Beguiling the Enemy’s Patriarch - Chapter 61

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 61
His crimson eyes widened slightly. Yet Auredhian soon laughed with evident discomfort.
“That won’t do.”
“Why not!”
I furrowed my brow sharply.
“You called me willingly enough at that dawn hour!”
He thought I wouldn’t remember, but that particular moment was seared into my memory with crystal clarity!
“I have no recollection of it.”
This man erected an impenetrable wall at the most absurd moments. Did he truly intend to play dumb? I pressed my lips together and glared at him with pointed eyes. Just when I thought he’d softened, he’d harden again. As always, I was the one wavering and faltering, caught between extremes.
“This is a privilege I grant to Your Majesty alone. Will you truly refuse so decisively?”
“Yes.”
I didn’t like it. I yanked my leaning body backward abruptly. Unlike before, Auredhian’s expression was now stern and resolute.
Wasn’t it because of that damned wall that our relationship never progressed? We’d draw close enough to touch, only to be torn apart in an instant. Why was it always this man who controlled the distance between us?
As I swallowed down an exasperated sigh, Auredhian asked casually in passing.
“I’ve been curious about this for a while. Why do you say you grant this ‘only to me’?”
“Pardon?”
“Do you understand what that means?”
Why? Because I want to grow closer to you. Since I cannot carelessly call the Emperor by his name, I at least wished for him to call me by my name instead of as the Princess. I wasn’t obsessed with being called by my name, but watching him constantly evade made my stubbornness grow fiercer.
Yet I had no desire to bare my true feelings so openly. I wouldn’t be drawn in today. My heart was already wounded, so my answer came out curtly.
“Because Your Majesty is handsome.”
“That hardly constitutes a valid reason.”
“Because Your Majesty is the master of Belgot. There is nothing you cannot do.”
“The master of Belgot is precisely the one who can do the least as he pleases.”
Auredhian now laughed with such ease and leisure that he even smiled at me. The irritation that surged forth made me blurt out recklessly.
“Because I like you—”
But the words never reached completion. My reason, which had evaporated in a moment of stubbornness, returned just as swiftly. I gasped in surprise and glanced at Auredhian. He seemed unaware of what I’d been about to say, his expression remaining serene.
“What do you feel for me?”
“I… that is…”
To stir even a small ripple in that placid depths, perhaps a direct approach was best. I gathered my courage and opened my mouth again.
“Because I like you…?”
It was merely a tentative confession, yet my heart pounded inexplicably. It felt as though I were making a genuine, bashful admission. Though I’d intended to deliver it with my usual glib charm…
“You still speak of that.”
“Ah…”
“I don’t entertain words without sincerity, Princess.”
Yet strangely, when Auredhian chuckled softly and replied lightly, my heart sank.
“I see.”
I closed my mouth firmly. It was merely a jest met with a jest in return. Yet something felt amiss. Auredhian now rested his arm and tilted his head slightly into his palm, regarding me with a smile playing at the corners of his lips. Even as my mind reeled, I found myself captivated by that sight—entranced by the crimson-violet hue of his eyes.
“I…”
Auredhian spoke slowly, opening his mouth with deliberation.
“Sometimes find myself curious about what you’re thinking.”
“….”
“Not just occasionally. In truth, quite frequently.”
He wore an expression of profound bewilderment. I found myself equally lost, unable to grasp the thread of this conversation. Auredhian continued slowly.
“Granting a name in Belgot carries far greater weight than you might imagine, Princess.”
Was it merely my imagination that the word “Princess” seemed to carry an edge? Or was it his own form of defiance, a subtle refusal? My thoughts spiraled into increasing confusion, yet I pressed forward regardless.
“What if I simply asked you to?”
“….”
“What if I told you that I wished for Your Majesty to call me by my name? Would that not be reason enough?”
I had broached this subject initially as a means to shift the mood, but now it had transformed into something far more earnest. I recognized the petulance in my words, yet I sensed with absolute certainty that if I yielded now, if I simply accepted his explanation, I would never again draw closer to him. I straightened my posture and met his gaze directly.
Make your stance clear. If you’re going to build a wall, make it so I cannot approach further. Strike it so thoroughly that I am wounded and never dare try again. Otherwise….
“You must not touch me any further than this, Princess.”
Auredhian spoke in a calm, measured voice—words I had heard countless times before.
“You should have understood from what happened before. That this place harbors no goodwill toward you.”
“…And yet?”
“It would be wise not to cling to this place.”
Something within me surged and broke. Yes. Of course. Now there was scarcely any reason left for me to approach you. My chest ached with the realization that perhaps he spoke these words knowing exactly what he was doing.
Auredhian smiled faintly.
“It would be a waste to leave such a precious name in a place like this.”
If this man knew what I truly felt in this moment, he could never speak such words. I understood instinctively: he would remain this way until the very end. Until I finally returned to Lebovni. He would push me away to the last, always kind, always gentle.
He would wound me, then kindle false hope with those tender eyes and gentle words. He would shake me, only to push me away in the end. Unless he told me with his own lips which of his faces was sincere, I could never know. Auredhian Belgot would never call me by my name.
And so there was nothing more I could say.
* * *
[What troubles you so deeply?]
Raulus asked with evident curiosity. I smiled softly and offered my thanks to Roxanne, who had poured the tea.
“Thank you, Roxanne.”
[Are you truly resolved to leave?]
“The fragrance is lovely. It reminds me of lemon, or perhaps…. Is it lime?”
“Yes, Princess. It is lime tea. I am delighted it pleases you.”
Roxanne smiled warmly. I brought the cup to my lips and savored a sip of the steaming brew. The sweet lime-scented tea bloomed across my palate. In all honesty, Roxanne’s skill in brewing tea surpassed even Marienne’s. The finish was not bitter, and the temperature was perfectly calibrated.
[You, little crumb. Have you decided to ignore me now?]
“….”
Raulus clearly had nothing better to do beyond Udeta. The way he persistently called out to me, forever using that “crumb” epithet, only deepened my already turbulent mood. I turned my head away from Roxanne’s sight and let my expression darken.
“I don’t know. I said I don’t know.”
[But you said you wanted to have him.]
“When did I ever say that? I never spoke such words.”
It was a subject I had no desire to contemplate deeply. The question of what I should do, how I should proceed from here.
[I thought you were sincere.]
Raulus continued muttering, undeterred, his tone suggesting waning interest.
“I was sincere….”
I was sincere. I waited until Roxanne turned and closed the terrace door behind her before allowing my body to go limp.
[But?]
“But now there’s no need for that anymore, I suppose….”
[Why, because that child won’t call you by your name?]
Raulus struck at the heart of the matter with remarkable precision. I sighed and replied.
“That too, yes. It’s simply the circumstances, you see.”
Even setting aside my emotions, the situation truly was as I described. The pretext I had to leverage against Auredhian had simply vanished. The fundamental framework of the plan I had constructed upon being kidnapped to Belgot was this.
‘Prevent the marriage between Auredhian Belgot and Soleia Elad.’
To that, I had added the grand ambition of somehow seducing him to preserve my own meager life, but regardless, that was my primary objective. To resist the flow of this world as it tried to follow the original narrative, to prevent Auredhian’s marriage and thus prevent the birth of the villain Decarve.
Yet now, it was safe to say that Auredhian Belgot and Soleia would never marry. Not so long as he suspected her of being a dark mage and remained wary of her.
“Even if I don’t pester him to marry me, Auredhian won’t marry that woman anyway.”
The more I spoke, the more my thoughts crystallized. Would he, in his right mind, marry a woman he knew to be a dark mage? The probability of that was now negligible. In essence, my reckless strategy had become meaningless. After all, merely preventing his marriage to Soleia accomplished a significant portion of my objective.
My spirits sank. So I had extinguished the immediate crisis regarding Auredhian, and what remained was.
“Now what I truly need to worry about is myself….”
Yes. Me, myself. In this world, and especially in Belgot, I was someone who desperately needed Holy Power to survive long and healthily.
[Mm. Indeed. A body like a dandelion seed that would blow away with the wind.]
“From crumbs to dandelion seeds?”
[It suits you perfectly.]
I let out a hollow laugh at Raulus’s playful tone, utterly exasperated.
“You, do you really have to wait a full five years to become a priest? Really? Even a little while would be fine, couldn’t you just come down for a moment…?”
[It’s not something that happens according to my will, dandelion seed.]
“Ugh. How firm.”
[It’s the taboo of Udeta. I cannot set foot on the surface at will, child. If I were to break the taboo first, there’s someone who would come rushing down like a storm.]
“Who is it then!”
[There is. An unlucky fellow. Anyway, it won’t work.]
I already knew that Raulus was merely a hollow shell with a pretty exterior, but having it confirmed felt utterly deflating. Given how things had turned out, I truly had no reason to remain in this dangerous land.
To preserve my worthless life, it might be better to return to Lebovni as soon as possible and somehow endure those five years Raulus mentioned while secluding myself in the Temple. I had already earned the hatred of Soleia Elad—if I stayed here, I would only become that woman’s prey. Life was already harsh enough; I had no desire to face threats of murder on top of it all.
A sigh escaped me without my noticing. Gleaming silver light kept drifting through my mind.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————