I’m… sorry?”
Before I could even ask what he meant, my body lifted into the air. Auredhian Belgot, cradling me gently, began walking without hesitation. I frantically pushed against his shoulders and twisted my body.
“Wait, please. You should at least hear what’s in the Garden first…”
“Schmart.”
But Auredhian Belgot was clearly no longer listening to me. I heard Diego Schmart’s voice answering—someone I’d completely forgotten about until now.
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Purify it all.”
I heard Diego Schmart laugh awkwardly.
“Your Majesty, if you do that, not only the Garden but… I fear there won’t be much left of me either.”
“Stop complaining.”
“Complaining, Your Majesty…?”
“No taking it back. Do it. Before I do it myself.”
I stared back and forth between Diego Schmart and Auredhian Belgot with bewildered eyes. Diego Schmart let out a laugh tinged with resignation.
“Yes… I shall obey your command.”
“Tear it all down. Do you understand?”
What kind of crude order was that! While I was reeling from shock, Auredhian Belgot simply scooped me up and left Bellirook Palace. Had I known beforehand what that “purification” and “tear it all down” truly meant, I would have thrown a fit to stop him.
But at that moment, I didn’t know. I didn’t realize that the moment his command fell, my return to Bellirook Palace would become infinitely distant.
* * *
And in what felt like the blink of an eye, I found myself back at the Imperial Palace. Eyes followed us, though people pretended not to stare. I clung to Auredhian Belgot’s neck, my gaze darting about awkwardly. I’d already caused quite a commotion when I left, and now I was returning cradled in the Emperor’s arms. My image was definitely taking a nosedive, wasn’t it?
It was hardly surprising that eyes converged on us. The events of the past few days had spread through the entire Imperial Palace by word of mouth. From the moment Auredhian Belgot left Bellirook Palace until he entered the Imperial Palace, he seemed utterly indifferent to the countless gazes that followed us. Which meant all the embarrassment and shame fell squarely on me. Unaccustomed to drawing attention, I had no choice but to bow my head low and cling tightly to him.
But as the stares continued to prickle against my awareness, I whispered softly to him.
“Um, Your Majesty.”
“What?”
“You can put me down now…”
Before I could finish, I saw a crack form across his expressionless face. I hastily changed my words, grimacing.
“…wouldn’t be right, would it? Ahaha.”
Right. I have no legs…! That was the look on his face—as if I should say exactly that. His usually relaxed eyes had turned sharp. I forced myself to smile, though my body remained rigid.
“Aha… haha.”
The sacred power radiating from Auredhian Belgot’s body had calmed somewhat from before. But as someone acutely sensitive to his aura, I could sense it. That power still carried a wavelength different from his usual state—rough and irregular.
Since it was undeniably me who had made him this way, I quietly closed my mouth. My feelings were complicated. His unusual demeanor felt somewhat unfamiliar… yet there was something oddly thrilling about seeing a man who had built walls as high as the heavens become this shaken.
“Hup.”
Thrilling? I stopped myself mid-thought, startled. Was that it? Was I the type of person who enjoyed watching him get angry…? My thoughts were spiraling in increasingly strange directions when a unfamiliar voice from behind cut them short.
“Your Majesty?”
It was the moment Auredhian Belgot was about to step onto the staircase. And before he could even turn around, I—cradled in his arms—locked eyes directly with the person who had called out to him.
“…?”
He was a man with dark grayish hair bordering on black and brown eyes. His mouth hung slightly open, giving him a somewhat vacant appearance, but he had a neat and tidy demeanor befitting a man in his prime years. His expression was one of utter shock. His eyes were wide, staring directly at me. So I mirrored his expression and found myself speaking without thinking.
“Who are you…?”
“…Aiven Count.”
And Auredhian Belgot seemed to have guessed who the man was from his voice alone. He turned his head slightly, his tone dripping with annoyance.
“I distinctly recall issuing an order that I would not receive audiences today.”
His voice was filled with irritation and exasperation. Aiven Count quickly bowed his waist.
“I greet the exalted lord of Belgot.”
“Keep it brief. One sentence.”
Auredhian Belgot clearly had no intention of spending more time with him. At his coldly delivered words, Aiven Count hastily opened his mouth.
“Ah. Yes. The matter of negotiations with Azekhien can no longer be postponed… The timeline is quite urgent, is it not?”
“Why are you the one deciding that? It is I who determines whether matters are urgent or not.”
His voice was so frigid it could freeze everything around us solid. I found myself growing confused. Was Auredhian Belgot truly this temperament by nature? Had the languid predator he’d shown me all this time been nothing but a facade? Yet I quickly reconsidered. Even before, he’d resembled a apex predator perched at the very pinnacle of the food chain.
Merciful and magnanimous though he might be, a ruler remained a ruler and a sovereign remained a sovereign, did they not? Let me see the rekindled flame anew, and the gentle Auredhian anew as well. Yes. Lost in such frivolous musings, I found myself giggling softly when my eyes met those of the man called Aiven Count once more.
“…?”
To be more precise, Aiven Count had been stealing glances at me repeatedly. Was there something on my face? The moment that thought crossed my mind, Auredhian turned halfway to the side. Naturally, Aiven Count vanished from my line of sight.
Hmm? I tried to turn my head in bewilderment, but a large hand pressed gently against the back of my head. I blinked my eyes while my face was half-buried in Auredhian’s embrace. I heard Aiven Count murmur in a tone of admiration.
“So this is the person from the rumors….”

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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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