Beguiling the Enemy’s Patriarch - Chapter 66

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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 66
Sharp eyes met my fingertips. I flinched at the startling coldness of that skin, and then again when a hand touched my wrist. It wasn’t a grasp, wasn’t a firm hold—merely a touch. His hand, resting against the delicate skin of my wrist.
“How long have you been in Belgot?”
Auredhian asked in a voice that seemed somehow subdued. I stammered, utterly captivated by the crimson depths of his gaze.
“A-about two and a half months now….”
“Two and a half months. Time passes quickly.”
Auredhian, having briefly considered my answer, drew his lips into what seemed a smile—though it appeared deliberately constructed. Since it didn’t seem particularly strange, I relaxed slightly and responded with my usual cheerfulness.
“Right. I think so too. There’s been so much happening, it’s surprising how much time has already passed.”
“….”
“In any case, if you permit it, I’ll return to Lebovni as soon as possible.”
Though we had made certain promises before, I still needed his permission to return to Lebovni. After all, I remained his hostage. Once I obtained his consent, I would need to write to Father asking him to retrieve me….
“What if I don’t permit it?”
—if he were to say such a thing. I blinked blankly. What had I just heard?
His hand, which had been resting against my wrist, slid downward along my skin. It descended until it grasped my hand, interlacing each finger with mine, pressing firmly so that the faint warmth lingering on those fingers transferred completely to me. A murmur tinged with bewilderment escaped my lips.
“Why won’t you permit it…?”
I swear, those were words I never expected to hear from him. This man, just days ago, had told me firmly that it would be better for me to return to Lebovni. He was someone who had seemed determined never to call my name. And yet….
“Why all of a sudden….”
As I failed to hide my confusion, a crack suddenly appeared in Auredhian’s composure. And only then did I catch the faint scent of wine drifting through the air.
“A slip of the tongue.”
He murmured lowly and released the hand he had been holding. The warmth departed, and wind swept across the empty space. I blinked, watching as his gaze slid downward, and I looked up at him. My heart was racing. Thump, thump. Like that night, days ago.
“A slip of the tongue…?”
Before I even realized it, my hand reached out to grasp his hand as it began to fall away. The moment we touched, a clear, sacred radiance cascaded through me. The dryness faded from my eyes, and my mind gradually sharpened. The melancholy that had weighed me down instantly transformed into surging anticipation. I opened my eyes wide and looked up at Auredhian.
“A slip of the tongue? There’s no such thing.”
“What…?”
Auredhian, his mask-like composure shattered, wore an expression full of bewilderment—much like mine moments before. He seemed uncertain, anxious that his true feelings might be exposed. It was precisely the face I had longed to see each time I tried to draw closer to him.
The moment when a man always as still as a windless lake loses his composure. The moment when cracks form in the tall, impenetrable walls surrounding him. His most honest face in that unguarded instant.
I instinctively understood that this was when Auredhian Belgot was most sincere. I cast aside every doubt that had occupied my mind all evening. Setting aside reason and reality for now, I drew closer to him. The distance between us was now less than a single step. Looking up into those crimson eyes, now completely stripped of their usual composure, I slowly opened my lips.
“Won’t you let me stay?”
Auredhian flinched slightly. He moved as though to retreat. But what he overlooked was that directly behind him stood the railing of the terrace.
Thump, thump. My heart raced rapidly.
This man sometimes extends his hand with a tenderness as sweet as honey, yet at other times he pushes me away with a coldness that seems utterly heartless. This moment—when I might finally glimpse the true nature of someone so impossible to read, a moment that might never come again—felt like it was now.
I wished, more than anything, that he could hear my racing heartbeat. That he would understand I was asking with complete sincerity, and that just this once, he would be honest with me. With that feeling, I whispered again.
“Won’t you let me stay?”
“Prin-.”
“My name.”
I cut off his attempt to address me.
“Call my name again.”
“…Yerenika.”
“Not that.”
The man whose face had always been so composed and resolute suddenly became uncertain.
“Princess, I recall telling you before that it would be better if you didn’t keep touching me like this.”
Yet even as he said it, Auredhian Belgot pushed me away again. With the hand I wasn’t gripping, he pressed against my shoulder. But there was no force behind it—no real conviction. At that gentle resistance, a wave of sorrow crashed over me. Again, again! I twisted my face and spoke fiercely.
“Your Majesty, it would be better if you stopped running away now.”
“Princess.”
“If you dislike me, tell me clearly. Tell me you want me to leave. That this is truly what you wish for. If you keep evading me like this, ambiguously, one more time….”
I gathered every last shred of courage to speak these words, and if he retreated now, if he truly pushed me away and I returned to Lebovni, perhaps we would never see each other again.
A low, suppressed sigh escaped him. And in the next moment, the hand that had been on my shoulder pulled me forward instead.
“Yerenika.”
Silver hair, light as spring breeze, came close enough to brush my vision. My mind reeled at hearing my name from his lips, and then I was drawn fully into his embrace. The scent of him—clean, refined, mingled with the faint aroma of wine—filled every breath I took.
Auredhian’s voice settled against my ear like a sigh.
“You cannot say such things.”
“….”
“I cannot push you away, no matter when.”
The words I had longed to hear sounded almost like a lie. The man whose expression I could not see murmured as if speaking to himself.
“If you ask me not to let you go, I can only say I won’t.”
“….”
“If you ask me if I dislike you, I can only say I don’t. It’s only natural.”
Spring wind blew. The chill that had lingered until now seemed to vanish, replaced by the warmth of the man holding me, spreading through my body and into the air itself. Auredhian continued, as if making a vow.
“But still, you must return. The only good thing about you being here is my own selfish desire.”
Thump-thump.
My heart still raced fiercely, its rhythm strong enough to transmit through the body pressed against mine. Tears threatened to spill. If I opened my mouth, my voice would tremble uncontrollably, so I bit down hard on my lips.
Auredhian spoke quietly.
“So please, stop now.”
“….”
“Since I cannot push you away with my own hands, I can only ask like this.”
His final words carried a note of self-deprecating laughter. At that, my vision finally blurred. I fumbled to place my hands on the shoulders of the man holding me. With trembling fingers, I barely managed to hold him in return.
What should I say? That I don’t actually want to leave? That I still want to draw closer to you? I had learned only this afternoon that I couldn’t. In the end, my voice choked with tears, I barely managed to speak.
“This is cruel….”
A short laugh escaped him.
“Who are you to say that?”
“I’m not….”
“Who made me say such things in the first place?”
A large, tender hand gently patted my back.
“If only you had said such things from the beginning….”
Then even if I had to leave, I wouldn’t have suffered like this! Sorrowful tears streamed down my cheeks—the accumulated anguish of every moment I had rushed toward him only to be pushed away. His hand patting my back, gently brushing through my hair, felt so good. And at the same time, I was flooded with relief knowing he hadn’t merely been pushing me away. And I couldn’t stop my heart from racing wildly at this realization.
So I wept in his embrace for a long time.
“Yerenika.”
And only when he called my name did I finally understand. I exist here. Whether I am Eun-seo, or Yerenika, or something else entirely—there is someone who calls me with such profound affection. That call, at last, anchored me to this place, this moment. It was a realization I had never once experienced in my previous life as Eun-seo.
It was a night when the entire sky seemed to shimmer with silver light, trembling just beyond reach. I was certain that no matter where I might be in the future, I would never forget this night. Whether in Belgot or in Lebovni. In that moment, nothing else mattered.

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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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