Beguiling the Enemy’s Patriarch - Chapter 68

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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 68
Being someone who smiles first at any beautiful woman, I reflexively lifted the corners of my mouth once more. The Noble Lady, dressed in a neat coral-colored gown with her bright golden hair pinned up, approached me with a radiant smile, her movements as graceful as a butterfly alighting. She bowed with perfect courtesy.
“What a pleasure to see you again, Princess.”
“Oh, I… um…”
Flustered, I bent at the waist in response—a Lebovni-style courtesy that spilled out unbidden. Of course, I had no reason to know Belgot etiquette, so the gesture came naturally enough. The Noble Lady laughed elegantly and introduced herself.
“I am Clarisse Aiven. I suspect this is our first meeting, Princess.”
“Ah… hello.”
The lady smiled warmly. I accepted her smile awkwardly while searching my memory. Aiven—why did that surname sound so familiar?
“You have no business with her at present. Return, Aiven Count.”
Auredhian’s low, measured voice suddenly surfaced in my mind. Ah—I let out a small gasp. That moment, when I was captured by Auredhian at Bellirook Palace and dragged back to the Central Palace. The man I’d seen on the first floor of the Imperial Palace!
I turned to the beautiful woman still smiling gently and asked carefully.
“Are you… the wife of Aiven Count?”
“My goodness, you remember the Count!”
The lady exclaimed with genuine delight. No, wait—that’s not quite right! But before I could hastily correct her, the Aiven Count’s wife laughed brightly, her joy unmistakably sincere.
“My husband mentioned it to me. He said he saw you at the Imperial Palace.”
What must I have looked like then? I searched my memory seriously. That must have been when I was being carried in Auredhian’s arms, dragged toward the Main Palace… The Aiven Count’s wife continued in an elegant and affectionate tone.
“I glimpsed you from a distance when you visited the Temple before as well. It’s only been a few days since I last visited the Temple myself, yet here we are, meeting again by such coincidence.”
“Ah, that time too…”
Wait. That time too? My eyes widened in disbelief. How many times have I unknowingly let people see my face…?
The Countess smiled warmly.
“They say coincidence repeated becomes fate. I’ve long hoped to meet you one day, Princess. It seems Raulus is lending his hand to this.”
[No, that’s not it.]
Raulus himself hummed softly against my head. I laughed helplessly.
“That could be the case…”
“Princess!”
My words were cut short by an urgent call. Today, it seemed many people were calling for me. I turned my head to see Diego, who had been walking ahead, hurrying back along the path. He must have only just realized I wasn’t following him.
“Were you trying to stop my heart, Aiven Count’s wife?”
The Countess appeared to be acquainted with Diego as well. I no longer knew where to direct my gaze. Before I could even respond to Diego, the Aiven Count’s wife spoke again.
“Oh my. You were with the High Priest again, I see.”
“Yes, well. I’ll be staying at the Temple for a while. I’m sorry, Diego. I got distracted for a moment…”
“Not at all. It was my oversight for not paying attention. I thought you might have fallen again. But what brings you to the Temple at this early hour, Countess?”
“Oh my, you’re staying at the Temple? Why aren’t you continuing to reside at the Imperial Palace?”
“I didn’t fall. And the Temple has…”
The conversation had become tangled. I glanced back and forth before looking at the Countess and speaking again.
“Circumstances have made it necessary.”
“Could it be that Elad has done something to harm you?”
The Countess’s follow-up remark was one I couldn’t easily brush aside. She’d guessed the answer so precisely it was hard to believe she was simply making an assumption. When I looked at her in surprise, she clicked her tongue knowingly.
“It’s predictable enough. One can imagine how Elad would behave toward you.”
“Is that so…?”
Goodness. Soleia’s reputation isn’t very good, is it? Though honestly, her haughty bearing and arrogance didn’t seem like they could be hidden. It didn’t seem like she’d even try to conceal such fundamental aspects of her nature…
The Countess continued speaking with affection.
“Please don’t take his attitude to heart. It’s best to let such words go in one ear and out the other. Besides, you have a reliable shield, don’t you, Princess?”
A shield? What shield is that?
I stared at her with a blank expression before quickly realizing she meant Auredhian Belgot. Then I recalled the fact that rumors about me had spread throughout high society. This time, I couldn’t help but offer an awkward smile.
Right, I was a woman whose reputation had spread far and wide. I wondered how she would react if she knew that this shield’s effectiveness would expire in just a few days.
The Countess tilted her head.
“But it’s quite unexpected. I never doubted that His Majesty would keep you by his side, yet you’ve suddenly come to the Temple…”
“Countess Aiven.”
It was Diego Schmart who interrupted the Countess. My constitution and the circumstances that led to my change of residence were matters kept confidential. Diego smiled benevolently and gently cut off her words.
“Wouldn’t it be better to continue our conversation another time? I still need to finish showing the Princess around the Temple.”
“Oh my, I’ve been a hindrance, haven’t I? I’m so sorry. I was just so delighted to see the Princess…”
“Not at all. I was equally delighted to meet you, ma’am.”
Are all the Capital’s nobles this refined and courteous? I marveled inwardly as I received her greeting. She smiled warmly, her eyes gleaming with anticipation as she asked.
“May I hope that we’ll have the chance to speak again, Princess?”
“Ah…”
Was it my imagination that honey seemed to drip from those bright brown eyes?
I examined Clarisse Aiven’s face carefully, staying within the bounds of courtesy. She must be around thirty now. The noble lady’s face bore no trace of wariness or suspicion.
I glanced briefly at Diego Schmart. He seemed somewhat flustered, but he didn’t stop me. That meant she wasn’t someone who would cause harm. I nodded.
“I would be delighted if we could speak together.”
While one shouldn’t judge people by appearances alone, something about her felt right. She was acquainted with Diego Schmart, and wasn’t Aiven Count someone who had visited the Imperial Palace to report directly to Auredhian Belgot? As someone completely ignorant of Belgot’s noble circles, she seemed like someone worth conversing with. Well, I’d be returning to Lebovni soon anyway…
‘Ah, why do I keep thinking about that!’
My thoughts kept circling back to the same place, which was troublesome. I suppressed the sigh rising in my throat and bowed to the lady. Well, it wasn’t as though I had anything to do in the Temple anyway. Gaining another companion to talk to seemed like a welcome development. Besides, after all, she was beautiful! Beauty is not always right, but it’s generally correct!
A moment later, I found myself worrying whether I was brightening my expression too much.
* * *
In any case, my life in the Temple began from that day onward. To be honest, I finally felt like I could truly live.
[Much better, isn’t it? I told you, you should have come here from the beginning.]
I couldn’t bring myself to deny Raulus’s smug tone. My physical condition was fundamentally different from when I was outside the Temple. Since my body was like a bottomless pit, no amount of rapid charging from Auredhian Belgot could be a genuine solution.
Moreover, my condition kept fluctuating between negative and positive, and the fatigue from those gaps was considerable. In the Temple, I didn’t need to worry about such things.
“Wow, so this is what that feeling was like.”
I found myself reminiscing about my time in Lebovni. I never knew that the absence of the earth’s weight could feel this light and airy. Internally, I retracted all the countless times I had assured those around me that I was fine. Now that I was in the Temple, I understood. All this time, I had been in a state that was truly anything but fine!
“Your complexion is certainly different, Princess.”
And it seemed others could clearly see the change. Diego Schmart paused in sweeping the Altar and gazed at me in admiration. I polished the wolf statue with crimson violet eyes until it gleamed, breaking into a bright smile.
“Right? Actually, I feel it every morning. It’s like my lost beauty is regaining its radiance.”
Diego Schmart and I were in the middle of cleaning the Prayer Chamber. Since the Temple was sacred and a place of equality for all, I had to do something like the other priests to stay there—or so I had managed to extract this task from Diego Schmart after pestering him for several days.
[Do a better job cleaning, you speck of dust. There, you missed between the fur.]
“I’m cleaning it well, I assure you.”
“Pardon? What did you say, Princess?”
“It’s nothing.”
How particular. I grumbled inwardly as I meticulously cleaned between the intricate fur of the wolf statue.
[Hey. Don’t carelessly clean the eyes. Don’t you know eyes are the windows to the soul?]
I gazed into the wolf’s reddish-violet eyes and deliberated fiercely for a brief moment. Should I just stab it? But receiving divine punishment for showing disrespect to the Temple’s master within the Temple itself would be most inconvenient, so I resumed my dutiful work, carefully avoiding the eyes and polishing the statue until it gleamed brilliantly. Even Raulus, who had been nagging incessantly at every opportunity, finally relented in admiration at my dedication and fell silent.
“There we go. All done.”
I picked up a soft, dry towel and straightened my back. I was already on my fifth statue, yet my energy remained boundless. Ordinarily, such a small task would have left me utterly exhausted, but this was remarkable progress. Still, Diego appeared genuinely concerned.
“Please don’t overexert yourself, Princess. Truly.”
“I’m not overexerting. My energy is practically overflowing—I need somewhere to channel it.”
Is there anything else to polish? Just show me. I’ll scrub every speck of dust away without mercy! My eyes gleamed as I surveyed the Prayer Chamber. The Civilian Prayer Room was far larger and more spacious than the Priesthood’s Prayer Chamber I’d mistakenly wandered into before.
“If His Majesty were to learn of this, what on earth would he think of me…”
I heard Diego’s quiet lament. Regardless, I strode forward with burning enthusiasm toward the opposite side. Then my gaze caught on something.
“Ah…”
Between the violet curtains concealing the Prayer Chamber’s massive Altar, something resembling a large painting hung faintly visible.
[Want to go see?]
Satisfied that his Temple was becoming cleaner, Raulus asked in a languid voice. I whispered so Diego wouldn’t hear.
“What is that?”
[Me.]
“Pardon?”

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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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