Beguiling the Enemy’s Patriarch - Chapter 69

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

Chapter 69
[It’s me. Go take a look. Don’t you think you should at least see what the god who plays with you every single day looks like?]
“Hmm….”
If I said I didn’t particularly want to know, he’d sulk for several more days. In the span of a month, I’d come to understand this capricious and willful absolute being’s temperament fairly well. I wasn’t sure if all gods were like this, but Raulus had a somewhat childlike side to him.
“Well…. My goodness, I suppose I am curious.”
I laughed without spirit and quietly shifted my steps. Diego happened to be away at the moment. I checked to ensure no one was around, then poked my head between the curtains. Behind the curtain hung an enormous painting that stretched all the way to the ceiling. Upon seeing the figure within it, my mouth fell open in admiration.
“Wow, Lord Raulus. You look like that?”
The figure in the painting was just as difficult to discern as male or female as the voice that had spoken—utterly ambiguous. Yet one thing was certain: that being was breathtakingly beautiful. Smooth silver hair that trailed to the floor, eyes of a deep crimson hue. Clothing that exuded antiquity. An androgynous form. I gazed in pure wonder.
“You’re incredibly beautiful. I never imagined you’d take human form….”
[It’s merely one of my appearances. Well, descending into the form most familiar to humans is one of my graces, you might say.]
I could almost picture Raulus shrugging his shoulders. To think he’d spout such frivolous words from that solemn and reverent face—it seemed somehow incongruous. But in any case, he was indeed beautiful! You pass the test! I thought absurdly to myself, then let my gaze drift downward, where it caught upon something beneath the altar. Tiny script was carved densely into the wall.
Raulus spoke as though suddenly remembering something.
[There’s probably something there too, little crumb. Look carefully.]
“What am I looking for?”
[The child you’ve taken an interest in. The child closest to me on the surface. That child’s name.]
“A name…?”
Auredhian’s name? Was there another name I didn’t know? Bewildered, I leaned my body as far down toward the altar as possible to read those minuscule characters. Just as Raulus said, they were names. Names I didn’t know. Yet the moment I read the first line, I understood whose names they were.
“Gasp.”
The full names of successive emperors of Belgot. If they were merely full names, that would be one thing….
[Names I bestowed directly.]
“Baptismal names….”
My mouth fell open. The name written at the very beginning of the first line burned vividly into my mind.
Lakais Lu Elizad Adrea Belgot. The full name of Belgot’s first emperor.
[Adrea was it. The name of my first child.]
Raulus asked as though humming a melody.
[Do you know the meaning behind the name I bestowed, little crumb?]
All I knew of baptismal names was that they were the most secret names, revealed only to one’s lifelong companion. In the original work, there was a god who revealed his baptismal name when Alexio confessed to Brizni. It was my absolute favorite scene, so I remembered it distinctly.
I blurted out what I had recalled.
“Um, the name used when confessing?”
[…Has only that meaning remained on the surface now?]
“How would I know…?”
What other meaning could there be? As I tilted my head in confusion, Raulus answered slowly.
[A baptismal name is the name by which one can summon me to the surface.]
What? My eyes widened. Raulus’s words didn’t stop there.
[I told you there was a taboo of Udeta, didn’t I, child?]
“Yes. Because of the taboo, you said you couldn’t descend carelessly….”
The divine realm beyond Udeta and the underground world beneath Remordi cannot interfere carelessly with the principles of the surface. That was the taboo of Udeta and Remordi. The taboo of this world that allows the surface to remain as a completely inviolable neutral ground.
Raulus dropped a bombshell in a casual tone.
[Once every ten years, when I descend to the surface, my children summon me by the names I’ve given them.]
“What, why didn’t you tell me!”
I immediately lowered my voice and squeaked out a protest.
“Then I can summon you too?”
[You cannot.]
“Why not! I received the sacrament too!”
[What is your baptismal name?]
At that question, I fell silent like a fool with honey in my mouth. My baptismal name—I didn’t know it. It was a name known only to my parents and myself, a name never spoken aloud, and most importantly, it never appeared in the original work.
Raulus clicked his tongue and spoke.
[Besides, you couldn’t do it anyway, crumb. You don’t possess enough Holy Power to bind me to the mortal realm, do you?]
“Ah….”
[I suppose it would be fortunate if you didn’t lose all your remaining sanctity and perish.]
A curse. It was nothing short of a curse. Damn it. The faint hope that had briefly flickered within me crashed back down to the ground, and I pouted my lips.
“So I really have no choice but to wait, then.”
Right. If there had been such an easy method, Raulus would have mentioned it long ago. I sighed and swept my gaze across the wall again. My eyes drifted downward along its surface.
[That’s what I’m saying. But….]
Since things had come to this, perhaps I should steal a glimpse of Auredhian’s baptismal name before I left. Just as I was about to commit the final name to memory, Raulus hummed an incomprehensible melody and issued a warning.
[You should hide now.]
“I’m sorry…?”
Clunk. As I stammered in confusion, the door to the Prayer Chamber, which had been closed, creaked open.
“Oh no…!”
I gasped in terror and scrambled behind the curtain. Thump, thump. Footsteps echoed. They were approaching directly toward me. I released the curtain I’d been gripping and moved with hushed movements. Sideways, creeping slowly.
No matter that Raulus, the master of this Temple, had permitted it—eavesdropping on the baptismal names of successive emperors was hardly a virtuous act. And most critically, I hadn’t even seen the most important one. Auredhian’s baptismal name! If I hadn’t seen that, then I’d committed no real sin. I rationalized to myself as I moved slowly and deliberately. But the approaching footsteps were faster. I froze rigid and gripped the curtain tightly again. It felt as though whoever was coming knew exactly where I was….
[Hide tight. Don’t let your hair show.]
Raulus giggled to himself and then fell silent. He seemed to vanish as suddenly as he’d appeared, smiling. I felt the urge to seize that damned god’s long hair and shake it. But my anxiety burned even more intensely in that moment.
“…Oh.”
I opened my mouth in bewilderment. A familiar presence rushed in. A scent I could never mistake, no matter when or where. A clear, pristine fragrance that unmistakably belonged to him. My heart began to race. And before I could even prepare myself mentally, the curtains were suddenly drawn open on both sides. A short laugh escaped.
“What are you doing there, Princess?”
I stared blankly up at the man who had pulled open the curtains. My instincts hadn’t deceived me. Auredhian Belgot. Even in this Temple brimming with Raulus’s Holy Power, he alone carried that distinctly familiar fragrance, and he gazed down at me with an affectionate expression. I fumbled for words.
“How did you know I was here…?”
“You stand out wherever you are.”
He replied casually and lightly touched my cheek.
“You’re not particularly skilled at hiding, after all.”
I was seen…. I laughed sheepishly.
It had been five days since I last saw his face. At first glance, he appeared no different from usual. Casual and somehow loosely composed. But I soon realized he was dressed more formally than usual. His attire was impeccably refined, much like the day we went out into Barishard together.
A pristine white uniform that fit his frame perfectly, adorned with gold trim. The cross-shaped brooch on his left chest gleamed particularly brightly. His silver hair, which was usually half-disheveled, had been neatly swept back.
Perhaps that was why. His already breathtakingly handsome face appeared even more sculptural today. A flawlessly perfect statue carved with meticulous precision. Warm hands touched both my cheeks. Auredhian gently held my face and examined it carefully, murmuring.
“Your complexion is indeed much improved.”
“I’ve heard that many times.”
I turned my gaze away awkwardly as I answered. Ever since I’d sensed his fragrance, my heart had been racing again. And today, with that dangerously beautiful face so close….
“I should have sent you to the Temple sooner if I’d known it would help like this.”
“Haha. You’re making me feel hurt by saying such things.”
Even to my own ears, my laughter sounded forced and unnatural. I shifted my gaze this way and that, avoiding those crimson eyes that scrutinized me so thoroughly. Why did everything feel so awkward? Was it because this was our first meeting since that dawn? My old habit of babbling nonsense whenever I panicked or ran out of words had surfaced once more.
“Your Majesty looks particularly handsome today.”
“Is that so?”
Auredhian let out a short laugh. A smile graced his face—that visage which had been as expressionless as marble just moments before. For some reason, the tips of my ears felt as though they were burning. I widened my eyes to regain my composure. I mustn’t be enchanted, Yerenika! After a brief moment of mental recalibration, I managed to ask something resembling a coherent question.
“What brings you here? I hadn’t heard you were coming….”
“Well….”
Auredhian trailed off in a manner unlike him. Multiple emotions flickered across those deep crimson eyes in an instant. I caught every one of them.
“Is something the matter?”
It wasn’t often that Auredhian withheld his response. I took hold of his hand, which was still gently touching my cheek.
“Now that I think about it, something’s strange.”
“…What is?”
“Your Majesty wouldn’t seek me out without reason.”

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